Campout Private + Hufflepuff Finished

Not long after when arrived, a boy appeared at her side and introduced as Harley, he called her beautiful and Mary didn’t know why he used such adjective, was he making fun of her? Though she decided to be polite “Hello, nice to meet you I’m Mary”. She didn’t know what to add as she was not sure how to behave around him.
Fortunately Serena showed up and she went to help her store the coolers near a tree. Now they were just waiting for those who went to collect wood to start a big fire and then the feast could begin. She was about to get back closer to Professor Lear  as some weird noses were coming from the woods and the black haired girl was not really feeling safe regarding that. If a werewolf, centaur, or big spider would appear she would probably run to try to save her life but would be catch within a minute. Plus she was not sure it that was some screams she was hearing or just her imagination playing with her.
Before she could start panicking, another girl approached the camp and asked for some help to carry her bag. Mary was more than happy to help so that it could distract her from she could saw in the shadows of the Forbidden Forest. “Hey Lizbeth, let me give you a hand with that”. Once she was next to hear she whispered to her “Please don’t leave me, I’m not really feeling save when on my own”. 

Cynthia quickly caught up to Reid and they had only walked a few paces when they suddenly stopped upon hearing Professor Lear’s strong voice asking what they thought they were doing with the muggle devices.  Cynthia heard Reid drop his flashlight and quickly picked it back up, switching it off.  She followed, switching her own flashlight off.  They had already found the other two boys who were gathering wood for the fire.

Cynthia was now worried she would be in trouble with Professor Lear for using a muggle device.  She realized now that she should have known better since muggle devices could go haywire around Hogwarts.  She couldn’t believe how she could have forgotten that.  Professor Lear called to them to get out of the woods.  There were dangerous creatures in these woods.  One seemed to be getting closer by the sounds she had suddenly heard.

Reid was urging them to quickly get out of the woods and away from the danger that was looming nearby.  Reid seemed to take charge of the situation and made sure no one was left behind.  Soon, they had reached the safety of the camp area.  When they reached Professor Lear, Cynthia responded, “Sorry, Professor Lear.  Please don’t be angry with us.”  She was a bit scared and worried with the thought of being punished for what had happened.  She didn’t want her parents to send her a Howler or anything.

"Mhm, yes sir," She replied with a nod of her head. She wasn't sure how to make a fire but hell, she could learn this, right? Following Mary, Serena dropped the cooler down in the same location near the tree so that everything was near each other. Grabbing her bag from her shoulder, she placed that next to it too. Her bag contained some extra blankets and pillows - essentially extra layers - as well as food rations, in case she got a little hungry in the middle of the night. She had donuts to share. Honestly, she was looking forward to eating those post marshmallows. Grr, now she was getting hungry... Didn't she just eat though?

She proceeded to follow the instructions that Professor Lear had given her. She was to set up a fire. The sooner the fire was up, the sooner they could eat, after all. Serena started to help the professor to move the wood. She was in the middle looking around for other fire-starting materials when it all kicked off. In all honesty, she didn't know what she would need but wood and some sort of lighter would have been a good idea. Perhaps magic would work, if the professor taught them a spell. She frowned slightly, trying to think of one. Unfortunately, as she did, she heard the professor yell towards the forest. 

Now she wasn't one for running head first into danger. However, she quickly snapped her head towards the direction the Professor was looking in, to make sure everything was okay. That was when she heard his voice. A friend of hers. It sounded like the voices of people she recognised. Her eyes widened. Reid and James weren't here. Both of the boys were boys she had seen in the Common Room and she had spent enough time with both of them to recognise their voice. It was them...  Pulling out her wand, even though she wasn't entirely sure what she could do, Serena dashed forward a little, "REID? JAMES? GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" She screamed, echoing the sentiments of her head of house. She didn't know Cynthia was there too - or who else might have been there. But she heard the boys' yells and calls. Gripping her wand, she ran forward slightly to see if she could help them.

Perhaps the gathering of sticks would have been perfect a grade A course in twig tracking and stick stacking. However on his way back he saw it. There were others in the forest gathering firewood but he was for the most part alone. So when a stray flashlight beam fell across his path it illuminated not trees but something much  more insidious.

A dark figure loomed before him in the Gloom was a figure, if darkness could become something blacker than the void of night, then that was it before him staring at and through him. He could feel his very blood curdling in his veins. Run he thought to himself, Run! But his legs wouldn't budge fear lodging them firmly in the ground. Scrabbling for his wand in his robes he curled a white knuckled hand around it, shakily whipping it out he mentally fumble for the words to one of the few spells he knew.

“L-L-L-L-L......LUMOS”

He finally bleated out as a weak light attempted to sputter into existence at the  tip of his wand in a weak attempt to stave off the all consuming darkness before him, a candle in the face of a typhoon it felt like, his whole body shook as he tried to encourage his leaden feet to move to no avail.

Lizabeth looked very relieved when she saw Mary, a nice dark haired girl from her dorm, approach and offer to take her bag. Thank goodness. She was about ready to collapse!

"Thank you," she said, passing off her bag to the other girl. She was out of breath from the walk here and would have liked to sit down until she heard the fear in the other girl's voice. "Why? Are you okay? What's going on?" she asked as she finally took a look around at their surroundings. Oof. It was very spooky out here. She could hear sounds and even yells coming from the woods! Why was the camping trip all the way over here again? Sure it was nice to camp in the woods but this was creepy and scary. Wasn't the woods out of bounds? She'd heard rumors about all kinds of spooky stuff in there... They were only rumors... right? she wondered anxiously.

"We're uh... we're safe here right?" she asked a little nervously and looking towards the professor. He knew what he was doing... right? He was the adult here. The rest of the campers here looked pretty nervous too. She was thoroughly spooked, that was for sure!

Roma hurries down to the lake, fearing that she was late for the campout, and sets her bag near the rest.
She joins the group, searching for somebody she could ask on what to do. Approaching the one adult that she could see, she tries to mumble something, but the words get caught in her throat as she figures out what to say. After a few moments, she finally gets out the words, "H-Hello, Professor, may I help with something?" She smiles softly in an attempt to hide her wincing at her own words, wondering why she had to be so awkward sometimes. She'd never been much of a fan of talking, preferring to keep to herself, and this was really only the second time she'd actually spoken to anybody at this school, so perhaps it made a little sense. She stares at her feet, praying that the ground would just open up and swallow her up on the spot. She's also honestly quite nervous, seeing the faces of the rest of the people who had decided to attend. Are we safe here? she wonders to herself, hoping that the answer was yes, but with a pessimistic feeling that the answer would end up being no.

Sarafina set her bags down, fearing gratefully that she was late. Everyone must think she was irresponsible! She recognized a few people, but didn’t stop to say hi to anyone. She heard the directions and ran off to gather firewood in the forest. She needed time away from people, and the forest would grant her just that. The trees swayed in the breeze, and birds chirped sweetly. She loved nature. It seemed to understand her. She gathered a couple of sticks and went deeper into the forest. After a while, she noticed how quiet it was. Maybe the birds just flew somewhere else? She thought, trying to push down her fear. She would not be afraid. They were safe in the camp, and no harm would come to them. Hopefully. She continued on, finding sticks that would be perfect. Humming a soft tune, she turned a corner around a tree and stopped. There was a boy standing there shaking, with his wand out. She looked at him puzzled.
“What are you doing?” She asked. Then she noticed the dark mass in front of him. She screamed and pulled out her own wand, and yanked the boy away from the thing. “Run!”

James:

The spider was wandering about the back of James' full head of hair. Spiders are true hunters, dangerous and cunning it is no surprise that they are absolutely terrifying. Their venom enough to rot away the innards of their prey. Their webs strong enough as to bind victims many times their size with the tensile strength to hold them there until their strength wanes. What would a spider want with a young man a thousand times his size? Too large to consume. Too large to bind. Perhaps James was merely a stomping ground for a curious spider.

Spiders make webs don't they? Less the few that do not as they traverse their domain on the hunt. Yet there were webs here, these were the web-making kind. The near-invisible strands of moonbeam pale thread would be felt, their child strength powerful enough to overcome a mere strand holding them back. Indeed a single spider was too small to be a threat. James would reach up a twig in hand and hope that he could coax the wandering arachnid from his head and onto the gnarled twig. Would it depart the refuge of James' tresses? One... Two... no three of its legs would reach up and grab hold of the stick, perched upon the very tip of the twig the graceful spider would perch itself, all eight legs upon the very end of the stick.

As James would try to carefully place the spider onto the ground, a curiosity would be noticed. The shadows would seem to shift. The illumination of his allies' light would reveal some strange shadows indeed but the strangest of all would be the fact that the darkness seemed alive. No, that would not be the darkness. Not at all. There was something in the inky black that moved. That danged and skittered about. It was not something. It was many things. A dozen... No a hundred spiders at the least. The darkness would seem to split open. No, not the tangible dark but a spider's nest. As one departed, twenty more would try to climb back up onto that twisted bit of wood.

They are coming for you James!

The spider swarm would attack James. DC 12. 

JAMES ATTEMPTS TO EVADE THE SPIDER SWARM. Roll: 14. (Success!) 

Reid:

Reid did not know. How could he know! A minor trick was to be played on the students. It was intended to be nothing dire, just a minor jump scare. A flicker in the corner of one;s eye as the shadows shifted and moved from sight as if they had a life of their own. A harmless apparition. A supplement to the fearsome tales that were intended to be told by the campfire tonight.

Did Solomon KNOW that such a spell was cast. No, of course not. Solomon was not the caster, he was certainly capable as was any Hogwarts graduate but that was not his line of study. Besides, he had actual, living creatures and some non-living that he could bring or summon if he truly wanted to give the kids a scare. No, he did not know what was cast or if anything truly was but it was common for the upper classman to do such a thing. For the upper classman to give the first years a good scare on their first camp out. Harmless Huffle fun. At least that was the intent.

However, there was a reason that science and magic caused the Muggle and the Wizarding world to take such divergent paths. candles might have a certain unmistakable ambiance and there are  a number of spells that can transmit information over protracted distances but there was a distinct difference in the skill and learning necessary. A computer can be used by a small child to communicate. A sending spell would take a level of mastery. Despite the invention known as the computer, among so many other devices such as cars, phones and yes, even flashlights. Such things were alien to Wizards for an important reason. The presence of magic and the use of science when in proximity to one another can cause one or the other, perhaps even both to go bad.

The shadow would lurch forward and attempt to GRAB Reid with an outstretched hand.

ROLL FOR EVASION Reid: 20 (roll alone, critical success)

Reid would avoid the deathly drip of the darkness as it tried to grab hold of him. Reid was agile, or at the very least he was agile this moment as he ducked away from from its terrible grip. It made not a sound and while it looked like smoke that had taken a human form, exactly what it was now was an unknown. Reid would reach for his flashlight and with a flick of a switch the light would go out. Or would it?

Reid attempts to turn off flash light. 50% chance of success: Success. Rolled 1 (success)

Yes, in the presence of magic BOTH tools of magic AND science go poorly. The light from his flashlight could refuse to be extinguished. "Just leave it, for the love of Merlin!" The Professor shouted with urgency. The light would go out and when it did darkness would cover what was once light. He would not be able to see the shadows as well, but his light was not the only light that was still on. Cynthia's flashlight was still illuminated.

Cynthia:

Calm. That was good right?

No, that was not good at all. Fear had a reason. A purpose. It told you when to run. It was the shot of adrenaline to your legs that made you run faster. The blood that would come to your arms and make you carry more. The pumping of your bounding heart that blotted out all other noises but fueled your response to either fight or fly away.

Cynthia would try and turn off her flashlight. Hopefully she had the same success as Reid. If she was successful, perhaps the shadows would cease. Perhaps the danger would be averted. PERHAPS. Of course no promises could be made. Muggle devices represent order, Magic strict rules... however the combination of the two creates chaos.

Cynthia attempts to turn off flash light. 50% chance of success: Success. Rolled 2 (failure)

Cynthia would turn around and run back. Back to the safety of the camp. Reid was staying behind. He was either exceptionally courageous, a fool, or perhaps he had a bit of Slytherin in there afterall as the light from Cynthia's flashlight was still on and it bobbed as she ran. As it did, the long twisted and elongated shadows hit by the beam of light would seem to take new life.

((There is a total of 3 shadows rather than one now.))


"Turn it off girl!" Solomon shouted as the girl ran up to him and apologized.

"Detention later, try to live now!" Solomon replied with great haste. Solomon would attempt to grab the flashlight from Cynthia. {Your call on success as I will not godmod your character} If he was successful he would fling the strange aberrant device onto the ground and stomp it under his boot. "Destroy every Muggle device!" Solomon shouted. He sounded like a man at war, not a professor as he made this proclamation. He did not know for certain if there were other devices but he KNEW that their presence was manipulating the magic already cast here. Indeed the magic used to create these creepy apparitions was not particularly powerful, it was the work of a novice but that did not mean that it was not dangerous. In fact quite the opposite. It made the shadows unpredictable. "This is why everyone should be wearing armor!" He shouted as he recovered his wand and searched his mind for an appropriate spell.

Serena:

Such a dutiful Prefect. She was working on starting a fire. She was doing a fine job at it too. Sadly, her work would go unnoticed, or would it?

The Professor would do the only thing he could think of. "Lumos!" The edge of his wand would light up. The space before him, well before himself and Cynthia as she was nearby would be illuminated. Within the perimeter of the light there was no shadows, but the fringe just beyond the darkness there would be two visible shadows that would appear to be created from Cynthia's flashlight. Something would likely go wrong even in the presence of Solomon's magic if they were not careful. A Muggle device was a Muggle device - a dangerous and a terrible thing.

"Knock back the darkness!" Solomon would order Serena. He hoped that she would understand what he meant because there was no time to explain. It was likely that Serena learned the Lumos Charm already in class, it was a common first year subject of instruction. If not, there was a bonfire waiting. They required a non-Muggle source of light. Perhaps that would draw back the shadows.



Of course Serena was thinking more with her heart than with her head. She was not near the fire as she moved forward, TOWARDS the screaming and the danger. The opposite direction she should logically be moving but logic be damned... Her friends were in danger and a Hufflepuff is indeed loyal to their friends. Even if it was potential suicide.

As she did so, the darkness would come for her. The darkness would be swift.

ROLL FOR EVASION Serena: 2 (Failure) [This roll is based off of your player stats submitted in Quiddich]

...and painful. The darkness could be felt. As it passed through her she would feel as if someone was standing on her chest. It was hard to breathe. It was hard to think, the pain in her core was intense and blinding but it would only last a moment as the shadow's claws passed through her. She would feel the need to cough, there would be a gurgling sound in her lungs. When she coughed (if she does not try to force the cough down) she would hack up a mouthful of blood that would paint the ground in front of her. The shadow was not going anywhere, it seemed intent on ripping into Serena once again!

Orion:

Orion was alone. This had to be a trope somewhere. Oh yes, in horror movies. The guy who was wandering off alone, usually to void their bladder but not always in the woods was usually the first to die. That was Orion's role it would seem, with a bundle of sticks in hand he was alone when the darkness came to life. Not today, however as Orion would not be alone on this day.

Sarafina:

Perhaps Sarafina saved Orion's life by showing up. By forcing the writer of this cruel adventure to reconsider this student's potential and untimely death alone in the woods as it no longer followed the tropes necessary for a first death. Perhaps a second or a third.

No, horror has no script. Life has no rules. Neither does this darkness!

It would simply mean that they both had to die. Cynthia's light gave the blackness life shortly after Sarafina's arrival. Orion was thinking on his feet. He had the idea before the Professor had the chance to call it out. It was an insane theory really, there was no offensive or defensive use for the Lumos if not something to deny darkness the right to exist.

“L-L-L-L-L......LUMOS” The fearful yet steadfast hufflepuff would announce with the confidence of a first year wizard with almost no traning would in the heat of a life or death situation.

Roll for success - Lumos spell (Orion) DC 10. Roll: 5 + 5 (Control). Total was 10, just barely enough!

A weak, almost sad light would emit on the very tip of Orion's wand. It was not much but that was all the student needed. The Shadow would lunge forward, a dark maw with rugged razor teeth bared and as it was about to bite into the unfortunate and lonesome youth the end of the wand would bathe the space before him in a weak golden light. It was just enough. The shadow would disperse in a puff of smoke. not a sound. Not a scream. There was nothing. It was as if the shadow was not even there.

Sarafina would attempt to grab hold of Orion and drag him away. 



Lizabeth:

Lizabeth was definitely running late, she would not miss out on the festivities but she almost got locked in. The doors lock at night, Hogwarts had rather impressive security considering the fact that they were only a school. The Huffle party had already started. Some of the students had already wandered off into the woods as dusk was upon them, collecting what sticks they could find while Professor Lear (that gorgeous man) supervised.

By the time Lizabeth was in ear-shot and called out for aide she would quickly discover that the Campout was already in chaos. Solomon was shouting into the darkened wood and some of the Hufflepuffs (NPCs) that were lazing around were roused to their feet, somewhat befuddled of course over the outburst. Something had went terribly wrong. Thankfully Hufflepuffs were if nothing else LOYAL. Loyal to each other. Loyal to their friends. Lizabeth's condition, while likely not wholly understood by these magic-minded youths, they understood that she suffered greatly. It was an unfortunate fact. While some peers might look down at an addled peer such as Lizabeth, her fellow Hufflepuffs would not. They never did.

Several Hufflepuffs would cast light from the tips of their wands and without hesitation seek out their classmates in the woods. Some would also turn their attention to Miss Leino. It probably would have been wiser to help the girl flee as if there was danger her condition would slow her escape. Lizabeth would be a dead woman.

Mary:

Overconfident in Professor Lear's ability to protect them from dangerous Muggle devices such as flashlights, Mary would approach Lizabeth. Despite the yelling in the woods and Solomon's panicked calls. Solomon did not want to replace the Head Boy, he was not even certain that Reid could handle the job never mind finding another Huffle worthy of the station. Yes, the Professor had no real confidence in Kovacs, he looked like a pretty boy that in a year or two would be too busy chasing skirts to maintain his studies. Never mind the fact that girls would likely drain what little adventure he had in him.

The girls were not much better. They were OK for the time being. Still semi-innocent. Not seeking romantic partners yet. How the years taint the youth in such terrible ways. The atrocities!

Back to the matter at hand. Mary would assist Lizabeth, of course she would as a Huffle and that was what they did. She was right to feel scared of course. The Professor was terrified!

Roma:

She was late to the ball but she did not miss the party. Unfortunately she entered the campground failing to notice the screaming and the shadows that were attacking. She would ask if she could do anything, a sweating and nervous Professor would reply to her simply. "Destroy Muggle technology," he would repeat, his voice grim and serious. If Cynthia's flashlight had not been crushed underfoot that would be a good place to start. "Or... run." He instructed. "Or... stay in the light." The Professor really could not make up his mind. He knew that light was likely a measure of safety, however he did not know for certain that it would dispel the shadows until he saw Orion successfully slay a shadow with his wand.

"Good job Orion!" Professor shouted.

"Yeah... cast Lumos," Solomon concluded. He was far from his happy, goofy self at this moment. His arms were tense and his face seemed weathered. He looked older than he actually was for good reason. Perhaps this is the first time he had to deal with the darkness in this manner, this was not the first time he had to fight to survive. He was always successful up until this point but he could not say the same for those around him. It had effected him over the years in a terrible way. It was one of the many reasons he stopped adventuring but that was a story for another day. Let's all survive this day.

Notes:

- Cynthia's flashlight was still ON. Try again next round of posts.

- Reid is still in the darkness with James. Reid is being attacked by a shadow.

- James is being attacked by a swarm of spiders.

- Serena is being attacked by a shadow and was hit once. She suffered 150 damage.

- Orion cast Lumos successfully and destroyed a shadow!

- You might notice that there are some rolls being used here. I am using a roller to determine success as I am beta'ing a mini adventure system. The stats used for this are the same stats being submitted for Quiddich as they will be the universal stat basis. For those whom have not applied for the Quiddich Team, you can still submit your stats in this thread if you wish to participate in a statistical manner (casting some first year spells, attacking, fleeing, taking damage, etc).

- I have a log of all rolls done Here

- Dont worry about post order. I will post in a few days.

Serena was apparently far more foolish than she realised. She ran in without even taking a moment to stop and think about what she was doing. Her friends were in danger. Perhaps nothing else mattered. Not even her own life, it seemed. Foolish she may be but a true Hufflepuff through and through when it came to loyalty. She had not planned to get too close to them. However, by the time she realised what was going on, it was too late. It was the shadows. They were the things attacking people. And so, the darkness came for her. It came quickly, engulfing her within seconds. There was no time to cast a spell. It had taken her before she could even open her mouth to cast one. 

The darkness hit her. Everything around her turned dark. "Ahhh!" She screamed out into the darkness, before she even realised her mouth had opened. Her voice called out instinctively, reacting to everything it felt. It happened before she could process what was happening. Doubling over from the pain, she instantly fell forward. Her body crashed into the ground, dropping her wand besides her before she could even catch herself. It felt like she had just been kicked in the chest. Hell, her ribs might have broken. The pain was all she knew and felt. She couldn't think about what happened, how it worked or what damage it was doing to her body. Nothing made sense to her right now, except the pain. 

Then it stopped. It felt someone had clawed her chest open. The core of her body shivered in a pain she could not describe. To her, the pain lasted for hours. In reality, that moment lasted only a moment. Gasping for breathe, Serena swallowed mouthfuls of air quickly. She felt like she had not taken a breathe in several minutes. Like she was drowning in the pain. Within seconds, her body forced her to cough though. Her throat hurt but she had to cough. She had no choice. It was forcibly coming out of her. As she coughed, her lungs made a gurgling sound. In her panicked state, she didn't realise it did. Serena did not even question the sound because she had failed to acknowledge she had made it. It was a very weird sound for her lungs to make... Were they punctured?

Her mind was distracted by something else though. The floor behind her head was splattered with blood. Her blood. She was... coughing out blood?!

Serena pushed herself up a little, still lying on the ground as she coughed out some more blood. She quickly looked up to see her attacker hovering around. The shadow. Struggling to move, she instinctively reached out for her wand and pushed herself up onto one elbow as she raised the her hand in the other hand. Pointing it at the shadow, holding her arm as straight as she possibly could. Her body was struggling to function right now. But one voice kept going through her mind. It didn't sound like Solomon's voice though. It sounded like... someone she knew. A friend of hers. Former friend, actually. Serena could hear his voice in her head. It said the last words she heard, even though he hadn't been the one to say them to her...

Knock back the darkness... Knock back the darkness... Knock back the darkness!

"L-Lu-" Serena struggled to say the spell that she needed to. Her chest hurt so much. But she suddenly knew what she had to do. She had to produce light somehow. She had to knock back that shadow. What would he do? Serena clutched her wand tightly. He would probably have started a fire with his bloody fist. Sadly, he was the best person to be around in this situation - the only time he would have been so useful to have around - and yet he wasn't here. Her eyes quickly flickered back to the campsite. The bonfire they had been working on! She could- No, no she could not. Her body would not let her get up at this point, let alone run to get that. This was her best option.

No, this was her only option. Knock back the flipping darkness, Serena! 

Hearing his voice so clearly helped to focus her mind. It was actually all just a trick of her mind, in the first place but it helped her nonetheless. Summoning up every ounce of strength she could, Serena focused it on her voice, "LUMOS!" She shouted, pointing her wand towards the shadow, pinning way too much hope into this moment. She had no choice though, the shadow was moving to attack her again. And she was still really worried about Reid and everyone else who had been trapped with one of these creatures around... If she gave up here, she would never be able to help them. 

Her only chance now was to fight it. Hopefully she could cast her spell successfully, if not, she would have to attempt to dodge it. If that failed too... let's just say it was going to hurt a lot.

“I’m trying to, but it won’t turn off, Professor,” Cynthia tried to explain.  He made an attempt to grab the flashlight from her, but as soon as he had a grip on it, the flashlight went off.  If the flashlight was to be destroyed, she wouldn’t mind as it was a very old flashlight that apparently did not work properly anyway.  That was more than likely the reason that she had trouble getting it to shut off.

She could not tell if Professor Lear was angry, scared or what, but one could definitely tell he was concerned about the safety of the others.  She looked up at Professor Lear with an apologetic and scared look, hoping that she was not in serious trouble.  He had mentioned she would be getting detention and she knew she had let him down.  Would he write home to her parents about what she had done?  If so, would they send her back a Howler for being so irresponsible?  She hoped not, shuddering at the thought.  She could have kicked herself now.  What was she thinking?  Bringing a muggle device to Hogwarts, not mentioning turning it on and using it?  Why didn’t she just use her wand if she needed a light source?  After all, she had her wand with her hidden inside her jacket.

“I know you must be upset with me right now, Professor, but I do want to help.  I feel partly responsible for what is happening right now and couldn’t live with myself if anyone got hurt because of a mistake I made,” she said to Professor Lear with a great deal of  sincerity.  “Please let me help,” Cynthia added.