Woah! Did anyone see that kid? THERE WAS NO WAY HE WAS A FIRST YEAR RIGHT? He was like.... like THREE Charlottes, at least, right? Okay but she HOPED that boy didn't think that just because he was bigger (by a lot) that he would be the boss of her! Because she was (probably) older so that meant that she would be HIS boss, it was the rule! (And when that rule didn't fit, she definitely, definitely found other rules that did fit).

But because she obviously wanted to make sure everyone got to Hogwarts super safely, Charlotte POINTED at the boy from her (full) boat and piped up helpfully (and loudly):

"You probably will need a boat ALL TO YOURSELF." Just to be safe.

This was IT. The thing Char had told her about. It was AMAZING!! The Black Lake, the boats, THE GROUNDS DUDE YELL FIRST YEARS THIS WAY!! Dora felt like she might pee her pants a bit. MIGHT.

Upon seeing Char and Davie she beamed and started their way... only to see their boat was full. This made her stop and pout a LOT. She had her hopes up that she could stick to her friend like glue for this bit.

Oh well. She immediately climbed into an empty boat and WATCHED people. WHO WOULD RIDE WITH HER? THAT ONE!! The boy with the fish. He needed a friend, yeah? "Hey!! Come on. You can ride in MY boat. "

Eenie minnie just wasn't doing it for Owen. The boats all looked too small. Hmm...how about that....

What?

O_O

Was that blonde girl talking to...him? Sneakers, she was. And pointing too. And telling him that he needed a boat all to himself. Owen didn't know how to react at first. Actually, he didn't know how to react properly. He knew he was bigger than most first years but he didn't expect someone to point that out in a not-so-nice manner. "Um..."

And just when Owen was about to start thinking not-so-good thoughts about the shouting girl like perhaps she didn't have access to hersheys and toblerones and reeses, another girl was grabbing his attention.

She was inviting him over to HER boat. He was going to give her some of his M&Ms just because he was nicer than the other girl. But first, he had to make sure. "Really? You're not afraid...we won't fit?" Hehe. Of course they would fit. She was so small.

Apparently he wasn't the only one with manners. Aldous' attention was back on the girl who was now offering her hand to shake. He took her hand in his and did she say they knew EVERYTHING! He took her hand in BOTH of his now. "Pleasure meeting you, both," He offered a toothy smile at Charlotte and her friend. Knowledge these two had, Aldous's favorite thing in the entire world. You can NEVER go wrong when you have knowledge. And so far, this girl proved to be a mine of knowledge. She talked of the squid like she knew him so well.

He did have some information of the creature but written information didn't always satisfy him. He wanted to have face-to-face encounters to collect his OWN data. So shaking the tentacle of the creature didn't sound like a bad idea, "I, too, wouldn't mind shaking his tentacle," He announced raising his index finger in the air. In case anyone was wondering. And it seemed that the silent kid was still hesitant. The man in charge, who had just showed up, seemed to assure him of the safety of the trip. Maybe he feared the water. Which reminded Aldous of the life jackets. He found them immediately and offered each of Charlotte and David one after taking one himself. He knew how to swim but JUST in case. They were here for a reason so might as well be used, right?!

Ruby had spent the entire journey clinging to her older sisters side. She felt safe when she was with Tabby and she wasn't so absorbed in her thoughts of missing her parents so terribly. But there came a time at the very end of the journey where the little brunette had to become separated from her beloved sister for she was to take the boats whilst Tabitha rode in the carriages with the rest of the existing students.

The eleven year old tentatively stepped into the boat balancing herself as it swayed beneath her feet. There were a few students present but she didn't recognise any of them from a previous meeting in Diagon Alley. Being the quiet, shy girl that she was she only offered them a little smile in greeting before staring up at the castle before her. It was bigger than expected but just as grand as her parents had described to her.

Ruby was apprehensive to say the least but looking up at the high turrets and the long bridges she couldn't hide the tiny bit of excitement that flashed across her face. Going to a big school was scary and intimidating but she knew deep down that if she was able to break out of her shell that she would have the best years of her life that her family had experienced whilst at the school.

And if that wasn't reassuring enough her mother had told her that Hogwarts was much better than Beauxbatons.

The boats weren't made for rocking. There were life jackets provided. Two statements that made it abundantly clear that this fleet was perfectly capable of sinking or capsizing or something else that was equally as horrific. Especially if you had an assassin on board.

The fact of the matter was that this was not a dilemma at all. Daxton did not want to get in the boat, so he was not goingto get in the boat. It was as simple as that. He looked at the one closest to him again, the one that held Char and Davie and the other boy/potential assassin, Aldous. To answer Aldous' question... no. No, he did not want to join, he did not want to get in the boat, he did not want to go out on that lake.

He'd barely started to shake his head in response, however, before the groundskeeper spoke up and Daxton snapped his head up to look at him, wondering if he might tell him about another way across.

No. Instead, he was being incredibly unhelpful. Whatever; Daxton didn't want his help anyway. The boy stood there, silently seething and glaring in the man's direction. Of course the boats wouldn't chew them up and spit them out, he'd never heard a more stupid statement in his life. Mostly, though, he was furious because the idiotic groundskeeper had just mused out loud on whether or not Daxton was worried about the boats. Now everyone was going to realise or at least suspect that that was the case, and something about that had him all riled up and resentful, mostly of himself but resentful nonetheless.

Before he had much time to calculate a response from his admittedly limited options, Daxton heard Char speaking again. It seemed like she was talking at any given moment, to be quite frank.

And she was talking about him being worried now too and Daxton's eyes widened in alarm. Char had already started on about the giant squid (which Daxton had already read about, so listening to her from that point on wasn't terribly important, and it just reminded him that she knew more than he did on this matter) leaving the boy to glower around at everyone in the immediate vicinity to see if they'd heard her. He didn't care if they knew he couldn't swim, not at this moment, but he did care that anyone might think he was worried. Anxious. Even though he absolutely was.

Charlotte Kettleburn's big mouth was what finally spurred Daxton on. He placed one foot in the boat, intending to sit in the boat so she would just shut up, but again his attention was elsewhere as she piped up yet again, but her focus was on someone else now, which was where his focus went.

Daxton laid eyes on the boy in question, and he found himself agreeing with Char. The other boy was taller than he was (and he had always been the tallest in his class) and much much wider. Logic dictated he was surely heavier. One thing Daxton knew was that he didn't want to risk sharing a boat with him, purely in the interests of his own safety, and so he finally sat in the boat with Charlotte Kettleburn, David Truebridge, and Aldous.

But if they tried anything, he wouldn't hesitate to send them overboard himself.

It was just as well he'd gotten to the first boat when he did. All of a sudden there was a rush of there kids storming--or dragging their feet down to the docks to grab boats TOO like that kid his cousin apparently knew. Char something and that kid his cousin said didn't talk much. Maybe he should have gotten HIM in the boat instead of the girls that kept questioning his captaincy. He worked HARD to move his little feet in order to be first and that was all the qualification he needed. It was okay though cause neither seemed like they really meant mutiny so none of them had to walk the plank.

Did the Captain have a name? "Arrr! Captain Blaise Bellaire but ye can just call me Captain Blaise." Cause he was NOT dropping his Captain status. "I don't have a telescope on account of it being in my trunk. If I knew I'd need it I might have tried sneaking it with me--but it's okay! I can cup my hands like this." He made a gesture of cupping his hands so they now resembled a telescope then grinned widely at her.

Blaise was watching the people with the loud girl (Aldous, Davie and Daxton) as they too got onto the boats. "OI! What'd ya say we have a race?!" There was no real need to shout with them being in the next boat over but right now there were so many people talking he could hardly hear himself. The boy pushed through to the front of his boat again, ready to take the Captain's spot in the event the girl and her friends wanted in when he heard someone yell his name? Oliver? OH! "HIII Oliver! Join a boat, we're racing!"

Yes, even with the Groundskeeper present and insisting they weren't meant for rocking. Now how did they make them move? "Bentley, get the picture of when we win, we can send it to mum and Auntie Rhea!" He turned to both girls in his boat. "Raise the anchor, turn the ship, we gotta win!" As if either was possible....but an imagination was a wonderful thing.

Then loud girl happened again, this time because of this reeeaaally big kid. Did he get a boat for himself? BLAISE WANTED ONE TOO but 'cept...he wouldn't be Captain anymore........and that was lonely so good thing Dora was offering. "Yeah! Join hers, dude hurry up!" He turned to the other First Years that had either still been waiting to join a boat or were in emptier ones. "LAST ONES ACROSS HAVE TO SLEEP OUTSIDE WITH THE SQUID TONIGHT!" But wait. Um. "How do we start these things?" There were no paddles for which he could become a tyrant and force everyone else to row. Being a gentleman he'd only let his cousin row...so Bentley would have to work double time while he yelled instructions to ensure they won.

Oh man. OH MAN. CHARLOTTE KETTLEBURN!!! Dora facepalmed when Char opened her mouth. Like seriously. Why?? "MANNERS, CHAR! " What more could she say?! Really, that was mortifying.

But as the boy spoke Dora looked at him and nodded encouragingly."Come on, we'll fit just fine. They're MAGIC boats anyway. " Besides... Dora WAS little anyway. While she waited to see if he would HURRY UP AND GET IN she heard the boy yell about RACING. Dora Umbridge was going to win!

"LOSE HAS TO GIMME ALL THEIR CANDY! " You know, because there was NO WAY she wouldn't win. Even with the biggest kid in her boat. Ha!

Yas, dude. Someone was telling him to hurry.

Magical boats. Right. It can carry his weight just fine. Or at least that was what he chose to believe.

The girl seemed very eager that they start their journey so Owen wobbled scampered quickly or as fast as his flabby legs could carry him towards the boat. And in we goooooooooo.

Owen made sure Sushi was safely on the boat first before he dragged himself over.

WHOAAA...there was haphazard rocking as he was lifting one leg over to the boat. He was losing his balance! EEEK! The boat was swaying. Great Chocolate Cauldrons, this didn't seem like a good idea anymore. More swaying, and on to the boat his other leg went. Another wave of higgledy-piggledy!

Before he could lose his balance for real this time, Owen immediately SLUMPED on the boat next to his goldfish and his boat companion who was now yelling about losing and candies gosh the transfer made him hungry and... WHAT WAS GOING ON?! A race? He didn't know Hogwarts held boat races for first years. Just what has he gotten himself into?

Davie was so relieved he had a BFF like Charlotte, one who talked all the time so he didn't have to. She had even introduced him to the other kids in their boat! He probably wouldn't have gotten up the courage to do that by the time the boat got across the lake, so he just smiled and nodded at the other boys in their boat as they climbed in.

Then the groundskeeper was talking, a new guy, someone he hadn't met before because his mum hadn't hired this guy. He listened carefully as the groundskeeper announced that they had life vests in their boat ---- would they really need those?! ---- and then he accepted one from Aldous. "Thanks," he mumbled as the fourth member of their boat finally climbed in. The quiet boy, from the train, that's who that was. Huh. He didn't look happy, again, to be going to Hogwarts.

Glancing over at the first boat, Davie almost missed his BFF directing that one BIG firstie to his OWN boat. "Char!" he hissed, turning back and elbowing her in the side. "You can't just tell people to get their OWN BOAT." Davie's eyes were wide and apologetic as he looked over at them, and noticed Dora being surprisingly nice and helpful with the boy. He gave her a wave and then settled in, because apparently they were going to be in a boat race.

"The boats move by themselves at their own pace," he informed the loudmouth boy in the first boat. Never mind that they had their own loudmouth in this boat. "They're enchanted to move across the lake. You'll notice that you don't have oars for a reason." Duh.

Bentley didn't understand this fear of water. He was practically born into water. He probably learnt to swim before he even learned to walk so falling into the water really wasn't all that scary, giant squid or not. That was probably why he didn't mind Blaise moving up and down the boat.

The ground keeper did get a side eye however.

What did he mean 'these boats aren't meant for rocking'? They were on a boat..in water there would be rocking! It was inevitable. The boats would rock groundskeeper man. That was a given.

"We don't need life vest!" He announced to the groundskeeper. "Castle!!!" He was ready to get to school.

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerlinnnn!

Charlotte never ever stopped talking did she? He was sure that she could entertain herself all day if she wanted and never ever get bored. Now that was some special talent right there.

"Hiiii Charlotte." He responded loudly while getting another picture of her waving. He got a picture of the kid she was talking to as well (Owen).

Bentley nodded at Blaise. He clearly wouldn't be sitting at all during his whole ride to Hogwarts. He just definitely could not miss any shots.

"Aye Captain!!"

And pssssssssssssh! Clearly boat one would win. They were the boat of champions.

Charlotte waved cheerfully at Dora. And oh wasn't that nice of her to go with that big boy?

Nice... and HILARIOUS! Bahaha! The TINIEST FIRST YEAR (a whole two inches shorter than Charlotte, and she was PROUD of those two inches!) and the BIGGEST GIANTEST ONE (if he even WAS a first year, who knew?) were going in a boat together. HOPEFULLY Dora wouldn't drown. Or well, she wouldn't drown, because Bartholomew Henry was such a gentlesquid, who would save her and everything, but hopefully, her boat wouldn't sink.

What was Dora on about manners for? Charlotte rather thought it would be REALLY bad manners to sink someone's boat. It would be best manners to travel on your own just to make sure, if you were that big. And safer for everyone. It was just common sense! She didn't mean anything by it!

but Davie WAS right about them being magic, Char perked up a bit at this, but gave him a baffled look at the elbowing. What did he mean? "Of course I can! I just did, didn't I?" She whispered back to him.

BUT GOSH THERE WAS TOO MUCH GOING ON! Charlotte bounced slightly, looking this way and that, and stopping the bouncing as Daxton FINALLY joined them. She gave him a big excited smile. AND SOMEONE WANTED A RACE? But they couldn't because they didn't get to control the boats, just like Davie said. BUT SOMETHING ELSE that boy said was interesting to Charlotte.

"Oh! I wanna sleep outside with the squid! ME! That would be SO FUN!" She was going to PASS OUT FROM EXCITEMENT. "Oh Aldous we could both shake his tentacles at the SAME TIME!" She took one of the life jackets, but was too flaily to put it on. BENTLEY WAS SAYING HI NOW. CHARLOTTE WAVED EVEN MORE and then CLUNG to Davie's arm in an attempt to contain her excitement.

THEY WERE GOING TO LEAVE SOON RIGHT?

Chloe startled when someone addressed her. A grown up, too. She tried to straighten her spine to show how prepared and ready she was to get in the boats when she answered, "Yes." Obviously. She was like half the size of the adult who was adulting. No way was she older than eleven.

He seemed to be adulting with other students as well. So when she got the chance she slipped into a boat with two other students who were making the least amount of ruckus. She stared at the larger boy when she climbed in and the girl who was yelling about candy.

Leaning over to the boy, she whispered, "Are you really eleven?" It was cool if he was, she was just curious.

Uh.. huh? Henry gave Lucas an odd look. "I wasn't implying anything," he started, even if the other boy had been totally rude. "I was just making conversation and explaining that I was being polite in doing so." But whatever. It wasn't that big of a deal to Henry so he wasn't sure why it was to this kid either. Instead he petted the kneazle curled up on his lap and tried to gently extract the claws from his leg.

"Oh.. was your mom a Hufflepuff? My mom was too, maybe they were there at the same time." That was remotely interesting to Henry, but only enough in saying so. He was starting to get a little fidgety just sitting and waiting for the boat to get going. "Do you think we have to wait till the boat is full till it moves?" he asked the other boy. Hopefully not, because he was eager to get across the lake.

Turning to look behind and around him, he spotted some of the other presumably first years in their boats and some just getting in. Oh.. hey! He knew that kid! "Owen, hi!" Henry grinned and waved at the boy as he got into a different boat with a couple girls. Wait.. were they gonna race across the lake? "Awesome!"

Glancing around for that adult person in their midst to see if he was going to send them off or what, Henry noticed a girl in a boat (Ruby) who looked really familiar. He knew her from.. somewhere. Catching himself looking a little too long, he gave her a smile and wave. He'd figure out where he knew her in a minute.

That's right... come on. Get IN ALREADY. All that wobbling was making Dora nervous. She watched the kid set the fish down and gritted her teeth, gripping the sides of the boat. THEY WERE GOING TO FLIP OVER IF HE DIDN'T SIT DOWN ALREADY!!! "STEADY! " Aaaand he was in. WHEW!!

Once she was sure she wasn't going into the water she turned her attention back toward Charlotte and Davie. LOOKITTHATDIDYOUSEETHAT DAVIE WAVED. Hehehe. She KNEW he would loosen up some. Eventually. They had eaten candy together so they were DEFINITELY friends now. Definitely. Dora waved back excitedly and did the same to Char. EVEN IF she was giving her narrowed eyes. They would talk later. Mhm.

OH MY GOSH THERE WAS SOMEONE ELSE GETTING IN THEIR BOAT!!! Exciting stuff. As Dora turned to speak she clamped her mouth back shut for a moment and LOOKED AT THE GIRL.

"Course he is ELEVEN. He wouldn't have gotten a LETTER or be in the boats if he wasn't. Maybe he's... half giant or something." GAH! People.

"I'm Dora Umbridge. And you arrrrre? " What was the NEW FRIENDS NAME? HUH? BECAUSE THEY WERE TOTALLY GOING TO BE FRIENDS NOW!

There's some life vests tucked inside, so you'll have a harder time being sucked into the water in case you slip in.

Ava didn't want to put on a life vests because 1. Their boat was so awesome that it wouldn't sink and 2. She could swim. So yeah... no live vests for her. She's not that kind of a kid who's afraid of water.

"Alright then, Captain Blaise." The brunette girl said and slightly chuckled when he imitated a telescope using his hand. And boat race? She was really up for it! This was gonna be interesting, and fun too! When a girl (Dora) set a bet, it made more interesting. "Yeah, I agree with her. The lost people have to give their candies and chocolates to the winner." Because it seemed like most people were soooo interested with meeting the giant squid (including her). And of course she was very sure that her boat would win the race. It was the first boat. Duh.

"Don't we have paddles or something to row this boat?" Because they're gonna race and she had to prepare with the paddles or any kind of things that could help them win the race.

No. No race. Absolutely not. Daxton was one hundred percent not racing rickety little boats across this lake with a bunch of lunatic children. That boy, the one in Bentley's group, he was almost as bad as Char. Almost.

From the second he'd settled into the boat, Daxton had kept a firm grip on the edge of the boat, eyeing the life jackets provided but completely frozen into place by the sheer terror of being on the water, especially with these people. He didn't trust a single person in this group of first years not to intentionally endanger their lives. First it would be a boat race, then someone would be calling for them to recreate the events of the Spanish Armada, and then there would probably be some kind of boat riot, he just knew it.

Doom. Death. Destruction. It was all about to happen, and here he was, sat here in the middle of it.

It didn't even make Daxton feel any better when David Truebridge announced that the boats were magical and couldn't be raced, because he'd just set eyes on that large boy trying to get into his own boat with the girl who knew Char, causing it to wobble about and rock and disturb the water so much that the boat Daxton was in had started to rock.

Except... no... no, that wasn't what was happening. What was happening was that Charlotte Kettleburn was taking it upon herself to bounce and flail around in their boat, causing it to rock ever so gently. To Daxton, though, they may as well have been in the middle of a storm registering at Beaufort force 10.

No. No. Daxton was getting out of this boat. He'd barely sat inside it for a minute, but already the boy was back to his feet and climbing back out. Charlotte Kettleburn was not going to get him killed. Not today, not ever. The groundskeeper needed to give him his own boat, or leave him here, except Daxton knew that if the man left a kid behind on the shore he'd probably get fired.

In any case, Daxton wasn't missing out on Hogwarts because of this hiccough; he'd walk around the stupid lake if he had to.

"Being half giant would be SO COOL!"

Yes, Phillip Romalotti was, you know, THERE and all. Watching the others. Looking. And practically hopping his way down, trying to catch up with the others. MERLIN, they moved QUICKLY. He would get to one boat and it would already be FULL! And he wanted to sit with people he KNEW, which only happened to be Blaise over there and Bentley over there there, who were both sitting in the first boat.

Pout. He wasn't going to get his way, was he?

So, instead, the eleven year old shrugged and bounded over towards boat number THREEEE, the one with the half giant (Owen), a girl who was asking questions (Chloe) and another girl who was talking about giving sweets to the loser of the boat race (Dora). Huh. Challenges were always interesting. And this one didn't sound like it was impossible buuuuuuut "We'd better WIN. I don't want to give up my sweets." And they had a point to prove.

"I'M Phillip. Phillip Romalotti." And he was sitting here okay? OKAY.

But the REAL question was: WHEN WERE THEY GOING TO GO TO HOGWARTS ALREADY? COME ON, BEARD MAN SIR, LEGGO.

"I'M NOT GIVING ANYONE MY CANDY." Olly shouted. That may not have been quite necessary because they weren't really that far away from each other, but it was just a precaution. He wanted to make sure that everybody knew that he was not going to give away his candy. Not even if he lost. Not that he would lose of course, because the Borzekowski-Thomas' were not losers.

Only four to a boat, that was the rule. Olly was not going to test that rule because he did not feel like falling into the water at the moment. Nope. So he selected a new boat and claimed it as his own. He could be captain of that one. Ha! He got in the boat, as carefully as he could so it would not rock too much and tip over. Now he just needed a crew.

"Arrrgh matey." He used his best pirate voice and pointed toward a girl (Ruby) that had not joined any of the boats. "Ye can be me first mate." Olly stood in his boat and put his hands on his hips, searching out any others who had not already joined one of the other boats. "Aye, which of ye landlubbers want to join me crew? Argh." He had to have his sister with him, whenever she got there. He didn't know how or when exactly they had gotten separated in the first place, but she couldn't be too far behind.

Someone was calling him other than the loud blonde girl. Oh! He knew that someone. "Hello, Henry!" So he really was a fellow first year. At least there was a face here who wasn't talking about his size.

...Or maybe he thought too soon.

Apparently the girl who just got into their boat, which was totally not sinking despite their added weights, was wondering if he was indeed eleven. Owen grinned and whispered back, "Yep. I am eleven." Erm. Why were they whispering?


And as reiterated by the small girl. He was INDEED eleven. Was it so hard to believe? He was only 5'4" in height. His mama was still taller than him. It's not like he was a...

O___o

....half-giant or something.

"Dora," Okay. That was her name. "I'm Owen, by the way. And I am not a half-giant." Just to clear that up.

Owen couldn't help but chuckle at the new person as he scooted over to give his boatmates more space (because he knew he was taking up too much space). He had just said that he was not a half-giant. But it was fun that they thought that. It showed just how much he loved his mama's dishes. "Hi Phillip. I'm Owen, and I'm not a half-giant." Chuckle. Chuckle.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that the boat was able to hold the four of them without sinking? It was still quite comfortable inside too.

Plus, that kid from the boat with the loud blonde girl said they won't be able to race because the boats were set to row themselves by their own speed. So yes, everything was a-okay. He had Sushi safely with him, the people with him on the boat weren't so mean, the boat was still intact, and he had a packet of M&Ms on his pocket! Yey!

ASDJAJKASDJAJALKLAKJDALJAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" was the sound currently being emitted by Ellery as she careened towards her brother, arms flailing wildly. Once she reached her brother (after some narrow misses of other first years), she tackled/hugged/clung to him. Yes, they hadn't been apart for so long, but IT WAS ALL SO EXCITING! And she was SO excited to SHARE THIS EXPERIENCE WITH ONE OF HER FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!

She wriggled excitedly as she tugged on Olly's hand. "Can we be in the same boat? Why am I even asking, it's NOT A QUESTION." She clambered into a nearby empty boat, nearly toppling in already. She let go of Olly's hand in order to scamper to the front of the boat, nearly toppling it again.

"RUDE," she told the boat, "TO BE JUDGING MY WEIGHT LIKE THAT." She prodded the boat gingerly, then relocated to rebalance the boat.

She patted the seat next to her. Was Olly going to join?

Ay! He was being attacked! Olly wriggled away from his attacker, as much as he could without rocking the boat, and held his hand toward her like he was brandishing a sword. WHO DARED ATTACK PIRATE CAPTAIN OLIVER? He should look into that - actually getting a sword. When he saw who it was though, he threw both his hands into the air instead and let out a whoop. It was Ellery! He knew she hadn't been too far behind, and YAY there she was!

"Ahoy! Ye can join me crew." Of course they would be on the same boat, was that even a question? They were always together. Same womb, same house, same boat, same everything. And if he wanted to be a good pirate captain, he needed a good crew. And who better to join him than his own sister? He had the perfect job for her too. "Ye can man them thar cannons." Of course they had cannons. What kind of pirate ship would not have cannons? Now he just needed two more members of his loyal pirate crew. One, if that girl on the shore was actually going to join him as well.

See, he KNEW he could count on his cousin. It's why Bentley was the First Mate of this pretend!ship and why he'd always be the last person to walk the plank if it ever came to that. Blaise was grinning widely by now, ready to set sail and feel the crisp evening air against his cheek as they sped across the boat when THAT kid happened. Fours eyes over there in the next boat.

"What?" What did he MEAN the boats were magic and they couldn't have a race?? "Well...." Well indeed..."How do we...unmagic them then?" Because they couldn't very well have a race with the child safety restraints they'd OBVIOUSLY put on these things.

He looked to the girl who'd gotten excited about sleeping with the squid, then over at Dora who was yelling about giving away candy. He didn't have any candy on him BUT he DID plan to win so that part didn't matter. "You can still sleep with the squid but hey if you get Gryffindor too can I have your pillows? Reckon you won't be needing them in the water." Just a thought. Could he have them no matter what house she got sorted to? Blaise looked to the Groundskeeper who had suggested the life vests just a moment ago. "'S'cuse me, Sir, HOW do we make the boats not move on their own and can you get us some paddles?" Important questions. This whole place was magic and he'd seen his father make stuff with magic before so this guy definitely could too.

The 11 year old settled in his spot by the front again and gave a small shrug at Ava's question. "I dunno, none of us have paddles. I think we're gonna have to wait for Groundskeeper to GIVE us some." Which kinda left them stationary at the moment. See the problem?

He sighed, "Oh really?" Lucas eyed the boy then nodded, "Ok... sorry about that then..." He grumbled and glanced away. "I haven't been around many kids my age... the siblings are years older than me and I barely see any of my cousins anymore..." He pouted and sighed, missing Meghan. He swung his legs.

Lucas looked up at the boy and nodded. "Yeah, she was... shes really old now though... Shes like DECADES old." He nodded rapidly, showing how old he thought she was. "I don't know..." He looked around for the man who had been saying something about these boats. "What if some boats are never full though?" He pondered and sighed, debating whether he should have gotten on one that had three so that it would have moved if that was the case.

SO MUCH WAS HAPPENING!!!! PEOPLE WERE YELLING! LOUD NOISES!!

so... it was apparently SETTLED! Loser lost their sweets. AWESOME! Surely the dude with the beard, aka the Groundsdude, would let them legit race. Right???? SURELY HE WOULD!

Dora gave a toothy grin at the dude (Daxton) who looked UBER uncomfortable... well he should not have STOLEN her spot on the boat with Char and Davie. Hmph. Right. BUT her attention quickly moved to the person climbing in their boat. COOOLLLL!! They had another passenger! FULL BOAT FOR THE WIN!! And he AGREED that being half giant was COOL?! Dora held her hand out for a HIGH FIVE, BRO!! For real. She meant it as a good thing... it WOULD be cool, ya know?!

"We are SOOOO going to win, Phillip Romalotti. GOING. TO. WIN. " Period. They had this! BAMMMM!!


...But wait. He WASN'T half giant??? DORA STARED AT HIM WITH WIIIIIIIDE EYES. "How are you so big, then? You are like....MEGA tall. " Dora brain did not compute... EXPLAIN!! "Owen. " The HALF GIANT. Seriously... why was he SOOOO TALLLLL?! Dora didn't GET it.




SHOUTING WAS HAPPENING.... WAS SOMEONE DYING ON THE OTHER BOAT? $?!?!?! Pipe down, person Dora does not know! FORRR REALLL! whoa. WHOOOOAAAA!!



...Blaise. Hmph. DORA TURNED HER NOSE UP AT HIM. HA! "I'd rather sleep with Bartholomew Henry than to sleep in a dorm with you! " HAAAAAAA! and he wasn't getting her CANDY OR PILLOWS BECAUSE DORA UMBRIDGE WAS UNBEATABLE! BAAAAAAAAM!