"That would be epic!You better not even mention it,"Cardigan said,grinning from ear to ear as she high-fived Logan.That party would be soo awesome!But even if there was slow dancing,it would be like moving slowly or something.But,probably not because she would just flip out,slip on the floor,and land on her bottom.That would NOT be fun.Who in the world can make pizza when they have a super bruised bottom?!?

"i really dont wish i was american sorry max." Ariana chuckled

Amelia was fully aware that the Whomping Willow wasn't exactly the safest spot to do star gazing, but she had still decided to come here anyway. She made sure that she situated herself far enough away from the tree that if it decided to become violent, she and her telescope would not suffer the consequences. One really could never be too sure about these things when there were other people who could potentially set the Willow off.

Once she had found an area that she deemed suitable, she started setting her telescope up. It was a really nice one that her parents had got her at Diagon Alley this past summer because her old one had a crack in the lens. She had not had the chance to use it properly yet, so she was excited to use it. She worked slowly and meticulously making sure that she placed the telescope down on a level piece of ground.

When she was done, she pulled out her Astronomy notes. She wanted to look at the constellation Hydrus tonight. She had been reading about the different constellations, and she had learned that there was one called Hydrus and one called Hydra. Hydrus meant "male water snake", and Hydra meant "female water snake". Both constellations made her think of Slytherin and Zayden, so she wanted to look at them. It also didn't hurt that she had heard that there were at least five planets orbiting one of the stars of Hydrus; maybe she'd be lucky and manage to spot one of them.

Hydrus was easiest to see in December so that was perfect for her at the moment, but Hydra was easiest to see in April so she wanted to wait a few more months so that she could see it at its best; that was how she liked looking at all of her constellations.

Looking at her Astronomy notes, she found the coordinates:

Quote:

Right Ascension: 2 hours
Declination: -75 degrees
Visible between latitudes 5 and -90 degrees
Best seen in December (at 9:00 PM)

Amelia adjusted her telescope to the coordinates and started scanning the skies until she found the constellation that she had been looking for. Though it was very faint and almost impossible for her to see. She hoped that Hydra would prove to be a lot easier since it was a lot bigger than Hydrus.

By the time Vickers made it out of the Castle the sun has risen above the trees of the Forbidden Forest. He found a nice mound on the ground a good distance from the Whomping Willow-- which creaked and swayed as if bidding him good morning. Or don’t go near. Well heck it could be saying I-want-to-smash-your-toy and Vickers really wouldn’t be able to tell.

He could still see the North star just about to fade away in the stronger rays of the sun. He pointed the sundial’s gnomon towards it to orient the sundial properly, then peered over the device, trying to figure out what time it was reflecting…

He could see the shadow fall at the marker that says VI. So its 6 o’clock in the morning? It sure feels like it. He noted it down on his parchment, then tucked the sundial back into his bag. He will check with the clocks in the castle if he read the right thing.

Tayla left the Lake to visit The Whomping Willow. Seeing it reminded her of the Capture the Flag activity they had for Charms. "That was fun," she thought.

She took out her sundial and tried reading it again. Her palm wasn't flat or solid enough, so she looked for a flat surface she could put it on.

"It is..." she began, as she put the sundial on a flat rock and stared at the shadow. "Four o'clock."

She took our her Astronomy notebook and noted it down. Then she returned the sundial in her bag and continued walking around Hogwarts grounds.

Harvey loved to come out in the evenings before going to bed.. the scenery was always beautiful.. the stars,, the moon.. he always came out with someone he knew.. but all were busy with work.. even that work that he should be doing.. but he could not stop coming out here to sit under the stars and moon just admiring them the way he used to.. he missed those times.. but he knew that they would never happen again.. unless she wanted them to.. suddenly he realised that he had been here for quite a while.. and wanted to know the time.. so he took out his nocturnal instrument and held up to look through the middle for the Polaris star after he selected the month and date on the instrument.. he then pointed its lever towards another star and then looked at the number on the instrument.. it was near 6pm.. he couldn’t believe that.. he then looked at his watch and saw that it was not nearly 6 it was after 6.. so he packed away the instrument and rushed back to his common room to avoid getting caught out of bed.

"I'm pretty sure you do! And it's not very nice to lie to your friends" Maxwell said laughing

Tayla ran as fast as she could and hid behind a big rock. She waited for footsteps coming. Sophie could throw a snowball at her any second, but she'd be ready, too.

This was fun!

Sophie came running and laughing loudly. She wasn't being discreet at all. She had lots of snow on her hands and threw all of it in Tayla's direction, without even bothering about making snowballs.

She looked around quickly to see where she could hide and went behind a tree. The same tree that had protected her from getting charmed back in Capture the Flag. She liked that tree!

She started making some more snowballs.

'But im not lieing max hahah." Ariana laughed at her friend and gave him a push sending him into a pile of snow.

Tayla was starting to think of using a shield charm against all of Sophie's snowballs, though decided against it. That young Hufflepuff threw snowballs like there was no tomorrow!

Having made a small pile of snowballs, she took a couple snowballs and called out. "Hey Sophie!" Then threw them towards Sophie's direction, hoping she hit her even just once.

Maxwell fell into the pile of snow face down, and grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at Ariana pegging her in the face and knocking her on the ground as well.

Sophie was behind the tree with her freshly made snowballs and looked at Tayla's direction to take aim. As soon as she put her head at the side of the tree she heard Tayla's yell and felt a snowball flying above her head. She looked back to see where it landed. "Haah! You just misse--" She had just turned her head around to look a Tayla again when she was hit by a snowball on the forehead. Her head was pushed back an inch and Sophie busted out laughing. "Good one, Tayla! TAKE THIIIS!" And she threw two snowballs at the same time in her friend's direction.

Zack walked up to the grounds. He needed some rest out of all the class and homework he'd been doing lately.
He hated doing homework in his muggle school, but Hogwarts some else for him. He loved doing everything in Hogwarts.

Everything felt so good around Hogwarts to him. He really enjoyed the atmosphere and the freshness. Thinking about freshness he remembered his reason to come here. He's came to get some fresh air in his lungs.

He looked at the whomping willow from a distance. He liked the view of that tree ever since his father had showed him the pictures of the tree. His father used to talk about it and he'd always wish to see it when he gets in Hogwarts.

He sat on the ground at a distance from the tree afraid that it would hurt him if he got any closer. He sat down and enjoyed the view for the very first time in his life.

Beezus cocked her head to the side as she walked to the grounds. It was a fine day and everything was going smoothly for her. Well..except for the fact that she still needed to do her Arithmancy homework which was due in two days. But apart from that, all of her schoolwork was alright. And she was getting better at memorizing spells too.

Her feet brought her to the Lake first but later she found out that she was in fact facing the Whomping Willow. Now that she thought about it, she met a friend there but sadly, like some of her friends from last term, that person also did not come back to Hogwarts. 'I wonder where they are now,' Beezus thought sadly.

Then she saw someone sitting on the ground just a certain distance from the tree. It seemed like one of her friends so she walked over to where he was. "Harvey--" the eaglette called as she patted the boy's shoulder but stopped on her tracks when she found out it wasn't her fellow Ravenclaw. "Errmm..sorry.."

Glimpsing out the window, Gwendolyn noticed how it just started snowing. She grabbed her jacket and scarf and rushed out the Common Room, ready to enjoy the lovely weather. Smirking, the third year looked around, hoping she’d spot some of her friends. Hmm… seems like they are not around, the Ravenclaw told herself grabbed a handful of snow, making a snowball out of it. After twirling it in her hands for a while, she threw it, not paying attention to avoid hitting someone.

Although it was quite cold outside, the third year didn’t mind. It was, after all, her favorite season. Winter. As she scanned the place one more time, Gwen couldn’t help smirking. It was one of the most beautiful landscapes ever. Well, except for the Whomping Willow, which she’d hated from her first days at Hogwarts, but meh… ‘Hey! Does anyone care of a snowball fight?’, the Ravenclaw couldn’t help asking. Oh come on! It will be fun!

Zack was all dreamy busy in his own thoughts back home. He looked up from the ground at the tree just then he noticed someone pat him on his back.

He looked up to have a look at the person. Huh? Who's this? Didn't see her anywhere from now.... he thought all confused.

He heard her apologize to him then. "Ah....sorry, do i know ya?" he asked looking up at the girl from where he sat. He didn't want to upset any girl for not remembering her.

After all this was his first year so he didn't want to be the bad guy already.

WHOOPS! Yeah, she really did thought he was Harvey. Well..the two of them when seen from the back kinda resembled each other. Gaaaaah, that was just frustrating! Not to mention it was the first time she had seen the boy just now. "Really.. sorry." she said as she pulled back her hand.

"No, no.. I don't think you know me, and I don't know you either," Beezus chuckled. Her bad. Oh Merlin, she was just too careless. Nevertheless, it was always good to know more people. "My name's Beezus. You?" Introductions would clear up the matter, yes?

Zack looked up at the girl and smiled as the girl apologized again. "Oh, no that's alright. I look too familiar to many from the back i guess" he said and chuckled. He turned back to stared back at the view of the tree not realizing if the girl was still standing or felt after she knew he wasn't the one she was looking for.

He was surprised to see her still standing was speaking to him. "Oh, Hey, I'm Zack. Zack Tatum." he said and patted at the ground next to her. "Would you like to sit down?" he said and looked at her wondering if she didn't mind sitting with a first year.

"Yeah..you do," she said in reply to him saying that maybe he resembles many from the back. "I thought you were on of my friends," Beezus added as she looked at the Whomping Willow way ahead. Oh, she missed talking with her friends but given that they were all so buys with homeworks and projects piling up.. Well..

"Nice to meet you then Zack," Beezus gave the boy a warm smile as she nodded and sat down beside him on the ground. "By the way..are you a first year?" she then inspected his clothing for any sign of house color, but couldn't find any. "Err..what house are you in?"

Zack smiled seeing the girl agree to what he said. Aye...i just said that...i may look older but i'm not that familiar from the back...am i? he thought and looked confused. Then he stared back at the tree.

Oh...so i look like her friend...that makes sense. "Oh, that's is okay. I think i knew that already." he said and grinned. He looked up at her still wondering if she'd sit or not. But it seemed like she was lost in some thought.

He smiled again noticing her sit next to him "Oh, nice meeting you too. I'm in my first year, Gryffindor." he replied and looked back at the tree.
Maybe i should ask her too he thought and gave her a smile before saying "So, what year are you in?" he said. He knew from her looks that she might be older.

She was back. Hey willow, catch! She threw her Slytherin scarf up into the tree, and as predicted it whomped it arround close to the ground. Its like it knew that Olivia was trying to catch it. She played along with the willow, giggeling at how silly she looked. What fun!

Logan walked down to the whomping willow, his guitar slung onto his back. He sat down a good distance away from it, and sat his guitar on his lap and began playing a song and singing along.

"A million miles away....your signal in the distance, to whom it may concern.
I think I lost my way....getting good at starting over, everytime that I return.
Learning to walk again...I believe I've waited long enough, where do I begin?
Learning to talk again....can't you see I've waited long enough, where do I begin?
Do you remember the days...we built these paper mountains, and sat and watched them burn....
I think I found my place....can't you feel it growing stronger?
Learning to walk again....I believe I've waited long enough...where do I begin?
Learning to talk again...I believe I've waited long enough...where do I begin?
Now....
For the very first ti-"
he paused, and decided he was too tired to sing or play today. He sighed, and set his guitar off to the side, and layed down on his back, staring up at the blue sky, thinking.

"Yes!" Tayla threw her fist in the air and laughed. Then realizing how exposed to snowball hits she was, she ducked behind the rock again, feeling the two snowballs Sophie threw whip past over her head. "That was close!" Tayla laughed. She made more snowballs and threw them one after another.

Tayla heard a familiar voice saying 'snowball fight'. She took a peek and realized it was Gwen. "Hey Gwen! Want to join us?" she asked as she threw another random snowball towards Sophie's direction. "Think fast!" Tayla called out, just before she threw one towards Gwen's direction, too. She ducked and waited to hear if any of her two friends were hit.

Sophie was making some more snowballs behind the tree when she saw a couple of Tayla's flying by. She laughed and prepared herself to through some of her own. When the snowballs stopped coming, Sophie looked at the rock Tayla was behind and made a shot, trying to measure the strength she needed to make the snowball fall right on top of the Gryffindor's head. Maha! That would be funny!

Then Tayla shouted out to another girl. The Ravenclaw apparently wanted to have a snoball fight too, eh? Not a problem!

Sophie was taking aim to through a snowball at her when she was hit by one of Tayla's. She was pushed sideways and held herself steady with the hand she was holding the snowball. Meh, she would have to make another one!

Scooping up some more snow quickly, Sophie made two snowballs and threw one at Tayla. "Hey, I'm Sophie!" She yelled and threw the other snowball at the girl she didn't know. She wouldn't mind, right? She herself asked for a snowball fight, heh!