Suit of Armor

[Administrator]

Located near the Defense Against the Dark Arts office.

[Columbine the Court Jester]

Columbine drifted down the corridor, scowling as a couple holding hands walked by. The pair didn't notice, but that didn't stop her from shooting them a dirty look anyway. Columbine's attitude toward couples was a mixture of jealousy and sadness, though most people just assumed it was solely the former.

Turning around to glare at the two, the ghost didn't see what had happened to cause the loud crash that came from down the hall. The couple apparently hadn't heard the crash, as they completely disregarded it and continued walking. Columbine shot them one last glare before they disappeared around the corner and she turned her attention to the disruption.

Moving toward the direction of the noise, Columbine saw a suit of armor, collapsed on the floor, and several students running away, gufawing at the mess they had caused.

"Oh, yes, that's very clever!" Columbine called after them. "Maybe tomorrow you can tip a chair over! Really live on the wild side!" Rolling her eyes, she grumbled, "Little brats..."

Turning her attention to the suit of armor, she said, "Sorry. I'd help to set you right, but-" She held up a transparent hand to show the fallen knight. "My current situation sort of prevents me from doing so..."

[Hayden Winchester]

Hayden had been heading off to Ravenclaw tower, bored out of his mind and looking for something to do when he heard the clatter. A bunch of students ran past him and nearly trampled over him as if he had not even been there. He whirled around in the commotion and turned to run in the other direction to find the source of the noise.

He poked his head around the corner before fully coming out into view to see a ghost seemingly talking to a suit of armor. He paused as he tried to recall which ghost this one was, for there were several of them at Hogwarts, but he could not place any previous conversation with this one. When no name came to mind he decided that he probably never knew it in the first place, since he was not a particularly forgetful person, so he decided to approach her.

He grinned at her before turning to look at the suit of armor. There didn't seem to be anyone else around at the moment so he could only make a guess at what happened, and turned back to face Columbine with the same bright grin. "So I guess the students that just ran by knocked him over, huh?"

[Columbine the Court Jester]

"So I guess the students that just ran by knocked him over, huh?"

Columbine gave the second year a small smile. "Well, I certainly didn't do it." She glanced after the older students, frowning. "A very clever bunch it looks like," she grumbled. "The bright future of the Wizarding World blundering down the hallway. We're very lucky to have gotten a first-hand look at what marvelous things they will do if ever in a position of power. The pride of Hogwarts, they are." The ghost wasn't actually in that bad of a mood, though the couple that had passed earlier certainly hadn't put her in high spirits. Students damaging bits of the castle wasn't something she was fond of either.

"Would you be able to set him right?" She asked Hayden. She wasn't sure exactly how heavy the suit of armor was and didn't want him to get hurt. "I'd offer help, but, unfortunately, I'm slightly deprived of such privileges." She flashed a smile and shrugged. She'd been dead for centuries, but not being able to fix small things due to being transparent was still mildly frustrating.

"My name's Columbine," she said. She wasn't a House ghost and therefore wasn't one of the better known pearly-white people who drifted around the castle. "Are you a...fourth year?" Columbine was quite sure that the boy wasn't a fourth year, unless he was just a tad on the short side. Still, she'd quickly learned that it was always best to guess that a student was in a higher year than a lower one. It was more flattering, particularly for the younger ones, and no one threw a fit at Columbine for asking if a small seventh year was a third year.

[Peeves the Poltergeist]

Peeves floated into the corridor towards the suit of armour where Columbine was talking to someone who looked like an ickle firstie of the Ravenclaw variety.

"Well well, what 'ave we got here?" he cackled, rolling over in mid-air until he was hanging upside down. "Miss Columbine fraternizing with an ikle firstie?" he inquired, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And what sort of horrid fate befell this poor suit of armour?" he said, a wide grin plastered over his face. Clearly he was excited at the prospect of such a mess in the middle of the hallway.

[Hayden Winchester]

"Well, I certainly didn't do it."

Hayden smiled at her before chuckling slightly. As Columbine continued, however, his chuckle turned into more of a giggle. He restrained himself to some degree, muffling his laugh under a fist and holding his stomach. He was not sure whether or not the ghost was intentionally humorous so he did not think that it would be appropriate to laugh too much.

"Would you be able to set him right?"

He looked up again at the ghost before turning to look at the suit of armor. He certainly wanted to set the suit of armor back in its proper place but the lack of physical strength to do so manually would hinder him quite a bit. If he were a few years older he might have been able to.

"Uh... maybe," he finally replied with some uncertainly. He clutched the handle of his wand in his pocket, trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to try and do it with magic. It would be good practice for him, but the odds of something going wrong as he tried to set it straight was at least seventy percent.

"My name's Columbine," [...] "Are you a...fourth year?"

"Hmm?" he asked as he turned to look back at her. It took him a moment to process what she had said to him, and by that time they were no longer alone in the hallway. He turned to look at Peeves, a small smile on his face. He was not particularly fond of the poltergeist, and had taken the hint to avoid him if at all possible, but there didn't seem to be any reason to avoid him for the moment.

"Nice to meet you, Columbine," he greeted, glancing away from Peeves and back to the ghost. "My name is Hayden. I'm actually a second year."

He carefully glanced at Peeves again, trying to decide how to act around him this time. He was certain that the poltergeist didn't know of him yet, but there was no harm in being polite. "A couple of students knocked him over. I was just about to pick him up."

Hayden pulled his wand out of his pocket, carefully pointing it at the suit of armor as he murmured the incantation for the levitation charm. Instead of carefully levitating the of armor off of the ground, and much to his horror, a flurry of feathers flew out of his wand to fill the hallway and add to the mess. A faint blush spread across his face as he lowered his left arm shyly.

[Peeves the Poltergeist]

Peeves rounded on Hayden. "AHA! I knew it! 'Twas you who knocked down the poor fella was it?" he acted offended. "That just won't do, wee one like you, picking on poor not-s-defenseless suits of armour..." he muttered. "Peeves should alert the Bloody Baron... oh yes he should.... or McGonagall.. perhaps Snape or Filch?" he pretended to wonder aloud.

[Columbine the Court Jester]

(I'm sorry for the delay, dearies!)

"Well well, what 'ave we got here?"

Columbine slowly turned to look at the poltergeist, though she was well-aware of who had joined the conversation just by the voice. Her jaw was clenched tightly and if looks could kill, there was no doubt that the little, chaotic spirit would have been boxed and buried after the glare the ghost sent his way. "What do you want, Peeves?"

As Hayden lowered his wand, the ghost chuckled as feathers covered the hallway. "It's alright," she said. "It's a hard charm to--"

"AHA! I knew it! 'Twas you who knocked down the poor fella was it?"

Columbine rolled her eyes and applauded slowly. "Yes, well done," she said sarcastically. "Vigilant as ever, the headache of Hogwarts fails to come to the correct conclusion." Glancing to Hayden, she raised her eyebrows and muttered, "How shocking." Turning her gaze back to Peeves, she folded her arms across her chest. "Though I suppose it's not entirely your fault, now, is it? After all, the only thing you know how to do is pester people. Asking you to be observant would be a waste of breath." Columbine opted to leave out the fact that, being a ghost, she couldn't breathe anyway. "And I know just as well as you do that your being even mildly intelligent is completely out of the question."

"Peeves should alert the Bloody Baron... oh yes he should..."

The ghost arched an eyebrow. "You're afraid of the Bloody Baron, you little irritant. If anything, I should tell him that you're being bothersome." She scowled and added. "Not that that's different than how you usually are." Columbine had had one too many bad encounters with Peeves and didn't tend to hold back when it came to snapping at him. She had a feeling that he didn't know how much his teasing bothered her, but she also had a feeling that Peeves didn't give a flying Flobberworm whether she was bothered or not.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, she asked, "Don't you have to be annoying somewhere else?" It wasn't exactly a ludicrous question, considering who it was directed at, and she desperately hoped that he'd realize that he did, in fact, have a prior engagement and would leave. For one reason or another, she had a feeling the poltergeist would opt to stick around, though.

[Peeves the Poltergeist]

Peeves made an ugly face at Columbine. "Really sparky of you there Miss Columbine, insulting poor Peevsie." he sneered at her. "And Peeves is not afraid of the Bloody Baron," he scoffed, "He merely respects his Bloodiness. But Peeves knows that such matters go straight over Miss Columbine's ghostly head." he cackled. He decided that Hayden was much too much of a jovial fellow to bug, he didn't get worked up.

The Weasley Twins had worked with him, and were the closest thing to a friend that Peeves had ever had; he actually reminisced those days fondly. In all honesty, Peeves usually bugged those who bugged him first, or those who appeared buggish to begin with. And eye for an eye, and being a Poltergeist he needn't worry about going blind.

[Hayden Winchester]

Hayden shrugged his shoulders in somewhat of a shy manner as his face turned a deeper shade of red. He had always been very open about the fact that he was never very talented in charms or transfiguration, but it was comforting to have someone try to lessen the embarrassment that he was feeling. He grinned as Columbine tried to cheer him up, quite appreciative of her comment.

As she continued to reprimand the poltergeist, however, he started to chuckle. Part of it was to take the focus off of the feathery mess that he created, but it was mostly because he found the situation incredibly amusing. He was not particularly bothered by Peeves, although Hayden was not quite sure how Peeves was under the impression that he was the one to knock the suit of armor over. He could be mischievous in his own way, of course, but he would never go knocking suits of armor over for amusement.

"It's okay, Columbine" he interjected, turning to glance at her with a grin as the blush started to fade from his face. "He's not being too bothersome right now. It's nice to meet you, Peeves."

He had heard rumors about how obnoxious the poltergeist was, but that did not mean that he wouldn't try to be polite.

[Peeves the Poltergeist]

"He's not being too bothersome right now. It's nice to meet you, Peeves."

Peeves paused in mid-cackle, suspended in mid-air. His eyes swivelled so that he was looking at the little boy. Politeness was something Peeves was not used to. Sure students had feigned politesse before, but this sounded genuine.

He quickly recovered. "There you see Miss Columbine, the wee one knows how to be polite to others," he said in his syrupy voice.