Duck! PV Reopened

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

It was late afternoon—around 4:30pm, to be precise—and Ruby was on her way to the library to read, study, and complete homework that was assigned today. Mondays were no student’s favorite day, but since classes had already ended, she had made it through the hard part and had some time to relax before dinner. Her dark leather messenger bag was slung over her shoulder, the contents of which were various quills and pieces of parchment along with a couple of books that she had read recently and intended to return when she reached the library.

She rounded a corner, only a couple of minutes from her destination now, when she was met with the sight of a too-familiar head of red hair. The girl hiding unskillfully behind a suit of armor in front of her was most certainly none other than Ami Procoppio—the annoying, loud, obnoxious, stupid, easily-angered sixth year Hufflepuff who had firmly landed herself on Ruby’s bad side over two and a half years ago. For once, Ruby wasn’t looking for a fight—and interactions with Procoppio tended to end on one—but she also knew she wouldn’t be able to slip by her unnoticed, as the Hufflepuff seemed to be pretty focused on the corridor ahead, which was where Ruby needed to go. So, she cut her losses and accepted that interaction was inevitable. She just hoped that, for once, the older girl would have the maturity to not start a fight.

“Procoppio,” she began, greeting the girl neutrally and simply, “what are you doing?” She raised an eyebrow, looking at Procoppio critically, ice blue eyes cold as ever. She had to admit, a part of her was curious as to what the girl was doing, but not enough to stop and have a long conversation or risk provoking her into a fight. The only reason she had spoken in the first place was so that Procoppio wouldn’t have the chance to speak first, after Ruby’s back was turned. After turning away from Cecily Quinn that time in the dungeons and getting punched, she wouldn’t be making that mistake again.

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

When Ami had become a mother to one Leo Procoppio, she had expected him to be a low-maintenance child. However, as he found new feline friends during his time with her at Hogwarts, Ami discovered that maybe he wasn't quite as hands-off as she had originally thought. Nowadays, she found herself having to accompany her tabby boy to frequent playdates with his newest friend, Orpheus. Frankly, she wasn't too sure that Orpheus even liked Leo, but the aloof Mau seemed to tolerate her kitty-kid well enough, and Orpheus' owner seemed to tolerate Ami to the point of allowing these playdates to continue, even going as far as to supervising a few herself.

Frankly, Ami barely knew Astrea. She was quiet, polite, and well-spoken— the exact opposite of Ami. But she was pretty, witty, pretty witty, and her cat was friends with Leo, which meant she was okay in her book. After dropping her bag off in her dorm and grabbing a jacket, Ami headed out to the grounds to go pick up Leo from his little playdate with Orpheus, which Astrea had been supervising for the past ten minutes or so. On the way, Ami grabbed a thermos of tea for Astrea, who was sure to be freezing her cute little tuchus off out there, and a thermos of coffee for herself, before trudging out into the snow.

"Astrea!" Ami called out, waving the best she could with her hands full. She waded out to the younger Slytherin, handing her the thermos with a warm smile and an incredibly awkward side hug. "Hey, thanks for taking these two out, Leo needed some playtime. Oh! I also brought you some tea. I'm feeling like going back inside is the way to go, though. I think if Leo stays out here for too much longer, his brain will shut down from the cold. Maybe we can set up some sort of obstacle course inside for them."

She began to slowly steer Astrea toward the entrance of the castle as if the Slytherin were a sheep and she a herding dog. Leo, ever the rascal, continued to harass Orpheus while still making his way slowly but surely back inside. Ami, ever the chatterbox, continued to spew absolute nonsense intermixed with subtle flirtations at Astrea ("Pretty girls should never have to be cold— do you want my jacket?" and whatnot), before the girls and their cats finally made their way inside.

The sight that greeted the two just inside the door was one that Ami wished she could've captured on camera. First, in the foreground, was herself— not the Ami that walked through the door, but the Ami that was j-chilling by the entrance waiting for her. Almost instantly, Ami recognized that it was Cecily as herself (Amiception, if you will), and mentally applauded her Ravenclaw friend for so excellently portraying her attractiveness. But just behind Cec-Ami, balancing out the composition of the mental photo, was a slimy, smelly little snake named Ruby Cazares. Pretty? Sure, sometimes, when she wore those turtleneck sweaters. Evil? Most definitely. Her arch-nemesis? Absolutely, without a doubt. And clearly, Ruby was about to wreak havoc on Cec-Ami because the Slytherin, in all her genius, failed to recognize that the true Ami would never be caught dead wearing such an ill-fitting flannel. Her initial glee at Cecily's hilarious feat instantly morphed into a mask of anger and disdain, and a sneer crept over her normally happy and open face. Cecily had no idea Ruby was there, did she?

"Astrea, love, stay back," Ami murmured, stepping in front of the Slytherin and their cats. Cocking her arm back, the only weapon that was in her hand was the scalding hot caffeine she had brought outside with her. "Cecily!" she yelled, her eyes widening as she attempted to inform her friend of the imminent danger she was in. "Cec, DUCK!"

And with a roar, Ami launched the coffee cup in Ruby's direction.

Cecily almost didn't react when she heard a voice from behind her, clearly fooled by her disguise. She hesitated for a moment before turning around, catching a slightly unnerving glance of her own red hair as she did so. She was no Procoppio, but playing along for a moment would probably be easier than explaining what she was actually doing anyway.

Unless, of course, the person that just happened to be here at this very moment was everyone's least favorite person in the castle: one slimy snake by the name of Ruby Cazares. Why did she have to be everywhere all the time? The Ravenclaw could live happily without ever setting eyes upon the Slytherin for the rest of her life, but they were both already all in, so they might as well see this out.

"Caz—" Cecily caught herself and cleared her throat, preparing to put on the most believable American accent she could manage— which, honestly, was not very believable at all, but she hoped that the British girl wouldn't know any better. "Cazares. What's it to you?" This last part was delivered with all the bravado she could muster, hoping the attitude would distract from any dead giveaways in Cecily's disguise, including the few centimeters she couldn't quite stretch to meet Ami's ridiculous height, although it wasn't like Cazares would be holding up a tape measure to make sure.

And as if summoned, the very real, very tall Ami herself walked in on the scene— or, more accurately, charged in yelling wildly for Cecily to... duck? Cecily could duck. In fact, Cecily was so good at ducking that she could do it with her eyes closed, although she wasn't particularly keen on closing her eyes to Ruby. So, eyes open, glaring at the Slytherin, Cecily did exactly was Ami wanted her to. Or, at least, what she thought, in a moment of tension and adrenaline, Ami wanted her to do.

Quickly pulling out her wand, Cecily, in all her infinite wisdom and transfiguration skill, cast the jinx. "Ducklifors!" A ray of light burst from her wand, engulfing Ruby. But Cecily had not even a moment to appreciate her work— the beautiful view of a snake reduced to a mere waterfowl— before she felt something disgustingly warm and wet collide with the back of her head, nearly knocking her off balance. As it trickled down the back of her neck, just hot enough to be rather uncomfortable, the aroma quickly revealed it to be coffee. Some weird shit went down at Hogwarts, but flying coffee was a new one, and one she could stand to live without in the future.

Stunned for a moment, Cecily pushed her now dripping wet hair out of her face, staring at the duck in front of her that used to be a girl. She sure had ducked Cazares, which may have set her up for some hellish retribution in the future, but Ami had had worse ideas. But as the hot coffee continued dripping down her back and onto the stone floor, the pieces started to come together. Oh, Ami had meant "duck" like... duck. Like she was about to launch a cup full of steaming bean juice in her direction. Oh. Oh no.

threading as astrea edith soleil neptune-chou iii
opinion bewilderedly neutral

She gave them the heebie-jeebies.

It seemed that her dear Orpheus, skittishly aloof of humanity though he remained, had somehow found himself reluctant companionship in a certain silver tabby.

An unexpected development, yet one Astrea had peaceably accepted as normal from the third time Orpheus had returned to her with an uninvited guest nipping at his heels. Perpetually in a state of self-isolation from Hogwarts' student body, it was not in her nature to forcibly bind her spirited young disciple to the same doctrine. If Orpheus were to befriend this new interloper, then who was she to interfere? This easy, unbothered permissivity had lasted for merely a few weeks before she had been so peculiarly acquainted with "Leo's" owner.

Ami was tall, strong and absolutely shameless in her immediate coquetry, thinking near entirely with heart over head, yet surprisingly - almost loomingly - considerate considering her whimiscality. Had the redhead American not made her good-natured obliviousness clear from the beginning, perhaps Astrea's opinions would not have been as tolerant as they were. Completely unfamiliar with such bold flirtation, what more could Astrea do but test the waters to which she had been cast adrift? It was far from the shy courtship that she had once engaged in - quietly composed of pressed flowers and painstakingly drafted letters - and yet, still somewhat guiltily after all this time, she could not claim to be totally opposed.

It was this natural attentiveness that was slowly charming our young heir, who had earlier ventured out and had been obliged to supervise both cats near the Great Lake in caution of Orpheus' water-loving nature on such a clouded day. She did not, in fact, accept Ami's jacket when offered. It was a sweet idea, but Astrea was plenty warm enough in her many layers. Presented with a container of (likely slightly oversteeped and oversweetened, but appreciated nonetheless) tea, the set of pairs had entered the castle's walls amicably - only to immediately freeze at the entrance.

The sudden increase in energy and company had left Astrea too wary to do anything but judge, increasingly incredulous and equally judgemental, the ensuing catastrophe. A reluctant bystander she remained alongside her dear Orpheus, ever sidelined in the name of bolder personalities. The Egyptian Mau was not the type to so boldly leap towards a new situation - the very opposite from the impromptu coffea eructo that Ami had so crudely cast. With such a personality, her dear companion would likely avoid crowding her fellow, albeit currently - and somewhat disgracefully, if not in sudden appearance than in dignity - transfigured Slytherin, but Astrea had little knowledge about Leo's demeanour. So many unknown variables, so little context...

Never before had she, a person of quietly overflowing criticism and unexercised vague sympathy, been more grateful that she had never been considered for Prefect. If this was the kind of conflict that regularly occurred about Hogwarts' grounds, then perhaps it was best for her to abstain. Her palpable disapproval was clear by her presence alone, and yet she was surrounded by supposedly wiser 5th and 6th years instead of idiotic underclassmen seeking to test their limits. With two corralled cats all but clutching at her skirts like children and wand quickly in hand, scarcely a word of further acknowledgement left her past a swift scouring charm over the outwardly caffinated Ravenclaw before she turned her attentions past the double-Ami fiasco.

Had she been in Ruby's unfortunate feathers shoes, Astrea would not have stood to bear the fowl shame of such public humiliation. She could have been damned by the gods themselves and still, she would have rather been done in without outsider fanfare - immediately fleeing the imminent crime scene and appearing only to be cured of her begrudging plight. As it was, Astrea did not trust that the former prefect would not do just that. For all of her lack of knowledge about ducks for such an unceremonious confrontation, she could imagine that a cornered creature could easily outpace them all.

The barren hallways seemed all the more tempting with every passing second...

She had nothing else to give.

trunk information found here
orpheus reference found here

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

Procoppio responded with a “what’s it to you?” and Ruby thought it was mildly uncharacteristic—to be honest, she had expected insults, more of the “slimy little ass beetle” and other assorted pathetic swears that the Hufflepuff thought she was so tough for using. Not that Ruby was complaining about how she was responded to today—the arrogance and stupidity that came across still remained preferable to the childish insults. She debated how to respond or whether to just bite the bullet and leave, but then she heard talking.

Coming around the corner was none other than Ami Procoppio. What in Merlin’s name. Well, she couldn’t be called the one and only Ami Procoppio anymore, that was for sure. A sneer appeared on the second Procoppio’s face at the sight of Ruby, and she guessed this was the real one, especially considering she had looked surprised and thrilled at the sight of the first Procoppio. If that was Procoppio, who was this? That was a mystery for later, as the second, likely real Procoppio told Astrea to stay back, calling her “love”. Really? Were they dating or something, and was Astrea someone Ruby had to add to her list of enemies by proxy? She had thought highly of Astrea before, having some respect for the other aloof, refined pureblood, but if Astrea had a habit of lowering herself to the level of choosing Procoppio as her company, maybe Ruby would have to rethink that. Granted, Astrea was gorgeous—spellbinding, really—so it wasn’t surprising that she would have admirers and many of them, at that, but she was way above Procoppio’s level. Anyone with eyes could determine that, even if they didn’t know the personalities of the two.

Her thoughts were forcibly pulled away from Astrea’s beauty when real Procoppio yelled “Cecily!” Well, that cleared up who the first one was. This certainly wasn’t Ruby’s choice of people she would like to be alone in a hallway with… outnumbered again, just like in the dungeons two years ago. But like last time, she would be sure to come out victorious, or at least unscathed in comparison. Failure was never an option for her. Procoppio continued her yelling with a cry of, “Cec, duck!” which… undoubtedly meant that something was headed Ruby’s way. Violence? Already? Well, that really didn’t take long. “Nice to see you too, Procoppio,” she sneered in response, but she took a careful few steps out of the projectile’s path.

She was about to mock Procoppio and Quinn, so focused on their ridiculous behavior that she didn’t pay attention to what Quinn was saying. And then it hit her—right before the spell did. Ducklifors. Quinn was trying to turn her into a duck. “No. No no no. Quinn, I’ll kill you for this, I swear I will.” Pure fury was in Ruby’s eyes, twisting her expression as she backed away, hands raised. But it was too late—far too late. She shrunk, her eye level sinking to become even with the other girls’ legs. The leather bag she had been carrying sagged to the floor, the strap falling off. She looked around frantically, finding that she had feathers, and was a small, vulnerable creature. Oh fuck no.

At least there was a small bit of karmic justice served immediately—Quinn got hit with the hot coffee, her hair getting soaked. She looked so startled and uncomfortable, making Ruby laugh. However, having a beak for a mouth, it turned out along the lines of “quaaack aaa aaa aaak” instead of a normal laugh. The sound was enough to stop her in her tracks, and she would’ve frowned if her eyebrows were present. Instead, she stared ahead, the rage being reinvigorated. She charged at Quinn, ducky wings spread out, with the angriest look a little duck face could muster. She tried cursing Quinn and Procoppio out, but it came out as a series of loud, angry quacks that bordered on squawks. Launching herself into flight, wings dramatically spread, she reached Quinn, attempting to peck her with her hard beak. Quinn moved out of the way just in time, dodging little Ruby, but she was angry and fast and after a couple of rounds of this, Ruby eventually caught her, firmly pecking Quinn on the foot with an extra squawk—a battle cry.

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

As a former captain of not one, but two sports, Ami liked to assume that she was a fairly experienced leader whose requests and commands were generally quite clear. After all, when there was the risk of a bludger knocking you off your broom or a poopy pigeon shitting on your face, being able to react in a timely manner was incredibly important, and any yelled instruction needed to be crystal clear in order to avoid miscommunication. So on what planet would a command to "duck" mean anything other than dropping to the ground? Cecily was making her look real bad as a leader with her Transfiguration shenanigans. Maybe the coffee soaking the metamorph was just karma.

"Cecily Quinn," Ami managed to wheeze out in between her laughter and amazement. "For a Ravenclaw, you're as dumb as chickenshit sometimes."

But they had far more pressing matters to deal with. Ruby the Duck started squawking furiously, and Ami's howl of laughter had her doubled over at the waist and she desperately tried to catch her breath. "Nevermind!" she giggled, wiping tears of joy off of her cheeks. "Cecily, this is the funniest thing you've ever done. Maybe you should be a stand-up comic instead of a pro Quiddy player. I think Yorny, Cy, Wade, Aarden, all of 'em... they'd be proud of what you've learned."

And then Ruby started pecking at Cecily's feet, and Ami's laughter devolved into full-on snorting. "Oh my god," she choked out, barely able to keep her wand steady. "Jesus..."' Suddenly remembering that there was a very pretty girl that she very much wanted to impress standing right next to her, Ami straightened and attempted to collect herself. "Astrea... I promise Cecily and I normally don't walk around ducking, fucking, or fucking with people. But also, Ruby sucks ass. So I feel like this is deserved."

But the pair of silly sixth years couldn't exactly let an angry duck run around the castle, could they? Because as much as Ami wanted to let Ruby waddle about the corridors, she knew the snake would go running off to a professor at her nearest opportunity to rat on them. And as was the American motto, Ami fully believed that snitches get stitches. "Okay, Astrea... watch a master at work," she said confidently, shedding her jacket. "Cecily, don't let Ruby get past you!" If that wasn't explicit enough, the two of them needed to have a serious talk about communicating in English.

Swooping behind Ruby the duck so she was trapped between Cecily and herself, Ami opted to use her jacket as a herding tool, like a butterfly net, to usher Ruby toward Cecily. The plan was fairly obvious and straightforward: trap Ruby the Duck between herself and Cecily and then swoop down and grab her. Unfortunately, Ruby was far angrier than Ami had previously ever seen, and it took a good few minutes of side-stepping and wing-flapping for Ami and Cecily to trap Ruby between the two of them. "Godammit you stupid little snake," she grumbled, her hands desperately grasping at Ruby to try and get a hold of her. Finally, her hands closed around the warm, feathery duck body, and Ami triumphantly raised Ruby in the air as if she were Rafiki and Ruby was Simba. "Got her!" she crowed.

"Astrea, look, isn't this silly?" she giggled, shoving Ruby the duck in Astrea's direction. "God, Cecily, this might actually be better than drenching that nerd in coffee. Good job."

threading as astrea edith soleil neptune-chou iii
opinion exponentially unimpressed

She gave them the heebie-jeebies.

It was as if the chaotic energy shared between her two elders were contagious, for the easily influenced Leo had quickly latched onto the situation with an alarming lack of self-awareness. The tabby's rambunctious personality - all wayward limbs and sound - made Astrea only grateful for Orpheus' comparative manageability. Yet even the quality of her beloved pet's personality could not resolve the bizarreness that had befallen them all with the increase of company, chaos and noise. Somewhat expectedly for the dignified cat’s demeanour, the young Slytherin could only gently persuade the increasingly annoyed feline away from pointedly snapping at a touchy tail and curious feet. Had Astrea the fair warning to flee beforehand, she was sure that her closest companion would have gladly taken the chance to escape for calmer storms - a prospect that was seeming evermore appealing with each passing second.

The validity of Ami's claim on usual activities, considering Astrea's lack of further knowledge, was one of questioning acceptance. There was a certain strain of incredulous scepticism in dubious acquiescence, a quality that had never felt more distinct than in their current situation. Needless to say, Astrea — a rather proud snake herself — was doubly unimpressed at Ami’s frustrated remarks. Even so, she could not disregard the American’s foolhardy accomplishment in seizing an uncooperative human duck, incomprehensible Lion King reference aside. It was apparent that those hours spent practising one's swing had some correlation with unexpectedly superior hand-eye coordination.

Blinking blankly between the proffered bird and its guilty party, Astrea found herself as unfavourably disconcerted as her dear Orpheus, who had tangled himself against her stalled steps at the moment of conflict. “Yes. How… ridiculous.” (If Ami aimed to fulfil 'gift-giving' as a love language, perhaps a live, borderline feral and transfigured human-duck wasn't the best choice. Not that gift-giving was Astrea's preferred love language, to begin with.) Reduced to a bystander as per her usual role, she took the opportunity to remove all possible elements of further destruction from the main conflict.

Carefully gathering the angrily frightened bird in her arms, Astrea was all but cradling her poor year mate away from the multi-angled harassment. For all of Ami’s enthusiasm, the Hufflepuff seemed to cross boundaries with little care. Though Astrea - with as little information as she had - was sure that Ruby would have made her loathing clear had the other a human mouth, there was no denying that the young heir was the best alternative in this situation. With Ami's jacket draped over an arm and an unwillingness to reintroduce Cazares to cat-based foot traffic, she made the undesirable compromise to handle both clothing and canard away from their perpetrators.

Astrea's cultivated upbringing must have irreparably altered her sense of humour, for she failed to see the hilarity in such public humiliation. Though far from an empathetic person by nature, it would be remiss for her to brush off the incident's burgeoning animosity. Levelling a sharp look of disapproval towards the two “Hufflepuffs”, she sought, by presence alone, to wordlessly provide some semblance of calm towards the frazzled former prefect. "If the two of you are quite finished, I trust that you are to resolve this situation promptly?” To ridicule the misfortune of another, wrought by their own hands... It was clear that Astrea had expected too much out of Ami in their acquaintanceship. Indeed, her first impressions (as their budding interactions could only be classified as such) did not regard the other as an active bully.

Perhaps her sense of judgement was not as impartial as expected, long estranged from Hogwarts' society enough to degrade even the most unassuming of interactions... That simple possibility, regardless of its actual probability, was - strangely - one of the most disappointing prospects that Astrea could have concluded to date.

She had nothing else to give.

trunk information found here
orpheus reference found here

Ami's incredulous laughter was nothing short of contagious, and Cecily couldn't help but snort at the scene in front of her. The screeching duck that was previously a student, the two Ami Procoppios, the incredulous Slytherin bystander, and the two cats who seemed not to know what to do with this scenario. It was like they were in a comedy, a situation designed to maximise humor for the viewing audience. And it was hysterical.

Cecily felt a deep sense of gratitude towards the severe Slytherin who had scourgified the scalding coffee off her back, but she had the unsettling sensation that the girl didn't do it out of the kindness of her heart. She seemed more... exasperated than sympathetic, although Cecily couldn't blame her. it seemed she'd been dragged this way by Ami, as Ami was wont to do with those in her orbit, and now she was stuck wrangling not only her own cat, but the chaotic whirlwind known as Leo as well.

For a moment, Cecily considered the necessity of getting retribution against Ami, as she was sure the coffee would still leave a mark. But, all things considered, Cecily's state was almost entirely her own fault. She couldn't hold it against the Hufflepuff that she wanted to bomb Ruby with a container of coffee. Honestly, had Cecily been the one in her shoes, she might very well have done the same. The slimy Slytherin, in all her evil, power-abusing glory, had it coming.

Speaking of the slimy Slytherin herself, Cecily had not a moment to revel in her victory before the snake— well, duck— was out for revenge. The Ravenclaw found herself tap dancing away from Ruby-Duck's attempts to take a chunk out of her foot, but it was only a matter of time before her furious pecking would yield a result. Cecily swore under her breath as the duck's hard beak made contact with her foot. Why did it hurt so much? She was wearing shoes, and ducks' bills weren't even that sharp! Furthermore, and more importantly, why was she taking the brunt of every attack so far? First the hot beverage splattered across her back; now one angry, prideful, violent waterfowl out for her demise. It was like the universe was out to teach her a lesson, but she couldn't imagine what for, or indeed what she was supposed to take away from this situation (besides the obvious: a shout of "duck!" very rarely means "turn them into a duck!" and, in fact, quite likely means to duck out of the way, because there is a projectile rapidly making its way towards your skull).

"Don't let Ruby get past you!" Contrary to the not so misguiding prior command, there was no room for misinterpretation here, unless Cecily was exceptionally bad at speaking the English language. As a native speaker, she liked to think she was actually pretty good at it, so understanding Ami's instruction should be a piece of cake.

Excecuting it, however, would not be quite so easy.

Cecily had all but backed herself into the wall in a futile attempt to avoid Ruby-Duck's spiteful aggression, but took a step forward in an effort to close the space between Ami and herself. Ami's confidence in catching Ruby was admirable, but the indignant, enraged duck would not go down so easily. In a flurry of feathers and a symphony of squacks— human and duck alike— Cecily would sacrifice her own limbs to Ruby's bill as she tried her best to cut off her escape routes and corral the duck towards Ami's jacket. With Ruby-Duck safely wrapped up and away from the Ravenclaw, she took a moment to nurse her battle scars. This may have been one of the plans of all time, but at what cost?

Cecily stared in mild annoyance at the Slytherin girl cradling Ruby-Duck like a child, clearly protective of her own house. Cecily would typically have no issue with defending one's housemates, but this particular housemate did not deserve a defense. She deserved persecution for her misdeeds and general evil behaviour. Cecily looked at Ami. "Sorry, uh... who's this?" The expectation to "resolve this situation promptly" was a little much for Cecily. She had suffered for this, and surely would be getting death threats from Cazares as long as they both lived, so they might as well enjoy the moment while it lasted. Cecily cleared her throat and pointed at the duck. "She started it."

Koko had stayed late after class to ask a question about one of her homework assignments. It was a conceptual question, and it took a bit of explaining until Koko understood what she needed to do to answer it. She could almost feel her brain aching when she left the classroom far later than usual. Her legs were tired of sitting, and she wanted to go for a quick jog─but knowing her, it wouldn't be a quick jog. It would be a way to procrastinate, a way to avoid studying... Which she really needed to do.

Thus, Koko entered the corridors already in an awful mood. Her blonde hair was tied back in a bun that would inevitably come loose, and she glanced down at her bag as she walked. She rearranged papers and finally managed to fit her new assignments in the bag in a way that didn't make her upset.

She heard voices echoing down the corridor, and although Koko was usually extremely non-confrontational, she couldn't help but be intrigued. The most noticeable noise was laughter, and Koko wanted to find out what was so funny. She needed to, really, after torturing her brain cells with theories and concepts.

Finally, Koko rounded a corner and saw a few girls around her age. Wait. Was that Ami Procoppio? No, there were two Amis. That couldn't be right. As far as Koko knew, there was only one Ami Procoppio at Hogwarts.

She stood, dumbfounded, for a moment. She glanced from Ami to Ami in a vain attempt to discern what─or, possibly, who─was happening. Koko reached for her wand, not that it would do anything, and she took a step towards the two Amis.

Then she stopped. Her toe had hit something mildly firm but a little squishy. She looked downwards, hoping with all her heart she hadn't nearly tripped over someone's pet, and she frowned. Someone had left their bag on the ground. In fact, the bag looked a lot like Ruby Cazares's bag, and Koko picked it up off the ground to make sure. Hm.

Koko glanced up once again. She looked at Ami, then Ami, then the Slytherin girl who was most certainly not Ruby. Koko's friend was nowhere in sight. Koko continued to glance between the Amis, as if one of them would transform into Ruby, but then she noticed the duck between them.

'Er... Cute duck,' Koko said blandly. 'Have any of you seen Ruby Cazares around here? About yea high...' Koko reached just a bit above her head. She then sighed and held up the bag in her other hand. 'This is her bag. I'd like to return it to her.'

@Cecily Quinn · @Ruby Cazares · @Ami Procoppio · @Astrea Soleil Neptune