It didn't matter if Maddie preferred being in the air or on the ground. For the next activity, she absolutely had to be on the ground. She steered her broom downward and made a pretty smooth landing. As she gathered in a group with the rest of the class, she found they were doing a series of stretches. The third year made a letter T with her body and began circling her arms forward. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10," she whispered to herself. It still amazed her that she, Maddie Kemp, was organizing her energy into a routine. Heh.

On the tenth forward circle, she stopped and started moving her arms backward instead. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10," she said again, but this time counting off the circles going in the opposite direction. There. All done. Well, with the arm circles, at least. She wasn't as good with the Bows and Bends as she was with the arm circles. "1...," she counted, but it took her a few seconds to go down, come up, and then move her hips forward. "2...," she counted. MERLIN. Almost ten minutes had passed before she finally said, "10!"

Only one more stretch, and she'd be through with what had already been assigned!

Wait. What? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

But they had just mounted their brooms! Well, a lot of them had and others had opted to jog but STILL. Slowing his pace considerably, Derf aimlessly kicked at the grass with his foot while not entirely wanting to dismount it just yet. He could still do arm circles and such while on it...and it would even work his core muscles while he he tried to maintain balance and such.

Hovering a bit closer to the ground...Derf decided to test his luck a bit...and stayed on his broom while starting to do his forward arm circles. "Is it alright if I stay on my broom?" he asked somewhat sheepishly.


....7....8...9....10...aaaaaaand backwards now.

Oh wait...bow and bends.

"....er...NEVER MIND!"

NOW dismounting his broom, the fifth year began with this bow and bends, really making sure he was getting a deep stretch in his back.

Trinetta didn't feel like she really NEEDED to be at this lesson. Hello, she WAS an athlete! She was on the Quidditch team! Captain Kirk made them do warm ups all the time. Still, grades were grades, and Nettie was not scoring top marks in EVERYTHING as she had imagined when she first got to school. So. Yeah. That was where she was at.

The skies were...pretty crowded, so she decided to go with the running laps bit for the first part of the warm up. She didn't mind jogging, to be honest. She knew some people would rather die than run, but she found it relaxing. So, she took off around the pitch, completing her two laps a little quicker than she had expected before she did another lap of...butt kicks? Is that what he had called it?

Whatever it was, it was EXHAUSTING and much more strenuous than she had anticipated. Who knew it would be such a leg workout?! Maybe she should have just flown laps...

Those Bows and Bends, or whatever they were called, liked to have killed her. Maddie laid out on the ground, her back against the grass, and proceeded to count to thirty...or forty...or even fifty...while she recovered. If she lived to be 1,000 years old, she hoped she never had to do another Bow and Bend. "18,19, 20," she counted. Pretty soon, she started to feel her breaths coming back to her, so she stopped at "24, 25," and then stood back up.

"BODY CIRCLES!" she enthusiastically called out, having a newfound energy. Miss 'PING PONG BALL IN A PHONE BOOTH' was back and ready to go! "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE!" Maddie called out, whirling her body around toward the left side. Now to the right! "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE!" she called out again, she she circled her body toward the right side this time.

"Finished!" she called out.

Rylee was more than ready to get flying! Swinging her leg over her broom she kicked off the moment they had been told to. She wouldn't be jogging when they were in Flying class. No thanks. If there was a choice she was flying. She took to the sky as quickly as she could the wind beating at her already rosy cheeks making them sting but it didn't slow her down.

One, two full laps around the pitch came much to soon when you were flying as fast as you were able to without risking injury to anyone else. Slowing down a touch Rylee took to the final lap with laughter. Zig zagging a full lap around the pitch took a little effort but it was fun.

Making her way back towards Baldvinsson the second year hovered on her broom still waiting for the next set of instructions. Strands of ginger hair had come loose from the french braid in her hair, cheeks now bright red she still had a bright smile on her face.

Stretches. Got it. It meant getting off her broom for a few minutes but she could handle it. Dismounting her broom, Ry set it down at her feet before raising her arms to form a T with her body. Starting with little circles she moved her arms forward until she got to ten. Then backwards. Easy peasey.

Bow and bend. Those were enough to give someone a good head rush if they went to fast. She knew better...she had learned her lesson last time they had done those! Pacing herself or so she thought she still ended up closing her eyes for a few moments letting a hint of dizziness ebb away. Next time she would be doing those things even slower!

Spreading her feet out a bit and dropping her hands to her sides she moved her upper body in a circle. It was so silly that she had herself laughing while completing the motion of body circles. When she was finished she turned her bright blue eyes onto the professor and waited for the next set of instructions.

Pfff… Just when she had started to really enjoy herself she already needed to stop with flying, but… It wasn’t exactly surprising, it had been a warming up after all… A few minutes later, already more used to the cold weather she stood on the ground and looked around herself to look for a nice place to start with the rest of the warming up, not too far away from the teacher to see him, but also not close enough to stand close beside the other student’s.

“Let’s start” she muttered to herself, having no trouble at all with it because, well… She liked it to exercise so she was naturally good in shape. Outstretching her arms she started to move, one, two… Nine and ten times! By the time she had finished her tenth time moving her arms forward she felt already warm and better then before she had started. Now… Ten times moving her arms in the opposite direction, easy! Again she counted, one, two, three… Nine and then! By the time she had finished her first twenty movements she was sweating and she did not liked it that much, she only hoped that she wasn’t smelling… Bowing and bending was easy, much more easier for her, she was small in size and bending wasn’t that much of a effort to her, so finishing wasn’t that hard at all!

Now really warmed up she finished her last movements and by the time when she was done she felt ready to fly again. “Now, let’s start” she whispered to herself, eager to step on her broom again and to fly some more.

SPOILER!!: Catch up here

Yep Yep.

GOALS!

Goals were a really good reason to do exercises. Pretty much everyone in the lesson had agreed on that. Though Juni liked to do it to keep herself healthy and do something with her extra energy that she sometimes had. Not only that since she had started playing quidditch she liked to exercise to stay in shape for that.

So they were actually going to be doing exercises today. They had a choice to either run laps or fly laps. Of course the fifth year would not pass up a chance to hop on a broom. Plus she had already had her run this morning. The broom would’ve been her first choice.

Juni hopped on her broom ready to go. She didn’t push herself to go to fast for the first lap. On the second lap though she zoomed right through it. Now for want she was most excited for the zig zag lap. She flew through zigging and zagging.

ZIG!!!

ZAG!!!

As she finished up the last lap she flew back down to join everyone on the ground. She touched down and moved back to the group. Propping herself up her her broom she waited to find out what was next.

She laid her broom down on the ground next to her. Standing flatly on the ground she raised her arms up evenly with her shoulders. Making circles with her arms moving her arms forward at first smaller ones going to larger ones. She did ten of those and done the same waving her arms backwards in small circles and going to larger ones, again she did ten of those.

Bow and bends... Now that sound like something hard. She listened to Baldvinsson explain what to do because she hadn’t really done that bow and bends before and she wanted to make sure she was doing it right.

Right? That was that was actually easy and less painful than she imagined. Reaching down toward the ground, coming back up and placing her hands on her hips and pushed. Repeating that 9 more times.

Lastly was the 10 body circles, she stood with her legs apart, moving her upper body in a big circle to the right. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7.. 8.. 9.. 10.. Then to left 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7.. 8.. 9.. 10.. That was all wasn’t it?

THEY WERE NOT FLYING ANYMORE?

What was this Professor B?


He was the boss so she set down her broom and started like the rest of them. Arm circles were up first and the little blonde stuck out her arms and started making the circles just as she was told.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...

Wow this was making her arms feel tired already, but she was going to keep going.

7, 8, 9, 10...

Time to move on to the backward motion so she started. Doing all ten before seeing what was next. Bends were next so Chloe reached for the sky and then touched her toes counting as she went.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5..

She was in pretty good kid shape, but this was making her tired already, why couldn't they just get on their brooms and fly?

6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Body Circles? She wasn't fully sure she knew how to do those correctly so looking around she tried to see if she could see someone else doing it.

Haraldur watched the group go through their stretching. He hovered around them, giving out encouragements or minor corrections to their posture. Once the students had performed their given instructions and the last few finished their Body Circles, the flying instructor hovered back in front of the group again. ”Very good everyone. I hope you're feeling warm and ready to move on. Once the mental preparations are done and the general warm up and stretching is completed; professional athletes go through a specific warm up. This aims to target the muscles you intend to exercise for the remainder of your workout.” He gestured towards some of the Beaters present. ”If you’re a Beater, you know you should spend this part of the workout on your arms, especially the one hitting the Bludgers.” He slowly began hovering back and forth again in front of the group as he continued. ”Some of you told me you like to go swimming, this part of the warm up should then be devoted to the muscles in your back and shoulders. Joggers,” He nodded to a few who’d mentioned this type of workout, ”could focus stretching their quadriceps or thigh muscles."

But since they were all very different..."After the specific warm up, they move on to the main part of the exercise, which is what we’ll be focusing on now.” He clasped his hands in front of him as he continued. ”Since we’re not professional athletes,” *cough yet *cough*. ”We’ll be doing something everyone has use for; cardio.” If his hearing was a little better, he’d probably hear a groan coming from the group. But his hearing was reduced from the many Bludgers he’d been hit with which was why he was blissfully unaware of the possible discontent and continued. ”We’re doing two different exercises, twice.” We as in them. Obviously. He walked over to the supplies he usually brought from the Broomshed, including school brooms and Quidditch equipment. With one swift movement of his wand retrieved from inside his winter robe, he levitated small, bright orange cones to place themselves in 7 neatly rows, ranging from where the group of students were standing down to the far end of the pitch.

”The first exercise,” He said, looking over his shoulder at the group again. ”Is to, as quickly as possible, move in between these cones, zig-zagging just like you practiced in the warm up, all the way down to the end of the pitch and back again. Once you’re back here…” Haraldur put the wand back inside his robes and dismounted his broom (a rare sight). ”You dismount but let your broom hover in the air next to you at around knee height, maybe a little higher. You are then to use your broom as an obstacle, jump over it and then rooooll under it back to your original position.” Now, if only he was athletic enough to actually demonstrate that. He wasn’t. But he could point and gesture with his hands to emphasize his point, which is what he did. ”When you’ve done this 5 times, you do the zig-zagging pattern again. Every time you do it, I want you to push yourself to do it even faster, turn sharper, be even more agile. Every time you do the broom jumping, I want your broom to hover a bit heigher, drop to the ground a bit faster than the previous time.” A little snow never hurt anybody. Only a few. ”The point of this practice is your chance to challenge yourself physically and to improve your flying when it’s incorporated with physical challenges. After this cardio practice, we’ll move on to the final part of a professional workout which is the cool down and then I’ll fill you in on the long-term assignment.” Questions? Yes? No?

”Everybody ready?” He grabbed the horn. ”GO!”

ooc: Yo. Time to pick up the pace a little with some cardio. Oh, mon dieu - nah, it’ll be fine. <3

This activity will also be divided into 2 parts.

Main activity 1st part:
2 practices:
- zig-zag between the small orange cones placed in 7 long lines across the pitch. They’re placed quite close together so be sure to fly as fast you can without missing one.
- Dismount. Let your broom hover in the air and make a high jump over it to the other side. Drop to the ground and roll back under it. Do 5 of these before the zig-zag again.

You have 2 days, until the 8th of June, 8 pm CET 3 days until the 9th of June 3-5 pm CET to get that pulse going before we move on to the second part of the main activity.

((also; we see all of you people stretching. looking good. we happy and proud))

Wait...what?! There was more? "... ... ..." Maddie couldn't hide the frown that sneaked up on her face. She didn't like organized exercise and routines. It was okay at first, but now she was really tired, and apparently they weren't even close to being done. She wiped the frown off her face, though, since she didn't exactly want the professor seeing it.

She turned her attention to the bright orange cones now positioned on the pitch. More zigzagging. At least she could get back on her broom now. Besides, if she was being honest with herself, she kind of thought that last part, the whole jumping over her broom part, seemed kind of fun. So on that note, she should probably get started.

The third year summoned her broom up into her hand then hovered on it. She kicked off and zoomed toward the first of the cones. She'd actually gotten pretty good at zigzagging, since they'd practiced it earlier, so maneuvering around them this time proved to be a lot easier. She knew just how to judge her turning distance, so that she wouldn't bump into any of the cones. Pretty soon, she'd made it to the end of the pitch. With a turn of her broom, she was positioned toward the last of the cones, which oddly enough was now the first of the cones since she was turned the opposite way. She zigged and zagged once again, and all thanks to her being so confident about that first ride through the cones, she accidentally misjudged and bumped into the very last one.

Ugh.

Good golly it wasn’t over. Was the entire class going to be random exercises?? All she wanted to do was fly around the pitch, maybe play a game or two, not have a workout. Her spirits slightly lifted when she saw the orange cones hover over the pitch. At least they would be back on their brooms...for part of it anyway.

She hopped on her broom and headed towards the starting cone. With one hand gripping the broom handle and the other up in the air like a bronc riding cowboy, she took off down the field. She zigged and zagged through the cones, speeding up towards the end as she became more comfortable with the course. With a quick flick of her hips, her broom spun around and she shot back through the cones, zigging and zagging until she cleared the last cone.

Not too bad, but it could have been faster. Her leg swung over to dismount, keeping her broom hovering next to her, just above knee height. She eyed the broom, trying to gauge how much lift she would need to propel her body over the handle. With a slight bend of her knees, she jumped. That’s when things turned for the worse. Her right foot caught the handle of her broom, sending her face first onto the ground. “Uuuggggg” was the strange sound she made as the air whooshed out of her lungs upon impact.

Once she had caught her breath, she jumped to her feet, brushed the snow and grass off, then ever so slightly lowered her broom. “I’ll give that another go.” Thankfully the embarrassed blush of her cheeks was well hidden by her already rosy cheeks from the cold air. Her next jump, over the lowered broom, was much more successful. She made a quick drop to the ground and roll under before repeating the entire broom jumping and rolling under process four more times.

They were getting back on their brooms?

WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Jumping back on her broom she started zigzagging through the cones. Turning sharply at each cone and going to the next one and then the next one. How was fun this? This was amazing and she was having so much fun.

Was everyone else having this much fun? "You so rock Professor Baldvinsson" He was the coolest and let them do this, this was amazing. Zigzagging the rest of the way, Chloe landing and got off her broom ready for the next task.

Cardio was a word Daehyun dreaded. Dreaded with all his heart and being.

His eyes were close to popping out of their sockets as he STARED at professor Haraldur give them further instructions. He could only stare and blink dumbly. He was not athletic. Anything but athletic. A one-legged goose would be more athletic than him. How was he even going to survive this whole thing - it was beyond him.

Doubtfully and hesitantly, he mounted his broom and pushed himself off the ground, but not much up in the air. Flying forward, he found it easy to wave zig-zag through the cones, since he was flying slowly. There was no way he was speeding up through those, no Sir.

Once he got to the opposite end, he dismounted and let his broom hover, and pondered his options. He could let it hover lower than knee-high, but then he'd have a hard time rolling under it - how in the world was he even going to do that? But then, if he let his broom hover higher than knee-high, he'd never be able to jump over it.

He sighed.

SIIIIIIIIGH.

Knee-high it was.

He didn't even reach the third jump and roll around his broom when sweat started to break at his forehead but, with another earth shattering sigh, he pushed the damp fringe out of his eyes and completed five cycles, before mounting his broom and slowly zig-zagging back.

How long till this class was over?

Closing her eyes for a moment the sixth year Slytherin felt disappointed, she had really, REALLY hoped to do anything BUT do those exercises but she apparently wasn’t that lucky today… Stepping on her broom she at last was happy that she could fly some more before she needed to finish the other part of the exercise… Quickly she made some speed and zigzagged around the cones, but because she flew too fast she missed one during her second turn and she felt slightly irritated, maybe she needed to fly a little les fast to not miss another cone what was, in fact, a good idea because those cones were small and although she was good in flying, it wasn’t that easy either… But, in the end, she finished while only have missed one cone and that wasn’t bad at all!

A little disappointed because she needed to stop with flying and start with the other part of the exercise she landed on the ground and dismounted her broom. She made it hover in the air at the right height, not that that was much to begin with, she was still very small, smaller than all the other student’s from her year and she hated it, but now it was more obvious that she was small because her broom was hanging REALLY close beside the ground… Shaking her head she started with the exercise while hoping that the lesson would end soon because she wasn’t liking this anymore… Jumping… That wasn’t something she liked at all!! But she did it anyway because she wasn’t the type to ignore a teacher and to be rude. So she jumped, rolled on the ground and she made a face because the snow was too cold against her heated body.

Minutes later she was out of breath but, happy that she was done! The flying part wasn’t a problem at all so happy that she did not needed to jump and roll again for a few minutes she repeated her exercise on her broom what was way more fun than jumping and rolling in the cold and wet snow!

Kye stayed in the air until more people had finished their laps, and landed back down near the professor. Stretch time! Usually, Kye would do all of this before flying at all, but that was more of a Quidditch thing she supposed. She followed his instructions easily, letting her arms out to her side for what were more like spirals than just circles. One…two…three...four…five… She let her arms flail stretch just a little further out each time. Six… seven… eight… nine… ten! SWIIITCH. She did ten more in the opposite direction, able to feel a knot that had formed in her left shoulder blade. Maybe one of her dorm mates would give her a massage?? Next up were Bow and Bends, and had Kye ever heard of Legally Blonde she would have found this stretch more amusing. Alas, she did the stretches, staring at the grass and thinking about the upcoming months. Eight……. Niiiiiine…… Teeennnn!

Well that had been helpful, but she did a couple of quick stretches for her neck while she listened to the next part of the lecture. If there were groans, Kye hadn’t joined in. She could use some cardio! Let’s be honest, she could always use some cardio with how she ate. Kye mounted her broom, quite relieved that this wasn’t on the ground cardio. All set up to go through the cones, Kye had a small smirk on her face. These were such easy tasks, as the Slytherin Captain had made sure they were agile over the last couple of years. She could practically do this blindfolded! She took off, gathering speed, gauging the distance between the cones as she went. Zig! Zag! Zip! Zoom! She finished getting through the cones without casualty, and went back near the ground. At first she had thought he said for them to hover, but looking around she realized she had misheard. Ah well! She dismounted, eyed her broom which appeared to be hovering at about hip height, and decided that that was accurate enough. His next instructions, however, caused Kye to change her mind. Yeaaa that was going to be a bit too high for her. She lowered her broom closer to mid-thigh before beginning. Heh heh… sorry Professor, we’re not THAT amazing. And… wait, what about a long term assignment? Was it time for that already?! Knowing they would get to that eventually, Kye began her broom jumps. Eesh! She already felt like she was going to trip… maybe she should lower it? No… She couldn’t let herself off that easy… If knee was the general starting point, she would be expected to do at least a little better!

Kye bent her knees, and jumped over her broom. Her eyes widened when she felt the tip of her shoe touch her broom. It was slight, but she immediately felt herself bracing as though she would fall. She did not. Okay good because that would have been embarrassing. She wasn’t passing shade on Emmalyn or anyone, not that they could hear her thoughts… right? She almost asked Emmalyn if she was okay, but she didn't want to embarrass her. Best to not call attention to the second year? After hesitantly getting through the five jump and rolls, she jumped back on her broom quickly and got back to zig zagging. Since the jumps weren’t Kye’s favorite thing to do, she relished her time actually on the broom. Zoooooooooooom!

Wow there are a lot of things going on for this class. Is it because it's the winter and the Professor thought of just letting the student sweat and move those muscle? Caleb stared at him as he began with the new instructions. This time they will be doing some cardio which is something Caleb can do. He runs every mornings except during winters because that is just completely insane. So He will now be doing some cardio with a twist today. Getting back to his broom, he rides it once again for the new activity.

Focus, Caleb. Focus. He took a deep breath before starting the first part of the activity which is just to zig zag around with the obstacles provided by the professor. Easy enough but he has to do this one with precise and the faster he can do this the earlier he can finish the activity. He managed to make it through the first half the activity. Swiftly zig-zagging just like they all did earlier in class.

Hmm.. The second part of the activity however is a little bit tricky than the first one. He got down from his broom and pulled his broom down to his knee. So what he's going to is to jump and then roll over, which he did in an instant. Nice. He gave himself a pat on the back before getting back to his broom once again and did the zig-zag activity but this time a bit faster than the last one. He did the same process until he got all 5 times done. Zig-zag and then jump and then roll over below your broom and then zig-zag again.

They only need to do 5 if he recalls correctly right?

Phew. Wow. that was literally breath-taking. Caleb panted as he went to cool down in the corner.

Having already dismounted his broom earlier, the Ravenclaw placed it beside him on the snowy grass and looked expectantly at the Professor. Was he going to tell what the journals were for now? …Guess not.. With a small sigh, he did as instructed and stretched his arms out. Nearly hitting one of the other students , Dorian stepped back a little to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally send someone to the hospital wing. the points loss that would be and when he was sure he could move he went to do the first exercise.

Circling his arms forward, he counted ten times and it was definitely not a pleasant feeling. Never knowing that his body had been this stuck, Dorian could actually feel his bones shift. Or whatever they were doing. Point was it wasn’t a nice feeling. When the first ten circles forward were done he did the same thing backwards.

Next step was the bow and bend. Ridiculous names if he had to say so himself. He also stared dissaprovingly at the pofessor as he kept seated comfortably on his broom. Wasn’t he supposed to be a little more motivating by standing on the ground as well? But instead of muttering , he reached to the ground and then came back up with his hands on his hips and pushed them forward. The first 3 went alright but then his body started to , lack for better description, crack again. He really wasn’t as in a good shape as he thought he was.

Looking to see if the Pofessor was looking at him or in his general direction, Dorian stopped the aweful exercise after 4 sets. He didn’t approve of going against the rules but his body was saying no no no. The last step was a lot easier to do and after placing his feet apart he began circling his upper body 5 times in each direction.

When it was time to get back on their brooms again, Dorian was more than ready to do so. He walked back to where he had placed his broom earlier and when he looked back up with his boom in his hand, he saw the bright colored cones on the pitch. Listening to the instructions, he got up on his broom and hovered in the air, making sure to not go too high up.

He was fairly good at zigzagging on a broom but he had never done this with cones, especially not this close to each other. But he liked the challenge so when it was his turn he leaned forward to pick up the speed. First cone left, second cone right, third cone left , fourth cone.. he hit it. ”SORRY! Fifth to eight cone hit hit hit and the third year was definitely cursing right now. When he reached the end and saw the disaster behind him he closed his eyes in annoyance. Dismountng his broom, he let it hover at knee height and then jumped ovet it from right to left and then lowered his body to the cold snowy ground and rolled under it. This was something he was good at thankfully as he had not hit the broom with his body once with each roll and jump he made.

When he was done, he mounted his broom again and zig zagged back down the pitch. He pushed the broom to go faster alright. Did that mean that he hit EVERY cone?

Yes. Yes he did.

Back to the jump and roll exercise. Dorian jumped over his broom and rolled under it. He jumped again as the broom went up a bit higher and rolled. Jumped as the broom went up even higher and the tip of his shoe hit the broom lightly. On the fourth jump and roll he did it perfectly again and the last jump he hit the broom with his feet again.

He was tired and when the Professor announced they’d be doing the cool down Dorian let out a quiet ”Woohoo”

Maddie steered her broom toward and area of the pitch where no one was flying in. That was kind of hard to find, but she didn't exactly want to be in the line of fire when she did part of two of the exercise. once she'd found a good spot, she dismounted her broom and let it hover in mid-air. So what was the routine here? Jump over the broom, drop to the ground, and roll under the broom. It seemed easy to think about it, but she had a feeling she'd be wearing herself out. Especially seeing as she had to do the routine five times...

...and that was only the first part. Then she had to start all over again!

Maddie jumped over the broom and landed on the other side. This was only her first jump. She'd probably trip over the broom by the time she'd done this eight, nine, or ten times. She dropped to the ground then rolled under the broom, landing just where she'd started at less than a minute ago. The energetic third year, who was feeling her energy being tested, repeated the routine. On her fifth try, she was starting to get tired. She actually ended up hitting the broom with her foot just a little. Pretty soon, though, she'd dropped to the ground and rolled under the broom for the fifth and final time. Well, for now, at least.

Then it was time for the orange cones again. At least she got to get back on her broom! Maddie swung a leg over her broom and took off, heading straight for the cones. She was torn between being exhausted and wanting to hurry up and finish. She surprised herself by getting a sudden burst of energy right as she reached the first of the orange cones. She began zigging and zagging through them like an expert. Reaching the opposite side, she paused for just a second, drew in a deep breath, and then headed back toward the cones.

Wait..... what.... had she said about mental training??? Wait, was stretching considered mental training? Skylar had been hearing Professor B talking, but apparently, it was a thing she had going on lately of hearing but not really listening. Uhhhh ... uh.... what were they doing again?? Which group was she supposed to be in? She was on the ground, but she definitely preferred to be flying, given she had her broom in her hand, but she wasn't unopposed to jogging either. So instead, the She-Snake Captain stood looking dumbfounded for probably a moment longer than she should have before FINALLY hopping on her broom and kicking off into the air, trailing well behind everyone else. Oops... At least she was a fast flyer. Normally. And she urged her broom faster, one lap around, two laps around, three laps and she was doing her zig-zagging and then time to return to the group.

For stretches. Yes, yes, which apparently was mental training. Who knew? Or maybe she did ... subconsciously. Yes, she was going to go with that. Staying hovering near the group on her broom - because why not and figured she might as well work her core and balance, the captain began her arm circles. Ten forward and ten back the other way. Not too bad. That was when she realized she would need to not be on her broom for the next two stretches. OOPS again. Gosh, why was she sooooo unfocused today?? Was this how she was against Gryffindor?? Focus .... Focus. It wasn't as if she was a novice flyer, but her lack of focus was incredulous. So much that she hadn't even noticed Professor B use the word butt earlier, which had she, she probably would have grinned stupidly at.

Right. On the ground again, she bowed down and then up again. Again, not too challenging. And the last stretch, well, with her unfocused mindset, Skylar would have assumed body circles literally meant walking in circles but apparently not as she observed. Okay, moving her upper body around... five one direction ... five the other ...

Trying to focus as Professor B talked of specific stretches targeted toward certain activities, she just stared. She had been doing arm exercises, hadn't she??? But she also did the running thing, so targeting thighs and quadricep muscles seemed to make sense too. So instead of doing another targeted stretch, Skylar just stood there again. Before finally reaching for water bottle. Sorry, Professor, she needed to hydrate over here, cause maybe it'd help her regain her sense of focus. And just to make it seem like she was doing something, she did do some walking lunges on her way over to water bottle.

Back to the class now and it seemed they were flying again, but had to zig-zag between the small orange cones. Mounting her broom, she flew up after some of the younger students and hovered while she waited behind them to fly between the cones. Patienceeeee ... she fought hard against as she flew through the first line of cones and the second ... and third and fourth ... eventually making her way to the seventh line. Heh, was it weird if she kind of saw the seven lines each as another year of Hogwarts passing through? Zig-zagging her way through? It was kind of ironic, wasn't it? The way Hogwarts years were filled with obstacles and challenges, both physically and emotionally. Thoughts that she needed to stop before she started to cry from the nostalgia; and there was no crying in quidditch! Breath in, breath out.

And time for part two of the main activity.

Abra could weep. Cardio. He didn't want to do cardio, not if he wasn't going to finish it up with making a snitch grab or something fUN. He supposed it wasn't SO bad. At least he didn't have to, you know, RUN, like... there was plenty of flying, but that part with getting OFF the broom? That part sounded like actual torture, and he wanted no part of it.

Except that it didn't matter what he wanted, he had to take part in the lesson as it was, with no complaining, because of the captain thing. RAH. But he didn't want to do cardiooooooooooo.

Hopefully Baldvinsson wasn't a Legilimens, because if he was, he'd be hearing a LOT of whining coming from Abra's direction. As it was, Abra was managing to keep all the complaining confined to his thoughts, though his expression was certainly more than a little disgruntled.

Mounting his broom again, Abra kicked off from the ground and began flying across to the other side of the pitch, going in and out of the cones. This part? This part was fine, Abra had very little trouble with fast flying and agility and all that, what with being a Seeker and everything. He zigged, he zagged, and he zigged again, and zagged again. Weaving in and out of the cones, Abra sped to the other end of the pitch, trying to do it as seamlessly as possible but also not look like he was trying to show off. He didn't need to worry about that for too long though, because all too soon the time came to dismount again and...

"Ugh."

Keeping his broom in the air at the suggested height, Abra bent at the knee and sprang up over the handle to the other side, before dropping to the COLD COLD COLD SNOWY GROUND ON THE OTHER SIDE and rolling back under it. Just that movement was enough to get his breathing going harder than necessary - the cold air didn't help - and he still had to do it four more times. Panting slightly, he leapt over the broom again, his jump a little more like a stepping leap than a proper jump, then dropped to the floor and rolled under it again. Cardio was right. A third jump-and-roll felt excessive - Abra was used to FLYING which was really not the same level of cardio one got from exercising on the ground. He was huffing and puffing by the time he went over the broom a fourth time, and gasping for air on his fifth go-over.

Cold as it was, Abra had to take a break for a moment after rolling back under the broom. He lay on the ground rather than leap straight back up, and tried to get his breath back, but the snow meant his breaths just kept coming in short, sharp gasps, and it was all just so uncomfortable. After a moment or three, he clambered back up to his feet and re-mounted his broom again, and began flying back through the cones again, keeping in mind what Baldvinsson had said about pushing himself to go even faster.

Now was the time for frowning faces and Chloe was giving the best one of her life as she dismounted her broom. She hated leaving the broom and the air. She could lie there if they'd let her.

Getting off her broom like she was told Chloe had it levitate off the ground and started to jump over it. Doing it once without any issue she grinned and rolled under it. Was this even considered work? She took another jump over and rolled under. Getting confident she jumped up for the third time, but didn't get high enough.


SPLAT

Splat went her face to the ground as she tripped over the broom.

"Ouch"

Hopping back on her broom after the first time though the cardio activity, Emmalyn was thankful for the extra layers she had worn to class. Even with all of the movement and activity, it was getting colder by the second.

Once level with the cones, she leaned forward and maneuvered through in a zig zag fashion, letting the wind blow the clumps of snow off her clothes. She giggled a bit at the little snow balls flying off her as she flew in and out of the cones. Her turn at the end was precise and she upped her speed on the return trip. Left, right, left, right, nudged her hips until she was clear of the course.

Feet back on the ground with broom hovering at knee height, she jumped and rolled five times, thankfully not catching her foot again like the first go round. The entire process was repeated the instructed number of times then she stood, waiting for the next set of instructions and hoping she didn’t get too cold while she waited. The combo of aerobic activity followed by standing still , sweat, and freezing temperatures was an unfortunate mix. She could almost feel her sweat soaked undershirt start to freeze against her skin.

As Maddie approached the orange cones for the final time (for this assignment, at least), she felt both challenged and relieved. She'd done a tremendous amount of organized exercise, but at the same time, she was super tired and ready for this to be over with. She began zigging and zagging back through the cones, this time was ease. She'd become somewhat of a pro at it by now, what with having zoomed in and out of them so many times. Once she reached the end of the line of cones, she began scouting the pitch for a place to do her final routine.

Once she found a good spot, she climbed down from her broom and let it hover before her. Drawing in a deep breath, she jumped over the handle, rolled under the broom, and came back up on the other side. "One," she said, sounding slightly out of breath. She jumped over the handle agin, rolled under the broom, and then came back up on the other side...again. "Two," she said. She continued the routine, counting off as she did so. "Three, four, five." She grabbed her broom then drew in another deep breath.

"DONE!" she said.

Bel definitely had designs on being a professional athlete once she left school, though in her case it wasn't actually for Quidditch. But it did mean all of this stuff was completely up her alley. She listened eagerly to the instructions, nodding at each specific step. zig zag. Dismount. High jump. Drop. Roll. Zig Zag. Yeah she had this, this was fine. She finished up her stretching - a shortened version of her usual, daily routine and, mounting her broom, was ready to begin.

Ready!

Aaaaand... the horn! Bel took off. This part, the dodging through the 7 long lines of cones. Easy. She was good at maneuvering, it was something she had a lot of control over, thanks to her other sporting pursuits. She wasn't a fan of doing this in SNOW though. Much more fun on sand. Golden, sun drenched sand. Just saying! And she wasn't looking forward to the bit where she had to roll in it. She zig-zagged without missing any cones, relying on her agility and strength to accurately turn through each one. The trick was to fly as if your broom was part of you: which was exactly the same as surfing with your surfboard, or motocross with your dirtbike. You had to be connected

She dismounted next, and set her broom to hovering at knee level, then quickly jumped over it sideways, dropped into the snow (ughdgghgh) and rolled back under, bouncing to her feet again. Broom went higher and Bel jumped that too. Then dropped. Then rooooollled, then bounced to her feet. Three more of these. The snow was still ughghhh but also the less she thought about it, the less of a bother it was, and Bel stayed focused on completing the task.

And then.... it was back to the zig-zagging! She remounted her broom quickly and flew up and at the cones again. This part was the fun bit, to her anyway. And five more broom jumps and rolls and.... she was done! Phew! Warm down time? And what was that about a long-term assignment?

Huh. Gunnar had never thought to use his broom as anything but for flying and certainly not as part of an obstacle course itself, so to speak. But it was creative, he would give the professor credit for that. And he had no problem with more exercise, especially cardio. He was determined to get better and stronger so he wouldn't just be a reserve anymore. This was part of the reason he started running with Al every morning.

The thirteen year old was fairly eager to weave through the cones too as he thought he was a decent enough flier. And he wanted to see how fast he could do it, wondering if he could go through it a few times getting progressively faster.

He mounted his broom, hovering in the air until he heard the horn. Leaning down and flying at a moderate speed, Gunnar flew towards the orange cones and began weaving in and out of them, zig-zagging through the course. Once he got through the end, he caught his sister out of the corner of his eye just as she fell to the ground. "You alright, Chlo?" he called towards her, but kept his distance. He was sure she was fine and would have be able to walk something like that off anyway if she wanted to play Quidditch.