Not Helmets? Em frowned. If they weren't helmets, then what were they for? Looking around, the seventh year noticed most people had the cauldrons on their heads with the open part facing up. Pulling her off, she began sitting it on her head the other way when Max answered Vindictus's question. The heavy cauldron fell to to the ground, just missing her foot as she stared at Max. "W-what?"

The purpose? The PURPOSE? The purpose is INSANITY. Thats what it is really.

Trying not to whimper grumble too loudly Vickers went ahead and secured the LARGEST cauldron he could find. As he busily strapped that pot right sideup on his head he replied "Its to catch the rocks pelting at you Professor. " he said and added mumbling "Isnt this game illegal Sir?"

"That's correct!" exclaimed Vindictus. "Five points to each of you for your intelligent responses. And, er, thanks for reminding us about that, too, Vickers."

"You heard your classmates correctly. Rocks and boulders are going to rain down on you and your task is to catch as many of them in the cauldron that's strapped to your heads!"

Dramatic pause.

"All of you have scrawny necks. They're gonna snap like a twig when the first rock or boulder strikes your cauldron. Hmm... I've got it!" He pointed his wand at the pile of cauldrons and tapped it once, then he pointed it towards the sky and gave it another flick. "CONLESCO!" he said in a firm voice as he drew an invisible line above the heads of the students with his wand in a quick fluid motion. A shower of magenta stars rained down on the students.

"There. The Featherweight Charm should do the trick. Do the cauldrons feel any lighter on your heads?"

Taylor laughed in happiness, a little relieved that the cauldron was lighter. Tay knew that the professor wouldnt hurt them on purpose.

O_________O

Professor Vindictus really did have a way with words. The mean was clearly skilled at making sure everyone felt secure and ready for a task. CLEARLY... #Sarcasm

Ella shuddered a bit at the thought of her neck snapping like a twig and she could almost hear the noise in her head. TWITCH. At least the man seemed to have a solution to the problem.

...SHOULD do the trick?

"Erm...it does feel a bit better, Professor." Ella said, wiggling her neck around a bit. At least she didn't feel like she was going to fall over anymore.

Well wasn't it good that the professor took his suggestion? Yes it was. He tipped his head left and right, pleased with the difference.

West was ready. SO READY. He was already mentally working out a tactic and testing it. He had to sort of brace his neck right? use the rest of his body to cushion it?

HE REALLY HOPED THEY WOULD USE REAL ROCKS AND NOT MARSHMALLOWS OR SOMETHING.

... especially because marshmallows belonged in mouths, not cauldrons.

He just looked all smug and whatnot cos obviously it was totally his idea to do exactly that. Mmmhmm.

"Much better." He agreeeeed. Smug.

Lex forced a small chuckle when the Professor said their necks would snap. Here she was trying to be positive about the whole thing and he kept dropping one bad comment after another about this game. Did he want her to play or not?!

She watched curiously as he waved his wand and created stars....Ooooo....such nice stars too but she was guessing the spell was for more than simply looking pretty--and she was right!

"Oh yes Professor it does!" Now she could work with it. Also, she heard Vickers say this game was illegal...but she wouldn't question it until all her fun was had. Nope.

Jake grinned to himself before returning his attention to the cauldrons. He looked up curiously as Vindictus did magic... aha. Featherweight charm. Smiling now, Jake picked up a cauldron and secured it on his head. He could handle it. And he was fairly confident in his ability to stay on his broom now.

Also, maybe having the rocks less lethal would make the game less illegal. As long as nobody died, right?

Looking over at Vindictus, Jake nodded. Just to show that he was good to go.

Cauldrons. Heads. What.

What. About. His HAIR?! Alec did not like the sound of this. And he had a feeling he was going to need a lot of hair ruffling to get rid of any flatness in his hair afterwards. Dude was not happy about this at all.

And even worse was the fact that they were going to be SHOWERED, as Vindy said, by rocks and boulders. Alec frowned and wobbled slightly under the weight of the cauldron. It was probably a good thing that this game was made illegal. And maybe, just maybe, it would be the only sport he wouldn't actually like playing. Or anyone else for that matter. No one in their right mind would ENJOY being thrown at by rocks and boulders.

And then he frowned some more seeing that a certain housemate of his was there. His grey-blue eyes flickered over towards the blonde as a sense of... security? Yes, that. That was what he was feeling inside, right? He was her bodyguard after all.

Nervous shuffle.

Scrawny necks? The third year blinked as some magenta stars showered over them. He didn't really want to admit it because he was't Messy but the stars made him OOOH and AAAH on the inside. ... Maybe it was just the nerves. Yeah. That. It also had nothing to do with the fact that he had this insane urge to... impress.

"Erm... yeah," he started before clearing his throat, "Yeah, they feel lighter. Thanks Professor!" GRIN.

Err you're welcome? That wasnt exactly the response Vickers expected from the Quidditch man, then again given that Vindictus is VINDICTUS, should he have expected another response? Not really. And he just turned 18, and this game is all about initiation to manhood. Impeccable timing really. Now to survive to actually live through manhood.

Suddenly he felt that deadweight on his head lift, and although at any other time it would be a relief, right now it prompted a kind of panic since it felt like the one thing that will keep him alive isnt there. Gripping the cauldron still secured on his head he mumbled "Nice and light Professor..." Now will it be the same for those falling rocks?

What? Voice? There was a voice from... somewhere! But.. it was reciting a poem! About... "Creaothceann!"

When instructed, Pao raced to grab a cauldron. He wasn't sure how his neck and shoulders were supposed to hold up to that strain. West has a point..., he thought while fidgeting with the strap. This could go seriously wrong. "For catching big rocks.." he muttered when Vindictus asked for the purpose of the cauldrons. This didn't seem safe.. Pao glanced at Alec. Well, if HE didn't seem completely freaked out, maybe I shouldn't be either.

"Oh wow, thanks!" That charm had done the trick, alright. He straightened up his posture and tested his mobility. If he didn't make too many sudden movements, the cauldron should stay where it was.

Minerva listened to the answers.. Boulders... rocks.. okay.. hold up, Professor has gone mad.. Yes.. to much quidditch this term had gotten to him. She knew it would happen sooner or later, but yup it was sooner. Then he was casting a spell... Next thing Min knew she could actually hold her head up and see what was going on. That was a plus, "Mine is better. Thank you professor" Yes, she was going to thank him for her neck not breaking.

Louisa had turned from the ALIVE movable version of herself to the zombie robotic moving mode. Why were students listening and answering and following orders when they were promised ROCKS falling down on them? This could be fine if it was DADA and they had to shoot them. Instead of collecting them. The Ravenclaw continued to stare and do as everyone did with a poker face, but her heart was strangely beating regularly. Maybe because she was sure this was not what it sounded like - it's not supposed to be. Nope. Complete denial here.

Penelope kept relatively quiet during the class so far, mostly because she didn't really have anything to say. This game seemed cool even if it had a poem or whatever about ten players dying. Even though that had sorta happened already at Hogwarts, what with the plant eating those professors and all, that probably wouldn't happen today. At least not with Vindictus. So no need to worry.

It was nice when he cast that spell and the cauldron on her head felt a lot lighter. That was definitely better. She wouldn't have complained with the cauldron being its normal weight - she thought she could handle it, at least - but she also wasn't going to complain about it not being normal.

So yeah, she was good. She gave a slight nod to indicate this.

Again. Kurumi froze again. She had known about rocks and boulders and all that catching business....but was sort of hoping to stay in deinial about all this a little more since, you know...like Vickers had mentioned it was a BANNED game.

Which was why she remained silent. Maybe they would be catch gum drops instead. There had been a lesson a while back where they had had to avoid a giant floating cupcake...and hit gum drops...so it was possible, RIGHT?!

Or not.

Kurumi shook her head a little to test the cauldron and sort of gave a weak thumbs up towards the man. Yeah, lighter...

.................

So...about them gum drops, eh?

Oooooh. That was a nifty charm. Even though he was managing the cauldron just fine, Max was glad the building strain on his neck was gone. He smiled at Em and helped her adjust the cauldron a bit. "See? It'll be okay. You can stick with me, if you want... or I can fly above you and take the blows?" he whispered. Of course, he wasn't going to be taking blows... he was definitely going to be catching those rocks.

He was so ready.

As Max adjusted the cauldron on her head, relieved that it was at least lighter. Looking up at the boy she gulped once more. "I can't" she said in a hoarse whisper. "Max, I can't even fly. How am I supposed to do this?" And as for sticking with him? she'd never be able to do that. "I need my towel." she whispered.

Vindictus chuckled as he climbed down from the stands and joined the students on the pitch.

"Again, the goal in Creathoceann is to catch as many rocks and boulders as you dare in the cauldrons strapped to your heads," he explained and he now pointed his wand at one end of the stadium where the Quidditch goal hoops were missing. With a swish and flick, the disillusionment charm was lifted to reveal hundreds of rocks that were the size of Muggle softballs.



"Some of you are slipping in your powers of observation. I'm absolutely shocked that no one noticed the absence of the goal hoops. Tsk, tsk!"

Smirk.

"These are, ahem, rocks which have been charmed to rain down upon you as you fly around the pitch and try to catch them. One of the charms on them is designed to make them lighter so that you won't get knocked out when they hit the inside of your cauldron or break an arm, leg, hand, or foot if they strike your body. The only thing that will happen are light scratches and bruises," he explained rather matter-of-factly. "Well, maybe a broken nose if your face gets in the way."

"Now where was I? Oh, yes! Since this is your final, it's not going to be easy. If you fall off your broom, the rocks have been enchanted to fall out of your cauldron and zoom back into the sky. The goal is for you to catch 24 of the rocks. Some of you may catch more or less - the objective is to try to play this ancient Gaelic game. It may sound easy but it's not. Remember, no one can use magic and no stealing rocks out of other people's cauldrons. Good luck and may your headaches begin!"

He gave his wand a wave and the rocks soared into the air. Vindictus brought his silver whistle up to his lips and a shrill sound filled the air.

TWEET!

As soon as the whistle was sounded, the rocks began to gently rain down from the sky. As they hit the grass on the pitch, they zoomed back into the sky and started raining down once more.

OOC: Perfection is not expected - just have fun RPG the activity and interacting with each other as you try to catch the rocks falling from the sky! Points are going to be rewarded for each of your creative posts. This task should take at least 15 posts to complete (chat-only posts will not be counted), and you can earn up to 40 points for your role-playing efforts. This final will end on Friday night, so don't wait until the last minute!

Taylor glanced at where the goal posts should have been. Oh the goal posts really are gone... hmm makes our finals a little easier since we dont have dodge them... She glanced back at the professor as he continued to talk. As soon as he told them that they could go, Taylor quickly took off. The rocks started to rain down on them. Tay started to swerve and dodge some of the faster moving ones. He wanted them to catch 24? That would be easy... right? Taylor didnt dare glance up since he said they could maybe get a broken nose... which reminded her of how she punched Ariana that one time though that didnt cause Ariana to have a broken nose. Just the thought of that no good slytherin made Tay determined enough to catch as many rocks as she could possibily catch. Taylor spotted a rock falling and dove to it. It hit the rim of her cauldron and she moved just enough to get it to fall in. Hahahaha! 1 down 23 to go! Tay smirked and started for another rock. She was trying to dodge everyone else which was no easy task, that's for sure!

Ella noticed Alec out of the corner of her eye and gave him a small smile, noticing he seemed a bit nervous. They'd have each other's backs out there like always, yeah?

Oh...the goal hoops! DUH. Ella felt pretty daft for not noticing they were gone. Then again, she was a bit preoccupied what with the thought of playing an ancient game where objects were pelted at you from the sky. Shrug.

Scratches and bruises Ella could deal with. She'd gotten those just by walking to class before because she was extremely clumsy so she wasn't as scared as she had been at the start of this lesson. The broken nose bit did make her cringe, though. A broken nose wasn't a good look for her.

Okay...24 rocks. Ella could totally do this. She just had to not fall off her broom. Shouldn't be too hard, right? ...Right.

And then she heard the familiar TWEET and she mounted her broom, taking off into the air. The rocks falling from the sky and hitting her as she flew was quite weird! It was like...some weird weather pattern that hurt. Yes, it did hurt a bit. The third year was ignoring the uncomfortable feeling though as she was trying to watch were she was going, not fly into anyone, and catch rocks in her cauldron all at the same time.

#Multitasking.

And why was it that the rocks were falling everywhere BUT in her cauldron? Sheesh.

O_____O

Scary man say what now???? They were using real rocks?????

And before he could work up a full head of steam in his freaking out, the whistle had blown. Pao gazed at the other end of the pitch. As if in slow motion, the giant swarm of boulders began to fall. "Oh my..." He kicked off from the ground hard. Before he'd even gone ten feet he heard a PLUNK and felt something hit his head.

"I got one already!" Wow, that was luck-- "OUCH!" It hadn't really hurt as much as been a surprise, but his right shoulder still smarted. "I can tell I'm gonna be sore for the Championship Match..." This thought did not please him. Keepers had to be nimble.

Taylor flew and tried to dodge her fellow classmates. She swooped down and caught a second rock and was going into a small nosedive to try to caught a third and maybe a fourth one. Her mind kept wandering bac to Ariana. Tay was still smirking a little about the punch and how Lafay knew that Ariana was trying to fake being scared of Taylor. She was being unfocused as a third rock hit the edge of her cauldron. Tay wasn't prepared for the impact so she lost control of her broom and she flew into one of her classmates. Taylor started to fall off her broom, making the two rocks that she had caught in her cauldron disappear because of the charm that the professor had put on them. Tay caught sight of who she had bumped into and realized that it was Ella, Harvey's girfriend. Her eyes grew, "Sorry, Ella." She winced as she tried to get back onto her broom to try to recapture the two rocks as well as capturing twenty-two more rocks so that she could have the amount that the professor wanted them to have. Tay, of course, wanted to catch more than twenty-four but it was hard to even catch one let alone twnty-four especially with a distracted mind like she has.

No goals. ... Weren't their cauldrons the goals? See, that was the confusing part.

And to make things worse, he couldn't even ruffle his hair thanks to the cauldron strapped to his head. Absolutely great.

So aside from the fact that they were going to have ROCKS thrown at them, Alec didn't think it was too bad. Just a little scary, that's all. And they could get bruised and scratched and maybe even get a broken nose, as Vindictus just said. Yeah... he did not like this one bit.

His eyes did what it seemed to do a lot these days and landed on a familiar blonde haired girl. He should... go up to her and tell her to stay safe. Really. Yeah. But... the girl smiled at him, which surprised him a little. Was she watching him? ... Eh, he shrugged and smiled back at her. He... could kind of guess what that smile meant. Maybe.

...

And Pao! Dude was pretty small! Alec shot him a smile just as... what. Was that the whistle?!

O__________O

Okay, Summers, time to play this dangerous sport where... these rocks were going to ruin your face or arms or legs or just everything. Alec gulped as the rocks started raining down on them. Right... so catching these rocks... shouldn't be hard, right? He WAS a Seeker, after all. And who cares if he couldn't use his hands? The cauldron would be good enough, right?

... Maybe not.

"ARGH!"

... He should not have been looking up. Shaking his head, the fourteen year old mounted his broom and took off, his face scrunching slightly as more rocks pelted down on him. The Hufflepuff hovered in the air, looking around for a particular rock to chase after. There were loads here! And he had to catch twenty four, right? Yeah.

Spotting a particularly shiny one, Alec zoomed ahead, wincing only when the other rocks decided to bounce off of his shoulders and arms. He was close... he was nearly underneath the rock when...

... huh?

Blinking, the boy stopped flying and looked down at the source of the... yell? Yeah. Pao, it was. ... Was he HURT?! No. This was not good! Alec gave him a thumbs up right as the rock he was chasing after bounced into his cauldron.

... GRIN. And wince.

Max gave Em's hand a few squeezes as Vindictus gave directions, hoping to soothe her worries a bit by reminding her that he was there with her. Of course, once they went airbourne, it would be much harder to stick together.

May your headaches begin.

Thanks, Vindictus.

Mounting his broom and urging Em to do the same, Max kicked off from the ground softly and told her, "You're going to be okay. Catch the rocks in the cauldron, don't let them hit you. Just glide a few feet above the ground - you don't need to go higher than you feel comfortable. Remember how good you did our first practice when you were close to the ground? Just relax. Be patient. Let them come to you. I believe in you."

...And when the whistle sounded and the rocks began to fall, Max's impulsive, competitive edge got the best of him. "I won't go too far from you. If you need me, I can be right back to you in three seconds flat." He turned his eyes to the sky and took off toward the rocks as they fell, getting bumped in the arm and stomach with different rocks. He peeked up to line himself up with one, stopped in midair, and gripped the sides of the cauldron on his head as rock #1 tumbled right into his cauldron with a 'THUMP!'

See? That wasn't so bad. He smiled down at Em and gave her a thumbs up. She could handle this, right?

Okay, so they were only KIND of breaking the law, since the cauldrons were lighter and the rocks were charmed so they wouldn't really break anybody's bones unless they were pansies fragile. But Milton was not fragile! He was DUMB and EXCITED! Who caaaared if he had already been knocked out too many times to count that term? Not him!

Milton grinned stupidly when Vindictus' whistle pierced the air.

IT WAS TIME TO CATCH SOME ROOOOCKS!

Milton hopped onto his broom and soared into the air, swerving around and trying to catch some rocks. And he was failing miserably. Milton grunted when one of the rocks hit his shoulder. Okay. Time to concentrate. Milton tipped his head up cautiously and saw a rock a few feet away, several feet up in the air. He zipped under it and put his head back to normal until... THUNK!

Yes! Score one for Milton!