Cedric grinned as the professor complimented him about this spell-casting. But, of course, he could do so much more than that. He had only tried it for the first time, anyway. "Someone from the forest, I believe? Like a centaur, maybe."

Jaina looked at Belle and Ben. This was gonna be rough. She made the circle wand movement with the 'X' and recited "Luxra Magnifica!" and for the first time, the spell worked perfectly on the first try. Jaina glanced back at the Forbidden Forest and shivered. It creeped her out.

Selina had been attempting the charm for the last several minutes with no luck. Every time she attempted the charm it either made the fire diminish or did merely nothing. Out of anger Selina did the wand movement of a circle and an X and then chanted once more, "Luxra Magnifica!" To her disbelief the flame grew and did what it was supposed to do. Why then did it only work when she was angry?

"A centaur, sir? I know from reading Harry Potter's biography that Firenze knew the forest better than anyone, sir."

Oh. Great. Lights?

No Disillusionment Charm? Fine.

Luz-ra mag-ni-fi-ka. Yes, Treyen said that a couple times before practicing the wand movement on its own. And now it was time to do them both.

"Luxra magnifica," he said, before his wand gave out the circle motion and then the X. You know, X marks the spot, and in this case, X magnifies the light. Because it was BRIGHT, alright? VERY BRIGHT.

GRIN.

Or not. Because this was Charms.

Just....how much light were they going to need?



Say what? A guide?

Oh, please, DO NOT say Saylen, because then he'll very sneakily head to the Castle. Something that wouldn't be known IF Mr. Charms had taught them the Disillusionment Charm. Tsk.

But, since he had no idea, and no intention of making whatever he said TRUE, then he waited for the man to let them know.

"Good job, Jaina."

Good thing she had gotten the hang of the charm, before they entered the forest.



"Not a centaur, no," Jared said. "The centaurs are a proud race, and only offer other their knowledge under rare circumstances. But a good guess. Take a point each."

"I'm quite sure he does," Jared agreed. "Though I do believe that there isn't any human or creature that has seen or knows the entire Forest." The place was just a little crazier than all the stories about it.

"Take a point each." For... guessing? For guessing.

The Care of Magical Creatures? "Do you mean Professor Saylen, Benjamin?" Jared asked, not quite sure he had heard correctly.

The kitten? Jared looked down at it, and had to grin. "Nope," he said. He liked her line of thought, too. "But the kitten is a far more resolute, little fellow than you'd think."

It had been following him around, non-stop, for two days. Not to mention, it seemed quite happy to have found someone to play with, if all the skipping about and tugging at the string and being upside-down every now and then was any indication, far happier than most other creatures would have been, right outside the Forest.

"Take two points for your house."

Had the girl just risen to her feet?

....

"Going into the Forbidden Forest." Pause. "Soon."


"I'm only pessimistic about the last part," Jared corrected.

"I'm glad." That it made more sense. Because if the point had continued to elude her, that might make people think she had forced the Sorting Hat to place her in Ravenclaw.

What?

People have thought stranger things.

"Not Mr. Stryker," he said, shaking his head. Then he looked down at her biiiig light. "Nice." Lazylittlegrin.

"A ghost," Jared agreed. Some of the others had mentioned the same, and he gave them a collective nod.

"Now, we're going to head inside the Forbidden Forest," he said, rising to his feet. "But before we step inside, let me make some things clear. The forest is a dangerous place. The only reason there is a guide tonight, is so that we can use paths that guarantee your safety. Form a queue or close group, and please do not break away from it. If you wander off on your own, you are on your own." He paused, to let that point sink in. This was not a trip for fun, and the Forbidden Forest could be deadly, especially at night. "Keep your voices low and, please, no unnecessary laughter."

And?

And they could form the queue, group, whichever now. "Don't forget to bring your charmed lanterns along. You can leave your bags here, if you're prefer that. They'll be safe." Protective spells and all that.

Emily hurried forward and got in line, charmed lantern in hand, bag left behind forgotten.
She was very eager to get started.
Still she was a bit disappointed there would be no centaurs.

The Baron glided out of the forest. The silver blood staining his robes shone in the dark, looking eerie in the lantern light. He did not speak and did not look at the students but he nodded to the Charms Professor.

First the class had been about s'mores. Having been a muggleborn, Lulu Patterson understood perfectly well what that was about. She made several for herself as the class somehow turned into a discussion about paranormal activity. Ghosts? Okay then, Professor Dessy. Chocolate smeared on a cheek and a corner of her fleshy mouth, Lulu blinked at her schoolmates.

They had gone from Ghosts to Disillusionment Charms. The class wasn't about that either; however, and suddenly they were learning a new spell. Lulu scratched the back of her head. She had read about Lumos and had grown pretty good at it in the past year. This one was a new one and she pulled out her wand with her left hand, rolling her shoulders as a habit.

Warmed up, Lulu practiced the movements with a frown settled on her childish face. Circle. Cross. Circle. Cross. Circlecrosscirclecrosscirclecross! She glanced over at Janie and Greer to see if they were as impressed with her agility as she was of herself. She couldn't wage their reactions very well in the dark so she merely shrugged and prepared herself to say the incantation. Lulu took a deep breath and slacked her wrist.

"Luxra," she said drawing a quick circle. "Magnifica!" and finished it by crossing it out with the point of her wand. A burst of light shined around the point of her wand, casting a ivory kind of glow wherever she pointed at it with.

Oh, well this came in hand. It was fortunate that Lulu had gotten the hang of it at the time she did because they were already going into the Forbidden forest.

WICKED!!!

A bright grin on her face, Lulu picked up Sir Robin where he had been busily gobbling marshmallows and stuffed him inside a pocket of her robes. He would come in handy what with his ability to sense danger and all that. Living was necessary to fulfill her lifetime goals and aspirations. Lulu picked a lantern and made a face at Janie and Greer as she passed them by. If they straggled behind she wasn't going to be responsible for whatever happened to them; okay, maybe a little.

A cold swoosh of air ruffled Lulu's hair and she turned around suspiciously, wand in her hand. There was no need for action but Lulu did shout: "BLOODY BARON!!!" exclaimed Patterson excitedly. "WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?"

DOUBLE WICKED!!!

"Well don't be," Ellie said, giving Little Professor an encouraging smile. He'd be a good kitty!daddy.

A ghost. Awesome. "Who?" Truthfully, she didn't think she'd met any of them...

Oh. The Bloody Baron. Hello Mr. Bloody, sir.

She rose when the professor did, standing ever so close to him, and grabbed her lamp with her left hand. Her wand was still in her right.

Standing had made her feel a bunch braver. And the scaredishness of a few minutes ago was gone....Not that she'd back off Little Professor. He was still gigantic enough to hide her justincase.

No unnecessary laughter? "Bwahahaha."

Wasn't her....hehe.

Emily smiled at the Bloody Baron. He would make an excelent guide she thought.

Kyle laughed at herself. So obvious with talk of ghosts before.

Kyle took a step closer to the Professor, grabbing her lantern she was now in line.

"Hey Emily," her bag was on the ground as well - safe safe.

"Too bad there aren't centaurs." she remarked, seeing both had brought them up.

"Hello Bloody Baron," she smiled, waving.

"Hey Kyle", she greeted.
"I know its a shame, but still sooo exciting!" she said looking toward the dark forest!!!

A ghost. A ghost, a ghost, a ghost...

WHICH GHOST!?

Good Merlin, if it was that really weird one she'd seen hanging around the library sometimes, then she was soooooo out of here. Narrowing her eyes, the Slytherin girl looked down to her lantern, still not bright like everyone elses. Meh. "Luxra magnifica." she said, creating the circle motion before the X. Hmmm, now that was better. It was slow, sure, but the light became brighter, expanding out a bit more then it was before. That was alright with her of course.

What wasn't alright was the fact that they were going into the FORBIDDEN forest to see how pretty their charm work was. Do you know what that meant!? That meant she had to walk close to the professor! Good Merlin, that was going to kill her. But it would be useful if they had a horde of angry acromantulas chasing them. SOMEONE had to stay behind to protect them and who better then the professor?!

...

Pffffft!

...

...

Oh for the love of Merlin, why did HE have to be the ghost that was going to show up? Hmm? She would have almost preferred the weird one from the library. The Bloody Baron...

Eh.

"Good evening, Mr. Baron." she as she stood up, grabbing her bright lantern as she did so. Regardless of the GLARES she always got, Lafay would probably kill her if she found out she didn't greet the Bloody Baron. PFFT!

Kyle nodded, "Atleast its the Bloody Barron he has interesting stories really." she smiled, Kyle was just polite to all the ghosts and thought ghosts were cool - odd cookie.

Sullen as usual. Though no doubt the ghost Jared most respected at Hogwarts.

"Baron," he said, inclining his head a little in acknowledgement of the nod. "Thank you for agreeing to guide us."

The Baron didn't agree to anything lightly, he knew.

Do not shout, strange child. The noise shall attract all kinds of big, poisonous spiders and they will eat you and your pet.

"Lulu..." Jared's green gaze lingered on her pet, for a moment. "You sure he's not going to get a fright, once inside?" Animals have a keen sense of danger, and Merlin knew he didn't want - or need - one jumping out of its owner's grip and running haywire in the forest.

"I'll try," Jared offered.

And that was all the promise she was getting out of him.

He did not need to answer her question, since the arrival of the Baron answered it for her, but he gave her a faint smile. It faded in moments, though, and he raised an eyebrow at the mad laughter.

Honestly. Given all the things these students did, he should be running away from the forest, not stepping into it.

They had no need to be scared of spiders. The spiders were probably scared of them.

Uh... Helena's guess was actually good. She suddenly wondered which ghost is going to come with them, but then, a misty figure appeared.

The girl looked through at the Bloody Baron, who seemed to... ignore them? Ignoring them or not, it would've been rude not to greet him, right? "Good evening, Sir," she said, hoping he would hear. Not that he was deaf, but Helena's voice was kind of fading away. Yes, because she was scared to go in the Forbidden Forest.

Selina saw the bloody baron. She had been told as a child the stories of the Hogwarts ghosts and whenever they mentioned the baron the stories were never happy ones. Since attending school she had done some research in the library about the state of his ghost hood. He had murdered Ravenclaw's daughter.

"Umm...eh, hello Bloody Baron," Selina said nervously.

Lulu had Sir Robin by the scruff of the neck now. He had tried lunging for the nearest lantern. Surely, he was confused. Just because it was shiny it did not merit stealing. It wasn't like he could steal an entire lantern anyways. What was he going to do with it? Better yet, how was he going to drag it up to the castle? Silly ferret.

"Professor Dessy?" she said as he seemed to take a moment for thought after he said her name. Lulu held out Sir Robin so he could see him better after he spoke. She glanced down at Sir Robin and raised him higher, still clasping him by the scruff of his furry neck. "Sir Robin was a Gryffindor in a past life. I think he'll be alright."

Lulu hummed and twisted her mouth as she considered it, holding Sir Robin to her eye level now. She gazed at it thoughtfully, trying to communicate with his beady black eyes.

"You can stay and watch over the hay bales," concluded Lulu and put him on the ground. She turned to the Professor and watched him with her lower lip trapped between her teeth before speaking once more:"I could leave him behind but he'd still be in danger wouldn't he? There's a bunch of large predators about anyways and what if he follows somebody into the forest? If they don't know jack about self defense they're going to let Sir Robin get eaten!"

That was probably her own fault for bringing him along but DESSY wasn't EXPLICIT about the rules on classes outside of the CASTLE.

Sweet Merlin!

Destiny should have known that they would be accompanied into the forest by a ghost. Why else would they be telling all those spooky ghost stories? And she didn't even care which ghost it was, they were all dead and they all gave her the heebie jeebies.

Which was why she was going to PERFECT this light spell thing.

Rolling up her sleeves, she drew her wand and leaned forward on the hay bale to get closer to the little lantern. The little lantern that would be her BEST friend during their time in the forest. And then once she left the forest, her best friend would be Evelyn once more.

But she did wonder if they could keep the lanterns.

Creating the circle then X motion with her wand, Destiny cleared her throat before saying the incantation. "Luxra magnifica." she said, watching as the light in the lantern became brighter. "Should have handed out sunglasses, Professor."

Because there were like fifty million students in class and they all had really bright lights.

Think about the EYE DAMAGE!

Or not.

Forget the EYE DAMAGE from the very bright lights, think about the EYE DAMAGE from looking at the Bloody Baron!

Standing up and grabbing her lantern, Destiny moved closer to Evelyn. She seemed to like the Baron since she was there talking to him and all. And she was just going to copy and greet the deady the same way she did. "Good evening, Mr. Baron!"

Wasn't he looking deader than ever?

The Baron glanced at the children and said nothing.

He knew this one. His house. "Long ago," the Baron said. His voice was rich, deep and cold.

The Baron had been about to turn around and glide into the forest when he heard the greetings. He nodded.

The Baron held the professor's gaze. Then he nodded, turned around and disappeared into the forest.

Still smiling, Kyle watched as he disappeared - disappeared oh god....slowly she took a step forward, her foot touching the edge of the forest. "Do we follow?" She asked, making sure she wasn't being insane.

It did not even seem odd to Jared that she had called Dessy. After being called Disco and Deathman and Desperex, Dessy sounded quite normal.

He looked at the pet, held by the scruff of his neck, and then up at the little owner. Gryffindor? Maybe he should point out that former Gryffindors ran as much risk of being eaten as former Ravenclaws and Slytherins and Hufflepuffs. Then he decided against it.

"Bring him along, then." He could tell her to take the pet back to the castle, but he doubted the Baron would take kindly to having to wait that long. "Keep him close, okay?" If the pet caused trouble, Jared knew just the spell to put him into a good, peaceful sleep, until they returned. Assuming, of course, that they did return.

Speaking of pets, his so-not-pet had returned and was now tugging at the hem of his robes. Gloved hand picking the kitten up, Jared dropped it [her. Might as well start referring to it properly, he told himself] into a front pocket of his robes. The kitten peeped out, big eyes bright and curious.

They did so not need creatures on this trip.

"Concentrate on less dazzling light when you're casting, and you'll have less dazzling light," Jared pointed out. Separate lanterns are a precaution, child.

And?

And he conjured a pair of sunglasses and handed them over.

Jared nodded, a yes.

"We do."

"Everyone please follow the Baron."

Holding up his lantern, Jared did so himself. The moment he stepped into the forest, it seemed as if someone had shut out all civilization. Inside, all was an eerie sort of quiet, even though each sound came off magnified. But they had just entered, and the trees weren't thick. Not yet.


OOC: There are individual participation points for this portion. Have fun. Be crazy. Don't let your charries die.

Kyle nodded, back "Alright, this should be good." She smiled taking a step into the forest the noises in there were ominous and dark but she didn't mind. The main noise she could hear were the twigs breaking below her feet.

And she thought she saw something watching her, but stayed on the path behind the Bloody Baron.

The trees were thin, young, not overpowering and large as Kyle assumed they would be. No one ever set foot in here unless they had to.

"I will not die." she told herself firmly, and smiled.

"Good." Cuz that meant that Little Professor really was keeping him. And Ellie will stop by everyday to play with it. If she remembered.

Baron in.

Little Professor in.

Ellie followed cloooooose behind him. It really was weird. And the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to laugh. Mostly, probably, just because he'd told them not to, so now it was funny. Logic that she didn't even understand. But she managed to hold it back for the most part.

Lantern raised, she looked aaalll around her. Maybe they'd see something cool. Like a unicorn! OR they'd discover a long lost Snidget. Maayyybbee they'd just turned nocturnal to avoid being hunted, and came to live at Hogwarts!

And here we go.

Helena picked up her lantern and walked after the Baron and professor Descoteaux and everyone else. She surely didn't want to get lost. No, thank you.

That spell they just used on the lanterns turned out really useful. At least Helena could see on what she was walking. Like... SPIDERS?! And tiny, creepy bugs?! The girl felt her feet as they started to tremble a bit, for now. She was afraid of insects. They had too many eyes and feet and some of them here slimy and yucky and...

Creak.

She gasped, then quickly spun around. No one. Juuuust a branch she stepped on. Her heart was now beating crazily, threatening to jump out of her chest.