Elsa answered Azura with an excited grin plastered on her face "I'm brilliant! I can't wait for this class to start! If needed, want to be my pair?" yes, filed trips were her favorite thing, even when she wasn't at Hogwarts and her mother remembered that there was something they just HAD to see.

Then Hady spoke to her as well, and her grin spread even wider - if possible - as she zipped her suit up and got herself ready.

Then there was a commotion with some girls falling over and something over Flying weasels and stuff. Elsa didn't quite understand what happened, so she just shrugged and approached the teachers who were now addressing the class.

She heard everything spoken with attention, nodding in concentration - woah. That was a really big opportunity she reckon. She fought the impulse of announcing her uncle Gallow worked in the ministry, which wasn't really relevant to the case, but she was really proud of him. No one in the family worked in the ministry.

She then pondered on the question. Well, there was always pollution which everyone knew was a big no-no. She raised her hand, her answer forming in her lips as she did so. "I believe that either muggle or wizard communities can have a negative impact on a land if they keep chopping down trees for whatever purpose (building, wands, fire.... I believe you're supposed to allow the land to heal itself and regrow, right?"

So Brian was just shimmying into the strange suit thing that they all had to wear when he had to stop for a minute to witness all the crazy with the Ravenclaws and by the time he'd got his head back on, class had already begun and questions were being asked. Heh.

His go-to response was deforestation but people were already saying that and he wasn't all too fond of repeating stuff. "Excessive mining is bad for the earth too." And he'd just leave it at that just in case someone wanted to expand on it. And focus on getting the suit the rest of the way on and taking notes.

There.

Following directions, Janelle gathered around Professor Flamsteed with the other students. She was ready for the field trip to start, but she was not looking forward to the portkey ride. Listening to the professor talk about the trip made Janelle even more excited. Then it was question time. Running some possible answers through her mind, she raised her hand to give her question.

"I agree that cutting down trees is bad. Trees give off oxygen and help take a lot of the bad stuff out of the air." Janelle took a glance at Professor Myers, to let him know that she had been paying attention in class. "With so many cars and factories polluting the air, we need all the help we can get to keep the air clean. By cutting down trees, we're also taking away some animals' homes. That can just throw off the whole balance of nature."

"Flying weasels?" Kitty repeated Rachel and Haddie's words, her eyes widening as she imagined them. It seemed odd that Professor Flamsteed didn't believe them - because would that really be so strange compared to many of the magical creatures around Hogwarts? But at least they both seemed to be okay, and since the lesson was starting Kitty didn't have time to ask any more questions. She ran into the girl's tent and quickly changed into the awkward uniform, examined herself in her hand mirror, and then ran back out to answer the first question.

Kitty raised her hand to give an answer of her own. "Many muggles throw garbage out of their cars when they are driving, and that can DEFINITELY have a negative impact on the environment. And plastic is worse than paper because animals could choke on it. Besides, it just makes everything look ugly when there's garbage lying everywhere." Kitty had some experience with this because she noticed that he edge of her yard where the grass met the street was always covered in paper plates and plastic cups. Neither she nor her mother ever littered but muggles driving by in cars always seemed to think their yard was a good place to throw their garbage. It really annoyed Kitty (who first discovered this when she was looking for worms), and recently before going off to Hogwarts she had started picking up all the garbage and throwing it away. They did something like in Muggle Studies too.

She raised her hand again. "I've never portkeyed before today. Where are we going?" This was going to be really cool, she just knew it.

It was really hard to focus when Haddie seemed like she was dying. Jaemin chewed on his lip, watching for a minute while she groped at her prefect's face... she would be okay, right? The prefect and the professors were right here, it wasn't like anything really bad could actually happen. He stood there, watching for another moment, before sloooooooowly joining the group that Professor Flamsteed had called together.

If it was a place that Muggles had made inhabitable but then made uninhabitable... Jaemin wrinkled his nose and held his hand up. The place they were going probably didn't have many people in it or anything then, right?

"Some of the stuff Muggles do to make power is really bad for the environment... in my Muggle school the science teacher taught us about a place in Russia where no people could live for a really long time, because a power plant place had a big meltdown. In comic books you get superpowers from stuff like that, but in the real world it just...makes everything awful." He couldn't remember the name of the place, but he did remember that the wildlife and plant life had taken everything back after a while, overrunning all the stuff the humans had left there.

Good for them. He nodded rather firmly in response to his own thoughts and worked on making sure that his sleeves were rolled up enough for his hands to be out.

He was glad when Meredith spliced the crowd--the attention should be back on the lesson and field trip at hand. No need to worry here, students!

But flying weasels sounded totally...made up, if you asked him, but then again...those nifflers had recently somehow gotten to the kitchens, according to Mr. Song, so...hmm. He didn't think flying weasels was ALL that far-fetched.

"See, I would fix your limbs, but...I don't want to ...do any damage...er..." he explained. "Especially since..we don't know how this was caused? Or...what the affect of...the....flying weasels you encountered to be." Students were...innocent until proven guilty, right? He should probably give them the benefit of the doubt until he was proven wrong.

He turned to Penelope. "No no, Miss Wright, I think they'll be just fine." He didn't want Penelope to have to miss the field trip or anything..those portkeys were leaving SOON. "But thank for offering. That is very kind of you." And nice leadership skills right there, you know?

"Haddie...Rachel.." he smiled gently. "I'm sure Professors Flamsteed and Moxley and I...will figure out how you two can make up the field trip at some point. It won't be any problem for me..." he shot a look at his colleagues. "And I am sure it won't be a problem for them. We'll figure something out, okay, girls? Don't you worry one bit." He smiled more.

And...

"Great answers everyone, so far!" he said to the students as a whole.

He wasn't paying particular attention to the...er...incident that arose. Granted, his quill and notepad that floated along next to him vigorously recorded all it could but himself? Eh....he'd much rather listen to what they might have been doing while making guess work on how Moxley would make this lesson as absolutely amazing as all her other ones.

Didn't help that it involved a bunch of girls he wasn't sure what to think much of--he knew what to think of Penelope but the others....he was still iffy thanks to one David Truebridge. Thanks bud.

So Blaise kept his eyes forward. If he noticed the drama at all, you would never be able to tell because of how intent he kept his gaze on the Professors and just how focused he seemed to look in the moment. They were going on a field trip. Something about another planet...or was it...NOT another planet?? Blame the commotion, his attention span wasn't as air tight as it could have been.

What he DID get was the question. Humans ruining the earth. "They botch things up Professor. Wizards that don't know how to use their wands but insist on casting with them anyway. Imagine it, poor bloke just wants to create some rain to water his plants but even though he KNOWS it won't end well, he attempts the cast then BOOM, massive drought and him not knowing how to fix it because magic isn't for everyone, he tries everything in his kwikspells book and you know what happens? He dries out ALL the nutrients from the soil--but oh, he doesn't stop there because some people," Not him, certainly not, "don't know when to quit so he casts AGAIN and you know what happens this time????? Volcano! Lava everywhere! Soot rising into the sky, the ground gets scorched, all the vegetation dies and you'd think he'd left enough of a mark but still no because all that magic dries up the atmosphere and so it never ever ever ever rains again and the ground becomes barren and nothing ever grows again and suddenly we have ruined terrain." Yup. Couldn't have made it up if he tried.

Lesson? Don't use magic.

Flamsteed got full on scoffing and Myers got full on adoration before Dot disappeared to change into the uniform. As if she'd hinder her work. She did HERBOLOGY, sir, and had handled poop. She knew how to do her work and still look fabulous. Like her hair was up, no dangling jewelry, appropriate shoes, all the body parts covered for safety, but she still had a belt tugging the suit tight around her waist, and she'd pegged her cuffs to make them fit better. Not to mention some light glittering where it counted most and her favorite shades.

Take that, Flammy.

They were obviously not taking off immediately, and Dot lounged at the back of the crowd, eyes peeled for her friends. Oh, right, friends were not a thing she was good at currently. Familiar faces? Acquaintances? House mates? What was the question?

"Erosion, sir. If you strip the natural foliage or break up the soil to plant crops without providing appropriate windbreaks or whatever, you could cause the loss of the good, rich soil accidentally. And if it goes into the waterways as runoff, then you've polluted your water sources as a result." She knew stuff.

Scarlett found it sort of hard to concentrate, wondering what on Earth was going on with the two Ravenclaw girls, but she managed to pull herself away from her thoughts for a few seconds to answer Flamsteed's question. She raised her hand.

"There's a LOT that humans do, but one that definitely has a huge impact is burning fossil fuels. It messes up the ozone and then the Earth gets hotter, which affects everyone. Especially polar bears," she explained. THAT was the important thing, obviously. SAVE THE POLAR BEARS!

Ava tried not to really pay attention about what was going on with Rachel and Haddie. It wasn't really her business and besides, the professors had already taken care of them. So let's just continue the class and start the field trip? Thank you.

And of course they go, Professor Flamsteed has asked them a question. "When people don't throw their garbage to the appropriate place sir, let's say that they throw them to the sewage or river, it can cause flood when it rains. And also, sometimes they just leave their garbage when they have a picnic at the park or beach and didn't throw them to the garbage bin." The young lioness said as she raised her hand.

There was always some kind of drama going on in this place, and Daxton had learned to observe it all with a kind of removed interest, and the same bored expression that had become his default. Ultimately, aside from the idea that there may be rogue flying weasels around the castle (which was actually quite likely), Daxton found all the commotion to be of very little interest.

When Blaise Bellaire arrived and took up a position nearby, Daxton merely looked at him, the only sign of acknowledgement he was ever likely to give. Then he turned his attention to Airey Flamsteed, still ignoring the instruction to change into those horrific looking uniforms, and staying resolutely in his own clothes. Just as he stayed resolutely silent when the first question was posed to the class, though this was surely to be expected, as Daxton had yet to answer a question in class at Hogwarts, or even say a single word whatsoever.

His notebook remained in his pocket as well, and Daxton remained perched on the desk, swinging one leg and looking entirely disinterested, though he was running through potential answers in his mind. The most obvious answer was that, by simply existing, humankind had a negative influence on the environment. Existing and building places to live and requiring more and more space and resources, and overpopulating the earth and making it so loud and busy and cramped. It would have been much better if it was just Daxton. All the resources and space just for him, and it would be so quiet. So very quiet and peaceful and perfect.

At that point, Daxton could not help but fantasise about this; a dream world, a planet just for him, a planet that he alone could live on and destroy as he wished. His eyes glazed over ever so slightly as he thought about how much better it would be than... well... than this.

Charlotte had put on one of the uniforms, but apart from that the small blonde was in her own universe. Someone was dying or something and there was something about garbage and who CARED she was WEARING BLUE! And TOTALLY CHANNELLING HER INNER RAVENCLAW even if she also had sort of missed the question... questions... who knew how many there were? Not Char.

Now if this was a joint defense, charms, or transfiguration class then she'd be ALL OVER IT but as it was? Her attention span = 0. She held out the front of her BLUE uniform and stared down it instead.

Comfy down there, little snaiiiil?

After getting changed, Sam had settled right next to where Genny was perched, giving the Gryffindor a wide smile as she tugged on the too long sleeves of whatever this outfit was supposed to be. It resembled what muggle building repair men wore, and she couldn't think why they'd need to be doing plumbing exercises in a combined Herbology and Astronomy course.

Starting to roll up her sleeves, she thought about Flamsteed's question. It wasn't an easy one, for her at least, given the train journey to Hogwarts and her subsequent stay here was the only time she'd been out of London, and someone had already answered about building cities. She pondered what she'd read as other people answered, glancing between the Professors as if it might suddenly give her inspiration.

It didn't, Sam instead finding herself distracted by Professor Myers and two of her dorm mates. She'd go visit them after they'd returned. They'd appreciate her getting points more than unhelpful attention now, right? She thought Rachel might, at least. It sucked they wouldn't get to come along though.

And then, an answer slipped into her consciousness. Something from Herbology. She couldn't remember if Myers had said it, or her textbook. "Too muc' fer'ilis-eh is bad for the environmen'," she said, putting her hand up. "Like feh crops. Cos it runs off 'n' gets in the riv-ehs. 'n' den green stuff...algi?...grows too fas', disruptin' the 'ole sys'em 'n' the fish die."

Tia had donned the blue uniforms as instructed, which admittedly she didn't find that comfortable but she was also pre-absorbed in her own world. The seventh year wasn't paying attention to what her younger housemates were involved in and complaining about - besides, Penelope seemed to have them in order as she could - but Tia was thinking instead on the future. Her future. Something she'd been dwelling on for the last two years, since taking her OWL exams practically, because she honestly had no idea what she wanted when she left Hogwarts for the last time. She wanted to use her brain, but that was just so broad-spectrum as to what she could do with her life.

Hearing Flamsteed speak, the head girl turned her attention briefly on him. Terraforming. The environment; yes she cared about the environment but she was nearly positive when she left Hogwarts, she didn't want something that directly involved that. It also seemed to her that some of her classmates seemed to be only skimming the surface.

"Overgrazing by livestock, Professor," Tia said quietly, wondering if perhaps they should have Draper here too; Quad lesson instead of stopping at simple Triple. "If the agriculture isn't allotted enough time to recover in between grazing periods than this could lead to severe land degradation overtime."

Nodding his head about the room as students each took their turn answering, or electing to be attentive listeners, the astronomer gave his wand a quick flick to the blackboard so their suggestions would appear.

Quote:

• throwing things on the ground that won't decompose/littering
• chemicals into the water and soil
• over familiarity with our surroundings
• agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming practices
• introducing new species to areas where they are not native
• overgrazing livestock
• building cities
• land clearance
• excessive mining
• improper use of magic
• erosion
• burning fossil fuels

"Stellar," he nodded, giving the board an approving nod before turning his attention back to the class. "This is a sampling, and a very good one, of the ways in which humanity impacts the environment and it is for these reasons that many protest the notion of terraforming another planet." Just as a bit of throwback to his first lesson of the term and some thought provoking insight raised by a fair share of the bright minds present. "We," meaning himself and his two colleagues. "...would like you to keep these in mind as you work today. While we will not be going over the details to each of these, what precisely happens to the soil and whatnot, we invite you to speculate and make as educated a guess as you can muster as to what was the cause of the land degeneration of our particular site. There may be a little something extra in store for those of you who speculate in the correct general direction."

Vague. Vague astronut was vague.

With that out of the way and uniforms on and...the Ravenclaw female problem under control (it WAS under control, right? He was honestly too anxious to actually look and see)...it was time to get a move on. AND, according to his sundial watch, they were right back on schedule.

"Not to worry, Miss Valentine," he assured the Ravenclaw (AGAIN WITH THE RAVENCLAWS). "Just keep a firm grip on the portkey and you'll be just fine. The worst than can happen..." Well, no, he could think of several things worse than what he was about to share...but he had learned about appropriate bedside manner when it came to being brutally honest with students. Thank you Miss Cambridge and Miss Wisteria for all that. "...is that you'll be revisiting your breakfast. But I have mints in my pocket here to help counteract such things."

Ahem. Yes. Moving along.

"I'll be needing Pebbles back now, I'm afraid," he whispered to the Slytherin. Sorry not sorry, but he would be holding on to her during transportation. "Headmistress Moxley, Professor Myers, and myself will each have a portkey..." which he summoned now from behind his desk and levitated over to the appropriate parties. A large hula hoop for himself, a giant Croc shoe for Paul, and a donkey pinata for Meri-berry - who received MORE apprehensive looks because, well, he had not forgotten about the love letter just yet. "Please divide yourselves up as evenly as possible among the three of us and hold on tight. We will be departing in less than..." He gave another quick glance at his watch. "....5 minutes."

OOC: go ahead and pick a portkey lesson will continue in approximately 12 hours.

Rachel sighed in great disappointment once more. She edged close to her best friend, her eyes fixed on Professor Myers. Goodness! He was so kind, wasn't he? She appreciated him saying that the three Professors would try to make up for her and Haddie's missed trip. "Thank you, Professor. Will you bring me back a souvenir?'' It was just a random question but Rachel thought she would like one all the same.

"Have fun, Professors,'' she told Moxley and Myers. Flamsteed was too far away to hear her but she trusted he would also enjoy himself. The Eagle watched the class gather around the three portkeys, getting ready to depart.

What a fun filled lesson she and Haddie were going to miss.

After writing down what the teacher wrote down on the blackboard, Elsa stored her little notebook inside her suit along with her wand. Both neatly secure. She puller her suit's sleeve up and got closer to the teachers This suit was funny to walk on. But something told her she wouldn't be having fun if she had the urge to use the bathroom, seeing as the suit had to be completely pulled down in order to.. you know.

She then approached professor Flamsteed, who was closer to her, and gazed at the large hula hoop he held in his hands. She then placed her hand next to his and held steady "Is one hand enough Sir?" she asked doubtfully. She never traveled by portkey before, she normally uses Floo with her mother. The prospect of revisiting her breakfast, as the professor had put before wasn't one she was looking forward to, so she just took a big breath and braced herself for whatever was coming. 5 minutes counting...!

Kitty approached the hula hoop next to Flamsteed and Elsa. It was the coolest one in her opinion. She wasn't certain if she was supposed to touch it. Professor Flamsteed had said they would be departing in five minutes but Kitty didn't want to be the first one to touch it - just to be on the safe side. So instead she stood as close to it as possible and waited nervously but excitedly.

"Don't worry Rachel, I'll bring you a souvenir," she said as she waited for more students to gather.

Azura headed over to Headmistress Moxley , because surely she would be safe with the Headmistress! Right? Also.. she couldn't resist the pinata! It looked so bright and colorful, so she walked up closer to her and gave her a wave.

"Hello Headmistress, I'm really excited about today!" She said with a warm smile as she put a hand on the donkey pinata and looked around, waiting for other people to come join them.

Just lookit his answer up there on the board. The Professor knew what he was on about, the man totally got him and Blaise was selfishly pleased to know he was right. Had his quill taken that down? The way the Professor said his response was 'stellar'? Sure, the man was referring to EVERYONE but he trusted that wouldn't be the way his quill told it in the end.

Brown eyes glanced the other suggestions on the list but the only one that really mattered to him was the one that gave him an excuse to forgo the use of magic.

Airey might have wanted him paying attention to everything else but come on, COME ON, improper magic was so big, it deserved all his attention--as did Professor Moxley because SHE was who he was portkeying with and if he didn't hurry, he would be forced to reconsider.

Blaise nodded in gesture at Daxton, inviting him to come with the Muggle Studies Professor too before he headed over to her. Ready. Yes. Hai Professor.

Moxley was in complete agreement about the girls staying behind to be looked at by a proper healer and she was more than willing to brainstorm ways for the two to make up for missing this trip so she nodded when Paul suggested such an opportunity, giving each claw a reassuring smile. "Just concentrate on feeling better, you two." Headmistress's orders and they had everything to do with her wanting the children to be healthy and happy and a little to do with not wanting to be responsible for them in their questionable conditions.

...

That settled, Moxley had taken her festive donkey pinata and winked at Airey for sending it her way-WHY was he still looking at her like that? Swear to Merlin if another one of her colleagues had a CRUSH on her...ANYWAY-she had the portkey in hand and she beckoned the students to join her at hers, which was obviously the most interesting.

"Hello, hello! Come on over and grab hold." She smiled, making room for the kiddos. "This is going to be a GREAT day, I've got a good feeling about it." She was excited too, Azura, if you couldn't already tell. Heh.

Olly was definitely there. He had been there the whole time. There was no way he would miss a field trip. That was way too exciting. He'd gotten changed as soon as he got there, but was pretty distracted by his excitement. There was a question being asked? Olly was not so good at paying attention to school things when he was more excited about something else. He would try. But it wasn't going well.

Oh good that was done with and it was time for them to go. He hurried around to the nearest portkey. It happened to be with Moxley. "Hello professor," he said with a smile. Or headmistress? Whatever. She was both. She looked excited for the field trip. He hoped that it would be fun.

It was Portkey tiiiiiiime. Jaemin knew in theory how these things worked, but he'd never taken one before. He wasn't sure if he needed to be worried or not. Was it dangerous? Most things in the magical world seemed to be, in one way or another. Could you splinch yourself with a portkey??? Was that a thing that could happen? Because he was already small enough, and he needed to keep all his parts.

The small Slytherin bounced immediately over to Professor Myers, because very tiny Herbologists stuck with other not so tiny Herbologists. That was the way they kept safest. Yes. He stuck himself right up to Professor Myers' side, because that was definitely the safest of safe places, and looked up at the man before reaching to touch the... ugly... shoe... thing. Was it a shoe? It was an awful shoe, if it was.

"It's safe, right?" he whispered, fidgeting a bit.

Ariadne watched as the professor (the ASTRONOMY professor, since there were THREE in here) added all the responses to the blackboard. Hers was FIRST, which didn't really make it even more special, but to Ariadne it did. She quickly read through the remainder of the list, trying to remember all of them but not really doing the best of jobs.

She nodded along as they were challenged to figure out which one on the list (if ANY of them) was the cause of the land degeneration they'd see today. It also sounded like there was some kind of PRIZE if they guessed right, and Ariadne loved a challenge! What she loved even more than a challenge was MEETING that challenge! She was SO game for this.

She made an 'EW' expression when the professor mentioned revisiting their breakfast. GROSS. For the moment, that seemed even worse than splinching. Ariadne did NOT want to revisit her breakfast. It could stay right where it was! She followed that with a look of disappoint when she had to hand over Pebbles. So much for her new job as a babysitter. It had lasted all of five minutes! "Thanks for letting me hold Pebbles!" she said, because she had honestly been astonished when it had been a yes to begin with.

She headed for the HULA HOOP, because it seemed WAY easier to hold on to. She'd never portkeyed without her mom or dad before...

Janelle wrote notes based on the information on the blackboard. When she finished and her notes were complete, she put her quill down. Now it was showtime. Let the field trip begin. Janelle looked at her options and then went over to Professor Flamsteed. "I hope you don't mind if I join your group Professor", she said. Grabbing a hold of the hula hoop, Janelle braced herself for the trip.

Janelle looked over at Rachel sadly. Too bad her fellow Ravenclaws wouldn't be able to make the trip. Hopefully they would get another chance at a later date. Turning back to the hula hoop group, Janelle was ready to get the show on the road.