#3 Dinner

The light from the outside world had begun to fade and Lindsey found her way into the Great Hall with ease, hopefully she would be sitting next to Avery. Taking a glance towards the Hufflepuff table, she looked for the elder student, in the hopes to give him a smile in greeting before heading over to the Slytherin table.

As the lassie walked, she noticed that there were fewer professors than normal and she had to stop to observe the oddity. Where were they all? What was going on that would need that many teachers gone. As she scanned, she even saw McGonagall with Filch and seemed rather serious too. "Hmm... Wonder what is going on." She said in her normal voice, not sure if anyone was listening to her.

Continuing on her way, she could hear the noise coming from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw table and wondered what was going on and she thought she might have heard about some new Quidditch Captain for both the houses. Well, that was certainly good for them and smile smiled at their happiness before getting the rest of the way to her own table. It was much better from this morning's madness, that was sure.

Finally making it to the table, she smiled when she saw Avery and found her place next to her. "Thank ye for saving me a seat." She said in her Scottish accent and looked at the food. "It all looks good." She took a few things and placed them on her place before she looked around the Great Hall some more. The Ravenclaw, Nyx, had arrived and it seemed to have gained quite a reaction and she gave a half smile. "It seems everyone is celebrating tonight."

Tiana bursted into the dining hall like a ball of energy, her teeth showing through a widened smile. The day had treated her well and she wanted to end it on a high note. Thomas wasted no time jogging over to her table, throwing her hands up in excitement as she reached them. “What's up, Gryffindor!” she shouted down the length of the spread, hoping to garner a loud reaction in return. She felt like a celebrity, her captain's badge on display for everyone to see.

She noticed a few familiar faces further down the table, namely Jacob and Genevieve. While making her way down to them, she enthusiastically clapped the wagging hands of some of her Gryffindor housemates, who congratulated her on becoming captain. “No autographs tonight, mate! I don't have a quill on me!” she joked with a second year, a laugh leaving her lips.

Thomas reached Jacob and Genevieve, taking a seat beside the former. She had caught the tail end of the redhead's question. “This one said he wasn't going to try out this year. Can you believe that, Foxy? Someone oughta' convince him!” Tiana went to playfully nudge Thatcher's shoulder, before going for what she hoped would be quick side hug. She turned her attention toward the food in front of them, surveying what she wanted first. “What should I start with? Any recommendations?” She poured herself some juice and waited for honest suggestions.

Rubes looked around slyly. Most of the students surrounding her seemed to be too focused on their dinner to be worrying about what a first year might be doing. 

She turned her attention to the students at one end of the Slytherin table and, not aiming at anyone in particular, quickly flung the sausage in their direction. Whether or not she did actually hit someone was another matter. Rubes wasn't sure if her throwing skills were really that good.

Swiftly putting her head down in order to avoid detection by whoever may get whacked in the head with a sausage, she glanced at Lucky. "Well? Did I miss or did my sausage find its mark?"

'Oh?' Sophia interest in the other houses increased, as it did with any mention of Quidditch - even opposing teams. She gave Tiana and Nyx a careful look, or the best she could from where she was, and decided they were an intriguing choice. 'I wonder how that's going to go? I wish it was Quidditch season already. Ugh, why must they make us wait?' She whined, pushing her empty plate aside.

'You applied?' Sophia made a delighted sound. 'Oh, that's awesome. I'm sure you'll get lucky.' She just couldn't help herself tonight. 'No, seriously, you'd make an amazing captain. I have faith in you. And if you don't get picked, then it just proves our Professors are actually stupid and don't know real talent when they see it.' She shrugged matter-of-factly.

'Were they?' She's been too busy staring at a cute boy on her way inside, instead of paying any notice of Professors herding students indoors. 'I didn't notice. I hope someone tells us though. Now I'm curious. I mean, surely they would if it was bad, right?' She popped another piece of carrot into her mouth.

She laughed as Tiana made her dramatic entrance, her own good spirits raised by the chatty atmosphere. Then the mysterious Ruby Farrowbrooke joined them and Sophia gave the girl a friendly grin. 'I love this plan,' she nudged Lucky. 'Go for it, Ruby.'

She startled when sparks shot overhead, giving the staff table a glance as she'd expected them to be most likely. Then Seabrook started yelling and Sophia rolled her eyes. 'She just can't stand anyone having some fun.' Sophia scoffed.

Covering her mouth in both shock and delight, as the sausage flew to the Slytherin table. Damn, Ruby almost hit Seabrook! As funny as that would have been, that outcome likely would have ended very badly for them all. She tried to choke back a laugh as soup splattered everywhere, leaning towards Lucky to keep herself from falling off the seat.

'Huh.' Sophia then frowned in disappointment. 'Okay, well Seabrook's not her usual self that's for sure. Nothing even got set on fire. I don't think Slytherin's the best target for this, weirdly enough. Hey Ruby, try Gryffindor.' She indicated to the next nearby table, though she wondered how good the first year's aim was.

Lucas' attempts to ignore Kat weren't going well.

She looked him in the eye and made sure he noticed the lack of staff in the Great Hall, which he tried to be rational about and failed. He clenched his fork, grimacing in his attempt to resist taking her deal. Oh, it was so tempting! He needed to know. Lucas wasn't used to being kept out of the loop with anything.

He almost had a heart attack when someone shot sparks up, in the Great Hall, during dinner. Lucas could hardly believe Amara had done that. She herself even said in the past that it was the one thing they really shouldn't do, as the chances of being caught were almost at their highest. Yet with so many missing and something seriously clearly going on, it seemed she was in the kind of mood to risk that.

Shaking his head in amusement and disbelief, Lucas finished his dinner and reached for his goblet. Thankfully, he hadn't made contact yet - as a sausage shot out of bloody nowhere and sent soup flying. He yelled, leaping back from his seat in reflex. He wasn't close enough to it, but had only a split second to react - and his first instinct was usually to protect himself.

When Amara cleaned it up, he sat back down and instantly checked his hair. Lucas straightened his tie and exhaled in relief. After last night's prank, despite him having evade the whole chaos of it, he did not need another stressful meal. Aside from the noise going on over at the other tables, of course. If only they had any sense to listen when Amara told them to shut it.

He was tempted to get payback on Kat by mentioned to Amara that she knew something, but once again he considered what went on in the bathroom. Lucas was finding it harder to care, as he needed to know what was going on with the staff and what Kat knew about it.

More students were showing up and things were getting increasingly chaotic. Kat noticed in particular that Tiana had to make her grand entrance and the cheers that came from the Gryffindor table were deafening. She shot a dirty look that way closing her notebook and finishing her chicken. Right then Amara made her Entrance. Kat smiled when she shot sparks from her wand above their table in an attempt to quiet them down. ‘They do need to be knocked down a few pegs,’ Kat thought annoyed by their all to cheerful demeanor.

Sausage started to fly and it landed in soup causing a big mess. Normally that would be Kat’s queue to get out of there but thankfully she wasn’t by where ever the person who through it was aiming. It was also quite convenient that Amara had cleaned the mess up.

Kat watched her sit across from Lucas and was wondering what they were talking about. ‘Ugh how hard is it to get into this friend group?’ Kat thought starting to let a deafest attitude creep in. Kat tried to eye Lucas but not too hard, she didn’t want Amara to catch on. Kat sat at the table for a minute and put all her belongings away, she was debating heading to the common room early, if someone was trying to start a food fight she wanted to already be gone.

'Settle down, settle down,' Headmaster Rickard's voice magically spoke over the noise. There was clear disapproval to the show of sparks, but it was difficult to tell who cast it or where from, so it went unmentioned.

When students returned to their seats and reduced chatter to a normal level, he negated the spell on his voice. He walked round the head table, preparing to address the students. Many were intrigued, as the Headmaster usually only did that on special occasions. Something was clearly going on.

By then, they'd notice that all those who were absent before had arrived. The students might have  seen Hagrid come in, but probably not the rest. 

'I need your attention for a moment,' Rickard said. 'It was recently brought to our attention that a swarm of crystal daymoths were either accidentally or intentionally set loose in North Scotland. The Ministry of Magic continue to investigate and attempt to contain the swarm, but it has spread.'

He paused to give them a moment to absorb the news.

'For those of you who don't know, the Crystal Daymoth is a large but rare, parasitic species of magical moth. Professor Fairburn was able to determine that their release has ties to notorious magical creature smuggles. The Ministry do not wish us to inform you of the situation, but Professor Hathmore and Madam Pomfrey were not only able to convince them otherwise - but they also put into place a plan of action.'

Those mentioned had determined expressions, as they sat together at the staff table. Professor Hathmore in particular seemed rather at ease, as battling for the educational rights of young witches or wizards was something of a specialty for him.

'Madam Pomfrey?' Rickard turned to her. 'If you'd like to explain?'

'Yes, thank you.' Pomfrey stood, now speaking to the hall as a whole. 'A daymoth has transparent, glittering wings so you can't miss it. They're rarely studied, but from what we know - they may fly indoors but won't stray far from an exit. We advise to keep windows closed and stay alert. A crystal daymoth latches onto skin and causes krystalus - a condition that paralyzes and forms a crystal-like shell. It's slow acting but anyone affected should see a healer immediately.'

There was nervous and even fearful chatter among the students.

'Let us be clear: there is no reason to panic,' Pomfrey added sternly. 'The daymoth swarm are being dealt with around the clock by experts. We merely wish to keep you prepared, as they've spread far enough that a few may appear at Hogwarts over the next few days. If you encounter one, do not antgonise it - inform a prefect or staff member immediately.'

She paused, her tone becoming more reassuring and once again determined. 'The daymoth can be removed and stopped with an advanced spell, which I have permission to teach to any student who wishes to learn - no sooner than tomorrow afternoon.'

'It is required that all prefects and Quidditch captains, including those who have applied for such positions, to learn the spell at nearest convenience,' Rickard added. 'It is the duty of older students to remain attentive and assist those in need, should any incident with these moths occur. We may only be dealing with a few stragglers at most, as the swarm itself is headed in a different direction.'

Madam Pomfrey sat back down.

'Stay vigilant and report any sightings of the daymoth. We advise younger students to remain in pairs or larger groups when venturing away from the castle, until the matter is resolved,' Rickard said. 'That is all.' He headed back to his seat so the students could resume their dinner.

Chatter of the subject immediately spread, though the volume was finally back down to a normal and respectful level.


The spell mentioned in this post will be an Extra-Curricular Quest, released in the #4 RPG afternoon.