February 26th, 1888 — A Hogwarts Corridor

Something Handsome had noticed since beginning Hogwarts was that the school year always brought a pattern. Either the school year began quietly and grew more tense and chaotic as it progressed, or things started out with a bang and quieted as time went on. While magical society had been fraught with uncertainty and drama in the first few months of this school year, very little of the actions had directly affected the students in September. It seemed that, as time went on, Handsome was just waiting for something big to happen—and by big, he meant catastrophic.

Student pranks rarely proved catastrophic, but they did get on the head boy's nerve every now and then. While his group of friends (not not to mention family members like Caliban) had its fair share of pranksters in it, very few of them were dumb enough to actually cause destruction.

It seemed like one student couldn't say the same.

Standing in the middle of the corridor with a confused expression and a wide-open mouth, Handsome stared at a collapsed wall near the female lavatory. It seemed someone had blasted it down, albeit without much tact. Water ran through the corridor floor, though luckily it appeared it be a small flood rather than, say, a full-blown tidal wave from wherever.

While contemplating what to do and who to go to for assistance, he heard a loud yelp coming from the other side of the collapsed wall. His feet surged forward on their own, and, with brows raised, he ventured inside the hole in the wall.

  

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— set by MJ —

Seneca had been taking a piss when she heard the explosion. She felt it too - the blast of it disturbed her squatting and let's just say her shoes were now wet. It was embarassing, humiliating. If Seneca wasn't busy drying herself, she would blow a hole in the head of the one responsible for this!

The sound the Head Boy had heard was Seneca's doing, when she'd stepped in a puddle of water and urine. Seneca, who wasn't the sort to get disgusted easily, found the entire situation grossly unbearable. She wanted to run straight to her common room and change shoes and then have a nice bath to wash the embarassment and potential urine smell off of her.

She found another person in the lavatory main area. It couldn't be the one who'd caused her suffering, since it was the Head Boy.

"Oh please tell me you caught whoever is responsible for this!" Seneca told the Head Boy with a distressed voice. "Please tell me they will hang by their thumbs!"

  

Ah, it was Miss Lestrange. Simply associating her with the notably influential family removed any suspicion Handsome might have had towards her; in fact, he was more worried about upsetting her any further. She looked utterly distraught, probably more from her soaking wet clothes and the poor setting of the incident rather than any injuries.

"I didn't see anyone leave," he voiced, trying to keep his tone as calm as possible. All the while, he removed his wand and conjured a simple, yet large towel to hand to the fourth year. "You said 'whoever' was responsible for this. Did you hear anyone beside yourself in here? Is it possible it could have been internal?" he asked, passing her the conjured cloth.

The worst possibility was that the perpetrator—likely another student—had blown themselves up during the whole debacle, while the best possibility (not that "best" was the proper word to use) was that it were merely a pipe problem.

  

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— set by MJ —

Seneca rather wished it was a female prefect who had found her. It was so embarrassing to interact with a boy in her state! At least it wasn’t her cousin Kristoffer. She wouldn’t put it past him to have caused this because he’s seen her enter that particular lavatory.

She took the offered towel gratefully. Then she cast a spell on it so it would work on her shoes on its own, so she wouldn’t have to kneel and do the humiliating action herself.

“I did hear someone enter but I didn’t think much of it at the time.” People went into the toilet all the time. “I didn’t hear them cast a spell, however. I suppose this means it was an older student who caused this.” Wandless Magic was taught in the NEWT years.

Suddenly, there sound a giggle.

  

Handsome's eyes drifted away from the younger girl as she attempted to wipe down her clothes. He'd quickly decided he preferred dealing with this Lestrange girl more than his own sister, as Sweetie would have likely both cried and illogically accused him of wrongdoing. Miss Lestrange, at the very least, was attempting to help him decode whatever in Merlin's name had gone on.

The giggle, though, was deeply unsettling. It was high-pitched and amused—definitely a female's—but also echoed through the stoned walls of the bathroom as the he and Miss Lestrange stood there. His gaze immediately snapped back towards the Slytherin, his jaw slightly clenched.

"Seems like the perpetrator either has no control over their own noises or doesn't at all fear the consequences of their actions," he said quietly before  glancing towards where part of the wall had collapsed. "You're good with a wand. You think you could stop them if they tried to flee?" He couldn't really ask a girl to catch them with her bare hands.

  

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— set by MJ —

The Head Boy was asking her for help to catch the trouble-maker! This was so exciting! Seneca would have her chance for revenge, provided she didn’t go overboard with it. Besides, Mr. Whitledge could get a good word in about her to the professors and prefect season was so close...

“Of course!” Seneca readily replied. There was a hint of her typical smug smile. It always felt good to be acknowledged for your skills.

”Well then, I’m waiting for you to catch me!” sounded the unknown female’s voice from behind a wall Seneca immediately pointed her wand at.

  

With a quick nod towards Miss Lestrange, Handsome began walking with his own wand pointed towards the sound of the giggle. It was unsettling, if only because he wasn't sure if the perpetrator was a student who (1) intended to play a harmless prank, (2) had been legitimately attempting to harm another student with the explosion, or (3) had been injured by the explosion's blast and was now suffering bouts of hysteria in the form of unsettling giggles.

It didn't take very long to figure out, though.

The female student dashed from her hiding place, looking just fine. No noticeable blood or anything, though she definitely seemed ill in the head. Because of how close in proximity he'd unknowingly been to her, he flinched when she bounded from her spot. He cast two spells, but neither stopped her.

"Catch her! But don't injure her!" he called, shuffling quickly over the stone debris.

  

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— set by MJ —

Seneca began to wonder if the voice was maybe a ghost's who'd decided to have some fun with the two distraught students. It wouldn't be the first time a ghost did that. Some of them were so annoying. They were dead already, they could feel no pain, so they had nothing to lose by being annoying. Well, the Ministry could force them out of the building they haunted, Seneca supposed. The Hogwarts ones were safe from that fate. If Peeves could still haunt around, so could everyone else.

It wasn't a ghost. It was some girl who was alive and well. Whitledge's spells failed to stop her; Seneca's Impediment Jinx was more succesful. The girl was slowed down enough for the two students to bind her in ropes.

"Count on a Gryffindor to make such a mess!" Seneca commented with disdain. Then, she remembered that Handsome Whitledge was also a Gryffindor. Seneca felt her overwhelming embarassment at her error and she used her powers to stop her blush from becoming too deep. "What I mean to say is - it's such a shame that some of your housemates spoil the reputation of the entire House!"

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   Handsome Whitledge

Luckily, Miss Lestrange's jinx was enough to stop the girl from escaping. He immediately recognized her as one from his own house, leading him to let out a dramatic, long-drawn-out sigh with a shake of his head. Gryffindors tended to have a reputation as pranksters—his own cousin was a perfect example—but he still didn't appreciate shade being thrown at the house he'd embraced for seven years. However, due to Miss Lestrange's help, he was more than willing to ignore it.

"Gryffindor will definitely be losing points for this," he said, eyes narrowing at the perpetrator. "But I will need to speak to the headmaster or head-of-house about the incident, because I'm sure destruction of school property costs more points than I'm capable of taking away." The girl could likely be expelled if it's found the damage was intentional (which based off her laughter and attempted flee, he assumed it was), but that wasn't for him to handle.

"I can, however, award you ten points to Slytherin for your help," he added with an amicable smile. "Unless you're in need of medical assistance, I think it would be best for you to return to the common room and get cleaned up."

  

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— set by MJ —

Seneca could see that Handsome Whitledge wasn't pleased, though whether it was because of her comment or his embarassment for his housemate, she couldn't tell. In any case, he awarded her ten points and the knowledge that the girl who'd caused her such distress would likely get the boot. This made her feel better for having to step in her own pee.

"Thank you, Mr. Whitledge," Seneca replied. She briefly wondered whether to offer help to get the girl to the authorities. No, it wouldn't do to show up looking like that.

She said the necessary good-byes and then took the quickest route to the Slytherin common room so she could change and maybe have a quick bath before her next class.