The roar of the halls as the student body descended to the Great Hall for lunch was a distant rumble, outside the castle. Tapendra struggled through the air, small wings beating the air frantically and rather incompetently. He was much closer to managing a series of long, high hops than he was actual flight.

He wasn't sure what to do, nor was he sure what to do about finding out what to do. But he'd debated and been torn between his professional duty - that is, the classes he was supposed to hold in only an hour - and his desire to hide somewhere til he returned to being human. The desire to keep his job had won out.

Landis still had his wand, too. Tapendra had yet to realize this, but when he did it wasn't going to help his mood any.

He bounded across the courtyards, ducking behind walls when students went past. He needed to get into the castle somehow, preferably not through the Great Hall's doors. Looking up, he spotted the familiar windows of the DADA classroom, not that far above him. Ignan might still be around; if not, he could get into the halls from there. He could also hide in Ignan's office til the halls were officially empty...

He started flapping his wings, hard, going for a running leap. He struggled into the air, swerving in the wind, and after bouncing off the stone wall he crashed into the window's outer ledge with a grunt of pain. The ledge was just thin enough to keep him on it, but - having looked down and realized that it was, in fact, a decent drop - it wasn't wide enough to keep him out of the wind. He leaned against the window, trying to get it to open.

It didn't budge. He hit it harder with his shoulder, the repeated whack whack whack vibrating the glass.

Finally, he gave in, and struck out sideways with a hoof as he threw himself against the glass. The window finally gave way, opening with a shower of broken glass, and Tapendra fell into the classroom, landing among the long pew desks with a crash and a yelp of pain.

What by Merlin?

Ignan had his wand drawn, pointing at the creature that had just burst through the window of the classroom. He had only just got rid of the students, and had been searching for a book for the afternoon before leaving for some lunch when the noise at the window had begun.

Had Hagrid brought some weird and wonderful cross-breeds to the school without him hearing about it?

"What are you?" He asked, with confusion, ready to cast whatever it took to subdue the beast until it could be identified. The September breeze came in the broken window and the sunlight glinted in the glass around it.

Stepping forward, he peered at the horse, with its miniature wings. It looked somewhat familiar, in a very odd sense.

Tapendra tried to haul himself to his feet, hooves slipping on the glass. He was becoming aware he'd gotten himself cut in places, and the sharp pain wasn't doing much to cheer him up.

Nor was the wizard coming at him with his wand drawn. Thankfully, Tappy recognized him, but it took a few moments for Tapendra it realize why Ignan didn't recognize him in return. Until it clicked, he looked up at Ignan with a wide eyed mix of fear and confusion, ears drooped.

"It's me," he said finally, flapping his wings to get him to his feet. He looked down at himself, folding his wings against his back. "Even if it - if it doesn't look much like it," he added, a little more uncertainly.

Grinding a hoof into the glass, he looked sheepish....well, as sheepish as a horse could manage. "Sorry about your window," he said. "I was trying not to be - not to get seen."

The horse-like creature seemed to understand his questions as it looked up and then its ears drooped to either side.

"It's me," The beast spoke, and Ignan's wand twitched as he recognised the voice. It flapped its wings, and hooves scraped on glass and stone as it got to its feet, the remnants of glass falling to the floor with a tinkle.

The horse looked down at himself, and folded its wings, while Ignan's wand steadily began to lower as the older wizard stared in confusion.
"Even if it - if it doesn't look much like it... sorry about your window, I was trying not to be - not to get seen."

Ignan's wand lowered completely, though remained between his fingertips.
"Why, whatever have you been up to?" He enquired of Tapendra, making a slow circle around his colleague and good friend. "Is this a successful animagi transformation, a potion - some other transfiguration?"  His boots crushed the class beneath them and he stepped a little closer to Tapendra as he reached the front again.

"I take it you were trying not to be seen because the transformation has become somewhat permanent and is of your own making?"