A Promising Future?

Owen paced around in his office, which was now shared from time to time with Sandra. He had grown fond of the woman, realizing that her strict nature was simply her way of correcting what she thought was wrong. However, his talk of dark magic with himself was getting his thinking mode overused. That's why he had called in for Sandra to come see him at the best time she could, sooner rather than later, and so he waited rather impatiently for her to arrive.

With hurried steps, Sandra walked to the Headmaster Tower. She had been roaming the grounds, placing a protective spell on as many places as she could and trying to  hurry in students  who had decided to not follow the rules. Knowing well that she had to meet Owen for a meeting, the gargoyle at the entrance let her pass without question.

"Did you need me, Owen?" she asked as she stuck her head in, trying to see where the man was. She found him pacing around farther away, and she fully entered the office. "What has you so worried?"

As he paced around, Owen lifted his gaze at the sound of Sandra's voice. "Yes. I had a rather interesting meeting with an old friend of mine." he breathed his words, careful not to worry his partner. "Have you heard of the Dark Ones? Have you?"

OOC: continuation of this thread

A book? A book on the Seventh Floor? Ryland had been supposed to find a book on the Seventh Floor? Aylee didn't even speak. What book? What title? Why a book? Why was it so special that the person had to use an Unforgivable Curse on a student to go get it? Nothing, absolutely nothing made sense. And to think, she been wanting to be an Investigator when she grew up. So much for being a mystery-solver! Aylee let out a small groan as they turned round the corner and soon ended up in front of a gargoyle. Since she'd never been to the Headmaster's Office before, this surprised her. "That's a gargoyle, not a door?" she said, though her voice made it sound more like a question, as she turned to look at Ryland. Then, as if realizing for the first time that she'd been holding his hand, Aylee let go.

Ryland noticed that Aylee had suddenly let go of his hand, and he didn't bring it up. It would be awkward and unnecessary so he simply let his own hand drop to his sides before putting them in his pockets. That way, any form of human touch would be repelled. "Yeah. I don't know how to get in though." he admitted, though he had been there before, it had been Lucy that had opened the gargoyle. Suddenly, the thing moved.
 
"Password?" It asked, in a hard-to-understand voice.
 
"Um. I don't know. We just need to talk to either Madame Torres or Monsieur Gray. It's urgent." Ryland replied, his hands still in his pockets and moving slightly away from Aylee.

Well, that was both stupid and genius. A gargoyle that opened only with a special password. Like your own secret common room. But then, what was the point of it if barely anybody could get through? Especially with something as urgent as this? Aylee almost groaned before the gargoyle sprang to life. It didn't move aside, though. Not even after Ryland spoke. This caused her to get even more frustrated than she already was. "This is really urgent, please," she repeated. The gargoyle still didn't move.

"It's about Death Eaters in Hogwarts!" she exclaimed without thinking. It wouldn't be the first time, she secretly thought as she waited for the gargoyle's decision.

Aylee's quick explanation seemed to do the trick. The gargoyle moved, opening a pathway of stairs for both of them. Glancing at Aylee and nodding, he followed up the steps until he reached the entirety of the Headmaster's office.

Well, she hadn't expected that to work. As the gargoyle sprang aside, Aylee saw Ryland nod at her out of the corner of her eye. She gave a small nod and followed him up the stairs. For some reason, she was trying hard not to make a sound. As they reached the top of the spiral staircase, which made her feel a bit dizzy, they approached an oaken double door. "I just hope they're not asleep," Aylee muttered loudly, looking at Ryland.

"Before we go in, I want to say that I do remember something." He began, not daring to look at the Ravenclaw. He didn't want to tell her just yet, it seemed more appropriate to tell Madame Torres first, maybe even before he told Headmaster Gray. Without a single look, or word, directed at Aylee, Ryland knocked on the wooden doors.

There was a sudden knock at the door and Owen quickly turned to Sandra, who still hadn't answered his question. "We'll talk about this later, for now I'll see what they want." Owen walked towards the door, opening it in a swift motion, staring down at the two students whom he recognized as Ryland Marcotte, now Malfoy, and Aylee Walters. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, both fifth years.
"Yes?" he inquired a bit harshly.

Aylee didn't reply to Ryland- she just nodded. If he didn't want to tell her, she decided to leave it. Soon after Ryland knocked, the door opened and they were facing Headmaster Gray. They weren't greeted very nicely, but who knocked on a Headmaster's door at night? She glanced down and realized how weird she must look- she was still in her Rowena Ravenclaw costume. Aylee looked back at the Headmaster, trying to decide how to tell him the situation. It was just like that one time she took Ella to see Professor Vega- she had absolutely no idea what to say. Then she took a small breath and blurted out, "I think there are Dark Wizards in Hogwarts. And I think they put Ryland under the Imperius Curse." She glanced at Ryland.

Owen's eyes narrowed, "You sound very confident in your statement, Miss Walters." He had expected the younger students to come barging in at his door at the mere mention of the Dark Ones, but never an intelligent 5th year like Aylee Walters. "Do you, Mister Malfoy, have the same confidence?" He wasn't going to let them in until he was sure they were passinate enough about their thoughts to argue with the headmaster.

Ryland swallowed, "Um. Yes. I don't think there's any reason to doubt Aylee, plus we have something else to tell you." he asked, trying to see if there was someone else in the room. He'd never been fond of the headmaster, but he held Madame Torres dearly in his heart. She had been his first hope at a better life after leaving the orphanage, the first mother figure he ever had. "Is Madame Torres here? I'd feel better talking to her than to you, no offense." he shrugged lightly.