Death on Grounds

[!!!]

Date: Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
Time: Roughly 7:45am
ISO: Open to all students and staff

The children who had found the corpse had been cleared from the stadium and, slowly, the staff were herding the rest of the student body into the auditorium. With everyone divided up in between classes, dorms, the library and the halls, it was impossible to determine whether all of the students were accounted for. The staff were doing their best to get everyone together without panicking them, but they certainly had their work cut out for them. While only a handful of the children actually knew what was going on, the word was spreading like wildfire and no one doubted that, by the time everyone was actually in the auditorium, there'd be no real need to announce it. For the students and staff of NESM, it was a hectic and grim day, full of panic and confusion. For special agents Maddock Watts and Elisabeth Billings, it was another usual work day.

Billings and Watts were America's answer to Britain's aurors, in a sense. There were the American aurors, of course, and a few of them on the scene to reinforce the school's defenses, but even in the magical world, the USA was known to do things on a grand scale. Decades ago, the United States had formed a militant level in it's magical rankings that was designed purely to upstage the British Ministry of Magic. 'You've got aurors? Well, we've got special aurors.'

While the squad was never completely phased out, it underwent several painful reviews and was ultimately evolved into something far less militant. Billings and Watts outranked the aurors, and while their jobs overlapped in many fields, they had a far broader focus. When the special agents got involved, the situation was beyond serious.

Normally, if a corpse were to turn up in the middle of a wizarding school's stadium in America, it was a matter for the aurors. There was something about this corpse, however, that had attracted the attention of the special agents... 'Guess Who.' It was the signature calling card of a killer that had taken three lives in the magical community three years ago. He'd never been caught.

Billings gave the air an impatient sniff as she tugged at her rubber gloves, waiting for a verdict from her partner. It was spring, but there was a morning chill, which she was grateful for. Had the sun risen enough to really warm the earth, the smell would have been atrocious. Still, as she'd sniffed, she'd caught the unsavory tang of blood in her nostrils, which drew her eyes down to the corpse and made her frown distastefully. "What d'you reckon? April Fool's Day prank gone too far?"

Watts, who was crouched over the corpse, poking at it with one gloved hand and waving his wand about with his other hand, gave Billings a little glare. "Kids - teenagers," he amended, "can be cruel, but this isn't exactly what I'd call a prank." He stood up, putting his wand away. "There were no hexes or curses cast on this man and, more interestingly, he was a muggle."

Billings lifted an eyebrow at that, intrigued. She took her turn, then, kneeling next to the corpse, poking and prodding here and there with a fingertip. "There's teethmarks," she announced, prodding at the victim's throat, arm and what skin remained on his abdomen. "If I had to guess, they're human." She wrinkled her nose, drawing her own wand and beginning to wave it about.

"Intriguing," Watts admitted, crouching with his partner to get a closer look. "The aurors thought something might've gotten to him after he'd died and had a nibble. Bear or dogs or something."

Billings shook her head. "A wild animal wouldn't have left this much behind. It was definitely a person." She put her wand away. "The bites at the throat killed him. Take him back to the offices and we'll have a better look."

In unison, the partners stood and removed their gloves. "It wasn't him," Watts noted.

"No, but it's just as puzzling." Billings tilted her head, surveying the area. "School security should be tightened. This man was a muggle, but I get the feeling that this body is a warning."

Her partner nodded his agreement. "If we're right, whoever did this might pose a threat to the students. Or, perhaps, the staff."

"Not much else we can do but wait and see."

--------

[Tseng Li]

Tseng Li had the entire school hunted down and crammed into the auditorium. He had been minding his own business, working out and filling out paperwork all by himself when the Aurors found him. He was told about what had been found and his eyes had narrowed. Calmly, he ordered the entire student body into the central gathering place, for their protection. He would have to spin this of course. An incident like this was the kind of thing that took a school down. He contemplated this as the children argued amongst themselves and the staff looked at him expectantly. His eyes caught those of the Ancient Runes teacher, an older man with a deep set frown. Words passed between them without lips needing to be involved and each eyed the other even more warily than they had before.

FInally, Tseng stood up at the podium. The normally disobedient and rowdy school children fell silent in the presence of their domineering headmaster. Tseng glared down at each one of them, taking special care to look for certain students. He cleared his throat and spoke, almost boredly.

"Today on the Quidditch field, several students found what appeared to be a body. It had been brutalized beyond recognition and left for carrion. Normally this would concern me, however, I am here to let you know exactly what is going on. The body was a fake. Some student must have thought that it would be a funny April Fool's Day Joke." His eyes locked onto Caleb Drake, a member of the Quidditch team and one of the most notorious practical jokers in the school. Near him were his friends, others that it could be, including Jackson Turner. Whereas Tseng knew it was a real body, he had to get them to believe that it was fake. This was the easiest way.

"Any student caught doing anything like this again will be removed from the school, immediately. There will be no mercy, and you should expect none. This is a serious matter and whoever amongst you found it funny deserve the punishment." His eyes filtered only one seat from Caleb to find Jolie Reynolds. "This shall not be reported in the school newspaper, for it gives the pranksters the spotlight they so desperately crave."

"The Aurors will be leaving soon. None of you get in their way." His mind was swimming, thinking about the truth. It was a real body and the Aurors would be looking for the killer. Would they find the killer? Would Tseng have to help? After all, Aurors were largely incompetent in his experience. "Life will go on and you will all go on with it. You are dismissed." He stepped away from the podium, leaving the students to gossip about it until it was out of their systems.

[Fionnghuala Ramsay]

Fionnghuala hadn't felt the need to reconnect with those that she felt she had lost while struggling with her 'man problems'; all those that she had considered friends had carried on without her. She wasn't going to interrupt their lives. It wasn't as if she was the end all and be all to anyone. She could acknowledge that, she was OK with that. Caleb had Jolie, Phoebe had Lance, and Jackson... Well, he had Phoebe too, but not in the same way that Lance did. Fionnghuala figured that they had simply closed up the gap where she had been when she sat with them without a second thought. It stood to reason, then, that she hadn't made new friends and so, when Tseng called everyone to the auditorium, she was alone in the midst of the bustling crowds. Not alone in the sense that there was no-one there, because quite obviously lots of people were, but alone in the sense that she had no-one to talk to, no-one to just stand there with in some kind of companionable silence.

When the room was called to order, she sat in the closest seat to the door and looked up at the stage. Tseng. She should have expected it - after all, he was the Head, but then, she still had the feeling of slight regret, then a twinge of desire, and wanting to go back to that night. She wouldn't, though. She couldn't! It wouldn't be right.... She was just a student anyway! She could pretty much guarantee that he had had many people before her, and most of them better looking, and better at what he, ultimately, wanted. But that was beside the point, she decided, as she remembered that she was supposed to be listening.

The body? What body? The life of a recluse was not so informative that she knew about the body, or what had happened at all, but by the sounds of the whispers and rumours she had heard while waiting for silence, it had been somewhat gruesome. When Tseng looked at Jackson and Caleb, claiming it was a practical joke of some sort, Fionnghuala shook her head. She knew the boys well enough to know that they wouldn't do a thing such as that!! Would they?.... No. She shook her head once more, and looked back up at the very man that was silently accusing them of making up the horrible scene.

Fionnghuala fidgeted and bit the inside of her cheek as she waited for Tseng to move out of the auditorium after he finished speaking, and she got her chance just before everyone started to move.

"Mr Li." She called, remembering her manners as she was in earshot of other teachers. "I don't think your theory is correct. That body was real. Otherwise the special agents wouldn't still be here, and they wouldn't be taking the body with them." By then, they had moved somewhere remote, where Fionnghuala caught a glimpse of an agent with a body bag. "Tell me what's going on." She almost pleaded, looking both scared and nervous.

((You'll have to delete the other one. ))

[Jackson Turner]

April Fool's Day was like a second Christmas to Jackson. He considered himself quite the prankster, so it only followed that a national day devoted to pranks really appealed to him. At school, he'd spent every April 1st trying to top what he'd done on the last one. This being his last year at NESM, he had something incredible planned that, for once, no one else was in on.

He'd just been wondering if he'd gone too far when the teachers began rounding everyone up for a school-wide assembly. It was something of a cluster-fuck, but somewhere along the way as they were all being herded into the auditorium, Jack met up with Phoebe. He was quieted as they got seated, suddenly not feeling so much in the Apr. 1st spirit. As the assembly went on, he paled, looking more and more ill as the minutes passed.

Suddenly, the imagery was too much. Jackson got up from his seat and fled from the auditorium. He made it to the hallway, but not the garbage can before he retched and vomited on the floor. A couple of aurors had followed him out and winced as he was sick, stepping back until he was finished, then guiding him down the hall away from the auditorium.

[Alphie Pflaume]

When the body had been discovered, Alphie and the rest of the cheerleading squad had been in the Grounds, running through a couple of the newer cheers. When they heard the scream, they had run up to the Stadium to see what had happened. She had been the first to arrive there, and had very promptly fainted.

It took a few moments for her 'friends' to revive her, because they were all too panicked to remember the spell that would awaken people. Then, they had all had to go to the Auditorium to have a lecture delivered to them about the body.

She sat down in the midst of her friends, still pale and rather shaken. Leigh-Ann, one of the older cheerleaders, still had her arm around Alphie's shoulders, attempting to comfort the girl that she thought had more potential than the others. Alphie breathed a sigh of relief when Tseng said that the body was a simple prank gone wrong, but then, she muttered to her friends. "Who would do such a thing?"

She was given an answer, and then the talk finished. She didn't question the Headmaster's theory, but she did wonder who on Earth would want to pull a prank as gruesome as that. She stood up and started to walk out of the Auditorium. The other girls were talking about practicing again, but Alphie shook her head. "No, I don't think I want to go back up there yet. You guys go, I'll be fine."

The girls needed no persuading, and left her alone near the doors of the Auditorium, where she stood and thought about what she could possibly do without being caught by those that were meant to be her friends. But again, she thought to herself, it was only self-preservation. She didn't actually LIKE her friends.... Why would she care what they thought?

She thought about her friends, and then a flash of the body disturbed her memory, and she started to shake, and looked quite ill. She sat on the floor as she tried to control herself.

[Sean Wallace]

Sean sat through the assembly, listening intently to his Headmaster. He knew bullshit when he heard it, especially from Tseng. He had spent enough time with the man to know the difference by now. But he kept his mouth shut as several of the soccer team sat around him and reacted as if they believed the story. Sean would believe it too, if he didn't know Tseng so well. The assembly ended and Sean watched everyone react in their own ways. His eyes followed Tseng and he thought deeply about the man, using what he knew about him to make a judgment call. No, Tseng couldn't have killed the boy. Why would he? Tseng doesn't do anything without a good reason.

His eyes caught Fionnghuala walking towards Tseng and Sean raised an eyebrow. Seeing those two together again, curious. He noted the appearance as something to remember later. He slowly made his way out of the auditorium, notedly quiet amongst the chattering students. The body had a profound effect on him, though not the same as others. He wasn't disgusted, or even sad. He was detached. It was a dead body that had nothing to do with him. So he could shrug it off and move on.

He finally left the Auditorium, breaking from his teammates. As he started to walk away he noticed Alphie for the first time. She was alone and obviously upset, maybe she knew the victim? She was shaking a bit and Sean wondered what he should do to help.

"Erm. Are ye ok?"

[Alphie Pflaume]

Alphie, though on the cheerleading squad for every game that she wasn't playing in, didn't think that many people knew who she was while she wasn't in her uniform. Today was one of those days. She had on a white tracksuit, with a light pink tank top underneath, and white trainers that had stripes on them that magically changed colours every few seconds. Her hair was down, as it always was, and her thick hair curled loosely, her caramel streaks shining in the sunlight, despite the gloomy feel of the day.

However, someone walked up to her that she didn't usually talk to. She knew who he was, which was an advantage, but he was hardly the most... Well, he wasn't much of a team player, to say the least. She looked up at him, attempting to hide her shaking limbs. She had always been a good liar, and so she found it easy to 'twist the truth' as she answered the guy. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. I'm just thinking about what to do next." She stood up, to move out of the way of all the people that were leaving the Auditorium in droves.

She stuck her hands in her pockets as she put on an indifferent expression, waiting for the guy to move on. She didn't expect him to question her, or to stay and have a chat, and that didn't bother her. Instead, she thought about what she needed to do, and what she wanted to do. Maybe she should get something to eat.... Or do her homework decently for once. She just hoped that he didn't think about asking her to help him practice on the fields. She wasn't in the mood for soccer today.

[Charles O'Sulivan]

Charles had gotten up early for a quick run and karate workout in the grounds. As he preparing hard for upcoming black belt test, he avoided the area of the grounds that the cheerleaders were using for practice. Normally he would have watched them a bit, but he was concentrating on his workout and so worked out several minutes away out of sight.

As he was heading back to the dorms to clean up and change out of his gi for classes, he heard the terrified screams coming from the stadium. Sprinting to the stadium to see if he could be of assistance, he was met by a staff member who told him everything was under control and to make his way immediately to the auditorium. Really concerned now, he headed straight to the auditorium. The way the professor was so serious coupled with the totally terrified screams he had just heard made Charles feel very uneasy. As he headed to the auditorium, different scenarios played through his head. He quickly dismissed the notion that one of the Quidditch team had injured themselves or even been killed by an accident. The measures the staff were now taking as well as the appearance of several unfamiliar Aurors suggested something more sinister. Charles knew several of the local Aurors as he had interviewed a couple of them for one of his papers for his DADA class. These Aurors were different, more methodical, more efficient, more stuck up. Charles, through his father, had seen several different levels of law enforcement when growing up. During one case, the FBI had to be called out to assist in a manhunt. These Aurors reminded Charles of the FBI agents on the scene. If they brought in the wizarding version of the FBI, then some serious shit had just hit the fan. Charles thought as he entered the auditorium. Looking around he spotted some of the archery team across the auditorium, but, as the room was rapidly filling in, he took a spot near one of the back pillars which offered him a clear view of the entire room. He started listening in on several of the nearby conversations. Most he stopped listening to after a couple of seconds. They were often far-fetched and unbelievable. A few sounded plausible, but one thing everyone agreed upon was that they had found a body in the stadium which merely seemed to confirm Charles’ suspicions.

As if on cue, everybody fell silent as Tseng began to speak. Charles didn’t really know Tseng. He had met with him a couple of times while being the captain of the archery team and had found Tseng to be, well, disconcerting. He had an aura about him. Reminded Charles of a wildcat. Predatory and lazily dangerous. Thus, Charles was somewhat leery of him. As Tseng began to explain that it was merely a fake body and another prank which he insinuated to be by Caleb, Jackson, & Co., Charles started to debate within himself. Everything Tseng said was feasible and quite believable except several things bothered Charles. While he could understand that this general assembly was to squash any rumors that would naturally grow in the rumor mill and be blown out of proportion, the assembly could also be used to mask the real investigation which Charles’ dad had told him happened a lot with criminal investigations. The Special Aurors kept coming to mind as well. If it were just a bad prank, why then had the big guns been called in? That was a job for the locals, not the Feds. As the students filled out of the auditorium, Charles resolved to keep his ears to the ground and his eyes open for anything that might shed some light on the situation.

As he exited the Auditorium, Charles noticed an obviously upset girl by the doors. As Charles looked closer, he recognized Alphie. It had been a little while since they had met at the start of the school year and spent the afternoon watching the sunset. Charles had tried to spend time with her since, but conflicting schedules and homework had gotten in the way. They had talked a few times since then, but nothing long or significant. She had a horrified expression on her face. One that Charles had recognized and had worn himself once upon a time. Once when his father had picked him up from school detention for fighting, he had gotten a call to old man Proudfeather’s homestead. A young hiker had been mauled by a mountain lion. Charles went with his father and, disobeying his father, had seen the body. The look of shock and horror on Alphie’s face were plain as day and surmised that she must have been one of the students who had found the body. He heard tell her friends that she was fine. Apparently, they took her at her word and left. As Charles headed towards her, another boy that looked vaguely familiar stopped and asked if she was alright. She answered again in the affirmative and put on an indifferent face and looked to leave. Charles didn’t buy it. He was sure she was still upset.

As she walked off, he walked up beside her and waited until there weren’t many around before speaking. Charles figured the last thing she wanted was to be questioned by a bunch of other students if they learned she was one of the students on the scene. Charles said in quiet voice, “You saw it didn’t you? Hard seeing something that horrible. I’ve been there before. You doing ok?” He hoped she wouldn’t shut him out like she did the others who had asked before. Charles knew it was more healing to talk about it, but that took time sometimes with different people.

[Sean Wallace]

Sean watched as she was startled by him slightly, but she responded to his question positively. Sean could have left it at that, moving on and going to do whatever he would do after this. But no, he wanted to stay here with her. Aftetr all, he wouldn't be seeing Amo all day and he could use the company. So he started to speak to her again when another boy walked up. Sean's eyes narrowed as he observed the young man. He just swooped down and snatched her up, like a vulture. Sean's hands flexed slightly at his side as he watched, feeling that jealousy surge inside of him.

He stalked over to where she was, leaving with the other boy. Like Hell. Sean abruptly walked up, slidning between them and turning to the young man.

"Excuse me. I believe the lady was talking to me. Why don' ye run along and play?" His voice was condescending to the extreme, obviously not happy with what this young man had done. Didn't he know who Sean was? Star soccer player, leader of men and the only student that was paid to attend the school. Who did this country bumpkin think he was to butt into their conversation? He rolled his eyes and turned back to Alphie, concern refilling his eyes.

"Are ye sure ye're ok? Maybe we can go get some coffee or sommat? Calm yere nerves a bit?"

[Alphie Pflaume]

Alphie smiled at Sean's back as he started to leave - she was privileged to be on a team with him, even if he did like to take much of the attention. Though, to be fair, he had the right to, as, whenever he got the ball, he didn't seem to want to give it up to anyone.

What she didn't bargain on, though, was another person coming up to her and asking how she was. Normally, the only people that she spoke to were people on the sports teams that she was a part of, or cheered for. She thought that all of them would be outside practicing, to keep their minds off of what had happened. Perhaps she had been wrong, though.

She turned to see who it was that had spoken to her, and she found herself face to face with Charles, the guy that she had had a picnic with under the sunset one day. It had been a lovely day, but they had seen little of each other after that.

“You saw it didn’t you? Hard seeing something that horrible. I’ve been there before. You doing ok?”

Alphie nodded as the first question left his lips. It wasn't a hard one to answer, and it didn't require words to answer it, which was a plus, considering all the rabble that was drifting past them on the corridor. "I'm fine, really." She answered, nodding and rubbing her left forearm with her right hand.

Her head snapped to her left as she heard a familiar voice back again. Sean. He didn't seem particularly fond of Charles, as he stood between Charles and Alphie, clearly not wanting him to see her, or vice versa. She frowned at the condescending and patronising tone to Sean's voice, but she hardly felt that she could piss off the star striker so close to another game. Instead, she just fell silent until she was addressed.

"Are ye sure ye're ok? Maybe we can go get some coffee or sommat? Calm yere nerves a bit?"

"Really, I'm fine." Alphie reiterated, getting quickly tired of having to repeat a similar phrase each time she was spoken to. "There's no need to go to any trouble. I was just going to go to get something to eat, actually."

[Tseng Li]

Tseng turned in place to see Fionnghuala coming up to him and speaking. As she began her speech he cast a quick silent spell to deflect the sounds away from all other ears. The girl simply didn't know the meaning of subtlety. Still, he kenw he would probably tell her he truth, if only due to the fact that she had figured it out. but she couldn't talk to anyone else about it.

"Mrs. Ramsay. Where I appreciate your theory and astute detective work, I assure you that you do not need to worry about this. There is no story and no issue present." he looked down at her, remembering that night at the Den. Here they were, student and teacher. They hadn't been together since that night. Tseng had always been far too busy, or she couldn't get away. He felt the desire stirring within him, the feelings of that night long past. besides, didn't they say it would happen again? And from what he had heard, Jackson and her were no longer a couple. This couldn't be better.

"Although, I understand that you are worried. If you wish, we can take this to my office and further discuss it. I believe I can put your fears to rest."

[Fionnghuala Ramsay]

"Mrs. Ramsay. Where I appreciate your theory and astute detective work, I assure you that you do not need to worry about this. There is no story and no issue present."

"Firstly, I'd like to remind you that I'm not married, which you should know." Fionnghuala pretty much hissed, more quietly than she had said her last words to him. Then, her sharp eyes saw that he had his wand out, and so she could safely assume that no-one else could hear their conversation. She spoke up again, at her normal volume. "I'm not a reporter, Mr. Li." She added, sharply, glaring at him from her somewhat shorter height of 5'7. "And clearly we have something to worry about if people are being killed and left on our fields. By what I've heard, the guy wasn't even supposed to be in the school grounds. What if it happens again?" She asked, openly frowning now. She didn't care how impertinent or annoying she was being, she wanted answers, and she would get them, one way or another.

"Although, I understand that you are worried. If you wish, we can take this to my office and further discuss it. I believe I can put your fears to rest."

At that point, Fionnghuala wasn't sure what Tseng was implying. Perhaps it was that they have a repeat occurrence of the night at the Den, maybe he was going to tell her what had gone on, and it may even be possible that he was going to do something adverse to those two theories that she would likely regret. "I'm not entirely sure what you're suggesting, Mr. Li." Fionnghuala retorted, raising her eyebrows slightly at the comment. "Wouldn't it be just as easy to talk here?" She asked. "After all, you're a very adept wizard, and you have cast a charm somewhat superior to 'Muffliato' on this spot, am I right?" She crossed her arms, as if that settled it, and waited for a response.

[Tseng Li]

As ever, Fionnghuala was being a stubborn brat who refused to cooperate with anything he said. Tseng took a moment to rub a temple, as if he was fighting off a headache caused by the girl. Not for the first time, he weighed the price of just killing her against keeping her around and dealing with her crap. the messy cleanup is what won out. He would hate to get blood on his clothing.

"There was no murder. The body was fake, as I have already told you. There is nothing to be worried about beyond your usual problems." His eyes pierced into her, glaring a hole. "I suggest you do not continue talking about this, because it will only lead to trouble on your part. SHOULD there be a crime committed on the premises, I want to remind you that Aurors are trained professionsals who are paid and bred to take care of those situations. In no way, shape or form would a schoolchild contribute anything to the investigation that they don't already have in spades. Are we clear?"

He kept the spell active, snorting at her suggestion that he would use Muffliato. That spell was a mockery, a half thought out idea executed by a man given far too much credit.

"Moving somewhere else to talk will show the students that there is nothing wrong. As well, it would keep any overly interested eyes from observing the two of us talking and assuming the worst. You wouldn't want any of them thinking that you have a special relationship with a teacher, now would you?"

[Jolie Reynolds]

"This shall not be reported in the school newspaper, for it gives the pranksters the spotlight they so desperately crave."

Jolie didn't fold under the overpowering gaze of her the head master. Sure, hearing all of this was a bit shocking, to say the least, but she was a reporter. It was her JOB to find out every angle of a story, even if it was in her best interest not to. Something about this just seemed, well, off, and Jolie was one to trust her gut instinct above all else. Jolie stayed silent, listening to the rest of what Tseng had to say until he walked off the stage.

This wasn't the first time she'd heard about the body. Her brother, Dimitri, had been one of the students who'd actually seen the body, and if Tseng thought she was just going to ignore that, well, he had another thing coming. Sure, it was April Fool's day, but a dead body as a prank? That seemed to be a bit much, even for some of the prankers in this school. Okay, so she wouldn't write about it in the school newspaper, but that wouldn't stop her from taking notes at least.

The auditorium erupted in conversation, a few student's bolting out in panic or just because they had better things to do. Jolie grabbed Caleb's hand, getting his attention. Discreetly, the brunette leaned forward, whispering into her boyfriends ear.

"I need to talk to 'mitri, so I'll catch up with you later." She relinquished her hold on his hand as she stood up from her seat. "Stay out of trouble while I'm gone." With that, she spared him a wave before finding her brother and dragging him off to speak with him privately.

[Phoebe Benson]

Phoebe hadn't been with the members of her team when they found the body, but word spread like wildfire. The blonde dabbled in pranks herself, but even that one was a bit much for her to swallow. Talk about being in poor taste. She was quiet as the headmaster explained the situation. Tseng Li was kinda scary, but Phoebe believed that all he needed was a hug. And maybe a nice bubble bath to de-stress him. With rubber duckies. Mmm, maybe she should take a nice bubble bath later, that sounded nice.

Okay, so the body was a fake one and Tseng was very very mad about this. That was all the blonde really needed or wanted to know. The idea of seeing a mangled corpse, real or fake, turned her stomach a bit, and if it was just a really bad prank than that was all well and good. Really, she didn't want to think about it, especially since she'd just ate and wasn't looking forward to seeing her breakfast for a second time. Tseng went on for a bit and Phee quickly lost interest, sparing Jackson a glance.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, noting the pre-barfing face he was making. Seeing him vomit would surely make her vomit as well. It was like an instantaneous reaction for her. See one reverse meal you've just gotta add to the pile, it's gotta be some kinda rule. Still, Jackson didn't have time to respond and abruptly bolted out of the auditorium. Phee wanted to follow him to make sure he was all right, but getting up without a good excuse at this point seemed like not such a good idea. Especially with aurors wandering about. Once the headmaster was done speaking, the blonde made a bee-line for the exit, but frowned upon not seeing Jackson anywhere. They'd gotten the floor cleaned up by then, but she overheard some aurors talking about a boy puking in the hallway.

"Gross," Phee mumbled, looking at the floor. "I hope he's okay."