Open The Stairs Move?!

[Helios Obasi]

Helios had known from Emmanuel that this school had quirks to it. But when they'd had that conversation, Helios had thought that meant that some of the teachers were strange, or that the porttraits occasionally said odd things. Not that the stairs themselves moved. Helios was frozen in place, stuck on a staircase that had just moved. The walk-up to the common room after sorting, and back down for breakfast had been fine, but this time they had moved, and stairs which moved were unsafe, what if he hadn't noticed or if they'd moved right at the last step, what if he'd tripped and fell over, and then tumbled off the staircase. His hands were sweaty and his legs shaking. He needed to get off this staircase.

 

[Miranda Dawes]

The castle was very different from what Miranda was used to. She liked it, though. Mostly. It was kind of easy to get lost, and already over the course of a day she'd had to ask a couple of older students to point her in the right direction. That had been met with either polite assistance or exasperation, though Miranda always made sure to be as friendly and thankful as possible. It was a far cry from her muggle primary school, not in the least because portraits talked and staircases moved. And not like a lift or an escalator, but actually changing direction. But, Miranda was sure she'd get the hang of it sooner or later, and would enjoy working out the secrets behind it while she did.

She had just stepped somewhat blindly onto a staircase that moved, and quickly grabbed the rail as she made a small yelp and giggle of surprise. As inconvenient as it was, it was kind of fun. Though, a boy near her who looked to be about her age decidedly didn't look like he was having fun. Miranda scampered up a couple of steps to move a little closer, figuring even if she didn't know her own way around the least she could do was see if he needed help. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked, conscious not to move too much into the boy's personal space but still making sure she was close enough to help steady him if need be.

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios was clutching the bannister of the staircase, he hadn't even realised there was someone on the stairs with him. Not until they spoke. He jumped a little, startled in his already slightly panicked state. "I'm fine," he huffed out, like he'd been letting go of a breath he'd been holding for hours. Helios was also lying. Visibly not okay, though physically fine. He didn't look to the girl. "Has it stopped?" he asked her, since he wasn't really able to tell for himself if it was safe to move, and for all he knew the moment he took another step the staircase would move again.

 

[Miranda Dawes]

The boy was clearly not fine, but Miranda was too polite to argue with him. Truthfully, the stairs were a bit freaky to get on when they moved. At least she had some experience with muggle things like escalators to draw from. "I think so, for now," she offered. She didn't want to lie and say it definitely wouldn't move again, as she didn't know if it would or wouldn't, but she didn't think it was about to suddenly move again right away. Hopefully. "They really make it hard to get around, hey? I wonder what causes them to move. Maybe we can work out how to get around it so we don't get caught out?"

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios was a little reassured when the girl said it had definitely stopped. Or she thought so. That hopefully gave them, him, enough time to get off the stairs. But his legs didn't want to move. They were shaking, and he felt if he tried to move they wouldn't support him. He nodded as the girl seemed sympathetic to what was going to become his greatest complaint about the school. "I'd like to just get off the stair case first, than experiment," he said somewhat sharply, though it was laced with the real fear he was feeling.

 

[Miranda Dawes]

Miranda nodded. She would have plenty of time to work out the mechanics of the school so she could easily navigate. For now, helping this boy was a priority. She wasn't going to grab him or try and get into his personal space, as that was definitely too rude. Instead, she held her arm out in his direction, offering it to him. "You can grab on if it'll help," she said, gently. She was okay with the movement herself, but she could see that it would possibly make people a little sick. "And if you're weirded out by a stranger then hi, I'm Miranda! You're in first year too, yeah?"

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios glanced at her outstretched arm and shook his head. "No, thank you," he knew if the stairs started moving again, he didn't want to accidentally fall while holding on to someone, he'd undoubted harm them in the process. He had this. He just had to move. Helios was trying to take a step forward but was struggling a little to get his body to move. "Yes," he said a little shortly, but mostly because he was trying to focus. "I'm Helios,"

 

[Miranda Dawes]

Miranda wasn't going to press the issue, if the boy - Helios - didn't feel comfortable than she wouldn't force him to accept her help. But she knew it would be wrong to leave him, and at least wanted to make sure he got off the stairs okay. "Helios, what a cool name," she said, nodding in thought. She wondered if his parents were somewhat literary or historically minded too. Her own name came from her dad's love of Shakespeare, after all. "Well, Helios, there's no way we can let these stairs get the better of us. And I don't think they're allowed to let us get hurt," she added. She wasn't sure if it would help, but maybe trying to apply logic would help Helios to feel like he could move off the stairs.

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios didn't find his name cool, but it was important to him, so he appreciated her compliment. "Thanks," he said, still a little shortly. "Miranda's a nice name too," he offered in return, trying to balance his current fear with being nice. She was likely right that the school would have some protections, but he could bet they hadn't thought of everything, and that was surely a problem. He was able to take a step forward, and without removing his hands from the bannister, was one step close to no longer being on the stairs. "I just wish someone had mentioned it," he complained.

 

[Miranda Dawes]

Miranda beamed at the return of the compliment. She knew that Helios seemed to be struggling a bit but he seemed like a nice person. The staircases could be pretty scary, so she wasn't going to think badly of him for being uncomfortable. She almost wanted to cheer him on, but worried he might think she was making fun of him. "Ah, yeah, it's a lot to take in if you don't know what's coming. My dad mentioned it, but it still freaked me out when I saw it." Even though it had been a long time since her dad had gone to Hogwarts, she knew that the New Zealand branch was similar to the original and that it was unlikely to have changed much. Her mother had confirmed that fact. "I hadn't even seen a moving portrait before," she admitted, continuing to natter away in the hopes of at least providing enough distraction that maybe Helios wouldn't think so much about being afraid. "I mean, I knew they existed, I just hadn't seen one in person. I was so not expecting this nice lady in a portrait to say hello! I think it'll take a bit to get used to."

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios wasn't paying attention to her reaction to the compliment, just more focused on his own problem. He listened to what she said, and found the more she said, the more distracted he became, the easier it was to just keep his mind on her, and slowly less on the stairs he was stuck on. He was able to take another step by the time she finished. "Can you keep talking?" he asked almost shyly, this girl was already doing so much, it felt rude to ask for more. "What did the nice lady in the portrait look like?" he added, hoping that would help her directed it in what to say more about.

 

[Miranda Dawes]

Miranda knew she could probably chat a bit much, though she couldn't really help it. She wasn't the loudest girl around, but she could be on for a chat if she had the opportunity. It seemed like maybe it was working well, though, but Miranda was wise enough not to draw too much attention to it until Helios was off the stairs. Otherwise, he might start thinking about it again. "Oh, sure! She said everyone calls her the Blue Lady, which I guess makes sense, cause she's wearing a blue dress and has blonde hair. Next time I see her I'll ask a little more about her," she said, already half deciding that as she talked. "I haven't got to talk to many others, yet. I suppose they get so many new faces going past each them year it would be a lot to take in. And I guess they might not all be friendly, but hopefully enough are."

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios wasn't really listening as she spoke. He was listening, but not in the sense that he was taking any of it in. Instead just using the background noise to slowly edge up the stairs until he was, by the end of her talking, on a safe landing. Able to just relax between the staircases and enjoying the feeling of being off the stairs. He sat down, back against the nearest wall, far from the edge and just looked at the girl, Miranda, "Thanks," he replied, where a relieved and thankful smile graced his features, and his tone was no longer sharp.

 

[Miranda Dawes]

Miranda knew she was kind of just babbling, but that was the point. Sometimes it was soothing. When she'd been younger, if she was feeling upset and her dad was teaching one of his night tutorials online, she'd often take her blanket into his study and curl up on a chair. She'd try and pay attention to the words, though she didn't often get the specifics, and would inevitably be lulled to sleep. They made it off the stairs, and she gave Helios a relieved grin. "Hey, you did it! Nicely done." She was glad to have been of some help, but he had managed to do it himself. "It'll take a bit to get used to, but I know you will. And when we have classes together you can just ask me and I'll walk with you if you need!" Miranda paused, humming in thought. "If they move at certain times we can work out when that is so you know when to avoid it." She wasn't sure if there was a schedule, but it was worth trying to learn for her own sake as well.

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios wasn't sure he deserved the praise for making it up a flight of stairs, but it did beg the thing she said. That he was going to need to get use to it. He was going to need to use these stairs a lot. There wasn't any other way for him to go about the school. He shrugged. "I think I might speak to the head of house first, see if I can't ask for the stairs to stop moving," he said, it was nice of her to offer, but he needed a longer term solution. Speaking to a professor might at the very least give him tips on how he could avoid it. He wasn't going to move for a little bit, and then he had to figure out his next step, and really it seemed like the stairs had a mind of their own, and no one else seemed bothered by it.