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Light red began to rise onto Fae's face as the Auror and Atwell continued to reprimand her attitude. Her lips curved down into a deeper frown, the crimson across her cheeks a sign of her oncoming rage. Mostly due to Elizabeth's request, Fae had, for the most part, backed down from fighting, ready to stew in uncomfortable, disdainful silence for the rest of train ride to Hogwarts. But as Flynn and Paige teamed up in their admonishment of her, she felt like a cornered animal, and was all too ready to lash out like one. But then, Beatrice pulled Fae's attention from Paige to the other first year. The poor thing looked like she was falling apart right there in front of them.

The fury quickly drained from her face as Fae jumped to her feet, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern. She stared at Chiara, unsure of what to do, but not wanting to do nothing. Full-blown panic was not an area Fae had experience in, and, to be honest, neither were children. She knew fear, but it had always been something she'd known how to shake off. This was completely different. It looked like the fear was consuming the girl. Luckily, both Barnaby and Paige seemed to be familiar with this state of palpable terror, and Elizabeth didn't seem out of her element either. Fae's eyes rotated between each of the people in the compartment, including the white-haired lump on the floor.

"Well what can we do to help then?" Fae asked, not to one person in particular, but the compartment as a whole. She had no idea how to put the poor girl's mind at ease, so she was well prepared to listen to anything anyone might suggest.

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Zelda wasn't all too sure what else to really say to her mother. She let out a bit of a sigh directed towards Hestia as the cat seemed to want a lot of attention, and Paige had for the most part abandoned the cat to go off somewhere else in the train. Rolling her eyes slightly at the cat, she scratched the cat that had decided to jump up into her lap behind the ears as she looked over at her mother as she answered Andre's question about what the mist stuff was. She only really had a basic idea of what it was that the mist stuff did, so she was somewhat glad for the explanation.

Hearing her mother comment about potentially stopping by Hogsmeade at some point, and she just more or less nodded her head at her. "It's okay, don't worry about it. You two are always off doing something, so it makes some sense. Though did you really have to have April drop me off or whatever? April? She's way too perky sometimes or whatever," she commented, just shrugging slightly. She would have preferred to have gone by herself to the train station then have to have April drop her off. Actually she would have preferred to be by herself then to really have her parents drop her off either.

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Arty watched his best friend settle into her seat, worried. She was certain to be on edge and he silently cursed their luck. Of course it was an Auror she knew. Of course it was a family friend. Here she was meant to be enjoying her time with her friends as they all started a new journey towards a brighter future, or whatever other motivational stuff his therapist used to say that always got him kinda psyched up despite that firm belief from Apollo that it was mental nonsense, and she wasn’t able to enjoy it. Death eaters. Even when they’d lost, they still managed to ruin everything around them. But they weren’t here right now and his best friend was so he was going to do what he did best when people needed to get out of their head. He shot his brother a shit eating grin, that look that his family knew meant he was up to something, and mimed turning a dial all the way up.

His annoying dial that was.

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh, shhhhhh, shhhhhhh.” Arty dramatically flung himself at Georgina, draping himself over her as he dramatically threw his hand across his forehead. He put one foot in his brother’s lap and his free hand stretched out desperately for Mary. “We have all bloody year to think about responsibilities and the mean kind of people and all the totally nasty shit that goes on and follow the Queen’s english and all that. I have a way more important dilema. Like, I have to take my earring out after I spent ages begging my parents for it! I mean, come on. How unfair is that? This school’s dress code needs to come out of last century. Muggles have a fun secret code about where you have an earring on you. Why can’t we have something like that!”

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Time continues to pass, with the aurors making their rounds from compartment to compartment. Bonnie Flynn has moved to compartment 10, Lyra Burke was handling those in compartment 9, Lionel St. Willfold was handling compartment 8, and Callum McFenwick was handling compartment 7. Frederick Flynn, meanwhile, went to go deal with compartment 6. It wouldn't be much longer until the sweep of the train has concluded. At this rate though, with no evidence of Death Eaters turning up... Either the dark wizards are at the very front of the train or there weren't any present to begin with.

Compartment 1 -

Penny nodded. "I'll let her know," she promised Madalyne. She wasn't too sure whether or not Chiara would be comfortable enough to tell someone else about what had happened, but maybe she would be in time. It wasn't her decision to make anyways - all she could do was let Chiara know about the resources available to her, though Penny knew that Chiara's parents had already informed the school about the situation and certain precautions were being taken.

"I prefer to fly solo," Talbott answered, his arms still crossed. He very rarely hanged out with people, spending most of his time up in the Owlery, more or less brooding.

"Oh, I don't know who I'd want to be my date... I hope someone asks me," Penny mused, blushing a bit. "Maybe I'll wear a floral inspired gown - something with little living flower details? Cherry blossoms maybe? What about you, Mads?"

Compartment 13 -

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at her daughter, smirking slightly. "Would you have preferred your aunt and uncle drop you off?" she asked, knowing that this likely was going to be an equally awful option for Zelda. Her aunt and uncle lived in America and were both rather eccentric as far as witches and wizards went.

"Oh, did I miss out on meeting the famous April Flynn?" Andre asked, feigning innocence. He knew that Zelda didn't much care for her sister, especially the legacy she had left behind in Ravenclaw.

Bonnie pretended to not hear the hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I have to go, I need to finish my rounds - it was lovely to meet you, Andre," she said, before she left the compartment and went back to her duties. She proceeded to check compartment 10.

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Chiara flinched as Elizabeth approached her, trying to crawl farther and farther back into the compartment, even as her back was pressed up against the wall. In that moment, she wished that she could turn invisible. Her skin appeared as pale as her white hair, the pigment bleached by terror. She seemed too scared to even answer Elizabeth.

Beatrice hesitated for a moment, before she tugged on the auror's cloak and whispered something into his ear. Frederick looked over at Chiara, before nodding his head slightly at Beatrice's words. "It'll be alright Chiara, you have nothing to fear," he said gently to her, before looking at the others in the compartment. "Hopefully I don't run into you all again too soon. That could just spell out trouble," he said with a small laugh, before he waved slightly at the group, and left the area.

The young student slowly relaxed as Flynn left the compartment. Paige kept a good distance from Chiara, not to ostracize her or anything, but simply because Chiara seemed to need her space for the moment. A lot of Slytherin students had panic attacks like those and Paige found it best to give them what they needed to work through it. If Chiara needed silence and buffering room to calm down, then what's what she needed. "You okay?" Paige whispered to Barnaby.

His parents had been Death Eaters too.

Barnaby smiled - although Paige suspected that it was forced. "I'm good, Paige," he whispered back. "Once she calms down, wanna play Snap?"

Her eyes flickered over to Chiara, before they then drifted over to Fae and Elizabeth. She didn't want to spend time where she wasn't welcome. Even though Fae had dropped the entire subject, Paige didn't feel comfortable in the compartment. She loved spending time with Barnaby, but with Fae and Elizabeth as well? Besides, she had abandoned Zelda in the compartment alone (admittedly with Andre, a love gushing fest likely having quickly ensued. She would have gagged if she had been there). "Maybe next time, Barnaby," she answered quietly.

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Madalyne looked over at Talbot, she didn't really know him all to well she knew that he was mostly a loner in the school and rarely ever hung out with anyone in his year either. "Oh c'mon Talbot, it's going to be really fun." Madalyne said, as Felix crawled up onto her lap and started to make himself comfortable again like always. Her cat really did hate being cooped up in a cage all day, when Penny answered her question and smiled towards her. Penny was really popular within her year after all she wouldn't have a problem finding a date, though she did play with the thought of asking her as well.

"That would look so cute on you Penny!" Madalyne said, as she gently pet Felix and thought about what she would wear for the dance, she really didn't know either really. "I'm not really sure to be honest, something red maybe." She said, looking at Penny for a moment. "I'm not sure who i'd ask yet." Madalyne answered, though she also did like someone approaching her and asking her to be her date for the Celestial Ball, but she wouldn't mind asking anyone out either.

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Mary caught Arty's leg with a soft oof. "Too bad there isn't a theater class for wizards, you'd do wonderfully." Her mind filled with some fun ideas for theater magic. "Well there are four of us so it should be quad something." She suggested. "I'm amazed we haven't named our little group." The four of them had been friends since the first year. They did have a few people that were on the periphery, but the four in compartment three were the core.

She loved her friends and had a sudden burst of thankfulness for the group. They were the reason she was as happy as she was. If she hadn't had a good group of friends...She let the thought disappear and just basked in Arty's goofiness. "If an Auror were to walk in here right now I don't even know what they would think" She shook her head. "How did you become a prefect even?" She laughed. "What is the secret code?" Mary's life amongst muggles had been...restricted. She didn't know of any coded language that they might have with earings.

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Elizabeth frowned as Chiara scuttled away from her, but she of all people knew it was best to respect boundaries on these things. Standing back up, she just nodded and said, "Space it is then." Looking at the poor thing, she frowned. Whatever was going on, it seemed to all start off after Paige and Fae's exchange. She loved her best friend dearly, but Eliza knew that she came on strong, and that could be scary to those that didn't know any better. Whatever was going on, them staying would only make things harder for her, Eliza thought, and that meant it'd be best for them to take their lead.

"Nah Paige, it's fine." She said, and straightened herself up, before looking back at Fae. "I think it's actually best if the two of us take our leave for now. Fae, come along love." It wasn't really Fae's fault, Eliza didn't think, but what she had said had set the kid off, maybe that meant that removing the two of them from the situation would make things better. That, and it might be a token to Paige to let her talk with Barnaby. The way she saw it, there was no point in firing the first shot this year. If the girl so much as lifted a finger against her of Fae, it'd be war for sure, but she was doing all she could to at least give her a shot.

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Apollo thought for a moment, sitting down and placing one hand on his chin. "Now, I don't know if its possible but...perhaps we could use the disillusionment charm or even the color changing charm on just your earring. Sure it wouldn't be visible to all but at least you wouldnt have to take it out right? Like a silent rebellion or something." There was a wicked grin on his face as he spoke, the same grin when he has the idea of going against school rules for a little fun. It quickly escaped as he laid back onto the chair and tilted his head up. "Any longer and we could go out and find these death Eaters on our own. No, no, that doesn't mean we can go out for a stroll and look for them. It's still way above our grading and I doubt we'd stand a chance against people willing to use the unforgivable curses." There was a long sigh followed by a pause of silence in the air.

He shifted in his seat as he gave the two girls an eye. "Studying quartet? No slytherins aloud? Uh...Man this whole naming thing is hard. I think it Bestow work together on it hehe. However if an Auror came in here I think theyd send us all to the looney bin. What with Arty over here acting like the mad lad he is. " he laughed at Mary's question about the earrings and gave a nod to Artemis letting him know that he was going to be the one to explain this horrid yet brilliant muggle coding that was so dated it made Apollos eyes roll. Granted the rest of the world didnt seem to agree and if allowed some semblance of secrecy to help one pass by then so be it.

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Arty laughed at Mary’s comment even if it hit closer to home than he cared to admit. He was better than his first two years. Past Arty couldn’t imagine becoming a prefect, much less having friends like this, but he knew he wasn’t exactly the best. He was no slouch by far but that was only in like two classes peppered in with mediocrity and less than mediocre. Significantly less than. He wasn’t naturally smart and he didn’t like studying, much less studying things he actively disliked, and he messed around more than not when his brother or Georgina didn’t bring him back to focus and magic didn’t just come to him like some sort of muse and he treated rules that mildly inconvenience him periodically as guidelines rather than… well, rules. So frankly, he wondered the same thing sometimes. Who in their bloody minds thought Arty Harrington was a great choice for prefect? Compared to his seemingly supergenius twin and ace bestfriend, who he swore was the greatest seeker of the century, who even saw him?

But he didn’t say any of that. He got chosen and he’d prove he was worth it himself. Instead, he rolled his eyes with a groan at Apollo’s “problem solving”. “That wasn’t the poooooint, dunce! I’m distracting Georgina! Even I’m not mental enough to give this up over an earring! I’m just going to wear it in the dorm so the hole doesn’t close.” Arty sent mentally to his twin. He’d been hoping for some teasing comment, some passing judgement he could escalate into a loud distraction. Arty slipped out of his brother’s head and huffed in disdain. “The Auror's will see, and appreciate, a wonderful wizard clearly doing his best to keep his friends seated and out of the way in these trying times. At least that’s what I’ll say and they’ll believe me!” Arty beamed at Mary confidently and then held out a hand to his brother, curling and uncurling his hand in a half hearted attempt at making grabby hands. “Now, gimme the goods, oh brother of mine. I know you’ve got something to snack on and I want.”

“Oh, code! It’s an oldie but a goodie!” Arty exclaimed, gesturing wildly as he spoke. “Where your piercing lets people know who you want to tumble with, if you catch my drift. Though I couldn’t get it in the right spot. Mum and Dad were barely keen on a piercing so I kept it easy. It’s barely used anymore though. Hanky’s are more popular these days. Way more specific too. Don’t know it all that well though. There isn’t really a list. People just kinda know it and they think about it. Loudly.”

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When Elizabeth suggested the two of them take their leave, Fae didn't budge, her rotating glance eventually stopping on Chiara. No one seemed to have any idea how to help the girl, or at least any idea they cared to share with her. Even with her forehead crinkled with concern, it was obvious that the huff of breath exiting her nostrils was a huff of frustration. Her eyes flicked to Elizabeth, a strange mix of hesitance, annoyance, and indecision as to what they should do present in her expression. After a brief moment of silence, she shook her head, waving a hand to gesture to the quivering girl on the ground.

"We can't just leave her like this. We've got to help her somehow!" she exclaimed, lips curved into a small frown. Fae was a young woman of action. The idea that doing nothing could be the best thing they could do to help the girl hadn't even occurred to her. She let her waving arm dangle back in front of her, her other hand wrapping around her wrist, fidgeting with the slap bracelet hidden under her sleeve. Despite her words and desire for action, however, she didn't take any steps towards the girl.

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"Definitely not! Those two are insane if you ask me, and can stay in America where they belong!" Zelda instantly responded. She did not care much for her aunt and uncle, then again she didn't care much at all for most of her family all things considering. Most of her family was crazy in some way it would seem like, and she definitely wanted nothing to do with most of them. "I could have gone to King's Cross myself you know," she muttered, shaking her head slightly at her mother now. Goose was still just snuggling up against Bonnie.

She glanced over at Andre who made a comment with a bit of a sarcastic tone, and she couldn't help but giggle slightly at his words, giving him a slight smile, before she half heartedly waved at her mother when she left the compartment. Her cat instantly saw that Bonnie was leaving and went and jumped back up on the seat next to her, which allowed Zelda to pet him slightly now. Glancing over at Andre, she shrugged slightly, "Sorry about that, I figured I'd run into either my mom or my dad, but that was a little weird of a conversation to be having here."

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The lengthy search of the Hogwarts Express has almost reached its conclusion. In compartment 5, Lionel St. Willfold found no evidence of dark wizards. Bonnie Flynn similarly uncovered nothing nefarious in compartment 4. Frederick Flynn handled compartment 3, leaving Callum McFenwick to sort out compartment 2. Lyra Burke secured compartment 1. Had this entire search of the train been a hoax? Or were these dark wizards able to avoid the detection of the aurors?

Compartment 1 -

Talbott rolled his eyes at Madalyne, not bothering to give another comment. He very much played into the role of the tall, brooding, silent sort. He didn't even properly understand why Flitwick had made him a Prefect, though when he considered the other choices - namely Apollo Harrington - it made a bit more sense to him. Anyone was better than Apollo. He had to be the most chaotic wizard Talbott had ever been forced to share a dorm with.

"You know, I'm sure Andre Egwu wouldn't mind styling you," Penny offered, enjoying the conversation of dresses and balls over Death Eaters. Her eyes flickered over to the Head Girl, Niah, seeing her sitting curled up with a book. "I bet you would look lovely in scarlet - do you think you'd want to wear a bit of a heel? Or do you think that'd be too hard to dance in?"

"I would stick with the flats - heels will give you blisters," Lyra Burke interjected. She had elegant long ruby hair and a regal presence to her, as if she were a queen rather than an auror. She sprayed a fine mist of a potion into the air and nothing happened, yet she frowned deeply, troubled. "It's as I suspected..." she murmured, before retreating into the corridor. She didn't head for her fellow aurors. No, she was heading towards the front of the train - to the conductor.

A moment later, everyone in the front half of the train would be able to hear spells being thrown violently in the engine room.

Talbott stood up, his eyes wide as his hands trembled slightly. He could see the other aurors quickly race into the engine room. Penny squeaked slightly, unnerved and freaked out.

Compartment 3 -

Frederick moved along down the train, catching up with the others since he had spent a little while at that one compartment. Eventually, he moved along and reached compartment 3, poking his head inside of the compartment. "Hey there everyone, don't mind me, just going to check the compartment real quick," he said towards the group, before pulling out the spray bottle and spraying the mist into the compartment, and once again nothing really seemed to happen.

Yet as soon as he heard the commotion at the front, he sprinted off without another word.

Compartment 13 -

"That was brilliant, Zelds!" Andre couldn't help but comment, grinning. "Your mum's got style, you know? What about your dad? Is he a looker too?" Fashion was everything to him, well that and Quidditch, so he tended to pick up on those sort of things after meeting someone. There was a reason he was always pestering people to let him practice styling them. He had his own tastes, but being able to adapt to the tastes of someone else and pull off a masterpiece? That was as artful as a perfectly executed bludger backbeat or Parkin's Pincer.

The smile faded from his face though as he heard the spells being shouted from the front of the train. They were a bit hard to hear from this range - he couldn't quite make them out - yet he didn't need to hear them to know. There was a dark wizard on the train.

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Paige raised a slightly eyebrow, hearing Eliza call of her dog. She was a bit surprised that those two were going to leave the compartment. Strictly speaking, they weren't supposed to be moving about while the aurors were searching, but that hadn't stopped Paige. She had slipped off herself in an attempt to spy the dark wizards, only for her shoddy charm to give away and cause her to bag the effort. "Look, if she wants to be bloody well left alone, crowding her isn't going to help!" Paige hissed at Fae.

There was a little more color in Chiara's face, as the severe panic attack finally began to subside. Beatrice was sitting down next to her, hugging her friend tightly. She wasn't scared of Chiara - she knew her friend would never hurt her.

"How about we all just-" Barnaby had been suggesting, only to fall silent. The spells being shouted at the front of the train were faint at first, yet with silence hanging in the air, they were all they could hear. He looked as white as a ghost as memories gripped him, more powerful than a Dementor.

Paige swallowed thickly. Looking for danger was one thing - finding it was something else. "Stay calm," Paige said. Was she just saying it to herself or was it for everyone else? They hadn't gotten to very many protective spells yet, but as a student during the war, Paige was familiar with a few of them. She concentrated on the entrance to their compartment before casting confidently. "Salvio hexia." It was just a precaution.

She stood with her wand at the ready, pointed towards the entrance. Beatrice and Chiara stayed huddled. Barnaby tried his best to compose himself, getting his own wand prepared, just in case the Death Eaters overcame the aurors. Just in case.

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Madalyne shook her head slightly she didn't really understand Talbott really at all, he was always really quiet and she wasn't even sure why he chose to become a prefect. He always a loner, which she didn't really see any of the other prefects were like either turning her attention back towards Penny and smiled a little bit. She did know Andre a little bit whenever they played Quidditch together and he was always dressed really nicely as well. "I might take him up on that offer, maybe you could come with me when I ask him I don't really know him to well aside from our Quidditch matches." Madalyne said softly.

She then looked towards Niah the Head Girl for a moment and thought about heels, she didn't wear heels to much either, but she wouldn't mind trying them either. "I wouldn't mind trying heels, maybe try a few flats as well." Madalyne said, when her attention turned towards Lyra who spoke up and smiled towards the Auror who came in and sprayed something, and nodded towards her suggestion before she headed off towards the engine of the train. Her eyes instantly went wide when she heard some spell casting, and quickly pulled out her wand waved it slightly.

"Salvio hexia!" Madalyne casted, only for the spell to not work really, groaning loudly she wasn't that good in Flitwix's class, and she always had a bit of a hard time. Madalyn tried again on the second try, and sighed to herself, looking over towards Penny and gave her a comforting hug. "It'll be alright Penny." Madalyne said while still holding out her wand out at the ready she didn't want to leave the safety of the compartment at all, and let the Aurors handle the Death Eater.

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Inside the warm huddle of her friends, Georgina almost forgot everything. She focused on Hogwarts, the upcoming year she had, Quidditch, exams, eventually the road paved ahead of her to become an Auror. And then she was right back into it. Once the huddle dissipated, she moved over a tad. Her friends were trying, though she could read the room.

"I get it guys. Trying to make me forget it or move on, but you know me. Stubborn, headstrong, leaping into trouble without notice. I can't change, but I can ask for help if I need it. I'm fine now, really." She gave a warm smile to show she meant it. Before she could continue, adding her own two pence to the name of their group, the door opened. She half expected Callum to show up again, but this was another Auror. Another handsome one at that. She gave him the once over as he sprayed the room.

What changed this time around was the sound of something happening. And judging by the Auror's quick exit to the front of the train, she could only imagine what happened.

Death Eaters.

Georgina stood up quickly and moved to the door. "They found something! Someone cast Salvio Hexia on the room, I'm checking it out." With that, she opened the door and stood in the hallway. If a Death Eater was here, she didn't intend for them to leave.

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Mary froze when Auror came into their cabin. She went red in the face as she stood there holding Artie's leg. Thankfully he didn't say anything about their silly pose. He just sprayed something, which a quick guess Mary figured it was "thief's downfall". If anyone had been concealed in the room it would have revealed them.

She sighed relieved when he left. But a dawning realization that he had left in a hurry because of the commotion coming from the front of the train. Mary put Artie's leg down, slow enough to give him time to be able to stand. Georgina was out in the hall now though.

Mary bit her lip. They weren't supposed to leave the compartment. "Oh Georgina please don't get caught." Sometimes she wondered how Georgina hadn't been a Gryffindor, she was ready to step into the fray all the time. Something Mary couldn't say about herself that was for certain. But she could at least back up her braver friend. She cast the disillusionment charm on her, reaching out to tap her lightly on the top of the head. Mary noticed there were some patchy places still visible on her friend and she winced. Her nerves must be more wound up than she thought, it didn't help that the spell was something she was supposed to be learning this year. But Charms where one of her specialty spots and she had picked it up early. Quickly she recast it fixing the spots she had missed, relieved that now she couldn't see any of Georgina. "Don't let them spray you, it'll reveal you. Be careful."

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Arty popped up on his feet as soon as the commotion stared. He knew what Georgina was going to do as soon as he saw the Auror run off. It wasn’t her job, not yet at least, but he doubted that anything could stop Georgina from chasing a member of the group responsible for the death of her dad. Arty’s foot tapped nervously while Kirah cast her charm over Georgina. This was such a mental idea. Arty did not approve personally but he couldn’t deny her. Georgina had been with him through so much and he wasn’t about to abandon her when she was walking into a death eater. He grumbled under his breath.

“You aren’t going alone.” Arty said as he bit back his concerns. He had to admit, Apollo’s frustrations about not learning shielding charms until sixth year suddenly had quite a bit of merit. Arty frowned as he considered how difficult it would be to get the Professors to reconsider. Current events must count for something, right? If not, maybe the group could do some private study on the topic but with the addition of his normal classes, his new duties, and his little enchanted banner project, when would he find the time? He didn’t think they had a spell to manipulate time. Though Apollo would probably know better. Maybe he could consider it…

He shook his head and brought himself back into the here and now, the idea hitting the backburner for now. For forever really because it was gone as his concern for his sacrificial best friend reared its head. “The second it seems like you're in danger, I’m summoning your back by your shirt.” Arty informed the camouflaged Georgina. “And I’m going to make sure no one is interested in poking their heads out to look at everything. We don’t need anyone getting hit by rogue hexes.” Arty said. He reached out mentally to Georgina. It was… weird not seeing her but he pushed through.

“I’m going to check in on you like this so you don’t have to talk and blow the spell.” Arty informed her. He knew she wasn’t fond of it but this was the safest way for her to stay in contact with the group. He stepped out of his compartment and frowned at the other students looking around. Hypocritical he knew but they really should be staying inside. Arty held the tip of his want to his throat and muttered “Sonorus.”

“Everyone please stay in your compartments and stay clear of the doors!” Arty said brightly, his voice booming under the effects of the spell. “Just in case, we also recommend you lock your compartment doors and stay close to the middle of your compartments in the event of stray spells!”

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Fae's lips curled up into an bestial snarl in response to Paige's seething reproach of her attempt to help the child. With Paige's words coming out in sort of a hiss, and Fae all but growling, it felt like a showdown between a viper and a lion. Fae took a small step towards Paige, dramatically letting her chin drop, as if to make completely clear that she had to look down in order to look at the girl. Fae knew that being taller didn't necessarily make someone tougher, but it certainly didn't hurt. When it came to face offs, having a few extra inches could mean the difference between the opposition punching and the opposition backing off. "Stop being such an arsewad, gingersnap! I'm just tryin' to figure out how we can help. There's always something we can do. We just need to figure out what," she exclaimed, her eyes glancing over at the pair of girls hugging in the corner.

She glanced over to Barnaby when he began to speak, eyebrows furrowing in confusion when he suddenly cut himself off. She opened her mouth to question the odd behavior, before picking up on the noises that had caused him to go quiet: the sound of spells being fired off. There was a fight going on, and it wasn't hard to guess who it was between. The Aurors must've found who they were looking for. Fae took a step back, away from Paige, eyeing the door cautiously. As Paige whipped out her wand, Fae instinctively raised her hand to do the same thing, but paused before her hand could reach inside her jacket. She hated using magic. The nonsense words always tumbled out of her mouth in the wrong order, and she could never remember what movements went with what spells. There was no way that she'd be able help against a fully trained Death Eater. At least, not with magic.

She dropped her arm, frantically looking around the compartment for something, anything she could use to fight the dark forces that could bust through the sliding doors at any time. Her eyes first landed on Beatrice, arms wrapped tightly around Chiara. For a second, just a second, Fae contemplated swiping the girl off the ground, holding the girl above her head, prepared to use her as a projectile at a moments notice. But she quickly dismissed the idea. Other than it being completely immoral, there was also the problem of trying to pry the girl off of her friend, which would itself be a difficult task. Plus, she didn't think it'd score her any points with Penny. So she moved her gaze slowly away from the pair of girls, until she caught sight of the deck of cards sitting untouched on one of the seats. She raised an eyebrow as an idea came to her.

In a single stride, she reached it, picking it up and weighing it in her hand, before splitting the deck into two smaller piles. She held one of the piles out to Beatrice.

"Here. On the off chance something happens, and someone does come at you or your friend, flick one of these at 'em," she offered, her lips curved into what she intended to be a comforting smile, though it seemed to come off as more mischievous than anything.

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Legillimency, Charms

Apollo merely shrugged at his brother when he mentally berated him. How was he supposed to know that he was trying to change subjects and help Georgina move past the thought of her father's death? Ok...maybe it should've been a little bit obvious but still. A handsome man entered their compartment, spraying some odd mist in the air before hurriedly running back out at the sounds of slinging spells. It didn't take long for Georgina to follow him into the hallway, looking on towards the commotion as Mary concealed her with the disillusionment charm. Apollo followed out after Artemis had done his Prefect duties and told everyone to stay inside their compartments. Good, it wouldn't do for the class to see a prefects sibling jumping into thr fray. He noted the protective charm in front of them, having that being taken care of Apollo decided to use his gift to attempt to aid the Aurors. If he could get inside the Death Eaters head then perhaps he can distract, pry, or maybe even call out his spells before he can cast them.

Apollo peered into his mind, feeling resistance almost immediately until a wave of psyche flooded him. His eyes grew wide as his mind became violated with dark thoughts no one else could see. His body stood still as he looked down and was no longer in his suspenders and button up, now dressed in white gowns with ropes tying him to a stone slab keeping him still. He looked around the room and saw the rest of his friends in the same situation, each one clad in white and bound to stone. They were surrounded by Death Eaters, rhythmically chanting what he could only assume was some form of Dark Arts. His attention was once again snatched by the glint of light radiating off of a fang like blade. A dagger who's hilt have the word CHIMERA engraved in it. Apollo tried to keep a stiff upper lip, never letting them see his fear or sadness as he watches the dagger head straight for his heart.

Before its final plunge he woke up from this vision and immediately proceeded to feel his chest and body for blood and wounds. His hands raced to his face as he slowly backed away, running into the compartment door and slowly sliding along it until he fell into the chamber. Apollo began to mutter nonsense as he slid further and further back into the compartment, hitting the far wall, and sitting on the floor. He pulled his wand out and in a panicky state began to cast the disillusionment charm. It wasn't perfect, and patches were shown, but it would hopefully keep the Death Eaters away.

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It seems the universe had plans for Eliza that didn't involve her leaving this room anytime soon, as a large commotion seemed to be happening outside the compartment. Drawing her wand, she looked around the room, before cursing under her breath, "Fuck, this ain't good." On the bright side, two of the most competent duelists around were in here, and Fae could beat the daylights out of anybody who came near them, so there was that. Thinking quickly, she started formulate the beginnings of a plan. Keeping people out was the best idea, Death Eaters finding them in here would probably end in bloodshed.

Swishing her wand about, she stuttered, "I-Inanimatus Conjurus!" and a small dead rat, which fell to the ground, motionless. "Fer fuck's sake, now's not the time for nerves Eliza, focus." She berated herself, and tried again, finding her voice, and almost shouting, "Inanimatus Conjurus!" causing a small cider block to appear in front of her. Now, she had something she could use to keep them out. Picking up the block, she propped it against the door, and said, "Engorgio!" Trying to make it larger, but hitting the rat instead, making it start to swell, before bursting. Retching, she began to cough, covering her nose and saying, "Fuck, sorry."

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"You act like I pay attention to really what my parents wear, look like, or do," Zelda said with a bit of an eye roll towards Andre. She wasn't at all too sure what to think regarding her parents appearances, most kids never even wanted to think about that sort of thing. Though she figured now would not be the time to talk about this sort of thing or how much she more or less did not care for her family. In her mind her family was insane, and she really did not want to be anything like them.

That's when she heard the chaos going on towards the front of the train, and she instantly stood up from where she was sitting. "What the hell was that?" she said instantly, pulling her wand out and poking her head out of the compartment. She was more then willing to defend herself should the need arise, but based on the sounds they had found a Death Eater on the train, but all she knew was that the chaos was at the front of the train, which meant that there wasn't much she could tell from where she was.