Location: the Seventh Floor - Dumbledore's Office ->> Dungeons - the Slytherin Common Room: Fifth Year Girls Dormitory
Magic: Pocket Sneakoscope
Dumbledore pushed his half moon spectacles further up on his nose, his expression grave and serious as he peered at Artemis. He didn't say a word back to the young Hufflepuff student mentally, but there was no doubt that the Headmaster had heard him. Yet a moment later, the tension vanished and Dumbledore smiled at Apollo, nodding at him in acknowledgement. "Miss Crane, we will be meeting here in my office on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 o'clock," Dumbledore said.
He chuckled lightly at Fae's glee over being able to beat people up without receiving detention. "The society is named in honor of an old friend of mine, Newt Scamander. I imagine Mr. Harrington named his cat in honor of Mr. Scamander, as he is a famous magizoologist. Perhaps I can arrange for him to come serve as a guest lecturer one class..."
"Seriously? That'd be wicked!" Paige gushed. She adored magical creatures and if Newt Scamander was going to come talk to them, she was definitely going to get him to autograph her copy of
Fantastic Beasts. She'd have to use one of the school owls to let her dad know about it as well, that way he could send along his copy or something to be signed as well. Newt Scamander was his hero more or less, the person who inspired him to go into his line of work.
Paige then gave Elizabeth the side eye, hearing that she and Fae had managed to get detention already somehow. She had to wonder why Snape had given the job of Quidditch Captain to Elizabeth, since she knew their head of house didn't really like her that much. Snape wasn't keen on muggleborns, one of his nastier traits. And of course, Paige didn't use blood status to question Elizabeth's qualifications, it would have been hypocritical of her. No, she was just more shocked that Elizabeth was already putting Slytherin danger of losing house points before they had even started term.
"Oh, I can do such a thing, yes," Dumbledore replied cryptically. "However, whether I will is another matter entirely..."
Paige flinched slightly as Fawkes burst into flames and died. She couldn't help but stare, watching as the majestic bird crumbled down into ashes. Logically, she knew that Fawkes would just be reborn as a baby bird in a few minutes, but it was still rather unsettling to see.
"Now, I am afraid I am rather busy with the events that occurred on the train and will have to dismiss you now. Please proceed to your common rooms and change into your robes. Prefects, once you have done that I believe Professor McGonagall is planning an impromptu question and answer session of sorts for the first years in the chamber off of the Great Hall that you should participate in. Oh, and, Mr. Harrington?" he added, looking at Artemis. "I would like to speak to you privately once the others leave."
"Thank you, sir," Paige said, as she rose from her stool. She shot a glance at Artemis, as if staring at him could reveal why Dumbledore wanted to talk to him alone. Maybe Dumbledore was really planning on removing his memories and kicking him out of the Scamander Society for being a coward. Or maybe there had been some sort of mistake and he hadn't actually meant for both Apollo and Artemis to be recruited and only one of them could stay, as they had an odd number. Either way, it wasn't any of her business and yet she was dying to know.
She left his office and walked down the spiral staircase, emerging onto the seventh floor. The portraits were looking at her and the others with interest, whispering and gossiping about what must have gone on in Dumbledore's office. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in the group were lucky. The entrance to Ravenclaw Tower was on the western side of the fifth floor, at the end of a spiral staircase. Gryffindor landing, the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower, was actually on the seventh floor - not too far of a jaunt from Dumbledore's office. The Hufflepuff Common Room was accessible via the kitchen corridor, about eight flights of stairs down from their current location.
"I'll see you later, then? For the duel?" Paige whispered to Zelda, before beginning the long trek. She had to climb the grand marble staircase down seven flights until she emerged in the entrance hall. The first years hadn't arrived yet, though loads of older students were pouring into the hall, separating off like streams as they went to their common rooms. Paige took the door on the right side of the hall, opening up a dark and dingy staircase that descended directly to the dungeons. She half ran, half hopped down the seemingly endless amount of stairs until they finally leveled off. She continued onwards until she found a seemingly blank stretch of hallway and waited. She didn't know the password.
"It's
Merlin, you tosser," Merula Snyde said, appearing out of the crowd and purposefully shoving past Paige. "You better tell me what Dumbledore wanted with you lot," Snyde then added. She addressed the wall clearly: "Merlin!" and the wall seemed to shift, until the passageway to the Slytherin Common Room appeared.
"We were talking smack about you, gossiping - that's all," Paige told her cheekily as she walked down the passage until she entered the common room. The light in the common room was slightly green as they were underground and partially under the Blake Lake. It was long and low, with dark wood and tapestries featuring famous Slytherins such as Merlin. The room was cold and dark, depressing by some standards, but Paige adored the decoration scheme. It seemed like the sort of place where mysteries would happen.
"Bag your face, Atwell," Merula growled. Ismelda had appeared at her side, grinning evilly.
Paige just rolled her eyes.
"You asked, Snyde," she reminded her, before taking the staircase to the fifth year girls' dormitory. Her belongings were somehow already placed at her bed, with Hestia taking a nap on her pillow. Paige knelt down onto the ground and undid the latches on her trunk, quickly pulling out her school robes and getting changed. She didn't particularly care if any of her roommates saw her changing. They'd all been living together since the first year. She had seen Ismelda's flat chest a million times.
