Know something? Professor Airey talked a lot when he got into one of his passionate lessons...which might have been just about every class and the Gryffindor just stared and blinked. Surely they should have been taking notes. This was a lot of information, but then she remembered seeing something about this in one of her textbooks so perhaps there was no need for the notes afterall.

She watched the balloon while the question was asked and standing right next to a couple of them that answered, of course she'd have heard the guesses about air pressure and all that fancy stuff but it wasn't what she had in mind.

Nope.

"Are we going to magick the balloon much bigger and go up in it, high enough in the atmosphere until we're able to decipher for ourselves exactly what's going on with the weather?"

That would certainly take care of that lying thing that Nigel mentioned. Couldn't be wrong if you saw it with your own eyes.

Balloons, hmm? Mo wrinkled his nose thoughtfully as his classmates answered the question... and he agreed. Honestly, it was some sort of measurement of weather, and balloons and air pressure... a barometer was a natch.

But he'd rather play balloon volleyball and continue to warm up. It was cold now that he was seated at his desk again. Hmph.

Troposphere!

He could have done a facepalm there and there as well as have died from the sheer embarrassment. How silly of him to say trophos-something-sphere! But he got his point across because Airey knew what he was saying. Simon snorted when the Professor spoke about the Fantastic Five and making superhero comics. Hehe. Fantastic Four but Fantastic Five... He was NEVER going to forget that. Nope. Not one bit. He continued listening to Airey with wide blue eyes.

Then Simon's mouth dropped as Airey picked up the balloon. They had to pick it up? HIS WORST NIGHTMARE HAD ARRIVED? Could they put on surgical gloves and masks and do that just so the balloon didn't jump up and attack them? Was that even a legitimate question to ask the Professor? Meh, he didn't know. He bit his lip and then thought of what sort of device they would be using to accomplish the task.

Where they going to make their own weather balloons? But they didn't have any barometers or any of that high tech stuff that they needed to complete the job. In that moment, it hit him. OHHH. He knew what they were going to do. "Are we going to make our own barometers, Professor? If so, can we keep them after class?" he asked with a wide grin. Was that right? Because if so, he was definitely going to use his to check the weather outside. But would the balloon last that long in that weather? Who knew.

Uhhhhh....

Nope. Sophie had nothing. She guessed saying 'grab a hold of the string and float into the sky to check out the weather' wasn't the right answer. It was the only one she had, though. Suddenly, Caleb piped up and said something that sounded really intelligent.

"I vote for what he said," Sophie replied, raising her hand then pointing at her brother. "That right there sounds really good."

Removing his handkerchief from his charmed breast pocket and dabbed his forehead with it. Phew. That certainly had been quite the work out, but his body temperature was already decreasing at a rapid pace thanks to the lack of movement. Bloody winter weather.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

Soooooo, using this method of thinking, Grayson raised his hand in the air. "Do you attach something to the balloon and launch it into the sky and let the reader read............ things about the weather in the atmosphere?" It was certainly a guess, alright. A bad one, probably.

"MMMMMMHMMMMMMMMMM," he nodded vigorously towards the Slytheirn. Very round about way for describing the mechanism they would be using today without actually saying its proper name.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Jasmine raised her hand and took a wild stab at answering the question. "Will we be using the balloon to make a barometer, to measure atmospheric pressure?" Was that even possible? Jasmine didn't know, but that was the first thing that came to her mind so she went with it.

"An excellent guess, but no. We will not be making barometers today. Perhaps another day, however."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Penguin

Sir, the balloons are used by meteorologists can help them to measure pressure, as was noted but also wind speed and direction along with atmospheric moisture levels as well. It might give indications in the changing conditions which produce unstable air which may cause storms, tornadoes and such. I would expect we'll be attempting something similar.

Yes. YES. There was some very excited nodding going on from the astronomer with Mr. Tinker's answer, but yet again it was another student who was giving him essentially everything but the proper name of the device. "Yes, something like that," he grinned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

AND, he kind of had an idea where Flamsteed was going with the next question too! Yes, the exercise had DEFINITELY helped him warm up his brain. He raised his hand anxiously. "It'll be used to determine the air pressure or something, right? If the balloon shrinks or gets larger, that means the pressure is affecting the volume of the balloon, which means...something will happen to the weather," he concluded. WHAT that something was, he didn't know, but he was on the right track, he knew that much.

"EXCELLENT application of today's concepts, Mr. Newell," Airey replied while giving the boy some very enthusiastic applause. "While true, this is not exactly what we will be doing today since it is far too dangerous for us to venture outside, say to the Tower Patch, and observe balloons reactions to the temperature and air pressure. Take 2 points for your application of today's concepts to your thinking."

While many others had mentioned similar trains of thought, the Slytherin had been the first to put it into such concise words.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Adi was impressed with Ian and his answer. His fellow Hufflepuff third year certainly knew his stuff. He was also impressed by Flamsteed and his Fantastic Five comics. He vaguely wondered if the man still had them. Those would be interesting to read.

The third year raised a hand. "We'll use the balloons to measure the atmosphere's pressure,'' he suggested.

"Yes, and much more," he winked at the Hufflepuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Angel raised her hand, "Professor are we going to do some X-ray astronomy, where we will get an item and launch it into the sky, though if we are doing something like that, it's normally best outside for the best results." Angel thought a few second more before continuing. "So basically you tie an object that can help you understand the weather more." Angel wasn't sure if she was right or not but it had been worth a guess.

GAH! Again. Describing essentially the exact device without actually giving the proper name. Although parts of Miss Valentine's logic were a tad off, but over all she was on the right track. "You are certainly on the right track," he grinned towards the Gryffindor. "And it is a a good thing the classroom is full of windows." Windows that actually opened. Although they would have to be VERY quick when dispatching their projects.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

However, Agatha didn't because she was normal. She decided to keep quiet again. Besides... she kind of had no idea what to say and didn't want to make a fool of herself.

Airey gave Miss Hapgood a quick wink as his gaze passed over here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awarlesta Black

Well, the balloon thing as the project was the obvious part, but his classmates were pretty much already blurting out what he was thinking, so just a tiny contribution sounds just about right. "Balloon. Measure. Pressure. Atmosphere." Covered, yeah?

"STELLAR Captain Kirk impression," he saluted the Hufflepuff. Really had those dramatic pauses and disjointed speech down. "Take a point for that."

He didn't even know that the young man knew Star Trek. Kudos!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

Hmmm then why were they running then if they weren't training for a marathon?? That made no sense. He still kept up with the professor though. He heard the answer and it had to deal with the earth and the atmosphere or troposphere to be precise. He tried to remember it since he didn't have his notebook with him. He then heard the professor's next question. Why are they using the balloon? Hmm....Kace raised his hand sand said, "Perhaps to measure the volume of the balloon?" he guess was just as good as Declan's.

"Close, Mr. Lecium. But not exactly," he nodded towards the Hufflepuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Ooooh. Fun. Now they were going to play with balloons. Mitchell raised his hands. "We're going to blow up the balloons." With science! "That measures pressure." Probably. "Then you can see where the pieces fall. That measures wind speed." ... probably.

Can they play now?

Airey chuckled. "Well, yes, eventually the balloon will blow up as the gas inside expands more and more as it goes high and high up into the Earth's atmosphere." Seemed like the Gryffindor knew precisely what he was talking about, pity he too had danced around the actual name of the device without saying it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

"Are we going to lie like Weather-Man...People do"

Balloons could be there to blow up and send on their way to die in the atmosphere....It was possible.

20 percent chance.

"They don't lie on purpose, Mr. Barrington," he tisked, feeling as though he had to defend his meteorologist colleagues. "They take what data they can from the atmosphere and combine this with computer models, observations, and a knowledge of trends and patterns and do their best to predict the weather. All based on scientific and mathematical inquiry, but with far too many variables to be 100% correct all the time. Far better off than some of the other pseudoscientific hokum out there."

And his eye was twitching just a tad thinking about one subject in particular.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

"Are we going to magick the balloon much bigger and go up in it, high enough in the atmosphere until we're able to decipher for ourselves exactly what's going on with the weather?"

"Your balloons have already been magick'd just a little," he winked at the Gryffindor prefect. Something he had taken care of before the lesson. "Instead of being made from flimsy rubber, they have been transfigured into a highly flexible latex material."

The rest of her answer got two very big thumbs up. On the right page, Miss Cambridge!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Balloons, hmm? Mo wrinkled his nose thoughtfully as his classmates answered the question... and he agreed. Honestly, it was some sort of measurement of weather, and balloons and air pressure... a barometer was a natch.

But he'd rather play balloon volleyball and continue to warm up. It was cold now that he was seated at his desk again. Hmph.

The professor gave Mr. Branxton a small nod as his gaze moved around the classroom. Attentive listening always appreciated. SALUTE!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emms

Where they going to make their own weather balloons? But they didn't have any barometers or any of that high tech stuff that they needed to complete the job. In that moment, it hit him. OHHH. He knew what they were going to do. "Are we going to make our own barometers, Professor? If so, can we keep them after class?" he asked with a wide grin. Was that right? Because if so, he was definitely going to use his to check the weather outside. But would the balloon last that long in that weather? Who knew.

Was it just him...or did Mr. Simon seem a bit...apprehensive about the balloons. Was that...his fault? Seeing as he had kind of sort of attacked the boy outside his office with a balloon he had forgotten was between his teeth.

Oops.

"Any balloons you do not use during the lesson you may keep and do what you want with," he nodded. The barometer answer had been addressed just a few moments earlier, so no need to repeat that again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

"I vote for what he said," Sophie replied, raising her hand then pointing at her brother. "That right there sounds really good."

"This isn't a democracy, Miss Newell," he laughed.

Looking around for other raised hands but seeing none, the professor decided he better ease their anticipation and curiosity and just tell them. "As many of you alluded to, we will be using the balloons to help us see atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed. But the balloon can't do all of this on it's own, especially with us stuck inside, so we will be utilizing a device called a radiosonde which is a key element is a device called a weather balloon - which is what we will all be making today," he explained as he gave his desk a firm tap with his wand to reveal a box containing enough of the devices for everyone. "These were donated to me by a colleague and, while a little old...still work. Each of these has a sort of radio device that each of you will hold on to here in the classroom and will receive data transmitted from the radiosonde as the balloon ascends into the atmosphere." He paused for a moment and bounced a bit in place. "The concept of a weather balloons date back to as far as 1785 with French balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard, but today they do most of the work for meteorologists with somewhere around 67,160 balloons being launched into the air per year here in the United Kingdom." Craaaaaaaaaaaaaazy.

"You will not be blowing these balloons up using air expelled from your own lungs. In order to produce the proper amount of lift necessary to send your weather balloon into the atmosphere we will be using the second lightest element, even lighter than air, helium. To do this, you will need to try your hand at a bit of conjuration," he continued as he selected another balloon from his bag. "Under classmen, you may struggle with this due to conjuration being advanced magic. So please DO ask an older student or myself for assistance if it is needed. Now, you are going to take your balloon and stick the open end over your wand like so," he said while demonstrating. "With your non-wand hand, you want to hold on to the opening of the balloon or else it will go shooting off when you cast the spell. The incantation is helic umtus and you only need to give your wand the slightest of flicks. Watch me first."

Moving his legs shoulders length apart and rolled his shoulders a few more times. Last time he had been a bit over eager with the spell and it had shot him across his office and into one of his bookshelves. No need to tell the students that, however. He was supposed to be the man who knew what he was doing.

"Helic umtus," he said firmly, giving his wand a very subtle flick. The red balloon instantly began to expand and stretch until it was the size of a watermelon and getting bigger by the second. "Now, to stop the spell you need only cast Finite and the helium should cease coming out of your wand. Once you have your balloon to about....oh....a large watermelon you can stop the spell and then carefully remove it from the tip of your wand and tie it off. Once you have done that, please come up here and get your device and attach it to the balloon and wait for further instructions."

He was going to wait for a moment to let all that sink in as he turned his back to the class and walked towards the chalk board to write the incantation on the board...only to notice that his balloon was a taaaaaaaaaaad too large. Well, not really a tad. It was WAY too large. Removing it from the tip of his wand, the astronomer inhaled some of the helium for effect, wrote the incantation on the board and turned back to the class.

"You have about 30 minutes to practice the spell and get your weather balloon put together," he said in a voice reminiscent to that of a hyperactive animated chipmunk. "Time starts.....NOW!"

OOC: you have about 36 hours from the time of this post to complete this activity (depending on your activity this may go shorter or longer ) and should have at least 2 RP posts. In your posts you should accomplish the following:

• successfully cast helic umtus
• retrieve a radiosonde from Professor Flamsteed's desk
• attach the radiosonde to your balloon (use this image to give you an idea of how that is done)

Keep in mind that conjuration is very difficult to perform and very advanced magic. It is OKAY for your character to fail at the spell or cause mild disasters Just don't do anything to get someone killed or seriously injured and we are good to go <3

Feel free to interact with each other - especially older students helping out the younger ones. Smack each other in the face with balloons. Blast each other with helium on accident. SQUEAKY VOICES FOR EVERYONE?! Just have fun with it :3

Any questions you may have, please do not hesitate to ask me via PM or VM

She was stretching. Yes she was and thank Merlin for pants. Listening was also happening. See, multitasking. Totally had this. The amount of kilometers had to do with the atmosphere? That made sense since it was way up high. She, of course, knew nothing about these comic book series. She'd asked him after the lesson maybe. If she didn't get too shy. Which might happen. But she wanted to get in the know.

Well, now. When it came to muggle-related things Beverly needed her textbook. Her eyes flitted over to her bag. It's amusing how last term she'd be terrified to answer a question and now she was eager to. Maybe it had been the whole aging stuff that impacted her, but right now she WANTED to participate...and...

Many of you...she wasn't one of those many of you. Pffft. Listening and keeping mental notes and stretching was happening. AGAIN.

Her muscles were totes ready to move around and... An activity! YES. No more lecture!

AJ didn't answer the last question because she was side tracked with balloons and the possibility of getting to suck in helium herself. Everybody else had it covered though so there was no need to fret. It wasn't like he answer would have been correct anyways.

The lion listened as he went on and on about stuff. The helium caught her attention and after that everything else that came out of Airey's mouth was background noise. Give her the helium, she wanted to suck the helium. Advanced magic. Yeah, yeah, yeah... helium!

Somewhat understanding what to do, AJ decided to get going. First things first. She needed to practice the spell. She would most likely be needing the assistance of an older student considering that all spells gave her a hard time, and this one was supposed to be advanced.

Helic umtus, The word itself wasn't so bad. "Helic umtus...Helic umtus...Helic umtus." She was ready. AJ didn't need to practice the whole flicking thing right? Nah.

Ian was pleased that he was on the right track. While he wished he been able to get some points for the huffies, he was enjoying the class. He was learning a lot. His reading as a child was useful for something. Additionally, he tried to be rather observant.

He took his balloon and retrieved his wand from his robe and prepared to try the spell. He thought he'd practice thw words first. Helic umtus!...Helic Umtus....HELIC UMTUS! He placed his wand in the mouth of the balloon and held onto the neck so as to keep the balloon in place. He practiced a slight flick in the direction of the front of the room.

He took a deep breath and decided now was the time. He spoke the words Helic umtus! and began to watch the balloon after a short flick of the wrist. He was sadly disappointed that nothing seemed to happen. He flicked his wand back and forth now, perhaps a bit too vigorously as he watched the balloon limply flip back and forth over the top. He looked around to see how others were doing, and well, no one had been successful yet. He looked over to AJ and watched as she practiced the word. He thought to himself, Maybe it's the balloon. He put his wand on his desk and began to stretch the balloon this way and that, looking for any fissures which might prevent it from filling up. The yellow balloon didn't really show any breaks, but he assumed it was faulty. He was a hufflepuff and his balloon was going to be yellow, but he decided to try another.

He picked up another yellow balloon and pointed it in the direction of the ceiling. He took another deep breath and tried again, this time flicking the wand simultaneously as he spoke the words Helic Umtus! He was tickled as the balloon began to expand. Problem though, Ian had failed to maintain an adequate grasp on the neck of the balloon and when it was nearly half full, it released from his grip and he watched helplessly as it began to deflate, flying around the classroom just over the heads of his classmates. He began to chase it and watched as it landed right on top of AJ's head.

There was a lot to absorb and because she knew her brain had that tendency to forget stuff she tried her best to take notes. Especially that they stopped the jogging. Who would be able to take notes and jog at the same time, eh ? But the more the professor spoke the more all this came into shape. The bits and pieces mentioned so far have made a solid idea and now it seemed they would be testing it each on a balloon.

Called it! The balloons being used to that, that is.

Though, it was kinda obvious. Retrieving one of the balloons from the bag on the desk, Cassia eyed it and gave it a tug in different directions. Apparently it was an ordinary balloon.

But she didn't need the balloon just yet. The tricky part was the conjuring spell. That she needed to practice and concentrate to get it right. She was sure at some point she was able to preform a spell as that but it didn't make it easy to cast anytime. She needed all her focus.

"Helic umtus," She uttered without moving her wand but focusing instead. She could do it, mhhm. And she could also help out others.

Here she was minding her own business when she felt something make a dive on her head. Considering where they were it could only be so many things. The lightness of it was the biggest clue. She reached her hand up and felt the balloon. Looking over she saw that Ian was in mid walk over towards her. Putting two and two together she smiled at him.

She was just about to open her mouth to say something playful when a thought came to mind. Helium. AJ reached over and took a deep breath in and let the helium fill her lungs. She turned back around to Ian with her hands on her hips. "Ian Tinker, would you please keep your balloons to yourself." The high pitched voice the helium makes you do was in full force. She was trying to be funny and sound like a mum, but the helium had her cracking up.

Okayyyy. That right there was a whole lot of directions at once. Sophie raised a hand to her head and scratched the top of her head. Whaaaaaaat was she supposed to do? There'd been a spell--Helic Umtus. At least that was a whole lot easier to say than that spell they'd learned in Herbology.

Sophie retrieved her wand and a balloon then attached the balloon to the end of her wand. She kind of had a feeling this might end badly...for at least the balloon. "Helic Umtus!" she called out, giving her wand a flick. Nothing. "Helic Umtus!" she said again.

Her balloon just hung there like a deflated sausage or something. Sophie just stared at it.

So they don't lie on purpose. Which means they still lie. Don't try to out Ravenclaw this Ravenclaw. Only Dora can do that. But she is a evil genius. Just don't tell her that. And we were back to the long talking part and Nigel had a nice daydream before it was over with the loud start to the activity.

Well now we are getting somewhere. Practicing a new spell. A helium spell at that Nigel wanted a squeaky voice. Not a care giving about the balloon. Though before he could do any of that. He had to get this blasted spell right so he could have fun.

"Helic...something....Umtus...Helic Umtus"

Yeah that sounds right. Though how would he know if the spell worked. Helium is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas. Something to think about.

As Ian walked up to AJ, his intent was to be remorseful and apologetic but he heard her in a voice he'd not heard to this time. She was extremely high pitched and there was a disconnect between the voice and the stance she had taken. Standing there with her hands on her hip and mock severe expression caused her to look like an angry chipmunk scolding him. Just about the time she finished, he saw her face crack into a smile and he began to laugh at her. That's quite funny, lassie! Yer voice doesn't quite show the severity your face was trying to. He put his hand out and apologized 'a little'. Sorry, I guess I didn't have quite the grip I should have. How's your balloon inflation going? It seemed to be doing ok as she had inhaled a bit of the air.

He took the balloon back and placed it on his wand and tried again, this time with a better grip on the balloon. Helic Umtus! He winked over at her as he filled his balloon with the lighter than air gas.[/b]

Sophie drew in a deep breath and raised her wand again. She could do this. The balloon could do this! It was still just hanging there doing nothing, but she could make this work! It might just take an extra time or two or ten, but she'd get there!

"Helic Umtus!" she called out again and she flicked her wand. The balloon started to inflate, but then it just stopped and did nothing else. "HELIC UMTUS!" she called out, louder and with more feeling this time. Finally, the balloon began to inflate. She grew wide-eyed and stared at it grew and grew. It was soon the same size the professor's had been.

"Finite!" she said.

"Thank you, thank you." AJ threw her body forward into a bow. No applause please. "Helium is awesome." Matter of fact, she was pretty sure that she could just spend the rest of this lesson sucking in the air and making funny voices. She already knew how to blow up a balloon without magic, so did she really need to learn this?

"Eh... not so well." She needed to get on that and stat. "Helic Umtus!" Nothing. The balloon didn't even flinch. This was going to be a long lesson. How not fun is that? "Helic Umtus!" Her balloon hated her. It was official.

...he needed help, obviously. There were older students to do their job help them anyway, so why not? Less work, perhaps? Ethan looked around the classroom and his eyes fell on Cassia. Hi Cassia! With a grin on his face, he got his packet of balloons, and made his way towards the Head Girl. "Hey, hi! I need help." he said as he shook the pack of balloons in front of the older Snake.

The cold was definitely affecting his performance in school, because cabin fever? Yeah, and he didn't want to ruin his balloon, so yes, help us Cassia! :3

She was a funny one, this girl Ian thought to himself. Well, funny voices won't get that balloon inflated. He tied his off, and tried to remember to not let it go. He watched as she made an attempt to inflate the balloon. He words were correct but he didn't see her flick her wand. I don't think just saying the words will get it done. You've got to have some wand movement, girlie. Haven't you learned anything the last few months. I'd have thought you'd be running all about the castle casting spells and such as practice since you can't be doing it at home.

So they could keep the balloons? Alright, that was good. Hopefully his balloon wouldn't launch itself at him at the speed of light.

Ahem. Back to class. He continued listening to Airey explain the activity that hey were going to do. Helic Umtus? They had to practice that spell now. Alright. Here went nothing.

He figured that he ought to practice the incantation and wand movement before putting everything together. "Hel-ic um-tus," he said and then repeated it again and again. Yes, yes, that was it! Well, he was saying it in his broad Australian accent so it sounded a little different but it still seemed right. "Helic umtus!"

Okay next was the wand movement. He flicked his wand a little too much the first time. No, no, no- that was all wrong! He paused and tried to remember how Airey had done it. Taking a deep breath, he gave a subtle flick. Much better. He practiced that a couple more times. Okay time to put it ALL together.

He held onto the opening of the balloon with his right hand. Then with his left, he pointed his wand at the balloon. "Helic umtus!" he said as he made a subtle flick with his wand. The balloon started filling up. Perfect. All of a sudden, he lost grip of the balloon and it went flying around the room. His blue eyes widened. "WATCH OUT!" he cried to the people near him, hoping that it wouldn't hit anyone.

Oh dear Merlin. THE END OF THE WORLD WAS UPON THEM. EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! This was like the Ilfracombe incident all over again. This time, the dragon was the balloon, Simon was a muggle, and the Toke family was nowhere in sight.

And then it softly smacked him in the face and knocked him over.

So maybe he had overreacted just a little bit? He eyed the balloon as it was some sort of deadly creature come to hurt him. He didn't trust balloons- they had a mind of their own. Sheepishly picking up the balloon, he held it in his right hand and began filling it again. He made sure to hold onto the balloon firmly this time. Once it was the size of a nice, juicy watermelon, he cast, "Finite." Noticing that it was a little too big, he sucked out a little helium and made him sound like a chipmunk. "Sorry," he said in a high pitched voice as he chucked. Phew. That was a close one.

Excuse me? Was she getting a lecture from Ian? "I've learned tons of stuff." She knew that unicorns didn't like to be rode like a pony, Bellaire was a meany, and Airey had something against cats because she wasn't allowed to meow anymore. Was there anything else that needed to be learned Mr. Tinker?

"Flicking the wand." Duh, that needed to happen. "Watch this." She was going to blow up the best balloon ever. Was he watching? "Helic umtus!" FLICK. She flicked, did he catch that? The balloon made a tiny shiver and grew about half an inch. "This always happens to me." She was cursed. Magic hated her.

They each had twelve balloons in their pack. So if something were to happen to one, or even eleven, it wouldn't be a big deal. That was good to know, because Hayden could imagine several things that could go wrong. Now, all she had to do was perform a spell that was too hard for her, apparently. What could go wrong?

Helic Umtus," she said aloud. At least the words weren't too hard to pronounce. The wand movement wasn't difficult either. She could definitely flick her wand. So what made the spell difficult? What made some spells more advanced than others? That question had been bugging Hayden for a while and she still hadn't found out the answer.

She opened her back of balloons and then looked around to find someone who could help her. She spotted an older girl who had already been asked for help by someone else. She approached them tentatively. "Um, would you be able to help me?" Hayden held out the balloon she'd chosen from her pack. Pretty please?

Ian listened to her for a second as she showed what appeared to be a slightly resentful and more than adequate determined face. He probably should have apologized for being just a teensy arrogant, but he kept that to himself. He knew she'd get it. She was a determined Gryffie. He smirked a little. I'm sure you've learned loads. You're probably a right smart lassie.

He watched with amusement as she flicked the wand just a bit and then the balloon moved a touch and finally appeared to inflate slightly before stopping. What always happens? It appears you've got a start. That's pretty bloody impressive for a firstie just learning some conjuring. You should be pretty proud of that.

Adi wasted no time in getting started. He aimed to master this advance spell before the end of that thirty minutes. He practiced the incantation for a few moments before slipping a balloon over his wand and then holding it in place with his right hand.

''Helic umtus!'' And a flick of the wand. But of course his balloon remained totally deflated. "Helic umtus!" Nope. Nothing. "Helic umtus!'' Still deflated. "Helic umtus!'' Ugh! Inflate, darn you!

"Helic umtus!'' INFLATE!

Please?

"You bet I am." That just happened to be one of her admiring qualities. Spell work however was not one of her specialties. She down right struggled with it. "Impressive? It didn't do anything." Well, not anything that she wanted it to do anyways.

She should try this again right? "Helic Umtus!" The flicking of her wand happened as she uttered the incantation. This time a little bit more of the helium filled the balloon but not much. "Can I just suck some helium from your balloon?" It was after all the only thing that she was interested in.

"Sorry," he repeated sheepishly to the people around him because of the loose balloon that had run away from him. He became lost in his thoughts that he forgot to tie the balloon.

He should have tied it by now, right?

Whooops.

So he grabbed the end of the balloon and tried his hardest to tie the thing; however, it kept slipping out of his hands. Uh oh. Not again. The balloon flew out of his hands once more. "Seriously?" muttered Simon as he turned bright pink with embarrassment. He could do the magic but he couldn't tie a simple dinky balloon? His blue eyes widened for a second. "Sorry... Balloons have a mind of their own.... Watch out!"

Ian giggled at her pride. He had known she was like that, but sometimes it was funny to hear if from this tiny girl. He shrugged. That's because the only way you see success if complete. Sometimes, it takes the partial path to make it all the way. At least that's what my dad says. He taught me that about success when I was learning to fish. I started out small with little fingerlings, but now I'm pulling nets with the men on his boat. You'll get it.

He watched as she tried more and saw a little more progress and then she asked something unthinkable. You must be out of your Gryffindor mind! It's my balloon and I have big plans for it. He muttered some words under his breath that sounded very much like can't believe this daft girl wants to suck the air from my balloon. What does she think, we can do this by magic?