Jack had just finished a dare from Emile. The dare was simple drink a Confusing Draught potion.[1] He quickly ran from the HufflePuff common room to go tell Emile but the effects have already started. Jack made it about 90% up the stairs too the ground floor but sadly fell. He tumbled backwards doing a sort of twisty backward somersault down the stairs. Dazed and becoming more confused by the moment he tried as hard as he could to run up the stairs. With his mind fogging he only made it a few steps before he jumped up about 7 steps, then landing flat on his face. Luckily, there was no blood but Jack decided to roll over and lie there. He began to mumble to himself as the pain subdued but he was still confused about everything.

1.	http://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=9038.210

The staircases at Hogwarts had a mind of their own, and they were all totally insane. Each step seemed to have a personal vendetta against feet, gravity and their lot in life, being trod upon never able to move higher or lower.  The stairs seemed to express this abject ennui by tripping people up, going off the level, and reversing direction.  By the time a students got to his sixth year, he had gained his 'sea legs', such to say.  But even after nearly four months, first years seemed to struggle with the ol' rise and run. 

On his way down to Hufflepuff, a first year barged past Figaro Sellaphix who was absently wrapping a length of shoelace around his finger until it turned purple.  Figaro might not have looked over his shoulder if he hadn't heard the sound of flesh hit stone.  A gruesome sort of smacking noise that rattled the teeth to hear.  Figaro turned to see one of the Hufflepuff firsties railing around like there was a bee in his brain.  Stumbling, rolling and taking hilarious dives up the precarious, steep staircase.

It all ended when the kid seemed to retreat into a nap.  Right there on the stairs.  Figaro, interested, amused and concerned in a big-brotherly way, slowly, casually climbed up to see the lad.  He stood a step below Jack and peered down at him, hands in his pockets.

"Alright, there?"  he asked, painfully obvious though the question was.

Jack heard another student, unclear but he heard something ,"Alright, there?" sounded more like "Right there!" Of course due to his clouded mind and just falling numerous times he crawled up a few steps answering," Whats right there?!" He looked down, up,left, and right, but nothing was there. Now really confused he looked up to the older student and asked "What's going on?"

Ew, the kid did not look good.  Damn, what was his name.  Figaro narrowed his eyes and stared at the younger boy, trying to remember his name.  Jack! Yea, that was it.  But he did not look good at all.  There was a glassy vacant look to him.

"You should sit down, gov," Fig said and gestured so with his hands.  "You're wobbly." 

"It's Jack, right? You eat something fuzzy, Jack?  Because you flew up those stairs like you ate something that's been left out for awhile."

Figaro crouched down on the steps near him, but seemed to be keeping a distance.  He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, or if there would be slime, bogeys, or whatnot.  Least he wasn't bloody!

Jack could scarcely hear the older students voice, it all sounded meshed together. Jack looked at the boy, with a blank look. Jack's gears starting turning in his head, remembering what the older student just said. "sit down...Jack...eat fuzz...." That was all he could remember. Why would someone ask him to eat fuzz? He already drank a Confusing Draught, no way he's trying anything else.

"There is no way I'm eating fuzz. The last thing I ingested made my mind cloggy...I mean foggy" Jack sat up and began to settle down a little bit but there was still one thing he had to do still." Can you take me to Gryffindor tower...I need to see Emile." At least he wasn't dazed anymore.

Figaro had to laugh at what the kid said.  Eat fuzz? He hadn't said that.  What he'd said was - oh nevermind.  Funny little guy, wasn't he? 

"No, no, you sit," Figaro told him thinking Jack might try and get up to make his way up the other four or five flights that was required to get up to Gryffindor.  "Don't need you falling up the stairs again.  Wait until you're heads less... cloggy."

Figaro sat down next to him on the step and twirled his wand between his fingers.  "So - whatcha eat, then? Puking Pastilles? Fever Fudge?"

Fig hoped it was something non-fatal like a trick sweet, but honestly it could be anything.  Firsties had a lot of accidents just trying to get their Potions homework done, let alone anything else they might try.  And Figaro knew first hand that it only took one wrong ingredient or one mispronounce syllable for a spell to go bad and dissolve your liver.

Now that Jack's head injury has subdued he coul start to think as clearly as the potion would allow. He thought he heard the older student to ask him to sit, so Jack did. Now he had to focus really hard to understand the question.

"I...I was... Dared, I think... Or something along those lines to drink a...oh what's the name of it...Confusing potion sort of thingy."
Each word took a good 5 seconds to say, Jack couldn't understand anything right now. Then he lost it for a moment." where was I going again...and who are you?" Jack would normally love the company of other students bit right now he was so confused about everything that Jack had a puzzled look on his face.

Figaro covered his mouth with his hands - clamped it shut more like - to keep from interrupting the younger boy's excruciatingly slow progress at explaining what was going on.  He was adorable in that drunk puppy sort of way, but Figaro knew he was supposed to be a good Hufflepuff brother and not take the piss out of a boy who'd just willingly drunk some kind of Befuddlement Draught, by the sound of it.

Oh god, he could barely speak!  And now he didn't know the day of the week.

"I think you were headed to the Headmistress's Office.  You've got a detention.  But don't worry, I'm a prefect.  I'll take you," Figaro lied with a totally straight face, the kind of expression he saw on Josh Harcroft most of the time.

He patted the boy on the back.  "C'mon.  Up you get.  Time to face the music."

The older boy began to help Jack up telling him he needed to get to the Headmistress's Office because of...Detention!!! Jack's red flags went up, detention, Jack does knows one thing through all this; he does not get detentions. Jack waited until they were At the top of the stairs then he let go of the older kids hand," Hi I'm Jack now please tell who are you and what I was doing."

Figaro calmly led Jack up the stairs, a small smile on his face as he led the way - oh First Years and their drinking of strange things.  They had to learn somehow...

But at the top of the stairs, little Jack seemed to catch on that something wasn't right.  Figaro couldn't help but smile as he looked down at the twelve-year-old.

"I know who you are.  Your brain still feeling foggy?  If you want, I can help you sort it out."  Figaro wiggled his wand to show that he meant to do so with magic.  They weren't supposed to use magic in the halls, but Hogwarts was so full of magic, the rule really only mattered if you got caught.

And besides.  This was a matter of public safety, wasn't it.  Jack had been Befuddled.  And Figaro was pretty sure he could Unfuddle him, if he remembered his Charmswork properly.

Jack just sighed at the question. "Fine but if you do something wrong I'll...your older so I can't do anything." Jack usually trusted everyone until they gave him a reason not to. He even trusted Lucy! Not as much as everyone else but enough. Jack just sat back down with his elbows on his knees and hands on his chin and said,"I'm ready."

Good lad.  He knew the order of things.  Figaro smiled and watched little Jack have a seat and ready himself for Figaro's wise old remedy. 

Figaro trotted down a few steps so he was at eye level with Jack and readied his wand like he was a professional duelist, event taking some semblance of the Aggaram Stance he'd seen in a magazine once, his left arm raised over his head. 

He cleared his throat and cast a very fine example of a Reviving Spell.  "Rennervate!"

No light came from his wand, but Jack was jolted a bit when the spell hit.  The spell, Figaro knew from Defense Against the Dark Arts, was a perfect remedy for the Stunning Spell.  Stood to reason it'd be just as effective getting a befuddled boy's head back on straight.  Right?[1]

Figaro climbed the steps back up to Jack and waved his hands in front of his eyes.  "What's seven times seven?  What's the capitol of Peru? Who's the best Quidditch player of all time?"

1.	We had a chat in the c-box about this, and most people thought it probably wouldn't be the best choice, so it's up to you how it will affect Jack.

"Rennervate!"

Jack felt his body jolt for a moment. It felt as though something quickly zipped through him. It wasn't as strong as lightning but it was sure close. Instantly his mind cleared. He even felt a little bit more energetic than before.

When the older boy started asking question Jack blurted out," I know who you are! you're Figaro Sellaphix." With that taken care of, Jack began to focus on some of the other questions.

"What's seven times seven?  What's the capitol of Peru? Who's the best Quidditch player of all time?"

"49, Lima, and how an I supposed to know I don't even watch muggle sports!" After shouting these answers Jack jumped in the air and started to run around Figaro. When the time came to stop, he couldn't. He had so much energy that even if he was held in place you could see the young Hufflepuff's body twitch and jitter.

At first it seemed to have worked!  The kid had light in his eyes and more energy and remembered where he was and Fig's name.  (Plus a good deal of trivia.) Good! That's sorted.

But a few moments more and Figaro realized that Jack still wasn't quite right, but in a fun new way.  He was bouncing off the walls, more like.

"Oi, quick that!" Figaro shouted.  He was just running in circles up and down the stairs.  "Shite, I buggered this one..." 

"Hey.  Hey! Hold still.  Lemme try something else."  He didn't want to haul him off to the hospital hut, not yet.  He could sort this out.  It was only Rennervate!

Jack was going crazy. It was like seeing a 5 year old after he's eaten about 10 bars of chocolate. He would run around, then twitch, then talk really fast. Jack couldn't quite understand why he was so hyper all of the sudden, but at least he could think straight...he hoped.

When Figaro was most likley getting dizzy from Jack running around him so much Jack swiped Figaro's wand and ran downstairs,  laughing his head off and non stop running. Jack couldn't understand why he was doing this, it was all too fun right now and he was too hyped up from a spell.