Football? They were talking about football? Will and Jeremy talked about that game sometimes. It seemed like the only thing the two didn't argue about more often but it was never something she'd actively taken an interest in so the question about dates was obviously ignored. Quite simply, she didn't know. Was it important? How would this help her with Auror Training later on? Important questions that needed answering.

Speaking of questions, there was yet another question on the game--and a mention of Quidditch, sigh, how insentive, some of them still hadn't gotten over it you know. Mostly her but you got the idea. It was a touchy matter, okay???

"11?" Sounded familiar, if not, you could hardly blame her for not knowing. This wasn't her field of expertise. Now ask her something about Quidditch and the facts could start rolling out.

Sadly that would never be the case.

Oh, so the year was 1863. Interesting. Lux knew her answer had been rather vague but she had no idea of the exact year. Good on AJ for being so close to the correct answer on that one.

Another question was asked and this time she knew the answer. Raising her hand she said, "There are eleven people on the field per team."

Football was something Toby knew a little about, having played on his school team for his old school waaaaaay back before he got his Hogwarts letter. That was a good long time ago now, but he could still remember a little about it, and so raised his hand.

"Some teams have eleven people on each team. You can also have little teams too, of like five people, for five-a-side games."

Sports, sports, sports. AJ was so in the zone. She wanted to get up and jump around, do some drills or something. If they were actually going to play she was going to be one happy lion. Her smile was huge as the professor pretty much told her she was right. AJ did know her sports.

Oh, the next question she knew without a doubt. It was no surprise that her boyfriend knew as well. He got a thumbs up. "I agree with Adi, it'd eleven professor."

The Gryffindor was paying attention to class, he really was okay!! It's just he knew most of this stuff since he came from a muggle family.. And for some reason he still found himself attending class... Even though maybe the paying attention thing wasn't going as well as he thought it would. But when Norah began whispering to him, he leaned over near her and nodded a little. "Yeah, hold on," with a small smile, he pulled out his bag from underneath his desk. Rummaging around a little bit until he found one... He pulled out a sharpened pencil and held it out for her. "Found one!"


As for the next question, Zander knew the answer to this one!!! Except, uh, everyone else seemed to know it to. Honestly, Zander was actually excited about this one because his brothers used to watch Football all the time. And even though they wouldn't let him watch with them, he'd sneak around from behind the door and watch between the cracks.

Yet since everyone else also had answers, he chose to keep quiet this time. Not wanting to be repetitive. Next time. He'd get it next time.

Ooooh they were talking about football, this was Kace's type of game. He heard the professor ask about the time football was invented by the lion Angel beat him to it. He nodded and was glad she got it right. How many football players were allowed on the field? He chuckled and knew the answer easily. He raised his hand and said, "Professor I know 11 players are allowed on the field at a time but they also have subs for the players if they get too tired.." he shrugged and waited for the next question.

Had she not been clear they were talking about Football? Josephina frowned at the first student (Zhenya) to reply and simply shook her head. But oh good, others figured out that the the quidditch comparison was only to compare that two teams played, but they were focusing on Football. Because why would they focus on Quidditch in a Muggle Studies class, right? Right.

"Seven each for quidditch, but we're talking about Football, which as many said, eleven per team is correct. A combination of positions called forwards, defenders, midfielders and one goalkeeper."

"Who is the only player permitted to use their hands in Football?" And yes they were going to get started moving around soon because she sensed the restlessness among some of them. She could continue the questions intermediate.

They were gonna keep bringing up Quidditch like that? Like it hadn't been painfully striped away from them leaving them with little joy left in this castle? Perhaps she was being too dramatic. What did it honestly matter? In another month a some weeks she'd be gone forever, then she could watch all the Quidditch matches she wanted and play some scrimmage if she was so inclined. Lex might still be here, but she'd detached herself from the castle months ago. It was a matter of waiting now...

Waiting and answering questions.

This one wasn't so hard. She may not have been a fan but she knew the basics enough to know that the only person allowed to used their hand was "The Keeper, Professor."

Everyone else was limited to their feet. Merlin could you imagine if that's how Quidditch was played too???

Yep...eleven was right. Of course it was. Many sporting teams had eleven members per team excluding substitutes. Cricket was one of them. Maaaaan. He missed playing that. He knew the first thing he was going to do hen he got home that summer.

Oh! Another question Adi knew! "The goalkeeper,'' he answered promptly, his hand up in the air for the fourth time.

Hehe. This lesson was super easy so far. Lux wondered if they would be playing soon because it would be super fun. Since they were in a gym there was a strong possibility and that made her happy.

Raising her hand she answered the next question. "Only the goalkeeper can touch the ball with their hands."

Zhenya was a bit embarrassed that her answer was wrong. She didn't know anything about football though, so even though it was a wild guess, well not so wild, she didn't feel too bad. She had a logical think about who would be able to use their hands in a football match. Obviously it was FOOTball. She raised her hand, "The person protecting the hoops from people scoring?" She didn't know what they did to score; hoops, nets, poles, bars…

So quidditch only allowed you seven players. That was good to know because AJ really hoped to be able to play the sport sometime. It definitely seemed right down her alley. It felt really good to be asked questions that she actually knew the answers to. You could even see the light in her face that showed she was intrigued.

Another easy one for her to answer. AJ waved her hand in the air. "That one's easy. Only the goalie can use their hands." They had to block the balls, and using their hands was one of the main reasons. AJ thought it was really cool when they used their heads.

"Good, yes, only the goalkeeper, the one who prevents the other team from scoring, is allowed to use their hands." Fina nodded at the class. It wasn't as if most of this stuff should have been difficult material to grasp.

"Any great athlete knows that allover body strength is key to success. Even though a Football player resorts to use of mostly the lower body, a good upper body is key to being able to sprint, twist, turn, and many other actions without injury."

She paused as she walked over to the front corner where there was a camouflaged tarp, which had blended in with the gymnasium floor. Removing the tarp, hundreds of water balloons were revealed.

"We're first going to warm up with some enchanted water balloons. Your objective is to bust them against the wall within the rectangular goal area that I've drawn for you."

She paused, smiling. "But here's the twist. You have to catch them first, which they're not easy to do. You can use your hands to catch them and throw them, or your feet to simply kick them at the wall. However, bewarned, if one busts on you, it will momentarily freeze you."

Professor Nairne gazed around the room. "Any questions before we get started?"

Okay... it was official, this class just got ten times more exciting. It wasn't actual football, but water balloons were super cool and fun too. AJ hung on to her every word, and looked around. AWESOME. This was going to be amazing. It was hard to sit through the explanation because she was ready to catch, kick, and throw some water balloons.

Questions? Nope, she didn't have any. Welll... there was one thing that popped into her mind. "Will there be a winner?" Because AJ loved to win and there was nothing like some competition to really light a fire under her.

Would they start PLAYING soon? Toby was itching to start moving around, which was probably clear in the way he was fidgeting around on his mat and everything. He didn't answer that last question, as a bunch of people already had and these were the sort of 'one right right answer' questions, and repeating it all seemed a bit redundant.

Toby watched the professor and listened closely as she explained the activity, grinning to himself as the details were revealed. This seemed the sort of thing that was right down his street. Catching and throwing? Athletic stuff? Awesome.

This Hufflepuff had no questions, and so shook his head, his knees bouncing even more now. He was READY.

Activity time! Oh goody!

Adi watched as his Head of House revealed loads of water balloons from under a tarp. Then she started to explain what they had to do. Adi listened then came to a conclusion that it wasn't going to be a bad activity at all. He had a pretty good aim.

He was thinking just that when Nairne announced the twist. There always had to be a twist. Hehe. They would freeze you? O_O Okaaaay, that sounded fun still! So, he had no questions but Adi was ready to get started with the warming up.

This sounded pretty simple, yes, for the most part but if there was anything else, she would let the next guy ask because she had her own question that was pressing but not particularly important. No such thing as a dumb question though, remember?

"How come we're using enchanted water balloons in Muggle Studies?" This was a no magic zone last time she'd been told off about it.

Juuuuust curious.

Zhenya's eyes were wide. Freeze… them…? Her heart started racing. No, nope, sorry, she couldn't be frozen again. She closed her mind and practiced her deep breathing exercises, trying her hardest not to start hyperventilating. Maybe she would just have to say she felt ill and sit out. Yes, that would work. Perhaps she could just watch and enjoy her classmates having fun being frozen for a game. Not for serious. Like she was…

ACTIVITY TIME!!

Lux was so up for this and couldn't wait to get started. Hopefully the next part of the lesson would involve them playing football, but even just playing with the ball a little would be good enough for her. She loved muggle sports like she loved Quidditch and there was the advantage of not leaving the ground in order to play them - unlike Quidditch.

Any questions? Well, she was wondering why FREEZING would be involved in Muggle Studies but Alex beat her to it. Seriously though it was a little odd when generally the only magic Professor Hadley let them use was Aguamenti.

"For this part, no, because this first part is simply a warmup to just get you guys moving, to avoid injuries....." But as for the next part .... well, this warmup might just pay off for the next part.

Ah of course someone would ask that. "Good question and really because there was no other way i could think of to make it more interesting than without enchanting them. Besides, its muggle studies, from a wizarding perspective." So yes she had them using pencils instead of quills, and doing long labor drills, but she's also allowed them magic at times too.

"One more thing, the freezing thing? if you get hit? Shouldn't last more than a minute." She paused and waited to see for more questions before, "Alright then, let's get started!" at the professor's command the water balloons didn't wait to be picked up or kicked but they flew up from the ground - they started whizzing around the gymnasium for a few moments before suddenly starting to attack the students.

Zhenya was just about to go up to Professor Nairne and tell her she couldn't do it, and if she had to, she was going to tell her why, but the balls flew up!

OHMYGOSH!

Zhenya froze like a deer in headlights and instinctively grabbed one as it flew towards her. Thinking it was going to freeze her for six more years she gasped loudly and threw it away from her. It burst on the ground.

Oops...

Adi had to shake his head at AJ's question. Really...she was so competitive. It was one of the things he liked about her. Anyway...so approximately one minute of freezing, minus a few seconds? Alrightey then.

Annnnnnd the balloons were up and heading for them all. Run for cover! Hehe. Just kidding. Eeeep! Incoming! One was already particularly close to him...zooming for his face. Instinctively, Adi ducked. He was safe but he was mentally kicking himself for not attempting to catch it.

Ah well. There would be plenty more opportunities.

Oh, so there were some magical allowances. Fair enough. The added challenge was welcome even though she wasn't keen on being momentarily frozen. Lux was up to catching water balloons and sending them towards the wall. Games were awesome.

...

It wasn't so awesome when the balloons were suddenly in the air and attacking her. A little aggression was all well and good but if one broke while hitting her she'd be an ice cube. Meh. Mentally shrugging it off, she reached out to grab one of the water balloons as it moved towards her.

AHA!

Pleased with herself, Lux tossed it towards the section of the wall that had been marked off as the goal area. "SCOOOOORE!" Hehehe.

The professor said there wouldn't be any winners for this part which pretty much meant that there WOULD be a winner later on, and that was good enough for her. There was another question that AJ didn't even pay any attention to because water balloons and champions were playing in her head.

Then without warning the water balloons were up and ready for action. AJ was on her feet in .5 seconds. It was game on. They were zooming right an left and one was coming right for her face. Not today, water balloon. AJ was able to catch it, and she threw it straight for the wall.

Contact was made and the feeling of victory washed over her. This was so much fun. AJ had her eyes wide open awaiting another opportunity to kick some water balloon butt.

SPOILER!!: professor

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

"For this part, no, because this first part is simply a warmup to just get you guys moving, to avoid injuries....." But as for the next part .... well, this warmup might just pay off for the next part.



Ah of course someone would ask that. "Good question and really because there was no other way i could think of to make it more interesting than without enchanting them. Besides, its muggle studies, from a wizarding perspective." So yes she had them using pencils instead of quills, and doing long labor drills, but she's also allowed them magic at times too.

"One more thing, the freezing thing? if you get hit? Shouldn't last more than a minute." She paused and waited to see for more questions before, "Alright then, let's get started!" at the professor's command the water balloons didn't wait to be picked up or kicked but they flew up from the ground - they started whizzing around the gymnasium for a few moments before suddenly starting to attack the students.

Activity time! This was going to be fun. Wait, water balloons? Enchanted water balloons? Like, throwing water balloons around? This was NOT her idea of fun. Maybe there was a way that she could avoid being hit, like hiding in the corner.

The water balloons started to move. No, no, no, no, no! Penelope was afraid of things flying around like that, especially things that could hit her. Was it too late to get out? She really did not want to do this. "Professor, I-" Suddenly one of the water balloons was coming towards her. "Get it away from me!" This could turn out to be worse than astronomy class. It probably couldn't be worse than that activity where they had been in the bubbles, but this might be just as scary. Professor Flamsteed and Jasmine had rescued her that time.

She was in full panic mode now. Water balloons were attacking her. Swatting at a balloon that was coming for her face, she continued to scream, "Get them away from me!" until one of the water balloons burst on her.