Eight am. It was one of those times where Zander regretted showing up to class. Eight am was WAY too early to do anything. Especially way to early to learn transfiguration. Or was that just Zander? Eh. Who knew?

As he walked into the room, he rubbed his eyes-- not quite believing what he saw. Merlin, maybe skipping breakfast was a terrible idea after all. He was starting to see things. It looked like the desks were trees. Merlin. This dreaming thing was way more vivid than he ever imagined. But uh, it wasn't turning back to normal??? No matter how many times he blinked. MERLIN HOLD THE PHONE SOMETHING WAS WEIRD.

And that's when he noticed the sign.

O__________O

... That's it. Bellaire had gone insane.

Were they getting punk'd?

Amanda walked into class excited to start her day. She was such a geek. Book bag in hand she walked in and immediately dropped her belongings on the ground. This was not what she was expecting at all.

She blinked her eyes thinking that maybe this was a joke, then she saw the sign. "I don't want to die." She said without thinking, her eyes wide. She hoped this was a joke. If it was it wasn't funny.

She started to pick her stuff up off the ground, looking around she waited to see what was happening. She was scared. This was very strange.

Norah was wearing her most politest smile as she entered the classroom, looking for Professor Bellaire so she could greet her in the polite way polite fourteen year olds were supposed to be polite. Had she mentioned being polite? 'Cause she was going to do that.

When she finally acknowledged what she was looking at, all thoughts of politeness flew out of her head, which was weird in itself 'cause the kids at her primary school always said her skull was thick. Take THAT. They were wrong. Her thoughts could fly riiiiight through that skull. Of course all that was nowhere near as weird as what had happened to the Transfiguration classroom which was really not a classroom anymore, unless they were having class outside which'd be AWESOME. Except, there it was. She found it eventually. 'Hogwarts Students Die.'

What.

Her eyes widened and she inched towards Zander. He was a prefect, he could protect her, right? She slowly began to grin. This was a joke, right? Right. Definitely a joke. She let out a laugh just to make sure everybody knew how not-scared she was, and shot another fearful look at Zander. Apparently pretending to not be scared was almost as hard as actually not being scared.

Mornings had never been any trouble for Toby, except for perhaps the odd day or two. It had been that way ever since his first year, and even now, in his seventh year, that was very much the same. He was was bouncy. Overly so. Suspiciously so. Almost like he was forcing it a little bit.

Of course, it didn't take long before THAT was over.

The transition from school corridor to jungle hadn't surprised Tobias at all, I mean, Hogwarts, right? He bounced on into the rainforest!classroom like it was the most natural thing in the world. Bellaire wasn't here, but Zander was. Toby opened his mouth to greet him, but before that could happen he ended up following the Gryffindor's line of sight and...

...

... oh. Oh no. Oh no no no. No. Nooooooooooooooo. Nope.

THAT was a VERY NEGATIVE SIGN, okay? It made the breath catch in Toby's throat and he almost definitely had gone very pale. If this was going to be a lesson as emotionally draining as Defence Against the Dark Arts had been (and it was starting to look that way), he may as well just turn back around and leave.

But he didn't.

He just stood there. Staring. At the sign.

Not even bouncing.

Eden had such mixed feelings about Transfiguration. But today, she was feeling optimistic, and she was wearing the right stuff. For once, she had paid attention to those little announcement things. Trainers. Shirt. Wand. APPROPRIATE SHOES. Wheeee. She was READY.

Until she stepped inside.

She saw the jungle.

And she almost ran out.

Surely, she should be scared. HECK, she was scared. But she just trudged inside and didn't run away like SHE SO TOTALLY WANTED TO RIGHT NOW. Instead, she lunged herself at Toby and hugged him alllllll tightly.

"I think I said I owed you a hug. So here. Have a hug, Tobias Fuller-Thompson." HEHEHEHE. She felt better already. She had hugged Toby. HUGS WERE GREAT.

And Transfiguration just got real.

More so than it had been. Sophia Bellaire was no stranger to challenging her students and Cutty knew this. He liked to answer such challenges to show her that her teaching was indeed very effective. He smirked and rolled his eyes at the hug going on between Effty and McGee and although there was plenty of space to manuever around them, he walked right between them RUDELY.

He looked up at the sign and took his wand out. "Protego." He said before venturing further in. There were probably all kinds of Herbological plant lifes in there too.

Ilia had read the notice board. She almost always had her wand and text book, hopefully her common sense too. She also complied with the assigned dress code. Trousers? Check....light and comfortable. Long sleeve shirt? Check...light and loose. Her slacks were dark brown and her shirt was white, she wore a good pair of brown boots to match.

She wondered why the dress code though? Would they be climbing over desks? Shooting water at each others castles? Shooting each other into the air? Creepy mazes? Hogwarts was a pretty crazy place and Ilia was learning not to be surprised by anything.

When she walked into the class room though, it looked like a jungle........literally. Eyeing the room suspiciously she saw nothing like a classroom except for a sign. ................Well that was encouraging. It appeared they needed to be up for a little dying today. That wasn't a bit deal right...................?

There was no professor in sight and she heard the rustle of branched breaking beneath her feet. The sounds of various wildlife greeted her ears, but primarily those of insects.

This......should be interesting. She looked around to see who else was here, and would be coming in. Perhaps she should have a partner before starting.....or should she go it alone? To have back up, or to be slowed down....which was better or worse?

Yaaaaaaawn.

Mornings really weren't her thing, and as much as Lux tried to get used to these early classes, she just couldn't. It was a struggle just to get her appearance in order half of the time, but it was necessary so as not to get into trouble with Bellaire.

Stepping into the classroom, Lux rubbed her eyes because.... jungle.

o________O

Eyes travelling immediately to the sign, she gulped. "I am NOT going to die." Nope. And Bellaire wouldn't let it happen anyway because that was a lawsuit waiting to happen. Nope, she was going to live and make it through this jungle.

What with the whole STARING AT THE SIGN OF DEATH thing, Toby hadn't been prepared for someone to come along and hug him. In fact, his first panicked thought was that there was some kind of JUNGLE MONSTER that had moved in for the kill. He jumped in surprise and started to flail, already mentally cursing at himself for not having his wand ready, but... OH. Oh. Well. It was EDEN. SooooooOOOOO much better than a jungle monster, gosh.

"Eden." BIG SIGH of RELIEF. "Thanks, I-" But even as he went to return the hug, there was someone else wanting to join in. Well, Toby was okay with that. Hugs were for every-... oh. They wanted to go THROUGH, well.. that was okay too.

Ever the doormat, Toby just let it happen, and blinked at the retreating back of the hug-barger, who turned out to be Cutty Mordaunt. Um. Oh. So... Toby wasn't sure how to feel about that, so he looked at Eden instead, and gave her a little smile.

Keeping his voice low, in case Bellaire was nearby, and perhaps for other reasons too, Toby tried again. "Thanks. I love your hugs." Nod nod nod.

They were also very comforting when you were pretty sure you were on the brink of doom.

Toby's eyes flicked back up towards the sign.

Zhenya turned into the classroom, expecting the familiar sights to greet her, and stopped quite suddenly. Whoa... just... whoa. She blinked a few times and looked around. It... was she in the right class? Obviously. Wow. She started to get a feeling of... excitement and... excited fear growing. Was it like an obstacle course or something?

Hogwart Students Die

Zhenya wrapped her arms around herself. Was this in relation to last year, she wondered? And where was Professor Belaire? Zhenya finally walked further into the classroom and stood awkwardly, before catching sight of Lux and waving to her.

Long sleeved clothing? Check!

Adi had made sure he had worn that because he figured that Bellaire would not play around with their safety? OR WOULD SHE? He eyed the jungle!classroom the moment he stepped in (and that SIGN O__O), wondering if he had somehow ended up in the wrong place. But noooo... looky! There were his friends!

He wavedat a few of them as he noisily stepped on branches towards Ilia. Hey, Toby, Lux, Zander, Cutty, Zhenya and you rest! Adi prodded his new buddy on the shoulder lightly. "Toad buddy! HI!'' Yes, the sign was totally weirding him out but he wasn't going to let that put too much of a damper on his spirits. Be POSITIVE, peoples!

It was particularly cold this morning, Benzi thought to himself as he made his way down the corridor towards the Transfiguration classroom. Rubbing his hands together because he was much too manly to put on a jumper this early in the winter, Benzi shivered lightly before adjusting his tie and confidently walking into the classro-

... What.

What happened to the classroom? What was this? Did Bellaire know she had a jungle infestation on her hands? Then he saw the sign, and a slow smirk graced his features. Oh, this was going to be fun. He could ALREADY tell. Also, he apparently had fantastic instincts as it was ten thousand degrees in here and definitely not a class for which he needed a jumper.

Taking in everyone, he waved at the people he knew and went to stand along the wall. What was Cutty doing? They'd yet to receive instructions about what this was all about... other than them dying, clearly. If more than ten minutes passed without Bellaire showing up, THEN he'd go into the jungle. Perhaps she was trapped in there and needed them to save her.

First the obstacle course in DADA, now this... was Hogwarts always this brilliant with catering to his wishes?

Long sleeves were not his thing. Xavi would rather wear a tee-shirt any day. Unfortunately, the dress-code stipulated that he was to wear school trousers and long sleeves today. The reason for this became apparent when he stepped into the classroom and it wasn't a classroom at all, but rather a delightful looking rainforest.

Well, it would have been delightful if not for the giant sign either directing students to die, or telling them they would die. While some of the others in the room were looking nervous, all this did was spike Xavi's insatiable curiosity. He instantly wanted to explore and see what was in there, but he supposed he should wait for the professor to give instructions? Though the professor didn't seem to be around at all.

He'd read the class notice, and he usually wore sleeves and pants ANYWAY, so no biggie for this third year Lion... however, the notice couldn't prepare him for what had happened to the transfiguration classroom.

Say what now?

...

WHAT is all this?

Zeke stepped in, feeling as if he'd been hit by steam in the face. Merlin's beard. And... dirt, there was dirt or rather GROUND beneath him. There was perhaps more vegetation debris than he'd ever seen in a single place.

WHAT had happened to their classroom exactly?

Wand at the ready, Zeke braced himself.

Just.... WHAT WAS GOING ON?

He peered at the others that were in his vicinity. Did they do this?! Then again... did he really want to know? No. Best to be oblivious with such things.

"I'm not even going to ask..." but then, that's when he saw the sign thing.

Hogwarts Students DIE?

Was this a joke? A sick joke? Wasn't it too soon to joke about such things since whatshisface died just last term???

...

WAS THIS A THREAT?!

Clara never rolled up to lessons early and today was no exception. By the time she reached the classroom (???) others were already there. Eden. Toby. A few others whose faces she could put names too. They looked just as confused as she felt. Where the classroom should be was...a....jungle?

She took a hesitant step forward, taking in her surroundings, and immediately saw the sign that read 'HOGWARTS STUDENTS DIE'. Well, that wasn't at all ominous.

After taking out her wand, because that seemed the logical thing to do, she stepped forward towards Eden and Toby, clearing her throat to announce her presence to them. "Hey, you two," she said, still looking around, "another normal day at Hogwarts, huh?" Admittedly, Clara was quite excited...just as long as there were no large bodies of water she'd be fine. She loved Transfiguration, a lot of it had links with charms, and she was reasonably good at it. Her skills lay in charms.

What in the ... world.

Noel Wallace stared at the transformed classroom with a not so amused look. Why was Hogwarts so persistent on getting him to work out this term? This was a trick, yes? Surely the professor would appear and they wouldn't be LEFT to tackle this on their own.

Noticing the sign above, Noel made a -.- face. Of course Hogwarts students die. OF COURSE. Wasn't that what he had been saying since first year? That is exactly what they wanted. UGH.

Noticing Benzi standing by the wall, clearly enjoying whatever it was that was GOING to be asked of them to do - he walked over to him. "You look a little too happy, Benz" he commented, pulling off his robes and shoving it in his bag because hot atmosphere was hot. Leaning back on the wall with him, Noel just sighed the 'lets get this over with' sigh.

HOGWARTS STUDENTS DIE

Brooklyn had seen the sign as she’d entered the jungle that used to be the Transfiguration classroom. She’d also ignored it. Of course they did, but they weren’t her. Nothing would dare hurt her. Professor Bellaire might test her, but she wouldn’t want her hurt either. She just had to figure out what she was supposed to do, except she’d scowled at the steamy air. Why had they been asked to wear long pants and long sleeves again? She felt like she was going to melt, or at least not be anywhere close to looking perfect by the time she got out of this mess.

Professor Bellaire wouldn’t like that. She scooped her hair up and tied it back and off her shoulders messily, just to hopefully relieve some of the heat she was already starting to feel, then took stock of the situation. There was Cutty, and Lux, and Zeke… and Adi. And students hugging. She wasn’t doing that. No hugging for her, but she still waited a few seconds before thinking about moving further into the jungle. Not like Cutty.

.....did any of the professors even CONSIDER things like how long it took for her hair to look like this every morning?

DID THEY????

Professor Bellaire certainly did not. Or else she wouldn't have transformed her classroom into a RAINFOREST. Like, what was up with that. Maggie could already feel her hair getting all frizzy from the humidity again. UGH. Like could you not? This was just plain ru-

HOGWARTS STUDENTS DIE!

....

Maggie blinked.

Then read it again.

Yes, it was still there. What even......she looked around at the other students already present. Were they supposed to do something? Or wait? Or...? Just in case this was an actual threat, Maggie pulled out her wand. And moved to stand next Brooke Brooklyn, acknowledging the other girl with a curt nod.

They may not have been the bestest of friends but in this case survival definitely trumped grudges.

As weirdly freaky as this was, Zeke felt like he was in his element. He LOVED the outdoors, and this was definitely the outdoors... only... it was indoors... where they would otherwise normally be learning to change one thing into another thing... more or less.

With a quick shrug, Zeke exchanged a glance with those nearest him, a nod of acknowledgement to Brooklyn and Maggie... cause yes he knew her name now. "You all gonna stand around or are we gonna start exploring?" Obviously they were MEANT to look around, no? If they weren't then surely the Professor would have been there to stop them from doing so. Nevertheless, it was an open invitation for anyone to follow him.

Ignoring the message of DEATH... Zeke proceeded forward, wand in hand and held firmly out in front of him just in case they were attacked by a manticore or lethifold or something.

This was gonna be fun, he could already tell.

Transfiguration! Hady was ready for this lesson and couldn't wait to see what they'd be doing today. So it was with quick steps that she made her way to the room so early this morning dressed in her pants and long sleeved shirt.

The very second the brunette stepped into the room and felt the humidity smack her in the face like a ton of bricks she was glad she'd at least tied her hair back into a ponytail. It only took a moment longer for her to realize where she was standing. in a..a RAINFOREST!

AWESOME!

That was just her first thought and anyhow but then she saw it. And along with it she saw the faces of all her fellow mates. Most looked about ready to turn around and run right back out the door. The sign spoke volumes to Hady after what had happened last term and she was sure this was something to do with it...to teach them all to handle situations on their own.

Taking a deep breath Hady spotted a few friends as she walked further into the room her hand resting on her wand just in case. A few steps more brought her to stand beside Zeke whom she'd always choose to brave any situation with, her arm just barely brushing against his to show him she was there even as she whispered, "What's going on?"

Ilia was preparing to head into the course, when she heard a familiar voice and a prod to her shoulder. That boisterous round of greeting half the room, yup that was Adi. She turned around and smiled up at him. "Hello friend." He was always happy and forward.....as well as having a sense of adventure as she recalled.

She was pretty sure that this was the craziest that she had seen Hogwarts yet and maybe , perhaps.....it would be good to have a partner. She didn't see Henric or Leah yet and she had yet to partner with Adi, despite them being friends. "Care to have a stroll through a random jungle with me , fellow toad loving chum?" It was sure to be crawling with creatures, what better bonding experience than that for people like them?

It was time for the lesson to start. As soon as the clock struck 8 the doorm to the classroom/jungle slammed shut and basically vanished from sight.

What door? Was there ever a door? Are you really prepared to die?

The rustling thicket should draw your eyes over in time to see a Griffin patronus emerge. The voice of your transfiguration professor greets you in an ominious tone.

"Welcome to another transfiguration class. You don't know where I am but I am here watching you. It is time that I test just how much you have been learning and how much you have been reading." The voice paused and the patronus appeared to look them all over...just like Bellaire would.

Moments later little birds pooped down rolled paper at them with the instruction of what they were to do.

"You can either work on surviving this lesson with a team or you can go solo. The person who survives these course in the 'smartest way' wins. Note that smartest does not mean quickest, though you should bear in mind that this lesson is on survival of the fittest." Fittest minds..fittest bodies.

"I am watching...no cheating and no muggling your way out of this!"


ooc: When your characters are ready to start the actually obsticle course please label your tweet "phase 1..etc" so I may post the challenges and obstacles in response to your posts. Class rules apply for the most part so have fun and don't die! xox

What in the..?

Rooney's immediate reaction was to reach for the notebook tucked into the waistband of his trousers, but he made sure to check around him first and schmoozied up close to someone he knew was older than he was. A person meant another pair of eyes just in case this wasn't supposed to be the lesson, and something bad was happening -- Rooney KNEW this school did things and things happened here that really shouldn't.

...

.......................

...

Was that supposed to make him feel more at EASE in this place? Was this Professor able to do this? Rooney looked around him quickly and considered IF any of these people were going to die in the next few moments.

Uh. Cya?

The first year caught the paper that was being dropped down, and unrolled it to read it whilst listening to the voice of the teacher. Okay, he supposed he could do this? Maybe? Probably not? He was only a little one, a small kid. At least they were able to work in a team. "Does.. does anyone want to go together?Team up?"

PLEASE?

It was that time again...Transfiguration class.

Benny was in his best form, both in long-sleeved appearance and in behavior. No angering Bellaire...especially not yet...still so early in the term. He had stepped into the classroom and found something he totally didn't expect. What in Merlin's beard? Sure classrooms changed from time to time but a jungle seemed off in the Bellaire scheme of things, the woman who wanted everything always neat, tidy and proper.

And the sign...

Seemed someone might have already angered her.

He looked around for familiar faces and spotted Adi and sittled up to his best friend. Whatever was going on he was hoping to at least work with someone he trusted. About to greet him, Benny was interrupted by the slamming door, the sound the only proof there had been one. And then Bellaire's patronus arrived to give them all instructions. "Team?" he asked Adi and the girl beside him.