1995-01-18: Let The Games Begin!

Participants:

Angelina_icon.gif Aston_icon.gif George_icon.gif Ginny_icon.gif Harry_icon.gif Jackson_icon.gif Julian_icon.gif Melissa_icon.gif Rene_icon.gif Siobhan_icon.gif

On Loan Moody_icon.gif

Scene Title Let the Games Begin!
Synopsis DADA in the Forbidden Forest, what could possibly go wrong?
Location Hogwarts Grounds - Forbidden Forest
Date Jan 18, 1995
Watch For Everything!
Logger Moody

It's early January, it's cold, snow is falling, and smaller students find themselves digging their way through the snow drifts, making little trenches. In other words, /perfect/ weather to hold an outside class in. So that's just what's happening. Moody has arranged for his class to meet in the meadow, just outside the Forbidden Forest. This is clearly no usual session as he's also mixed up a few age groups as well. Seemingly unbothered by the cold as he stands in his heaviest cloak, and leaning upon his staff, he waits in clear view for his students to start arriving.

Perfect weather, indeed! Not! "Why outside? In all the snow?" Harry mutter to himself as he trudges through the snow and associated drifts. The cold seems to permeate even the heavy woolen cloak and scarf he is wearing in the red and gold of his house colors. Still, he manages to arrive on time for the class.

Jackson is bundled up, his heavy cloak on over his sweater — which is on over quite a few layers more clothing, the tiny first-year looking a lot more bulky than usual. He makes his way through the snow with an erratic path, going out of his way to carve new paths through any untouched snow drifts he finds. When he reaches the meadow he fidgets antsily, sketching idle patterns in the snow with the handle of his wand as he waits for other students to assemble.

Shrouded in her trademark magenta cloak, Siobhan ambles down towards the meadow in leaps and bounds, flashing a bit of denim with the larger motions. Out of uniform! When she spies the small clump of students and one cranky old professor, she skids to a halt and pushes her hood back. "Hullo, Professor!" she calls cheerily enough. "Don't suppose we get to snowball duel today, yeah?"

One of the younger students who is making his way down towards the meadow is Aston. He is bundled in his best winter cloak as well as his usual clothes. He moves carefully avoiding the bigger snow patches if he can. The first year seems rather excited about the unusual class more than worried about the cold or the weather. He spots the gathering group and makes it over the last of the banks taking a moment to catch his breath.

All bundled up and ready for an outdoor class, complete with stocking cap, gloves and scarf, Angelina makes her way out to the meadow with her small group of friends, of course containing the Dastardly Duo of the Weasley twins. Within the group, they chatter together about what this will be, exactly, and what they are doing after.

It's cold, and Bean doesn't mind. Once again, he doesn't fiddle with the snow, choosing rather wisely to keep his hands in his pockets. He's not really wearing more than just his school uniforms and the thin cloak he ended up buying for himself in Diagon before school. He steps toward the group warily, wondering what's going on. He spots another first-year. "What's on the schedule for today? Anybody know?"

Melissa makes her way through the snow, following closely behind Aston (Gryffindor and Ravenclaw are fairly close after all), clutching her cloak close to herself. One of her housemates had done a little warming charm on her glasses so the snow wouldn't interfere with her vision. Nice forward thinking there.

Not made for snow. Much less snow and cold and ice and- brr. Rene is bundled up like everyone else, save for his heavy cloak being seemingly lined with some sort of fur. Possibly a warming charm, at that. The hood is only half pulled over his head, however, giving him maximum visibility. He despises this weather, and it is always obvious every time he has to go outside. If he didn't have to- well, there is no doubt he would stay in the castle. He follows the rest of the students trudging ahead of him down to the place where they are collecting with Professor Moody, stopping every minute or so to shake packed snow off of his feet not unlike a cat that has stepped in a puddle. Rene also tries to get into the front when he gets there, easily bumping around through the spaces between the others.

Fred and George, complaining loudly about the cold and arguing about who in their right mind would schedule a class out in the freaking /snow/ like this, arrive with Angelina. "What did I hear about a snowball fight?" Fred pipes up, interested. George is fairly quiet, being on the side with Angelina, hand brushing hers on occasion and probably not by mistake.

Ginny is flushed from the cold, her cheeks, nose, and ears bright red. There's a Gryffindor scarf around her neck, and she's wearing a matching sweater, with gloves. She'd left her earmuffs in her room, and the top of her head is bare of a hat. Maneuvering her way around various snowdrifts, Ginny joins the group of students, lifting a hand to wave to those she knows.

"You wish, Noble," Moody says gruffly. "That's enough Weasleys." Once the students are assembled, Moody barks out a greeting, and by greeting, he starts telling the kids like it is. "Today's lesson is going to be a little different from the others. I'm going to test you lot on what you've learned so far in my class. You'll also learn about working together, regardless of your House." He shifts his walking stick so that it's under his arm. Hand now freed, he pulls out several armbands. Some are a bright orange, others a reflective green. "Fourth years and up, step forward and put on one of these green armbands. Third years and below, take and orange. Put them on your arm and they need to stay visible."

Jackson shrugs, straightening up when Bean arrives. "It's Professor Moody," he says cheerfully, "so whatever it is, s'gotta be interesting at least!" He tugs his cloak tighter around himself and bounces slightly on his toes, scooting forward to grab an orange armband.

Melissa follows quietly, taking the next orange band, looking a bit nervous. She'd been thinking more about Potions than DADA so far… could she really make it through this?

Aston gives a glance behind him perhaps making sure the other first year who'd been following him made it alright. He moves forward towards the teacher accepting the right band for his year and carefully places it around his arm glancing around a bit to see if he knows any others who have arrived for the lesson.

Offering a wave to Ginny, Harry listens to the instructions given out. Stepping forward, he takes one of the green armbands for himself. "This should be interesting." he says, grinning as he steps back and placing the band around his arm.

Julian goes up and heads toward the green pile when he realizes the older children have those. "Right," he mutters under his breath, and eyes everyone around him. He spots Harry, and gazes at him for a long moment before moving back. Another young student bumps into him, and he frowns. "Watch out." Aren't they supposed to be working on teamwork here?

Accepting the green band, Siobhan stares at it for a moment in thought. With no intention of removing her cloak, she charms it longer and ties the thing around her head like a hairband. Hey, at least it's visible! And quite stylish too! "Oh there'll be snowballs, Professor." She just knows it. "Rules?"

Angelina glances up at George as he bumps her hand, giving him a look, then a shy smile before turning to listen to the directions. Not a snowball fight then. Darn. That is more Lupin's style though, than Moody's. Stepping forward, she gets a green armband for herself and steps back to put it on.

Rene sidles closer to where the other younger students seem to have congregated, following the line to receive the orange armbands. When he does take one, the boy slips Moody a rather intrigued, somewhat suspicious glance when they are relatively face-to-face, but only long enough for either of those eyes to catch it before Rene turns away again, shifting around under the cloak to put on the band. "With the size of the snowballs all of you make, I'll lose an arm…" He mutters, mostly aside to anyone that happens to be listening.

Ginny raises her eyebrows at Moody's words, but she steps forward quite readily to pick up an orange band. She glances around, noticing Siobhan's choice, and looks down at the orange. No, that would just not work, given her hair. Twisting the cloak so it left one shoulder exposed, she slid the armband on, adjusting it so it was displayed clearly.

"I'm getting to it Noble," Moody growls, but he just might be a bit amused by Siobhan's enthusiasm. "Congratulations. Those of you wearing green armbands, you're now Dark Wizards. Those with orange, you're the good guys," Moody announces in his normal grim tone. "Listen up as I will be laying down some rules. We'll be using the forest, but don't think you'll be getting too far in." At that, he looks deliberately at the Weasleys and Potter. "With Dumbledore's permission I've constructed barriers to keep you lot from getting too deep. If you find yourself in a tight spot or lost, use your wands and throw up red sparks." He lets that sink in for a few moments then barks out, "Dark Wizards, it's your job to take out the good guys. Good guys, you're to stop the bad guys. It's that simple. Be creative, show me what you know. There however, will be no seriously harming of your opponents. If Pomfrey can't fix it, don't do it." Oh dear. "Off with you lot, into the forest. When I throw green sparks into the air, that's the signal to get to work."

Jax's eyes widen as he ties his orange armband into place, and then a bright grin spreads across his face. "Sounds like we may have bigger things to worry about than snowballs," he says to Rene as he turns to face the other first-years. "Madam Pomfrey can regrow arms, right?"

Julian frowns, looking among the younger set of wizards and witches. "Should we have a concerted effort, or should we just ambush 'em when we see 'em?" He's thinking aloud, but not all his thoughts are making it out of his mouth. "Or maybe we should…" He looks around and rubs his chin. "We should wait for them to scatter and then plan." This is the strategist here.

The Weasley twins step forward and get their own green bands after Angelina, George slipping his around his wrist and Fred putting his on like a necklace. And Moody totally shouldn't have given them nearly free reign, Fred and George looking at each other with a wicked expression. He really should have specified wands-only, because surely the twins always have pocketfuls of crap that can be used in situations like this. "Angie, gonna stay with us or are you gonna head out hexin' firsties on your own?" Fred asks, grinning.

"Aye, laddie, that she can. Just ask Potter about bone regrowth." Oh that Moody, such a character, ain't he? "Good guys, get yourselves into the forest. Dark Wizards, c'mere. I need to have a word with you lot real quick."

Aston glances back as the teacher speaks once more. His focus on what's being said. The first year gulps at the sounds of the instructions. "Ah." he says simply to this class rules glancing to his arm band before reaching to his sleeve of his cloak where his wands stored for now, least he remembered to bring it. It's brought to hand and with a nod around to the other good guys before taking his first few steps towards the forest he sticks close to others least for now.

Oh, so she's to be a Dark Wizard then? Well someone has an acute sense of irony. With a glance over at Harry, Siobhan taps him on the shoulder and jerks her head towards their professor. "C'mon mate, let's see what he's got to say." And knowing Moody, it could be anything.

Dark wizard, eh? Harry's not quite sure how he feels about this one, but it's what Moody has planned so it's not like he can protest it. While the others debate strategy, Harry shakes his head. "I'd rather not think about, Professor." he replies to the mention of bone regrowth. "I guess just get it over with. The sooner the better." he adds, feeling the tap and heading towards the professor.

After working at his cloak for a moment, it is clear that Rene is reluctant to slide it back, but he does- and of course, there is a slight shiver to him now, but he's following orders! Plus, it wakes him up quite a lot, considering. "Bean, stop thinking out loud… they'll know all of our ideas." He says, laughing, looking over a shoulder as Moody directs them to go into the forest. "Come on." Rene doesn't really see if they listen to him, but beckons the orange bands along, keeping close to the rest of them as he starts towards the edge of the forest.

Angie's gaze turns on the younger students, and her competitive nature flares. Tomorrow? She might totally feel sorry for the things she does. But today? They are toast. With a grin, she turns with the twins and others to head into the forest. "Nah. I won't charge off alone until we get it down to nearly one on one. Until then, we should fight as a group. Anyone want to wager on how many times one of them throws out an Avis?"

Ginny looks a little startled at this turn of events. Of course, it is Professor Moody, so she's been learning to expect the unexpected. Mentally running over the spells she knows in her head, Ginny withdraws her wand from her pocket and moves closer to Bean, who seems to have a plan.

"Well, we could have a concerted ambush," Jax replies to Bean. He finishes tying his armband and trots off after Rene. "An /organized/ ambush."

Once the 'Dark Wizards' are around Moody, he lowers his voice to what's more like a gutteral growl. What he has to say is for the older students only.

You paged Harry, Siobhan, Angelina, and George with 'I picked you lot as the eldest and hopefully having more common sense than the firsties. I want you lot to /think/ like Dark Wizards in how you go after the younger ones. They don't play fair, they don't duel honestly. Dark Wizards also don't tend to work together. Sure they have common goals, but generally they're after one thing. Their own selves. Make me proud, show no mercy and constant vigilance.'

"With that said, let's hope the kids took advantage of their headstart," Moody announces as he pulls back from the 'Dark Wizards'. Wand in hand, he throws up green sparks as the signal for let the games begin.

"Oh brother, let's not even think of that," George rolls his eyes, "Ginny's probably the only one on that side with half a chance. You watch her, she's going to be tossing out hexes right and left." He stuffs his hand in his robe pocket, as if checking the contents within, and he grins. The older students huddle around Moody and Fred and George crane their heads over the lot long enough to hear what's said, and then Fred is grabbing George's collar, who is grabbing at Angelina's. Let's go!

Melissa follows closely behind Rene. Well, the first spells she could think of from Moody's class were… well, the Unforgivables. Couldn't go around throwing those at people, especially not the "good guys". Not that they'd work anyway. Hmm… what else…

"Have any of you seen wolves hunt?" Rene asks almost brightly, just loud enough for the orange group to hear as they go. He pulls free his wand as they make it deeper into the forest, taking stock of who he is with. Ginny is one he is glad to be around- he knows that she's good. "Split off the weakest in the herd. Methodical hunting. One by one. They will probably try the same. So I don't think we should split up." They are obviously the weaker, and numbers are good in that.

And Siobhan's not far behind. Once this huddle of theirs has broken up, she taps her wrist against her thigh and casts on herself a Notice-Me-Not Charm. Not nearly as good as her brother's invisibility cloak, but it'll get the job done. Probably. Now suitably disguised, she moves quickly into the forest. Now where are those wascally wabbi - kiddies?

"Well, we know protego." Staying alive is half the battle in Bean's mind. "What are our advantages? We're little and fast. They're big, and know more. How do we defeat that? Didn't we learn some stunners?" Bean is reviewing all the coursework in his mind, and planning. "We could do that, or we could break up into small groups and do some 'hit-and-fade'… depends on their tactics…"

Aston nods looking towards the others. He looks around the forest but when he speaks it's in lowered whispers "That'd be best don't let ourselves be drawn to fight one on one." the young Gryffindor looks a tad worried, but holds onto his wand firmly trying to keep in mind what he's learned. "Green sparks."

Ginny begins to muse aloud. "We're smaller, that's an advantage. And probably faster, too," she nods agreement with Bean. "And there are some gigantic trees in the Forest. We can use them as shields and hiding places, don't even need to use our wands. Be creative. Does anyone have anything interesting in their pockets?" Ginny just might have an Idea.

Moody watches the students take off into the forest, his normal eye squinting. He isn't standing there for long before he pulls out his invisibility cloak and throws it on. Cloak in place, wand in hand to cover his tracks and he's off into the forest to observe. Can't let this lot run about unattended, right?

Melissa nods. Hearing Ginny, she pulls out a pack of cards from her pocket. "I have cards…" she says. "Can't do much with them, can we?"

As soon as the green sparks go off, Angie points her wand at the castle. "Accio Broom!" And with that, her first spell is off. Grinning wickedly at her 'team mates', she even waggles her brows a little. The little ones might be faster, but they won't be expecting the attacks to come from above.

"Stick together for now. Stay alert." Rene's voice fades into a whisper, eyeing Ginny and then the paths leading outside the forest, watching. "I have- hm-" He reaches into his collar, digging down and lifting out a chain. There is a familiar ball strung on it- golf-ball sized, golden, divets where wings lie. "This is all." Jewelry. That happens to come alive, somewhat. His head lifts at the first voice that comes to the forest, eyes scanning the horizon of thick tree trunks.

"Are you kidding? Toss 'em in the snow, make little prints to draw their attention away, flick 'em in the face…" Bean lists off the different ways they could use the cards. "And that's without any transfiguration." He's not sure what you'd turn a card into, or how much of it he could do, but it could be done. He pulls out the food from his pocket. "I've got food in my pocket. Good for a distraction…" He scans the area as well, his situational awareness kicking in almost automatically.

Jax's nose wrinkles as he digs in his pockets. "All I have is some chocolate. And — um. Charcoal. That won't be much help unless we need to sketch them." He roots around in his other pocket. "And a die." A twenty-sided die. It is glittery purple. His gaze skims the forest, restless and a little nervous.

Melissa frowns. "But these are *collectible*," she says. "Oh well, if it comes to that…"

Green sparks. Right. That's the start of things. And while at least one seems to go for a broom, Harry instead sets off on foot into the forest. A forest that he's been in countless times before, but each time it's always the same. Gloomy. And as soon as he crosses the threshold it's like any sound from the meadow stops. His breath comes out as a fog as he works his way amongst the trees.

Aston moves his hands to his pockets a moment "Hmm half box of every flavor beans, and some string." he says before glancing to Ginny waiting to hear her idea if they even have the right things for it that is.

Ginny glances up as she sees the green sparks, beginning to speak faster. "Be creative, but careful. Don't waste a spell or something in your pocket. And try to hide as much as possible." She grins at the group, realizing she'd just given a mini pep talk. "If you think you can do it, try. Now go!" With that, Ginny heads for the forest, using a large oak to hide herself as she looked for her first target.

"How long's the string?" Bean wonders. "Long enough to tie between two trees and make a trip wire?" The beginnings of a plan start to ruminate in his mind. "Weasl-" He starts to call out, and then shakes his head. "Alright, I guess she's scout." He gestures to Jax. "How big's that die?"

Moving through the trees, Siobhan makes sure to keep her eyes peeled. Notice-Me-Not's only go so far. There! Up ahead! A small clump of younglings is moving through the forest. Looks like…Bean, Rene, Melissa and maybe one more, but they're mostly blocked by the foliage. Moving around to one side, she kneels in the snow and starts making a small army of snowballs, enchanting them to follow Bean and Rene. Distraction time!

Once her broom arrives, Angelina hops on. Only she doesn't head straight into the woods. She heads over them. Keeping in mind the barrier that was promised, she doesn't go too far pver the top, maybe 50 yards or so, before turning her broom downward, hoping to come down through the trees and push the little ones into a sandwich between herself and the others coming in the woods behind them.

Jackson holds up the die on the palm of his hand — a standard sized d20. "Not big. Hard enough, I guess, if it hit someone in the head at very high speeds." He shrugs, fingers closing around the die. His other hand grips his wand tight.

"Maybe deeper in the trees closer together." Aston offers the string to the other before moving a bit further in from tree to tree. The first year stops after a moment glancing up and getting an idea. He motions to any of the others watching the snow filled trees and mimes the snow falling down ontop of one of the older students or a group if they can be collected.

As Angelina accios her broom, George rolls his eyes again. So much for sticking together! But he grins, taking a few round things out of his pocket. Fred takes a page out of Angelina's book and heads off on his own, probably setting traps along the way. George spots someone with a green arm band as he stalks deeper into the forest and pulls out some of the balls and alights them with is wand, throwing them at the "good team" - and now someone on that side has a miniature lightning, thundering raincloud following them around overhead. Oh my.

BAMF. Snowball. Rene gets beaned right in the back of the head, letting out a cry of surprise. But instead of turning around to see what it was, he ducks behind a tree, another one of Siobhan's snowballs catching him in the leg. "Fire in the hole!" Well, if it tells everyone what's going on—

Walking through the forest alone probably isn't the best idea, Harry. But, there is a barrier, so maybe the more unsavory elements of the forest are kept out, just like they are kept in. The sound of branches cracking is cause for him to glance in the direction of the sound. Squinting, he can barely make out the form of some second year students who are apparently trying to build a fortress in the snow an barricade it with shielding spells. Ducking quickly behind a tree, he leans around the side of the tree and extending his wand. Narrowing his eyes, he starts running through offensive spells that dark wizards might use. He could stun them. Or….as he thinks more a haze starts to set over his thoughts.

Melissa ducks behind another tree near Rene as the snowballs start coming. With all the things flying about a spell settles into her head. Swish and flick, she thinks… "Wingardium Leviosa!" With this, one of the flying snowballs stops its flight and instead hovers beside Melissa, where she can pick it up with her other hand. "Saves the trouble of making my own…"

As Rene gets hit, Bean instinctively casts a protego. Partially because he doesn't know what his friend is getting hit with, and partially because it's just smart. He stops his shield when he sees it's just snowballs. Aston's idea has merit though. "Wingardium Leviosa." He tries to incant the spell as quietly as possible, lifting up a clump of snow and looking around for someone to … Oh. Angelina's on a broom behind them. He deftly manuvers it behind her, and attempts to hit her on the back of the head, or better, on her neck. Moving targets are difficult, though.

Ginny peers out from behind her tree just in time to spot Harry. She grins, rubbing her index finger over her wand before she pulls it out, and lets out a cry of, "Mucus Adnauseam!" So much for stealth. It's effective, though, or so she hopes. Unless Harry dodges in time, the result will be an attack. Of bogeys.

Keeping silent and under his cloak, Moody continues silently observing. The kids are on their own (unless something HORRIBLE happens), so he's not about to interfere or mutter hints. He's trying to not think too harshly about their methods. They /are/ kids afterall. Start small with the learning and all.

As soon as she hears that exclamation of 'fire' in someone's hole, Siobhan steals forward and spies her targets moving towards shelter. "Aguamenti!" she hisses, shooting a fountain of water from the tip of her wand onto the snow to the right and then swings wide left. Hopefully it's cold enough to freeze soon. There's another murmured spell and suddenly a large, fierce-looking silvery hyena is charging towards that clump of children, snapping it's jaws and moving to herd them towards that freezing patch of water.

With Aston running deeper into the woods, unfortunately, it is him that Angelina sees first. Unfortunately for him, that is. Wand out already as she stick on her broom, she goes easy on the poor firstie. "Expelliarmus!" Poor kid can't case with no wand, right? A snowball? They threw a snowball at a girl that takes bludgers? Angelina takes the hit with it, not bothering to block it.

Aston takes a moment to think of what do try first. He leans to the side around the tree he's hiding behind to get an target. He looks about on the ground finding a rock. The first year flicks his wand speaking clearly but as low as he can "Wingardium Leviosa." with this he tries to flick the rock to hit a tree behind one of the older students so they'll turn around to check it. His wand remains pointed encase it works, though unlucky he didn't count on air attack his wand flips from his hand and lands with a *thwuump* in the snow. He rushes forward trying to get it back.

Ghostly hyena on one side, Angelina on the other… only one way out. "I'm jacking that broom," Melissa says quietly to her friends with a determined look, trying to dodge the hyena while she thinks of something that would get Angelina off the broom… Weird spells even… that's it! She rounds a tree and points her wand towards Angelina. "Ta… Tarantallegra!" she calls, hoping her little stumble over the word didn't ruin it. It'd be hard to control a broom while your legs were dancing uncontrollably wouldn't it?

Rene keeps behind the tree, up until he's bathed in the glow from something else after the jet of water whishes past the trees. He turns with his wand at the ready, towards that glowing form of a hyena. He smirks to himself, stepping out from behind that tree and from the looks of it, taking what others might see as a ghoul- head on.

His wand lifts, aiming past the Patronus towards Siobhan. "Expelliarmus!"

Jax ducks for cover behind a tree, scooping up snow to make a snowball of his own. He blinks as the hyena bears down on them, and, rather reflexively, flings his snowball at it. He does dash away from it — but sideways, rather than towards the frozen water. His gaze skitters around, looking for the source of the attacks. "/Locomotor Mortis/," he tries, aiming at Siobhan at the same time as Rene does.

Aaagh. There's a silvery… thing chasing him. Julian runs right toward the wet spot, but fortuitously for him, the air isn't quite wet enough to freeze it all the way. It does clear a spot on the ground, though, melting the thin patch of snow long enough for Bean to see a stick. He yanks it out, and looks at the string Aston gave him. Tying one end of the string to the stick, the other one gets tied to the die. He swings it around, testing it. It might work in a pinch. He sticks it in his pocket. "Go for it," he nods, agreeing with the broom-jixer.

Lost in his thought process, Harry isn't aware of the incoming curse until he moves out more from behind the tree to cast his own curse. That's when the bogeys make a *splat* on the tree. Whipping his head around, there's a scowl on his face as he searches for the caster. Spotted! Well, almost. The flash of red hair is all he sees. "Weasley!" he growls, pulling his wand back in preparation to cast a his own curse. But as the arm comes down it stops just before the point it would be pointing at the red-haired attacker. As if there was some resistance going on.

"Protego!" Siobhan cries, throwing up a strong shield and waiting it out, surprised that not one, but two children saw through her Notice Me Not. Thinking she may have botched the first casting, she repeats it and whips her tiny wand out towards Jax. "Serpensortia!" This one she definitely hisses, watching for an instant with true satisfaction as a Very Angry Cobra slithers and hisses threateningly at the boy. Staying low to the ground then, she's on the move again, aiming for a big tree near Bean and crying a Reducto! at the thing before moving on; the idea is to never stay in one place long enough to be caught.

Moody frowns to himself as his fake blue eye zips and whizzes around in the socket, tracking students in turn. When he catches sight of Potter's … hesitation … he frowns even further. Looks like Potter was gearing up for something, then nothing. That's not good. He'll be sure to check on Potter regularly, then his eye continues roaming again as he maneuvers amongst the trees, staying out of the way of the kids.

With her first spell, Angie would know that the others would realize she was in the air. She casts her own shield, a strong Protego, protecting her from the dancing spell as she twists around between the trees to circle back on Poor Aston. Finish one off before moving on to the next. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Julian may not have seen his fellow snake, but he sure heard her. No matter where she's coming from, incanting those spells gave her away. Although his knowledge of Latin helps him understand the possibilities of what might happen to him when she aims the reductor near him, he scampers out of the way, moving just in time to avoid the huge tree. Well, most of him avoided it, anyway. The trunk lands on the corner of his cloak and robes, sticking him in place. He attempts to turn toward the attackers, but really can't do much more. He's unhurt, but immoble, for the most part.

Guilt and triumph mix together in equal measure as the spell connects with Harry. Ginny's lips purse, and she rubs the base of her palm over her forehead in thought. She could continue to cast at Harry, or stay and lurk. As the crying of spells in various voices comes to her ears, her decision is made for her - it sounds like her comrades are in trouble. She is a Gryffindor, after all! Careful not to make a sound as she moves towards the clump of students, she begins to fire spells. "Petrificus Totalus! Tarantallegra! Locomotor Mortis!" These are fired at Siobhan and Angelina - on a broom?! - with fierce determination. If they miss, at least it'll give the firsties time to escape.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Jackson squeaks, and then repeats it, actually remembering to /aim/ at the snake this time, getting it into the air. And now he has a Very Angry /Floating/ Cobra, that he doesn't seem to quite know what to do with. He backs away, wand still trained on the snake.

Melissa frowns. She blocked her awesome idea so easily! At least Ginny was giving it another shot… She kept behind her tree, pondering what to do next.

Aston luckily finds where his wand went, unluckily he has to stick his hand and part of his arm in the deep snow to retrieve it. The first year finds his feet again and regaining cover behind another tree. He is keeping an eye on the sky now that he's seen what's there. The next spell he's able to move around the tree in time the spell striking where he was splintering some of the wood there. He hears Ginny's spells and creates crossfire calling "Locomotor Mortis." with his wand aimed at the airborne threat.

It wasn't so much knowing anyone was there- just that Rene took the direction of the Patronus' advancing to his advantage. It is no surprise when the cast is flicked away, but now with Siobhan's retaliation, at least he knows what direction to stay away from. And then, of all things- he finally notices the green-band on the broomstick. "Take the one up there!" He says this to anyone, really- hopefully more than one actually takes it to heart.

He pauses behind a tree with Angelina in his sights and decides to follow his own tip. No use trying any hunting techniques anymore, it's on. Ironically, he uses the very thing they were joking about, aimed at Angeline. And a bit of something else. "Avis!" Rene is small, but this spell is somewhat of a booming voice for him, followed immediately by another. "Oppugno!"

A flock of black birds virtually explodes out of his wand, flapping wildly into the air, suddenly angry. And hellbent on attacking the witch in the air.

The scowl on Harry's face disappears for a moment as he hesitated. It /was/ Ginny. Standing perfectly still for a moment, he looks almost….confused. Was he really about to…no, he couldn't have been. But then off to the side, a second year goes running by and tries to hit Harry with a leg locker curse. That only works if you maintain line of site. But it's enough to make the scowl return as Harry now sprints through the woods searching for a target. The sound of Jackson's words are the first to hit his ears and without thinking he spins, levels his wand, and shouts 'EXPELLIARMUS!'. The force of the incantation, as well as wand motion, is more than he would have ever intended in his right mind as the spell speeds towards the first year.

"Well shit," Siobhan curses as her legs start wibbling and wobbling underneath her. A quick Finite soon gives her control back, but there's a residual shaking still in her legs as she crouches down to the ground for cover. Bean's predicament is noticed and she grins wickedly. "Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerus!" A double-whammy, then. Oh look, there's Melissa just standing there all on her own. "Oppugno!" Fired right towards the young one. The gloves are OFF now.

Julian is content to listen for now, storing away the spell names and their effects in his intelligent mind. Bean may learn more just by watching these spells used than by a lot of his extra reading. He attempts a feeble struggle against the fallen trunk, but is blocked by another tree. As his wardrobe isn't that expansive, he just leans back, deciding to do something a little different. He gets the makeshift flail out of his pocket, and levitates it into the air, spinning his wand in circles. It'll keep those 'evil wizards' away from him, at any rate.

Jax's attention is focused on the floating cobra in front of him; he doesn't have time to respond to Harry's spell at all before it hits him squarely in the chest. The tiny firstie lets out a startled (and rather pained) squeak as the spell sends his wand flying out of his hand and /him/ flying back to thud hard into a nearby tree before dropping heavily into the ground. His wand lies on the ground to his left — and to his right, the long rosewood wand split into two pieces. The snake falls to the ground.

Holy crow. Apparently, Angie drew more attention than she meant to. But that is okay. If they are attacking her, it means they aren't looking for the others. Which means the others can attack. Luckily, she is a quidditch player. Angie wraps her legs around her broom, determined to not lose it, no matter what, as she casts another Protego as she lowers herself onto the broom, making a smaller, slimmer, more streamlined target. Most of the spells miss her, and as an Avis is called, Angelina laughs, announcing.."ONE." Yes. She's actually counting them. The attack of the birds catches her off- guard, however. She buries her face in her arm, and turns the broom upwards, nearly straight up out of the trees, getting out ahead of the birds so she cast a Reducto back at them.

"Stupefy!" Moody says in a forceful command as he aims his wand at Harry from beneath his invisibility cloak. After that spell's fired off, his wand aims skyward and produces bright red sparks and he booms out, "TIME'S UP."

Wand still leveled in Jackson's direction, Harry is totally oblivious to Moody's spell until *WHAM* it hits him. Thrown backwards, he comes to rest in a burrow dug in the snow by his path of travel. "What the…" he starts, glancing around as if not exactly knowing what hit him and pushing himself to his feet. Bad idea, as his head is pounding and the result is vertigo and a momentarily wobbly Potter. Who happens to be holding his head right where the scar can usually be found.

Aston misses, and looks back to those around him on the ground not to be caught off guard hopefully. The first year looks towards the red sparks and lowers his wand to his side. The young Gryffindor moves around the area where action has been helping those on his team and not at least helping them to their feet and making sure they are okay before he begins to head back out.

Having left Angelina to deal with a flock of dark birds(they get hit with the shrinking charm, and most of them keel over, save for a few determined ones. Which are now tiny and still chasing her), Rene turns to help Bean- but whoa, Nelly! There are spells already on the way. When he is making for where Julian is stuck, he accidentally turns fast enough to intercept Siobhan's spells. The first- Rene yelps in surprise when his body locks up. His eyes are on Bean, just as surprised. And then, the ropes she cast right after wind around him like a snake of its own type.

Rene has enough endurance to teeter on his toes, hop once, and then BLUMF. Face down in the snow, cloak hem and hair puffing up as he smacks into the drift.

Ginny is about to ready another spell, her wand brandished, when she spots the red sparks. Somewhat warily, she tucks her wand back into its pocket in her cloak, and looks around the forest, assessing the damage or lack thereof. It's then that she notices Harry stupefied, and she darts over to him as he stands back up. Offering her shoulder for support, she murmurs, "Are you okay?"

Melissa has her wand ready as soon as she spots Siobhan moving to attack. "Ah- Protego!" she calls, creating a puny little shield that nonetheless seems to work. "Oh… it's over…"

Moody stomps towards Potter, the cloak's hood falling from over his head. AUGH. Floating disembodied head of Alastor Moody! The man glowers down at the teen, not that his face isn't normally stuck that way, then he fires off a series of 'infinite' to cancel out other spells running amok. "Everyone, over here," he orders, as he casts up some stationary colored flames to act like flares. Blue eye whizzes over Potter, before raking over those joining in, before stumping over to Jackson, "You alright there, laddie?"

Running towards those flares - and leaping over the odd log - Siobhan jogs to a stop next to her professor. She's winded and flushed, but she does offer a hand up to Harry, should he want it. Moody's concern doesn't extend to help standing, it would seem.

Julian can't get over there. He stands there, looking for all the world like he's being rebellious. But he's really not. "Sir…" He calls, having dropped his flail just over … there. He'll be patient.

Angelina doesn't make the birds smaller. Rather, she rids herself of them in a most…explosive … way. They weren't /real/ birds after all. They were spell birds. It isn't like they had little babies in little nests. When the red sparks go up, she flies back around and down through the trees to rejoin the class.

Melissa follows the others toward Moody. Well, she made it through unscathed… but didn't do much of her own. It would have been awesome if she'd been able to take Angelina off her broom though…

Jax is rather winded and extremely dazed as he looks up, blinking in confusion. "Er —" He attempts a smile, but it is somewhat pained as he struggles to his feet, stiffly. There will definitely be bruises there. "Yessir. I'm —" He flicks a bemused glance in Harry's direction, then looks back at Moody, nodding. "Yessir. I'm good. Thank you." He stoops, still stiff, to pick up his wand — and looks rather crestfallen when he only finds half of it, sticking upright in the snow. "Oh. Dear." His nose wrinkles.

"I…I think so." Harry answers, his head still reeling from everything that just happened. As his head is hung over, he spots his wand on the ground and reaches down to pick it up. Whoa…vertigo galore, and he starts to teeter a bit before snagging it. Using the offered shoulder, he manages to straighten himself back up. That's when he spots Jackson. "What happened to Jackson?" he asks, glancing between the two closest people. Ginny and Sio.

Aston helps another first year over to the meeting spot through the forest though rather close already before looking around for others that might need his help. The young student stops close to the group waiting for the teacher to speak about the class though he was worried, it was a very interesting lesson and in truth fun.

The first thing Rene does when the ropes and locking charm dissipate- is spit dirty snow out of his mouth. The second thing is a string of French cursing and dusting hands. He pushes himself up and makes his way to the trunk that has Bean pinned, standing on the opposite side and leaning over it. "Are you okay? Did it only get your robes? Professor Moody-" Rene calls over his shoulder, just in case.

"Well…" Sio looks a little helpless. "I was sorta watchin' my own arse, but… Well I think you happened to him, mate." Way to be tactful, Sio. She looks concerned with his dizziness and vapid nature. "What'd you get hit with, anyway?"

Moody doesn't seem bothered that his head is all that's visible. He claps a hand to Jackson's shoulder as the boy is up and about. "Alright, come along laddie," he says in an almost kind tone as he steers the student back to the group. "I saw some creativity out of you lot today, that's good. Today may have felt like playtime, and that's okay for now. This was just a baby step amongst yourselves. This term, I won't be as easy on you lot as I was last term. Your final may be similar but in a larger scale to what we just did." As he speaks, he stumps over to where Julian is pinned and assists the student out of his predicament. "What you lot just did, is child's play compared to the real world."

"Yeah, just my robes." Bean responds to the other small boy, and then stops to listen to Moody's words. Child's play? He's got a long way to go. This lesson has only increased his determination to learn more. "I didn't want to tear them," he whispers to Rene. "Since I only have the three." He tries to turn to see the professor more. "How is he doing that?" He does ask his roommate that question. "The floating head thingy?"
Melissa has disconnected.

Ginny smiles reassuringly at Harry, murmuring, "I'm sure you didn't mean it." Someone's gotten a tad more comfortable with someone else, it seems. Then Moody begins to speak, and Ginny turns her attention to the Professor. She nods, her face growing serious.

"Yes professor." Aston says as he brushes snow off where he can pulling his cloak back around him to gain some of his warmth back at least until he can change back up at the castle. He side glances towards the older students a bit closer before back to the professor.

"For today's participation, each House is awarded twenty points. Your homework assignment is this, I want an essay, /two/ rolls of parchment long. The essay will be about what you did today, and how you might have done it differently." Moody eyes each member of the class gathered, and as if to answer Julian.. he removes his invisibility cloak and folds it up. "Now off with you lot, go see Madam Pomfrey for some pepper-up potion or she'll have my head. Mr. Holland, come see me in a bit and we'll see to your wand. Not much we can do for it I'm afraid, but we'll do what we can. Potter? You're with me."

Jax limps along at Moody's side back to the group, rubbing at the back of his head where it hit the tree. "… on a larger scale?" His nose wrinkles, but he looks intrigued. His eyes widen when the invisibility cloak comes off, and he nods when Moody addresses him. "Yessir." He flicks another glance at Harry, thoughtful, as he tucks his broken wand back into his robe.

Awww. It was just starting to get good! Angelina stands there with her broom, listening to the instruction given. Her nose wrinkles up at the thought of the paper, already having figured out what she did wrong. "Why did you stop it so soon? Next time, we will go longer?"

Wait, he did that? "I don't even remember doing that." Harry answers, shaking his head. "The last thing I remember is entering the forest. And then…finding myself in the snow." As he catches Jackson's glance, he tries to convey 'I'm sorry' with his own look. The professors words are overheard, but just barely. "Maybe I should go see Madam Pomfrey."

"I know." Rene responds back in a whisper, listening to Moody. That is a reason he didn't just cut Julian loose. And only when Bean asks about it does Rene actually notice that most of the teacher is missing, and he blinks, and the cloak comes off in a few more moments. "Looked like an invisibility cloak…" The blond murmurs to his friend now, making sure that he is in one piece. He glances towards Angelina with a hovering smile, heading off towards the path and lastly looking at Bean to make sure he's coming.

Moody's words are brushed aside in favor of closer scrutiny of Potter. "What about all the bits in between?" she asks him. Then something hits her, square in the stomach; she pales. "Harry… You don't remember any weird fog, do you?" Personal experience and remembered fear cloy up her stomach.

Julian nods, shaking himself and checking himself over. "Thank you, professor," he calls to the retreating man, and turns to Rene. "There is such a thing?" An invisibility cloak. "I bet they're bloody expensive."

Moody throws a look at Angelina as he turns to steer Harry off with him. "You'll be seeing Pomfrey soon enough. We have a stop to make before then." A stop meaning, Professor Dumbledore's office. There is something to /discuss/. "That's something we'll be discussing Miss Noble. Now, to Pomfrey, all of you, unless you want to turn into icicles out here."

What?? He flipped on the 'competition' switch! You can't just turn that off! Angie turns however, and heads back into the school, carrying her broom and grumbling. He got her all worked up and fired up, then wants her to just…stop?

Jackson flashes a friendly grin at Harry — he's okay, no worries! He lingers near the other first-years as the class starts to disperse. "Did you see that? I mean, his cloak. I haven't seen anything like /that/ before."

"Yes." Rene confirms for Julian, smiling at Jackson as he falls back with them while walking towards the edge of the forest. "They are very rare cloaks. I am not surprised that Professor Moody has one. I would be more shocked if he did not."

Ginny glances over at Harry, her brow furrowing. She gives him a pat on the shoulder - more friendly than tender, but it's something! - and a brief smile, before she begins to make her way over to Angelina. Gently taking the older girl by the elbow, she tries to steer her back to the castle. "C'mon, Angie. You're turning blue."

A stop before Pomfrey? To Harry that can only mean one thing. And a load of questions at that. Shaking his head at Sio, he responds, "No, I don't. It's just….blank." Almost like someone erased that section of memory. Slowly, he follows alongside Moody, looking back only long enough to give Ginny and Sio a half-smile.

Moody's warning goes completely unheeded; Sio's determined that Harry is part of her weird 'family' of friends - on his own merit now as well as being Siri's family - and that means she watches out for him. Well, as much as she can anyway. With that in mind, she marches right on up alongside Moody, sticking close to Potter in case something should happen again. Even without the fog, mind-tampering NEVER means anything good.

Aston turns around his back to the forest now. He looks for the path he took on the way here and begins tromping through the snow back towards the castle and the warm common room for a change of clothes.

Julian looks over at Moody with a little more respect. He's always thought decently of the teacher, but the possession of an artifact like that just brings that estimation up another notch. "Let's get back to the castle, Frenchie, I dunno about you, but I'm getting bloody cold."


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