[Corridors] The Midnight Game [The First Meeting]

[Noah Yves]

Note: This club is open to everyone, and continued from Perplexed Steps.

Over the course of the night, posters had been plastered heavily throughout the castle walls. Students found themselves strangely attracted to the worn parchment notices, while Professors didn't seem to notice them at all.
It was later discovered that the pages were charmed for student eyes only.

Although most don't understand what the club entails, their interests flare at the sudden hushed and secret Hogwarts atmosphere.




At precisely 11:47pm, Noah entered a wide, circular room that was vaguely familiar. His fingers gripped the ornate handle of a lantern, the only source of light in the otherwise pitch black room, and it swayed side to side in a gentle wind.

Settling it down next to the rug of a thirsty bear, Noah sat down and regarded the room curiously. The chair Echo had sat on two nights ago was hovering lazily above a small pile of distorted portrait frames. Other than that small chaotic mess, the room was perfectly tidy.

Most of the portraits on the wall talked quietly amongst themselves for the few minutes Noah was alone, their voices melding together in a gentle hum. The Gryffindor listened to them with an amused smile, breathing raggedly from excitement.

He expected Echo and Narcissus would join soon join him, as well as a large selection of Hogwarts students from a variety of houses. Reaching into his pack pocket, Noah withdrew a rumpled list covered in red ink. On it were the names of the night's participants, and Noah scanned them for the fiftieth time that evening.

The invisible grandfather clock ticked eerily around him, a reminder that midnight was approaching. And once it did; Well...

Then the games would begin.

[Echo Keir]

After finally escaping the room a few nights ago, Echo wonders why she and Noah and Nark are all making their way back to the death trap. Especially since they can never be sure where to find it now. 'Moving room my bright white derrier...' she thinks moodily as she leaves Gryffindor Tower. 'You know, it would be really handy if it could move right up here, right now...' As if expecting that the room would actually respond to her beck and call, she whirls around to see if it has somehow appeared directly behind or beside her. 'No luck... cursed room.'

She sighs and starts climbing down staircases, hoping Noah has once again thrown off the timing of the staiways' movements so she can follow him... but no luck. Despite this set back, however, a little glimmer of adventure gleams in her eye, 'Ah, a room hunt, is it?' she smirks slightly as she looks towards the rafters, as if some great Castle God is looking down on her, just waiting for her to find His hidden sanctuary. 'Okay, so be it...' she grins and begins to move faster, as if she's racing against time itself; though with it being 11:47, she kind of is.

'Now if I were a moving room, where would I hide?' Echo muses as she reaches one of the lowest staircases. This time, the castle responds. The staircase she stands on creaks and moves away from its landing, moving out across the other stairs, and extending down to create much steeper steps leading to, "The dungeons." She rolls her eyes, remembering Narcissus' trist with one of the portraits. 'She probably rigged it so she could be closer to her sweetheart... No skin off my nose,' she thinks with a shrug as she walks through this "back entrance" to the Slytherin's abode.

Hoping that the hearth in the magic little room is already lit and warm, she pulls her robes tighter around her as the damp chill of the cavern-like hallways bites at her.
Not too long after these thoughts pass through her head, she sees it; the door. It's raw white appearance is certainly a sight to see in the dark dungeons--the bright maple wood like a beacon of light in a smoggy sea of muck and mould--and a bright crystal doorknob just entices a person into opening it. Echo looks around to make sure no teachers are are around, then turns the handle and walks in. Unsurprisingly, Noah is already there. "Hey, Yves," she says, smiling a bit more than usual, "Looking forward to tonight?" her adventureous spirit is alive and burning tonight, and she can't wait to see what will happen next.

[Willa Abbott]

[/I] want to cross a female one with a torched 'do. Heading left down the brightly lit hallway she suddenly found herself sucked to the left, towards a gaping holl in the brick. "What the?!" The Gryffindor exclaimed as she was jerked roughly down the steps, but with her poise and grace of course she ended up falling and tumbling haphazardly down the stairs. Landing in a heap at the bottom she lifted her head up weakly, letting her eyes adjust to the strange lighting in this place. It looked like she was in the kitchen now. "Well isn't this a kick in the pants." She grinned, forgetting about her aching limbs--as she has done countless times before--and standing up without any difficulty whatsoever, flitting to the refridgerator and prying it open. What confronted her there, however, was not food, but another big whole. "Oh, not again." Willa laughed, but it was part grumble, and she was sucked into the fridge before forcefully getting shoved out the other side and slamming into the maple wood door. Falling back and landing on her butt she grumbled. "I know I'm clumsy, but theres only so much I can take." She then laughed to herself before standing and wrapping her fingers around the crystal doorknob and opening the door.

Seeing Noah and Echo in there Willa grinned and waved, tripping over the edge of a carpet nearby and falling again. "Does any of you know why I was sucked through a fridge to this place?" She wondered aloud, eyes focusing on one of the two with the hopes they could tell her what exactly this was. She hadn't seen the posters, after all, they'd have to explain it to her. The castle must've thought her worthy enough--albeit oblivious enough--to join this club, and showed her the way themselves. Standing up and making her way over to join them she rubbed the bruise that was beginning to show on her forehead, then drew her hand back as the pain protested to the pressure.

"What is this place?" Willa questioned curiously, looking around after taking a seat.[/ul][/color][/size]

[Polaris Stormwrath]

Hours had passed while the lone Ravenclaw girl sat on the edge of a wide windowsill up in the Astronomy tower. Not that she knew how much time she had spent up there, it had only felt like minutes. Polaris swayed her feet to and fro while her eyes were locked upon the millions of stars that littered the nights sky like a veil. She couldn't help but get caught up in a trance when ever she took the time to watch the stars.

It was the sound of laughter and giggling coming from a few stray students that had snuck out of the common room that roused Polaris from her deep thoughts. It's late.. She murmured as she peered at the position of the moon. Almost over head, so that means about a quarter till.. With the time in mind, the girl turned and hopped from the window, quickly making her way through the room and down through the wooden door.

Catching a few shadows of some students she thought she recognized, Polaris couldn't help but follow. "Hey! Wait up! We can go to the meeting together!" She called after them, but only her echo ever came as a response. She could have sworn that those were her friends.. or perhaps she had spent too much time up in the tower.

What ever the answer was, it didn't matter for long. Within a matter of seconds from calling out to the mysterious shadows, the ravenclaw heard the ancient walls of the castle moan and the sound of an old door creaking to a close met her ears.

Polaris, being the naturally curious creature that she is, couldn't help herself and decided to follow the noises that eerily called out to her. What seemed like hours of walking down long, twisting corridors in reality had only been minutes, before a certain brightness came into view.

At the end of the last corridor, a white washed, crackling door, just as ancient as the castle itself, revealed it's identity to Polaris. As she pressed closer to the door, the muffled tones of familiar people came into earshot. "What the...I guess this is it." She wondered aloud before opening the door and peering inside before entering.

There wasn't anything that hadn't undergone inspection as soon as Polaris entered the room. Portraits laid strewn about the corner of the room, a few smudged just lightly on the facades while others remained pristine, a chair that was hovering just about five feet from the ground, and a bear rug that she could swear the pupils were following her to mention a few.

Once she had stepped into the room, the door shut itself behind her and the sudden sense of vertigo hit her. After a moment of collecting herself, the girl stepped forward a bit more, fully recognizing everyone in the room. "Noah, Echo.. Willa." She greeted each of them with a faint smile.

Walking towards Noah and Willa, with Echo over to the side slightly, Polaris nestled herself in what space there was left between the clumsy Gryffindor girl and Noah. Leaning in to speak lowly, but loud enough for everyone to hear, the wolf shed a grin. "Ready for what may come of tonight?"

[Narcissus Drachen]

“You’re late.”

“Not yet I’m not.”

“If you don’t leave now you will be.”

“I know.”

“And you want that?”

“Yes.”

Lilandra gave a vexed sigh that irritated Narcissus. He lifted the sheets from over his eyes and looked through the dark toward her, pale skin luminous, as if giving off its own light. “Light your wand.” She asked. Narcissus’s fingers brushed the handle of his wand, a harsh white glow throbbing into every shadow. She looked exhausted.

“You can’t hide from Linus forever.” He said quietly.

It was excruciating to see Lilandra’s face brighten and dull simultaneously, and Narcissus sat up, frowning apologetically. She shrugged, feigning indifference. “Just hurry up. Look...” She pointed at the normally black, vault-like entrance to the dormitory, a beautiful white door in its place. “Have fun.”

Lilandra vanished and Narcissus rose, walking through to the meeting in his night robes.

Noah, Echo, Willa and Polaris sat around the fire, their faces turning toward him. He saw that they were dressed, and the promptly clicked shut, melting away behind him. “I was under the impression this was a pyjama party.” He said in mock disappointment. “Are we not going to play spin the bottle?” He moved into their mists, kissing Echo on the cheek and sat down in front of Polaris, leaning against her knees.

Lilandra’s portrait stood stacked among the others in the corner, and he spotted her pale yellow hair fly through one frame, keeping out of sight.

[Noah Yves]

"We don't really know." Noah said brightly, peering across Polaris to send Willa a devious smile. "But we're all willing to find out. Are you?"

His eyes darted toward Echo who was smirking at his tendency to make things unnecessarily mysterious. Grinning back, he leaned on his arms and regarded the room's inhabitants closely. When Narcissus entered, Noah nudged Polaris gently and sent her an earnest smile. "Glad you could make it." He had no doubts she would come of course - despite her tendency to shy away at first, Noah knew she loved adventure just as much as he.

"I wonder why the lights are off tonight." He questioned Narcissus' comfortable form, catching the boy's eyes and making it clear in his expression what exactly Noah thought of the Slytherin's night clothes. It wasn't unusual for him to mock Narcissus' meticulous tendencies, after all. "I suppose we'll need more candles."

Pulling out his satchel from behind him, Noah dumped its contents over the floor. Many objects came near to knocking over the lantern in the middle of their circle, but no damage was done. Amongst the quills and quidditch cards, a gold pocket watch spun in circles on the floor, balancing on a large dial.

Ignoring the candles that had been tossed unceremoniously to the ground, Noah caught the strange object in his fist and stared at it, puzzled. "This isn't mine..."

When Noah opened it with a soft click, his eyes widened in astonishment. Each of their names had a place around the circular clock, taking over the spot of where numbers usually went, and there were numerous blank spaces as if the room expected more people would be soon joining them. "Hey! Take a look at this!"

He tossed it into Narcissus' lap, and as soon as it landed, the clock's hands began to spin...

[Coeus Linde]

'11:50 and I still can't sleep...' Coeus groans as he lifts himself from his bed. He feels around the mattress for anymore chessmen, such as was his bane of sleep last night, but when he finds no bumps or lumps or swordsmen, he concedes that he must just be becoming an insomniac, and goes on a hunt for something to do. He pulls on his navy blue robe--again--and marches out of the tower--again. To change things up a little, he slides down the banister from Ravenclaw tower... all the way down to the first floor. By the time he reaches the ground he is extremely dizzy and his stomach is doing flip flops inside him. 'Waking up and pretending to be Mary Poppins... BAD idea...' he makes a mental note of the fact as he stumbles off, in a rather drunken fashion--wobbling back and forth and having to use the wall to keep himself upright at times--towards the kitchen... again... in hopes of finding a remedy for his sour stomach.

On the way, however, he catches sight of something shining out the corner of his eye. There, beside the exit of the castle, is a pearly white door with a dazzling crystal handle. Against his better judgement--and somewhat against his will--he swaggers towards the door and enters. Although his vision is still blurry, and the room is still spinning significantly by his perception, he can tell that it's a very plush room. The darkly vibrant colors of the walls settle his mind down a little... and then he falls onto a fluffy bear rug. He simply stares up at the ceiling for a moment before muttering, "Damn stairs..." He sighs, then forces himself up into a sitting position. For a moment it looks as if he'll fall right back over again, but he steadies himself by setting his nad down and leaning on his arm. "Nice rug," he comments with a nod. The rug growls back appreciatively at the compliment.

After a minute or two of just sitting and waiting for his vision to steady--which it inevitably does before too long--he looks around and realizes that he's not in a classroom, or any other kind of room he's ever seen in Hogwarts before. He sees a few familiar faces, just because they're in his year, but the one that sticks out to him is the lovely bi-opticaled young lady wearing Ravenclaw robes, like his own still up in the common room. "Why, Polaris, what a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here... for that matter... what am I doing here?" he queries, a rather dazed expression on his face.

[Leyla Emerson]

How late was it anyway? Leyla wasn’t really sure, but it had to be at least eleven thirty. She groaned, throwing her arm over her eyes in an attempt to sleep. Too bad she had no such luck. “Go. To. Sleep.” She grumbled to herself, but that only managed to make her neighbor turn over and grumble something. Sighing, she hopped lightly off of her bed and finally admitted defeat. If she was going to be up, might as well do something fun while she was at it.

Leyla grabbed up her wand and went quietly down to the common room. Nobody else was in there, dang. She pursed her lips, eyeing the portrait hole. With a small shrug, she slid quickly and quietly out the portrait hole, trying to not disturb anyone else. Nobody seemed to be in the halls either. Well, that could be good or bad. She clutched onto her wand more tightly and began to walk down the hall, glancing around as she did.

Something creaked beside her, and Leyla jumped in surprise. She turned to see what it was, and found a portrait had swung open, revealing a hole in the wall. Curious, she leaned closer, trying to see into the hole. Bad idea. The portrait swung close, smacking her in the back and sending her flying into the hole. A small shriek escaped from her as she slid down. Her eyes were shut tightly, trying to wish this whole thing away.

The Gryffindor landed with a light thunk, just in front of an old wooden door. Slowly, she opened her eyes, peaking around. All there was around her was the door. Hesitantly, she gripped the handle and pushed the door open. A gust of air sucked her into the room, and she stumbled inside. The door swing shut, then disappeared just as quickly. Leyla swung around and gasped, trying to feel for the door again. “Of all the rotten luck-” She blinked and turned back around.

Color rushed to her cheeks once she realized she wasn’t the only one in the room. “…Oh dear.” Wow, she was an idiot. Leyla felt foolish, sitting there in her pajamas and shuffling her feet. She sucked in a gust of air, before speaking again. “Would anyone like to tell me what’s going on? I don’t even know where I am…” The pale girl murmured, looking around the room curiously.

[Echo Keir]

Echo watches with mild pleasure as more and more students find their ways into the room. A strange collection of them to be sure, but also sure to make the evening a memorable one. She greets Willa with a nod when she enters in her usual heels-over-head fashion, and grins as her wolfish Ravenclaw companion joins them, "Never ready enough in this castle, Polaris." Echo can't help but grin when Narcissus enters and greets her so affectionately, "You always have been tamer at night," she says with a grin as she messes with his frighteningly coiffed hair. "Yeah, a pyjama party and your hair is stiff with grapefruit pomeade... Cute."

Another Ravenclaw trips his way into their company, making himself comfortable on Narc's most favored rug, followed by a fellow housemate of Echo's; the lot of them bewildered and lost.

As the last Gryffindor girl enters and the door swings shut behind her, the clock begins to chime. Echo smiles. Walking to the middle of the room, Echo stands, arms wide in greeting, "Friends, strangers, I welcome you." Definately a lack luster introduction, but what else could you expect? "This is... well... some frigging magic room in our lovely Hogwarts castle. And--like most frigging magic rooms in this castle--it has a mind of its own and has offered us its dwelling until such time as we demand to leave, or it gets bored of us and kicks us out." She looks around the room at the drowsy and sleep-deprived faces of her peers. "Any further questions may be directed solely towards Narcissus, as it is his doing that we're even here in the first place."

With that she bows, and makes her way back over to the fireplace by her comrades, sitting gracefully on the hearth, waiting to watch the confusion begin; not only with the other poor students being dazed and confused, but with Narcissus being in charge of the explanations now. Sure, Noah would've been the wise choice, all skilled with words and what not, but Drachen was the blunt choice, the honest choice... the more amusing choice for all these kids to query about what the hell was going on.

[Noah Yves]

...The hands on the watch stopped spinning abruptly, and Noah frowned at the object when he realised it had landed on a blank space where there was no name. Leaning over Polaris to peer at the trinket more closely, he raised a brow when a name slowly materialized on its face.

Leyla Emerson.

Noah grinned wolfishly and not a second later, a rapping noise came from outside of their small sanctuary. Slamming her fist against a very uncooperative castle wall was none other than the newly named Gryffindor, and she looked quite flustered.

"Hogwarts does work in such a funny way," he responded vaguely to Echo, as the pocket watch slithered off Narc's knee and rolled toward the middle of their circle. Moving closer to Echo, he raised a challenging brow at his housemate and nodded toward the empty space. "We must look like a cult," he smirked wryly, offering Leyla the spot. "Come sit. It looks like the castle chose you to be first."

He didn't explain much more than that, but did take a moment to describe their game. "We're playing a game of Dare." He said quietly, hovering a finger over one of the flickering candles. Burning himself lightly, he pulled back with a wince. "I'm glad none of us here are frail. Besides Narcissus, I mean."