Jacob watched the pink light closely, it was heading towards the lake. Okay so the blue ones will be near the shoreline. right? But as he got closer jacob saw the pink light heading towards the center of the lake. Oh great, did that have to dive beneath the water with their brooms to get it? Even vindictus wouldnt do that to them, or would he? No no he wouldnt! But Jacob stopped directly at the shore line. No longer was his mind on the ravenclaw blue rings. Now his mind was focused on the surface of the water, where he thought he saw a tentacle come up. Oh great, did the giant squid have the rings. He better not.

Without thinking jacob slowly nudged the broom forward. As he did so he saw the blue rings...okay so atleast he didnt have to get it away from the squid. Jacob slowly dropped a few feet, as he sped off at a great speed of super slow. Okay, so far the broom had been nice, even if it couldnt go that quickly. But that might be just because he didnt do the broom care part of the class too well. Now as he was near the middle of the lake, jacob lowered his hand and skimmed the top of the lake water. It felt cool on his hand, the plastic rings slid down to his wrist, in danger of falling into the murky water. So he quick took his hand out, and put it back on the broom

As jacob reached the middle of the lake he looked over to see the rings at the other side of the lake from where he came. Jacob speed up to a speed of less slow.

But as he did so, the broom decided to be mean and flipped him over. His legs instinctivly wrapped tightly around the broom. His head was now underneath the water, and he sent bubbles up to the surface. Of course The broom decided to be mean right at the end. Couldn't it wait 'til...i dont know... he wasnt doing the test anymore.

...really? They'd put the rings on top of the tower? Biting his bottom lip, Raiden moved closer, head tilting this way and that as he eyed them. The shingles on the roof were ancient; were he to touch them or something, one might come loose and fall. And that would not be pleasant. Especially if someone happened to be down on the ground below...

Trying to not think about such things, the boy circled once more before an idea came to him. He pushed his broom closer to the tower, stopping when he was close enough that his toes could just barely touch the surface. Nudging one with the toe of his shoe, he caaaaaaaaaaaaaarefully pushed at it until the edge was lifted up, around his foot. Grinning, he pulled up slightly, and the ring slid around his shoe easily.

Woo. Raiden backed his broom up slightly, getting clear of the tower before leaning down against the broom handle and tugging the ring off his shoe. Adding it to his arm, a satisfied look on his face, the boy turned back towards the lights to find the next target.

Okayyy!!

So now she had FOURR rings! Candyy rose into the air a bit with them and WAVEDD at what she was sure was a little glimpsiiiee of the Giant Squid. "Thank you for letting me take the ring, sirrr!" she said HAPPILY.

The Giant Squid was a NIICEEE guy!

He WAS a guy, right?

Ah well. Candy turned round and, two rings over each arm, began to fly awayyy. Back to the SHORRREEE line! YAYY!! Reaching it, still in the air, she spotted the area where they had begun. Now she just had to land.

RAWRR!!!

Pulling back her broomstick a bit, she slowwwweeddd down and STUCKKK out her legs. Her shoed feetttt hit the ground and then she had landed all smoothly. The first year BEAMEDD and jumped off her broom.

Now to WAITT for further instructions! She skipped off, sitting down on one of the benches, right next to a student she did not know ---- and of course, BEAMING at her rings. She had managed to get all fourrr without even falling off her BROOMIEE!

WOOTT!!

Jacob Still under the water, was holding onto his breath, with his eyes closed. Which was proving difficult, he was never good at holding his breath under water. Which was odd since he lived on a boat. Jacob opened his eyes and saw a tentecal. Eeep...Jacob nudged the broom backwards. Which made it kind of difficult to hold on from down here

Finally trusting his legs enough to hold onto the broom by them selves, he dropped his hands so he could swing him self up better. He started with his upper body, then going through his entire body. He swung from right to left, then left to right. After a few times to get his momentum up, he swung his hardest, and just got above the surface. But he didnt swing hard enough. So jacob took a deep breath right before going back into the water. He was so suprised that his legs could hold on this long. This time jacob got enough momentum and this time got it just right. Landing right on the broom he angrily looked down at the broom. "Never Do That Again!" he yelled at the broom.

Now jacob was holding on pretty tightly, his knuckles turning white. He looked acroos the lake and saw that he was still going in the right direction. But now Jacob gained some altitude so that if the broom ever does it again, he wont drown. Now jacob sped forward at the same speed of less slow, and tried to grab a ring. But the broom seemed to not like the water, and right before he grabbed the ravenclaw blue ring. The broom Stopped abruptly, and he was sent forward. It was a good thing his gripp was tight or he wouldnt be holding on still. Jacob puuled himself up with some strength he never knew he had. Maybe it was the giant squid...the adrenaline of not wanting to get puuled down to the depthes. But it didnt matter what it was, he puuled him self up and re-saddled on the broom. Now going for his second attempt at the ring. Maybe the broom just didnt like blue...darn ravenclaw hating broom.

Merlin, help him.

Raiden had followed the pink-lit path, moving quickly, but he stopped his broom dead at the sight before him. His previous thought returned, and the prefect swallowed hard; Vindictus liked to have fun with his finals.

The rings... WERE. IN. THE. TREE. The violent tree. The one that, on occasion, killed small animals that wandered too close.

This 'fun' would totally NOT be fun for someone who had just gotten out of the hospital. He'd probably be lucky if he didn't get sent BACK after this.

Eyes turned to the path again; it led on past the Willow, towards the lake... was he allowed to skip this one? Maybe? Please?

Probably not.

Keeping the right side of his body towards the tree, Raiden started circling it, keeping himself carefully out of the range of the waving branches. There had to be some way that he could get one without getting bloodied in the process. He moved in slightly closer, but immediately pulled up at even the IDEA of a close swipe of a branch.

Exemption. He totally should've asked for one.

Mina continues following the pink lights out toward the center of the Lake. She know it wouldn't be as simple as it looked and if the blue rings had anything to do with the Lake, the Giant Squid would probably be involved with it. Hovering over the water, she glanced down and waved to the Giant Squid. She meant no harm and she just hoped it know that as well.

Turning her attention back to the path before her, she finally noticed a gathering of rings just above the water. Yes, it wasn't going to be as simple as just having them above the water, she would have to get a little wet to get what she was wanting. Leaning forward on the handle, she sped over to the rings. Hovering a bit lowers as her toes grazed the waters surface.

Flying over a set of rings, she reached down to be grab at one, only to miss as the broom veered slightly and her hand entered the water. She seriously needed to keep her focus as the blue of the rings did look similar to the blue of the water below and if she disturbed the water too much, the Squid might get upset.

"Impossible... bloody... exam," Raiden mumbled under his breath, body leaned forward and pressed against the handle of the broom. His left arm was wrapped around the handle now; it wasn't so much the arm part he was worried about, after all. His shoulder was the bit that needed to not get the snot beaten out of it. The fingers of his right hand flexed anxiously as it hung down past the handle. He was a bit terrified of this... only twice had he moved into the tree's range, and the thing had flailed at him, forcing him back up and out of reach. Bodily injury, he did not need any more. He'd gotten hurt and embarrassed quite enough this term, in his opinion. If someone had to come save him from this tree, he was totally NOT coming back next term.

Home study, the way of the future.

There was really nothing for it. The prefect gritted his teeth and pressed himself even harder against the broomstick before pushing forward as fast as possible, preparing to dodge at least one whomping branch before probably getting beaten up.

Jacob had his eye on another ring. Jacob tried to stay in controll of the broom this time. As he reached out, they broom started bucking. "Stop!" he yelled at the broom. And thankfully it did. But now he lost sight of the ring he wanted. Why couldnt he just pick a random one. No! he had to have the right one, especially since it was the ravenclaw color. It had to be special. Jacob watch the rings and fillay found another one he wanted.

He sped up and tried to catch it, this wasnt cool. He was a chaser not a seeker. As jacob reached one hand for the ring, but this time the broom turned sharply to the right. And he missed it. Then he started yelling at the broom again. "I controll you! Not the other way around! So Let me get the darn ring! After that we'll be finished and you wont have to deal with me anymore!" Man this exam was getting to him. First he was yelling at the tree, now the broom.

Jacob slowly started looking for another ring. Making sure that the broom wasnt planing anything else. As he found another ring, jacob reached out for the ring this time the broom didnt do anything. Its as if it actually listened to him. Wierd. JAcob slid his arm through the ring. Four ring. So he didnt find a gold one. But at least he got all four rings.

He'd expected to immediately get thwacked. He could be fast, but... not fast enough to avoid all the flailing branches. In all honesty, Raiden was completely surprised he hadn't immediately been batted into the dirt below the tree. The branches had gone at him, but... somehow he'd managed to avoid immediately getting whomped.

That could only last for so long, though. He was already in range, and there were far more branches than there were Raidens.

One particularly quick branch lashed at him, wrapping around his waist and squishing him against the broom. The breath he hadn't realised he was holding was forced from him, and eyes squeezed shut in preparation of the expectation that the ground or another branch would soon come rushing at his face. The Healers at St. Mungos were going to have his head for this, he just knew it.

And his father would so love the idea of him not going back to school, wouldn't he.

Looping back around, Mina made a quickly fly over the rings. Her shoes were damp now and the sleeves of her robes were wet as well. She needed to get close to the surface, but not disturb it at the same time. Thinking it over, she looped back and hovered above the surface, locking her ankles near the broom tail and leaning rather closely to the handle.

Cautiously, she flew back over the rings and reached down to wrap her fingers around a single ring. Feeling it in her grasp, she closed her fingers around it and started to ascend back upward. Hovering above, she added the ring to her arm. Four rings retrieved!

She was a bit upset she hadn't found a golden ring, but she wouldn't allow that to bother her too much. Four rings wasn't anything to laugh about either.

Jacob Was finally done. It felt good, and it seemed the broom was happy too, since it wasnt doing anything bad. He flew past the shoreline and back to the start, and finish line. As he got closer he saw Vindictus and a few other students who were done or finishing. As he got to the white line, he slowed down, not wanting the broom to buck him off from going to fast, and didnt want at the very last minute to fail by not landing right.

As jacob crossed the Finish line he lowerd down. As his feet touched ground again, the broom gave a little twich that clearly said 'Finally!'. As jacob dismounted the tempered broom he walked towards the broom rack, and put the broom back in its place. Then Jacob sat down on the bech with the rest of his classmates.

Sidney's head is still spinning from the Whomping Willow thrashing her around. She's having difficulty seeing. Everything is in double. Sidney leans forward on her broom and pushes the handle downward. She wants to loose some altitude. Sidney's hoping being closer to the ground will help her sight. She sees two pink lights in the distance. There a few feet apart. They appear to be near the lake. No, they're over the lake? That can't be right. So much for staying close to the ground. Sidney pulls the broom handle up, so it's pointing to the sky. Better to be up in the air. I don't know how friendly the Giant Squid is, or if he likes Hufflepuff as an afternoon snack. Terrific, I survive a tango with a giant angry tree only to be a seafood dinner. I don't think I'll be taking Flying again next term. I thought my worst problem would be falling off my broom.

Looking back to the shoreline, she followed the path quickly. As much as she was enjoying herself, she didn't want to be over the Lake any longer than she needed. The Squid had yet to break the surface, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to do so at any moment.

Flying at a safe distance above the water, she held a firm grip on the broom despite her hands being slightly wet and the rings falling against her wrist. Maybe she should have split them between her two arms, but she wasn't about to stop and do so now. Seeing the shoreline, she sighed in relief. Soon she would be back over land and her fear of being drug under would be at rest again.

Making it back to the shoreline, she smiled and hovered for a moment to place two of her rings on the other arm. Maybe now she would be able to fly a little more easier. Her balance was a bit off and evening out the weight would possible help. Pulling back up on the broom, she sped back toward the practice pitch and the area where the course first started.

Arya cruised over the lake, her feet grazing its surface. The sun warming her face and the wind blowing threw her hair, she was having a blast! It wasn't the same as flying on a thestral but it was definitely a close second. She could vaguely see the blue rings and the students grabing one for themself before flying back towards Vindictus.

But Arya was in no hurry to leave the peacefulness of the lake, after all this wasn't a race right? She flew around, enjoying the feel of the water and occasionally letting her fingers graze the water. And ever so slowly she made her way to the blue rings.

Just as she caught sight of the pitch and all the other students already finish, her heart fell a little. It wasn't a race, but she didn't realize just how behind she was with her ring retrieval. Flying overhead, she turned back around and slowly descended back to the ground. Eying a rather nice open area near the white line, Mina slowly pulled up on the handle of the broom and began to coast down toward the ground. Feeling both her feet firmly planted on the ground, she came to a smooth stop. It wasn't exactly an excellent landing or anything, but she was safely back on solid ground.

Sliding off the broom, she took it in her right hand and made her way over to the rack. Finding an empty spot for it amongst the other broom, she gave it a nice pat. It had been pretty good to her and she was glad that she chose it and not an extremely difficult broom.

With a smile, she skipped her way over to the benches to join the others. Overall, the final wasn't that terrible.

After enjoying her time over the lake and letting her mind wonder, she had finally reached the rings. She was already hovering over the water, so when she neared a ring she simply reached her hand out and let it slip on her arm with the others.

Pulling her broom towards her, she soared higher into the air to see the view better. It was beautiful sight being over the lake on a broom. If she could, she would stay here forever and never come down, the squid would surely keep her company and get could get Ivy to bring her food.

With a small satisfied smile she quickly dove straight for the lake, yanking her wand back just before hitting the water. Then she began to make her way back to the shore line, letting her feet graze the waters.

Vindictus kept track of the students as they landed one by one. He kept on repeating the phrase "You made it! Good job!" and there was a definite twinkle in his blue eyes. What was he up to?

Marie finally had all four rings and was was ready to get away from the lake. She did not want to chance that giant squid jumping out at her and knocking her off her broom. As she made her way back to the shore line she noticed some students who were just heading out to get their blue ring. Hopefully the squid wouldn't be getting them.

Back at the shoreline she stopped to make sure she still had her four rings. Counting them she found that she had one green, one red, one blue and one yellow but there were no gold. Maybe she would still be able to find one as she went back to the pitch.

With her rings secured on her arm she took off towards the pitch scanning the area for any gold rings. Maybe someone dropped theirs and she would be able to find it.

...

Hmmm?

The tree was not killing him.

Raiden was confused. It was moving him up and down, at a pace fast enough to make his stomach protest (luckily, he hadn't been eating much lately), but it hadn't whomped the hell out of him yet. Flinching as something distinctly not tree-like tapped against his forehead, he opened one eye, still expecting a branch to swing out of nowhere and thwack him.

There was a ring floating right in front of his face.

Instinct was not on his side right now; that ring mattered much less than getting out of the Willow's grip. However, the boy thrust his right arm through it, letting it fall against his wrist...

Before the tree totally released him and whaaaaat was this. Vindictus had to have charmed the thing, because surely he should have been beaten to a pulp by now. He felt it give him a careful thwack against his back, but he didn't need any more encouragement than that. The prefect immediately shot out of the tree, away from the branches, thin chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to catch his breath, absently following the lights toward the lake.

Yay for living another day. His panic slowly subsided as the space between him and the tree lengthened.

Peering through his Ominoculars at the others who were still in the air, Vindictus pumped his fist as Raiden survived the Whomping Willow and grabbed the green ring.

What would happen if he went back without the blue ring? Would he fail? Tiberius circled above the center of the lake, peering down at the blue rings. What, if anything, was lurking beneath the surface. What slimy thing had he grabbed?

Looking across the grounds, back to where the others, who had been successful, were touching down, Tiberius resolved to get the blue ring... somehow.

Inching down, as slowly as he possibly could he hover quietly over the surface of the water, ready to flee if need be. Very slowly, he reached down and plucked a blue ring out of the water, careful not to make a ripple. He dare not breath as he wrapped his hand around it and pulled up on his broom to fly away as fast - and as high - as possible. Finally approaching ground, he slowed, exhaling sharply, and put the blue ring on his wrist.

Following the pink dots back to the starting line, Tiberius slowly pushed the broom down to begin his descent. As his feet touched the ground, he jogged with the broom a little before slipping off of it. Smiling, if not a little bruised (and trouble that he had squid slime on his hand), Tiberius made his way over to the benches.

Were they done?

Once she finally reached the shoreline, she flew higher and speed up to the finish line. She glanced around at the grounds while flying, if only they could fly over the grounds whenever they wanted to.

Following the pink path, she slowed down as she neared the finish line. She made her slow decent just a few feet away from Vindictus, coming to a light jog when she landed before dismounting. There was a little pep in her step as she placed her broom on the rack, runing her fingers over it one last time before joining the others on the bench. Arya played with the rings as she patently waited for further instructions.

There were only a few students left in the sky and Vindictus knew that many of the students were eager to leave but he had a surprise for them. "First of all, I want to congratulate each of you for finishing the final exam," he grinned and held up the four rings. "You get to keep your rings because they contain some sweet surprises!"

He held up the yellow ring. "Inside this ring, you have lemon drops." Then he held up the red ring. "Fizzing Whizzbees are in this one. The green ring contains Peppermint Toads," he said as he held up the green ring and then held up the blue ring. "And this one contains Droobles Best Blowing Gum. Oh! The gold rings contain Pepper Imps."

Then he smiled. "However, to open these rings you need to perform a bit of magic to end the spell that I've placed on them. Who can raise their hand and tell the class the name of the spell and the incantation?"

The lights... were leading out over the lake?

Switching the green ring onto his left wrist, the boy kept himself tight against the broom handle as he flew towards what looked like... blue rings in the water.

Waaaaaaay out there. Where the squid lived. Apparently he was going to get a little wet... pausing over the blue patch, he stared down at the cloud of blue rings that remained.

Where was Barty? He wasn't gonna... get grabby at him, was he? Surely not. Others had already passed this point and he totally wouldn't be allowed to be here if a student had already been sucked into the abyss.

Pushing the broom a little lower, the prefect stared intently into the depths, looking for a ring that was close enough to the surface and didn't look as if it was going to be snatched back by a squidly arm.

Marie continued making her way back to the pitch still looking for a fallen gold ring. It was beginning to look like she wasn't going to find one after all so she just concentrated on getting back before class was over.

Finally approaching the pitch she sees the professor and several other students who had already returned. Checking her arms again she makes sure she hasn't dropped any of her rings.

Good, all of them are still there.

Coming in slowly she hovers next to the professor for a few seconds before hopping off her broom. She smiles at the him as she grabs her broom and takes it back to the rack. Looking around she finds Destiny and Evelyn so she goes to sit with them.

Yes, another final finished....and she didn't get killed by the Willow Tree.