A VanCleaf Debrief PV Finished

@Meenauh Silmataurea

"I thought that might've been what happened…" Evelynn replied, wrinkling her own nose as though the very mention of it sent a tingling sensation of blood running down her own. "Glad it stopped fine. They usually do, though."

Not that she was any kind of expert with nosebleeds or anything, but Evelynn's mother had been insistent to put her through a handful of first-aid courses from a very early age. You never know when you might need it… She could hear her mother echoing in her thoughts as she padded after Meenauh like a puppy. Parents will feel far more assured if they know you are able to tend to minor issues and injuries when caring for their children, came the supporting argument to the first. And Evelynn had to admit, it had come in handy several times. Usually more for herself than anyone else, though.

"Uh, yes, I was," Evelynn said joltingly, coming to just as sudden a stop when the one she was trailing turned to face her.

Gray eyes lifted to meet the searching gaze of her upperclassman. It was odd to be put under this sort of scrutiny; it was generally Evelynn who placed the appraising gaze upon others. She had to admit, it was a bit unnerving to find herself in a reverse situation. She kept flickering her gaze away from Meenauh's.

"No…nothing happened to me," she replied, a faint blush creeping up her neck as fingers lifted to tuck a loose strand of strawberry hair behind an ear. "Not that I know of, anyway…"

And true to her word, Meenauh would find no sign of illness or malady. Evelynn was pale, but no more than usual, with a spattering of faint freckles across her nose and cheeks. Stormy eyes found themselves framed by tousled ginger hair hanging down a little past her shoulders. She still wore her school robes, although black flats peaked from beneath the hem whenever she took a step, and a fine chain of silver hung about her neck, disappearing into the collar of her school uniform. Over her shoulder, she carried her schoolbag.

"I didn't come to go to the hospital wing," she reiterated, glancing back up to Meenauh. "You found quite a bit about that first tapestry," she explained, "and seemed to know a lot. But you left kind of early, before we took a look at the rest of them."

She broke the gaze once again to open her satchel and pull out a sketchbook, opening it to a page depicting a very rough and approximate sketch of the tapestry of hearing. The page opposite depicted the changes, with lines and labels to highlight what wasn't obviously apparent in the black and white and messy sketch.

"That's the one you found…obviously.." She offered the book forward in case Meenauh wanted to take it into hand for a better look. "But the other five are there too. Well, sort of. The tapestry of desire didn't change at all." She paused, chewing her lip nervously for a moment, feeling both worried about being a bother but also hoping to impress the elder student. "I was hoping to hear your thoughts. And maybe put our heads together. There's definitely something strange going on."

@Meenauh Silmataurea

Evelynn's brows knit together briefly, considering the most recent question. What if August VanCleaf was a Gryffindor? She'd thought about that, or that he could be the man in common clothes. But then, the latter had seemed sort of familiar to some. And there was the other little detail…

"Mn…" she hummed, mulling over the idea. "I don't know about that. I mean…maybe he was. But he didn't come into the common room. At least that's what Miss Minerva said. I don't know who actually arrested Mr. Potter, but it wasn't VanCleaf, and VanCleaf was heard apologizing over and over again from outside in the corridor."

Then something else occurred to her of what her upperclassman had said.

"And you said the badger could be Professor Lear? Was he in Hufflepuff when he was a student? And what about the cage being, like, trapped while under the effects of the mask? Aurelia said that the person wearing the glove controls the person wearing the mask. Maybe there was a Gryffindor under the effects of the mask?"

Evelynn continued to dog after Meenauh, trying her best to take long strides and remain abreast of her counter. Every now and then, however, she'd have to take a hastened step or two to catch up, and every time Meenauh stopped, she'd come to an abrupt halt, listening as though in a lecture and hanging on to every one of Meenau's words. It was exciting. Clandestine, almost. She felt as though she were in a real-life adventure.

Evelynn wasn't entirely unaware of Meenauh's reaction. The shocked expression had not gone unnoticed, and in truth, it was a materialization of the internal realization and dread that Evelynn had felt when Aurelia had first explained the implication of the mask.

"It was a Ben..." Brows pinched together and her gaze hazed a touch as she replayed that particular part of the scene where Aurelia had revealed the information. "Ben Eckenrode," she answered with a slight nod, as though reaffirming to herself that that sounded right. She glanced side-long to Meenauh then as she relayed the explanation that had been provided back in the common room. "She said they were dark objects ─ though I suppose that's a given. She said that it happened in her first year ─ do you know what year she is in? I suppose at least third, if you weren't there for it all..."

She trailed off, her own thoughts taking a similar turn as Meenauh's, wondering what exactly had transpired during the year Aurelia had mentioned. It was a terrifying thing to think about, in truth: the idea of being controlled by someone else; to act against your will. "I don't imagine it would be easy to talk to Ben about it, though..." She mused. "I don't think I'd like to have to talk about those memories over and over. They're probably pretty painful for him.."

In fact...had it been her, she's quite certain she would have insisted on being transferred to another school. She'd done so for much less than what this Ben fellow had had to endure. With a sigh, she compartmentalized those little trains into neat little stations to consider another day. Instead, she honed in on something Meenauh had said earlier.

"About Professor Lear... I just thought of something." She'd been wondering about the armor, but had shrugged it off as unimportant earlier. "The badger and the lion were both wearing armor. I thought at the time that maybe it had something to do with fighting or use of defensive spells or defending a person or something...but what if it means armor in the more, like, traditional sense. Like a coat of arms? Like how each of the Houses have their own coat of arms? If Professor Lear was the Head of House Hufflepuff, and if he's represented by a badger in arms, what if the lion represents whoever was Head of House Gryffindor at the time?"

It seemed the excitement of the common room had taken its toll on Meenauh. Or so Evelynn assumed. She had seen the girl taking sips from the potion now and then throughout their journey back to the Gryffindor tower from the Hospital Room, but wasn't aware of its sedative effects. Particularly as they climbed that winding staircase up the tower towards the Fat Lady's portrait, the pace seemed to slow and the yawns seemed to come in increasing frequency. Even still, Evelynn couldn't have known that her words were largely going unheard.

"Can you?!" Came the excited reply, grey eyes alight with anticipation as they darted to Meenauh. By the girl's own words, she could be helpful, and thankfully Evelynn needn't wait long to find out how.

"Professor Wright, eh…" Evelynn repeated thoughtfully, trying to think if she had heard the name before. She was pretty sure she hadn't. Excitement and wonder began to steadily fade as Meenauh continued, however. With every passing yawn-punctuated sentiment, the "helpfulness" seemed to drift further and further away until Evelynn was almost certain that the other lion knew as little as she did herself.

"Bummer…" Evelynn murmured with a sigh, lips pursing. Although… "Maybe Xailah or Aurelia would know?" she said hopefully, regurgitating the recently named third-year, as well as her own established role-model.

Of course…she had no idea who Xailah was. For a few more steps, she occupied herself with trying to put a face to name, conjuring any memories she had of Aurelia that might have included this unknown individual. But if Aurelia and she were roommates, then it at least meant that Xailah was a Gryffindor. Brows pinched and lips pressed together with the futility of Evelynn's train of thought. Really, she had hardly anything to go off of, and for once, she actually chided herself on her habit of withdrawing to quiet solitude for study; it did nothing to help her passively obtain knowledge about the people around her. From now on, she would do her studying in the library or the common room, she vowed.

"Who's Xai--" Sweeping her gaze back to Meenauh only to see her sinking to the floor, Evelynn cut herself short. "What are…" She blinked as the other set the empty flask down. "Who's Marla?" she then asked, glancing over her shoulder as though she thought perhaps Meenauh was addressing someone that Evelynn hadn't realized had arrived. She hadn't. The staircase was just as empty as she had thought it had been. When she looked back around, her brows rose. Meenauh had sunk even further to the point of sprawling out.

"Wooooaaah hold up…" Evelynn breathed, eyes widening, then stooped with hands spread as though pressing upon some invisible barrier cocooning the quickly-falling-to-slumber upperclassman. And then…she hovered, half-crouch, half-standing, and entirely uncertain what to do. Over her shoulder she peered again, but this time with an urgency and pleading expression, willing the timely and miraculous arrival of quite literally anyone to help her out. No one. "Uh…"

She swept her gaze back to her fallen comrade, biting her lip. Obviously…she couldn't just leave her here, and it was clear that there was something a little off about it all. By the sounds of it, Meenauh had just mistaken Evelynn for this "Marla" (whoever that was), and thought she was going to her dorms. Evelynn frowned, dropping into a squat next to Meenauh, head tilting to survey the girl's unexpectedly vulnerable visage.

"Pssssst…" she hissed, briefly lowering her face a little closer. "It's not a good idea to fall asleep in the middle of the corridors." Stating the obvious. Good start. She paused, waiting for a reaction, then continued with a prop to the shoulder and a more urgent, "wake up!"

"Oh come oooon," she whined, setting her elbows upon her knees, palms cupping puffed cheeks as though somehow that was going to help. She glanced over to the flask, eyeing it suspiciously. She reached for it. "Hrm…" she hummed, giving it a whiff. It wasn't a smell she recognized. Acknowledging that it was likely that Professor Price would, however, she pocketed it.

But now what? Evelynn set her gaze back upon the sleeping beauty (she was rather pretty). She couldn't very well carry her. She could drag her, she supposed, taking a moment to judge the distance between here and the portrait, but then dismissed that notion immediately. Getting her through the portrait hole would be a nightmare and a half. In a renewed effort to wake her, preferring the idea of guiding a half-sleeping person up to bed to, say, finding someone else to carry her, Evelynn jostled her shoulders again hopefully.

Try as she might, however, nothing seemed to wake the slumbering lioness. Stumped, Evelynn gave the girl one last poke to her forehead (for good measure!) before rising back to her feet. There's was nothing more to be done. There was but one reasonable option that remained to her: Evelynn would have to ask for some help. Fortunately, Meenauh had had the decency to collapse so near to their den.

As Evelynn closed the distance between her lump figure and the entrance to Gryffindor common room, she couldn't help pale at the notion of what might have happened if they hadn't made it this far. Evelynn would have been positively beside herself in a situation of having to decide between seeking assistance or staying to offer meager protection against wayward dhampirs. Thank goodness that wasn't the case.

After a hastily uttered password and swing of a portrait, Evelynn leaned through the portrait hole to survey the interior of the commons. "Hey! I need a little help over here!"

@Jo Morgan