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Bottom Deck, Front -

"Thank you for your help, Fae," Penny said with a smile. Penny had managed to handle her and Beatrice's things, leaving Fae to get Chiara sorted. The Hufflepuff Prefect found a clump of seats together in the front of the Knight Bus on the lowest level, figuring that it would be the easiest on everyone. She didn't want to take advantage of Fae and force her to drag up Chiara's things to the top level - that would have been rather rude in her opinion. "Maybe we'll have a class together this term."

Chiara and Beatrice had gone over to Hagrid, doting and fawning over Fang. Even Chiara, the shyest first year at Hogwarts, was petting the dog and whispering quietly to the puppy, as if they spoke their own special language.

Hagrid glanced up, noticing that Georgina had elected to take a seat in the back of the bus - and that someone's patronus had flittered on over to her. "Yer alright, Georgie?" he called out to her, his voice loud and booming. The bus lurched and then there was a loud BANG! as they were suddenly flying along a road somewhere in northern England, maybe Scotland, it was hard to tell. Luggage was flying everywhere, Georgina's stuff slammed painfully into her knee, and Hagrid almost toppled over (which would have squished Beatrice and Chiara, as the two girls fell backwards and landed in Barnaby Lee's lap). Fae managed to keep her balance, though her owl let out a screech of annoyance.

Middle Deck, Back -

The Weasley brothers and Nymphadora Tonks accompanied Apollo, with poor Tonks being forced to lug her luggage along as Apollo had only helped the boys. She muttered something under her breath about things never being fair for girls anyways and her hair turned a vivid shade of violet, her eyes physically narrowing as well until they resembled those of a cat. "Thanks, mate," Bill Weasley said with a smile. He managed to get into a seat, with Charlie and Tonks sitting on either side of him.

As the Knight Bus lurched and POPPED! into a new location, Madalyne was sent lurching forwards. Her luggage would have rolled over but with her feet propped up on it and her quick reflexes from Quidditch, she managed to stop it. Apollo was knocked to the ground, the luggage crashing onto the floor around him as the Levitation Charm ended. Mary was luckier - she just swayed to the side, nearly slamming her head into the chair next to hers. Artemis got the worst of it though. The suddenness of the Knight Bus knocked him to the ground and he landed on his wrist funny, breaking it. It wasn't his wand arm at least but damn... Maybe everyone should've just called off this school year?

Top Deck -

Talbott Winger was still off by himself at the front. Andre Egwu was sitting with most of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team not too far from him, with Talbott becoming increasingly annoyed that they were disrupting his quiet time. No one was bothering Elizabeth in the back, though she'd be able to see Paige and Zelda sitting towards the center. The sudden lurch of the Knight Bus wouldn't phase Elizabeth at all, though the Ravenclaw Keeper's luggage fell on the Ravenclaw Seeker. Ouch.

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Paige adored all animals on principle. One of her best classes was Care for Magical Creatures and growing up, her favorite memories of spending time with her dad usually involved fantastic beasts in one way or another. Most of those ones tended to be aquatic, poor things that ended up tangled in muggle fishing nets in their home city of Bristol. Kelpies were her favorite - they were majestic, vicious things. "I'm hoping Hagrid lets us see the puppy... Maybe I can convince Professor Kettleburn we need a lesson on handling dogs, specifically puppies owned by Hagrid."

She nodded slightly at Zelda's thoughts on the Death Eaters, about to reply when the bus jolted suddenly. Hestia let out a half scream, half meow. Paige was forced back into her seat, white knuckling it. Zelda hardly even moved, as if the Knight Bus had decided that she deserved a smooth and comfortable ride. Paige glanced out at their surroundings, trying to figure out where they were. Travel with the Knight Bus was funny. In theory, it should have been able to hop straight to Hogwarts and drop them off - but it usually seemed to have to make multiple jumps, with stretches of real driving in between.

"Bloody hell, this bus is a proper nightmare sometimes..." Paige groaned.

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Mary considered what Artie was saying. He was right, also she felt guilty for what she had said about Callum. There was no way Georgina was okay with that. She sighed. "Yeah, we'll let her have some alone time. We'll see her at dinner." She pulled out of the hug and sat back down when there was a loud bang. "Eep!"

She swayed and nearly bumped her head. "Son of a -" She righted herself. "Are you okay?" She asked Apollo and Artie. "Who thought the knight bus was a good idea? Please tell me we have made it to Hogsmead at least in that jump so we don't have to suffer another one."

Mary also realized at that time they were all still in their street clothes. No one had had a chance to change clothing. Great. That meant they'd have to change in the carriage at best. Or they would be eating dinner in muggle clothing. She sighed.

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Madalyne looked between Artemis, Apollo and Mary for a moment when they brought up Georgina, she was usually with them all of the time as well, and slightly wondered what had happened. "What happened to Georgina?" Madalyne asked, mostly towards Artemis or Apollo, Mary she had a feeling that the girl just disliked her for some reason. But Madalyne had a feeling that it was something to do with the Death Eater on the train, Georgina was somewhere else on the Knight Bus that much she knew. As the Knight Bus suddenly went forward, hearing the loud popping sound Madalyne lurched forward a little bit.

"Bloody hell.." Madalyne said as she managed to quickly bring her chest back to where she was nearly falling out of her chair, thanks to her years of being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Felix was on the floor on his back completely stunned by the sudden movement before mewing and slowly getting back up. Madalyne looked up at Artemis who looked like he had gotten injured by some of the moving luggage as she moved slightly to get a better look. "We'd probably be on the train for a really long time if they didn't choose the Knight Bus." Madalyne said to Mary.

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"Don't mention it. Sorry I couldnt take your luggage as well,, just kinda grabbed the first ones I saw." Apollo lurched a bit as Mary came in for a hug and then Artie followed suit. There was a slight grimace of pain as the air in his lungs escaped before it was replaced by a warm smile. "Alright alright, I do still need to breathe you know." Confusion riddled his face as Mary asked him to explain himself. All he could recall was stepping out into the hallway and then waking up in the cabin to be evacuated into the Night bus. He saw the dead bodies and the wreckage left behind by the fight with the Death Eaters. His smile dropped and he slowly tried to pull away from the hug. "Mary I..." The Knight bus swayed once more, breaking his concentration and dropping him and the luggage as well. As he heard it clatter about Apollo turned to the first years and flashed them a smile as if to say he would handle it.

"Think I could squeeze in there and do a bout of magic?" Apollo asked the younger ginger haired boy. Charlie looked at Apollo, apparently having the Weasley family bravery. "No way!" Bill was a bit more wary of Apollo, not familiar with the Ravenclaw student, even though he had helped them with the luggage. "Is there someone we can ring for you - maybe you need to see Madam Pomfrey?" The girl on Bill's other side suddenly changed, until she was the mirror image of Apollo. "I've got a big arse crush on you, William! Our babies will be beautiful and imaginary, named after our favorite professors' owls!" Apollo silently shook his head as he shrugged and moved himself to the free seat next to Charlie, back towards it so that when this was all over he could have a seat. He waved his wand and ended the flourish with the tip pointing at his feet, sticking them to the ground to help anchor his body for the spells he was about to cast. "For your information I don't plan on having children myself. Thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me Wingardium Leviosa!" His black and gold wand swished in the air, the flick denoting the cast of the spell.

The luggage lifted slightly, only to come crashing down as the unsteadyness of the bus hindered his ability to cast. He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as he silently waved his wand at the groups luggage, sticking the Weasley's and Tonks's to the floor where they sat. Apollo went to move towards his friends, feeling his feet in place and recalling his charmed them there. Right, best he sit down before him...or someone, gets hurts. He bent his knees and took the seat behind him that was next to Charlie, feet still firmly in place as he put his wand away and used both hands to grip onto the underside of the chair.

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“Breathing is for blee―” Artie’s screaming cut off the rest of his half hearted retort as the Knight Bus lurched forward and sent Artie tumbling to the ground, unprepared for the sudden movement. A little warning would have been nice, a please take your seats before we toss you around like a bunch of gits, or literally anything but pain replaced the irritation as he broke his hand broke his fall awkwardly and shockwaves of pain ricchoched up his arm. Artie couldn’t stop the yelp that escaped him as he rolled off it quickly and brought it to his chest, a whimper escaping his clenched teeth when he brought his wrist carefully to his chest. He braved a glanced down at it and swallowed back a wave of nausea. It was… lumpy and bruised and twisted in a way he was pretty sure it shouldn’t be. This bus driver was a barking tosser.

Artie carefully slumped back into his seat, little making groans of pain as the movement of the bus accidently jostled his wrist. He curled himself up as tightly as he could, staring miserably where his brother had abandoned him for some random people. Georgina saw someone die and her Uncle get cursed, Apollo got attacked and now Artie had this image of himself dying in his head, Georgina was avoiding them, Apollo left them, and his wrist hurt so much. Artie was miserable and he felt his words getting stuck in his throat as everything overwhelmed him. He could feel the tears prickling at the corner of his eyes but he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering, latching onto Mary’s concern.

The connection was made without Artie even being aware of it, words not coming across it but brief flashes of memory and emotion. Death Eaters and cold terror. Georgina’s revelation and concern. Fear for Apollo curled in a ball, fear of the sleeping charm, fear of the memory removal. Hurt at Georgina avoiding him, them. His wrist in pain. Hurt at his brother not even checking on him. Frustration that the words won’t come out. Artie just sat there quietly, wishing the day would be over.

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"Oh, don't mention it. It was really my pleasure," Fae replied, giving Penny a grinning nod that made it look like she was trying to be dignified, but not in any way succeeding. Instead, she looked like an overly excited child on Christmas, or the eighth night of Hanukkah. Part of Fae wanted to stay on the bottom deck with Penny, Beatrice, and Chiara, but she had told her friends she'd meet them once she was on board. It'd be a dick move to ditch them to hang out with a pretty girl, even if it was Penny Haywood. When Penny mentioned the possibility of classes together, Fae swore she could feel her heart skip a beat. "A girl can hope," she replied, mentally cursing herself for her open cringe-worthiness. She quickly gathered her things, preparing to head up the stairs to search for Madalyne or Elizabeth, when the booming voice of Hagrid caught her attention. The name he spoke was familiar to her, an acquaintance she knew through Mary and Apollo, but at first she didn't believe it would be the same person, as she hadn't noticed Winthrop or the twins among those on the bottom deck. But when she looked, down near the back, she saw the blonde girl clear as day, not looking particularly cheerful. It struck Fae as odd that she was alone, save for the patronus of a golden retriever dancing around her. Fae hesitated for a moment, glancing back over at the stairs. She was sure her friends would understand if she didn't show up because she was helping a friend of a friend. So with that final thought, she began to walk down the aisle towards Georgina.

"Locke?" she called as she made her way to the girl. Concern was present on her face as she closed in. "Everything alright? I'd have expected you to be up with Mary and the Twins, wherever they-" she began, but before she could finish, without any warning, the bus lurched into action. Fae managed to stay on her feet, though there was a notable change to her presence. The sympathy her face had held moments before was replaced by a massive grin. She let out a hearty laugh, following it with a loud, "WOOOO-HOOOO!" Dickhead the Owl didn't seem to be enjoying it nearly as much as Fae, however. Once the driving had gotten slightly less erratic, Fae flopped down onto a seat next to Georgina. "Riding the Knight Bus was a bloody brilliant idea! Why don't we do this every year?!" Fae exclaimed, her gaze finally turning back to Georgina. Her face showed a twinge of guilt, the excitement of the ride having distracted her from the reason she'd stayed on the bottom deck to begin with. She glanced down at the luggage that had banged against Georgina's, and her lips curved into a frown. "That looks like it hurt. How bad is it? Do you want me to go find Mary so she can do her cool little healing thing?"

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Georgina saw the Patronus appear before her, recognizing Artemis' Patronus. He was checking on her, which felt good, but even then she was still hurt. Before she could reply, the bus lurched, sending its guests flying and their possessions surging. Georgina's belongings smacked right into her knee. She bit her tongue before she let out a string of curses (both literally and figuratively). Once she got it more or less under control, she stood up, glancing at Fae. "As fine as can be." She left it at that, not wanting to get into her reasons for not being around her friends, and moved over to check on Hagrid, who nearly crushed two others. "Are you all right?" she asked, helping Hagrid to the best of her ability.

Once he was settled, she sat down again. "I'm as well as can be expected after having that attack on the train and seeing someone die in front of me." She left out the part where Callum was nearly killed and where her friends had more or less accused him of being a Death Eater too. She wasn't as upset about the latter, but it still stung and they should have known better. At least keep it to themselves.

She just wanted to be at Hogwarts, starting the school year and now she had someone's death on her mind.

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As the bus lurched, Elizabeth barely moved, keeping a steady hand on her luggage. It took a lot to shake her, not even the reality warping shenanigans of the Knight Bus could knock her off balance, but that came with the territory of being a seeker. That was the role she was born to play, it seemed, as it took a kind of unshakable confidence to dive after a small object heading straight for the ground, which she had in spades. It seemed, however, that the Ravenclaw's seeker weren't as good on her feet. As she shifted more and more into her the persona she took up at school, she felt that good old competitive itch in the back of her head.

Taking steps towards the front, Flame shot a cocky smile at Zelda and said, "Z, be a good captain and tell yer seeker that me outflying 'er ain't gonna be half as fun if 'er leg is broke." Kneeling down next to poor Audrey, Eliza lifted the luggage off of her, shaking her head. She wasn't going to help her up, as Eliza believed in self sufficiency, but shot a playful, yet mean look at Josefina, saying ,"It's my beaters job to bust up yer friend, not yers, got it?" She gave a sigh, before breaking out into a chuckle, and grinned at Zelda, saying, "Looks like you might need some new recruits, don't ya' think?"

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"I hope so too, I really want to see the puppy. Though hopefully if I'm running around as a cat the dog doesn't think it would be fun to chase after me," Zelda said with a slight giggle, though knowing her she actually would probably enjoy the chase. It would be be hilarious in her mind and probably amusing. The idea of running around with the little puppy while in her cat form would be amusing. She laughed slightly at Paige get thrown about by the bus, while she more or less stayed in place. "I don't know what you are talking about, I think the ride is lovely."

Her attention was drawn away by Elizabeth's words towards her and she rolled her eyes slightly in response. "I think they do just fine on the brooms, on the ground is an entirely different story Flame, thought you ought to know that. Not to mention this bus moves around a lot, so people are gonna get hurt. Though I will say this, hey Audrey!" she stood up for a moment, calling out to the Seeker, "Be more careful alright? Try not to get hit by anymore flying luggage, just imagine that they are Bludgers!" she said to her, before sitting back down, looking at Paige, "Like I can keep track of what my team is doing all the time." she added to her friend.

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Bottom Deck, Front -

The rocking and the swaying didn't impact Georgina as much this time, as she managed to stay firmly in her seat. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for those around her. Hagrid was by no means a small person and Georgina had moved into range so to speak. He tumbled forward and would have crushed her, had Penny Haywood not pulled Georgina out of the way quickly. "Wotcher, Georgie!" Hagrid exclaimed. "Whatcha mean, yer saw someone die?" he asked, confused.

But unfortunately, he didn't have much time to talk. He picked Chiara up from the ground with one hand, holding his puppy Fang with the other. "I got to dash - first years and all, they need lookin' after... But come by me hut, okay? I've got tea and rock cakes any time, Georgie," he promised, before disembarking the Knight Bus. The vehicle seemed to shudder as he got off. "First years, follo' me!!" he shouted, waving his hand and indicating that they go to follow him.

"You're going to love the boats," Penny promised Chiara and Beatrice. "I expect you both to be Hufflepuffs, but if you're not, I'll sneak by during the feast and check on you," she promised them.

Bottom Deck, Back -

Poor Fae, abandoned without so much as a word. With the final series of lurches and bumps as the Knight Bus materialized at Hogsmeade Station, Fae lucked out. She managed to stay in one piece, not going flying, not hitting her head, everything was coming up Fae! Maybe it was her beating skills, eh?

Middle Deck, Back -

They weren't quite at their destination yet - the Knight Bus was still thundering along, rapidly changing size to squeeze in through a narrow gap. There was another loud BANG! as they suddenly appeared at Hogsmeade Station, the bus screeching as they barely stopped in time. Outside the windows, everyone would be able to see the stern yet worried expression of the Gryffindor House Head and Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall.

For this round of bumps and bounces, the locks on Mary's luggage burst open, threatening to spill her belongings everywhere. Madalyne was sent flying, hitting the windows with her face, hard. One of her teeth was knocked out from the impact. Apollo was unscathed. His twin, though, was having a positively horrible day. With the rocking and wild motion of the bus, he ended up hitting his broken wrist against the side of his chair.

"That was positively wicked!" Tonks cheered, her form shifting as she once again looked like an eleven year old girl, although now she had spiky blue hair and golden eyes.

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The Knight Bus suddenly squeezed before there was another dramatic BANG! and the brakes squealed as they came to a halt at Hogsmeade Station. Outside, Professor McGonagall stood waiting for the students. A little further down the road were the thestral drawn carriages, although only those who had seen death could see the creatures that pulled them.

The sudden change in momentum didn't mix well with Paige. "It's like they think you're their-" she began, before she was flung from her chair with impressive air clearance. She hit the floor roughly about ten feet from her chair, her luggage at least staying in one place. Hestia didn't even meow, unaware that her owner had been tossed like a rag doll. "...mum," she groaned. Paige waited for a moment to make sure that the Knight Bus really had stopped moving, before picking herself up. She knew her knees and elbows were going to have horrid bruises on them from that tumble.

Unfortunately, Zelda was also tossed from her chair and ended up going smack into Andre Egwu, ending up on top of him in a compromising position on the ground. The Ravenclaw seeker and keeper giggled a little bit, as the two beaters started whispering rapidly, no doubt having made bets on when this would finally happen. Elizabeth was almost thrown out of her chair, just barely catching herself in time, though the sudden motion would hurt her neck.

She then heard Professor McGonagall's voice booming, clearly under the influence of an amplifying charm. "The following students are to report to Professor Dumbledore at once. Georgina Locke, Artemis and Apollo Harrington, Mary Winthrop, Zelda Flynn, Paige Atwell, Elizabeth Flame, Madalyne Crane, and Fae Mintfree. The first two carriages are reserved for those nine and they are to go straight to the headmaster's office upon arriving at Hogwarts. All belongings will be collected from the Knight Bus by staff."

Paige raised an eyebrow. "Why would Dumbledore want to talk to us? And with those losers too, really?" she said with a sigh. She made sure that Hestia was secure in her carrier before walking down the staircase and stepping off of the Knight Bus. The carriages sat four to five students and Paige took a seat in the back of the first carriage, where the bench was a bit roomier and could deal with three (with two sitting in the front).

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"Good point." Mary said to Madalyne with a small nod. It really was a good point. Proof that Madalyne belonged in Ravenclaw, but that didn't make Mary have to like it. She wanted to yak everywhere but managed to keep it down.

Mary hated having the twins invade her mind, but it was the reason she had opened up to Apollo all those years ago. He understood her in a way no one else did. She almost pushed Arty out, but his pain both physical and mental kept her from doing it. Her face went pale at the images. That explained so much. She went to reach out to put her hand on his shoulder and offer to heal the break, though it would be best to wait for Madam Pomfrey. Then the bus contorted and popped, as did her luggage.

She grabbed the spell-o-tape from the luggage and used it to tape it shut. She looked at Madalyne wincing as she saw she was missing her tooth now. "Probably best to keep the tooth if you can find it. Madam Pomfrey should be able to fix that." Mary was actually a little thankful for the jostling of the bus it kept her from crying over what her friends had seen.

Even better, the trip was over. She wanted to just get off of it. She did not understand the kid who kept changing their hair somehow. What was up that? Mary had some questions, but Mary knew they could be answered in due time. She tensed up when she heard her name called. Was she in trouble still? Not all of those names were people who had been involved in the incident, and some of those people hadn't been called.

She left her suitcase but kept her satchel pack with her. That had her wand in it anyway and there was no way she was going to leave her wand behind. Mary could only help the spell-o-tape would keep her things from spilling out until she could get the latch fixed. "Let's go." Mary said to Apollo and Artie, "We gotta hurry."

Mary saw Georgina as she headed for the exit as quickly as she could. She did not want to get stuck on the bus and left behind because of a swarm of kids. She was prepared to use her status as a prefect to clear the way if she needed to. "Georgina, are you okay? Do you need a hand?" Whatever her friend needed she was willing to offer. She felt bad for what she had said on the train, she knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Especially right after Georgina had seen the Death Eater be killed.

As she exited the bus she saw that Paige was getting into the first horseless-carriage. "Second carriage, Paige went into the first one." She told the others. Helping them if they needed it before getting all four of them into the cart. Mary hoped that the fifth spot would be taken up by Mintfree, and not Madalyne. "What in the world can Dumbledore want with this collection of people?" Nothing Mary could come up with made sense.

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Apollo rolled his eyes at Tonks as she cheered on for the Knight Bus. It wasn't so much that he didn't enjoy the excitement, rather that so much had already happened just moments before that he was unable to understand how anyone could possibly be cheering at a time like this. As the bus continued to rock and sway, tossing its patrons to and fro, Apollo remained seated and clinging for dear life. He could hear the hisses of pain coming from his twin further down the bus, though it was much more difficult to see as everyone was flailing about.

If he wasn’t hurt and upset, this would be right up Arty’s alley. It was like a rollercoaster but way more dangerous and he could totally get behind that. But right now for the first and probably last time in his life, he’d wished they just waited. The bus ride wasn’t getting any easier with the constant stretching and swerving, the little joints resonating in his broken wrist drawing out a hiss of pain every time. Though, he whimpered as the last lurch slammed his wrist into the side of his chair and he doubled over around the wrist, rocking in the seat as he bit down on his lip to keep from crying. Everything got loud after that, so many different snatches of conversation swimming around him and it felt like he was suffocating.

As soon as the bus halted Apollo removed his wand from where he had stashed it and flourished it towards his feet. "Finite Incantatem" A brilliant blueish white light shown from the wand and then faded as he tried to move his ankles and then his feet. Chuffed that it had worked he doubled over on the spell, casting it behind him as he made his way over towards his twin brother in rather a hurry. "Bloody hell what happened to you? You alright mate?" He was now kneeling before Artemis, wand hand on his shoulder, the other outstretched asking to see his injured limb.

Arty barely registered people moving around, overwhelmed by the noise of the bus and the background noise in his head. He looked up at his brother and opened his mouth, trying to get words out that felt like molasses in his throat, but nothing came out. He offered his wrist out gingerly, the broken wrist discolored and lumpy. Arty just shrugged helplessly.

Apollo sucked in air through clenched teeth as he looked at Arties wrist. It definitely didn't look good, and unfortunately healing wasn't one of his main academic focuses. "Its probably best we let Madame Pomfrey take a look at this. Until then I can offer a splint to help ease the pain and keep it straight. Ferula" He removed his wand arm from Artemis's shoulder and pointed his wand at his wrist. Banadages began to conjure out the tip as the wrapped around the wound and tightened. Two wooden beams placed above and below the injury to keep it safe and straightened until a professional could look at it. "How's that?"

Arty watched with apprehension as his twin conjured a splint. He braced himself for the pain, hissing reflexively as the bandages wound themselves around the break and the wooden beams. It hurt, nothing could stop that, but it felt better than it did before. Arty gave a little sigh of relief and gave his brother a weak smile. He looked around for Mary with a frown.

Apollo followed his brother’s gaze, glancing around only to notice that both Mary and Georgina were missing, all the while Madalyne was missing a tooth. He shrugged and wrapped his arm underneath Artie’s, using himself to support his brother’s weight and lift them both up. "You know prefects, jumping towards the orders of a House Head before the drop of a sickle. Best we get ourselves going too, wouldn't want to keep Dumbledoor waiting of all people."

Arty nodded, letting his brother support his weight as he stood. The voices in his head were growing louder, almost painfully so, and he clung harder to Apollo as they walked out of the Knight Bus. There were just so many voices, so many people, so many things going on, it was so much. Too much! He knew he should be doing better; he was a prefect just like Mary so he should be hopping to it too but he couldn’t focus past the sound in his head. He shut his eyes as he tried to focus, trusting Apollo to keep him stable.

It wasn’t difficult to understand what was happening here. Apollo had been through these fits himself and the damage caused by both the Knight Bus and the attack on the Hogwarts Express was clearly stress enough to allow their Legilimency classes to slip. There wasn't much Apollo could do except to take his brother out of the bus as quickly as possible and to a less dense area. "Make way Make Way! Got a prefect that got banged up real good here! Move aside the lot of you." He hurried his way through the students, taking them down to the lower decks where he spotted Georgina.

He wasn't quite sure what was said or done to have her sitting alone in the bus, but all he could do was offer her an apologetic smile as he nodded towards Arties wrist and continued on his way out. "Alright make way people! Banged up prefect coming through! Thanks!" Once they were outside he noticed McGonagall standing there, her firm face plastered as usual behind her glasses. "Sorry it took a bit madame, Artie here seems to of broken his wrist something fowl, perhaps you could take a look at it before we head off?"

McGonagall’s stern face softened. “Of course, Mr. Harrington.” She pulled out her wand and whispered an incantation as she tapped Artemis’ wrist, a plaster cast appearing to keep it from being injured further. “After speaking with the Headmaster, Madam Pomfrey will mend his wrist.”

Arty was so focused on trying to keep the voices in his head from getting louder, he startled when the plaster cast appeared around his wrist. He jerked back instinctively but after some inspection, nodded at the Professor’s instructions and mustered up a smile as best he could with everything pressing inside his head.

"Thank you again. C'mon Artie let's get in the carriage." He offered her a warm smile as he made his was towards the first carriage when he heard Mary tell them Paige had gone into that one."Blimey, thanks Mary. That would've been a long ride for sure. Though I can't say I ever really know what the headmasters thinking." With that the twins entered into the second carriage, guiding Artie into a corner furthest from the door.

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Before Madalyne could say anything else, she heard the loud bang, before she found herself flying through the air, letting out a scream before hitting her head against the window. Pain instantly flowed through her entire head, and her ears started to ring loudly as well Madalyne could taste the familiar taste of blood in her mouth. She moved her tongue around, feeling that a tooth had gone flying out, she wiped a little bit of blood from the side of her mouth looking up at Mary and nodded slightly. "Yeah i'll do that.." She said softly she looked like a bludger had come and hit her in the face, which has happened in the past before. It wasn't the first time that she had lost a tooth or had a broken bone since she played Quidditch a lot.

Felix, who seemed to not have any care in the world really had found her tooth and was playing with it on the floor, at least she had found it without any issue really. Madalyne quickly reached for it, Felix seeing that coming had her tooth in his mouth and hissed a little bit. "Really Felix?" Madalyne said, as she reached for it Felix letting out a loud yowl as she managed to pry it out of her cats mouth. She stuffed the tooth into her pocket and grabbed Felix, finding his crate and gently pushed the little guy in and locked it, hearing Professor McGonagall’s voice booming, and listing off the people to go and see Professor Dumbledore. That made her worry a little bit she wasn't sure why she was being called really.

"Hey at least you didn't get hurt, but yeah it was kind of fun." Madalyne said teasingly towards Tonks the first year and shook her head a little bit, as she got off the Knight Bus. Seeing that Artemis was really injured from the bus ride, and seeing them heading to the second carriage, she made her way towards the first one and climbed in seeing Paige had gotten in as she sat across from her. "So, what kind of trouble did you get into now? Looks like I am in some kind of trouble finally to." Madalyne said jokingly, though she didn't try to smile, with her missing tooth and all.

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Georgina felt herself pulled back by Penny before Hagrid fumbled forward, nearly crushing her. "Thanks Penny," she got out before she returned her attention to Hagrid, who was being so sweet. "It was on the train. We can talk more about it when I come visit you then Hagrid." He had invited her to his hut, which was special in and of itself and it made her feel better. What made her feel even better was, at the stop, Mary offered to help. She missed her friends, even if for a brief moment. "Cheers Mary. I'd appreciate it."

She started to get her stuff in order when she heard her name, amongst others, as McGonagall called out to them. What could Dumbledore want with all of them and why them specifically? Did it have to do with the Death Eater attack on the train? She was concerned and, if she were being honest, a bit excited.

She stepped off the bus and made her way to the carriages when she noticed a peculiar sight. Rather than the normal carriages, pulled by pure magic, instead the carriages were pulled by some beast. She had never seen them before. All she could do was stare as she made her way to the carriages. She almost missed Mary telling them Paige went in the first one. That would have been a horrible ride. She stepped up into the carriage and sat down, aware that her friends were probably upset with her. "I needed a minute alone, but I apologize. Anyway, what's with the beasts pulling our carriages now? Did they just get them in?"

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Zelda was listening to Paige's words, before suddenly there was a bit of a sudden jolt as both she and Paige were sent flying out of their chairs. Now, given just about any other circumstances, she would have brushed it off as nothing really, but nope, where she landed made that impossible. Of course, her luck seemed to be horrible as she had crashed into (and landed in a bit of an awkward position) and landed on top of Andre. Her face instantly turned bright red as she quickly got up off of him. "S-s-sorry Andre, didn't mean for that to happen or something," she said to him, before she held out her hand and instantly helped him to his feet.

Of course, thankfully the embarrassing situation was going out the window as she heard McGonagall's voice and her needing to go in one of the first few carriages to go see Professor Dumbledore. "Oh uh... Guess I need to go, see you later Andre," she said with a wave as she followed after Paige to the first carriage, unfortunately for her her face was still a bright red color as she took a seat by Paige. "I don't know what's going on, since for once we didn't get into any trouble. No idea what this is about though," she said to Madalyne and Paige, her face was still red and she was trying to get it to go away. Hoping that being distracted by something else would help.

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Elizabeth didn't know what was worse, the pain in her neck, or the fact that that the headmaster already wanted to talk to her, before she even had arrived at the school. If she were getting in trouble for something she'd done last year, she would assume that she'd have gotten an owl over the summer warning her, and she doubted the Trolley Witch would have snitched on her yet, given the calamity that had befallen them all earlier, so she was at a lost for what the man could have wanted. Scoffing a little at Zelda, Elizabeth just shook her head, saying, "Whatever you need to tell yerself"

She didn't like the idea of leaving her cat behind, but she expected the teachers to at least treat Shadow with a bit of respect. Stepping back to her stuff, she leaned down and gave her cat a little pat on the head, saying, "I'll see ya' later baby, be good for me!" Standing up straight, she gave one last look back at her stuff, hoping nobody would mess with it while unattended. Shaking her head, she started down the train, following after Zelda and Paige, and ending up in the same carriage as them. It wasn't that she particularly wanted to spend more time with either of them, but it was the closer of the two carriages, an she didn't know where Fae was.

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"Right then, lovely chat," Fae said, her lips pursed, as she watched her blonde acquaintance walk away, moving towards the front of the bus. She didn't actually mind so much that Georgina didn't stay and spill whatever was on her mind. She knew if she were going through something, she probably wouldn't want to talk about it with someone she was only kind of friends with. Besides, if anyone could help anyone with an emotional problem, it was Hagrid. While he might've been on the same intellectual level as Fae, he was far more empathetic than her, with his kind gruff voice. Any hint of disappointment of not being able to help Georgina more was quickly erased when the bus lurched back into erratic motion, at which point Fae went back into her state of excited shouting.

When the Knight Bus eventually came to a stop, Fae stood from her seat, dazed grin on her lips, her legs wobbly as she got to her feet. Unlike many of the other passengers, she managed to reach the end of the ride unscathed, a fact she attributed to her athleticism, not taking into account the possibility it could've also been solely dumb luck. It didn't take long to gather her things, and, as she made her way towards the exit of the bus, her Head of House's voice rung clear through the air. A small frown took residence on her lips. With her somewhat inadequate deduction skills, she assumed that this was about the confrontation on the train, despite the fact that a number of people who weren't involved in it were called as well. She let out a groan as she trudged outside. As she exited, she looked towards the magical horseless carriages that would be taking them to their destination, her eye being caught by Madalyne entering the first carriage, followed a few moments after by Elizabeth, as well as Mary, the twins, and Georgina entering the second. With both of her best friends choosing it, she made her way to the first Carriage. Upon entering, her eyes immediately went to the two of them.

"Oi, , Flame, Mads-" she greeted, before she caught sight of the other two. She paused, contemplating whether or not she should switch to carriage two, to catch up with her more nerdy friends. But in the end, she decided against it, knowing that Elizabeth wasn't particularly good friends with any of the other passengers in the carriage. Instead, she gave a mockingly formal head nod to Paige, and then Zelda. "Mads' girlfriend. Mads' girlfriend's girl friend," she continued to greet, before taking a seat in the last free seat.

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"I didn't get into any trouble - I mean, not much trouble," she shrugged. "Flame here made a rat explode on me, I s'pose that counts." She glanced over at Zelda, smirking to see that she was still bright red. Maybe this would be the year that Zelda would fess up about her crush on her fellow Ravenclaw chaser. "Maybe Dumbledore's just finally gone straight up barmy. It'd explain a lot. Fairly certain the bloke's so ancient he taught most of our professors how to wave a wand."

Paige's spirits dimmed as Fae got into the carriage, taking the last remaining empty seat - right next to her. "How do you deal with her, Mads? Don't you ever want to just hit a bludger at her face?" Paige asked Madalyne, clearly talking about Fae.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall leaned into the carriage through the open door, though her attention was focused on Madalyne. McGonagall was Madalyne's Head of House and had been the one to promote her to the status of Gryffindor Prefect, making it logical for the fierce professor to entrust her above the others to remember this key bit of information. "The password for the Headmaster's office is Apple Whip," McGonagall said. "Do not dally and go immediately to his office once you arrive at the school." McGonagall then stepped away from the carriage, shutting the door before walking back to the Knight Bus to assist the other students.

The carriage ride was fairly brief, Hogwarts Castle almost instantly coming into view. They had arrived far faster than usual, with the sun still shining its rays down on the magnificent series of towers, turrets, and chambers. There was a splash in the Black Lake, possibly caused by the Giant Squid or a merperson coming up to take a look. Of course, it was relatively quiet aside from the hoots of owls or the wind whistling through the trees of the Forbidden Forest.

The carriages stopped in front of the Entrance Hall. Paige opened up the door and climbed on out. She was still in her muggle clothes, as they hadn't had a chance to change - but everyone else was pretty much in the same boat. They were about three hours early, so she figured they'd have plenty of time to change before the Start of Term Feast, providing Dumbledore didn't randomly expel them all and then award 150 points to Gryffindor for some random act of bravery. Her pocket sneakoscope was still silent, something that made her believe that it had to be defective, as Apollo and his gang were just about ten feet behind her in the other carriage.

Paige walked in through the giant entrance hall doors and made her way to the grand staircase. Pictures covered just about every inch of the walls, running about and chatting excitedly. A few of them would go - "Oi, where are your bloody robes?!" whereas others, somehow already aware of the events on the train, looked at the students with sympathy. It was a lengthy climb, as the entrance to Dumbledore's office was on the seventh floor of the school. Paige's legs ached slightly from the extensive hike as they finally reached the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

She cleared her voice. "Apple Whip!" The password activated the enchantment as the gargoyle began to rotate, revealing a set of spiral stone stairs that ascended upwards. She glanced at her friends, Madalyne and Zelda, and did her best to put a brave smile on her face. She was ignoring everyone else there. "It was nice knowing you all," she said jokingly, before climbing the staircase.

Finally, after all of that traveling from King's Cross, they were in front of Professor Dumbledore. His office was rather grand, the walls covered in dusty tomes written in about every language known to man and more than a few that had been lost to time. Various instruments of unknown purpose were on pedestals all about the room. A magnificent phoenix peered at the group curiously from its perch.

Headmaster Dumbledore wore elegant, jewel encrusted ruby robes. He smiled kindly at the group as they assembled, gesturing to nine plain stools in front of his desk. "Please, take a seat. Would anyone care for a licorice snap?" he offered, picking up a bowl filled with black wizarding sweets. Unlike the muggle version, these ones attempted to bite anyone who tried to eat them.

"Erm, I'm good, thanks," Paige said, as she took a seat in the middle, right in front of Dumbledore. There were four stools left to either side of her. This entire set up was making her uncomfortable, especially as the phoenix looked rather old. Phoenixes tended to burst into flames and die near the end of their lifespan, and while they were reborn from the ashes as a baby, the thought of Dumbledore's bird dying while they were in here was unsettling.

Dumbledore set down the dish of sweets at the side of his desk nearest to the students, before taking a seat in his chair. It looked more like a throne than something a teacher would use. "I am quite certain you are all curious as to why I have called you here... I would like you all to become the inaugural class of the Scamander Society. Each of you have been selected due to your unique and extraordinary abilities. I would like to guide you and teach you to use them for the greater good."

Paige raised an eyebrow. This sounded like a cult to her. The name Scamander was achingly familiar as well - he was a famous magizoologist, the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. "Professor? What is the greater good, exactly?" she inquired.

"An apt question, Miss Atwell," Dumbledore acknowledged. "Since the fall of Lord Voldemort, his Death Eaters have been seeking new leadership. The Ministry of Magic refuses to acknowledge the formation of a new sect called the Basilisk Guild. It is my hope that the Scamander Society can be a tool to prevent a new threat from fully emerging, as well as impart my knowledge gained from both Voldemort and Grindewald onto the next generation of witches and wizards... I understand that more than a few of you are interested in careers as aurors or curse-breakers. I would be more than happy to write letters on your behalf."

"...Wait, so first off, we're not in trouble - and second, you want us to join some secret group to fight You-Know-Who's forces?" Paige summarized.

"Indeed, Miss Atwell - and as you currently surmised, the Scamander Society is secret. You may not discuss it with your fellow classmates, friends, or even teachers. To the rest of the school, us ten will simply be meeting twice each week for an elective course I am teaching - History of the Dark Arts."

Her eyes were positively sparkling. She didn't even think about how her parents would feel about her joining a secret club run by Dumbledore. Not only was he essentially saying that she was talented and worthy of being picked for something like this, but he had also offered to write her a letter of recommendation. That could be the key to opening the door to her dream job at Gringotts as a curse breaker. She immediately took back everything she had said earlier about Dumbledore going a bit senile. "That's so rad. I'm in."

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"It is fine Georgina I understand. And I apologize for what I said." Mary looked down at her hands. She had a hard time with empathy, always had, but her friendship with the twins and Georgina had made her a better person than if she hadn't known them.

To Apollo, she said, "Yeah, didn't want any of us to be stuck in that carriage."

Then looking back at Georgina as her question registered. "Beasts? You mean the Thestrals. Oh, Georgina." Mary's eyes went wide with the realization. She pulled her friend into a hug. "I know you said what you saw, but it didn't dawn on me. I'm sorry. The creatures that pull the carriages are called Thestrals. You can only see them if you've seen someone die." She let Georgina go. "They often hunt birds, so I have to be wary if I'm flying." At least her sneak-o-scope was quiet again.

Shortly, they were at the school, and as a group, with those from carriage one they went up to Albus Dumbledore's office. She was nervous, had she gotten into trouble somehow? She didn't talk much as they walked. Too nervous with her stomach in twists as she considered what punishments they might receive. When Paige said the password she clenched her fists. Why did she have the code? Mary really had no idea what this could be about now. Paige hadn't been involved and who in their right mind would give her the code to Dumbledore's office?

She shook her head when Dumbledore offered a licorice snap, she had lived among wizards since she was eight and still wasn't used to the candies like that. Mary was irritated that Paige asked the questions she had of her own. However, Mary trusted Dumbledore and was okay with the idea of fighting for the greater good. Mary considered the group and what she knew about them. It was an interesting and diverse dynamic. Annoying people aside. The group gathered in the Headmaster's office could be a formidable group if trained properly.

Mary had more questions. "I have a question Professor" Mary said raising her hand slightly and waited.

“Yes, Miss Winthrop?” Dumbledore said giving her permission to speak.

"I have a full load of classes planned this year, as well as in charge of planning the-" She cut herself off as she realized she didn't know if everyone was supposed to know about the ball yet. "Thing...uh, you know the thing. Will I be able to take all those classes still?" She knew which one she would drop if required, but she didn't want to. "That is to say. I am super interested in being involved in the Scamander Society." A part of her was terrified at the idea of it. She hated organized religion and secret societies were close.

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Madalyne watched as Zelda climbed in shortly after she did, seeing her face was bright red she thought about asking what was wrong, before Elizabeth came in as well. Aside from playing Quidditch together Madalyne didn't know her all that well really either but she was a trouble maker after what happened on the train earlier. Then Fae came in shortly after she did, her face turning red slightly, though she viewed Fae as more of her best friend than a potential girlfriend. "Don't you mean best friend or something, since we never dated?" Madalyne said teasingly as she turned to look at Paige and shrugged slightly. "This knucklehead will grow on you after awhile." Madalyne said jokingly, she wouldn't change anything befriending Fae even if she did like to pick fights. A few seconds later Madalyne turned her attention to Professor McGonagall her head of house who promoted her to be one of Gryffindor's Prefects. "Thank you Professor McGonagall." Madalyne said.

Madalyne leaned back a little bit looking out the window seeing the Black Lake there and then Hogwarts itself in the distance it was still beautiful as ever to her. Madalyne really was wondering why Dumbledore wanted to see her in the first place as well, a few minutes later Madalyne climbed out of the carriage and followed shortly behind Paige and headed up the Grand Staircase. She looked at some of the pictures and smiled a bit towards them as she continued up to the Seventh Floor.

Madalyne let Paige say the password, and then the entrance to Dumbledore's office was revealed giving Paige a slight smile at her joke and followed shortly behind her into the room looking around it was still amazing to see everything there and Dumbledore's Phoenix was there as well. She shook her head a bit when he offered them some wizarding candy, she didn't want her mouth to get anymore damaged then it already had been. "I'm good thank you Professor Dumbledore." Madalyne said as she sat down picking the seat on the far right end, looking at everyone else before the Headmaster spoke again which caught her attention. They were being offered to join a secret society to fight against Voldemort's remaining Death Eaters who hadn't gone into hiding. "I am in." Madalyne said, she wasn't sure why she wanted to join, she did want to however make the world a better and safer place as well.