What You See Is Not What You Get

[proudgreenauror]

*on his way to the classroom, grimly following Jareth's cryptic directions*

So I started a bit late -- had to clean up after that little game with Drizzt. How a kid that small could get so muddy is completely beyond me. And the first two routes were wrong -- I opened a door and realized the path had ended in a broom closet on the fifth floor!! But

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[perfidious_son]

*walking along outside after training and feeling slightly irritable because he hasn't had a decent match in a while and has pent up energy.... though he looks, sounds, and acts like normal*

[[OSU~!]]

[proudgreenauror]

*striding up to one of the gates in the outer wall, wondering why he's so dizzy, unaware that Itachi's on the other side*

[perfidious_son]

*lets out a breath to relax a bit before going inside to deal with the others and pulls the door open. A noise above his head makes him jerk to the side out of reflex before even knowing what it is and his entire right side is drenched in bright red paint. He blinks in surprise and looks up to see Gai, and his face turns severe.*

[proudgreenauror]

*staggers backward, completely dumbfounded, staring in confusion at a blurred image of two or three apparently bloody apparitions*

YAAAAGH!!! What--!?

*instinctively takes a defensive posture, the artifact dangling from a chain wrapped around one hand*

[perfidious_son]

*still scowling and even more irritated by Gai's idiotic behavior* Stop yelling and move out of my way. I needed to take a shower anyway, but what is this? *notices defensive position and stops before he attempts to move past, wearily wondering what Gai's problem is NOW since HE wasn't the one drenched in what appeared to be paint*

[proudgreenauror]

*hears some indistinct noises as the apparitions speak in unison; the artifact in his hand, still unnoticed, starts spinning gently, its embedded copper piece turning fast on an invisible axis*

*color vision is suddenly disrupted -- for a moment all the Itachis turn green, confirming Gai's worst suspicions*

YOU!!!!! It was you all along!!! HAH, CAUGHT RED-HANDED IN YOUR DIABOLICAL SCHEME OF IMPERSONATION -- YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH IT THIS TIME!!!!!!

*yelling practically in Itachi's face, moves to shove him back through the gate*

[perfidious_son]

*cue look of 'What the HELL are you talking about?!' and then viciously slaps Gai's hands away before he can be pushed*

Who the hell do you think you're talking to, Gai? *chin raises a bit* Why would I ever want to disgrace myself by running around as you of all people?

[proudgreenauror]

*whirling with the momentum of the slap, staggering to stay between the NEFARIOUS APPARITIONS and Lee, who (he thinks) is somewhere behind him*

Trying t' sneak out of the castle, eh??? Mmmaybe.... *loopy pose, hands in loose mantis configuration, eyes jerking back and forth to the areas where he thinks he sees Itachi, reeling but somehow staying on his feet* Maybe I'll jus'... stop ALL of you RIGHT HERE!!!

[[Quick, do something!!!]]

[perfidious_son]

*really REALLY annoyed now and slides forward and puts a foot to Gai's stomach and kicks him back so he can step through the door* I'm trying to get IN, moron.

[[Errr, like that?]]

[proudgreenauror]

*blocking instinctively, hooks a wrist under Itachi's ankle to throw him off-balance*

All right, that is IT!!!! STAND AND FIGHT, YOU VILLAIN!!!!!

*lunges, purely automatic reverse mantis strike toward the nearest image's head*

[perfidious_son]

*bends back into a flip, but not as smoothly as he would have liked and blinks at Gai in that irritated way as he starts hitting at the air randomly. Obviously, something was off about the 7th year and Itachi wasn't going to speak and announce his exact location, he simply watched wearily, waiting for Gai to come to him*

[proudgreenauror]

*stares wildly around as the grounds suddenly seem overpopulated by hundreds of students, many insubstantial and passing through one another*

What -- HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE!?

*charges, coincidentally heading directly for Itachi*

[perfidious_son]

*mutters under his breath* Only one, idiot.

*is prepared and crouches, ready to move out of the way or simply trip Gai if the opportunity arrises*

[proudgreenauror]

*...and as Gai is in midleap there's an abrupt and highly localized tornado of violent static magic*

*and Gai disappears*

*and Lee disappears*

*and their luggage disappears*

*leaving no trace that they were EVER THERE AT ALL... other than the lingering and quite powerful static charge which has now permeated everything in the vicinity*

[perfidious_son]

...........................

*blinks and his head whips around quickly to see if it was a trick of his eyes and Gai had moved around him, but there's no one there, and the magic crackling in the air makes his eyes narrow in suspicion as he rigidly stands, even more annoyed now than ever*

[proudgreenauror]

*wakes up in a chair in the Hufflepuff common room, has no idea it's now last week, can't remember anything after getting off the train but shrugs it off as normal travel fatigue*