Bay was laughing now he was almost done with this nightmare amd as soon as he got back to his dorm he would be sleeping the rest of the day.. Thats for sure.. Watching his fish swing as hard as they could he could actually see the bottom of the swamp now which means the fish were no longer needed for the waves took him the rest of the way.

He untied the fish and set them free and he braced himself for when the raft would collide with the bank of the beach.. He made sure when he was getting off of his raft not to step in the ewwwwy water...

Ahhhh dry land... Looking around he was the only one there... He hoped his friends were alright.. He started to feel nervous... So now he would just sit on the beach to wait for everyone to come to him.... Man oh man his arms were hurting him... Holding those ropes were no fun, but he was glad to be sitting down and getting his strenght back....

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.

She made sure to get quite a bit away before peeking back at the Acromantula, and it seemed like her snake was most definitely doing the trick. While the second fish had also been devoured, the transfigured reptile was doing a great job of slithering just out of the spider's reach. Alice had to force herself to tear her gaze away and keep hobbling towards the ravine; there was no way she'd get this practical done if she kept up this pace.

Upon finally arriving at the edge of the ravine, she had to pause. Sure, there were LOADS of vines there.... but not one of them was long enough for her to use to get to the other side. Each one of them seemed like they'd fall short no matter what.

Merlin, how was she going to fix this?

Then, as if the Transfiguration gods were spiting her for the use of defensive spells in their hallowed forests, she heard it, the sound of rapid movement along the forest floor. THE SPIDER!! It was coming and it would eat her figuratively of course then she'd fail after all that running she'd done!!! Nooo. Her hands stung from the branches they'd been smacking in as she ran but the noises behind her gave her little to no incentive to slow down.

Think Lex, think!!

There had to be some definite way of getting that thing to leave her alone. Just ahead she could see what the Professor had pointed out as the ravine. That's where she was meant to outrun this thing to.

She stopped, whirled around so she was facing the thing and sucked in a deep breath. Moment of truth or failure. Really she was hoping it was the first. "Incarcerous!" Rope shot from the Gryffindor's wand, wrapping around the giant spider, bringing it to it's 8 knees. "Thank Circe!" She exclaimed, letting out the breath she'd been painfully holding but there would be no stopping. It could still break free.

Lex took a last look then bolted as fast as her wobbly old legs would take her. If that thing came back, she would damn every rule of transfig and blow the bloody thing up. One expulso, served express.

Sander needed something to paddle with. He pulled the boat back onto dry land and went looking for one. First thing he spotted was a large banana leaf. He picked up the leaf and studied it. Maybe that would work. Then Sander laughed. Only a desperate man would actually consider using a leaf to paddle with. 'Okay what else can I use', Sander thought to himself.

He searched the ground but all he could find were more sticks of wood and stones. Sander picked up a stick and studied it. If only this stick had a flat edge...if only....if only...

Wait a minute. He could make that happen. Sander remembered a spell he had found while doing transfiguration research in the library. He had practiced doing it a couple of times the last time he was at the Black Lake.

Sander carried the stick back to his boat and placed it on the ground. 'Please work', Sander whispered to himself as he flexed his arms and pointed his wand at the stick. Saying the incantation to the spell, "Talea" Sander drew a horizontal line in the air and finished with a little loop at the end and then stepped back. He watched as the small stick began to stretch in length and width. One end of it became broader and flatter than the rest of the stick and....

....wah-lah....a paddle.

Sander quickly picked it up and walked to his boat. He pushed the boat onto the swamp before quickly getting into and sitting down in it. Picking up his paddle, Sander began paddling the boat across the swamp.

....paddle...paddle....paddle...paddle...

Sander paddled for what felt like hours but most likely was lesser than that. All he knew was that his muscles in his arms felt like they were on fire.

....was that the beach? Sander began paddling faster rowing his boat towards it.

.... It was! The beach was now within sight.

Keeping an eye on his target, Sander paddled his boat towards it.

...and the beach got closer....and closer...and whoosh...his boat hit bottom. He was finally on solid ground!

Sander quickly got out of his boat and ran onto the beach. He had successfully completed the course. Now he could rest.

Well... it was best she tried. Maybe they weren't really as short as they seemed. Or they could elongate when she got a hold of them? Going with the optimistic Hufflepuff view, Alice grabbed a vine and pointed at it as enthusiastically as she could. "Vinea Funkiless!"

... no results? Was that the wrong movement or spell or something?

Racking her brain for a while, the proper incantation finally occurred to her. Merlin, this memory loss was the worst. "Vinea Funiculus!" Point.

This time, the vine in her hand began thickening and twisting, growing coarser and stronger until it was a tough rope. Alice gave it a sharp tug to see if it'd hold, ignoring the searing pain in her elbow in which the movement resulted. Only once she was sure it could hold her did she let her feet lift off the edge of the ravine and wrap around the rope instead, just as her arms were.

And the Acromantula was still coming closer. Not that she was scared, because she wasn't.

But it'd be cool if she could be on actual ground rather than dangling off a vine!rope, yeah? Yeah. Working on that.

OH MERLIN.

She was going to DIE. Not from the fall because she COULDN'T fall, but heart attack maybe. It was an absurd fear of hers. How she developed it, she didn't know. However, right about now she wished she'd taken up her brother's offer to help her with said fear.

Attempting to keep her gaze away from the ravine, Beverly went toward a group vines that hung like loose cords. Fingers shaking as they tugged on some to make sure they were secure, Bev did her best to concentrate on the task rather than on fear.

It was okay. It was magic. Ignore the fear, ignore the fear. Numb it.

Gathering a small amount of vines, Beverly pointed her wand at the first. She willed her hand to stop shaking and poured all her intent and bravery she had into the spell. "V-Vinea Fun-niculus." She knew it was a poor cast even before she finished the incantation.

Concentrate. Concentrate. Shutting her eyes and counting to ten Bev did her best to control her anxiety. It was just an illusion. Come on, Wayne! At the count of ten she opened her eyes. It was just a small ravine. With that in mind she cast the transfiguration spell again. "Vinea Funiculus!"

The vine turned from shades of green to brown, twisting itself into a rope. Spirits lifted, Beverly resumed the spell on a few more vines, concentrating only on her spell work for the mean time.

She dangled there for what felt like an eternity, precariously hanging onto her vine-turned-rope for dear dear life. Not a clinger by nature, Alice sure was one today. And as much as she wanted to touch down on the other side, it was impossible. Her rope was too short to ever get over there, and it was clearly a lost cause.

But after swinging there for a few more seconds, she realized just how close another vine was to her. Was... was she meant to be using more than one of these? Like a monkey? Alice Fischer was no ape, but she could play one for today. The seventh year cautiously let go of the vine!rope with one hand, extending her wand to point at the next vine before her. "Vinea Funiculus."

Very, very slowly, she slid her wand back into the hand that was also clutching the vine on which she relied. Her other hand carefully latched onto the next vine, and as quickly as she could, Alice dropped her weight from one pseudo-rope and moved on to the next.

This.... was hard.

Ella watched as the rock she'd been aiming at transformed into the energetic green dragon she'd envisioned. The blonde let out an audible sigh of relief and unfortunately for her, that seemed to attract the Acromantula as the clicking was extremely close now. In the heat of it all, she nearly forgot the thing was an illusion and let out a squeak, praying she wouldn't be eaten. And then she did what she'd intended all along, directed her little dragon to fly into the giant spider's face, distracting him. She watched as this seemed to do the trick and once she could see that the Acromantula was facing away from her, seemingly confused, she took off running.

Did she mention how painful running was these days? Merlin! Screaming knees were screaming in pain and she could actually hear the clicking of her bones as she dodged a tree stump ri-wait, that clicking wasn't coming from her. ... ... ...MEEP!

Glancing over her shoulder, Ella saw that she hadn't lost the Acromantula after all. As soon as she'd stopped concentrating, her little dragon had stopped and though she had a nice lead now, the spider was still after her and closing in fast. THINK, Ella, think!

She needed to stop it right in its track. She needed it to stop coming after her. What would stick it to the spot? Ella glanced around and noticed all the plant life and the trees rooted to th-ROOTED! There was a Transfiguration spell for that. YES! Okay, this should work. Acromantulas were beasts and yes, this would do it. PLEASE let this do it!

Concentrating all her effort on not losing it as the thing got closer, Ella trained her wand at the giant form and clearly said the Take Root spell.

The eighteen year old didn't even stick around to see if it worked but the clicking didn't seem to be following her anymore as she darted towards the Ravine. Nearly there, thank merlin! Now if she could just stop stumbling over rocks and branches, that'd be brilliant.

Alex headed toward the ravine. She wasn't exactly going slowly, but not fast either. She wanted to conserve her energy for the next task, but.......she wasn't sure just how long her tree cage would hold the acromantula at bay. So, she decided to move a little faster. All the while she was trying to convince herself that she could actually do this. She knew that young Alex would have a great shot at it. Old Alex, well that was another story entirely. She kept telling herself that she was a Ravenclaw and Ravenclaws were smart. She could figure this out. She would have to do it.

Finally reaching the ravine, Alex looked down into its depths. Big mistake. Never look down, especially when you have a little issue with heights. Before she could start to freak out about this ravine she had to swing over, Alex tried to focus on finding the vines. Seeing them around and about the ravine, she looked for one that would be long enough to get her across. Finding several that satisfied her, she began to braid them together. If one was good, three would be better, yeah? When she finished braiding, she tried to tie a secure knot at the bottom of the vines. In case she had trouble holding on, the knot should keep her from slipping off the vine. At least she hoped that it would.

Task completed, Alex took out her wand. Pointing her wand at the vine braid, she said, "Vinea Funiculus". Alex was happy when her vine transformed into a thick and study looking vine/rope. She pulled on it and it seemed sturdy and the knot secure. Now it was the moment of truth.

With the shield now protecting her, Sophie felt a LITTLE better, but only just a little. Just the sight of the Acromantula gaining on her made her more than uneasy, so she decided running for it was a better now than never kind of thing.

So with that thought in mind, she turned on the spot and began bolting for the ravine. She still had the shield around her, but she did need to maintain the spell. She focused mainly on getting to that ravine, but she also focused on keeping the shield around her so that the spell wouldn't fade.

The Acromantula got close one time, but the shield stayed put. Sophie was getting closer to the ravine--just a few more yards. Finally, she reached it...and not a moment too soon.

It was time for Alex to jump or swing as the case may be. She figured that she had better do it soon because she was starting to get that panicky I'm going to fall in the ravine feeling. Too bad she couldn't close her eyes, but she thought that would be a little bit counterproductive.

Alex thought that giving it a running start would be her best bet. She took the rope into her hands and backed up to what she thought was an appropriate distance. "OK Alex, on three", she said to herself. "One, two, THREE......". Alex started to run as fast as she could which wasn't very fast these days, and as she reached the edge of the ravine, she jumped. (insert petrified scream here) Wrapping her legs around the rope, Alex held on for dear life.

Feeling like she was moving in slow motion, it seemed to take forever for Alex to cross that ravine. Oh oh, one thing she didn't consider was how she was going to land without breaking the aforementioned hip. Nice time to think about that now. Alex saw the other side of the ravine approaching, fast. Funny how time seemed to speed up again just at that moment. As she reaced solid ground, Alex let go of the rope and did her best baseball sliiiiide. Hitting the ground did not feel great, but at least she felt that all of her bones were intact. Getting up slowly, she thought, "Now if I can only make it across the swamp." First, she had to find it.

It was true that Sophie had reached the ravine. What was also true was that the Acromantula was still trying to get to her. She'd just beat him to the ravine, but unless she could get across, he'd get to her and eat her. The professor had said it wasn't real, and that she'd only fail, but still. She didn't want to fail either.

She looked up at the hanging vines. She was supposed to transfigure them into a rope now, wasn't she? Uhh...what was the spell again? Fear was getting the best of her, and her mind was getting foggy. Vine...vinea? Vinea Funiculus! That was it!

Sophie looked toward a nearby vine and pictured it turning into a rope. "Vinea Funiculus!" she said, pointing her wand at the vine.

A heavy weight fell into the pit of his stomach as he watched the ropes fly out of his wand and bind themselves tightly around the creature. Or the illusion. Whatever it was, it was now bound tightly with ropes and it didn't make Alec feel good at all. Especially not with the way he could see it thrashing around and struggling with the ropes.

... Ropes... that the acromantula would unbind and free itself from and then run to attack him if he didn't move.

WHAT WAS HE DOING?!

Eyes wide, the eighteen year old turned around and ran flat out towards the ravine. He had only taken a couple of steps before a sharp jolt of pain shot up and down from the joints in his legs, especially around the knee area. He tried his hardest to ignore it as he ran as fast as he could. But try as he might, he couldn't ignore the clicking sound that he was starting to hear. Don't look back... don't look back...

... He looked back. Biggest. Mistake. Ever.

Grey eyes widened even more at the sight of the approaching creature. It reminded him a lot of something out of a horror movie; giant creatures pursuing the people who were running over obstacles to get to safety. And safety, in this case, was that ravine over there. The boy turned around, narrowed his eyes and, head bent, ran past boulders and trees and fallen branches.

Right as he was making his way around a bush, an idea struck him and he whipped around again. "DURO!" He didn't need to keep looking back to see if the spell worked; the crunching sound was enough to tell him all he needed to know. The pain in his legs got worse and worse but something told him not to stop. Not... until... he reached...

... the ravine!

Alec: 1, Acromantula: 0

Welp. Okay. Being a little farther in the ravine really wasn't all that great, seeing as she was just at an equal distance from both sides now rather than being nearer to one. Alice was wrapped around that vine like a monkey, still clinging for dear life. Carefully, she switched her wand back to her left hand and stretched out to point at the next vine. Merlin, this was hard.

"Vinea Funiculus." As the plant twisted and thickened into a strong rope, she switched her wand from hand to hand again and then reached for it. Being a lefty was tough work, man. Fortunately, Alice managed to grab the rope with her fingers, and she allowed her legs to release the vine!rope to which she was currently clinging. That caused her current rope to take her full weight all of a sudden, and the seventh year went swinging.

This final was joint murder.

Thankfully, the rope calmed down after a little bit. She managed to juggle her wand over to her left hand again, reaching out to point at the fourth and last vine she needed to transfigure. "Vinea Funiculus." Just as she had on the previous two ropes, Alice lunged for this one with her arms and made sure she had a good grip on it before letting go of the last one with her lower body.

And here was the very last swing she had to perform. Much like a circus-y person would do, she built up speed with her swings, dropping her hold of the rope just as she swung over the edge of the ravine. The lioness landed hard; she was pretty sure her back had cracked, and her knees were screaming in searing pain. But the most effort-requiring parts of the obstacle course were over with now. Thank Merlin.

Ascanius had to be the only one in the room that felt like this was a little like Indiana Jones. He had to be 'cause most of the people here were sort of-- say it nicely-- ignorant to Muggle things and classics like Indy. But the sixth year himself was pretty excited to get to swing across a ravine and all that, yeah? Not that he showed it across his face 'cause he wasn't one for very public displays of emotions in classes, especially in classes.

Taking a look across the junlgle-like set up that was some impressive spell work, he'd admit that much, Ascanius drew his wand and spun it in his hand like a drumstick. Just warming his hand and his head up.

However, he didn't get much of a chance to really prepare himself mentally because as soon as he opened his eyes he heard a crack behind him. It was not becoming logically to turn around and see what went bump in the night, but he did it anyway. And what he saw startled him, even though he had been told the thing would be following him, a BIG spider was on his toes. Jeez. That bugger was hairy, wasn't it?

Fight or flight was the test of a real man. Luckily for Ascanius he knew he was a real man...so there was no shame in running away. A little bit like a girl. Not that anyone notice that bit, yeah?

Thinking on his feet, he turned around and shot a blind spell at what he assumed was the acromantula, "Incarcerous!"

.....unfortunately, it hit the nearest tree. Rough.

He was failing a bit. TOO BAD HE WAS RUNNING, OKAY?

Skidding to a halt right at the ravine, Ella clutched at the stitch in her side and tried not to wibble about how much pain she was in. Sore legs were sore from running as she hadn't done that in quite a while and everything in her was telling her to sit down but she knew that if she did that, there would be no getting back up. She just needed to shake it out. No really, she literally shook her left leg a bit and then her right, trying to ease the pain a little and loosen them up a bit. Merlin, she really should have stretched before this. Seriously.

Once she'd caught her breath, the blonde glanced up at the vines hanging down over the ravine. The thought of having to use her upper-body strength to hold on to one of these things long enough to get across was laughable. She felt weak and even more so now that she'd run across the room but she really didn't have a choice if she wanted to pass. And so she bit her lip and tried her best to recall the spell she'd used to create a solid rope to swing on. It was... ...V-something. Vine...Vinea...Vinea Funiculus. Yeah, that was it.

Pointing her wand at the vine closest to where she was, the Head Girl did her best to concentrate on a strong rope and said clearly, "Vinea Funiculus!" Before her eyes, the vine twisted and formed into what appeared to be a thing but sturdy rope and Ella took a deep breath and reached out to grab it, careful not to fall. This thing was meant to support her weight?!

Tug. Tug. Tuuuuuug.

It survived that so Ella was going to cross her fingers and hope for the best. Yeah...bravery really wasn't her thing, okay? Merlin.

Adi reached the edge of the ravine and hurriedly glance back. The bats were still zooming around the Acromantula. Awesome! It was distracted still. The Puffer turned to look down at the ravine. Ugh! He did not want to take a fall. He was worried about swinging across. What if his arms could not hold his weight? Uh oh. But it was a risk he had to take. Failing this thing was not an option.

Adi spied a vine and immediately pointed his wand at it. "Vinea Funiculus!'' Well, well, well. Wasn't that a surprise? It was still a vine. Hmph! ''Vinea Funiculus!'' Point! But he had no time to see if the spell worked for he heard the loud clicking of pincers.

Adi spun around. Agggh! The Giant Spider was heading towards him!

Alex walked ahead cautiously, looking around for any signs of a swamp. And then-yuck. She smelled it before she saw it and it was foul. She'd better find a way across the swamp quickly before she was overcome by the vapors.

Alex had her boat in her backpack, but it was quite obvious that it was not going to carry her across the swamp in its current state. As nasty as the water was, it would probably melt her boat in a second. Time to go to plan B. What was plan B? Alex was still working on it......and then the lightbulb went on. No one said that the had to use the boats that they made in class. Turning around in a complete circle, Alex surveyed her surroundings. She needed a bigger piece of wood to work with. A large branch or better yet, a log. Alex didn't know if there was a time limit on completing these tasks, but it would be a good idea to hurry.

After wandering around for what seemed like an eternity, Alex found a piece of wood that just might work. Using every bit of energy she had, she dragged it to the edge of the swamp. She had never done the spell on a piece of wood this large. Hopefully, she would be able to make it work. First Alex visualized the boat that she wanted to create. Then she concentrated with all her might. Tapping the wood with her wand, she said, "Lignum Navicula". Alex was afraid to look, but she looked anyway. Before her was not exactly the boat she had envisioned, but it should be big enough to carry her through the swamp.....if it could float.

So Ella hadn't made a graceful transition from the ground to the vine-turned-rope and she was currently clinging to said rope and praying she didn't fall. This was frightening, even if she wasn't actually going to fall to her death any minute. Or...no, no she wasn't going to fall to her death. She also wasn't making it across the ravine with this one vine swing, apparently. Nope. Now the Head Girl was out over the ravine just hanging on her transfigured vine, surrounded by other vines and feeling sort of like Tarzan. Well, Jane. She was more Jane but still. She wasn't cut out for this stuff.

Y'know what she needed now? Another vine. There were a bunch to choose from and Ella looked for the closest one to her, knowing she'd need to reach out and grab it. When she had a good candidate, she very carefully held out her wand and pointed it at the vine. Concentrating hard on the type of rope she wanted to create while still clinging on to the one she was on, she then said clearly, "Vinea Funiculus!"

When the vine had changed, Ella put her wand in her mouth and reached for it, pulling it as close to her as she could so she'd get a bit of a swing when she moved on to it fully. Then, after taking a weird deep breath considering where her wand was, she took hold of the new rope and when she was ready, let go of the one she'd been on. She let out a squeak as she swung through the air and willed her eyes to stay open so she could see the other side of the ground and know when to get off.

Merlin, this test was no joke.

Merlin, her legs hurt. And her arms. And her knees. Every single one of Alice's muscles were screaming out to her, but she knew that was impossible. There was one more task to complete: crossing the swamp safely in her transfigured piece of wood. The swamp which was.... where, exactly?

She sniffed the air, expecting a foul stench. Sure enough, a pungent odor filled her nose. The seventh year followed the disgusting smell as she inhaled it, making faces all the while. It was slow going, seeing as all her limbs were achy and sore, but she was eventually led to the swamp.

And it looked gross.

Pinching her nose shut, Alice looked around for some sort of wood she could use for the spell. After a while, she came across a thick branch fallen from a tree that seemed big enough to sustain her wait as a boat. The lioness began the slow, tedious work of dragging it over to the edge of the swamp. Once it seemed close enough to the murky water, she extended her wand to tap against the wood. "Lignum Navicula."

Boat? Boat! Yes!

Soon after she had several sturdy ropes dangling in front of her, Beverly twisted them to make a stronger, sturdier rope. Sure she was small, but no risking it; both for her sanity and grade. Tucking the rope between her legs and wrapping around her right foot for a safer grip, Beverly held on tightly.

It was okay. Just let it go. Swing.

Before thinking it too much and willing to be the bravest she's ever been, Beverly hobbled as quick as she could and pushed off the edge. Keeping her sight solely on the other side and not on the drop, she managed not to scream a scream that was lodged in her throat. The moment her feet touched down on solid ground Beverly let go of the rope and scurried away from the edge.

She'd take an Acromantula any day. BAH!

Now, it was time for the swamp. Merlin. Was it her sensitive sense of smell, or did it reek like troll dung? UGH.

Thank goodness Ella didn't dream of becoming a gymnast because her dismount from the rope to the ground was anything but gold medal worthy. She sort of landed in a crumpled mess and let out a small groan, rubbing her backside which had somehow ended up right on a good sized rock. That was going to bruise. YUP! Bright side of all of this? The eighteen year old had successful gotten past the Acromantula and the ravine but she still had the cross the swamp. There weren't like...crocodiles in there, right? Magical illusion crocodiles, sure, but still. Ella didn't like to think of that.

And where had her wand gone? The blonde's eyes widened considerably and for a horrifying minute, she thought she might have dropped it before she landed. Luckily for her and her fragile heart, she spotted the thing a few feet away only a minute later. Ella let out a dramatic sigh and got to her feet extremely slowly, headed over to it once she'd composed herself. The bending down part hurt just as bad as the standing up but she managed. Once her wand was secured, it was off to the swamp. She could tell as she was got closer too because the stench stung her nostrils and her eyes. YIKES. She'd better make a sturdy boat because there was NO way she wanted to fall in there. Her hair would smell for weeks!

The tree branch had stretched out from both directions, rounding out to form a perfect boat. Grinning to herself, Alice grabbed a stick with which to row herself and began pushing it into the swamp. She stepped into it at the last second, setting herself adrift inside the hollowed out tree limb.

.... and then she stayed there. Er. This rowing stick wasn't working. At all.

Just floating in the murky water, she racked her brain for any lesson on transfiguring something that'd help her get across. Merlin knew she didn't plan on sticking around forever, but Bellaire hadn't ever taught them stuff to do with boats before, so Alice had to think back to Magnus' lessons. Hadn't... hadn't they learned stuff about coracles before? There were boats involved with those. And along with coracles...

... paddles! Yes! As soon as the spell came to mind, she pulled her rowing stick back into her boat and set it in front of her. Thank Odin she had brought it along, or she'd have to summon one from the shore, and that was a charm. But the spell she was about to use was one of pure transformation, so surely Bellaire wouldn't have a problem with it? She would try it anyway.

"Ta-lea!" In the air, she drew a sort of spoonlike shape. A horizontal line was drawn by the tip of her wand, followed by a little loop at the end of it. Stretching out both ways just as her boat had, the stick flattened itself out. One end of it broadened more than the rest, and the tree limb soon resembled a paddle in lieu of its original stick-y form.

Quickly, she grabbed it and stuck it in the water again, rowing furiously. It felt like she'd been going for ages, but that was probably her sore and achy elbows doing the talking. But the beach was in sight soon enough, and Alice sped up her efforts, motivated by the sight. In a little while, she'd arrived at the shore on the other end of the swamp. The captain practically jumped out of her boat, eager to rest and relax her muscles.

Hardest final ever, and that was just 'cause of the movement involved.

Alex was just about to push her boat into the water when she realized that she needed a way to propel herself through the water. Looking around for one of her abandoned pieces of wood, she found a fairly long branch. The swamp was surely too deep for her to use the branch as a pole. It would never touch the bottom. Was it good enough to be used as an oar? Alex wasn't sure that it would work, but she had come too far to fail now.

Alex had another idea, but this one was very far fetched. What did she have to lose? Facing a tree, she pointed her wand at it and said, "Inflecto Telum". Arrows flew from the tip of her wand and some fortunately pierced the trunk of the tree. She pulled two arrows from the tree and hurried over to her discarded vine rope. Using the tip of the arrow as a blade, she tried to cut off some of the rope. It took some time, but Alex was able to to free some pieces of the rope. Going back to her tree branch, she tried to bind some of the pieces together with her rope to make a very crude oar. It was a longshot, but she was out of options. Putting the arrows and extra rope in the boat, Alex began to push it into the water. Crossing her fingers, she hopped into on the boat.

Alex didn't know how big the swamp was, but she hoped she could reach the other side before the boat sank. Taking her oar, she tried to paddle her way through the swamp. It was slow going because the oar wasn't very good, but it was better than nothing. Alex paddled until she thought her arms would fall off. They were hunting so badly, but she pressed on. Finally, finally, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Alex was near the end of the swamp. She could see solid ground up ahead.