The Whomping Willow must have been very angry because it was full of action. First, it managed to spray snow over everyone and cover Jasmine's last hope at finding a print. Then it shook things up by pounding its branches into the ground. Jasmine made sure she stood well away from it and out of the reach of its branches.

Getting colder and colder and having no success at footprint finding, Jamine thought she might join the jumping jacks group, just to keep things moving. First she glanced around to see if any of her classmates had prints they were looking at. If so, maybe she could have a glimpse at a real animal footprint....even if it wasn't her own.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't sit back and watch the Willow wallop at people. SIGH. It was a hard life, man.

So, trying NOT to get HIMSELF walloped at, Grayson moved along and tried to look out for even more tracks. It was hard because everytime he tried to move forward and look out for the tracks, the snow decided to fill it up, which only made him lose track of the prints. Brilliant. Freaking brilliant. And to make it worse, the tree was deciding to send snow their way.

Trying to ignore the bit of snow that was pelted towards him and was now melting on his back, the boy kept moving forward. He was DETERMINED to find something, okay? VERY determined. Besides, look at the number of people that had already found something! He didn't want to be the ONLY person here who found nothing. How bad would that look to HIM, the one who'd gotten such a great praise from the Divination Professor?

Actually. On second thoughts, he didn't care. Not really.

He still wanted to find something, mkay? Something interesting, thank yo--

WHOOSH!

OH FREAKING MERLIN.

Grayson RAN forward and AWAY from the tree in an attempt to get away from an oncoming branch from the VIOLENT TREE OVER THERE. Jeez, it was meant to attack OTHER PEOPLE, not HIM. Couldn't it leave him alone to find--

................ OH HELLO! Footprints! FINALLY.

And to think he almost started to doubt himself. Psh.

She was done doing jumping jacks. All it did was irritate her that she was still so cold. The whomping willow obviously didn't wanna come out and play, and these tracks were non existent so she was pretty much over this whole little adventure.

Walking around ONE more time just to make sure that tracks didn't magically appear considering this WAS a magical school and all. Looking all around and walking a HUGE circle she had decided that there were none, and if there were some they were already found.

Blowing out air and watching the smoke that hung in front of her had even lost its appeal. "I've got nothing professor." Could they go now please? She eyed her sister. Was she sick? This cold weather would do nothing for her. Walking over to Angel, she covered her mouth just in case, and asked her "You okay?"

Okay, so now that he had found a footprint, what was he meant to do? Make a note of it? Try and figure out what it could possibly mean about the animal? OR tell Morgan over there?

.................... Figure out first and THEN tell Morgan. Uh huh.

And fast too, since it was still snowing and there was a freaking tree over there that didn't want him to succeed or whatever.

ANYWAYS. These prints. The easy thing about THESE one was that it was similar to the ones that they were looking at back at the meeting room. Though, he doubted that it belonged to a RACCOON. Why? These ones were different. Slightly less dog-like than the other one. It didn't belong to a BIRD either, so that could be ruled out. And nothing with hooves. No.

But the way it was spread out was similar. It was heavier on the left side than the right. Was it because it didn't want to be hit by the tree? OR was it looking AROUND the tree at something else that was there? HMMMM? And like the other one, the prints were quite uneven, which meant that this one was trying to be stealthy too. Probably on the investigating thing like the raccoon. Had it seen the same thing that the raccoon had?

Or it could have been hunting for something. Slowly. Like the murderous villain that it was.

Shrugging, Grayson moved further along to see where it was going off to. He had to see the progress to properly tell which story was more likely to be true. Though, he did hope that it was the murderous villain one. What a cool story that would be. The other one was shrouded with a bit more mystery; WHY was it looking around the tree at something way over there? And why was it trying to be stealthy? Had it SEEN something?

He followed the footsteps until.............. oh. They disappeared. Shame.

"Professor?" Any. One or the other. "I found footsteps that could belong to an animal that's super stealthy and was trying to look at something like the nosy bugger that it is OR ones that could belong to a murderous villain of an animal that was on a hunt."

'Least nobody could say that he wasn't honest.

So Sophie had located a set of tracks, mentally made a few notes about them, and now--what? The class didn't look like they'd be heading inside anytime soon, so she guessed she could look for a few more tracks.

Meanwhile, the willow was still whomping.

Couldn't they have gone anywhere else on the grounds? Did the pathways not have tracks? The lake? The area by the treehouse? Sophie eyed the willow tree then stepped away from it a bit. She had no interest in getting whomped today, thank you very much.

Okay, so tracks! Wherefore art thou, tracks?

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

Wrapped up in her warmest clothes, Penelope still felt really cold. Her whole body felt like she was slowly freezing and would soon an ice sculpture. A few places that were exposed on her face were even more frozen, and could get frostbite. It did not help that the Californian girl was used to warm, sunny days every day, even in winter. Most of her clothes were not made for this kind of weather.

The half frozen girl attempted to look for animal prints. Was that a print? [b]"I think I found something."[/] Fresh snow from the whomping willow covered the ground where she had been looking. She wasn't that close to the tree, was she? Looking up she could see the branches coming down, but she was literally frozen to the spot where she was standing. The branches knocked her down, leaving a mark in the snow that resembled a snow angel. This print was not a snow angel, but more of a snow-covered Penelope.

Teeth beginning to chatter, Cassie knew it was almost time to call it quits. She hadn't really found many prints and she knew her SNACinators were starting to look as cold as she felt. Hearing a voice she turned, "Oh wonderful, could you analyze it for me and.." not being able to finish her sentence the blonde ran towards the girl. "Are you alright?" The branch of the willow came out of no where. She hoped the first year was okay, but if not they could get her fixed right away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Angel looked at the Professor. "S....so..... co....co....cold." Angel really didn't like it she felt very cold, what were the Professor doing not having heating around here. "I'd l....love t... to do jump....jump....jumping ja....jacks." Angel looked around for the Professor that the other professor was talking about.

Angel suddenly saw the Professor and went over to them before starting doing the jumping jacks, she was feeling a bit warmer once she started but she still felt cold. "Ar....are w...we going I...in soon?" Angel really hoped the answer was yes because then she could have a nice cup of hot coco or something, if she had known it would be this bad she would have brought a hot water bottle with her.

Oh goodness, this wasn't working now was it. "Angel dear, you are shivering and seem a bit too cold. I think you might need to go see the healer and make sure you are just cold and not frost bitten." She couldn't have any of her students ill or in danger of the cold. Looking towards Nessa she waited to see what her thoughts on the matter would be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiara

"
"Good... good dear, now remember what we talked about?" She said as she moved closer to the Gryffindor. "Check the prints to see what you can come up with. How do you feel the animal was when it made this print?" She was being encouraging and trying to get the young student to look and give some thoughts onto the print. Was it more front or back heavy? What did that mean?

Lucy was quieter now that the Whomping Willow had calmed down!
"Professor I can try..the prints of the hind legs seem deeper than the front and the footprint of the right leg is more forward than the left..The fox probably is exit from the burrow and is going to hunt some small animal.."

Listening to the first year, she took her hands to cover her face. Her fingers were stinging through her gloves and her cheeks felt like they were having needles prick them. This cold was very unwelcoming. It was seeming more like a polar vortex every moment they were outside. "Very good Lucy. Poor thing isn't going to have much to hunt soon if this weather keeps up."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Very good? WOOT! That was better than Sophie thought she could do with this. She stared down at the bird tracks. Could she just mentally take notes? She honestly didn't think her fingers would cooperate if she took off her gloves in this cold.

So that's just what she did. The mental notes--not taking off her gloves in the cold.

She got a really long, hard look at the tracks and thought to herself:

- Bird tracks
- They're really random, like the bird was just turning around and around and didn't know where to go.
- The bird could have been under attack from a larger predator and was scrambling trying to get away.
- It may have also been chasing food, but I doubt it, because the food would have been smaller than the bird. The bird wouldn't have had to turn around so much to catch it.



"AHHHH!" Sophie called out, as the willow whomped itself around.

"Professor?" she said, looking up at the woman again. Well, really either professor. "I think we've made the tree mad..."

Can we...you know...GO?

Looking over towards Sophie she couldn't help but chuckle, "Oh the willow is just playing a bit. Don't you think it gets lonely and cold always out here with the other trees that don't really move as much as it does?" Glancing towards the tree she just knew it didn't really mean to hurt anyone, plus it just had to be freezing. She wondered if they could make it little branchy socks to keep it warm from the falling snow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yusrieee

Oh, boy. Did he say something wrong? A thrill of panic ran through Damian when Professor Morgan inquired about what he'd said. He was a goner, wasn't he? In for a reprimand. He shouldn't have wandered away from the group; the boy was just trying to avoid the nasty, snow flinging tree. But all she did was chuckle; maybe he wasn't in trouble after all.

"Professor, could . . . could there have been more than one animal?" He asked, getting back on his feet, his whole body shivering as a gush of wind swept past them. And if that wasn't cold enough, the Whomping Willow took it upon itself to bombard them with fresh snow while viciously trying to knock someone over.

A blanket of snow now covered the tracks he'd been investigating, rendering them more or less useless. Great. More snow, more biting cold. Just what he needed. Creepy how the Whomping Willow read his thoughts and flung a bucketful of snow in his direction. Okay, that's it. "Professor, I reckon . . . I reckon the tree doesn't like*ACHOOOASDFGHK* . . . us." He blinked at Professor Morgan, and sneezed some more.

She looked back to the prints, "You know Damian I think you are correct. I think there really could be two making these prints. That would explain the different movements and the back tracking you were looking at. Now we need to know were they playing, looking for food, or scared of something?" Could he help her out by seeing what he could find out. Looking back at the young boy she frowned a bit, "Sneezing, oh no, we can't have that. I think you need to go see the healer as well. No.. no I can't have my SNACinators falling ill." She just couldn't handle seeing them sick.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

Okay, so now that he had found a footprint, what was he meant to do? Make a note of it? Try and figure out what it could possibly mean about the animal? OR tell Morgan over there?

.................... Figure out first and THEN tell Morgan. Uh huh.

And fast too, since it was still snowing and there was a freaking tree over there that didn't want him to succeed or whatever.

ANYWAYS. These prints. The easy thing about THESE one was that it was similar to the ones that they were looking at back at the meeting room. Though, he doubted that it belonged to a RACCOON. Why? These ones were different. Slightly less dog-like than the other one. It didn't belong to a BIRD either, so that could be ruled out. And nothing with hooves. No.

But the way it was spread out was similar. It was heavier on the left side than the right. Was it because it didn't want to be hit by the tree? OR was it looking AROUND the tree at something else that was there? HMMMM? And like the other one, the prints were quite uneven, which meant that this one was trying to be stealthy too. Probably on the investigating thing like the raccoon. Had it seen the same thing that the raccoon had?

Or it could have been hunting for something. Slowly. Like the murderous villain that it was.

Shrugging, Grayson moved further along to see where it was going off to. He had to see the progress to properly tell which story was more likely to be true. Though, he did hope that it was the murderous villain one. What a cool story that would be. The other one was shrouded with a bit more mystery; WHY was it looking around the tree at something way over there? And why was it trying to be stealthy? Had it SEEN something?

He followed the footsteps until.............. oh. They disappeared. Shame.

"Professor?" Any. One or the other. "I found footsteps that could belong to an animal that's super stealthy and was trying to look at something like the nosy bugger that it is OR ones that could belong to a murderous villain of an animal that was on a hunt."

'Least nobody could say that he wasn't honest.

Moving once more and dodging yet more snow, Cassie was really starting to feel like something was wrong with her hands. They hurt and they hurt badly. She was afraid to even pull off her gloves. Coming out of her thoughts she looked up as Gary spoke. "Very good, I think you are very much correct, but I don't think anything is a murderous villain. They are just going by their instinct even if we don't agree with that." Big reason she was a vegetarian after all.

"SNACINATORS OVER HERE PLEASE" She clapped her hands to get their attention, which only sent pain through her fingers. "Wonderful job, but this snow and the Willow are working against us today. Please let me have anything you did record so that I can relook at notes and try to figure this out. You all have done wonderful today and have earned your houses points for risking the outdoors and helping me." What wonderful students she had.

"I'm noticing some of you sneezing and some of you I'm noticing have very red faces that I'm worried could be turning into frost bite." She was beginning to worry her own hands would be having that issue. "If you feel pain at all in your fingers or toes, numbness, or if they are extremely red please go see the healer. I'm concerned about my own hands and will be going to her right after this, so if you need to join me please do so." She gave them all concerned looks. "If you do not need to go to the hospital wing, I have asked the house elves to have hot chocolate and cookies waiting for you in the kitchen. Which ever way you decide to go, please do not stay out here any longer." She moved around watching the student's finish up and get ready to leave.


Great job everyone! This concludes the SNAC meeting, if your charrie is sick or has frost bite you can post them with Cassie in the hospital wing. If not thanks for playing It's been fun reading everyone's posts!

It was very cold in the snow. Much colder than Penelope had been before she got covered in snow, if that was possible. To Penelope, it seemed impossible that anything could be colder than what she was experiencing. Would she freeze to death? As she was wondering if she would end up as a frozen statue, a girl (Arista) uncovered her and grabbed her. Penelope would be safe, for now. "Th...thank y...y...ou," Penelope managed to say, through chattering teeth. "I...I'm....r...really...c...cold. I m...mi...might...be... g...get....getting ...fr...fros ...frostbite." Her exposed face was turning red, and her fingers and toes felt numb. She had never experienced any weather under, or anywhere close to, freezing temperature before coming to Hogwarts. The weather was so hot back in the part of California where she lived, and here she was, freezing and getting frostbite.



The professor ran over to Penelope, asking her if she was alright. Alright? She was getting frostbite on her face, fingers, and toes. How could she be alright? "Pr...prof...professor, I... th..think... I...m...might...be...g...getting...fr...frost bite...in my...f...fingers... and t...toes, and...p...parts...of...my...f..face." It would not be good to freeze her fingers off with frostbite. Penelope needed her fingers for playing piano, writing, and pretty much everything else. Freezing her fingers off was just an expression, right? The professor would never put them in any real danger of freezing to death, would she? It was cold here for Penelope on the warm days. The cold and the snow had been enough to make her feel like an ice statue before she had been covered in snow. Why did the weather have to be so cold?

The meeting was over. She could go inside and be warm. Penelope did not have anything to hand in because the tracks that she had found were covered in snow before she could record anything, and before she could have a closer look at the prints.

Yes, going to see the healer was a very good idea. Penelope was getting frostbite on her face, fingers, and toes. She would go to the professor to the hospital wing. "C...can...I..c...come....w...with....you?"

Risking the outdoors to help? Uh no. He wasn't risking anything to help. He just went to the meeting for the free food. If he knew about this outdoor print tracking nonsense he probably would've just stayed in his dorm. Thank you very much. But sigh. He had to admit, it was a little fun.

He slowly stopped his jumping jacks as he heard the announcement for the finish of the SNAC meeting. Thank goodness he could finally go inside again. Forget the hospital wing, he needed a Gryffindor fireplace and STAT! He noticed some other students carrying around notes and suddenly felt super guilty for not writing anything down. But he hadn't actually managed to find anything... And all the prints he did find were later covered by the whomping willow. And it looked like the trail he was following was actually Professor Glendower's footprints... OOPs.

So maybe he could just slip away without turning in notes... Heh. "Bye Professor, see yah at the upcoming lesson!" And with that the Gryffindor was off... Off to a fireplace that was calling his name, BOOOYAH!

Even though Cris would have loved to search for more animal tracks, he reluctantly had to agree that Professor Morgan was right. It was getting nastily cold and he knew that if it wasn't for his warm clothing, he would joining the line of students going to visit the Healer. However, the sound of hot chocolate waiting for them back at the castle, was something he wouldn't say no.

Gathering his things, Cris made his way over to Professor Morgan and handed his notes over to her. "Here are my notes regarding those rabbit prints we examined. I'm looking forward to attending your Divination class. I hope you feel better soon," Cris thanked the Professor before walking over to meet up with Jasmine.

In the middle of rolling her ball, Lux had to stop because it was time for the meeting to wrap up. Not too surprising considering the circumstances. Shame that nature was working against them right now, because honestly it could have been pretty cool to find some footprints and try to figure out what they meant. Oh well, maybe another time she could try to do it on her own!

Since she had no notes to hand over to Professor Morgan, Lux smiled and waved good bye as she passed by. "Thank you for the interesting meeting Professor. I look forward to your class and hope you feel better soon." It was time for her to head inside and have some hot chocolate and sit by the fire. Fortunately for her, despite feeling cold she was not getting frostbite just yet.

Lucy said : Thanks for the great lesson,Professor!
I hope you will feel better ASAP! "

Well, Adi didn't have any notes to hand over. But his face was certainly red but there was no pain or anything in his toes. The red face was just because the Willow had found it funny to dump snow down on them and a pile had landed on his face when he was making the angel.

Adi stood up. He wanted to go plop down in front of the fire in the Badger Common Room. "Bye- bye, Professors!'' he said and then to Morgan, "Fun meeting. See you for the first lesson.'' And with that, Adi took off back towards the Castle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

It was very cold in the snow. Much colder than Penelope had been before she got covered in snow, if that was possible. To Penelope, it seemed impossible that anything could be colder than what she was experiencing. Would she freeze to death? As she was wondering if she would end up as a frozen statue, a girl (Arista) uncovered her and grabbed her. Penelope would be safe, for now. "Th...thank y...y...ou," Penelope managed to say, through chattering teeth. "I...I'm....r...really...c...cold. I m...mi...might...be... g...get....getting ...fr...fros ...frostbite." Her exposed face was turning red, and her fingers and toes felt numb. She had never experienced any weather under, or anywhere close to, freezing temperature before coming to Hogwarts. The weather was so hot back in the part of California where she lived, and here she was, freezing and getting frostbite.



The professor ran over to Penelope, asking her if she was alright. Alright? She was getting frostbite on her face, fingers, and toes. How could she be alright? "Pr...prof...professor, I... th..think... I...m...might...be...g...getting...fr...frost bite...in my...f...fingers... and t...toes, and...p...parts...of...my...f..face." It would not be good to freeze her fingers off with frostbite. Penelope needed her fingers for playing piano, writing, and pretty much everything else. Freezing her fingers off was just an expression, right? The professor would never put them in any real danger of freezing to death, would she? It was cold here for Penelope on the warm days. The cold and the snow had been enough to make her feel like an ice statue before she had been covered in snow. Why did the weather have to be so cold?

The meeting was over. She could go inside and be warm. Penelope did not have anything to hand in because the tracks that she had found were covered in snow before she could record anything, and before she could have a closer look at the prints.

Yes, going to see the healer was a very good idea. Penelope was getting frostbite on her face, fingers, and toes. She would go to the professor to the hospital wing. "C...can...I..c...come....w...with....you?"

Cassie was very ready to go inside now, but she stood pushing her beaming smile back on her face for her students. No need to worry any of them it was just cold, her hands would be fine, she hoped. Green eyes moving to a smaller girl, [b] "Oh of course you can dear. She placed a hand on her shoulder, "Put your hands to your mouth like this and blow on them. That will help for at least a little bit." She had been doing the same for some time. [b] "I just need to see the rest of the class off and then we will head that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Risking the outdoors to help? Uh no. He wasn't risking anything to help. He just went to the meeting for the free food. If he knew about this outdoor print tracking nonsense he probably would've just stayed in his dorm. Thank you very much. But sigh. He had to admit, it was a little fun.

He slowly stopped his jumping jacks as he heard the announcement for the finish of the SNAC meeting. Thank goodness he could finally go inside again. Forget the hospital wing, he needed a Gryffindor fireplace and STAT! He noticed some other students carrying around notes and suddenly felt super guilty for not writing anything down. But he hadn't actually managed to find anything... And all the prints he did find were later covered by the whomping willow. And it looked like the trail he was following was actually Professor Glendower's footprints... OOPs.

So maybe he could just slip away without turning in notes... Heh. "Bye Professor, see yah at the upcoming lesson!" And with that the Gryffindor was off... Off to a fireplace that was calling his name, BOOOYAH!

Giving the Gryffindor a small wave, "Good bye Zander thank you for all your help!" Watching has he headed into the castle she hoped he'd stop by the kitchen to get some hot chocolate. The elves did such a great job making it, plus they always put those wonderful little marshmallow's in them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireboltAvis88

Even though Cris would have loved to search for more animal tracks, he reluctantly had to agree that Professor Morgan was right. It was getting nastily cold and he knew that if it wasn't for his warm clothing, he would joining the line of students going to visit the Healer. However, the sound of hot chocolate waiting for them back at the castle, was something he wouldn't say no.

Gathering his things, Cris made his way over to Professor Morgan and handed his notes over to her. "Here are my notes regarding those rabbit prints we examined. I'm looking forward to attending your Divination class. I hope you feel better soon," Cris thanked the Professor before walking over to meet up with Jasmine.

"Thank you Cristoffer, I'll be find though. Don't worry about me." She smiled to show she was fine. "Just a little cold, nothing the healer can't fix right up." Her healer neighbor would sure be able to help her with the pain going through her fingers. "Make sure you stop and get some hot chocolate on your way in."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

In the middle of rolling her ball, Lux had to stop because it was time for the meeting to wrap up. Not too surprising considering the circumstances. Shame that nature was working against them right now, because honestly it could have been pretty cool to find some footprints and try to figure out what they meant. Oh well, maybe another time she could try to do it on her own!

Since she had no notes to hand over to Professor Morgan, Lux smiled and waved good bye as she passed by. "Thank you for the interesting meeting Professor. I look forward to your class and hope you feel better soon." It was time for her to head inside and have some hot chocolate and sit by the fire. Fortunately for her, despite feeling cold she was not getting frostbite just yet.

This was nice, hearing it was an interesting meeting, "Thank you, but I couldn't have done it with out all my fabtastic SNACinators!" They were truly the ones that made it great. Even in the below freezing temperatures. "Oh I'll be fine, but thank you for your concern. Have a good rest of the day and get some hot chocolate."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiara

Lucy said : Thanks for the great lesson,Professor!
I hope you will feel better ASAP! "

Smiling at the young Lucy she gave her a wave, "You are very welcome, but the meeting wouldn't have been great without all your help!" Lucy did a fantastic job looking for prints even with the winter weather and the Whomping Willow. "Oh I'll be fine, no need to worry about me!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Well, Adi didn't have any notes to hand over. But his face was certainly red but there was no pain or anything in his toes. The red face was just because the Willow had found it funny to dump snow down on them and a pile had landed on his face when he was making the angel.

Adi stood up. He wanted to go plop down in front of the fire in the Badger Common Room. "Bye- bye, Professors!'' he said and then to Morgan, "Fun meeting. See you for the first lesson.'' And with that, Adi took off back towards the Castle.

The little snow angel, Cassie grinned, "Bye Adam, thank you for all your great work! Don't forget to stop by the kitchen for some hot chocolate!" That was a great way to warm up.


Looking towards the ones that might need to go with her to see the healer, she gave them an encouraging smile. "Alright, let's head up to see healer Tillstorm. She will give us something for our very cold limbs and sneezes if any of you have them." Turning on her heeled boot she gave a look towards Nessa, "I'll take these kiddos to the healer if you want to go get some hot chocolate!" They would catch up later for sure!

Now off to the castle!


Alright I'll be driving home from my trip today, so Cassie is now gone from the Willow! Thanks again everyone. If you are going to the healer with her please post here first and then here!

Woot! This had finally come to an end which meant that maybe she could go defrost now. AJ managed to find a big fat nothing when it came to tracks so she had nothing to give the professor. She had helped though, and that still counted. The hospital wing? Was her sister really that sick? She thought for a second about going there not for herself, but to go with her sister for support.

Then she heard that there would be cookies and hot chocolate. Welllll.... Angel was a big girl after all, and the professor was going to so she didn't need AJ to hold her hand. "Bye professor. Sorry about my lack of tracks." The whomping willow was more interesting that track hunting.

"Just playing?" Sophie responded. PSH. More like 'just trying to smash us to a pulp'. Sophie didn't care about the tree being lonely and cold. She cared about herself being tired and cold. She decided not to comment on that, though, as the professor might not find her sarcasm toward the tree as amusing as Sophie did.

The professor, it seemed, had finally decided the weather was too much to bear. Sophie started to ask the professor if she remembered the weather ever being this cold before, but then she remembered this was the professor's first year teaching here. Sophie didn't know where she'd been before now.

Sophie was COLD, but there was hot chocolate in the kitchens! WOOT! She didn't need the Hospital Wing, so she decided to head to the kitchens. "Bye, Professor!" she said, waving over her shoulder as she headed back into the castle.

Arista still had a safe grip on her friend looking down at Penelope she gave a small smile, "No problem." She was happy to help the tree did attack Penlelope because it didn't want the snow on him. Rude tree!! She regretted not getting the opportunity to actually climb that tree with AJ. It sucked! SHE WAS GETTING WHAT??!!! Frostbite was super bad! You could lose fingers and all that stuff! She looked over at the Professor as she too ran over to help Penelope. Okay good they would be going to the Healer good. She let go of Penelope finding confort that she would be going to the Healer.

Looking down at her own fingers, the first year contemplated about going to the Healer as well. Deciding that she just wanted some hot chocoalte she gave Penelope a hug and said "Get warm!!" and looked over at the Professor as well, "Bye Professor thanks for the killer lesson! You get warm to Professor!"And with that Arista quickly made her way indoors.

Yes it was freezing cold and the wind was bitterly cold. The snow? The snow was everywhere. So how cold was it?

It was so cold....that if you had a running nose, it wouldn't be for long. Your snot would just form nosicles or noselactites, hanging freely from your nostrils.

It was so cold...that your tongue stayed locked to the roof of your mouth voluntarily, rather than dare stick out and end up being frozen solid.

It was so cold....that your eyelids preferred to stay closed, allowing you to walk blindly around. They didn't care if you fell. It was your fault for deciding to come outdoors.

So call Cris crazy, because he was now out here on the Hogwarts grounds despite all of the above. He had to, because he was suffering from a very bad case of cabin fever. He was tired of being cooped up in the castle almost every hour of the day, week and month.

He trudged through the snow that almost knee high. Any footprints he made was quickly covered up the falling snow. Cris walked up to the Whomping Willow and looked up at it wondering how it was faring. Was it just sleeping and lying dormant, or were its branches frozen solid, unable to swing around like it usually did?

Cris was curious to find out.

Louis had always felt a little wary of the Whomping Willow since it knocked the books out of his hands early last term, when he was just another Hogwarts newbie trying to figure his way around the castle and the grounds. But despite the bad first encounter, the boy held a secret attraction to the tree. Maybe it was its curious ability to move on its own; maybe it was how beautiful it looked in the winter, when it stood as still and innocent as any other tree. He almost felt tempted to bring a book and sit by its trunk; but he knew that would only lead to a concussion and a trip to the hospital wing.

The Gryffindor watched as a boy who happened to be walking a few steps ahead of him suddenly came to a halt, his head tilting upward to gaze at the tree. Curious, Lou stopped and analyzed the boy for a moment before looking over at the tree. Huh. The Whomping Willow did look unusually still.

“You don’t suppose it’s sick or something, do you?” he asked casually as he stopped beside the other boy, blue eyes fixed on the tree. “I’m Louis, by th—” Lou stopped abruptly as he turned to the boy. Wait a minute. He recognized that face… those features… “Aren’t… aren’t you Sander’s brother?” He furrowed his brow inquisitively. “Cris?”

The crunching sound in the snow alerted Cris to the fact that he was not alone. The lack of animal sounds like a growl or a roar, yes even the clicking sounds of pincers coming to get you, told him that he was safe from being animal bait...for now. So he remained silent, as he continued to look up at the Whomping Willow, squinting through the icy wind and falling snow, trying to see whether he could see any sign of life.

From his peripheral vision, Cris knew that the ice cruncher was now standing next to him. A side glance confirmed his suspicion. It was a human...a boy around his age.

Cris shrugged, "I don't know. This is the first time I've seen it this dormant before. Did it behave like this last winter?" Cris turned to look at the boy.

...then he frowned. Why did this boy look and soundfamiliar? Yes he may have seen him in class or somewhere around the castle, but that wouldn't account for the familiarity in his voice.

Then he noticed the look of recognition in the boy's eyes. The mention of Sander's name, told him all he needed to know. He had met this boy two Christmases ago, as well as last Summber, back home in Norway.

This boy was one of Sander's friends who had come and visit. The boy's question confirmed his suspicions. "Yes I'm Sander's brother. You're one of his friends right. Um....not Adi...Logan...no wait...Louis. You're, Louis Bolton, right. Fancy meeting you here," Cris grinned back at the boy.

"I'm Cris," Cris gestured back at himself before sticking out his hand to shake the boy's.

This icy, frigid, snow-filled virulent winter is beginning to esclate toward blizzard levels with a polar vortex wind chill suddenly sweeping the grounds on top of the already high snow drifts. Brrr! Best get indoors now before the snow covers you to your frostbitten nose! It looks like Hogwarts may already be in the process of being snowed in....

OOC: All grounds threads will shortly be locked in light of this snowpocalypse. You have about 24 hours to finish your RPs and get in the castle!