The classroom was an eyesore, no two ways about it, and not exactly promising. Dance floor plus request for comfortable shoes plus instruments equalled a lesson activity Nem had instantly written off. Whatever. If it weren't for Ancient Runes having the potential to be both interesting and useful, and Gunter's actual knowledge on the subject, Nem may have turned around and walked right back out again. As it was, they stayed.

But they didn't greet Gunter. He'd been on the wooden bridge, they remembered, and they'd yet to approach him to talk one-to-one just yet, had limited their interactions to sporadic answers in class only, not even 'hello' or 'goodbye' at either end of the lesson period. Assessing things, feeling out the situation. Maybe it was time they spoke.

Not now, though. Obviously. Right now, went to stand off at the perimeter of the dance floor, leaning back against the wall, near the door, and far from the band.

The setup for today’s lesson was not what he had expected and for a second the Hufflepuff first year had thought he had entered the wrong classroom. But no, he could see the Professor in the back of the room working on some instruments. Probably using magic to make them play on their own.

He was wearing his comfortable shoes but upon seeing the room he wished he had forgotten them and so had an excuse to leave the room to go and grab them. AKA pretend to get lost on his way to the dormitory and accidentally miss a class because he was certain that they were going to have to DANCE.

And Daniel Yoon did not dance! His brother was more the party type even if his moves were horrible.

” Hello Professor” he greeted before looking around for a place to stand. Seeing as not many students had arrived yet there were plenty of places to stand and for a split second, he thought about going to stand next to the older Slytherin because they looked SO COOL leaning against that wall near the door.

But they were way older than him and he'd feel really awkward and UNCOOL standing next to them so he chose to stand somewhere else.

Please don't make them dance today, professor T_T

Likewise, Pax did not greet the professor either, but that was at least partly because she was judging whatever this was. Honestly it wasn't that she had a problem with dance floors in the right setting, but would it kill professors to just have normal lessons where they sat at normal desks and actually learned what was needed for their exams instead of everything being either quirky or feelsy or both? Pax was sick of it, but she would put up with this as long as Professor Gunter did not try and get her to talk about her feelings.

She stood next to her twin and from that spot, examined the large covered thing, because actually it was the most interesting thing in the room, potentially at least.

Jury was still out.

Naturally, the set up of the classroom {the revolving lights and the magenta lamps} was rather attention catching. Claudine decided immediately that she liked it. The dance floor… not so much. Sweet baby dragons! Please don’t let it be that they would be dancing sometime during this lesson. Cue her eyeing the instruments as well.

“Hi, Professor.” Oh, stand around the dance floor? Sure, that was easy enough to do, especially since there was a tiny gathering by the entrance’s wall. Claudine and her comfortable, soft-soled shoes took themselves to a corner of the floor, eyeing the thing covered with the black cloth. Whatever the thing was.

Alfred was highly surprised when he walked into the room. He was sure he must have walked into the wrong room before he spotted Professor Gunter near the back. So this was their classroom. Why had it taken the form of a dance floor and stage that looked like it was out of some small town talent show? Would they have to dance? The only dancing he could do was ballet, and he was sure ballet belonged nowhere near a typical dance floor.

"Hello, Professor." He was indeed wearing comfortable shoes, as expected. Alfred went and stood near his friend Daniel, who he offered a small smile before curiously observing the large covered object, which certainly seemed like the most interesting thing in the room to him.

Too bright, Uncle Oakey. TOO. MUCH. COLOR. So much of the setup reminded him of their mum, and he was certain that Scarlett would have a field day today, just because of the look of the room; the bright lights, the dance floor, the drum kit. Noah quickly snapped his mouth shut as he entered the classroom(?), and deposited his bag near where he too stood a few paces away from the edge of the dance floor.

"Hello Professor," Uncle. The Gryffindor gave the man a finger salute, wishing him, again, the best of luck today. Merlin knows he needed it.

Without the usual chairs, Noah sat on the floor and busied himself re-tying his white sneakers as they all waited for the others to arrive.

WOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"This is SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Scarlett announced as soon as she stepped into the classroom. NOT Ancient Runes, mind YOU, THAT was kind of boring. But the DANCE FLOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHICH... she wasn't allowed on yet. BOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Hufflepuff bounced her way in, carelessly throwing her belongings on the floor before standing where uncle Oakey could see her. "HI, UNCLE OAKEY!!!!!!! I need to talk to YOU after CLASS!!!!!!!!!!" She POINTED her index finger RIGHT AT HIM from all the way over there. He was FAR, and the room was kind of DARK, HENCE her speaking SO LOUD, okay.

Anyway, since she wasn't allowed ON the dance floor YET, she chose to go stand by her older brother. He was, HOWEVER, sitting on the floor fixing his shoes.

GOODY, a SEAT!!!!!!!! And so she sat on him. Quiiiite literally.

The request for comfortable foot wear had seemed an odd one to Evan, but who was he to question. So he had slipped into his white tennis shoes outside of the classroom, placing his normal shoes for his uniform into his book bag. The tennies looked... odd with the rest of his Ravenclaw ensemble and he was wishing he had blue converse or something of the sort but.. no matter. He highly doubted Professor was going to be judging them based on how well they matched.

Hopefully.

Entering the classroom, he nodded in acknowledge to Professor Gunter, offering a soft "Hello, sir." As he made his way to stand around the dance floor, squinting a bit due to the lights. This was an... interesting set up. He eyed the black curtain suspiciously as well as he settled into a spot a bit away from the others already congregated. He placed all of his items directly behind him.

Misa happily opted to wear something besides her uniform. It was not particularly stylish or comfortable. She took every opportunity not to be in it.

"Hello Professor." she greeted in her usual soft voice. She took in the scene. Was that a dance floor? That... was an odd choice? Or was it? She still hadn't gotten a hang of the ever changing customs here. Perhaps this was perfectly normal?

Ancient Runes was another of Violet's favorites, so she walked in feeling confident and cheerful. But as soon as she entered the classroom, she stopped, her book-bag halfway off her shoulder, a greeting to the professor arrested on her lips, and she looked around.

This didn't look at all like a classroom for Runes. It looked like...it looked like....a dancefloor! Violet was stunned, and slightly horrified. He wasn't going to make them dance, was he? In front of everybody?! Violet had a very bad feeling about this, as she managed to mumble a halfway coherent greeting and went over to an empty spot around the circle, dropping her bookbag on the floor behind her without even looking.

Atlas really wanted to be good at Ancient Runes...and absolutely not just because Aries was not good at these sorts of things and he wanted to one up on his older brother. There was more to Ancient Runes that was appealing to the young Gryffindor, but something with him and the previous professor on the subject had just not...clicked. Whatever had been taught had gone in one ear and out the other which, to be fair, may have had more to do with the circumstances of last term that had more to do with his inability to grasp the subject with the proficiency he desired. But...new term and new professor...a new leaf had literally been turned over.

Stepping into the classroom brought about some instant regrets...many instant regrets.

Maybe he could just turn around and leave and no one would notice? Clearly...this was dance practice...for...something else. Yes. He might just...maybe a quick escape. Both he and his two left feet.

"Sorry...wrong classroom..." he murmured, Ancient Runes textbook still clutched to his chest as he turned to leave and avoid certain humiliation.

Runes was not her strong suit. It wasn't the most interesting of classes in her opinion, however the use of runes themselves were helpful. Therefore she was on her way. As way. With her most comfortable pair of sneakers she owned which just so happened to be mostly white with a lilac strip along the side as well as the laces. The request for comfortable shoes didn't even seem odd to her and she thought nothing of it when she had gotten herself ready for the lesson.

Stepping into the classroom, Dahlia was slightly confused by the blue lights, dance floor and.. was that a band set up in the corner? "Whoa.." she giggled softly, looking about the room slowly until her eyes fell upon the professor. "Hello, Professor Gunter. I really like the setup you have going on here today."

It had only taken a moment or two for her eyes to adjust to the blue light and honestly she liked it better than the brighter normal ones. As for the starry lights that danced around, well those reminded her of camping during the summer and she liked those a lot too. Finding an empty spot near the dance floor but NOT on it she placed her bag down behind her.

While dancing wasn't entirely her thing, she could dance a little bit. She wasn't incredibly terrible at it. It was the music she was more interested in. Music soothed the soul.

Apollo wasn't sure what to make of Ancient Runes just yet. The new professor seemed okay and at least he didn't seem to be having them talk about their feelings which was a good thing. Although a dance setup? Was Professor Gunter preparing them for auditions? But not everyone who was auditioning for the play took runes? Perhaps this would give him a leg up?

"Hello Professor," he said, uncertainly, as he went to stand by Dahlia.

Ollie entered the class in her typical school shoes. It was weird that the professor would ask for comfortable shoes. But, upon arriving to class, Ollie realized. In the middle of the room stood a dance floor with many instruments tuning themselves as the students flooded in. She listened to the professor's instructions and stood on the very edge of the dance floor taking in the scene. What did this have to do with Ancient Runes?

Uhhhhh....

This was most certainly NOT her Ancient Runes classroom. She looked down at the map that she had created during her first month at school, trying to figure out which wrong turn she took. She couldn’t find one. Huh. She snapped her book close, walked through the threshold of the classroom, and looked around the extravagantly transformed classroom.

“Hello Professor!” she greeted, noting him near the instruments. She gave a quick smile to her brother and her friends before standing next to Ollie. “Hiya Ollie... Guess the shoes are for dancing?” She glanced down at her own choice of shoes, happily settling for her bright pink gumboots. Certainly it was a fashion statement but it made her happy.

Would they have to find a partner to dance with it......?

This class was alright. Ash somehow related to the professor, although she wasn't sure why. Just something. She'd think about it. It was locked in her subconscious. She'd find it one day. "Hi professor."

Ash did not like to dance though. She sometimes did ballet, but that was more of an exercise thing than anything else.

She waved at Lisa and stood next to Claudine. "Hiiii. I hope the professor is dancing, and not me. Or Kale, and not me. Literally anyone who isn't me. I like the setup though." It was pretty cool. All in all, this was an okay class.

Remy wasn't exactly sure where she was at first. This was the usual place where she found the Ancient Runes classroom, but she had to admit that this castle was still a massive maze to her. It looked different today. She lingered in the doorway and noticed some familiar faces before sliding silently into the room. She stood near Lisa and Ollie, offering them both a smile and a wave.

Her attention, however, was focused on the dance floor in front of them, her heartbeat POUNDING at the idea of dancing in front of all of these people. Absolutely NAWT gonna happen. The Gryffindor smiled at the professor, and looked down at everyone else's shoes to compare hers to theirs.

Heath entered the ancient runes classroom wearing a pair of black sneakers with his school uniform. He blinked several times, though he was unsure if it was from his eyes adjusting to the bright shades of blue and magenta or from confusion at the scene in front of him. There was so much to take in, he wasn't sure where to look first… the starry lights, the band… Then his heart dropped as he saw it, the dance floor.

Oh no no no no no, he did not dance! Not unless it was required for an acting role, and that was very different. At least then if he made a mistake, it was the character being judged for it, not himself! Heath was so nervous at the possibility of dancing - or more accurately, looking stupid while doing so - that he almost forgot to greet Professor Gunter. "Hello, Professor," he said quietly.

He quickly beelined for a corner, joining Claudine and Ash. "Hi," he greeted the two girls, willing himself not to look at the dance floor. He caught a glimpse of the thing covered by the black cloth, but he wasn't in the mood to venture a guess what it was. Instead he was more interested in the band. Now that was something he could use! Could they learn the spells the professor used to make the instruments play instead of dancing? Please?

Florrie actually really liked Runes, but she was still not sure about the lessons at Hogwarts. And today... Well, it was proving her uncertainty was right. She had on trainers, as requested, but she still wasn't prepared for a dance floor. Or instruments. Or a covered.... thing? Whatever it was, she was not prepared.

She had planned on standing next to Noah, but seeing that annoying little first year Scarlett literally sit on him.... Well, that put her off going over there. So instead, with a nod of greeting to the Professor, Florrie went and stood next to Misa, offering her a smile and a nod, too.

With Atlas' entrance before he could leave the door shut behind him. "Made it just in time, Atlas. Very lucky." Anyone who came into class past this point would now be tardy. Huh...did he say something about this being the wrong class? ...no... this was certainly the right class. Same as it had been the other times too. Weird kid... Good kid too.

"Welcome back to Ancient Runes." Professor Gunter said to everyone now. Coming forward from the small stage toward the class who had all gathered around the Dance Floor. "It should be pretty obvious by now, but for the start of the class today I'm holding a little dance party." He took another step forward, but he misjudged the distance between the edge of the small stage and some the moving white lights moved right into his face as he went to step on to the dance floor. Awkwardly flailing his arms "Oh YIKES!" He blurted out as he fumbled downward. He didn't faceplant, but his fall did look rather unpleasant. He took a quick glance to his right hand as he noticed it's glow fading. Lot of help that was? Where was the warning? Right yes... he stood up.

"You can dance in pairs if you want to, or you can dance on your own. Dance however you like to. Ballet, Ballroom, Break Dance." He recovered. And kept speaking as though there was now unlucky tumble seconds before. "Do what you makes you feel most comfortable. No one here is going to judge you on how well you can dance. This dance floor is a judgement free zone. In fact it's my personal opinion that there is no such thing as bad dancing. Errr...keep it appropriate of course, and strictly no moshing." Yes Professor Gunter knew what moshing was and he would not let any pits open up on his dance floor.

"If you absolutely do not want to dance, I understand. All that I ask is that you stretch, walk around the floor, do jumping jacks, run in place, doesn't matter. What is most important is that you move, and loosen up. Movement is key." He looked around to the class once more to take in their faces."I promise it will all make perfect sense once the party ends, and we move on to the full lesson."

With that. Professor Gunter turned his attention toward the band that was tuning itself. He swished his wand a few times (once for each instrument) as they all started to play some rave and sweet party songs. Oakey bopped his head a bit. Oh yeah, this was good song and he was going to get dancing. He tapped his feet a bit then really got going once the chorus really picked up.
________

OOC: WHOA huh Mini Activity RIGHT OFF THE BAT!? ...Yeah. Just as Professor Gunter asked of your students.

• Go ahead and Dance.
• Find a partner or 2. Dance together, or alone if that's their style.
• Let them express themselves how they want on the Dance Floor.
• If not Dancing, Stretch, or Walk around the Dance Floor.
• You have to be moving
• Keep the dances SS appropriate of course.

The Class will move on from there on May 18th Mid Afternoon-ish

Evan couldn't help but shoot the Professor a look when he commented on his shoes. "...Thank you, sir." WAS Professor Gunter judging him on how well he could match? Was this a test? Did the Ravenclaw just FAIL?

He was debating if he should just quietly switch into his school shoes and say those were what was comfortable, but class was starting and now it would be too obvious so he just... moved his bag momentarily on top of them. Now no one could SEE the 'nice shoes'.

Uhm. But yes. Dancing, that was what they were doing now. Which... honestly Evan was a decent dancer, having done plenty of practicing with Chase and Noah over the years. But he wasn't particularly SURE if he wanted people to know that about him because for some reason it felt... embarrassing to him. Perhaps it was because it didn't fit his aloof image. Which was also silly given the fact Evan did not like that image, he just didn't know how to shake it.

Either way... he would be starting small. With some stretches as he moved onto the dance floor - it was good to stretch before physical exercise anyways. He would admit to momentarily being distracted by Professor Gunter's moves and he paused for a fraction of a second as he ... blinked .. before remembering the instructions were explicitly to keep moving. So he continued his stretches.

And debated how much he really wanted to let lose. Maybe with a partner, but for now this was enough.

AAAAAAAAAAHH... It was true, they did have to dance. Remy was NOT a dancer but she wouldn't pass up a challenge. She spent a few moments watching the professor busting some moves and accidentally let out a loud laugh. Right... let's do this.

Remy shot a look to Ollie and Lisa and said, "Come on, let's be triple partners." That was allowed, right? Hopefully the girls didn't think Remy had totally gate-crashed them.

Before letting them respond, Remy started doing the robot and continued to laugh out loud.

Dancing? Not one of Quinn's preferred activities, truthfully. Especially in front of people. When Quinn entered the room he hoped that the dance floor wouldn't come into play for the lesson, though.... why wouldn't it?

Quinn wrung his hands in front of him as he looked around the classroom. He wasn't sure if dancing with someone else would make things better or worse. Definitely stretching or doing jumping jacks while other people were dancing would be just... weird... right..? Quinn awkwardly stepped onto the very edge of the dance floor and just started... bopping? from side to side. This was weird. He felt weird. He stopped and stepped off the dance floor and bit his bottom lip nervously. He was trying to think of a way to move while also... not moving..? It made less sense the more he thought about it.

Lia giggled when Professor Gunter mimicked her reaction to seeing the classroom. How could she not react how she had? Music was key. It gave her sooooo many feels. It had gotten her through all of the best times in her life and many many sad and tough times too. If the entirety of the lesson contained music she was going to be fully focused the entire time.

Barely had the lesson even began and the professor went down. Right down like he had two left feet. OUCH! Lia's eyes grew wide. "Are you alright, Sir?" That fall didn't look very pleasant but Gunter was back up on his feet like nothing had happened.

Oooooh!

They were starting off with dancing! Sure she wasn't the greatest dancer every but she wasn't absolute horrible either. Normally she danced for fun though. A little bit of dance, a little gymnastics and some martial arts tossed in made for some interesting times when she was younger. As for selecting a partner..

Dahlia glanced at Apollo who she had noticed stand beside her before the lesson had even begun. "Want to be partners?" Since they were already standing near each other it only made sense to partner up.