Lock-in Hufflepuff Gryffindor Event Closed

Parcel followed the tiled floor down the dark pathway. The sound of the others became more muffled the further in he went. To some it might seem weird that Parcel ventured in alone, but to himself it felt natural. There hadn’t been any children on his age in the wizarding community he grew up in, so Parcel’s instincts were to always do things on his own.

It didn’t take long before he reached a door. Parcel held the torch in front of himself and watched as the flames illuminated the hindrance that was before him. “The password is a secret?... what in the world…” He didn’t have time to contemplate any further on it before he heard voices from behind, first one, then two and then even a third, on after another they came running through the darkness.
Parcel had not expected company on his daring dash into the catacombs dark underbelly, especially because he didn’t seem to recognize any of the students coming after him. Perhaps it was the torch? The promise of light made more students willing to venture forth with him. He couldn’t really send any of them away, and he could always use some people to brainstorm with.
The first girl that approached Parcel confirmed his suspicions, the light was what she needed. Well, the torch was supposed to hang in the big hall they were to use as basecamp, so he guessed he had to share. Nodding his head as confirmation to the girl (Winifrey) he was about to turn back to the door when another girl came up to them.

"Can I come with you guys? I don't want to waste time sitting around if there's puzzles to solve. I'm Lucy, by the way."

“Yeah, sure, I don’t see why not, you can call me Parcel, nice to meet you Lucy.”
Parcel was a bit surprised really, two girls came running after him just because of the torch? Was it perhaps because he was dashingly handsome in the light of the torch?
Before he had the time to think of a reason, another student came running, this time a boy.
The boy too asked to join, and well, Parcel had already said yes to the two girls, so at this point he really didn’t have any way of refuting anyone else to join their party. Nodding to the boy Parcel received a cookie from him. Putting the cookie in his mouth he finally had time to turn back and look at the door, the riddle needed to be solved before they were able to continue on their adventure.
The password is a secret, was that supposed to mean anything to him? Did he know the secret? Had he walked passed something that looked like a secret of sorts? Parcel couldn’t think of anything that jumped out to him as a secret for the door. Then perhaps the password was “a secret”? wouldn’t that be to straight forward? Was every door in this place just tricking them with lies? Or did it want a sacrifice in the form of one of his secrets? These two was the first plausible solutions he could think of. He was about to act when he rememberd that he was a part of a team now, a party that had joined in the attempt to unlock some of the cave’s secrets. Deciding it was better to brainstorm ideas with the party made him speak up.

“The password is a secret, any idea what it means? My first guess was that the door means it literally, and the door’s password is “A Secret”, but it might also be that the door wants a secret from us, you know, as a payment for entering, or I might be entirely wrong, and it means something else, any of you have suggestions?”

While speaking Parcel tried peering through the open slit in the door and noticed a nest of some sort. While holding the torch in his left hand he fished out his wand with his right. The professor might say that there was nothing to worry about in the cave, but Parcel wasn’t entirely sure he believed him. And in the off chance they would get the door open, it was better for him to have his wand ready.

Parcel spoke up almost at the same time as one of the girls, the Hufflepuff girl to be precise. She seemed to have come to much the same conclusions as he himself had. Nodding at the girls proposal, Parcel let her have room beside him to do whatever she wanted to do.

ACTION: Nothing much really, it's mainly a post to talk with the team-members. The only thing that can be seen as a action is if to take out your wand is counted as a "picking up" action, but i'm guessing it's not? pleas correct me if i'm wrong.

Aurelia looked around the room, her blue eyes glancing to every corner of the room trying to find any snacks, but she found no such thing besides moss or the cold ground. As she looked closely she observed something odd about how the moss grew, it seemed to come from the cracks of the floor her eyes traced the kind line of moss and it stopped at the very center of the room, it was extremely odd, however, Aurelia didn’t want to look like a fool by going up to someone and talking about moss so she kept it to herself. She also took a mental note to be watchful of where she was stepping on, moss tended to be very slippery.

The observant girl than brough her attention to the door which the students entered from, it was strange to see a talking door. Who would enchant a spell on a door so it would talk and make up riddles? It couldn't be purely just for the fun of it... unless... the was something that was supposed to be hidden within the walls of the tunnels. The girl also wondered how the house elves entered. They weren’t very intelligent, perhaps they were just lucky to have figured it out of had used thier magical abilities. Her eyes glanced around the room again, it was getting packed with students as the seconds passed.

Aurelia's eyes then fixed on the hufflepuff professor. The last time he brought his house for an venture, which was only quite recently, almost all the students that were there got burnt, the young girl was sure that most of the students's haven't got over the terrible accident and even the professor of all people should know that. The brunette's eyes narrowed skeptically towards the old man, there was something not right about the adventure and daring as a Gryffindor should be, she was going to find out what and possibly warn the others afterwards. Though she really hoped she wouldn't die.

The girl snapped back to reality as someone spoke to her. She tilted her chin towards the direction, it was a hufflepuff girl, she looked very familiar. Aurelia tried to recall where she had saw the girl from. It was possible she had participated in the quidditch game that Aurelia organised. Then Aurelia remembered her name, Frost if she had remembered right.

"Hi, it's Frost from the pick up Quidditch Game right?" The brunette hoped she was right, it would be embarrassing if she wasn't.

"And yeah, you can join me." She said reluctantly but managed a convincing smile. Aurelia hoped the girl wouldn't stay in the room for long. It was getting packed by the minute and it was one of the dislikes she had, Cramp spaces. The Gryffindor also had some suspicion about the place and she wanted to find out what.

"I'm thinking about going down one of the tunnels" she told the girl, gesturing to the one behind her.

"You can come along if you wish but its also alright if you don't want to," Aurelia said, although she'd prefer to have someone watching her back if she were to go down a creepy tunnel. Aurelia went to her knapsack beside her sleeping bag and took out a couple of items, the marauders map, it was quite pricy but she could track down other students if she got lost, two keys, a lock picking knife, a crumpled piece of paper, and finally a magical candle. Aurelia didn't want to risk breaking her wand using lumos so the candle would prove to be some use. She had brought the tip to the flames of the torch to light it up. After hearing about the Hufflepuff accident, the girl was kind of afraid to use incendio at the moment, especially when everyone was in the room. She stuff the other items in her pocket.

"Don't worry... don't worry class. This cavern is completely and totally safe. There is another way out. In fact there are several. You just need to have the keys,"

Professor Lear said. Aurelia didn't believe a word about him claiming it was safe but she hoped that by luck one of the doors of the exit could be unlocked by the locksmith knife or the keys she had in her pocket. So far, every door she tried with the key she found on the floor a few days ago did not work. Maybe by chance, it would prove to be useful in this adventure.

Aurelia began making her way down the nearest tunnel [south], pulling the floating candle along. As she passed Professor Lear, she smiled politely at him but the smile seemed forced and almost uneasily. The brunette was still quite skeptical about why he had brought his house for the adventure. She hoped that Frost would tag along they were safer as a pair. She wouldn't blame her if she didn't, some people, especially huffles, were afraid of the dark.

ACTIONS: Wonder about strange stuff in the room, Acknowledge Frost, transfer a handful of objects into her pocket, use magical candle, head down south tunnel, smile uneasily at Lear.

Reducio

Sebastián had remained silent for most of the trip inside. He had allowed Lear (for some reason) to do most of the set up and leading the children inside. Now that everyone dumped their things and began to explore, he heard Professor Lear calling for him. Old man must have bad eyes in the dark. Professor Cazarez had hung towards the back and was just now coming into the main area. He approached his fellow Professor when his name was called.

"Solomon." He said simply when he approached. "Do not be afraid, I'm right here."

The Spaniard teased the Hufflepuff head of house freely now that they were inside the caves. His students would guide the others through and make sure no one was too terrified. The house they partnered with wasn't exactly known for bravery so much as snacks and comfort. Gryffindor students would be the ones out there causing a ruckus while he wouldn't surprised to see Hufflepuff students flee back to the main area.

He had pretended not to see what happened to Siege at the door and moved on, figuring he would get out of it somehow. It was more fun that way, and nothing here was actually dangerous. At least, he hoped not considering who he allowed to set this up. A glance to Lear was all he gave to show his concern for Siege before moving on.

"When do you think we will hear the first scream?" he asked quietly, fully aware there were some practical jokes out here.

Winifrey smiled brightly, glad that the boy had allowed her to join him. The torch was definitely a warm comfort in the pitch black tunnels. Although, if needed, she could always attempt to cast Lumos. At the thought of casting a spell, Winifrey took out her wand, holding it tightly in her right hand. Who knew what could happen in these tunnels.

Before she knew it, another girl had joined, although she did not recognize her from the Gryffindor house. Perhaps she was a Hufflepuff then? Or, Winifrey just had not noticed her as of yet. She had been quite busy since the end of the school year was so close.

"Can I come with you guys? I don't want to waste time sitting around if there's puzzles to solve. I'm Lucy, by the way."

Winifrey cast a glance towards the boy whom she had followed. It had slipped her mind to ask for his name. Her mind had been focused on the light and how much she preferred to not be in the dark.

“Yeah, sure, I don’t see why not, you can call me Parcel, nice to meet you Lucy.”

Winifrey's eyes widened slightly as she remembered something. She was about ninety-six percent positive that this boy was on her team for the quidditch game she had partaken in earlier in the year. But that four percent that was uncertain kept her from asking as she turned to Lucy.

"I'm Winifrey," She smiled brightly as they continued down the tunnel. Winifrey was not scared of the dark. She just hated running into things. Injuries usually followed. Like when the corner of table practically stabbed her in the side or she stubbed her toe on the corner of a wall. Winifrey was not scared of the dark. Oh no, she hated the dark.

Then another boy came to join, much to Winifrey's surprise. She did not recognize him either, but he had cookies so she did not complain one bit. She sent Lucy an amused smirk, catching the slight jump in response to the other boy's sudden appearance.

Now they had come to a door, one that was slightly ajar. Winifrey tip toed to see over Parcel's shoulder, seeing what seemed like a nest. A confused frown made its way onto her face as she shrunk back down, casting the girl next to her a confused look. Lucy spoke first before attempting to cast Lumos. Then Parcel put in his two coins before taking out his wand.

Winifrey knew this place probably was not the safest in all of Hogwarts. This only caused her to grip her wand tighter as she went over the different spells that she had acquired in her mind. She would need to act fast if something went wrong.

Winifrey chewed on the ideas that the two had proposed. She had never been very clever at puzzles like this. She had always been a punch first think about it later kind of person. In fact, part of her wanted to blow the door off, but she doubted the others would agree with her.

"I suppose it would not hurt to try and give it a secret," She spoke her thoughts, casting a glance to the others. "And if that does not work, then we can always try the "A Secret" one," She shrugged, pushing her lips together.

Her eyes glanced back to the door, squinting slightly at the nest. A nest usually belonged to an animal, and usually that meant a female with babies. And if Winifrey knew anything about animals while gallivanting with her cousins in the woods, she knew to never bother any mother and her children. They were always hostile.

"But, if the door does open and if there really is a nest, we should probably...." Winifrey's brows furrowed slightly as she tried to find the right words, "be prepared." The small brunette gripped her wand tightly, letting her left foot slide back slightly to even out her weight and establish her balance. She wanted to be prepared for anything that came out of the door, if it opened.

Speak: Suggest the telling of a secret first
Action: Stay where standing and prepare for anything

Once she had finishing unpacking and setting up her things, Cynthia looked around and noticed that the other students were heading off in groups to search the surrounding area.  She hadn’t joined any group yet.  Still having fresh memories from the campout, she seemed to be much quieter than her usual self.  She hadn’t really said much to anyone since being released from the hospital wing.  She still had a couple of bandages on her arms among other areas.  Taking a deep breath, she stood up and looked around.  She hoped there was a group she could join so she wouldn’t have to search all on her own.  She just hoped nobody brought any muggle devices of any kind.

She pulled out her wand and muttered “Lumos.”  She sighed unhappily as her wand emitted a few sparks instead of a soft glowing light.  Thinking she may have done it wrong, she tried yet again.  “Lumos,” she said, only to find her wand emitting more sparks.  “Great, my wand won’t emit anything except sparks,” she said feeling dejected.  She would try again a little later.  Cynthia looked around and saw that Siege was bound and instantly wanted to help free him.  Grabbing her magical penknife from her bag, she walked over to try and undo his bindings.  “You shouldn‘t have antagonized the door.  Are you alright?” she asked with great concern.  She didn’t want to have to explore dark caves and corridors alone and hoped to find someone to pair up with.  “If you haven’t partnered up with anyone, why don’t you and I work together?” she asked.

As soon as he has spoken the words, Howie heard what sounded like a wild beast as a loud snarl tore through the room, a nameless voice emanating from the door.  He spun on the spot and withdrew his wand, looking around for any sign of danger. Looking towards the door, horrorstruck, Howie witnessed what appeared to be smoky tentacles reaching out and constrcting a dark haired Gryffindor boy.

“What the hell!” Howie shouted out as the tentacles withdrew and the boy vanished. Fear gripped his mind, freezing him on the spot. What is going on here! Why have the brought us to some god forsaken dungeon that eats up little boys. It was only a moment after the boy had vanished, that he reappeared. Howie could not help himself, the terror he felt immediately disappated. He burst out into laughter as the young lad was now sporting a little girls pink dress, with a bow to boot, silver chains binding him where the tentacles once were. It had all been a practical joke. Scary as hell, but well played Professors, in which Howie assumed had laid the trap.

“Jesus!” Just as Howie was starting to feel relaxed again, the door to the room slammed shut,  causing him to jump. He listened closely as Professor Lear assured them that they were safe within the caverns. Heading Lear’s suggestion to help free the Gryffindor boy, he took a step forward, but a young witch beat him to the punch. Howie turned back to face his group, glad someone else would try to free the rash Gryffindor, he did not want someone like that in his group. A level head and attention to detail would lead to success in this adventure, or so he believed. 

“Yikes. That was intense.” He said to Ami, Rosie and Leslez. Reaching down into his rucksack, he removed the knife, which he clipped onto his belt, and his compass, which he flipped open and held out in his hand. “So...which way guys? I was thinking we could south, down the stairs?” While he awaited thier response, he threw the canteen over his shoulder, and stuffed the jerky into one of his cargo pockets. “Oh, we’ll need some light too. Let me try.” Howie withdrew his wand, swishing it around in a circular motion. “Lumos.”

Action: Address the group and attempts to cast the Wand Lighting Charm.

Conversing with Howard White, Rosie Turner, Leslez Skoris

Ignoring a lot of things, including Siege's Imprisonment and life's worries and troubles

Ami paled dramatically as Howie called out to the room to invite them to join their team, and she slapped her forehead with her hand, groaning loudly. "Howie, I swear, you'll be the death of me someday..." she sighed, evil-eyeing him in a joking manner. Thankfully, only one other person decided to join them, and thank god they were a Hufflepuff. Alright, so this wasn't too bad. Not bad at all. Rosie welcomed the boy into their group with open arms, so to speak, and Ami was glad that she herself didn't have to say anything. Instead, she simply waved a small wave at the boy and smiled. There, that was enough, wasn't it? And Howie had asked his name, yes, no talking to more people than necessary, this was good, very good...



Ami nodded in agreement. "Sure, I don't see why not. Stairs are fun, I suppose. Whoopee, stairs!" she cheered half-heartedly with a forced smile, making her way towards the stairs. What she really meant, deep down inside, was, Whoopee, now I have to do magic and fail in front of these people. She knew she couldn't use zwevendous down here, she didn't know if she could sustain it for long enough- plus, she didn't yet know how to make the light follow her. Only her mom knew how to do that, so at the moment, she'd have to resort to plain old lumos.

Following Howie's example and readying her wand, to her immense disgust and dissatisfaction, her palms were already sweating from absolute and total panic. Deep breaths, you're going to fail at some point. Why not now? "Alright, let's try this," she muttered, her brows creased. "If I screw up, I apologize in advance. Lumos!" Ami cried enthusiastically, praying to god it would work properly.

ACTION

Talk with Howard White, Rosie Turner, and Leslez Skoris, agree with taking the southern path and going down the stairs, walk towards the aforementioned stairs, and cast lumos.

Alright great! He wasn't turned down in the most dissapointing manner ever and well that's great. Yeah. He can relax now. Whew. He received a warm welcome. A girl in the group waved and smiled at him, so he gave a sort of crooked smile back, shrugging awkwardly. Someone called him so he turned to face whoever did.

"What's your name, mate?"

He was going to respond with a simple "Well... I'm Lesle-"

Then a sharp snarl came from somewhere, causing him to spin his head, almost whiplashing himself. His hands were covering his ears by reflex and shaking furiously as his eyes darted around for the sound. Blurry shadows doing something. Ah he was shaking and panicking too much from just one sound. He let his guard down. Dangit. He shook his head and blinked a few times before standing straight again, not noticing he hunched over a little.

Surprises. Always. ALWAYS. He took a few seconds to calm down (scream internally in his mind) before sighing shakily and- what in the ever loving... pink's probably not a good colour choice for the poor boy. Should've gone with something less ridiculous. Crimson? No. Whoops, that was distracting. Forget about it Leslez. Forget about it.

He didn't notice any more loud sounds as he kept his hands on his ears just in case. After a few more seconds he let them down and watched as a witch tried to free the badly dressed Gryffindor. Howie commented to the intensity of the whole fiasco and Leslez shrugged, nodding along anyway. It was pretty intense for a short 'battle'. When the boy- uhm. Whatever his name was... uh yeah... suggested to go south. Down the stairs. Ah, alright then. Why not. He just nodded along, not really needing to say anything. He trailed closely beside the group as they headed towards the dark stairs.

"Ah right, I'm Leslez." He decided to try reintroducing again since he was interrupted by... an odd moment. "You said," he looked at the girl... Uhm... Rosie probably? "That you're Rosie," he looked at the boy "Howie..." and then the last, "And... Amy? Ami? S-sorry I kinda didn't really... pay attention." He looked a little guilty.

Speaking to: Howard, Ami, Leslez

Rosie missed the boy disappear. She only turned towards the commotion because of Howie's reaction. However, she did see when he appeared on their side of the door. Wide eyed she took in the scene before erupting into a fit of giggles. Through her laughter, she started towards the boy to help in any way she could, but stopped when the other girl got there first. After a moment, she was able to compose herself by taking deep breaths.

If she hadn't been able to compose herself before, she would have when she watch Leslez react to... she wasn't sure what. She hadn't heard anything, but that wasn't saying much. Her hearing wasn't really that great. "You okay?" After he calmed down, he checked that he had gotten their names right and she smiled. "You got it." She pointed at Ami to reinforce the one he didn't seem too sure about. "She's Ami."

With the suggestion that they start down the stairs, Rosie groaned inwardly. "I guess down the stairs is as good as anywhere." She felt like the darkness would swallow them up if they walked into it. Did they really want to walk further into the earth? Not really. Rosie wasn't afraid of the dark, but she felt apprehensive. Her mind kept playing the whispers of what had happened on the last outing. She moved to the top of the stairs and looked down. She certainly hoped someone's lumos charm worked. She just didn't attempt it because honestly she had failed miserably when she had tried in class.

Action: Laugh at Siege, speak to the group, move to the top of the stairs.

MENTIONS: That Large Group in the Center (Rhea, Eris, Max, Rosie, Dorian, etc.), Lucy O'Sullivan.
INTERACTIONS: Amadea Campbell and John Johns.

There was still a strange longing in Anatole's system, watching everyone else in the center having fun and interacting. Here he was, alone and rather bored with himself. He didn't want to interrupt any wonderful conversation they were having, so he kept to himself and lied down on his bedroll, noticing two other Hufflepuffs to his side and others surrounded him, none of which he was incredibly familiar with. There were two talking to his left, and more below him, and eventually he realized the truth: he was a speck of red in a sea of yellow.

Trying to keep the mood much lighter than necessary, Anatole forced his eyes away from the central mass of those he knew and toward another voice that seemed directed toward him, from a Hufflepuff girl (Amadea). At first, Anatole ignored the voice, assuming the comment was supposed to be for someone else, but once he turned around and noticed the glasses girl's eyes were right on him, he jumped a little. "Hi, I'm Amadea. Are you looking for a team?"

This Amadea's voice was light and happy, and Anatole swiftly assumed she would be like most of the Hufflepuffs he had encountered as of yet. "A...team?" We even needed teams for this? Anatole also swiftly assumed he would need a team, or else he would be good as dead on this escapade. The boy chuckled and smiled, sitting criss-crossed toward her (and his back to the main group he had been keeping his eye on). "You look oddly familiar from somewhere, Amadea. I'm Anatole, Anatole Evans. Was it rehearsal?" He wrapped his scarf around him, trying to keep in his body heat. There was no way it would be time to rest already--the adventure had just begun!

Suddenly, another face emerged in the hazy amber light of Amadea's torch. Another blonde, sprightly Hufflepuff (Speaking of blonde, sprightly Hufflepuffs, where was Lucy?). His eyes glowed as he moved beside her, reinforcing her statement. The words "Join the team!" had never had so much force. He seemed pleasurable, and these two would be an adequate distraction. "We can be the Huffrindors!"

The latter comment caused Anatole to giggle a bit, tossing his hair to the side and keeping focused on him. "Guess I've got no choice. I'll join!" Like the polite young man he tried to be, he reached out a hand for a handshake. "Anatole Evans, pleasure's mine. Hope to...not die!" Was that too morbid?

It felt nice to have someone different for a change. More friends usually meant more fun, and Anatole was sure these two would be no exception. "So, when do we start?" He rose to his feet, eager for some action.