Kace was trying to put the wood into a teepee shape and realized he heard Grayson's suggestion. They were going with an amphitheater look. He nodded and it seemed like a logical idea. He got some of the wood and put it next to the stones so it wouldn't be in the way. "Here Grayson here is the wood...but I am gonna help with the stones too. I mean it is already cut so not much to do." he shrugged. Since the wood was already cut they didn't need so much help with it. On the other hand, the stones needed a lot more work.

He went over to where Caleb was and got a huge stone. After years of carrying around heavy things, he lifted it no problem. Huh? I guess he had more upper arm strength than he thought. He carried it no problem and put it down on the larger pile. He clapped his hands to clean off the dirt.

"Thanks," Beverly muttered at What's-his-name (Grayson), along with a nod. Apparently he seemed to be playing leader. Ha! Leader better watch out for his coat. She might just take that one, too--but not really. It was probably a knock off.

Setting the rocks down, she trekked back for more--WAIT.

What's-his-name said WHAT? Free sweets? For just piling rocks under the Strength Potion. She was in. Sweets were a good trade. Reaching the pile, Beverly decided to take up several, at once. Medium ones, so they fit in her arms...somewhat. Now to pile them in the proper pile. Then build and win.

Candice listened as Grayson explained to them what to do and how to build that thing. And he also taught Kyroh and the other first year a spell. She wanted to learn that spell too. Hmmmppph. Oh well, she could always asked him to teach her that particular spell later. And what's with the talking? And the waiting for the rocks? Okay now stone carriers sounds more fun than building the fire pit. The first year poked her group leader' arm "I'm going to help the stone carriers." No, she's not asking for a permission she just wanted to let the cute older Slytherin know. And she could do that adding the correct stone to the correct pile thingy since she's a stone carriers now, yes?

First thing first she need to grab some stones. Candice went over to where Caleb and Kace were. The Gryffindor picked the medium size rock and brought back to where her group was. And what did Grayson said about some sweet treats? "I don't eat sweet. Can I have something else?" In case she win.

Kyroh was listening, he was. Soooo very carefully. His mouth slowly formed an 'o' shape and his eyes were opened wide as he watched Grayson show how to do the sticking spell. Once the boy had gone over everything Kyroh gave a thumbs up. "PERFECT sense!" It would be easy! He'd just take all the rocks that everyone had already brought and stick them together when they were in the right place! Not that much lifting at all! Which helped.

And CANDY!? "Do you have like....carrots or anything else Grayson?" Legend asked, hand raised cause.....he was used to it? "Some of us can't eat candy s'all." You know, if the person who couldn't eat candy ended up being on the winning team. Kyroh was staring at Candice now because he was just talking about her really.

...Seeing as how she was already talking to Grayson though. ROCK FUSING TIME! Turning to Hayden the boy smiled. "SURE! Let's team up!" Making his way over to two rocks that were basically in the right placing Kyroh pointed his wand, but then stopped. He'd have to test it first too! Grabbing a pebble from the ground like Grayson, he held out his wand again. "Adhaero." He said calming tracing the pebble and pressing it to one of the big rocks.

....It didn't stick. It just fell.

"Adhaaaaerroo." Kyroh mumbled once again. .....More pebble falling. "ADHAERO!" Pressing the pebble HARD into the stone Kyroh half expected it to fall again but it DIDN'T NOPE! Happy as EVER he tried the spell again but this time it was SERIOUS."Adhaero!" He traced another pebble before pressing it right next to one of the smaller rocks that Grayson had placed. LOOK HOW AWESOME HE WAS DOING! Hayden too of course.

There were three piles of rocks now - growing as people brought more - and they were neatly set up by size: large, medium and small ones. Beverly liked order, it made things easier. Easy came in handy when it came to racing and winning sweets. And Beverly Wayne was determined.

So What's-his-name had mentioned something about making it seem like an amphitheater sort of thing. Okay, she could do that. Smaller stones would go on the inside, the medium ones, then, finally, the larger ones on the outside. Sounded pretty bulletproof. She TOTALLY had this. YES.

Hiiiisssss!

First, the base. Looking around, she noticed a few were starting, so she huddled in a small spot between them and began. She'd go get more rocks if they needed them, but right now, she wanted to try this. Oddly enough, she wanted to. Weiiiird.

Oh good, there was Kace to help him! Caleb grinned in thanks and then headed back to the bigger rocks. He took one in each hand like a boss and headed back to the piles, dropping them by the larger rocks that had already been added to the pile.

Now he should probably get some smaller ones...they needed those too! He walked over and grabbed a few in his hands, making a tall tower in his right hand. Normally he couldn't hold this many medium rocks, but thanks to the potion he was doing just fine!

He headed over to the smaller pile of rocks and added his medium sized boulders to the pile. They had to be close to actually constructing it soon, yes?

Ravenclaw, of course, like her carrier. Cassia's brain registered the name and it was never to be forgotten. When it came to faces the seventeen-year old's memory was unbeatable as for names it was less impressive but Cassia willed her brain to not lose this name. Maddie, coop, firstie eaglette. Who knew, she might serve as one of her minions!! Cassia believed she could never have too many of these.

Partner up? Whaaah?!

A quick glance around told the snake that she might have missed out on an important piece of info. Apparently they were to carry a firstie? Mo totally left out that part. "I'm on it, Maddie, thanks for the advice," She grinned at the younger girl. But then she got an idea. "And I could give you a lift once Mo's put you down," What a better way to get to know each other, no?

Lex seemed to have found out about that part of the challenge, too! The gryffindor hadn't yet found a firstie to lift yet, though. Probably because she was too busy picking up her pace until she was right next to Cassia. How did she do THAT? Hmm... She even had extra planks. IT was possible that the snakette wasn't as daring as the lioness.

Aaaand two planks of wood unloaded.

The blond shook out her arms while turning around and starting again towards the new pile. Ooh, right, "Yup!" she turned her head back answering Lex's question. Nope, wasn't cheating. Alexa would catch up with her in no time, anyway. Especially with no load.

Jogging towards the pile, she cast a look around, maybe she could just scoop a firstie up without further ado. That, though, might cause some screaming on the firstie's part. She wasn't fan of that. "All firsties are taken I see," she said to Lex, her breathing becoming a bit harder.

Bribery ALWAYS worked. Always.

......................... But not now.

WHAT IN THE FREAKING NAME OF MERLIN? These people didn't like sweets? SWEETS?! Holy merlin, what planet had they grown up on?

His eyes flickered between Kyroh and Candice, a perplexed expression spread across his face. Oh jeez. They were being serious. They actually DIDN'T like sweets. "I could get you guys carrots," he said to the two kiddos, nodding his head, "And I can make some mean ham and cheese sandwiches." WINK. Juuuuuuuust saying.

And that went for anyone else too.

Jeez, this being nice thing was more tiring than carrying these heavy rocks.

Which, speaking of, he needed to get back into. The fourteen year old was about to pick up a medium sized rock when he heard the sound a voice. "Brilliant! Thanks, Kace!" Jeez, this was a lot of wood. Helpful. Uh huh. Anddddd his eyes went over to a certain Ravenclaw who hadn't taken the potion and his partner in crime. "Yo! Kyroh! Hayden! You can also help with arranging the firewood when you're done, mkay?" Finishing touches and whatnot.

And Candice got a nod of approval for carrying stones. Strong one, that one was.

Following her lead, Grayson moved over towards the medium-sized stones and picked two up. The bottom layer of the smallest circle seemed to be more or less done soooo it made the most sense to start with that. Uh huh. He moved over and placed both of them down, making sure to push one closer towards the other. Someone else can go ahead and stick those together. HE was going to get other stones...........

........... and call out to the others. "Good going, everyone! If you're done collecting, help out with the constructing."

Ethan motioned AJ to follow him and jogged back to where the rest of their members were. That was a fun run, yo! But this time, the Slytherin would love to be the dangler this time.

"I can dangle!" Ethan raised his hand and waved at Cassia. Hi. Hello. "Er...I'm no firstie, as you can see-- but I bet you can carry me while I hang on..." Right? It's the ultimate test!

Just...go get a big sturdy plank, Ms. Head Girl. Nod, nod.

Sweet! Kyroh wanted to be her partner. Hayden smiled at him, happy that he wanted to work with her. She wasn't really shy, but she could get a little nervous around people sometimes. Luckily everyone in her group was really nice. And now that she and Kyroh were teamed up they were going to WIN! Even though he hadn't taken the potion...and didn't want sweets. Oh well, maybe she could just have his share.

Hayden went back over to the rock pile and carried a big rock over to the pit. "Adhaero," she pronounced carefully and clearly. As she said it, she traced an outline of the rock, and then pressed it against the other big ones. She held it for a few moments before letting go, and it stayed. Did she have to hold it? Was the spell like glue, needing to be held against was it was supposed to stick to for a little bit? She figured it probably wouldn't hurt. Hayden shrugged and went back over to the pile, getting more big rocks and repeating the process. The circle she'd drawn in the ground was filling up with big rocks, and it was almost time to start the next layer of medium.

Arista smiled over at AJ and gave her a thumbs up, "I'm fine, thanks!" She just scuffed up her knee it wasn't bleeding or anything, which was good. She had even managed to get last in the race.. But at least she finished it.

Oh they were carrying people now? Cool. She watched as AJ went to be carried. It looked like fun! To bad it looked like everyone was done carrying people. Too bad! She would just sit and wait this time around. She laughed as she watched AJ who was dangling over to the finish line the plank pile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the fastest seeker

Jogging towards the pile, she cast a look around, maybe she could just scoop a firstie up without further ado. That, though, might cause some screaming on the firstie's part. She wasn't fan of that. "All firsties are taken I see," she said to Lex, her breathing becoming a bit harder.

Hearing someone say firstie, she turned around and yelled, "I'm a firstie!!!" not even knowing what the person was talking about.

This was going really well. The piles were growing and the rocks were collecting. Ha! Group one really was the best group. Take that groups two and three. Be prepared to go down. And now a little inter-group competition too? YAY! And sweets!? Zander LOVED chocolate. So the sweets have got to be chocolate. Mhm.

At the sound of competition, Zander bolted up and ran towards the rock pile. He quickly collected a few more of the smaller rocks and added them to the circle. This way he could start from the inside out.

BUT WAIT. He needed a partner? AHHH THIS IS URGENT. MUST. WIN. CHOCOLATE.

Maybe Ben could be his partner? Considering the two of them were the ones to give Grayson the idea of the whole partner thing in the first place.

Alright there seemed to be a lot more stones to carry. He saw little ones and carried one at a time. He wanted to carry two but he didn't push it. He carried it and placed it into the little stone pile.

As Kace was helping getting another big stone, he noticed a little first year was using a useful spell. He couldn't help but go over and ask. "Ermmm sorry to interrupt but I am wondering what spell you are using?" It seemed like it could help him out when they have to connect the stones together.

He was LATE. Again.

Either Aunt Cela's map was very, very wrong, or Dima was very, very bad at reading it.

When he arrived at the construction site, it looked like a lot was done already. Did they even need his help? The first year couldn't do much anyway, as he once more refused to take the potion. It was nice of Culloden to make a batch without the dragon heart, but the animal blood had no replacement.

Dima's conscience said no.

Still, he did his best to assist with the plank carrying, attempting to lift them WITHOUT said added strength. And failed miserably, of course. He had to settle for dragging the wooden planks where their placement was needed instead. At least he was a GOOD dragger, yeah?

Caleb was pretty sure they had more than enough stones right now, so he decided to help them out with the actual construction. He wasn't sure how they were going to get it all to stay standing in that ampitheatre style, but he was just going to follow their lead and he'd figure it out eventually.

"Big boulders coming through!" he called with a grin, grabbing two of the larger rocks and bringing them over to the group. He plopped them down and then arranged them near the bottom, creating a base.

"Ben..." he introduced as the boy he had agreed with introduced himself as Zander. Might as well know that about a person you were speaking and agreeing with. It wasn't like he knew all of the other players in their group. But he wasn't exactly needed when all one was doing was grunt work alongside others.

Grayson, their leader, the other person he happened to know the name of because of Professor Culloden, spoke up as he moved to retrieve more rocks and stones for their collection. Competition...prizes...partners? Couldn't they just do what they wanted. The Gryffindor wasn't that into playing along. He meerly picked up another collection from one pile to the other, divided ones, each piece carefully placed where it should go.

Firepit a go....? It did appear as if they were starting the actual building, especially as Sophie's twin brother...Caleb? brought two large ones into the mix. So that's what he switched to, actually starting to place rocks for the base from the large pile.

...........

....................

.....

Did Sophie really just do that? More importantly, DID THE PROFESSOR REALLY JUST SAY THAT?

Stifling a giggle, Coral-Bay smiled at all of the people who had just looked at her and attempted to hide her growingly red cheeks. "Hi professor," she mumbled at him, embarrassed and still a bit giggly. She was gonna like him; more so, now. She could tell.

Sophie got more nudges, for embarrassing her, but in a weird way she felt a little more relaxed, even if only one of them had mentioned their own name. So he got extra smiles; for more than one reason too. He liked her name. That was extra smiles worthy. "Hi Ethan." she moved a bit closer to him, but staaaaared at his plank offering until he offered his hand instead. That, she shook. "Pleasure to meet you."

Her eyes fell on the little girl, who seemed to want a race? But then her gaze fell on the boy. Older boy. Hehehe. Cute older boy. And she nodded as he explained what their group had been tasked with. Plank moving.. Boring, but easy. She liked it.

She moved toward the plank pile and picked one up, then another, and wiggled a little, trying to adjust them so she wouldn't drop them all. They were so awkward to carry. Gosh. Giving the planks LOOKS, she adjusted them a little more in her arms and then carried them over to where they needed to go.

See? Not so bad.

Oh! Oh! More people! One, she recognized. Squints at both of them though. Because they both had pretty- The head girl? SHE WAS THE HEAD GIRL? Huh. Coral stopped staring at the prefect's badges and hopped on over to greet the head girl. She grinned reaaaaaaally big at her. "You're the head girl?" Never would've guessed it. "You can borrow any of the ink I bought." Y'know. 'Cause she seemed to like them too and maybe if she shared things with the head girl, she'd get good privileges or something.

Carrots? "I eat carrots." Nods. Its more delicious than candies and its healthy. And Kyroh got a smile from her for suggesting carrots to Grayson. Her stomach growled when Grayson mentioned ham and cheese sandwiches. She needed to finish this thing quickly before her stomach decided to growl again.

Candice was carrying a big stone for the base when their leader called and asked them to help with the construction after they're done. Sure thing, Mr. Leader. The first year lined up her big rock with another big rock side by side.

As she was thinking how many planks she was going to load this time, she heard someone addressing her, a familiar voice. A challenging one nonetheless . "I bet I could." she sized up the boy with a lopsided smile. Of course, under certain circumstances he'd have a lot of trouble since she wasn't an athlete nor a tall one. But the goal was to take advantage of the spell. Lifting three planks of wood, Cassia approached Ethan. "Hop on," She could SO do it!


Well, apparently not ALL firsties were taken. Here was one who was still on the ground. Cassia smiled at the lil one. "Hey, what's your name, I'm Cassia," Might be good to have a little chat before hauling the girl up. "Would you like to wait till I drop off Ethan or hop on with him?" It'd be a bit crowded but she trusted that the potion could do it and if it was really hard she'd drop a plank. It's competition time!

Hayden didn't know he was talking to her at first, but she became aware about halfway through his question. At least she'd listened to what he was saying so he didn't have to repeat himself. "Grayson taught it to me," she said with a smile. It had been just a couple minutes ago, hadn't he been there? "The incantation is Adhaero." She pronounced it slowly and clearly - Ad-hi-row. "You have to trace the thing you want to stick, and them place it against the thing you want it to stick to." Had she explained that clearly?



Hayden noticed a few people, notably one boy, placing rocks on the ground in the right shape, but not sticking them together. Actually, it was very helpful. Hayden followed the boy around. "Adhaero," she said, tracing one rock and pressing it against another. She did the same thing to each of the rocks he put down. Hopefully he didn't mind. It was her job, after all.

Ethan was being a good team member and got a few more planks for the others, when he saw a small boy drag a plank across. The Slytherin scratched his head and followed the boy, dragging his own plank.

Yep! He's a good dragger all right, but since he's small, he'll make a good dangler on his plank!

Tap. Tap.

Ethan grinned at the young boy and gestured towards where Cassia and Lex were standing. "Hi. We're doing a race, and we will be needing first years to dangle on our planks. Do you wanna hop on to mine or Cassia's?" Head Girl right there.

Ethan thought he'd look ridiculous dangling from Cassia's plank, but then again, here's a firstie dragging a plank across the yard when he could have fun dangling instead.

Candice noticed a girl who looked like she's in the same year as her (what's her name again? Hayden?) used the sticking charm on the rocks. Ohh. Nice. Maybe she could lined up the rocks and the girl could do the sticking charm? Since she didn't know how to cast them properly.

The Gryffindor lined up another rocks side by side and put smaller rock in the gaps. Someone, maybe Hayden, could do the sticking charm again to those rocks?

Zander noticed they crazy hair kid bringing larger stones into the mix to work around the base, so Zander decided to follow that lead too. He picked up two huge ones and brought them over to the circle. Wow, this fire pit was actually starting to look like a fire pit now!

After placing the bigger rocks in the circle, Zander noticed a lack of middle sized rocks in the pit. So he went to the middle pile and grabbed four, and placed them in between the larger stones and the smaller stones. There.

Thank Merlin that Candice liked carrots. He shot her his most chaaaaaarming smile and a wink. "Brilliant." It was. Deal done and all.

So the firepit was coming along nicely.

No really, it was. Honest truth right there.

Grayson dusted his hands as he looked around at the others. The smallest circle was pretty much done, as was the base of the biggest one. Sooooo, grabbing a medium sized rock, the boy started placing it on top of the one he had placed down before. Since there was a base and all. He did have to bend over for this so anyone standing behind him got a niiiiiiiice view of his bottom. Wiggle wiggle.

................... Actually, no. Nobody pinch that thing. VIP access only.

Clearing his throat, the boy stood up again and headed over to grab a heavy rock. The big, bad ones. Lifting it up and over his head with a grunt, he walked back to the firepit and placed it down on top of one of the larger rocks on the outer circle. And he was going to trust Hayden and anyone else who wanted to join her to do the sticking. Uh huh. Full, blind trust.

"I think we're nearly done, you guys. Come on, not long to go!"

He really was turning nice, wasn't he? This was horrifying.

And, as promised, someone was going to get sweet treats. He'd have to choose someone for this. Er.

We SAW that Cassia Somerlad! Wait on a girl for like two seconds because she happens to be your bestfriend and she darts off without you. Truly a snake moment right there and Lex was too proud to be offended. Cassia was entertaining when she had her snake moments, definitely so instead Lex jogged after her, deciding there was no rush because Cassia still needed to reload.

Back on the next side she scowled thoughtfully at what Cassia said. "No kidding. All of 'em?" She asked, scanning the area. She didn't really care whether they were firsties or not, so long as they were short enough to be dangled from planks without their feet scraping against the floor. Think how painful that could be for someone!

"Has to be more." She said while she lifted another set of planks horizontally in line with her shoulders. This time only three since she'd had a potential little person to contend with.



Ah see! The Puffer that said she was Leah, she could be her little carrying buddy and Lex grinned at her question. "Pfft, 'course I can. Don't reckon you're that heavy to begin with. These planks are nothing."

She swung one end toward the girl. "Grab on and we can get this race started." She had FOUND someone. Not a Firstie, no, but she was small enough anyway and with the help of the potion she'd be light enough too. This was going to be cake, so much cake that the Gryffindor was tempted to find an even bigger challenge...like...could she carry TWO.

That would require finding another little person though and they seemed so scarce.



Except not that scarce when you considered Dima struggling with the planks over there. He didn't drink the potion again. Sigh. When was he going to get over that? Hopefully before he hurt himself. Would that have been too much to ask.

She spotted Ethan trying to recruit him but that would go against her two kid strategy of looking more impressive.

"Hey Dima, wanna grab on to the other end of this and lemme dangle you to the finish line?" Yes, her, not Cassia who was being flocked by little people. Just saying.