Henric stared and blinked at the sign. HOGWARTS STUDENTS DIE...my oh my....what a welcoming sign that was, he thought uneasily, holding his backpack tightly against his chest."Woaaah...."his jaw fell opened as he stepped into the transfiguration classroom. His eyes widened in astonishment, what happened to this place? Did he just transported himself into a wild densely Amazonian rainforest?! AMAZEBALLS!

Professor Bellaire had really done it this time! She made her lessons so brilliantly epic, he loved transfiguration classes all the more. He kicked the ground underneath and touched the leaves to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Oh yes, it felt incredibly real...alright. He reached down to grab a fallen small tree branch and held it out towards him.
"Nice..."he grinned before continuing walking again. He spotted a few of his friends were already there. He waved to them,"Hey guys!" He wondered if they were as excited as he was feeling right now.

Wait, what?

Was that the door shutting? Clara looked around at everyone, confusion and a hint of panic in her eyes. Lessons at Hogwarts never ceased to be interesting and vaguely dangerous, did they?

That was when Professor Bellaire's voice sounded out from .... somewhere? A patronus? Heh.

So, they were to go through this .... jungle ... in a team or alone? Clara wasn't really good at dealing with unknown things on her own, but she also wasn't the best at teamwork because she liked to do things herself. It was a hard life. She peered at the paper. The task was to get through it the smartest way, and with this being a transfiguration lesson, Clara felt she was equipped with enough spells and charms to get her through ... assuming there wasn't anything extremely dangerous lurking in there.

She also looked uncertainly at the boy asking to work in a team (Rooney). "You can come with me, if you want." She would hate for the kid to be alone in there if he didn't want to be.

Freya was completely distracted as a silver hippogriff patronus came to meet them. Ah.....this professor seemed to have an interesting way of doing things.... When birds started....pooping....papers at them.....it got really interesting. She was seriously thinking this team thing would be a good idea. Taking up a piece of paper that was left , she scanned over it quickly, then tucked it into her belt. She had a feeling that they would want this.



She heard an unfamiliar voice , that appeared to be addressing......Adi she presumed? She turned her gaze from the jungle and over to the slightly older boy. He wanted to be a part of their team too? The larger the group, the slower going probably.....but also probably all the safer. Ilia gave a small polite smile and nodded. Adi seemed to know the fellow and Adi was very friendly. "The more the merrier, right?"



For this lesson, taking everything in.....Ilia may as well have had the attention span of a squirrel at the moment. As she craned her head and looked all around, a wild and elusive Henric caught her sight. "Henric!" She waved in greeting , but also gestured him over. "Safety in numbers." Or at least.....she hoped. What couldn't they tackle with two puffs, a gryff, and a snakette? Besides, it would be more fun to ogle all of the creatures with Adi and her best friend.

As more of her friends arrived, Lux smiled and waved to them but couldn't take her eyes off of that sign.

Even though she knew that no one was going to die it still creeped her out. She got the whole obstacle course thing, but was the 'HOGWART STUDENTS DIE' thing in bright letters really necessary???

Finally Bellaire arrived...in a way. She was watching them?? Curiously the redhead looked around her, but the woman was nowhere to be seen. Just lots and lots of wilderness. Clearly she hadn't skimped on authenticity, and Lux was reminded of the lesson from when she had been a Second Year. She had passed out and was saved.

Anyhow...

A team sounded good. "Does anyone want to work with me?" She'd try not to pass out if heights were involved, but no promises.

He was addressed quickly after his questioning for a team, and the first year nodded with a smile. "Would you care to work with me, Miss?" He promised that he wouldn't hold her up or do anything purposely wrong, but he was probably not the type of student she would want to pair with. Rooney fidgeted a little bit and tapped his fingers on the end of the wand in his holster. "Rooney Bronwyn, by the way." And he shoved his hand out for her to shake.

"Is there anyone else you want to come with us?" nHe hadn't made any friends properly at school so he couldn't decide on who to invite.

Oh. Clara was being addressed as 'Miss'? That made her feel very .... adult-y and also somewhat responsible for him, in a way. She laughed nervously. "I would be very happy to work with you." She did hope he wouldn't slow her down or get in the way, but that was something she'd have to deal with if it happened.

For all she knew, he could come in very useful.

After a moment of contemplating it, she shook the boy's hand and smiled. "Lovely to meet you, Rooney. I'm Clara Wilde." He didn't seem like he was out to make trouble or annoy her. He didn't seem bad at all, actually. Did she want anyone else to come along? No, thank you. One ... maybe two, depending on who it was, was enough company for her. "No, there isn't." Eden would surely have plenty of people to tag along with, and Gabe was ... no where to be seen. That was pretty much the extent of her close friends. "Shall we set off?" There was no point in hanging around.

Before Maggie had the chance to react to Zeke's question (err, like, no way was she just going to go explore in a rainforest by herself, was he insane??), a Patronus caught her attention. Professor Bellaire's Patronus. And it was speaking. How handy was that?

Survival of the Fittest

Team. Definitely team.

If only to figuratively throw them under the bus if need be. So if they were attacked or something. She could get to safety while the others (preferably Zeke because he was the only non-Slytherin) could fight the creature.

Which was why she turned to her fellow third years (Brooklyn, Hady, Zeke), giving Brooklyn a quick glance and the other two a smile. "We should team up. It'll probably be easier that way." And you know, safer. For certain individuals.

Cool! There was a reason why this was Tora's favorite class! She dropped her bag full of books just outside the door and whipped out her wand. She was good at transfiguration, she could do this. Plue, she was curious as to what all this was about. A piece of paper fluttered down in front of her. Hmmmm. An obstacle course? Although she saw the benefits of working in a team... she kind of felt like being alone. She always seemed to do her best transfiguration magic then. Sure, the HOGWARTS STUDENTS DIE! sign was a little intimidating, but it didn't make Tora really want to join a group. Perhaps she would be hidden better as a loner.

She didn't just rush into the jungle however, she was smarter than that. "Protego!" she muttered, casting the protective charm around her. Now she was ready. She steadied herself and strode into the thick of it.

It shouldn't take long for you to notice that that 'protego' charm you casted failed after your second step. That will not save you on this journey. No...prepare to fight tooth and nail.

Not a minute after you set foot on the course a violent buzzing sound alerts you to a swarm of locust and mosquitoes. You better believe they are quite hungry

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...bite bite..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Fanning them away will do no good either and these mosquitoes are unrelenting.

Natalia was not ready to die. But that didn't matter: SHE WAS NOT GOING TO DIE.

Oooh... so this was going to some sort of magical jungle journey that she had always wanted to experience since she was a little kid. That conspicuous sign foreshadowing possible DEATHS though...

WAS EXCITING.

EEEEEEP.

The questions went down to: team or solo? At first thought, Natalia would prefer to go solo, but it wouldn't be bad of an experience to work in a team and develop her... cooperative skills... perhaps leadership skills as well while she was at it.

Glancing around the jungle-room hybrid, Natalia sought for any possible lone wolves that she could possibly affiliate with. If there weren't any one available for the joint challenge, then she would have no problem venture the journey alone, either. So which would it be?

A huge grin for his fellow toad owner friend. "How are you, Ilia? All set not to die during the class?'' Adi gestured towards the sign. But fear not, Ilia! He was here! Everyone should know by now that Adi would never let anything bad happen to his friends if he could help it. Ohh! An invitation to go off on an adventure! "Of course! Thirsty for more excitement after the Willow?" Adi winked. Adventure time with Ilia was always so MUCH fun!

Adi's attention was diverted by a silvery patronus that spoke in Bellaire's voice. Aha. So this would be a test of their skills and wits, huh? Well, Adi had plenty of that! Hehe.

And there was someone else joining their adventure! "Heya, Benny!'' Team? Oh, yeah! He had no problem with that. He looked towards Ilia to see if she had any problem with that but she didn't. Woot! "Ilia, Benny. Benny, Ilia.'' A quick introduction as his attention was caught by Henric. Ilia was already gesturing her best friend over and of course Adi had NO objections with Henric joining them. Hehe. "Hiya, Henny!''

"Sooooo, you guys all set to get started?" Because Adi was itching to, yo! And no, we didn't mean that literally. Hehe.

Eden was suddenly RIPPED from that hug with Toby by none other than stupid Cutty Mordaunt. Stupid Cutty with his stupid...face....that she loved....

She watched his retreating figure and sighed. She didn't want to speak to him right now. Or see him. It made her too sad. She just bit her lip and looked over at Toby..."Sorry..." she said softly, apologizing. Even though Toby said he loved her hugs...hmph. HMPH.

Of course Cutty would ruin Eden's good mood. It was quite his style, these days.

She heard Bellaire's voice and...well. This seemed like fun. Eden for once wasn't feeling unconfident in her abilities and thought that if she could not think about Cutty for five minutes she might be good at this, depending. She wasn't sure her problem solving skills were up to par. Well, she would find out quite soon. She turned to Toby, though.."Do you want to stick together?" she asked him quietly. She didn't want Cutty to hear and invite himself into their posse. She did NOT want to help him right now. Cutty could fend for himself for all she cared.

...And now they were being attacked by LOCUSTS. WOW. Wow. MERLIN'S PANTS. She covered her face instantly and SQUEALED in distaste--MERLIN. These things were worse than the things she had to feed her snakes---if only Drago were here. He would be in snakey Heaven. FREE BUFFET.

Wait.

WAIT A MINUTE.

Eden had an idea--"SERPENSORTIA!" she cried, pointing her wand to her side, a snake shooting out from the end of it. Not a venomous one, either. Eden made sure to think of a NICE snake breed...with all the locusts flying around, she watched the snake get in position...please be a hungry snake--

"Wait--" she looked over at Toby. "Are there any other animals we could conjure? That eat these guys? Snakes might take forever." No matter how cool they were, snakes were sloooooow eaters.

Clara's greeting didn't go unnoticed, and Toby looked down from the sign to smile at the second Ravenclaw seventh year to join him.

"You got that right," he said in response to her comment about 'another normal day at Hogwarts'. This didn't seem SO bad... yet. The sign of death still had Toby on edge and he wasn't sure how comfortable he felt at being met in a classroom with a statement like that. What about all the littles? The first years and second years or sensitive older kids who might get upset? What about anyone who was affected by Gregoire's death last year, which was sure to be a lot of people? Toby didn't like it, not one bit.

Not long after he'd processed these thoughts, a patronus arrived. Because of, uh, recent events, this turned out to be exactly the opposite thing that would make Toby feel any better. He stared at it with a straight face as it spoke, only really half paying attention 'cause he was thinking about DADA again, and was still staring when he heard Eden speak again.



"Together?" he said, shaken out of his reverie and blinking at Eden, before remembering. Oh, right. RIGHT. Toby gave a decisive nod. "Together." It was always good to have a friend nearby in any case, and in lesson activities it was even better. He got his wand from its holster and proceeded through the trees with Eden...

... only to be met with LOCUSTS. UM. PLS.

At once he was batting them away, trying to protect his face and neck from being bitten (he understood the long sleeves now), and also to THINK. Eden was already getting the magic underway with the snake conjuring spell. Toby might have grinned at that if he weren't a little preoccupied.

"Uhh," the Hufflepuff responded, still madly batting at the insects in the air. "Birds? We could use Avis? Or the- puh, gross. Get out of my mouth, dude, I'M A VEGETARIAN." Yes. He was yelling at the swarming bugs, which only upped the chances of them flying into his gob. "The dragon spell? From last year? Did they eat things?"

He couldn't REMEMBER if Quigley had ever mentioned it. But... these things were starting to bug him (ha!), and they had to go. Even if it DID break Toby's heart to cast a spell to get them all eaten up. Circle of life, he told himself. Circle of life.

"How about you try the dragon one? And I'll do- PUH! Bugs, PLEASE -I'll do the birds." Okay? Okay. "Avis!" He cast the spell, and... nothing. Uh. Toby shook his wand, like it was a pen with the ink running low, and tried again. BIRD BIRD BIRD THINK OF THE BIRDS. "Avis!"

And a flock of birds appeared, huzzah! Would it work?

Angel was really scared about this lesson. She had been looking forwards to making something amazing like they normally did but at the minute he had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to last very long with the way she was feeling today, she didn't want to be involved in anything dangerous or scary. "Anyone want to partner up with me?" Angel thought she might as well ask everyone.

SPOILER!!: Group

Quote:

Originally Posted by VRSCIKA

Freya was completely distracted as a silver hippogriff patronus came to meet them. Ah.....this professor seemed to have an interesting way of doing things.... When birds started....pooping....papers at them.....it got really interesting. She was seriously thinking this team thing would be a good idea. Taking up a piece of paper that was left , she scanned over it quickly, then tucked it into her belt. She had a feeling that they would want this.



She heard an unfamiliar voice , that appeared to be addressing......Adi she presumed? She turned her gaze from the jungle and over to the slightly older boy. He wanted to be a part of their team too? The larger the group, the slower going probably.....but also probably all the safer. Ilia gave a small polite smile and nodded. Adi seemed to know the fellow and Adi was very friendly. "The more the merrier, right?"



For this lesson, taking everything in.....Ilia may as well have had the attention span of a squirrel at the moment. As she craned her head and looked all around, a wild and elusive Henric caught her sight. "Henric!" She waved in greeting , but also gestured him over. "Safety in numbers." Or at least.....she hoped. What couldn't they tackle with two puffs, a gryff, and a snakette? Besides, it would be more fun to ogle all of the creatures with Adi and her best friend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Symphora

Henric stared and blinked at the sign. HOGWARTS STUDENTS DIE...my oh my....what a welcoming sign that was, he thought uneasily, holding his backpack tightly against his chest."Woaaah...."his jaw fell opened as he stepped into the transfiguration classroom. His eyes widened in astonishment, what happened to this place? Did he just transported himself into a wild densely Amazonian rainforest?! AMAZEBALLS!

Professor Bellaire had really done it this time! She made her lessons so brilliantly epic, he loved transfiguration classes all the more. He kicked the ground underneath and touched the leaves to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Oh yes, it felt incredibly real...alright. He reached down to grab a fallen small tree branch and held it out towards him.
"Nice..."he grinned before continuing walking again. He spotted a few of his friends were already there. He waved to them,"Hey guys!" He wondered if they were as excited as he was feeling right now.

The younger girl answered first, apparently fine with the idea of being a team with the smile and nod in his direction. Benny offered a small smile of his own to be polite, then nodding at her comment. "Yep." In this case it probably was true because you wanted someone...or multiple someones to have your back while you had theirs as you dealt with whatever Bellaire was going to have happen.

"Hi," he returned as Adi greeted him. "Nice to meet you," Benny added as he was introduced to the Slytherin girl. And look Henric, the boy he had met on the field trip might be joining them as well. Looked like they had a good group going for this little jungle expedition.

As for starting...Benny nodded again. "Ready as I'll every be," the sixth year remarked, slipping his wand absently from the pocket it was kept. Probably best to be prepared from the very get go. With other students and groups already beginning, they had to move on now anyway. So the Gryffindor took the lead and headed towards the canopy in the direction he decided to go. For a short time it didn't seem like anything was up until he suddenly there were some nasty insects swarming around them.

The Gryffindor was all for swatting them, but reconizing the buzzing of mosquitoes, he really didn't want so many stings. Not to mention, that was hardly what was expected for them to due during a magical lesson. Muggle studies....maybe...but not transfiguration. Benny let his mind run through options on what to do with them and how to beat them. Two small to attack on their own, he realized they might need some smaller help.

BIRDS!

"Um...the spell for birds..." he mused trying to think. Latching on to the idea, the sixth year strove to remember the spell needed. Finally he moved his wand into the flowing movement of avifors, casting "Avis!" at the locusts and mosquitoes.

"It is time that I test just how much you have been learning and how much you have been reading."

LOL

Zander was basically already dead.

Like REALLY??? "How much you have been reading"???? It's like Bellaire wanted to see him fail.

The Gryffindor returned Norah's look of panic, with on of uhum.. assurance? Well, he was attempting to look reassuring. What in Merlin's name had he gotten himself into by walking into this classroom. If it could even be called a classroom.

Also there was no way that Zander was about to do this on his own. He did pass the Transfiguration exam, but still. When he noticed that Gryffindor from the feast, Natalia looking around, he figured she was in search of a team as well. Soooo, "wanna be on a team?" Which also meant, "Oi! Any Ravenclaws need a group?" Heh. It was worth a shot, okay?

Well, this was interesting and after the maze in defense class AJ was ready to go up against some hard challenges. Maybe this time she would have some better luck. The biggest question was whether she should go at this alone or team up with somebody. Hmmm.... What to do? In the maze she went by herself and the fake dementor kicked her butt. Perhaps a different route this time? She was all about winning, but winning could be done as a team. Two people helping each other out was better than just one person going at it alone. In fact this could help her chances in winning. Yes, her mind was made up.

Who to partner up with? Oh look, Lux was asking, and she was a perfect teammate. "Hey, Lux. I'll work with you." Two brilliant witches were going to put the others to shame. Okay, Lux was definitely brillaint, but AJ was so not a Ravenclaw. That would most likely be the last house she would be placed in. She was darn resourceful and did not scare easily. She totes had some great qualities.

Amanda had just managed to pick up all of her stuff when she heard someone mention Ravenclaws needing a group. She was a Ravenclaw and she definitely didn't want to do this alone. Nobody else looked like they wanted a tiny human following them through whatever this was.

She ran and half tackled his leg, hugging him and squeaked "Me." She was too scared to realize that she was hugging a stranger. But he was smart right? She hoped so. She sure didn't know what she was doing.

Puck’s eyes widened as she felt the heat of the jungle settling in on her. Her hair was already beginning to frizz and curl up as much as it ever did when she was in humid temperatures. This, this was not good. There was no desk, no floor, and the room seemed…to be buzzing?

Was that – she glanced up and saw the swarm of mosquitos ahead of her. “Anyone need a teammate?” She asked and glanced around. She would even lead any of the first years if they needed it.

She just didn’t want anyone to die in here. Sure she'd team up with Nat and Zander but...there were probably some first years that needed help.

"I like your name, Clara Wilde." It was wild, ha. The first year showed her the paper in case she hadn't yet read it for herself and smiled up at her. Maybe she'd have a quick hint for the first part, just in assistance for them both. He didn't want to let her down now that she had a really nice name. "I'm ready to have no other team members." Rooney's smile widened a bit and he re-read the instructions and also repeated what Aunt Rhea's Mama had instructed them to do in his head.

"Miss Clara? Can you promise me that if I can't keep up, you'll just go by yourself?" He would much rather that she got it all done than he did. She clearly had less time left here than he - what with him being a little first year, and her...tall.

OKAY. TIME TO GO. ONWARDS.

He would have offered to hold her hand if she wanted him to, but he knew that this activity didn't allow for them to emotionally rely on one another - rIGHT?

"Let's go!" Woooooooooo.

He really shouldn't have been excited about this.

People were teaming off, and Lux hoped she'd find a partner. If Bay was here he would have worked with her and they would have been the best team ever.

But AJ was coming up to her, and that was just plain awesome. This girl had spunk, and Lux would bet she could survive in the wilderness. She had bravery and resourcefulness, and both were important! "That sounds great to me, partner!" Of course if anyone else wanted to join in, she'd be more than happy to partner up, but just the two of them would be cool too. They were going to kick some jungle butt!!

Yaaay. Girl power and all that stuff. Who needed boys to get stuff done? Well, AJ was pretty much a boy so there was that. "I got your back." Teamwork would be the way to go. As long as they were looking out for each other, they would be able to hopefully move fast through this little obstacle course.

AJ looked down at the paper to see what they would need to do. "Ready to win?"
Because that's what they were about to do. The lion just sort of scanned the paper because she was ready to get going. AJ was more of a 'jump into everything head first' kind of person.

"This way," she said as she got her partner to follow along. This was going to be so much fun! Her heart was already picking up speed. Making sure that Lux was behind her, she stepped under the trees that seemed to block out everything from above. Or were her eyes just playing tricks on her? What was that buzzing sound?

Well, it appeared as if no one really wanted to pair up? OKAY. Solo was fine by her-

Or... company coming!

"Oh hey Mr. Stuttering Perfect!" Natalia greeted, flashing small grin to the Gryffindor prefect, whom she met during the Start of the Term feast. Yes, Mr. Stuttering Prefect who made her giggle."Team sounds good to me." It would probably be really helpful to have Zander in her team; he should have quite a few experiences of the spells as an upperclassmen.

So, yippee TEAM! They were going to ACE this!

Natalia was prepared to venture into the mysterious jungle, until...



Wait what. What was that.

Natalia stood a little paralyzed as a small figure sprinted towards them and tackled Zander's leg. WUUUUUUUT. Firsties did not have any self-consciousness, did they? Well, they needed to LEARN. In addition, Natalia did NOT like to be ignored.

"AHEM." Yes, little Ravenclaw suck-up, there was another person on the team. Actually, she was the CREATOR of team. "Hi lil thing." Because Natalia didn't know her name yet. "If you want to join the team..." The Lioness pondered for a couple seconds, attempting to fabricate a qualification that the little Ravenclaw firstie (Amanda) would CERTAINLY not be qualified for. "...you have to.. um..." B-but, wouldn't she sound a little mean if she decided to reject the girl from the group? Certainly, Natalia did not want to have a reputation of a Meanie-Butt. "Fine." Natalia gave in at last, crossing her arms. "But BEHAVE." See, Natalia could be nice, friendly, and tolerant towards little children!

"Oh, oh, AND..." This time, Natalia was eyeing both Zander and the little firstie with serious gazes. "...I have to name the team." Because she created it. Period.

So far only Cutty had seemed like he was inclined to enter the jungle, but then, Brooklyn wasn’t too surprised about that. Everyone else had just stayed standing wherever they’d stopped once they’d entered the classroom, and so had she. Not for any reason other than to just decide if it was worth continuing. She hadn’t known if there was going to be a real start to the lesson, or if it was more that they had to actually get TO the lesson. Not knowing was annoying, and so was not seeing any of her known older student associates to group up with in case that would come in useful. Aside from Lux, and Benny, but she still wasn’t entirely sure if they were as trustworthy as Ethan was. He’d help her out, unless he reverted back to how he’d been on the field trip. But then, she hadn’t seen him.

As someone had paused next to her, she’d glanced over in case it had been him, or even Hady, but instead it was Maggie. That was unexpected, but she returned the nod. Maybe they could work together. Slytherin solidarity, if not anything else. She’d still rather have Hady instead, yet she hadn’t seen their fellow dormmate. There was Zeke though, so she figured Hady wouldn’t be far behind. Hopefully. She didn’t want to deal with Maggie undiluted. She’d returned the Lion’s nod, too, only to nearly smile as moments later Hady had appeared beside him. A minute or so before the door had slammed, and she’d turned to glare at it. That was rude. But before she could work up too much disapproval, she heard Professor Bellaire’s voice and turned back to see the Patronus. Is this a theme this term or what?,s he wondered, listening as things were explained. Nope. Definitely working in a group, even if she had to put them in front of her at some point. Un less she got to attack things. That might help work off the frustration at being hot and sticky.

So she’d nodded as Maggie had made her suggestion. Whenever they wanted to go into the jungle…

Introductions out of the way? Yesss! Adi didn't need to introduce Henric again... if he chose to come with them that was. Annywhoooo, this Puffer was ready to goooooo! "I'm going on an adventureee!'' Grinning, Adi slipped his wand out and followed after Benny but keeping close to Ilia.

Under the trees they went! "Don't stop to hug a tree, Ilia,'' Adi teased. He wondered what she thought of trees now that she had encountered the violent tree on the Grounds. "OUCH!" What in the name of great majestic Hippogrifs was THAT? Adi slapped at the back of his neck. Sureeee the rest of his body was protected by his clothing but his neck and face remained exposed.

He examined his hand that had slapped at his neck. Gosh! It was a mosquito! It was then that he became aware of all the mosquitoes and other insects buzzing about and coming towards the group.

"Avis,'' Adi said to Benny and the others, already catching on to what the Gryffindor was getting at. The conjured birds would have a feast with these creatures. He raised his wand upwards to make that movement that was shaped like a bird. Well, it was shaped in that immature and less talented way persons like him drew birds. There was a flash of blue light from his wand and then there was a flock of birds zooming around, joining Benny's conjured ones.

Wheee! Look at those birds go, yo! Adi watched in awe as the birds opened their beaks to gobble up the insects. Those insects would not be bothering them anymore!