Hrothbert "Bob" Bainbridge

[[Filtered to Ancient Runes students]]

To those of you who will be here this morning for your first exam of the week, good luck. Just think, another few hours and it will all be over.~ Other years will have to wait a day or even two before coming to this point; try not to exhaust yourselves with anticipation. Scholastically speaking, I would call this a productive year for us all, so most of you have little to fret about.

And if I find out who switched all the sorrel inks with the etching acid, there will be.... consequences. After all, somebody has to replace that washbasin.

[[/filtered]]


*list of heavily locked notations, with "erfidityes" and "ins aeternum ocu" barely legible if you really look for it, trailing off into an exasperated scribble*


....................Has anybody seen my cat?


*...........who, for his part, is elsewhere in the castle, methodically shredding the edge of a tapestry<3*


[[Feel free to have done the prank, if you want to accept the Consequences (plumbing repairs and detention for a week).~ Also note: this is not the exam post. It will come in a day or so when I finish writing it. ^^]]

Confound it... if my skull were so dangerous, one would think the American High Council would rather have it out of the country than in...!

( Homework assignments )


[[Filtered to Daisya, Misa, and other students who are Bob's friends]]

Would you mind checking in on Marco until I return to the castle? He's usually able to feed himself, but might get lonely hasn't yet mastered the art of opening doors.

[[/filtered]]


[[Filtered to staff]]

If someone could take my classes until *interrupted here by a series of stabbity messy strikeouts* the powers that be see fit to admit me back into Scotland, I would be very much obliged.

[[/filtered]]


[[Pulling Bob off hiatus to take care of some plot points. Hallo!~]]

*on the second floor, a hairless, tattooed cat paces back and forth in front of the sealed door to the Ancient Runes classroom, meowing piteously*

*inside, all is as before, though the darkness that seems to fill the rune-carved skull is quiescent now; the noise of students running to their next classes filters in through the wards, but skull and room are as silent as though there is nothing there to react*

*your clues are as follows: a curl of parchment beneath the desk, inscribed in dark deep-scored Latin, and a renewable ward in one corner whose material component is slowly dissolving in the face of neglect, causing the charm that seals the door to weaken as the days go by*


[[Anyone who knows Bob will be guessing by now that there's something unusual going on. Thanks to the time-lapse ward, his classroom is much easier to break into now. Go ahead, try it! XD]]

A small notice: those of you who have been taking my class in second year will have the choice of whether or not to continue it into your upper years. Naturally, I would advise you to do so. A proper understanding of rune inscription and syllabic interpretation will serve you well, whatever field you decide to go into once you graduate.

*Marco bats at the pen, causing a splatter of ink, and he swipes at the cat, shooing him off the table with his cold, misty hands*

..May you all have a fine, productive summer.

( Filtered to first-years )
( Private, 30% hackable to staff )


[[Strike unhackable. Ancient Runes is canonly a requirement for second-years, so Bob is speaking to the whole lot of you firsties. XD To help advance various plots, he will only be allowed out of Hogwarts for two weeks at a time, with no two fortnights spent in the same place.]]

*amused* Some of you may be pleased to know that the wards on my classroom have been altered so as not to permit the latest curse.

Others may not be as pleased... because the precaution has been taken in anticipation of a test for which you will all be revising during the beginning of this week. Having everyone's thoughts public would be less than conducive to such a proceeding, don't you think? *smirks*

This will be a preliminary test to your end-of-the-year exams, and will comprise everything on the curriculum from the beginning of the year to the winter break. The second half of the preliminary exam will take place next week. Those of you who are preparing for OWLs and NEWTs are advised to peruse your notes very, very carefully.


*unfortunately, his journal is still down in his tiny office, so the following strikeout is somewhat less than stricken* There, that should wake them all up. ..Has anybody seen my cat?


( 100% hackable )


*meanwhile, on the seventh floor, a tattooed, hairless cat is having a fine old time chasing a number of crabs perilously close to the edge of the stairwell*


[[By 'them', Bob refers to certain Dark textbooks which he's taken out of the Restricted Section in order to restrict them a bit more than Dumbledore has seen fit. XD And if your character was around back in December when everyone got a pet crab, feel free to have your crab be among those that Marco is pestering!]]

*a terrified cat shoots down a corridor high in the castle, aware that something mad is taking place but unable to process it*


*and many floors down, in the Hospital Wing, a pale, translucent ghost stands over a cot whose sheets are splashed with blood, listening to its occupant's long, tremulous breaths*

*though there is nothing here for him to write with, he feels that he should probably be doing something, searching for information, finding out what has happened so that Harry can deal with it and return to his proper age when he awakes.... but the sight of the injured boy, his pale skin and the pressure bandage on his lacerated throat, seems to freeze something within him, and he can only think that if Harry is to die, there is nothing to do that will matter at all.....*


*softly* I do know some things... I know where we are, if not why, and there are only a limited number of spells that could cause these effects, and if you wake up now--

*his voice has risen; with an effort he tones it down*


..It was never like you to miss out on the action. Getting up and leaving this infirmary would be highly dangerous in your condition.... I don't know at all why you haven't done it already.

*hands clasped rigidly behind his back, the ghost continues to speak, telling himself that surely, surely Harry can hear every word*

*wandering up from the kitchen area, a somewhat dead rodent dangling from gentle jaws, Marco neatly avoids the feet of professors passing on their way in these last moments before curfew*

*on a whim, he lowers his limp victim to the cold stone floor, arches his back and stretches, the tattooed koi rippling over his skin*

*shakes his head and gives a few experimental hacks, as though feeling some subtle change in his throat; and then, in a high, pleasant tenor, begins to sing*


Everybody wants to be a cat.....


[[Lyrics here. If crabs can sing, so can our feline friends, right? All cool cats feel free to join in! XD]]

..!

*faceghostlypalm, standing in a pile of shredded pages* Marco.....



[[Private]]

This may be my chance..... if I report it too late for....

[[/private]]


*tense, suddenly makes up his mind*


[[Filtered to Dwayne]]

If you would come down here for a moment... I find myself with something of a mess on my hands.

[[/filtered]]

( Notes for Izumi, Vala, Dwayne, Daisya, and Marik )


[[Filtered to Bob's students]]

We have been focused during this term on practical concepts of language, art, and intent. Our last section will be a synthesis of the three, during which you will craft, bind, and imbue a ten-page syllabary with which to record the linguistic concepts upon which we will focus for the rest of the year. Bring your dragon-hide gloves, as you will be working with acid, glue, and volatile dyes.

When your syllabaries are finished, we will spend the next few classes revising for the end-of-term exam, upon which I expect each of you to earn an O. If you have questions on any portion of the work we have done to date, do not hesitate to approach me for clarification -- and the sooner the better. From now on, you will bring all of your textbooks to class.....

..And if you do exceptionally well, there will be no take-home work for the holiday break.

[[/filtered]]


[[Each note is visible only to whomever it's addressed to. What Bob has to say to Dwayne will depend on what Izumi has to say to him -- her help in Harry's rescue has done a great deal to ameliorate his anger over the lake incident. As usual, respond with a character comment or OOC note telling how your character does in the class.]]

Furniture overturned... pages scattered all over the room... I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY WITH YOURSELF!!

*an inhuman howl filters through the closed door*

*terse and, in his haste, unsigned* Will someone come to the secondary staff room and outfit this... person... with a spare robe!?? And bring your wand -- he may need to be subdued.


[[Hellooo, human!Marco, who has basically torn the staff room apart in flaily confusion. XD He's also ripped out several pages of Bob's journal, which is why the poor ghost still doesn't know about Harry Dresden.]]