From the Ashes

Who: Z and OPEN
When: Friday, January 29
Where:  The corridors and staircases leading towards the Arithmancy classroom
What: An attack of Z's usual clumsiness or something more sinister?

Fridays were generally Z's favorite weekday. She had the fewest classes, and even after filling in for more Ancient Runes classes, she still had several free blocks. She'd taken advantage of her free second period to take a nap which was an excellent decision at the time and in the long run. But right now? it was a terrible decision.

She overslept and was literally running late. And of course, the Arithmancy classroom was in the opposite direction most of the student body seemed to heading, so she was running into the treacherous sea of teenagers. Z didn't bother with apologies as she and her bookbag hit people. She was going to be so late and Nolan probably wouldn't be terribly pleased if she came in ten minutes late without a decent excuse. Z ducked between a pair of fourth years and finally made it to what she hoped would be the right staircase-it'd be her luck that today was one of the days the damn castles decided it needed a change and sent the left staircase that actually made it to the fifth floor somewhere else entirely. As the staircase moved, she forced herself to take the stairs as quickly as possible. It was a bit nauseating to seriously try and move up or down the staircases when they were moving, but it was necessary this time. Z refused to look down and was three-quarters of the way up the stairs (and gasping for breath-she was never going to smoke ever again. she was serious about it this time) when the staircase locked on the fifth floor.

"Oh thank god," she gasped as she ran up the next few steps. She was going to make it to class on time if she outright ran down the corridor. Focusing on breathing and gearing up for one last sprint, Z didn't realize her footing wasn't secure on the uneven stair (and was it more uneven and slanted than unusual?) and she fell backwards down most of the flight of stairs with a scream.

Who: Adam and Greta
What: Discussions about inappropriate conduct and the many uses of bludgers
When: Friday, January 15th (the day before the Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin Quidditch game)
Where: The DADA office

There were exactly 47 ways for a Quidditch player to get injured without actually falling off his or her broom. At least, that was the number Greta had come up with in the last half hour, although she couldn't remember if it included the number of individual finger bones that could get broken by a Bludger. All in all, she needed to do something other than obsess about the number of tragic accidents she might have to prevent on the Quidditch pitch tomorrow. It wouldn't be so bad if she were convinced that the players were taking the risks seriously, but when she had tried to talk to the teams about defensive flying during their last practices before the game, no one had even been paying attention. She'd even caught three of the Hufflepuffs going over their "teacher ratings" in the middle of practice - which turned out, much to Greta's embarrassment, to be detailed ratings of a the professors' relative "shaggability".

It might not have been so bad if Adam Lazzara hadn't been rated more highly on hair than Greta herself. It was insultingly inappropriate in all senses of the word.

Professor Lazzara was not in Greta's good books at the moment. Whatever Z might say about tutoring, she was spending far more time in private with him than any student should with a professor. And hadn't there been some rumour about Lazzara spending time in Hogsmeade with a blonde? It was all just a little too suspicious. Greta glanced at the clock. It was only just after five - Lazzara should be on his own - unless of course he had any after-hours tutoring sessions this evening.

Well, she couldn't do anything to stop the students from bashing each others' heads in tomorrow, but maybe she could have a quiet word with Lazzara about what happened to people who took advantage of her friends. She headed off for the DADA office before she could change her mind. Pounding on a door would do wonders for her stress, anyway.

Who: Z and Greta
Where: Equipment sheds by the Quidditch Pitch
When: 23 December, late in the morning
What: Mysterious Goings-On in the Broom Shed

Greta hadn't figured out yet whether the rattling cupboard in her office contained a pair of restless Bludgers or something more ominous, but she definitely wasn't planning to figure it out on her own. She'd already found a Snitch hiding under her desk that morning, and it had nearly taken one of her fingers off before she'd managed to trap it under a teapot and wrestle it into safe confinement.

She was still investigating her desk for other potential hazards when the referee's whistle that had been quietly hanging by the door suddenly lifted itself into the air and let out a series of sharp, piercing shrieks.

"Intruder in the broom shed," it cried, "alert, alert, intruder -" Greta hit it with a Silencing spell as quickly as she could and jogged out of her office, heading for the equipment sheds to investigate.

Who: Greta and Victoria
Where: The front lawn of the castle
When: Afternoon of Saturday, December 19
What: Two new teachers arrive at the school

Victoria had chosen to floo up to Hogsmeade and walk up to the school from the train station, her bag of gear over her shoulder. She'd learnt to travel light in her years working as a cursebreaker; the vagabond lifestyle didn't lend itself to an excess of material possessions, even if she could shrink most of them down and stuff them in an enchanted bag designed to hold them all. Much of what was in the bag now was the books she'd been studying to prepare her lessons for the various classes according to the old Ministy curriculum. Victoria had heard the library was open, but without seeing it herself, she didn't have much confidence in the state of things.

Trudging around the lake, she caught sight of a lone figure on a broom headed towards the front of the castle. Assuming it was another professor coming back from a trip home, she raised her arm and offered a wide wave the way she would have to a Quidditcher on the pitch. The broom rider would certainly arrive before Victoria did. She picked up the pace. It was bloody well cold, even with a warmth-charmed cloak and gloves, and, for all that Victoria might not care to admit it, it would be nice to have company when she went in.

WHO: Brendon & Adam & anyone else who wants to go caroling
WHERE: The entrance hall of the castle and Hogsmeade village
WHAT: Caroling and the spreading of CHEER to all and sundry.
WHEN: Christmas Eve (Thursday, Dec. 24)

Adam hadn't bothered to attend any kind of dress rehearsal for caroling. Especially since Professor Urie's idea of caroling seemed to involve costumes and sequins and this was not Mardi Gras, it was caroling. Also, Urie's owl had said something about the dress part of dress rehearsal.

Urie could wear all the dresses he wanted, but Adam wanted no part of that. It was too cold for dresses, besides.

He arrived in the entrance hall a bit earlier than intended, but since he and Urie were in charge of this whole thing, it was just as well. He sat down on the steps to wait for more people to arrive so they could head off caroling.