The Red eye pops back into him, but remains red. With a shaking hand, and sweat on his brow he points his wand and.... wait! He will only have once chance at this! And there are at least two people effected? Who? He thinks for a second then points his wand with even more determination at Madison...

'IMPERO'

Marvo concentrates on Madison, casting the Imperius Curse, one of the Unforgivable Curses, and begins to mentally wrestle with whoever has control of Madison's mind....

Marvo begins to shake violently, sweat pours over his face and his eye glows brighter. Slight wisps of smoke rise from his hands tightly clasped around his wand and even over the rotting smell of the weeds, the smell of burning flesh can be hinted.

He falls to his knees, but his wand stays pointed at Madison. A slight hint of white/grey can be seen forming in his hair. Marvo knows that if he fails the backlash will kill him, and even if he succeeds he many not survive to celebrate. But he will not let anyone die. Never again....

The Dark Wizard, whom we now know is Egreen's Father looks shocked at Marvo's action.

But only for a moment. He points his wand at the Kneeling Marvo 'AVADA KEDAV....'

'EXPELLIARMUS!' The Dark Wizard’s Wand flies from his hand before he can complete the spell.

Egreen stands before his father, red faced, with either anger or sadness. The Dark Wizard now looks worried. He then sees the Spiders and grabs Insanius and throws him into their path.

Morticia still whimpers with pain. Her arm seems to be badly burned by the strong and powerful destruction spell, but the spell has also killed of the weeds that were holding her. She takes her wand into her left hand and points it at the spiders. "Tarantallegra!" she shouts and points several times until they start to dance and are too distracted to care about Insanius. "I'll fight them off, Egreen, get on! Help Marvo!"

Niki, who had remained hidden, trying not to scream when she saw her brother killed, suddenly leaps to her feet. Darting past Mr. Gedward and giving him a bit of a shove, she pulls Insanius out of the spider's path, and points her wand at Mr. Gedward. Now that she's looking in that direction, she can see her brother's body, and seems to collapse inside. Her legs crumple, and she hits the ground with a thud, slightly out of the way of the spiders.

"Counter it!" Kat shouts at Nimue from inside the spider. Seeing the problem that Egreen's father is causing she tried to get to him, being very careful not to go near Insanius. Her legs are still dancing around, but she manages to get close enough to pick him up.

He struggles in the huge spider’s grip, but even though the spiders feet are dancing around it maintains a tight grip. It appears that the spider is merely choking Mr Gedward. Not trying to eat it or frighten anyone.

Morticia who still can't know what's going on with the spiders raises her wand against Kat. "Drop him or drop dead, you there!"

Kat watches Morticia raise her wand. But it is too late for her Mr Gedward is unconscious. She lowers him limply to the ground, but she knows she only has a short time to restart the blood flow she has stopped in-order to 'kill' him. Or at least to make his possessor think he is dead. She instructs the spider to run and take the Nimue spider too. "Nimue back to your body!" She shouts as she does the same.

Kat opens her eyes. "Morticia, NO! Don't shoot at them. Help me." She rushes over to the body of Mr Gedward and produces a similar white smoke to that she had used on Marcus. This time though it is only there for a second before vanishing as Mr Gedward takes another breath...

Mr Gedward seems unconscious, or maybe in a coma? Marvo is still struggling with the curse, Madison not moving but staring straight into his eyes...

Insanius took this moment of great confusion to pick himself up from the ground, and begin looking innocent. "I guess if anyone mentions what I did, I'll have to tell 'em the truth, trying to cause some confusion and buy some time, sorta worked, sorta didn't oh well." Insanius began standing very still, watching, waiting, and occasionally looking very quickly behind him.

Madison continued to stare into Marvo's eyes. Though she wasn't moving, she was struggling with her thoughts. She could track what she was thinking, but there was something else...something fighting against her own thoughts in her head. *He's an easy target...kill him...*

*No! It's Marvo...* There seemed to be another struggle, as if someone else was fighting, too.

*No! I will not give up...*

*You've lost...Even Gedward has fallen...* Madison struggled, trying to wake from the nightmare. She couldn't tell who or what was in her head, and couldn't remember what had happened, as if something was deliberately trying to block it. With one last determined struggle, she broke free. Blinking, she looked around.

"What's...going on here?" Marvo was right in front of her. "What's-" Her eyes rested on the still form of Hadrian, and her memories rushed back and hit her like a ton of bricks. *I killed him...* Madison thought, shocked. She felt guilty, but at the same time...different. Strong...powerful... She shook her head and blinked, as if waking from a dream, and the guilt rushed back. She knelt, staring at Hadrian's body and shaking.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...I'm sorry," Madison repeated over and over, hugging herself and ignoring everything else around her.

Winifred didn't know what to think about this whole situation. Part of her wanted to run up and comfort Madison, but the other part of her still felt upset over what Madison had done. Instead of doing anything, she awkwardly said, "So...er...what should we do now?"

Morticia sits down on the ground and winces with pain, clutching her arm where the strange spell has rebounded on her. "I don't know! What can we do, anyway?"

Marvo still kneeling falls to the ground. His eye pulses red for a moment then goes dim. His right hand looks badly burned, but his left hand, still clutching to his wand looks leathery and it is hard to see where his hand ends and the Wand starts.

"Marvo!" shouted Kat. She glanced around to see Mr Gedward was still breathing, Insanius was talking to himself again, Morticia and Winifred were talking to Madison... 'Madison... Madison... If she was awake then Marvo...' She didn't dare think it.

She ran over to where he lay. "Marvo... Marvo... please wake up!" She had a bad feeling about this, and she was starting to go to pieces. She put a hand to his neck. 'Oh my goodness, no pulse!' she thought.

She leant over him, with her head on his chest.

"No, No, No, NO! Help me! Nimue! I think he is d... d... dead!" She burst into tears that she could no longer hold back.

Niki sits up groggily and rubs her eyes. Looking around, she sees Madison, and her lips compress into a tight line. She turns away from *that* confrontation for the moment at least, and hurries over to Marvo's side. "He's not...?" Her voice trails off, but her stare remains fixed on Kat's face.

Marvo stares down from above the Forest, Surprised to see himself lying on the ground.

He looks up and sees a tunnel of light, and in the distance, he is not sure... but he thinks he can hear the faint sound of a parrot squawking...

'No!' Niki thinks. 'This isn't fair! Why is everyone dying? Now he's dying too... Not just Hadrian.' She glances at Madison, then down at Marvo. Almost too softly to be heard, she whispers, "Please."

Ember wondered why she was sleeping outside on the cold ground. She was going to catch cold, her throat was already sore and she felt herself starting to cough violently...

It all came back in a rush. A man she didn't recognise had confronted them--the girl had been the killer--then weeds and vines and grabbed at all of them, and a thick creeper had wrapped around Ember's neck, choking her into unconsciousness...

Ember heard the sobbing and confusion and forced herself awake. She wasn't being restrained anymore, but she couldn't stop coughing, and her head and limbs ached miserably.

She fought up to her knees and grabbed for her fallen wand. "What--what--" But she couldn't speak; her voice was raspy, her throat raw. The youth called Marvo was lying on the ground, his hands horribly deformed, not moving. Kat seemed to think he was dead.

Ember crawled forward, trying to get feeling back into her numb legs. "Get him back--to the school," she rasped, trying to make herself heard. "Not safe here--"

"We know it's not safe," Niki snaps, turning furiously to Ember. "My brother was just killed!" She points to Hadrian's body. "He's dead, and he's not ever coming back, and I'll be damned before I'll let him die too! What can we do?" she asks, turning to Kat, who seems to know more about healing than she. "There has to be something!"

Peesemould was very shocked at everything that had just happened. For once in his life, he didn't know what to say.

Morticia crawls over to Peesey without using her right arm, which is a mess of burnt cloth and flesh. "Peesey, what's going on? What is it with Marvo?" She's even paler than usual and seems to be about to faint.

"I don't know. I just don't know." Kat sobs through her tears. She is so upset that she just can't think straight. 'It just isn't fair, first my best friend, and now...'

Tears are running down her face, and she has no control over them at all, she is trying to hug Marvo, and all you can really hear is her sobbing and mumbling 'not fair...'

Madison turned slowly, taking in the destruction. Getting up, she walked slowly over to Marvo's body and fell to her knees. "Marvo...No... no... Not now," she said quietly. "You can't leave us...not now...we need you." Suddenly, she looked desperately up at the sky. "Come back! You can't leave us!" Burying her face in her hands, she cried softly. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...come back..."

Niki edges away from Madison, looking extremely uncomfortable. "*You’re sorry?" she mutters.

Andy got up with quite a bruise on his head. What happened? It started to come back to him. Then he saw Marvo. He crawled over to him and took his pulse. He felt nothing. He looked up at Kat. He was going to ask if he was dead, but Kat's eyes said it all. "No," he whispered and that was the only word he could get out of his mouth. Andy sank to the ground and a tiny tear streaked his cheek.

Nimue rushed over to Marvo and Kat, and the other gathered students. "Kat, I might be able to help. I can't do it on my own though. Give me you hand and lend me your strength."

Kat looks up and takes Nimue's hand, too confused to argue.

Nimue looks at the others gathered around Marvo's dead body. "If you wish to help then join with me and Kat. Take Kat's hand and form a chain. I need all of you to lend me your magic strength for this to have any hope of working."

She watched them join hands. Then Nimue puts her other hand on Marvo's chest, and closes her eyes in concentration. Inside she is really hoping that this will work, but trying to show the others that she is calm. She relaxes a little and lets the magic flow through her.

Kat could feel the magic moving through her from those gathered with Nimue. As the spell started, Marvo's body started to glow with a green light....

Instantly Ember fought up to her feet and took hold of Kat's hand in hers. With the other she reached out and clasped Niki's cold hand in her own. "Take my strength," she told Nimue. "I don't have the most precise control in the magical world, but raw power has never been one of my limitations...take all you need."

Niki takes Ember’s hand, and if she had been less distracted she would have been not at all surprised to note that Niki's hands are shaking. Niki says nothing, though, and stares at Marvo as he begins to glow.

Winifred, too, hurried over and joined the quickly growing chain of students. "I sure hope this works," she says softly with tears in the corners of her eyes.

Ayumi stood amidst the trees, a few feet off from the growing chain of Hogwarts students. Her face was nearly expressionless, but her eyes were staring, frightened.... Death was not something she took easily...

Strange scenes were flashing before her eyes; memories of situations all too similar to this one. She threw her arm over her face and began to back up, as if blocking the whole scene from her mind.

Suddenly, she felt herself bump into something behind her. With all the recent occurrences in the forest, a shiver of fear surged through her body momentarily, and she whirled around. There, looking far too solemn for his own good, Shijiku stood. They stood still for a second, staring at each other, silent. He then smiled, in a remorseful kind of way, and tears welled up in Ayumi's eyes...

"Oh, Shinjiku!" She fell into his arms, and began to weep. "We...we've only been here a few days...and already, such awful occurrences! <Sob>" Ayumi buried her face in his shirt, clutching him tightly. "I'm beginning to wish we'd never come at all..."

Shinjiku held her tight, staring into off into the forest, with a distant look in his eyes. "Come on..." He pulled Ayumi back, so he could look into her eyes. "We really should help them..." He tried to smile cheerfully, and motioned to the group congregating around Marvo's listless body. Ayumi breathed deeply, rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, and tried to smile back.

"Right." The words were barely audible. "The first rule of making new friends is to be friendly, but the second is to be courteous. I don't think we'd get a better opportunity to fit in with the Hogwarts crowd then right now..." Ayumi sniffed.

Together, they paced over to the ring, and quietly joined hands with the other students.

Vera got up from where she was lying as well and tried to steady herself. Slowly she made her way to the others and joined hands with everyone

Morticia is still on the ground, staring at the old leaves and doesn't move to help the others.

Niki looks at Morticia, mentally willing her to come and help, but she's feeling so anxious and angry she doesn't think she could verbalise her entreaty- even if she wanted to.

"Well? Where do you think you are going? Are you going to leave my friends there to their peril? You still haven't broken that Briar Rose spell, and look at you. It was rather silly doing that unforgivable curse, wasn't it?"

Joss had crept up behind the ghost of Marvo. Of course no one could see her who was alive because she didn't want them too.

Marvo spins in the Air, shocked to hear anyone talking to him, let alone Joss!

'Oh... So I AM dead? Silly me... I wasn't sure' He looks down and sighs. 'Well, It was fun, I'm glad I helped a Bit. Do you think they will do okay? Not a lot I can do now anyway.'

Then he sees what Nimue, Kat and the others are doing. 'What are they doing? Look at Poor Morticia over there! They shouldn't be bothering with me'

He turns to Joss. 'I suppose now is as good a time as any to say thank you for the Dance' He smiles, and looks down once more, wishing there was something he could do to help his friends more.

"Nothing you can do? Nothing you can do? Of course there is something you can do." Joss ignores the comment about the dance although it did make her smile. "We don't have time to float here exchanging niceties, you have FAR too much to do no matter how painful it might be..." And with that she physically shoves Marvo back towards the shell of his body. The shove is so hard that he is back inside it before he can stop himself.

"There," she say's to herself. "I'm not having everyone dying just because of that buffoon." She continues to watch the scene, hoping that they can sort this out for themselves.

Looking around, Winifred noticed Morticia just lying there. 'What is she doing, not coming to help Marvo?' thought Winifred before she realised that maybe she couldn't get up. Winifred let go of the hands she was holding and rushed over to Morticia. "Your arm..." she said softly, "What happened?" She desperately wanted to help, but she couldn't think of the right spell. "Someone help!" she shouted to the other students.

"Not much use..." Morticia mutters. "Spell rebounded, y'know? I feel a bit dizzy that’s all..." She lies down on the ground. "Just gonna rest a bit, don't worry. OUCH! Merde, this hurts!"

Nimue felt a jolt as the magic flowing into her reduced. But the spell had done as much as it could. If Marvo didn't wake up soon then he never would. "Please Marvo, come back," she whispered.

Marvo looks at Joss 'But I.... Woooohhh...'

He feels himself falling and spinning...

On the ground Marvo's body gives a shudder and takes a very deep breath.

His eyes flicker and spring wide open... 'DON'T TELL THE TADPOLES!!!... Oh... Hello...OWWWW!'

A pained look comes over Marvo's face and the feeling starts to come back into his body.

Kat was so busy concentrating that she didn't notice Marvo open his eyes. But she did hear him scream at the pain. She opened her eyes with a snap. She felt Nimue release the spell as she reached for Marvo. "Marvo, you are alive!"

Now she was crying with tears of joy that he had been saved.

Andy closed his eyes. Thank God Marvo was okay. He sank to the floor again and lay there looking up at the sky. He felt like he was drained of energy. His legs hurt, his arms hurt, his head throbbed, and his hand was covered in blood. But no matter how much pain he was going through, he wouldn't complain. All he did was lie there and look at the stars.

When Marvo woke up, Ember lowered her wand with a sigh of unmistakable relief. "Good thing you woke up on your own, darlin'...if I'd used Enervate on you, it woulda hurt like a sumbitch." As always in times of stress, Ember's Louisiana Bayou accent thickened to the consistency of jambalaya.

She turned to Winifred and Morticia and noticed Morticia's distress. "Morticia, don't try to move," she said. "I'm no good at healing spells, but I can stop the pain. Trouble is, you won't feel anything--it'll be like a great shot of Novocain, if you know what that is. So you won't be able to feel it if you hurt yourself. Someone will have to carry you, or use a float spell on you, if I do it." She looked at Winifred. "It's the best I can do, if you want me to..."

Just as Ember finishes Speaking....