Oooooh hi, partner! Though she still thought she has dibs on Draper, Vivian was still one hundred and ONE percent down for the partnering idea with a student. The Slytherin beamed and wiggled her fingers at the Gryffindor. See? Someone actually wanted to work with her! She wasn't that intimidating (for an eleven year old, lol) and boring to be with. "Hi!" she said. "I'm Vivian. Nice to meet you!" And ohhh look at that, a Gryffindor! Just like her dad!

"... Do you have any idea on what we're doing witn Knarls in thie lesson?" Were they going to be Knarl herders or something? Vivian wondered, mostly curious about the reason why they needed a partner for the activity. Either way, she remained hopeful that the entire thing was COOL or something along that line, at least.

Dante slowly opened his eyes when he got hosed with water. Thank You Professor Draper for telling him they were moving on. But now he was wet and miserable. So considering that he did not want to partner with anyone unless they amused him or made him laugh. Which probably was not going to happen considering the people around him.

He was just going to stare at Draper and hope he could do this alone. Though it would be amusing to partner with Draper. But the odds of Draper participating was zero.

Dante dares you Draper to tell him do this alone. Or pick a partner for him and see what happens.

Fiyero listened carefully to Professor Draper's next question, but this time he wasn't sure how to answer. He agreed with his classmates about hedgehogs and knarls having heightened senses to make up for their poor eyesight, but he didn't want to repeat the same answer. Maybe there was more to it than that... maybe being nocturnal had something to do with it, like they used the cover of night to hide from other creaturs? The more he thought about it, the weirder it sounded, so he decided to keep quiet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

They got to pick partners? Yaay! Hattie loved having partners. Now to pick. She was tempted to go with an older person, cause that would help. But then she really wanted to parter with Sky too. They were besties. They could partner up right? She was sure they'd be able to help cause they both we firsties.

She looked up, trying to find Sky, wanting to ask her. But then she found her with someone else. Oh. She pouted a little. Well that was the end of that. The girl sighed, looking around. "Does anyone need a partner?" Would someone take pity on the firstie?

Then Professor Draper started speaking again. So they were supposed to pair up? Okay, that sounded easy enough. Looked around, wondering who he should ask, when he heard a Hufflepuff girl ask if anyone needed a partner. "Sure!" he said, crossing the room toward her. "Would you like to be my partner?"

Kitty felt too shy to ask anyone that she did not know if she could be their partner. All her friends were already taken up. Nearby she saw an older student (Dante) did not have a partner either, but she wasn't certain how he would react if she asked him. So instead she just raised her hand awkwardly. "I don't have a partner yet." She glanced around as she said this.

Juno looked around. Her sister would normally be her first choice but someone already snatched her up. She wasn't surprised. Esme was really good with animals and you always want a partner that is good with animals in COMC.

"I don't have a partner." Juno called out, hoping someone would want to be her partner.

So they needed partners for the activity. Janelle wasn't sure whether she was happy or sad about that. Either way, she now had to search for someone to work with. The problem was, a lot of her classmates had already paired up. Looking around the classroom, Janelle tried to find someone who seemed to be in need of a partner. Then she heard a voice saying they didn't have a partner.

Turning around, Janelle spotted a Hufflepuff girl (Juno) who seemed to be available. She walked over and made her case. "Hi, I'm Janelle. I don't have a partner yet either. Do you want to work together?" Hopefully she would say yes "cause they could make a great team, right?

As per usual Hady hadn't said a word about partnering up with anyone. Only this time when she heard a voice at her side asking to be partners it wasn't whom she had expected. Lately it was her and Brooklyn or Zeke when he was in the lesson and not pairing with Maggie but mostly it was her and Frankie. So to see a younger girl from her own house was a small surprise and yet it made her smile.

"Sure," she hummed quietly with a small nod of her head. Only if she had to do much talking this was going to be hard. Blowing out a breath she leaned forward for her bag and rummaged through it quickly coming up with a much smaller white board and a little dry erase marker. Perfect. Uncapping the marker she quickly yet neatly scrawled down a few things for the younger girl.

Simple and straight to the point. If she needed to explain some more she could.

He hadn't missed that... look. Draper. He was soooo gonna learn what a Sniffler was later. So was.

When the man announced that they had to choose partners, Jaemin was rather hesitant about looking around to find one. People were usually really quick to pair off for things in class, and he often ended up... you know. With the other last person left. Sometimes that was good, sometimes not so much. The thirteen year old bit his lip and edged closer to Kitty, figuring it was better not to wait til last. What if he ended up with a surly sixth year?

"Wanna partner?" He murmured, nudging her lightly and giving her a still tired smile. They could probably manage this obstacle course thing, right?

Alright, looked like just about everyone had found a partner. "If you still can't find anyone, come talk to me after I explain the directions," and they'd figure it out. Because apparently Dante wasn't keen on following directions today and could use a friend to pair up with. But for the moment being, they were moving on.

"This activity will require one partner to be blindfolded, while the other acts as a guide through the obstacle course," made sense yes? "As we discussed with the knarls, without your eyesight you will be required to rely heavily on your other senses." See there was a connection here. They weren't just doing this so that James could sit back and laugh. Though, of course, that was still a part of it. Heh. Might as well have class AND a show, yeah? He had thought this through.

"While you want to finish the obstacle course without hitting any of the obstacles in your way, you also need to pick up 2 round pods along your way to the finish line," he said, pulling a pod from his pocket to show as an example. "This is where scent comes into play. There are only a few correct pods to choose from. The wrong ones will give off a smell of... Hippogriff dung, while the RIGHT ones will smell of fresh roses." Again, did they see the practicality here? Good.

"Quick recap of the rules: One person from each pair MUST wear a blindfold. You take it off, you start over. The other partner must use ONLY their voice to help guide you and give you directions. You hit an obstacle, you start over. You grab your partner to lead them, you start over. By the time you cross to the finish you should have collected TWO rose scented pods." James liked setting rules. Could they tell? "Questions?" Hopefully none.

"..... When you and your partner are ready, come and grab a blindfold... And you may begin!" Did he mention that it wasn't a race? Eh. Oh yeah and uh, have fun kids. Yeah. Fun. This was definitely meant to be fun. Especially for James

OOC: Sorry for taking so long to get this up y'all!

You will have at least 2 days to complete this task, but I'll post again with updates because I'll probably extend your time! And if you're just now joining us, feel free to ask for a partner and jump right in!

For this activity you will need THREE posts each (a total of 6 per pair)
You can split them up however you want but they must include:
+ Deciding which partner has which role
+ Going through the obstacle course
+ Picking up 2 rose scented pods

Obstacles will vary from truck tires, hulahoops, things you need to climb, puddles of mud, etc. Feel free to get creative with them, but there should NOT be anything too dangerous.

Remember: Both partners will be going through the course together, but only ONE will be blindfolded.

Sorry this was a mouthful! Please let me /or James know if you still have any questions! We'll be checking on this thread periodically!


And of course he hadn't forgotten about Dante. "Barrington," he called, walking over to the boy and tossing him a blindfold. "Decided to take this one solo?" he posed the question, quite amused with the boys choice in defiance. Yet.... "Hope you're up for the challenge," because YUP. James was making the kid do it alone.

Good luck.

This was about to make for the MOST ENTERTAINING time.

It was a simple 'sure' which made Skylar wonder if the older girl had perhaps been hoping for someone else to partner with, but then when she rummaged through her bag and retrieved a marker and began to pen her a note, Sky read it with a newly revered awe for the older snake. Animagus training??? Oh so the girl WAS just as smart as Sky thought she was and it was perhaps that single moment that Sky decided she wanted to be like her when she was older. So much to aspire to...

She nodded, "Yup Skylar. And that's okay ... We hopefully won't need to chat too much." And then Draper explained the activity; one of them would need to talk and the other not. She guessed it probably best that SHE do the direction giving since Hady couldn't talk a whole lot. And she wouldn't be able to write notes because she'd be blindfolded. "I guess given your training, it's best if you be blindfolded and I'll tell you were to go..." Sky said thoughtfully, as she selected a green blindfold for Hady to wear. "don't worry, I'll try to be as clear as possible and we can take it slow and hopefully I won't need to use much magic." Cause her spell knowledge was limited at the moment.

Esme's eyes landed on her sister and she smiled. They would definitely work together soon because they were inseparable but she wanted to mix things up a little. Looked like she would be working with Haddie and that was always a lot of fun. "Awesome, we're totally going to ace this." Because they were wonderful like that. This obstacle course was going to be a lot of fun. Yep.

As Professor Draper explained what they needed to do she figured that it didn't sound TOO complicated. Just so long as one of them wore a blindfold and they ended up getting two rose scented pods they would be all good.

Collecting a blindfold, she made her way back to Haddie. "I can wear it if you want to. Unless you would rather." Didn't matter either way though Esme kind of wanted to try getting around without being able to see. Would be a new experience for sure.

Juno gave the Ravenclaw girl a small smile and a nod. She hadn't met Janelle, but she had of course seen her around school. "Sure that would be great! I'm Juno, it's nice to meet you," she replied, shaking the other girls hand vigorously.

Then they were suddenly being told instructions...

Juno quickly went and grabbed a blindfold for them. Now they just needed to decide who would be blind and who would be the guide. "So would you like to wear the blindfold or would you like me to wear it. I can do either one." Juno didn't mind either way. She was very good at following directions as well as giving them so whatever Janelle wanted to do she would follow suit.

Azura stood there, wide eyed as Professor Draper laid out the rules.. Ummm what in the name of the sweet Fwoopers did they have to do? Get through an obstacle course.. Blindfolded..

Well one of them did..

Azura turned to look at Tenacious and swallowed hard, she was about to suggest that HE be the one blindfolded and she lead him, however, before she could open her mouth and tell him that. She realized that, that wasn't the best idea.. Seeing as that meant she would have to make it through the obstacle course, while attempting to get Tenacious through as well..with just her voice..

Yeahhhhh..

Since she didn't want to kill her new friend she swallowed a bit. "I'll go through blindfolded." She said with a nod as she looked up at him.

"Just don't let me die.. Or break my nose..." She added as she looked at him.

She had only broken her nose twice this term, and she ensued to keep it that way, yeah? She was trusting him here..

Yay, she had a partner. Janelle broke into a smile and shook the Hufflepuff's outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you Juno. This should be a lot of fun." At least she hoped it would be fun. As was common with all things Hogwarts, there was the possibility of fun or total disaster. Janelle was going to think positively on this one.

As she watched Juno get a blindfold, Janelle pondered what would come next. It seemed that her new partner was leaving the who does what choice up to her. Obviously there were plusses and minuses both ways. Janelle thought about it for a moment, unsure of which task to commit to. Finally, she made a decision. "I'll wear the blindfold and you can direct me, if that's alright with you." The moment she said it, Janelle wasn't sure that she had made the best choice. She would have to trust that her partner would keep her on the right path annnd not let the aforementioned disaster happen. Well, it was done now, so she would just have to have faith. "Let's do this", she said to Juno. It was obstacle course time.

Now Hady knew it probably looked like she hadn't wanted to work with the girl at first, her silence and all that was rather confusing. Soon enough though the mandrake leaf part of her training would be over and things would be back to normal.

This girl was a trooper alright. Hady smiled at her and nodded. It wasn't so much she couldn't talk...it was more that the more she did the worse the bitterness of the leaf was. And well sometimes there was the movement of it that made it more annoying. A word here or there wasn't to hard or a simple sentence. Directions though as Professor Draper were saying was a whole other story. She would have to give those quickly, and exactly. If she wanted to make it through there couldn't be mistakes or her partner could get hurt. Being blindfolded and letting Skylar tell her where to go was the best way right now.

Did it matter which one of them went first? Seeing as Skylar was smaller and would have trouble seeing over her head or something like that maybe she should go first? That way when they came across something she would know right away? Made sense really and Hady decided to write this down too.

It was at least worth a shot. If it didn't work and they had to start over they could try it a different way.

Hady put the board and marker into her pocket so she could take the green blindfold from the younger girl. Putting it around her head so it covered her eyes she tied it there making sure that it wouldn't fall off and she couldn't see. She was ready now.

Just when Kitty was starting to get worried that she might be the only one left without a partner, Jaemin (a younger Slytherin student who Kitty remembered partnering with in other lessons before) came up and asked if she wanted to partner. Was he the one who Mason called Songbird? "Sure!" she said, giving him a grateful smile.smile. Now she had a partner and she didn't have to worry about looking out of place without one. "Do you want to wear the blindfold or should I do that? I really don't want to have to pick but I'll try to do my best in either."

Ooh! Ooooh! The rules are fun! Genny grinned all the way through the explanation, giving Vivian friendly but excited looks. Pass the obstacle blindfolded, use your friend instructions and your scent. Yup, yup. It obviously means that both Ace's and her answers were right, since this activity was basically to prove that.

"Okay! Do you want to be to give instructions or be blindfolded?" Genny wanted to be blindfolded but also the little girl must've been excited for this obstacle course as much as she was and wanted to give her a chance to choose to play.

Ahh! Someone wanted to be her partner! That made her really glad. She didn't want to be someone that people didn't want to partner with. So she was glad of that. Hattie smiled at the other guy. "Hi!" She murmured, with a big smile. "I would! It would be awesome"

And now the professor was telling them the instructions, so she turned to listen to him. Once she'd heard the instructions, she turned back to Fiyero. "Okay... so which one of us is going to be blindfolded?" Because she actually really didn't mind.

It did seem pretty cool though. She didn't know if she would be very good at directing someone. She wasn't the best at directions, she'd managed to get lost in the castle so many times. So maybe it was best that she didn't do that one actually. "I'm not the best at directions... so it might be best if I'm blind folded." But she actually really did not mind at all.

Juno was nervous now, but she knew she could keep her partner from running into anything. "Alright! We are going to take this nice and slooooow," she said, exaggerating out the word to promote comfort. She really wanted them to be successful. She looked ahead at the obstacle course there was a tire a little ways ahead of them, but it had a pod on it. What they didn't know was which kind. The good smell or the bad smell.

Juno paced out herself how many steps it would take before leading Her partner. "Ok, Janelle. There is a tire that has a pod directly to the left of it, on the ground, four paces in front of you. Take it slow. And remember, if you run into the tire we have to start over and we are looking for a rose scent. If that isn't a rose scent I will lead you to the next pod that is. Whenever you are ready...," Juno was going to walk next to her without touching the girl. She knew they would have to start over if she did that as well.

Fiyero's face fell a little bit as Professor Draper explained the activity. He thought they were going to be guiding actual animals through the course... maybe one person gets a hedgehog while the other gets a knarl or something like that. Oh, well... running the obstacle course themselves sounded fun too, even if it didn't involve handling any funny-looking creatures.

He ran through the directions in his mind to make sure he understood them. One person wears a blindfold; the other guides them with their voice. Pick up two pods, but not the dung ones. Don't take off the blindfold. Don't grab your partner. Okay, he had this! He turned to Hattie as she asked which of them should be blindfolded. He was going to offer to wear the blindfold himself so she wouldn't get hurt or messy on the obstacles - see how chivalrous he was being? There was a reason the hat put him in Gryffindor - but it sounded like she wanted to wear the blindfold. Okay, he was cool with that too.

"Right," he agreed, nodding his head. "You wear the blindfold and I'll guide." He hoped he wouldn't give her bad directions and cause her to crash into something; he'd feel awful if that happened! "I'll do my best not to steer you wrong," he promised her. He got a blindfold from Professor Draper and handed it to Hattie. This was going to be fun!

Hattie was pretty excited to be running the obstacle course. Of course it would probably have been more fun if she had actually been able to see. But it would be fun this way too. She just hoped that she wouldn't like fall flat on her face. That would be embarassing.

She beamed at Fiyero. She was excited, and hopefully he wouldn't let her fall over. That would not be fun. "Oh. Don't worry! I'm sure we will both do fine! " She murmured with a big smile. The hufflepuff took the blind fold from him, and wandered towards the start of the obstacle course.

She tried to get a good look at everything, before she put the blind fold over her eyes. Darkness all around. This was so weird. "Okay.. I'm ready. Let's do this!"

What had she gotten herself into, volunteering to be blindfolded? Well there was no turning back now. Janelle took the blindfold from her partner and placed it securely over her eyes. This was going to be an exercise in trust. She had to trust that Juno would not let her mess up or worse, break her neck. Janelle listened as Juno started to give directions. Take it slow, right. That she would do.

"Don't worry", Janelle said, trying to sound convincing. "We got this." They better have because she did not want to have to start over. So it was four steps to the first obstacle. Janelle took a deep breath and began to walk forward slowly. She counted her steps as she went along. One, two, three, four. If Juno had calculated correctly, she should be right in front of the tire. "If you see me about to mess up or do anything crazy, don't be afraid to speak up." "Cause you know, she wouldn't mind.

Janelle dropped down to her knees and leaned forward. Her sense of smell and Juno would have to get her through this part. Sliding to the left several steps (or what she perceived to be steps), she began to sniff. She was hoping desperately that the smell of roses would greet her nostrils. Janelle felt utterly ridiculous, sniffing around on the ground like a dog. Then she began to pick up a scent and it wasn't bad. That was good. Slooowwly she moved closer to the smell, trusting Juno to let her know if she was too close to the tire. The smell was getting stronger and it was rosey. Janelle cautiously put her hand out and began to feel around. Finally her fingers touched something. The pod! Janelle grasped it in her hand and carefully stood up. "One down, one to go." Listening for her partner, she said, "OK Juno, where to next?" They could definitely do this. Juno was giving great directions so far. They just had to keep it up.

Whoah wait blindfolded?? That may have cooled the heels of the Gryffindor Ace somewhat. Vision is just as important as physical tenacity in getting around the obstacle course he knew that much. He turned his attention to Azura and looked at her, raising his brows. So who gets blindfolded eh?

Ok so she decided to take the blindfold. He wouldnt deny that he was relieved, listening skills isnt exactly his strongest suit. "I wont let you die, break your nose or anything like that. I promise." he said as he made an X over his heart. He said the P word Az so that matters a lot. "You gotta listen to me though ok? I'm not allowed to touch you otherwise we reset." The question is if he would resist his usual inclination to be physically helpful regardless of the rules.

He took the blindfold from the Professor and motioned Azura to walk with him towards the entrance to the obstacle course. "I'll keep the pace so that I'm only going to be about an arms length away, so I wont be that far." he murmured "Also, I have a buncha coins in my pocket, they'll always be making a sound, so that’s another thing you can use to listen to to gauge where or how far I am ok?"

He waited for Azura to secure the blindfold around her head, then took a few steps forward "Ok..." he started speaking, speaking a bit louder than he usually would, making sure Azura can hear him "The first obstacle is a hurdle, take three steps forward to where it is. Its only about knee high, so when you feel it, just make like a giant step over it."

Azura looked up at Tenacius as he spoke and she nodded solemnly.. He said the P word and Azure took that very seriously.. Her small head nodded as she kept her purple gaze on him. "I promise I will listen and pay close attention." She said as she too make an X over her heart and walked forward with him as he moved to get the blindfold..She really didn't want to trip or anything like that, so this was important to her..

She was putting her full trust into someone that she knew, but had really only just formally met.. Well he seemed like a good guy.. Perhaps they could be friends after this?

She took it from him as they walked and he started to speak in a low voice..and she was nodding to everything his said. "I got it, thank you." She murmured back as she made sure she was facing the entrance of the obstacle course and she saw just a tad bit of it before she closed her eyes and put the blindfold on..

All right.. She was ready..

She sent a silent plea to the Fwoopers to help her out, as she started to walk forward.. Still rather tentatively... She felt so weird without her sight.. But she noticed her other senses were talking over, she could smell the grass, and hear the coins jingling in Tenacius's pocket. She listened as he moved over the first obstacle and then shouted out instructions towards her..

"Okay!" She called back as took three steps forward and she could feel some air displacement around her, she took a giant sort of step-hop like thingy.. and it seemed like she had made it.. hopefully!

"Am I over it?" She asked him.

Blindfolds. She so called it. Didn't really call the whole partners with only one being blindfolded though, but she did call the blindfolds. That was gonna be cool though. Tough, but cool. Hadley picked up the blindfold and was ready to put it around her own eyes when Esme called dibs. "Uh, yeah sure. If you want to be blindfolded, you can be. Turn around." Hadley carefully tied it around Esme's eyes for her. "There. How's that?"

Hadley beamed at Esme, then realized she couldn't see it. "Yeah, we are so gonna ace this! Are you ready?" She reached out and took Esme's hand, gently guiding her to the start of the obstacle course and then let go. She was only allowed to use her voice to help Esme through the course.

She entered the course on her own, and stopped just a bit inside it. "Okay, walk forward and when I say now, take two steps to your left." There was a pause while she watched Esme walk blind into the obstacle course. She felt a small pang of envy as she watched. Hadley had wanted to be the one blindfolded as much as Esme did. "Now."