His hands instantly reached out to steady Ida as she almost ran into him, although he found his eyes following the lady who just had her entire day ruined because he’d stopped to talk to his…loose friend. She glared at him and he returned the look. Cliff’s eyes snapped back to her as she spoke, and his mouth formed into an ‘o’. It wasn’t often he was at a loss for words (there was always something smart coming out of his mouth, even if it showed he didn’t have too much of a brain), but here he was, unsure of what to say. He’d thought a lot about the murders and would it would mean if it was him laying on the ground dying, but he had a lot at stake. No one else in their right minds would care for his siblings. Meena would die in an orphanage, and he couldn't ask Heath to take on the burden of caring for siblings.

Cliff cleared his throat and settled his hands onto her shoulder. (He was certainly in a tactile mood today, and oh boy was Algae going to be thrilled if he actually returned his hug tonight.) “Yeah, well. That’s all the more reason to come with me. You can’t hide from everything because you’re scared. Do you want to look back on your life a hundred years from now and regret that you didn’t get to burn a super awesome toxic candle because you were afraid?” He arched an eyebrow at her; while he didn't know Ida very well, he supposed he knew her well enough that she wasn't one to hide away. She'd been the one to have a gun in the first place! Besides, he’d probably hunt down her killer and get revenge, as long as she wasn’t some ghost roaming around with unfinished business – he didn’t like ghosts all that much.

His hands dropped away from her as they moved toward Padmore Park, more precisely, behind the tree that most certainly wasn’t large enough to hide both of them. “Scoped out?” A light laugh bubbled out of his throat as he peeked around the tree to stare at the tent. For Hogsmeade Weekend there wasn’t too much activity, but he hoped that meant people were inside. (There wasn't an ounce of guilt in him for potentially making little kids woozy – hell, it’d be even more funny if his own brother was somewhere inside.) “No. But here’s your first lesson if you ever plan on going down the less-than-legal path: if you’re doing something that’s frowned upon, you don’t go through the front door.” Cliff tossed her a look over his shoulder to convey that any idiot would know that. Now he was worried that he’d made Ida the brains of the operation.

“Now c’mon.” Cliff nodded his head toward the tent before he stood to his full height, making his way toward the front of it; he fumbled for his wand as he went, clutching it lightly between his fingers. As he neared the front, where a single man who looked like he would rather be anywhere else manned the door, the brunette lifted his wand and muttered “Confundo.” The worker didn’t move at all, and Cliff frowned as he shook his wand in his hand; it was a very flexible wood and flopped back and forth. He wasn’t good at magic, that much could be said, but he’d cast the spell a thousand times over – it was probably the only spell he remembered from his Hogwarts days.

He tried again, and the wand sputtered out flakes of gold, which was something that the confusion spell shouldn’t do; it had no sight and no sound. Cliff couldn’t help but glower at the piece of wood before he took a glance at Ida. “Know the confusion spell? ‘Cause he needs to be hit with it if this is gonna work.”

---