Muggle Studies Lesson Two: Sports (Football)
 

The Muggle Studies Classroom seems a bit off from its normal appearance as its been seemingly transfigured into a large gymnasium (minus the bleachers). There's a rollaway chalkboard set up at one side of the room with a stack of mats off to the side.

"Take a mat and have a seat ... we'll begin shortly," Professor Hadley-Nairne said warmly.


ooc: no yoga ... save that for DADA ;D. We just figured mats would be more comfortable in this setting than regular chairs ;P. Also, the lesson won't actually start till tomorrow afternoon (about 3/4pm EST)

Lesson Progression

• Question One: what are some activities muggles do for fun?
• When was the first set of rules for Football established?
• How many players are on the field at a time from each team?
• Who is the only team member permitted to use their hands?
• Explanation of the warmup activity ; alright, have fun with this! we'll regroup tomorrow night to give people a chance to play =)
• Football! Explanation of rules and such =)

Adi thought he had stepped into a gym and for a moment he wondered how could he not know Hogwarts had one of those. But there was the awesome Head of House. He was in the right place. "Hello, hello, Professor Nairne.'' Adi smiled at the woman.

And there were mats. And two Hufflepuffs too. "Hey, Lux, Declan.'' Grins for the Housemates as he took up a place on one of the mats. He was all set for this class to begin!

Zhenya went to her next lesson, Muggle Studies. She remembered having a lot of fun at a few of those lessons and was looking forward to it. Only, it was a new professor. Huh… another professor she had never met before.

"Good day, Professor," she said, greeting the new face. "I'm Zhenya," she said, and went to find a mat.

WELL this certainly looked like a lesson that would be right up Toby's street. He always ended up liking the classes that required comfortable clothing, as it generally meant something active was on the horizon, and entering into a gymnasium seemed even more promising.

"Hi Professor," the Hufflepuff said cheerfully as he strolled in, went to grab a mat from the stack and sitting down on it.

Time for another muggle studies lesson. As he made his way to the lesson and entered the room, he noticed the classroom was transformed into a LARGE gym. He smiled and wondered what they were gonna do. Maybe play some dodgeball? Some ultimate frisbee? Possibly some basketball? He was filled with ideas he could offer to make this class more fun but he saw some matts on the floor and decided to go sit with the others. As he began to sit down he noticed the Professor in the room and waved, "Hey Professor! I am interested to know what we are gonna do today.." he said looking around the gym.

Cinna made her way to the first floor to the next muggle studies lesson. She walked into the classroom well gym or so it seemed. This was already was looking like a lesson that she was going to enjoy. She stopper by the professor. Smiled and waved at her "Hello Professor." The gryffindor would never get used to not ever calling her Professor Hadley so Professor would work just fine.

She headed over to where the mats were. She picked one out. She headed over to Lux and joined her. She also sent Kace a wave.

Jasmine arrived for Muggle Studies class and noticed a change in the room. Oh they were going to be in for some fun times, she could tell. "Hello Professor", she said as she headed over to get a mat. On the way back, Jasmine greeted her friends. "Hi Lux, Adi. Seeing her partner in crime, Jasmine said, "Hey Zhenya".

Finally arriving at just the right spot, Jasmine put her mat on the floor and sat down. Nothing to do, but wait for class to begin. So Jasmine waited.

Comfortable clothes? Check. Class supplies? Check. Mouth closed and NOT gaping? Yeah.....not so much.

Had the classroom really turned into a gym? Were they really going to have a gym class at Hogwarts? Well, at least the whole comfortable clothes thing made sense now. But Heather wasn't and never had been a big fan of gym. She preferred doing physical activity at times of her own choosing instead of a teachers. Not that she was a lazy bum, far from it. She hiked and climbed fairly often. Just when she chose. So it was rather reluctantly that she continued into the gym, grabbed a mat and sat. "Hello, professor." Please don't make us play basketball.

Samantha entered the classroom/gym with a smile and a "Hello, Professor," to Professor Nairne.

She grabbed a mat and found a spot to sit, intrigued about what today's lesson was all about.

Angel walked into the classroom.

"Good day PRO______________" Angel started to say before changing the subject. "Holey banana's have I taken a wrong turn somewhere?" Angel looked at the room there was mats around.

Angel went back out her heart racing it would be bad if she'd accidently gone and ended up at the DADA room when she was supposed to be in Muggle Studies. Angel looked at the door and blew a sigh or relief... it did say Muggle Studies on the door.

Angel went back and looked at the Professor. "Good Day Professor." Angel smiled as she went and sat at a random mat, she had a feeling Benny and Adi was cross at her.

The moment you told Alexa she didn't have to wear a skirt to class, you had her sold. Legit. Skirts hindered certain activity and the lack of skirts meant there would be activity, something that didn't involve chasing her kneazle until one of them got tired and gave up--her, it was usually her. If anyone's pets got eaten it simply stopped being her problem. So here she was dressed for Merlin knows what and ready to enter...the...Muggle Studies....classroom.

What the kneazle?

For a brief moment she stopped at the door but compulsion set her walking again and finally taking a seat somewhere on the mat. What was this class and why was she suddenly reminded of Muggle Primary School? That was another lifetime away you know.

"Good morning Professor. Interesting...er, setup." But what she really meant was probably something along the lines of what in Merlin's soggy gray beard is going on? Same concept really.

"Hello, Jasmine,'' Adi said to his seventh year friend. He was watching the others file into the class/gym. His eyes followed Benny when he came in. He expected his best friend to come take up a place next to him but that was not to be. With raised eyebrows, Adi watched him take a seat by himself. It was the same when Angel came in.

Fiiiiiiine. Adi would sit here by himself then. Obviously things were still not right among them because of the Potions final. Benny failed HIM and there he was acting all up there... hmph.

WHOAH NOW EDEN WAS NOT A FAN of the gym look. Being HALF muggle meant she had gone to a MUGGLE school before Durmstrang--and just--NO. Eden loved being active--but not in a gym.

Sighing, she went inside and tried to find someone to sit by. "G'day, Professor Nairne," she said softly, smiling as she took a seat next to Kace. "Hiyaaa, friend--" she said softly, squishing down on her mat and getting COMFY. HEHE.

She waved at Declan, too, and Cinna and Toby and Jasmine! HI ALL FRIENDS. Eden liked seeing everyone--yep. OH AND HI ZANDER. Eden waved at him too.

Though..Declan's face...Eden had to droop a bit. Because it reminded her of Rorie. And she didn't wanna' think about Rorie right now...it was making her sad.

Also.

Eden was VERY much wondering if Hogwarts teachers just..didn't LIKE desks or something because a LOT of her classes lately..didn't use desks. Eden didn't LIKE sitting on the ground for writing purposes--but it wasn't horrible, and it was a CHANGE of things, which was always nice.

As soon as AJ entered the classroom she noticed the difference. Heck, how could you not? It had a sort of DADA flair to it, but she could tell that it wasn't all similar to how the defense professor would have her classroom. IF anything AJ was intrigued.

Several people were already there. She wasn't late was she? AJ noticed that Benny wasn't sitting next to Adi. AJ assumed this had everything to do with potions, and gave Benny a wave before joining Adi.

Angel, Zeke, Lex, Zander, Lux, Jasmine, Eden and Zhenya all got waves from her.

Norah's mouth fell open as she entered the classroom, and she had to remind herself twice to close it before she continued on her way inside. Her mum said leaving her mouth open was "horridly unbecoming" or something dumb like that but what ELSE was she supposed to do when super cool things like muggle studies in the gym happened hmmmmm?

Skipping towards the mat, she skidded to a halt in front of Professor Nairne. "Hiii professor!" Grin griiin. With that, she continued her skipping, grabbed a mat, and surveyed the room to see where she should sit. Ummm. Ummmm. With a shrug, she lifted the mat above her head and sat down next to a Gryffindor boy (Zander) she didn't thiiiink she had ever talked to. Hii person. Stretching out on her mat, Norah surveyed the room again, this time making sure to keep her mouth shut. Seeee mum, she could make progress.

sorry for the late start. had to take care of some stuff <3. But we said hi back <333
 

Angel looked at the Professor and smiled as she raised her hand. "They got motor racing like they have Formula One, Le Man 24 Hours and all other sorts of motor racing." Angel really thought it would be cool if she could go racing all the times and get paid for it... She would love to race a formula one car just for fun but she doubted she'd be allowed.

Adi smiled as he saw AJ coming his way. At least she would never leave him alone. "Hi,'' he said when she sat down next to him. Cue more looks in Benny's direction. Adi missed not being seated next to him, okay?
....................

The lesson was starting. What do Muggles do for recreation? Loads of stuff, just like witches and wizards. But judging by the setting of the room, Hadley-Nairne was heading for something sporty. "They play sports. Like cricket, Professor.'' Cricket was his faveeeee.

As Jasmine watched more of her friends arrive, she greeted them all. Finally, the Professor called the class to order. She didn't waste any time and quickly threw out the first question. Jasmine was ready with an answer and raised her hand to respond.

"Some muggles like to go bowling for fun." That was an activity that Jasmine had enjoyed on occasion, back in the day. With her pen ready, she waited to jot down the other answers that her classmates gave.

Aw man, she was going to say baseball. That was her all time favorite sport. AJ smiled when Adi said cricket. She knew that was his favorite sport. What to add? There were so many things that muggles did, but she didn't want to go blurting out something lame.

Her mind went back to the time she had spent at the beach. "Surfing, professor." She added with a raised hand. It was something that she really wanted to try herself. It was something she was bound to be good at. Sports of any kind came to her naturally.

HIIII Professor yay. Class was starting Eden got all comfy on her mat and splayed her notebook open in front of her. Muggles. What did muggles do for fun. Eden didn't like that question. She felt like muggles did exactly the SAME things--just not using magic? So whatever. She would just....humor the question and answer. But it was hard because all of her answers she THOUGHT of were TAKEN.

But she raised her hand. "Muggles like..you know..the same things WE like--but recreationally--they go to MOVIEs." She said with a nod. Wizards and other magic folk didn't typically do movies, right? That was a muggly thing.

SIIIGH.

Cinna watched as more of friends arrived to the lesson. She smiled and waved at each of them. Her excitement really started to show over this lesson. It was definitly something she was or could tell she was going to look forward to.

Oh no hand raising. Awesome. " Swimming. Sometimes its just for fun and sometimes its a competitive sport."

Just the prospect of being able to get up and move around was getting Toby into that fidgety state. Whatever they were doing, he wanted to get STARTED. Though he was sat cross-legged on the mat, Toby's knees were both bouncing up as speculation as to what they would be getting up to ran through his head.

At the professor's question, maaaaaaany answers came to mind. The Hufflepuff figured that today might be focused more on the sporty sort of activities, so he tried to keep to that theme. He raised his hand way up in the air.

"Bouncing, like on pogo sticks," Toby supplied quite cheerfully. It had been a toss-up between this and skateboarding, but in the end he just couldn't resist mentioning his true love of bouncing.

It took a few moments for Samantha to think of something because she didn't associate herself with muggle activities. Finally, Samantha raised her hand.

"Muggles like to go to some place called an arcade and play video games," she said.

What did muggles do for fun? Kevin thought about the question because he comes from a long line of pureblooded families and he never really learned much about muggles. And the ones he does know had fun in the wrong but cool way. "Stealing candy" he finally answered. What? it was exciting and fun to do you know? And he knew for a fact that some people liked to do that, him included.

Ooh! And the boy smiled at her! She grinned back at him and flicked a strand of curly hair from her face, before turning to face Professor Nairne when she began to speak.

What muggles did for fun? Eeeeasy. She went to visit her grandparents in France alll the time and THEY were muggles so she spent time with the muggle kids in the neighborhood 'cause grandparents can get boring sometimes, uh huh. "Muggles like to dance!" She was sooooo gonna be a ballerina some day, if she ever learned how to do stuff without falling over. "And dancing is a sport so it counts, right? But they also like to play things like rugby." The boys always tried to say she couldn't play rugby with them but that wasn't fair at all. It wasn't her fault that she was so short and skinny. Her mum said she'd grow if she ate her spinach but spinach was GROSS so sh'd rather stay short, thank you very much. Plus she WAS faster than some of them, y'know. When she didn't trip over stuff, obviously, but it didn't happen EVERY time, okay?

Right. Class. Ahem. Norah rummaged around in her bag for a normal, muggle pencil. Her face fell when she pulled it out triumphantly, however, 'cause it was all broken and useless. Poop. She looked around in her general area but nobody she knew was sitting there so she just ended up leaning over to the boy Zander next to her and whispered "Psssst! Do you have an extra pencil? I lost mine."

As Kace was wondering what could be a recreation thing muggles did for fun, Kace smirked and knew a lot of them actually. He heard his other classmates answers and thought they were logical and he heard skateboarding and he turned around and saw Zander was looking at him. He grinned and nodded towards him. He would teach him more moves that's for sure. Kace raised his hand and said, "Professor I know some people play lacrosse for fun." He wondered if some of the students knew that sport. It was basically the rules were like field hockey but you are running with sticks and catching the ball.

While waiting for the lesson to begin, Lex glanced all around her. It was obvious why they weren't wearing skirts but not as obvious exactly what they'd be jumping right into. Couldn't really say she'd complain though because anything was better than cooking--something they'd done far too much of last term if you ask her. Seeing Aubrey's wave, she returned it with a wave and a smile. Good kid that one. Priorities right and everything.

As the class started, her attention drifted back to the Professor...who was talking about muggles and fun and recreation.

Right then.

"Muggles also like going to amusement parks. They build them and stuff so they can do things we can without magic." Since, of course, muggles didn't have magic. Like the rollercoaster. It was kinda like flying only they strapped you down and you couldn't tell the coaster where you wanted to be taken.

Limited, yes, but fun.

As soon as the Professor started to speak, Zhenya had a feeling of Deja Vu. Did she actually know this Professor? She certainly hadn't been teaching Muggle Studies a few years ago. But she was very familiar… Zhenya just could't place her.

So, she continued to listen with a feeling of familiarity, about what Muggles did for fun. Oh, but there was going to be an activity? The last activities she did (Potions, Ancient Runes) were a lot of fun. She got to meet new people and they were very nice.
She knew this one! She remembered the muggles she used to go to school with before Hogwarts. "Professor, muggles like to play skip rope," she remembered learning how to skip with a rope and it was so much fun.

gonna go a little fast for the next hour, my apologies to those not here <3
 

Oh, AJ was going to love this lesson if they were already talking about football. Her eyes lit up, and she sat up a little straighter. There were tons of fun sports, and AJ was eager to see why they were in a sort of arena looking room. Would they be playing later? Please say yes, please say yes.

Anyways, the question was something that AJ should know, but her mind had gone blank. She knew a lot about sports, but the dates were not something that she knew much about. Her hand was raised. "I think it was a looooong time ago, like 1862." Football had been around for a long time. Maybe that was considered the "modern" rules though.

So...they were gonna learn about real football today. Awesome! Adi had played a bit of football in primary school and when there were warm ups at his cricket club, football was one of the things involved.

As for that question, he had no idea of its answer. Adi had been more involved in the practical aspects of stuff. But he raised a hand to give a guess. "Sometime in the 1800's, Professor?'' he volunteered, hand in the air.

Zhenya listened along with what Professor Nairne was talking about and listening to the answers. She had no idea. She hardly even knew what football was!

But at mention of Quidditch, she raised her hand, "Seven people each team on the field at a time?" she guessed.

Adi looked at his girlfriend proudly. Look at her, all knowledgeable about the sport. Obviously she had taken the time to learn about the theoretical aspect as well as the practical one. Besides feeling proud, he was also amused at Professor Nairne. Really...AJ wasn't hard to distinguish from Angelfish.

Alrightey then. Moving on. Oh! Adi knew this one for sure. He raised his hand. "There are eleven players per team on the field.''

Football? They were talking about football? Will and Jeremy talked about that game sometimes. It seemed like the only thing the two didn't argue about more often but it was never something she'd actively taken an interest in so the question about dates was obviously ignored. Quite simply, she didn't know. Was it important? How would this help her with Auror Training later on? Important questions that needed answering.

Speaking of questions, there was yet another question on the game--and a mention of Quidditch, sigh, how insentive, some of them still hadn't gotten over it you know. Mostly her but you got the idea. It was a touchy matter, okay???

"11?" Sounded familiar, if not, you could hardly blame her for not knowing. This wasn't her field of expertise. Now ask her something about Quidditch and the facts could start rolling out.

Sadly that would never be the case.

Football was something Toby knew a little about, having played on his school team for his old school waaaaaay back before he got his Hogwarts letter. That was a good long time ago now, but he could still remember a little about it, and so raised his hand.

"Some teams have eleven people on each team. You can also have little teams too, of like five people, for five-a-side games."

Sports, sports, sports. AJ was so in the zone. She wanted to get up and jump around, do some drills or something. If they were actually going to play she was going to be one happy lion. Her smile was huge as the professor pretty much told her she was right. AJ did know her sports.

Oh, the next question she knew without a doubt. It was no surprise that her boyfriend knew as well. He got a thumbs up. "I agree with Adi, it'd eleven professor."

The Gryffindor was paying attention to class, he really was okay!! It's just he knew most of this stuff since he came from a muggle family.. And for some reason he still found himself attending class... Even though maybe the paying attention thing wasn't going as well as he thought it would. But when Norah began whispering to him, he leaned over near her and nodded a little. "Yeah, hold on," with a small smile, he pulled out his bag from underneath his desk. Rummaging around a little bit until he found one... He pulled out a sharpened pencil and held it out for her. "Found one!"


As for the next question, Zander knew the answer to this one!!! Except, uh, everyone else seemed to know it to. Honestly, Zander was actually excited about this one because his brothers used to watch Football all the time. And even though they wouldn't let him watch with them, he'd sneak around from behind the door and watch between the cracks.

Yet since everyone else also had answers, he chose to keep quiet this time. Not wanting to be repetitive. Next time. He'd get it next time.

Ooooh they were talking about football, this was Kace's type of game. He heard the professor ask about the time football was invented by the lion Angel beat him to it. He nodded and was glad she got it right. How many football players were allowed on the field? He chuckled and knew the answer easily. He raised his hand and said, "Professor I know 11 players are allowed on the field at a time but they also have subs for the players if they get too tired.." he shrugged and waited for the next question.

quoting is lame, but you're all wonderful! <3
 

They were gonna keep bringing up Quidditch like that? Like it hadn't been painfully striped away from them leaving them with little joy left in this castle? Perhaps she was being too dramatic. What did it honestly matter? In another month a some weeks she'd be gone forever, then she could watch all the Quidditch matches she wanted and play some scrimmage if she was so inclined. Lex might still be here, but she'd detached herself from the castle months ago. It was a matter of waiting now...

Waiting and answering questions.

This one wasn't so hard. She may not have been a fan but she knew the basics enough to know that the only person allowed to used their hand was "The Keeper, Professor."

Everyone else was limited to their feet. Merlin could you imagine if that's how Quidditch was played too???

Yep...eleven was right. Of course it was. Many sporting teams had eleven members per team excluding substitutes. Cricket was one of them. Maaaaan. He missed playing that. He knew the first thing he was going to do hen he got home that summer.

Oh! Another question Adi knew! "The goalkeeper,'' he answered promptly, his hand up in the air for the fourth time.

Zhenya was a bit embarrassed that her answer was wrong. She didn't know anything about football though, so even though it was a wild guess, well not so wild, she didn't feel too bad. She had a logical think about who would be able to use their hands in a football match. Obviously it was FOOTball. She raised her hand, "The person protecting the hoops from people scoring?" She didn't know what they did to score; hoops, nets, poles, bars…

So quidditch only allowed you seven players. That was good to know because AJ really hoped to be able to play the sport sometime. It definitely seemed right down her alley. It felt really good to be asked questions that she actually knew the answers to. You could even see the light in her face that showed she was intrigued.

Another easy one for her to answer. AJ waved her hand in the air. "That one's easy. Only the goalie can use their hands." They had to block the balls, and using their hands was one of the main reasons. AJ thought it was really cool when they used their heads.

Okay... it was official, this class just got ten times more exciting. It wasn't actual football, but water balloons were super cool and fun too. AJ hung on to her every word, and looked around. AWESOME. This was going to be amazing. It was hard to sit through the explanation because she was ready to catch, kick, and throw some water balloons.

Questions? Nope, she didn't have any. Welll... there was one thing that popped into her mind. "Will there be a winner?" Because AJ loved to win and there was nothing like some competition to really light a fire under her.

Would they start PLAYING soon? Toby was itching to start moving around, which was probably clear in the way he was fidgeting around on his mat and everything. He didn't answer that last question, as a bunch of people already had and these were the sort of 'one right right answer' questions, and repeating it all seemed a bit redundant.

Toby watched the professor and listened closely as she explained the activity, grinning to himself as the details were revealed. This seemed the sort of thing that was right down his street. Catching and throwing? Athletic stuff? Awesome.

This Hufflepuff had no questions, and so shook his head, his knees bouncing even more now. He was READY.

Activity time! Oh goody!

Adi watched as his Head of House revealed loads of water balloons from under a tarp. Then she started to explain what they had to do. Adi listened then came to a conclusion that it wasn't going to be a bad activity at all. He had a pretty good aim.

He was thinking just that when Nairne announced the twist. There always had to be a twist. Hehe. They would freeze you? O_O Okaaaay, that sounded fun still! So, he had no questions but Adi was ready to get started with the warming up.

This sounded pretty simple, yes, for the most part but if there was anything else, she would let the next guy ask because she had her own question that was pressing but not particularly important. No such thing as a dumb question though, remember?

"How come we're using enchanted water balloons in Muggle Studies?" This was a no magic zone last time she'd been told off about it.

Juuuuust curious.

Zhenya's eyes were wide. Freeze… them…? Her heart started racing. No, nope, sorry, she couldn't be frozen again. She closed her mind and practiced her deep breathing exercises, trying her hardest not to start hyperventilating. Maybe she would just have to say she felt ill and sit out. Yes, that would work. Perhaps she could just watch and enjoy her classmates having fun being frozen for a game. Not for serious. Like she was…

"For this part, no, because this first part is simply a warmup to just get you guys moving, to avoid injuries....." But as for the next part .... well, this warmup might just pay off for the next part.

Ah of course someone would ask that. "Good question and really because there was no other way i could think of to make it more interesting than without enchanting them. Besides, its muggle studies, from a wizarding perspective." So yes she had them using pencils instead of quills, and doing long labor drills, but she's also allowed them magic at times too.

"One more thing, the freezing thing? if you get hit? Shouldn't last more than a minute." She paused and waited to see for more questions before, "Alright then, let's get started!" at the professor's command the water balloons didn't wait to be picked up or kicked but they flew up from the ground - they started whizzing around the gymnasium for a few moments before suddenly starting to attack the students.

Zhenya was just about to go up to Professor Nairne and tell her she couldn't do it, and if she had to, she was going to tell her why, but the balls flew up!

OHMYGOSH!

Zhenya froze like a deer in headlights and instinctively grabbed one as it flew towards her. Thinking it was going to freeze her for six more years she gasped loudly and threw it away from her. It burst on the ground.

Oops...

Adi had to shake his head at AJ's question. Really...she was so competitive. It was one of the things he liked about her. Anyway...so approximately one minute of freezing, minus a few seconds? Alrightey then.

Annnnnnd the balloons were up and heading for them all. Run for cover! Hehe. Just kidding. Eeeep! Incoming! One was already particularly close to him...zooming for his face. Instinctively, Adi ducked. He was safe but he was mentally kicking himself for not attempting to catch it.

Ah well. There would be plenty more opportunities.

The professor said there wouldn't be any winners for this part which pretty much meant that there WOULD be a winner later on, and that was good enough for her. There was another question that AJ didn't even pay any attention to because water balloons and champions were playing in her head.

Then without warning the water balloons were up and ready for action. AJ was on her feet in .5 seconds. It was game on. They were zooming right an left and one was coming right for her face. Not today, water balloon. AJ was able to catch it, and she threw it straight for the wall.

Contact was made and the feeling of victory washed over her. This was so much fun. AJ had her eyes wide open awaiting another opportunity to kick some water balloon butt.

Professor
 

Toby was SO READY TO GO that the absolute second Hadley called out that they were getting started, he had sprung up to his feet and started moving. Good job, too, because those balloons were quick off the mark as well.

The fifth year watched, waiting to see if any of those balloons was going to fly at him any time soon. He usually played Keeper in Quidditch, so he really didn't foresee too much difficulty with this activity. Well, unless he got too distracted by one balloon and got blind-sided by another or something.

OOP. THERE was one, headed straight at him like a sort of wobbly, fragile bludger. Toby held out his cupped hands, totally ready, and as the water balloon reached them he sort of carefully moved his hands back to cradle water balloon, so it didn't explode when he tried to catch it. And SUCCESS. Now, where exactly did he need to throw it?

Angel had no idea what was going on... she knew the exact answer to all three question plus she knew who the very first team in existent was and what league they were playing in now but the questions were just coming thick and fast and she didn't even get chance to open her mouth before they were on to the activity.

Angel didn't really feel like taking part in this activity... it was boring and that wasn't how people warmed up... but anyway she decided that she might as well take part in this activity.

Angel watched as a balloon came towards her... she was totally mad at the minute at missing all the questions so instead of catching it she just jumped up in the air and scissor kicked it straight towards the wall... she watched as the balloon went just over the bar... she hadn't played for her school team and the under 10 girls team for nothing when she was at primary school.

Angel couldn't believe it... she had been aiming for the top corner and she missed... she missed... totally she missed.... noooooooooooooooo... she was way out of practice.

Major catching up.
 

The topic of the day was football. Unfortunately it wasn't the kind of football that Jasmine knew and loved. She knew all kinds of things about American football......soccer not so much. The class was moving along rapidly and Jasmine was so busy taking notes that she wasn't able to answer the first few questions. Not that she knew the answers anyway. Then came a question that she did know the answer to. Raising her hand, she said "The goalie is allowed to use his hands in a soccer.....football game."

Now it was on to the warm up activity. Hmmm, sounded interesting......kinda fun.....except for the freezing part. Jasmine took a moment to think about this. This required a bit of strategy. She wanted to catch or kick the balloons without having them burst on her. Before she could finalize her plan, the water ballons came alive and were whizzing everywhere.

OK, this was going to be like a combination dodge ball/soccer game. Jasmine quickly avoided the ballons that she was not ready for and focused on the ones she wanted to catch or kick. Which would make her least likely to get frozen? She decided to start with gentle catching. As one balloon came toward her, Jasmine tried to make a soft catch. Got it. Now aiming for the goal area, she threw the balloon hard. Juuust a bit outside. Dodging one balloon, she went for number two.

Adi was quite determined to catch a balloon. And to be honest, he had loads of opportunities what with ALL them zooming around like that. The trick was having to avoid them bursting on him.

Anyway, he was on the lookout and soon got a glimpse of a blue coloured one zooming right above his head. Adi quickly reached out and safely grasped it. YES! This one surely was not bursting on him.

Taking it solely in his left hand, the Hufflepuff heaved the balloon it towards the designated area of the wall.

SPLAT!

Woot! Right on target!

Now Jasmine was on a mission. She would get one of those balloons, or else. More dodging and then the right one came her way.......and she caught it. This time she decided to do a drop kick, hoping that the balloon didn't explode on her her foot. That would be bad.....frozen in mid kick. Just no.

Moving closer to the goal, Jasmine dropped the balloon and timed her kick perfectly. Gooooooallllll, gooooooaaaaalllllll. She did know that much about soccer. Jasmine didn't have much time to celebrate her goal because more balloons came flying her way. "I will not be frozen, I will not be frozen", she repeated to herself as she avoided rogue balloons.

Oh yeah! His aim was on track! Adi was very, very pleased about that because he hadn't been involved much in sporty stuff recently.

But it was time to find another water balloon. He looked up as it was far easier grabbing one that was above him. Aha! A couple were zooming about. Adi reached out and snatched a yellow one out of the air, holding it gingerly.

Phew! No bursting from this one either.

The Hufflepuf turned to the wall allotted for the tossing, heaved his left arm and sent the balloon flying. It hit the wall with a satisfying splat!

There was the goal area the professor had mentioned, and this next bit was the easier part. With the water balloon held in hand, Toby side-stepped easily to avoid another that was flying right at him, and launched it at the wall. Not too hard, though; didn't know if it might burst in his hand with the force of the throw or something. Muggle, mundane water balloons had a tendency to do that.

Direct hit! Right in the centre of the rectangle goal type area too. Niiiiiice. Toby grinned, and instinctively looked around to Soph to see if she'd seen that. But... he couldn't see her. Errr... what? Hadn't she been RIGHT THERE?

Perplexed, Toby stood still and looked around the room, looking for a tell-tale glimpse of her long brown hair. But he'd not been looking for even a couple a seconds before-

SPLASH!

A moment's distraction had cost him, and he was smacked straight in the head with a balloon. Toby now stood, frozen, still mid-search with that confused look on his face. Dangit.

Adi pumped his fist in the air. Oh yeah! He was so in the zone! Unfortunately for him, he needed to be paying more attention to what was going on around him. But he would like to defend himself by adding that there were LOADS and LOADS of balloons around so chances were high something like this would happen. :whaa:

Anywho, one water balloon came smashing into his right shoulder, sending water on his face and onto his hair. The result of that? The fourth year was standing, completely frozen with his left hand some what in mid air from the fist pump.

Kace was busy listening to the information the students were giving them but he already knew this stuff. He knew about the goalkeeper is the only one who was allowed to touch the ball. As the professor asked if he had any more questions he waited for the activity. Then the activity started. Wait...what!? The balloons were gonna be whizzing around to try and attack them!? Bring it on! He was prepared but as soon as he turned to catch one, he was struck in the face....

SPLAT!!!!!

He laughed and brushed the water from his face. He had that coming. He stood there frozen for a bit. He was gonna score next time he was sure of it.

Angel was just looking at the next balloon... she was still really annoyed and was upset she didn't score... she waited for the balloon to come and then she did an over head kick... she was happy when it worked because if she had failed that would have been funny for everyone else but not for her. "This is awesome Benny." Angel smiled though this balloon hit the crossbar what was going with her shooting today.

*major catching up like whoah*
 

Eden knew about muggle football, both the American sort and the European one. Her Mam's side of the family REALLY enjoyed football quite a bit. It was refreshing to be learning about something Eden already knew a bit about, too. That's why she enjoyed Muggle Studies in general, though.

And after feeling confident that she knew about football--Professor Zairne asked a question Eden had no CLUE of the answer. Heh. Just her luck, yeah? But Eden didn't know dates. Dates weren't that IMPORTANT okay? The fact of the matter was that HEY--Football began, whooh. But she did jot down the date juuuust in case. Mhmm. In case it was on her OWL or something. Which would be a weirdly specific thing to ask them on an exam but WHATEVER. Better safe than SORRY.

She knew the next answer, though. It was eleven. Four whole players more than Quidditch. So many people. This was why Football was so fun to watch--THEY GOT INTO SO MANY FANTASTIC FIGHTS ON THE PITCH. It was great. Real classy times, eh. Many people had answered the question, though, so Eden didn't bother. She just jotted away in her notebook--doodling here and there, too--whooaah a sun--WITH SUNGLASSES. She drew one of those on the corner of her paper. Now that she thought about it, suns didn't really need sunglasses--yeah--because they were protection from the sun, and why in Merlin's name would the SUN need protection from itself------

Right.

Shaking her brain a bit, she blinked up at Professor Zairne once more. Her brain was going in too many directions at once. FOCUS EDEN. "Ah--thas' easy--the goaly. Goal Keeper." whatever you wanted to call the guy. Or Girl. But Eden had KNOWN the answer and therefore felt smart. HM.

THEY WERE PLAYING A GAAAME?! Eden could have squealed in amusement--but instead she listened attentively to the objective of the game and BEAMED because SHE WAS GOING TO BE SO AWESOME AT THIS. Eden McGee might not be coordinated--BUT SHE LIKED RUNNING. SO WHO CARED. Not her.

She stood, stretched, and cracked her knuckles. This. Was. WAAARR! HIYAAA! As soon as Zairne said GO or whatever--and the balloons seemed to move into the air, POISED FOR ATTACK--Eden had a game plan. Yes. As soon as a balloon decided to zoom at her--she'd DODGE to the right, grab the tail of the balloon, and FLING it at the wall--it sounded so perfect in her head.

Aaaaand one of the balloons whizzed at her--AHHH! Eden danced out of the way rather quickly and made a grab at the little end of the balloon--------

Too SLOOOW. The balloon was off again--to target someone else--and Eden GROWLED. SHE HAD TO GET ONE. SHE HAD TO.

Eeeeep! This was taking FOREVER to wear off :x3: Adi knew this wasn't a competition or anything but he wanted to get back to tossing more balloons. It was super fun, you see. Hehe.

FINALLY, he could move again. Drat that freezing stuff in the water. Adi set right back to work, snatching one of the balloons up from over his head. Annnnd aim, heave and release! The balloons him the target, sending another SPLAT echoing around the gym/room.

Given the fact these things would freeze you if you popped 'em, Lex figured the logical thing to do was NOT kick them. Kicking required excess force and one would naturally come to the conclusion that when you add such force to something so delicate it would pop without hesitation. Obviously.

As a result Lex side stepped any balloons that were whirling around too close to the ground and moved about until she'd managed to catch one--GENTLY because she could see the others frozen and she wasn't interested in making that her.

Alright, aiming for the rectangle. Not so hard after playing Chaser for a term and a half, in fact it was a little easier because there wasn't even a keeper to swat it away at the very last minute. The Gryffindor took aim, concentrating for just that moment before hurling the water balloon at full force.

SPLAT

Right against the wall. Nice shot if she did say so herself.

Well Fina had to admit she was impressed with how well some of them were handling it .......Quite well, if she did say so herself and really the frozen thing wasn't BAD so why were they looking petrified like that? But then she heard panic which dodging a few waterballoons herself, she made her way over to the young claw;

"Catch and throw... you can do it!" the professor encouraged at the young girl. So please, stop panicking?

............... in the midst of her encouraging Penelope, Hadley caught in her periphery an escaping eagle.... well that was a surprise; because she was pretty sure that Sophie had an athletic streak about her but apparently water-balloons weren't her thing?

Maybe she'd come back after the warmup. Bathroom break, yea?

"Ah, Miss Cambridge has got it! Nice shot!" Fina beamed at the seventh year. Sure a few others have got it too ....


"About ten more minutes!" Hadley called out to the class.


ooc: probably about three or four more hours and we'll move on =]

WHOOOOSH. A balloon narrowly missed her--MERLIN. Eden was pumped, though. She jogged in place for a minute and grinned as she spotted one of the water balloons nearby--it was trying to lodge itself at a classmate--but NOT TODAY, BALLOONY.

HEH.

This was FUN. THIIIIIS was a class! HECK YEAH! She dove at the balloon and grabbed it tightly but not TOO tightly because she didn't want it to burst--and she flung it at the part of the wall she knew she had to hit--and it seemed to just...all happen in such SLOW motion. Merlin.

The balloon sloooooowly cascaded towards the wall--slammed into it--and BURST against the wall--Eden THREW a fist into the air and YELLED IN TRIUMPH. YEAH! YEAH!

Angel had missed with her scissor-kick and her over head kick... she was a bit upset about that... how had she hit the crossbar it just wasn't fair she normally could hit them in all day long... she would have to try something else but for now she was going to get ready for the next balloon.

O_____________o

Angel wanted to use her left foot to set the balloon up and then use her right foot but in the end she carefully chested the balloon down and used her right foot.

*SPLAT*

Angel beamed... could she celebrate... she had score... THE ANG was back in business.