Okay, this didn't look like it was working. There was another row of ducks coming at her, and Ariadne didn't think all the Revertos in the world would get them all away from her at once. So she tried a different strategy. Ariadne moved away from the ducks and got near a group of other students. If she was standing by herself, then she had the whole row of ducks to fight all alone. If there were others nearby, though, surely SOMEBODY could make the lucky cast.

Ariadne noticed a Hufflepuff girl near her. Esme, she thought her name was. She didn't really take her eyes off the ducks to look at the girl, though. "REVERTO!" she exclaimed.

Why were NONE of the ducks backing up? NONE! "Reverto!" she shouted again, waving her wand just the right way. Or so she hoped. Where were other Slytherins?! Where was the band of snakes she'd pictured at the beginning of the activity?! Instead, she had a band of DUCKS.