Lock-in Hufflepuff Gryffindor Event Closed

Rosie did indeed receive Howie's note. She accepted it graciously from the witch, briefly wondering why she wasn't going to the lock in tonight. Her bag was already in hand. One last glance around proved she hadn't left anything behind. Satisfied, she headed out, leaving about two minutes behind Howie and the rest.

As she got there, everyone was already headed into the catacombs. Her right eyebrow raised curiously as multiple people eyed the door suspiciously. Once inside, a feeling of dread settled in her belly. It was likely due to the fact that they were catacombs. Catacombs, by her own definition were creepy. She shivered, but pressed on nonetheless. Howie's note had said he was leaving before her, which meant he should be there.

She spotted him over in the corner by Ami and paused. She didn't want to intrude. Did Howie want her over there with them? She shook her head. Howie had left her a note for her to meet up with him, so she had to be welcome. Her mind made up, she made her way over to Howie and Ami, being careful not to step on any students that were setting up for the night. She eyed Howie's bag and grinned. "Is that spot for me?" She sat down on the other side of Howie's bag and began to unroll her sleeping bag and set up for the night. Of course, if Howie moved his things, she would take the spot that his bag currently occupied.

A lock-in. With Hufflepuffs. If there was a hell, being locked in a dark, damp underground area with his least favourite house would probably it. If he'd been keeping to himself like he probably should, Max would've stayed in the Gryffindor Common Room with a good book and the thought of the horrors his classmates would face for entertainment. Unfortunately, his friends were all going and so was the history prof - he couldn't pass up the chance to go in case some historical story was told that he wasn't able to overhear. That, and the burning curiosity of what would happen, since he'd be fidgeting all night with inquisitiveness.

Everyone was pretty much already gone by the time he decided he was going.

Scrambling around the room, he threw together a hastily packed bag with nightclothes, extra robes, a sleeping bag, his wand, and the pink teacup that he'd anonymously received for reasons he couldn't even fathom. The last was a spur-of-the-moment thing only chosen because he didn't have a water bottle to fill up. Kids may laugh at how girly it looked now, but they wouldn't be laughing when the lock-in ended up going for longer and everyone had forgotten to pack something to hold water.

Finishing up quickly, he slung the bag over his shoulder and cast a longing glance at the comfy bed the school had provided. Why did it feel like it would be a while before he saw it again? One night couldn't go that wrong, right? Shoving away his misgivings, he bolted for the grounds so he could catch up with everyone before the 'lock' part of the in started. He managed to reach the edge of the crowd in time to hear the riddle, and he frowned as he turned it over in his mind. Couldn't you just... walk through the door? It hadn't demanded an answer, right?

Before he could say any of that, however, Rhea and Dorian stepped forward and casted Lumos. A flash of light, some weird language he'd never seen, and no door opening. "Just go in," he muttered under his breath, but hell if he was the one who was going to risk death or injury before the fun even began. A moment later and his suspicions were confirmed when the Hufflepuff professor said the world's worst pun and simply walked in.

With a sigh, Max followed the tail end of the crowd and let them all begin to funnel into the foreboding place like a bunch of sacrifices being fed to a dragon's inky maw. It all felt so weirdly archaic that he half expected tribal chants and men with swords clashing as he entered. Not so much of that was around, but there were torches making shadows dance on the walls. Ah hell. He hated the darkness, and torches generally seemed to make it worse - they could play pretty bad tricks on your mind.

He was finally able to enter the first large, open area when everyone else got in. Down, down, click, click, cl - Squish. He made a face as he glanced down, lifting a foot to find a patch of moss underneath. Was that normal? Could moss grow in pitch black? It... it must just be a normal thing. He couldn't afford to be paranoid. Shaking his head to try to clear the growing sense of unease, he was able to pick out his friends beginning to set up their sleeping bags. Lifting a hand in greeting, he jogged over to greet them and claim a spot near them. The immortal trio and CO could figure out any mystery, that much he was confident of. Hopefully the mysteries here were safe ones.

"Thank Merlin there's some red in this yellow sea," he said by way of greeting, scowling at any Hufflepuff who came within a three foot radius of him. "I bet the four us can get up to some trou - " He stopped mid-sentence when he caught sight of none other than Rosie Parker, looking as if she wanted to join in with his friends. Did any of them know her? Why was she with these guys of all people? A few months ago he might've poked fun at her or teased her until she cried, but now he simply decided to ignore her. " - ble. Should be interesting." With a grin that only included the Gryffindors, he started taking out his things.

ACTION: Enter area and greet Dorian, Rhea, and Eris. Unpack.

Cynthia hoped this lock-in adventure would be fun.  With her backpack resting on her shoulders, she smiled as Professor Lear reassured her that things would be different.  She wanted to get her mind of the recent campout tragedy and put that all behind her.  She had contacted her parents and they immediately came to Hogwarts to be with her while she recovered, giving her their love and support.  They did not want their young daughter to be alone during the healing process.

Cynthia quietly joined the other Hufflepuffs who were going to the lock-in as well.  She didn’t say much to anyone while they all followed Professor Lear as he led them to where the lock-in was going to be taking place.  They had walked along the grounds which, unfortunately, still displayed the results of the camp-out.  Cynthia tried hard not to look in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.  She wasn’t completely over that event and did not want to be reminded of it anytime soon. 

They followed Professor Lear across the grounds and down two flights of stairs that seemed to be made of the earth itself before stopping in front of a door of aged wood and brass hinges that looked like vines.  There was also a brass knob.  Once they all were safely through the door, Cynthia pulled out her wand and muttered “Lumos!”  A small light emitted from the tip of her wand.

Everyone was in a dimly lit room.  After looking around for a moment or two, Professor Lear seemed pleased with the work the house-elves had done.  He instructed everyone to find a spot and unroll their sleeping bags.  The treasure hunt would be starting in thirty minutes and Cynthia looked forward to it because she liked treasure hunts.  They were fun.  Cynthia chose a spot close to one of the torches.  She wasn’t afraid of the dark, but somehow the light from the torches reassured her this time.

There was a bit of a fuss down the narrow cave. The tall girl was quite behind the group of students. Her height gave her an advantage, as the girl craned her head, she could see Proffesor Lear with a few students meddling with what seemed like a door. What was so ineresting about a door? It wasn’t long before they started moving again. The were led through the same door which held the group up.

Behind the door was a large empty room which was dimly lit. Four torches placed on the corners of the room were the only light source. A few students had already cast lumos, Aurelia unfortunately hadn’t learnt the spell yet. She dumped her sleeping bag at a corner of the room near a torch. Aurelia wasn’t afraid of the dark but being underground in a dark cave made her a little uneasy. She hoped that her friends had come, she didn’t want to sleep alone and not have anyone watching her back.

After that hufflepuff incident she had read on the house’s papers, she should be aware that she couldn’t count on professors to Ensure her safety. The girl tapped on the pocket on the back of her pants to make sure her wand did not slip out and it was always within reach.

After she laid out her sleeping back she looked around. Others were already gathered and chattering noisily. They were distracted and Aurelia heard that there were items hidden around. A treasure hunt? How fun. She would be one of first to get the good stuff. The brunette stood and began searching the area for items.

ACTION: layout sleeping bag at (1,2)

Reducio

ACTION: Perception check

With a silent exterior and a blank expression on her face, Serena followed the Head of Hufflepuff. Her gaze remained fixed on the ground in front of her as she walked, not engaging with anyone on the way. She could hear the chatter of other students but her brain did not take in the words that they said. There had been some hesitation in the common room. She could sense peoples' anxieties, hesitation and the dark cloud that loomed over the room... The one where people avoided talking about what happened at the last event. A number of them had been there. Others knew someone who had.

A few people were in a great mood, however. Perhaps blissfully unaware of the dangers that had fallen upon them. It was one of those things... it was never as bad when you heard about it from someone else. If you did not witness it yourself, you would never fully understand it. People thought they could have done a better job, that their houses would not have gotten so hurt, that they would have been fine. People liked to think of themselves as unbeatable, putting others down. 

People always questioned her. She could feel them looking down at her. How could a shadow do any harm? They thought she was weak. She allowed a shadow to attack her. Literally, the shadow. No one could comprehend the pain, unless they had experienced it. She could not even explain it. There were just no words to describe how excruciating the pain had been. Serena was just glad that most people never had to feel that pain. It was by far the worst thing she had felt. Worse than the burns she had received on numerous occasions. How did a shadow manage to puncture her lungs internally in one attack whilst slicing into her chest so badly that her rib-cage was exposed in the next? It internally and externally damaged her entire chest. It had hugged her so tightly that she felt the bones in her arms bend in a way they weren't meant to. It had crushed them within its grasp before she could do anything. It took away her ability to see and hear but she felt every single thing. In the darkness, alone, she felt it all.

Unaware of her own actions, Serena lifted her left hand, placing it on the upper part of her right arm. It stayed there, holding it. Magic worked in wonderful ways, sometimes. She could recall not being able to move it before. She remembered what it felt like to not be able to breathe or just cough out too much blood every time she did. The pain had faded and the scars had healed. But the memory would never leave her mind. It haunted her, every day. Every time the light in the candle flickered, she remembered how the darkness was coming.

Serena's eyes remained fixated. Silently and obediently following the group. Her gaze moved once. Only once. They passed by the charred grounds of the camp out. Serena's eyes flicked to the trees and took the sight in. She had not been conscious for it, nor did she remember it but she had been told of the fire that had occurred that night. She had seen the burn victims when she awoke, smelt the scent of burnt flesh, found soot everywhere her eyes looked. She was lucky enough to have gotten away just losing a few inches of her long hair. She owed her gratitude to Reid for that one. It would likely have been a lot worse if he hadn't managed to get her out of there in time. She had almost died before the fire had started. She had no doubt that that would have killed her if she had inhaled too much of the smoke. Serena had barely been able to breathe as it was.

Taking it all in, she sighed softly. It was the only noise to escape her lips during the entire walk from the Common Rooms to this moment. How did this all happen? Why did it all happen? There were no answers to her questions. Well, there were no suitable answers to her questions. She had been told that a muggle device - namely a flashlight - had reacted badly with something, causing the shadows to come alive. Apparently there was also spiders but she had no idea where they had come from. All she knew was that the muggle devices were banned. A few students - herself included - had personally searched through bags to make sure that none were brought on this trip. They could not afford a repeat incident nor take the risk with one. Once was enough. Serena prayed to whatever higher being that may or may not exist, silently begging for it to never occur again. To anyone.

Serena stopped walking as they approached some stairs. She looked around, taking it in. There were a couple of flights of stairs with a large door at the end. An interesting door with a face above it. The Hufflepuff blinked as she watched the interaction between Solomon and the door. It... spoke to him, warning him to stop. The door's voice was so loud that she could hear it before she had even started to descend the staircase. 

She could not help but wonder... What the hell were they getting into...?

She had never seen these stairs or this door. In fact, this area seemed a bit unfamiliar to her. The Hufflepuff frowned. There were plenty of places that she had not seen in the castle, she had no doubt about that. However, exploring was one of her favourite pastimes. Before the campout, she had spent countless hours wandering around the castle. The Grounds were always somewhere she explored... It was just strange to her that she had entirely missed a stairwell this big. Serena's feet automatically started to take the stairs. Foolishly, they followed her Head of House. It was perhaps that unfaltering loyalty she had in her blood that made her a Hufflepuff - and perhaps the first to die.

Whilst she was lost in thought, she noticed a few students react to the door that had threatened them with death. Gryffindors. Serena blinked, suddenly aware that the red house had appeared. She had been so absentminded and lost in her own thoughts that she had missed their arrival - until they began to take over. A few immediately started to cast spells. There were a whole bunch standing around, standing back. Everyone was a bit cautious it seemed. The news of the camp out had spread far and wide, after all.

You die... You die... You die...

The words echoed in her ears. It was a concept she was all too familiar with these days. Most of her thoughts were about death and, well, how to avoid it. Walking into a door after it had just threatened them with death seemed like a reckless thing to do. But this was an event with Gryffindors. If it wasn't a bit reckless, what was the point?

Her hands fell to her sides as Professor Solomon went for it. "Wa-" There was no point in trying to  stop them. He had already pushed open the door without hesitation, walking through it. It was too late now... His voice fell onto her ears, warning them not to antagonise the door. It relieved her a little to hear it. At least he was alive. What concerned her, however, was that it sounded a bit... different. The tension surged through her. Her eyebrows furrowed. What just happened? 

Immediately, she took a step forward, attempting to get closer to the door to find out. Was he okay? The recklessness had almost rubbed off onto her. She was about to barge into the room, following him just to make sure he was okay. But other students had recklessly ran in first.

Serena stood there. Not too far from the door. She couldn't see anything inside it. The door was ajar but... there was no light coming out. It was consumed by the one thing she had grown to hate. The darkness. Gasping softly, she stood a little step backwards. The hesitation clear as day on her face. It was pitch black dark. 

The darkness that had tried to kill them all... The black as cold and as dark as her heart. Serena stared into the gap. There was no way she was going in. She just couldn't... Her body had frozen still, refusing to take a single step forward. It refused to move forward. Students passed her to go but she could not follow them.

Every ounce of hope was being sucked out of her. She could not believe she was here again. Standing face to face with the darkness. This time, it had not engulfed her. Not yet anyway. It stood there, trying to tempt her to go in. She was going to have to willingly walk into the one room she really did not want to walk into.

"N- No..." She whispered to herself, muttering under her breathe as she shook her head a little. There was no way. She would not do this. 

Nope, nada, nuh uh. It ain't happening, buster.

Rooted to the spot, she stared at the door. She did not move closer but she did not move away either. She just stayed there. Staring into the dark abyss that she was too familiar with.

Oh c'mon, Serena, you're almost 12. And you're scared of the dark?! Seriously? Like... what? Are you five again? Eurgh, Des would laugh so much. Ugh. Come on, just... stop this. It... will be fine. Right? It can't be bad. Not twice. That doesn't happen... Right? Look, you can't get over it if you don't face it. Just go. It's gonna be ok- we're all gonna die... No no... Not again...

Serena stood there, telling herself to go in. Eurgh, she knew her older brother, Desmond, would be mocking her for these thoughts. She could hear his annoying laughter in her ears. It was such a nuisance being related to that boy, who wasted no time or opportunity to make fun of her. She was turning twelve this week and here she was, scared of the darkness. Her brother would be on the floor in hysterics if he knew.

C'mon... It's fine... Serena kept trying to convince herself that it would be okay but she did not believe her own words - well thoughts. Her hand was definitely shaking and nothing she could say would stop it. 

Knock back the darkness...

The words that Lear had spoken not too long ago, on that dreaded night came back to her. The darkness had won the last time they played this game. She had let it win. She could not let it win again, not now not ever. But for her to beat the darkness, she had to be able to produce light. Grabbing her wand, she brought it in front of her, "L- Lumos..." She whispered. The wand did nothing. Her shaky pronounication was certainly not helping. "C'mon..." She had successfully done this once before. The night of the campout, she had attempted to cast Lumos. This spell was one of the reasons she was alive today. She had successfully destroyed the shadowy creature that was attacking her before she passed out. It prevented the creature from getting in a third attack that probably would have resulted in 'game over'. "Lumos!" Serena cast her spell again, waving her wand around but the shakiness of her hand prevented the wand movements from being accurate.

She kept trying. And each and every time she failed. The more she failed, the more frustrated she got with herself. The more frustration she felt, the harder it became to successfully cast the spell. She hated this so much. It caused a passion that burnt brighter than a Hufflepuff campout to erupt in her heart. How could she fail to cast such a basic level spell? She had done it before, why could she not do it now?

Serena's eyes watered. The angry she felt towards herself came out onto her face. Her teeth her clenched tightly, her eyes watered as they did whenever she got incredibly angry and her breathing become audible.

The chatter in the room could be heard a little from the outside. People were, at the very least, safe - for now. Perhaps there was more light there... Serena stared into the black hole. There was only one way to find out. Moving her back to the side, she quickly unzipped it and rooted through the contents. There was something she had packed that might come into use. Pulling it out, Serena took a deep breath and zipped up the bag again. She took another audible breathe, her gaze returning to the darkness. Well... at least go be useful in case someone else needs you... Your friends are in there...

That last thought was like throwing oil into the fire. Some of her closest friends had rushed in there. Gryffindors. Recklessly running into things whilst the Hufflepuffs loyally support them. Serena's shaky breathe never stopped though. She clutched the items in her hands tightly before just forcing her body to walk into the room. Her slow hesitant steps pushed their way through into the room. 

Her eyes adjusted a little to the new lighting, as her heart almost leaped right out of her chest. Serena's feet were quickly drawn towards the nearest torch. Using her height to her advantage - which is not something she ever thought she could do... But apparently she was taller than most of her fellow students, despite the fact she was below average height - she tiptoed near the wall. Raising the item she had pulled out of her bag closer to the torch. The magical candle she had brought suddenly sparked alight, attempting to provide them with a little bit of light.

By the time she had managed to enter, Serena looked around to see people had already started chatting away. Socialising... required her to stop being a crybaby. Blinking, she just moved towards an empty space, not too far away from the light and dropped her bag. They were apparently going to be sleeping here... in a cave, it seemed. Why? She had no idea but she really hoped the two Professors had thought this through. Maybe this was supposed to help people get over their fear of the campout... Perhaps. Serena stared into the small flames. Allowing the candle to carefully float, she rolled out her sleeping bag. Once she had set everything up, she grabbed the candle again and held it in her hand as she sat down. As she did, Solomon's voice erupted and he explained the whole event.

Her stomach felt weird. Her chest felt nauseous. The darkness was all around them. There was a little light in this room but she could see that there was no light elsewhere... The cave, it seemed, was plunged into the darkness. A darkness that she was familiar with and feared the most. With whatever little light she had, she looked around to find her friends. She wanted to make sure she could at least see them and keep an eye out for them. She really hoped nothing happened to them...

ACTION: Unpack near one of the torches, sit alone whilst looking for friends.  Is holding a Magical Candle (item in trunk) to attempt to provide some light, after Lumos failed miserably.

Reducio

Note to Moderator: Ignore all castings of Lumos in this post. She cast it in Camp Out (before the spell/hw system came into play) so IC, it made sense for her to try it again. But she has not finished the correct homework yet so it failed.

Parcel was looking over the door with the devil head on top. Why would a thing like that be here of all places? He didn’t know what it was, but hearing it talk about death made him think that the professors didn’t know what they were doing. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a simple lock-in? a sleepover where the Gryff’s and Puff’s got to mingle?” Parcel knew the professor leading them already had a kind of sketchy reputation. He had apparently tried to burn his students down on their campout or something, the rumors started getting crazier and crazier, so Parcel didn’t really know what to believe.
But why were they stopping? The door was just blowing its horn, right? It obviously contradicted itself. If the door lied, and you passed then you died? But if you passed then the door was passable, and the door would be wrong, so they wouldn’t die. Some students even started casting spells in front of it, this really made Parcel wonder what they were thinking, and it made him cringe a bit when he noticed that they were Gryffindor students.
After that the professor finally opened the door so they could walk in to the catacomb. What was he waiting for? Did he want one of the students to open the door for him? What if it really was a deathtrap? Then the rumors probably were true, and the professor went around hurting students!

Shaking off the uneasy feeling Parcel got from thinking the professor didn’t care about them, he to went in the door. Looking up at the devil staring down at him made some of the uneasy feeling come back. What the heck was that thing anyway? A gargoyle? But it was joking around and threatening them like it was sentient, and from history class Parcel had learned that it was illegal to produce near sentient gargoyles. It didn’t really sit well with him, this whole atmosphere.

Parcel frowned a bit as he entered the huge hall they were to call their basecamp, it was more a cave than catacombs, or at least that was what Parcel thought. And why was the professor talking about house-elf’s? Except for the torches it wasn’t anything that indicated that there had been anyone there in ages, it was even moss on the ground.

Walking briskly up to where they were designated to sleep Parcel dropped down his sleeping bag on one of the empty spots. It was one thing Parcel always wanted to do more than anything else and that was to explore! So he had no time for bantering with the other students.

Looking around he noticed three ways leading of in different directions, all three was pitch black. So, this made Parcel think he would have two main things he needed to take care of, a light source, and which direction to start exploring in. Well, he could take care of both in one go really, deciding that he wanted to go west he went to the nearest Torch between him and the west-path of the labyrinth.

The torch was fastened securely to the wall, but with a bit of pulling he was able to get it off, he might get some weird looks from people, but he was going to do what seemed best for himself first, after that he could start thinking of others. With torch in hand Parcel started walking towards the path leading west.
“This would be fun! Finally, some real exploring”

Action: Drop down my sleeping-bag on the first empty spot closest to the west-Pathway, Then take the torch closest to him and start approaching the west-Pathway.

Dorothy shoved her way to the front, carrying her rainbow dufflebag.  This should be interesting.  Professor Lear had led them to a door.  A door with a face, no, a talking door with a face.  She grinned as he shouted out a very dark riddle.  If I lie, then you die.  Her first thought was to just walk in anyways, but that obviously wasn't the answer to the... Oh.  It was.  The professor had just walked in.  D followed along with the rest of the crowd.  A small sea of yellow, dotted with red like some strange golden ocean with little fiery islands, flowed into the dark room.  It was damp and dark, and smelled a bit musty.    On the stone floor, a line of moss went through the center of the room.  Strange. Dorothy stooped down and traced the grout line with her finger. Also strange."Home sweet labyrinth," Professor Lear stated in a jolly manner.  "A labyrinth." whispered Dorothy to herself, standing up quickly.  She had a very sudden desire to dart into the first dark path she saw, but realized that would be foolish.  So instead, she moved to a bottom right corner of the room and set up her sleeping bag.  D fluffed up her pillow and placed her plush monkey on top before standing.  She glanced around the room, looking for familiar faces.  There was Serena, the Hufflepuff prefect she had done bag checks with, looking miserable.  There were quite a few Hufflepuffs she recognized, like Rosie.  She had met Rosie at the ball, and they had become friends.  Rosie was standing amongst some Gryffindors, none of which she recognized.  She looked like she could use some Hufflepuff backup.  Dorothy quickly stepped over to the group, and a mischievous (always mischievous) smile appeared on her face.  "Hello Rosie.  Hello girls and boys of Gryffindor.  I believe introductions are in order.  I'm Dorothy Doland.. I mean! Dorothy Do.  I-I.." she suddenly stopped, looking frazzled.  Her true name was obviously a pureblood one, but that wouldn't explain why she looked so worried.  The sudden emotion disappeared as quickly as it had been shown. They can only tell if they're purebloods too.  They can only tell..  The smile returned.  "Dorothy Do.  Ha-halfblood.  And you are?" she smiled at the Gryffindors.  It was a bit forced, but only a very observant person would be able to tell.  She suddenly recognized one of the Gryffindors. "Hey! You're the bloke who beat up that Hufflepuff kid.  As annoying as we badgers can be, I don't thank you for it.  I had to help carry him up to the Hospital wing, and he wasn't light."  she frowned sarcastically.  You could never tell with these folks.  Sometimes it was best to take a less eager approach.  


Action:  Walk in, Unpack, walk over to Rosie, Dorian, Rhea, Max and Eris, and introduce herself. 

Amadea was nervous. And, if she was any judge of her nervousness, it was for good reason. After hearing about the horrors of the Hufflepuff campout, coming down to the Grounds for a sleepover outside in the dark was a little more than terrifying. Amadea hadn't even been at the campout yet the stories had still scarred her. 

As she walked toward the grounds following the Head of House, duffel bag slung over her shoulder, she tried to come her nerves by being reasonable. There were going to be many people here, both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, plus the professors. Surely they would not let it get as out of hand as the campout had. 

Amadea cleared the foreboding thoughts from her head as the group stopped in front of steps leading up to a large door. As she peered at it, she realized that she could not see, as it was pitch black. She walked up to it, trying to decipher what it meant as she walked through to where other students were setting up their things. Amadea scanned the room, seeing a few familiar faces but she really just wanted to be alone right now. She could find a team later, but at the moment she was feeling overwhelmed by this whole excursion. She had never been the most outgoing person and was definitely not a risk-taker. Being at Hogwarts changed that a little bit, but her old instincts were fighting hard. 

She found a spot in the corner where no one else was and rolled out her sleeping bag, placing her duffel bag next to it. As she looked around at the dimly lit space, she noticed some torches on the wall. There were four holsters but only three torches. Peculiar, Amadea thought to herself. Were they available for taking? It seemed a reasonable explanation, and no one had explicitly told her not to take one. She hadn't brought much with her, only the bare necessities that Lear had specified, and she was still learning new spells that others already knew. With her lack of knowledge, she had to be resourceful and find other ways to solve problems not necessarily using magic. She walked over to the nearest torch and wrestled it out of its holder. The flame shone brightly in front of her, giving her some much needed light. 

She scanned the different directions that the students could explore in, wondering which way she should go first. She walked back over to her sleeping bag, wondering if she should explore on her own or find someone else to explore with. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't sure if she had the guts to go through the dark corridors on her own, but at the same time she didn't want to talk to anyone. She wasn't sure why, but whenever she was surrounded by large groups of people, her desire to interact with them lessened. It was most likely because she felt overwhelmed by the amount of people, wishing for her own space. Unfortunately, she wasn't about to get that. After some thinking, she figured finding someone or multiple someones to team up with would be the best bet. The other people would provide a new perspective on solving riddles and would have a different arsenal of spells to use if they ever encountered dangers. 

Plan solidified in Amadea's mind, she sat down contentedly on her sleeping bag, torch in hand, looking around. She wondered who would make a good teammate. There was a large cluster of people who looked as though they were forming their own massive team. Amadea debated going over and asking to join, but decided against it considering her aversion to large groups of people. She saw the Hufflepuff prefect standing near the entrance looking pale. Amadea didn't blame her, considering what had happened to her at the last house event. Should she approach the girl? Amadea decided against it, as Serena looked as though she needed some time to breathe and make sure she wasn't going to hyperventilate. After scanning the rest of the room, Amadea decided she would simply sit on her sleeping bag and wait for someone to approach her. Hopefully, someone would. 

Action: Grab a torch and sit on sleeping bag waiting for someone to approach. 

John saw Howie passing by, taking a break from casting to wave back. He couldn't say he knew him particularly well, but he recognized the face from the common room. John really had to work on getting to know the most loyal of Hogwarts students, but there were so many interesting faces all over the school. He often forgot the best of friends were sleeping right next to him (in different beds, you sickos).

As John once more attempted the Lumos spell, he found the room getting darker instead of the other way around. He didn't know a whole lot about magic, but John was pretty sure that wasn't how the Lumos spell worked. Various students were taking the torches; one had left the room on a westward expansion into the heart of darkness. John got up to go after Parcel, but the other boy had disappeared into the other room. Such disappointment: John bet he would have a grand tale to tell afterwards.

That left the other torchbearer: a fellow Hufflepuff. He once over heard her name...Amadea. She didn't look too excited to be here. In fact, not a whole lot of the puffs who huffle were as excited as John was. And though the dim light was ideal for sleeping, he didn't want a bunch of kids tripping over him in the dark. He decided to walk on over to Amadea and bring his abundant joy with him.

"I've seen you around the common room," John said to Amadea as he sat himself next to her. "John Johns. All the Johns you ever need, all in one John." John was pretty proud of his cool intro, judging from his giant cheek-to-cheek smile.

"Isn't this grand? Treasure to find. Cool people to team up with. All this moss. Seriously, do we need this moss for Potions or something?"

Hopefully, John's attitude would distract from the sense of impending doom everyone else seemed to have. But seriously, potion ingredients weren't cheap. John grabbed a fistful of moss and stuffed it in his pocket.

Action:
John goes over to Amadea, talks, obtains moss

Winifrey quietly followed the large group that was heading across the grounds. She had originally been with Aurelia, but with the large crowd she had quickly lost her friend. She held the strap of her school bag tightly, all of the things necessary for the camp out stuffed inside the leather satchel. It was actually a bit heavy which caused her shoulder to hurt slightly, but she shrugged it off. The crowd of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs stopped, Winifrey tip toeing to see above the heads to what was ahead. She was too far away to see anything up close, especially with the lack of light.

Then, after about five minutes, the crowd started moving again, slowly this time. It was when she got close to the door they were going through did her stomach start to churn. It was a head that spoke and laughed, simply resting atop of the door that the students were filing through. She had seen a fair share of strange things at Hogwarts, but this definitely topped it. Winifrey quickly looked away, just deciding not to think about it as she tucked a strand of light brown hair behind her ear. The small brunette once again looked around to see if she spotted any familiar faces. No luck.

Sighing quietly to herself, Winifrey gathered up all of her courage before descending down the stairs, even skipping a couple of steps as she reached the bottom. It was darker than she expected, seeing a couple of students taking torches off the wall, causing the room they were supposed to be staying in dim slightly. She caught sight of a Gryffindor boy that she had seen around grab one of the torches off the wall before heading towards the western entrance. Winifrey did not even hesitate, knowing well that her Lumos was absolute crap at the moment. If she had no partner, she would be in the dark.

Not even looking for any familiar faces, Winifrey dropped her bag on an empty spot before running to catch up with the boy before he disappeared completely into the dark tunnel. "Hey!" She called out, "Wait up."

When she had caught up to the boy, she smiled kindly before sheepishly gesturing to the bright torch in his hand, "Mind if I follow you. Since you have," She pointed to the torch, "that."

Action:
Drop bag on an empty spot, near Parcel's and quickly follow him down west passage.