From the Ashes

Who: Brendon and Spencer
When: Saturday morning
Where: Ravenclaw Common Room
What: Evil things.

Spencer was probably going to have to buy Gerard a new broom or something as a thank you present. He hung off it awkwardly as he clambered in through the Observatory entrance (which looked like it had already been battered down at some point, to Spencer's mild astonishment). He was mostly just grateful that the Ravenclaws hadn't changed the way to get in from the outside since he had been in school.

The room was mostly deserted, and Spencer figured that any students left in here were probably in their dorms or down in the Common Room. He pushed himself up beside the sink, propping Gerard's broom beside him and tapping his fingers nervously on the counter. He'd sent an owl to Brendon a little while ago, after deciding that the bindrune really did need to be approached by the person who'd probably been under its control, giving him directions to the Observatory for help with "something", but he knew Brendon was probably rounding up Hufflepuffs and might be a while.

He felt itchy and on edge, even though he knew the bindrune couldn't be affecting him from this far away, probably wouldn't have the same effect as the one targeted towards him did. Still, the knowledge of its presence made him uncomfortable. Ravenclaw Tower, he thought, and stared at himself grimly in the mirror. What the fuck, Ryan?

Spencer,

We found another bindrune hidden beneath the Prefects' bath in Ravenclaw. It doesn't mean anything; that antechamber is used for parties, anyone could know about it and potentially have had access. I'll let the headmaster know to speak to the Prefects when we all have more time.

The bindrune is currently on the wall below the window outside the Prefects' bath, hidden under a concealment charm. You should be able to reach it from the outside of the castle or inside, if you happen to be in Ravenclaw Tower. All the secret passages I know of have been sealed off; you would have to either break in or use the portrait hole.

The runes are Berkanan, Ūruz, and Haglaz, with yellow and black cords.

I think possibly someone should tell Brendon.

- William B.

who: Pete & William
where: Ravenclaw
what: momentary lack of zombizzles
when: friday night

Ravenclaw was Pete's first stop—well, his first stop after he ran into a group of terrified kids about halfway down the stairs in Gryffindor tower, escorted them back up, made eyes at Ryland, implored the fat lady to be extra careful, and then took off again—because he hadn't forgotten that they didn't have a Head of House, and he also hadn't forgotten that they were generally very skilled and even more aware of it. He had nightmare visions of little Ravenclaw third years with chunks of flesh missing; when he got there, however, he mostly found them huddled in their common room making wary (yet worryingly inquisitive) eyes at the door.

He'd handed over a copy of the list that his little honorary Gryffindor had made before he'd left, and let them set to making a copy and adding their names to it. He had rooms to check and provisions to evaluate. There was no way to know how long this would last, and if it would transfer from house elf to human, but he did know that what had been scattered clusters of zombies on his way to Gryffindor tower in the first place had turned into thicker throngs, and he imagined it was only a matter of time before the castle halls were crowded with them.

All of the dorms were cleared (he'd only had to take a few fortifying breaths to convince himself to get on his knees and check under the bed; zombie bites were one thing, but if someone took a chunk out of his face he would never get over it), and he had verified that all of the first and second floor bathrooms were zombie-free. He was checking the first of the bathrooms on the uppermost floor (pushing open stall doors and warily checking behind linen closet doors) when he heard a sliding sort of scuffle noise from outside. He whipped around, wand-hand at the ready, heart-racing and mouth suddenly dry; even with all that, his wrist was twitching eagerly and he pushed up on his toes, more ready to hex than was strictly dignified.

It was dark out, and he couldn't see outside details for the light flooding the bathroom, so when he saw the shape surging through the narrow window, he figured he would cast first and ask questions later. The windows were tiny, anyway. No reasonably sized human would think to use it as an entrance. "Petrificus Totalus," he shouted, jabbing his wand sharply at the totally creepy, murderous, zombified house elf coming through the window.

Who: William and Spencer
Where: Greenhouses
When: After dinner
What: Dreamwalking

Spencer's hand slipped a little pouring water into pots, and the screechsnaps set up an unholy shriek of betrayal. Even so, it took Spencer a moment to blink and work out what was going on, and by the time he jerked the water away, they were giving a good impression of beings in unimaginable agony, rather than having a little too much water.

"Oh, grow up," Spencer said, mumbling a charm that had the excess water soaked up from their soil. He added some extra fertilizer as a pacifying device and rolled his eyes at the contented humming that came from the pots. Goddamn screechsnaps. He was torn between enjoying them greatly and wanting to methodically shred them up himself from day to day.

The sound of someone walking outside caught his attention, and he wandered over the door, opening it and peering out into the dark. "William?" he called, a little surprised. "Is that you?"

Who: Spencer & anyone
Where: Staff lounge
When: Monday afternoon
What: Free day, free day.

The key to not sleeping, Spencer had discovered, was to stay in motion as much as possible. This was a little difficult when you were so tired you couldn't move very well without tripping over things, so Spencer had developed a foolproof method of moving from place to place, and then lying somewhere quiet for a while, until sleep threatened again and he had to get up and move around once more.

The cancellation of classes on Monday came as a gift, as Spencer was getting a little desperate when it got to classes. He felt especially guilty with the NEWT students -- they had their final exams coming up this year, they needed him to be able to teach them, but he was having trouble linking things together in his head, let alone out loud. Questions were too often met with tired stares, and he was using a couple of battered textbooks William had unearthed for him at the beginning of the year shared between the students as a means of teaching. They were hopelessly outdated, but they were still better than incoherent mumbling, which Spencer had an awful feeling was the best he could manage these days.

A couple of hours after lunch, Spencer almost nodded off sprawled under a tree by the lake, even with roots digging into his back, so he picked himself up off the ground, brushed off excess grass, and headed for the castle. The corridors were mostly empty, which was a little frightening. Study day or not, Spencer would have expected kids to be racing around and making the most of a day without classes. Instead, the castle felt too silent. Most of the paintings acted as though it was the middle of the night, drowsing contentedly in their frames. Spencer tried not to hate them.

The staffroom was empty when he got there, and he made a beeline for the couch, sprawling out on it. It was just a little too small to fit his legs, which was good, and he propped his neck up in a way sure to give himself a crick. Then he closed his eyes, and started reciting Latin names for plants in his head. No sleep, he thought, firmly, and then, small even in his own mind, I wish my mum was here.

[Owl to Shane]

I'm sorry aboutI'm having a bit of difficulty sleeping. Um. Worse than after, you know. Can we sleepWill you try sleeping in bed with me? I promise I won't try anythingIt's just that it worked so well before, and I'm desperate Shane. I need some sleep. I promise I won't even touch you.

[Owl to William]

There's a book I'm after, The Wakeful Dead, by Xavier Bloch. It's in the restricted section. Would that be available to me?

Are you suffering any side effects ofEverything is good with you, right?

[Owl to Pete]

You know that sleeping medicine that muggles take? How would I get my hands on some?

Who: Dallon and William
Where: An empty classroom
When: Tuesday during dinner
What: Investigation and research

The vacant classroom on the third floor, from what William remembered of the clean-up this summer, used to be employed for teaching ballroom dance and etiquette. There wasn't much in it besides a piano, some outdated murals, and a ballet barre. You wouldn't be able to tell that now, however, from the amount of wards and shielding blanketing the door.

"Absit invidia." Let ill will be absent. The headmaster's choice of passwords was ironic as always. Unfortunately, William didn't see much chance of it proving true in this instance, not with the amount of malevolence he could feel as soon as he'd passed through the doorway and into the empty classroom.

There was someone else there, which he also noticed at once, and recognition wasn't far behind. It didn't really surprise him that the headmaster had put Dallon on this particular task as well, not as exceptional as Dallon was at...well, most things. It did give him a very brief twinge, but that was easily shunted aside.

"The headmaster sent me," he told Dallon, although considering both their presences here, he suspected Dallon had already guessed as much. "Do you know what it is?"

Jon,

I've compiled a list of the most current scholastic articles and published experts on puffskeins, as requested. Unfortunately, it's not a lot. Apparently puffskeins are not a hot zoological topic. Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help.

You don't happen to know if prolonged proximity to thestrals causes nightmares, do you? Are there any other plants or animals you know of which might have that effect? If you have any ideas, I would appreciate it.

- Bill B.

Who: Gabe and Spencer
Where: Gabe's mad scientific lab. Or, uh, the dungeons.
When: Friday afternoon, after 7th period.
What: Help.

The sugar rush of last night's midnight snack now most decidedly worn off, Spencer almost tripped down the stairs on his way down to the dungeons, stumbling heavily over the stone. One day soon, he thought grimly, he was going to be able to -- to function again, properly, or something. He'd sat in class today with instructions written up on the board and slumped in his chair for as much time as possible, and most of his students had, unbelievably, picked up on the need to be quiet and not disturbed him. Still, it had been a pretty shocking day.

The dungeons were darker and cooler than the rest of the castle, though, which Spencer's aching head was decidedly grateful for. He slipped down the long passageway to Gabe's classrooms and office, passing a few third year Gryffindors coming up and debating loudly about something or other that Spencer couldn't really pay attention to, until he was standing in the doorway of the potions classroom, looking about hopefully.

"Hello?" he called. "Are you here, Gabe?"

Who: William and Spencer
Where: The Library
When: Wednesday afternoon.
What: Bad moon rising

Spencer had barely dismissed the Slytherin and Ravenclaw fifth years before he was stumbling out of the greenhouses himself. He'd tried out a charm at lunchtime to make his head ache a little less, keep him a little more awake, but the effects had faded quickly in the first five minutes of the first lesson after lunch, and he had never been more grateful in his life for the free periods he had on Wednesday afternoons.

He couldn't stay in the greenhouses, though. The thick, humid air made him feel worse, and he needed somewhere cool and quiet, somewhere he could sit and be still and not hurt his head. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept properly, and last night the hour he'd managed to catch had been full of Hogwarts burning, and the sudden, sickening realisation that there were a group of third years trapped in a classroom. He'd woken just as Gabe emerged out from the wreckage, all of them starting forward at the realisation that Pete wasn't beside him anymore. He hadn't been able to get the faint taste of bile from his mouth all day.

Inside the castle wasn't much better than the grounds; in fact, there was a crowd of students, laughing and shouting across the halls as they headed off to their next classes, and Spencer swallowed and kept his head down, headed up to the library. William was militant enough that Spencer had no doubt it would be quiet enough, and the air in there was cool, the musty smell of books familiar and comforting. He slipped in the door quietly, nodding at some of his first year students waving at him from a table, and found himself a dark corner. For a moment, he just leaned against the wall, and then he slid slowly to the floor, drawing up his knees and pressing his forehead against his knees. He was so goddamn tired. He wasn't going to risk sleeping.