Uncorked Cataclysm

[Perseas Stratis]

# 11125705 Second semester of 2039. Set during a quidditch match.

The eagle owl from Gambol & Japes was arriving on a weekly basis at Hogwarts to deliver to the grey-eyed adolescent a package full of mischief. At first Perseas orders were 'innocent' little things like screaming yo-yos and skiving snackboxes. Eventually his orders started including more indecent products like invisible paints that could be applied on surfaces and get the unsuspected to sit on them or a set of nose-biting tea cups that he sneakily planted one morning in the tables of the Great Hall. Eventually the gryffindor grew recklessly cocky when he found out that his orders weren't actually checked by someone and he decided to smuggle into the school a product that he wanted to get in his hands since the very first day he had laid his eyes on the intriguing catalog of the joke shop.

The rascal gryffindor wasn't alone in his wicked plans. If it wasn't his best friend Rafael to back him up during their misdemeanors he would have long been expelled out of Hogwarts. The two of them had mapped the network of secret passageways of the ancient castle. They had memorized passwords of portraits that were concealing shortcuts and they had even their secret hideout at the Room of Requirements. They were acting like shadows. Spread chaos then sneak out of the scene unnoticed. Perseas didn't mean ill will. For a guy with a hyperactivity disorder the castle looked like a dull place through his eyes sometimes. He couldn't help but mess around to enliven the place.

The time and place where he was executing his well-schemed distraction was never left to luck. He had received the product day ago but he had been waiting for the day of the first quidditch match taking place at the pitch. The castle was empty. Almost everyone should have been at the stands to watch the match and he witnessed that as he casually walked down the grand staircase from the dormitory to the ground floor. Not a single soul to be seen around. The entrance hall was chosen to house his frivolity for the obvious reason that everyone would have to cross it upon their entrance to the castle. It was going to be a big one and everyone should be able to enjoy this. Perseas had fixed a meeting outside the great hall to meet with Rafael. He made it there first, still having encountered not a single student and most importantly a professor. The quietness was so deafening in his ears. Only the large clock was ticking nonchalantly. He was going to make sure that this was going to change in a few minutes. If Rafael is going to show up any time soon, he thought and eyes the stairs hoping to see his friend arriving. The product was in his pocket and he couldn't wait to see its true potential spread across the spacious entrance hall. He impatiently started pacing past the large hourglass of houses' points. A few emeralds trickled down to the lower bulb at Slytherin's hourglass. They must have just scored and Perseas smirked widely. The match must have been having everyone at the edge of their seats. Good for them.

Out of Character:

To any professor intending to interfere, please wait for the plot to progress a little bit. It would be nice if you could pm me first to set the right time for them to get busted. Thanks.

 

[Rafael Fedorowicz]

Hufflepuff common room was empty but one person. Rafael was alone in the cozy room and he was stealing glances at the antique wall clock over the empty fireplace. He was about to team up with his bud and bring to life a plan they have been scheming for a long time. It was a venturesome idea but they both were bent on following through. They had the means to do so. At least that was written on the short note he received earlier from Perseas' owl. They wouldn't have to stick around the 'crime scene' for long enough. It was a quick act and then disappear through one of the many secret passageways that could take them quickly away from there. They had examined every possible escape route and they were ready if anything terrible was going to happen.

When the pointers of the clock were closer to the time of their meeting, Rafael took a deep breath and left the common room after casting on him a disillusionment charm. He loved this one. He was casting it a lot and it was his favorite. It could really come in handy if they were unlucky today. He didn't really need to be magically concealed at the moment. The corridors and floors were empty while the quidditch match was underway but the feeling of moving around almost invisible was quite liberating to him. Perseas was already at the entrance hall already, pacing alone before the tall hourglasses. Rafael cast the counter spell on him and appeared out of nowhere in front of his friend. "Allo you old dog!" Rafael threw an arm around his friend's neck and paced along with him. "Where is it? Show me!" He looked around them to check if anyone else was there and leaned in conspiratorially to see the rock of offense or more precisely, the bottle of offense.

 

[Perseas Stratis]

Preoccupied in scheming on where exactly to release chaos today, he didn't heard the footsteps coming his way. Out of the blue, Rafael appeared before him, lifting the effect of his magical concealments. "Why you keep doing this? It's not fun!" he complained for startling him and breathed again, softly punching his friend on the shoulder. Ever since they were taught that charm, Rafael has been using it without end. Perseas would have sworn it was some kind of addiction. Much like Wendelin the Weird who let to be burnt to the stake so many times because she loved the tickling sensation of the flames when she was under the effect of a fire-freezing charm. "You're late." he glowered at him as he shoved his hand in his bulging pocket. He pulled a small, silver phial with a drop-shaped top. He escaped Rafael's grip and took a few steps away from him. "Heads-up!" he warned him and passed him the phial, daringly throwing it in the air for Rafael to catch it. He smirked as he saw the phial in the safety of his friend's hands. "Isn't it beautiful?" he gestured at the small phial as Rafael examined it. It wasn't bigger than a few inches but it was keeping sealed inside such a great power. As a fan of mythology, he couldn't help but see the similarities between this prank product and Aeolus' bag of winds. The ruler of winds in Greek mythology, captured all winds in a bag, leaving only the gentle West Wind to assist Odysseus to his journey back to his homeland Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War. Whomever was the genius behind this masterwork, must have been inspired by the myth. "What do you think? Where we should open it?" he asked Rafael's opinion as he looked around them. For a moment, his grey eyes focused on the gigantic chandelier overhead. The could levitate the bottle all the way there and let it loose its almighty power from up there.

 

[Rafael Fedorowicz]

Rafael felt like every fiber of his being was vibrating with anticipation. Excitement was evident on his face. It had been a long time ever since the two of them had schemed something that big. Possibly it was the biggest.
"It's not fun. It's hilarious! If only you could see your face when I pop into." He grinned widely really enjoying doing this. It was extremely intriguing walking around the castle unnoticed while you could see unsuspecting people minding their own business. He had startled a few first year hufflepuffs like that but he decided to reduce the ambushes before someone was going to tell on a professor. Rafael grabbed the vial in the air and examined it. As he did a smirk widened on his face.
"Weather-in-a-bottle? This is going to be epic!" He agreed and checked the embossed instructions carved on the back of the vial.
"You know this going to get us in serious trouble if we get caught." He felt like shooting that warning although they were both determined to this. "Here!" Rafael tossed the vial back to him to catch it. He inspected the entrance hall from where they were standing. It was the perfect place to do this, especially now that everyone was too busy down at the pitch watching the match. Rafael noticed that Perseas was looking at the large chandelier. Placing it up there would be hard to notice and it would take more time to be removed. "I like the way you're thinking. Let's put it up there and replace a candle with it." He recommended as he pointed at the chandelier above them. "Who would have thought that a sad levitation charm could come in handy after all." He commented with a shrug and flourished he wand ready to assist at the vial's ascension.

 

[Perseas Stratis]

Perseas drew immense delight from watching the surprise and the excitement on his friend's face as he studied the trick product they were going to use today. "Actually it's a Wet Weather!" he informed his friend and caught it as it was passed back at him. "We won't get caught." Perseas stated confidently and playfully tossed the bottle in the air to catch right back. "We let loose the storm and then we use the passageway leading to the sixth floor. Piece of cake." he smirked as his eyes rested on on the chandelier. "Besides, I have this with me." he searched his pockets while watching overhead. He pulled out of it a crystalized, star-shaped object. It was dark purple in color and contained inside some sort of black powder. "I love Peruvians! What would have happened to our lives without the existence of this powder." he gestured at the dark crystal and quickly pocketed. It was his last one. The rest of the pack he had ordered a few days ago were from yesterday lying at the bottom of the lake in a sealed crate.

The more Perseas was looking at it the better he liked the idea of including it in his plan. "If you insist." he shrugged with a smirked and pointed his wand upwards. "Locomotor candle!" he said and his charm was cast on a random candle. He bewitched it to pry loose from its holder and slowly swoop down at the sixth years. Perseas stretched his arm to grab it when it zoomed closer to him. "This is for you go." he gave it to Rafael after blowing off its tiny flame. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he muttered, pointing his wand at the phial in his other hand. The small container raised in the air a few inches from his palm. With an upward flick the phial flew higher. "Go! Make us proud!" he said to it while kept flicking upwardly and cautiously at the same time. "On my mark, you can have the honor to remove the cap. Okay?" he addressed Rafael while he was occupied to place the small phial in the chandelier's empty holder. It was kind of difficult to maneuver it into the right position from so far away. "Almost there." he breathed slowly flicking this time downward to place the phial into the holder.

 

[Theseas Stratis]

The reason why Theseas Stratis was one of the few students staying within Hogwarts' walls that day and not joining the Quidditch enthusiasts at the pitch, was because he didn't really liked the sport and he that his brother was up to no good. He had noticed his twin and his hufflepuff friend's quick huddles, looking utterly suspicious. Every time they looked like that then something completely chaotic was happening around the castle. For once he wanted to catch his brother on act and inform a professor. They were twins and although completely different in body and soul, Theseas knew Perseas better than anyone. Getting away constantly without being given a reprimand for his devious actions, was only inflating his already huge ego and was making him feel invincible. His knowledge of the old castle's series of secret tunnels and shortcuts might have saved him from countless detentions but Theseas was going to make sure this wasn't the case today.

Perseas had thought he was all alone in the common room but his anticipation for whatever he was scheming had him blind. Theseas had crouched on an armchair facing a window and remained quiet until his twin brother passed by unaware of his presence and walked out of the common room. Theseas trailed behind him. Going down several floors, he had started believing that his twin was possibly going to the pitch for the match but when he stopped at entrance hall, he hid behind an armor at the stair landing, overlooking the whole hall. Theseas peeked around the armor and saw his brother walking across the hall as if he was waiting for somebody. It was obvious who that was and it wasn't long until footsteps from the staircase announced another arrival. Rafael Fedorowicz passed right in front of him but he succeded in remaining unseen. Theseas' gray eyes remained fixed on the two boys and they glinted with the flash of discovery when he saw his twin taking out of his pocket a small vial. From what he had eavesdropped, they were intending to let loose a storm. The vial seemed to be one of those trick items that were unleashing extreme weather conditions around a certain area. His brother was resourceful. He had to give him that.

Theseas didn't intervene just yet. He let them goof around and search for the right place to set the bottle. Seeing the looking at the huge chandelier above them, he knew they had found the spot they were looking for. Slowly took out his wand as he watched the bottle being lifted in the air. He walked at the edge of the landing with his wand extended. "Accio weather in a bottle!" he uttered unexpectedly and interrupted the vial's ascending coursing by making it fly towards his way. He raised his free hand and grabbed it. "I'll take this one. Thank you." He said with a wide smile and looked at what he had in his palm. "Sorry boys, the party is over." He displayed mockingly the vial he had just stole from them and he flashed a smile of contentment. Nothing better than ruining Perseas' plans.

 

[Perseas Stratis]

Everything seemed to be going as planned. The vial was almost placed in the empty holder of the chandelier when its course was abruptly diverted. Perseas surprised watched it flying away towards the grand staircase. He was ready to urge Rafael follow him to the dungeons, afraid that a professor had stepped in and caught them in act. From there he knew a series of secret passageways they could use to escape. However, the person on the landing wasn't a professor nor a prefect. Perseas tried to keep his cool while he watched the vial zooming in his twin's hand. "Theseas!" he slightly rolled his eyes annoyed and his voice dripped with sarcasm. "I don't want to spoil it for you but you're not a prefect." he pointed out and took a few steps towards the stairs. Frustration was boiling in him but he managed to keep a half smile on his face. "Why don't you mind your own business and give it back to me." he nodded at the vial in his hand, carefully choosing words to address him. Six years now he had managed to avoid detentions and act under professors' nose. Theseas wasn't going to mess up now. He cast a nasty look at his brother and just then realized he had his wand in hand. "Accio weather in a bottle!" he shouted, acting unexpectedly to retrieve the vial.

 

[Rafael Fedorowicz]

Rafael didn't see that coming. Someone had summoned the weather in a bottle and like that their plan got an unexpected turn. It wasn't a professor but this didn't mean less trouble. Rafael didn't really like Perseas' twin brother and at that point her remembered why. He was always trying to snoop into their schemes but until that moment they were always a step ahead. He frowned as he watched Theseas in possession of the vial. Perseas started negotiations in his own way but Rafael was convinced that this wasn't going to work. He realized that his best friend wasn't really relying on a civilized conversation and instead, he cast a summoning charm of his own to get back what was stolen from them. Rafael came by his side with his wand on the ready to back him up. He would gladly stun Theseas for messing with them.

 

[Theseas Stratis]

For once Theseas had his brother and his sidekick at hand. He didn't care if he was going to be praised for preventing the troublemakers from setting free a storm. It was just enough the thought of his brother finally coming down to earth with a jolt. "I know." he shrugged unaffected by Perseas' reminder. "You're not running the school either, thinking you can do whatever you want." he pointed out in return. He knew pretty well that there was more behind his brother's composed appearance. He must have been more mad than he looked. This was absolutely great.

Theseas was about to turn around and run away when something unexpected happened. The vial slipped out of his grip, summoned back by Perseas. "Accio weather in a bottle!" his cast was in time before the vial was able to reach his brother. It stopped for a second in midair and its course was reversed, flying now back to him.

 

[Perseas Stratis]

Knowing that his brother was going to put up a fight, the plan was to get the vial back and protected with shield charms in case he was going to summon it again. Perseas had obviously underestimated his twin, who was fast enough to cast again when the vial was half way between them. The impact of Theseas' summoning charm rocked the vial into the air and Perseas didn't stop and stare. His wand shot another summoning charm, hitting the vial with great force, shaking it violently in midair. The vial looked like it was indecisive which side to join. It was moving inches equally between the two casters and there was no real progress. The situation remained static. The vial looked almost like it was levitating there, struggling to progress to whichever direction and the two brothers with their wands extended, were fighting to retain their spells until one of them was going to grow weary. The vial chose for them. For a moment it remained immobile in the air. Then, Perseas felt the bond of his spell connected with the item slowly dissipating. Judging from his brother's expression, he must have been experiencing the same thing. Gravity pulled the vial to the ground so quickly that there were no enough time to react.

The eerie sound of smashing glass echoed across the empty hall. Wisps of silver grey smoke uncurled from the shattered, glass fragments and danced their way upwards. They stroke hard the chandelier on their way to the ceiling and the huge, glass ornament chimed dangerously. The silver smoke started swirling above their heads, forming dark, ominous clouds that concealed the ceiling and kept creeping towards the Staircase the Great Hall. Thunder rolled across the cloudy ceiling, seeming to crack the hall in half and revealed the fury confined in the bottle.

It began with a slow pitter-pattering of rain bouncing off the floor and forming puddles. It steadily built up to a thunderous deluge. Winds gusted around, driving the rain faster, harder, stronger. Soaked to the bone and with the rain running down his face in thin droplets, Perseas smirked content and looked at his brother on the landing. The storm had reached him as well. In the end, he had his way. But before he was able to celebrate his victory as he wanted, a lightning struck. It had hit one of the house points hourglass, spraying glass shards and gems everywhere. The situation seemed to be out of control. The rain was falling like an ocean thrown from the ceiling. It crashed into the puddles which were unified into a single body of water, a few inches deep. It splattered off the stairs' railing, and formed instant rivers that punched open the doors of the surrounding rooms, the Great Hall and the Dungeons. "This way!" he bellowed against the howling wind and prompted Rafael to follow him at the stairs landing to his brother. It was higher, although water was cascading down the stairs. With difficulty he made it above the flood when another lightning hit another hourglass. It collapsed and it was gulped by the rising waters.

This avalanche of water was threatening to drown the ground floor. His plan had gone wrong. "This is your fault!" he shouted to his brother and shoved him furious. If they had just uncorked the bottle they would be able to release the storm smoothly. Now they had no control over it. "What should we do?" he wondered exasperated and threw his hands in the air. He tried a couple of times the draught charm but the rainfall remained relentless. Bad luck was there to stay. The castle's double doors opened as a professor entered inside the Entrance Hall from outside. The water starting flowing out of the open doors like a boisterous stream. "poop!" he breathed from the landing. "Follow me! Now!" he pulled Rafael and Theseas from their wet sleeves and the three of them started climbing the staircase to reach the first floor. The storm behind them rumbled again and the sound of the downpour hadn't ceased. If only they could reach the first floor before get caught, they could use one of the secret passageways and escape.

Out of Character:

Interested professors can pm me in this account.

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Professor Justin Cliffeton was walking up towards the school looking for anyone who may or may not be up to no good, and he sure hoped that there was nobody to look for. The Quidditch game was going on at the moment, and he was almost sure that nobody would be in the school but there was always a few people that stayed behind in the school to study so there was almost always a need for a Professor to stay behind and make sure that nobody got up to no good. As he approached the door to the Entrance Hall, he heard a strange noise coming from inside that sounded like a thunder storm. That was odd, to say the least. When he opened the door, he sure wasn't expecting a torrent of water to flood outside the school. He quickly flicked his wand to spread the water so that he wouldn't get flushed away and proceeded inside, noticing some students running away towards the first floor and he quickly chased after them. "Stop right now! Don't make it worse for yourselves!" He said with an angry look on his face.

 

[Rafael Fedorowicz]

Rafael didn't have to interfere when Perseas took things in his hands. His summoning charm looked like it had retrieved the vial for a moment and got it flying there way, but Theseas didn't quit so easy. His cast was also on target and the glass container changed direction again. The two brothers' charms seemed to have equal power. For a moment the vial levitated in the air between them, pulled by the force of both summoning charms. Then unexpectedly, the power of the charms wore off and it ended up smashing on the floor.

The everything happened too quickly. Clouds of silver, gray smoke erupted and raised above them to form rain clouds. A loud clap of thunder and heavy rain hissed as it poured down on them. Rafael smiled to himself, opened his armd and closed his eyes to enjoy the rain. He laughed as their plan to release the storm was executed in the end, regardless of Perseas' annoying brother attempt to stop them.

Joy didn't last long. A jagged bolt of lightning flashed out of the dark clouds overhead and struck one of the house points hourglasses. Rafael used his arms to protect his head as gems pelted on him. Soaked to the bone, he couldn't see much of his surroundings as the rain intensified and the water swiftly raised to his knees. "Holy cr@p!" He swore as streams of water break into closed doors that opened violently under the pressure. It rolled down the Dungeons' entrance and he could see the long tables and seats being carried away by the rushing waters in the Main Hall.

His wet colors were flapping against his skin in the strong wind blowing on his face. He hadn't heard what Perseas when Perseas shouted his lungs out but he figured out they had to move at higher ground. It was kind of hard to climb the stairs against the fierce torrent streaming down from the landing. Rafael grabbed the solid, marble railing to his right to support himself and made it where Theseas was standing. "Guys, this is not the right time throwing the blame to each other." Rafael stepped between the two brothers in case he had to separate them. "This doesn't working!" He shouted as he tried the drought charm himself unsuccessfully. The storm didn't look like it was about to abate. The amount of water released from these artificial rain clouds was insane. The floor must have been submerged a meter bellow the surface, roiling with raindrops.

The only doors remaining shut, the double doors leading to the grounds, opened but not by the waters' fury. A professor stepped inside, casting a spell. The water that flowed aside the professor to end up out of the opened doors. Rafael started running for dear life along with the other two. The professor was too far to see their faces. If they managed to disappear they were good. They were following Perseas up the Grand Staircase. It seemed they were guided to the first floor and Rafael realized they were heading towards the portrait of the Astronomer, the entrance to a shortcut leading many floors above to the towers. He cast a non-verbal disillusionment charm on himself as he ran along with the Stratis brothers, just in case. The professor was after them and he wasn't willing to get caught.

 

[Theseas Stratis]

Theseas was confident that he could get back the vial. Pointing his wand straight at it, he tried not to lose focus. It seemed they were evenly matched and the object they both wanted to get, was momentarily floating instead of flying towards one of them. Then, it looked like their summoning charms wore off simultaneously. The bottle smashed on the floor and chaos was unleashed. Tar-black clouds expanded and reached even above him at the stairs' landing. An unending cataract of water sluiced from them and a thunder shook the ground under his feet. In no time, the Entrance Hall was flooded and the untamed waters overflowed other areas of the ground floor. Drenched from head to toe and dazed by the phenomenon, he watched his brother and his friend climbing the stairs that were pouring more water into the ground floor. His normally calm, grey eyes flashed with anger. "What? I tried to prevent you in the first place moron! Now you involved me into this!" he spat furious ready for a fight but Rafael wisely pointed out that this wasn't the right time to argue.

Theseas didn't try to stop the effect of the weather in a bottle. The other two tried but nothing worked. He was really considering of leaving them to get out of this on their own but the main doors opened and a professor stepped in. He wasn't going to sit around and get punished for something he was responsible for. He started running and the other two did the same. Theseas was aware that his twin knew the castle's secret shortcuts like the palm of his hand so he decided to follow his lead. As they arrived at the first floor, Rafael cast a disillusionment charm on himself. Theseas thought that this wouldn't really work and decided to do something in favor of all of them. "Locomotor!" he aimed at a small bookcase that was raised a few inches from the ground and followed his wand's movement. He placed it right in front of First Floors' entrance. "Engorgio!" he cast again and a circle of icy blue light emanated from the tip of his wand. When it touched the bookcase, it grew largely enough to block completely the entrance. He looked behind him to see if the other two were waiting for him but he focused back on the enlarged bookcase for the third time. He placed an unbreakable charm on it to make sure that it wasn't going to be blasted out of the way and the entrance to the first floor was going to be blocked for some time. He wasn't sure if this was the only way into the floor but hopefully this was going to slow down the professor. Then he turned around and ran after the other two, hoping they were going to use a shortcut soon enough.