Kate smiled at her friend, noting her enthusiasm. Kate never really saw her parents and their jobs as anything to get too excited about, but she guessed since Hady had the future all figured out, she could understand the girl's reaction. "I'll talk to them and see if they wouldn't mind you writing," she promised. She didn't think they would mind at all. She shook her head at Hady's next question. "No, they've always worked for the Ministry of Magic, so I guess that kind of work is a little more secretive." What with it being the wizarding government and all. "I don't know, though," she added with a shrug. "We actually just moved back here to the United Kingdom. They worked in Norway for a long time, and we lived there." Then there was Zeke, who seemed just as excited. She nodded. "My mom's a Dragonologist." Not her father. He worked with Werewolf Operations or something like that.

She may have added something else to that, but the adults spoke up, so she turned her attention to them.



Kate guessed she'd take the gillyweed. She was sure she could manage the spell, but did she want to trust it underwater for long periods of time? Nope. "Thank you," she said to the man extending the offer. She took a selection of it but didn't consume it just yet. She didn't want to go first, after all. Or even second. Maybe third.

Henric couldn't help but laugh when Adi told him about the story how Adi nicknamed Benny as a dragon. He wondered what were their favourite species of dragons they came to admire but he decided he would save the topic for another time. Henric liked collecting several rare cards about them, if they liked he didn't mind showing them a few.

---------------------------------

Henric shrugged, of course he wouldn't want his friend burnt into a crisp.That would be awful! But looked at it this way, Adi would get the honour of riding a dragon's back and he would be the first among them to succeed. If he wanted, he could get a medal or something.()
Adi wanted to do human transfiguration on his bestfriend?! Oh dear...but he wouldn't want to miss this for the world."Oh really, let me know when..I want to get front row seats to witness this!" He chuckled, imagine Benny turned into a dragon, how epic was that!

---------------------------------

"Nothing! We're just friends Adi," a little taken aback by Adi's words.Wait...what did Adi say?! No way, he wouldn't let anyone do that to Leah! Woah...why was he reacting fiercely to this? His ears got redder thinking about it. He turned to look at the ground,did Adi fancy her too? He didn't know what to say to Adi so he quickly walked towards the guide and took his share of his gilliweed."Thanks Mr.Scotty...I really hope to see the creature if we can find it,"he said. Grabbing a piece of gilliweed from the guide, his face couldn't help contorted in disgust. Urgh...it felt slimy on his hands as he walked back towards his group so he could change into his swimming trunks and shirt.

---------------------------------

And there came Leah, oh no...not now when Adi was there to tease them.Henric eyes went wide and his mouth went slack,"Whatt...noo...you're wrong,I wasn't! Adii!"he glared at his very not so discreet friend.He needed to get back at him one day for putting him on the spot! His face got redder every second, without having any second thoughts he put the gilliweed inside his mouth and chewed. URGH! What is this...it tasted horrible! He almost gagged it back out but it was too late, he started to get weird bodily reactions from its effects.The side of his neck was getting hotter and piercingly getting painful too.His hands went up to his neck instinctively.Oh Merlin! He was growing gills!

"I can't brea-...."he tried to breathe but it was getting hard to on land. He also felt his hands and feet started to slowly transform itself. He was getting agitated and anxious, what was happening to him?! Out of haste, he took a dive into the lake. Once inside, his first reaction was to breathe and he did. Holy Crickets! He could breathe underwater! He looked up to see if others had dived in after him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

...
Casting a glance over at Airey he asked concerned. "Is your stomach settled enough for the trip below water?" Leo didn’t want to have to worry extra for the wellbeing of his colleague when they were below the loch surface.

Airey threw Leobald a look of forced confidence. "Swimming and travel by portkey are entirely different. I'll be fine. Besides, already had 30 minutes pass." He was good to go in terms of pseudo medical theory was concerned.

Waiting to dive into the water until every single student had either taken their gillyweed or performed a Bubble Head Charm (and in case his assistance was needed), the astronomer busied himself with re-administering the Impervius Charm to all parts of his suit. Multiple times. Just to be safe.

Between Hady and Kate, his mind was a whirlwind of dragons and creatures and travel all sorts of things that might come after school. After school. Provided he got through school. A part of his was concerned about how intense his third year might be, considering the second was far harder than his first. Weren't these things supposed to get easier with time???

...

It was interesting that he was finding he and Kate had some things in common. Kinda. Kind of yes, and kind of no. Like, her parents work at the Ministry, and Emily used to work at the Ministry. She used to live in Norway - which was like Europe, and now he lived in Europe - granted, a different country all together, but still. "That's neat, we should talk dragons sometime." Provided of course that SHE knew things about dragons that he didn't, which was very possible.


His attention was soon with their tour guide again, because HELLOOOOO, were they going to DO things now? Please? Yes? Looking at water and imagining the possibilities was lame, he wanted to dive right in. Now. Please. PLEASE. Hearing that they would be looking at water plants and things... was SUPER disheartening. This was not what he signed up for. He signed up for ADVENTURE. Proper. But wee! GILLYWEED! And... specially bred gillyweed? How did he do that? HOW? Zeke wanted to know, so that HE could specially breed things.

"Here we go," he said to the girls, finally relinquishing his hold of Hady's hand. In one swift move, Zeke pulled his shirt off over his head and kicked his shoes off. SWIMMING TIME! Board shorts were ample enough for swimwear, right? Without hesitation, Zeke went and accepted for himself some of the slimy weedy stuff, and scrunched up his nose as he sniffed it and observed it from all angles. Fascinating.

With a short shrug, Zeke popped the weed-ball into his mouth and attempted to chew. It was hard going, and though it was slimy, it was also rubbery, and he found it wasn't doing much of anything, his only choice was to swallow before the taste made him gag. Swallowing too, wasn't a very good idea, the outcome was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. He was gagging. He couldn't breathe. His throat was tight, his chest was aching, was he having an allergic reaction? Bending low toward his knees, Zeke planted a hand on the ground to steady himself, his other hand reaching to his neck to see what it was that was strangling him - it was then that he realised, he had slits along his neck and near his ears. Considering his feet too were suddenly not his own led him to believe whatever was happening, was normal.

Almost instinctively now, he propelled himself forward into the water, splashing into the shallow depths, his face planted beneath the water's surface.

A breath.

Two breaths.

He could breathe again!... and he was swimming.

SPOILER!!: Kate

Kate smiled at her friend, noting her enthusiasm. Kate never really saw her parents and their jobs as anything to get too excited about, but she guessed since Hady had the future all figured out, she could understand the girl's reaction. "I'll talk to them and see if they wouldn't mind you writing," she promised. She didn't think they would mind at all. She shook her head at Hady's next question. "No, they've always worked for the Ministry of Magic, so I guess that kind of work is a little more secretive." What with it being the wizarding government and all. "I don't know, though," she added with a shrug. "We actually just moved back here to the United Kingdom. They worked in Norway for a long time, and we lived there." Then there was Zeke, who seemed just as excited. She nodded. "My mom's a Dragonologist." Not her father. He worked with Werewolf Operations or something like that.

She may have added something else to that, but the adults spoke up, so she turned her attention to them.

Hady couldn't help the grin that spread across her face at the younger girls conformation of asking her parents about her writing to them with questions. Seriously this couldn't get much better right now...well okay maybe if like she was able to go and 'SEE' what Kate's parents did up close but that wasn't an option right now. "That would really be a huge help, thank you." She smiled at her friend happily. All the talk of creatures and dragons and such had her extremely excited, or well about as excited as she would allow herself to show.

SPOILER!!: Tour Guide

There were questions, ones he assumed would be directed toward the Professors of this expedition but he would answer them nonetheless. Tour Guides were supposed to know these things and he happened to be one. "I don' know fer sure if we'll be seein' the beast, Lass, bu' if we do, you aren't likely t' miss it an' it might no' be talkin' i' wants t' do." Did that answer work for her? He wasn't a kelpie whisperer.

And this one was even more riled up.

"Calm down, i's just a title. They don' mean anythin' bad by i'." Why would they have lochness fishies? What did they teach in that castle these days.

To the boy wondering about the plant life, Scott gave a little shrug, not sure what the boy was hoping the here. "Nothin' ou' of the ordinary. Mundane plants, moss an' under water ferns mos'ly. As fer if ye'll be allowed t' keep i', I think ye'll have t' ask yer Professors." He wasn't in charge of what they did.

Seeing the man offer them the spell they would be using, Scott stepped back allowing him to do his job til the last bit. "Fer those o' you that don' feel comfortable with the spell, I have some gillyweed, special bred to last longer." The Scott fished a small box from his pocket, extended on the inside. "Help yerselves."

Oh it was time to get into the water! Or well um time to grab some of the gross slimy looking junk first. Dropping Zeke's hand she made her way over to the tour guide and picked up a small amount of the gillyweed. Looking at it for a long moment she returned to her group noticing Kate had some as well but she was just holding onto it. Maybe she wanted someone else to try it first?

SPOILER!!: Zeke

It was interesting that he was finding he and Kate had some things in common. Kinda. Kind of yes, and kind of no. Like, her parents work at the Ministry, and Emily used to work at the Ministry. She used to live in Norway - which was like Europe, and now he lived in Europe - granted, a different country all together, but still. "That's neat, we should talk dragons sometime." Provided of course that SHE knew things about dragons that he didn't, which was very possible.


His attention was soon with their tour guide again, because HELLOOOOO, were they going to DO things now? Please? Yes? Looking at water and imagining the possibilities was lame, he wanted to dive right in. Now. Please. PLEASE. Hearing that they would be looking at water plants and things... was SUPER disheartening. This was not what he signed up for. He signed up for ADVENTURE. Proper. But wee! GILLYWEED! And... specially bred gillyweed? How did he do that? HOW? Zeke wanted to know, so that HE could specially breed things.

"Here we go," he said to the girls, finally relinquishing his hold of Hady's hand. In one swift move, Zeke pulled his shirt off over his head and kicked his shoes off. SWIMMING TIME! Board shorts were ample enough for swimwear, right? Without hesitation, Zeke went and accepted for himself some of the slimy weedy stuff, and scrunched up his nose as he sniffed it and observed it from all angles. Fascinating.

With a short shrug, Zeke popped the weed-ball into his mouth and attempted to chew. It was hard going, and though it was slimy, it was also rubbery, and he found it wasn't doing much of anything, his only choice was to swallow before the taste made him gag. Swallowing too, wasn't a very good idea, the outcome was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. He was gagging. He couldn't breathe. His throat was tight, his chest was aching, was he having an allergic reaction? Bending low toward his knees, Zeke planted a hand on the ground to steady himself, his other hand reaching to his neck to see what it was that was strangling him - it was then that he realised, he had slits along his neck and near his ears. Considering his feet too were suddenly not his own led him to believe whatever was happening, was normal.

Almost instinctively now, he propelled himself forward into the water, splashing into the shallow depths, his face planted beneath the water's surface.

A breath.

Two breaths.

He could breathe again!... and he was swimming.

As her bestie began preparing himself for a swim Hady watched him. Was he gagging? It appeared he was but she knew what gillyweed was and how it worked so rather then being panicked she laid a hand on her friends arm gently. "It's doing what it's supposed to do, just let it work." The small girl whispered softly in the most comforting voice she had her eyes never once leaving her friend.

The moment Zeke was in the water Hady let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. He was okay and now it was time to get on with this. Luckily for her she wore her swimsuit beneath her clothing. Without much thought she kicked off her sneakers and pulled off her socks and the rest of her things. Folding her clothing she set them aside with her shoes.

With one last look at the slimy stuff in her hand and a deep breath she popped it into her mouth before she could change her mind. Keeping a straight face and not gagging as she chewed wasn't easy! This was GROSS! Trying to swallow was even worse and that was when she nearly ended up spitting the stuff out buuuuttttt....somehow she managed to swallow. Keeping her eyes fixed on the water she attempted to get in as many breaths as she could...having trouble breathing IS NOT a good feeling.

Before she thought much more on anything else she dove into the water at her feet. As she went under it was then she realized she could breath again. The gillyweed had worked! With a slight grin she swam in a small circle waiting for the others to join them.

Okay so now was the time the eat the gillyweed and turn into a little fishy right?

O__________o

"Professor if we see the lock ness monster, he won't try to eat you right?" Angel was now scared and was holding onto the gillyweed, she wouldn't eat it until the Professor answered her question.

Hayden smiled and said hello to the boys Adi introduced her to. She didn't want to intrude on their conversations, and they didn't seem particularly keen to include her. She didn't really mind, she kind of liked just standing by them listening to their drama of Hogwarts. It was fun. They were talking about... Leah? As in her friend Leah? Hayden didn't know any other Leah's. Did that boy - Henric, she remembered him being introduces as - have a crush on Leah? Did Adi? Hayden felt like she had joined the end of a conversation and she was getting confused.

Then there was Leah! Hayden grinned at her friend, glad that the number of people around her that she knew was increasing. And maybe with Leah actually present, she could figure out exactly what was going on. Was that a blush? Had Leah blushed when she looked at that boy Henric? Hayden wasn't positive if it had actually been a blush or just the lighting. No matter what it had been, everything was back to normal now. And she wanted to know what they were talking about? Hayden didn't really know, so she let the boys try and explain that one.

Hayden turned when she heard the professor speaking. They were ready? Hayden bounced up and down a few times because she was so excited. Thinking about it was one thing, but actually going into the water to look for the monster, or kelpie, or whatever, was quite another. Hayden had her suit on under her clothes, so she quickly shed them and went to get some gillyweed. It felt slimy in her hand and she didn't want to put it in her mouth. But she had to. Hayden plugged her nose, hoping that would dull her sense of taste a little, and shoved the gillyweed in her mouth. She chewed as few times as possible before swallowing so much that she almost choked. Hayden gasped for air, and realized she couldn't breathe any anymore. She knew how gillyweed worked, so she didn't panic too much. Hayden rushed to the water and jumped in. SPLASH!

Austin broke from the group for a second to get some gillyweed. He hadn't ever had it, but he had wanted to. It must be cool to be able to breathe underwater. If he could figure out how to make it then he'd spend way more time underwater. Or maybe he could buy it. Where did one acquire gillyweed? Hmm...

He walked back to the group and watched as the lot of them ate the plant and jumped in the water. Merlin he was excited. Every bad thought he had vanished as he ate the slimy green thing. The affects didn't happen right away, and he took this moment to take off his shirt, already wearing his swim trunks.

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his neck, hands, and feet. Breathing became hard, and he began to panic. It took him a few seconds for his mind to realize what was going on, having not taken gillyweed before, and he knew the most important thing was to get to the water. He ran awkwardly, and jumped into the water landing next to the group. As the water overcame him, his muscles relaxed, and breathing was easier. He came up above water for a moment, and looked around. A few members were jumping in still, while the rest of the group was bobbing around in the water. He looked down and saw that his hands were oddly webbed. "I really need to do this more often." He said as he opened and closed his fingers. So... What was next? Let's get this show on the road!

Leah saw the smirk Adi gave Henric as she joined the group. Whaaat? She assumed he was going to explain it in a moment. As expected, he did. "Uh..." she said, definitely not looking at the younger boy but also not knowing what to say. She knew he was teasing, she just had to think of a clever rebuttal. Or WAS Henric talking about her?

Fortunately, she was saved by Thompson instructing them to dive in. The Fifth Year kept her wand out, just in case anything dangerous happened and she had to defend herself and her friends against it. "Hayden, do you want to stick together?" Leah asked her younger friend who seemed excited at the thought of going underwater. She took off her robes, revealing the swimsuit she was already wearing underneath. "Viseo Ebullio," she said and moved her wand counter-clockwise around her head. Great, it worked! A bubble helmet appeared where the tip of her wand touched.

She turned her attention back to the group. Henric was probably feeling the similar embarrassment at the moment. "Yeah Adi, he SAYS he wasn't," she said through her bubble. She hoped they could hear her clearly. Her face reddened slightly too - all she wanted to do was dive under the cool water. It seemed as if the cuteee boy was thinking along the same line. She watched anxiously as he ate the disgusting Gillyweed and began transforming. She was SO glad she could perform the Bubble-Head Charm. After Henric dived in and could breathe normally again, her smile returned to her face. Then, Hayden and the Ravenclaw boy did the same thing, with the former being slightly calmer. "Good job, guys!" she shouted down.

Now it was her turn. Leah felt awkwardly for the bubble around her head and made sure that it was still in its place. She did not want to lose it while she was underwater or anything. She jumped in excitedly, landing next to Henric. This was going to be so much fun.

Instructions were given, and the rising sixth year listened intently. Relieved that he was old enough to do the charm, the older Slytherin nodded in understanding, and gave his companions a quick glance. His stare lingered on the tiny red head though. Will she be okay with the Gillyweed? He sort of...felt bad for the younger Snake though. Brooklyn’s hair looked pretty, and it was just going to get wet with murky water.

Ethan had let go of Josie’s hand the moment they arrived on the spot. She and the rest of the students need to dress down for the swim, so he took the liberty to turn around and gave the girls some privacy. He took off his shirt, and stuffed it inside the small enchanted pouch that he carried around his neck. He then placed a waterproofing charm on the said pouch and slipped it inside the pocket of his board shorts.

The soon to be seventeen year old did a series of stretching, with his wand in his hand. Grayson was right. If one did take good care of their physique, confidence will surely come out of him too. Besides, he’s a Slytherin, and Slytherins tend to show off what they’ve got. He surely won’t miss the opportunity because wolfing down a 3,998 calorie count meal every single day, and turning that into healthy looking muscles was surely hard work. Is Josie looking, though? Teehee. Confidence! He’s got lots of that now, thanks to his countless hours of doing vertical push ups.

After repeating the spell inside his head, Ethan cleared his throat and readied his wand. “Viseo Ebullio.” A counter-clockwise wand movement was made around his neck, and completing it on top of his head. The whole of his head was now encased in a clear bubble. Ethan poked his bubble twice, before jumping into the lake.

SPLOSH!

Were the girls coming or not? Oh and Simon! Over here, buddy!

Abby took some gillyweed and popped in her mouth and jumped straight into the water cause she knew about the basic rules of gillyweed it was better to work underwater and she didn't want to waste time on the surface not being able to breath and she was amazed at the effects of what the gillyweed did she was glad but really she was really excited to be going to see a kelpie and this would help her swimming out a lot

The fifteen year old was in awe at all of this interesting information she was processing, it was a lot, but of course that was not a problem for the young Ravenclaw & her curious brain. Most of her attention was on the tour guide & the Professors as they were continuously addressing the group with facts & instructions. But there was that little bit of her attention that was on something else, something she couldn’t speak about of course in fear of embarrassing herself, involving a certain Ethan still holding her hand. Aside from that, she promised that she was listening!

The group had finally arrived at the lake & she was almost in awe at the beautiful sight. She looked at Ethan when he had let go of her hand, but she did not question it. Josette looked around as everyone began to dress down into their swimsuits & it all made sense now. Right. Which meant that SHE had to dress down now. Right. Josette nervously unbuttoned her plaid shirt, but stopped when she had noticed Ethan remove his shirt while his back to her & that was when all thoughts in her brain went blank. She knew her face was already turning red & she couldn’t control it this time. But the only solution she could think of was to turn her own back away from Ethan & his muscles to calm herself down..at least a little.

Josette took a few breathes to try and relax her rapidly beating heart as she continued to dress down like everyone else. Just as she was removing her shirt & her shorts, she felt couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable now. Not because of her own body nor wearing her swim suit, but at the thought of how upset her father would be were he here in this situation, BUT again it was for school! She nodded to herself before she slowly turned back around to face Ethan & his muscles, just as he was in the middle of stretching in front of her. That was when she was seeing Ethan’s muscles really come to life & she couldn’t concentrate.

…What was she supposed to be doing now?

OH RIGHT! The bubble-head charm..

Josette picked up her wand & cleared her throat. She took a deep breath trying to relax, even closing her eyes to help calm her mind. She cleared her throat once more before reciting the charm, in her shaky voice, ”V-Viseo-o…Ebullio..” She waved her wand counter-clock wise as instructed around her head & slowly opened one eye hoping to be enclosed in a bubble, but opened both eyes when she discovered that she was not. Drats. She didn’t do it right, she was not concentrating enough.

She would try it a few more times until the fifteen year old would finally complete the charm successfully. Josette nodded to herself in approval before her attention was on Ethan & the lake once more. She took another deep breath before slowly wrapping her arms around herCatcself as she approached the water’s edge. Josette hesitated before dipping her feet in the water & felt an immediate chill run up her entire body. She gasped at how cold the water felt. The Ravenclaw looked at Ethan & smiled a bit nervously before she stared down at her feet & the water. Josette bit her lip & gripped onto herself &her wand tighter before she very SLOWLY walked further into the water until she had reached where Ethan was waiting. She smiled with quivering lips, ”H-H-H-Hi….”

Wasn’t he or anyone else this cold? Or was it just her?

On the walk to the loch, Brooklyn kept feeling eyes on the back of her head. Not that she found it that surprising, but she glanced back once just to see who it was. She’d narrowed her eyes a bit as she saw the older boy eyeing her, as if he expected her to do something to Ethan or the Claw girl. Considering she hadn’t thought about either, it was rather rude, but she turned back and kept walking. He could keep eyeing her all he wanted as far as she was concerned. She’d just pay attention to what was important.

Like the tour guide guy, and Professor Thompson. Except she was still a bit annoyed that they weren’t letting her try any spells, especially when the one the CoMC professor had talked about obviously was useful for what they were going to do. If it had actually been a lesson, she could have tried it. She was planning on trying it soon enough, but until then it seemed she was stuck using some of the tour guide guy’s gillyweed. Unless…more eyes were on her, or her head anyway, and she looked up to see Ethan staring at her hair again. At least, until he’d turned around and she realized he was giving her and the Claw girl privacy to change into their swimsuits.

Which she had on under her clothes anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal. Pulling her tshirt over her head and stripping out of her shorts, she set them aside with her shoes. She was still keeping her wand with her, thank you very much. Even if the professors weren’t letting her use it. It didn’t mean other people couldn’t cast the spell on her, of course. Hint hint. But then, Ethan had only cast it on himself and jumped into the water, followed by the Claw girl, and she frowned a little. She’d just have to get him to dry her off later, if he felt that bad about her having to get her hair wet. Apparently she was destined for the gillyweed, so she walked over to take a clump just smaller than the palm of her hand from the tour guide guy’s box. Sticking it into her mouth, she waded into the loch before chewing and swallowing the slimy lump.

Ew. At least being in the water she kept herself from most of the gagging and everything several of the others had done. It still tasted disgusting, and didn’t keep her from feeling the chill in the water. Aside from that, once the icky taste had mostly faded away, it was kind of cool being able to breathe underwater, as she ducked her head under and looked around to see if she could see anything.

Whether it was out of concern for him or indirectly in the case of everyone including her being possibly eaten as well? A small smile. "It can try.. but we've no plans on letting that happen to anyone." Four older adults and over 50 students versus one Sea Serpent imposter? Yep. Not happening.

Now that it looked like everyone was getting into the water, Professor Thompson followed right after. Deep sea diving, here we come..

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Everyone gathered at Hogsmeade station in the prime of summer on July 1st 2086 for the port key travel to Loch Ness, Scotland. When everyone arrived to the destination some of the students had had a more pleasant journey than others. Unfortunately it's not wise to eat or drink before travelling by portkey which Professor Airey Flamsteed became painfully aware of when he had to rush to vomit up the content of his stomach in the nearby bushes. While Professor Thompson checked on his colleague the students and Mr Kitridge were welcomed to the loch by their handsome tour guide Scott Maclaren.

After determining that the Loch Ness 'monsterä was in fact a large kelpie that they were supposed to be on the lookout for below the water surface, the senior student's were given a review of the bubble head charm. The younger years were given longer lasting gillyweed from Mr Maclaren’s stock. When everyone was set both students and staff chaperones took the plunge into the deep blue loch water.

The view that met them below the surface was a rich wildlife of many species of fish and water plants. Swimming together they all tried to take everything in as they kept their eyes peeled for sightings of the kelpie. Some of the younger students, about 5 of them strayed away from the group hoping to see what lay beyond a large rock that towered in the water black and big. Rounding the rock they only saw a glimpse of green moss before their vision was blurred by the attack of half human, half fish hybrids with gray skin and long wild dark green hair and unwelcoming, glowing yellow eyes.

The young group of students managed to scream out before they were bodily attacked by the creatures that aimed for their faces, hands and feet. Luckily for the youngsters their absence from the big tour group had not gone unnoticed and they were soon saved as the others came to the rescue. A few series of well placed spells scared the merpeople off and the tour guide led them back up to the surface. On the loch bank the staffers looked over and healed the 5 injured from their bleeding cuts and bruises. Some of the cuts later lead to scars. Shaken up by the encounter with the merpeople everyone followed Mr Kitridge back to the campsite for dinner and rest in the tents provided by the Board of Governors.

Sleeping throughout the nights remains difficult with the sounds of the Unicorns roaming throughout the field. A few younger students decide to help by leading them back to their habitat, only to awaken the rest of their tent from the screams after a Unicorn stampede commences, stopped with the help of Professor Thompson and Professor Flamsteed. Eventually all is calm and everyone is free to sleep through the rest of the night.

Awaken by the bag pipes played by Mr. Scott Maclaren, everyone is treated to a hearty breakfast and some free time before they're expected to dive underwater again. The trips down below turn up empty handed, save some beautiful sea shells and viable plants each evening. It wasn't until the fifth day did things get more interesting.

After going back underwater a fourth and sixth year point out a mysterious shadow that revealed some from shedded skin. Following the trail of it led to an underground cavern with many sparkling sea shells and gold. Before they could explore it however, a swarm of Grindylows attack, taking their tour guide Mr. Maclaren by the silky-smooth hair-locks of his away!

Seeing all the Professors take immediate action, the speed of the Grindylows made it difficult even with the help of three other students, a second, fourth and seventh year to aim their -perfectly executed- Revulsion Jinxes at them all. Some unfortunately hitting the guide, knocking him out. There was no need to get all the Grindylows however, as they released Mr. Maclaren but not by choice. Screams from some younger students revealed a huge sea serpent swimming towards the knocked-out tour guide. Could it be?

After a speedy-quick review on the Placement Charm from Professor Thompson, Mr. Kitridge takes ahold of the unconscious tour guide as Professor Flamsteed helps direct when for all the students to attack the sea serpent. With the help of all 54 students, the Placement charm was successful as they rendered the legendary Loch Ness docile. Taking it for a ride, everyone grabbed onto it, letting it swim them to the top. It wasn't until mid-way did Mr. Maclaren finally awaken and hurriedly explained that they could not keep the Kelpie to the disappointment of nearly everyone. Ending the charm placed on the Sea Serpent imposter caused it to rudely throw everyone out of the water.

With the trip being successful on actually encountering the mystery Loch Ness, there was no where else left to go but home with the many treasures and memories collected.

- Summarised by Mr. Kitridge (Nordic Witch) & Professor Thompson (Charely Potter)

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OOC: Thank you all for participating and helping make this trip possible. Though the summer's over, here's a summary on how the whole trip had played out IC-ly to add to your own character's experiences.