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.
Paige Atwell
Location: Compartment 15
Magic: Defense Against the Dark Arts
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.
