[Corridors] overpriced scrap metal [dean]

[Rieko Daniels]

The common room was too full today and with everyone in there Rie was finding it difficult to stop herself from screaming. Ollie and Kieran were huddled in a corner, probably discussing the upcoming match against Ravenclaw. Whatever, she didnt care much what they were talking about, Rie was happy enough, or would be, just reading an old muggle novel by Jane Austen. Romance. Pft. Like life was like that seriously. It was difficult to concentrate on it with everyone being so loud, the common room was practically buzzing with excitement and it was really beginning to grind on Rie's nerves. She threw the book down with little patience, walked past Ollie planting a small kiss on his blonde head, slapping Kieran playfully on his before leaving through the portrait hole.

Looking up and down the staircase, she furrowed her brows in concentration, feeling the change coming on slightly. She began to shrink down as her hairs on her arms grew thicker covering her skin. Her hands shrunk to paws and soon enough where she once stood, in her place was now a baby white tiger. She stretched down, feeling a small sense of freedom wash over her, something you could only get from being an animal or flying and since Rie wasnt overly keen on the latter she'd happily settle for this. She trotted down the staircase and into the first corridor, playfully snapping at peoples heels and giving a rather tiger-ish growl like laugh when they screamed. Her tongue lolled out at the side as she rolled her eyes, giving her probably a slightly funny look. Her little paws padded down, making small slaps on the marble floor. Her tail fanned out behind her, wagging from left to right as she turned the corner and was picked up. "H-hey! Lemme go put me down!" She thought to herself. "Rawr!" came her tiny squeek of a voice. She struggled and squirmed in the grasp of a student but they werent letting her go. "Rawrrrrr!" Her cry sounded pained, but it was supposed to come out annoyed. "If you dont let me go I'm going to bite your nose off punk!" She dug her claws in and the student dropped her. Turning on him she let off a throaty like growl at him. "Try that again and I will have your head!"

She turned on her paws and ran full pelt down the corridor. Cursing the idiot who thought it was alright to pick her up. Spinning around, she darted down another corridor and soon found herself in a deserted corridor, one lined with suits of armour. Feeling the small cub would be safer here she walked over to the nearest suit of armour and brushed against it. Finally, peace and quiet. A small purr rumbled in her chest as she found herself being amused by winding in and out of the armours legs. Her tongue once again lolled out of her mouth, her shoulders rising and falling in succession as the small tiger seemed to laugh. However:

Something pinched at her tail. "Hey, whats that?" she thought to herself. Suddenly her back paws came clean off the ground, followed by her front paws. "Ahhh!" The small tiger was hung upside down in the air, face to face with a suit of armour. She roared, well squeaked, as she flung her paw out to try to get its head, all the while thinking "let me go you overpriced piece of scrap metal." As her paw connected she whimpered. That. Hurt. She tried to struggle but every time she did the grip on her tail was increased, bringing tears to her eyes. The overcrowded common room seemed oddly inviting now as she swung by her tail. "You just wait until I get down from here... you will be a pile of scrap metal that even a junk yard would refuse." She thought angrily to herself. Her paws folded over her chest, she wondered how long she would have to swing here. Rotating round and round. She would have changed back but she didnt really like the thought of landing on her head.

[Dean Hogarth]

If there was something that Dean Hogarth did well it was the ability to stress over nothing. The smallest piece of homework could have him bent over a text book pulling his hair out and today was no different. It would not be a surprise to find out that it was a piece of Astronomy work that had the young Hufflepuff wound up so tight, and neither would it be a surprise to hear that this certain assignment was actually something he was doing of his own free will in a desperate attempt to please a certain Astronomy Professor. It was not however the assignment that was grating on the boy either (although he did find the tone of this particular textbook rather patronising) it was the fact that everyone in the Hufflepuff Commonroom was making so much noise!

With a slightly over the top sigh to show his displeasure, which was not normally like Dean as he was one to suffer in silence and just put up with it all, but today he was having non of it and decided to storm out of the Commonroom and make his way towards the library and put up with the tedious looks from the smug Ravenclaw’s. But the Hufflepuff never made it to the library, in fact he was wondering down one of the many corridors that were aligned with suits of armour when he noticed one holding something very odd. It was not your normal spear or axe, but something fluffy.

At first the colour faded from Dean’s face as he was worried some immature Hufflepuff has stolen his slippers and placed them on display around the castle, but then his slippers were rabbits this was… “OH…A T-TIGER!” With a high pitched squeak Dean jumped to the other side of the corridor, his trembling hands clinging onto his astronomy textbook for dear life. “HELP!” He shouted, his voice echoing down the deserted corridor highlighting the fact that even that call for help petered out into a child like squeak. Maybe the tiger was dead and this was some sick joked played by a Slytherin in an attempted to get back at Gryffindor, of course their house logo was a lion but Dean would not put it past a Slytherin to be dumb enough to big cats mixed up.

Sticking his trembling hand into his trouser pocket he pulled out a fizzing whizzbe sweet and with, for a geek away, a rather good shot he hit the white tiger square on the head. Now he would see if it was alive or not.

[Rieko Daniels]

Here she was. Rieko Daniels. Caught off guard and being held upside down by a suit of armour, it was shuddering as though laughing, but of course Rie did not find this at all amusing. She couldnt wait until she was down, this suit of armour wouldnt know what had hit it. The tiger cub hung limply and Rie could feel the blood rushing to her head making her slightly dizzy and getting the feeling of a headache. Using her strength, she tried to pull herself up, latching her paws around the armours metal arm, using her back paws to try and kick the thing to make it let her go, however it wouldnt. Instead, it shook her and she found herself hanging upside down again. This was just NOT her day.

Rie was positivly fuming by now. Why did she always get into fights with suits of armour? It seemed to be like a conversation breaker for her. Something she did without realising it. Her tail was pulsing now through pain, it felt like her tail was about to come clean off and, some part of her, wished it would at least she'd be free. But. No. Lets just hang around, literally. This was getting old, really fast. It was like being on a rotating plate on a microwave, stuck to it with no choice but to slowly spin.

"Oh...A T-TIGER!"

"Well duh moron." She thought sarcastically to herself as she continued to spin around. "Get me down!!" Though instead, as she turned to face him once more she saw him on the other side of the corridor, clinging to his homework fiercly. "Oh you wimp!" Great, so now she was here with the cowardly badger. This was just what she needed. A small squeak of help came from his mouth as Rie exhaled though he probably didnt hear it. "Help you!? Hello you're not the one hung upside down by your tail!" She thought angrily to herself. This was beginning, well it was beginning to get annoying a long time ago, but now it was becoming plain stupid. How could he be scared of a small tiger? Yeesh, he knew how to use a wand didnt he if she was really an actual tiger? Which she wasnt.

Thump.

"OUCH!" She screamed in her head as something hard collided with the bridge of her nose, a roar, well squeak, coming out of her mouth as she began to thrash around. Now she had two asses to kick, the armours ass and his. The suit of armour tightened his grip on her tail, she let out a whimper of pain. A rather loud whimper of pain and stopped struggling, it seemed to make the pain worse when she struggled.

[Dean Hogarth]

Dean’s eyes grew wide with horror as the small white fur ball that was being held by the suit of armour began to growl and almost to prove his point wiggling manically from side to side to prove it was not dead. Knowing this simply scared the Hufflepuff even more as not only was there the chance the tiger could claw his eyes out there was a high possibility that now he had thrown a sweet at it the chances were that it would.
Gulping Dean tried to will his paralyzed body forwards and with a shaking hand he pulled put his wand and very slowly and very gingerly moved towards the suit of armour and the white tiger.

“It won’t hurt you it is in distress. It won’t hurt you it is in distress. Save it and be the hero, maybe it is an aminagus, maybe it is a Ravenclaw and then Professor Owen will find out…”

Dean kept muttering to himself in reassurance as he began to cross the empty corridor with his wand at arms reach in his trembling hand. He had no idea what spell he was going to do, in fact he had no idea what to do full stop. He was not really the knight in shinning armour; he was more like the man servant who stood in the background clapping when his master won the fair maidens hand.

“Er…Alohomora.” Dean looked from the unmoving suit of armour to the white tiger and offered the creature a very timid smile as the tips of his ears burnt a deep red in embarrassment. Still nothing happened and the Hufflepuff could only curse his inability at Charms. “er…Expelliarmus”