Waiting at the Hog's Head

Reid knew from his connections with the Aurors- cough, cough Calvin- that if this battle were ever to come they needed someone to help people escape and that the Aurors were probably too short staffed to help. He also knew from his trouble making days at Hogwarts that the Hog's Head could serve as a sort of portal between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts via the Room of Requirement.

And when he had gotten the owl that had been meant for Calvin since he and his roomie lived together, he told Chase to stay safe with Kitty and he had come here, to beg the bartended. He explained and the man told everyone to go upstairs and now here the two of them were, waiting to help any escapees.

There was not a battle taking place at The Hog's Head, and therefore, Calvin should not have been nearly as frightened as he had been upon setting foot in the poorly-lit pub - but it seemed that his rational thoughts had abandoned him in his moment of need.

Calvin had been assigned the task of guiding students away from Hogwarts - and despite the fear that burned in his chest, Calvin had made it his goal to be the best Ministry worker he could be on that dark evening; children were in danger. If he could help it, Calvin would not allow anything to happen to the students that he could reach.

A goal made by Calvin was a powerful thing.

Despite that fact, however, this goal was not powerful enough to stop Calvin’s teeth from rattling against each other when he closed the door behind him. By involving himself In such dangerous business, Calvin Ransom was staring his demons in the face, and it took every superhero theme song that Calvin had ever listened to for him to continue onward to the staircase that he’d been instructed to climb.

“Spins a web, any size - catches thieves just like flies” he whispered with a small smile on his face, one which told the story of a scared little soldier.

“Hello? Sir?” Calvin called out in an attempt to locate the bartender, “I’m Calvin, but you can call me Cal. I need your help, if that is alright with you,” He added, though he had not yet located the man whom the words were intended for.

Renny had a small gaggle of kids with her, and she Mira was not far behind her with her own little bunch of children. She had a wand out, trying not to look terrified, as she walked. A small boy held her hand as he walked with her, looking terrified. The oldest kid with her was a fifteen-year-old Hufflepuff, but the remainder were all younger.

Renny wondered why Piper had stayed behind- she always seemed to prefer the action jobs and she did not understand why Piper opted to stay with Professor Abromjze and that Manson fellow. Either way, Renny was here now, realizing if they were captured, she would be lost. Piper had whispered the directions before she left and now Renny had arrived at the seventh floor.

I need to escape with these kids. I need to escape with these kids. I need to escape with these kids.

She gasped at the door and stared- what other secrets did Hogwarts conceal. Shaking her head, she pocketed her wand and reached for the door, opening it. "Inside, small ones. We need to get out of here." She followed them inside and closed the door. There was a small door and she walked over to it, opening it. The kids shied and Renny drew up her resolve, pulling the little boy's hand. They made there way through.


Renny tumbled from the picture and helped the other kids inside the dingy bar. "Hello?" she called, not even looking around to gague where they were, focused on helping the children. "We need help here."

Calvin stopped short when an abrupt greeting reached his ears - and darted up the rest of the staircase when he realized that the voice must have belonged to one of the students that were to make their way through the portal. The brilliant human beings had given themselves a head-start! Calvin’s sneakers skidded across the dusty floorboards on the second level of the pub, and he was only just able to stop himself before he’d collided with Reid Devereoux's back.

“Reid?” He asked, evidently confused by the presence of his roommate – but Calvin’s attention did not remain on his friend for long; upon glancing about the room, his eyes met with those of a young female, who was assisting several other children through the secret passage.

The students were young. They were far too young to be involved in a war.

Calvin bent his knees and curled his spine, shrinking to the height of the escapees before him – much in the way he had when speaking with Chase’s children. “Hey guys!” he greeted them in a gentle tone, smiling in their direction; there was fear in their eyes, and to Calvin, it was far more important that he tended to their emotions, than his own. “You did great, escaping like that! Do you have x-ray vision, because I never say that ‘secret tunnel’ when I was at Hogwarts?” he asked them.

He extended one of his long, slender arms (he may have managed to squat down, but his arms were two limbs that he could not change the size of) so to make his hand excessive to the nearest child, "It is nice to meet you, Superman. My name is Calvin!”

It hadn’t occurred to Calvin that the child may have never heard of Superman, or any such Muggle characters; it was too sad of a thought for Calvin to bear.

There was a man already waiting, and Renny eyes him suspiciously, hoping he was a good guy. She could not tell, and he definitely did not look bad, but still, she could not be too sure. Suddenly, the man jerked forward and she gasped, but only to see that a cartoon-esque man had bumped into the other man. The first man grumbled something and turned to greet the other, but that man was already approaching.

He bent down and spoke to the boy whose hand Renny was holding. Renny watched carefully, her wand held loosely at her side, ready to be used if need be. There was no chance this man was evil in her opinion though. When the man introduce himself as Calvin, the boy glanced up at Renny, looking for a cue. She nodded and he took his hand and shook it. "I'm Brent. Wh-who's Superman?"

Renny glanced at the other man. "There's fire spreading, and spiders, and werewolves. There's a bunch more kids waiting in the hospital wing. I'm supposed to go back and get them." The other man nodded. "We heard. I'm Reid by the way. I'd go in your place but I wouldn't be able to find my way as well as you can, and Death Eaters might be on their way here. We'll find a room for the kids... and Calvin, and things should be fine." He turned to Calvin. "I was just with Chase. I told her to wait it out with Kitty."

(sorry to use one profile for both charries... But it gets tedious XD)

"Who's Superman?" Calvin gasped, wearing an expression of absolute shock; his obsession with Muggles often caused him to forget that the two, very different worlds of wizardry, and of resourcefulness had not yet been combined. He often dreamed of the day when Muggles were no longer considered inferior by those who made their wands do their work for them. Apparently, Calvin hadn't yet come to the realization that the odds of such a day were nonexistent. "Superman is a hero, Brent; a superhero that I am going to introduce you to as soon as we get out of here," Calvin answered, intending to give the child hope. Brent had already made it into the hands of the Ministry. If he could just hold on long enough to be transported far, far away from danger, the lad would be fine - and Calvin felt that he deserved to know this.

When the eldest student – the child who had guided the others out of harm’s way – spoke of a raging fire, a sudden pang of fear hit Calvin in the gut; Nerissa had not yet escaped Hogwarts, and therefore she was in terrible danger. It seemed that his niece was always in some sort of troubling situation.

Calvin looked up from Brent to examine the facial expression of the older student, hoping to spot some glimmer of hope within her eyes – but he found no such comfort.

“Hi, I’m Calvin”, he introduced himself quickly, despite the fact that the female had already heard him speak his name aloud to Brent. “Have you seen Nerissa? Nerissa Hatts?” he asked quickly, speaking at a rate that made it seem as though he could explode at any moment. “She is a Ravenclaw,” he added for good measure; there were far more students within Hogwarts than could be counted, and as a result of this, there was a chance that the student that stood before Calvin had never come across a Nerissa Hatts in her life.

At the mention of Chase and Kitty, Calvin straightened quickly to stand at Reid’s level once more. “Are they O.K.?” he asked desperately, grasping at the straws that he’d been provided with.

Renny smiled lightly as the man, Calvin, spoke with the boy. The boy smiled and nodded, and Renny felt his hand slip from hers as he moved towards Calvin instead. Renny reached over and rest a hand on a small Hufflepuff girl named Kacy. "It's alright, you guys. They're good guys. They'll help you." She looked back at Reid and Calvin, hoping for confirmation.

Calvin spoke to her and she nodded. "I'm Renny." He mentioned Nerissa and her eyes widened in recognition- Renny prided herself on knowing nearly everyone from Hogwarts, especially the Ravenclaws. She felt her brow furrow and she shook her head. She said in a soft, gentle voice, "I know her, but I haven't seen her." He look terrified so she said, "I'll look for her when I go back. If I see her, I'll bring her straight here. Promise."

She began to tend to the students preparing for her trip back so she could barely hear Reid tell Calvin, "Yes, she was fine when I left. She just wanted to make sure we'd be okay. But she and Kitty were fine."

“Good guys…” Calvin repeated in a proud-yet-nasally voice and smiled in Reid’s direction; it encouraged Calvin to know that he’d remained the same, caring person in such a dark time in history. Renny’s simple statement had been conformation that Calvin was doing the right thing, and such a level of reassurance meant a great deal to him.

When Brent neared Calvin, he took the young child’s hand in his own once more; he felt as though he could protect the child more efficiently if he could hold him near. Calvin would not allow another child to slip through his fingers; Theirry and Fauve should not have had to disappear from Calvin’s life in order for him to come to such a realization, but they had, and now Calvin could not stand the thought of having anyone else taken from his side. “Come here, kiddoes; let’s get you all into a different room. Maybe we can play Five Stones - I have some jacks in my pocket,” Calvin spoke to Brent and the rest of the children.

Upon learning that Renny hadn’t seen Nerissa, however, Calvin’s attention was stolen by his darker thoughts; there was a chance that Nerissa had hidden when she’d realized that there was a battle taking place in the school – but there was also the more likely possibility that something had happened to her. Calvin frowned for a moment; it was a reaction that he could not seem to prevent. “OK,” he replied quietly with a brief nod; he had no real choice but to wait for news from Renny when she returned.

Brent leaned against Calvin, reminding the taller man of his presence. It was quite late, Calvin remembered, and though the children had been through an event that would create a rush of adrenaline within an adult, it seemed as though it had only strengthened the students’ exhaustion. “Where should we bring them?” Calvin asked Reid, though his eyes never left Brent.

Quite possibly the only relief that Calvin had experienced by that point in the evening, was when he learned that Chase and her daughter were not in an immediate danger. “Brilliant!” Calvin sighed, as though he’d been holding his breath during that moment of uncertainty. “As long as she and Kitty are safe…” he added – and though he did not finish his sentence, he’d managed to express himself to Reid quite effectively.

Reid thought about it a moment, chewing on his lip, as he helped herd kids towards Calvin. "Just take them to the other room for now. I'll owl the- the... Ministry..." He spat out the word, afraid to admit that he needed their help, but he could not offer any other solution. "I think the Longbottoms keep their house open for these types of situations, but I imagine Frankie is running about."

He glanced over to see Renny heading towards the portrait. He stepped forward and laid a hand on her arm. "Thank you," he said. He glanced over at Calvin. "And any news of Nerissa... Please tell me." She swallowed and said, "My sister Piper might come next, but I will ask for Nerissa and I'll let people know to be on the look out." Reid nodded his gratitude.

He watched her clamber through and he strode across the room, grabbing a discarded scrap of paper and a quill. He quickly scrawled his predicament and called for the barman. He shuffled up and Reid handed him the paper. "Owl this. To someone in the Ministry. Thank you."

Calvin nodded his head in reply to Reid's words.

With a group of small children bobbing about his knees, Calvin began to walk towards the door, being extra careful not to step on anyone's toes.

"What is your name?" he asked one of the students, paying each one an equal amount of attention, much in the way a father of several children would.

"Kacy," the blue-eyed child replied shyly.

"Kacy? Ka...cy," Calvin replied, trying the name out on his tongue. "That is a great name!" he told the girl, and started down the hallway.

The neighboring room was much smaller in size, but it did have one thing that the previous room had not; in one of its dusty corners sat a well-dressed mattress, which was a piece of furniture that Calvin was certain the drowsy children could put to use. "In we go," Calvin told them as he gently steered them through the narrow door-frame, “Everybody pick a comfy spot. We can all rest for a little bit, if you want.”

Immediately upon entering the new room, each child claimed a section of the bed to lie on, leading Calvin to believe that he’d been correct about their lack of energy. Calvin glanced at his watch. It was already long past midnight.

Calvin took a seat in the only other object within the room; a small, splintering rocking chair. He wanted to close his eyes and to enjoy that short moment of peace, but Calvin’s mind was occupied by frightening thoughts of the battle that was taking place at Hogwarts.

Oh well, he thought to himself in an attempt to think in a more positive manner, at least I will be ready for the next group of students when they arrive.