"Shit," Rich was still saying as Fonsus hugged him, "I just now stopped wanting that hug, thanks." He relaxed on the sofa, slouching low, still covering his eyes with his hands. He brought them away and found them to be sticky and sparkly from whatever had been thrown in his face. "Ugh, where's a bathroom? I need to wash up."

"Sink," The Dante pointed next to Joshua Finch, who looked a little put out as he puffed on Dante's pipe. Indistinct shapes floated out of it and buzzed around Richard as he washed his face with water from the faucet. 

"Why is there a sofa in the kitchen?" he asked, absently as he scrubbed both potion and makeup off. 

"To sit on," The Dante answered simply. 

"I [i]am[/i] still holding the pipe," Joshua reminded them. "My turn to be telling stories, I think."

"Fuck off, Finch, I'm just now coming down off a terrible high."

"He does have the story grass," The Dante chimed in. 

"I'll take your word for it," Richard sat back down next to Adelfonsus, "You guys are telling ghost stories?" 

"Not a ghost story," Finch said, and took a long draw from the pipe. He blew the smoke out as he spoke, and it formed into a little hazy scene in front of him. "This happened back in August. As a prefect, of course I was moving in early. There was work to be done. The teachers were arriving around the same time. Most were here, but I hadn't seen old Professor Clowers, yet."

"Who?" Richard asked. The name was only vaguely familiar to him. 

"Read a book, Nothing."

"I read plenty," Rich muttered.

"The teacher before Crepley came along," another party-goer was explaining, "He was still here with us last year. Nobody expected him to be gone until Professor Greenwald announced that his spot had been filled."

"[i]I[/i] knew he wouldn't be here when the students arrived," Finch continued doggedly, "You see two days before you all started filing in, I heard from another teacher that Clowers had finally gotten in, unexpectedly late. Professor Sidus was in a bit of a twist..."

"Where are you getting your idioms, Finch?" The rest of the room shushed Richard.

"... Over him. Naturally, I wanted to help, so I followed Professor Sidus up to Professor Clowers' study, where he apparently was," he looked off into the distance as he paused to take another puff from the pipe. "He was so pale. Unshaven, dirty still from traveling. When we came in all of the curtains were closed tight and it was almost pitch black. When we opened the door he was lying slouched over the desk, and he jumped up and backed away from the light. I'd never seen anything like it. Professor Sidus tried to open the shades, and when he did, Clowers lunged at him. He bared his teeth and tried to bite... but I cursed him away. We charmed the door shut and went after the Headmistress... I don't know what happened after that, but she got that auror dropout teacher to fill in."

Finch was basking in the awed silence. Apparently he hadn't told this story yet, and it was news to everyone in the room.