Closed Looking for Oddities

[Arthur Sword]

Ever since arriving at Hogwarts, Arthur had been eager to explore. They were living in a castle, and a weird castle at that. He'd read up on New Zealand history, they didn't have real castles, and this one must have been built by some eccentric Victorian wizards. And if there was anything Arthur knew about the Victorians, it was that they loved building curiosities and quirkiness into their designs. There were bound to be just as many - if not more - secret passages here than in a real old castle, and Arthur was determined to find them.

Fortunately, the other boys in his dorm shared his enthusiasm. Arthur was less concerned about getting lost with other people around, and it would be fun to explore with friends - and make better friends with them in the process. The group who'd been around when he'd proposed this expedition happened to be the same boys he'd been with on the train, and Arthur was eager to spend more time with them. The four of them strolled aimlessly down the castle's corridors, periodically stopping to look at things or search for secrets.

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan hadn't been sure how much to stock to put into the whole idea of the houses while at school, despite Nicole's insistence that it was important. She'd been right about him being in Ravenclaw, and so far Ryan had quite enjoyed spending time with his fellow housemates. Ryan hadn't really ever had a big group of friends, especially not any that enjoyed doing the same things he did, and he was eager to jump at any chance to explore the castle.

They'd come a few floors down from the tower and were poking around near the transfiguration classrooms. It seemed as likely a place for any cool magic doors as any. "We should look for any inconsistencies or hints," He said, poking curiously at a tapestry before peering behind it. "There's almost always gotta be something to give secrets away otherwise what's the point, right?" Ryan was mostly engrossed in his own investigating, so he wasn't sure if the other boys were listening to him, but it found it tended to help his thought process to speak out loud anyway. "Unless it's a trap, then you want that to be as hidden as possible." He added, moving on to fuss with a suit of armor nearby when the tapestry revealed nothing but wall and some cobwebs.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus still didn't quite believe that the other kids in the dorm actually wanted him to be around, but at least they hadn't sent him away yet as he tagged along. Arthur and Ryan both seemed to have very good ideas, and Augustus was happy to follow their lead. He quietly walked behind the other boys, looking around as they went to explore. He turned his head as Ryan spoke, then nodded at his words. He seemed to know what he was talking about. "Do you think there are traps?" He asked quietly as he peered behind the suit of armor. He squeezed himself between the suit of armor and the wall, barely fitting there. "Nothing." He mumbled quietly, as he tried pressing different bricks on the wall.

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn hadn't known what to expect upon arriving at school. He had been at least somewhat alone most of his life, though he had never had trouble making friends. Hogwarts would be a new environment though, crammed in with dozens of other kids his age, and... what then? Would he make friends? Or not? He clearly needn't have worried though, as Finn had managed to make solid friends with the boys who had become his roommates before they had even arrived at the castle. Following the rest of the group down the corridor, Finn looked dreamily around him. Though it would be cool to discover some kind of secret about the castle, he had to admit he was less invested in secrets than the others. He wandered back and forth, peering at the paintings as they passed, studying the brushwork and style, picking out which ones he thought were going to be his favourites for the years to come. The ones he would try to emulate in his own work. "How do we even know what we're looking for?" He asked Ryan idly, not looking away from the painting he was peering at. "This entire place is made of inconsistencies. Impossible to know what's weird when everything is weird."

 

[Arthur Sword]

Arthur shrugged as he poked around the edge of a painting. "We don't know what we're looking for, that's part of the fun. Everything's weird, so it's all interesting." To Arthur, at least, it was fascinating. He could see why his aunt liked it here so much. How could you ever get bored, when you had a place like this to explore? And there was plenty of material for the weird architecture photography she liked doing. But he was getting distracted from the task at hand. Arthur prodded at the elaborate gilt frame of the painting, feeling around the bits that stood out. He felt something shift under his fingers. "Hey, I think I found something." Arthur stepped back expectantly, only for . . . nothing to happen. "Or not," he added, disappointed.

 

[The Blue Lady]

Blue had been watching the group of boys quietly, muffling her amusement behind a hand as they poked around the hall. Ravenclaw students were definitely some of her favourites, they were always so interesting. She wasn't sure what the boys were looking for, but they were certainly being thorough about it. She went still when one of them began poking about her frame, holding her breath and watching from the corner of her eye as he poked at something and she finally had to speak up. "Um excuse me, do be careful with that please," She said, flapping her hand at him. There was an odd click and some distance noice, but nothing appeared to happen yet and Blue let out a sigh of relief. "I don't know what you just did, but you need to be more careful you don't break anything," She chided the boys.

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan appreciated Arthur's attitude. It was always good to be somewhat informed for any endeavor or investigation, but half the fun was the discovery after all. "If there's anything worth hiding, it's probably worth trapping," Ryan mused to Augustus, tapping at some flagstones in the wall curiously. He knew it was some wizard's whole job to dismantle traps and curses on things, which all sounded pretty exciting to him.

Ryan perked up when Arthur said he'd found something, hurrying over to the picture he was standing in front of. He mostly ignored the lady's voice as she gently scolded them, more interested in whatever Arthur had been messing with. "What did you do? It is a lever for a secret passage? A clue for some school mystery?" He asked eagerly, crowding over Arthur's shoulder. It didn't seem like anything beyond the click and some muffled noise had happened since Arthur touched the thing, but that didn't mean they hadn't uncovered something.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus extracted himself from the small space behind the suit of armor, noticing that it had made his robes fairly dusty. He mindlessly brushed a bit away, looking at Finn as he brought up a good point. "Maybe we should look for something normal then." He joked quietly, but then he looked at Arthur as he was prodding at a frame of a painting. He jumped a little as the painting spoke to them, and stepped closer to look at her. Ryan didn't seem to care much about the painting, but Augustus stared up at her intently. "Are you trapped in that painting?" He asked her, blinking once.