Iris looked at the race track that Professor Carlton had set up. The things these professors did to make lessons more fun were just BRILLIANT! Teehee.

With that giddy hop back in her step, Iris dragged her amazing, white wooden horse over to one of the starting spots. Would riding THIS really be much more difficult that riding a real horse? Y'know... because they'd be levatating themselves and such...

Well! There was only ONE way to find out. And that would be SOON.

Iris just hoped she'd be able to control the magical, levatating wooden horse without falling off it.

Because that would hurt. A lot.

The prefect stood at the starting line, with her pretty white horse under her arm. She adjusted her PINK cowgirl hat and then tapped her boots lightly, waiting for everyone else to get into places too. Looking down at her horse, she wondered if she'd be able to give it a unicorn horn... Or pegasus wings.

Y'know... to make it prettier.

Trixie arrived at the Horse Track thingy, still with Cotton Eyed Joe firmly implanted in her mind. She seriously would have started line danced had she sung it out loud. Thankfully she did not. But the Slytherin led out the wooden horses head on a stick, fixed her fluffy cowboy hat so that it was more centered on top of her head and then followed the Professor.

Well this was going to be....well interesting. Instead of Quidditch this year they got, wooden horse riding? Seeing as Trix had her own horses this was kinda, well weird. But she obliged and stood at the starting line ready to set off.

Actually the more she thought about it the funnier she found it. Thhe lessons they had at Hogwarts were certainly unbeatable. No one EVER had funner lessons then they did.

Mmm. He was totally going to rock this race, because he was so epic. Finn wandered along to the white line, petting the head of his nice wooden horse. The horse would suit him nicely. It needed a name. Maybe he would call it Savannah, because it did remind him of her. Hehe. But that was quite mean.
Noww everyone else better hurry up because he wanted to startt noww.

Freya followed Professor Carlton to the Racetrack on the Grounds. She looked around the racetrack and she felt amazed. The racetrack was AMAZING..!!

She walked toward the start line and waited for the next instruction. She wondered if riding the wooden horse would be more difficult then ridding a real horse??She just hoped that she won't fall this time. Her right arm still sore from falling out of her broom in the flying lesson.

Anna had her western clothing and her wooden horse. This was different. Her horse was red with rosewood and a red mane. She went to the starting line and looked around.

Making his way out into the grounds, with his black wooden horse in one hand as he walked, Simon couldn't help having an image of the children's book, Mary Poppins. Levitating horses certainly have the image of a carousel horse mvoing on its own. The gryffindor boy followed the rest of the class, listening as they all seemed to line up near a starting point and he soon joined them, ready for the next activity.

Jayce followed the class and the professor out to the racetrack thingy on the grounds, with his reddish brown horse-on-a-stick in hand. Grinning broadly at the strange wooden thing, he stroked it's coarse, thick, long black mane and scratched it behind it's ears. Jayce decided to treat it like a real animal, because it would make life that much more interesting.

Holding onto the pony with only one hand, (Yes, he was super skilled.) he adjusted the straw hat that rested atop of his head. Hehe. Quickly, making sure that he had a good grip on the wooden horse so that it wouldn't run away, he checked his brown cowboy boots which had gotten covered with dirt on the way over. Oh well.

Jayce walked towards the starting line and attempted to find a space between all the students.

Arya had already been dressed like a cowgirl in her plaid blue shirt and matching jeans with bow cowgirl boots and hat. She was soo ready for this race to start. With her wooden race horse in one hand and wand in the other, she ran over to the starting point.

Still giving her horse a pep talk, Destiny made her way to the grounds. Hmm..they were pretty close to the Quidditch pitch, and she wondered if they's be able to fly the horses. That would be AWESOME! She totally wouldn't fly slow, and maybe Marie and Evelyn will finally get off her case about it.

Finding a spot at the starting line, she removed the horse from her shoulder and gave it's head a little pat.

"Good boy, Renaldo."

A horse with a name is more likely to win, right?

Having raced down to the track with everyone else, Ivory had mananged to procure a decent nice looking wooden horse for herself. One without splinters and that looked well cared for. Just like a real horse.

Smiling at its pearly color with blue mane, she held it close to herself and whispered it words of encouragement. A pep talk of sorts. That's what trainers did after all right?

And a horse trainer she was. Well at least a wooden horse trainer for the moment. Dressed in her favorite faded jeans, boots, flannel shirt, and cowboy hat and bandanna to boot, she felt as prepared as she could be.

This... Kellen wasn't sure how this was going to go. He liked charms, he liked riding, but he hadn't ever thought that the two would come together in such a fashion. That, and he didn't particularly want a certain Hufflepuff to suddenly confuse racing with demolition derby. So he went and stood with another Hufflepuff.

Not one to be a party pooper, Kellen had dressed in plaid, cowboy hat, cowboy boots... really, he was just missing the half-chaps. He hadn't seen any, but maybe that was because he'd waited until the mad scramble for the boxed goods was over. Slung across his shoulders was his horse on a stick, which he had affectionately named Nag.

"Arya." He stood shoulder to shoulder with he and looked down, an amused expression on his face as he 'solemnly' intoned, "This will be a race of legend."

Really, the only way it could be better would be if Sabel were here.

Once at the racetrack Marie took a spot next to Destiny. Was she talking to her horsestick? "You named that thing?" she asked looking at her friend with a funny expression. It's not like naming it would make Destiny fly any faster. Heck if she flew as slow on this thing as she did on a broom then no one would have to worry about losing against her.

Unless...

Marie spooked her horse and it took off like a bullet. She giggled to herself thinking about the look on Destiny's face as her horse took off running, err flying.

Oh, this class could prove to be fun.

Let's get this race started already.

Adeline walked out on to the racetrack. She knew how to ride horses but... not magical ones. Good thing she wore her one brown leather cowboy hat, a pink and brownshirt opened up to reveal a white t-shirt and a pair of brown and pink cowgirl boots. Of course, with her extra-skinny skinny jeans. She got a spot and waited.

Brant took his spot at the start. waiting for everything to happen. He was high up on his horse and ready to go. Brant was wearing a brown cow boy shirt with jeans and boots, all he was missing was the cow boy hat. He just sat there waiting.

Oh my god. Wooden horses !
Fee loved those thing
She got herself a white one with black spots. Oh yay !
This lesson was really fun.
With her horse in the hand and the western clothes on,she approached the start line.
Oh she looked so pretty with her pink cowboy head.
Jiha!

So, perhaps on the way down to the track, she had been glaring at the stick horse thing. Who wouldn't!? It was like...STARING at her! Maybe she should've chose that black one instead. It had eyes to match it's hair stuff so it was barely noticeable.

Following behind Marie and Destiny, she stood on the start line, continuing to glare at the horse she was holding but raising a brow at the fact that Destiny named hers. Renaldo?

That...was a rather weird name for an animal. Weirder than the ones she named her pets. Ehhh. Could they start!?

Pam approched the start line with her brown horse. She was SO excited!! This was the best class ever!!!!!

She looked at the others, and bowed her hat to them.

Fletcher stomped out to the racetrack where Charms class was continuing, holding his selected pony out an arm's distance away. Ugh. This was what you got for being one of the last ones out of the classroom. The bottom of the box. Definitely not the cream of the crop.

But you know what? At least Muffin --- yes, that was the name of his pony --- matched his shoes. Could Stupid Stern over there say the same? No he could not.

So Fletcher plastered a smug smirk on his face and pretended to be incredibly satisfied with his little pink pony. He even stroked its little head and stared around the track proudly.

He was such a good actor.

Evan couldn't believe the creativity of the professors of Hogwarts. They were just brilliant! First a maze at the Arithmancy, then a racetrack at Charms... he'd almost get bored out of the classes. Grinning, he took his place near Iris and gave her a challenging look before patting his beautiful white horse. He knew it was a toy, but still... he tried to get in the mood, y'know.

Iris looked away from where she was staring when she heard someone walk up next to her. Seeing that it was Evan, Iris raised her eyebrow at him, then smiled; matching his challenging grin.

Okay. This was LIKE flying, because they were on sticks and her feet wouldn't be on the ground... but she was controlling the magic, whereas brooms were magick'd by someone else, so she'd be good. And with the look that Evan gave her: She was going to win, too.

Or at least, beat Evan... Losing to someone else, she didn't care about much. But Evan was personally challenging her with that look on his face. So she would beat him. Falling off the wooden horse wasn't even an option.

Iris eyed his choice of wooden horse. Hmm... Very similar to her own. Hers was better though. It has a glittery mane. Hehe.

When it looked as if everyone was all dressed up and ready to go, Lexi turned and headed out toward the grassy area in between both sides of the track. This way, she could see everything that was going on. When she was there, she whipped out an umbrella and used Wingardium Leviosa and Fixate to get it floating in the air. She then grabbed a hold of the handle, pointed her wand toward it, and said, "Locomotor umbrella."

...and she was off, floating around the field on the end of umbrella, the perfect little way to get an eye on every student at all times.

She floated closer to the students.

"When I say go, you'll use the combination of charms we learned in class to get your horse levitated a few feet above the ground, fixed in place where you want it, then moving. I've helped you a bit by charming the horses to keep moving without you having to guide them with your wand. Just use the ropes on the horses to guide them around the tracks," she explained, as she hovered in place, still dangling from the end of her umbrella.

"You'll only float a few feet above the ground, meaning the end of your stick should be no higher than about five feet off the ground," she said. She eyed a few known troublemakers as she said this. "You'll be disqualified and will lose an opportunity to gain house points if you do otherwise. You'll also do well to remember that you shouldn't engage in any shoving or other acts which may injure another student." She looked around for Fletcher, ready to give him a little warning glare.

"Now, you'll encounter several obstacles along the way, so be watchful and ready for those. You never know when they're coming, but when they do, just steer your horse to the side or use a school-appropriate charm to get the object out of your way," she continued. "You must make it around the track five different times in order to complete the challenge (OOC: at least five different posts)." When you hear me announce that the race is over, just point your wand at your house and use Finite to end all the charms. Just remember to slow your horse down first and also try for a graceful landing, please."

"Racers, assume starting position--in other words--

GET READY....SET...

GO!"

OOC: Please read these rules before beginning.

Alice walked up to the start line, making sure she had some moving space between her and the people next to her. She thought this was a fun and exciting way to practice this charm, but she wasn't very confident in her flying abilities so to speak. After all she did nearly plummet to the ground from very high up in her first flying lesson, and well, her fear of heights had not decreased one bit.

She looked at her horse and decided that perhaps he needed a name. "All right Anna Bell, you ready for this?" she asked the horse with a bashful smile. Yeah...it was completely normal to talk to her horse.

Alice listened to Professor Carlton give directions, admiring her Mary Poppins like appearance. She was glad to hear they would be steering with the horse and not their wands.

On the sound of Go! Alice pointed her wand at the horse, swished-and-flicked while saying, "Wingardium Leviosa!" She carefully allowed herself to rise to the appropriate height the Professor had given them which thank the heavens above was only a couple of feet before she said, "Fixate."

"Alright...here we go," Alice whispered to herself before saying, "Locomotor Anna Bell!"

And on her way she was!

Brant pointed his wand at his horse and yelled "Wingardium Leviosa" while swishing and flicking his wand. He felt his horse and himself rise a little bit. He didn't want to do the next part yet for he wanted to wait for other students to see if they needed any help.

Watching Professor Carlton charm an umbrella to have her float in the sky to watch the proceedings, Simon couldn;t help but laugh at the image of said book character she portrayed. Mary Poppins indeed.

Simon listened as the professor explained the rules, waiting until she said go to do all the enchantments needed for the race. "Winguardium Leviosa!" he cast on the wooden horse, getting it hovering much like a quidditch broom. "Fixate," he added before swinging his leg and getting atop the horse himself. Once settled safely he added the last.

"Locomotor horse!," he called taking off as he guided the 'reins.'