Samuil was twitching. He didn’t like the idea of not being able to use his eyes. But considering the point of this exercise he understood the reasons behind the blindfold. Still didn’t mean he had to like it. He tried to focus in on Anna’s voice, but found it hard. There were a lot voices in the room. One in particular, he thought he knew complaining about not knowing her left from her right. He was pretty sure he knew who that one was and was extremely grateful he hadn’t had to partner with her.

Then he heard Anna’s voice saying something about hitting him in the left shoulder. He heard three, and shifted down and right…and the ball grazed hisshoulder, bumping his ear. Thankfully it hadn’t hurt. ”Nice toss Anna,” he said standing back up straight. Only now he wasn’t sure if he should take his blindfold off to retrieve the ball or if Anna would use a summoning charm on it. Was she even old enough to know a summoning charm?

Lenora sighed visibly. Well, she could be mature about this.. right? It didn’t help to be annoyed when clearly, she didn’t have a choice.. unless she simply stormed out of the class, which was a little dramatic, even for her. Besides, everyone else had already paired up.

The fourth year couldn’t help look mildly amused when Nina made a face.. it was almost childish, really. YES. She didn’t like it EITHER, Nina. She walked over to her side of the line, casually tossing the ball between her hands. Now, she had to say where the ball was going to go.. right?

She cleared her throat and spoke loudly. “So, I’ll be throwing the ball towards your right, okay? Aiming for your legs.” Taking a deep breath, she threw it, confident that it would hit target. After all, she’d spent so much of her childhood playing dodgeball with her cousins. It was a fun game, really.

Indigo hadn't answered the first question because he didn't really feel much like talking today. Which was sort of ironic, considering the topic of the lesson. Silence was something he was very comfortable with, whether or not it was necessary for a given situation.

The prospect of dodgeball, though, did not make him super excited. He definitely didn't want to be stuck with somebody he didn't know, now more than ever. Luckily he was already standing next to Vita, and turned to her with a slightly anxious look in his eyes. "Partners?" He was already assuming she would agree, because unless they both had balls or both had blindfolds there was no reason they couldn't be partners. But they didn't, right? Everything was fine? He still didn't want to be hit with a ball but at least he trusted Vita.

As she got back to where he was standing she studied the ball being tossed in his hands, it seemed soft enough, so this shouldn't be too bad. There was no way Gunnar would try for her face either, at least she figured he wouldn't.

Since she had to get the blindfold she assumed she would go first, but he had asked her which she wanted to do. This could get her out of doing it at first, but really she wanted to get it over with. So shook her head and opened the blindfold to put around her eyes. "I'll do this first, I'll be alright." Especially now that he was going to be her partner.

Giving him a smile before she turned and made her way to her spot that he would be throwing the ball at her, she lifted the blindfold and placed it over her eyes tieing it tight. "Just try not to aim for the face, I don't think my nose was healed correctly the first time. " It definitely seemed bigger to her then it should be.


Standing at the ready, she waited for the ball to come at her.

Anna was not old enough to know a summoning charm. In fact, she didn't even think of it. She just smiled to herself at the accuracy of her throw (even though Samuil had dodged it, but that was kind of the point, wasn't it?), said a quick "Thanks," to his compliment, and crossed the line to go retrieve the ball herself since her partner was still blindfolded. As she passed him on the way back to her previous spot, the ball now in hand, she tapped Samuil on the shoulder.
"I have the ball." You know. Just so he knew?

Now, standing across from him again, Anna studied the boy for a minute. She wasn't looking for anything in particular. She was mostly just wasting
a bit of time so he could let his guard down before she threw the ball again. So, she tossed the ball between her hands again a few times and then... she threw it, aiming straight for his chest.

There was absolutely no way that Nina was going to let Lenora hit her. The Gryffindor probably had some dramatic, pent up rage (didn't all Gryffindors?) and Nina Castillo refused to be target practice. And so, she made sure that her blindfold covered her eyes enough to look passable (hopefully), but still left a tiny bit of space so that she could peek from the space on either side of her nose.

It was actually rather brilliant. Obviously Professor Trent wanted them to understand the difference it made when one had an advantage via wordless magic... But even with the warning, how was she meant to know when Lenora would throw the ball? It made dodging slightly easier as she knew where the attack was coming from, but had she not been able to see at all she could have missed her mark to jump.

Fortunately, she was peeking. And so when Lenora threw the ball, Nina jumped out of the way with a tiny SQUEAK.

Nothing to see here. She was fine.

Sammy was busy rubbing his ear when he felt that tap again. This time he visually jumped striking out with a hand, and making a little ‘eep’ noise. He didn’t hit anything but air. Was Anna trying to startle him to death?! He grabbed his chest with a hand and tried to calm his breathing. ”Ok,” he finally managed to say.

He thought he heard her walking away and then tilted his head towards where the firstie should be. He was trying to listen and use his other senses, but there was a lot of people talking and balls bouncing in the room. Maybe he was trying too hard because suddenly a ball whacked him in the chest. ”Opphm…” he rubbed his chest. Apparently Anna had a pretty good arm.

Maeve wanted to ignore the person who approached her. She TRULY did because it wasn't a voice she recognized and unable to avoid her, as the girl approached her, she recognized the girl as a Ravenclaw. Not a Quidditch Player one, either, from what she could tell and why did she seem SO excited about this activity???

Did Ravenclaws have some kind of angst when it came to Gryffindors? Who knew; she weirdly didn't have too much interaction with them thus far in her Hogwarts Career. Maybeeeee that was why!!!

"Fancy that. I've got a blindfold." Sorry, the sarcasm came out on activities she didn't fancy.

Chewing her lower lip, fiddled with the blindfold between her fingers for a moment. Did Professor Trent say they had to wear it over their eyes?? Maeve was trying to recall because just maybe there was some sort of loophole.

"Sooo uhhh I guess I just go and stand over there?" Should she introduce herself properly so that the girl would have a name to go with the face? Only good thing was it didn't seem like the girl was one who would throw the ball hard; if anything she probably threw the same way she herself would throw a ball. Saving grace, perhaps? Unless her appearance would be deceiving?

Lucas was initially relieved at the Headmaster's answer, a small smile tugging on his lips. But then the man mentioned something about not being panicky and..... uh, well, the smile was going. Gone. He started wrangling his hands, feeling as though he should tell the Headmaster that he was going to start panicking in something like this but....

...... he stayed silent.

Maybe running around and screaming at the beginning of the lesson was a good idea. Huh.

Shaking his head, he tuned back into the lesson just in time for Trent to..... give him a ball? Confused, he looked down at the ball in his hand, maybe even spinning it around to look at it properly, before looking up again. So..... dodgeball? That didn't sound too bad. It was a sport, yes, but it didn't require a lot of the normal sport things he didn't like so much.

But the worst part? He had to throw this at someone, and that meant that he needed a partner.

UH.

Biting his lip, he looked around to see if anyone needed a partner. Was he going to call out for a partner? No. But he also didn't want to be the last one left without a partner, a choice that was leaving him on the edge. Maybe he should ask Trent if he wanted to partner up?

...... Wait, no, what was he thinking?? How SAD would that be? No no. No no n-

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

Rylee fell completely silent as the instructions for the activity were given out. Honestly this sounded like a pretty wicked to test their reflexes as well as giving direction to someone. She was more than ready to test her skills and see where she might need a bit of work.

Accepting one of the blindfolds that was being handed out, Rylee looked around as everyone slowly started partnering off. "I have a blindfold, does anyone still need a partner?" The lioness held her blindfold up giving it a light wave about as if to draw someone attentions to her. Hey, it might work.

Hopefully whoever she ended up partnering with knew how to give directions and wouldn't end up hitting her in the face. Bouncing slightly on her heels she was prepared and more than ready to give this a try. Now who wanted a partner?!

"RYLEE!!"

...........

"Uh, I mean," He shuffled as quickly as he could over to the older Gryffindor. "Hey! Guess what, I have a ball. Do you want to partner up?" Please say yes. He REALLY didn't want to be the lame kid who had to partner with the professor.

Excellent. Now that they had the partner business sorted, they could get down to the activity. It had to be said, Kaiser was certainly a lot more accepting of the instructions than he might have been if he had not been one of the students to have been handed a ball, even though he knew that their roles would reverse during the activity. But he didn't have to think about that immediately, and he'd rather be throwing first than be the target.

Ceasing his kick-ups, Kaiser stood in position on the side of the classroom reserved for those who had the ball, and passed it from hand to hand while he waited for his partner to be ready.

"Okay," he said, when that moment came, and wound his arm back, the ball primed and ready, one eye squinted shut and the other fixed on his target. "I am throwing it at your right shoulder... Now." And then, that was exactly what he did. Kaiser was better at kicking balls than throwing them, but at least this time his aim was true.

Eloise was really not expecting him to have the ball and on top of that still need a partner. Guess luck her or unluck heer depending on how this turns out.

"Lucky me"

She rolled her eyes and smiled as she went up to get a blindfold and returned with one and moving to the right side of the line Headmaster was talking about and started putting her blindfold on.

"Ok now no funny business while I'm blindfolded"

well besides the literal activity and all.

Vita was just glad she hadn't busted anyone yet for being out past curfew because all she needed was a younger student with a grudge against a prefect being her partner. She'd have a trip to the hospital wing in no time. Luckily for her, Indigo's question was met with an eager nod and a smile. "I was hoping you'd ask." She was all sorts of relieved over here.

You can throw at me first, then." She trusted him, knew even on his second throw, he wouldn't be throwing hard enough to hurt her. It was for this reason she tied her blindfold on with ease and waved her hand in front of her now masked eyes. "Can't see a thing. I'm ready to go."

Anna hadn’t meant to startle him like that, but it was honestly kind of funny and she didn’t regret it. Whoops.

She grinned and let out a bit of a cheer when her ball made contact with Samuil’s chest. Until she saw him rubbing the spot out. “Oops,” she said, walking closer so he could hear her better, “I hope that didn’t really hurt. But how awesome was that???” Super awesome, if you asked her.

She picked up the ball from where it landed and held it out to her partner. “So, now we switch places?” Blindfold, please.

Feeling more alert, Aaron managed a wide grin in the Headmaster's direction. He actually got that a lot, given how violent he could be on the pitch. A source of mild resentment for him. He loved the sport, but hurting anyone felt gross... and injuries happened. He had yet to stop, though. What did that say about him? "Everyone deserves their own safe space, right? For others, it's meditation. For me, it's bees."

.... and non-verbals were definitely a cause for concern with the Hufflepuff. Sure, the premise seemed simple enough, if you had mastered concentration and really pushing your own magic forward, which he was actually terrible at. The 'concentration' part, not the 'pushing your magic' bit. Eh, he lived in his own headspace a lot, mind always racing. It was really difficult to focus his thoughts sometimes.

Shifting from one foot to the next, Aaron surveyed those around him for a second time and tilted his head. The upside was being given a few days to practice in private before he humiliated himself. However, the downside was getting balls thrown at him while blindfolded today. He was deciding to trust the older man in that regard. Therefore, he stepped forward and readied himself to be blindfolded.

It was strange wearing a blindfold, but not unpleasant. They were someone who'd been on the quidditch team with him the previous term, so he felt perfectly safe in their hands. Also, it was easier to focus when other senses were stripped away, like sight. Aaron found himself straining to hear at times...which resulted in a ball to his thigh... As someone who'd been hit by a retaliation bludger over the summer, he barely felt the pressure of it at all. So, that was something.

He was waiting for the next... and waited....... and waited some more, when his partner shouted "Right arm, midway down" Frowning, he swung his elbow out to combat the ball. He hadn't felt a hit... Success?

Rylee was wondering if everyone had already found a partner when there was a rather loud call of her name. Spinning around quickly or well... as quickly as one could on a padded floor her eyes fell upon the someone. Lucas. Her little lion buddy!

Smiling brightly at him she nodded. "Of course! Let's move over there where we won't be in anyone's way and we can give this a try," she suggested laying a gentle hand on the younger boys shoulder and guiding him over to a clear spot. "Okay, I'll go right over there," she pointed a bit away from him, "and get my blindfold on then we can get started." With that said she made her way to a spot directly across from him.

Fixing the blindfold securely around her head and covering her eyes, she bounced on her feet a few times and hopped from side to side, making sure it would stay in place. "I'm all ready, Lucas! Remember to let me know where it is you're throwing the ball the first time!" she called out to him once she was all ready.

Why couldn't people be nice at Hogwarts?

At that sarcastic tone of hers, Missa mentally rolled her eyes and took position. Nodding, she bounced the ball in her hands, "and put that blindfold on"

- in case she didn't hear the professor, or didn't know the purpose of a blindfold.

"I am Missa, by the way" she added, since it only seemed fair to introduce yourself to the person you were about to hit.

Wait. Wait. WAIT.

How did she miss that? Lenora just stared at the Slytherin, the disappointment clearly written on her face. It wasn’t even possible. Okay, look. She wasn’t a sore sport generally but this was embarrassing, especially when she had felt SO confident that her throw would hit target. The girl walked a little closer to Nina, nodding towards the ball that was lying somewhere nearby. “Would you mind throwing it back to me, please?” Because she had another throw left, yeah?

.....

Hold on. Her brows furrowed, Lenora suddenly noticed Nina’s blindfold.. which looked ridiculously loose. No. OMG. O.M.G. So, Nina had been able to see where the ball was coming from?? What EVEN? Did the Slytherin really think that she wouldn’t find out? Ugh. Lenora bit her lip, incredibly annoyed but oddly enough, a little amused too.

More annoyed than amused, just to be clear.

“You wouldn’t mind tying your blindfold a little tighter, would you?” She raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips. She had wanted to finish this activity as soon as possible but Nina made everything so difficult. As per usual.

Ok. He was ready. Blindfold on, he moved his head to listen better. It was difficult trying to make out the Slytherin’s voice within the other voices telling their partners where they were going to aim at but he grew a bit more confident when he recognized his telling that he was going to aim at his right shoulder.

Right shoulder…got i----wait… Although his eyes were covered there was mild panic in them. Did he mean right shoulder from the Slytherin’s point of view or did he mean it from his?!? Letting out a yelp, the Ravenclaw dropped down on his butt and heard the ball hit the cushioned wall behind him. Had he avoided it? He had hadn’t he?! Woohoo! ”Better luck next time” He said, trying to keep his voice calm and collected as he pushed up his blindfold and picked up the ball, throwing it back at him. He was so ready now! not

Analiese laughed at Avalon's comment about leaving with a bruise. She bounced the ball a few more times. "Yes, I'm ready! As always." She giggled at her own joke and got ready to throw the ball. She stood on the line that Professor Trent had drawn. Analiese nearly slipped on one of the cushions. Whoops.

Lucas breathed a sigh of relief at Rylee's words and let her guide him to the empty area. He really didn't want to be on his own for this activity. Okay, this was going to be okay. He was with Rylee, after all, and she seemed to know what she was doing. She also seemed to trust him by being the one who was blindfolded, even if it was part of the lesson.

Still.

Reaching his spot, he couldn't help but grin at the way the older Gryffindor was bouncing on the spot, as if she was getting ready. Should he do the same? He shifted from one foot to the other, twirling the ball around in his hands as he went. She was trusting him, which meant that he couldn't screw this up. But, even so, how could he screw it up? It was just throwing a ball, right?

"Okay, I'm going to throw it to the left!" Pause. "Your left. Maybe your shoulder area." Maybe because he couldn't predict if it was going to land there or not. It could go anywhere, knowing what his aim was like. Again, he wasn't the sporty Dakest kid, that was all Emma. "Okay, here we go!" Meaning, watch out.

Whooooosh!

He pulled the blindfold off and happily handed it over to Anna in exchange for the ball. ”No, it didn’t hurt,” he assured her resisting the urge to continue rubbing his chest. Because it hadn’t. At least he would continue to tell himself that. Nope it had been the fact that he couldn’t brace himself for it that hurt. Not the smack itself.

In spite of himself, the girls’ excitement was little contagious. He found himself giving her a small smile. ”You’ve got a better arm then I expected.” He answered honestly. He just hoped she wouldn’t get weird about. He didn’t mean because she was a girl, but because she was so tiny. He left her on the side of the room and walked to the other side, taking her ‘switch places’ for also moving spots in the room. ”Let me know when you’re ready,” he called.

If only she could see Lucas right now. There would be some true smiling happening if she knew that he was sort of copying her and moving from foot to foot. It had started out as a simple way to test the blindfold covering her eyes but mind you, she was still bouncing a bit right now. Pure energy. Psyching herself up mostly. Like she did before a Quidditch match or one of her dance competitions.

Left. The ball was going to be thrown towards the left. Her left that is. Rylee nodded once firmly at that confirmation. "Okay!" The bouncing completely stopped and she stood tall and still waiting. "Ready!"

And here it comes. Somewhere to the left...

For some unknown reason she counted in her head. One...two... thr- AND she leaped to her right just in time too. The ball whizzed past her barely missing her left elbow and hitting the padded floor somewhere behind her. "Where did it go Lucas?" Did she need to take her blindfold off and get it or did he want to get it so he could throw it a final time without telling her he was going to?

Kaiser smiled as he plucked the ball out of the air when the Ravenclaw threw it back to him. Better luck next time indeed. This time he had to throw it with no warning at all, which was... interesting. It was pretty obvious that throwing a ball at someone who couldn't see was most likely going to result in the ball hitting its target, but Kaiser would go along with the demonstration all the same.

"Alright," he said, just about managing to fight the urge to do a couple more kick-ups while he waited for his partner to put his blindfold back in place. "Here it comes..." He wound his arm back, ready to throw the ball... and paused...

... for quite a while, actually, all the better to keep his Ravenclaw partner quite literally in the dark about when the ball would be thrown. In his head, Kaiser counted to ten, and then, finally, threw it directly at his partner's chest. He doubted the balls could pack much of a punch but, all the same, he didn't put too much force behind the throw.

Something he learnt already? His aim was off. Very off.

But that didn't matter because hey, she dodged it!

The smile was instantaneous, causing him to copy more of her bouncing movements. "You did it! Awesome!" If this had been an actual game of dodgeball, he would've lost a long time ago. Wasn't the whole point to take out the other team? Yeah..... he hoped that wasn't what the main part of the lesson was going to be about.

Where did the ball go? "I'll get it." Because she couldn't see right now. It would be unfair to ask her to get it. So, the third year shuffled over to the spot somewhere behind her where the ball had bounced off, grabbed the ball and shuffled back into place. "I have the ball!" Was he meant to tell her he had it? He knew he couldn't tell her where it was going but Trent didn't say anything about this so......

There was a moment or two where he paused, twirling the ball around in his hands. What was he waiting for? He didn't really know. He just knew that this had to be as surprising as it could be for the older Gryffindor. So, he waited.

And waited.

He didn't know how long ticked by but there was a sudden shift and, before he knew it, the ball was flying in the air towards her right shoulder. Off it went!

For the record, she was nice. With a side of sarcasm. Oh, right, of course she had to put it in, but ... was it specified how to wear it? Maeve couldn't remember. Glancing around she noticed most people seemed to be covering their eyes which made sense technically and yet ... would covering the ears count instead? Was it weird that the Gryffindor really wanted to press her luck?

..... But she had the distinct feeling this Ravenclaw was one for the rules, as they tended to be. Which meant, she slipped it on over her eyes, tying it loosely behind her head.

"Maeve." You know, if she knew a name of whom she was about to hit, she'd maybe go easy? And yet ... on the other hand, perhaps she could end up with a cool boot like Patrick? Just saying.

"Ready when you are." Or at least physically she was in terms of standing at the other side with a blindfold.