The Horned Serpents Courtyard [RAVENCLAWS]

Molly walked in with the stream of Ravenclaws, having retreated from the vocal position of leader for which she was so ill-suited. No, walking alongside Margo, who was bristling with uncertainty and the tinges of fear, that was a job she could do much more naturally. Her spindly arm strained with the weight of her trunk, but her eyes were focused ahead and refused to break from their purpose. Get through the doors.

Once they did, she found they were inside a worse-for-wear courtyard, slowly being taken over by all of the plants inside. Her eyes scanned the high, stone walls, which all looked ready to crumble, as though the magic of the school had simply ceased to maintain it. Her keen eyes slid over these features, ignoring the distraction of her peers, as she found… the rubble.

Opposite the door they entered was another door which could be assumed, based on logic as well as aesthetic, to lead into the castle. However, great stones covered the doorway, large enough the Molly was certain that, even if magic didn’t seem to be on the fritz here, were going to be a pain to get out of the way.

But Casey was on the other side somewhere.

Molly turned. “Alright. Come on. Let’s get these moved.”

He still wanted to believe this was all a dream, no a nightmare, and that he was still on the train on his way home. That he wasn't stuck in this place, seemingly without a way out. He knew Cronis wasn't happy about it either especially since they were now separated, having had to go with their respective houses into the unknown.

For once in his life, he wished he could've just stayed with his brother.

He stood in the rundown courtyard, taking in the scene with his fellow Ravenclaws. It looked horrid, like no one had been taking care of it for who knows how long. It just made Evander want to leave even more. But then again, which one of them didn't want to leave already?

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Evander spoke to the younger girl speaking. "We have to be careful, so no one gets any more hurt than they could already be."

Kit came up alongside Evander, reaching out for his arm as she approached, both concerned that he was right and that the arguing wouldn't help anything. "He has a point," she offered, attempting to agree with both sides if she could as she continued.

"Perhaps some of us... are levitating them. And the others, ready with shielding spells or ones to bust up the rocks if they do something crazy?" She suggested, shrugging even as she lifted her eyebrows to encourage them to agree with her.

Looking at Evander, she knew that she didn't want anyone hurt, but also that she wouldn't necessarily be of much use in the actual moving of things. She always was so tired after class, after all, but didn't want them to know that that was why she hadn't been attending. Being rubbish at magic as well as being ill certainly made things more difficult. Her hand reached for her wand anyway, unwilling to be weak about it.

"Shall we break off into teams, so to speak?"

Nate shuffled in the scene, his hands in his pockets, his hair messy from the nap he just took. In the crowd of complaining students, he wasn't bothered.

As soon as he trailed in, carrying his heavy trunks with ease, he took a deep breath in. Sweat? He could smell the perspiration of all the nervous students. Nate could see anxious faces and all he could do was roll his brown eyes.

He approached the students, overhearing their conversation because they were the only one who seemed mature about the whole thing, "I wouldn't mind helping." Nate slid his hand in his messy pocket and searched for his wand.

Molly's lip twitched, knowing that if she was more like the rest of her family she might have sarcastically reminded them that she did not suggest they start tearing through the rocks. But her face was smooth, unreadable, even though Margo's brow furrowed, understanding that her friend had been somehow slighted. Truth was, Molly didn't care. Whatever part of a person made them self conscious about what their peers thought was somehow absent.

She just wanted to get inside.

"Teams," she affirmed. She glanced at Margo, considering that Margo's weak magic might actually be good for busting the rocks without sending debris everywhere. "Margo can break rocks." She could see relief on her friend's face, that Molly thought she had anything to contribute. "I can levitate."

Evander felt Kit's hand on his arm and he glanced down at her. He placed his hand on hers briefly, glad that at least she was okay, and moved his gaze to the others. Okay, at least they had some kind of plan now and it was something he could get behind.

"Alright, good. Kit what would you rather do?" he asked, ready to do the opposite of what she decided she would do. "And you," he moved his head to look at the other boy who'd spoken, "What are you going to do?"

He didn't want to seem like he wanted to be in charge, or like he wanted to fight with anyone. He was just worried and he wanted to get inside as quickly as possible, just like everyone else. So the faster they decided what they were going to do, the better. At least in his mind it was, that way no extra time was wasted.

Evander reached into his pocket, grabbing his wand and taking it out to make sure he was ready once they had all decided on their tasks.

His hand on her arm was almost irrelevant in the sense that it seemed like it was done out of instinct, but she couldn't help that it made her feel a bit better to know that her friend was safe. She didn't have many of those, particularly at school, so it was almost lucky he had gotten trapped here with her. In a really weird sort of way.

Katherine knew that Evander didn't really like confrontation, and this was a great example of that. They were rather similar in that way, so she couldn't blame him. In the end, though, she was glad that the responsibility for breaking the rocks could go to someone else and she could keep from having to risk people with her bad aim. Because she seriously was concerned that she'd hurt someone.

"Maybe I should stick to the shield charms?" She suggested cautiously, figuring that she could at least hold the charm the whole time and hope for the best. "But honestly we might want at least a couple people doing that. Just in case, eh?"

((Nathaniel's left so I'm not skipping him. Just as a head's up. haha -cries profusely))

Margo watched her dark-haired friend, usually so silent and uncaring about the events unfurling around her, surprised to see that even this had prompted her into action. It was strange to not see Molly removing herself to light up a cigarette, and the blonde wondered if this was that Weasley blood at work.

Molly nodded. "I'll levitate. Margo can break. You two shield, yeah?"

She stepped forward and twirled her wand between her fingers, a bad habit that she had long stopped trying to get over. She tilted her head, and Margo set up behind her, taking an eager stance in preparation for something to go wrong - though she secretly hoped it would all go well.

Molly murmured and rocks began too lift.

It didn't seem like a lot of the other Ravenclaws were willing or wanting to help move and break the rocks. On one end, it felt like they just couldn't be bothered because four of them had already decided to move the rocks. But on another, he knew that most of them were scared and probably didn't know what to do to help them out.

That didn't mean that there weren't others who actually did want to help, though. Evander nodded toward the girl and lifted his wand as the rocks began to float up, off the ground. His body tensed up slightly, his nerves starting to get the better of him as he glanced at Kit. He tried flashing a smile her way, knowing it probably seemed a little awkward. "Are you ready?" He asked her.

He took a deep breath to try to calm himself down, flicking his wand and saying, "Protego." to get his shield up.