'How am I supposed to know? It's your vine, you figure it out,' Sander thought grumpily to himself but just as he was about to voice those words, Tessa turned to smile at him and his grumpiness disappeared.

"I'm sorry, Tessa. I haven't yet transformed my vine yet. Do you mind waiting a few minutes while I get the spell working on mine?" Sander requested of Tessa before turning to look down at the vine lying on the ground in front of him.

He first pictured the image of a rope in his mind, before glancing over at Tessa who was waiting patiently for him to cast his spell. Quickly pointing his wand at the vine, Sander said, "Vinea Funiculus!" He watched as the vine wriggled and twisted...and transformed into a piece of twine!!

Frustrated with himself, Sander pointed his wand down at the twine and reverted it back to its original form, saying the incantation, "Reverto." Then he looked over at Tessa and raised a hand with one finger up indicating that he would join her soon.

'Okay Sander you need to concentrate. You need to stop allowing Tessa to distract you like that. Concentrate on the assignment you're supposed to complete,' Sander chided himself.

Sander closed his eyes, and cleared his mind of all thoughts, including Tessa, from his mind. He pictured the image of a rope in his mind, and concentrating hard on that image, he pointed his wand at the vine and said,"Vinea Funiculus,". Sander watched as the vine straightened and thickened...to form the exact piece of rope he had visualized in his mind.

Smiling back at Tessa, he gave her the thumbs up. "Thanks for being so patient. As for your question, maybe you could drape the rope over that thick branch hanging over the lake there." Sander pointed out the branch to her.

"We could hold onto the ends and swing out over the water." Sander suggested to Tessa.

Cosgrach recognised the boy--Bart--and couldn't help a smile. Even though he was screaming and worried Cosgrach there, the boy was still far too enthusiastic to remain angry at for long, and Cosgrach changed his mind about lecturing him for screaming. Instead, he listened to the boy and was IMPRESSED. Because flame tag? BRILLIANT!

"That's a fantastic idea!" he exclaimed. How come it had never occured to HIM? He then grinned mischievously. "I hope that taught you you should be careful at all times, young man." Cosgrach was a kid 30 years ago, but he knew very well tag and coughing didn't get along well.

"Oh?" Cosgrach was taking ALL the credit, thank you very much. "Which school was it?"

...the squid? The man raised his eyebrows. "And why is that?" He didn't plan touring the lake riding it, did he?

He grinned. "I'm doing a service for humanity. I am. Promise." He laughed and nudged her when she stuck her tongue out at him. "Alright Ariel. Can YOU sing? I'll do backing vocals." Er. Maybe not. He would just giggle mercilessly if she DID sing for him.

Lucas snorted. That was a good trade - and he told her so, adding, "..how many? Is it 10 per secret or something like that? Was she going to levy a cucumber sandwich tax on their friendship?

His smile slumped just a little at her comment. "Oh come on, Lux. Your boat is awesome. Look at it. It even has little wooden windows!" And anyway, they BOTH didn't know the spell. He nodded at her suggestion and picked up his other plank and concentrated REALLY hard. He wanted to get his homework over and DONE with.

"Vinea funiculus!" And perhaps it was sheer luck but before him was a VINE. And not even a gross messy one but a DECENT one. He beamed.

"HOMEWORK OVER!" He exclaimed, prompting a series of angry bubbles to surface from the Lake which quickly quieted him. "So, what now?"

Eyeroll. There was no doubt in Lux's mind that Lucas was a better singer than he said he was. "Your singing could be your super power: the ability to scare people away." Joking. She nudged him back playfully, really enjoying herself with him. "We can sing a song from The Little Mermaid if you want! But yes, you are on back up vocals." Or else he would be in trouble.

Yep, a cucumber sandwich tax was an amazing idea if she said so herself. "Mmm, if you wanna know me secrets, cough up the sandwiches, bub." And if he had a problem with it, too bad because she was not budging on this new rule.

Beaming at his praise over her boat, she looked at the little sea vessel fondly. "Yep, I am going to be able to transfigure a lot of things in no time." She would be a Transfiguration super star. When he managed to create a nice rope, she applauded again. He was going to be a Transfiguration super star too.

What now indeed. "Do you want to do something else? Or do you have to go somewhere?" Hopefully he wasn't about to leave, because she didn't want him to; she was having too much fun with him.

Lucas noticed her eye-roll and hid a laugh. "Oh yeah? Or maybe I could use it to charm people into loving me. Like a serenade." That would be AWESOME. Lucas didn't know how much he'd like people clinging to him but he guessed the ability could be used for good too.
Oooooh. Lucas didn't admit how much he wanted to sing Under the Sea. He started humming it anyway, giving her a gleeful look. "Duh dun dun dun dun dah dah dun dun, under the sea.."

All of this talk of sandwiches was kind of making Lucas SUPER hungry. He made a show of pulling out his empty pockets and pouting. "I'm broke. Are you still going to be my friend?" he teased, in reply.

Lucas was sure of one thing: Lux was a lot brighter than she thought. "Of course you will," he mumbled, holding up his palm for a fist bump. "We're going to ace this class." Floating boat? Check. Cool vine thing? Check. Next up? Conquering the school, duh.

He wanted to eat. And his stomach proceeded to answer for him as it gurgled unhappily. He blushed through a smile. "You reckon you could get the elves to get me one of those cucumber sandwiches?" Because if she liked them THAT much, they had to be good?

The biggest grin formed on his face when the professor said Flame Tag was brilliant. He really thought so and it would have been so fun if Kevin didn't wimp out on him so quickly. "It was I want to play it again, but with more people. Maybe next time you can join in." Yes because seeing a professor running around playing tag sounded awesome. Maybe Flamdude would want to join in too.

Careful, Bart? Did those words go together, "I was careful it just didn't want to stay on the spoon." Yep never his fault didn't people know this by now. "Honestly the splattering flames are totally awesome if it wasn't for that coughing." Coughing was the worst and coughing trying to run didn't happen well.

"I'm Originally from Australia, my mum moved us back to London after my parents split, but I lived with my dad and Becky too so I went to school there last term. It's called Urelic." So he didn't see his personal record with blew up potions lab on it. Fantastic!!!

"He has the same name as me I have to see if he's cool or not, because I really don't like that name and I don't want to be associated with a squid if he's lame." He hid his full name from people until that dumb Howler and now Abbi called him Bartholomew. He didn't want teased for being a squid named dweed, ya know?

Now back to looking for old squidward....

Laura giggled and winked. "I wouldn't really do that." Laura wasn't like that, maybe if she was a first year she would have been as a Seventh Year she had responsibilities which thanks to Tessa the transfiguration Professor probably thought she was losing it. She was never going to do another dare than Tessa had asked her to do again.

"Well that is good." Laura had a funny feeling that maybe Ana was actually in love with Bay though she wasn't going to say anything to Ana about that.

*Rom wrinkled his nose at her offer. He wasn't a big fan of sour sweets.*
"No thank you. Never been a fan of sour sweets."
*He couldn't help but chuckle a little at her reaction to the tentacle in the water. Sending out another few prawn crisps he watched the water and answered her question.*
"That would be Bartholomew Henry, the Giant Squid of Hogwarts. I come down here sometimes and give him prawn crisps. He loves the prawn ones the most, hates smoky bacon. It's a good deal because I hate the prawn crisps. This is where I go to relax, unwind."

Asher shrugged, "Just a thought. Of course not though." Who spoke squid anyway. He didn't or he didn't know anyone who did. Anyway who knew if someone got close enough to him and made him mad what he would do?

Asher grinned. All this food talk was making him Hungry too. He nodded. "I'm Sure. See you around, Mo." He offered a fist bump. Yeah Mo was cool enough for an Asher fist bump. Maybe one day they'd figure out a way to ride the giant squid. Hopefully before he graduated

With another grin and nod he turned around and walked down the shore of the lake. Maybe he'd check on the library. Maybe. Or maybe he'd make a pit stop before going there to the great hall and eat.

Free time was nice. It was a chance to get OUT of the stuffy castle. It was chance to put the learning on hold. But best of all, it was a chance to spend time with Grace!

Leading her down to the Black Lake, Ava found herself eager to sit and get talking. When they reached the dock, she plopped down on the wooden surface and patted the place right beside her. "Sit. Please," she insisted. "I'm starting to hate the dungeons, you know. Our common rooms are further apart than any others in the castle."

"bossy" And she was supposed to be the slow one. Grace grinned but she did sit down. She always would listen to Ava. she loved that girl so much. Even if their houses were so far apart. That bit sucked so much she hated being so far away from Ava. But they still managed to see each other lots so it was okay really.

"me tooo" the little snake sighd. "I wish we were in the same house." She had thought they would be. But no. It sucked so much. No more sleepovers. She looked over the lake. "It's pretty out here. I like it."

With her eyes closed, Ava took a deep breath and held it in. 'One..two..three..four..five..' she counted to herself before exhaling silently. When she opened her eyes, she smiled and took Gracie's hand into her own. "I'm not bossy," she said quietly. Now that she could BREATHE, she was feeling much more like her peacefully-calm self.

"It is nice," she agreed with a nod. "If there was sand waves, seashells it would be just like home." She wasn't homesick but... well, maybe just a little.

"How were the Quidditch tryouts?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Just as well" She giggled, beaming at her friend. "Cause Im bossy." And if they were both bossy it really wouldn't have been to good. But they had a good relationship. So Grace loved her best friend. She wouldn't boss her around too much though. She wanted to keep her friend as a friend, so she figured that Ava wouldnt have liked her too much if she was reall really bossy.

"We'll go there at christmas." Grace liked seeing her Aunt Iliana at christmas so she knew that they would see Ava's home then. "Are you homesick?" She hoped not cause Grace loved school

"They were okay." She nodded, with a smile. "The other players are so good though."

"Bossy and boy-crazy but I still love you," Ava laughed. Her mother had always teased that 'that girl was turning out JUST like her mother'. Maybe Aunt Vannie had been bossy too.

"I know," she said. "And I can't wait! By the sound of Mom's last letter, she's already been shopping. I think, with us being gone, they want to compensate with massive stacks of presents." Oh, how the girls were going to clean up this Christmas!

"You know... I think you can read my mind," Ava said, squeezing her beastie's hand. Of course, that made perfect sense. They had known each other since BIRTH. "I am a little homesick," she admitted. "But not for Mom and Dad or Aiden..." That wasn't the reason. "It's just super crowded here sometimes." Hard to believe considering that they lived in an ENORMOUS castle but she felt so claustrophobic lately.

Happy to return the topic of discussion back to Grace, Ava turned to face her better and said, "I've seen you play, you know. YOU'RE good, too."

"Pshh. Being tall and looking older are two totally different things, and maturity counts for a lot baby lion-face!" Emma joked, giggling as she ran. And then she was ahead, the wind blowing at her face. Nothing was going to stop her now! Except, maybe boys with long legs and a hankering for hair pulling.

Emma watched, her mouth wide as he quickly surpassed her. "Hey! No fair! Hair pulling interference!" She chided him, panting for breath as she sat down on the dock.

"Nah, this just means we'll have to have a re-match some other day..." She grinned, taking her hair out of it's tight bun, smiling even wider as she watched it unfurl and cascade down her back. Oh yes. Hair freedom.

Now, it was time for some serious fishing. "Ready, lion boy?"

"you better love me." But Grace already knew that her friend did. It was what made her appreciate Ava. They had been bes friends for years and nothing was going to separate them now. "And... I'm not that boy crazy." She had her kiss list but that was it. For now anyway.

"Presents? I like that." She really did love presents. Grace also knew that her mother was bound to be missing her lots. So she'd get lots of presents. "I bet Miles will get me presents otoo." SO double the presents for her.

Grace frowned, before snuggling closer to her friend, and cuddling her. She knew what her friend meant. It was a little overwhelming. "Don't worry. I'm here." And she made up for everything. Because she was just amazing. "We should come outside more...if that'll make you feel better" Because she wanted her friend to enjoy school as much as she was.

She blushed at her friends words. "Well...if you think so." She thought she was good but she didn't want to be too vain.

She gave a small laugh, "What a shame, they're my favorite." Anna smiled at him as he explained what the thing was, "Oh... So a nice giant squid?" She looked at him then to the lake. That seemed kind of odd to her, but at the same time it did sound kind of nice, having a supposed monster as a pet...

"So is there anything else creeping around this campus I should know about?" If the giant squid wasn't enough for good measure of course, she'd want to know who, or rather what, she should try to avoid around the school.

'Not that boy-crazy'? LIIIIES! "Haha okay, Gracie," Ava laughed. "Whatever you say." Grace had hardly been able to keep her eyes to herself whenever cute boys were around over the summer. Or maybe that was just the surfing she liked to watch. Yeah, right.

"That's a bit of an understatement," Ava said, still laughing slightly. "Saying 'you like presents' is like saying 'Vincent sort of likes to fly' or 'Aiden likes to annoy us'. Some things you are just BORN to LOVE." And no one was spoiled like Gracie was. Rightly so, of course.

Ava let her friend hold her close to her and let out a silent breath again. "Mhmm. I like that idea," she said. And she was sure that Grace was on the right track. "I do feel loads better out here."

"We can come out to the Practice Pitch," she mumbled with a sly smile. "I'm sure you'll need to practice, being on the Quidditch team and all."

He could join? Cosgrach laughed lightly and shook his head. "That, I don't think so." He had to establish a level of self-respect among the students, and that would be out of the lines.

He laughed lightly again. "'Course you were." Well, he MUST have learnt SOMEHOW, SOMETHING--and just what, Cosgrach didn't care.

Australia? Wow. The Professor nodded. "Good." He guessed. He had never been to Australia, so he didn't know how... good this Urelic was, in comparison to Hoggy.

...oh? The man raised his eyebrows. He knew kids his age were somewhat obsessed with being cool, but he didn't get why the squid had to be cool too.

Whatever. Kid logic. Who was he to argue?

"Shouting helps little with the search, 'm afraid," he said, and eyed the lake. "What you really need to do is a Bubblehead Charm and get in the lake to search for it. But you will get in a. Lot. Of. Trouble. If you do it without any permission or supervision, so... shame." He casually shrugged and kept eyeing the lake.

"it's the truth." She giggled, shaking her head. She hadnt even kissed a boy yet so she was totally not that boy crazy. She just liked looking at the cute boy. There were a lot of cute boys here. Her kiss list had practically doubled. "Though....have you seen all the cute boys? My kiss list is soooo big no" And she really didnt stand a chance at kissing any of those boys

"sooo? I have one mom and two dads. of course i'm gonna get lots of presents." And she loved her three parents. Her family was werid but she wouldn't have it any other way. She couldn't remember Seth not being in her life, so she knew it would be a lot different if he wasn't here.

"It's a good idea." all of her ideas were good. But she didnt say that out loud. She didn't want to seem to too vain, even though she knew Ava already knew. "Good."She didnt want her bestie to feel sad.

"Ooooh... I'd like that." They hadn't been flying together for ages. "I'm not yet!! Dont jinx it!"

"I've seen them," she admitted nonchalantly, pulling her head off of Gracie's shoulder. "I'm not BLIND, you realize." She just wasn't obsessed about their presence.

"Did I say there was anything wrong with you're being spoiled? I just merely made a statement. A completely accurate, 100 percent TRUE statement. Really, Grace... you're so touchy today," Ava teased. But teasing aside, Grace did seem on edge. Maybe she really WAS nervous about tryouts. It was so unlike her to be nervous about anything but hearing her next comment, proved her suspicions were correct.

"Oh hush! When have I ever JINXED something?! Never, have I ever," she said, hoping Grace would pick up on the name of the game they sometimes played.

With the idea of NEWT’s looming closer and closer, despite being over a year away, Terry had decided that this year he was truly going to make an effort. Mainly because he didn’t want to spend all his time in the Common Room studying extremely hard just to ensure that he’d be able to pass at least a few exams. As soon as the Potions homework was given out, the sixth year knew that the subject was one of those it would be extremely beneficial to pass and so this homework, he hoped at least, would be completed extremely well.

He had arranged to meet Dora down near the Black Lake in the grounds. The task involved fire and quite frankly Terry feared doing it indoors in case he accidentally set fire to something he shouldn’t. Although if it was cool enough to be felt on skin, the chances of that happening were entirely unlikely. The sixteen year old headed out along the path, his backpack slung over one shoulder, containing the potion for the task and a notebook and quill, in case he needed to write any notes. He paused as soon as he reached the water’s edge, taking a step back so to ensure that he and his bag remained dry. He perched on a small rock that protruded from the ground and waited for his fellow sixth year to arrive.

Dora kind of wanted to go swimming. She had been thinking about it all day, since it WAS nice enough to go for a quick swim, but she'd made promises to certain people that she'd try harder this year or whatever, and so instead of coming to the lake to swim, she was coming to do homework.

She might have been wearing a swimsuit under her clothes, just in case this homework thing didn't run long.

"So how good are you at potions exactly." She approached from behind, shaded eyes looking up at him on his rock. This was an important question.

He heard the voice before he actually saw where it was coming from. Of course he knew exactly who it belonged to, it wasn't exactly difficult and it would've been ridiculous if he hadn't. His body turned as he attempted to find where Dora was stood, almost losing his balance as he did. Steadying himself, he jumped off and approached her with a grin.

Heh. That was a very good question. Amazing, obviously. "Average I'd say." It wasn't his best subject but it certainly wasn't his worst. He was perfectly capable of brewing a potion if that was what she was implying. "I'm not going to set you on fire if that's what you're thinking" he chuckled. Yeah, he had much more faith in himself than that.

"Anyway, what are you like at Potions?" Probably better than him. She was a Ravenclaw after all.

Out in simple ripped jeans, a loose green jumper and black rain boots, Beverly was stood about half a foot in the lake. Her wand was tightly grasped in her right hand, a piece of wood from Transfiguration class floating in front of her.

"Why won't you transfigure!" she hissed at it. She tapped her wand on the piece of wood for the tenth time, maybe a bit forcefully. "Lignum Navicula!"

It's been about half an hour she's been out at the lake trying to transfigure the same piece of wood into a boat. She'd done it in her second try back during the lesson, but today, the wood seemed to be resisting her magic. By the third attempt Beverly had grown frustrated, and, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself, lost concentration thus intent.

The piece of wood bobbled in the water as if taunting her. Bev bit down on her lower lip to keep it from trembling.

WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS DIFFICULT, STUPID WOOD?