Slowly flicking her wand Mack attempted the charm "Immobulus" she spoke slowly and clearly, she was sure that she did it correctly. and the blonde beamed. She had always loved charms so she knew this lesson would be fun

Oh, excellent.

Theo hurried away from the rest of the students with Dylan, and was waiting to hear all his wisdom that he would hopefully share. "I think I got the incantation down..." He paused, trying to even remember what letter it began with, "It's just the stupid wand movement.... did you SEE it?" All over the place, it was. Ridiculous.

He sighed loudly, then checked over his shoulder that no one was watching him fail at magic.

"Alright, alright, stop practicing the charm for now. It's time to put everything we've learned into play. To recap, we're going to produce an Ashwinder from a magical fire and gather the eggs the creature produces," she said. "Follow along..." She turned on her heels and walked to the side of the barn, which was near the edge of the woods. When she stopped, she looked out over an expansion of regular fires.

"The steps you'll need to follow are listed there," she said, pointed to a chalkboard she'd prepared ahead of time. On the board were the following instructions:

1. Choose a fire and add a few sprinkles of floo powder to it. This will create a magical fire. You may watch your fire but don't tend to it (unless you absolutely have to).
2. Once the Ashwinder has risen from your fire, follow its ashy trail to the EDGE of the woods.
3. Wait for the Ashwinder to collapse to dust.
4. Cast the Freezing Charm on the eggs BEFORE touching or collecting them. You should wear protective gloves as an added precaution.
5. Collect your eggs and place them in a glass jar. Label the glass jar with your name, house, and year and place it back on the table.

"The floo powder, protective gloves, and glass jars can be found on the table just over there," she said, gesturing toward a nearby table she'd also set up ahead of time. "I'll be circling the class area if you need me, and remember there's still time to learn the freezing charm if you didn't before. Just don't take too much time, because I still want to get you lot inside before dinner is served." Then with her silence, she seemed to say 'Go ahead. Get started.'

Some OOC things to remember: For purposes of this lesson, we'll just say that everyone's Ashwinder laid eggs at the EDGE of the trees and not deep in the forest. Everyone's magical fire should produce an Ashwinder. You're free to RP as if it didn't, but if you do, you'll only get credit for one or two steps out of five. Also, remember our IC time frame. Barlow's going to try and get your characters in before dinner, so we won't be sitting here hours waiting on things to happen. Dinner isn't too far away. Professor Barlow is here, so she'll be monitoring IC and helping keep things in control. Finally, for full credit for the practical, you should complete this in five posts. Please label your posts, and have fun! The practical will close Sunday night US Central time.

Ella gave Kace and encouraging smile and a hair ruffle when Professor Barlow told them to stop practicing."You'll do fine." She whispered, heading back over and listening carefully to Barlow's instructions.

Okay, first things first. Ella tucked her wand safely away so she'd have it handy when she needed it. The blonde then went over and placed on her protective gloves before grabbing some floo powder. She'd come back for a jar when she had the eggs, yeah? Best not to carry too much at once. Merlin knew the blonde could be clumsy and all she needed to do was drop the jar, or worse, an egg.

Next up she'd need to find a fire. The sixteen year old chose one in the middle and with a curious smile, sprinkled in her floo powder. She then took a step back and watched with a thoughtful expression as the fire did its thing. Not too long now before an Ashwinder would be born, yeah?

Dylan waited for Theo to catch up, glancing carefully at his surroundings to make sure they weren't being listened to...or nosed in on. When he felt confident they weren't...he began speaking. Lowly, so that no one could even catch bits and pieces of conversation.

"The incantation is Immobulus...ih-MOH-byoo-luhs. Four syllables." The Slytherin paused in his explaining. allowing that to sink in for a moment. "It's always best to repeat the spell to yourself...and get comfortable with your lips and mouth forming the letter sounds." This was totally the way he did it...an in his experienced opinion, it was best all 'round. "Once you've gotten used to saying it...then you can work on the motion."

Then he was bringing his wand up to eye-level and aiming for a low hanging brance of leaves. Performing the motion that was similar to tracing mountains, Dylan clearly said, "Immobulus!"

Turning back to Theo, he grinned. "Do you see what I did there? It was simply like outlining the tops of mountains...with a swipe beneath that at the end."

"Are you ready to try?"


...And they were getting started. Looking back over at Kinsley, the Slytherin offered a smile. "It's okay...If you need help at any point, grab me and I'll guide you."

Ella was humming. Quietly of course, but humming none the less. Today's song was Happy Birthday as the little Ashwinder was bound to be emerging from the fire any time now. The blonde kept a watchful eye on the embers, watching and waiting. ...And watching...and waiting...

....

Oh! Movement. It was hard to tell at first whether or not her eyes were playing tricks on her as they were outside and there was a bit of a breeze. Only, Ella was sure she'd seen eyes. Two red eyes peeking out at her from the embers of the fire. Shudder. That was actually quite creepy, y'know. Also creepy, the way the Ashwinder was slithering out of the fire and towards the edge of the forest. Meep! An actual Ashwinder! GRIN! This was really cool.

Ella carefully followed behind the creature, eyes on its thin grey-ish body as the thing slithered off to lay eggs. The trail that it left behind was actually really useful, she thought. It reminded her of Hansel and Gretel and the trail of bread crumbs. Only...the little Ashwinder never needed to find its way back from where it was headed.

Sigh.

Sad life, the one the Ashwinders lived.

Hahahahaha, the older 'Claw didn't like getting stared at. That was expected. Hardly anyone liked getting stared at it seemed. Not that she could ever figure out why. It wasn't all that bad in her opinion, though she preferred being the one to do the staring, just saying.

"Right. Got. Don't drag it out--" Her sentence was cut short when the Professor began speaking. But she hadn't gotten to practice. You all saw what happened when she tried it just now.

Oooo but they were hunting Ashwinders now!! Okay, all was good. She looked to the girl again. "Even though I didn't get to practice it more I'm sure I've got the hang of it now. You're a good teacher!" BEAM. Then she skipped off after the Professor and didn't stop until they came to a whole bunch of small fires. NEAT.

Lex chose a fire that looked especially cool because contrary to popular belief, all fires did NOT look alike. Don't even go there.

Anyway, she got to sprinkling the floo powder then plopped down on the ground at a semi-safe distance to watch. This was one of the easiest parts. No tending the fire, juuust sitting there watching it. Gee, now she really wished she could pull the chocolate frog from her pocket...you know...to past the time.

Stare.

Jory followed the Professor and the others towards the fires. He listened to the instructions that were given and carefully read the ones on the board. So, first things first. He grabbed a pair of gloves, a jar and some floo powder and then headed back to the fires.

Choosing one, he stepped in front of it and with his gloved hands sprinkled some of the powder into it. He stepped back and watched carefully and excitedly for any signs of an Ashwinder. He wondered how long before one would emerge.

Kommoto put the floo powder in the fire, and waited. Then, when the ashwinder appeared, he followed it to the edge of the forest, and waited. So much waiting. Kommoto was antsy. He wanted something to happen. Pacing now, he watched the ashwinder watch him as it protected its eggs. Whatever. Its not like it'd be around much longer. But how long was this going to take?

"Thanks" she managed to mumble before the oldie moved towards another guy. He was evidently bothered with her attitude. Good riddance. She didn't want a tiff with yet another older students. She just didn't understand how they found her. UHH..you found him this time. Whatever. Older students..just problematic.

The professor actually moved on to the CoMC lesson. Good because she was beginning to wonder if she'd stepped into the wrong class. Listen.

Ashwinder. Fire. Walkyyy. Freeeezyy. Eggyyyy.... And she was getting edgy, waiting for the professor to finish. ZAP. ZAP.

She grabbed the gloves from the table and moved towards the fire nearest to the door, obviously not wanting to walk another few steps. Lazy, lazy. She put her wand back in, stood before the fire, took a pinch of floo...casted it.

ABRACADABRA!

A brilliant fire rose and she waited for her Ashy to come out, humming.

"I gave fire to the fire-place...la la la"

Jory continued to watch intently. Waiting and waiting. And waiting for any signs of an Ashwinder. He glanced at the other students as the followed the instructions. One student's fire apparently had already produced one. "That was fast,'' he thought, puzzled. Anyway. He glanced back at his own fire.

Was that something moving? It was! He could make out the Ashwinder slowly making it's way out of the fire. Jory knew he would have to follow it as soon as it started moving...in whatever direction. He waited excitedly for it exit the fire.

She was beginning to think her fire was defective. No matter how long she sat there it wasn't doing anything. At one point she was tempted to poke at it with a stick but then...would that count as tending the fire? She didn't want to have to start this whole thing over again so she sat perfectly still with a bit of bouncing and continued waiting.

...

.....

Ooooo! Hello there!

She leaned forward when she saw the fire shifting a funny way. The next thing she knew there was a red eyed serpent raising higher and higher. Lex grinned over at the thing. Her fire wasn't defective after all. WOOT!! In all her new found excitement she almost didn't notice it beginning to slither off without her.

This was her cue wasn't it??? Alexa hopped to her feet and hurried off after it. Couldn't afford to lose it, or she'd have to take someone else's eggs and she wasn't quite sure how well that would work. Plus, she wanted her Ashwinder's eggs. They'd be different from everyone else's, no doubt.

.....Oh. Stop practicing the Charm now. So they were about to start with their activity. She turned to Alexa just to make sure the younger girl had ceased practicing just yet before diverting her full attention to the Professor who had just started giving them a quick and brief recap of what they were supposed to do.

"You learned fast too, you know." She smiled at the Gryffindor as she pocketed her wand. Professor Barlow was instructing them to follow her. Better move then. "Just approach me if you ever do need help again." At least there was something she didn't feel so useless on. Offering Alexa a two-finger salute, the Ravenclaw followed the crowd near the woods where there was practically a fire party. Beezus smirked almost instantly at the sound of the crackling flames and her eyes immediately went to find her fellow Prefect, Daichi.

*cackle*

She'd have wanted to stick around and muse over his reaction but Professor Barlow was speaking again so she decided not to. Besides, Daichi reactions were expected throughout the duration of this activity and they've barely started so there was still a huge time to enjoy the....entertainment. Merlin, her brain was too mean sometimes.

Too much for that though. She had to get to work.

Nodding, Beezus went over the steps they were to follow that was listed on the board. She read it from 1 to 5 before heading over to the table the Professor had pointed. Floo powder, protective gloves, and glass jars. She secured those materials first. When she had them on her arms, she whirled back and began to choose her fire.

Eenie meenie miny mo.

Freezing Charm. Immobulus. Yeah, of course he knew that. Maybe he had failed a year before in another school but that did not mean he had bad memory anyway. He grinned and watched as others practiced the charm. Of course in order not to look like he was not doing anything, he practiced the wand movement while staring at the hot professor. He did not know if there was any younger student that would need help but when he looked around, he saw that all those ones who did were already being helped. So he was good. Back to staring at the professor.

While staring at her hotness, of course, he remembered to listen to what she was saying and her instructions. To be honest he was also thinking that some charm that would freeze the eggs by making them icy would be used on this yet what the professor explained about the usage of immobulus one totally made sense. It was apparently a better way to cool down those eggs. Yeah stupid ice could melt and would be of no use at all.

As he went to choose his fire, he grinned at the professor and he kept it even when he got some of the Floo powder with his right hand. Then he needed to look at the fire though. So he sprinkled the powder into the the fire and watched it change color. Cool. He liked green flames better. Fire watching was good. It relaxed him. Though not as much as watching attractive females

Hmm.

After a few more eenie meenie miny mo's, Beezus had finally chosen a fire to work on. Her eyes roamed the vicinity again for Daichi. Hehe. She set the gloves and glass jars down on the side before sprinkling floo powder to her fire. "Sprinkle, sprinkle." Yes, she was even muttering that as she did. The flames crackled merrily, almost as though it was celebrating that it was now magical.

With a grin across her lips, Beezus watched as the fire continued to blaze. She was very excited to see an Ashwinder up close. She haven't really seen one personally before and right now they were even going to harvest the creature's eggs? Yes, please. Excitement times three.

By now, the fire was slowly diminishing and burning out.

"Okay....Ashwinder, time to come out." She whispered more to herself as kept her dark brown eyes strained on the remains of the magical fire.

Just then....something moved!

Waiting for the general rush to leave the table, Mack walked over and collected a pair of gloves, glass jar, and floo powder. She then found an empty fire and sprinkled a bit of floo powder onto it. stepping back she watched the fire, it changed colors a bit, to green, almost the color of her eyes. A grin stretched across her face, she loved that color. So now to wait, looking around her she decided she would just sit. And wait for her Ashwinder to rise. this could be fun. She glanced over at the other students, seeing a few already following their Ashwinder's towards the edge of the forrest. This class was definitely going to be her favorite.

Finally, the Aswider was out of the fire. It began to head for the woods so Jory followed the trail of ash, staying a few paces back. Slowly, slowly until finally it stopped at the edge of the woods. He watched in fascination as it laid it's egg.

Now all the Puffer had to do was wait for it to turn into ash. He wondered how long that would take. Any way, he waited, occasionally looking back at other fires for more Ashwinders. They certainly were fascinating creatures.

Haruka went up to the table and collected the materials. She put the gloves on immediately, and with floo powder and jar and hand, walked over to the first available fire she saw. After she sprinkled in the Floo powder, she sat down and waited for development.

The brunette could swear that something was moving amongst the remains of her magical fire. She knew it was the Ashwinder and she was proven correct when finally, the head of a pale-grey serpent emerged from the embers. It slithered on the spot for a while and all Beezus could do was prevent her mouth from hanging open at the spectacle. The creature had glowing red eyes that made her shiver in just the slightest. She wasn't really sure if it had an offensive nature but it was classified XXX so maybe it didn't without enough reason. Still, the Ravenclaw kept her distance.

Slowly, the ashwinder was moving.....towards the woods, leaving an ashy trail behind. "Okay, okay...you're about to lay your eggs. Wait up." She called after the creature as she semi-frantically gathered the gloves and jars into her arms then scampered after the magical creature.

Thankfully, it seemed to have allowed her to catch up.

It slithered towards the edge of a tree and Beezus cautiously peered at it while it began to lay its eggs. "Ohmygodric." It was laying eggs! And she was watching!

Eggs = Babies

That meant a mentally flaily Beezus Castell. Although she knew that they won't really get to see babies because they were freezing the eggs afterwards, halting its developing process. But still...the mere sight of eggs being lain right before her eyes was more than enough to trigger her baby senses. They were tingling.

She had also been counting off the number of ashwinder eggs the one-hour mother had lain so far. "Four...five..." And it didn't finish there. There was one more! "Six...six eggs!" She bit on her lip to suppress a series of squeals that threatened to come up her throat, successfully too.

And now, it was nearing the sad part.

The ashwinder would soon collapse to dust in a matter of minutes.

Sonea groaned when she heard that she needed to go to the barn, she groaned because she knew that going to the bran means working, and she didn’t liked it to work. She had hoped that she only needed to study with her textbook and not working with her hands, but the professor had apparently other plans… Sonea sighed and followed the professor to the barn, ready to do that what disliked. Sonea didn’t mind it to study hard but she disliked practical lessons, she preferred studying with a book and behind her desk.

Sonea saw a few fires and she was suddenly happy that she had come, she listened to the instructions from the professor and she now knew that this practical lesson was not so bad! She searched for a fire she could use and followed the first instruction, she added some floo powder to the fire and created a magical fire.

Haruka sat next to her fire, listening to it crackle and watching it change color from the Floo Powder. She looked around to see how other people were doing. Some were still sitting at their fires, waiting, like she was. Others were already following their Ashwinders and collecting the eggs.

Haruka turned back to her fire when she heard a shifting. That's when she saw eyes looking at her from the fire. 'An Ashwinder!' She thought excitedly. It didn't seem to want to leave the fire yet, so she continued to sit and wait.

Sarah did not need to practice the charm so she stood at the side. THne the real action began.

She followed the teacher and listened her hardest to the instructions. Then she put on the protective gloves and grabbed a jar. In her other hand she took the floo powder.

Choosing the neared fire she threw the floo powder into it. She watched the flames turn green in ecstasy. In her mind she was making up a poem, "green tongues of fire lept higher and higher..". Her creative muse continued until the snake appeared

Tanner nervously fidgeted. She wasn't going to admit that she was a bit nervous, but she was. Fire. Letting a destructive eleven year old work with fire is about as effective as trying to build things with a wrecking ball. It's like trying to fight Pikachu with a Magikarp.

Either way, she went to the barn with the rest of the class and picked a fire. Okay, simple enough. So far so good. Okay, so sprinkle some Floo powder onto the fire.

Her jaw dropped and the eleven year old girl quickly closed her mouth so as not to attract attention. Green flames! Sweet! Why was everything around Hogwarts so awesome exactly?The blond haired girl swore she was going to explode by the time she finished out her first year. So now, all Tanner had to do was wait. and wait. And wait. the fact that she wasn't good at doing this was probably the reason she wasn't a Hufflepuff. She frankly had no patience. Or loyalty. But patience. Patience was what she was focusing on.

Min was still looking a little shocked over the whole thing, she hit her boyfriend with a spell, hit her own boyfriend. Really, she was suppose to be good with a wand, not dumb. She couldn't help but laugh at his comment, "Well I wasn't sure...Couldn't have a prefect getting to bored now could we." She giggled, but still felt bad for doing it. When he said he was fine again she decided to let it go and stop worrying about it, it was only a freezing charm nothing to major. "Well I guess at least I got to show Susie what it did to someone." Chuckling a little again..

As she was about to have Susan try again, Min heard Professor Barlow bring them all back together again. Oh it was time to start the lesson. Writing down on her parchment the steps, Min put on her protective gloves. Now it was time for the jar. Going over she picked up the jar and some floo powder.

Turning she decided to pick an end fire and walked over to it. Calmly she sprinkled the floo powder in and watched it turn green. Now she had to wait until the Ashwinder hatched.

What was she doing wrong? She knew what was supposed to happen, and yet, there was no Ashwinder in her fire. She had waited two minutes forever for this creature to come out, and yet, it stayed hidden. It was like Bigfoot in that way.

Was Tanner allowed to try and help the fire? Wait, that would be tending it. Never mind. No matter how impatient she was, she was not going to start all over on this. She was determined to get this done, and she was going to do it in one shot. That was her goal at least.

And then, Tanner's jaw dropped. This creature was not something to be messed with. At least it didn't look that way. Red eyes looked ahead as it rose out of the fire. Tanner's jaw dropped again. Oww, she was going to need jaw surgery by her second year of Hogwarts.

In fact, she was so busy looking at the creature, that she almost forgot to chase it. However, she did snap out of her thoughts in time and hurriedly grabbed jars and gloves and ran after the retreating Ashwinder.