Fortunately the head boy didn't find himself in the dark for too long. As the man before him wasn't stealthy enough to remain in the dark and lit his wand, lighting his face and the path before him just enough to make out the familiarities. But before he could speak anything to the familiar man, it was the sounds of the forest that sent shivers down his spine.

Enough for him to nearly miss the very young girl that he just happened to catch by the shadows and crackling twigs. What was SHE doing out here alone in the dark? A young girl like that definitely should not be anywhere near the Forbidden Forest at this hour; especially not without supervision. And definitely not when she looked barely old enough to even BE at Hogwarts.

Whistling towards her to get her attention, Dominic spun around quickly as he heard more crackling twigs. Oh; just Professor Svensson. What was he up to anyway? Eying the man curiously, and then back to the girl who had started back towards the castle it seemed, the Head Boy dashed after them.

"Professor," Dominic finally called, once he was in earshot. Because he just HAD to know what the Transfiguration Professor was up to.

Sporting a thick cloth coat that Madison had lovingly bought him for his birthday, Constantine held an axe in his gloved hands as he walked towards the forbidden forest. It was nearing Christmas time and the Great Hall needed to get started in decoration! In terms of trees, of course. And, this had to be done early, seeing as he would be gone during the break to go home and see his baby girl and wife.

He had planted some new trees during the summer and then charmed them so that they would be BIG, yet manageable. He really felt bad about the idea of cutting down the forests trees, when he could simply plant his own. And now, it was time to harvest them.

He paused outside the forest, taking a look around and hoping to see if there were any older (4th & up) students hanging around. He would need quite a few per tree in order to get them up to the school...hmmm.

ooc:

Raven wandered into the forest, knowing full well that this place was full of danger, however if you didn't take a chance; life was not fun. She was bundled up in a warm winter coat because it was actually quite cold out, she despised winter so much.

As she was walking, she noticed the Groundskeeper with an axe, looking around for something. She put her gloves on and headed over to him, clearing her throat somewhat politely. "Do you require some assistance, sir?" she asked curiously, as she noticed another student walking over.

Groundskeeper... plus axe? Was there an equation that worked well in this situation? Raiden had been walking around the edge of the forest aimlessly, watching students that were nearby doing whatever they were doing, when he happened to catch sight of Mr. Masterson standing along the treeline with... an axe. Huh.

"Christmas trees, sir?" he guessed, moving a bit closer. It was that time of year already, wasn't it. "Isn't there a charm that's more efficient than chopping them down?"

Hmm, speak of the children. There were two! He would need quite a few more however....

"I do, Miss Athlon," he answered with a smile, "I'll explain exactly what I need..just as soon as there's more. I really don't feel like explaining the same thing 20 times." He chuckled and then turned his head to look at the Slytherin Prefect. Ahhh, now, here was someone being a role model! Perhaps this would good.

"Indeed, Mr. Kururugi," he then answered with a nod, "It is that time of year again. Plus, I'm only getting older...I need to stay in shape somehow," he smiled and then it became a guilty smile. "Plus, I charmed this axe...two whacks against the wood and it's timberrrrr. I did say stay in shape, didn't mean I had to kill my body doing it..."

What in the name of loving canaries was Mr Masterson doing with that axe?!

Whatever it was, Dominic was going to find out. Following the Slytherin Prefect - totally unintentional! - the Hufflepuff stealthy made his way towards where the groundskeeper had then stopped and was conversing with two Slytherins. Were they in detention or something and the forbidden forest was their punishment? Probably unlikely; this was Raiden Kururugi. Even though Dominic didn't know much on the boy, he didn't seem like the type to get detention in the forbidden forest.

Standing in close formation just behind a large tree (that may or may not have been pine ) ... Dominic just waited and listened for some inkling as to what was going on.

"Rai-Rai!" Celandine had recognised the slytherin boy from a distance and ran over at full speed, a delighted smile on her face. She hadn't really spent all that much time with her friend lately, last time she'd seen him was during Borr's class when her arm had gotten broken...

Oh. MisterMastersonsir.

"MisterMastersonsir! Hi!" She looked around, "Whats the happy haps?"

She'd picked that up... somewhere.

...Haha.

"Mr. Masterson, you're not that old... are you?" Raiden eyed the Groundskeeper. He didn't look old. "Only two swings? Well that's a lot better then. I think if it weren't charmed... if it were me, at least, my arms would fall off after the first few, probably."

His arms weren't quite as skinny as they used to have been, but... well he still wasn't the strongest person in the world. So yeah. He half-turned when he thought he heard something behind him, but his attention was immediately drawn in the opposite direction at the shout of a familiar nickname from a familiar voice.

"Cela!" he said happily, grinning when she got near. Happy haps? What were 'haps' and why were they happy? "How are you? I haven't... seen you in a while."

Or Daphne. Who was probably still angry with him for shouting at her. Meh.

Wandering over to Masterson Reid rubbed his arms slightly, not quite used to the winters here. It was cold and he so didn't need to get sick on top of everything else. However it seemed as if the groundskeeper could use help and since Reid had nothing else to do he may as well help like the other students were. "Do you need any more assistance sir?" he inquired when he got close enough to be heard by Masterson.

It was already December, and other than the fact Adrienne was freezing, she was wondering where the time went. At least it was easy to wear lots of layers to deal with the cold, especially since she still liked wandering the grounds. Underneath her school-approved cloak, she had a thick sweater over her school uniform, and wool tights tucked into her black Tory Burch boots. So in any case she was reasonably warm.

Wandering over near the forest, she heard voices and moved closer, arms wrapped around herself, until she saw Dominic hiding behind a tree. Apparently spying on the groundskeeper, who was talking to Cela and a couple Slythies. A mischievous grin crept onto her face, and she moved even closer. "So whatever would make Mr. Head Boy think he couldn't just jump into a conversation?," she said in a low voice as she came up behind the seventh year, sarcasm evident in her tone. Eventually she was going to find out what Mr. Masterson was doing, but annoying Dominic was too tempting. So she had to do that first. Besides, at least he couldn't whine about her not wearing black shoes.

If the person surrounded by students at the edge of the Forbidden Forest had been Professor Morgan, Kiri probably would have thought twice about wandering over. She'd have made them muck out the Abraxan's pens or something, probably. Granted, the groundskeeper might have something similar in mind, but as the weather had rapidly turned cold over the last few weeks, there weren't a lot of plants that would have needed watching left on the Grounds. Except the hardened highlands grass, maybe, but it looked coarse enough to shrug off a meteor strike.

So Kiri joined the students and the groundskeeper, slightly bent to keep her face out of the biting wind as much as possible. When she was closer, she could spot other people she recognised. "Hello, Mr Masterson," she said before shuffling over to Raiden and Celandine. "Hey, you two." (Meh.) "What's, um, going on? Trip into the Forbidden Forest?"

1...2...4...7.

7 students was...okay? ish? Well, it was a good start, that was for sure. "Well...I think I'm going to wait a few more minutes to see if I can snag some more students. But essentially, what we'll be doing is this: I'm going to cut down some trees and then in groups of 2 or 3, you guys are going to levitate them and transport them to the great hall. If you want to, you can leave if you don't want to," he shrugged.

"If you want to split up now..and then tell me your groups, that would be fantastic. We essentially need...4 trees for the house tables..1 for the staff table. Perhaps a large one for the Entrance Hall. We will leave that one for last."

"Oooh that sounds fun. We'd use Mobiliarbus MisterMastersonsir?" Cela clapped in excitement.

Ohhhhh groups!

"Well, Raiden and Kiri and I could be a group?" She looked between the two Slytherins questioningly, giving them both bright smiles.

Oh, so they were not about to go looking for centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. Kiri looked at the towering trees sceptically. She was able to use magic, yes, but they looked too large and imposing to be moved by waving a wand about and muttering a few words. But walking away now would make her look really stupid - besides, she thought, listening to the groundskeeper's explanation, being involved in the decoration of the Great Hall... well, it did not sound like fun exactly, but definitely worthwhile.

Kiri nodded at Celandine. "Yep, sure," she said lightly. The girl's enthusiasm was so infectious that Kiri couldn't help but return the smile. She pointed at herself and Raiden. "Are you sure you'll need us, though? Levitating a tree shouldn't be a problem for you!" She kept her tone as light as before, her smile as bright and friendly too, so that Celandine knew she was not talking in envy. Although what she'd said was probably true, for all Kiri knew. Celandine was one of the brightest and most skilful witches she'd ever seen. Most of the teachers appeared to agree.

"Sure but usually I climb trees, not move them. And it would be nice to have some back up so the tree doesn't get hurt." And clearly Celandine hadn't clicked on the whole 'cut trees down' thing yet. She smiled brightly, "And they are pretty big trees, if we take an end each with one person ready to jump in with a levitation spell if someone gets shaky, oh and of course making sure there isn't anyone in the way while we are walking, it would be a lot safer."

She peeked at Raiden and gave him a side-hug shoulder squeezy thing. "Right Rai-Rai?"

Blink.

He was getting TALLER.

Watching with interest as Cel-an-dine and another boy seemed to be join the groundskeeper and the two slytherins, the last thing Dominic expected was to be spotted. Heard, perhaps, because he was quiet yes but with the early December and small amounts of frost buildup on twigs and leaves, his feet were sure to make a crunching noise.

And so when he heard a low voice, the head boy jumped slightly in surprise as he turned to see who it was. Figures; it was the snarky girl from the library bookshelves. "Sshh!" He warned, giving her a look that told her he wasn't ready to be revealed yet. Almost out of instinct, his golden eyes flickered down to her feet and grimaced in satisfaction when her shoes were black. Now the heel part, that was another story all together.


Huh? The groundskeeper must have noticed him. Curse the ravenclaw girl for having to speak to him when he was CLEARLY trying to not be seen.

What was this? Decorating the great hall? Well that actually didn't seem too bad; this was his last year at Hogwarts, so surely something like this would be good to do. Worthwhile, in the least. Noticing Cel-an-dine partner with Raiden and a slytherin girl, Dominic looked back at the snarky Ravenclaw girl.

"I didn't want to just jump into the conversation without knowing the topic first," Dominic finally answered he question. "Because unlike some people, I prefer to see if I have anything to say before just babbling random nonsense. Now, are you in?" He arched a brow, as his way of asking if she was willing to partake in the levitating of trees to the Great Hall. "Or are your heels too high for such labor?"

Rai-Rai. Kiri didn't have a nickname for Raiden. Which was vaguely annoying in a way she couldn't quite pinpoint. Maybe because "Rai-Rai" just made it seem as if Celandine was closer to Raiden than Kiri was?
And why was she even thinking about this right now?

"Er... you like to climb trees? Even the ones in the Forbidden Forest?" Kiri eyed the ones nearby. She and the rest of the students stood close enough to the edge of the forest that the trees' large branches reached high into the sky. Celandine certainly looked nimble and sporty enough to pull it off, but Kiri couldn't see the motivation.

And she didn't know how weight affected the amount of power that was needed by the witch or wizard using the levitation charm to get the object to move - probably a lot, judging by the many people the groundskeeper needed - so Celandine's suggestion was a good one. "Alright," said Kiri, nodding. "Erm, I'd... like to levitate, though. I wouldn't be much use in, you know, an emergency."

"Tree Transportation?" LouAnn asked, not really expecting an answer to that question. It was more or less just a way to slide herself on into the conversation that was currently going on between Mister Masterson and a few of her fellow students. "I mean, hi, Mister Masterson. Need a few more people?" She stopped to wave hello to Cela and Kiri, as well as a few other students she had yet to meet. With her tiny height and body, LouAnn wasn't sure she could work wonders, but at least she could provide an extra set of hands to do something or another.

Copernicus was wandering (aka possiblymaybesortof looking for Celandine) the grounds when he spotted a group gathering near the Forbidden Forest.

Ooooh. Field Trip??

"What's up?" Copernicus stopped next to Louann and gave her a gentle elbow to the ribs.

Plymouth was stalking Copernicus. He was kind of hoping that... he'd fall down again. HEHE. That had been so funny.... But, it was Plymouth's lucky day! Just when he was getting bored of stalking, they happened across a group of students and The Water Lily Slayer.

Hmm. Plymouth ruffled Cope's hair on his way past him, letting him KNOW that he was there and went to straight Masterson. "What's up? That Panda rabid and rampant or something?"

Feeling a slight nudge in the side, LouAnn turned from the groundskeeper to find that Copernicus, a Ravenclaw boy she'd met a few times already, had joined the little tree transportation group. "Oh, hey, Copernicus. I haven't caught up with you in a while. What's been going on?" she greeted. At least a few more boys were joining in now. They could help with the heavier loads, for sure.

Another Ravenclaw boy, one she didn't believe she'd met yet, walked by and ruffled Copernicus' hair before heading on to the groundskeeper to ask about rapid and rampant pandas. There were...pandas on the grounds of the school? It'd make sense with the amount of bamboo, she supposed.

"Yes, Miss Toussaint," he smiled, answering her inquiry as to which spell they would use. "Since you've already found your group, I'd ask that you be the first to transport a tree?" He smiled and then turned to look at some new arrivals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

"Tree Transportation?" LouAnn asked, not really expecting an answer to that question. It was more or less just a way to slide herself on into the conversation that was currently going on between Mister Masterson and a few of her fellow students. "I mean, hi, Mister Masterson. Need a few more people?" She stopped to wave hello to Cela and Kiri, as well as a few other students she had yet to meet. With her tiny height and body, LouAnn wasn't sure she could work wonders, but at least she could provide an extra set of hands to do something or another.

"Oh, hello, LouAnn," he greeted. "I most certainly could use an extra set of hands, thank you...oh, and I never got a chance to congratulate you on an excellent article," he smiled. He hoped she knew which one she was referring to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Eye Touz

Plymouth was stalking Copernicus. He was kind of hoping that... he'd fall down again. HEHE. That had been so funny.... But, it was Plymouth's lucky day! Just when he was getting bored of stalking, they happened across a group of students and The Water Lily Slayer.

Hmm. Plymouth ruffled Cope's hair on his way past him, letting him KNOW that he was there and went to straight Masterson. "What's up? That Panda rabid and rampant or something?"

Constantine laughed. "Amusing, Mr. Morgan," he started, lifting the hand holding the axe to scratch the bridge of his nose with a finger. "But, no...it's not a panda. They've been donated to a conservation area. We're cutting down trees to be used as a Christmas trees in the Great Hall and Entrance Hall. Well...I'm cutting...you all are transporting them.

"If you don't have a group of two or three...please, do so now....Miss Toussaint & gang, are you ready?"

"Come on, Plym. You're the tree man, remember? You need to get over here and make sure we treat your trees with love, man. Come on." He turned to the younger Gryffindor standing nearby. The one who was oddly distant. Maybe she hated boys. He knew how that felt.

"Miss Purple, you're welcome to join our group too. If you'd like."

Plymouth's eyes swelled to the size of small PLANETS. They were WHAT?!?!?!!???!! He turned those baby blues on Copernicus. Show them LOVE? With an AXE????



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


"WHY??? Why... Why...? No.. no, no, no. There's NO need for that! Mister Masterson, you are an axe-wielding mad man, if you don't mind me saying! Don't you have a SHOVEL? You're... you're going to KILL trees for Christmas?!?!"


That wasn't the reason for the season!!!!!


Plymouth's horror was abundant. He eased towards the nearest tree.

...oh Kiri was here. Raiden had been slightly distracted by the sudden appearance of Dominic Denton, and thus hadn't even given her a proper hello. Just a little wave. The squishy side-hug from Cela almost went just as unnoticed. He had just walked past the tree Denton was behind... and he hadn't been behind it then.

"Oh? Yeah, I'll... work with Kiri and... Cela, Dominic Denton were you... following me just now?" The sentences kinda ran together as he looked from the Head Boy to the girl who had outed his presence.

Kinda... creepy.