Kace was glad that she thought of him observing was a smart idea. I mean it was logical right? Why not learn new moves from others. I guess that is what other sport players do? Yeah they must do!

He would consider it after Hogwarts but he even told Ronnie, "But i have MANY years to think about it." he told her. "I mean i am only a first year almost going to be second year." he said with finger quotes around second year. He even asked her honestly, "Are you ready to leave this place yet?" he gestured to the Hogwarts surroundings.

Mo ran his fingers over the runes he'd carved so far. Very slowly, the gandr was starting to fill with his carvings, but there was still plenty of room left. He traced his wand over a few of the runes, deepening the carving so that those runes matched the deepest ones he had carved.

Time to do more. Next up was Algiz, and Mo searched for the spot to put it. This rune was about protection and strength, and about pulling defensive and creative magics from the divine. Very useful to have, he decided. "Intaglio Algiz, Intaglio Algiz, Intaglio Algiz."

Sowilo followed, another rune that looked like a stylized S. This rune was an important one, mostly because it represented the power of good over evil, success, and, literally, the power of the sun. "Intaglio Sowilo, Intaglio Sowilo, Intaglio Sowilo."

Below that and around the other side of the gandr, Mo ran his wand over the spot to see if it would accept the Tiwaz. Victory of adversity. Justice. Courage, protect, and new ventures. All important additions to this gandr... and the spot was perfect for this rune. "Intaglio Tiwaz, Intaglio Tiwaz, Intaglio Tiwaz."

Another important rune came next, and Mo sought a place for it too. Berkano was a rune for healing, both mentally and physically, for birth and rebirth, for creation in general. "Intaglio Berkano. Intaglio Berkano. Intaglio Berkano."

The rune for Ehwaz looked like an elongated M, and Mo traced out the shape in a few spots as he looked for the correct positioning for this rune. Ehwaz represented quick changes, quick wits, and quick motions. It also stood for loyalty, partnership, and progress. All in all, a really positive rune. "Intaglio Ehwaz, Intaglio Ehwaz, Intaglio Ehwaz."

Whew. Almost done with the carving.

Good thing he had brought his Ancient Runes textbook with him when he went to visit Bentley to ask her permission about his desired tree, thinking he'd be able to work on his homework after their meeting. And even though that tree didn't work out, he felt that he may have found a suitable tree now anyway.

It was a Laurel that he had now chosen and, after he found one that appeared to be befitting for this assignment, he opened up his messenger bag and dug through it for his book. Once he had pulled it out, Ethan flipped through the text to the appropriate section. Gandrs.

As he now wanted to use a Laurel, his eyes fell on the passage regarding different types of wood. Laurel.. The oracle tree of Delphi, this tree represents victory and honor, he read. Yes.. he supposed that would do. Ethan reached his hand out to one of the branches of the tree, lightly running his fingers along the length. This would be the tree.. well, hopefully. He had to communicate with it first.

He was so close to being done, and it was getting more and more difficult to find spots on the gandr that were as-yet unfilled. Mo turned the branch around in his hands, admiring the smoothly carved wood and the evenly-cut letters before resuming his work.

The next rune was Mannaz, and Mo searched for a spot to carve. Mannaz stood for humanity, for people, and for the individual person. It also stood for tolerance, devotion, and kindness. Definitely one he wanted on his gandr. "Intaglio Mannaz, Intaglio Mannaz, Intaglio Mannaz."

And then Laguz, which was the water rune. Mo moved his wand from carving Mannaz, searching for another inch of the gandr that was untouched. In addition to water, Laguz meant fluidity and changeability. Plus it was supposedly linked to the Sight. "Intaglio Laguz, Intaglio Laguz, Intaglio Laguz."

After carving the Laguz, Mo looked for a spot for Ingwaz. This was one of those happy runes: unity, peace, love, positive outcomes. It was hard to find a single negative aspect to Ingwaz, which was probably why the spot for it was up near the top of the gandr. "Intaglio Ingwaz, Intaglio Ingwaz, Intaglio Ingwaz."

Dagaz was another positive rune, and there was another spot near the top for it... but it just didn't feel right. Mo settled in to think about the rune as he sought a spot to carve. Dagaz stood for a new day, for coming out into the daylight after a trying night, growth and progress. "Intaglio Dagaz, Intaglio Dagaz, Intaglio Dagaz."

So nope, Dagaz had a different spot, and Mo moved his wand up to the top of the gandr as he thought about the very last rune he had to carve. Othala was another of his favorites, because it stood for family and home. It stood for birthrights too, and for the estate proper - and Mo just happened to understand that concept very well. "Intaglio Othala, Intaglio Othala, Intaglio Othala."

And whew. DONE.

Alright.. now that Ethan had chosen this Laurel tree for his Galdr, he was meant to communicate with it. He often spoke to his plants while working, sometimes humming or singing, but he remembered that there was a specific procedure to this and he felt it best to consult his book. He opened it to the correct passage and let his green eyes skim the words before setting it aside on the ground for a moment.

The Prefect stepped a little closer to the tree, then turned around and sat on the ground with his back up against the Laurel. He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning into the tree and feeling the bark supporting him as he rested. He lifted his hands up over his head and laid the palms against the trunk as he felt the cool, smooth bark of the tree. The boy opened his eyes and tilted his head back just a bit, looking up into the canopy. His eyes fell first onto several of the individual leaves, then he specifically focused on the branches and the patterned array they took as they grew out from the trunk.

Ethan sat there like that for a moment, taking in the sight of the tree and just relaxing. He took a few deep breaths, breathing in the scent of the vicinity's botany, then released his hands from the trunk. He supposed he should get on with this assignment and he rose to his feet. Now to ask for permission..

Now that the runes were cut, Mo was starting to feel that he was in the home stretch. He had to leave his next step to another day, just to take the time to collect the ingredients for adding red pigment to his runes, but he was still well on his way to being done. It only felt right at this point to continue to do his work in the butterfly garden, so his hazel tree could watch over the process.

The ingredients for his pigment were pretty easy to find. The red ocher was an iron-rich dirt that Mo had finally scouted out along the lake. He'd borrowed some linseed oil from the back of a cupboard in the kitchen, and now Mo was ready to make his pigment. Taking a seat beneath his tree, Mo put the dirt and linseed oil into his mortar and mixed the two with his pestle.

"Laukaz, Laukaz, Laukaz," Mo chanted over the mortar and pestle before mixing the two into a thick red paste. Carefully, Mo spread the paste into each cut in the gandr, and then wiped away any excess on the surface of his branch. Don't want to stain the actual gandr with the pigment.

Each rune had the pigment applied and wiped away until the entire gandr was covered in reddened runes that seemed to glow among the wood grain. It was looking quite lovely... and now he had to head up and do the rest in the classroom.

Ethan glanced down at his textbook again, looking for the proper procedure. He had to ask his chosen tree for permission now and he knew it was more than just saying, can I cut off one of your branches.. He scanned the text quickly, then looked back up at the tree with a friendly sort of smile.

Sunwise was clockwise and Ethan began walking in that direction around the tree. He completed one revolution around the Laurel, simply keeping his eyes on the tree. As he made his way around for the second time, he began to speak to it. "Hey there, Laurus nobilis.." he addressed the tree with a smile as he reached out to touch the leaves. "So, as awesome as you are," he continued as he walked around. "I was hoping it would be alright with you if I could use a part of you to create a Gandr.. it's a runic wand and one of your branches would embody its magic." That was something cool, yeah? Certainly the tree would be alright with that..

Once he was done talking, the boy found that he had completed three circles around the tree. Perfect. Oh and.. "If you don't mind, I'd like a few leaves too.." You know, for cooking.. He was sure his girlfriend would appreciate a few bay leaves since she loved to cook so much.

The weather was nice. And it should be since it was spring and all. The snake left the common room neglecting any homework she had. Her mind needed to rest and be cleared out of all those spells and potions and whatever else. She still got time to pull an all-nighter before exams. Yuup. She had always succeeded that way.

She usually let her feet lead her wherever but this time she had a destination in mind. To the Butterfly garden she headed, she'd been spending lots of times here for Ancient Runes reasons. But now she wasn't. Cassia chose a spot then slid her bag over her shoulder and retrieved a jump rope and then dropped it to the ground. She so didn't steal borrow this from a firstie. Nooope. Who said that? Jogging in her place to warm up, Cassia stretched her arms up and to the sides.

Deciding it was enough warming up, Cassia picked up the rope from its handles and held them non-too-rightly and non too loosely. She extended her arms and forearms and straighten. She was going to do this properly. The snake hopped over making the rope behind her then sucked in a breath and exhaled. All set. Swinging the rope over head she hopped when it reached her feet and then it was to her back and she was swinging again and hopping and it was all so good.

Hop..Hop...Hop...

This was fun. Last time she did this, it was in summer at her house's garden but it never came across her mind to actually bring a jump rope to Hogwarts. Hop...Hop..Hop... This was fun. Gracefully, the fourth-year kept hopping, her feet leaving the ground just when the rope neared them and so on.

After quite a while, Cassia stopped and took her time to regain her breath and wipe her sweat. Wow, her heart was pounding in her ribs. It felt good. And she wasn't done yet.

It was time for some tricks. Rope handles in hands, Cassia stepped over the rope making it in front of her. Yup, she liked to reverse this whole thing and she was good at it. In through the nose and out through the mouth, the snake swung the rope over her head backwards and just before it got to the back of her feet she jumped. Done like a boss. She really should've thought of that from the start. Or like, the firstie should've shown it

Hop..Hop..Hooooooop..

This was fun though a little bit harder. And since most of her energy had been earlier, she started to feel her body heavier and it felt harder to breath. But she didn't want to stop. So she kept on going, taking a bit when landing to breath then swing the rope again. Until she miscalculated and jumped at the wrong second so she tripped and THUD!

Ouch. What a way to end it.

The blond didn't get up instead she just remained on the ground. See she intended to finally plop down. LIES

Jog Jog Jog Jog siiiiiiiiip...

Dang he was out of his Veggie Drink now.

Ah well. He made it to the Butterfly-less Garden, now he just needed to get back to the Willow...which by the way he'll surely disappointed if the whole Team was still there. Ella said they were jogging. So that meant around the Grounds, that's how Oakey saw it anyways. Yup, it's how he did his walks so why not do the run the same way.


Oh hmmm....Maybe he shouldn't jog through the Garden. There were lots of flowers in here that Oakey did not want to step on. CHALLENGE: run awkwardly throught he Garden avoiding all the flowers. Here he goes, Oakey took three weird side steps, then a large step forward bring his back foot around his body. repeating this two or three times with a mixed skip hop and a jump. Until he reached the edge of the Garden and off he went back to the Willow.

She had been on the ground for a while now and she had refueled some energy into her body now it was time to get up and do some MORE hopping. Yup. She could totally do it. The snake rose to her feet and held the rope handles. Air in through the nose and out through the mouth. And all set to continue. Back to the regular kind of jumping, the rope was behind her so she swung it over her head and starting the jumping. Hop...Hop...HoOoOp.

It was all going smoothly wasn't it for the short bangs of her hair that decided to get loose and annoy her coming down on her forehead and in her eyes and yet worse tickling the skin. Eeeek. IT wasn't good to be tickled while hopping. dangerous. She tried to ignore it and focus on the sound of her breathing. But who was she kidding that wasn't going to work. Still jumping and fortunate that it didn't need much concentration, she whipped her head trying to push the bangs of her hair OUT of her eyes. Guess what? It was such a BAD idea. Very, very bad. What was she even thinking. Like seriously.

She should've seen it coming when her legs got tangled in the rope and she fell on her side. OUCH! It hurt. Really did. Wincing, Cassia started untangling the rope from her feet. Ouch. Again. She rubbed at her side and was glad that nothing seemed to have been seriously injured. First thing she did before getting up was tucking in the loose bang of hair. Stupid things.

Then and only then, did she stand up again and continue. This time though she started on the reverse kind. The rope before her feet and she swung it over her head and jumped when she was supposed to. See, without hair bothering her she was a pro! Okay!

Hop...Hop....Hop

Just as she was hopping she remembered a trick she used to do. When the rope was right above her and coming down she crossed her arms FAST. WOOOT! It worked okay. She hadn't done this trick since forever. And she was thrilled and yaay and all that stuff.

As the giddy and proud and conceitedperson she was, she didn't stop. She kept on the technique, swinging the rope then crossing her hands. Was anyone watching her? She didn't like crowds watching her because she felt self-conscious but now she really wished someone could witness just how great she was doing.

So, yeah.. Ethan was fairly confident that the Laurel tree was giving off enough positive energy that he felt permission was being given. But which branch should it be? He remembered reading in the text that the tree itself would assist in selecting the best branch. He supposed he should figure how to get a feel for it.

"Which branch may I take?" the Prefect asked the Laurel tree as he reached out his hands towards it. He slowly ran his hands along several of the branches, gauging their weight and shape until he got a good feeling about one. "I think this one seems about right..... yeah?" He shot a glance at the tree. He saw no argument so decided on this particular branch to cut off and create his Gandr. But of course he would do something for the tree as an expression of thanks.. an offering of sorts..

Dylan had his notebook and quill and had decided to take the reading out to the grounds...and more specifically, the Butterfly Garden...He'd photographed here a few days ago...and he kinda been inspired by it. So, the Slytherin was back again.

Setting himself up on the bench, he opened his notebook and stared at his hand some...He did have his textbook with him...but hopefully he could used the information he'd gathered from the lesson. Not that his memory was that great...but yea.

Before coming out, Dylan had already finished up the stuff for the last two lines Professor Elwood had been talking about. The 'Life Line' and 'Fate Line'...He'd notated everything in his notebook, stuff he'd copied to turn into the professor...


Dylan could agree with some of the stuff. He was easily manipulated by females...if that could be a deciding factor in things. Beezus manipulated him, sure enough. Dylan let her, though....and was acutely aware that it was happening. Aspen had even manipulated once...to get him to exude some confidence before their big match with Hufflepuff...and Selina......had never manipulated him.....come to think about it....

Yea...that was about it.

In another book, he'd found stuff about traveling the world and seeing many different places...Well, that definitely related to him. He'd wanted to go everywhere...and he could with either career choice he was considering...So, that was all legit...

Now for the Future hand...

It was odd to note but Lex was actually still buzzing around with energy...might have had something to do with the chocolate frogs she ate on her way down here. Alice wasn't complaining so she didn't see why she wouldn't. Besides, that race took a lot out of her, she needed to refuel before trying the next big thing--TREE CLIMBING!!!

It was just a month ago that she and Lottie had gone climbing and now she was going again! Only difference this time was there was no bowl of ice-cream attached to her hand.

"Aliiiiiice, faaaaster!!!! We need to find the perfect tree before some other bloody idiot takes it!!"

March! March! March!

Of course the older girl was keeping up but if not she would offer her some of her candy. Nodnodnod.

Right...So his right hand was his future hand...and he needed to decided what all the things were. As Dylan looked down at the both of them...he couldn't really tell any difference between the two. The lines looked identical to one another...Legit...Actually...

The more Dylan looked at the two...the more he was noticing little things. Like...the Heart Line and Head Life looked exactly the same...but he Life Line and Fat line's were flawed. Like...the lines on the Future hand seemed harder...with breaks in them and such which hadn't been the case on the Left...

Also, the shaping was the same...So....two AIR HANDS.


There. He was finished...because he was confused and didn't know what any of this meant. Yea...Dylan would be asking Professor Elwood some questions...

She laughed, nodding. "Yes, that is true. So don't stress about it right now." she told him. Ronnie had thought about what she wanted to do a bit too late, though. In the beginning of this year, in fact.

Then he asked a question and she laughed softly to herself, glancing down at the ground for a minute. No one had asked her that yet. "No..." she finally said quietly, looking back at him. "I don't think I'd ever be ready to leave, to be honest." she sighed, turning her attention to the castle. "It's really hard to know that it's almost time. It's going by too fast." she explained, her voice soft as she studied the castle and it's features slowly.

"I'm trying! Be patient. Not all of us are on a constant sugar rush," Alice informed Lex as she jogged after her into the butterfly garden. There were pretty high trees here, right? She thought so, and as she looked up, it didn't take much time to find one that she'd deem the highest. "I wanna climb that one, okay?" Not waiting for approval, she headed for the tree and immediately started scaling it.

Leeex. Hello. Keep up.

She kept climbing for a good while or so, slipping back down from some branches and having to go up again. It was fun, though, and was definitely good exercise. After a bit, though, climbing just wasn't requiring enough effort, and Alice started entertaining herself by swinging branch to branch like a monkey.

This was FUN.

"Hey, I can see the castle from here!"

She waited on her sorta, it was only fair that Alice return the favour, 'cept she didn't. As soon as she got there she was claiming trees and hauling herself up there like it was nobody's business. Lex remained on the ground, watching for a second before shouting, "You could have waited you know!" It wouldn't have taken that much out of her.

Ugh!

Lex grabbed a close enough branch and began pulling herself up, following Alice's every movement to make sure she didn't suddenly grab a faulty branch. By now, the ground was a far way down and from what she'd heard, going splat wasn't exactly the funnest thing in the world.

ANYWAY! Climbing! Soon she was close to Alice's branch. Alexa looked out. "You're RIGHT!!!! I can see our Common Room from here!!! And the Astro Tower!" She said, pointing with a grin.

You got the best views from trees.

"Why would I wait? I would, maybe if you weren't on a sugar rush. But you are, I expect you to keep up by yourself without having to slow down for you." Alice nodded seriously at Lex and waited for her to join her atop the tree, beaming when she did and willing her not to go splat, too. She didn't want to have to explain to the Healer what they'd been doing up in there, okay?

Astro tower. Mmm.. you know what that reminded her of? Cherries.

This was why Flamsteed shouldn't have related their homework to food.

"I'm hungry. Let's climb back down." They had been climbing and swinging around in the branches now for a good while. How long had it been, an hour? Two? "Want to stop by the Kitchen on the way back to the common room and grab food?" Unlike Lex, Alice's body needed stuff other than candy to keep it going.

She swung from branch to branch, slowly making her way back down to the ground and starting off for the castle again, still not waiting on her companion. Hyper kid best keep up.

WHY?

Lex slumped on to a branch and gave Alice a curious look. "Well why wouldn't you? What if while you're hurrying and I'm left in the back something grabs me and makes off with me. You'll be without a Chaser and and...and I can't defend myself." Alice wouldn't really leave her when it mattered so she wouldn't scowl or anything. Nah, instead she fixed her legs on the branch and hung.

Everything looked weird when it wasn't right side up.

Oh but they were talking about food now? Lex gave a hard swing and righted herself. "Sure! Will you make me a sandwich when we get there? One with all the works?...Please?" Sandwiches usually tasted better when you had your Captain make them for you.

Lex swung down after Alice did and landed with a thud. Food now?

In keeping up with DADA assignment, Sarah had been strolling around a lot more often lately. By now she had visited most of the Hogwarts grounds. Except the Butterfly Garden. She had avoided it, as the sight of the garden with its absent butterflies were disheartening. She had heard what the others had said about there being no butterflies this year, and she was too scared to look. Yet as it was healthy to walk, and to satisfy ones morbid curiosity, Sarah walked in. Her face fell as she noticed that it was true. There were no butterflies around, just a few moths dotting the area.

Sarah was sure that there had to be a butterfly someone. Just one butterfly that had stayed at Hogwarts just because of its rich history, not the poor present. Sarah began to walk around, then noticing her slouch she straightened up her back. She had read an article once about one having to walk properly. So she made sure her foot hit the ground heel first as she made her way around. Her eyes darting, yearning for the splash of colour that a butterfly brings. She rounded a flutterby bush, yet there were no colourful butterflies there. Sarah was not one to give up, so she continued to stroll around the garden, looking for just one butterfly.

"Really? I used to make it with my nan when I was young." Well, 'making' it was a big word. All he did was collect strawberries and raspberries and watched his nan do the rest of it. It was always scrummy, though. "Oh, yeah! I'd love a jar." Theo loooooooved Dora's food makings. He smiled when she found a jam sandwich, and he soon decided to leave the ice cream for a moment and found one, too. Mmmm... raspberry. Theo WINKED at her.

Dragon food.... Theo gulped but tried to hide his wimpish expressions. Seeing dragons would be so COOL, so he would just keep telling himself that. Imagine how jealous Casper would be... "As long as they have people who protect you... they do have those people, right?" Like zoo keepers, he supposed. Not that DRAGONS would ever be kept in a zoo or anything.

"Cool." YEAH... now how does one organize a big party like that? His mum would help.

Huuuuh? "No there isn't." He dismissed it immediately, and turned his attention back to the ice cream. He did carry on listening, though. "The food isn't THAT bad..." It was pretty bad, but Theo was the kinda kid to eat anything if he was hungry. Which was a lot.

Theo jumped backwards when she opened the box, totally not expecting to see a herd of butterflies emerging from it. Those kinda things required a warning, you know. But once the shock had passed, he could fully appreciate the garden filled with the things once again. It was a butterfly garden, after all. "You raised your own butterflies?" Theo smiled wide and looked at her, "That's really cute." And thoughtful. He was sure that the groundskeeper would be pleased. The Slytherin flicked a butterfly away that landed on his hand, but didn't make his usual big deal out of things like that. "How long did they take to turn into butterflies?" Cos Theo had no idea really.

Kace nodded and smiled. She was right. He shouldn't stress about it too much. He had much schooling to look forward to. He needed to focus on doing homework and all.

Kace smiled softly and went over to her. He patted her shoulder softly and said, "It will be okay. I think you will do amazing out there in the real world. I just met you and i think you are already amazing." he grinned to her. He was telling the truth 100%.

Because he had a Herbology lesson earlier in the day, Ethan had his hand shovel in his messenger bag. Rather handy since he now needed to dig a hole. He knew the next step in this Gandr-making process was to make an offering to the tree. He had a small amount of fertilizer in his bag that he was going to use at the student garden later.. but since he was here, he knew this would be an appropriate use.

He crouched down in front of the tree and pulled out his small shovel. Setting his opened book on the ground at his side, Ethan glanced at the passage as he dug and began reciting the passage.

"Hail to thee, wight of Laurel,
I pray to thee give this branch of your body!
Into it send thy speed,
To it bind the might of the bright runes.
Sowilo, Fehu, and Jera"

He focused intently on each rune as he chanted and was nearly done digging the hole when he finished. Ethan planned on creating a rune success charm for his wand and he remembered those were the three he needed to carve. He dug just a little more then sprinkled the fertilizer inside. "Just a little gift of thanks for allowing me to take one of your branches." The he covered the hole back up withe the loose dirt.

Kat found refuge at the Butterfly Garden. Because this time it was far away from the water so nothing was going to sprinkle anything on her parchment. SAVE IT FROM GETTING WET, OKAY? At least this place was full of nature things like plants and bushes and butterflies. Mostly butterflies. It wasn't called the Butterfly Garden for no reason, right? Anyway... she still had to make the second verse for her song.

HMMM... More scribbling



Weirdest. Song. Ever. But the effort you know. The Laurel tree should appreciate this. AHEM. She was done anyway so... back to the Laurel treeeee.

Elise decided that it was definitely time to sit with the butterflies. She hadn't been there in a while and she knew that she couldn't with her boyfriend. The guy was phobic, so it'd just be her sitting here on her own with her Gandr. Oh, speaking of the Gandr, it was time to carve the final runes. Wand and Gandr at the ready, she inhaled deeply.

"Laguz laguz laguz l l l l l l l l l lu la li ke lo (lug lag lig leg log) ul al il el ol lo le li la lu l l l a a a g g g u u u l l l l l l l l l...." This was hard on the tongue, that's for sure. "Intaglio Laguz Laguz Laguz..." Rune carved. Success.

"Ingwaz ingwaz ingwaz i i i i n n n n g g g g ung ang ing eng ong ong eng ing ang ung i i i i n n n n g g g g... Intaglio INgwaz Ingwaz Ingwaz..." Almost. There.

"Dagaz dagaz dagaz dh dh dh dh dh dh dh dh dh d d d a a a g g g a a a z z z du da di de do dh dh dh dh dh dh dh dh dh odh edh idh adh udh od ed ud ad ud d d d a a a g g g a a a z z z..." Water would be nice, yes. "Intaglio Dagaz Dagaz Dagaz..." Only one left.

"Othala othal othal o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o othul othal othil othel othol othol othel othil othal othul..." Tongue twister ahoy. "Intaglio Othala Othala Othala..."

That was it. SHE WAS DONE! Time to celebrate.