But whyyyyy? She could totally understand it being a choking hazard if they were infants, but you had to be eleven to go to this school. And if by that age you can't nom a chocolate frog without choking then, well... maybe you deserved to choke. Okay that was a little harsh, and she didn't mean it. Really what she was getting at was that it was a stupid rule, but she obviously wasn't getting anywhere with Dakest. AJ sighed. "Yes, sir." Breakfast meant morning time and AJ was not an early riser. It was a super hard task just getting her to class on time so breakfast didn't always happen.

As the professor explained chocolate and its relation to happiness she still felt like her point was better, but what could you do? "When I'm out in the read world I'll just make sure to always have chocolate in my pocket." Yup, that was what she took from that little message. In case of a dementor attack... use patronus charm. If that doesn't work you nom chocolate and try again. Got it. Adi piped up and offered her half of a chocolate frog. What was she going to do with half of one? "Give me a whole one, and you got yourself a deal," she said as if she was really in the position to argue. Her boyfriend was always coming through for her. The way to this girls heart was through her stomach.

Ohhhh.... they were moving on to the super fun maze looking thing. Now THIS was what she was talking about. Fun, this was going to be SO much fun. AJ nearly drooled as he talked about what they would be faced with. Her heart was already pumping. It was a shame that wouldn't be faced with real dementors, but she would take. Best defense class ever! There was no way she wasn't going to try out the maze. Those that stayed behind to work on that spell was major lamesauce.

AJ headed off in the direction of the maze, and entered into it. She didn't wait to be paired off. She didn't need anybody to hold her hand. If anything she was really interested in seeing if she could hold her own in a real life situation. You know IF she managed to stumble on some dark evil thing in her every day life.

Man, it was dark. "Lumos." Now with a bit of light she walked around while being alert. Something could always pop out at you. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. AJ crept along and almost stumbled over a rock. How embarrassing would that have been? AJ Valentine was taken out by a rock. She could see the newspaper headlines now.

Creeping along...

Where were the scary things? Were there some left over for her?

He relaxed just a little bit when Adi said there was nothing to be nervous about. No there wasn't....the professor said all they had to do was get some silver out, right?? Okay, and he had a prefect to protect him if nothing else! "Awww, you haven't?" he asked his eyes wide. But he was a prefect! He smiled and high fived him. "I want to be able to do one, I think they're so cool! My mum and dad both have patronuses and I want one too."

He swallowed and made sure his wand was firmly in hand and nodded "Ready." he said and nodded again. Okay, so let's do this! His eyes stayed open and focused on the task at hand. He followed Adi, hopping over the rocks and dodging the big boulder. Pushing aside a bush he was about to take a step and gasped pointing "There!" he whispered his eyes wide and pointed his wand at the dark shadowy figure.

He made the circular movement with his wand thinking hard on when the sorting hat had declared 'Hufflepuff' at the same moment Adi did and said "Expecto Patronum!" NO! He shook his wand when nothing appeared. Not even the poof of silver this time. His shoulders dropped as he eyed his wand. "But...." He looked up "Well done" he said trying to smile. "It...didn't work..."

Wait.

There were...LETHIFOLDS in there?

Caleb froze. Lethifolds TERRIFIED him. They were his boggart for a reason - even though the chances of him actually encountering one were slim to none, just the IDEA of them was enough to make the prefect lose all his nerve and crawl back into his snake cave.

After a few moments of hesitation, he reminded himself that NO...it wasn't REAL. If he DID run into the lethifold in there, it wasn't going to actually harm him. It wasn't going to smother him in his sleep as he helplessly watched on, the air being sucked out of him. It was all fake. Professor Dakest would not let anything happen to them...right?!

First things first, he'd practice a bit. That way he had a chance to let his nerves relax a bit and make sure he was really ready to go before heading into THE DARKNESS.

A good memory to use would be...hmmm..probably DEFINITELY the day he got the letter asking him to be prefect. That was by far one of his happiest memories, besides getting Baldwin. That would be his backup. He cleared his throat, pictured the letter and the excitement he felt first grabbing the badge out of the envelope...

"Expecto Patronum!" he cried, and a big puff of white mist came out of his wand. It started to shape itself into his patronus, making the shape of a canine like figure...before puffing away. Not bad for his first go at it in months, though.

Creeping along with her lit wand, AJ wondered when it was going to get real. This was like the creepy part of the haunted houses for Halloween... you know the part where you haven't been hit by anything scary, but you know something is coming. It was the knowing that made her heart rate increase. When was it going to happen? At this point she wished something, anything would pop out so she could get this uneasy feeling to go away. Her eyes searched high and low, and still she saw nothing. Was this a trick?

Moving on she spotted some water and went over and splashed in it like a two year old. Well, this was the most exciting thing that had happened to her so far. Where was all the danger, Dakest?

It was as if the dementor read her mind because at the very moment that thought crossed her mind, a dementor popped out of nowhere. Oh, cool. AJ kind of stared at it in amazement for a little bit. Did the real thing look exactly like this too? Focus. She needed to do a spell.

"Expecto Patronum!" Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Nothing was happening. Erm. This is where that chocolate frog would come in handy. She was sure that if she had that extra boost this fake dementor would be history right about now.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!" she said with authority. Nothing was happening. Not even a tiny wisp of something. Well, this was awkward. Umm... should she just keep practicing this spell, or shoot for another one?

Text Cut: Cutty

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlytherinSistah

"Expecto Patronum." Cutty gave the spell another go, the thoughts of Puck were merging with the events of that and other days and soon the pleasurable sensation was radiating outward through to his hands. The wisp had whirled out in a giant napkin-like sheet of the cloudy material and found it's way over to Agatha Hapgood.

Cutty followed it with his sight, then seeing Agatha there and remembering her...issues, he cut his spell. His smile faded a bit and he realized that getting her to do this particular spell would not be like the times before. With the inciting her anger so that her intention was strong. Nope. But it needn't be difficult. He waited and then found the opportunity to lean in for a whisper, something he knew she'd find great amusement in, if not outright pleasure. They were not too different, he and Agatha.


Then he heard Benzi's voice...saying only half of the spell. He wouldn't have minded telling Benzi the secret as well, but somehow he doubted it would make him as happy as it could potentially make Agatha. Benzi had a purer heart. "Hey, Benz. Remember that time Fairn fell over on the boats when we were on our way to the castle?" If he recalled Fern had gotten a knot in the forehead as well.

Patronuses.

How he hated them.

... Cutty? Refocusing his eyes, Benzi turned his head towards his friend and listened. The memory was reluctant to come to him, it felt like he was dragging it through swamp water but in the end he finally managed to relive that moment and the corners of his lips turned up ever so slightly.

Those had been good times. Everything had been so simple. No worries, no concerns, just which house he'd be sorted into and what if the squid would eat Fern.

"Thanks Cutty."

Text Cut: Dakest

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

Rider was another one of those students he was keeping an eye on. Especially the way the kid eyed Fuller-Thompson with...longing? At least he was willing to give the charm a go, without completely discarding it.

Not to say that it seemed to do any wonders for him. Despite his admirable progress, Rider seemed more inclined to give up to whatever was eating him, than hold onto the memory he had found. Curious and concerning. More concerning when the kid clearly demonstrated that he would have nothing else to do with this lesson.

Sabel let out a breath, and on his way past paused, not looking at the kid but speaking to him pointedly nonetheless. "You did good. That was a very strong non-coporeal patronus. Don't feel you have to do anymore if you can't." Again, he didn't so much care about the success of the lesson as making sure the kids at least had working knowledge of the charm. "Why don't we have a chat later?"

Because something was bothering him, and while he wouldn't push Rider to divulge, he did want the boy to know that there were people he could talk to.

***

Alright, definitely time for a change of pace. The class was getting, moodier than moody.

Moving back to the front, Sabel raised his voice to get everyone's attention. "Awesome work so far, everyone. I know it might not feel like much progress, but everyone of you should be proud of what you've accomplished today." Including those that had not really accomplished anything and had given up.

Everyone had at least tried and to him, at the moment, that was all that mattered.

"We're going to do something a bit different now." He guestered back at the labrynth. "This is a maze, a course that you are free to run through. The objective is to make it out to the other side. Along the way you'll encounter three challenges." Start with the less scary first, yes? "At some point in the maze, you'll come across a completely dark passage. The goal is to get through to the other side. The other two are a dementor-APPEARING figure and a Leithfold-APPEARING figure. Mind you neither are real and they can NOT harm you." So no one freak-out, okay? "It will be nothing like encountering the real thing," Merlin forbid, "but I would like you to try and see if you can use your patronus against them."

Because he had a feeling some students might find their patronus in the grip of an encounter, rather than sitting around trying to think happy.

"For both tasks, try your patronus. It doesn't matter how much of a patronus you get. If you manage even a wisp, the illusions will leave and the dark corridor will become bright. If you can't, don't worry. Use another spell for the tasks. A shield, a light charm, stupify, whatever you would like." He looked around, gauging the reactions. "I know normally these spells wouldn't work, especially against a dementor or lethifold, but we're not interested in that right now. For now, I just want you to problem solve and see what you can do."

Stepping to the side, Sabel glanced at the labrynth. "Feel free to help each other out. And if you get scared or lost, just holler. I'll hear you and come get you."

Tucking his hands in his pockets, Sabel let out a breath. "For those of you that would prefer to stay here and practice your charm, you are more than welcome. This is your time. Ask me questions if you have any."

And that was it. It would be interesting to see who went into the labrynth, and who didn't.

---------------

OOC: Main activity time!!!

So pretty simple. You can do either task: practice the patronus or go through the labrynth. Minimum of 3 posts please.

Also keep in mind the dementors and leithfolds, as Sabel said, are NOT real. They may look similar and act similar, but they are muted versions of the real thing. They are just representations, and Sabel doesn't want to scar any students for life XD

Feel free to RP together or separately. And you can add little challenges of your own too, if you like. There are trees, so you can assume there's going to be some bush, some water, maybe a few rocks to climb over here and there.

Most importantly, have fun! VM/PM me if you have any questions. Class will close sometime in the early morning of the 21st (GMT time). So approximately 39 hours from now.

Feeling perhaps just a tad bit better after Cutty's words, but still very much disappointed in himself, Benzi almost didn't notice Professor Dakest as he neared him. Then he did notice, and straightened his back. Granted, he wasn't looking at him, but one could sense posture as much as see it.

Benzi stayed very still as Dakest talked, the compliment going right over his head. He could do more, he knew he could do more, but his 'happiness' wasn't cooperating today. Or any day. That was the problem. He swallowed thickly, and thought about the professor's suggestion. Usually when a teacher wanted to talk to him it was about his outbursts of anger, but he'd been good here. So far, nothing had happened which meant that Dakest wasn't calling him in for a behavior issue. Also his tone was... somewhat warm.

Swallowing thickly, Benzi nodded. "Yes sir."

He watched as the professor walked off and was still stewing in his own thoughts when finally, he called them all to a halt. Could they leave now? What about this labyrinth thi- Oh.

Benzi blinked. And blinked again. And then, almost miraculously, his sour face vanished to be replaced with a slight upturn of his lips. THIS, he could do. THIS, he would excel at. He'd been practicing obstacle courses since his third year, and been visiting Dakest's own practice rooms for a month now. He could do this.

Right. Taking a steadying breath, Benzi launched off the wall and walked until he was directly in front of the entrance. Maze meant he had to keep to the walls. ... He picked the left one. He might walk more, but this way he wouldn't get lost. Nothing seemed to difficult at the start, but then again the professor had said he was going to encounter a Dementor thing, a Lethifold thing and a... dark corridor? Was that Auror code for something? Never mind. The Ravenclaw rolled his shoulders and shook out his wrists, then took off into the labyrinth with a bit of a jog.

He figured the dark path would come first, but then all of them were dark and wasn't really sure if the dark passage was a general term. Hmm. He hopped over some bushes blocking his path and turned yet another corner, his wand held steadily in front of him. He was ready to duck, swerve, run, jump, and shoot fire. ... Also the patronus. Sure.

The noise of something slithering on the ground not too far ahead of him stopped Benzi in his tracks. Bending his knees, he squinted until he could make out what seemed to be a relatively thick cloak, which meant that this was a lethifold. A fake lethifold, but a lethifold nonetheless.

And one that was advancing on him quickly. Yes, now would be a great time for his patronus.

But a different happy memory came to him this time, a memory of his mum back before she was his mother. When they'd read stories about monsters and heroes and good guys always winning. Excited, Benzi wasted no time. "Expecto Patronum!" Benzi cast loudly, his wand making circular motions as the familiar silverly vapour shot out of his wand to create his most powerful protective disc yet. He hadn't even known he still remembered that.

The elation of having found possibly THE memory dissipating, the charm washed away and made the passage seem even darker than before, though no lethifold to be found.

He sighed, set his shoulders. That was the best one he'd ever cast. He might still get this. Taking off again, Benzi made a mental note to get Dakest to let him practice with lethifolds more often.

Of course he would give AJ an entire Frog but he wasn't going to tell her that. "What? Afraid of having anything that I've eaten out of?" Hehe.
....................

Poor James. He was so down about the spell not working. "No worries, James. Remember, it's a really complicated spell. Look on the bright side, you got something to happen way before I did and I'm five years older than you are.'' Seeeeee? Didn't that count for something? Adi thought it sure did. He gave the boy a bro!hug. Hugs made everyone feel better! "Keep your head up and your happy memory close.'' His own happy memory (one of them) of him and AJ was something he never wanted to let go of.

"Let's go, James,'' Adi said as he took off again but making sure that the firstie was by his side. And so off went the duo again with the older Hufflepuff keeping his bespectacled eyes trained in taking in as much of their surroundings as possible. "There's a huge puddle of mud coming up,'' he informed James a few minutes into their latest trek. They could have either gone around the sole side that the mud wasn't occupying or jump over it. Adi being Adi, chose to jump over the thing. He took some steps back and took off at a run which allowed him to sail over the puddle, though he stumbled on his landing and tumbled forward, coming to a stop on his belly with a soft 'Omph!'. Heh.

"THAT WAS FUN! Let's do that again!'' Don't mind him, folks. He was a crazy badger. He focused on James again. "Need any hel-'' His question was cut short when he noticed (as he was looking away from his partner and surveying the maze again) another figure approaching them. A LETHIFOLD! Adi raised his wand, ready to get the thing away from them barely noticing the dark corridor behind the figure. "Let James do it.'' The thought came to him at that moment and it was a great one!

"James! You're up! Remember focus on your happy memory.'' LET'S DO THIS! He on the other hand, would remain here on his belly, looking at the show, though if James needed any help, he would jump right up.

Kace grinned at his accomplishment and he saw Professor Dakest coming over to him with his hand up and he smiled widely and gave him a high five back. "Thank you Professor." He couldn't stop smiling because he finally did it. Now he was prepared for the maze. He saw others going in it at alone. He thought he might be able to do it. He held his wand out and he knew some of the spells to protect himself with from previous classes. He took a deep breath and entered the maze and it seemed really dark. He heard others spells being casted and he wondered what animals were here lurking.

The puff casted "Lumos!" and then he saw the light on his wand and he could finally see. He was trying to be alert and looked around him. He heard something rustle and he turned around and there seemed to be nothing. He furrowed his brow and thought he must have heard something. Then as soon as he turned right in the maze and walked down, he saw a big shadowy figure. Time to put his skills to the test. This might be a good time for a patronus right? He stepped closer and it didn't look like a dementor at all. But then he felt the coldness a little bit and it was one. This would be a perfect time for the Patronus. Alright Lecium do it like you did last time except this time there was a little bit of pressure.

He got his wand at the ready and thought of his happy memory and said, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" and he moved his wand in a huge circle and saw his big mist of his panda patronus come out of his wand. It scared of the dementor and it was going in another direction. He grinned with relief.

Angel was scared but as she had said before if she was going to fail she was going to fail in style and actually go out clinging to her legs whilst rocking and singing a song... well at the minute she hadn't got to that stage but she was so close to it.

Angel looked around and sighed as she felt something moving behind her... no it wasn't going to be another Dementor was it... please no... please no... please no... Angel now had to think of the spell before this thing came if it was one... she hoped it wasn't.

Angel turned and cried this was so scary. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" Angel did the wand movement whilst thinking of a few of the memories of her with Benny. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Angel did the wand movement again and said it with conviction, she then smiled as it actually did something, it was as big as some of the others but it was a start right and a start was something, now could she have her mum please, this place was just so scary and she really wanted someone to cuddle.

He eyed his wand again not catching the 'James' bit the first time. and nodded. "I....think my wand's broken..." he muttered softly. It never did seem to work when he wanted it to! Maybe it was about him being sure of himself. He didn't know, all he knew was it didn't seem to like him much! "Let's do th..." Wait what? He stared after him as he moved away. Did he just call him James? "Okay!" he said and as he approached watched Adi run and jump over and tumble forward. He...wasn't going to be able to jump that far? Was he? Running jump, yep. He started running himself and jumped.

*SPLASH* MERLIN! And soaked with muddy water. Yep, made it halfway and splatted in the center. Standing there dripping and walked to the other side. That hadn't, exactly went well. He blew some water from his face and sighed shaking his wand to shake the water off it. "Err...no, I think I'm go..." He squeaked as he saw the figure approaching them now. Dripping still he 'Torie' he muttered to him. No, not Jay. MERLIN! He swallowed as he stared at it but focused finally on the memory. That thing was scary! AND HUGE! "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he cried out circling his wand at it and a poof of silvery fur appeared and faded.

The lethifold vanished as Torie stood there his eyes still wide.

”Thanks Professor Dakest,” she smiled over to the Professor though she was still wary of him. It was what Amur would do. And she was a smart little cookie wasn’t she?

Still, Puck had no idea who to go in with…because really, it would be more fun to follow someone she knew what with how much her dragon patronus had wavered. Glancing at the entrance she just felt like her skin was crawling. She watched as Kace and Benzi moved to enter the labyrinth and slowly stepped into the obstacle course of a maze.

“I can do this,” she told herself boldly as she stepped further into the maze. The obstacle course was nothing really, it was passable – it wasn’t like she hadn’t done things like this before? She’d been on the track team at Salem even. Long legs were great for jumping over things. She debated lighting her wand immediately but instead vied for a stealth method as she simply stood there letting her eyes adjust to the darker lighting.

Her heart was hammering. More from excitement than anything else as she turned down right into a new pathway. It was darker than usual now, cold even. She could feel it, the dread filling her taking her over. The sixteen year old let out a loud groan as the memories swarmed her…pushing through the fog of her memories she pulled up the thoughts about her mother, about Bianca, and Kace, and all of her friends and the family that she had chosen for herself. “Expecto Patronum!” She cast, the silvery dragon erupted from her wand as she knew now that she could cast one. Standing there she wanted in awe as the fake dementor wooshed away as her Patronus protected her.

Still, her bones felt cold and heavy as she knew she would feel those pains again. “Finite” she cast as she sent her dragon back into her wand. “Lumos” she finally cast as she continued along the path and moved in search of her next target…her eyes searching every shadow as she moved forward she caught the dissipating silver light of someone’s patronus shield.

UGHHHHHHHH.

Silly her for not paying better attention to where she was walking! Sighing, Lux slowly got back on her feet before dusting herself off. "I think I'm okay. Just scraped my arm a little and my foot is a bit sore." She'd survive, and at least it hadn't happened by water because otherwise she could add wet to the equation.

She'd live though, so she smiled. "How fitting that in a maze with dementors and lethifolds, I get taken out by a tree root." Haha, it was good to be able to laugh things off. They would make it through in one piece and not just because the dark creatures involved were not real. Her and Nat HAD THIS COVERED.

Resuming walking, Lux paid better attention this time so as to avoid any further spills. And as to the matter of patronuses... "Well, it took a bit of work. I practiced a little last term, but not much..." Anyway. Maybe it was best if she explained it in more general terms. "I think it's a good idea to focus on the person who makes you happiest and all the memories you have with them." At least it had worked for her, so there was a good chance it would work for Nat too. And as to the Dementor.... maybe they could BOTH drive it away.

HAHAHAHAA.

At that very moment the dementor appeared, and Lux had to laugh because she had literally just been thinking about it????

Going into full patronus-mode, the redhead focused on all the happy memories that she had with Bay and forcefully cast the spell. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" The shape that had emerged looked half animal, but she wasn't sure exactly what form it was. No matter, because both it and the dementor had disappeared.

"Awesome." Maybe Nat could take on the darkness? Or the Lethifold?

Okay, so absolute complete darkness had unnerved her a little bit, but Rowan had dealt with that, and felt way more confident than she had done just a few moments ago, so she put her 'bring it on' hat on and carried on walking. She was taking lefts, and only lefts, because she thought it was the best way to try and get through the whole maze, so she came to a few dead ends, and nearly tripped over a root, the began to wonder if she was going the wrong way.

...

She hadn't seen anyone in a while, or heard anything, so she took a second to sit down on a stone to plan her next move. She could keep taking lefts, or she could go as straight on as possible, or she could just go ahead with no plan at all. She was considering the last one - just for the fun of it - when she heard something, and jumped to her feet. "Hello?" she squinted ahead of her, and then saw the shape... a... well... a what? Was that a dementor?

Rusty suddenly realised why they were so scary. Look at it. It was huuuge... and she was just a tiny little girl... Sorta. And it had this rasping breath and weird way of moving and... it was just terrifying! She didn't even want to THINK about what it would be like to come up against the real thing, and she took a step backwards from it, only to find that she was backed up against one of the hedge walls of the labyrinth.

........

"It. Isn't. Real." she whispered to herself, raising her wand in front of her. "You aren't real!!" she shouted, mainly to make herself feel better, since it didn't seem to be doing anything to the dementor itself. Okay. It wasn't real. Remember the memory!!

Fire... cake... family... music...

"Expt-" Rowan stumbled over the incantation, and the creature was getting closer and closer. "Exp--... st..stup.... PROTEGO!" That was the next thing to come to mind, and the shield charm formed a thin wall between her and the oncoming figure. Okay. It was there. It wasn't a particularly powerful charm, but it gave her the time she needed to think of her memory again.

This time she mentally listed all the people who she loved who were at the party, and all the smells and all the food and all the songs that had been there, building up the happy memory with each point on the list, and then... "EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" The shield charm disappeared, but it was replaced with a sudden burst of bright silvery mist, and the dementor thing recoiled and disappeared.

This maze was probably shorted than she thought, because it didn't take that long for Agatha to find the dementor-like figure.

Actually, it had been so quick she hadn't even had the time to think what to do next. She knew it wasn't a real dementor, but the sight of the creature made her take a step back before she could stop herself.

She frowned at her own stupidity and got her wand at the ready.

...Obviously not for a Patronus, though.

"Out of my way, thing." She ordered as she walked towards it. The dementor-like figure didn't move, however, which made Agatha stop once again. Honestly, had it not heard her? "Out. Of my. Way. .....THING." She brandished her wand towards the illusion like a sword, but it still didn't move.

It wasn't an actual dementor, Agatha knew. She wasn't even feeling horrible; quite the contrary. She felt really confident as she swung her clenched fist towards the 'dementor' and stumbled a little as her whole arm went through the mist.

Aklsjfsndkjlf

...Hmph. Good thing it was dark in there. And there was also no one near her. She hoped. Hmph.

Where had that memory even come from? He must have been... what, like four or five? ... Or was it six? He managed to forget most of his old life, and for the most part he was rather happy with that. His name was Benzi Rider, his mother Rachel and his sister Suri. But that... that memory had been really powerful.

Benzi was so lost in his thoughts he turned the corner and immediately tripped over protruding roots. Landing on his hands, his wand luckily right beside him, he groaned and mentally berated himself for losing focus as he quickly clambered to his feet. Only when he was back up did he notice the complete and utter lack of light in this passage.

Did something just touch him? Benzi jumped to the right and shook his arm, then stilled immediately as he heard a rustling. "Lumos," he whispered, and watched as the light flooded the pathway with stiff, white light. He never liked the lumos spell, everything looked unnatural.

Taking steady steps forward, and sticking to his wall again so he wouldn't get lost, Benzi was sure that there was rustling coming up ahead. ... Probably the dementor. Taking a deep breath, he adjusted his grip on his wand and walked until he reached a T. Following his wall, Benzi turned left.

Dementor, dementor, come out and play.

Dread. She felt dread filling her lungs as if she were sinking in it, her fingers brushed against the maze wall as she tried to steady herself. The fear was there, it was more the fear of what had happened than what could happen. Her muscles ached with tightness. Run. Run. Run. Gotta run. That was all she was thinking as she followed the path and ran straight into light…

“Do you have to have the wand so bright?” She muttered and shook her head as the dread began to grow on her…the sounds, she could hear yelling in the back of her head as she turned around and saw them.

Two of them.

Dementors.

One for her, and one slowly making its way toward her companion who as her eyes adjusted she could tell was Benzi…her well, friend. “Good luck,” she told him as she turned to face the dementor the feelings and emotions filling her with fear. “Expecto patronum” she cast…but her dragon didn’t come only a slight whisp of silver pour from her wand shielding her from the dragon. “Get out of my head” she muttered and shook her head. As her father’s voice was there yelling and still as she stood there she knew she had to face it. To get stronger because her patronus was doing nothing but stalling it.

“Expecto Patronum” she cast again this time, as she remembered her, her mother, the dragon appeared. It was better. ”I miss her” she muttered as the dragon sent her dementor away and simply turned to face the two of them as if asking Can I kill it?

Okay, that rustling was getting louder. And then louder still... It wasn't rustling anymore, more like a dull thumping. Was it.. footsteps? The second Benzi realised that it was, in fact, a human running towards him, Puck suddenly appeared in front of him and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Okay, no dementor yet.

"Nox," he whispered, rolling his eyes at her dramatics but complying regardless. Going from darkness to bright Lumos light was never fun. "You oka- oh," Benzi's relief was short lived it seemed as two large cloaked figures glided towards them.

It seemed Puck noticed them too. Two. One for her, one for him. Taking a deep breath, and trying to NOT be phased by that very corporeal patronus, Benzi brought forth that memory of sitting and reading stories. Or.. hang on, Jake had also read him stories. It had been their little secret, because Benzi had insisted he was too old for stories.

"Ex-expecto patronum," his voice unsteady and his hand movements sloppy, Benzi visibly deflated as the weakest of wisps appeared out of his wand. The dementor didn't even seem tickled.

Back to his go to memory then. First night in London. No Jake then. Come on Rider, you got this. "Expecto PATRONUM!" much louder, more confident, and with that little smile the memory never failed to give him. The silvery-white disc erupted from his wand and made short work of the dementor, repelling it until he and Puck were once again alone in the passage.

... "You okay?" he asked, allowing the charm to fade. He hadn't seen her in... well, since that time. Somewhat of an awkward place to meet again.

Hugo was excited and nervous at the same time. He hadn't had a great result with the Patronus charm but whatever, he was going into the maze. Mhm.

So, the boy was ready to adventure himself into the unknown. "Lumos" said and started to walk. The first thing he noticed were the bushes and the cool breeze, which was really nice. Moving on, he tripped over a rock and fell to the ground. Nobody has seen him, right? Cool. He brushed away the dust from his clothes and kept walking. It was calm, too much to be honest but he didn't mind. Then, a dark figure appeared out of nowhere. Even if the dementors and lethifolds were fake, he still was scared. He tried to think about anything happy, something like all the times he had been starving and food was on his table. The third year raised his wand, did the circular movement and said, "Expecto Patronum! nothing came out. NOTHING. Merlin and what did he have to do now? He ran away and hide in the bushes.

He wasn't going out just yet, the dementor, lethifold, dark figure was out there and Hugo had to take a deep breath before trying again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mell

So they were going to practice doing the Patronus charm which was fine by Michael seeing how he had been able to do the charm for the past year and a half.

He noticed that a few students weren't very eager though. Was it because they thought the spell too hard or because they had no happy memories? He had no problems in finding happy memories. All he had to do was think of Zahra and that made him happy every single time.

Standing up from his chair, Michael moved into a clear area and drew his wand. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind from everything else before bringing up a happy memory. He chose the time when he and Zahra had been about seven years old and they had built a fort and were guarding it from imaginary wild beasts.

He made a circular motion with his wand and said the incantation. "Expecto Patronum." At first there was just silvery mist shooting out of his wand, but as he concentrated more on his happy memory, the mist changed into an animal. A sea lion to be exact. It swam around him a few times before dissolving.

"Hey Sir! Can I try doing the spell non verbally?"

Zahra had barely practiced herself. Admittedly, she got a little caught in watching Toussaint. She'd never seen his patronus before.

And at this rate, she'd never seen her own either.

She elbowed him to watch her. HER happy memory was more recent... she went straight for the memory of getting on the train with Mikey this past September. Mikey back at Hogwarts with her. "Expecto patronum", she cast but..... nothing.

Shrug.

"We in, Toussaint?" As in, were they going in the MAZE? Or staying out to practice?

Zander had caught Tia's smile and sent her a small nod of reassurance for her own work, watching just long enough to see her manage a small wisp of something. Merlin, Adair. He couldn't even do that. It was clear, as he had a very hard time trying to hide any kind of emotion apparently, that he was beyond frustrated. He wasn't even trying to hide the frustration this time around. Just kind of embracing it, maybe? He wasn't a quitter though, so he wouldn't give up necessarily... Even though he knew it was hopeless. Just like the hours put towards studying for the OWL exam. Utterly hopeless. It didn't even do anything.

Only seconds after his most recent failed attempt, he heard Sophie's familiar voice as she made her way over. He quickly took notice of her eyes, noting that she looked a bit different than she had when she was casting her patronus. He wanted to inquire and make sure she was alright, but before he could say anything she was helping him instead. He nodded his head, a bit embarrassed about how quickly she could figure out what exactly had been going through his mind. But she was right. She was right about his grade getting to him. He was trying as hard as he could to put it past him, but it seemed like every time he entered this classroom he had a huge 'P' looming over his head declaring to the whole world that he was a failure.

More than a letter. More than what the examiners saw that day. "I know you're right...." he did, truly. "Just feels like it's holding me back... y'know?" She probably didn't know. Sophie Brown was good at absolutely everything. Even her performance in her worst subject could give Zander's best some tough competition. Her words were comforting though, and he tried to hear her out and forget his concerns as she continued talking. "Thanks, Soph," he went quiet again listening to everything going on around him, then focusing back on what she had to say.

And then his face was being cupped and Zander Adair was being forced to look her straight in the eyes. "Okay," he repeated nodding. But then he quickly scrunched his nose, adopting a playful look. "Hey! I thought we established that I'm actually not a nerd," and then he was smiling easily. Y'know, maybe he just needed to smile? "Thanks, Soph." Even if none of that was actually true. Merlin, this Ravenclaw is seriously a miracle worker. Oh and before he tried the patronus again, he needed to make certain of something. "You okay by the way?"

So the memory can be of a person. A specific happy memory about someone he would protect in a heartbeat? Yeah, that was gonna be hard. There were hardly any people he'd protect and each of the memories with them didn't include feelings that felt strong enough. There were some but...........

........... he was still gonna try with them, especially with the last one he'd just used, one that Dakest had said to use. Expand on it or whatever. Grayson nodded at him and even gave him a small smile. That was definitely easier said than done, dude.

Before he could practice some more, they were continuing on with another activity. Keep practising or go into the labyrinth? PSHHH that was a no brainer, especially considering the fact that nothing was gonna hurt them in there. It was kinda a shame because he liked the adrenaline rush that that gave him but his life meant more to him than that.

His decision? GO INTO THE FREAKING MAZE YEAH!

With his signature smirk in place and his wand held out in front of him, the boy entered the maze. It was........ darker than he expected. A LOT darker than expected. His heartbeat quickened and his breathing became slightly shallow but he was gonna ignore that. Why? Because he was frwaking strong and awesome and nothing was gonna hurt him.

Maybe.

Whatever. The Slytherin moved this way and that, using his gut feeling to take the right passage when it came to forked areas. Right and then left and then another right and another right......... all were based on his gut instinct that he was placing a little too much trust on. Dead ends were to be expected and he grumbled whenever he reached one and had to turn back. Stupid dead ends. Couldn't be move them or something?

Not that he hadn't tried. When he came to his fourth dead end, the boy tried blasting a hole in the wall with no luck. Jeez, man, what WAS this?! It was harder than it looked and he felt like he was just going in circles. When was he gonna make it to the other side, huh? He wanted to get out of this freaking--

GROAAAAAN.

As if the place couldn't get any worse. Now he had to CLIMB things?! Placing his wand between his teeth, Grayson reached out and tried to get the right footing on the huge rock in front of him. Kinda hard and all considering how wet the rock was. Too often than not, he found himself slipping and hanging on for dear life.

HE WAS NOT CUT OUT FOR THIS, MKAY?

Grumble freaking grumble.

Tora opened her eyes suddenly and her patronus evaporated. Was it time to move on? Everyone else was moving and... was that the entrance to a maze? She had been trying to tune out the rest of the class as she focused on creating or possibly not creating a patronus. Had it worked? To be perfectly honest, Tora hadn't even checked to see if her memory had worked properly. Realistically, it probably didn't, she thought glumly.

But they didn't have to go into the maze, for which Tora a a little bit grateful. Considering the whispies that she had been coming up with there was no way she would be able to push back... whatever it was that Professor Dakest was going to throw at them. But what if she tried? That couldn't hurt anyone, especially since Tora saw some firsties heading for the maze. If there was anything actually dangerous about the activity the Professor wouldn't let them do it, so in the end it didn't really matter if she knew how to use the spell or not. *sigh*

Eventually, Tora decided that she'd better practice a bit more for the time being.

"Expecto Patronum!" she said, flicking her wand through the air in a circle. A dribble of silvery smoke formed a faint outline of... nothing. Oh joy. Yes, practice was definitely necessary. When she did attempt the maze, and she certainly planned to, she would do so prepared with a patronus charm. Or at least most of one.

Well...that was...

"Zahra you need to concentrate on your happy memory and you didn't even do the wand movement." Yeah he wanted to go into the maze. He was itching to go in, but he was not taking Z in there until she could at least produce...something.

"Let's practice a bit more before going in there." He moved to stand behind her and he placed his hand over her wand hand, holding it steady. "Okay I know you don't have a problem producing a happy memory but let it fill you up before you cast. And remember..." He moved her hand in a circular motion. ..."the wand movement." He kissed the back of her head. "You can do it."

Janelle smiled as the Professor praised her patronus attempts. "Thank you sir. I''ll keep trying." And that she would.......keep on trying until she got it right. Fortunately or unfortunately, she would put her "emerging" patronus to the test. The professor explained what they would be doing for their main activity and Janelle was all in. She was just a little bit afraid, but she kept telling herself, "None of it is real". If she just kept that in her mind, she'd be OK. At least that's what she hoped.

Walking over to the maze, Janelle kept thinking, "It's not real, it's not real." She paused at the entrance to the maze, took a deep breath and plunged ahead. Following the twists and turns, Janelle was a little anxious. Not as anxious as she would have been had she not known what was coming, but still. She tried to focus on the path that she was taking with her wand held at the ready. She tried to keep her happy memory close by, so she could retrieve it at a moments notice.

Coming to a fork in the road maze, Janelle wasn't sure which way to go. She had a 50-50 chance of making the right decision so she decided to turn right. Right? Wrong? Who knew? Janelle just had to deal with the consequences of her choice. Suddenly, the path began to narrow. It became so skinny that Janelle had to walk through it sideways. It was a good thing that she wasn't claustrophobic. Just as quickly as the path had narrowed, it widened again. However, before she could feel any relief, she made a left turn into total darkness. It happened so fast and Janelle couldn't seem to find the passage she had just come down. Even though she knew that there was nothing to fear, she felt a little scared.

Janelle felt for the side of the maze, just to try to get her bearings. She held her wand tightly and tried to think of her happy thought. If she thought casting the spell was hard before, this was taking it to another level entirely. Taking deep breaths to steady her nerves, Janelle tried to concentrate. She circled her wand and said, "Expecto Patronum". Unfortunately, the spell didn't work this time. She knew that she was capable of creating at least some smoke so she focused and prepared to try again. Not real, not real, not real. Janelle concentrated, pictured her happy moment and waved her wand. "Expecto Patronum", she said more forcefully this time. And then........her brief silver smoke happened. Janelle was relieved when the light returned and she was able to see again. This aisle was not very long and Janelle made her way ahead while she still had the light going for her. Shoulders tense and eyes darting, she moved ahead and tried to anticipate the next obstacle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mell

Well...that was...

"Zahra you need to concentrate on your happy memory and you didn't even do the wand movement." Yeah he wanted to go into the maze. He was itching to go in, but he was not taking Z in there until she could at least produce...something.

"Let's practice a bit more before going in there." He moved to stand behind her and he placed his hand over her wand hand, holding it steady. "Okay I know you don't have a problem producing a happy memory but let it fill you up before you cast. And remember..." He moved her hand in a circular motion. ..."the wand movement." He kissed the back of her head. "You can do it."

....hehe.

Talk about some warm fuzzy, hopping good FEELS. SO she'd forgotten to wave her wand. How could she really be expected to do ALL THESE THINGS at once?

But alright, alright. If Toussaint could do it... then surely she could too.

"I'll pick a better happy memory. Like that time Pig wore a dress or my first broom." HEHEHE. hehe. She cracked herself up.

In all seriousness though, Zahra refocused. She KNEW the wand movement, knew it well even, just.... putting all the steps together didn't come easy. She let her mind drift to just a second ago, when Mikey kissed the back of her head, leaned back against him to reaffirm the feeling.... then Expecto patronum... WITH the wand movement this time....

AND THERE WAS A WISP! A WISP! SOMETHING AT LEAST!

"HOLY TOAD FART, TOUSSAINT. Did you see that?! Let's go again. Bet my WISP can take on your seal and kick it's BUTT."

Ilia waited a moment and Henric's breathing began to return to normal. He apologized as he petted her patronus and she shook her head with a smile. "Things never happen as we expect, my dearest Henric." Life really hadn't at all so far, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. It brought her here after all. She watched him pet her patronus, and calm himself. She was glad that he came back around to her, her falcon leaned into the petting seeming to enjoy it.

He knew.....he could count on her.......She couldn't help but smile happily. His arms wrapped around her and held her close. Was she flying? The sensation she felt was unlike anything she'd felt before and she embraced him in return and held him close as she could til they parted. She was still grinning and confused by it but she felt incredibly happy. "I....can't believe it either. That is the first time I've cast more than mist!" From smoke and mist to a fully corporeal form was astounding to the fourteen year old. Was it as simple as changing her memory? She was pretty sure if Henric hadn't needed her, that she couldn't have drawn the power out of herself.

Henric's demeanor seemed to have changed. His nerves were calm, he was focused and did she sense......determination? She had no longer to ponder as it appeared a Lethifold had come into their midst. She raised her wand in defiance , but Henric had already cast. A shimmering shield of pure silvery light shone from his wand and through the illusory creature, eviscerating it into nothingness. She smiled breathlessly. "Henric, its beautiful!"

There was no rest though, was there? Two more dementors came from the darkness upon them. He called her name, and she called upon her inner strength. With them both casting their guardians, the shield and the falcon, all darkness dissipated and only light and trees remained. Ilia laughed and cheered, twirling around in a dance. "None of them can stop us if we are together." She grinned and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Lets show this maze who is boss!" She kept his arm and started to run forward, ready to cast her new found power at whatever darkened their stroll through the maze.

Were there any physical obstacles? She felt that she count surmount and conquer anything and everything right now. Together, they would never lose.