SOLAR FLARE: The Magical Blackout

[marloww]

A flare is defined as a sudden, rapid, and intense variation in brightness. A solar flare occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. Radiation is emitted across virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves at the long wavelength end, through optical emission to x-rays and gamma

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[marloww]

It was a queasy feeling that hit her, stomach churning as she climbed the stairs toward the seventh floor, head pounding as she gripped the banister. She hesitated as she reached the top step, body slowing for a moment. It had been a long run around the lake, Marlow needing the release, her brain insanely out of sorts since everything happened with Seamus. Maybe she had pushed herself too hard- it had been a while since she'd run that long.

She hovered, eyes blinking as a strange silence fell over the castle. But as she moved to take her step toward the marble, she was lucky she glanced down. The staircase hadn't connected to the floor, a six inch gap of space just a few inches beneath her foot. She hopped, before glancing back behind her.

All of the staircases remained where they were, the usual gliding had paused.

That was odd.

That was when she heard an odd noise coming from her left.

"Open up- please?"

She frowned, catching sight of the Fat Lady. It wasn't moving either. In fact, as she finally took a long look around the empty hallway, nothing was moving. Not the portraits or the staircases- nothing. An eerie silence had fallen over the castle.

"Hello?" she said it loudly, staring up at he portrait with wide eyes, the frozen nature of the painting making her feel uneasy.

[nevilleee]

"Hello?" Neville said back instantly. That voice was familiar though.

"Marlow?"

Neville tapped again on the portrait, "Marlow- something's wrong! Can you please ask the, uh-" he hated to call her the Fat Lady to her face, "The portrait to open up?"

[marloww]

Neville?

She hesitated for a moment, her eyes scanning the seemingly empty hallway, hoping no one was around when she moved closer toward the wall. She pressed her palms flat against the cold stone before tilting her head closer.

"I would-" she called, feeling incredibly stupid. "But um- I think we're in a bit of trouble-"

"Professor Linney, what are you doing?"

Marlow quickly turned her head, flushing slightly as she glanced down at a small second year Ravenclaw with a wild mane of strawberry blond curls.

"Oh- erm, Miss Swift-" she said, smiling. "Where did you come from?"

"Just in the ladies' loo- I think I'm feeling ill-" she said, uneasily, gripping at her stomach.

"I think something is going around-" Marlow said. "Go on to the Great Hall, if you can, Miss Swift- I'll meet you there- if you see anyone else make sure they follow you-"

She watched as the young girl gingerly crossed toward the staircase before looking (she had no idea why) back toward the wall.

"Neville- everything is extremely quiet in this castle-"

[nevilleee]

Neville heard a bit of the muffled conversation, and in the meantime was pushing against where the portrait should be. He wasn't sure why, that never worked in school when the portrait was working.

"Marlow-" his tone extremely serious for being loud enough to be heard through the wall.

If his magic and his students' magic seemed to be... stifled, he wondered what else wasn't working.

"Is the portrait... moving?"

[marloww]

"Nothing is moving," she exclaimed.

She could hear a muffled wave of noise coming from her right, eyes following down the hallway, almost willing the portraits to move as she looked back the staircase- there was chatter bubbling from downstairs, confused cries and calls.

She leaned against the wall.

"How many students are in there with you?"

Whatever this was - whatever was happening, it seemed to affect the very essence of the castle, everything hanging strangely in the air.

[nevilleee]

Neville thought back to the common room, "Thirty at most." He guessed, but he really couldn't say. He hadn't checked the dormitories after all. "One minute..."

He stepped away from the wall and walked back up to the common room, "Ms. Carmine-" he called out. She was his oldest, more reliable prefect.

She quickly ran over to Neville, and he took a moment to survey the room as she made her way over to him. The students looked pale and scared, though somehow somewhat quiet.

"I need you to go around and see if anyone is in their rooms, ask them to join you in the Common Room, and then give me a head count.

"Yes, sir," she said and quickly ran off toward the girls' dorm.

Neville gave his students a nod, and ran back down the tunnel.

"So," he said rubbing his neck, "When you say nothing you mean?"

[marloww]

"Don't you feel it?"

It was as if something had been sucked from the air, Marlow feeling so incredibly uneasy. It was off, everything was just off.

"Neville- it's like-" she paused, raking her fingers through her hair, sighing before wrapping her arms around her body. "It's like all the magic is gone-"

She didn't want to say it too loudly for fear of another student sneaking up on her.

[nevilleee]

Neville dropped his head, his feelings confirmed by her words. That was precisely how he felt, but he didn't want to admit it. It seemed impossible.

"How could this happen?"

They had faced all sorts of magic in their short lifespan. Friendly magic, historic magic, dark magic- but no magic?

Neville suddenly felt very stuck.

His heart dropped- aside from being stuck in the Gryffindor Common Room, no magic meant that the charms in his greenhouses were in jeopardy.

Everything 'magical' couldn't stop working. That didn't make any sense.

"Marlow- is there anything working? Are the ghosts still around? The House elves? Have you seen them?"

[marloww]

"I've got nothing on my end-"

Currently, at least. The seventh floor was typically quiet unless Gryffindors were going in and out. Her own room was toward the other end but she didn't dare attempt heading toward there, her own portrait probably just as frozen.

It was times like these she realized exercising was futile. It only left her in a pair of leggings and a huge tee shirt, her hair tied up in a messy ponytail and her cheeks still red from the adrenaline.

"All the knights are frozen-" she said, brow furrowing. "Staircases, too-"

She wondered then if Miss Swift managed it all the way downstairs.

"Neville- hold on for a second, will you?"

[nevilleee]

"I'm not going anywhere," he said a little exasperated. Not at Marlow, of course, the situation.

Neville made his way back up the tunnel, the Common Room decidedly fuller than it was the last time he checked. At least forty students were grouped together, talking in hushed voices.

Cindy Carmine walked over to him and reported that all the dormitories were empty. "Thank you," he said as he made his way toward the middle of the room.

"Everyone," he said in his 'classroom' voice, the one that seemed to hold the attention of his students. "Thank you for your cooperation. I've been talking to Professor Linney, and whatever is happening is having an effect around the castle. I'll give you information as I am able." Some students began to whisper about how he was able to talk to anyone not in the Common Room. Neville wasn't about to tell him about their shouting game.

Something about this was giving him flashbacks of his seventh year, and that was not at all comforting.

"What time did you notice all of these strange things happening?"

The students broke out, all wanting to be heard. "Please-" Neville called over them, "One at a time."

The prefects stood up and all reported the same answer, around noon.

Neville shook his head, he couldn't understand how all the magic could seep out of the world so quickly. It didn't make any sense.

He took his leave once more, and went back into the entrance tunnel, waiting to hear back from Marlow.

[marloww]

Marlow took to the steps quickly, racing down them, her eyes fixated on the staircase beneath her, hoping to catch any ill-met moments before they happened. She wasn't sure what would be there to catch her fall and she certainly didn't want to find out-

But she only got as far as the fourth floor, an exceptional crowd of students brimming about, Marlow briefly catching sight of Flitwick looking frazzled and lost within the crowd.

"Filiius-" she called, catching his attention. "Are we stuck here?"

"Seems to be so, Marlow-" he all but squeaked. "Staircase is too far off. Minerva has called from below- the rest of the students are congregating within the Great Hall until everything can be sorted-"

"Do you know what's happening?" she asked.

"Not a bloody bit of it-" he told her as she came closer toward him. "What about on your end?"

"Students are trapped in Gryffindor Common Room-" she said, shaking her head. "Neville is in there with them-"

"At least they have proper super vision-" he muttered. "I can't even get to Ravenclaw right now-"

"Alright- I'll be back-" she told him.

The race back to the stairs was quick, Marlow already used to the odd jumps from where the disconnections still lie.

"Flitwick is stuck on the fourth floor with maybe fifty students-" she said, once she reached the wall. "Some are in the Great Hall- But the staircase to third is gone-"

[nevilleee]

After waiting a few nervous minutes, Neville heard Marlow's voice once more.

"Blimey..."

Suddenly, Nearly Headless Nick came through the wall to his right, and he let out a little yelp. "Nick! You're alive!"

Nick looked highly insulted. Neville never developed a very close relationship with Nick, unable to connect with him on any level, really.

"Sorry- it's just that... I was worried that you had gone with the magic."

Then he remembered to update Marlow, "I've got Nick here!"

Nick cleared his throat, "Yes, well, Headmistress has requested that the ghosts help serve as messengers around the castle and try to assess the situation."

[marloww]

"Oh!"

Marlow perked, rocking slightly on her heels as she stood there, feeling a bit relieved that she didn't have to run down the stairs anymore. At least, if Nick was playing messenger-

Though, how the ghosts managed to make it through whatever it was messing with the castle and their magic unharmed threw Marlow for a loop.

"Does he know what's going on?" she asked. "Has McGonagall said anything?"

[nevilleee]

Neville turned to Nick with questioning eyes.

"First, the Headmistress has formally requested a headcount from each Head of House that has access to his or her Common Tower." Nick began to pace, or it looked like that was what he would have been doing if he were, in fact, alive.

"Next, it appears that all magic, save us ghosts and the house elves, has all but disappeared. She has sent letters out to the surrounding wizarding villages."

Neville shook his head, "Has this ever happened before?"

"Not in my memory, nor any other in the castle," Nick became very grievous, "This is a very sad day, indeed."

Neville turned to the wall, as if looking at Marlow, "Did you get all that?"

[marloww]

Marlow let her body slid down the wall, perching herself on the ground, her knees brought up to her chest.

"I did-"

She leaned her head back against the cement blocks, her hands resting on her knees as she tried to gauge what this meant. If all the magic was gone from the castle, what did that mean for the concealment charms? Or the little bits of magic keeping the castle together? Without the staircases working, without the portraits, what was going to happen to everyone still inside?

What happened when a bloody castle popped up out of nowhere?

"And the house elves?" she asked. "What are they doing? Where are they?"

[nevilleee]

Nick glided through the wall to talk to Marlow personally, he didn't feel it proper to talk to her dumbly through what might as well be stone.

"They're making their way up through the castle, releasing students and Professors who have become locked or trapped throughout the castle."

"Is there a message you'd like me to deliver to the Headmistress..." He pushed his head into the wall to speak to Neville, "... either of you?"