(Charms) Team 1 (An unconventional lesson)

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Professor Dan Hubbles raised his wand and with a small flick and a wide grin the illusion charm he had placed over the roof disappeared and the first stage of the course was reviled.

Before each of the teams is a thin beam which could only fit one person across at a time, try to march too many across at once the beam may snap or you may slip and it is a very long way down to the bottom. As you reach the other side you met your first task.

In this area the walls are high around you , creating almost a boxed in feeling, but in the distance you see the walls soon end and a clear view of the castle grounds can be seen and at the very end sitting on the table is a metal case glistening in the sunlight. There is something about this section of the roof which does not seem right. The tiles seem to be shimmering different colures, almost as if spells and enchantments have been cast upon them. Just before this mystic section of roof a note has been stuck on the wall, waving around in the light breeze.

There is only one safe path find it and you will succeed.
Learn from your mistakes and team work will be vital.
The box will be your reward!

OOC: In your post show your characters thinking and interaction with others....at the end of your post tell me what space you are standing/moved onto and I (the one who is nearly always online) will mod your post to say if you are clear or not!

[Laura Parkhurst]

Laura was upset that she wasn't in the same group as Pixle, she had just met her and wanted to spend some time with her. But when the professor waved his wand Laura forgot all about her indignation. She managed to push in front of her group and was the first at the beam. She looked at it and followed it with her eyes to the high walls beyond. Laura loved an adventure and this was certain to be one. She looked back quickly to see how Pixle was getting on but she couldn't see her. Shaking her head, Laura faced the beam again and stepped away from the group and towards the beam.

'Me first,' she said excitedly and took a step onto the beam. It wobbled as she lifted her other foot onto it but steadied when she stood on it, arms outstretched for balance. 'Easy as eating gum drops in the rain,' Laura said to herself. She looked at the group behind her and smiled, then faced forward and walked quickly across the beam. She jumped down into the high walled room and looked around. It was a little stuffy, she thought, but turned back and waved for the other's to follow.

As they came, Laura noticed a note and read it aloud, just because she enjoyed reading aloud and there wasn't anyone around to stop her. ' "There is only one safe path. Find it and you will succeed. Learn from your mistakes and team work will be vital. The box will be your reward!" Alright, let's get going.'

Laura stepped forward and noticed the colour changing tiles. She ed her head, something Aidan often did, and shrugged. 'I'll take 4,' she said. She had always liked the number four, it was her lucky number and whenever she got the chance she choice that. And today was no exception. She put her foot out and stepped onto the tile with the four on it and waited with baited breath to see what would happen.

4 is not your lucky number today!
You have been hit by 'Locomotor Mortis'

[Erys Grace]

Erys wasn't the happiest girl around, with no other Slytherin's on her team. That didn't mean she wasn't going to give in and let Joshua or Angelique win, god no. She was going to cream them as if they were in Hufflepuff, using her wits and her abilities. Appearing disappointed as Hubbles told them not to use any special talents to their advantage, the teenager rolled her eyes, quickly beginning to calculate ways to use her animagus ability to her advantage. She wouldn't be able to change into a cat infront of everybody, but maybe the reflexes could come in handy.

"Okay, someone keep track of the numbers we've tried." Erys said after Laura read the note allowed, peering at the boxes with skeptical eyes. Did the wrong ones jinx you if you stepped on them? What did the right ones do? Bah, they would have to work together for this, of course. The stress of it all might've been less, had there been more of her house on her team. But no, it was just her, and the rest of them.

Pausing her plotting to watch the little Ravenclaw, Erys arched an eyebrow as the girl's legs suddenly locked. "Well, four doesn't work." She declared thoughtfully, drawing out her wand and pointing it at Laura, "Finite Incantatem." Unless there were other magics present, then the locomotor mortis spell should be removed, allowing her to step off the platform. Hopefully that would work. Putting her wand back in her sleeve, Erys stepped forward once Laura came back, wondering which one she should choose. "I'll try six." She remarked, her voice low as she shifted onto the sixth platform. Due to her at least trying to fix the Ravenclaw's problem, maybe someone might help her if she was hit with something as well. Her lucky number was three, but she decided to try this one instead.[/color]

Is it me or do you hear the sound of wings? Hum…Cornish Pixies you may want to get off the square before more come out…..and be careful they do not steal your wand!

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

The sound of wings and evil laughter ring out, and almost as if a sensor had been set off a group of 5 Cornish pixies fly out of a gap that has appeared in the right hand side wall. Their laughter echoes around the small area and they head straight for the people closest to them. The Ravenclaw and Slytherin….two go after the Ravenclaw and the other three after the Slytherin.

There little arms are stretched out waiting to grasp the hair of the girls and give them a nice hard tug and see the water brim in the eyes of their victims. Mindless fun! That is what they lived for.

[Maria Turolia]

Maria watched as the Ravenclaw tried a platform, but was quickly put into a leg-lock charm. She shook her head a bit thinking, as another teammate of hers, Erys, tried a platform of her own. Maria watched closely to see what would happen, noting the platforms that the girl's stood on. As she heard the sound of wings she looked up to see five Cornish pixies flying at the two girls. Quickly she raised her wand looking over at the Ravenclaw, who was pretty much helpless. "Incarcerous!" she shouted raising her wand at one of the pixies, that had just grabbed a handful of hair. She quickly turned to the other, casting the same spell on it. At least if they were bound they wouldn't be able to cause the team any trouble.

Turning quickly she did the same to help out the Slytherin, hoping that the girl would hurry up and get off the platform that had caused the pixies to appear. She walked over to the small, Ravenclaw girl and picked her up off the platform, careful not to step on it herself, and set her aside. It wasn't difficult, since the girl was only a first year, and Maria had never been really good at removing spells that other's had cast so decided that it would probably be best if she didn't even try. She took a deep breath debating over with platform she would try. Maria had always been indecisive, so finally, not being able to choose, she decided to step in the middle of the tiles the other girls had chosen. Since, Erys had tried six and Laura four, Maria walked gently onto number five and closed her eyes waiting for something bad to happen, and wondering who would help her when it did.

Third time lucky! Number 5 is safe…although if you stand on it for too long who knows what might happen…..

[Alexis Heart]

Alexis couldn't help it this whole thing gave her such a rush of adrenaline. She wasn't scared in the least not even of the beam. She simply thought of it as the handle of her broom and she was about to do some death defying move to score a goal for her team. Seeing all the others walk across she knew it was more than possible. Walking over to it she carefully placed one foot on the beam. It shook slightly but not enough to scare her. Soon she put her other foot on it and she slowly but surely made her way across.

Reaching the rest of the team she noticed the colored tiles. So far Laura tried a square and got a leglocker curse put on her. Lucky Maria was there to help her out. Then Erys tried one and cornish pixies seemed to swarm at her from every which way. So far Maria was the only one who hadn't had anything bad happen to her.

Looking at the numbers not chosen Alexis decided that today's lucky number would be one. Standing there she waited wondering what was going to happen to her if she was wrong.

Nope number 1 is not the one for you…in fact the bouncing bulbs that are now vigorous ricocheting from one wall to the other think so too. Becareful they can leave a nasty bruise.

[Laura Parkhurst]

It came out of no where, the spell that pulled Laura's legs together; it knocked her off balance and toppled her over backwards so she landed on her back, staring at the sky. She blinked a few times before she realised what had happened and it took a few moments more before she realised that her legs were no longer bound together. An older Hufflepuff helped Laura up and she smiled at her. 'Thank you,' Laura said, dusting herself off, 'didn't see that one coming.'

She turned and watched the older Slytherin take a block. At first Laura thought she had picked the right block but when the faint sound of wings could be heard, her heart sank and as the Cornish Pixies came at her and the Slytherin, she pulled out her wand, trying to think of a spell, any spell to cast. But she didn't need to as the Hufflepuff girl shot at them and took them all out. 'Well done,' Laura said appreciatively and put her wand away. She watched with interest as two girls took different tiles. The Hufflepuff had it right for after a long moment still nothing had happened but as soon as the Ravenclaw stood on block number one, bouncing bulbs came shooting at them.

Laura ducked low as the bulbs whizzed back and forth, striking wall followed by wall. She soon got tired of watching the bulbs go so she took out her wand and stood up, pointed it at the bulbs. 'Finite Incantatem,' she said and a jolt of power shot from her wand. The bulbs froze in mid air and floated lazily around. 'There,' she said, smiling at the others, 'better.' She looked back to the tiles and frowned thoughtfully. 'So, we know number five is safe. Who's going to try the next row?' She looked around, smiling, expectantly at all around her. She wanted everyone to have a turn.

[Kendal Montgomery]

Kendal's stomach lurched as she looked at the beam. She had horrible balance, she fell a lot. This might not be a good thing. Her hair was blowing all over the place several times into her eyes obscuring her vision. This would not do, not with what she had to do. A ponytail holder appeared in her hand, luckily she always carried on around in her pocket. Taking her hair and tying it tightly making sure it wouldn't blow she took one tremendous deep breath and held it.

Starting to walk across the beam she started and was doing alright before she got to the end though she lost her footing and almost fell but somehow regained her balance. She ran the rest of the way her stomach dropped and she let go of the breath.

The tiles looked simple enough even though kids were having accidents left and right. She just went for it and got to number 2.

Oh painful…..is that a huge bee??? No wait just the Stinging Hex …you best get off that square before it continues!

[Erys Grace]

Locking her jaw as the pixies pursued her, the Slytherin backhanded one away from her hair, snarling under her breath. Leaping back, Erys felt her fingers press against the safety of the main platform, and she relaxed. Perhaps Hufflepuffs weren't completely useless afterall, since one had saved her. Checking to make sure her wand was still safely stored in her sleeve - which, thankfully it was - she brushed herself off, standing next to the other members of her team and thinking quietly. "Alright guys, five is safe. Maria, try advancing on to another block, and we'll make our way on to it one by one." After Maria left five to pick the next one, another member of the team would step on five, then pick a different one. Perfect.

After the girl had chosen the next one, Erys stepped confidently onto the fifth platform, taking only a few seconds to pick which one next. Bunching the muscles in her legs, the Slytherin sprang from her perch, landing lightly yet calmly on the twelfth block, gripping her wand tightly and looking around. Waiting for what would happen next. It wouldn't take her long to manage the jump back, unless a spell had frozen her on the spot, but she was sure her team would help her as she had done for Laura.[/color]

Good jump! And a good choice of platform….nothing happens at all!!!

[Maria Turolia]

Maria's eyes opened after after a moment when nothing happened. She smiled just slightly, before realizing that Alexis had set off another one of the traps. However, the young Ravenclaw, who Maria had helped off one of the platform, pulled out her wand to take care of it. She smiled a bit. At least they were all working together. That was what was important. As long as they could learn from their mistakes this wouldn't take too long.

She nodded slightly as Erys suggested she try another block. Her eyes scanned over them. She looked at the platforms closest to five. Without much hesitation she stepped forward and to the right a bit to land on nine. Immediately after she had stepped onto a different platform she looked over and saw that Erys had stepped on one too. She prepared herself to get back on five if something went wrong on nine.

Well well we are getting lucky….nothing has happened but remember there are many starts to paths.....but they all do not lead the way you want!

[Heidi Sauber]

Heidi walked over the beam after everyone else and stood back, hands on hips looking on at what everyone was doing. Professor Hubbles had set an interesting task for them and he seemed to have been stressing the point about common sense. As everyone started to crack on with the challenge Heidi walked over to the note and read it over and over again trying to extract every bit of information out of it as possible, but she had the added distraction of the rest of her team failing to stand on the right platforms and spells being cast in every direction.
Soon things started to quieten down and they actually seemed to have some luck on what platforms to stand on.

After noticing that almost everyone else in her group had had a bash at it Heidi thought she might as well give it a go, but she planned to use some common sense in it all. She took note of what the sign said and the platforms people had tried already. So following the paths that the others had already discovered to be safe Heidi headed off. First number three, then she stood on platform twelve next to the Slytherin. Looking in front of her she worked out that if there was one safe path across then something had to give.
Looking across to where her fellow Hufflepuff was standing Heidi noticed that they were only two platforms apart, and if there was only one safe path then they must met in the middle at some point.

“I am going for number 18...I want someone else to try number 20. I think the paths will meet at number 24, from there I think we will be back to guessing again.”

Not sure if anyone was actually paying any attention to her Heidi took a deep breath and stood a long stride onto platform 18, not knowing what to expect.

Good choice 18 is safe….but will the other people listen to you?