Oh. It really was a magical things, potion making, and not muggle cookied. Oops.

Anna still stood by her suggestion and the collective agreement of the team. Soup made with love tasted heavenly and it really could perform miracles on a mood as well as illness! "...I don't remember a Wiggleworm potion," she whispered to her teammates with a small giggle. "...probably had that before though...if it is what I am thinking of it did NOT taste good at all."

Soup was better, just saying.

Anyway, they were on to the next question and Anna was almost bouncing up and down in her seat in anticipation. Even if they got every single one of these wrong, it was still fun to hear the buzzing sound and just think about all the amazing things they were studying and surrounded by. Aurora knew WAY more about creatures than she did (and hello, she was totally starry-eyed over her Ravenclaw bestie's passion for them) so she was nodding along as Aurora listed off...a lot of possibilities. That's okay! It was a starting point for sure. "Well...all those ARE hatched from eggs," she laughed and tugged on some of her curls a bit. "Winged, proud, and a 24 incubation period...isn't that kind of crazy though? I mean ... chickens take 21 days I heard somewhere ... and there is an animal somewhere that takes 90 days! You know, it's kind of like how some baby animals are born and like...within an hour or something they have already learned to walk but it takes us like...365 DAYS to learn to walk?! Nature sure is amazing, you know? All the variety ... " The Hufflepuffle had completely gotten off track, which was a real shame because she actually KNEW this answer considering she how she had spent some of her summer days. Maybe if she just kept on rambling she would come back around? "I spent a couple of days at the Ashburry-Hawthorne sanctuary helping out with some of the smaller odd jobs and shoveling poop from some of the stalls while others took the bigger creatures out for exercise and grooming and other things. There was a rescued mama hippogriff there TOO and she had just laid an egg the day before and hatched the day I was there and I remember thinking how AMAZING it was that she had just laid her egg yesterday and now her baby was already here!"

Well...she had come back around but she had also neglected to remember that they were in the middle of a trivia game and that there was something tangible to all her creature musing she ought to be doing. Might be up to Captain Vera to steer this ship back on course.

Of course Aurora didn't need to ask for permission. There was space on the team and her addition was a welcomed one. At the very least, they were certainly a fun triad weren't they? Vera grinned back at her, waving her fingers in greeting but not speaking aloud lest she interrupt any line of thinking any of them might at the moment have been following. Though perhaps the interruption wouldn't have been minded too much either.

Also, as for looking cool and admired? It certainly would not have done anything good to the sixth year's already inflated ego to hear that.

Not getting the potion points made perfect sense to her. Despite all of the work Leo and Vasco had put into her pre-OWLs, clearly nothing had stuck long term. Especially not when she spent the entire summer busy as a bee and with a clear allergy to all things studying. She'd get back into it..... at some point this term. Probably.

But Creatures? That was a class she cared about and was decent in. And thanks to a conversation a few years prior now with Professor Paton, she was very much leaning towards a career associated to such. Though of course, her specification and preference had always been and would probably remain with reptiles. Which is why even though hippogriff was the first thing that came to her mind at the next question posed by Professor Carton, she'd gotten entirely sidetracked by Aurora's mention of a basilisk. It was still perhaps the greatest disappointment of her young life she couldn't have one as a pet, but at least she had Sass. It took her a moment to tune back into Anna's commentary, which sounded like an exciting summer doing some work at a creature sanctuary! But bits of the story also reminded her there was a question to answer, and the valuable story was just solidifying both Aurora suggestion (or one of) and Vera's own earlier thought. "Hippogriff sounds like our winner for this one then! 24 incubation period is crazy but also wouldn't it be nice if that was the turn around time for every creature? Then you don't have to wait as long to meet the little baby! My sister's corn snake took eight weeks. And we had to wait all that time knowing that she was coming but we couldn't meet her." And then they had to wait longer still until Sherbet could safely be brought home.

..... But she was getting sidetracked now as well. With a jolt of remembrance, Ve's hand flew out to slap the button before their time was gone. "What is a hippogriff?" A captain she was not, but at least she remembered before time ran out. Though she felt bad too she had now gotten to beep the buzzer twice when neither of the younger girls had. Lowering her voice, she looked at them both, "One of you should hit it next!" As she pushed it closer to their side of the table.

Norman paused, observing the students conferring amongst their teammates. When a few answers had come in, he addressed the group again. “Time’s up, The correct answer: ‘What is a hippogriff?’”

With a flick of his wand, he tapped the grid. This time the third square in the first column lit up. “Here comes the next clue: Spell Ya Later! For 600 points. For this category, you can give the name of the spell or its incantaction. ‘When cast correctly, this conjuration spell produces a light the same color as the gourd which encases its target’s head.’”

OOC: Thanks for sticking with the game! Clue 3 is up! Next clue in 16-24 HOURS.

After taking a moment to process Norman’s little brain teaser {which only took him a minute thankfully}, the chuckling Dhruv gave their full attention to the game in process. Adjusting themself so that their torso was angled in Ean’s direction, and an ankle resting on a knee, they played along mentally. More chuckling ensued from them because while chicken soup was not the answer to the first question, Dhruv could understand the reasoning behind it. They liked that the kiddos were working together. They liked that Aryan was focused; they even thought they even detected a streak of Aditya’s competitiveness from the boy.


* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ary would welcome an opportunity to study with Emma. After all, she was his friend. So all she needed to do was to say the word and together, they could work out the date.

Of course he was correct with the Hippogriff answer. He grinned to himself and braced himself to put on the proverbial thinking cap. Yes, he remembered that he had promised Bry and Emmie that they could have a go at the next question.

“Er… gourd? I think the professor’s referring to a pumpkin?” At least… to Ary’s knowledge a pumpkin spell was the only type that put someone's head in that particular casing. He could be wrong though, but his mind refused to budge from the pumpkin idea. “Maybe it’s one of those Fire Making spells? Because the flames are orange…” The boy shrugged. “I dunno. What do you girls think?”

Ooooh! Hope knew this one. Because wasn't this gourd native to her own home country? Her hand slammed down on the buzzer before she even consciously decided to do so and she looked nervously over at her partner, Emma, hoping that she was right. Because it would be embarrassing to have gone ahead and be wrong.

"Uh...What is the Melafors Jinx?" she managed to get out, trying to make her voice loud enough to be heard in this big room.

OH! OH!

They actually got one correct thanks to Anna’s excellent deduction skills and Captain Vera’s brilliant buzzing. What a fantastic team they were making. The talk of babies coming in 24 hours had the Ravenclaw thinking about her own family. “My Ma was pregnant for a whole NINE months and even then Ander was two weeks late so it was more like nine and a half months and all he can do is drink and cry. But that’s not even the longest pregnancy, Elephants take twenty-two months! At least they can walk though and they’re much cuter than baby humans.” Don’t ask her where she got the information about Elephants from, she did have a habit of watching Muggle nature programmes during the summer holidays. There was something so soothing about the narrator's voice.

The quiz had swiftly moved on thankfully before Aurora could talk any more on the subject. There was a brief flash of concern across the blonde’s face the minute she heard ‘spell’ in that she thought they were about to be subjected to a spelling test. It wasn’t even that she had anything to worry about there either, her spelling was perfectly adequate, but it took her back to primary school where these tests would be sprung on them randomly. Why she thought of spelling before spells was questionable but then there was no point in figuring out where Aurora’s brain would go.

“Gourds are.. pumpkins?” Or pumpkin-like vegetables like marrows? “Do you think when you have a pumpkin on your head you’ll be able to taste it? I don’t think I’ve ever had a pumpkin on its own, only in a pie.” Perhaps leaving the responsibility of buzzing to this girl was not in the best interest of the team.

Was Bry not paying attention or was Aryan just on the top of his A game? Her bestie was so focused he was on fire for their team. "It could have only been a griffy. 'Member when we saw the last one be borns? It was so little!" Well, as little as a baby hippogriff could be. If had been absolutely epic and she had loved every single moment of it. Speaking of which... "Is there anymore new babys being born at the reserve soon?" Griffs or dragons?

As the next question was being given by professor Carton, Bryony was once again mum hing on another handful of mixed nuts and berries. None of which were orange or a gourd buuuut this second year thought she did know the answer to this question! "A gourd is a pumpkin, right? Or something like a pumpkin and pumpkins are orange. And there's a pumpkin spell that can encase someone's head.. only it's a jinx I'm sure." And there wne her hand slapping down on the buzzer confidently. "What is the Pumpkin-Head Jinx?" Fingers crossed that she was correct. Next round Emmie could have a go at giving the answer if she wanted.

Norman caught the chuckle from Dhruv, but he was too focused on the game to acknowledge it. Speaking of the game, the students were doing great so far! He was pleased with the mostly correct answers and even more so with the collaboration between teammates.

After allowing a minute or two, he gave the answer to the third clue, “The correct answer: ‘What is Melofors?’ or ‘What is the Pumpkin-head Jinx?’” Once again, he tapped the grid to his right with his wand. The first square in the fifth column lit up. “Our next clue, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! For 200 points. ‘Splinching is a common and dangerous side effect when this mode of transportation is done incorrectly.’”

OOC: Great game so far! Next clue goes up in 16-24 HOURS.

Bry was absolutely right: the answer could have only been hippogriffs. “Tiny,’’ he agreed, his mind flashing back to the time Bry was referring to. That certainly was not going to be the last time that they would see baby griffs hatching, he was confident about this. “Not sures. Gotta ask dads.” But Ary would let her know as soon as he did!

His bestie was sure about the pumpkin being the only gourd of which witches and wizards had used in this spell creation. He watched her push the buzzer and give her answer. They all just needed Carton to confirm now… and he did! “Way to go, Bry!’’ Ary whispered, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze. The team was doing well so far and he was immensely enjoying this.

“The answer to that is definitely Apparation,’’ he said confidently to Emmie and Bry. This was also his way of encouraging one of them to go ahead and give the answer. They were, after all, a team.

Emmie was not sure about the answer to the spell question so she was immensly glad that Bry and Ary had an idea. The pumpkin spell; melofors, she had never heard of. Yes she had carved pumpkins at home, but they hadn't used any spells that she could remember. Trying to engage herself in Bry and Ary's convo about baby dragons, and hippogriffs she cut in "Do you guy's have some pictures with you of the baby dragons and hippogriffs? Because I've never seen one in real life. Just the adult ones at the magical zoo." Maybe she could convince auntie Laurel or uncle Aaron to go to the magical zoo or a reservation over the summer?

Anyway focus back on the game. Listening to the next question, Emmie was immediatly sure of the answer just as Ary confirmed it. Looking from Ary to Bry she said I'll answer for us this time. Turning to the big red buzzer she hit it and looked up at Professor Carton and said confidently."What is Apparition?"

Oops. Good thing she hadn't buzzed with that previous answer since it seemed she would have been incorrect. As far as the next question went ... there was a conjuration spell that encased someone's head in a gourd??? Emma stared wide-eyed. She had so much to learn and thank goodness for Hope there buzzing in with that answer!!! Cause she would have had no clue.

But here was a question she actually knew the answer to. Should she wait for Hope to confirm with her since she completely botched the first two questions? Nah, she knew what mode of transportation this one was ....

Slamming her palm on the buzzer thing, she practically burst out ... "Apparition... I mean ... WHAT is Apparition?" Whew. Saved, hopefully with a speedy correction to adding the what.

Norman's bluish-green eyes scanned the Great Hall. So far, so good… students playing by the rules, remembering to buzz in before answering, and giving answers in the form of a question. Oh? Montmorency's initial answer got a slight eyebrow raise, but she corrected herself. ”I'll accept that answer,” he said, nodding.

Whether or not that answer was correct would have to wait. After allowing ample time for the teams to buzz in, Norman moved on. “The correct answer is, ‘What is Apparition?’” With a flick of his wand, he tapped the grid. The first square in the third column lit up. ”Our next clue: ‘Facts and Figures for 200. ’Once belonging to a Hogwarts founder, this goblin-made magical artifact was instrumental in Harry Potter’s hunt for Horcruxes.’"

OOC: Next clue in 16-24 HOURS

“Lots!’’ Ary told Emmie. “I’ll show you somes later.” And since the family Reserve was open to visitors in the form of his friends, providing that Ary ask his fathers first, maybe someday Emmie could visit. He was certain she would be thrilled to see dragons and griffs, both baby and adults, in close-ish proximity.

The Slytherin’s waited quite calmly for Carton to confirm the answer Emmie and the other participants of the quiz had given. Already he was in anticipation of the next question. Which happened to be an easy one too {of course it was, given that it was assigned only two hundred points}.

“It’s Gryffindor’s sword, I believe,’’ Ary told his teammates. The tiara wasn’t goblin-made as far as he could remember… nor was the locket. Nor the cup. Yep, after careful thought, he was sure. "I'm sticking with the sword." He would again allow one of the girls to answer.

Whew! That was a close save on that question. She shoved some dried fruit into her mouth as Professor Carton continued on with the next question about facts and figures. Until a second after she shoved the dried fruit into her mouth she coughed and spat it into a napkin. "Sorry." she murmured quietly to Hope. Was there anything else to eat besides nuts and fruit? Oh, chocolate. She could do with that ....

Er... what was the question? Something about Harry Potter's hunt for horcruxes? "Diadem? Helga Hufflepuff's cup... sorry, i missed the question." She admitted lamely to Hope, hoping she caught it. Stupid dried fruit.

The unfortunate thing was Vera had gotten so distracted by the talk of pregnancies and baby animals and just the overwhelming amount of TIME that went into having to wait for a spawn, that she missed the next couple of questions. Which was really too bad, because between the odditity of the melofors jinx and the current apparition classes she was taking for her license - she KNEW those answers. Which meant they missed some EASY points!! And it was very obvious the trio needed the points where they could get them.

Hearing the next question, she drew herself back to present and NOT thinking about how cute little elephants were, and instead looked at the two younger girls. Captain, her foot. "Um so if it's a founder it's obviously something Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. But like... I don't really REMEMBER what person had what as a relic! I bet Ravenclaw had some type of book but if it's goblin made it's probably written in gobbledy gook and I don't think Harry Potter spoke that? So maybe not Ravenclaw. Slytherin it would be too ironic for it to have been something from the founder that eventually took down the heir so... maybe not that either." She would have remember that, she thought. "I bet it's whatever Hufflepuff's relic is. They're resourceful." She nodded sagely, impressed with her own deductive reasoning as she waited to hear what the girls thought.

Hope's brow wrinkled slightly as she thought for a minute. "No, that's not it--Helga Hufflepuff created her cup herself, I overheard Professor Tapio telling that to some of the Hufflpuffs. In fact...all the Founders created their House artifacts themselves. All except...it must be the sword!" Hope's hand slammed down on the buzzer and she called out excitedly, "What is Godric Gryffindor's sword?"

She sat back, breathing a little hard from the tension and then glanced over at her partner, who seemed to be perpetually hungry. "Look, do you want a biscuit or something?" she whispered to Emma, taking a handkerchief out of her pocket and opening it to reveal about half a dozen ginger biscuits. Hope's mother had impressed on her the importance of always keeping a few emergency rations about her, just in case. Anyway, it was hard to think clearly when you were hungry.

Nod nod. "Uh-huh. Loads and loads." Maybe not as many as Aryan had but who knew for sure? This girl did have a habit of taking photos of the creatures whenever she was there, especially the babies and the ones she was allowed to interact with the most. Just like Ary, she would happily show all the photos to Emmie later on.

At Professor Carton's confirmation of the correct answer to the previous question, Bry beamed at her team. They were seriously rocking this. "Way to go team!" Both of her hands were held up to them for high-fives! It had been the best idea for them to be a team of three.

The next question was given and Aryan was voicing his opinion on the answer like a true pro at the game. Bry grinned at him and nodded her agreement. "I think that's right 'cause wasn't the sword used to help win the war?" She thought it had been. Like it had been used to get rid of some of the Horcruxes, right? "Wasn't the other house items all destroyed too? So I say we should go with the sword." With another nod of her head, the blonde tapped her hand down on the buzzer. "What is Gryffinfor's sword?"

Norman paused, looking around the Great Hall as he waited for students to buzz in with their answers. He overheard Montmorency's cough but chose not to acknowledge it. A quick glance at his watch told him that thr meeting time was running short.

”The correct answer was, ’What is the Sword of Gryffindor?’” Any variation of that wording was accepted, as long as the answer contained ”Sword” and ”Gryffindor” somewhere. ”We have time for a few more questions. Next clue…” Her tapped the grid, and the fifth square in the sixth column lit up. ”Pop Goes the Weasel! For 1000: ’Released in 1937, this Disney fairytale was the first feature-length animated movie produced in the United States.’”

OOC: Sorry for the delay... yesterday was crazy! We'll have 1 or 2 more questions after this and move on the the prize selection this weekend. Next clue in 16-24 HOURS.

Yes, their team was doing well though Ary wished some of the other teams would be a little more competitive. It was more enjoyable, in his opinion, if each team were this way. But anyway… go, team! as Bry had said. “Yeah, I think it was Neville Longbottom that used it to kill Nagini.” Did you know that ‘Nagin’ was the Hindi word for snake? Yep, it was. Anyway. Bry buzzed in again with her answer and… it was correct! Ary grinned at Emmie and Bry. Surely they felt as thrilled as he did?

The next question wasn't that easy for him. Sure, Ary knew all about Muggle fairy tales, even down to the ancient movies as he had grown up watching them; the Muggle world was a huge part of his life, after all. “Erm… it’s either Cinderella or… Bambi? No, that’s not a fairy tale. Is it? Snow White. Erm…” Ary tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I think Snow White was the first…” Yes, that was it, he was sure. After all, hadn’t he watched the fairytale movies in order of their release?

“I got it,’’ the boy told his team mates. And he buzzed in. “What is Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?”

Hope just sat and stared at Carton. She had no clue about this one. She'd never seen an animated movie, or any move. And... who or what was Disney, anyway?

She leaned over to Emma and whispered, "Do you know this one? I have no idea."

Kalie was late, so sue her. No, actually, don't because those things could get messy and she wasn't about mess (when it involved her, anyway). Also because her lateness wasn't exactly her fault, Peeves had struck! She snuck into farthest seat back while still being close to the group, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible and poured herself a cup of tea. No coffee for her this late in the day, thank you.

*Bzzzz* "What is Steamboat Wille?" Was she correct? Kalie didn't really know, she remebered it was the first something though. And yes, she had completely missed the 'fairy tale' part of the clue.

Norman noticed Gellar’s arrival out of the corner of his eye. Not at all fussed by the girl’s late arrival, he nodded in lieu of a verbal greeting so as not to break the other players’ concentration between questions.

He didn’t expect everyone to get this question correct. It was one of the more difficult clues, and it was a Muggle Studies question, a subject in which not everyone was well-versed. Still he was impressed with the students’ effort and creative answers. “The correct answer: ‘What is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?’” he said after a few moments’ pause. He tapped the grid with his wand, illuminating the fourth square in the fourth column. “Here’s our next clue: Now We’re Cookin’! for 800 points, ‘Gold in color and notoriously difficult to brew, inventor Zygmunt Budge considered this potion the crowning achievement of his career.’”

OOC: 16-24 HOURS to answer this question. The final clue of the game goes up tomorrow!

Ooh... She knew partnering with Hope was a good thing!!! The girl came prepared with biscuits! "Yes please..." her eyes lighting up with delight, as she took two from the handkerchief. Hoping she didn't mind. "Thank you." Munching on one, she'd been thinking about the disney movie and just as she was about to buzz an answer in, it seemed she'd run out of time. Oh well.

The next question though. She didn't recall the names of inventors, but she did know colours. Gold in colour and difficult to brew. "That's gotta be liquid luck ... no? Do we need the actual name?" It was Felix something or other. Note to self: next time accidentally stumble into a quiz game, bring biscuits.

For what it was worth and how many students were actually playing, Bry thought that most of them were doing fairly well. There was nothing wrong with being competitive, she had her moments of being very deeply competitive but those times typically fell upon the times that she was training. However maybe if she put some of that ninja competitiveness into her schooling... anyhow...

"I thinks it was too. Super cool of him to stands up to a snake so large and dangerous like that to help everyone." Bryony gave Neville Longbottom mega props for that but it also always made her sad to think about the Nagini because it hadn't been the snakes fault that she was how she was. The young blonde did know this! Why she knew this was for two reasons, her love of snakes, thanks to her mama and always being around them since she had been born. Annnnnnd obviously Aryan most likely had told her. Many things she knew she had learned from him.

Just like the answer to that question! With her love of movies and how many Ary and her and watched together growing up, (Disney movies being on that list thanks to her) she hadn't been sure of this one. They had watched so so many of them and sometimes they got a little jumbled up in her head. Unless they were the ones she loved most. The bestie seemed sure once again though, so with a firm nod of her head and a smile at Emmie too, she watched the buzzer get hit. When Professor Carton said it was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bry gave Ary a quick squish. "You dids it!"

It was time for another question and this time Bry was sure she knew this one. Maybe. She might not be the greatest in Potions buuuuuut she had kinda helped Logan study a little bit for his OWLs last term! She had used 'helping' him study as a way of spending time with him, tossing out random questions at him from time to time on various subjects. It had actually be kinda fun and she had learned a fair bit too! "I think I know this one," she looked between Ary and Emmie. "Not many potions are gold in color.. but Liquid Luck is and Logan tolds me it is really difficult to brew correctly." Nod nod. What did they both think?!

Ary was in agreement with Bry. It most certainly was brave of Neville to stand up to a great, large snake like Nagini. He wasn’t going to lie… Bry definitely liked snakes more than he did, even if he was a creatures guy. He wouldn’t be surprised if at one point she brought along a few to stay at the Reserve.

Phew!

The boy was relieved that his answer was correct. He grinned happily as Bry squished him and he returned it with a couple of pats on her hand. But the next question had him thinking hard. “I’m not sure either,’’ he told his teammates. Too bad he hadn’t inherited Adi’s vast array of knowledge on Potions. “We could have a go and answer Felix Felicis. I’m good with that.”