So they could keep the balloons? Alright, that was good. Hopefully his balloon wouldn't launch itself at him at the speed of light.

Ahem. Back to class. He continued listening to Airey explain the activity that hey were going to do. Helic Umtus? They had to practice that spell now. Alright. Here went nothing.

He figured that he ought to practice the incantation and wand movement before putting everything together. "Hel-ic um-tus," he said and then repeated it again and again. Yes, yes, that was it! Well, he was saying it in his broad Australian accent so it sounded a little different but it still seemed right. "Helic umtus!"

Okay next was the wand movement. He flicked his wand a little too much the first time. No, no, no- that was all wrong! He paused and tried to remember how Airey had done it. Taking a deep breath, he gave a subtle flick. Much better. He practiced that a couple more times. Okay time to put it ALL together.

He held onto the opening of the balloon with his right hand. Then with his left, he pointed his wand at the balloon. "Helic umtus!" he said as he made a subtle flick with his wand. The balloon started filling up. Perfect. All of a sudden, he lost grip of the balloon and it went flying around the room. His blue eyes widened. "WATCH OUT!" he cried to the people near him, hoping that it wouldn't hit anyone.

Oh dear Merlin. THE END OF THE WORLD WAS UPON THEM. EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! This was like the Ilfracombe incident all over again. This time, the dragon was the balloon, Simon was a muggle, and the Toke family was nowhere in sight.

And then it softly smacked him in the face and knocked him over.

So maybe he had overreacted just a little bit? He eyed the balloon as it was some sort of deadly creature come to hurt him. He didn't trust balloons- they had a mind of their own. Sheepishly picking up the balloon, he held it in his right hand and began filling it again. He made sure to hold onto the balloon firmly this time. Once it was the size of a nice, juicy watermelon, he cast, "Finite." Noticing that it was a little too big, he sucked out a little helium and made him sound like a chipmunk. "Sorry," he said in a high pitched voice as he chucked. Phew. That was a close one.