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potterobsessionist · 09-23-2017, 05:23 PM

Text Cut: Individual replies <3

Text Cut: Maddie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Maddie wasn't quite sure what to think of this lesson at first. One second, carpet racing was against the law, but the very next second after that, the professor was striking out the law and balling up a piece of paper. So...was it against the law or not? ... Apparently not, because they were getting their very own flying carpet, and Maddie could just SEE carpet races in her future...her very near future! She skipped over to the pile of carpets and choose the prettiest one she could find! Well, none of them were what she'd call pretty, but Maddie was able to see a lot of potential in the one she chose.

She tossed it onto the ground and straightened it out before her. "UP!" she said, but the carpet just laid there like a bump on a log. "UP!" she said again, causing the carpet to rise a few inches, shake a little, and then fall down again. Maddie sighed and straightened out the caret a second time. "UPPPPPPPPPPPPP!" she said, drawing out the word as long as she could. Oh, great. She'd chosen the broken one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Why did she always have to try everything three or four times...or more...to get it right? Sometimes it seemed like everybody around her was getting things so much faster. Maybe she was just always near too many upperclassmen? Where were the other little ones? Maybe they were having just as much trouble as Maddie was. She looked down at her magic carpet, spread out on the ground once again and just sitting there and daring her to move it.

"UP!" she called out to it, and she raised her hand in command but still, nothing happened. "UP!" she said again. The magic carpet quivered a bit, rose an inch, and then slumped back down to the ground. "I DID IT!" she exclaimed. Well, not fully, but she'd actually caused the carpet to do what she was commanding it to do. It just didn't go as high up as she needed. Oh, and it also fell back down to the ground. She would get this, though! She WOULD be participating in those magic carpet races!

”Well done, miss Kemp! Well done!” The little first year managed to at least get a hovering reaction from the carpet. And it made him proud. He puffed his chest out and looked over at the man from the Board. Did ya see that? DID YA?

Text Cut: Abey

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

That very good that he got from the Professor was almost enough to make Abey raise both his fists in a kind of gesture of VICTORY, but only 'almost' because he was still vERY cold and wasn't about to leave the warmth of the coat unless it was absolutely necessary. So, instead, he just BEAMED at Professor Baldvinsson, because knowing things in classes was always so hard that when he said something VERY GOOD and got told that it was VERY GOOD it sort of made him feel all sorts of confident and relieved and happy-ish.

When the whole lecture part of the lesson - that he was phasing in and out of, because he was a thirteen year old boy and most thirteen year old boys found it difficult to hang on the every word of their teachers - happened, Abey found himself a little disappointed. With all that was being said about magic carpets requiring all those regulations and stuff, ESPECIALLY the whole licence and age thing, it seemed unlikely that they were going to be allowed to fly them today, considering most people here were not even CLOSE to seventeen.

Except that actually THEY TOTALLY WERE GOING TO FLY ON MAGIC CARPETS THOUGH.

THAT definitely grabbed Abey's attention, and the second they were allowed to get started he scrambled to his feet and - still wrapped up on the coat because DUH - shuffle-ran over to the pile and took the next available one. He took a moment to admire the detailing on said carpet while he found a space to set up, before unceremoniously dropping it onto the group, and pulling out the corners with his toes so it lay flat.

"Up!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

No sooner had Abey taken up his place than did Derf appear suddenly by his side, immediately and automatically attracting his attention. He BEAMED at his Hufflepuff and glanced at his carpet to see which one he'd chosen, then shrugged in answer to his question.

"I said 'Up', because I think that's what he said," Abey replied, nodding to the groundskeeper who was, of course, the 'he' in question. "But actually, I wonder if actually it's the actual WORD you say or just what you MEAN." He paused for a fraction of a second, as another thought occurred to him. "And actually actually, I wonder if that's how it works for spells. Why do the words actually matter at all? Do you think wands actually hear us? Or the brooms? Because maybe the magic is in OURSEEEEELVES more than it's in the words, because accidental magic, right?" He had been rambling on and on without letting Derf get a word in edgeways, but had started to confuse himself enough that he was stood there, scratching his head, with a perplexed and pained expression on his face, oblivious as to whether anyone had actually been listening.

Luckily, though, a distraction came in the form of his magic carpet. Abey hadn't noticed, probably because he'd been more focused on the appearance of Derf and then his own train of thought, but his initial command had worked. Now the carpet hovered a short distance from the floor, and appeared to have grown impatient with the lack of attention it had been receiving, as it had started thwapping its corners on Abey's shins. Abey hadn't noticed at first, because coat, but he soon realised what was happening.

"Oh, it worked!" Pretty much forgetting his (actually quite stressful actually) musings on magic and magic words and intent IN AN INSTANT, Abey broke out into a grin again and immediately leapt up onto his carpet, forgoing the instruction to take a seat and instead STANDING on it. Could they try and surf these things? Abey had mastered standing while flying on a broom a long time ago (but don't tell his mama that), so he could TOTALLY DO THE SAME WITH A MAGIC CARPET, RIGHT?

Except, you know, for the unsteady wobbling, and the feeling that he was going to teeter over and fall flat on his face or maybe his behind any moment now, because apparently standing on a solid broom required very different skills to standing on a fabric, sort of wobbly carpet.

BUT HE COULD TOTALLY TRY.

"Surf with me, Derf."

Text Cut: Derfael

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Derf had questions, but the moment they were told they could pick out their carpets and ride them...well...questions just seemed like a complete waste of time.

BOLTING towards the selection, the HUfflepuff picked out a festive orange and purple carpet with little accents of green here and there. Not that he could really tell what the coloring was, but he rather fancied the design in the center of it since it was two phoenixes swirling around one another.

Grinning like a fool, Derf took a spot next to his Gryffindor because obviously if there was anyone in class who he wanted to share a magic carpet ride with it was going to be Abey because they both loved flying so much. And it wasn't like he was ignoring Jessa's plight on purpose...he was just way too excited about flying on a carpet that he had his eager tunnel vision ... so blinders were up.

And speaking of up...

Unrolling his carpet, Derf paused a moment to watch Abey work his magic on his selected threads before giving his own an attempt. He was confident,
but felt he had the right to be considering that he had been flying around on brooms since he was three and all.

"Up!" he said, that confidence ooooozing from his mouth and to the tips of his fingers as he held his hand over the carpet like he did his broom.
Only nothing happened...and then there was one VERY crestfallen third year.

DON'T LOOK AT US, CARTER PHILLIPS! WAIT UNTIL WE LOOKED NEAT AND COOL.

"Pssssssst...Abey," he hissed. "Are we supposed to say Up or...Hover?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Derf didn't mind Abey's rambling. They BOTH had their moments of it and the Hufflepuff was actually rather intrigued by this train of thought. Yup, he was boarding and getting his ticket stamped to join Abey down this thought spiral! "They DO say that the biggest component to spellcasting is INTENT..." he nodded, pursing his lips as he thought about this some more. "But...I reckon if you wanted to cast Lumos and you THOUGHT about making the tip of your wand glow...but when you went to cast the spell what you SAID was Aguamenti but what you THOUGHGT was Lumos...that your wand would be rather confused, you know? Sorta like when you are going through Bertie Bott's and you find a brown one and think 'oh yay! It's a chocolate pudding!' but then when you go to eat it it turns out to be dirt or dragon dung, you know? Intent and expectation was one flavor...but reality turned out to be something toooootally different...and kinda a gross disaster..." He paused to look back at his carpet. "But since like...you know...UP and HOVER are kinda the same sort of command...both mean OFF the ground...maybe it doesn't matter so much...the spells that don't use Latin or funny nonsensical words kinda feel more...you know...vague." Like Point Me and Pack. Weird.

Derf felt more accustomed to UP though, using it for AGES with his own broom sooooooooo...he was going to give that another go. This time with a bit more confidence.

"Still pretty neat thinking about how THIS is TECHNICALLY wandless magic, you know?" he added with a grin. "And just think...eventually we can do this nonverbally! Wandlessly AND nonverbally!" HOW AWESOME WAS THAT?!

Holding his hand over his carpet once more, Derf puffed out his chest and spoke as clearly and confidently as he could muster. "UP!" Sure enough, this time the carpet lifted up off the grass and hovered about knee height to the third year. Grinning, Derf too climbed up on his broom and was just about to sit down when Abey made his request. "You got it!" he chirped, offering his best mate TWO thumbs up and positioning his feet just so.

Pride that the two boys had gotten the carpet to hover was mixed with worry that the Boards-man would think he didn’t have the students under control, the instructor chuckled nervously. ”There, there boys! Take a seat, take a seat.

He then gave the boys a pat each on their shoulders. ”You can surf all you want when class is over.” He added quietly, shooting a glance at the man from the Board. As long as the man with the clipboard wasn’t watching, the kiddos could stay after class to practice with the carpets.

That wasn’t a bribe. It wasn’t.

Text Cut: Olivia

”Well done, miss Holden!” Haraldur nodded as he circled around her hovering carpet. ”Well done.”

Text Cut: Etta

Haraldur watched Etta get the carpet to hover before climbing up and taking a seat. She showed more and more confident on a broom and it looked like she was ready to try out the carpet as well. ”Very good, miss Kramer!” He called from where he was standing before letting his eyes drift over the rest of the group.

Text Cut: Rhea

Haraldur nodded at the fifth year. ”Keep trying, miss Durant. It’ll come to you.” She was a skilled flyer, the carpet would hover soon enough.

Text Cut: Zoryn

”Nearly there, miss Spinnet, keep practising.” Haraldur mused as he passed the young Gryffindor.

Text Cut: Emmeline

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

A famous Quidditch Chaser was observing their flying lesson, and Emmeline definitely felt her attention being pulled in his direction more and more as Professor B. talked about laws and stuff. She flashed their teacher a grin when he didn't tell her off for criticizing the Ministry, 'cause Professor B. just kind of got life, you know?

She totally zoned out and STARED at the Chaser through the whooole talking bit of the lesson about the laws and stuff. 'Cause who cared about that when it came to flying, really? Plus, she had a sneeeeaking suspicion that Professor B. was kind of just doing what he HAD to do, you know? Like he didn't put much stock in the rules either.

Only a realllllly fun and exciting distraction could've pulled Emmeline from watching the chaser's every move and sneaking sly glances at him and stuff. And that distraction arrived in the form of flying carpets!!! They were going to fly them today??? Yessss!!

Emmeline raced over to the tent and carefully dragged a carpet over to a free area. Her carpet was reallllly old, 'cause its design was mostly faded and stuff. It was just plain black and white but with special symbols on it -- symbols that Emmeline didn't know the names of. She spread the carpet out on the ground in front of her until alllll of the edges were smoothed out and everything was quite flat. 'Cept a couple of the corners of her rug curled in a little bit even when it was lying down like this. After wasting a few precious minutes on trying to make it peeerfectly straight, Emmeline gave up on making them lie TOTALLY flat.

The second year placed her hand above the flying carpet and said "Up!" in a veeeeerrry stern tone of voice. The carpet was NOT impressed; it just lay still on the ground. Frowning at it, Emmeline took a deep breath and repeated: "Up!" Nothing. She did her best to copy a professor's very mad face and said once again: "Up!" Annnd the carpet just sort of rolled over a bit. She reallllly hoped that that famous Chaser wasn't watching her right now, mhm. The 12 year old took another deep breath and tried to remember Professor B.'s advice from last term: show it that you're the boss. I'm the boss, I'm the boss... she repeated in her head several times. Finally, Emmeline put her hand out one more time and cried: "UP!" The carpet deigned to rise to hovering height, but she'd definitely take it as success. The Gryffindor climbed onto her carpet, immediately feeling some of the charms (like the sticking one) take effect.

They were totally gonna race these, right??

Haraldur watched the second year struggle at first but then finally getting the carpet to hover. He gave her two thumbs up from where he was standing as she took a seat. ”Well done, miss Sparkes!” He called out to her. He was so proud.

Text Cut: Patrick

Haraldur stood behind the young boy, watching with great interest as he discussed with the carpet. Discussed with and convinced to hover. The flying instructor took a few steps forward as soon as the boy had taken his seat. ”Interesting way of handling it, Mr. Dooley.” He chuckled. ”Well done, my boy.”

Text Cut: Tenacius

Haraldur raised his eyebrows. Another student who talked to the carpet? It seemed to work. The carpet was suddenly hovering and Haraldur laughed. ”Well done, Mr Salander. Well done. Now, take your seat.”

Several carpets were now hovering and the students were getting on. Haraldur returned to the front of the group and clapped his hands twice to get their attention.

”Now, there is a sticking charm on all of your carpets, but you should still learn to sit properly.” He sent a look in Abey and Derf's direction before he sat down on his own carpet. ”It will be easiest to control your carpet if you sit centered, crossing your legs.” He crossed his legs and grabbed the front edge of the carpet. ”To move forward, you lean forward.” He leaned slightly forward and the carpet instantly obeyed, hovering forward. ”To stop, you pull the edge of the carpet towards you, without leaning back.” He pulled on the corners and the carpet came to a stop. ”If you were to lean backwards, the carpet goes higher up in the air. Now, there is a height restriction so it will only be able to reach 1 meter above the ground.” Height wasn’t exactly what they were going to practice though so it didn’t really matter. ”If you want to go lower, you pull the corners towards you and lean forward at the same time.” He demonstrated this as well and then sat up straight looking at the students with a happy smile. See? Piece of cake.

”The carpet will respond to you, just like your broom does. Lean to the left and it will go to the left, lean right and it will steer to the right. The posture and swaying of your body affects the way the carpet moves. All right? The sticking charm and the anti-roll charm prevents you from falling off, so you’re quite safe.”

They could still crash but still. Semi-safe.

”To try this out, I want you to steer the carpet towards any of the items laid out on the pitch. Grab a hold on one of them and return with the item. One of the positive aspects of flying carpets is their ability to hold several people or items. Once you have returned with an item, cleared the pitch and showed that you can control your carpet. We’re going to race!”

What miss Purcell didn’t know, didn’t hurt her.

”You will race to the end of the pitch, touch the wall and then return. The rules are pretty simple; Fastest flyer wins.”

OOC: OK. First part of this main activity is to get the carpet under control. Each student should retrieve an item from the pitch and return it. (This could literally be anything that might be found in a lost and found because… Well. Haraldur looted the lost and found.)

Then ~~we break the law~~ WE RACE. This can be done in pairs or in a group of people. It’s up to you. Race to the other side of the pitch, touch the wall and return to the others. You can write your desired outcome but please, do not RP the outcome for your opponent.

There is no required amount of posts. Please label your post number if you’re doing multiple. There is still time for catch up on the mini-activity if you haven’t done so already.

Text Cut: Steering instructions:

You have 5 days to do this. Have fun, race each other, fail to race each other, dooo, plaaaay, beee <3

We will wrap this up on Thursday the 28th 7 pm GMT + 2.

- Josie

09-23-2017, 05:23 PM	#69 (permalink)
potterobsessionist DMAC & MO Doxy Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Sweden [GMT+1] Posts: 5,865 Diagon Alley Proprietor: Stella Marie Reed Daily Prophet News Reporter	a bit of madness is key \| miss chanandler bong \| those cunning folks use any means Text Cut: Individual replies <3 Text Cut: Maddie Quote: Originally Posted by Anna Banana Maddie wasn't quite sure what to think of this lesson at first. One second, carpet racing was against the law, but the very next second after that, the professor was striking out the law and balling up a piece of paper. So...was it against the law or not? ... Apparently not, because they were getting their very own flying carpet, and Maddie could just SEE carpet races in her future...her very near future! She skipped over to the pile of carpets and choose the prettiest one she could find! Well, none of them were what she'd call pretty, but Maddie was able to see a lot of potential in the one she chose. She tossed it onto the ground and straightened it out before her. "UP!" she said, but the carpet just laid there like a bump on a log. "UP!" she said again, causing the carpet to rise a few inches, shake a little, and then fall down again. Maddie sighed and straightened out the caret a second time. "UPPPPPPPPPPPPP!" she said, drawing out the word as long as she could. Oh, great. She'd chosen the broken one. Quote: Originally Posted by Anna Banana Why did she always have to try everything three or four times...or more...to get it right? Sometimes it seemed like everybody around her was getting things so much faster. Maybe she was just always near too many upperclassmen? Where were the other little ones? Maybe they were having just as much trouble as Maddie was. She looked down at her magic carpet, spread out on the ground once again and just sitting there and daring her to move it. "UP!" she called out to it, and she raised her hand in command but still, nothing happened. "UP!" she said again. The magic carpet quivered a bit, rose an inch, and then slumped back down to the ground. "I DID IT!" she exclaimed. Well, not fully, but she'd actually caused the carpet to do what she was commanding it to do. It just didn't go as high up as she needed. Oh, and it also fell back down to the ground. She would get this, though! She WOULD be participating in those magic carpet races! ”Well done, miss Kemp! Well done!” The little first year managed to at least get a hovering reaction from the carpet. And it made him proud. He puffed his chest out and looked over at the man from the Board. Did ya see that? DID YA? Text Cut: Abey Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir That very good that he got from the Professor was almost enough to make Abey raise both his fists in a kind of gesture of VICTORY, but only 'almost' because he was still vERY cold and wasn't about to leave the warmth of the coat unless it was absolutely necessary. So, instead, he just BEAMED at Professor Baldvinsson, because knowing things in classes was always so hard that when he said something VERY GOOD and got told that it was VERY GOOD it sort of made him feel all sorts of confident and relieved and happy-ish. When the whole lecture part of the lesson - that he was phasing in and out of, because he was a thirteen year old boy and most thirteen year old boys found it difficult to hang on the every word of their teachers - happened, Abey found himself a little disappointed. With all that was being said about magic carpets requiring all those regulations and stuff, ESPECIALLY the whole licence and age thing, it seemed unlikely that they were going to be allowed to fly them today, considering most people here were not even CLOSE to seventeen. Except that actually THEY TOTALLY WERE GOING TO FLY ON MAGIC CARPETS THOUGH. THAT definitely grabbed Abey's attention, and the second they were allowed to get started he scrambled to his feet and - still wrapped up on the coat because DUH - shuffle-ran over to the pile and took the next available one. He took a moment to admire the detailing on said carpet while he found a space to set up, before unceremoniously dropping it onto the group, and pulling out the corners with his toes so it lay flat. "Up!" Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir No sooner had Abey taken up his place than did Derf appear suddenly by his side, immediately and automatically attracting his attention. He BEAMED at his Hufflepuff and glanced at his carpet to see which one he'd chosen, then shrugged in answer to his question. "I said 'Up', because I think that's what he said," Abey replied, nodding to the groundskeeper who was, of course, the 'he' in question. "But actually, I wonder if actually it's the actual WORD you say or just what you MEAN." He paused for a fraction of a second, as another thought occurred to him. "And actually actually, I wonder if that's how it works for spells. Why do the words actually matter at all? Do you think wands actually hear us? Or the brooms? Because maybe the magic is in OURSEEEEELVES more than it's in the words, because accidental magic, right?" He had been rambling on and on without letting Derf get a word in edgeways, but had started to confuse himself enough that he was stood there, scratching his head, with a perplexed and pained expression on his face, oblivious as to whether anyone had actually been listening. Luckily, though, a distraction came in the form of his magic carpet. Abey hadn't noticed, probably because he'd been more focused on the appearance of Derf and then his own train of thought, but his initial command had worked. Now the carpet hovered a short distance from the floor, and appeared to have grown impatient with the lack of attention it had been receiving, as it had started thwapping its corners on Abey's shins. Abey hadn't noticed at first, because coat, but he soon realised what was happening. "Oh, it worked!" Pretty much forgetting his (actually quite stressful actually) musings on magic and magic words and intent IN AN INSTANT, Abey broke out into a grin again and immediately leapt up onto his carpet, forgoing the instruction to take a seat and instead STANDING on it. Could they try and surf these things? Abey had mastered standing while flying on a broom a long time ago (but don't tell his mama that), so he could TOTALLY DO THE SAME WITH A MAGIC CARPET, RIGHT? Except, you know, for the unsteady wobbling, and the feeling that he was going to teeter over and fall flat on his face or maybe his behind any moment now, because apparently standing on a solid broom required very different skills to standing on a fabric, sort of wobbly carpet. BUT HE COULD TOTALLY TRY. "Surf with me, Derf." Text Cut: Derfael Quote: Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie Derf had questions, but the moment they were told they could pick out their carpets and ride them...well...questions just seemed like a complete waste of time. BOLTING towards the selection, the HUfflepuff picked out a festive orange and purple carpet with little accents of green here and there. Not that he could really tell what the coloring was, but he rather fancied the design in the center of it since it was two phoenixes swirling around one another. Grinning like a fool, Derf took a spot next to his Gryffindor because obviously if there was anyone in class who he wanted to share a magic carpet ride with it was going to be Abey because they both loved flying so much. And it wasn't like he was ignoring Jessa's plight on purpose...he was just way too excited about flying on a carpet that he had his eager tunnel vision ... so blinders were up. And speaking of up... Unrolling his carpet, Derf paused a moment to watch Abey work his magic on his selected threads before giving his own an attempt. He was confident, but felt he had the right to be considering that he had been flying around on brooms since he was three and all. "Up!" he said, that confidence ooooozing from his mouth and to the tips of his fingers as he held his hand over the carpet like he did his broom. Only nothing happened...and then there was one VERY crestfallen third year. DON'T LOOK AT US, CARTER PHILLIPS! WAIT UNTIL WE LOOKED NEAT AND COOL. "Pssssssst...Abey," he hissed. "Are we supposed to say Up or...Hover?" Quote: Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie Derf didn't mind Abey's rambling. They BOTH had their moments of it and the Hufflepuff was actually rather intrigued by this train of thought. Yup, he was boarding and getting his ticket stamped to join Abey down this thought spiral! "They DO say that the biggest component to spellcasting is INTENT..." he nodded, pursing his lips as he thought about this some more. "But...I reckon if you wanted to cast Lumos and you THOUGHT about making the tip of your wand glow...but when you went to cast the spell what you SAID was Aguamenti but what you THOUGHGT was Lumos...that your wand would be rather confused, you know? Sorta like when you are going through Bertie Bott's and you find a brown one and think 'oh yay! It's a chocolate pudding!' but then when you go to eat it it turns out to be dirt or dragon dung, you know? Intent and expectation was one flavor...but reality turned out to be something toooootally different...and kinda a gross disaster..." He paused to look back at his carpet. "But since like...you know...UP and HOVER are kinda the same sort of command...both mean OFF the ground...maybe it doesn't matter so much...the spells that don't use Latin or funny nonsensical words kinda feel more...you know...vague." Like Point Me and Pack. Weird. Derf felt more accustomed to UP though, using it for AGES with his own broom sooooooooo...he was going to give that another go. This time with a bit more confidence. "Still pretty neat thinking about how THIS is TECHNICALLY wandless magic, you know?" he added with a grin. "And just think...eventually we can do this nonverbally! Wandlessly AND nonverbally!" HOW AWESOME WAS THAT?! Holding his hand over his carpet once more, Derf puffed out his chest and spoke as clearly and confidently as he could muster. "UP!" Sure enough, this time the carpet lifted up off the grass and hovered about knee height to the third year. Grinning, Derf too climbed up on his broom and was just about to sit down when Abey made his request. "You got it!" he chirped, offering his best mate TWO thumbs up and positioning his feet just so. Pride that the two boys had gotten the carpet to hover was mixed with worry that the Boards-man would think he didn’t have the students under control, the instructor chuckled nervously. ”There, there boys! Take a seat, take a seat. He then gave the boys a pat each on their shoulders. ”You can surf all you want when class is over.” He added quietly, shooting a glance at the man from the Board. As long as the man with the clipboard wasn’t watching, the kiddos could stay after class to practice with the carpets. That wasn’t a bribe. It wasn’t. Text Cut: Olivia Quote: Originally Posted by Watson Flying on a magic carpet? They were going to be doing that?? SERIOUSLY. THAT WAS SO COOL. Vi Holden couldn't wait. This activity made her start thinking of a favourite Disney movie of hers. Unbelievable sights... Indescribable feeeelings. Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky! hummed Olivia as she grabbed a carpet from the pile. Unfurling it, she revealed a beautifully designed light blue carpet. She continued humming the song as she prepared herself to get command the carpet up. She took a deep breath, commanding it with her hand waved over the carpet. "Up!" The top left hand side of the carpet curled up and then rested on the grass. She stared at the carpet on the ground. Then the top right hand side of the carpet flipped up and then fell down. She waited. ....Nothing happened. She glared at the carpet for a moment before finding herself unusually calm and confident. A whole new world.... She closed her eyes. "UP." The carpet slowly hovered about three centimetres off of the ground. WAIT. SERIOUSLY?!?! Cool. A bright smile appeared on her lips. She liked the idea of magical floating carpets better than a floating broomstick. Now she just needed to get it to hover a little more before she could sit on it. Quote: Originally Posted by Watson Focusing on the carpet, she watched as it hovered a little more and then she took a seat in the centre of the carpet. Then Olivia was ready to start flying around on it. Flying magical carpets were sooooooo much better than the broomsticks. Grabbing the top sides of the carpet so she could steer it better in for the upcoming activity. Flying carpet. A whole new world... A new fantastic point of view She continued humming to herself softly. Could they start racing yet? She had a good feeling about this. ”Well done, miss Holden!” Haraldur nodded as he circled around her hovering carpet. ”Well done.” Text Cut: Etta Quote: Originally Posted by Lady of Light A flying CARPET! Forget brooms, they were getting to fly a carpet now! How great was that? She practically skipped over to the tent and picked a carpet in random before heading back, straightening out on the ground. Now they had to command it to hover, yeah? Yeah, sure. She could do this. Siiiimple. “Up!” She said, watching as the carpet started to rise.. but the next second, it fell back on the ground. Well, that was sad and disappointing. She’d wanted to get it right on her first try. Taking a deep breath and trying to focus a little more this time around, she said “Up!” again but this the carpet neatly started to hover above the ground. She decided to let it hover for a few more minutes before taking a seat, already feeling a little too excited. Quote: Originally Posted by Lady of Light Etta waited... and waited until she was a hundred percent sure that the carpet was hovering steadily. Yeah, it did look like it was ready to go. Now, the professor had mentioned that they could sit on the carpet, yeah? How very EXCITING and AWESOME. .. But, you know, she was still hesitant. After another few minutes of indecisiveness, she finally took a seat on the carpet, making sure she was right in the middle. Wow.. she grinned stupidly, resting a hand on either side of her. Could they start flying yet? Pretty please? Haraldur watched Etta get the carpet to hover before climbing up and taking a seat. She showed more and more confident on a broom and it looked like she was ready to try out the carpet as well. ”Very good, miss Kramer!” He called from where he was standing before letting his eyes drift over the rest of the group. Text Cut: Rhea Quote: Originally Posted by natekka Rhea made brief notes on the laws and regulations surrounding magical carpets, but only out of note-taking habit. The laws seemed reasonable enough to her... except perhaps the 'no racing' rule. If there was a sticking charm placed on all magical carpets, what was the harm in a little bit of racing? She tucked her notes neatly away in her pocket and watched as the Professor revealed a stack of magical carpets. Of course. She really should have seen that coming. Brooms she could handle - she actually really enjoyed flying ~~and beating up bludgers~~ - but magical carpets...? Something told her that flying on one of those wasn't going to be her cup of ~~hot chocolate~~ tea. Nevertheless, she took one, walked over to empty area with it, and laid it out on the grass. "UP!" She commanded. .........Or....not? See? If this was a broom, she wouldn't've had any problems getting it to hover. She tried again to no avail. Ugh. She watched her classmates for a few moments. Some of them were struggling, too. Ha. This encouraged her to push on and keep trying. "Up." Please. "....Up?" ....Oh, c'mon, you stupid rug. Haraldur nodded at the fifth year. ”Keep trying, miss Durant. It’ll come to you.” She was a skilled flyer, the carpet would hover soon enough. Text Cut: Zoryn Quote: Originally Posted by ArianaBlack Zoryn payed absolutely NO attention to any of the facts that Professor Baldvinsson was going over. IN FACT, Zoryn also payed absolutely NO attention to any of the facts that her peers mentioned. She was two for two today. But it absolutely was not her fault, 'cause she was too busy staring at the FAMOUS QUIDDITCH PLAYER and trying to figure out what she was gonna run up and ask him after class !!! Zor had to take FULL advantage of this opportunity 'cause when she got famous, she'd have to have famous friends and this was a GREAT way to start networking. Also, she still wanted his autograph. It was only when she heard that THEY WERE GONNA RIDE MAGIC CARPETS (!!!!!!!!!!) that she focused right back on her Professor and let all thoughts of the famous dude temporarily evaporate from her mind. She wasted no time in grabbing a carpet from herself and dragging it over to a spot right nice and near the famous dude so that he could see how awesome she was. Mhm. "UP!" she tried with no avail. "COME ON, UP!!!!" Did it work? Um. Not quite. It did a up and down dip real quick if that counts for anything? ”Nearly there, miss Spinnet, keep practising.” Haraldur mused as he passed the young Gryffindor. Text Cut: Emmeline Quote: Originally Posted by NifflerFan A famous Quidditch Chaser was observing their flying lesson, and Emmeline definitely felt her attention being pulled in his direction more and more as Professor B. talked about laws and stuff. She flashed their teacher a grin when he didn't tell her off for criticizing the Ministry, 'cause Professor B. just kind of got life, you know? She totally zoned out and STARED at the Chaser through the whooole talking bit of the lesson about the laws and stuff. 'Cause who cared about that when it came to flying, really? Plus, she had a sneeeeaking suspicion that Professor B. was kind of just doing what he HAD to do, you know? Like he didn't put much stock in the rules either. Only a realllllly fun and exciting distraction could've pulled Emmeline from watching the chaser's every move and sneaking sly glances at him and stuff. And that distraction arrived in the form of flying carpets!!! They were going to fly them today??? Yessss!! Emmeline raced over to the tent and carefully dragged a carpet over to a free area. Her carpet was reallllly old, 'cause its design was mostly faded and stuff. It was just plain black and white but with special symbols on it -- symbols that Emmeline didn't know the names of. She spread the carpet out on the ground in front of her until alllll of the edges were smoothed out and everything was quite flat. 'Cept a couple of the corners of her rug curled in a little bit even when it was lying down like this. After wasting a few precious minutes on trying to make it peeerfectly straight, Emmeline gave up on making them lie TOTALLY flat. The second year placed her hand above the flying carpet and said "Up!" in a veeeeerrry stern tone of voice. The carpet was NOT impressed; it just lay still on the ground. Frowning at it, Emmeline took a deep breath and repeated: "Up!" Nothing. She did her best to copy a professor's very mad face and said once again: "Up!" Annnd the carpet just sort of rolled over a bit. She reallllly hoped that that famous Chaser wasn't watching her right now, mhm. The 12 year old took another deep breath and tried to remember Professor B.'s advice from last term: show it that you're the boss. I'm the boss, I'm the boss... she repeated in her head several times. Finally, Emmeline put her hand out one more time and cried: "UP!" The carpet deigned to rise to hovering height, but she'd definitely take it as success. The Gryffindor climbed onto her carpet, immediately feeling some of the charms (like the sticking one) take effect. They were totally gonna race these, right?? Haraldur watched the second year struggle at first but then finally getting the carpet to hover. He gave her two thumbs up from where he was standing as she took a seat. ”Well done, miss Sparkes!” He called out to her. He was so proud. Text Cut: Patrick Quote: Originally Posted by siriusblackliveson Patrick followed the lead of his other classmates and grabbed a carpet. He looked it over a couple of times before finally trying to get the carpet to rise. As he looked down at the carpet he wondered where it had been, what it had seen. A small part of him always assumed that things had souls too. "Alright my man. I just need you to do me a favor and rise up so I can get some flying done." He did what he knew he was supposed to do with brooms, he set his hand above it looked down, and authoritatively stated, "up." The carpet wiggled a bit at him, he wasn't sure that it was going to get up to him. He had the same trouble with brooms because he had never ridden one as a kid like his classmates. His got around magically way differently than his classmates parents. Sighing, he stuck his hand out again, "Alright friend, how about we try this again. Up!" The carpet wiggled a bit more before rising up and settling back on the ground. Shrugging his shoulders Patrick looked back down at the carpet again, "look, I get it, people put their butts on you and treat you like crap, but could you just rise? Up!" He said again The carpet began to rise again and stayed hovering. "Sweet! Thanks friend" he went to go climb on the carpet but it went back to the ground. He heard some of his classmates saying different things to try and get the carpets to rise. He finally decided to say a string of words and phrases to try and get it to rise. "Up, come on I just need a short ride, i'm clean I swear. Hover. You're the best carpet ever." The carpet finally started to rise and stayed in a hovering position. He wasn't sure what worked but he was going to take it. Haraldur stood behind the young boy, watching with great interest as he discussed with the carpet. Discussed with and convinced to hover. The flying instructor took a few steps forward as soon as the boy had taken his seat. ”Interesting way of handling it, Mr. Dooley.” He chuckled. ”Well done, my boy.” Text Cut: Tenacius Quote: Originally Posted by Steelsheen "Ok Professor B..." he nodded his head as he looked at the carpet in front of him. So, like his broom..... The thing is, his broom has been with him for years, even before Hogwarts, so they had time to bond before he gave a direct command to it. Also he had a lot of trouble with the regular school broom during his first year, and there was a leery, dejavu element that this is gonna be another repeat of that. He sat on the grass next to the silent magical rug and placed his hands on it, make it be familiar to him just as he is to it. "Hey there, I'm Ace. Welcome to Hogwarts!" he crooned at the carpet, moving his hands over the fabric's patterns. If Vi is seeing this, she better not grow jealous because he doesnt know of any other way to bond with a half sentient magical item that would take his commands right away. He continued with the small talk for a bit more until he could feel like he had a connection with it. Will it follow non-verbals? Up..... Still nothing. He sighed quietly and almost dejectedly spoke "Up please?" ... And just like that, it hovered up a good foot off the ground. "Yes!" Finally.... although does that mean he has to speak everytime? This is gonna require a bit of adjustment to one already used to casting spells almost subliminally. Haraldur raised his eyebrows. Another student who talked to the carpet? It seemed to work. The carpet was suddenly hovering and Haraldur laughed. ”Well done, Mr Salander. Well done. Now, take your seat.” Several carpets were now hovering and the students were getting on. Haraldur returned to the front of the group and clapped his hands twice to get their attention. ”Now, there is a sticking charm on all of your carpets, but you should still learn to sit properly.” He sent a look in Abey and Derf's direction before he sat down on his own carpet. ”It will be easiest to control your carpet if you sit centered, crossing your legs.” He crossed his legs and grabbed the front edge of the carpet. ”To move forward, you lean forward.” He leaned slightly forward and the carpet instantly obeyed, hovering forward. ”To stop, you pull the edge of the carpet towards you, without leaning back.” He pulled on the corners and the carpet came to a stop. ”If you were to lean backwards, the carpet goes higher up in the air. Now, there is a height restriction so it will only be able to reach 1 meter above the ground.” Height wasn’t exactly what they were going to practice though so it didn’t really matter. ”If you want to go lower, you pull the corners towards you and lean forward at the same time.” He demonstrated this as well and then sat up straight looking at the students with a happy smile. See? Piece of cake. ”The carpet will respond to you, just like your broom does. Lean to the left and it will go to the left, lean right and it will steer to the right. The posture and swaying of your body affects the way the carpet moves. All right? The sticking charm and the anti-roll charm prevents you from falling off, so you’re quite safe.” They could still crash but still. Semi-safe. ”To try this out, I want you to steer the carpet towards any of the items laid out on the pitch. Grab a hold on one of them and return with the item. One of the positive aspects of flying carpets is their ability to hold several people or items. Once you have returned with an item, cleared the pitch and showed that you can control your carpet. We’re going to race!” What miss Purcell didn’t know, didn’t hurt her. ”You will race to the end of the pitch, touch the wall and then return. The rules are pretty simple; Fastest flyer wins.” OOC: OK. First part of this main activity is to get the carpet under control. Each student should retrieve an item from the pitch and return it. (This could literally be anything that might be found in a lost and found because… Well. Haraldur looted the lost and found.) Then ~~we break the law~~ WE RACE. This can be done in pairs or in a group of people. It’s up to you. Race to the other side of the pitch, touch the wall and return to the others. You can write your desired outcome but please, do not RP the outcome for your opponent. There is no required amount of posts. Please label your post number if you’re doing multiple. There is still time for catch up on the mini-activity if you haven’t done so already. Text Cut: Steering instructions: Hover: Command the carpet to rise: “Up.” Sit: Cross-legged because stability - centered (not too much to the right/left) Go forward: Lean your body slightly forward while keeping the carpet steady. Stop: Pull the corners of the rug towards you - do not lean backwards. Up: Lean back. Down: You pull the corners of the rug towards you and lean forward. Left/Right: Lean left/right. You have 5 days to do this. Have fun, race each other, fail to race each other, dooo, plaaaay, beee <3 We will wrap this up on Thursday the 28th 7 pm GMT + 2. - Josie __________________