Breathing a sigh of relief, Jacob said, "Thanks," to Etta and Derf. He hadn't really realized he'd been nervous that they would say no until they said yes. "I'm two arrows behind you both, right? Let me catch up real quick."

He plucked the bowstring a few times in practice before loading up an actual arrow. He hadn't ever tried archery, and he was hoping for some beginner's luck. Etta and Derf had been nice enough to let him join, so he didn't want to bring their team's score down...

Jacob stood in front of the target and squinted, closing one eye. He stared down the center of the circle, almost as if to intimidate it into submission. From there, he aimed his first arrow and let his finger go... Well, he'd thought he aimed right at the center, but the arrow fumbled a bit before hitting the 7 with a "thunk." "Alright... Better than it could have been, right?" He looked at his teammates with a shrug and a sheepish smile. It was very mediocre, really. At least it wasn't horrible.

"Okay, last one to catch up," he said, squaring up once again. This time, he aimed a little to the left of center since when he'd lined up exactly, it had gone to the right. Logic. He kept both eyes open this time, thinking the squinting might have also contributed to the problem last time, and prepared himself mentally to let the arrow fly. When he felt confident in its placement, he let it go. And... 8! "Hey, that was better!" he exclaimed, blushing as he realized how surprised he sounded at his own success.

"May as well do the next one since I'm here already, right?" He looked back at his teammates, hoping they didn't mind him monopolizing the target, but he wanted to get it done in one fell swoop. It might save him some embarrassment just to get it over with. He lined up with the target a last time for his turn, and let the arrow go when he'd made a few more adjustments to his aim. This time... 6. Yikes.

He shrugged. "Sorry, team. I guess I'm not much of a big contender for this activity..." He smiled apologetically and then stepped back to let Etta or Derf take a turn. He still had two more arrows to go... All was not lost yet! Who knew? They might win the house points!

Carlton beamed at Brent. Yes, he did want to partner up. Thanks for asking so nicely. "Yes! Let's do that!" He looked arount them, beaming with pride. He was going to shoot arrows with a FOURTH YEAR. They were so grown up and adult and cool and said 'what's up' to people as they swaggered by. Cool like Brent. "Wow, a five?" This wasn't Carlton being sarcastic. This was Carlton being impressed that Brent could actually hit the target while Carlton struggled to just hold the bow.

He watched as Brent tried his second shot only to hit a 9. Carlton jumped up and down excitedly. "YOU SCORED A NINE THAT'S A LOT OF POINTS!" Carlton ran forward to the target to inspect Brent's arrows more clearly. YUP. A five and nine. Impressive. Carlton hurried back to Brent's side and shook his head. "Nope! I have NO idea how to do this." He beamed.

But that what why he was in school. To learn things. He didn't think he would learn how to be Robin Hood but he liked it! He struggled to pick up his bow and place an arrow where he thought it would be. He faced the target and fired off an arrow towards it. To his surprise it actually hit. Carlton threw up his hands in the air in celebration and did a little twirl. "I got a 5! Like you did!" Up top, Brent! Cool kids high-fived, right?

He was pumped up now and reached for a second arrow. "I know this. I'm a natural now." Since he'd just scored a five. Nothing could go wrong.

Where was the target? Oh right. Carlton swirled around to face it, closed one eye just like he'd seen in the movies and fired his second arrow. Carlton watched it soar through the air, he was beaming at first watching it go, before his beam turned into a worried expression. The arrow wasn't going exactly where he'd aimed it. Actually it was heading straight for the window, past the target, past professor Vance and right through the window.

CRASH.

Carlton's eyes widened as he stared at the smashed window. Did this mean he was going to get sent do the dungeons for detention? Destruction of property?

"I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRY!" The arrows were blunt how could it break the window?! "PLEASE DON'T THROW ME IN THE DUNGEONS I'LL BE GOOD, PLEASE PROFESSOR VANCE!"

Jacob. Derf knew of a VERY important Jacob but he was going to refrain from fanboying the Ravenclaw's name for the time being. For reasons.

Oh chaser too! The first year's eyes lit up and he grinned at Etta. "S-Same! Mum says-s I'm too s-s-scrawny to be a beater...sort of haff the build for a s-seeker but I favor chas-ser." Even if seeker had a the whole golden snidget connection that really meant a lot to the Hufflepuff - best friend feelings aside. "I go to quidditch camp during the s-summers." Because Hogwarts didn't have the sport and now he was seeing how unfulfilling the groundskeeper's flying lessons were...

OH NO! NO NO NO NOOOOOOO! "I AM!" he chirped - a bit too eagerly perhaps - before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and ruffling his hair, completely missing that he was being teased.

Standing back to let the older duo take their shots, Derf practiced holding the arrow with his bow and tried out the whole visualizing aspect of things. You know, the seeing yourself hitting the bull's eye and tricking your brain into believing that you could do it and then actually executing said vision. Although his brain really just kept thinking about him hitting more 6's...so that was kind of a problem.

"I do," he nodded at Etta's question. "Reptiles and amphibians-s-s are my favorites. I haff a pet warty newt, Scamander. He lives in my pocket," he explained, pointing to his enchanted pocket for emphasis.

And speaking of hitting the bull's eye. "WOOOOOooooooOOOOOOw!" he applauded. And Jacob wasn't too shabby a shot either. "Still more points than me," he pointed out to the Ravenclaw with the intention of sounding encouraging. "I missed the target completely first shot."

Taking his turn next, Derf took aim and released his arrow.......for another five. "Quintaped." Boo.

River kept himself in the background, quietly sipping his second cup of tea as he watched the students move from asking their arrows...to hitting targets with it and a bow. He nonchalantly glanced at the students, and was pleased to see his nephew enjoying himself. This was his thing. It was right up his alley with all that zen, arrow thingamajig they do in Japan.

The Healer moved his attention back to the other students, as he placed his tea cup down and moved towards the back where he could see the targets clearly up ahead, and the students at his foreground going solo at it, or partnering up. As he turned to pace the other side of the room, he heard a loud crash, and immediately did a 360 turn to see what happened.

Eyes were on Laurel, but she seemed unscathed by the blunt arrow. Hopefully she didn't get hurt by the broken glass which was now on the floor. He was about to ask whose arrow was it, but the panicked voice of one Mr. Carlton Lewis already gave him the answer.

Sigh.

"It's alright, Robin Hood." River gave the boy a good pat on the shoulder, and friendly grin. "Keep your eyes on the target...and focus. I'll handle the broken window...carry on." the Healer moved to where the window was, and quickly restored it with a repair charm.

And where was his colleague? Was she alright?

The second she said Centaurs the immediate answer was "YES!" before the totality of what she said has sunk in. And now it has "Wait a petition? Why cant we just walk in there and ask them to--" oh wait a sec, wheels have begun processing words "-- Oh wait petition... like a class? Like an archery class?" Oh oh oh oh now he's SUPER excited "That is an AWESOME idea! How do we go about that? Who do we ask that from?" Also now that Char intro'd the idea you know he will march into the Forest regardless of approval right?

He watched Char take aim again and "Duuuuude you are SO GOOD at this!" he laughed as he gave her another high five for her perfect shot. Now he wants to see if he can improve his previous attempts, since it is getting better. So there he goes, notching the arrow on the bow, breathe in, breathe out, trying to aim from that clump of arrow shafts from Char's shots. Aaaaand flyyyyyy--

BAM! Its a 10! "Wooohooo!! Didja see that didja didja? That is a TEN baby! TEN as in TEN-acius! TEN ACES!" awwyea just let him be and get it out of his system.

Even though Kane SHOULD have realized this was where this lesson was going, he was SUPER EXCITED when she announced it was time to SHOOT SOME ARROWS! He could care less what the arrows "told" him during this activity - he was going to learn how to shoot an arrow! HOW FUN! He felt like Robin Hood right now...

He gathered his parchment and quickly scribbled "yes" "no" "maybe" "try again" on four separate pieces before attaching each one with string to the arrows. Now he had to ask some questions. Hmmm.

He closed his eyes and jumbled the arrows around in his quiver and thought of his first question. Will I be on the points leaderboard this term? he thought before taking one of the arrows out. Maybe. Well, that wasn't super helpful. He supposed it really did have to do with how hard the OTHER students worked too...

Does anyone like me? he asked the next question, because he was a thirteen year old boy and this was SUPER IMPORTANT to him. Yes! Someone DID like him! But who? That was an obsession for later during lunch another day.

What should he do for his final question? Kane bit his lip and then thought about his family and his younger siblings. Will either of my siblings be a Hufflepuff like me? he thought as he took out another arrow. Maybe.

These are not very helpful...

Olivia laughed. "When don't you have a plan?" She watched his form and technique closely, hoping to be able to mimic his bow style. If she could do that, perhaps she wouldn't be so terrible at archery. Very much worth a shot, the Gryffindor thought. "I'm actually shocked you don't make plans to make a plan." Cause that was something her mother did, and it was as embarrassing as it sounded.

Blushing at his loving words, Liv almost missed him actually shooting... but thankfully, she found the strength to power through the momentary self-consciousness. Had everyone seen that? SEVEN POINTS. Rooney could just forgive her slight heart eyes. There was absolutely nothing he couldn't do. It was almost baffling to the blonde. And he'd done so with his own style and panache...

Moving to take the place he'd just occupied, Olivia readied herself for her first shot. What had he done again? Deep breath, lined up the bow... Her arms trembled a little with the effort of drawing back the string, but it wasn't too taut to manage.

Now... Just aim. Aim and release.

Swoosh!.......and she'd gotten 5, Just on the outside rim of the bullseye, in blue. "At least, I hit the target." Small accomplishment.

Working in a team with Liv was second nature to him and so adding together their scores was nothing short of good with him. "That's five more than we had together a second ago, love!" And it wasn't that she was bad at it, at all. Rooney just knew that she held a higher standard for herself than for everyone else. Olivia was honestly the most wonderful of people, and that warmed Rooney's heart that she tried so hard. "You didn't miss, Liv. Carlton just smashed a window!" And with that, he grinned and stepped up to take aim once again.

Bow ahead and arrow comfortable in it, Roo drew the string back when he thought he was better aimed at the centre and let the arrow fly towards the target once more. He thrust the bow back into the air with a grin at the 9 he had shot. "Lucky shot?" Hehhhhh.

Did he really think she has planned things out past the idea of asking? Because she hadn't. At all.

"Petition is a fancy way of saying ask." Like, because it was serious business, Ace, because it was Centaurs, and they took everything seriously so you had to be serious too. But yas! She had a willing partner in crime! Not to mention one who enjoyed archery as much as she did apparently!

And she was enjoying the high fives, too. "Thanks!"

And she was happy to celebrate too when Ace got a ten. Woohoo! Victory dance!

Her turn again now!

Char was at the ready, a breath an arrow knocked, drawn, aaaand.... ASUDDENCRASHJUSTASSHELETFLY!
Her arrow went askew just a bit, still hitting the target but with a thwanggggg as it drove home in the 6 point circle. Awwww. Nuts.

What had that noise been? She looked around until she found the culprit...and then relaxed just Carlton! That was okay and he was okay and the healer had it under control.

"One arrow left." For her anyways.

Carlton did what? A little startled at this new piece of information, because she'd been so focused before on copy-catting her boyfriend to pay too much attention to what was going on around her person, the blonde whirled around to stare at the Slytherin in question. Oh, bless his heart. Ugh, Olivia wanted to run to her smol child and hug away all his worries and fears.

GOOD VIBES. GOOD VIBES....GOOD VIBES.

..... And Rooney had just, in a very cavilier fashion, sunk 9 POINTS. Liv side-eyed her boyfriend and his LUCK; which she didn't believe was luck at all, if one didn't catch that sarcasm. She knew he was skilled in everything he did and it continued to shine through, even in this activity. "It's okay to be proud of your awesomeness, Bronwyn." Amused, she stepped forward to take her place in front of the target. She could do this. SHE COULD. Just a deep breath... and RELEASE.

Deep breath. Check. RELEASE. CHECK.

......AND SHE'D GOTTEN 6! Hmmmm. Thinking that repetition would help, the blonde quickly pulling the bow taut again, taking aim for a third time. Deep breath...... and RELEASE!

7! "Did you see that?!" Dare we say... excitement colored her tone!

Kane practiced a few times with an invisible arrow just like Vance had said, and he was pretty sure he had this down. After all, how hard could shooting an arrow be?? If people could do it riding HORSES, Kane could totally do it standing still.

Did he have to ask any questions? He reread the instructions as he selected one of the last targets that hadn't been claimed. Nope, looks like it was just a fun activity! Which was good because Kane was way more interested in this than actually trying to divine using arrows.

He positioned himself and grabbed one of the arrows and positioned it accordingly. He pulled back and...FIRE!

He missed. By like a foot.

Whoops.

Okay. Seven. She could handle this, at least it wasn't on the outskirts of the target, right!? Her blue green eyes redirected towards the sound of broken glass in the next moment, however, before she was able to ready her bow and shoot another arrow. Oh, poor Carlton, but Healer Reed moved quickly to the small first year to comfort him and then quickly repaired the window. And well, Skylar couldn't help but just stare a moment in awe and appreciation. Did anyone else notice how great the healer was with his tools wand? Because she noticed.

Shaking her head, she refocused her attention to redirect back onto the task at her hand. Steading her hand, eyes on the target, she pulled back the string and shot. Seven, AGAIN. Well merlin, at least she was consistent, right? BUT no, no, she wanted to do better.

It was on the other side of the seven ring, creating almost like a wall, so now all she had to do was aim in between the two arrows, right? Maybe. Hopefully.

Pulling back the string with her third arrow in hand, she bit her lip and then released. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, it would land where she wanted .... and somehow miraculously the arrow attached DEAD center. 10. Bullseye.

So like was she supposed to take the arrows out in between arrow throws? Because it just occurred to her now to do so, as there was three arrows in her target, blocking up space. Oops. Walking over to her target, she pulled the tossed arrows out and re-added them to her quiver.

Two arrows left, for her anyway.

Ace wouldn't mind her going again right away, right? Char had been a little put off for her last shot but that was okay, she had one arrow left. She nocked her arrow and brought her bow up in a smooth motion, then took aim. Breathing in, and out and hold.... and release!

That one felt good it felt good it felt straight it felt....8.

8 points.

Oh. Well that was still good! A bit disappointing but it was her first time with this particular bow. How many was that total? 42? That was okay!

"Thats me out of arrows for 42 points." Char informed Ace. He could do his last ones now and she would cheer for him.... even if she still wasn't sure what this had to do with divination, she still wasn't going to be complaining! All divi lessons ought to be like this, really!

Maybe Kane was overthinking this arrow thing. Or he was too overly confident in his abilities. It was probably that - animated cartoon characters had made shooting arrows SO EASY! It was apparently a lot more difficult than that. Sigh.

Taking another arrow, he took a deep breath and pulled back on the arrow, focusing on the target. He just wanted to hit it ANYWHERE - he didn't HAVE to get a bullseye (although that would be pretty sweet) he just wanted to get a HIT.

WHOOSH. He let go and watched the arrow soar through the air, and....AN EIGHT?! OMG! That was way better than he thought he would get!

"He's okay, he's okay. I'd have gone straight over if he wasn't." The younger student meant as much to Roo as he did to Liv and they were still working twice a week on his magic and this task didn't involve magic, so Rooney was sure that someone else stepping in was okay. Besides, he was currently indisposed working together with his lady love. He gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze as she stepped in for her turn and watched carefully in case there was anything he needed to advise her to try differently. There wasn't, really, though. Just that she needed to believe in herself more, but he knew that everything in coalition made that harder for her right now.

Roo cheered for her after both of them and offered her his hand for a high five. "My superstar girlfriend. Hitting sevens like a pro. What ever did I do to deserve you?" Because she had done it, he decided to also shoot one after the other and hopefully be so honed in on his concentration that he could get some more nines. Nine was a good number.

He shook out his shoulders, arms, legs and the rest of his body because he felt that it helped. But all wiggled out, he aimed carefully and steadied his arm and breathing before firing straiiiiiiiiiight ahead. Would it....? Would it??? Oh? OH? N--o. A five. Wow... Maybe all of the wiggling had messed him up. Now he HAD to go again, just to prove that he wasn't dreadful at this. A five had been the lowest possible to get if you didn't miss. Roo lined up... And fired again... And looked back at Liv to see if she was seeing what he was seeing.

Had he gone from 5 to 9 in seconds?! Yessssssss

Kane wondered if he could get a good shot like that again - or if it was just a lucky shot. PROBABLY the latter, since this whole arrow thing was turning out to be kind of difficult. Biting his lip in concentration he took out another arrow and loaded the bow, pulling back and preparing to fire.

WHOOSH! He let it go again, and for a moment he was SURE the arrow was going to miss. It was right by the edge...but at the last second, it seemed to move JUST a bit and hit the very edge of the target. The VERY edge - but nonetheless, it was POINTS! Five to be exact.

He was still WAY behind thanks to that first botched attempt, though. Poo.

Carlton seemed super excited to partner up with Brent, which made the fourth year grin. This little dude was always so excited about everything, even horrible creatures hiding behind portals. "Alright, Little Dude," Brent said, and on that note, he had officially given Carlton a nickname. "Let's do this!" Carlton was already proving to be a good partner. He was so encouraging about Brent's super low score of a five. Then he was even more excited about the nine, even though he nearly scared Brent to death running up to the targets like that. "Watch out, man! You never know whose arrow is going to come flying that way!"

Brent grinned and high-fived Carlton in return. "Good job, Little Dude!" he exclaimed. Nobody could have ever predicted what happened next. "Duuuuude!" he exclaimed as the window shattered. He glanced at the professor, worried that she actually might be upset at Little Dude. She hadn't said anything yet, though...

"Watch me," he said, deciding to try and take Carlton's mind off the window. He raised his bow and situated an arrow on it. "So you have to take aim. Eye your target and make sure the arrow lines up with it." As he said this, he demonstrated. Finally, he released the arrow. "Another 5. Man!"

Well, she was still going to fuss over their child, thank you very much Roonston Bronwyn. And if Olivia had known he'd been working with the younger boy, she'd have given her boyfriend some love, because that was the sort of thing that impressed her. She appreciated Rooney's kindness with Carlton, though she was sure he'd befriended the Slytherin before she had. Timelines were weird, but either way.

Carlton was clearly special to many people.

.... And it was time for Rooney to make another attempt! Gripping her bow as she watched her Ravenclaw line up his shot, Olivia began nervously chewing on her bottom lip. She found that she wanted him to do well; wanted him to succeed and get the highest amount of points. He was so talented and wonderful. He could do this. Her breath bated, she watched as he notched the arrow and then let it fly; first to gain 5 points... and then immediately after to snag another 9.... Liv's mouth formed a perfect 'O', surprised that he'd 1) been able to consecutively shot that flawlessly and 2) that he'd fluctuated between low and high. She thought he could be a wonderful marksmen if he put in the proper amount of time.

.... It was her turn, right? Oh Merlin, help her.

Moving forward to get into position, the Gryffindor did her best to zero in on the target... BUT she got the sense that she was over-correcting herself. Needless to say, this was taking much longer that was necessary, but she wanted to get a good score. So... Liv felt justified in taking her time.... With a deep breath, she stepped forward, allowing her body to naturally fall into position..... BUT SHE STUMBLED, accidentally releasing the arrow in her surprise. Blinking owlishly, all the Gryffindor could do was stare....

Blink!

She'd gotten a 10!......by total accident!..... Shakily notching another, she missed the target completely; disproving her own theory of doing better with keeping momentum going. Er... That counted as a 0...she guessed.

WHAAAAA.

Carlton was low key freaking out. Actually high key freaking out. He couldn't believe he'd just broken a window at his school. Healer Reed was quickly by his side, calling him Robin Hood and assuring him everything was fine. He was still freaking out though. Robin Hood didn't miss his targets. Robin Hood didn't smash windows left and right. As the healer repaired the window, Carlton hugged the quiver of arrows to his chest. "I won't smash another window, I promise Mr. Healer-professor." His voice high-pitched and shaky. Better to back off now before the healer changed his mind and threw him in detention.


Carlton slooooowly backed off the broken window and the healer to join his partner, Brent again. Hopefully they could allll just move past this and pretend it never happened. He watched as Brent shot off his third arrow to hit another 5. "Man!" Carlton repeated, in the same fashion as Brent had. He'd never said 'man' like that. But he thought he could pull it off.

He picked up his bow and arrow again. 'Take aim, eye your target and make sure the arrow lines up with it.' Carlton squinted and took aim, trying to fade out the surroundings including the healer by the window. Oops. He released his arrow and watched it soar, not towards the window this time, but to the target. A 7! He jumped up and down, pointing towards the target. "A seven! I shot a seven did you see that?!" Flail. Was much nicer if people saw him shoot a seven pointer, rather than smash a window.

"Okidoks!" Carlton reached for another arrow. "Aaaaaiming. Eyeiiiiing and making sure the arrow lines up..." Just like Brent had told him to. He released the arrow. 6 points!

nO WAY. Had she..? Did she..? Oh. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Rooney BEAMED wide and bounced on his feet as his girlfriend went in for her second shoot and completely contrasted the 10 she had just gotten. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay! Forget that one! Think about the ten! Think about the big one!!" And cross her fingers that he could do the same or he was probably going to sulk at some point about it all. Not in front of Liv, because she would probably think that he had a problem with her doing well. He didn't.. He just wasn't used to not getting what he wanted.

Reasons why he was still so upset about his OWL grades.

He gave the top of Liv's head a kiss again as she stepped away and went straight in for the kill with his bow and arrow. No steady breathing. No calming himself. Just a pull and release.

And a 0.

The arrow didn't even make it to the target, honestly. It dove to the floor two feet short. He huffed, scuffed the front of his shoe against the floor underneath him and pushed his hair back using the bow.

Two more arrows she had left, but truthfully after getting a ten, well Skylar felt that was a hard notch to beat and how was she meant to do that? But she was definitely without a doubt going to TRY because how could she not? She'd already come this far and it wasn't a terribly difficult task.

Lining up her fourth arrow in her bow, she pulled back on the string and squinted towards the target, trying to aim it just right again. Except she hadn't tried so hard with her aim when she got the perfect score, so perhaps that was the secret was to not try TOO hard? Releasing it, the arrow zoomed off in the direction of the target and landed on a spot on the 8 ring. Not too bad, but after getting the ten, well an eight just felt ..... meh.

But one arrow left.

Pulling back on the string for the last time, as she lined it up, she released and the arrow flew through the air. She'd gotten a 9 for her final shot. And she felt like she'd been sucker-punched, truth be told. It was like coming in second place; it was all like we're going to tease and taunt you that you could be first and get the best score, but nevermind cause you're not score that again. So much for the juggernaut of emotions she had felt two arrows ago.

Petition is a fancy way of saying ask. "Ohhh I didnt know that... But now I do!" beams. He is looking at Char now to get that petition rolling yeah? Because the marching into the forest has been penciled into the calendar so to speak.

Oh no she got distracted there, they both did, and he turned to see Carlton dealing with Healer Reed "Dont kill him Carlton! We're doomed without a Healer!" he called out jokingly at both of them.

Ohhhh Char is gonna make another try? "Go for it!" He watched her make another attempt. "Eyyyy thats pretty good! Good job Char!" Double high fives because total score of 42 aint bad at all yup.

So now its his turn. There he goes letting it flyyyyy--"Whoah another 10!!" Dancey dance get jiggy with it!

Ok another one, maybe he can three-peat? He gets into position and let the arrow fly straight and true. BAM 10. He's on a lucky streak "I think I'm getting the hang of this." Squeee!

Etta rolled her eyes when Jacob said Thanks. Oh, please. "You don't have to thank us." She said, smiling at him. It was just a fun activity, after all. And it was even more enjoyable to practice with other people too. You got to make new friends, right? She dropped her bow to th ground and watched since it was his turn now, really quite impressed with his scores too. "Hey, you're not half bad." She said, raising an eyebrow. And that was a compliment, yes.

"I tried to be a seeker too.. but it didn't work for me that much. I guess I didn't have the patience? Yeah.." .. or so her father said. So she preferred being good at what she did best. Chasing. Urghh, all this talk about quidditch was making her miss the game. .... Quidditch camps? Ooooh. She looked at Derf curiously. "What are those like? And do you go to one every summer?" Hmmm, that must be quite fun.

... and now it was Derf's turn, yes? She was about to ask him something when he mentioned that he liked reptiles and amphibians. Yeah.. amphibians were alright, she supposed but reptiles? And he had a pet newt too? Etta remained quiet for a couple of moments, her eyes invariably flicking towards his shirt pocket. Would it come out at some point? Trying not to LOOK uncomfortable because she didn't want her young friend to feel bad.. the girl cleared her throat and smiled. "Well, that's cool. I'd like to meet him sometime... or is it a her?"

"5 is good!" The girl smiled at Derf, clapping him on the shoulder before suddenly realising that he had a lizard on him. WELL. She needed to stop panicking. Gosh. Etta quickly moved to pick up her bow, stood in front of her target and released an arrow almost within no time. Hey, this was starting to get easier now.

----- and it was a 6! YAY?! Meh. But she couldn't get a 10 every time so she wasn't too upset.

The students really took the shooting arrows to heart and went at it with all their energy and enthusiasm. It was so fun to see! Laurel kept moving around amongst the students giving encouraging word here and there, praising shots and answering questions.

She was about to head over to the tea trolley to get something to quench the thirst in her throat with and possibly speak to River, as she stood near one of the windows overseeing the progress when something whizzed past her right cheek, causing pain to erupt there and then she heard a loud CRASH behind her head and seconds later how the glass behind her broke. Professor Vance sadly didn't have time to move or throw up a shield charm before the glass rained down all over her head.

Raising her hand to the throbbing pain on her cheek she started to shake off the glass, of course managing to cut a few fingers that started to bleed. Laurel was wondering who had shot the arrow that was now lying at her feet. The panicked voice of young Carlton pleading that she wouldn't throw him in the dungeons answered that question.

Heading over towards Carlton and River too with her bleeding fingers and cheek Laurel reassured the young boy with a soothing voice. "It's all right Carlton, I'm not going to throw you in the dungeons. I know you didn't break the window or injure me on purpose. There is always a risk with an arrow lesson. Aiming a bow and shooting an arrow isn't easy when you've never tried it before, you've been doing great!"

**

Ignoring the pain in her cheek as well as her numbing fingers Laurel turned so that she looked out over all the students as she called out. "That's a wrap everyone! Class is dismissed! Feel free to finish up your last shots. You can put your bows and quivers back in the stalls on your way out. Have a nice few hours before dinner." With that she turned her attention to her injuries, shaking her head and wondering how a very blunt arrow still could cause so much damage.

OOC: Class dismissed! Thank you all for a very fun and memorable lesson. Arrows seemed to have been a real hit. I'll leave the lesson thread open until around 6pm GMT+1 tonight for wrapping up and leaving posts.

Carlton just staaaaared at professor Vance for a while. After the reassuring from the healer he'd just assumed everything was fine. But oh, how wrong he'd been. He'd made a person bleed! His eyes filled up at that, lip wibbling and everyting.

He was a horrible Robin Hood.

Professor Vance dismissed the class but Carlton didn't really listen. He knew the healer would take care of the injuries but still Carlton was the cause of it. He might just break down and wail loudly.

"I'm a HORRIBLE Robin Hood!" He put down the bow and quiver of arrows faaar away from him. Not touching that again. "I'm so sorry professor Vance!" Cue the crying.