Sander stood at the edge of the swamp. How far was the beach? Sander couldn't tell from where he was standing but he hoped that it wasn't too far away. The smell from the swamp was making his tummy turn and it wasn't a pleasant sensation.

Ack!....Sander gagged again and shook his head. He had to do something about the smell because it was distracting him from his task. Was there a spell for that? Sander tried to remember if there was one but couldn't come up with any. Okay it was time to solve this problem the old fashioned muggle way. He dug around in his pant's pocket and found two sheet of tissue. Rolling one into a ball, he stuffed it into his right nostril. Rolling up the second one, he inserted into his left nostril.

Sander sniffed. The tissues didn't stop him from breathing but it sure kept the smell out. Now he could concentrate on finding a way across the swamp. Then it struck him. The second spell he had mentioned in class earlier, transformed a piece of wood into a boat. That was how he was going to get across the swamp. In a boat!

Now in class they had learned to make a small boat out of a piece of small wood, so logic would be that if he found a larger piece of wood, preferably a long one too, he would be able to transform it into a larger and longer boat.

Sander searched the shoreline until he found a broken off tree trunk lying on its side. Now that would definitely do. Leaning down he put all his energy into pushing the tree trunk to the edge of the swamp. By the time he had the tree trunk in position, Sander's arms and legs were aching.

Yes he was tired but he could rest later. Right now he needed to make his boat and get off the swamp. Unholstering his wand, Sander pointed it at the wood. Concentrating on what he wanted the spell to do, he said the incantation, "Lignum Navicula" and tapped the tree trunk.

Stepping back, he watched the spell take effect. Slowly but surely, the tree trunk began to stretch and hollow out and soon Sander had a boat lying in front of him. Walking to one end of it, Sander began pushing onto the swamp.

Just as he was about to get into it, Sander realized he had forgotten something. Yes the boat would get him safely across the swamp, but unless he was going to use his hands to paddle with, he was going to have a tough time getting the boat to sail across the swamp. Since he had no desire to stick his hands into the yucky swamp, Sander began to look for another alternative.