Doing a little Jig as the Branches swayed away, Patroclus considered getting on his back for the Turtle Dance, but decided it was not the time....or the place, especially considering his new friend, the willow was sure to have a temperamental disposition!


Getting back on his way, Patroclus stared around at the thin walls that enclosed him, and he couldn't help but wonder where or not the Willow was being as friendly to others as it was to him?

Perhaps he was just lucky and had made a new friend!

With his rune pouch, weighing less and less, Patroclus wondered how long to go till he was free?

Simon relaxed as the door opened again and the branches moved for good this time meaning he had been right. Yes! The Gryffindor boy wondered how much longer he had to go as he walked through the long tunnel he found himself in, finally happening upon the box.

Pick me up, he read silently. "Guess theres no sense in not doing as I'm told," Simon mused aloud with a one-armed shrug before bending down and picking up the large box carefully curious as to what was inside.

Cameron grinned as she spotted a door, and began to run towards it. YIPPPEEEEE. Another..

Oh.

I have two elements.

She stared at the floor trrrrrrrrrying to remember. Oh. THINK HEAD THINK.

Erm..urmm... -twitches-

Wait.. was it Dagaz? She knew Dagaz was fire.. but did it have a second element?

Uncertainly, she inserted the rune inside the door. Jangling the left over pieces in the pouch she frowned and pawed at the ground.

Please be right?

Tory followed the path she was on and walked around some sort of courner. She now stood infront of another door that was covered in branches. She started at it until she could see the small keyhole. What would the next question be?

Evan gave out a small grunt when he was met with yet another door. How many doors were there, for Merlin's sake?! Yes, he was good at mazes and all that stuff but really, he was cold despite the heating charm, and he wanted to get out. Reading the question, he glanced at his notes. Hmm... He chose the jera rune, though he wasn't so sure. He got ready to run away if it was the wrong answer and if the tree decided to hit him again. Yeah, they were good now and blah blah, but really, who could trust the Whomping Willow exactly?

"Yes, One more door and im sure I would be out of this maze." she said to herself. She moved on throught the door and made her way back through the maze.

She was tired of thinking of a way to get out she stood there for a minute recollecting on her previous turns and then started to go south the was the way out she knew it. She Took her first right and found a wall. Not what she wanted she turned around and saw one of the students run past. she didnt see who it was so she just continued her path. Around the corner it seemed but it was much more turns than that she saw it. A DOOR! she appoarched and waited for the tree and the words to appear

Emmaleigh smiled as the riddle appeared. "Sage, That would be Dagaz" She said as she placed the appropriated rune in the hole, and waited to see what would happen

YAAAAY! It had been the right rune. Wohoo!
As the tree patted her on the back she smiled widely at him.
"Thanks,Mr. Tree", she giggled.
Going trough the door she noticed there was another turn.
Where to go?! Right or left?!
Well last time she's gone right then now it ws up for the left way.

Ahhh big branch. Trixie watched as the branch lowered down in front of her and stood there kinda staring starting blankly for a short while before looking down at the letters that were rearranging themselves on the floor.

False Dawns?

The Blonde tilted her head in thought for a short time span. Hmm? Dagaz or Jera? Well she knew that Dagaz was all about the days and dawn. So far that one was the one that was more likely to be correct. Oh yes! It was the converse yes? That the time is not right for a change. Preserve and have trust in your abilities.

"Its Dagaz, the Preserve for Dagaz" the sixteen year old stated happy that she had finally got the answer. Err now what was it she was meant to do? The sixth year eyed the keyhole in the branches and then the two runes. She picked up the Dagaz rune and placed it into the hole.

Now just to wait.

Oh I know this. It's an easy one Lila thought to herself. "Jera," she said quickly putting the jera rune into the keyhole.

Marie hurried along the path trying to find her way out. Hopefully there wouldn't be too many more doors to get through. So far she had been lucky on getting the rune correct on the first try but she didn't know how long that luck would hold out.

Seeing the branches of the tree come down once again she stopped and looked for the words on the floor. Oh there they were. Latent talents. Well crud, what did that mean?
Thinking about the characteristics of both runes she decided that the one she needed here was Jera. It has the characteristics of success in endeavours, fruition of plans. Good spirits. Just rewards for past efforts. Inventiveness, talent or skill. Great reward to those who work with their hands or on the land.

So she pulled out the Jera rune and placed it in the keyhole. Now, would the door open for her?

No? Obviously this didn’t work. Which meant she had to move the branches herself to get the rune into the keyhole. Ugh.

Or maybe not. The branches suddenly moved away, unblocking her path towards the now open door. Huh, so the tree COULD see. That was…slightly creepy, but she wasn’t complaining right now. Smirking, she closed the rune bag and adjusted her school bag on her shoulder before moving through the dark and to..

A tunnel. Whaa?

Frowning, the Slytherin glanced uncertainly back towards the open door, but something towards the end of the tunnel caught her attention. There was nothing else in here except whatever it was, so obviously she was going to inspect it! It looked like a box, and as she got closer, her suspicions were only proved that it was just that. Pick me up?

Narrowing her eyes, Evelyn quickly glanced to the open door once more before looking back to the box. Was this some sort of trick? There wasn’t some creature under this was there? Or it wasn’t going to explode if she picked it up? Was this stalker dude’s doing!? Pfft, she wasn’t going to touch it! At least, not with her hands. Maybe poke it with her wand.

Poke.

Nudge.

Kick.

Hmmm….

*Gulp* Brittany was rather nervous about this last question. She knew Nothing about Goddess Freyja Except for the fact that she was a goddess . Her Answer would have to be a guess. And Brittany hated guessing. She scolded herself Mentally for not knowing and tried thinking of somethings to breaking down some facts to get her answer. All that thinking muist have done her some good and fried her brains because she came up with one fact about the goddess that she remembered hearing. She was the Goddess of Fertility. And that little fact made it easier for Brittany to guess the answer. The Jera Rune was strongly connected with Fertility So she had her answer right? She reached in the back and took out the JERA Symbol and placed it in the key whole. "Wish me Luck Willie." She said aloud to the tree. Oh Goodness she was now talking to a tree. She really needed to get out of there

Keeping her fingers crossed, Daisy pulled out a Dagaz rune and placed it into the hole. "Oh I hope I'm right," she whispered silently.

Salander turned quickly at the veeerrrryyy liiiigght tap on his back. He didnt see anything behind him but he could feel the breeze pick up as the branches vanished to let the light stream through. He shifted his eyes at the bright skies and called out "Was that you Willow?"he smirked. "Looks like I got it right again..." he chuckled as he set his eyes before the open doorway and doing a little spin, moonwalked right through....

NIIICE RED! Branches caaaame down, the keyhole of the laaaaaaaaast door visible through them. Final riddle!

Natural development.

Jera or Dagaz? WillowTHEMAN waiiiited!

The moment the box had touched the Gryffindor's hand, a branch appeared out of nowhere, gently picked him up and rose into the air. It set him down, outside the maze. Cushions, a desk and a chalkboard had been placed here. The desk contained several boxes of chocolate.

The chalkboard read:

Congratulations! You are now outside the maze! Please make yourself comfortable as you wait for your classmates to join you. You may help yourself to some chocolate.

The branch lowered the box the boy had picked up next to him. Then it waaaaved to him and disappeared.
OOH! Pretty red had fitted in the correct ruuune! One of the branches waaaaved to her, as all of them disappeared out of sight. Light flowed into the roofless enclosure once more, as the door swung open.

The last door was juuuust around the corner.

Second dooooOooor for this one! The letters that appeared on the floor this time round, read...

Natural development.

Jera or Dagaz? The tree waaaaited!

OOOH! Correct rune! The branches rose into the air to unblock the door that had now swung open. Behind it, could be seen a long tunnel that had a big box located at the end. The said box read...

Pick me up.

Last dOOOoorr! Branches came down, a keyhole peeking out through them. The letters on the floor read...

My gemstone is a red.

Jera or Dagaz? The treee waited!

OOOH! Correct rune! The branches rose into the air to unblock the door that had now swung open. Behind it, could be seen a long tunnel that had a big box located at the end. The said box read...

Pick me up.

Last dooOOOoor for PRETTY GREEN! Branches gently came down, a keyhole peeking out through them. The letters on the floor read...

There are greater harvests ahead.

Jera or Dagaz? The treee waaaaited!

PRETTY GREEN had fitted in the correct rune. One of the branches reached out to give her a verrryyy gentle pat on the back, and then all of them rose into the air and disappeared out of sight.

The door swung open, and light streamed freely into the enclosure once more.

Correeect! One of the branches reached out to give SMALL BLUE a veryyy gentle pat on the back. Then all of them rose into the air and disappeared out of sight. Light flooded into the roofless enclosure once more.

The door swung open so that SMALL BLUUUE could go throoooooooouuuuuuuuugh.

OOOH! Correct rune! The branches rose into the air to unblock the door that had now swung open. Behind it, could be seen a long tunnel that had a big box located at the end. The said box read...

Pick me up.

O____________o

O_________________o

For a moment, the tree stayed out of sight, completely unsure. STRANGE GREEN.... made its branches want to twitch. Then, deciding it had had enough of all these... strangnessES, a branch appeared out of nowhere and gave the girl a twitchy!odd!gooooawayyy GOODBYE wave.

NO MORE STRANGE GREEN! w0000000000000000t!

Anddd the moment STRANGE GREEN kicked the (poor) box, she was transported outside the maze and into a classroom of sorts. Cushions, a desk and a chalkboard had been placed here. The desk contained several boxes of chocolate.

The chalkboard read:

Congratulations! You are now outside the maze! Please make yourself comfortable as you wait for your classmates to join you. You may help yourself to some chocolate.

The box the girl had picked up, rested next to her.

OOOH! Correct rune! The branches rose into the air to unblock the door that had now swung open. Behind it, could be seen a long tunnel that had a big box located at the end. The said box read...

Pick me up.

Nooooo! Incorrect rune. The door and the letters on the floor disappeared, only to be replaced by a new door and a new riddle.

Twelve.

Jera or Dagaz? The tree waaaaaaaaaited!

SAD tree? Maybe. PROBABLY. But all the same... last doooOOOr for BAD GREEN! Branches came down, a keyhole peeking out through them. The letters on the floor read...

Latent abilities.

Jera or Dagaz? The treee waaaiiited!

The last thing Simon expected to happen when he picked up the box or at least one of the last was to be picked up by one of the branches of the tree especially as gently as it was done. But thats what happen and almost as fast as it appeared , the branch deposited him outside the maze.

Woot, another challenge done, he mused to himself as he read the chalkboard confirming everything. Picking a few pieces of chocolate from the supply, the Gryffindor boy moved to lounge on one of the cushions to relax.

"Er, well this is different." Emmaleigh said, as she stared down the tunnel. The fact that it was a tunnel, and not another 'normal' part of the maze through her off. But she decided to solider on, after all, things had been going well so far, and there hadn't been any tricksies. But it never hurt to be prepared, after all, this tunnel could bring a drastic change. She flicked her wrist, making sure she had her wand at the ready, and carefully walked down the tunnel. Strangely, she felt like that girl, Alice, from that old muggle book. Where would this rabbit hole lead? And then she saw the box that looked huge compared to her tiny frame. As she read the note, she couldn't help but think of a little potion bottle that said "Drink Me." Figuring her best option was to follow the instructions, she attempted to lift one end of the box.

GOODBYE SMALL!PRETTY YELLOW! One of the branches dropped in to waaaaaave goodbye to YELLOW as she reached for the box.

The moment the Hufflepuff's hand touched the biig box, she was transported outside the maze and into a classroom of sorts. Cushions, a desk and a chalkboard had been placed here. The desk contained several boxes of chocolate.

The chalkboard read:

Congratulations! You are now outside the maze! Please make yourself comfortable as you wait for your classmates to join you. You may help yourself to some chocolate.

The box the girl had picked up, now rested next to her.

The box wasn’t doing anything. Perhaps it wasn’t dangerous at all? With her hands on her hips, Evelyn stared at the box for a moment longer, just waiting to see if it was some sort of delayed reaction.

O__________________O

What was that branch doing-

WHaaaaaaaTTT?!

One moment she was in the tunnel and the next….she was looking at a desk that had the most disgusting sweets on it ever possibly made. Spazzing to the side a little, as if seeing if all her limbs were still fully functional, she didn’t get quite that far before tripping on the box.

Oomfph! Nuuu!

Her eyes were squeezed shut for a few moments, until she realized that she did not land on the cold hard floor, but something comfy. Eh? Peaking open an eye, she turned her head to the side only to see she was surrounded by cushions. And a chalkboard. She was out of the maze!?

Well, she certainly was comfortable, no doubt about that. At least she was away from the whomping willow tree. MWAHAHA! Transported herself out of the maze. Genius! Bet no one else did that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxilocks

Nowww. Di straightened up. "Let's get on to the practical bit, then." Di reached down, and pulled out a box from under her desk. Opening it, she levitated something on to each student's desk. "There is now a bag full of Jera and Dagaz runes on each of your desks. Hold on to those, because they are going to be your guides."

Thiiin walls began to rise out of the ground, as Di spoke. By the time they had stopped rising, the enclosure had changed - the students could no longer see each other. Di's voice, however, could still be heard. "I hope you can all still hear me.... your task is to find a way out of this enclosure. There are plenty of doors here and the right combination is eventually going to lead you outside, but the only thing that can open the doors is the runes you have been provided."

Di did hope they had paid attention to all that had been discussed.

"Good luck, and keep a lookout for the Whomping Willow!"


OOC: Please don't RP the doors. If your character stars looking for a door, a certain secret someone is going to RP the doors popping up. Each door is going to give you a riddle. The answer to the riddle is either Jera, or Dagaz. If you answer correctly, the door is going to open up and let you pass. If not... you get another riddle.

The students might run into each other, or they might not - that is up to you. Just beware of the tree-that-whomps!

There are individual participation points for this task. Minimum of six posts for maximum credit. Have fun!

Fletcher was rather slowwwww to get started on this part of the Runes lesson. Ah well. Now that he had the bag of Runes in one hand and his wand in the other, Fletcher started down the corridor he was currently trapped in, looking and waiting for a door to pop up.

There would be doors, right?! This was not another fire cave... not another fire cave....

Cass looked around and saw that she had emerged to another enclosed area once again. She sighed in frustration. When will she reach the end? Well, there's no turning back now. She walked on forward, going left, right, left, left, right, left. Until she didn't know where she was anymore...oh dear. I seems she got lost...

So she looked up and asked "Would there be any chance that I could get a door here? I'm terrible lost."

ooc: How will we know that we were able to leave the maze?

HELLLOOOO GLITTER YELLOW! Branches slowwwwly lowered themselves in front of glitter yellow, the keyhole of a door visible through them, this keyhole being the same size and shape as all the runes in the rune bags provided to the students - any of the runes could fit into it and serve as a key.

Letters began to appear on the floor...

My reverse can be a false dawn.

Jera or Dagaz? The tree waaaaaaaaited for GLITTER YELLOW to choose one of the two runes!

YeeeeUUUUUs. Why nooottt? Second doooOooor for GREEN KID, and then only one more door to goooo. Branches slowwwly lowered themselves in front of the GREEN CHILD, a keyhole visible through them. Letters began to appear on the floor...

Success or reward must be rooted out.

Jera or Dagaz? The tree waaaaited!

WHEEEE! She'd been right. Cameron giggled. She'd never been SO good at runes. But this was just AWESOME. awesomeawesomeawesome.

She skipped through the door and grinned up at the tree. "Thankhuu Mistaaa TREEE" *smiley* Now.. where would the next door be?

It was like playing hide and seek with a giant friendly .. tree. Yeah. Weird. But Hogwarts was weird.

She followed the walls until she reached another intersection. Blah. Left, right or straight? She peered forward, trying to see further down the route of each side and gasped.

DOOR.

LOOKIT.

YAY.

She jogged towards it, the box of runes flailing. How many more of these door things were there? Hmph.

Now.. did the ickle question/on the floor thing usually appear right about now?

Yay The door had opened *Happy dance* She took a step to go through the door but the opposite side looked different from all the other times so she hesitated taking the next step. She peeked around the door frame seeing if anything would jump out at her... But nope Not a thing. She slowly took out her wand "I..Iii... Have a wand and i know how to use it. Just kidding" She called out to no one. Okay Now he was just being parnoid But the headmaster did teach them to always have constant viligance *shrug*. She took a step through the door and waited for something to happen. After about thirty seconds of this she began walking forward looking all around her as if somebody was following her. She spotted something ahead that looked like... a box Her curiosity struck as she slowly approached the box. She didnt touch it quite yet because she didnt know what it was instead she observed the outside. There were words on it!!!! "Pick me up?" she said a little confused. "Why would i pick something i dont know what it is up?" Preposterous!!!. But she was Curious.... and it got the best of her. She picked up the unknown box...