Without further delay, the blonde he-Snake took a set of hedious outfit for himself and went behind the screen to change. Good thing they had their robes to cover up or else, Hades would rather swim in his robes. He had no issue with the temperature. It was even colder at Durmstrang that it was here. As he withdrew his wand from his robes, Hades saw another boy around his age. From what he saw from the other's robes, he was a Ravenclaw prefect. "Would you mind practicing the spell with me?" asked Hades after putting on the shirt.

"Erm..." Tayla felt a bit odd, now that Kurumi suggested she go first. She remembered how the 'intent' of a spell was so often emphasized in Charms. "I really don't intend to hurt you so it'll probably not be too painful..." Tayla said weakly. "I hope!" she added to herself. Kurumi was after all a friend and a Gryffindor prefect!

"So erm...Okay. Grab my arm or something," Tayla said nervously. "Ready?"

Kurumi smiled. Well, that was good to know. "Neither do I," she replied with a small wink. Kurumi knew how to take a hit or two, she had had to endure some pretty harsh things from her classmates back in her nonmagical school before attending Hogwarts, so getting knocked around by a jinx couldn't be all that bad, right?

Pocketing her wand for now, Kurumi walked over to Tayla and grabbed the third year's arm with both of hers. Shutting her violet eyes tight, she prepared herself for whatever was coming next. "Alright, I'm ready."

Tayla breathed in deeply and readied her wand. "Here it goes...Re..." Tayla hesitated. She took another deep breath and cleared her throat. As gently as she could, she said the words. "Relashio."

Tayla felt Kurumi let go of her arm and move a little away, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the spell. "Did that hurt?"

Kurumi had let go with one hand when she had seen red sparks erupt from Tayla's wand, but her other hand hadn't been so fortunate and too the spell full force. Thankfully, or maybe not, it hadn't been very strong and had felt like a hot piece of metal had hit her hand, only their was no burn mark. It has also knocked her back just a bit and there was a small impression in the ground from her heels digging into the dirt as the spell pushed her back.

"N-Not really," she said as she rubbed her hand where the spell had hit. "Going to need to be a whole lot stronger for when we encounter grindylows though." That is, if they were attacked first. "But you already knew that," she added with a small laugh. "Do you want to try again? Or shall we switch?"

Tayla nodded and laughed a little. "Yeah. Grindylows." She didn't like the idea of one grabbing her. "But the professors won't let anything happen to us, right?" she said, echoing her thoughts a moment ago.

Tayla wanted to try the spell again, but hesitated to. "How about we switch first? And then I can try again if it's okay."

She kept her wand, took Kurumi's arm, and braced herself. What a way to practice jinxes.

Eeewww, they were going into the lake?! Gross! And it got worse! Watching some of her classmates pull outfits out of the bag, Sky did a double take. They were expected to wear those?!

Deciding to practice the spell first (and put off having to wear the swimsuit), she pointed her wand at the ground and recited the spell, "Relashio!" Okay, so she thought she had it already but just to make sure… "Relashio, relashio, relashio," repeated, wand still pointing at the ground. She knew she had it so…

…she took a deep breath, retrieved a swimsuit and went behind the screen to change. When she came out, she was blushing from head to toe. Not because she'd never worn a swimsuit, but because hers were usually a little more stylish. She glared around, just daring someone to laugh. They shouldn't, because they were all wearing the same thing… but you never knew…

Kurumi's eyes narrowed for a brief moment as they flicked over towards the professors, laying them first on Professor Williamson and then....on Professor Scabior. She wouldn't put it past their History of Magic professor to try something like that. Constant vigilance lions! "Right," she nodded with a convincing smile.

Nodding in agreement, Kurumi removed her wand from its turquoise holster and performed a few nervous jabs in the air. Intent...intent...intent...it was all about intent. As long as Kurumi kept the image of a grinylow out of her head everything would be fine. Merlin. That was like telling someone to not think about pink polka dotted unicorns. You just HAD to think about them.

Kurumi swallowed as she prepared herself for...what was about to happen. "Releshio!" Kurumi said with a sharp and strong jab in Tayla's direction. She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to see what happened. She may have put a bit more umpth in it than she had intended.

Quentin waved as Mr. Henry descended into the black lake. She turned to the professors as soon as the word 'swim' was mentioned.

She looked over and wrinkled her nose at the swimsuits. They looked horrible. Nevertheless she picked one up and started to change. They felt even worse, how could the professors even make them wear this sort of stuff? When she was changed she glanced over at them, WHAT! They got nice fancy, warm, not-gross-looking wet suits while everyone else was stuck with these, these things.

Gilly weed, eh? She was a good enough swimmer anyway, every kid in New Zealand knew how to swim. It was like a second nature. After all, the classic Kiwi summer was spent at a batch in jandals and a bikini. But she supposed it wasn't quite the same in England. No. It wouldn't be the same at all here.

She mentally slapped herself, 'stop feeling home sick and start practicing.' Now what could she practice on? She wasn't about to pair up and let another practice on her. What about some parchment? Yes, parchment would do fine.

"Woah!" Tayla exclaimed as she felt a hot pain in her hand and a force pushing her backwards. She fell on her bottom a few steps away from Kurumi. "That was good...Kurumi!" she said a little breathlessly, trying to stand up. "I don't think...you have to worry about grindylows."

Tayla took her wand out. "Okay if I try again? Then maybe we can go change, unless you want a second try, too."

The spell... better start with that one, Gwendolyn thought and looked around, hoping to find something... an object... anything on which she could practice. Err... I've got... nothing!, the third year realized. I won't try it on my books or notes or whatever. 'Anyone wanna practice the spell?', she asked and looked around. Gwen was sure she wasn't going to screw anything up... or at least she hoped so.

What.In.Merlin's.Name.Are.THOSE?!?!, she thought and looked really puzzled at the swimsuits. You have got to be kidding me! Can't we at least changed them? Transfigure them in something that looks normal?

Gideon was glad he had managed not to get hit by the over-enthusiastic squid like some of his more unfortunate classmates. Not like he could really blame the creature, he was meerly being himself, he was just happy to have avoided it. He too had missed the question, appearance of a large talking sea creature usually takes most if not all of your attention so it wasn't really a wonder.

So they would be swimming and possibly if not definantly dealing with grindylows...great. Not a pleasant thought given what they had been talking about and anything he remembered from reading. And gillyweed was something new to be using, not too familiar with it personally. Hmm...practice or change first... he mused to himself mulling over the options though seeing what they were dealing with suitwise he figured to practice first. No need to be dressed in it longer then he had to.

"relashio...relashio...relashio" he mused, speaking it aloud as he stepped slightly away from his nearest classmates not wanting to practice on a person. Finding a twig on the ground, Gideon decided to focus on that and aimed his wand. "Relashio!" he cast, the twig jumping a few inches forward as the jinx hit it. "Relashio!" the Gryffindor repeated with another sharp jab, the twig moving once more a bit further as his increased focus strengthened the spell casting.

Merlin's knitted bonnet! She had knocked the third year down on the ground. Could have been worse, she supposed. Could have sent her hurtling backwards into the lake or a tree and then Kurumi would have felt like a horrible person and probably have holstered her wand for the rest of the day. Thankfully, Tayla was back on her feet and already eager to try her luck at the spell again.

Good good. No harm no foul, as the expression went.

"I think I've had enough for now," Kurumi nodded. Important thing was that nothing melted. Now she needed to, erm, make sure that Tayla was confident with the spell so that if and when the time came she could defent herself. "Sure thing," she nodded again, taking hold of her arm again with both hands.

Anything to prolong changing into those...things...

Lewis had been busy not drawing any kind of attention to himself, especially not when the evil!Professor of Doom Scabior lectured them on the past of the Black Lake and the Squid and lots of other things. He had written most of it down but to be honest, hadn't been paying too much attention as such. His eyes continued to flicker over to where the Giant Squid was sitting? Err. Could you call it sitting? Well, where the Giant Squid WAS.

But aww, he was leaving? Lewis waved at him, quite sad to see him go - he had whacked Professor Scabior on the back of the head after all. Okay. Now back to what the CoMC professor was talking about. If you happen to be swimming under the lake. Yeah, he wasn't planning on doing that any time soon. Not if he could help it. They had just spent part of the lesson listing the creatures living in there after all. Why would he want to actually go in?! Nonetheless, the spell might come in handy some ti-

THEYWEREGOINGTODOWHAT?!

Lewis gaped at Professor Williamson for a couple of seconds before realizing what he was doing and quickly closing his mouth. Err. His eyes went over to stare at the swimsuits instead. Where on Earth had they found those?! A museum? They looked terrible. And he usually didn't care much for fashion or what exactly he was wearing. Sigh. Alright then. He went over and grabbed one off the boys' pile, and waited for one of spots behind the screens to be vacated.

Right. They still needed to practice the spell too. Only how. He couldn't exactly hold onto his own arm and then perform the spell. Unless you were from the circus. Which he wasn't. So, how else to practice the Relashio spell?

Biting his lip as he realized that people around him were pairing up to do this, Lewis looked over at a younger girl upon hearing her ask if anybody still needed a partner. He did! He took a small step into her direction and seeing as he didn't want to call out to her, Lewis raised his hand instead as if he was answering a question in class.

Pick me!

Wh-what? Swimming?! No one had told her anything about having to swim till now. "Professor!" Selena's hand shot straight into the air, eyes wide. "What if some of us... don't... know... how... to... uhm... swim?" Selena asked. And are deathly afraid of DROWNING in the lake even with the bubble-head charm and all?! Because... y'know, Selena was kinda one of those people.

And Gillyweed? Selena didn't even want to try morphing into a fish. Fishes were weird. Some were even flushed down the toilet.

So they were actually going to swim in the lake. They were actually going to wear those hideous swimsuits. This has to be my lucky day…, Gwen thought and rolled her eyes. It just can’t be getting any better.

Looking around, Gwen finally spotted a student willing to practice the spell with her. ‘Great’, she said while taking her wand out. Hopefully I won’t do something wrong, she thought and then repeated the incantation for the spell a couple of times in her head. There. Everything is going to be fine.

Not even minding to ask if she could go first, the Ravenclaw pointed her wand at the older boy. ‘Relashio!’, the third year said loud and clear.

No? why not? "Why not?" he voiced his thought as he jumped up from where he was seated. He wanted to have a Giant Squid pet! Why couldn''t he have one? But before he could say it was unfair , he saw an tentacle rise up from the water and his eyes went wide.

Protecting his head, the Slytherin held his arms above his head in instinct but found out that he was smacked in his side. Falling to his side, he fell face down on the grass from the inpact and shivered when the cold wet water drenched him.

Okay, so maybe a giant squid pet wasn't such a good idea...





Hearing that they were going in to the lake to swim, Daichi froze in place. Not because the water dripping from his clothes were so cold but because of fear. He had almost DROWNED last year and now he had to swim in the lake?! He couldn't even swim!

He was about to say this when he heard someone else voicing his question. Looking around, he found their Prefect looking rather uncomfortable. Turning back to face the Professor he too raised his arm. "I-i was wondering the same thing...Professor"" he said as he felt his cheeks blazing fire from embarrasment.

"Thanks," Tayla replied, hoping this time she'd do better - but also hoping she wouldn't hurt Kurumi too much. "Relashio! Relashio!" she said the words in her head and made a couple of sharp jabs with her wand pointed towards the ground.

"Okay..." Tayla gripped her wand in focus and pointed towards Kurumi's hands. She imagined they were the long fingers of a grindylow, but at the same time reminded herself they were Kurumi's hands. That would keep her intent moderated, wouldn't it? One...two...three! "Relashio!"

Somebody hold down the ground. Somebody hold down the girl. Somebody slap her awake from this silly dream. Somebody... oh. Louisa hadn't fainted. Good. "We're going down?" SERIOUSLY? And they were to wear those old-fashion swimsuits. She furrowed her brows in disapproval. The only good thing she heard from professor unprofessional was practicing the Relashio spell. How would a professor send a bunch of students down the lake KNOWING that there were demons down there, was beyond Louisa. It was just good that she had no wizard parent to complain. HEH

Looking around the class, Louisa spoke, "Anybody want to practice the Revulsion Jinx?"

Noticing that a flame had be lit in the young lion, Kurumi prepared herself for a much stronger spell this time around. Swallowing, Kurumi squeezed on her arm a little tighter mostly because she was nervous. She once again shut her eyes tight, not really wanting to see it coming. It was like when you went to the doctor to get a shot and had to look away right as the needle approached your skin. Better to not see it and feel the sting to know it was happening.

It didn't take long. Before Kurumi had the chance to scream or say anything, the red sparks erupted from Tayla's wand and made Kurumi summersault backwards. After catching her breath, the fifth year pushed herself up off the ground and dusted herself off. "Brilliant," she smiled. Yep, she wouldn't have to worry about grindylows. Her arm was throbbing, especially her hand, from where the spell had it. It was similar to the feel of getting your hand slammed in the car door, but she tried to hide this from the young Gryffindor.

"Um...I suppose we should go and get changed," she said, nodding her head in the screens' direction.

Lewis eyed the two students who had asked what to do if they didn't know how to swim or were scared of drowning. Or both. He didn't particularly like the prospect of swimming around in a dark lake, to be honest, which was home to oh-so-many creatures either. Including a Giant Squid. Who seemed nice and all but still.

Oh good. She had seen him. Telling himself that it was going to be fine, Lewis opened his mouth to say hi, maybe even introduce himself and such, since they were going to be partners and all. And casting spells on each other. This was the rare occasion even HE would have bothered to ask for the other person's name.

The girl didn't seem to share that sentiment, though. Not at all. The way she was suddenly pointing her wand at him made him forget what exactly they were supposed to be doing here. And who could blame him, really, he had been the victim to so many pranks back home that a wand pointed at him just had that effect on him. Especially if he didn't know the other person.

So instead of just letting the spell hit him, like they were supposed to, he pulled out his own wand with a yelp and shouted, "Protego!" Once the spell bounced off his shield he blinked at the girl a couple of times. Right. That did not go as planned. "Erm. Sorry 'bout that. You just...startled me. You...wanna try again?" He blushed, not looking at her, and even reached out to take her arm softly so that she could try again.

Minerva's mouth dropped.. Swimming in the lake? Then she got a big smile knowing she was getting her wish to swim with the squid. Well hopefully he would swim with them. Then she saw the suite and twisted her face, really... She got up and changed. As she was coming back Justin stopped her. "Ummm.. Sure I can work with you, are we suppose to do it on each other? Won't it hurt? I don't want to do anything that will hurt you." she saw Harvey and wondered if the three of them could work together. She turned to Harvey, "Harvey do you want to practice with us?" Minerva wasn't sure about the spell so she turned looking at one of the trees and flicked her wrist "Relashio", she flicked her wrist with her wand again "Relashio" She looked at the professors "excuse me professors am I doing this right?"

Tayla gasped and covered her mouth with both her hands. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?" She didn't mean to make Kurumi tumble like that.

Tayla felt relieved when she saw her stand up and smile. And she said 'brilliant', too! So that was good right? "Thanks," Tayla smiled back. "Yeah, I guess we better get changed."

She looked at the swimsuits some of the other students were wearing. Not exactly the best ones she'd ever seen. "Let's hope we'll look funny enough for the grindylows to laugh, instead of attack us..." she said to Kurumi as she made her way to the changing station. "I hope there's one in my favourite colour at least," she added to herself.

After changing into the ancient bathing-suit that Ella was asked to wear, she walked back out into the sunlight to see many fellow students practicing the relashio spell. The older kids seemed pretty confident in their movements and her intensity was that of a baby bunny compared to them. She was scared and small and the thought of being attacked by a grindylow had her reeling.

She decided she had better get on with it and approached a nearby tree. She pulled on the elastic band that was holding back her hair and walked over to the nearest twig. She wrapped the band around the twig several times, making sure it was tight. Then, she tried to remember what the professor had said about putting the spell into practice. Say Relashio! Move your wand in a sharp jab. OK...I can do this With a sigh and a set look, Ella pointed her wand. "Relashio!" She closed her eyes tight, hoping the spell had worked. You won't know unless you look, El. Ella opened one eye first, then the other, peering at the large twig. It had worked! "I did it! I actually did it. Merlin's beard." She was talking to no one in particular but felt a surge of excitement at her accomplishment. She smiled as she repeated the spell several more times, feeling more confident with each try. Great, so I can do the spell. Now I just have to swim in the lake and hope I don't have to use it!

Sierra smirked at the squid's first answer but sort of nodded a slow, sad nod when he mentioned he sometime yearned for people to talk to. She'd come out here and talk to him, but only if there was a good reason to. She wasn't exactly the most sociable of people and didn't tend to change that anytime soon. She'd just have to think on that one...

She lifted the corners of her mouth ever-so-slightly, giving the squid the smallest of smiles. She waved as he retreated back into the water, and then she turned her attention to WWW.



Blahh. Somebody was getting two, free house points? Sierra hated when that happened. Unless, of course, it happened to her. She gave a slight frown but otherwise just turned all her attention back to W³. Ahh, the Revulsion Jinx. Well, at least they were using a charm that she was pretty familiar with. Seeing as much, she decided to go for a swimsuit first.

Heading over the bag on the right, Sierra gave a passing glance toward the green wetsuits for Scabbers and W³. Pretty cool, if she did say so herself--and she did say so. Hopefully her wetsuit would be green, as well. Yellow was for Puffers, and Sierra liked to fight grindylows in style. Ha.

Reaching deep into the bag of girl's swimsuits, Sierra pulled one out and took a good look at it. "Hey, Professor?" she said, turning toward W³. "I think I found an artifact!" Well, this was a joint class with History of Magic, so it made sense that Scabbers would have been studying Minerva McGonagall's swimsuit...or something like that. Sierra started to toss the artifact to the side when she realized that all the girls had swimsuits that looked just the same.

"They're all artifacts?" she asked, peering into the bag. Where was her awesome, green wetsuit, though?! Oh, she knew where it was--the professors had taken care of THEMSELVES first and just left the students with the lousy leftovers. SO TYPICAL. So very typical. "Right," she said. "I'll just go change now..." With her artifact of a swimsuit dangling at her side, Sierra edged into the changing area and changed into the swimsuit.