The Castle (Jasmine, Mary, and Perseus)

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin waved his hand around as he set about unpacking his belongings with magic. Books flew with prodigious speed onto a provisional bookshelf which was at one corner of his room. The room was opulently decorated with a plethora of different portraits, most of which depicted an old man with an eyepeice snoozing in an armchair. A fire burned with voracious hunger as its orange flames licked the carbon (wood) and the oxygen that circulated around the room. Sitting down, Jaquin remembered that he was supposed to meet Perseus down in the Fireplace entrance. Bustling about, Jaquin managed to pull on his dark blue cloak and dragon fang chain before exiting swiftly from the room. It was getting late and most of the Hogwarts students had retired to their rooms. The torches burned eerily along the walls and penumbrae was cast in every which way. Cimmerian though it was, Jaquin soon reached a hallway that branched off from the corridor he was in and it was illuminated brightly because of the Fireplace entrance.

He felt great euphoria because of the chance to finally let his mind dwindle on other issues other than academics. Jaquin looked foward to the underground tour that featured many Magical Creatures. This was Jaquin's favorite subject at school and he was, after all, best in his year at Care of Magical Creatures and Charms, having acquired all outstandings on these subjects in his O.W.L.s.

There were still large crowds of students talking animatedly and laughing with elation. Looking outside, Jaquin could see the sunlight begin to wain and darkness cover the sky. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to greet the person that had approached him.

[anderson]

Jasmine was in her room unpacking the rest of her things. She took out her wand and held it in the air and magically her clothes folded and flew to a near by dresser. Jasmine smiled as all her clothes where put away and she walked over towards her shoulder bag and took out all her presents she bought for her friends. Jasmine smiled at the brightly colored gifts and she gently picked them all up and put them in her dresser making sure they were kept safe and unharmed until Christmas day.

She sighed with relief as she finished her unpacking it took her hours just to get everything sorted and in the right place. Jasmine than notice a purring noise coming from her bed and she walked over towards her kitten and sat down and she pat her on the head lightly. She was really bored and Morgan, her room mate, wasn’t in the room yet. She sighed and grabbed her dark purple cloak and put it on and she put her wand in her front pocket along with her key to the room. She than pat her cat for the last time and she turned towards the door and closed it behind her locking it.

She walked down the long hallway with her cloak following behind her. She than looked in all directions, this castle was very different from Hogwarts and it made her feel a little uneasy. She sighed and noticed that it was getting late due to the fact that it was getting dark out and she could see the brightly lit moon. Jasmine smiled at the sigh from a near by window and she than turned her head and notice that one of her fellow Ravenclaw was also out late at night. Jasmine smiled and walked over towards the person to get a better look at who it was. She than notice it was Jaquin and a warm smile to her face. "Hello Jaquin what are you up too?" Jasmine said as he turned around at her.

[Perseus Feynman]

Perseus returned to the room he and Jaquin were sharing to find that Jaquin had already unpacked his own belongings, so, Perseus began doing the same. With a wave of his hand, his trunk sprang open and he unsheathed his wand, waved once and all his belongings flew to their places. His books shot up in a high arc and landed with a thump next to Jaquin. Then, deciding that he would read up on some physics and astrophysics, Perseus took out an enormous volume and endeavored to imbibe every little concept it presented. After approximately five minutes, his parchment was already riddled with scribbles of formulae calculating spin, tilt, velocity, and force to mass; Perseus was studying the physics of projectiles or ballistics at that time.

It all came fairly easy to him, as Perseus had mastered Calculus in his 4th year after extensive studying and had also mastered advanced physics, potions, and alchemy. However, he realized that the trip to Switzerland had been based on having fun, not studying. So, Perseus put away his books and hurried out of the room, his dark green cloak billowing out behind him.

The hallways were lit with waining torches that casted dangerous-looking penumbrae that made Perseus jump every now and then; he was constantly vigilant. The Cimmerian hallways coupled with eerie echoes made it even worse for Perseus during the night. He became so exasperated by the Castle and its uncanny way of creating paranoia that Perseus drew his wand, ready to curse anything that moved. As he reached the Entrance hall, Perseus saw the sillouhettes of two people, obscured by the lack of light. Suddenly, Perseus realized that one of them must be Jaquin and the other was probably Jasmine, another Ravenclaw he and Jaquin had met that morning. "Well, hello, people.... I hope I didn't startle anyone." He was still clenching his sleek, black wand very tightly.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

"Good evening, Jasmine," Jaquin greeted with a grinn and bow of his head. "I'm just looking around the castle..... You know, finding secret passageways and whatnot. Perseus will meet up soon." He paused and watched the gargantuan fire in the Entrance Fireplace begin to dwindle. Jaquin sat down on a bench and staired up and out the window, reminiscing about all the secret passageways he had found in Hogwarts and contemplating about the likely places they would be able to find in the 'Enchanted Castle'. Perhaps a good place to start would be along the Entrance Corridor itself. He was glad that Jasmine would be able to help him with his endeavors as he knew that she was very intelligent as most Ravenclaw were.

"So, before we start any exploring, I'd like to know a bit about your past..." Jaquin half inquired and half requested. The castle seemed to radiate an enigmatic aura that was nearly impregnable and Jaquin wanted to break that aura of obscureness by comprehending as much about the castle as its owner would. He then saw Perseus arrive and answered, "Of course not, Perseus. We weren't frightened." He chuckled as he listened intently to what Jasmine had to say.

[anderson]

Jasmine smiled at Jaquin as he said he was trying to find secret passages to the castle. She nodded her head in response and looked up at the torches that suddenly lit making the whole hallway light up. "That sounds allot better than what I am trying to get around." Jasmine said smiling and sitting down next to Jaquin she sighed as he wonted to get to know her more. She never liked to talk about her past it made her feel like no one wonted her or cared about her. Jasmine looked up at the window across the room and fixed her gaze at the brightly lit moon the shone before it.

Jasmine than jumped at the sound of another boy. She turned her head and looked up at the sixth year Slytherin by the name of Perseus. She smiled brightly at him and nooded her head as well, "Well you startle me but thats alright I am just a little nervous about being at this castle. Even know I read so much about it I am still dont get where everything is." Jasmine said with a sigh and looking back from Perseus to Jaquin. Her smile than fadded as Jaquin asked about her past. She than looked back at the window at the moon view and emjoyed the moonlight.

She sighed yet again and tried to get the words to say in her mind out. "It really isn’t all the glamour’s to tell you the truth. It some times makes me feel unwonted and no one cares about me in the world expect for my horse." Jasmine said remembering her horse. She loved him so dearly and really missed him. "Well I was born and raised in London in the muggle world. My mother was a pureblood witch and my father was a scientist. So I am a half-blood. I think at the time he working on the laws of physics. Well at the age of six they didn’t won’t me in their life and I was left at the orphanage. At the time I did know what happen and went into desperation and I found that reading and doing experiments in my room was a way to deal with my loneliness. Then at the age of nine I was adopted by a muggle who wonted to fill the empty room in her farm house and clean out the stables. Lena Backrack she is a professional horseback rider and she taught me how to ride and we found my horse Midnight Light. I saved him as a foal and I really love him to death." Jasmine said taking a deep breathe and still looking out the window. She pushed back her long brown hair and turned her head at Jaquin and smiled. "What about you. What happen as a child?" Jasmine asked smiling brightly again.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

((I recommend that you read Perseus and Jaquin's biographies thoroughly before we continue with this post, Jasmine.))

"Ah, yes, it seems as if your father shares some of the same qualities as Perseus's; his father works as a top Physicist in the US and won a nobel prize when he was young," Jaquin said with a nod towards Perseus. " Well, not much happened as a child,- Jaquin was being modest-but, my heritage is Russian-German, mother's a witch and father's a muggle. My father works as a Linguistics, Archeaological, and Cultural Ph.D Professor at many Universities, one of which is Princeton University in the United States. Perseus here -he nodded towards Perseus- will be attending this University to study advanced calculus (mathematics), physics, astrophysics, astronomy, German, English, and chemistry. I will also attend that University. However, my specialties are in linguistics, zoology, biochemistry, batony, genetics, and biology, as Perseus and I have already been accepted into this particular University. We both got full marks in our O.W.Ls and SAT III's in the states. Now, onto the subject of my mother..... She works as a member of the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She's not that high up, but still has a respectable position. Of course, Perseus and I also have other talents such as being able to make the Beater's spots and I've won many national 1st place awards as a solo violinist, and so has Perseus, although he is a pianist."

He finished and took a deep breath because of the prolonged 'speech'. Staring out at the moonlight that had evidently risen while they had been talkin, Jaquin got up and slipped out his white wand. The corridors seemed to have become extremely obscured and Cimmmerian because of the lack of light; the torches had also gone out. "Lumos," Jaquin whispered as a bright glow of blue light illuminated their surroundings.

[anderson]

Jasmine continued to look out the window still listening intently to Jaquin. The two boys seemed to be very intelligent more than Jasmine could ever be in her life. Then Jaquin said the beater and she smiled she loved quidditch but didn’t play on the house team yet. "I play quidditch myself and I am trying out for seeker next year." Jasmine said with a smile. She than notice the torches went out and she turned her head at the near by one. All she could make out was a gleam from the moon from a near by window. Jasmine than noticed that Jaquin had rose from the bench and tried to light up the room more.

Jasmine than stood up as well and took out her dark brown wand and held it in the air, "Lumos" Jasmine said as more light come to the room so they could see their soundings. "Yes you two sound more intelligent than me. I normally always hide myself in books." Jasmine said looking all around her seeing if there anyone else around. "Lumos" Jasmine said as a really bright light from her wand came out and lit up the room even more. No one else was around and she started to think if she should head back to her room. Jasmine than was slightly confused and stayed where she was not knowing where to go.

[Perseus Feynman]

Perseus nodded in concurrence to Jaquin's comment and listened without much focus to what Jaquin was saying after that, though. The reason was that Perseus had already known Jaquin for so long that he did not need for Jaquin to tell him his life story all over again. As Jaquin talked on interminably, Perseus sat back on the bench and created a ball of light which he manipulated with prodigious speed by moving his fingers as if he was playing the piano. It spiraled around and around his hand, creating only a blurr of light. Perseus's eyes focused with great intensity on Jaquin when Jaquin mentioned that he and Perseus would be going to Princeton University. It was natural for them to be able to attend the classes as Perseus knew fully well that he was the best at Potions, Arithmancy, and Astronomy in his year, as he had earned all outstandings on those subjects. In the muggle field of academics, Perseus excelled at calculus or mathematics, physics, astrophysics, astronomy, and chemistry. But, why were they talking about this stuff when it was vacation time? He felt flattered when Jasmine expressed her feelings that they were both mor intelligent then her. So, Perseus answered, "Well, intelligence only comes after great diligence and accomplishment. So, I'm betting that you will be just as good as we are now in your 6th year." He gave a slight wink and pulled his cloak up.

Perseus commented after everyone had finished talking, "Why don't we just get on with the exploring? You know that we aren't supposed to be out too late." Glancing at his watch, Perseus saw that the time was nine o'clock, which gave them about an hour of time. As the light dimmed, and the coal in the fireplace ceased to burn with voraciousness, Perseus stood up and produced a blueish colored fireball that he held in one open palm. "So, where do you think we should go first?" Perseus inquired both of his companions.

[anderson]

Jasmine than was taken back as Perseus said that she will be intelligent in her sixth year. She blushed slightly and nodded her head in response to exploring the castle more. "That sounds fun there most be more than the entrance hall and the lounge." Jasmine said looking around yet again for anything out of the ordinary. She knew that every castle had secret passages that lead to great places. She than grabbed her wand tightly in her hands and walk forward. This was going to be a different experience than back at Hogwarts where Flich was always on duty.

As they walked down the hallway she heard the sounds of snoring coming from the portraits. It must be getting really late due to the fact that everything in the castle was sleeping. Jasmine didn’t really know where to go she just walked down the long corridor still looking for things out of the ordinary. "Hmmm if I am correct if we turn right the entrance hall will be there...." Jasmine said turning her head to the right and seeing the big wooden oak doors that lead to the entrance hall. She smiled and stopped where she was and looked behind at the Jaquin and Perseus and she smiled at them. "What are you two really looking for?" Jasmine asked and turned down and unfamiliar hallway.

[Mary Evans]

“Lumos” Mary whispered as she picked up her wand off the bedside table. She was too excited to sleep; she decided to go see if anyone else was still up. It was a long shot considering the hour but maybe, just maybe she would meet someone. So she dressed in a warm green turtle neck sweater and a pair of blue jeans and through on her forest green winter cloak.

As she walked down the hall she heard voices that seemed somewhat familiar, though she could not place them. She could only suppose that they were from Hogwarts as well. She followed the sound until she began to see three figures standing in a patch of light provided by their wands. They seemed to be preparing to leave so Mary decided to call out to them. “Hey, wait up!” she yelled as she rushed to meet them. When she caught up she realized that it was her friend Jasmine and the two boys Perseus and Jaquin who Jasmine had introduced her to earlier.

“Hello” she said smiling warmly. “Mind if I join you guys? I can’t sleep.”<br>

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin held his wand high so that the bright wandlight illuminated much of the corridor and he pulled up his hood as he crept foward. "Hey, Perseus! Do you have any of them invisibility potions? I think we'll need them soon!" Jaquin had seen some wand light coming forward. Just then, he noticed that the wand light was from one of his fellow students; Mary Evans, a Slytherin 3rd year who seemed nice enough. "Salutation, my friend," Jaquin greeted with an euphoric smile. "So, have you come out sleepwalking or will you join us on our adventuring? You'll find this castle pretty interesting-Jaquin motioned to a portrait that depicted a snoozing old man with the eyeglass in one eye he had seen earlier in his room- Excuse me, sir- Jaquin was speaking to the old man- we would like to enter your passageway...." The old man in the portrait answered in a sleepy voice, "Uh..... Password?"

"Right, it'll be uh.... snoozing?" Jaquin half guessed. The old man answered, "That's right young lad! Gehen Sie, dann weiter! (Go on, then!)" The portrait shifted to the side as the old man resumed his interminable rythm of snoring. The passageway was extremely eerie and preternatural due to the multifarious assortment of bones and skeletons of mice lying around. Jaquin motioned for them to follow him into the passageway. Then with a wave of his wand, Jaquin summoned up a glowing form that looked like a bald eagle, which soared in front of them. "Lead the way," Jaquin commanded. Then turning to his companions, he commented light heartedly, "You never know what creatures are crawling around in castles like these...."

[anderson]

Jasmine than looked off into the distance and she saw a light coming there way. Her eyes grew big and she looked both ways for a place for them to hide just to make sure it wasn’t a professor trying to catch them. As the light came nearer she sighed with relief as it was her friend Mary Evans. "You scared the wits out of me I thought you were a professor checking if anyone is out of bed." Jasmine said as she could feel her heart beat faster.

She had never done anything like this before and she was a tiny bit scared. "Of course you may join us!" Jasmine said smiling at the younger girl and turning towards the sleeping portrait. Their was just something about it that got her. She than notice that Jaquin also had the same thought and walked up to it asking to explore its passage way. As The portrait said yes but asked for a password Jasmine started to think. Since this castle was very old almost as old of Hogwarts the passwords are endless. But than Jaquin guessed correctly and it open showing skeletons and mice. She almost was about to turn back and head to her room she stood where she was dumb stock at the passage way.

The smile disappeared from her face and her wand was about to snap in hald in the grasb of her hand. As Jaquin used a bold eagle to light the way and asked for the rest to follow she stood where she was as everyone pilled in. "Um..... I don’t know about this...." Jasmine said walking behind Perseus and she was at the end. She didn’t know what kind of creatures lay within but everyone seemed to won’t to go. "Umm.... I think I might head back..." Jasmine said turning around and the portrait closed in her face. She than turned around again and took a deep breaths and continued to follow Perseus looking at the walls hoping that nothing would hurt them.

[Mary Evans]

Mary giggled at the formal greeting she received from him, then smirked and dropped into a mock curtsey, “Well I do believe I shall be joining you, mes ami.” Turning to Jasmine she again took up her serious persona “We are on vacation, they can’t tell us to go back to bed; can they? The point is, don’t worry so much about getting in trouble. It’s Christmas, have fun and enjoy the break.” She then watched curiously as Jaquin opened up a portrait. “How on earth did you know that he blocked a tunnel? Not to mention, where did you find out the password?”<br>
Mary looked into the now unveiled tunnel; it was quite frightening to tell the truth. Rodents and insects had always made her slightly uneasy, and she took all the bones strewn around as a promise of more running around. Despite her reserves Mary decided to follow him into the tunnel; its not everyday you get to explore a foreign enchanted castle. Jasmine then mentioned heading back and Mary grabbed her arm, “Remember what I said about having fun, this will be exciting; an adventure.” She wasn’t sure Jasmine was listening to her, but it didn’t matter because the portrait closed; locking the four inside.

It was amazing, very creepy. Thankfully they had lights though; otherwise Mary may not have been so bold. Despite this Mary was still extremely paranoid about the mice. She kept her eyes on the ground watching that nothing moved; despite her eyes’ insistence that there was nothing there Mary kept feeling like something was brushing up against her ankles. In fact she was so paranoid about the rodents and scared that something might jump out at her that she forgot she was holding Jasmine’s arm.

[Perseus Feynman]

"Oh, Jaquin and I know lots of stuff," Perseus answered in reply to Mary's question. "We spend a lot of time looking for interesting creatures or substances we can put in my potions. It's great fun, really! You see, both Jaquin and I have this type of..... uncanny intuition." He pointed at his head a mimicked insanity. It was true, though. Perseus and Jaquin both liked knowledge as knowledge and intelligence provided power. But, Perseus's mind was more analytical while Jaquin's was much more artistic and he like linguistics while Perseus preferred the numbers of mathematics. "You know, Mary. I'm surprised to find another Slytherin who doesn't seem to loathe.... You know, non-purebloods."

He followed close behind Jaquin stealthily and made sure that his vials of invisibility potion were still safe on the slots he had on his belt. The substance shook and bubbled as Perseus crouched down low, trying to avoid any slime from decomposing rats. Although the smell was extremely malodorous, the prospect of exploring the castle lightened Perseus's heart and created great elation in his feelings. He held up the palm witht he bristling fire and illuminated the area around them more brightly to cast off the anomalous feeling of dread; sounds of eerie echoes reached them from the depths of the passageway.

As they traveled on, Perseus had a premonition as though danger was coming. The passageway widened up into a large chamber where more skeletons of rats lay. He drew his wand and looked around with great vigilance, ready to curse anything that seemed threatening........

[anderson]

Jasmine tried to smile at Mary as she told her this was suppose to be fun but why wasn’t it? There were cobwebs everywhere, rats, magical creatures, and skeletons. Who know what could be down here. "Um..... I still don’t think this is a good idea." Jasmine said as Mary still held her hand. As she continued to walk she felt some thing touched her leg and she screamed and trip sending Mary along with her into a pile of skeletons. "What was that?" Jasmine said out loud and looked around seeing nothing. She then turned her head and noticed that she and Mary have just crushed a pile of sheltons. A shiver went up her spine and her heart beat faster. There was no telling what could have killed the people who came down here.

Jasmine than got up and bushed off the dust off of her body and she looked up at the two boys who stopped because of her. "How do we know where this leads and something could have killed the skeletons in here." Jasmine said turning towards Mary and making sure she was okay. Jasmine looked at the girl and tried to smile. She grabbed Marry hand and walked over towards the boys. Her palms were sweaty and she thought her heart will explode it beat any faster. She than notice more skeletons and rats and she shivered yet again. As she looked up at Perseus and Jaquin and nodded her head at them. She was starting to regret coming at the moment. "Lets just continue and if anything comes I am out of here." Jasmine said letting go of Mary hand and walking ahead of the group with her wand out ready to hit anything that went after her.

[Mary Evans]

Mary rolled her eyes at Perseus’ answer about the two of them knowing things ‘real direct’ she thought to herself. She did understand though; they had only just met, despite how comfortable Mary was already feeling with them. So deep was she in her own thoughts that she almost missed his small but meaningful comments about her lack of hatred toward non-purebloods. ‘Well I really should have expected this” she thought. To tell the truth she had had the same thought running through her head the past almost three years. She only wished that in all that time she had come up with an answer, but there was none; so she supposed she should just try and explain the best she could.

“Well …” she began “I don’t really know what to say to you about that. I can explain myself a little if you like, but it is a long story.” She then went back into her thoughts for a few moments, trying to think of what to say next. “To tell you the truth, I did hate them. I hated them with a passion, just as my parents taught me to. But in my first year here I meet people, both from Slytherin and from other houses. I found that, well, maybe I didn’t hate all non-purebloods. Most of the ones I had met were just fine, I liked them. I only hated those bad non-purebloods; the kind my parents had warned me about, the stupid, cruel, annoying ones. But the more people I met, the less people I hated; until I found that I liked more people than I thought I should. And not only did I see the non-purebloods, but I saw my fellow Slytherins, the good people, be unjustly rude and often down right cruel to these people who I now considered friends.”<br>
She then stopped unsure of how to go on ‘just tell the truth’ she told herself. “As I saw this go on I started seeing all the inconsistencies in my parents reasoning. Then one day I just stopped listen. I pushed all of what my parents told me about ‘the evil mudbloods’ out of my head. I then made it my mission to prove them wrong, and it worked, for myself at least. I still have to catch myself sometimes; it’s hard to ignore ten years of lessons being pushed into your head. And of coarse I still have to act that way in front of my parents, or certain people who may report to them, lest they decide to ‘punish’ me for my lack of prejudice. And so, here I am, one of three Slytherins I know who don’t judge people based on the blood of their parents.”<br>
Mary was so wrapped up in telling her story that she hadn’t even noticed when she and Jasmine crushed into a skeleton until she fell to the ground. She lifted herself off the ground with a shiver of disgust. She then fell silent and simply walked along the passageway with the others.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

"Shh....." Jaquin said in a hoarse whisper. "There's soomething moving out there...." He saw Perseus ready his wand as though something foreboding lay in the middle of the chamber. Abruptly, a large snake, almost as large as a Basilisk burst forth from the darkness. It's eyes glittered yellow and its teeth like daggers gleamed brightly as it reflected the light from their wand light.

It couldn't possibly be a real Basilisk. Could it? Jaquin new Basilisks to be very rare, but they could also survive for hundreds of years. And after all, the antediluvian castle had been built hundreds of years before. Jaquin also knew that his greatest fear was a Basilisk. However, he shielded his eyes just in case it was real, wildly aimed at it with his wand, and bellowed, "FIAMMOS INFLASMEMBRAMENTO!" An enormous erruption of green flames issued from the tip of his wand and struck the Basilisk with full force. It reeled backwards and fell on the ground and began rolling sideways. But, a real Basilisk would not act that way..... It must have been a boggart. Jaquin put his arm down and aimed his wand once again at the discombobulated Basilisk and yelled, "Riddikulus!!" The boggart instantly transformed into a Basilisk that was tied up in knots.

"I hope that this boggart didn't scare you much!" Jaquin said as he turned towards Jasmine, Mary, and Perseus. "Come on! This is a great chance to practice your Defense Against the Dark Arts Skills. You first, Mary!" He waved his arm foward, motioning for Mary to step up and face the boggart. Jaquin, himself, stepped backwards, waiting to see what it would turn into. This was something that greatly shocked Jaquin. Perhaps this passageway lead to someplace they weren't supposed to go, or perhaps it was simply infested with decomposing rats and a mischievous boggart.

[Mary Evans]

The four were simply walking when all of a sudden Jaquin told them to be quiet, it seemed as if he had seen something. The next thing Mary knew a snake, not unlike a basilisk appeared. Mary was so terrified that she could not move, she knew it was not a basilisk because she had looked into it’s eyes, but she could swear she was still living. Non-the less, Mary was not overly fond of real snakes, especially not ones with fangs like that. Jaquin then preformed a spell Mary was unfamiliar with and the snake was thrown backwards. It seemed that he had then realised it was a boggart. He tied it into a knot, which would have made Mary laugh had she not still been in a state of shock.

At Jaquin’s invitation Mary stepped forward, praying that she could handle this. Moments after Mary had stepped in front of it the boggart transformed. It was her, or at least it looked like Mary. The boggart was Mary dressed in a tacky outfit you would expect to see on a girl standing on a street corner in the middle of the night. Mary turned and looked at the others pleadingly, her whole body trembling. The boggart began speaking, “You know there was this time…”

“Riddikulus!” Mary screamed trying to drown the voice out before it told her secrets.

This had very little effect on the boggart though, it simply switched into a little better outfit and changed stories, “Oh, and another time I had this dream …” It started again.

“Riddikulus!” Mary tried again growing frantic. But this had no effect on the boggart what so ever; it simply stood there continuing its story. “Riddikulus riddikulus riddikulus.” Mary sobbed, breaking down. Finally she simply squeezed her eyes tight, placed her hands over her ears, and lowered herself to the ground. She then sat there rocking herself back and forth while crying hysterically.

[anderson]

Jasmine followed the group in the back just in case if anything else tried to come she could run for it. She than heard Jaquin told them to stop and she stood where she was slightly trembling. She could feel her knees go weak as something shot straight up into the air. She than closed her eyes straight away as she knew it was a Basilisk. Due to the fact that it was really tall and she saw a glint of yellow. She remembered in her first year at Hogwarts that there was a Basilisk lose and took Ginny Wealsey into the Chamber of Secrets. She has also read so much about the snake and when you look into its yellow devilish eyes you would die right away a painful fast death. Jasmine hoped that no one looked into the eyes because she couldn’t take the fact that she almost wisents someone dead. She than heard Jaquin said a spell and she opened her eyes right away and noticed that that nothing that serious had happen. She laughed as she knew what the Basilisk truly was and she smiled as it turned into a knot.

As Jaquin asked for them to try it out Jasmine eyes grew with horror because he greatest fear was something that the three people wouldn’t know. She than stepped back into the shadows and hide herself and watched as Mary went up to the boggart and it turned into her and started to talk about her secrets. Jasmine than notice her friend on her knees and she took the last bit of courage in her and she stepeed in front of the boggart and it stared at her as it turned into a really tall person with a mask on a hock in his right hand. Jasmine looked up at it in horror and she knew what it was. It was a murder back in the 60s that she had seen in a movie that Lena made her watch it and it scared her half to death. Then suddenly it swigged the hock at her and she could feel a sharp stinging on her face. Jasmine continued to look up at the boggart and she trembled uncomterably. Jasmine than touched her face and nocticed some blood on her hands and she looked up at the person in front of her as it crossed the line. “Reducto” Jasmine said a blast of blue light came from her wand and it hit the person sending them flying half way across the room. Jasmine than notice it get up and walk to her she waited as it was close enough to hit with the charm that stopped a boogart. She than held out her wand again and imaged the person in her mind as a funny thing and she smiled as she opened her eyes. “Riddikulus!” Jasmine almost yelled and the boogart turned into a clown holding a balloon animal.

Jasmine than turned to Mary who was standing up behind her. Jasmine tried to smile but it was faint and she could feel the stinging grow on her face. She touched her face again and more blood came to her hand. She was about to faint but she stayed up where she was. Jasmine than conjured herself a towel and wiped her face. “Ouch!” Jasmine proclaimed in pain and she leaned up again a nearby wall and slid to the flour. She wished she hadnt gotten out of the way instead of stand her ground. Tears were streaming down her eyes and she looked away from the three people who were starring at her. She had just ruined everyone fun by getting hurt and she wished she was back at home in her bed. Jasmine could feel more hot tears go down her checks and sting her face even more

[Mary Evans]

Mary stayed in her position on the ground until she was sure Jasmine had gotten rid of the boggart. She then slowly stood up and wrapped her arms around herself. She then returned the weak smile Jasmine gave her with one of her own. “I am so sorry about that you guys. I don’t usually fall to pieces like that, I swear. It’s just… I guess there are still some parts of me I’m not ready to deal with yet. I do hope that what she said will stay between us four?” she said giving them a hopeful smile.

She then conjured herself a large bowl of cold water that she used to dunk her head in and eliminate some of the evidence of her crying fit. As soon as she removed her head it turned into a towel and she dried herself off. “So, who’s up for more exploring?” she asked with a bright smile. “Maybe we can find an adventure I can handle” she said with a small laugh, hoping to lighten the dark mood she now felt seeping through the tunnel.