Sarah giggled at Tibi's eagerness, as she watched him go and get the feathers.It's so nice to see first years all excited like that!

Taking one of the feathers out of Tibi's hand, Sarah placed it down and stared at it for a second.This could be harder than it sounds.She smiled at the young boy and nodded. "Sure.Though just so you know, I've never done this spell before either," she winked.Flicking her arm, her wand slid out of the holder she had attached to her wrist, making it easy for her to grab.Thank you for that Professor Lawson!

Standng back, Sarah pointed her wand at the feather and visualised it in her mind.With a short jab motion she recited the spell loud and clear. "Duro!!" With an uneasy feeling she looked down at it and prepared for the worst.To her surprise most of it had actually changed to stone...just not all of it.Sighing she glanced at Tiberius. "Think I may need some practice.How about you have a go?" she smiled, pointing at his own feather.

Josh carefully watched as Rose pointed her dark coloured wand at her feather. She seemed to be unsuccessful at her first try 'C'mon! You can duro it'he thought concentrated on her feather, as well. He glanced at her face just before she pronounced the spell again and it was a stone-feather when he looked down back. ''Wow! I thought you were going to tear the feather into pieces'' he laughed and got ready for his turn poking his feather with his hazel wand. ''Hmmm...'' he poked it a second time looking like he was examining something scientific ''Hmmmmm... I think'' a third poke ''I think this is a...feather!'' he roared with laughter at his own joke and when he managed to have a straight face again, he coughed some to get ready, concentrating on it. ''DURO!'' he shouted out unnecessarily. The feather stirred a little and half of it seemed to stiffen and change colour. ''Well...'' he picked up the half-stone feather ''This looks like a problem''

"Nice to meet you Mikaela". Lyra gave a nod towards the girl with a smile.
"first year huh? i'm a second year" She looked at her robes and noticed the Lion badge on her chest. 'hmm a Gryffindork'. Letting her eyes off of the badge , Lyra turned around saying a "be right back" over her shoulder and started to walk towards the front of the class. Lyra smiled at Professor Svenssonnie and then crouched down to grab a few feathers from the box that was standing on the ground. Grabbing 4 of them, 2 for Mikaela and 2 for herself, just in case something went wrong. Lyra stood up and walked back towards the Gryffindor who was waiting somewhere at the middle of the classroom. "Got them" she said and showed the feathers and gave her 2 of them. "you wanna go first or should i?"

"Great! I'm glad to be your group partner. Now we're four." she said with a smile, finally starting to feel more like...home? "Let's get the feathers."

Emalyn looked around blankly.

"Err - I'll join with anyone." she stated, glancing around. She had never been good at forming groups. "So...yeah..." she sat there, her arms together in her lap, and waited. Too bad 'accio partner' wouldn't work in this situation.

Tibi watched as Sarah flicked her wand out of her wrist holster. Maybe he should have gotten one of those instead of the hip one... too late now. Smiling at her, he prepared to take his turn.

Tiberius closed his eyes and pictured the feather turning to stone. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and jabbed. "Duro!" Well, it certainly looked like stone! Smiling broadly, Tiberius went to go pick up his new stone!feather. Except, when he grabbed it, it was still light like a feather! It had changed appearance but was still light and a little flexible. Frowning a little, he said, "I guess I need more practice, too... want to go again?"

Lyra looked up as another girl had walked towards Mikaela and herself.
"i already have feathers for myself and Mikaela so you only have to grab some for your own" she said and showed the girl the feathers in her hand.
Lyra then started to look at her and her robe. Slytherin! awesome.
"i'm Lyra by the way"

Evelyn smiled weakly at Josh's comment about tearing up the feather. She was going to do something, but it was going to tear it up. After rolling her eyes at his 'joke', which she laughed a little at, she looked at his feather when he pronounced the spell, watching half of it stiffen. "Huh. Maybe try Duro on the other half." she said, staring at the other half of the feather as it fell limply in the air.

Damon looked around the room and asked pointedly "Would anyone wish to be my partner or could i join a group?" Damon looked at all the other groups that were forming.

Marie looked around the room for a familiar face to practice with when she heard a soft voice asking if anyone needed a member for their group. "I don't have a group, I will work with you" Marie said to the girl happy to see she wasn't the only one alone in the class. "My name is Marie, I am a first year."

Oh well, someone had offered so...she'd take advantage of it.

"I will!!" Ema smiled and got up.

Sara waited patiently for Nataly to return to the group with the feathers. She seemed to be outnumbered by Slytherins. But if they didn't care, neither did she!

"Okay" said Damon "Do you want the honors of going first. Damon had his wand ready of course for this exercise.

"Umm, sure, but I'll go get our feathers first." Only feathers...no marshmallows...sadly. she walked up and grabbed a handful of feathers and brought them back to the boy. "My name's Ema, by the way." she said, positioning her wand and jabbing at a random feather. "Duro!" She tried her hardest to picture it turning to stone in her head.

The feather gave a little wriggle and stiffened, but didn't turn to stone.

"Shoot!" Ema scowled at the feather. "How about you try?" she was mad at herself...it wasn't supposed to be that hard, was it?

Hmph.

Realizing there were already four to this group Marie thought she better look for a new group. Not seeing anyone she knew she asked "Does anyone still need a partner for their group?"

"All right, Lyra, I'll go and get them. Nice to meet you." She said. "Oh, and my name is Nataly."
She went to the boxes. It was crowded, but she somehow slipped to the front. She always could slip through masses.

She noticed a girl calling to her, and felt recognization with the 'lost' characterization.
"Hey Marie. I'm so sorry, but we are already four, and it's the maximum.." she said, looking pityfully at the younger girl. "But don't worry, you'll find a partner. If I found, why wouldn't you?"She smiled reasuringly at the girl, grabbed a box of feathers and returned to her team.

Ellie looked around, trying not to panic. She didn't understand what had happened, all her friends who were there were ignoring her. Did they just not want to know her any more? She no longer had any real friends, it seemed. She sighed. "Does someone need a partner?" she said.

Damon took a feather for himself and laid it on a flat surface and then pointing his wand at the feather said "Duro" the feather quivered and stayed a feather for a moment but then gradually it turned into stone. Damon of course had it in his mind to do that a very vivid image. Damon was pleased with himself for doing it but thought in the future it would have to be done faster.

"You go agead and start!" She told Lyra with a smile. Her eyes fell on her Slytherin badge. She felt happy that she had a friend from there. She really thought the whole rivalty thing was pretty stupid, so she didn't mind at all

Not having a partner yet herself Marie heard another person asking if they still needed a partner. "I will be your partner." It would be good to work with someone from a different house Marie thought to herself.

Nataly returned to her teammates and put the box on the floor.
"I'm back." she announced quietly. She didn't want havoc to start in the class, and points going down. "Let's start."
She tried to remember the spell. With her memory, it wasn't unusual she already forgot it. Du....mo? Or is it Duno?
"Er... Do you remember the spell?" she asked a little shyly.

Andddd...the first year had done it. Pooey. Well, better luck THIS time...

"Wow, awesome!" she said to him. Now if only she could do the same. She tried picturing the feather turning to stone again in her head. After seeing Damon do it, it was easier to picture the stone feather. "Duro," she muttered, jabbing the same feather she had tried last time with her wand. This time it gave a jolt and turned into stone. "Finally," she murmured. But, just as Damon's had, her's didn't turn into stone too quickly either.

''Good idea!'' he scratched his head some and poked the non-petrified part of the feather ''Let's see'' he tried to concentrate more, working hard to imagine the whole feather in stone form. A little drop of sweat emerged on his forehead. ''Duro!'' he uttered more quietly this time. The stone free part of the feather was petrified at last but there was also another change on the already stone part : It stiffened more and was thicker than the other part. Josh laughed at his work picking it up and comparing the each side. ''At least it is all-stone now''

Kita looked around. Great she thought, Everyone else already has a partner or are part of a group. This is what you get for being so shy! Looking around again, she sighed and asked out loud to no-one in particular, "Does anyone need a partner?"

Sara spoke up softly, "I believe it's Duro."