Banishment PV Professors

The imminence of danger had Caradoc swallowing hard as he stared down the hallway. The stairs had the eery characteristic of leading them down to a dark black pit, where he knew what was silently waiting for them to come. Like spiders, they would be lurking in their dark corners, hiding from where the light would touch the stone. He could only guess who was watching at the end of this dark path they were looking to traverse. His head aching, Caradoc was already breathing heavily. As if he had been running along the way here. He had not. It was fear that was slowly gripping onto him. Cold sweat dripping off his brow, as his bright blue eyes stared intently in front of him. His last confrontation with hags had been perilous. Narrowly escaping death left its mark on you. If these were hags... He wondered to himself. They still could not know for sure what was to be found down there.

The last time he had followed a lead down these stairs, his night ended with tending to burned, cut and cursed children. His children. In a way, he knew he was here for them right now. If he wished for the enemy to remain this close to his own house, all he had to do was turn around and bid everyone a good night. It could all be so simple. He would save his own life and spare him the trials and tribulations of saving the school. Tugging the collar of his dark grey turtle-neck up under his trench coat, the Head of Hufflepuff grew ashamed he would have even considered it. Fear, was a disease.

“I don’t suppose I can snooze out of this one?” He faintly smirked towards the woman standing at his side. He was grateful to have her with him. While he technically came to offer his aid last time. They both knew he had struggled the most to push on that night. At least he figured she knew as much. His eyes briefly locked onto her as he wondered in silence. Did she? The Head of House was less sure all of a sudden. While he usually was a talking mess and frankly never shut up, he always considered himself to be rather open regarding anything he felt or thought in the moment. He believed he had only been truthful down there. His fear would have been obvious easily noticed. But tonight he would have to be brave.

Summer Camp was long over, it had been a while since all of the students had been returned home. The halls of Hogwarts ran empty. Well... except for a handful of Professors and the unwanted visitors that seemed to have invaded the castle far too long ago. Much to the dismay of everyone, the hags seemed to have taken a liking to the dungeons. It was full of darkness and one of the few places that expanded large enough for them to stay hidden for so long. Whilst no one had spotted the coven of hags within the dungeons, it was highly likely that they resided somewhere within the stone-cold walls. They did not know where, but all the evidence pointed to it. Somewhere, deep within the darkest walls of the castle, a coven existed and today, it was time to flush them out. It was no longer a choice that they had. In the coming weeks, students would return to the school once more... And they could not take the risk.

Hjørdis ran her hand over her head, ensuring that her hair was secured back - away from her face, where it could not obscure her vision in any way. The darkness that dwelled within was responsible for the curse placed upon far too many of them. It had spread to the Slytherin Common Room not too many months prior. They could not allow it to continue to exist. In just over a month, students would return to the castle. There was no way that a quarter of the student body could live down the hall from such dangers, whilst another quarter lived right above it - with nothing but a floor to protect them. A floor that had already been broken once.

No one in their right mind wanted to willingly walk into a situation that they knew would spell out trouble for them. She exhaled audibly before gritting her jaw together as she stared down the familiar path. Her eyes flickered to her wand, ensuring it was still with her. No one wanted to track down and fight a coven of hags. Of course not. But it was better it was them than it being the students. The last time they had searched these corridors, they ran into a group of screaming Hufflepuffs. They were standing here today to prevent such disasters from happening again.

Tugging on the ends of her sleeves, adjusting her outfit and making sure everything was secure, she sighed as she glanced at the colleague beside her. He had been through this far too many times. She had lost count by now. Before, it had always been an accident or a trap. But this time? They were willingly and knowingly walking into danger. She narrowed her eyes back at him, “Sure, just leave the cleaning to me,” She responded, knowing he would get the reference with a weak smile on her lips. Of course, she was being one hundred percent sarcastic. If he left her alone now, she was definitely following suit. She was not foolish enough to think she had even the slightest bit of a chance against a coven of hags alone.

Glancing over her shoulder, she looked up the stairs to see who was approaching.

Outfit of the day

Clink, clank... Clink, clank... Clink, clank... A sound that accompanied the Keeper of Keys and Grounds steps as he descended the stairs. "How many of these blasted stairs are there in this castle?" He muttered under his breath. This job was already far more then what he initially had signed up for. Applying for a job where he would tend to the school's grounds and watching over its keys had quickly evolved to helping battle an unknown evil. Still not being able to wrap his head around the fact that it had seemed to infiltrate the castle. The hows on that would need to be put on hold as he needed to be focused for this endeavor.

When he reached the stone-cold floor of the dungeons, Gargott paused for a minute to catch his breath. A meaty hand quickly rubbed away the sweat that was forming on his thick brows. The part-goblin was adorned in an armor that resembled that of a barrel in his right hand he firmly held a Warhammer and his left fingers were playing with a galleon.

Suddenly he noticed two other figures that seemed familiar, for which he decided to walk over to them whilst leaning the hammer on his shoulder. Greeting both of them with a nod of his head. "Don't tell me we're the only ones who decided to show up, ey?!" He asked whilst trying to get a grip of the nerves that were settling in. When Gargott got nervous it could be noticed by a weird tick he had, he licked the galleon that he had earned years ago. "So, uh, what you think's down there?" The Keeper's eyes stared into the dimly litted hallway. The big man was curious about what would be down there, but most certainly not eager to find out.

There were many times in his life that Artemis had done dumb things. There were many times in his life that he regretted decisions and regretted the outcome of those decisions. But those times in the past had only made him stronger after he overcame the trouble and incredible struggle that they presented to him. This, however, took the proverbial cake as he could just feel that there was something wrong with the situation that he was heading into. He wasn't going to get out of this unscathed. He didn't need to be a Seer to know that much. It didn't quite help that when he left to return to the school and said goodbye to his children and sister that Yuya clung onto him tightly, begging him to stay home. It took much longer for both he and his sister to get the little boy to drink a mild sleeping draught so that he could sleep through Artemis leaving, and when he moved toward the floo that evening, he hugged and apologized to his sister profusely that she would have to deal with a crying nine-year-old for the next few days. But they would get over it.

Artemis would as well, in time.

But first, he had to overcome the situation he was about to go through with his colleagues. There was talk about shadows lurking in the school, mainly in the dungeons. He knew that something strange was going on as he noticed that Hjørdis was more dilligent in her snakes being in their dorms and in bed at a certain time. Apparently, even their common room wasn't safe for them. He had to wonder why none of the professors moved the kids out of the Slytherin dorms and placed them somewhere else for the rest of the year. There was plenty of space in Hogwarts to store nearly a hundred or more kids. Surely they could have kept the kids safer if they moved them. Well, if the they, the professors, didn't completely eradicate whatever it was they had to go up against, maybe he would advocate for the Slytherins...and hell, even the Hufflepuffs, be moved to floors on the upper levels. Artemis nearly forgot about the Hufflepuffs being near the dungeons as well. The Kitchens weren't too far off from here.

The stairs leading to the dungeons seemed to take longer than before and Artemis had to brace himself with a deep breath as he stepped off the last step. In the short distance, he saw the new caretaker, Garadot? Gargoot? Groot? standing near Hjørdis and Caradoc who were chatting with one another quietly. He could only make out whispering as he wasn't close enough to actually hear their words, but it didn't matter. He was focused mainly on Hjørdis anyway. Camp seemed so far away but the two of them were only together doing arts and crafts only a few weeks ago. He never did manage to get paint on the woman's cheek as he wanted, since she was heavily distracted by some ruckus that a group of girls were making. The way she handled that situation had the man thinking that day, but then clean-up duties came along and he was back to being a little mule for the woman. He did promise himself that he would get her.

But today was not one of those days. Today was a serious matter.

However, he couldn't help himself as he moved closer to the trio, and closed the distance between himself and Hjørdis. He felt excited about this adventure but also quite nervous. Almost as if someone was going to be permanately scarred from this whole ordeal. What better way to quell your nervousness than to have a kiss of good luck? And with that, he made himself known by nearing the woman's cheek and leaving a small peck upon it.

"For good luck, you know? So...what exactly are we going to be encountering down here? Just so you all know, we're probably going to die...or be maimed...or seriously injured."

Hell, he might just end up dead before they fought whatever it was they needed to fight if the scary snake mother tried to kill him for his stunt.

Artemis smirked. Worth it.

River Jemari had thought long and hard about how he was going to handle the expedition. He hadn't signed up as a professor due to some overwhelming desire to be in constant danger. He hadn't signed up so that he would have the chance to be a hero and save the day. No, the reason that River had sought out the position of professor was the simple fact that in Hogwarts he would have all the resources he needed to do his research and his writing. Unfortunately, a job was a job and a mysterious evil hiding in the deepest depths of a school was a mysterious evil hiding in the deepest depths of a school.

A day earlier the young professor had visited his childhood home, an apartment in muggle London in which his parents still resided. Nearly his entire day was spent there- hours of comfort and nostalgia and relaxation. His mother and father were somewhat confused (though not disappointed) by the unannounced, especially long visit, and so River explained to them, in as little detail as possible, what he was walking into: "Well..." He had started, the hesitant look on his face drawing immediate concern from his parents. "It's uh... work. Hogwarts. You know how things there kept going wrong, over and over again? Well... it's all... happening. What I mean is that I'll be heading back tomorrow and going headfirst into some potentially dangerous territory. I'll probably be fine, it's probably nothing, but I wanted something familiar before going into the dark." Needless to say, the explanation did nothing but concern the two older wizards an incredible amount. However he refused to divulge any more detail, and as the day ended, after a few hugs and kisses, he left home.

The night was sleepless, mostly comprised of pacing, drinking tea, and writing letters to loved ones and colleagues in case the worst came to pass. First, he wrote to the parents that he had visited that same day, thanking them for the life they had given him. Next, he wrote to a few childhood friends, the sentences filled to the brim with inside jokes and humourous nonsense that ultimately had no place in such a letter. Finally, he wrote a letter to a man who he had not met for many years, a professor who had taught him what he needed to become an expert on magical flight. A man who had passed away far too soon. As the sun crept above the horizon, however, it was time to return to Hogwarts.

The footsteps that marked Rivers decent were slow, an obvious giveaway that he wasn't very keen on getting started. The man wasn't wearing his usual clothes. Instead, he donned his Quidditch armor, usually reserved for times when he needed to act as a referee. If the danger that awaited the professors was as bad as he feared, no amount of kneepads or leather straps would help him. In all honesty, the armor was there because it made him feel more comfortable. Neither one of Rivers' hands were empty- his left hand clutched his wand while his right held onto the handle of a broomstick. The odds that the moontrimmer would help him in such a confined space were small- once again, the item was mostly there for comfort.

As the professor reached the bottom of the stairs he quickly looked everyone over. Then he turned his gaze towards the hallways of the dungeons, almost expecting something to jump out at any moment.

"Oh is this our plan? Kisses and love to burn away the wickedness that haunts our castle? You will forgive me if I have my doubts." The cynical Polish accent became audible from slightly further up the way. Though his words were not said bitterly or with any venom, more in a lighthearted teasing fashion.

He strode forward to stand amongst his fellow Professors. The Potions Master of Hogwarts, only anointed as such mere months ago was likely going to have to prove himself to his cohorts. Cohorts whom prior to tonight he'd never shown any interest in conversing with. He pulled the lit cigarette out of his mouth between his index and middle finger and blew a puff of smoke back down the way he'd come, away from the gathering. Before promptly tossing the butt on the ground and stamping it out.

He gave two pondering, long sniffs to the stale air, his heightened senses picking up on the stench of sweat and panic that surrounded him, as well as something not quite right in these dungeons.

"If any of you make a mess of yourselves, stand well away from where I can smell you." He requested, making such a joke to mask his own trepidation. Back from where he'd come from, in his office were numerous crumpled up letters, drafts he'd tried to write to his parents. Thinking that if there really was a risk of death or dismemberment that maybe he should finally break the silence with them, perhaps even clear the air. However Aleksander hadn't managed to find the right words. Found himself incapable of putting quill to parchment, and eventually had decided it was best to say nothing at all. The school would contact them eventually should the worst come to pass.

During this silent period of thought he had absentmindedly fished his intricate silver lighter out of his pocket and was clicking the flame on and off, on and off, in a repetitive pattern. Like some kind of nervous tic.

He began to wonder why he'd even come down here, surely his peers had this stuff handled, they had no use for a sub-par Wizard who spent most of his time locked away in his office or his classroom, wasting ingredients in fruitless research. He had convinced himself he had come to avoid having to fill out any paperwork that would come from students suffering injury from whatever dwelt within these dungeons, but perhaps it was something more than that.

After a short while he put the lighter away and took a breath. "I vote that Jensen purchases the celebration drinks." He remarked to break the silence somewhat, giving her a smirk if she looked his way. "Of course, I would buy but...I have an expensive medical condition."

"I'll make sure to find you another lady to kiss tonight down there." Caradoc abruptly interrupted his old friend, glaring at him from the sides. Art was getting too close for comfort, giving Doc enough reason to get his old schoolmate to use his mouth to casting spells rather than planting kisses. And if there really was a hag down there, Doc was sure one of them would come close to kissing an old crone. That night in the forest flashed before him once more. The green curse narrowly missing its target. The Head of Hufflepuff could still feel it brushing by.

There were six of them gathered already. Good. Caradoc thought to himself, it seemed people were starting to show up after all. He wasn't sure just how many he would be able to count on in the end. They all knew this could very well be the last descend of these stairs they'd ever take. His eyes looked over towards the woman beside him, taking a moment to appreciate the view. "I do agree with Mr. Ostrowski. Drinks are on Miss Jensen I'd say. Besides, I've seen what she can drink. I'm not paying for that." He smirked as his gaze briefly locked with hers, trying to wait for her reaction.

"Not gonna lie though, lad." He turned to Aleksander. "I hope that medical condition helps us down there." Just looking at the man made the hairs on his arms stand straight. There was something... menacing behind those eyes. Caradoc knew what it was. He had seen it from far too close. But the fear of what was down those dark hallways was outgrowing any threat the past was able to throw at him. Looking around the room, he gave Jemari an appreciative nod and finally his eyes would land on Gargott... Well... That had to count for something as well. If not a great distraction...

Bravery. It is what everyone needs when entering the dungeons. This was war, but not one that Maya was used to. There was no real plan, no true strategy. The only plan was to volunteer and arrive in the dungeons.

Was this a dumb decision? Probably. But for the sake of their safety and the safety of the students, they had to take the risk. Fearlessness was not a skill Maya obtained. She was shit scared, but that did not stop her from joining her colleagues. They were a team and had to be until the end.

The first step were stairs. Stairs that scaled downward into the dungeons. For every step she took, she felt as though she was getting eaten by darkness. As she took her last step, she saw some fellow colleagues waiting together. She saw Caradoc Browne, Hjørdis Jensen, Gargott Dunaid, Artemis Vernatis, River Jemari, and Aleksander Ostrowski. It was a good bunch of colleagues, however, there were some that she had no idea who they were. But all in all, her trust was in Browne and Jensen.

"I see we are joking about drinks rather than having a plan," Maya introduced her presence to the others with her snarky comment. If she was putting herself in danger, she meant business. Lives were not a joke. Especially lives that slip away before them.

Maya walked up to the small group, standing near Aleksander. She lowered the hood of her red cloak to reveal a tightly pulled back bun. She opened her cloak to the side and took out a wand from the right side of her thigh pocket. Her wand was not needed for magical reasons as she learned wandless magic in grade school. It was, rather, a perfect tool for muggle needs.

"How many more of us do you think will be joining us?" she asked the group.

Reducio

Stamina: 11 || Evasion: 7 || Strength: 7 || Wisdom: 20 || ArcPower: 15 || Accuracy: 10

He could barely walk and alas there were no handrails to steady himself as he made his descent into the dungeons. There was this inhuman chill that filled the air that made the man shiver. Was it the cold or was it something else that left him with this sense of dis-ease. He had spent months in the darkness, it had addled the old man's mind and left him in terror of the dark. There was nothing wrong with fear, fear told him that something was dangerous. That it was time to run. That he needed to take caution and he would take caution now. His hand would seek the depths of his pockets for the length of aspenwood and clutch the hardwood in his hand. It felt smooth and it made him feel safe.

"Lumos Maxima," Solomon announced. His right hand pressed against the wall of the dungeon and his right holding what he hoped was a brightly lit wand. He was likely one of the last to arrive, the other Professors had arrived before him. The old man looked like less of a man than before, older... tired. He never slept anymore, not that he tried but often he would pretend.

"This is where?" There was the inflection of a question in his voice as he said this statement. He knew nothing of the hags or the darkness within their own walls. Only the whispered rumors said while the others thought he was sleeping. He was wearing armor, but not the honey broom armor he used to don so proudly. Cloth and mismatched bits of darkened armor a size smaller than the armor he used to wear. It would seem as if he had shrunk a bit, not in height but in girth. Enfeebled but walking under his own power he would make his way into the party.

"They like to lie..." he warned in a voice barely over a whisper.

Abilities:
1 -- Evasive Maneuvers (10% auto-dodge)
2 -- Evasive Maneuvers (10% auto-dodge)
3 -- Spell Spread (can target a second target with spells with an increased critical fail chance and a bebuff to checks)
4 -- Monster Hunter (additional accuracy against non-humans)
5 -- Crucio (bad boy)
6 -- Imperio (bad boy)
7 -- Apparition (let's run away when not at Hogwarts)
8 -- Advanced Apparition (let's run away together when not at Hogwarts)

Stats
Sta| 8
Eva| 20
Str| 8
Wis| 9
Arc| 15
Acc| 15