Not a Bluff

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena had doubled back after class, remembering that she had wanted to speak to Professor Styx about something that had taken place the night before. Although she’d threatened the Gryffindor that she would speak to Professor Kingsley in the Great Hall, the professor hadn’t been there. It was sort of odd, but Athena didn’t know the woman’s habits. As the class slowly emptied out, Athena lingered near the door, nodding her head to her fellow prefects as they left the classroom. Finally, the Defence classroom was empty except for Athena and her uncle. Despite their blood ties, Athena didn’t expect any special treatment from the tall man, mostly because she knew she wouldn’t receive any. Professor Styx was fair in that way. Athena took a deep breath and spoke, knowing that the professor must be wondering why she remained in the room. “Professor Styx…may I speak with you for a minute?” Athena began nervously, her silver eyes looking into her uncle’s face as she attempted to gauge the sort of mood he was in. Athena stood waiting to see whether the professor would want to continue the conversation in his classroom or in his attached office. After he’d decided, she continued.

“Yesterday, while I was walking back from the Astronomy tower…” she began, figuring that it was better to be truly honest about what she had been doing. Her uncle had always had an uncanny ability to know when she was lying. She almost was convinced that he was a Legilimens, though she’d never asked him or her father for confirmation. “I spotted flashes of lights coming from under one of the doors on the second floor. When I went to investigate, I discovered two students inside of Professor Kingsley’s office. They said that they were waiting for Kingsley but she never showed up while I was there. It was highly suspicious.” Athena had regretted leaving them without going to get a professor first, but she knew that there was little she could do about it now. “I ended up taking housepoints from one of the students. I don’t know her name but she’s one of the new transfers, hangs around Minoas …” Athena continued, figuring that the description would be enough for their Head of House. If anything, she could always go with him to the Slytherin tables and point the girl out. She would be easy enough to spot even if it was dark when she’d seen her. “ Minoas was also there and he was extremely rude and seemed to think they could get away with whatever they were up to, and he even said that he was planning on telling a different story saying that I had snuck into Professor Kingsley’s room to steal something, Un…Professor.” she finished in a huff, her arms crossed under her chest. Athena might have just left the two to do whatever it was they were doing, but the moment that Minoas had threatened her and accused her of stealing had sealed his fate in Athena’s eyes. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized that she hadn't been bluffing after all.

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Professor Styx was busy in his class, his eyes turned from the door as he wrote a letter to Nicolette to see what all is going on. His class had just ended, and he would busy with grading some essays, before he heard someone's presence and he looked up to see his Prefect. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the prefect, wondering what she was doing here. She was his niece, but that didn't mean that he went easy on her. In fact, it was the vital opposite. She should have left by now. Professor Styx stood up from his desk and he waited for her to tell him what she wanted, before he would dismiss her. Professor Styx nodded once but made no movement to go into his office. Whatever she had to say, it could be said in here because they were alone. It was the same thing. Then she explained that she was walking back from the Astronomy tower, and she practically busted two students outside after curfew, no less and breaking into a Deputy Headmistress's office no less. She had taken house points from Slytherin, and she was one of the new transfers. Since she hung around a fifth year Gryffindor, he knew just who she was. Myuna Kickett. He continued to listen and almost rolled his eyes at the thought of the Gryffindor being rude. The boy seemed to be one of those Gryffindors that hated Slytherins yet had a few friends in the house. A curious hypocrite.

Professor Styx heard her conclusion and he sighed, "I'll inform Kingsley of this, since Minoas Stratis is none of my concern. However the one you described would be Myuna Kickett. I'll send a letter to her to come meet in my office immediately. We'll see how long their days last under this roof." He waved off the prefect, knowing that she was doing her job. Then he wrote two letters, one to Kingsley explaining the situation and if she needed to deal with Minoas at the same time as he dealt with Myuna, and the other to his troubled student. After all, they were both in serious trouble. Professor Styx turned and went into his office where he awaited the student, as well as Kingsley and Minoas if it came to that.​

 

[Myuna Kickett]

Myuna had just finished class she had actually worked and attended this morning as she thought if she was going to be in trouble she had better look like she was at least trying to fix her attitude. she was just about to enter the great hall when a letter fell at her feet. she picket it up stepping out of the crowd as she read it it was summoning her professor Styx's office. she read it twice the first time to see what it said the second time to see if she could tell if it really was professor styx or the perfect setting her up. she really wouldn't put it past her to do that. deciding that she had best note leave professor styx waiting if it was from him as he was known to be harsh with punishment and harsher with those who tried him. she may be a rebel but she still knew how to save her own backside. one of the reasons why she was slytherin not gryffindor. and right now her backside was saying she shouldn't keep him waiting, just in case it WAS him. she would go up to the first floor but she wouldn't enter the office unless professor styx was there and asked her in.
she turned and headed back to the defence against the dark arts office and making sure she was presentable enough she knocked on the door of professor styx's office. wondering if it could be for any other reason other than being found in professor Kingsleys office. maybe it was to do with her grades. they certainly weren't that good. or maybe even just possibly something to do with the quidditch game that had been a couple of weeks previously. "Professor Styx sir. I got a note saying you wanted to see me" she said cooly to the shut door as if she had been a little surprised with the note. She guess she was, the stories of professor styx she had heard made her expect something a little more ominous than a folded pice of parchment. purposely being extra polite in the hope of reducing any punishment that she may get, that was if, she was getting punished. [/b]

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Kingsley had returned to the school just after breakfast had finished. Her son was recovering at home from a cold, but it seemed that her poor mother was now coming down with the same cold. The professor was glad that she didn’t have a class to teach that morning because her mind was really somewhere else. As she entered Gryffindor’s common room and headed to her lounge area, the Head of House stopped to speak with one of her prefects to remind her of the patrol she had promised to cover later that day. The brunette gave the girl a tired smile before continuing on to drop off her bags. Taking a seat in her chair, the professor kicked off her shoes and sighed, her eyes closing as she massaged her temples. She didn’t quite have a headache, but her head felt heavy and she wondered if she was now catching her son’s cold. Cyndi thought she would stop by the nurse’s office when she had a moment to see if the nurse could give her something. Opening her eyes as she heard a flutter, a letter dropped itself onto the professor’s lap. A curious look in her eyes, Cyndi turned the letter over, recognizing the familiar scrawl of her colleague, Kalif.

The professor opened the letter, wondering why he was contacting her. She certainly wasn’t expecting an invitation to dinner, not from this professor, but she knew it would have to be extremely important for him to contact her. She had never known Kalif to just message someone for nothing. As she pulled out the note and read, the professor’s mood darkened. The professor hadn’t stopped by her office yet since she had only really just arrived, so she didn’t know if her door had been tampered with. Although she didn’t keep strong spell locks on her door, she did have a spell that would let her know if someone had been inside. She’d placed the enchantment after returning to the school following her maternity leave to a room that smelled faintly of dung. Gripping the note in her hand, the professor left her room, slamming her door behind her. The few students in the common room jumped but the professor didn’t apologize. Instead, she stalked towards the door and down the steps, stopping the first house elf she saw to ask for two favors. The first was to enter her room and determine if anything was missing. Since she never cleaned her own room, she knew that the elves would notice anything missing just as easily as she would. The second favor was for the house elf to get Minoas and bring him to Professor Styx’s office regardless of what he was doing. After thanking the elf, the professor continued to the Slytherin Head of House’s office. She passed by one of the Slytherin prefects as she neared his office and gave the girl a curt nod of her head before knocking on Kalif’s door. “Hello Kalif” she greeted him curtly, giving only a cursory glance to the Slytherin in the room. “Thank you for informing me. I thought that doing this together was a good idea” she added, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas was heading back from the greenhouses to the castle after his herbology class. It was a busy day fro the gryffindor having a few more classes awaiting for him next as well as his animagi training in the evening. Generally, he had a lot of activities to fill any hour of the day with first and foremost his revisions for the OWLs.
Recently he had also embraced some more risky extracurricular activities like breaking into professors' offices. It wasn't a new hobby or a habit he wa going to adopt from now on. He was ethically against such kind of activity, violating the privacy of an individual but the end justifies the means. After the rediculous incapacity of the aurors' headquarters to give to him and his family news about his father, he had decided to take the situation in his hands, searching for every bit of information that could point him to somewhere. Even the new issue of RHI had been taken as a trustworthy clue that he fell for it, blinded by his indignation. Under different circumstances, he would have never suspected the head of his house as part of the Scitorari and possible responsible for his father's abduction. He was so suspicious that period that he couldn't trust even his shadow and a smoke never appeared without a fire. So he decided to investigate the rumour that RHI was promoting by breaking into Professor Kingsley's office.

The operation went relatively well with the assistance of his new friend and teammate, Myuna Kickett. The slytherin girl who detested authority was more than eager to join his risky plan. Despite being careful, a slytherin prefect busted them while they were looting Kingsley's office. After a prolonged mind game of sarcasm shot from both sides, testing their limits, the prefect took off with the threat that they were going to get in a hell of a trouble when the heads of their houses were going to know about the incident. Minoas thought that the perfect was bluffing. He was betting to her fear of talking to Professor Styx about it but a house elf waiting him at the entrance hall was going to refute him. Minoas looked puzzled at the house elf that approached him immediately when he entered inside the castle.
"Mr Stratis, if you could follow me to the first floor please." bowed the house elf. "Erm, why? I mean I have a class that I should attend. What is it about?" he asked curiously, hoping it wasn't what he was suspecting. "This is out of my knowledge but apparently Professor Kingsley wants to see you." said the house elf with its round eyes fixed on him. Minoas felt his heart dropping from where it was located behind his chest. There was no way she needed him for any other reason other than to explain himself about breaking into her office. No matter how careful he was to conceal their traces she must had figured out.

"Alright. I'll be on my way." he said, determined to cope with this. It was going to happen sooner or later, he had the clue pointing to Kingsleys interlardment but he wanted to expose her as well. He walked towards the Grand Staircase when he realized that the house elf was following him. "I can go on my own. Thanks." his tone a little bit sarcastic. "I'm sorry mister but her orders were to escort you to her." it shook its head and insisted to follow. Having no other choice, he let the house elf escort him to the first floor. When Minoas realized that they were heading towards Styx's office, he knew they were doomed. They were probably in more trouble that he had thought before. The house elf knocked the door which opened to reveal inside the company of the head of slytherin and gryffindor, joined by Una. Minoas casted at her a somewhat apologetic glance for getting her into this. "Mr Stratis is here as you have requested ma'am." the house elf bowed, its pointy noise almost touching the office's floor and then vanished into thin air. There was an awkward moment of silence after the house elf left but he broke it off. "So?" he asked with a shrug, pretending to be clueless of the reason he was summoned to the office. He was going to pretend to be unaware until one of the professors was going to reproach him. It was very optimistic of him to still hope they would need them for something else than disciplining them for breaking into a professor's office but if there was that impossible chance, he didn't want to snitch themselves.

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Professor Styx would have sat down by his desk but as of right now, he was too pissed to sit down. Not to mention the picture he had on his desk of his family would simply make him even more so. He turned the picture down, since he was interrupted of writing to his wife because of some stupid teenagers. Professor Styx looked down at the fifth year transfer that came in and spoke of how he wanted to see her. Professor Styx did not say a word to her, but he heard other footsteps coming, and in came the Gryffindor Head of House. Professor Styx knew that the transfer would get a pretty decent idea of why she was here to begin with. Professor Styx nodded at the co-worker and at one point, his former student. "I figured punishment would be served together, since they broke several rules, together." Professor Styx folded his arms as he awaited for the final imbecile to come forth and once Minoas had, even he was acting clueless. However it was fairly easy to see past that, with or without Legilimency. They both would know why they were were, and to get to the point and fast, Professor Styx did not even wait for Professor Kingsley to say anything. The Prefect did come to him.

"I presume you both know why you are here. There was an interesting story that was told to me by my sixth year prefect. Out after curfew, breaking into Professor Kingsley's office and disrespectful to a prefect while trying to lie and put the blame on her." Professor Styx paused for a moment. Athena knew better than to lie, and he knew for a fact that she wasn't. Her father was his own brother, and it would be pointless to lie to him. Professor Styx could really get a hold of her outside of the school, and that was knowledge throughout the entire family. "My question is, what had possibly gotten into your heads to do something like that?" Professor Styx was not asking for whether or not they did it, but rather what had gotten into their heads to do something so stupid. His eyes remained on both, and if Minoas had been in his house, he would have been out of the school years ago with his behavior, with a wand snapped and everything. He was surprised Professor Kingsley had not done that herself. Maybe it is about time she had. Myuna Kickett on the other hand, was a different matter. Not even a year in the school and doing something like this. Her days may be numbered short after the day was out.​

 

[Myuna Kickett]

As myuna stood outside professor styx/x closed door she heard footsteps coming behind her she heard professor Kingsley come and enter the office leaving the door open. still she stayed outside but could see that professor styx was in there. it looked unlikely that it will be a prank or hoax. it wasn't long until another couple of footsteps approached. she looked and saw a small creature she assumed was a house elf leading minoas towards the room. damn. it looked like they really were in trouble.
seeing as everyone else had entered the room she thought that she may as well enter instead of standing there like a numbat. she entered as styx said that they were accused of being in the deputy head mistresses office the evening before. and being caught by a prefect was accused of trying to blame her. she had been in this situation before. "excuse me professor. before you accuse us of anything or question our motives. I would like to know what proof you have for these accusations" she said calmly. she wasn't denying she was there, she wasn't confirming it either. she was mealy asking for proof. Innocent until proven guilty, not innocent until accused guilty. yes she was a rebel, and despised authority but she was pretty good at talking herself out trouble. she had a lot of practice. maybe if she had continued at muggle school and she actually worked in class, not wagged off she could be a lawyer like her grandma. she looked over at minoas hoping he would follow her lead.

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Professor Styx raised an eyebrow at the little comment of the fifth year. He shook his head and he stated, "I said, 'as told to me by my sixth year prefect', so before you speak, think over what I said. Due to the events earlier this year, she would be careless to lie to me. Therefore that is all the proof that I need. In addition to that, you have not denied any accusations either." As soon as he finished that sentence, a house elf that Professor Kingsley had sent to see if there had been an intruder stated that there was indeed an intruder. Professor Styx dismissed the house elf with a curt nod, and then turned to the students. "Humor me, what do you say about these accusations? The quicker this moves along, it would be better in your interest." Professor Styx had the uncanny ability to see whether or not someone was lying. That was the benefit of being skilled in what he was taught by his father long ago.​

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

The professor was still leaning along the wall when Minoas entered the room, the house elf she had sent to retrieve him on his heels. With a nod to the elf's quick work, the professor's face turned to a scowl as she heard the word escape her student's lips. Never before had she been so frustrated by a student as she was by Minoas. Her fingers twitched in their pockets as she gripped her wand and then let it go. She was much older than this young boy and had worked hard to harness her temper, and even though he threatened to undo her work every time they were in the same room, she would not let him. She would not. Turning to listen to Kalif, since she only knew what he had written in his brief note, Cyndi's face betrayed her shock at the details she was hearing. Kalif's question was a good one and Professor Kingsley stared at the back of the children's heads, expecting Minoas to speak first. It was to her surprise that the Slytherin girl spoke first. Cyndi's eyes widened at her as she asked for proof. In what was perfect timing, the house elf returned to say that her room had been entered by magic that wasn't her own. "Obviously these two don't have much going on in those heads of theirs to do something like this" Cyndi stated with a shake of her head.

From the back of the room, Cyndi spoke to the back of the Gryffindor's head, her voice sounding far more calm than she felt. She felt like a bow that was pulled to near its breaking point. "I've noticed that you've remained silent, Minoas. So, you're not denying that you were in my office." She had learned a few things about the boy from his times in her office and his silence certainly meant something. Her cheeks were reddening as she spoke, the heat rising on her face and cheeks from her anger. "So, that means you were in there for something. What were you doing in my office?" she bit out, her voice rising in pitch.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

They were in real trouble. Minoas could tell it every time his eyes were meeting those of Professor Kingsley. He couldn't keep a long contact as her gaze could smack a boulder into half. On the other hand, Professor Styx looked more interested on his own student, his onyx eyes hard to decode. Minoas wasn't the type of person who could keep his mouth shut for a long time, especially when he was accused for an offense. He was also the type of person that would deplete any possibility of getting out of this without acquiring a sound punishment. He was owning this to Una who had nothing to do with this. It was his idea and in the end he was going to take all the responsibility on his shoulders. He was going to say that they had no clues pointing at him and Una but his slytherin friend put it herself pretty well. Pretty well until that accursed house elf returned to inform the professors that a break-in really occured in the office. Containing himself from strangling the house elf, he kept a straight face and shrugged.

"Still, I can't see why it could be us." he said like he was pointing to something obvious.
"I don't know who is that sixth year prefect, who had claimed to see us sneaking into professor's office but as far as I'm concerned, she could have done it herself and now trying to throw off the blame to someone else." he stated the obvious. He didn't know if by buying some time in that way was going to benefit them or in the end harm them even worse. For a moment, he was ready to admit everything and get done with it but instead he remembered who Professor Kingsley could possibly be. Being in the same room with the person responsible for his father's abduction was turning him into a volcano ready to erupt. Instead, he prevented for a little longer the incandescent lava from turning everything in hell. "Professor, with all my courage. I should advise you to put better protective measures on your office. Especially if you have something of grave importance to keep out of other people's knowledge." he said defiantly with his arms folded on his chest. He wanted to observe her reaction to his words and see if she had taken the hint. He had found afterall what he thought to be her one way ticket to Azkaban.

 

[Myuna Kickett]

myuna herd what professor styx said and thought about the prefect. "but professor you said you had been told a story from a prefect. I was brought up believing that stories were made up for entertainment, otherwise the world would be filled with sparkling vampires and childern fighting each other to the death" she said, her tone unnaturally sweet. "As for the house elf, he said someone was there he didn't say who" she said. even if she didn't like it her grandma seemed to be rubbing off on her a lot more than she had thought. she listened as minoas spoke seeming to have a similar thought pattern to her. "professor Kingsley, what was going on in my head until ten minutes ago was wondering what was for lunch and if it is warm enought for a swim this afternoon. now I am thinking if anything is missing from or moved in your office that you know of?" she asked her.
Professor styx spoke again asking what they had to say about the accusations. "professor Styx, you asked what we think about the accusations. I think you don't have enough evidence to back them up" she said thinking she had her point clear she was quiet letting minoas talk and watching the professors reaction wondering if they were pressing too much, however if she was going to follow her grandma for a few minutes she was going to do it properly, some of the first advice she had been given was not to lie. divert and avoid the subject if necessarily but don't outright lie. that always catches up with you. God, if she was selling her sole to the devil she was going to follow her advice.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

The professor listened to the Gryffindor, a stony expression on her face. She didn’t for a second believe that a prefect would sneak into her room and then lie to her head of house about it and risk getting in incredible trouble for it, especially since she herself hadn’t been to her office yet. She was learning more and more each second though. Lying like that would lose the prefect her badge, if she was lucky. No, the professor was sure that the two culprits were in the room. Rather than deny the accusations, they were each volleying for air time, trying to come up with another way to deflect the attention. “And yet, I still don’t hear a denial from either of you” the professor noted. As Minoas saw fit to give the professor advice about her room, she raised her eyebrows. Surely, he had to realize how suspicious that sounded. “Oh…and what in Merlin do you think I have that is of such ‘grave importance’ in my office?” she asked, her expression stony, though her foot continued to tap against the floor of her colleague’s office. She mostly kept old books and papers from her classes and for the school in the office. It was the one spot where she got was able to get serious work done.

As she waited for a response, the professor’s attention was diverted to the Slytherin girl. Professor Kingsley knew her vaguely, in the way that she knew all of the transfer students. Sometimes, she was tasked with sending their family’s information and she remembered directing a letter to the girl’s grandmother prior to the start of the school year. A dangerous smile crossed the professor’s face as her patience was slowly stretching to its breaking point. It was a sign that it had almost reached its end. “Kalif, please forgive my intrusion on your student” she stated, speaking to him with calm, even though her jaw was clenched. Looking at her colleague for another moment, she then whipped her attention back onto the girl. “I suggest you mind your tongue if you plan on enjoying any more lunches or swims in this castle. How dare you speak to your Head of House that way?!” the professor stated, her brown eyes afire. Never before had she had a student speak to her or another professor with such disrespect as if their authority meant nothing.

Turning back to Kalif, who she knew could easily tell if the children were telling the truth, Cyndi spoke once more. “Kalif, perhaps you should send for their accuser if only to shut them up. Or…” the professor trailed off, her eyes looking to Kalif and hoping he would get her meaning. It wasn’t her business to reveal Kalif’s personal business. She didn’t know if he made it known to his students that he possessed certain unique abilities, or even if he really did possess those abilities. She had heard many rumors about the man over the years, even dating back to her school days, and she had learned over the years that some were true and others weren’t.

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Professor Styx narrowed his eyes and he looked upon Minoas coolly. He was lying. Professor Styx then looked to Cyndi before suggesting, "This is awfully close to the time that you were accused of being the one that abducted his father. As far as I am concerned, that would give him a reason to go through your room. That magazine was just released. Athena on the other hand, has no reason." However it was also Myuna's attitude that Professor Styx had enough of. He folded his arms across his chest, his expression virtually unreadable. He heard Cyndi's outrage with that attitude and he held up one of his gloved hands, "No need for that, Cyndi. Myuna, you were accepted as one of the few transfers to come get a proper learning. However, your attitude proves to be elementary. Pack your bags and get out of the school. I've had enough of this nonsense." Professor Styx sat down once more behind his desk, and he figured that another expulsion was the only way to get this girl out. He was done with dealing with students like that. If he had the power, he would have done the same to Minoas.​

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Things were getting out of control. Professor Kingsley's body language was showing that she had enough already. He was completely ignoring Professor Styx at the moment. His attention was locked on his head of the house who had that suspicious clipping in her office's drawer. However, the head of Slytherin gained his attention when he referred to his motive which he got right. It was then that his grey eyes focused on professor's narrowed, onyx ones. It felt like he was trying to discern truth. Eyes were never lying. Despite feeling awfully uncomfortable, he didn't give him the satisfaction to lower his gaze intimidated. He responded with a look that was shooting daggers at him. He was suspecting everyone. Professor Styx could also be a Scitorari like Professor Kingsley. The profile of the devious, dark wizard was better suiting him than the rune professor for sure.

He was too busy with his insane thoughts and lost track of the conversation between the two professors and Una. He just tuned in to hear Professor Styx expelling her from school. For a moment he believed he misheard but the professor looked damn serious. "What? No!" his reaction was spontaneous. He had no other choice but speak up. "It was me. I had the idea to break into the office. Professor Styx is right. I wanted to see if the rumour was right." he admitted everything with no remorse whatsover. He wasn't sure if it was the right time to be shooting accusations for the evidence he had found. His friend's future at school was bleak and he had to do something. "It was entirely my idea. Una had nothing to do with it. I just asked a friend's help and she gave it to me. In some way, I was the one convincing her." he spoke of the truth. He was the mastermind, he had to be punished. "Professor if you please, revoke Una's expulsion. She doesn't deserve this. She was just trying to help me with my stupid idea." he supported his friend as she did by following him in this break-in. If someone was deserving expulsion that would be him but he hoped they wouldn't get there. He was willing to bear any kind of punishment, even being banned from the Quidditch team for ever.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

It took Professor Kingsley a few long moments to realize what Kalif was speaking about. Abducting his father? she thought to herself, her eyes clouded with confusion until Kalif mentioned the magazine. The clarity in her eyes and the 'o' of her mouth indicated that she understood what he was speaking of, though she couldn't believe the ludicrousness of it all. As Kalif stopped her from continuing, Cyndi watched as he dismissed his Slytherin from the room, telling her to pack her bags. She knew that the Slytherin Head of House meant business and that she would have already been on the Hogwarts Express for home if he was the Headmaster. He had always been stern and a stickler for rules, and even now, Cyndi was wary about breaking rules in front of him. She didn't know if Ava would be any more lenient, but Myuna was going to be finding out soon enough.

As Minoas appeared to find his voice and burst out with his reaction to the news of his friend's impending punishment, Cyndi stood, her expression one of utter astonishment. Never before had she felt so betrayed by one of her own Gryffindors. She knew that they were not her children and that she shouldn't feel that way, but she liked to think of them as a small family. That one of the Gryffindors would think so poorly of her both angered and saddened her. Looking to the Slytherin, Cyndi pointed to Minoas. "That's all the proof we need since you don't think the word of a prefect is enough." With that, she turned away from the girl and back to Minoas. "Although you may have influenced some of her actions, she has control over them as well as that mouth of hers. I only pray that she shows a little more respect in front of the Headmistress since she has shown none to us today" the professor stated icily. She didn't care what happened to the Slytherin, having more pressing matters in front of her to deal with. With a sigh, she looked straight at Minoas. "So you chose to waste your time searching for clues about your father by listening to the drivel from that magazine." The professor didn't ask, but made it into a statement.

 

[Myuna Kickett]

muna was totally taken aback by what happened next. she was expelled. no it couldn't be. she had not said anything that bad. she hadn't insulted the gubba, and here he was kicking her out of the school. they were all the same gubs. one look at her, don't see anything but a trouble making abbo she was sure. she could feel herself starting to crack, her anger really starting to come through. taking a deep breath to try and suppress it. she could not think of anything she would rather do now than to loose it and shout at the pair of them then just walk out, break anything she could see pack up and go. she remembered a small bag of floo powder she had in her trunk. it was really to get home at the end of the semester, but right now it felt like the semester would come early. she would go home, see maka and lowan before her parents got home from work. she could pack her things, then camp out bush in a swag until the surf pro. once she had watched it (and maybe entered a junior round under a fake name) she'd catch a bus or hitchhike or walk east. not leaving any note of where she was going. maybe Byron bay would be good. she could start a new life there. just surfing and seasonal work when she needed it.
She was certainly shaking now and she could feel herself heating up. was the man trying to pull her strings. he seemed to know exactly what to say to make her loose her temper. no she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction she just stud there her jaw locked shoot as she didn't know what would come out if she opened it either a spout of anger or a sob. minoas confessed to everything. she understood why but maybe he shouldn't have. seeing as she was already far enough up the shi' 'ole to see light, she may as well have take the rest of the blame, as there wasn't much more they could do. now it was too late for that.
what bugged her most was at her last school she had been trying to get expelled. but didn't get any more than detention. graffiti the school, no that was just a week of cleaning the graffiti after school and removing chewing gum from under desks. then she had been in a fight when lead to a suspension. then came running off in the geography trip, leading to missing a day of the skiing. other times she had just got lines. god then she had more lives than a Buddhist cat.
finally everyone else had shut up. and knowing she had two options one to play nice and see if she could get off, or let her anger loose, and be expelled for sure but at least go out in a burst of flames. she put her tongue back deciding on the first. she spoke her voice strained "am sorry pr'fessors fo' wha'ever i said" she said and like normal when she was annoyed or upset her australian accent unintentionally coming through really thick. her face still felt hot though now she didn't know if it was anger or tears. maybe tears of suppressed anger that in a few minutes would start to fill her eyes. "'scuse me, bu' c'n I go? jus, i hav' a' fair bi' of packin' t' do. an' I woul' wan' t' see 'fessor Davenshie 'fore i go" she said her voice still constrained, and accent still strong.

Out of Character:

just so you know that it it says "I'm sorry professors for whatever i said" and then Excuse me but can i go? just, I have a fair bi of packing to do. and I want to see professor Davenshire before i go"

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Professor Styx's decision to get rid of Myuna Kickett in the worst way one could, forced a confession from Minoas Stratis. His lips curled ever so slightly into a smirk, and thought that it was one of the best things he had done. The Gryffindor was begging him to change his mind. The only one that could overrule his decision would be the Headmistress, which he suspected that the Slytherin would do. Somehow she could worm her way back in, but if she had one more outburst, he would take her home himself. That would be the biggest dishonor a parent would ever receive upon their child. He had never done that, but it was not like he wouldn't. He merely nodded in agreement to Cyndi's words. Myuna could have controlled her mouth and her attitude. However she had not. One more peep from her, if the Headmistress was going to overturn his decision, then she was definitely out of there. He would see to it. He gestured with his hand for Myuna to go. There was no point in hanging around here any longer. Nothing was going to change his mind, so there was no point. Professor Styx was rather stubborn.

However all of this was due to the magazine? Professor Styx shook his head, "All this, over a rumor in the magazine... We have the Slytherin taken care of, what do you propose we do to the brains of the operation?" 'Or lack of brains thereof,' thought Professor Styx. The people that apparently kidnapped the boy's father was the Scitorari. As far as Professor Styx was concerned, they would be found shortly. The entire group as a whole did not seem that sharp. Professor Styx had nothing to do with that group. He was getting too old to deal with it. Some of his family members were in the whole band of youngsters. Professor Styx looked down briefly at the picture that was overturned. He and his wife were former Death Eaters, a long time ago. After that, it was done for them. He did not see the point in the nonsense anyway. This whole thing gave him a migraine, and he was dying to get it done and over with. Within the next few minutes.​

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas was glad that his friend apologized abd behaved. He knew it was difficult for her as it was difficult for him to contain his frustration. There were really a few people in that school that he really counted as friends and he didn't want to see one of them being kicked out of the school because of him. For now, it seemed that Una had a second chance and he hoped she was going to use it rightly. The best Una had to do was to walk away and accept her punishment. She was going to have some time away from these two professors and try to calm down.

Unfortunately for Minoas, he was left there to face both of them but who he really targeted was Professor Kingsley. Styx was probably dying to find out what would be Minoas' punishment but the gryffindor wasn't done yet. "There's no smoke without a fire." he said and shoved his hand in his pocket to take out the clipping he had stolen from Kingsley's office. "I found this in your drawers professor. Why would you keep this particular article in a locked drawer?" he asked what was reasonably suspicious to him. He couldn't just overlook the fact that one of his professors was keeping articles about his father's abduction.

"It seems to me like you're keeping track of what is going on in this case. Why is that?" he felt like he had every right to demand some answers. He was ready actually to leave like Una and head straight to the headmistress. Let her know that a Scitorari was among the school's staff.
"I'll tell you why you keep a record of this case. You are afraid that someone is going to find out about your involvement into this so you're checking these articles to see if they have been tracking you or the rest of the Scitorari."he attested his findings, sounding pretty sure about them.

He knew quite a lot already about the particular organization that had recently risen to fame. His visit at the Festival of Innovational Magic was really enlightening and now he knew with who he was dealing with. He didn't know anything about its members but he was willing to uncover them. Starting from the head of Gryffindor house. "I'm sorry professor but you leave me with no other choice. I should talk to the headmistress about it. I hope your excuses have some impact to the ministry and you won't receive the kiss of a dementor." he said spitefully. He had been hollowed for a year now, trying to understand what was going on, why had that happened to his father. Now that he had found out this, he was filled with hate. No, he didn't just want the dementor's kiss for those responsible for the abduction. He just wanted them to rot for the rest of their life in Azkaban. And if he was going to find out that the Scitorari had even attempted to harm his father, he was going to kill each one of them with most torturing, possible way. He stepped back, ready to leave Styx's office and head to Professor Davershire.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Kingsley made no comment as the Slytherin apologized. She had never been a fan of apologies and was even less of a fan now that she was a Deputy Headmistress. The amount of times that she had heard the word and then had the student back in her office was enough to make her head spin. Her own Gryffindor was proof enough of that. She’d welcomed him into her office more times than she cared to remember, almost never for anything good. As Professor Styx dismissed the Slytherin, Cyndi hoped that she would heed her warning and watch what she said with the Headmistress. Although Ava was friendly and pleasant and often made students think that she was ‘easy,’ she was still a Headmistress. Turning to look back at her colleague as he spoke, Cyndi scoffed. If Minoas had brains, he would have known better than to believe a magazine that had started many falsehoods.

Professor Kingsley considered her options. Although she knew that she would be well within her rights to request Minoas’ expulsion, considering the sheer number of times he’d been caught for rule infractions, Cyndi wasn’t sure that she had it in her to do it. With a sigh, Cyndi was about to begin stating her punishment for Minoas. She stopped as Minoas began to speak again. Pursing her lips, the Gryffindor Head of House watched as Minoas reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. A flush crossed her cheeks wondering what else he might have seen in the drawer. In addition to various recipes and slips of paper and some runes she was making from glass, the professor was also certain that she had some love notes from her husband in her drawer, notes she’d forgotten to bring to her lounge area. It wasn’t until the Gryffindor continued that Cyndi realized what exactly he held in his hand. Cyndi opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Minoas who continued to tell her what he knew to be true. Putting one hand on her hip, in a decidedly adolescent move, the professor’s eyes narrowed as she listened to what Minoas was going to do. It was clear to her that he was certain that she was going to be arrested by some Aurors and thrown into Azkaban. Despite her innocence, the professor couldn’t help but cringe at the thought of the Dementor’s Kiss. She’d never seen it administered and hoped to keep it that way.

“Are you done?” she stated, her voice shaking slightly, though whether it was from anger, frustration or hurt even she was not sure. Never had she guessed that Minoas hated her this much to jump to such tremendous conclusions. “You can feel free to go to Headmistress Davershire and have her call Nicolas King if you’re so certain of my guilt. It’ll be a waste of the Auror’s time. Time he could be using on your father’s case. Or you can actually listen to me and stop thinking that Rumor Has It holds answers to your father’s kidnapping.” The professor closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment before continuing. “I am not nor have I ever been a member of the Scitorari” the professor stated in a level voice. “I have that particular article because of what is on the back of it” she sighed, imploring him to turn it over where he would see a tiny article about the Department of Mysteries with her husband being named followed by the rest of the story about Minoas’s father. “And I thought it was important to keep informed about the case since it affected one of my students” Cyndi finished off with a sigh, now thinking that she could have spent her time concerning herself with many other things.

“I don’t even know what to do with you anymore” the Gryffindor stated warily. The professor paced the back of the room. She had half of a mind to suspend his animagus training. Surely, if he wouldn’t respect her, he would simply go against the Ministry anyway and be an illegal animagus. “Professor Styx…have you ever seen a student kicked out of their house?” she asked, pausing in her pacing, wondering if it had ever been done before. Professor Kingsley couldn’t remember it having happened, but she was certain that the sorting hat didn’t mean for such a heavy burden to be placed on her.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas was feeling at the top of the world. Having that slip of paper in his hands he was so sure that was pointing at Professor Kingsley's guilt. The head of Gryffindor looked certainly agitated and to his eyes, this was confirming his suspicions that she was entangled in this case as he had started believing since the last publication of RHI. He didn't know if the professor had taken his words seriously but he was meaning every single one of them. He was ready to turn around exit the office when the professor talked again. Asking him if he was done talking, fueled his anger a little bit more. He lingered at the doorway for a couple of seconds but then turned around as she seemed to have something to add to all this. Nothing more entertaining than the excuses of a guilty person. "Yes, I'm done. Any last wish before the dementors come to escort you?" he asked, curious to see how she was going to defend herself now that he had exposed her in front of her collegue.

An eyebrow quirked when she told him he was free to go and say everything to the headmistress and call the aurors. This wasn't exactly what she was expecting to hear from her and so cockiness started melting away on his face. He chuckled when she said that the aurors could be working on his father case than having to deal with her. "Yeah, right! Like they can do anything." he rolled his eyes, his tone as sarcastic as it could get. He had no news since the day his father was abducted in front of his eyes. He had lost faith on aurors' work. Each time his mother was visiting the ministry, hopeful about something new in the case, he was seeing her return disappointed or he could see the dried tears on the parchment every time he was sending her an owl to ask her and he was getting her reply back. To him, it was pretty clear what he had to do. He had found the beginning of a skein and he was willing to follow it until he was going to find the end of the thread. That was why he was desperately looking for clues, even if that meant to create them out of rumours or out of paranoia.

The confidence he might had a few minutes ago had started to abandon him with every word of Professor Kingsley. It was like he was heavily armed with weapons that could confront her but she was repeatedly casting disarming charms to leave him in the end with nothing to defend his accusation. Suddenly, the mount he thought he was standing on started to crumble underneath his feet, knocking him down. He looked at her as if he had accepted a slap from nowhere, when she told him the real reason why she was keeping that clipping in her office. Blown out of the water, he turned the clipping over to see at the headline the name Kingsley and a referance to the Department of Mysteries. "What the..." he managed to utter, still unable to realize that what he had thought as clear evidence, was no longer existing.
"No way!" he felt completely embarrassed but this was nothing compared to his disappointment. He had thought he had finally found something tangible but now he was left with nothing again, to find another way out of the obscurity.

The worst part was he had got into serious trouble for nothing. If he had found the culprit of his father's abduction it would be worth it. In fact, in that case he wouldn't mind to get expelled and all this but now he was feeling like whoever was writing RHI had cornered him and would be probably laughing at him for getting into trouble for nothing more than a rumour. If Una was going to get expelled because of his stupid obsession of seeing culprits where they didn't exist, he was going to be consumed by compunction. In any other case, he was going to apologize to professor Kingsley but he was so defeated that he couldn't even look at her in the eyes. Pride was so hard to swallow for this lion. He lowered his head, ready to accept his punishment whatever it was going to be.

Even in this hard time, he tried to think positively. He didn't want to get expelled but even if this was going to happen, maybe it was to his benefit. While not having to attend school, he could run away and search for the Scitorari. It was another reckless idea of him. What could be the odds, him against a shady organization? He would be dead in a matter of hours out in the real world alone. However, hope was the one last standing and he was ready to deal with anything. He kept looking down at the floor, frowned as Professor Kingsley expressed her indignation about his case. The truth was he was pretty often a pain for the head of his house but most of the time he wasn't doing it on purpose. He was just curious back at his first year when he entered the forbidden forest. He had noticed people entering and he had thought it was fine to do so as well. How he could have known that acromantulas were setting traps all over the forest to capture their potential meals? Now that he was recalling of this incident, he was realizing how lucky he was that Briar and Professor Kingsley had found him.

He also wanted to help back then when he witnessed that first year sneaking into the forest. If he hadn't followed him, he would be trapped in that centaur snare for days as it was too deep in the forest. He couldn't have predicted that by helping a younger student he was going to bring centaurs threatening two of his professors. And even that time when those two hufflepuffs wanted to throw stink pellets inside Professor Kingsley's office, he was just trying to prevent them from doing so. He was lucky back then when he hasn't caught holding those stink pellets that he had taken from them. There were also other times when he was even more lucky when he was caught out of the common room late at night but he was spared like Madlyn who had done that twice and more recently with Professor Le Fey. He came to realize he had done a lot of things that were breaking the school's rules and so his punishment wasn't going to be just a letter at his parents and the usual detention. Even his removal from the Quidditch team sounded like a soft form of punisment for breaking into a professor's office and intruding her privacy. He had nothing to say. He just waited as Professor Kingsley asked her collegue if a student could be removed for their current house.

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

It appeared as though everything blew up in the young student's face. Professor Styx turned his picture on his desk up as most of his anger melted away as soon as his idiot of a student exited the room. He'd get his prefects to keep an eye on her, if she managed to convince the Headmistress to keep her ass in the school. He folded his arms on his desk and he almost smirked at the suffering that the boy must be going through. He almost had this in the bag, just to have it stomped on. This was why he really hated dealing with prideful students. Not many in Slytherin had any if they got in trouble with him. Professor Styx heard his co-worker speak to him. He turned his cold stare up to Professor Kingsley and he shrugged, "Never heard of it. Though it is severely unfair that you have to deal with a student like this time after time. Perhaps after today's punishment, you might not have to deal with his troubling ways. What do you suggest should happen? Besides kicking him out of Gryffindor house." He would have voiced his thoughts over the whole Scitorari business, but the former Death Eater did not care. Whatever they had done to the boy's father had nothing to do with anyone at the school. Professor Styx almost tapped the desk, wondering how much longer this would last. The longer company stayed in his presence, the less comfortable he was. He didn't know what this boy was all into, so he couldn't suggest much except banning him from Quidditch.​

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Kingsley’s eyes widened at the ease at which Minoas was ready to throw her to the dementors. By the time Minoas had turned the clipping over and scanned it, spotting her husband’s name, Cyndi's arms were crossed, her entire body language revealing just how upset she truly was more than she was certain she could express if she spoke. Waiting with an urgency she’d rarely felt, Cyndi couldn’t even bring herself to look at Minoas. The older professor’s response was disappointing though not surprising. She’d been in the school since its inception and although she had been a student, more concerned with herself and her friends than school regulations, she was sure it would have been big news if a student were to be kicked out of his or her house. Houses weren’t just a place for students to stay. It became a large part of their identity, something determined even before they properly had an opportunity to meet anyone else. Cyndi’s thoughts turned to expulsion once more as Kalif asked her what she thought should happen. It would be the easiest solution and there was the added benefit of not having to deal with Minoas anymore. But, something about that solution nagged at her. It only took her several long moments to figure out what bothered her about it.

As she turned her head to the Gryffindor, the professor’s voice was clipped. “What I don’t suggest is expulsion. I’m sure that’s what you want so that you can go off to search for your father since the aurors are doing anything according to you.” The professor narrowed her eyes and continued. “And Merlin knows the last thing I want to do is give you something that you want. ” Taking a seat in an empty chair near Kalif’s desk, the professor thought for a moment about the words she was about to say, knowing that once she said them she would never be able to take them back. Finally, she spoke once more, emotion creeping back into her voice. “You may be a Gryffindor because the sorting hat says so, but I will no longer acknowledge it” Cyndi stated, looking the sixth year straight in the eye so that he would know just how serious her next words were. “I’m done with you. If you have any issues, take them to another professor. I am going to notify the professors that should you misbehave in front of them that they can deal with you however they see fit or send you to the Headmistress for punishment. The only time I want to see you in Gryffindor tower is after curfew and I don’t want you sitting at the Gryffindor house table during any of the school’s meals including the feasts. You will no longer be associated with Gryffindor House in my eyes.” Glancing away from Minoas before he could see how much this was paining her to say, the professor stared straight ahead out the window as she finished. “For that reason, you will also be banned from returning to the Gryffindor Quidditch team next year. ”

Realizing that she hadn’t taken any housepoints from him, Professor Kingsley made to fix her mistake as she stood up and headed for the door. ”And 100 points from Gryffindor. Thank you for notifying me, Kalif”Cyndi stated before opening the door and walking out. She hoped that Kalif would understand that she could remain in the room no longer. The professor did not care what Minoas might have to say in his defense and she feared she might retract her statements if she remained and allowed him to speak to her once more.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas waited silent for his punishment as Professor Kingsley asked her collegue if a student could be kicked out of their house. At first, he thought it was just a way to terrorize him in some way. He had never heard before of a student removed from their house and continue studying at Hogwarts. It seemed he had avoided expulsion from school for now. The head of Gryffindor house didn't want to give him a punishment that wouldn't mean necessarily something bad for him. She was right about the fact that he was going to search instantly for his father, from the moment he wasn't a student of this school anymore. But at the same time, he didn't want to be expelled so he was feeling really fortunate for avoiding this kind of punishment.

He didn't really expected what it was going to follow. He was confronted before by Professor Kingsley but it was the first time he had seen the woman like that. Minoas could see that there was a conflict inside her but when she talked again, it looked like she was determined to move on with what she had thought of. Her following words were laced with stringency that could break bones. It certainly had broken something inside Minoas as she defined his punishment, though he wasn't sure what exactly was. She actually denied him from her house and Minoas felt disgrace crawling inside him like a parasite. It was much worse than being expelled. Now he had to stay at the castle like an outcast, nowhere to belong or address for assistance if he needed any.

He clenched his jaw in an attempt to accept all that along with the deducted one hundred points as the icing on the cake. He managed to respond with a nod. An affirmation that he was accepting his punishment for his latest actions. He lowered his head again as Professor Kingsley left the office. "I should leave as well. I have classes to attend." he said, feeling humiliated and exited the room after he had let to Professor Kingsley enough time to fend off.
He had no intention to attend his next class which had already began. He just wanted to stay for the rest of the day away from the other residents of the castle. His dorm was going to be empty during midday but then her remembered he wasn't allowed to visit Gryffindor common room until it was after curfew. He ended up in the library in an attempt to concentrate and move on with his revision, something he failed to do. He might wasn't expelled but he was unwanted by his own house. To him, there was no reason to return back at school next year. He was going to stay for his OWLs and finish his fifth year but then he was free to become the author of his own fate.