It was time for the best part! Riding the horse! Still patting the horse which was a little less restless now, Adi bounced on the soles of his feet. He could hardly wait! Had Caleb changed his mind? Did he want to ride the horse? "You wanna ride or lead, Caleb?'' he asked. Adi didn't mind which the other boy wanted to do. Either way, they would get this activity done! And so far they had done well to follow the instructions.

Eliza watched as the first year went to work. She was really good at attaching the runes, especially for being so young. Color this Ravenclaw impressed! "Great job Sophie! Those runes look fantastic! And the wing spell does too!" She walked closer to the horse and began to pet the base of its back so that the horse would kneel, hopefully. "Sophie, do you want to ride and I can guide you through the obstacles?" Eliza felt it was her duty as the older student to ensure the youngster didn't get tripped up in a thorn bush and thrown from the saddle. "I can help guide the horse as you chant the Galdrs to keep your runes going."

She smiled and watched as the horse finally bent down for Sophie to climb on board. "Thank you, Mister Horse! Okay if Sophie hops on for a ride now?" she asked politely. The horse didn't seem to object, so she motioned for the girl to go for it if she wanted.

Alec GRINNED. "I think she likes you too!" Which was great because... Alec didn't know how he'd react if Nicole didn't end up liking them. Especially since the three of them needed to work together. So... he continued patting her. Pat pat pat... and... strooooooke the hair.

Did he... need to repeat what he said for Wade? Alec reached up a hand and ruffled his hair. It wasn't confusing, yeah? Turns out no, since the boy was making a suggestion. A suggestion that included Wade working on the runes. GULP. "I... sure, yeah, that sounds great!" he said, grinning nervously at the older boy. What was it that Botros had said? Riding a horse wasn't hard... easier than flying on a broom... And he was a fair flier. He nodded a little as he looked at the horse. Easier than flying on a broom... he was going to be the judge of that.

... WHAT?!?!?! It was time to get on?

Alec's eyes widened as he looked at Wade. It was time to get on. He... they... were getting on the horse's back! "I... yeah... yeah, okay," Breathe, Summers, BREATHE. The horse would be able to detect if he was too nervous, yeah? And speaking of horse... Nicole was bending down, low enough for them to get on. This... was it then? GULP.

"Thanks Nicole! ... Erm..." He looked around the saddle and tried to grab onto something that'll help him up without hurting the horse. Resting his hand on the top of the horse's back, Alec lifted himself up onto the horse and swung his right leg over and around the horse. He shifted a little until he was sitting comfortably. There. "Thanks again, Nicole!" GRIN. Pat pat. "Come on up, Curly!" Hopefully the Head Boy would be much better at this than he was.

"You think so, eh?" Wade continued stroking Nicole, while beaming. She really did seem to like him too. That was a very good thing. Along with the ruffle Alec just gave him. Yeah, he was here again now. "Great!" He watched a little while Alec got himself all comfy on the horse. Guess it was his turn now. "Alright," He smiled at Nicole, giving her some more rubs before walking to the saddle to climb on.

The horsie was still low, so he could get on nice and easy too. Swinging his right leg over, he scooted a little behind Alec so he could still see where the runes were embedded on the saddle. "Thanks Nicole." Giving her back some pats, before she rose up. "Whoa.." He got his wand back out. "You all good Spiffy?" Something told him, they would be going fast. So with his left hand, after waiting on Alec's okay to go, he gently rubbed Nicole's backbone before switching to rest on Alec's shoulder.. and they were off! To the Groundskeeper's Hut the Tag-team Rufflers were headed! Luckily, only two runes were going to be invoked at a time throughout the ride.

"Lead," Caleb said right away. Yes. Adi could ride. There was a reason Caleb didn't trust things like brooms and horses - they had a mind of their own and he was not taking that risk.

As he waited for Adi to get on the horse, he smiled and patted the horse on his nose. "Good boy, you're doing such a good job!" he said happily. Hopefully he'd stay calm as the Hufflepuff jumped on his back...

Did he think so? "Yeah... I know so," It was hard to hate Wade, not that the seventeen year old had tried. He doubted anyone hated the Head Boy. Plus, look at the horse! She had even knelt when Wade stroked her back! See? Lots of love there. Nodnod.

Stilling on Nicole's back, Alec looked out ahead of him at the bit of grass in front of them. This wasn't bad so far. And being on a broom -- and being tall -- had made the boy used to being far away from the ground so he wasn't too scared. No.

That was, until the horse decided to get up. "Whoa whoa whoa..." he whispered, trying to keep his balance on the horse steady. Heart still thumping, he turned his head to try and look back at Wade, who was speaking again. All good? "Yeah... yeah, that was just a surprise," The horse, you know. "You all good Cur--"

But then he was cut off. Why? NICOLE WAS HEADING OFF!

O______O

Turning his attention back to the front, Alec tried his hardest to calm down his nerves. This was easier than riding on a broom... this was EASIER. Than RIDING. On a BROOM. BREATHE. Just breathe. And try not to freak out at the... reins? He knew nothing about horses or how to ride one. How was he meant to use these reins?!

... BREATHE. BREATHE. Wade would invoke the runes and they would make it to the hut. Yeah.

He tried to grab hold of them with both hands, his eyes focused on the sight in front of him and not, you know, Wade's hand on his shoulder. His faith was in Botros. The man HAD to be right. Alec was sure of it. What he wasn't sure of was what was going to end up happening at the end of this. Would they even get to the Groundskeeper's hut? Who knew. His complexion paled as his grip on the reins tightened. They had to get there! HAD to! This was as important as... as... Quidditch. Maybe.

Breathing heavily, he fiddled with the reins a bit, watching as Nicole twisted this way and that whenever he moved one rein more than the other. ... Oh? He pulled on the right rein a bit, watching as Nicole moved over towards the right. He pulled on the left rein and watched as Nicole moved towards the left, facing the direction they had initially been heading off towards. ... Right.

"You okay there, mate?" he called out, a little louder than usual. He had to make sure Wade was okay. Mainly because... well... they were riding on a horse! And Alec was going to figure out a way for them to go at full speed. Or at least faster than this trotting pace they were going at.

Botros smiled at them both and nodded. They should ride together. "Well, there you go. Get started."

Well, this was a nice view being a little extra taller to look down on things. He wondered how it would've felt flying around.. But yeah, he couldn't look too much at the surroundings since he would be invoking the same runes. Right, it was sort of in his hands to keep the journey safe and everything now.

Wade smiled a little at Alec, looking up only to see the back of his hair was they were riding in the wind. It sure was bright out now. Was he okay? "Yeah mate, you and Nicole are doing great." Now then, time to concentrate. He cleared his throat. Sowilo and Raidho. Right then, Raidho was first so the rune was likely to fade away first. Fixing his wand to the saddle attaching it like glue, he chanted, "Raidho Raidho Raidho... r r r r r r r r r... ru ra ri re ro... rudh radh ridh redh... rodh... (rut rat rit ret rot)... or er ir ar ur... r r r r r r r r r..." Remaining concentrated on the saddle, he felt the warmth and glow feeling onto it. Perfect!

Well, this was extra comfy now. Wade then looked up towards Alec, "See anything yet?" He didn't know if there were any obstacles close by. If so, he had his wand ready on the saddle.

Great! Adi didn't mind riding. It would be his first time on a horse, actually and he was both nervous and excited though he felt the latter outweighed the first. Right. To business. "Just remember to keep the runes envoked,'' he told Caleb. He knew the boy would do the job well but he was giving him a reminder.

So first he had to caress the horse's backbone. Adi seriously hoped the horse would bend for him to hop on. He'd need a boost from someone if that didn't happen because his five foot from won't allow him to do that. Adi did as the Professor instructed. And would you look a that! Their horse squatted down just as Botros's had done! He flashed Caleb a thumbs up and carefully climbed on. It seemed this fellow trusted to two first years.

When Adi was all set, he called down to the Slytherin. "When you're ready, Caleb!''

To say that Alec was scared was a lie. He was downright terrified of the fact that he had to LEAD the horse over towards the Groundskeeper's hut. And because of this, basic pieces of information had flown out of his mind faster than you can say Grani. Information like where exactly the Groundskeeper's hut was.

... Yeah... they were doomed.

Face still pale and grey eyes still wide in fear, Alec simply nodded along to Wade before saying, "Y-you too, mate." And Curly was chanting the Galdr for Raidho. ... Raidho... the rune for safe travels. Which meant that they would be travelling safely over towards the--

... Was that a... NO. NO. What were boulders doing in the middle of their path?!

Alec let out a small whimper, his chin wobbling just a little bit. Why oh why did Wade say that he should lead? Him... the guy who had trouble cracking open an egg was now going to somehow lead the horse to jump over the boulders in front of them. And how exactly was he meant to do that? Jump a little on the horse until she ended up jumping too? What if that hurt the horse? He was NOT allowed to do that under any circumstances.

He did try, though. The Hufflepuff bounced a little on the horse but... nothing seemed to be happening. The boulders were growing nearer and nearer at an alarming rate. ... Uh oh. Panic settled in and he let out another whimper, mentally cursing all those times he had decided not to pay attention to those horse riding shows. Paying attention would have proved to be useful at a time like this.

At the last minute, the boy took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the reins up towards his chest gently out of fright. He couldn't tell what was happening but his stomach seemed to be clenching. And the horse... Nicole seemed to have moved upwards. He was waiting for the crash. It was going to happen. It was--

... Oh?

Blinking his eyes open he looked around to see... nothing in front of them. They were just jogging along the path. And there were no boulders. He looked around him to see the edge of the boulders behind him... and let out a sigh of relief. Had they... jumped? Or had something else happened entirely? Whatever it was, Alec grinned over at Wade before hastily looking towards the front again.

... "Hey... Curly? We are on the right track, right?" And please don't be mad, yeah?

You know this ride wasn't bad at all. Botros had said so to them, and Wade agreed. This was just as nice as on a broom. Even though he wasn't steering this time, he felt like Alec would agree on this.

..Hm? He looked right up when his set the tip of his wand to attach the surface of it. Were they going the right path? He furrowed his brows before shifting himself to look down.. "Yeah, we're still on the path." He squinted ahead once right side up again, "I think I see the hut just over there, it's really small but not that far from us." He beamed before clapping Alec's shoulder with the same hand he had use to point out the Hut. Spiffy Lec was doing good leading, did he know? Nicole too, as he pat the side of her back again. Pat. Pat.

Now it was back to invoking runes. Looked down at where his wand was at.. Oh, yeah. Let's not invoke Alec there. Moving it right back onto the saddle he started again, "Sowilo sowilo sowilo... s s s s s s s s s... s s s o o o l l l... su sa si se so..." The glowing was intense. He concentrated on how important seeking through their journey was. How successful they needed to be and everything. "(sul sal sil sel sol)... us as is es os... si se su sa su... s s s s s s s s s..." Ponds, logs, boulders, you don't stand a chance against them.

Ella was what Tag called a 'eager beaver'. Though she looked very very far from one. She was bouncing and seemed extremely excited about having to ride the horse. Yes, Ella, you will ride the horse. An she was doing a good job with the horse anyway, giving it some TLC.

"Yeah, sure I'll guide the horse and you do the runes stuff." That made tons of sense. SEE! This is what happens when Tag actually doesn't have distractions. He doesn't say things properly while in class. An Ella was already petting the horse so it should get on its back legs soon, yeah? So Tag went over to the front side of the horse and grabbed the reins very gently. Or was that for Ella to hold? They'd figure it out.

Caleb didn't REALLY know how to lead a horse around and stuff - but he figured it would be easy to just walk next to the horse and gently show it the right way, and Adi would do the rest. Caleb's main task was the runes. Without those, the whole mission would be done!

"Come on boy, you're doing great!" he said, encouraging the horse who seemed to be a bit more confident in what it was doing. Caleb checked the runes. Still looked good! "Everything is looking good down here, Adi!" he said to the Hufflepuff. Now he just had to look out for the small pothole coming up...

Oh good, Tag would be their guide. The blonde smiled and nodded her head, glad they now had a plan. Y'know what that meant? That meant they could get onto the horse now! GRIN! Only...it wasn't bending just yet, huh? That meant something wasn't right. Ella had been talking to the horse and petting it on the neck for quite some time but she was pretty sure Botros had mentioned the backbone. Actually, the very back of the backbone. Right, okay. She was on it.

"Okay, buddy. We're going to ride you now. Don't you worry, it'll be great. We've got your back if you've got ours, yah? This will be fun." And as she spoke softly, she caressed the back of the backbone gently, waiting for something to happen. And luckily enough, eventually something did.

"Tag! He's bending down!" BEAM! Did he seeee? Did he? This was good news. "That means that we can..." That they could get on the horse now, yeah? YEAH! And Ella did. Extremely carefully and slowly but still. And she stayed towards the back of the horse because Tag would be steering them as they walked along the trail. "Hop on, Leprechaun! The view is nice from up here."

Alec had no idea whether Wade was enjoying this or not. The boy had to invoke the runes, all the while holding onto a scared, skinny seventeen year old. And Alec wouldn't care if the boy wanted to hold on a little tightly. Why? Because he would have done the same. Nodnod.

... "Awesome!" He... wasn't going to mention the fact that he had momentarily forgotten where the Groundskeeper's hut was. Six years he'd been at this school. These weren't things he was meant to be forgetting anytime soon. Wait, they were nearly there? Alec looked towards the direction Wade had been pointing over at, a small grin spreading across his face. "We're nearly there!" Nearly. Letting go of the reins, he reached up his left hand and patted Wade's hand while it was still on his shoulder.

He grasped hold of the reins again, just in time to tug on the right side gently. Nicole moved over towards the right, narrowly missing a bush. He felt his left leg brush up against some of the leaves of the bush but he didn't take any notice of it. Why?

LOOK AT THE LAKE/PUDDLE COMING UP.

Alec narrowed his eyes. "Hey, make sure to hold on tight, yeah?" This time... he wasn't going to be scared. It was a simple tug towards his chest. That was all. That's what had worked last time, right? That and secret wishing for this all to go well. Maybe it had all been Nicole's doing? The jumping? And he had nothing to do with it? ... Maybe.

The puddle drew nearer and nearer... and Alec tugged gently on the reins. Come ooooon, Nicole!

Oh, heyyy, partner!

Sophie had somehow lost Eliza in the crowd of students, but it was nice to have her back now. Now she didn't have to worry about doing things by herself or having to track down the professor for help. She'd done a good job? "You think so?" she asked. "Cool. Thanks."

Sophie nodded in reply to Eliza's question. "Yeah, I'll ride him," she said. She'd never been on a horse before, so this would be a good experience for her. The first thing she needed to do was hopefully get the horse to bend down for her. She was way too short to get on him while he was standing. She reached over and caressed his backbone. "Hey there. Can I get on?"

The horse bent down, and Sophie sloooooowly climbed on.

Whoops. Tag had gotten momentarily confused. So when Ella told him to hop on the boy hesitated for a second but then carefully got on the horse after Ella had. Making sure not to accidentally hit her or anything. Alec wouldn't exactly like his girlfriend getting shoe imprints on his girlfriends face, yeah? Good best friend over here.

Ella was really really good at giving the horse really comforting words and making it feel nice. Did she know that? She must. He'll tell her after class. She might get distracted from the task if he gave her the compliment right now.

Taking the reins Tag gently tugged on them. The horse was completely standing up now, by the way. But the horse wasn't really moving. Maybe it didn't like getting tugged at? Tag frowned slightly then softly patted the guys neck. "Hey buddy. If you walk I'll try to set you up on a date with one of those lady horses over there, yeah?" Try being the main word here.

Ohhhhh motivation. The horse was slowly, bur surely moving. An up ahead, alongside the path there seemed to be a little pond. An Tag was having some trouble trying to control the guy because he seemed to be wanting to go right through the route. Gentle tug to the path again, yeah, horsey. Work with the leprechaun here. The horse began to protest a bit and kept trotting closer and closer to the direction of the pond.

We'll get you water later, horsey.

They were moving now and Merlin's beard, this was cool. Ella smiled a little as Tag bribed their horse with promise of lady horses and shook her head. She didn't say anything, though, because his bribe totally worked. Good one, Leprechaun. The badger was going to hold him to that, y'know? She'd make sure he followed through on his promise, Mr. Horse. Don't you worry.

Speaking of worry, Ella needed to start worrying about the runes! She had some invoking to do, yeah? Yeah. "Raidho Raidho Raidho... r r r r r r r r r... ru ra ri re ro... rudh radh ridh redh... rodh... (rut rat rit ret rot)... or er ir ar ur... r r r r r r r r r..." She was concentrating now, mind on what she hoped the runes would do for their journey. "Raidho Raidho Raidho... r r r r r r r r r... ru ra ri re ro... rudh radh ridh redh... rodh... (rut rat rit ret rot)... or er ir ar ur... r r r r r r r r r..."

"How's it going up there, guide?"

They hadn't fallen into a pond or hit a boulder yet so Ella was going to say Tag was doing pretty great so far. Thumbs up, Sir Sassy Pants.

Eliza nodded encouraginly to the younger girl. "Yeah, I really do! They look sturdy and everything." They really did. Their saddle was all aglow with happy little runes, a sight Eliza enjoyed a lot.

She held her arms out to brace Sophie just in case she fell as she was mounting the horse. Luckily she wasn't needed there, because Sophie got on just fine. She seemed to be doing it pretty slowly, which Eliza thought was a good idea, so as not to scare the horse. "Good job Sophie! I think the horse likes you. Have you ever ridden before?" she asked as she started leading Sophie and the horse down the path towards the Groundskeeper's hut.

It sure looked like a long walk from here but the bushes and puddles made a pretty clear course, showing them where to go. The first thing they encountered was just a bush. She'd never steered a horse before, or led one, but it seemed fairly easy to get the horse to avoid it by slightly pulling on the reins to the left. It wasn't like the horse wanted to walk on the prickly bush anymore than she did, right?

As Tag was tugging tugging tugging on the horse he could hear Ella doing all that work for the runes invoking. He didn't want to get too distracted though. They both had important jobs. If Tag wasn't watching where he was going on the path, and if Ella's runes were weakening than they could get in an accident. But Ella seemed to be going into this in pairs, just to be extra sure.

The pond was coming up and Mr. Horse over here was refusing to get back onto the path. "Buddy. The girls are that way." Tag said leaning down and whispering into the animal's ear. He had to know where the prize was. Sighing loudly Tag tried tugging even more gently, and all the while, trying to lean forward and point his finger in the general direction.

Pond nearly in front of them the horse still hadn't gotten the idea and walked right through it. BUT it stayed near the edge of the pond, so Tag and Ella didn't get too wet. Tag pulled on the reins a bit more towards the path, and now that the horse was happy on the little splash, FINALLY decided going in the path. Sigh. "Sorry about that."

Sooo, Sophie was now on the horse and being held still by Eliza. She looked down and almost wished she hadn't. Brooms, she trusted. Horses? Not so much. It was way too Muggle for her comfort zone. "No," she said, answering Eliza's question. "I think I'd rather be riding a broom..." Then a thought occurred to her, and she looked at the horse. "No offense." That was the last thing she needed while on top of this creature.

...and they were off.

Sophie saw a bush ahead, and although it wasn't too big of an obstacle, she decided now was a good time to start the chanting. "Fehu, fehu, fehu...f f f f f f f f f...fu fa fi fe fo...of ef if af uf...f f f f f f f f f," she said. She looked dow at Eliza. "I decided to do the rune for luck first," she added with a grin.

Hey, how about that? They were nearly there. "Yeah?" Wade looked up excitedly. Alec was right, the Hut was getting larger.. whoa. Granin's were very fast now. His eyes widening as he remember just where they were headed. Ahem.

Now wasn't the time to remember who use to reside there. Wade furrowed his brows as he placed the tip of his wand at the saddle again, " Raidho Raidho Raidho... r r r r r r r r r... ru ra ri re ro... rudh radh ridh redh... rodh... (rut rat rit ret rot)... or er ir ar ur... r r r r r r r r r..." He fully kept his eyes on the glow and warmth embedding. They needed to stay safe and- huh?

Alec's last warning almost jolted him as he looked over to see that they were now floating over the puddle.. Wow, it was like everything went in slow motion. He wondered if that was really a puddle or the actual lake.. and Nicole's back legs landed at the edge of the puddle just then, spraying some water up near his face.

"Whoa," Wade wiped his face with his right arm, while grabbing onto the back of Alec's robe with his other hand. Yeah, that was pretty close there. "Sorry mate, I chose a bad time to look." He laughed. It was a good thing he had just finished that rune before taking a peek, otherwise it would've likely been his whole self getting wet. Yep.

Say, was Nicole slowing down? Wade looked around at the familiar grounds area. Did they make it?

What sort of goofy names? "You can't just pick a name out of nowhere. Not nicknames, at least. They have to be organic and come naturally from the person or horse in question." But he sort of thought the Granian had a 'Ghost' or 'Smoky' quality to him, what with being gray and being fast (in Mo's mind, at least). So those were possibilities.

"You'll be the first to know, I'm sure." Mo moved around the horse and offered Nicola a leg up into the saddle. She was lucky... did she know how lucky?

"I'll just lead him around toward the hut, and you keep those runes running hot, ok? And if you want me to change directions, you just tell me. I don't mind taking direction." Especially not from an older Ravenclaw. A pretty one, too.

There was some major male bonding going on up ahead and Ella was pretty amused by it. Were Tag and Mr. Horse cruising for chicks right now or? Boys, we have a job to do here. She would have said as much out loud but she didn't want to disturb Tag's concentration and she wanted to keep their runes growing and strong. Speaking of...

"Sowilo sowilo sowilo... s s s s s s s s s... s s s o o o l l l... su sa si se so..." (sul sal sil sel sol)... us as is es os... si se su sa su... s s s s s s s s s..."

O__O

Water. Oh. So Mr. Horse wanted to take a bath before meeting the lady horses? Okay, then. The blonde raised her feet up as best she could so she didn't get splashed and chanced a peek over the side of the horse. When they were safely back on the path, the blonde sat up straighter and relaxed her legs.

"No worries, Tag. Maybe he wanted his mane to look extra shiny for the big date you promised." Grin!

"Sowilo sowilo sowilo... s s s s s s s s s... s s s o o o l l l... su sa si se so..." (sul sal sil sel sol)... us as is es os... si se su sa su... s s s s s s s s s..."

The horse really was speeding along the path towards the Groundskeeper's hut. Alec bent down over the horse, almost as if he was a jockey who had spotted the finish line and wanted the horse to speed along towards it. That's what they were. Jockeys. Jockeys who were good at Ancient Runes. Sort of.

And Wade invoking the rune behind him made things easier. Safe journey... that's what they needed. He didn't want them to have to face something dangerous that was likely to hurt them or Nicole. It didn't look like there was anything else in their path, though, for the time being. Apart from the large puddle that...

... HEY! They had managed to get past!

... Sort of.

Feeling Wade's hand clutching onto the back of his robes made Alec concerned. Not because Wade's hand was there but the reasoning behind it. Dude wasn't about to fall off, was he? He looked back at the boy, trying to see what was wrong when his eyes fell on the boy's face. And hair. And the puddle that was a little too close behind them for comfort. GULP.

Bad time to look? Alec shook his head, as if brushing off the apology, before asking, "You okay, mate?" Because of all of that water that had... sprayed on the guy's face? Was that the only explanation for this? The guy couldn't have... jumped off of the horse, landed in the water, and jumped back on, right? Yeah?

... And... Nicole was slowing down. Alec turned his head towards the front again and... GRINNED. "We're here! We made it!" He waited until the horse came to a stop before turning as much as he could to GRIN at the Head Boy. How AWESOME was this? Should they get down now? Or could they stay there?