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Post by Shabnam Snapdragon on Jun 20, 2007 20:47:51 GMT
Shabnam wiped the back of her hand across her forehead as she leaned against the wall and slipping down, finally able to rest. She had been inside the abandoned classroom for nearly eight hours. Long ago, before one of the professors several decades ago had decided to move up into what was now known as the Divination tower, this room had once been the Divination classroom.
Professor Vickers had offered Shabnam a chance to earn her fellow Hufflepuffs some housepoints if she would kindly spend a few hours reviving the dusty, fatigued room - dusting down furniture, emptying old cupboards of long-dead crystal balls and checking the portraits for damage. The points alone (and the chance to help her favourite teacher) had been rewarding enough, but strangely enough he had promised her something else - anything she wanted from the classroom. Anything at all.
And so for nearly the whole night Shabnam had been working away tirelessly, scrubbing and cleaning and rearranging.
But there had been nothing that she wanted. The tealeaves were old and dead, the books so rotten with moist dust that the pages were eaten away to nothing, and the only crystal ball she had found that had not been broken was completely blackened with a thick crust, as if someone had tried to burn it at one point or another.
Now she sat against the wall, watching the sky turn from blue to pink as the sun slowly rose, and her eyes drooped, heavy and dark.
'Shabnam...'
Shabnam sat bolt up right - her eyes darting about the room... but no one was there, and nothing had moved. Not even the door had been opened. Standing up slowly she stepped to the middle of the room. The voice definitely hadn't been her imagination - it was too sharp, too low. It had barely been a whisper but she had felt it pass through the air toward her with purpose.
She turned several times on the spot, her hair flying about. 'Hello?' She called out. Stopping dead, she came to stand still in front of the largest picture in the room. Most of the other painting seemed to be of recognisable Seers, or just landscapes, but this one was different - it was a brown haired man in smart dress robes.
And he had no face.
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Post by Girty Hubbles on Jun 20, 2007 21:20:07 GMT
Girty had just spent the night with Dan playing wizards chess and many rounds of exploding snap. Her hands had turned red from the number of explosions that had occurred and she had small cuts along her arms on one on her left cheek from when the chess pieces exploded into tiny pieces. So Girty being Girty, not bothering to have them looked at or even get back to the common room to rest, had decided to go on a mini adventure. She took a left when she would normally take a right then decided to carry on straight head instead of turning into another corridor. By using this method she soon found herself in an area of the castle that she was unfamiliar with and by the looks of the dust on the suits of armour other people did not know about it either.
Putting on her glasses to look at a interesting pot a bit better Girty thought she heard someone say hello. She looked over her shoulder but so nothing but a door. Wrinkling up her nose in confusion Girty walked towards the door and placed her ear against it. She heard nothing from inside the room, but she had learnt by know that did not mean no one was in there. Carefully Girty placed one hand on the door handle and the other around her wand, then with as much force as she could muster she pushed open the door.
It was not as stiff as she thought it would be as she went flying into the room, stumbling forward and narrowly missing a table close by. Once Girty had finally regained her balance she looked up to see Shabnam looking at a portrait on the wall.
“What are you doing here?”
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Post by Shabnam Snapdragon on Jun 20, 2007 21:28:49 GMT
How... ace, she thought to herself as she slowly stepped up to the portrait, narrowing her eyes slightly to look at it in better detail. The man stood with his arms down by his sides, straight backed. Hi robes were a simple black, and all he stood before was a backdrop of grey, his shadow heavily etched against it. His hair was short and slicked back against his head and if his eyes, nose and mouth hadn't been missing, Shabnam realised he would have been completely unremarkable.
The classroom opened suddenly and Shabnam spun round, startled. 'Girty!' She laughed, holding a hand to her heart in relief. 'It was you, wasn't it? Playing tricks on me!' She grinned.
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Post by Sophie Hargreaves on Jun 20, 2007 21:58:43 GMT
Usually Shabs and Soph would spend a good few hours nattering in the library whilst masquerading as studying hard of course; but today strangely Shabs hadn't turned up, Soph could guess where she would be though; on the outskirts of the forbidden forest itself viewing the various species around. But an admittedly hasty insepection hadn't found her dear Shabs, so where could she be?
But then Soph had had another brainwave, who was her favourite professor? But none other than Pof Allion Vickers, a most respectable man, that Sophie couldn;t help but be a little uneasy around, with his mystical nature, but she'd grown used to it over the years the same with Shabs herself. So on finding Vickers, after a long and arduous search, sometimes he really was impossible to find, she'd been helpfully pointed in the right direction; an abondened classroom of all places. Knowing that curiousity had killed the cat, and in fact gotten her into much trouble and mischief before Sophie had deigned to ask why Shabs would be there, she'd simply gone.
So now she entered dubiously wondering quite what she would find; simply dust, dust and more dust even though Shabs was busily tidying objects away and generally putting order into the horrible mess. It even looked as though Girty was willing to pitch in with a helping hand too.
"Hello you two hideaways," She called happily, "You'll never guess the search I had finding you," she pointed a figure accusingly at Shabs but laughed it off, "only joking it's given me a welcome break from study."
Unwittingly she repeared Girty's question, "but what are you doing here? Cleaning of all things. That portrait needs a wipe down, and a good varnish along the border," Stated Sophie grinning "I don't envy you this job, the place is filthy. But I'll help." She said brightly breezing along with a duster and coincidently just moving the dust rather than actually ridding the poor classroom of it all.
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Post by Shabnam Snapdragon on Jun 20, 2007 23:16:49 GMT
Shabnam only caught Girty's puzzled smile before the door banged open a second time, light from the corridor flooding in to illuminate the ever-glowing Soph. As usual her face was bright with the grin of greeting, and as she swept in - highlighting all the dust Shabnam had failed to get up - the Hufflepuff guessed that she had either follow Girty or sought out Professor Vickers for directions, which was odd for such an early time of day.
Before Shabnam could even reply Soph was already bustling along the skirting board with an over-used duster, chuntering away as she went. 'Thank you, Soph.' She said softly - although distractedly - as she looked back at the portrait with a longing. She wanted to study it further but it seemed it would have to wait. Her robes and hands were filthy from the amount of dust that had been transfered onto her, and if she stood up any long she would no doubt collapse! 'You know, I'm so tired...' She laughed breezily, rubbing one eye. 'Can we go have something to eat?' She nodded for them to start walking to the door, but she had taken no more than four steps when a low, drawn out creaking sounded to behind her...
With glazed eyes she looked over her shoulder slowly, her lips parting as she saw the portrait had changed ever so slightly, having swung open, revealing the crack of a door.
However, what was truly startling was the portrait itself. The faceless man had vanished, only his shadow left in his wake.
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Post by Lisa Lycott on Jun 21, 2007 18:59:15 GMT
Lisa had been exploring the corridors, tapping wildly on portraits and waving her wand at numerous statues. However, the most she found was a particular statue of a wizard whose eyes rotated in a horrid way when she cast random spells at it.
Needless to say, she wasn't very fond of that passage-way anymore.
About to give up on her escapades, her wand sticking out of ther robes where she had abandoned it in favour of making her way to dinner, she paused. A set of strange noises were seeping through the crack underneath a door from somewhere, and Lisa frowned.
Opening the door to a classroom she had never been inside before, the Gryffindor felt her nose scrunch up as a sneeze threatened to grace the room. It was mighty dusty in the classroom, though Lisa chose to step inside anyhow.
A few girls stood in a small group and watching something curiously when Lisa walked up behind. The portrait they were staring at was very bland, with nothing to it except scenery and Lisa's frown deepened.
"Erm... Something up?" She said distractedly, when her eyes found the outline of a door. Raising her brows immediately, she felt a string of anticipation run down to her toes.
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Post by Shabnam Snapdragon on Jun 21, 2007 21:05:17 GMT
Shabnam bit her lip harshly as she felt the cold air flowing out of the narrow gap, a few strands of her fringe stirring as she leaned to the side, standing in the way. Why was the draft so strong? Trapped air usually escaped in a rush, not an uneven, continuous breeze... and what was moving down their to disturb the air? It smelt sickly damp and of rotten things, and she stepped back, a bad feeling washing over her.
'What do you suppose - ' Shabnam didn't get very far when the door opened yet again. She had been alone all night, yet it seemed everyone was suddenly arriving at exactly the same time.
Turning abruptly Shabnam gave a relieved smile to see that it was Lisa, the Gryffindor she sat near in Herbology. 'Hello, Lisa! What made you look in here?' She sang brightly. Of course, Lisa was no longer looking at Shabnam or the others. She too had seen the portrait... and its oddness. 'He left.' She explained matter-a-factly.
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Post by apollo on Jun 21, 2007 22:29:23 GMT
Apollo had been wandering around the halls for a while now, trying to find and empty music room, but to no avail. After a little while he heard the unmistakeable sound of high-pitched chick-chatter. He walked towards the door and let it swing gently in, resting against the door frame 'What have we here? Some sort of sleepover, slash, detention assignment?' he raised an eyebrow bemusedly at the cluster of girls before walking further into the room. 'He? Who's "he" and why did "he" leave?' he asked non-challantly running a hand through his hair.
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Post by Lisa Lycott on Jun 22, 2007 15:54:00 GMT
Lisa tilted her head to one side, before grinning hesitantly at Shabnam. "Well, I was having a dull enough evening to wander aimlessly down corridors trying to find something of interest..." She paused, both eyebrows raising as she regarded the portrait. "Seems I've succeeded."
About to ask which "he" had left, another he joined them. She smirked lightly at him before turning her gaze back to others and eying them curiously.
"That's a good question!"
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Post by Shabnam Snapdragon on Jun 25, 2007 22:10:05 GMT
Shabnam laughed apologetically, sparing them a weak smile. 'Just... no one.' She said unevenly, at the last moment changing her mind. But why? It surly wasn't a huge secret that the inhabitants of portraits leaped in and out of the hundreds of frames around the school, some landscapes or scenes being desolate for days before an out of place knight or lost polar bear wandered across the African savanna. But this man... he just seemed different. What kind of painter created a moving portrait, yet didn't have the decency to give the poor man a face? And why had he left all of a sudden... and to where?
She eyed Apollo contemplatively. 'Did you happen to see a faceless man on your way here... by any chance...?' She trailed off at the end, biting her cheek as she received his questioning, curious smile. Scuffing the floor with the toe of her shoe, she quickly moved on. 'Oh look - a door!' She said in unconvincing surprise, now returning to it reluctantly.
With a trembling hand - half out of fear, the other half out of excitement - she gingerly bent her fingers round the frame, pulling it open. It was heavier and stiffer than she had imagined, the hidden hinges crackling with rust, red flakes falling to the floor from one side of the frame. Everyone's hair was ruffled as a bold, moldy blast of damp air rushed out of the passage.
For a moment it was too dark to see, but then Shabnam made of the steep, narrow staircase...
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Post by apollo on Jul 1, 2007 4:17:53 GMT
"No one?" he asked disbelievingly. "So... nobody went... nowhere?" he asked remembering once again why he spent most of his time around Hogwarts as a recluse. "Faceless man?" he asked, really starting to wonder what kind of fumes these girls had been exposed to in this ancient tower. It was then that her noticed the portrait frame, "Oh... painted faceless man. Seems a little cruel... 'fraid I can't help you. I don't think any of the other pictures in this hallway are close enough for your... Mr. Nobody to jump into very easily," he shrugged. It wasn't very helpful, but he tended not to be as a rule.
"Door? Of course there's a door, I just came in through it," he pointed at the door he'd entered through but then saw that his housemate was talking about a different door entirely. "Oh..." he narrowed his eyes at the girl, not quite believing the shock she displayed, but he shrugged it off and walked over to the door as well. "Lumos," he muttered as he pulled his wand out of his robes. Even with the wand light it was hard to see very far down the passage. "Careful as you go..." he said as he slowly followed the girl into the passageway.
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Post by Sophie Hargreaves on Jul 6, 2007 11:30:20 GMT
Sophie was becoming increasingly agitated, whenever danger beckoned she wished to jump straight in before her nerves got the better of her. Smiling pleasantly at all those who entered she remained quiet throughout the hushed discussion and stared down the passageway as if looking hard enough it would reveal all its secrets.
Pondering a moment she wondered where on earth this passageway could lead, the utter darkness suggested there were few if any windows, so the going would be tough, but Sophie guessed they were all pretty reckless enough to dare venture inside. With good old Shabs taking the lead she was swiftly followed by a good looking lad, who she determidly kept her eyes away from. Going down into pitch blackness really wasn't the time to be fantisizing about boys. Following suit Sophie held her wand aloft muttering "lumos" to add a little more to the light he had already created.
"What have we got to lose?" She enquired with a mischeveous grin as she carefulyl began to descend, hot on the heels of the lad. "it's you who needs to be careful with your height." She teased the boy wishing to reduce the tension that was increasingly mounting.
The staircase was very old and decrepit, the stone was chipped in several places making the way down quite treacherous underfoot. Sophie stepped lightly but still the stairway crumbled slightly, small chunks bouncing from step to step sending plumes of choking dust up into the stifling air. Covering her mouth Sophie coughed faintly and quickly wrapped the scarf she had worn loosely around her neck, around her mouth. So doing she lost her balance and fell forwards into the Hufflepuff boy...
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Post by Shabnam Snapdragon on Jul 30, 2007 13:25:09 GMT
Shabnam let out a gasp of surprise as the Hufflepuff was suddenly knocked into her back by Sophie. The wet, worn stones shifted and flattened under their feet, and a moment later the three of them had vanished out of sight and were sailing down a slick, narrow slide. There was an echoing slam as the portrait swung shut behind them, rendering the others left in the Divination classroom alone. The three of them shouted wildly as they zoomed down the steps, the chilly air whipping their hair back, the damp stone useless in allowing them to gain a grip on the walls.
'Hold on!' Shabnam yelled rather uselessly as the slide suddenly stopped, sending them all flying over an edge - the darkness was thick and impenetrable, and without thinking Shabnam pulled her wand from her robes and cast a cushioning charm, the three of them bouncing to a soft halt...
'Wow,' Shabnam breathed as she lay on her back, spread eagled, staring up at the blackness with a bewildered expression. 'That was... very cool.'
There was a soft pop as the cushion charm gave out, and each of them groaned as their backsides hit the hard stone floor. 'Lumos!' Shabnam held her wand over her head as she scrambled onto her knees, remembering quite quickly that she was afraid of the dark. 'Are you two okay?' She asked, crawling over. As she pulled the Hufflepuff into a sitting position, she cast her eyes toward the staircase they had just propelled out of. At some point along their journey it had rounded off into a chute, nothing more than a circular hole in the wall.
'Odd.' She determined. Leaning back on her heels, Shabnam looked up to see what else her wand was shedding light on.
She let out a gasp to see that the ceiling was about one hundred feet above their heads – hundreds of doorways of different sizes built into the walls with bridges connecting and crisscrossing all over the place, some made of stone, others wood. One even seemed to shine, as if made out of glass. ‘Hello?’ She called out, her question reverberating several times.
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Post by Sophie Hargreaves on Jul 31, 2007 14:55:50 GMT
About to catch her balance and apologise admamently to the boy, Sophie found her feet swept from under her; not by a knight in shining armour come to rescue her, but the collapse of the stairwell turning ingeniusly into a chute which they slid rapidly down. Screaming in shock and gradually into exhilaration as they sped ever downwards Sophie banged her head several times but her hastily strung ponytail helped dampen the worst impacts. Her neverending scream eventually trailed off as they came to an abrupt and undignified halt. Landing heavily upon the boy she bit her lip about to add yet another apology to her ever growing list; only the spell keeping them aloft finished so she unable to stop herself she fell directly atop the hapless lad, her knee connected with a precious area for a boy and she heard his sudden intake of angry breath.
"Sorry," she squealed rolling straight off, and looking completely flustered, having been seen, no matter how accidentily, in a very uncompromising position with a boy she barely knew. Her cheeks reddening Sophie blushed copiously quickly she turned away, then thought better of it and decided belatedly to try and make amends by helping him up. Gingerly offering her hand she smiled nervously, quite glad Shabnam wasn't making a fuss about it.
"I..err..I'm really sorry about that," she murmured her delicate complexion growing redder by the second, and illuminated clearly by Shabs' spell. Thankfully Shabs seemed completely absorbed in finding out where they were and so was directing the light away from the embarrassed pair. "Quick thinking Shabs," congratulated Sophie wanting to change the subject swiftly.
"Yeah I think so," answered Sophie with a fleeting grin as she dusted herself off and sorted her hair back into its ponytail once more. "Don't think anything is broken," she added with a fleeting glance she couldn't stop towards the lower regions of the boy.
Quickly reverting her gaze Sophie found her wand, muttering "lumos," in a distracted fashion to add her light to the search for a way out. "Lead the way Shabs, I don't think anyone will come and find us." She grinned, "so it's up to us to find our own way out." Eyes sparkling Sophie shone her wand down the nearest doorway, seeing literally hundreds of cobwebs with ugly spindly spiders sneering off of them, she gasped, "we won't go down there." She stated determindly as she possessed an avid fear of the cruel little beasts. "Perhaps the next one?" She suggested stepping towards it but cringing immediately back as a gigantic shadow was cast over them; instantly dampening their lights, crying out in shock she stumbled backwards, tripping and falling as she uttered a hasty "relashio," to ward off whatever it was; dozens of bats screeching from the doorway. "Sorry about that," she murmured with a deep sigh as she stumbled once more to her unsteady feet.
"After you Shabs," she coaxed with a reassuring smile.
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Post by apollo on Jul 31, 2007 20:44:41 GMT
"Whoa...!" bellowed Apollo as the floor beneath him suddenly became as slick as ice; and the Gryffindor girl falling on him, thus pushing him into his fellow Hufflepuff, certainly didn't help anything.
As soon as they reached the bottom and he thought he'd gotten away unscathed from the ride... "Ouch..." he muttered quietly, trying not to wail as he glared up at the Gryffindor girl. He took a moment to check himself before taking a deep breath and standing up.
"Merlin's gym shorts..." he muttered disgustedly. "After this, I swear I'm never leaving the music room again... ever." He winced as he limped over towards the Hufflepuff girl. HE shot a look back at the Gryffindor again, "That has yet to be seen. What, do you wear iron knee-guards at all times or something. Damn..." you couldn't exactly blame him for being bitter. Not only was he now stuck in who-knows-where with people he hardly knew, but one of them had to rack him too. 'Girls...' he thoguht spitefully.
"Pshh, I'm already wounded. How about I lead the way so's even if I get hurt at least we'll only have one injured member of our party to drag back to the Infrimary, hm?" with that he set off, with a hitch in his step, towards the nearest sloping staircase. It looked like something you'd expect to so in an old victorian mansion, with shallow, but broad steps leading upto a landing two floors above them. Dirctly at the top there was a bright red door with a golden knocker in the shape of a Leung Dragon head, and to the right there were to more doors, one beige with a brass mailbox and the other twice as big as both other doors put together; iron and covered with celtic knot designs. Just past the door was a marble staircase, rather resembling those of hogwarts excapt that it was black, which led up another three floors, and a cobbleston bridge, like you might expect a troll to jump out from under, that led across the way, "Well, pick your poison, ladies."
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