I'm not looking for salvation | aymeric

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

i'm not looking for salvation

just a little faith in anyone or anything

May 15, 2026
@aymeric

Archie sprinted up the steps, he didn’t see anything, but that smell of smoke was stronger than ever. Still, a few students sprinted down the corridor just as Archie turned the corner and he held out his hand for them to stop. ”Wait—don’t go to The Great Hall.” The students looked confused. ”Erm—please go outside, see if Professor O’Callaghan is at the Greenhouses, and stay with him. Ok?” The kids looked at one another and then nodded. But then Archie remembered. ”Here, take him with you.” Archie carefully handed them the cat, whose claws were determined to stay attached to his robes. Finally, he let go. ”If you see Professor Burke, Hazel, please return him.” Archie figured most of the Professors would be in the Great Hall for dinner, so he backtracked down the steps with the students until he saw them safely run outside, and then he turned toward the large oak doors.

The rumbling was louder and more frequent, but when he sprinted into the Great Hall, he was taken aback by the lack of noise. The students were hardly talking, but some were causing a commotion at the Hufflepuff table, and slowly, more and more seemed to be reacting to something. Archie made his way to the Staff table and approached Meric, who was sitting at the end. ”I think there’s a fire in the castle, I smelled smoke in the Entrance Hall—“ Archie paused again, staring at some of the kids who were starting to grow louder with panic while others simply didn’t move. ”Erm—what’s going on with the students?” Meric looked back at him. They were both used to seeing the unusual, it was the Cursebreaker way of life, but this was new for Archie.

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[Deleted]

octavian archimedes vector jr.

it had taken him longer than he'd ever care to admit to notice that something was wrong. he'd been sitting at the teachers table at the top of the great hall pushing the food around on his plate but with no real appetite to eat any of it. the last few months had been somewhat stressful in more ways than one. there was the usual stressors of home, his brother being hospitalized and released but there was still an ever present worry in the back of his head that he'd end up with the bad news he never wanted to hear. he was worried about his father, his sister and trying to plan lessons, teach classes and keep an eye on ravenclaw house.

it wasn't until he saw the professor next to him freeze that his attention was brought back to the present. he frowned as he sat up in his chair a little straighter and smelled the hot smell of smoke on the air, the lack of noise in the great hall and the lack of movement from students sitting at the tables. "what the.." he said to himself as he turned in his chair and tried to rouse the professor next to him. it was to no avail though. it didn't take his thought process too long to start questioning how this happened and he glanced to the plates of food on the table. they'd been touched but not a lot. then there were plates like his that were full and the students sitting in front of them seemed to be fine.

paralysis potion. he was about to stand up to start getting students and the likes out when he heard archie's voice behind him. he swung on his seat a little to face him. "paralysis potion. in the food i think." he said as he stood up from the chair. he saw some of the students from his house looking flustered and confused at their table and he leaned over the teachers table. "start getting students out. if they can't move, hover them." he didn't wait long enough to see if they followed his instructions before he stepped back. "do you know what's on fire?" he asked archie as he thought about what they could do beyond getting students out.

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

i'm not looking for salvation

just a little faith in anyone or anything

May 15, 2026
@aymeric

Archie watched as Meric poked the Professor next to him, who didn’t even flinch. In fact, he was perfectly still. It was an odd sight to see and reminded Archie of the ancient and dusty statues in the tombs that he and Meric had worked on at some point. They’d known each other half their lives by this point, and now they both looked in wonder at what was happening to the people in front of them. Their students and their peers. Archie blinked a few times and gave his friend a blank stare. ”Paralysis potion?" That was the last thing he expected, but then again, everything about the past hour had been unexpected.

But, this was the Potions Master he spoke to, so Archie wasn’t about to question his assessment. Meric issued orders to the Professors that had not consumed the food. The students were their top priority. ”Do you have anything in your stores we could give them?” Archie flagged down students who had the Prefect badges, issuing them similar orders as Meric had. ”I’m not—“ Archie began to answer but then another rumble went through the Castle. ”I don’t know, I smelled it in the Entrance Hall but I didn’t see any flames.” Looking at the table, he noted who wasn’t here. ”Ivy is helping get students out.” Archie muttered to himself as he looked for the other Heads of Houses. ”Where are Blaise and Parvati?” Even looking in the hall, he could see that not all students had come down for dinner.

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[Deleted]

octavian archimedes vector jr.

there was nothing in his stores that could help with what was happening with the students and the professors alike. if there was time a healthy dose of anti paralysis potion could reverse the effects it was having on the students and he did have a few vials in his store but nothing like what they'd need to treat everyone before whatever was causing the smoke made it's appearance. plus there was the downside of everything being floors below them in his stores. "not in time." he said as he watched the prefects and other students start to follow the instructions that he and archie had given them and were trying to get the students out.

he listened as archie said he'd smelled the smoke in the entrance hall but he hadn't seen any flames, that left a lot to be desired. not that it was archie's fault he didn't know where the fire was but he didn't feel like they could send the students out into the castle with people who couldn't defend themselves if they were going to run into a wall of fire between here and safety. most of the students concentration was going to be taken up by keeping the other students afloat rather than with their surroundings and meric didn't want them walking into anything.

"so the fire could be anywhere." beneath them or above them and it was only a matter of time until they found out which one. hopefully it would be later rather than sooner. there wasn't much that could burn stone and he was glad at this moment that most of the castle was made of stone. "we can't send them out without knowing." he said to archie as he asked if he knew where blaise and parvarti were. he hadn't seen them since he'd entered from dinner. "hopefully getting students out." he said as he hurried down from the table at the top of the hall. "help me blast a hole in the wall. they can get out this way, directly onto the grounds."

[octavian archimedes vector jr.]

i'm not looking for salvation

just a little faith in anyone or anything

May 15, 2026
@aymeric

Archie’s heart sank slightly as Meric told him that it would take too long to help them potion’s wise. And he supposed he was right. Without knowing exactly what was used to paralyze the students and staff, it would be difficult to concoct any kind of antidote. It was the same pressure he remembered in the field. Yes, one could get injured or cursed somehow, but knowing what counter-curse to stop bleeding or knowing what poison a stone statue guard’s blade was lined in required quick thinking. Archie could handle the pressure, but this wasn’t what he’d signed up for when taking up the Professor’s posting. There wasn’t time for regret, the students needed help.

Meric was correct, however. They couldn’t begin to funnel students out without knowing what was there. Was an entrance blocked, was it filled with flames or whatever multitude of options for what was happening. Archie wasn’t as concerned on the what in terms of the how he was going to get the students to safety. Still, Archie paused—blasting a hole in the wall didn’t seem like the best idea, even if it was probably the most efficient. ”I can start on the wall. It’ll take a few spells. Can you check on the students, and we can figure out how to help them when we have a way out.” Meric was the Potions master. It would be much faster for him to assess the symptoms and use his knowledge and background to make an educated guess. When they could send word to St. Mungo’s and the Ministry for help, they could possibly get antidotes.

Archie ran to the wall and took a few steps back, but there were students far too close to safely cast a blasting curse. Archie noted a few students who had not eaten, but their friends had, as Archie instructed them to levitate their friends carefully to the center and near the staff table. The smell of smoke was growing stronger, but so was the rumbling and the noise from the Entrance Hall. Archie looked over just as he heard a large blasting noise and the great doors seemed to take an impact of something. Had someone tried to blast them open? Or maybe parts of the Castle were falling apart right in front of them.

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