Yin and Yang

[Flora Halliday]

It was the night before Halloween and Flora was super excited for the festivities that were to come. She still had prefect duties to worry about, which was the cause of her wandering the corridors when she would've rather been eating. All was well — or all seemed well, at least, until she arrived on the third floor.

Eyes wide, she stared down at the corridor's flooded floor. She immediately began stepping through the puddles, trying to figure out the source of the water when she came upon—

"Fauna, what in Merlin's name are you doing?" she shrieked, staring at the lone student in the corridor. There was no evidence that her twin was responsible, but her record was definitely against her.

@'Fauna Halliday'/@'Valeria Greengrass'

  

[Fauna Halliday]

So, Fauna did flood the toilets but she damn sure knew she was going to be blamed for it if anyone came by. She had even tried to magic away some of the standing water. Well, the laws of Transfiguration said that objects can't just... stop existing it just goes somewhere else. Apparently that somewhere else was a few inches in any direction... including up. Water had managed to be on top of the sinks and mirrors and the top of the door frame inside the lavatory itself.

Fauna, knowing that this was beyond her level of expertise, she had rushed out of the lavatory to see that there was a thin layer of water coating the corridor's floor. She gulped. Panic was obvious on her face as surely this was where some of the water had gone while she had tried to magic it away. She stood, trying to think of her options, as limited as they were, and held her wand tightly.

A familiar voice brought her back to reality. A shiver ran up her spine, not necessarily from fear, but rather the shriek that accompanied her name. Turning on her heel to face her twin, Fauna grimaced and held up her hands in defeat. "Flora, it wasn't me!" she exclaimed. "The lavatory was flooded first and I tried to magic it away. The lavatory is still flooded and I don't know who is responsible! I swear! I just tried to fix it!"

  

[Flora Halliday]

Horrified, Flora stepped backwards as she watched the water flow faster down the corridor floor. Oh Merlin, this was a disaster and she wasn't even sure what had started it! She wanted to believe that her sister was just trying to help, but her record was far from spotless and that left the Ravenclaw feeling skeptical.

"Are you going to explain just how the toilets managed to flood? Magic or not, things don't happen without reason," she demanded, her voice full of anxiety and stress. Oh, she would have to get this mess cleaned up before one of the professors noticed!

"And don't you dare tell me Peeves is behind this, Flora! One of the professors was just dealing with him. He wouldn't have had time to do all of—" She made a waving motion with her hand. "—this."

  

[Fauna Halliday]

Fauna made a rather ugly face at her twin as she, too, glanced about the flowing water. It was starting to rise and the ends of her robe were now soaked. "Well," she started with a huff, "I don't get to use the Prefects' bath so when I need to use the facilities one also expects them to be dry."

She took a step to her left and the splash caused more of her robes to become damp. "We have to figure something out! I just know I didn't flood the toilets!"

  

[Flora Halliday]

"Lies!" shrieked Flora and the water dampened the bottom of her robes. They had just been cleaned and now they were soaked with toilet water. "I will have ten thousand points taken from Gryffindor when I'm done with you, Fauna!" It was obviously an exaggeration, but the stress level was really getting to the prefect.

With a complete 'oh god you really did this' expression on her face, Flora frantically looked around with her wand held out. Magic technically wasn't allowed in the corridors, but she believed there was an exception for every rule — and this was the perfect moment for that! Shaking her head, she began to cast loud spells.

Her first spell put up a barrier for the water, preventing it from going any further down the corridor. Sadly, that also meant that the water was filling up on the floor around them like a bathtub rather than spreading evenly. Panicked, she looked towards Fauna.

"I don't suppose you know a spell to make the water go away?" she strained, looking around hopelessly.

  

[Fauna Halliday]

Fauna scoffed. "You really don't pay attention to Transfiguration, do you?" she hissed. "You can't make things go away. Not really anyway. You just move it somewhere else. That's what happened! I tried to make the water go away while I was in the lavatory and it all ended up in the corridor!"

She looked around as the water was slowly, but surely, rising. If they didn't figure out how to get rid of the water, the twins would be swimming in it. They needed a teacher. She cursed under her breath and grabbed her wand more tightly as she began to think of spells. Vanishing was more advanced magic than she'd been taught, but she had read about them. She muttered an incantation and waved her wand, but nothing really happened. She furrowed her brow and kept repeating. Hopefully something would happen.

  

[Flora Halliday]

As her mind began to panic, the prefect paid less and less attention to the logic of her sister's words ... and her own words.

"Well then! Find some way to make the water go back to where it belongs," she screeched, the water beginning to soak the bottom half of her skirt. Flora mimicked her twin's actions, pulling out her wand and muttering any spell that could manage to vanish the water. It was only after casting one spell that—

"A wave! Watch out!" she shouted. The water had stopped, but had managed to force its way upwards and back towards them.

  

[Fauna Halliday]

Fauna was about to huff haughtily at her sister when the wave came by. How had that happened? For the most part until her sister caught her, the water had been still and just rising slowly. This water certainly was not normal water. "What did you do!?" she exclaimed, spluttering for some water had splashed her face. Fauna's expression darkened and she was positive she was now scowling at her twin. "I had this mostly under control until you showed up!"


She waved her wand in an attempt to magic the water back into the pipes. Perhaps thinking of vanishing it to a predetermined location would be more successful than futile attempts of just waving the stick and hoping for the best. "Trying Vanishing it into the pipes."

  

[Flora Halliday]

Oh Merlin, this was not going well. How was she going to explain this to the staff and the other students if they stumbled across them? "And where do you think the pipes lead to? They'll go straight back into the toilets! And I don't want sewer water ending up in the prefect's tub!" she shrieked, doing her best to keep the water under control with wand movements.