Ella had wandered over to the wooden table and set down her potion before taking a seat. She wanted to get her homework done and figured she'd just hang down here and work on her Divination essay while she waited for a unsuspecting badger to snag. Who wouldn't want to have fire breathed on them by the head dragon girl, right? ...Right.

And so the blonde utilized the spare parchment, ink, and a quill and set to work taking notes, occasionally looking up for someone to do her Potions assignment with. Surely someone would be along soon. It was prime common room time, after all.

Ian wandered over to the study table, hoping to find someone who might be able to give him some ideas about topiaries.

When he sat down, Ella was sitting there with her potions stuff.

Hayley had homework to do. A lot of homework, for a lot of subjects like her Herbology and Transfiguration. She was at least sort-of-good at Transfiguration and Herbology was a lot of fun but then there was the Potions homework that she was just not sure about. Who would even let a first year breathe fire on them? It was insane and she was probably just going to end up failing Potions.

Shuddering, she sat at the table, opposite the head girl person and started on the Herbology homework thing. Lesson plans for Lesson 2? She didn't know what she was going to do, she was a FIRST YEAR! There was that vial of the potion they had last brewed in class just staring at her, too.

It was mocking her.

Ella had been scribbling away when she heard someone join her at the study tables. The blonde glanced up from her notes and smiled when she saw who it was. Ian, the little choker from the feast. Good to see him alive and well. "Hey, Ian. How are you? I was jus-"

But then Ella spotted another Hufflepuff, one with a vial of the potion for homework too! BINGO. The blonde's smile widened a little and she patted the seat next to her so Ian could join them if he wanted, then she cleared her throat.

Ahem.

"Um...Hey! I'm Ella. I couldn't help noticing your potion and well, I was going to do my potions homework too. Want to work together?" She wasn't a scary seventh year or anything so hopefully she wouldn't scare the girl off.

"Oh and this is Ian." Since he was also here. "I could always breathe fire on you too, kiddo. I'm sure there's enough to go around and how many people can say the Head Girl breathed fire on them?"

Seriously.

Ian smiled at Ella. She was very nice and it helped him feel better being away from home sometimes having an older student who was kind. Of course, Huffies were generally naturally kind. As Ella was asking about him, another student came in and Ella greeted her as well and then proposed that Ella and the new girl work on potions together.

Ian was introduced and he smiled at the younger girl he hadn't met yet. He waved to her briefly and then Ella said that she would breathe fire on him if he wanted her to. He remembered what happened with Bart. Maybe it was different with a nice person who wasn't sputtering fire. Sure. he said to her and then added, ...and then maybe you could help me with herbology a little? he asked hopefully.

The first year blinked, before realizing that the headperson was talking to her. THE HEAD GIRL WAS TALKING TO HER. DID SHE DO SOMETHING WRONG? Oh, okay. So she didn't do something wrong. The Head Person wanted to help with her Potions homework and excuse her, but it was a little hard to believe. "Uh... I'm Hayley," she said, accompanied with a finger wiggle, not really sure what else to say.

BLINK.

Hayley was kinda stunned that an older student wanted to help her, but if she was offered an opportunity to not get killed when someone breathed fire on her, she was going to take it. She was barely a first year, she wanted to LIVE, please and thank you. ["Working together would be nice, yep."

Oh, yes. Hi, other person. Ian, was it? You get a finger wiggle too.

Ian wiggled his fingers back to the other girl. Hello, there he offered.

"Of course I'll help you with Herbology after, Ian. I'd be happy to." Especially since she still hadn't done that herself but FIRST...

Hayley and Ian. Cool. Two victims volunteers for her to blow fire on while she played Head Girl Dragon. This was going to be brilliant. GRIN!

Ella pushed her notes aside, focusing soley on the vial of potion she'd saved for homework purposes. "Alright, you two. I'm going to take this now and then you'll need to tell me how it felt after it has hit you, okay!?" Bounce! She then gave reassuring smiles in case she seemed a little TOO excited about breathing fire in their faces. "I promise it won't be that bad. I followed the potion instructions exactly." So yeah, they'd be fine. No worries at all.

And then the blonde removed the cork from the vial and after a quick thumbs up using her free hand, poured the potion into her mouth.

O_______________O

ZOMGHOTHOTHOT!

The eighteen year old tried her hardest not to swallow the liquid and she fought the burning sensation that was spreading all around her mouth and even down her throat. And not being able to stand it a moment longer, the blonde began spraying the two younger badgers RIGHT in their faces.

Fire shot at them in a sprinkler-esque manner, Ella having moved the direction of her head so they'd both experience the flames. As the potion ran out, Ella breathed in and immediately began to cough, pounding her chest lightly as she did. She then breathed out a steady stream of smoke.

Blink.Blink.Blink. Ouch.

"That...was...AWESOME."

Ian was sitting there watching Ella as she uncorked the vial and prepared to take the potion into her mouth. She seemed a little too excited for this and he was afraid he might have made a mistake when he said yes. A

When she put the vial to her mouth and then tipped up the vial, he watched with interest. The only opportunity he had to experience this was his own. Of course he had swallowed his potion and that hadn't turned out well. She began to exhibit signs of mild panic as the heat hit the inside of her mouth and he almost laughed. ALMOST because just as soon as his smile broke his face, he was being hit right in the face with a wave of tickly flames. While it might tickle ordinarily, the idea of flames in his face caused him to panic as the fire approached his eyes. He closed his eyes shut, waved his hands inside his face and kicked the chair back to the rear trying to get away. He unfortunately judged poorly, over reacted and plunged himself backwards onto the floor.

As the chair and his back hit the floor simultaneously, he felt the air escape his lungs and pain rack his spine and he let out a silent scream as he scrambled to the side.

Hayley was just about to look back at her book and check how they were expected to breathe fire when the Head Dragon started doing just that. The first year froze in her seat, in a little too much shock to process what was going on. But when her brain DID process it, she flailed.

"AHHHH FIRE!" she heard, in what seemed like a half-wheeze and half-scream. Oh, was that her? That was probably her. It was ticklish and kind of nice but all she could really think of was that HER HAIR WAS QUITE PROBABLY ON FIRE! HER HAIR! HER BEAUTIFUL HAIR THAT SHE PUT SO MUCH EFFORT INTO! Only, the boy person seemed to have more problems than she was right then.

Hayley jumped out of her seat and scrambled towards the older boy, even though she had no idea of what to do when she got there. So she kinda just kneeled next to him and stared at the boy for a while. There was a short bit of silence before she figured out that asking if he was okay was probably the best idea right then.

"Are you okay?"

Concerned Hayley was concerned.

O___________________O

It. was. supposed. to tickle.

That's how it'd felt to Ella, anyway. Warm and tickly and not all together horrible once you got past the visual of the flames coming at you but Merlin, that seemed to be the part that Ian had focused on as he'd sent himself toppling over. Hayley handled it better but she'd still seemed scared, something Ella hadn't all together counted out when asking two younger badgers to help.

The blonde let out a little squeak when she saw the boy fall and quickly knelt down beside him, cursing herself for always being the one around when this kid took a spill or choked on food. "He's alright," Reassuring words for Hayley but really, Ella wasn't sure. "You are alright, aren't you? Ian?"

Oh flobberworms, this wasn't good.

"It wasn't supposed to be a bad sensation! I mean, how did it feel?" Serious looks for the both of them because if she'd messed up brewing it, she was going to be really disappointed.

Hayley blinked at the Head Dragon for a while, shaking her head a little. It wasn't a bad sensation, mostly. Only, she wasn't the best at putting things into words and was more than likely to wind up rambling. Not that rambling was always socially unacceptable, but in this case, where homework was concerned, it was always probably safer to get straight to the point.

"It's not bad, really," she said, eyes flickering between the two other Hufflepuffs. "It's just hard to get used to fire being in your face. I... kinda thought my hair was on fire." In case it wasn't clear just yet, Hayley was quite attatched to her hair. It was pretty and long and shiny and she liked it.

... "Maybe I could try it on you? I don't know."

Quiet Ian was quiet. Traumatized, probably. Ella's green eyes were still wide and still waiting for a reaction from him, that was until Hayley finally spoke up.

Not bad but fire in the face. Yeah, she got that. Could see why it'd been frightening. The blonde scribbled down a few things and nodded at the younger badger. "Hair on fire is the scariest thought ever." Dead serious, Ella was. Her hair was very important to her.

Another glance down at Ian and then back to Hayley again who was ready to get her revenge try out her potion on someone.

"Yeah, of course. I don't mind at all. Whenever you're ready. Just..maybe don't put any on him."

Ian. Traumatized badger. He was okay, wasn't he?

Ian opened his eyes and tried to take a few deep breaths as his body realized it wasn't dead. He saw the two girls over him checking on him and he nodded that he was ok.

After a moment, he croaked out a response. Sorry about that. Really my fault. I wasn't expecting fire to come at my face and it appears I over-reacted a bit. He righted his chair and noticed that his right hip was a little sore and that the spot where his head had been had a few wisps of red hair on the floor. Oh well, most likely nothing.

To reassure Ella and Hayley he was ok, he smiled as best he could before taking a seat again.

Wait, so Hayley was going to get to blow fire in the Head Dragon's face? THAT WAS JUST SO COOL! Only, maybe a little terrifying. So long as her hair wasn't getting burnt in reality, she was happy. Looking on fire was cool and all that, but if the flames got out of hand, she dreaded to think of what would happen to her hair.

"Hair is important," she said, totally serious, nodding at the older Puffer. If it was on fire, Hayley would never be okay again, even if her hair grew back. It would be the trauma, you know?

Ian was okay, though. That was good. He got a relieved smile before Hayley looked back at the blonde for approval. So she was breathing fire now? Yes? The first year uncorked the bottle, her hands shaking slightly as she tipped the contents of the potion into her mouth. She pressed her lips together, trying to ignore the smoke that was coming out of her nose and making her look quite like a kettle. When she really just couldn't take it anymore, she let out a steady stream of artificial fire from her mouth.

To be perfectly honest, she was more interested in the fact that she was breathing fire than how the Head Girl was reacting. Well, she did care about her, it was just that the fire was slightly more interesting.

"How was that?"

It wasn't every day that you breathed fire on someone.

"Glad you're okay, Ian. Sorry...about the aim." Maybe she should have told them to turn around or something? Oh well, she'd remember this next time she spit fire at someone. Cause y'know, that happened so often and all. The younger boy got a small smile and she was just happy he wasn't broken or anything, that was good.

She was also happy that Hayley thought hair was important. She approved of this one, mhm. Seemed to have her priorities in order which was good.

And then it was her turn to be a target and Ella looked at the younger girl with a reassuring smile plastered on her face. It was sort of amusing, the steam pouring from her nose. It made Ella want some tea and maybe af-

O_________O

FIRE.

Ehehehehehehe. "It-t-hahah-tick-hehe-tickles!" And the head girl squirmed, trying to shy away from the flames and squeaked as they continued to hit her. "T-Th-hehehe-Thisis-haha-w-hahahah-weird!" And warm. Frightening too but Ella had decided to close her eyes after the initial shock, finding the situation a lot more easier to take when she did. "W-haha-wa-hehehe-warmtoo!"

Ian watched with a smile on his face. While it seemed every time he and Ella actually spoke, he ended up in an unpleasant predicament, her company was nice. It was good to have the head girl and boy in his house. Certainly, he wouldn't call them friends, but it was nice to know they were friendly with him.

He observed Hayley blow fire at Ella and Ella's laughter as she felt the tickling sensation. Ian had yet to actually enjoy that part as Bart had sputtered fire at the back of his head and Ella's had scared him into falling, but it did seem to be rather fun to have the fire hit you. Ian had chosen the other assignment option after swallowing his potion. He didn't really have a desire to repeat that episode.

Sander sat down at the study desk and first pulled out the facience clay he had collected from outside Professor McCormack's office. Then he dug inside his backpack until he found his History of Magic and Ancient Runes textbooks and pulled both out as well. Lastly, he pulled out his journal and flipped through the pages until he found the parchment he had folded and tucked in between its pages. Inside the parchment contained a drawing of the symbol he had drawn in the joint History of Magic and Ancient Runes class.

Unfolding the parchment, Sander placed it flat on the desk in front of him, drawing facing up and studied it. On the parchment lay his drawing of the Ankh, which was symbol for the power to give and sustain life. It was believed that the Ankh granted immortality to one who possessed it.

Sander reviewed the homework assignment again before turning to his textbooks and began researching for the appropriate shape he wanted for his amulet. He thumbed through the pages, until he found one that he liked. He was make his amulet into the shape of a scarab or dung beetle. According to the book, the Scarab was thought to represent regeneration and rebirth. It was also believed to endow the wearer of such an amulet with good luck.

Sander picked up the ball of clay and began fashioning the shape with his fingers. He first shaped it into an oval. Then he moulded out a bump which would be where the head of the scarab would be. He decided that he would leave its intricate details for later. He wanted to concentrate on shaping the outline of the scarab first.

Next he formed the wings of the scarab, using his thumb and index finger to round the edges. Next were its legs. Sander pulled out bits of clay at the base of the oval and fashioned them to look like the scarab's legs.

Now that he had the outline of the scarab, it was time to make it look like one. Using his finger tips, he began pushing up the clay to form the first hump or segment of the insect. Once he had that done, he did the same on both sides, pushing up until he had mounds that formed the shape of the wings.

And now for the intricate design. Using the edge of his finger nail, Sander carved out the outline of the Scarab's head, its upper thorax and then the wings. When he was done, he placed his design on the table and looked at it. Did it look like a scarab? He thought it did.

Now onto casting the spell to harden the clay.

Lux was a little late joining Sander at the study tables, because she had wanted to get something to eat before dropping her homework off for Professor Botros. Then she had stopped by to get some of the clay she needed to do her History of Magic homework.

Making her way over the the study tables, she smiled when she saw that Sander was already at work. "What symbol are you doing?" she asked curiously as she sat down, placing the clay on the table in front of her. Digging into her bag, she took out her textbook as well as the drawing she had done in class. The instructions seemed simple enough, but she needed to decide what shape she wanted to make her amulet.

Sander looked up from what he was doing and smiled over at the young Hufflepuff who had joined him at the study tables.

"Hey there Lux. Are you here to do your History of Magic homework assignment too?" he asked her too before replying to her question.

"Me? Oh I'm going to be using the Ankh symbol. I've just fashioned my clay into the shape of a Scarab and was about to cast the spell that will harden the clay and make the shape permanent. Do you want to watch?" Sander asked the younger girl as he pulled out his wand. He was getting excited at the prospect of making his first amulet. He couldn't wait to see how this one turned out.

Tracing first a vertical line from top to bottom followed by a semi-circle to form an almost complete D over his clay amulet, Sander said the incantation to the spell,"Duro" and then watched as the clay began to slowly harden right before his very eyes.

After waiting a few seconds, Sander tested the amulet's texture by gently touching each corner of it with his finger to see whether the clay had hardened or not. When his finger came away dry at every touch and didn't make any indentations in the clay, Sander ended the spell, by saying, "Finite". His clay amulet was now hard.

Picking up the amulet, Sander closely examined it. "See Lux, all done. Now all I have to do is carve out the symbol on it. What symbol did you pick?" Sander asked curiously as he leaned over to take a peak at the drawing in Lux's parchment.

Nodding, Lux smiled at Sander before curiously listening to what he had to say to her about his symbol. It seemed rather interesting, and she didn't take her eyes off of his piece of clay. "Wow, that is really cool, Sander. I am doing Shen, which symbolizes eternity and protection." Those two things were important to her, and she also figured that the symbol was not hard to draw.

It seemed that the first thing she would need to do was choose the shape she wanted to make her amulet. That was easier said than done, because she did not have much knowledge on amulets. Flipping through her textbook, she tried to find the right page, smiling when she finally reached it. Now it was only a matter of selecting the one she wanted to use. "Sander, what's a good shape for mine?" He was smart, so maybe he would have a good suggestion.

Sander looked up from the drawing on her parchment. "You've made a good choice, Lux. '' he nodded his approval of her choice. Then he blinked in surprise when she asked him what would be a good shape for her amulet.

Sander wracked his brain but couldn't think of anything. He raised his index finger requesting for a minute while he flipped through the pages of his textbook until he found one that might work for her.

"How about a cat? Um...it says that it represents prophecy, luck, protections or fertility," Sander read the description before raising his eyes to look at the younger Hufflepuff. Fertility?

"I'm sorry, Lux." Sander burst out laughing. "That's all I could find," Sander apologized to his friend.

Ian went over to the study table after having gathered his clay and his notes. He wondered which rune he would choose and what shape for the amulet. He noticed a couple of other students at the table already working on their homework and he nodded at them as he took a seat. He didn't really know them, though he'd seen them around.

Ian finally decided on the shape for his amulet and began to set about shaping the lump before him to something that looked like a fish. Fishing was a big part of his life and so he decided that was the direction he wanted to take. He figured that fish symbolized water and fluidity. The ability to adapt and weather the storms. That was what he wanted to communicate with the shape. He would strengthen it's symbolism with the rune and began searching out the rune he thought would best suit his amulet.

Adi headed down from his dorm towards the Hufflepuff Study tables. In his arms, he was balancing his History of Magic textbook, notebook in which he made notes about his chosen shape and the clay he had just picked up from outside Professor McCormack's office.

He dropped them onto a table and sat down. Time to get this show on the road! The Puffer grabbed the clay, set it in front of him and stared at it. So um all he needed to do for starters was to mold the shape of the amulet?

Okaaay. He'd do a square. Yes, a nice little square. Adi thought his would be perfect to fit his symbol onto. He took the clay and began shaping it. Hey! This wasn't so hard. He had never attempted anything that involved clay so this was new to him.

The sides of the square were pinched out one by one. Adi made sure there were even distances among the four sides. And soon he was done with the molding!