Investigation Initiated PV Closed

Blinking through the tears, Mari looked back at Marla when she asked if she was okay. "Of course I'm not!" She whispered frantically, much louder than she'd intended. Her emotions were haywire, every sense of sanity was shutting down. Mari scratched at her arm absentmindedly, trying to bring herself back to reality, but she couldn't. Everything that had happened to her, every time she had been wronged by Artemis Vernatis and his cronies, it all came down to this. The reality terrified her, as she knew there was a very real possibility that this situation could be Blossomfest all over again.

All that kept her going was the fact that she promised herself, after that horrible night, that she would fight from that moment onward. Mari needed to protect herself and others - that was why she was here. It was with this fervor that she continued to whisper to the black-capped redhead, "I'm not okay, but this dumb professor needs to be found out, before he hurts anyone else. It's up to us, Marla. Come on!"

She beckoned the girl closer, motivated by her affirmative response to move through the door. Mari ignored the request for a tissue; if Marla had been more with it, she would have known that there wasn't time for that. Marla was impossible to hate, however; she had good intentions. She was here, her partner in truth.

Her fingers traced the impressions in the wood as she readied herself. The door was aged, clearly, and as she felt the grains she wondered how many of its scars had been inflicted upon by Artemis Vernatis, just like herself. The only difference between Mari and the door was that Mari was sentient, and her emotions were permanently scared by Artemis's thugs.

Inhale. Pause. She may not be able to undo her scars, but she would be able to protect other innocent students from the new Charms Professor's wrath. With her exhalation, she pressed on the knob to open the wooden barrier.

The room was empty from what she could discern in the darkness, and Mari's eyes scanned the room in pure puzzlement. She moved forward, nearing the bed. Of course. Foolish Artemis would be sleeping, unaware that he was about to get busted. The lump soothed some of her nerves, but she needed to make sure that Marla understood too. Turning towards the girl, Mari mouthed as blatantly as possible, "He's here." She then pressed her index fingers to her lips. Quiet.

The office was nondescript, and as Mari made her way around its perimeter, she stopped near wherever Marla would be to wonder, "Do you think he has a secret lair or something? Or maybe he hides his worst secrets under his body when he sleeps..." That would have to be her last stop, though; it was too risky.

She focused in on the desk, with a quill perched in an ink pot. It looked freshly used. If she had learned anything in her 12 years of life, Mari knew that people often wrote down their secrets and hid them with other nonsense so others would not find out. It would be a good place to truly start. She turned toward Marla once more to add, "Check his bookshelf or something. See if he hid anything there. I'll look at the desk."

Without another word, Mari ventured to the desk and sat down in the chair accompanying it so she had a better angle to investigate. On the surface of the table laid some graded and ungraded homework, nothing too interesting to report. What she really wanted to know was what was in those drawers, so she made her way to open one...

[quote]It was official. Mari Haynes was finally at the end of her wits. Marla had come to the conclusion that the girl went haywire, crazier than that one kid in primary school that cried because he was convinced of an Area 51 raid on September 20th... How ridiculous was that? Nevertheless, it wasn't like she could go back now. The Hufflepuff would make a riot, and that would surely get them busted. "Well then you should stop crying. Who knows if Professor Vernatis is a light sleeper? If you sniffle we could be doomed. One foul step and we're dead meat, yeah?" She added more cooly, tracing her index finger across her neck to convey it further. This girl was about to snap, and Marla had to keep her in check. She wasn't going down with her if she fucked this up.

But even if she was being so annoying, the Gryffindor couldn't help but worry. Yes, she was being a bit whiny and quite urgent, but what had happened to Mari that flushed away that kind and slightly awkward personality of hers? Maybe it was just temporary. A bad grade, friend drama.. She then continued to whisper shout at Marla, before urgently beckoning her closer. She obliged, making her way right next to the tall girl. Well– not tall tall, yet she was certainly taller than Marla. Standing at 4'4, she was practically the friendly neighborhood shrimp. And ant. "Calm down." She whispered sturdily, sympathy laced in her voice.

There she was, in front of the oak door that Mari had begged in her letter about. What if she was right? What if Professor Vernatis was some deranged, dark wizard that simply wanted to watch the world burn? No, that wasn't possible. Lear knew better. Well– that was a stretch. He did somehow let two fires happen at the same event in a row. Does someone with good judgment let that happen? Probably not. But he was the headmaster of Hogwarts! The best wizarding school there is (she hopes), he couldn't be that dumb. She bit her lip, staring the door down, suddenly extremely aware of her heavily thumping heart. Wiping her sweaty hands on her clothing, she turned her head and made eye contact with Mari. "You ready?" She had asked in a hushed tone. Though the Hufflepuff did not give her a response. Instead, she inhaled heavily, exhaled, and proceeded to open the door.

It was dark. Almost too dark. She was tempted to use Lumos, though if someone were in there, they'd be caught, so that was a no-no. At least she could see the outline of some objects, it wasn't too bad. She squinted, studying the office from a distance as best as possible, before watching Mari turn in her direction. Panic warmed her cheeks as she could barely make out what the girl was saying. He was here. Oh god. She immediately cupped her hand around her mouth to quiet her breathing, they couldn't afford to wake him up.

More suspicious claims came from Mari's mouth, to which Marla side-eyed her and simply blocked the voice out. She made her way towards a carpet on the floor, slowly bending over, keeping light on her feet in case the floor creaked, and turned the corner over. She raised it, peeking into the carpet to see if there was anything under. An unlikely hiding place, but that's exactly where someone suspicious would hide something. Unexpected, or blatantly obvious. Something like a "...bookshelf or something. See if he hid anything there. I'll look at the desk." She jumped at the familiar whisper, and nodded in response. Putting the carpet back in its previous place, she made her way to the bookshelf. Filled to the brim with all the books she could dream of, Marla suppressed the urge the snag one and looked through. Boring, boring, boring, bor-ing. All of these were about Charms for Beginners, blah blah blah. If you're a bloodthirsty villain, can't you have something relatively interesting? Geez.

Rolling her eyes, she tip-toed back to the girl with her messy hair imprisoned in two puffs on the sides of her head, tapping her on the shoulder. "Ah can't find shite in here." Annoyed, she crossed her arms, eyeing the girl with daggers. "You better not have brought me here fah nothin'." She said, her quiet voice entwined with fury. How could she not be somewhat pissed? While only a little bit convinced they'd be fighting crime, it was going to be quite the letdown if there was nothing to be found about Professor Vernatis, even if he was innocent. "Ah think we should leave. There isn't anythin' here," She added, tapping her foot on the floor quietly before turning to the desk that Mari had been practically turning inside out and opening a few drawers herself, finding nothing of significance. She slammed one closed, letting out a frustrated sigh and widened her eyes, remembering that they had to be quiet. "Shit," She murmured, looking at Mari in a worried manner.

Hopefully they wouldn't be dead meat.