The light of his wand flickered and a sudden bone chilling coldness spread across him. His breath seemed to freeze as it left his mouth and an overwhelming feeling of despair swept through is entire being.

Asher didn't see anything but complete darkness. He tried to call out, but fear took his voice. He crouched down behind the stone bench, hoping to hide from whatever was out there. Pulling his robes over his little body, Asher trembled and clutched his almost useless wand. He was well aware he didn't know any spells that would protect him. His best defense from whatever it was out there was to hide.

It was a nice day for a walk and a nice day to show her new baby rat, Sir blue where they were living now. "Look, Little princess and Sir blue, this is the courtyard, a very nice place to be when it's summer, there are a lot pink flowers to see!" The second year old petted her two rats on their heads and smiled again. She really did enjoy this day and she was sure that her two rats were also very happy. Hmm, maybe she could pick some pink flowers, she was not far away from the student garden...

Just when the second year old wanted to walk away from the courtyard, to search for flowers she felt suddenly... it was cold and... she felt VERY sad and... Even her two rats were now shivering! She looked worried at Sir blue, who was just a few weeks old ans still a baby and she realized that it was not wise to stay here any longer. No, she recognized this feeling from her Defense against the dark arts lessons and if she was right than she didn't wanted to be here!

She wasn't as brave as a Gryffindor or as smart as a Ravenclaw so she KNEW that it was smarter to just sneak away and to hide! Yes, that was a REALLY smart decision! And just when she had decided that she ran away, she ran and ran until both her feet where hurting and the cold feeling was away...

There were some tasy souls out here too even, from what they sensed. Young and sweet souls. A most delightful treat. A couple of the dementors ceased their search for an entrance into the castle and turned upon the those in the courtyard.

Rattle rattle rattle rattle.

One dementor quickly descended upon the Gryffindor (Fred is awesome) whom had a funny way of fighting them off. A horrible rattle noise came from the hole of it's mouth as it reached it's grim and scabby hands out on either sides of the boy's face. Such a sweet and tasty soul.

The other dementor swooped around, just inches above the ground before suddenly turning it's path towards the blonde (Bazinga). There was another in this area, a young one, but this one was easier and out in the open. So close. So sweet. With failed patronus lights from both of them.

Laura walked towards the courtyard and smiled, when she suddenly saw the dementors, well time for them to have a song. "Don't go breaking my soul now baby." Laura giggled as she continued to sing to the dementors, surely they wouldn't like the song. "Oh I said don't go breaking my soul now baby." Laura then ran off towards the castle because she was scared of them.

Harland's eyes widened and he began to scrabble back, trying to get away from the Dementor as it began to advance towards him. He should have left whilst he could, but he couldn't have left Minerva to fend for herself, could he? What sort of man would he be? It hadn't done either of them any good, apparently.

His struggling ceased as he felt the hands on either side of his face, but he leant back as much as he could, trying to get away from the Dementor. No, this was not good, he was not losing his soul today. But he couldn't do a Patronus, and he didn't know what else to do. It wasn't as if he could punch it, that might just anger it. And pleading would do nothing. That would be, if he could find his voice, which had apparently left him. He couldn't even move anymore... He was scared, though he hated to admit it.

What could he actually do?

He rattling sound got closer and closer. He could hear the other students trying to defend themselves, but to no avail. The cold was bone chilling and Asher wanted nothing more than to stay hidden below the bench. However, he knew he had to do something.

Asher jumped to his feet and screamed as loud as he possible could "HELP! HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY, PROFESSORS!!! He was trembling horribly and his voice was shaking uncontrollably.

Not knowing what else to do, he threw his wand at the Dementor. Maybe that would distract it enough to leave the girl alone. "Get away from her. Leave her alone." The tears that were streaming down his face were almost instantly turning to ice.

Minerva could feel the sad taking over.. The horrible cold ran through her body. She shivered and trembled trying to keep her composure. Scanning the area she saw sight of a little badger go into hiding. Breathing heavy she knew she was the older one in the group. The new kid was the same age, but she was the oldest right here she couldn't just leave them and she wasn't going to lie down and die. Her mind was racing.. She was trying to come up with something, but she wasn't sure if it was going to work. She had to get them all out even if she didn't. "Sonea.. Asher when I say go.. I need you to be strong.. Fight the sad feeling and run to the castle... Harley you too.."

She knew she couldn't do a patronus good enough to fight them off but she had to get the one off of Harley. Letting her bag slip off her shoulder she shuddered from the cold. It was starting to take over and she knew she didn't have much time before the sad and could would be her biggest enemy. 1... 2...3.." She swung her bag at the one in front of her and let it go so it flew at the other one. "Run.. you three" She held her ground pulling up her wand again trying to focus on her thoughts. Happy.. happy.. come on Min.. Happy.. taking care of.. butterfly garden.. "Expecto Petronum" A small beagle flew out, she knew it was no match for them, but if she could at least get the other three in to the castle she would be happy.

She stopped with running when she was on a safe distance from the courtyard and let herself fall on the soft grass. She had been so afraid! She wasn't ready for a Dementor, she even didn't knew how to use the right spell, she even didn't knew which spell she needed to use! Was she coward to run away? Yes, she decided that she was a coward, but what did it matter? She was a Slytherin and a random Slytherin wasn't especially brave or searching for danger! But just when she was feeling a little better again she realized that she missed something, she only saw Sir blue, her baby rat! But WHERE WAS LITTLE PRINCESS? "Oh noooooo, Little princess, where are you!?" She yelled the name from her pink rat but when her rat didn't ran toward her she started to panic, had she lost her little friend? Did she needed to go back? Back to that place and without anything to protect herself with, she knew no spell and did not know what she needed to do... She looked with a few tears in her eyes at her baby rat, Sir blue and grabbed her rat and ran back.

She knew that it was stupid and VERY dangerous to go back to that place but she needed to find her rat and Sir blue still needed his mommy! But already after a few seconds she felt scared, alone and so cold! She realized that she started to cry, she cried because she remembered all the fights at home between her parents, she remembered how she ALWAYS felt when she was home, alone and ignored...

She didn't knew when she had stopped with running, but she had stopped... She had dropped down on her knees and stared with a lost look ahead of her. She felt how something touched her hand and when she looked down she saw that Little princess had found her. She wanted to grab her rat and to hide her little friend inside her pocket but she was too tired to lift her hand and to made the simple move. Eventually had Little princess found a way up and had climbed toward her shoulder.

From a distance she heard how somebody called her name but she didn't recognized the voice, she started to cry harder and started to shake.

She heard how somebody counted and the next moment she saw a flash and... the sad, scared feeling was now bearable! She looked around her and... She started to run! She didn't knew who were running besides and before her, but she followed them!

Stop feeling sad? Stop feeling sad? He was pretty sure Minerva was crazy, because he didn't think that was possible, with a Dementor holding onto his face and about to suck his soul out. Yep, he was pretty sure she was crazy. Even so, he tried, because what else was there to do? But the only thing he could think of was that he was going to die. Not even die, worse than that, be alive with no soul whatsoever. How would he talk to people then? How would he live his life?

Oh, right.

He wouldn't.

Then the bag came flying out of nowhere and he groaned softly, hoping to dear Merlin that that would work and this...Thing would let him go. He had too much to live for, he needed a soul to do that, thanks!

One thing she had learned, that doing that carving in the common room isn't really a very good idea. People start to complain and stuff. And maybe if someone had been doing it she'd have been annoyed, too. So she decided to go out. She packed whatever she needed and headed out. The fourth-year decided on the courtyard and headed there. Once there, she chose a spot and plopped down. She started retrieving all the stuff; the branch, her wand and the list with the runes.

She glanced at the list to see how many runes she had to carve still. Picking up her wand, she pointed it at the branch and started, "Intaglio Mannaz..Mannaz.." COME ON! "Mannaz I said," She eyed the branch but it clearly didn't hear. She sighed and closed her eyes pushing all thought away. It needed concentrating. YES! A couple of moments later she opened her eyes and started again, "Intaglio Mannaz....Mannaz.." NOW we're talking. Cassia nodded approvingly at the branch seeing the new carved rune.

She reached over and crossed it out of the list. Now, the next one, "Intaglio Berkana...Berkanaaaa..." There! Though it kinda looked weird. Cassia squinted her eyes at it but shrugged. They were going to work on the surface later. Or even if not, she just wanted to be done. Not like she was going to use the gandr. Maybe she'd sell it?

Taking a minute to clear her mind again and concentrate, Cassia continued carving and was done with three more. She got bored, like she always does after carving many runes. So she inserted the branch back into the bag then updated the list and rose to her feet to leave.

She'd continue later.

The dementors trying to find an entrance into the castle were becoming restless, swooping around to eye the souls in the courtyard before going back to searching. A repeated process until the singing girl showed up. They ceased their search and hovered in the air, watching her run back to the castle. Watching. Watching. Watching.

The youngster (jrtpuplvr) had come out of hiding! Unlucky for him however, a single dementor zig zagged around the area, having been driven away from it's catch on the pathways and just now rejoining it's group when he caught sight of the lively little guy. It flew straight up towards the boy, ice and mist following in it's wake. A much easier, tastier, smaller treat!

Meanwhile, the dementor lingered closer to the blonde (Bazinga), reaching it's scabby hands out towards her. What was NOT expected was that bag being swung at it. Rude! It recoiled it's hands back, watching it fly towards one of it's partners before the bright light appeared. It flew backwards, swooping around until it turned and ate the patronus right up. Yummy yummy in the tummy!

Noticing the bag heading straight towards it, the dementor let go of it's choice of prey (Fred is awesome) and dodged the unwanted object. Missed by a mile!

Rattle rattle rattle rattle.

Despite the tasty souls still in the courtyard, most of the dementors hovered in place. Not attacking nor looking for an attack. Their attention was focused on the children running. Towards the castle. An entrance?

Minerva watched as the Dementor moved back.. Did her patronus actually make the dementor move.. She was in shock watching and then in horror as the dementor gobbled it down, but it didn't come back at her.. It didn't touch her after her bag. She turned holding her wand seeing the other move away from Harley. "Harley go.. Castle.. now.." The sad and cold were getting her every muscle and bones, but she was forcing to stay focused. She had to for the others...


She was about to turn and go since they were just watching it seemed when she saw the little first year.. He was going to be defenseless. She wasn't leaving, he had been so brave throwing his wand. She had to do something. She was breathing and trying to focus again.. She had to she was determined to get this right. She had practiced throughout the term, Ethan had helped her a bit. She had to for this first year. She moved closer.. Closer towards the first year. "GET AWAY FROM HIM" her voice was shaky and felt weak. It was now or never. Fighting the doom and gloom around her she stepped next to the boy. Thinking and letting her thoughts take over.. "Expecto Patronum" A small beagle even weaker than her first one came out of the wand.


It wasn't going to do anything and she knew it. The dementors were to strong for her. She was to weak for them. She had to get the first year out, "I know it's cold.. I know it's taking your emotions, but I need you to fight it. I need you to get out. Please..be strong and get away. I will distract... " She knew it was not safe, but she couldn't just let the first year get that kiss. She tried to focus again, but she was getting so cold this close. Breathing deep she tried again "Expecto Patronum" Again a weak beagle came out of her wand.

The Dementor swept closer and closer and Asher found himself almost face to face with the horrid creature. The cold and despair it brought along was almost too much for the little Hufflepuff...almost.

Mustering up every ounce of courage and strength, Asher zigged and zagged, dodging the Dementor and dove for his wand. Grasping it in his trembling hand, Asher shouted "Piertotum Locomotor!!" at a nearby stone statue in the courtyard, "Go get it" he yelled, sending the stone creature as a distraction towards the Dementor.

Hoping that his stunt bought him enough time to run, Asher jumped to his feet and headed towards the girl."Piertotum Locomotor! Run towards Dementors!" he commanded to another statue just before addressing the Hufflepuff who was sending patronus in defense. "Grab my hand" he screamed, offering his outstretched arm to her. Hoping ever so much she would grab hold and run with him towards the castle.

Now time to find a suitable living tree or something. He had, admittedly, only skimmed the instructions once and there were a lot of them. It was the assignment that NEVER ended and he had only just begun it. Sigh. Groan.

As he wandered on the grounds, he contemplated going to the forrest, but that was a bad idea. Why? 'Cause it was so much farther then the Courtyard and he only wanted to put so much effort into this assignment. And so when he walked into the Courtyard he saw a few trees in the corners. Ahem, which one was Oak?

He looked over the few trees to see if he could find the Oak one, but each of them weren't what he needed. And now he was getting annoyed, 'cause only going to the Courtyard was supposed to help him not make it worse. And it wasn't working out the way that he wanted and stuff.

Just as he was about to put forth the effort to head down to the forrest, he saw a tree out of the corner of his eye. Once he walked over to the tree he beamed BAM. Oak tree. Now time to do all of the voodoo ritual stuff. Or runes. Yeah, that.

Penelope had been kinda putting off her Ancient Runes project just because...well, just because. She was lazy and didn't really feel like doing it earlier. But term was winding down pretty fast so she figured she should get started since there was a lot still to do.

So first she had to select a wood, so she flipped through the book with the list of different trees, trying to figure out which one she should use. Alder sounded good, but she also liked the sound of the oak. And oak was the wood her wand had. English oak, but still, it was oak. So...that sounded like a good one to use, yeah? Yeah.

So she decided on oak. That was the easy part though. Now she needed to actually FIND an oak tree. Hmmm...

If he remembered correctly the next step he had to go about was communicating with his tree. Deadpan. Yeah, communicating with his tree. Jeez, what did that even MEAN? Go up to the ruddy thing and ask it how its day was going? It was a tree. The most it could do was have wind rustle its leaves so he could see some kind of motion, but that was it. That was the most that the tree could deliver on and to be honest, it was kind of weak. 'Cause it was a tree and he had to talk to one.

Though, he had to admit that he was a fan of the other person who just walked into the Courtyard. Could he go and communicate with her? She was easy enough to talk to...or not talk to. Smirk.

Ahem, focusing back in he just eyed the tree. What did it WANT from him? 'Cause what he wanted from the tree was, well, its bark because the assignment said so. It wasn't that he REALLY wanted the bark for himself. He wasn't a hoarder.

Anyway, he thought he'd try at the very least. So he rolled his eyes and sat right in front of the tree and just kind of looked around uncomfortably. "Yeah, well, sup tree? My name's Ascanius...uh, how're you doing?" No response. Right. What did he think? It was a ruddy tree.

"................." Ugh. "Nice day."

Well, the courtyard probably wasn't the best place to look for a suitable tree since there weren't many. Just a few little ones to make it look nice and all, and then that big one over there with the guy - oh hey, she recognized that guy instantly. Heh. Could she just go over and hang out with him instead of doing this assignment? That seemed like a way better use of her time. Yeah, that was what she...

...hey wait. That tree he was next to. It looked like...and oak, right? Yeah. Yeah, she was PRETTY sure that was an oak. Well, that was convenient. Thank you, Ascanius.

She headed over to that one and heard him...talking to it? Heh, he was talking to a tree...

Oh wait. That sounded familiar... She glanced down at the instructions in the textbook she brought with her. Ugh, yeah, that was a part of the assignment. Talking to a tree now that she'd found a suitable one. Merlin...

"You're doing this assignment too, huh?" She commented. And no, that WASN'T directed at the tree because it couldn't talk.

Now he had to go and do the worst possible thing-- ask permission from a stupid little tree. Ask permission to take its bark. It wasn't like he was going to take it from the Whomping Willow, which would have been stupid; no, he was taking it from an ordinary tree. So what was the hold up and the whole ordeal with the never ending assignment? Ugh, stupid.

But since he was already sitting down in front of the tree he decided to just bite down and do it. Yeah, so what he was going to do was just mumble under his breath the thing that he needed to do.

Ascanius just eyed the tree and sighed, "Right, could I please or something have some of your bark, Oak Tree? S'for school assignment and stuff. Really important." Pause. No response. And he wasn't holding his breath for one. Nope 'cause this was a tree and trees did not talk and they weren't going to answer him, but he needed the bark.

So he was going to take its blank stare as a yeah. Sure, why not.

As he continued to talk to the tree he saw his girlfriend was there too and she was trying to talk to him. Yeah, look, someone who responded to him and actually gave him some human interaction. 'Cause the tree was boring. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her down to sit next to him. "Unfortunately. You should talk to it, her, him, whatever." It was a tree. What was the point?

Penelope just eyed her book and skimmed over the instructions again as she gave him some time to talk to the tree and do whatever else he needed. Although the tree itself couldn't ACTUALLY talk, so maybe it could listen to two people at once? Eh, maybe, but she didn't wanna talk at the same time as him because she liked listening to him talk, so she'd just wait a little bit. She was in no hurry.

And then she felt her hand being grabbed, and she let him pull her down to sit. Well, this was better than standing. And now she could just set the starting-to-feel-slightly-heavy textbook in her lap instead of holding it. Much better.

Hmm? Oh, was it her turn now? "Yeah, should probably do that." Penelope turned to the tree and looked it up and down for a moment, not really sure if there was a particular part she should be talking to. It didn't have a face after all...which meant it was okay with whatever? Sure.

"So...hi there, Oak tree. Um...I'm Penelope." What else was there to say? She glanced down at the textbook and read through that part. Touch the tree? She moved her free hand up to touch it. "You're very...tree like and stuff. Nice trunk. Very...woody." What else? Look up at the canopy. So she did, eyes following the branches extending from it and watching the leaves move a little from a gentle breeze blowing through. "Nice leaves too. You grow really well." And...that was all she could think of now so...communicating part done?

He didn't have the instructions, which in hindsight would have been smart to bring along, but if his memory was in tact he was SOMETHING about making a sacrifice or an offering. He was going to go with the second one because he was not into the idea of sacrifice if that was cool with everyone. Not that he cared 'cause regardless he was just going to do an offering.

And then he remembered he had totally blanked and not brought a single thing to offer, which meant that he was ill prepared. Oh no. Sarcasm. This assignment wasn't going to ever be over anyway so it wasn't like he cared a whole heap what he did and what he didn't bring. He had SO much time.

Deciding to make the best out of his situation, he sat and watched his girlfriend talk. Yeah, even she was at a loss of what to say to the tree. It was a tree. What did one say to a tree besides more shade please?

Once she was all done, he needed an offering. Stalling time was over. He looked in his pockets and found the world's most pointless collection of pointless things. A couple of scratches of parchment, some wrappers, two knuts that he had nicked from someone and his drum sticks. Well, the stupid tree was NOT getting his drum sticks, so maybe he'd give the tree the two knuts. They weren't his anyway.

Placing them down by the foot of the tree, he cleared his throat, "These two knuts are for you. An offering. Or something." Look at how generous he was. Smirk.

Yeah, so, that was awkward. How was she supposed to know the tree had even been listening? If it COULD listen. It didn't have ears or anything so...yeah.

She glanced over at Ascanius for a moment when he seemed to be moving on with his assignment, and he was giving the tree two knuts? What? They had to give it money?? Penelope quickly looked through her instructions in the book and...oh. There was an offering part. Whoops. She probably should've read through the instructions better before coming down here...but oh well. She wasn't at that part JUST yet, so she wasn't gonna worry about it.

Right now, she had to ask the tree permission to use its bark. Penelope rarely asked for permission for anything, but this was an assignment, so she was gonna do it right if she was gonna do it at all. And - wait, what was this page saying? She had to walk around it and stuff? Merlin, but that meant she had to get up again. So much effort.

Meh. Fine. She read the paragraph over quickly - walk around three times clockwise, wait for a positive feeling, okay, she had this - then set her textbook aside and stood up. Laying a hand lightly on the tree trunk, she started walking around it clockwise.

"Okay, so...Oak tree. Can I have one of your branches?" Finished walking the first circle. "I need it for this Ancient Runes assignment." Finished second circle. "It's important and stuff, so your branch wouldn't go to waste or anything." And after walking around it a third time, she stopped. And she felt...well...she wasn't really sure. Could be a positive feeling though? Yeah, sure. She figured it was. So that was permission granted.

She sat back down by Ascanius and picked up her book again.

Oh wait, hang on. HE HAD BROUGHT PARCHMENT FOR A REASON. He had written some rubbish down that he was supposed to say to the tree when he was making his offering, which was the two knuts and the tree was richer so it didn't really NEED the offering, but he would deal with what he had to deal with so that this assignment could be over. And that was all he really wanted, yeah? Was for this awkward assignment to be over.

He picked up the two knuts again, dug a hole at the base of the tree and then placed the knuts in there. He covered up the hole and then unfolded the piece of parchment that he had pulled out of his pockets. Written on it was his pretty handsome hand writing with the chant that he needed to say to a tree. Yeah, a chant to a tree. It was less then ideal. Then again so was this whole assignment.

Rubbing his one hand on his knee, he cleared his throat and read slowly, ""Hail to thee, wight of Oak, I pray to thee give this branch of your body! Into it send thy speed, to it bind the might of the bright runes." Oh crap, he had forgotten to pick what runes he had wanted to use in this assignment. Right then. No better time then the present. Chant 'em out, Stark. The only one that he remembered EXACTLY was Isa because it was the manly rune. So that one worked. "isa isa isa i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i s s s s s s (s s s s s s i i i i i i) i i i i i i i i i."

Now time to get up and find a branch to cut off. Ugh. He definitely looked REALLY lame right about now.

Especially because his girlfriend was RIGHT there and she was looking right at him and he looked like a loser. He could almost guarantee that bit. This was like some bad black and white film where all of the stuff was heightened and now he was just...stupid? Handsome, but looking stupid and that thought did NOT sit well with him at all.

Looking back at the page she was on, she discovered that now she was, in fact, on the offering step. Ugh, Merlin. What was she supposed to offer? It suggest mead and bread or plant food, but she didn't have either of those things - really, who carried mead or bread around with them? Probably not a lot of people, but definitely not this fifteen-year-old. So she dug through the small bag she'd brought with her that was sitting beside her.

There was that small bag of galleons Dylan had given her, some parchment, a quill...no, a SUGAR quill. Hmm. Well this was food, technically. It wasn't plant food, but it would count, wouldn't it? Penelope didn't really like the idea of giving a sugar quill to something that wasn't actually gonna eat it...but what choice did she have? And that surely made it more valuable or something since it was something she didn't really WANT to give up but she was going to anyway? Yeah.

"Okay, Oak tree, so for giving me permission, I'm giving you this offering of a sugar quill." She dug a little hole big enough for the candy and then dropped it in, quickly covering it up again with the dirt.

Once the chanting was done and he felt even more stupid, if it were possible, he went to work trying to find the proper branch that he had to cut off. This wasn't some old Disney movie from the late twentieth century. There was no way that animals were going to talk to him or a tree would give him vibes to cut the right one. Just all very stupid and he was sick of this WHOLE assignment. The never ending assignment, assignment.

Walking around the tree three times because he just felt like it, he started to place his hand on the tree to see if it would MAGICALLY lead him to the proper branch. Load of bullocks was what it was, yeah? Pfft, whatever.

And then he found that he was somewhat being drawn to one branch in particular. If this was a sign he'd role with it, but he didn't think it was 'cause he was a skeptic. And this was the world's dullest assignment so he was going to continue to be a skeptic because he was TALKING TO A TREE. No one else found that weird?

Although, he was drawn to one branch for WHATEVER reason and so he drew his wand. Murmuring a thank you underneath his breath, Ascanius said, "Diffindo!" and the branch fell straight into his hand. Awesome. This was exactly what he needed.

They were not dumb, young ones!

Very well knowing the difference between a statue and a feast, the dementor continued zig zagging around after the young boy. They were playing a game of chase! Wasn't it FUN? Right up until another light was produced, not as bright as the others. It swooped around, flying right through the patronus, dispersing it instantly.

No more fun chasing for the students. They found something better to do. A way into the castle.

Rattle rattle rattle rattle.