The attack was finally over, and what an odd attack it was. Headmistress Ellington stood on the steps of the dais and looked around the Great Hall. Once again, it was a disaster zone. She was truly considering cancelling all future events - they seemed to be cursed.
"We had the rest of the castle searched," Professor Milton reported. "The portraits saw no sign of the intruders. They've just vanished."
"Search the grounds," she directed, sighing.
Several students were still in the Hall, coming out now from underneath tables and behind statues. Thankfully, they were all unscathed. That was the part Ellington couldn't quite wrap her head around: the attackers never cast any harmful spells. Only a couple of the professors had actually roused a simple Stupefying spell out of them; the rest had been protection spells and counter-curses. Professor Renoir appeared beside her.
"What are your thoughts?" she asked the young Defense teacher.
"This was not an attack, it was a mission," Renoir responded firmly. "They were here for something, and they got it."
With a nod, Ellington sighed again and walked to the podium. "Students," she began gently, looking around at their confused faces. "The castle is safe now, you need not worry. Please return to your dormitories immediately. Classes are cancelled until further notice."
[This thread is now closed - the story continues in the Forbidden Forest!]