So then it was more a coincidence, huh? Sounded about right. Lex never stayed one place for too long in the castle, for the reason that she got bored easily these days. Hardly anything to do when all but two of your friends had graduated and one of the remaining two was mostly MIA. "We'll see what we can do." She said with a nod. Had to fix this problem of not running into each other often.

At the other Gryffindor's asking, Lex might have checked her harness but one, Adi was running this part and two, Kace had stepped up to do it. "Make sure it's nice and tight, though she'll live if she falls." And falling was half the fun so......

"Hey Professor." She'd have invited him to join but he was surrounded by little people who's company she didn't particularly fancy. They were okay but she didn't much feel like interacting with 4 year olds at the moment. "Alright guys let's get climbing." She said to her company. They'd been waiting around long enough.



Not waiting for their go ahead, Lex reached for the first protrusion on the rock but stopped at the calling of her name. Heeeeey, Zeke was climbing too. She could have honestly told him she wasn't manning this station and was in fact skipping out on her own by being here but then it wouldn't have killed her to make sure he was strapped nice enough to live to take over the world.

"Sure thing." Lex left the wall, pulling a harness over to the Firstie as she did. "Lemme know if this feel tight." And with that she tugged hard after a few loops and such.

It FELT like it was done well enough but then she wasn't the one wearing it.

Kace chuckled and saw the professor trying to get it on. "There ya go Professor" he called out and found it amusing. He was obviously supporting his favorite professor. "Have you been rock climbing before?" he asked curiously.



Kace nodded at Alexa's instructions and made sure it was nice and tight. Once he doubled checked Puck's and his harness they were set to go. "Alright we are set to go." he smiled and faced the wall. He put his right hand on the grooves and his right foot at the ready. "Alright on the count of three...ONE...TWO.....THREE!!" he said and began climbing.

Adi laughed as Kace gestured to the Head Girl and her friend. "I bet you'll get a good thrashing,'' he said with a wink. "But good luck, never the less, bro.'' Cue a thumbs up for the fellow Hufflepuff.

He turned to survey the great lot of people hovering around the rock. So far no trouble. Goody. And there were more arriving too. Like the guy bestie. He was there without the girlfriend which was surprising. "Heeey, Benny. Come to test those Beater arms out?'' Oh look! Another dude (Andrew). "Hey, you! Er, you gonna try out the climbing?'' His outfit didn't exactly scream I WANNA GO ROCK CLIMBING or anything but then again so didn't Airey's. Anyway, the boy held out a harness out to each of the two. "Come on. Give it a shot.''

Speaking of the Astronaut...oh he needed help. That would explain why he was waving the thing in Adi's face. But his buddy Kace was already helping the man out. Alrightey. He could turn his attention to the others for now. But we're keeping an eye on you Professor. Just in case you get all tangled up. Literally. Hehe.

"Hey, Zeke! Hey, you Arithmancy girl.'' Adi grinned at the girl (Hady) whom he'd helped out during that class. "Wanna have a go?'' He was ready to help her out with the harness.

Standing back and watching all the action he was glad so many people were having fun. Lux was also offering her help… d'awwwww she's so cute. and Kace his bro from another mo' "dude i'd totally beat you, and I would bet galleons on it" he winked at his best mate while seeing more and more people come.

He was glad to see the head girl so of course she got his awesome head nod as she was already talking with someone else. and Benny! he was here "hey dude! let me know if you want some help, or if you want me to spot you or anything" that kid was always nice to him.

Adi…. did he seriously think that he was going to beat him.. throwing his hands in the air… "alright, i'll take you and Kace on at the same time… and i'll beat both of you" he laughed with an evil grin, oh yeah he would win alright…..

Andrew DEFINITELY hadn't planned on getting on the wall, but with Adi's friendly demeanor made his open invitation to grab a harness and join in the fun was a little too tempting. Whether he was considering actually doing it or not was of little consequence. Rather than just letting him awkwardly hold the harness out, he reached out and accepted it.

Holding it out in front of him, Andrew considered just throwing it on and going for it, but he figured he'd wait for Lux and this other fellow who's name he didn't know - Wait a minute. He didn't know his name! He'd seen him around before, but they'd never really talked.

"Andrew." He smiled, throwing a hand out for Adi to shake. "Andrew LaCroix."

Their introduction would have been altogether pleasant had it not been for a painful memory stabbing its way into his mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he spied a hint of someone he recognized. Yes, there was no doubt about it. It was Justine alright. He knew they'd have to deal with their problems one of these days, but for now.. it was easier to just avoid them.

Not that anything about their situation was truly easy.

Beater arms?

"I suppose so..." he mused with a soft chuckle, tentatively accepting the offered harness from is friend. Not that he had played in a year and a half which he still sort of missed despite having only played for a year before that. Benny watched as others prepared to go up, the fourth year taking another closer look at the rock climb. Speaking of quidditch, it seemed an oddity to have assistance on something not too far up when none was used when playing the flying sport.

Were they waiting for others to go first.

He was still fairly certain that he was NOT wearing this gear correctly, despite what Mr. Lecium was saying, but in the end he was sure it did not really matter. They had the wall and surrounding area all charmed, right? Not like he would be in any peril if he were to fall.

"Good day, Mr. Zeke!" Airey saluted the first year. "I watched the gobstones match. Absolutely STELLAR performance! If you and Mr. Atreyu play like that next match, I don't see how we can't win the Gobstones Cup!"

Saluting to the seventh year as she approached, he couldn't help but ask her the burning question that had been left lingering in the back of his mind. "Hello, Miss Janvier," he saluted, definitely picking up on the change in accent. Must just be adjusting to things here. "I trust you enjoyed your purely scientific inquiry in the Observatory the other day?" STARE.

Miss Lynch received a salute as well. Lovely to see so many students out and about looking to burn off some of that excess energy. Like himself. Thank Merlin they were not snowed in again this term! "Don't just stand there waiting for the plasma to cool. Grab some gear and wrestle with putting it on!"

And thank you Miss Cooper and Mr. Scabior, for reminding him that he had thrown students in closest and threatened to toss them out the windows as well. And let's not even get started with the laboratory, okay? Still, when he thought back on that dream -like state he had found himself in for...however long it had been...he felt nothing but warm fuzzies. Wouldn't mind going through it all again...it was quite the rush!

"No no, nothing of the sort," he chuckled. "Just a little belated birthday present of sorts. Seeing as my alter ego saw fit to dispose of my wardrobe." And he hadn't exactly been himself on his birthday either. "Making fun of your professor is....bad form," he winked.

And then he was struck with an idea.

"Are you aware of the muggle fad of planking, Mr. Scabior? It was quite popular in the 1990's and early 2000's." If not, well, he was about to be given a lesson and a challenge to be accepted. First person to the top of the wall and planks there wins?

Oh yes, he thought so. It was ON like DONKEY KONG! Did students these days even know who that was?

And Miss Cambridge could be the judge! Which reminded him.

"Miss Cambridge, have you recovered your wand yet?" Or will she be needed to check his out again? He was growing more and more anxious lending out his wand. A wizard's wand was an extension of themselves, after all. But she needed to perform her studies and couldn't do so without a wand. Life was hard.

Eden was SO READY TO CLIMB. She was EXCITED and she just..UGH. She was a little bouncy and stuff, hehe. There were LOTS of people in line already--but that was okay! She could wait. She had done the Hippogriff riding--THAT HAD BEEN A BLAST.

Rocking climbing was new. Eden had done SOME climbing in her life--but just on the roof of her house. Never this high--and never on a ROCK. So..this would be interesting, for sure. HMPH. Professor Pirate man was here-Eden SOOOOO did not trust the guy, NOPE. She almost hoped he didn't even see her--WHAT IF HE WENT ON A STUFFING STUDENTS IN CLOSETS SPREE AGAIN, EH? No. Eden would NOT be stuffed in a closet today.

So she tried to wait quietly. And patiently. And stuff. Nope. NO ATTENTION HERE.

It seemed that she could stay and watch, so that made Lux happy. Maybe if she was brave enough, she would try to climb but she wasn't too sure of it yet. "Maybe I can, but I don't think I could win that race." She gave Adi a smile. It really did suck to be terrified of heights, but if nothing else she could watch the boys race.

More people were arriving, and Lux sent Andrew and Justine waves. "Hey, guys!" It was always nice to see her friends. And look there was a normal Flamsteed. "Hello, Professor!"

Everyone was going to climb the rock wall and maybe she would too. "Bay, will you climb with me?" Because the only way this was going to happen was if he did it with her.

Justine smirked as the Professor saluted her, taking in the man's attire. "Nice to see you back in the proper uniform," And not wearing a ridiculous hat or a hook for a hand, and not locking up students in closets, and not shouting, especially not the sho-

Oh, right, the Observatory, the thing with Peeves and Connor; that little close encounter had slipped her mind. Wait, she knew that stare; it was the stare of trying to get someone to fess something up. Haha, silly Professor, Justine didn't fess up to anything. Especially when there was nothing to fess up to, because she had nooot been snogging Jones... Though... Truthfully it probably would have happened had the poltergeist not interrupted their weird moment. "Yes, of course I did, you're very kind to ask," Hair flip.

That's the boyfriend, right? Jus mouthed to Lux, pointing to Bay (something her mother would have ripped her to shreds for, pointing wasn't lady-like) he was cute, not her type, but definitely cute and he matched Lux. Maybe later, she would introduce herself.

Quote:

Adi laughed as Kace gestured to the Head Girl and her friend. "I bet you'll get a good thrashing,'' he said with a wink. "But good luck, never the less, bro.'' Cue a thumbs up for the fellow Hufflepuff.

He turned to survey the great lot of people hovering around the rock. So far no trouble. Goody. And there were more arriving too. Like the guy bestie. He was there without the girlfriend which was surprising. "Heeey, Benny. Come to test those Beater arms out?'' Oh look! Another dude (Andrew). "Hey, you! Er, you gonna try out the climbing?'' His outfit didn't exactly scream I WANNA GO ROCK CLIMBING or anything but then again so didn't Airey's. Anyway, the boy held out a harness out to each of the two. "Come on. Give it a shot.''

Speaking of the Astronaut...oh he needed help. That would explain why he was waving the thing in Adi's face. But his buddy Kace was already helping the man out. Alrightey. He could turn his attention to the others for now. But we're keeping an eye on you Professor. Just in case you get all tangled up. Literally. Hehe.

"Hey, Zeke! Hey, you Arithmancy girl.'' Adi grinned at the girl (Hady) whom he'd helped out during that class. "Wanna have a go?'' He was ready to help her out with the harness.

Spotting Adi's grin Hadleigh grinned back nodding her head. She remembered him well from classes and the fact that he'd helped her out in Arithmancy when she had been having trouble. "Sure I'll give it a try." She agreed without a moments hesitation. Hady didn't want to appear scared or anything and well she wasn't. She was almost never afraid of anything and always willing to try her hand at something she didn't know. Plus that's what she'd come over here for anyway.

Walking over to stand beside him she waited to be shown how to put everything on cause that was one thing the small girl really wasn't sure on how to do. The climbing thing she'd worry about in a few moments.

HE COULD CLIMB! AND HE WOULD CLIMB! AND LEX WAS HERE!... this was just all sorts of awesome. Seriously.

"Thanks!" he beamed, eyeing the harness as it went on. Tight, it felt tight. "Is tight a good thing?" It wasn't cutting off his circulation or anything, but it was hardly comfortable. Booooooo... though he supposed plummeting to his death wasn't an option, he still had too much to achieve in this life.



And looooook, it was Adi! "Hey man!" he greeted with a small wave. And oohhh Hady was here too! He didn't know she climbed. Heh.



Professor Airey was all sorts of cool, he was the ONLY Professor to salute him back. The ONLY one! And on top of that he was super nice and supportive and had epic fun lessons with destroying planets and asteroids and food fights. Need he say more?

"I know, I heard you cheering," he beamed. Cause you know, cheering was cool and appreciated. "And don't you worry Professor, the Cup is ours!" He'd make sure of it. "We'll take out BOTH of them, you'll see... I'll even pretend to see it happen in Divination, cause it's bound to come true!"

A boy could dream, could he not?

Kace chuckled and gave him a two thumbs up as well. "You too dude. I shall race ya afterwards!" he called out and began climbing. "I'll come over to your side and see what you're made of." he winked but he always loved competition with his friends.



Kace raised his eyebrows and did he hear right? He would bet galleons on it? He better put his money where his mouth is. "You are soo on!" he smiled and asked, "How much you got to bet?" I mean he was being serious but Kace didn't have too much money on him. "Have you seen Emmy?" he asked his bro.

Did Bay seriously think that Adi would be intimidated by his grin? Nope. "You're on! You and Kace could both loose in front of your girlfriends.'' He grinned at Lux. "Prepare to see Bay go down, Lux.'' If Adi lost...well AJ wasn't around so he didn't have to worry about anything. "Sure thing, Kace!'' He watched his friend start to climb. This was an advantage as he could get to see how good or bad the guy was.

Formal guy, wasn't he? At least he accepted the harness. Adi reached out to shake Andrew's hand. "Aditya Rehman but call me Adi like everyone else. It's great to meet you, dude. Do you need help with that?'' He pointed at the harness. But somehow he thought this guy didn't need the help...

Benny accepted his harness too. Awesome! Adi was so pleased that people were excited about the rock climbing. "Need help with that, Dragon? Where's your girlfriend, by the way?'' And his. He hadn't seen those two sisters as yet but he had figured they were over by another of the activites. "You can go on up whenever you're ready.'' If he didn't need help, that is.

Professor Airey still seemed uncertain about his harness. "Hey, Professor.'' Adi stepped up beside the Astronaut. "After you've put each of your foot in the loops, make sure the waist belt is above your hips then tug on the straps to tighten it about the waist then you can do the same for the leg straps.'' And you were good to go. Adi took a deep breath, having said all of that in one go. "Make sure it's tight enough.'' Oh yeah..."Do you want a demonstration, Professor?'' Just in case he had said that all toooo fast. One of those would be better rather than actually helping the man with his own harness. In his head, Adi thought that would be an awkward thing. Hehe.

Adi grinned at Hady. "Awesome! Here, step into the loops. One foot in each...'' He repeated what he had told Airey, occasionally checking to make sure Hady had tightened the straps properly. "There! You're all set. You're comfortable, right? It isn't too tight or anything?''

Andrew's inquisitive face morphed into a sincere smile as he shook Adi's hand. He loved meeting new people, especially people as seemingly nice as this boy was. "Aditya, what a wonderful name! An exotic name. An exciting name! he beamed with a chuckle. "But if you insist, I'll conform to 'Adi'." he added with a grin. "It's great to meet you too, Adi."

After examining the harness he'd just accepted, and giving Lux a wave in greeting, he shook his head at Adi's offer to help him. "No thanks, this looks pretty straightforward." he smiled, turning the harness around in his hands. Whether he planned on climbing or not - and let's face it, it was unavoidable at this point - he'd have to put the harness on, if only to show that he could figure it out. Running one leg through what he presumed to be the correct loop, and the other leg through its neighbor, he tugged up on the harness and fastened the waist belt above his hips. There. Step one complete. Now he just needed to figure out steps 2 through 400 and he'd be ready to go.

Through his constant absent-mindedness, he'd somehow managed to overlook the fact that Professor Airey was even around. He usually made it a point to fraternize with the faculty outside school hours as much as opportunity allowed, but this time he just hadn't noticed the teacher's presence. So call him a teacher's pet, he still had to say 'Hi', lest he be required to give up his figurative Ravenclaw membership card.

"Evening, professor." he smiled and gave him a courteous bow of the head, still not quite having figured out the ridiculous harness strapped firmly to his lower body.

Finding a sticky thingy with vague directions on your forehead upon waking up was not ideal, especially when there were like three million and one big rocks around. That object over there on the ground? Was a ROCK that could be categorized as BIG. What Maddie and Kyroh were in front of? Was a WALL.

Dima, after rounding up a bit of common sense (something quite difficult to find in his head), managed to locate them. He was a little perplexed as to why they hadn't just woken him up and dragged him along too, but he tried not to dwell on it. Perhaps they had just wanted to be alone...? Was that going to be... happening........ more often now?

"Why are you trying to make Maddie scream?" he inquired, segueing over to where Kyroh was pinching at her arm. "And why are you in a suit, sir? You might rip your pants!

Maybe his undies would have Uranus on them.

Quote:

And looooook, it was Adi! "Hey man!" he greeted with a small wave. And oohhh Hady was here too! He didn't know she climbed. Heh.

Quote:

Adi grinned at Hady. "Awesome! Here, step into the loops. One foot in each...'' He repeated what he had told Airey, occasionally checking to make sure Hady had tightened the straps properly. "There! You're all set. You're comfortable, right? It isn't too tight or anything?''

Hady waved at Zeke when she noticed him standing there giving him a friendly smile as well. "Hey! Have you ever tried climbing one of these before?" She asked him curiously wondering if he was as new to this as she was or if he knew what to do. From what she could tell most of them were first timers for the rock climb which was really cool. Everyone learning and having a good time together.

Hady shifted her attention to Adi when he came over and began explaining to her what to do. She listened very carefully following his instructions to the tee. There was no way she'd goof this up and get herself seriously hurt or something..it's probably get Adi into trouble if something happened to her as well. That wouldn't be fair if she was the one not listening. Pulling at the straps until they were nice and tight where they should be she nodded her head when asked if she was comfortable. "Yeah it's tight but not tight where it's hurting me or anything." She assured him with a grin.

Now that she was all ready she was going to wait her turn (since there's several others ready as well). Maybe someone would want to climb up with her or even race again her. Either way she wouldn't mind it.

Rock climbing sounded like a great time, and considering her boyfriend was in charge of this little activity it would be that much better. AJ practically ran all the way to the grounds and stopped short when she saw the hugeness that was the rock wall. "Wicked." This was beyond her imagination.

There were several people there already, and that meant that AJ would have to wait. Bummer. She wasn't the best when it came to patience. Airey was there and he seemed to be having a bit of difficulties. "Hey, professor." He would be fun to watch while she waited her turn. Her eyes scanned the crowd and landed on Benny. "Hey Benny, wanna race?" AJ would totally smoke him.

Then her eyes found the person she was most looking forward to see, her boyfriend Adi "Hiiiii." Could he tell that she was super pumped for this little activity? "I don't need a harness." Those were for wimps. Ready, she was SOOO ready.

Did Kyroh REALLY just PINCH her arm? Maddie STARED, sort of amused. Pinches weren't enough to make her scream, Kyroh. She wasn't a WIMP. "So HE can do a better impression of my scream next time he's impersonating me, I guess." That information was directed at Dima as the thriteen year old swatted Freckles' hand away and then gave him (freckle boy) a pinch on his nose. Little pinch. Payback, obviously. "And looks like your face!note worked, Kyroh." 'Cause Dima was here. Maddie inspected his face for any sign of marker and was sort of disappointed when she found none. Seemed like a missed opportunity to HER.

"Seems Professor Flamsteed is back to his old self, Dima. That means lots of suits, m'guessing. You're a snappy dresser, 'fessor. Must be in good with the headmistress." Or maybe not given the classroom debacle but STILL. Maybe Maddie should step up her game so she could catch the red head's attention.

"We should race," The second year announced when she'd finally gotten the harness thing fastened. She was feeling competitive today.

Adi grinned at Andrew. "Thank you. Actually I should thank my parents for the colourful name.'' Obviously. "Yep, Adi's better since some persons tend to mispronounce my full name or in the case of some, they can't pronounce it at all. I mean they don't even come close to getting it right.'' LOL. The perks of having an unusual name. But it wasn't unusual given his heritage. Andrew seemed to be getting through with the harness. Awesome! "You can head on up when you're ready, Andrew." Adi was unsure if he had mentioned that before. Heh.

"Alright, Hady. It looks like you're all set to go.'' The Puffer gave her harness one last check. "Yep, you're good.'' Of course she wouldn't be harmed anyway, if something was to go wrong. But he'd prefer she avoided any heart stopping moments. "If you feel the harness coming undone or anything, just let me know.''

Oh, haaaai, girlfriend. Didn't she look all excited and full of energy? Adi raised an eyebrow. He had pretty much expected her to say those exact words the moment she got there. "So sorry to disappoint you but you have to.'' Emphasis on the 'have to'. He shoved a harness towards her. "Need any help with that?'' He was going to be strict here. Or try to be. Hehe.

Ben looked down again at the harness in his hands and watching the others in front of them with theirs before answering his friend. "I...don't think so." It didn't seem too hard to manage on his own. As for Angel, the Gryffindor could only shrug. Surely she had seen the notice and with her near-boundless energy and curiousity to be interested in what the event could have to offer.

Her sister had decided to join things.

"Hey," he returned, raising a curious eyebrow at her challenge. "Sure...your on," the fourth year eventually said giving in. Ben could do this...and harnesses were not optional. He manuevered himself into his own to wait for AJ to deal with her own. Then he was ready at the bottom of the rock tower to begin said race.

"Oh, it doesn't sound THAT difficult." Andrew teasingly scoffed, clearing his throat. "Adidya- Aditya Rehman" he stammered and gave a smile, rather proud of his pronunciation, though he was certain Adi would find some flaw in the way he rolled the 'R' or something to that order. "How'd I do?" he asked, still struggling a little with bringing the harness over his shoulders. Did Adi give him the first-year model or something? Did he really look that young?

The seventeen-year-old Ravenclaw was certainly far too tall to be mistaken for an 11-year-old, and though he was tastefully thin, he was also rather broad shouldered. That would perhaps explain the tight squeeze. "Is there some way to adjust this thing? I can't seem to get these straps over my shoulders..." he had to ask, rather embarrassed that he couldn't just figure it out by himself. Darn it.

He was TOTALLY going to nail this thing!! James walked up to the rock wall and stared up at it. His eyes widened slightly and it seemed to keep going up...and up. Why did this seem so much smaller sitting on that lovely blanket over there. He eyed some of the smaller kids who were going up and shrugged. If they could do it he certainly could that was for sure.

They were wearing harnesses? Where could he get one? He searched around and found one but stared at it oddly. How do these even work? "Um....anyone know what in Merlin's Beard you do with these things?" Someone would show him surely. He wanted to get his climbing on!

Have to? Why did she HAVE to? It wasn't like AJ was a normal girl. She would be able to do this in her sleep. Leave it to her boyfriend to be so by the rules. That came with being a prefect she assumed. "I forgot you are the rules police," she teased. AJ took the harness that was practically shoved at her. Help, that was a good one. "I think I can manage," she said while flashing him a huge smile.

YAY, Benny was game. "You're going down." Sweet AJ was gone, and competitive AJ was here. "On the count of three." She didn't wanna hear any whining about cheating once she won. Of course Benny really wasn't that type. The lion messed with her harness and got herself all situated. Benny looked like he was good to go as well.

One..." Her eyes were locked on Benny. "Two... THREE!!!" Without hesitation AJ shot up, and started climbing like she would get a medal for it.

Wait...what? His LEGS went through the straps now? Hadn't he just been informed that his arms were supposed to go through it? Sweet solstice strapping on an astronomer's suit was less complicated than all this. "Oh, er, right then. Thank you, Mr. Rehman," he saluted the prefect. See, students, teaching was not as easy as it looked. Precise language and attention to detail was a must. As were labels. Which would have been nice to have on this particular device. Something that said 'this way up'.

Turning his gear upside down AGAIN, he spotted Miss McGee and threw her a doofy smile before noticing that she was giving him....looks. Right then. Ravenclaws. Peculiar bunch. "Good day, Miss Carrington," he greeted the young Hufflepuff before turning to another student who greeted him. "Hello, Miss Valentine."

"New...shampoo or something, Miss Janvier?" he asked after the hair flip. He had seen such maneuvers on the muggle telebox, typically followed by said hair flipping individual declaring that they were worth it. He words, while in line with Mr. Jones, still made him feel suspicious. Maybe it was the whole hair flipping thing. It was a confusing gesture.

Chuckling at Mr. Zeke's words, and spot on sense of humor, the astronomer stepped into his rock climbing gear and finally got himself situated properly in it. Hopefully. Again, if things were not entirely correct there would be no real damage due to the spellwork on the wall and surrounding ground. "I like that spark, Mr. Zeke. Just the sort to trigger that necessary hydrogen fushion in the massive protostar that is Gryffindor House." Because no, he did not believe that the house had reached its full potential just yet.

There. Yes. That should do it. Now to actually get on to the wall...

"Hello, Mr. LaCroix," he said to the Ravenclaw as he began to make his way towards the wall and reached out for one of the...what were those protruding bits called? He quite disliked the word 'thing'. Was rather vague. "Ever done this sort of thing before?"

Oh THERE was Mr. Toussaint. "Is that an inquiry as to why I am no longer dressed as Captain Hooksteed?" he asked, right eyebrow only raised in the boy's direction. Quite the catchy nickname he had picked up from that little adventure. And then he was trying not to choke on air with what Miss Cooper had said. Him? Be in good with the Headmistress? How incredibly unlikely. Especially after the woman had caught him immediately after Miss Cambridge had released him from the closet in his laboratory. "That's...uh....kind of you to think so, Miss Cooper," he said with a very slow nod of the head while tightening his lips into a flat smile.

"You wear it, Mr. Rodemiere," Airey instructed and an extremely unhelpful manner. "Don't be discouraged by it. Took me a good solid ten minutes before I got it on properly. Big hint being that your legs go through those open bits there and not your arms."

DID MISS COOPER JUST SAY A RACE?! Why...he thought no one would ask!

"CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, MISS COOPER!" he announced, marching back over to the wall and gripping two of the holds (was that what they were called????). "Ready? Set? GO!"

And if they weren't ready, well, then they better get ready fast because he was already on his way up up UP!