The smell was foul and Ella skirted the edge of the water, nose wrinkled and in search of a branch to use for her boat. The glasses helped because without them, the eighteen year old would be sunk. Literally, she'd probably sink to the bottom of the swamp because she found a weird branch or something. Speaking of branches, there was one near the waters edge off to her left and so she carefully headed in that direction, not wanting to trip and find herself in the gross water beside her. Could she even swim anymore with these old bones? Merlin.

Bending down, the Head Girl ignored the shooting pain that was traveling up her back and focused on the wood in front of her. Though damp, the branch was still quite sturdy and thick as well. She did wonder if it would float, though. If it didn't, she'd have to work with something else. And so Ella carefully guided it deeper into the water, keeping it from floating away by leaving her fingers resting on the top lightly so she could get a grip quickly if anything went wrong. Luckily for her, it did indeed float. Looked like this was the branch she'd be using. She carefully guided it out of the water again and placed it down on the ground at her feet, stepping back so she could get a good look at it. Now she needed to change it into a boat.

The incantation was one she'd practiced lots and so she didn't have much trouble remembering it. Lignum Navicula...Lignum Navicula...Lignum Navicula. And the movement was simply tapping the wood, yeah? So with those things figured out, all that was left was for her to visualize her boat. The eighteen year old shut out any of the distractions around her and focused all her energy on creating a boat big enough to hold her but also buoyant and without leaks. She needed to make sure the thing would float and make it across to the beach where she'd be done. When the vision was crystal clear and only then, Ella bent down and tapped the wooden branch with her wand.

"Lignum Navicula!"