Banishment PV Professors

Seeing as the skeleton was dealt with, Zahid whirled around to take out the one approaching behind him, another spell already on his lips only to freeze yet another one of these pests – “Immo---” – only to immediately go abort! Abort! as he realized that the footsteps had, in fact, belonged to their colleague.

Not that he could be sure of her state as an ally, apparently. Lowering his wand slightly, he nonetheless kept it pointed in her direction. If she was, in fact, not an ally it would be better not to let her know he suspected (not that he truly did suspect) so he merely questioned: “What is the status of the mission? Is there more danger ahead or..?”

Keeping his back to Caradoc still made him feel to uncomfortable presently and so he tried to turn in such a way that he could keep an eye on both of them... With not much success. What would be the lesser of two evils then? Turning his back on a new unknown or a known maybe-threat.

Really, he wished they had brought a curse-breaker along, or better yet. Two. He was not an archaeologist by a long shot, but he did join a few excursions exploring a couple of old tombs. Tombs that had already been checked over and emptied, but there was always, always some danger of a hidden threat, magical or otherwise. Only a slight chance, granted, but a chance.

But no. They just had to go into this without a metaphorical safety net.

Action(s): Question Maya (her arrival)

Rosalind glanced up at the potions professor's call, unsure who it was he meant - Jensen? There was no time to think about it as she rushed over to reach Marcus, blood still pulsing freely from his many wounds. She'd missed a lot. "You're alright!" she shouted at him, as though saying it would make it so - although her optimism was quickly replaced by shock and pain. The woman let out a wail of pain as she fell onto one knee. Perhaps those grasping vines had caught he and whipped across her skin - but as she felt for the wound, her hand came to grasp on something solid. Hissing in pain, she pulled the first dagger free, blood now pouring from the tear in her trousers. She took a breath through gritted teeth as a warmth spread inside of her jacket, the cloth pinned to her side with another blade. "Rotten hags," she muttered, anger and adrenaline soothing the pain for now. Both daggers were tossed aside, leaving a few drops of blood where they bounced along the cave floor.

Turning toward the traitorous professor Jensen, she could see the wounded Marcus was already working on trying to take her down - quite gently, considering the fact she'd stabbed them all just moments ago. Rosalind held no ill-will toward the other woman, of course. Caradoc had explained to her the ways which hags could enter the mind. They could bond over it later. For now, the easiest way to get the hag out of her mind would be to put her into the ground.

"Descendo!" she shouted, pointing her wand up at the balcony. If Professor Vernatis couldn't bring the flames to the hag, Rosalind would bring the hag to the flames.

action: Descendo at the hag to try and pull her smiling face down from the balcony. (Or pull down the balcony, if the hag is out of view.)
Stamina: 8 || Evasion: 13 || Strength: 10 || Wisdom: 12 || Arcane Power: 10 || Accuracy: 12

Paranoia crept into the room as @Zahid al-Benghazi ibn Masoud's eyes flashed from one figure to the next. His question would be well-pointed, not that it would keep @Caradoc Browne waiting. The Head of Hufflepuff had run off into the dark hallway, passing @Maya Galim along the way. The professor that would find herself on the receiving end of the historian's inquiries. @Ivar Eide would sheepishly stand in the back of the hall, while @Gargott Dunaid watched his old friend run off after surviving a confusing scuffle. "Caradoc!" The groundskeeper would exclaim as he picked up his war hammer. "Hold on! Wait!" Waving his hand about, the part-goblin ran as fast as his short legs could carry him to try and follow after the badger.



Finding the strength and sanity to get back on his feet, @Jean-Papi Dupont sighed in relief to no longer hear his children call out for him. He was just looking up when he saw Caradoc arrive and halt by the pit with a struggling knee. "Where did they go, Dupont? Tell me!" As the nurse failed to reply in time, the Head of House hissed a spell through gritted teeth. "Appare Vestigium!" Within a matter of seconds, Caradoc would find a handful of footprints scattered across the hallway. Some leading further down the hall to the left, behind Jean-Papi. Another set of footprints seemed to run straight into the wall up ahead. The badger's memory served him well in conjuring an image of himself raging through a hidden wall to save his children. His caught the hand of the nurse, pointing to the same wall and nodding in confirmation. "Follow me then." Caradoc would whisper to the man as he skipped to that side of the hall along the walls. Jean-Papi would wave his wand in front of them and reveal the passage, leaving it open for any who would follow.

The Head of Gryffindor and Professor of Flight found themselves met with a dead end. It was but a matter of seconds before @River Jemari jumped up his broom and flew straight for the wall. As expected, he would not be met with his face stuck on the cold and damp stonework. Instead, he found himself flying into a narrow tunnel leading downwards in a circular descent. With @Elaine Pendrast in tow, the pair would find themselves starting to sweat as the heat inside the tunnel would rise exponentially. Something hot and fiery was up ahead, proven by both the constant heat and the flickering light of flames up ahead. At the end, they came out on the other side of what seemed to be a large cavern. They could see the Caretaker and the Head of Slytherin up ahead, and some more in a scuffle behind them.



Many things would happen at once for those present inside the cavern. As @Hjørdis Jensen raised her wand for another strike she would find her attack interrupted by @Marcus Iwasaki, who dived right into her. The pair rolled onto the floor with Nora finding herself back on her feet and Marcus close to lunging at her once more. But before he got any further he would feel his face slapped by a bright flash of spell-light. The parting of flesh became apparent in an instant as both his lips reappeared on his face. His tongue able to stretch and his lungs taking in deep breaths once more. His eyes would catch a quick glimpse of a smirking Potioneer that jumped down from the rubble and stood close to face the Head of Slytherin alongside the Caretaker. Sadly, the two werewolves had little chance to plan, as Marcus could feel the smack of one of the vines striking him once more. This time he would be thrown a few feet further and land on his back next to Aleksander who helped him get back up on his feet.

As other vines started to wildly slash around the cavern, the other three professors managed to evade any of their strikes. @Artemis Vernatis would bring his arms above his head and almost pull the flames up into the air like he would tug a tablecloth from a table. @Rosalind Kibitzer, being quick on the draw, flicked her own wand ahead and saw her spell hit the balcony beneath the hag's feet as the flames were about to lick her feet. But neither of the two professors had been prepared to see the rising flames split open in two halves as they reached Etta's position. In two large arches, streams of fire would lick the ceiling of the cavern and shoot all the way back to the Charms Professor's position. With searing heat, the flames would clash onto the ground and blast him back a few feet. If Rosalind were to look over to her colleague, she would only find a smoking body lying a bit further from where he first stood. The hag, still grinning, was now lying on her knees at the bottom of the balcony. "Oh, my darlings... You should have left me and my sisters to our own... You will rue the day you set foot here. THIS CASTLE WILL BE YOUR TOMB!" Lunging her long and slender hand forward, her spell would fizzle through the air. Had Artemis not been a fuming mess in the back, he might have warned the others. But there was no one to tell what the collision of an exploding charm and the hag's cauldron might do. A bright flash of green would emerge without sound for a split-second before exploding into a loud shock wave of green fire spreading across the cavern. Fireballs came hurling through the air, leaving the room desolated in rock and ruin.

Allies
Marcus Iwasaki
100/1500

Artemis Vernatis
100/1200

Gargott Dunaid
850/1300

Rosalind Kibitzer
300/800

Maya Galim
1000/1100

Zahid al-Benghazi ibn Masoud
1300/1400

Ivar Eide
1100/1200

Caradoc Browne
1100/2000

Aleksander Ostrowski
1100/1500

Enemies
Auntie Etta
1000/1500

Sister Hattie
Disintegrated.

Third Hag
Escaped.

Hjørdis Jensen
600/1500

A creepy looking figure appeared, launching an attack at her. He tackled her into the ground, wrestling her. Hjørdis was by no means strong, she had no illusion of being stronger than him. But she struggled against his grip to the best of her ability. She was not going down, not here, not right now. Marcus still needed her. She would have to do this. For her best friend. The pair rolled on the ground.

There's a fire swirling in the dungeons, bringing them out of the dark. Hjørdis was visible, finally, they could see her crystal clear as the disillusionment charm faded off. She went ahead, sold them all out. Gritting her jaw together, she scanned the room. She was determined to leave here with every piece of them. They should not underestimate the things that she was willing to do.

The scars over her body were a reminder of what happened. They kept her thinking that they definitely did not have it all. They left her confused, hurt, aching. But nonetheless, there was rolling. Rolling in the deep.

Her clothes getting wrecked every moment by the disgusting state of the lair. She did not want to think about it. Her silver hair was probably a dark brown or black by now. This whole place was disgusting and she just wanted to get out of here. But Marcus. Marcus was still there.

She managed to get back onto her feet, somehow, getting away from the figure and his ridiculously strong grip. Panting softly, she quickly stepped back. This was not over, not even close to it. Everything was going wrong. Drastically. Her teammate - that she considered to be Marcus - made their move, exploding the cauldron in the middle of the room. She had no way of protecting herself from the friendly fire but that was alright. Marcus must have had a plan. He would not hurt her unless it was necessary. This was the only way to get the rest of the figures. To stop the hags. It had to be done. She was willing to be the sacrifice.

"Don't worry about me..." She coughed through the explosion. It was the only way. It had to be done. She knew that. "Just end this, Marcus," She mumbled through panted breaths as she raised her wand to continue the attack. He had to end this, he had to end it quickly. There were more coming. They were so close. How long could two of them hold up against them all?

Don't underestimate the things that she would do... for her friend.

Even if that friend was actually a hag. How was she supposed to know?

ACTION: - Sacrifice self for "Marcus" (aka Etta) -
STATUS: Injured and Mind-Controlled | HEALTH: 600/1500

Stamina: 15 | Evasion: 9 | Strength: 2 | Wisdom: 20 | Arcane Power: 10 | Accuracy: 14
Abilities: Sixth Sense | Evasive Maneuvers | Perfectionist | Poison Resistance [others pending]

Outfit of the day

OOC: Second and third paragraph are basically from Rolling In The Deep by Adele

Maya's breath was deep. Her adrenaline was rushing throughout the entirety of the event happening in the dungeon. In all her years that she had been working for Hogwarts, she never had such a rush. It was truly terrifying, but also rewarding.

It was pure darkness. The further in Maya walked, her cloak hem tattered on the floor, the more she felt Deja Vu. Were those the same bones as last time? She thought while seeing some sort of bone scatterings on the floor, all of different shapes and sizes. It wasn't until a few steps more that she realized the hallway that she believed was to be a new route was just the entrance. Slightly disappointed, she kept walking forward. Maya could not see as well, but she heard someone ahead of her.

They were questioning her presence. She understood why as anything can happen down here in the dungeons.

"Zahid, is that you?" she asked, "We're here to rid of Hags or anything else down here." she added while walking towards her colleague. When she was able to see him, she could see that he was a mess. "Nearly fell down a hole back there and thought this was a new route," she said, honestly.

"What happened here?" she asked, looking around. It was a bigger mess than she left it earlier on.

ACTION: Conversing with Zahid

'That hurt' was the thought that ran through Artemis' head as his slide across the room finally stopped. Of all the times for his spell to finally backfire, it had to be this moment. All he needed was to hit that Hag with the fire. It frustrated the man that he was now too tired, drained, and too weak to be of much help to the ones about to fight off this ugly monster. He didn't know what to do. The knife still in his stomach, which he was thankful didn't move further into his abdomen, twinged a bit as he shifted to sit up. Looking down at this body, he assessed the damage that he could see. He could only imagine what the internal damage looked like. The knife was still plugging his stomach to prevent blood loss. He now sported a bunch of burns on his arms that hurt whenever he moved them. But he knew that he needed to get up. He was weakened, but he wasn't down for the count. He lost his wand in the minor explosion of his spell so he could only hope that it was under something where he could summon it later. For now, he had another idea in mind.

Marcus didn't seem to get Hjørdis down or knock her out of this mind control she seemed to be under. She would be more helpful if her mind was a muddled mess. He shouldn't even let her live it down that she stabbed him and others in this room! But he knew that it wasn't her fault. The only way for them to take their friend down without harming her was to either disarm her, knock her out...again, or destroy that Hag. He had to rely on the others to take out the Hag. He truly didn't feel the energy to do much else than minor spells at the moment and that bint needed something more than just a blasted Expelliarmus shot at her.

Wait...that was it. Artemis wasn't sure if Hjørdis knew wandless magic, so this may be a moot point. But he did. He didn't need his wand for certain spells and this was one of them he definitely didn't need his wand for. Straining to sit up against the rock that he was nearest to, Artemis raised his hand toward his friend weakly. Non-verbally, he made the wand movement to cast the disarming charm while thinking of the spell"Expelliarmus" in his head and hoping beyond hope that the spell actually connected and didn't miss. Or divert to hit someone else.

Oh, he just wanted to go home to his kids. He didn't want to be here, fighting this human-eating monster. He hoped that his colleagues could do what he couldn't.

Action: Cast Expelliarmus at Nora

Abilities: Perfectionist - Fearless- Evasive Maneuvers- Non-Verbal Magic - Wandless Magic

Stats: Stamina: 12 ~ Strength: 6 ~ Evasion: 8 ~ Wisdom: 20 ~ Arcane Power: 12 ~ Accuracy:12

Marcus was in a lot of pain. He didn't compare it to the monthly transformation pains, as this was very different. He was thinking back to the last time he had been in a proper fight with someone, but having two knives in his back introduced a new kind of pain. As he tackled the Head of Slytherin, he felt the twinge in his back eventually lead to her breaking free. He had let the pain get to him. He would not make the same mistake.

Now as he got to his feet, ready to try again, Marcus felt something slam into his face. Whatever it was ripped a hole in his face. He gasped in air through his mouth which had just reappeared, then he proceeded to cough, the sensation of breathing suddenly foreign. It was the Potions professor who had allowed him the use of speech again, and as he nodded in the man's direction and continued coughing, he was once again caught off guard. This time by the vines. The plant slammed into both the caretaker and the potions professor, knocking them both off their feet and onto the ground. Marcus coughed again from the impact, and this time blood came out.

"Can't catch a break," the man said under his breath, his voice slightly hoarse as he got back to his feet with the help of the Potions professor. He was really feeling the blood loss now, and the fact that the knives had been dug deeper into his back probably wasn't helping. He was not used to feeling so weak. His amber eyes raised up to assess the situation, trying to not let the haziness settle over him.

"Oh, my darlings... You should have left me and my sisters to our own... You will rue the day you set foot here. THIS CASTLE WILL BE YOUR TOMB!"

And then there was an explosion. Fire was flung across the cavern as it was rocked. He had to put in effort to stay upright with how weak he felt, and came close to getting hit by one of the bits of rubble. He was glad that the reinforcements were here, but he wondered if they would be enough. The Divination professor and the Potions professor. Because he and the Charms professor were on their last legs it seemed, and Jensen was having an identity crisis. She was calling out to him again. Well, not really him. She was in bad shape herself, but he felt close to collapsing at any second.

"Well, Nor, you're making it a lot harder than it should be," he said, grimacing as he took a step towards her. He knew her words had been directed at the hag and not actually him, but he didn't care. He lunged at her again when she raised her wand, knowing she would only do more harm than good. Hopefully he could prevent her flinging more knives while the others took down the hag.

Action: Attempt to grapple Nora once more

Reducio

Grapple: This is a basic attack where you attempt to pin a target. Pinning a target means that you will also not be able to move. This is an accuracy roll to see if it will hit and then a contested strength check between the grappler and the target to maintain. This would be rolled at the start of each round.

Health: 100/1500

Racial Abilities: Werewolf Form (Rend, Bite, +10% damage) | Heightened Senses (tell familiar people by smell) | Track Hidden People (within 24 hours) | Wolf's Cry | Predatory Abilities (+25% chance to enter hidden, +2 stealth) | Intimidation (uneasiness, -1 acc, +1 crit fail to all around)
Chosen Abilities: Obnoxiously Strong (+10% strength) | Martial Artist

Stats: Stamina: 15 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 20 (22) | Wisdom: 4 | Arcane Power: 4 | Accuracy: 15

And there Caradoc went. Well, that was one thing less to worry about – although the sudden rushing off made him twitch. A bit short-sighted of the groundskeeper to blindly run after him, in Zahid's opinion but he supposed Dunaid was old enough to make his own mistakes decisions. That left only the CoMC and Muggle studies professors back in the corridor with him. Less potential threats to worry about.

Speaking of the Muggle Studies professor... Did she think he did not know why they went on this endeavour in the first place? Why else would they be here but for the Hags and what other dangers may lurk in the shadowed depths of the castle? He shook his head and sighed.
“Yes.”, he replied in answer of her inquiry if it was him.

“Ah.” He winced. “No, you only made it back to the entrance, I'm sorry to say.” Did she turn tail purposefully? Given how messy this trip had gone so far, he wouldn't be surprised.

“Ah, well... the bones from the ground – why are there even bones on the ground – formed into attack-skeletons... After Caradoc turned on us and attacked... He seemed to have snapped out of it though...” Not that Zahid sounded all that sure about that part.

Keeping half of his attention on her, he turned to check what Eide was doing.

Action(s): Talk to Maya and check on Ivar

The first thing Elaine noticed when the walk through the invisible wall beside the Flying Professor was not the darkness - that she had become used to over the last half an hour. Her sight was still completely, ordinary human, but her dark brown eyes had become used to the absence of light, to the point where she was at least able to see silhouettes of the things around her. If anything, it made her less likely to walk into one of the corridor's walls by accident.

Heat assaulted her face, then her hands, the parts of her body that were uncovered by clothing and unprotected from the hot air. Her battle armor protected the rest of her form, but still, she could feel the warmth that seeped through the layers of wool and leather. The tattoos reacted on their own, as was their wont, the bull and lynx covering her hands, the wolfman wrapping itself around her neck. Only the hand she splayed across her face stopped the half-eagle from slinking onto her face.

There were people inside the room at the end of the corridor, her colleagues. For some reason, Marcus Iwasaki was wrestling Nora, the Charms Professor throwing a spell their way, but she barely had time to take in any of it, because the source of the sudden heat was fire, green fire.

Elena didn't forget that she had killed a Hag only minutes ago, she didn't forget that she was dangerous and unstable and too close to slipping. She couldn't afford to ever forget that.

Pure instinct was what made her snap up her wand and raise her voice, a hoarse cry against the shockwave and flames.

"Protego totalum!"

More than anything else, she needed to survive. If Constanta died in her duel at the autumn equinox, there would be only Elena left between her daughter and all the people that wanted to kill her. Nothing would ever get between her and Gabriela.

She braced herself and threw the spell with all her might.

Action: Cast Protego totalum over the group.

Reducio

Stats: ♠ Stamina: 12 ♠ Evasion: 10 ♠ Strength: 4 ♠ Wisdom: 20 ♠ Arcane Power: 12 ♠ Accuracy: 12

Abilities: Fearless ♠ Perfectionist ♠ Sixth Sense ♠ Non-Human Enthusiast ♠

His hand would shiver out of frustration. By all his conjured will, @Artemis Vernatis did not manage to disarm the silver-haired witch. A blast of light energy would strike out towards him from the darkness. The Hogwarts nurse emerging from the shadows sprinting to his aid, trying to get the man back on his feet. "Allez, mon ami. Remets-toi sur tes jambes! On your legs!" The French @Jean-Papi Dupont would exclaim to the Charms professor. Rubble clattering on the ground, splitting open in hundreds of pieces around them. A hellish scream drew their attention to the silver fury lashing out towards their caretaker.

@Marcus Iwasaki could feel the wounds pulsing through his body, the knives in his back taking their toll on his movements. He lunged at @Hjørdis Jensen and narrowly missed, allowing himself to collapse to the ground as blood spat from his mouth. He as well would find a blinding light hitting him from the shadows. It seemed his guardian angel, @Aleksander Ostrowski, was not out of tricks yet. Nora in turn, fuming with anger would flash her hateful gaze at him in a frenzy as her wand struck out towards him. The caretaker could feel his body getting tense again, his breath being squeezed from his body as ropes formed around him. Like a slithering snake he would feel himself getting wrapped in until he was barely able to move again. The sensation was not unlike the attacks of the rootlike vines he survived earlier.

In her distraction, Nora found her head held by two hands from behind. Before there was any time left for her to react, she could hear his whispering voice in her ears once more. @Caradoc Browne seemingly succeeded in calming the Head of Slytherin down, purging her senses and bringing her back to her own thoughts. His voice dropped even lower, pausing for a moment as he caught her falling. It was barely audible, except perhaps the few right next to them. Even then, most of his words made little sense to people. There was something about a ditch - maybe he felt he ditched her or had just seen the ditch a bit further ahead? Or... another type of ditch? Something about remembering something, Jensen perhaps and raw? Even if Marcus had been close enough and managed to understand the words through the sounds of yelling people and rubble clashing with the floor, the words would have made little sense to him. As stones fell from the collapsing ceiling, the people around the trio would see two Heads of Houses and the Caretaker disappear under a gulf of dust and rubble as large rocks came down upon them.

It may have been the reach of her wand failing her that day or perhaps she had held herself back a so strongly in fear of letting go too much. In any case, @Elaine Pendrast's attempt at protection her peers would have served her well had there been any spellwork targeted towards her kin and colleagues. Sadly the hag had proven herself more cunning than others, clouding her presence in smoke with the prospect of a rallying group of wizards and witches. From a distance, the Head of Gryffindor would see the ceiling collapse on Nora and the two professors around her as Etta shrouded herself from view with her hideous laughter echoing above everyone's yelling within the cavern.

Rubble rolling on all sides, the ceiling cracking open, releasing large boulders that landed right beside most other professors. Artemis and the nurse rolled each to another side as a large piece of rock pierced the earth where the Charms professor had laid just second before. Stalagmites broke and tumbled down under the barrage of stone, causing @Rosalind Kibitzer and Aleksander to jump out of the way. Dust filled the room, making the air so thick it was getting harder to breath. Tremors roared from under their feet, its echoes escaping the room through the narrow tunnels spread across the cavern walls. Stones and tiles would splinter under his feet as @Gargott Dunaid reached the crossroads. He'd look up as sand and dust was shook from the ceiling above him. The part-goblin looked over his shoulder back towards the entrance to see if any of the others had followed him in. The hallway seemed even longer from this angle. A black void that oddly led towards the light. He suddenly felt very small and alone in these echoing halls telling him the castle he once loved so dearly... was suffering.

On the other end of this light, where tremors and echoes all died out. @Zahid al-Benghazi ibn Masoud and @Maya Galim would sense nothing but the delight of their own company. There was only them and the bones around them, save @Ivar Eide who seemed to be minding his own business. The hall seemed... peaceful? Quiet. And quiet could be nice on a night like this. Yes, it was quite comforting.

Allies
Marcus Iwasaki
100/1500 (Note: He's not bound. Ropes cut by rubble)

Artemis Vernatis
475/1200

Gargott Dunaid
850/1300

Rosalind Kibitzer
300/800

Maya Galim
1000/1100

Zahid al-Benghazi ibn Masoud
1300/1400

Ivar Eide
1100/1200

Caradoc Browne
1000/2000

Aleksander Ostrowski
1100/1500

Hjørdis Jensen
500/1500

Enemies
Auntie Etta
1000/1500

Sister Hattie
Disintegrated.

Third Hag
Escaped.