Cedric was walking towards the middle,feeling so exhausted and tired and he is scared of being alone too but he's feeling well.But of course,He wouldn't let that things to ruin his journey on the maze.Game is still on so he must do his very best.

Sticky plants started sticking to his robes,made of moss,shrubs and other yucky sticky plants.He threw away each plants or stems that stuck to his robes.But after a few minutes,Its there again.But it didn't matters,Its just make Cedric feel scary with goosebumps.

He was searching for gillyweeds,Gillyweed is the answer to finish his quest.Alas.He found gillyweeds stuck on the sticky moss,Not one but two.That made Cedric feel more comfortable,at least he wouldn't suffer of Gillyweeds shortage while he was swimming in the lake to finish the quest.He had now he think,five gillyweeds.He could go now to the lake then finish the last part.Even if he isn't the one who finish the quest first,At least he finish it.He was also hoping and wishing that Prof Annie will give him a hug once he finished the quest.

But now,He needs to concentrate,He was now in front of the lake,getting ready and will swallow the gillyweeds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lezleighd

O this woman was a savior! She was so excited about her shoes..."O Professor, you are amazing...Thank you Thank you Thank you!" she said looking at her once again clean shoes...She was starting to like this Professor....wow it's amazing what a little murky water in a locked room could do to you.

Bunbury allowed herself to beam back at the young Ravenclaw. "You are most welcome, dear." All right, so this teaching thing wasn't so bad after all. Now, if only the other students would hurry up and get out of the maze... at least Prefect Corbette had joined them now.

"You have about forty-five minutes to finish the maze and get to this side of the pond," Anastasia announced loudly, pointing her wand at her throat to amplify her voice.

Meanwhile, most of the class was now done. "For the rest of you who finished, what did the effects of gillyweed feel like? Was it what you expected, better or worse?"

ooc: class will end in about 15 hours so finish getting through the maze if you wanna =)

Kiri pondered the professor's question in silence for a few moments, trying to think of what to say. What had she actually expected the gillyweed would feel like? "Er... I... wasn't really sure what it would be like," she said, "but it tasted awful. Like... algae. Or rotten fish. And the actual transformation felt very strange." She tried not to think about what exactly the gillyweed could have been doing to her body to make it grow gills and webbed hands.

"But once I was in the water, it wasn't actually bad," she continued. "Before I jumped in, I thought it would be really could, but once I'd taken the gillyweed, I didn't mind so much. Is that one of its effects, that it not only gives people gills but also makes them more, I don't know..." she had to think of an appropriate description "more... suitable for water psychologically? Or maybe it just seemed like that for me," she finished lamely.

"I much prefer being able to breath underwater than up here," he confessed. "When you breathe on land it doesnt feel of anything, but when you breathe underwater there is a feeling of motion that I can't quite describe... but to begin with it was real nasty." YEH! Just about as nasty as Bun-face putting them through the maze in the first place!

Aww. Fyo nodded, politely. At least he still had one, fun thing to look forward to - Homework! The Gryffindor brightened considerably at this thought, scanning the place with his eyes. More students were emerging from the maze, now - and they were alive! YAY!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rawragain^^

Meanwhile, most of the class was now done. "For the rest of you who finished, what did the effects of gillyweed feel like? Was it what you expected, better or worse?"

Fyo sorta raised his hand before he answered. "They were better than I expected, professor," he said politely. "I didn't exactly feel my best after I had taken the gillyweed but, once I was underwater, things straightened themselves out almost immediately. It takes time to get used to the changes - the webbed hands and feet, most of all - but it's a lot better once you're in the water because, above the water, you begin to.. sort of suffocate. Because of the gills, you know."

Oh grrrrrrrreat.

Drat, drat, DRAT! So noooow she'd be starting from the beginning, from the very very beginning. She never been too good at cornmazes...

And this truly wasn't much better, though it was much prettier, it did slow her down a bit as she was trying to avoid the plants that looked particularly dangerous and possibly wanted to kill her...that's what she was at the moment, well...extremely slow.

Sooo, of course she continued through, making her so progress she wanted to get out, of course. Just as she thought that she was finally close to the ending and about to get out of the maze something hit her.

A dead end!!

All that progress she was making and now it was all foiled by the stupid dead end. Melanie hopped up and down, to see if she was any closer to the end of the maze, her head popping up just enough so she could just see Bunbury and the other students sitting on the other side of the lake, chatting idly about the lesson. Arrrggggggggg!! For her own sake she hoped that there was till someone in this maze still. She definitely did NOT want to be the last one out here, especially since she'd be using the lily pads to cross! What if everyone made fun of her for being afraid of water?! Or even worse what if they all left by the time she got across and just abandoned her there and she had to stay there for the rest of the term or until Bunbury took the maze down?! And she had to live on GREEEEENS?

She didn't think she could bear that...but she had no need to worry, because before that could happen she would totally just hack down one of the walls of the maze.

Right so...moving on. she turned around, a bit reluctant to move away from the sounds of her fellow students and professor speaking across the lake even though she knew it was the only way she could ever get through this darned thing. she made her way back through the path that had lead her to the dead end, taking a new path this time, which lead her to, oh yes, yet ANOTHER dead end, however this time there was a small plant with the burden of gillyweed wrapped around it, looking almost just like the example Bunbury had passed around. She was almost positive it was the right thing and she could use some to prove she wasn't just taking the lily pads because she was lazy or something, and that she really knew how to distinguise gillyweed from cucuta. So, cringing as she did so she untangled the big hunk or green-gray rat-tail looking gillyweed from it's victim as gently as she could, holding it in one of her hands.

Melanie backed out of the dead end, searching for a path to lead her to the pond. She had everything she needed...and she was sure a way to the lake had to be near.

William got up from his place on the oddly comfortable ground, his breathing back to normal now that he was safe and sound. Walking up to the place where everyone else was he shook his head, flakes of water dripping everywhere before replying, "It felt neat actually. I probably should have taken one more small clump of gillyweed however since the effects wore off right as I was getting out. I actually felt like a fish, my gills were squishy and weird and I loved my webbed feet and hands. I miss them now. And my eyesight was amazingly clear under the water too, of course I still managed to scrub my face over a trunk though." he added before looking out over to the other side of the pond. "May I accio my shoes over professor?" He asked as he sat down and sighed.

After wondering around for a few more mutes, she finally found a promising looking path, heading in what she thought looked like the right direction...yes she was pretty sure it was going in the direction of the lake, she could only hope it didn't take her to a dead end once more. but, hey, it was definetly worth a try.

So Melanie began walking down the path thinking about turning back around as it took so many curvy turns. Surely it couldn't be leading her to the exit if it was so swerving...chances were that it was taking it back to the beginning, but since she hadn't reached a fork or anything yet she decided she may as well keep going and if it did indeed lead to a split in the road she turn back around and go back to prevent from getting further lost than she was. At least back there she had an idea where she was going and where in the maze she was....here she was rather confused, there had been too many swerves and turns in the path for her to keep up.

But apparently it'd paid to take the curvy road in the maze because as she kept walking she caught sight of the a glimmer of the sunshine on the pond, and then she saw more water...and even more still...

She was out of the maze and had finally reached the end.

As she realized this a triumphant smile spread across the young Hufflepuff's face, breathing a sigh of relief. That meant she wasn't gonna be lost in there for the rest of the school year annnnd it also meant she was no longer stuck in there with the killer plants. she really had to resist the urge to do a happy dance.

Now all she had to do was cross the pod and she'd truly be at the end of the course. she always been afraid of a lot of water for at least as long as she could remember, so naturally she was practically shaking. Taking a deep breath to brace herself for the task, Melanie clutched the gillyweed tightly in one hand and walked over to the side of pond with the Victoria Amazonian Lily Pads were floating across in a neat little trail. After taking yet another deep breath she moved backwards she she could take a running jump for the very first plant. And that was exactly what she did... she flew toward the floating plant and landed somewhat neatly,on her knees, on top of it, a small spurt of water splashing up around the the plant, which left her spluttering as it dipped an inch or so into the pond though it seemed to easily support her weight. Smiling to herself she looked to the next pad, wondering how she was going to summon up the courage to stand up onto this one to jump.

One jump covered, a whole more pond full to go.

Miles dived from the surface so he could swim faster. Miles hadn't swam in a long time and to be honest, he wasn't as good as he used to be. Maybe it was because he was getting old? Haha. Eighteen, not really that old. As he made sure he wasn't to deep, he didn't want to drown. He had now swam half of the pond, and he was getting a little tired. Also, he felt his gills slowly dissappearing. NO! Miles swam faster so he wouldn't start inhaling water.

SWIIIIIIIM.

As Miles reached the surface, his gills dissappeared. "Phew." He sighed as he lifted himself onto the bank of the pond. He shivered his way to the pink bench Bunbury had put out for him to sit.

Torin thought for a moment before replying. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. As soon as I got into the water, I felt that I could breathe perfectly. Though the transforming part in itself felt a little weird." And he should have gotten into the water a little sooner. But eh, it was all good really.

FWEEEEEEEEE!

She thought she must have looked sorta like a frog as she hopped from lily pad to lily pad...Except not so green and scaly and icky looking and ...

...Wellll she thought it was a good comparison in the heat of the moment.

One problem though.

Frogs.

Didn't.

Fall.

Already near the other side of the lake she made a disastrous attempt to hop much longer than she possibly could, her foot slipping on the side of the plant, and she plunged down into the pond water, trying to grab a hold of the side of the Victoria Amazonian water plant with her free hand to no avail.

So being a poor swimmer she did the only smart thing she could think of to do. She shoved what gillyweed she had, which wasn't too much at all, into her mouth, wincing at the bland taste of it as she swallowed the plant. As she felt her feet begin to feel smushed inside the confines of her tennis shoes she kicked them off regretfully, unable to bear the uncomfortable feeling. She looked down with amazement down at her feet and hands as they transformed into what looked much more like fins...but somehow were still feet/hand-like in this manner. Almost like a duck's foot...It felt uncomfortable as it happened though. It wasn't really painful, but it was an uneasy feeling, unnatural and awkward.

The gills were the strangest most unfamiliar thing about it though. Breathing like a fish was a odd sensation, she could feel the cool water moving through her set off gills and kept fearing something had gone terribly wrong and that she was going to drown after all, but, of course, she didn't. It took some getting used to, but after a few minutes down in the water she slowly got used to swimming using her new webbed hands and feet and just the feeling of having them there, twirling contently around in the water. She had quite a bit of time to play around in the water since the gillyweed should last her a while... The sensation of swimming was a bit uncomfortable for her since she hadn't been swimming since she was around 7 or 8 and she was still a bit afraid of the water so she remained near the surface of the pond, though it was tempting to dive down and get her shoes. She swam closer and closer to the other edge of the pond, poking her head out of the water so her eyes were only just above the surface to see if she was in the right spot, for when her gills disappeared, before going back down underneath the water once more to wait out the time.

It didn't take too long because of the small amount of gillyweed she'd consumed. Within about 45 minutes the effects of the gillyweed were receding.

As they did she managed to pull herself up onto the bank and blinking to get her eyes used to the bright sunlight once more. The sunlight didn't do much to warm her up though...she looked hopefully to Bunbury for a towel as she saw that some of the other students were wrapped up in them, walking lightly over tot he group and plopping down on one of the benches she'd set out, somehow overlooking the fact that they were pink. The girl simply sat there wriggling her toes and fingers a bit just to be sure they were no longer webbed. After them having been that way for so long it felt sorta strange for them not to be. Nice though. She couldn't help but smile slightly as she took in a breath of warm air, filling her lungs with oxygen once more. In her opinion it was much better than taking in the cold pond water. Much, much, much better... She glanced up, looking around at the other soaking wet students and listening with half an ear to what the others were saying. Now what she most wanted to do after all that swimming was take a nap...a nice long nap...

Even though Plymouth was wildly distracted by the fascinating undersides of the lilies - he wasn't totally oblivious to the fact that if he stayed underwater any longer he was going to drown. His momma loved him too much for him to let that happen, so Plymouth with the webbed feet swam to the end of the pond.

He crawled out as the gillyweed effects started to wear off. "THAT. WAS. AWESOME," Plymouth spit out pond water.


He sprawled out on the grass near the feet of Professor Bunbury and relived his last few minutes in the pond. He'd want to remember it forever.

Diane finally yanked her hand from the trap of pink weed, no help for her. She was a tad disoriented now. She had vials in her pockets, enough of pink weed and one of gillyweed. It seemed, to get to the pond section, she would need to keep detangling.

It was not until she was out into a clearing that she felt the mud on her work boots start to hinder her path. At that time, she almost slipped against a rock and fell on her face. Not quite, but that was exactly why she found it. Holding to wheat, where a more greish but fitting profile weed. She was keeping it on a vial when the thought ocurred to her. She was on her feet next moment, pocketing the weed on her inner robes.

There was a splash.

In fact she had at least four more vials full before she reached the end of it. The pond, with the light reflected on the clear water, it looked quite welcoming for a swim. Her muddy clothes needed not be removed, she gathered. Also, the plants who liked the humid weather, would not be too uncomfortable. Thus, she took the first vial of gillyweed out of her pocket.

Diane felt a tightening in her chest before the effects of the gillyweed kicked in. Her neck hurt from strain, because it was cold. When finally, the skin on her neck parted and her lungs filled with water, she actually submerged. That was when she heard the announcement from the professor; when she was half-fish centimeters just before the surface. She had an hour before she could come out. Guess that meant, she was going to be late.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antarctica!

Kiri pondered the professor's question in silence for a few moments, trying to think of what to say. What had she actually expected the gillyweed would feel like? "Er... I... wasn't really sure what it would be like," she said, "but it tasted awful. Like... algae. Or rotten fish. And the actual transformation felt very strange." She tried not to think about what exactly the gillyweed could have been doing to her body to make it grow gills and webbed hands.

"But once I was in the water, it wasn't actually bad," she continued. "Before I jumped in, I thought it would be really could, but once I'd taken the gillyweed, I didn't mind so much. Is that one of its effects, that it not only gives people gills but also makes them more, I don't know..." she had to think of an appropriate description "more... suitable for water psychologically? Or maybe it just seemed like that for me," she finished lamely.

"Ah yes, excellent observations, Miss Starstalker," Professor Bunbury nodded. "Gillyweed is not known for its taste in particular, although when squeezed for a gillywater it can have a nice lemon-lime flavor. And yes, gillyweed should physically and psychologically give you enough confidence to swim without worry, one of its many benefits." She smiled at the girl. "You did excellent."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leeness

"I much prefer being able to breath underwater than up here," he confessed. "When you breathe on land it doesnt feel of anything, but when you breathe underwater there is a feeling of motion that I can't quite describe... but to begin with it was real nasty." YEH! Just about as nasty as Bun-face putting them through the maze in the first place!

Hmmph Tipps. "Riiiiiight," Anastasia blinked at the boy a few times. "That makes total sense." Or something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenoritaMaxie

Aww. Fyo nodded, politely. At least he still had one, fun thing to look forward to - Homework! The Gryffindor brightened considerably at this thought, scanning the place with his eyes. More students were emerging from the maze, now - and they were alive! YAY!

Fyo sorta raised his hand before he answered. "They were better than I expected, professor," he said politely. "I didn't exactly feel my best after I had taken the gillyweed but, once I was underwater, things straightened themselves out almost immediately. It takes time to get used to the changes - the webbed hands and feet, most of all - but it's a lot better once you're in the water because, above the water, you begin to.. sort of suffocate. Because of the gills, you know."

"Correct, Fyo, gills aren't designed the same way your lungs are. And there's always a learning curve with some as transfiguring as gillyweed." She laughed a little and looked toward the next student.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monkey Princess

William got up from his place on the oddly comfortable ground, his breathing back to normal now that he was safe and sound. Walking up to the place where everyone else was he shook his head, flakes of water dripping everywhere before replying, "It felt neat actually. I probably should have taken one more small clump of gillyweed however since the effects wore off right as I was getting out. I actually felt like a fish, my gills were squishy and weird and I loved my webbed feet and hands. I miss them now. And my eyesight was amazingly clear under the water too, of course I still managed to scrub my face over a trunk though." he added before looking out over to the other side of the pond. "May I accio my shoes over professor?" He asked as he sat down and sighed.

Willyboy, while he seemed to enjoy the gillyweed experience a little, still had a few issues. "Here are your shoes," Bunbury waved her wand toward the pond and had them back at the boy in a jiffy. "And thank you for the observation about eyesight. Just another benefit of becoming part-fish, eh?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Eye Touz

Even though Plymouth was wildly distracted by the fascinating undersides of the lilies - he wasn't totally oblivious to the fact that if he stayed underwater any longer he was going to drown. His momma loved him too much for him to let that happen, so Plymouth with the webbed feet swam to the end of the pond.

He crawled out as the gillyweed effects started to wear off. "THAT. WAS. AWESOME," Plymouth spit out pond water.

He sprawled out on the grass near the feet of Professor Bunbury and relived his last few minutes in the pond. He'd want to remember it forever.

"Er, glad you enjoyed yourself, Mr. Morgan." Annie swung her feet slightly away from the wet Ravenclaw and dropped a towel on his head. "Here, dry off."

She noted that Miles Parker and Melanie Lockhart had finished the maze and only a few more students were still out there, including one young Slytherin still in the pond. Well that was progress.

"While we wait for a few stragglers to finish up," Bunz announced, standing up from her pink seat and grabbing a stack of parchments, "the rest of you are welcome to head back to the castle and get yourselves dry. Don't forget to pick up a homework on your way out though."

Quote:

Herbology Lesson Two Homework

Part One: Explain, in detail, some of the key differences between cuscuta and gillyweed and how you recognize one from the other.

Part Two: Explain or illustrate a situation in which you would use gillyweed, how much you would use, and how you would use it. Be sure to be precise in demonstrating the effects and benefits of gillyweed in this particular situation.

DUE DATE: July 20th at midnight EST for it all

That much, Fyo already knew, by now. All the same, he gave Professor Bunbury a polite nod, brightening up almost immediately as she mentioned - you guessed it - homework!

AWESOME! Fyo couldn't wait to start on that. "Great homework, professor," he said with a nod, once he was out of the seat he had been in till a minute ago, and had grabbed himself a copy of the thing. [Thing meaning homework, and not the seat, of course.] "And great lesson, too."

Suddenly, from behind at the side of the Professor Bunbury's leg, something wet and slippery was dropped unceremoniously. It had lightly brushed her leg to be exact, and that kind of sounded like glass muffled. Enough to give anybody a start. The wet thing happened to be a student cloak. The person who had dropped it was still in the water, just under the surface, where her still-transformed face was staring back at the professor distorted by the water movement. But you could still tell the face was smiling.

Diane kind of waved at her, and then pointed her neck, signaling that... actually.. she couldn't get out yet per see. Hopefully the professor could wait for her to get out. Her face sort of requested as much, if you please. She wouldn't like being left behind.

Oh greattt!!! They were making there way through a labyrinth and he was stuck at the very beginning. Barely even made it through the door of the greenhouse and already was he backing out? Clearly he wasn't afraid of dying like the other Hufflepuff years before he was born died. No no... He was a quidditch player; death did not bother him.

It was the fear of prickly, slimy grossness down his throat that more freaked him out. He did not want to have to swim in a pond in Bunbury's greenhouse. It just seemed incredibly dirty. Even if it wasn't dirty, which it most likely was not given the nature of Professor Bunbury, it was still disgusting. Putting some plant in your mouth. EWW!

Maybe he could sneak around the greenhouse instead . . . Bunbury surely won't notice the difference, right?

Except that he would notice, because as a Hufflepuff, he wanted to do this fair. If the other students could do it, then why not he? He was a Hufflepuff and a prefect. There were worse things that this could be; for instance it could be a maze of runes and he had to decipher his way through. Surely he would FAIL miserably on that. This on the other hand, was just plants. No harm. Hopefully. Bunbury had said that no one would suffer a fatal death.

One step in. One foot after the other. The sixth year looked back and blinked at the sight of no exit. He was already locked in the greenhouse and the only way was to follow the pathway as it twisted and curved through various plants and trees, most of which he could not identify which was probably shameful for a sixth year student. But he wasn't going to admit it. All he needed was to collect Gillyweed. Slipping on his gloves, he picked through a few host plants, searching for the substance. The gray-green color and the rat-tail like appearance, with segmented stems like a rat-tail are a dead giveaway, he thought about its appearance based on what Kazimeriz told them. To be honest, most of what the Potions Master had said, Dominic had phased out during. Probably not a good thing now that his life sort of depended on.

Ooh!! Wait. What was that though?! Just behind that PINK plant!? Yes... Maybe, hopefully this was the rat-tail substance he needed . . .

Oh.What.He was running out of time.Cedric need to finish this as quickly as he could.He was in the lake now so a few minutes,He will be at the end.One.Two.Three.Four.Five.He count the number of the gillyweeds he has,he was pretty sure that this gillyweeds were enough to make him breathe underwater.He swallowed the one gillyweed then the other one just to make sure that he did right.

He wait for another minute and there he was,He has gills,webbed feet and hands.He dived into the lake.He like this feeling,swimming without limitations and exceptions.He wonders for a while,didn't matter now if he was running out of time.Then he swallowed another gillyweed.

Breathe.Breathheee.

He swim too fast.He didn't want to be run out of time.Hence,He swallowed another gillyweed,one to go.But before he swallowed the other he was nearly in the other side of the lake so he just swam and there he was.Full of moss,shrubs and roots stuck in his robes but at least,He managed to get out in the lake.

... Nope! Not the substance that he needed. This must be the cuscata genus that Kazimeriz was talking about. It looked similar enough, but it wasn't gillywee; that Dominic would bet his life on. And quite literally too since there was the possibility of him drowning in the pond if the gillyweed didn't work. Sighing, he continued down the pathway, eying the plants every so often for the gray-green plant that would save his life at the end of this labyrinth.

The maze seemed to twist and turn every which way, and if it wasn't for the faint sounds ahead (very far ahead mind you!), then Dominic might have thought he was going the wrong direction. Besides, it seemed like everyone had already passed him. Where was that gillyweed!?!

Maybe the other students got it all before he could get some. No, that couldn't be it. Surely Professor Bunbury would have allotted plenty of gillyweed so they would not run out; but he could smell the fresh water of the pond nearby, so Dominic was slowly losing faith. And he would have lost it all together had he not tripped over something at the ledge of the pathway, falling into the shrubbery.

Normally he might have complained that one, he dirtied himself and two, he possibly damaged the plants, but it was seeing that gray-green haven that allowed him to grin. Just a little bit is all it took . . . So with care, the sixth year plucked some of that rat-tail substance from behind its host plant and clutched it safely as he stood up and continued down the pathway...

... down the pathway and to the water. Even if the Veronica Amazonian lily pads sounded tempting to avoid getting wet, that way seemed to be the cheap way to get out of the maze. If he was going for the full on experience, then he would have to brace the sliminess of the gillyweed. The gills. And take the plunge. By choice, which generally made things better when it was the choice HE made.

Or so he thought . . . .

. . . Except that Dominic tripped over another something on the pathway, only this time there was no soil or shrubbery to break his fall. Stupid kids, leaving stuff scattered on the labyrinth pathway as hazard to my health! He thought bitterly, just before he SPLASHED! into the cool water of the pond . . .

Cedric was wet and messy.Why do moss fely so yucky,He didn't like it.Its scary.He didn't have a chance to met the merpeople cause he only had one gillyweed left,If Prof Bunbury could give him more.He sighed,however he felt so bad not meeting the merpeoples,He still have jobs to be finished.

He stood up then put out the mess in his robes but as he saw before he entered the maze,a student ask their professor to clean the mess for her so Prof Bunbury could clean the mess in his robes too.

One step forward,Oh no!Cedric found himself in one of the dead ends.This was dark,He almost forgot that his wand was in his robes.He could use Lumos charm to give efficient light,so he did.How fool he was,not using it before.

Another steps,He needs to hurry.Hmm,What does he sees a light on one of the ends of a mae.It is in side of him so he turn.Yes!He thought that it is the end of the maze.His job were now finished.He felts so great.He didn't waste any time so he run as quickly and fast as he could.

Yay!end of his task,mazed finish,Prof Annie amazed.

"All right, now, time's running out, c'mon you lot," Bunbury called out to the Slytherin still in the pond. She almost chuckled when Dominic fell in as well, but Cedric had just popped up.

Annie nudged her head in the direction of the pink towels. "Grab one of those to dry yourself off before heading to the castle, Mr. Leone." She eyed the boy and then swished her wand at his robes a few times, clearing off the excess mud there. Ugh - she didn't even want that going into the castle anytime soon.