Mel knows the name Kirika as one of the first years in her own house. She knows nothing else about her. And she's not sure how she feels about first years covering all her shortcuts around the place.

She slides past him with the gentlest of brushes as she squeezes through the space, and pokes the wand down over the edge.

"About two and a half metres," she says. "Looks like it straighten out again at the bottom."

She then puts her wand in her mouth so it sticks out horizontally at either side, then scoots back in the tunnel a bit to give her room to turn around and throw her feet down first.

It's a tightish fit, but that just helps her arrest her fall with her feet, dropping down in three bursts.