Luna held the practice spider in her hand. She copied the Professor's wand movement "Arania Exumai!" she said. The spider flew back. "Well, that worked," Luna said. She picked it up and practised another few times. She hoped she wouldn't encounter a real Acromantula. I mean, they were XXXXX weren't they? Plus, what if they came upon even WORSE creatures in the Forbidden Forest?

Hmm...Alice was going to have to think a little bit then before she offered another suggestion. Setting the toy spider down on the ground in front of her, Alice firmly held out her wand and cleared her throat.

Swiftly Alice moved her in the sideways eight motion before saying, "Arania Exumai!" Alice smiled to see the same silvery mist Professor Saylen had come out her wand come out of her own, knocking the toy spider back a bit. Well...good to know that incase she needed it Alice was capable of doing it.

Alice decided to give the reason behind the eight another go. "In some Babylonian Myths the number eight is associated with the eight realm, which they considered to be paradise. So, since the spell can repel away anything harmful or undesirable, could the motion of a sideways eight be used to create paradise, or in this case an environment more pleasing than inside an acromantula's stomach?" Alice knew it might be a bit of a stretch, but it was the best she could do. Unless instead of eight she should be thinking more along the lines of the infinity symbol....

Amy grabbed the toy, she was ruddy glad that they wern't real or even looked real, before taking it back to her desk, she placed it on the mahogony desk and took out her wand, she made a large figure of eight and uttered the incantation Arania Exumai!, she cried, and shoved her wand forward towards the spider and watched it jerk back off the end of her table, she went round the table and bent down picking it up, she went back to where she had stood and practised again

He saw Sarah glaring daggers at him and he glared right back. Served her right fainting in front of the whole class. He was tempted to stick his tongue out at her but he stopped.

He looked up as Professor Saylen called his name. What! Slytherin lose points because some crazy Hufflepuff first year didn't take his meds this morning? That wasn't fair!

And she called his name again. But he didn't do anything this time. Was this pick on Diggy Day and he didn't get the memo?

He folded his arms across his chest. Fine he would just sit and not do anything. That way she could find someone else to pick on.

He sure wasn't going to play with a spider and he wasn't going poking around in the Forbidden Forest for a acromantula. That just wasn't happening. He'd rather disembowel frogs.

Hmm, that was actually a good spell to know. All those creepy spiders down near the Slytherin common room. He wouldn't have to run from them anymore and then wait for someone else to come along so he could follow behind them into the common room. He had to wait almost 3 hours that last time.

He made a figure eight and mouthed the words trying to remember them.

They were going into the Forbidden Forrest to basically fight giant spiders??!??!?...And WHY didn't he like this class again? Oh yeah...Creatures were usually boring. Legend grinned happily as he ran over and picked up a fake spider. This would be so epic, just so cool. Dropping the toy on the ground he pulled out his wand. Alright an eight motion right? Stretching out his arm he waved his arm in the motion and clearly said the words. "Arania Exumai." The toy jumped and was pushed back a few feet. Not alot though, at least not enough for his liking if it were a real spider. But it was alright. He hadn't really tried.

"Professor!" Legend said raising his hand. "How badly would this spell hurt the Acromantulas or like...kick them away. Because like...I don't want them eating me." Yeah...if any of those spiders came to close and the spell didn't woke, his solution was simple.

Fire.

Louisa didn't want to argue about that boy being insane to think like that... because he was RIGHT! They were going to actually enter that creepy place! And not for a picnic or to convince students NOT to go there but to fetch some ugly spiders!!!

The little girl stopped breathing for a few seconds before she blinked and was alive again. Now, how was she supposed to practice such a spell when her mind was frozen, she didn't know.

Still hugging her legs, she moved the wands and said "Arania Exumai." Absent-mindedly. She did it again...
And again.
And again without taking notice that the fake-spider which stood in front of her was now a couple of inches away...

Kurumi made her way to the fake adorable plush spiders and picked up a pink one. It's googly eyes were too cute! She then returned to her station and set the plushie on the table.


Wait a second....the professor said 'before we enter'....they were going into the Forbidden Forest to look for the real thing?! Kurumi couldn't tell if she was excited or horrified by this idea.

Shaking her head, she went back to practicing the spell. She drew a sideways eight in the air and then said, "Arania Exumai!" which merely sent the little fake spider up a few feet in the air and then went crashing back down on the table with a soft thud.

Hmmm...she was going to have to concentrate more.

"Professor," Kurumi said after giving the number 8 some thought. "I Japan, and other Asian cultures too, 8 is considered a lucky number. Also, the glyph that we know as 8 at one point looked like an 'S' and since spider also begins with an 'S'...perhaps there is some connection?"

She repeated the wand movement and incantation and, this time, she sent her spider soaring across the room and...oh dear....landed at the feet of the professor.

Mmmhmmm...well, he was certain about the 'eight' meaning that, but, apparently it wasn't the question she wanted. Perhaps it was because 'eight' to the side meant infinity, which will made the spider back away to...infinity? Yeah, that didn't make sense. So, he kept quiet.

And also kept on walking towards the spider toys, he took a red fluffy one, because there was no way that he'll be taking the pink one, especially since the whole 'I'm not a girl' thing.

He placed it in front of him, by his seat, and did the eight movement rather exaggerated as well, "Arania Exumai!" he said, pointing the wand at the pretty fluffy animal and the thing shot straight forward. Awesome!

He did it again, and again, and again, until...Oops.

The fluffy spider thing managed to get into the bonfire. And caught fire. "Er, sorry, Professor" but he was ready to kill some Acromantulas, yes. "Does fire also works on Acromantulas? You know, in case everything else fails?" it's not like he'll be casting 'Incendio' all the way into the Forbidden Forest.

looking at the boy thinking he should have more respect for the training the teachers are giving.
taking one of the toy spider and placeing it 10 feet away on a rock,He steps back and draws his wand making the infinty loop ∞ "Arania Exumai." he watches as the mist moves towards the spider and pushes it back anouther 10 feet "Professor the ∞ the symbol for infinty could that be why it is used I think it means "unboundedness""

They...They...They were WHAT?

Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin, no. Vashti was not going into the Forbidden Forest to look for a bunch of creepy ginormous spiders. No way. Not a chance. No.

Unless the Professor would take house points away. Then...well, she'd suck it up. It wouldn't be as bad as her boggart, would it? Surely not.

So, taking a deep breath and scooching closer to Louisa, Vashti took a thankfully-not-as-creepy spider toy, placed it in front of her, then moved her wand in the figure eight as shown, and squeaked said, "Arania Exumai!" And fortunately, it appeared to work, as the silver mist appeared and knocked the toy backwards, away from her.

Following Louisa's example, she continued trying it out over and over and over again. Best make sure she could do this every time, right? Better to practice than to be eaten by a giant spider.

Nothing happened? "Well keep trying." And try again. If that failed, "Keep practicing until you have mastered it." It would definitely help if the kids could defend themselves if needed be.

Whoa. That was rather heavy. "Good insight, Miss Page." Maya could even say she was impressed. Almost. "But that is not quite the answer I'm looking for." But she had definitely caught Maya's attention.

"It depends on how strong your spell is. If it is weak, like yours is now, the Acromantula will eat you." Maybe cut down on the honesty? "But, I am sure that with some practice, you will all get better." And back to the actual question. "Mastering the spell will push back the creature far enough for you to escape." Yes yes.


"Thankyou for sharing that, Miss Hollingberry. And yes, perhaps that is why." Hehe. She'll keep them guessing.

There was something singeing and the Mexicana hoped it wasn't a student. She dreaded having to explain that to the Headmaster. Or something.

Turning to the voice, she could only stare at the boy dully, and then look into the fire... where the toy was indeed burning up. Meh, nevermind. She sighed before answering. "Yes, fire would help. Acromantulas are known to fear bright lights - and since they live where its darker - the light would make them uncomfortable." Not to mention they'd probably not want to burn.

"It could be, Mister White. Good idea."


It seemed everyone was doing quite well. With the exeption of the burning toy and some were not even moving... But, in time. And they still had some time before heading into the forest. "Keep practicing, everyone. If you need help..." Heh. "Just call for me." NOT all at once, please.

" professor do they hunt by thermal or by the movement.I know some spiders have special hairs that help detect movement if they hunt by thermal could we mask our thermal signature?"

Ohhhhh!

Patroclus rather enjoyed studying spiders, and doing it with Saylen made it all the more sweet!

Getting up from his seat, Patroclus wriggled his fingers in delight as he surveyed the practice spiders, "Ohhhhhh!" he whispered as he choose a red spider with black spots, to him it had a sort of Mexicana flavour!

Taking Spidey back to his spot, Patroclus withdrew his wand and placed him on the ground, clearing his throat, the Lion Boy rolled his shoulders and prepared himself.

Dipping, raising and looping his wand, Patroclus drew the figure eight in the air, then clearly enunciated "Arania Exumai!"

As a waft of mist shot from his wand, Patroclus grinned as Spidey shot back nearly a metre! "Woo!"

Alice smiled, pleased that even though her answer wasn't correct, Professor Saylen had appreciated it.

Alice decided to ponder the question some more, listening to what the others thought of the significance of the eight, before moving on to practicing some more. She picked up the toy spider and replaced it to its original position.

Taking a step back, Alice began her sideways eight movement with her wand. Once she was done the movement she called out, "Arania Exumai!" Much to Alice's surprise the toy spider flew way past the logs and just on the edge of the forest. If it hadn't been a neon green color it probably would have been difficult to seen.

Alice raised her eyebrows in shock. "Well, I hadn't been expecting it to go quite that far..."

The fact Professor Saylen had seemed amused by her comment that she hadn't thought anyone had gone to check to see if Aragog's descendants were still int he forest didn't bother Grayson one bit. She would give whoever might have points for doing so, since she knew those acromantulas woudl rather eat humans than let them pass. All the stories said so, and even then she wasn't scared. Maybe a bit nervous, but that spurred her on. As always. She imagined the others who had been afraid of the tarantula might have some problems, though. The idea of getting to go into the Forest was simply awesome to her.

But first, she had to practice the spell. Bouncing up from her seat, she went over to the toys and rifled through them until she found one that almost looke iridescent. Too bad it was only a toy. Setting it down on the ground in front of her, once she'd returned to her original spot, she took a breath and looked at it for a few seconds. She was so going to pretend it was a real acromantula. Concentrating, she released her wand from its holster and did a neat sideways figure eight with it. "Arania Exumai!" She grinned a little as a fine mist shot out of her wand toward the pretty spider and flipped it several feet away from her. "Cool," she murmured, retrieving the toy so she could practice some more. Maybe get it to flip even further away.

Perfect. The woman had no problem with the burning spider toy. Not that he'll do that again, not on purpose anyway. It was sort of nice to see the spider toy burn, though, and all the colors the flames reacted on. Pretty sight.

His head turned towards Saylen as she answered. Goooood. Fire was always nice, see? The boy nodded.

Was he allowed to take another toy? Yeaaaah, totally, otherwise she'd mention it. This time, he accio'd one, the one with the spots, and practiced the spell some more.

Awesome. It was awesome. Because he was good at it. He was ready, they should venture into the Forest...like...now.

Nessa hated spiders. Not worse than bees but she dint like them she took one of the practice spiders and began to practice. If she was going into the forest she was going to be prepared to defend herself from gaint spiders

"Arania Exumia" she pronouced clear and in a figure 8 motion like the ice skaters do. The practice spider was bright purple and flew threw the air landing in the grass. "Accio practice spider" the spider flew back to her.

She continued to practice on the spider to prepare to enter the forest.

Whoah did she say?.... We're going to?...... We're looking for?....

We're gonna see Acromantulas-- just like Potter did! Yeah Baby Yeah!

The lad started to chuckle as the sound echoed within the suit of armor. And nothings gonna get through this sucker. he thought gleefully as he gave a few light raps on his helmet "BRING IT!"

Salander watched the Professor perform the spell on the Spiderdoll. "Cool, wonder if it just works for spiders?" he murmured. With great effort he stood up, and clanked his way down to the front to get himself the small practice dummy, then clanked his way back to his place. As he started to practice the wand movement, something occurred to him about the Professor's last question "Professor Saylen, could it be possible that the figure 8 stroke could be because the Acromantula has 8 eyes? And this spell either blinds it or knocks it back?"

Emmy grabbed a red spider with black dots on, put it on the ground in front of her, and said "Arachnia Exemai!"
The spider exploded. "Hm. Somehow, I don't think that's quite right..."
Picking up a blue spider this time, she tried again, "Arania Exemai!"
Her spider did a sort of jiggle, which could have been mistaken for dancing, had it been alive.

She tried a third time, saying clearly "Arania Exumai!" as she watched, her spider was pushed back about twenty feet.

Wait a minute!

They were going into the Forbidden Forest? Did Destiny hear that right? She did not want to go in there, no way. She didn't care if she was allowed to bring back the biggest and hairiest spider, she did not want to go in that Forest. There were things in there. Things that should not belooooong.

Ooo!

WAS THAT A FLUFFY STUFFED SPIDER!? Could she keep it!?

Forgetting all about the Forest, for that moment, Destiny hopped up and SNATCHED one of the spiders and if she wasn't in front of everyone, she would have cuddled and pet it. Could she take two? No? Well..she did anyway. With two spiders in her hand, she made her way over to a clearing and quickly shoved the extra spider down the front of her robes so Professor Saylen wouldn't see it.

Placing the stuffed spider on the ground in front of her she pulled out her wand. "I am sorry little spider, but this won't hurt at all. Not that you would be able to feel it if it would. You are stuffed after all." She bent down and poked it with the tip of her wand..just to make sure. With the spider not budging at the poke, she straightened herself out.

A snazzy figure eight and a loud and clear "Arania Exumai!" later, the spider was lying upside down on it's back. Poor little thing. Walking over to it, she flipped it right side up so she could try again. But there was a question asked, wasn't there? Hmm, why was the wand motion the way it was?

"Professor! Is the wand motion a figure eight because you only have eight seconds to run away before it rights itself up?"

Guessing games. Destiny FAILED at them.

Picking up a yellow toy spider, Dianna placed it in front of her and concentrated. She wanted to get this over with so that they can go in the Forbidden Forest. Yes, she wanted to go very much and had a mixed feeling of excitement and fright in her stomach.
Making a figure 8 in the air, Dianna held her wand tight and said, "Arania Exumai!" Swoosh! The spider was thrown back into the air but so was her.
"Too much concentration..I guess." Dianna muttered to herself as she stood up and wiped the dirt off herself.

Getting a pink practice spider,Fee placed it in front of her. Okay lets start. As long as it wasnt a real spider everything was fine. But they would have to face real ones soon. Fee shivered at that thought.

Ewwww!

Pointing her wand at the pink,fluffy thing she concentrated.
"Arania Exumai!"
Woooho.The spider flew up in the air.

Acromantulas...now that wasn't a creature he thought they'd see in class. After all werent they one of the higher rated creatures and extremely dangerous? Well if they were going to be up against them, Simon certainly was going to be prepared as he could. Retrieving a practice spider from the container, the boy settled in a clear area and set about practicing the spell like the rest of the class.

"Arania Exumai!" Simon cast with the signature figure eight movement. The spell a little weak since it was his first try only hitting the spider and flicking it several inches away. Too close, he mused to himself before trying again.

"Arania Exumai!" he repeated with the same wand movement focusing a little harder and flipping the spider a couple of feet away

WHAT?!She gonna lose house point because her comment to that boy?It's not fair..!!Meeehhh..She decided to shut her mouth so she won't lose house point.

Freya looked up when she heard Professor Saylen said that they are going to the Forbidden Forest to look at the Acromantula closer. They have to WHAT?! What?! Oh Merlin..!!Please has mercy..!!This is not happening right?The Hufflepuff boy was right they are going to the forbidden forest. It was named forbidden forest because it's forbidden, right? So why..Oh why Professor Saylen suggested the class to go to the forest?

She was not prepare to died just yet. She's still young for Merlin sake and she just started her first year. But then again she didn't have any choice doesn't she?If she refused to go to the Forbidden Forest to look for the freaky eight legs creature Professor Saylen definitely gonna take house point. So she better go on with it.

She walked toward the practice spider.Heh?It's fluffy? She took the practice spider and returned to her desk. She put it in her desk and took out her wand doing the eight movement in the air with her wand before saying the incantation loud and clear "Arania Exumai!" WUSH! suddenly the practice spider flew up in the air.

Simon looked at the toy spider and pointed his wand straight at it. "Arania Exumai!" he said and the toy spider went flying into the air. "Professor look I did it." Simon did a little jig because he was so excited. He wondered if the Professor had seen. "I can do it again if you want?"