Daisy was looking for an available boat when she heard Derf's voice. She carefully boarded the boat as she noticed that Derf had just spotted Chloe in a seemingly fully occupied boat. "Sorry that you couldn't join Chloe, Derf," she said in a sympathetic voice.

Memorising whatever the headmaster was saying - Zachary was following through, not answering and more listening because even though not underestimating the lesson itself (because hey, fireballs could be coming his way soon enough), he was a little disappointed that they were learning about these creatures.

Regardless, the tall sixth year was one of the last ones to reach the edge - so his only option was to follow the blonder than life head boy, and join his boat.

"thanks" he uttered as he stepped inside, noticing how Derf was holding the boat steady.

Bel could do boats. Not as cool as dirtbikes, surfboards, or broomsticks, but she could do boats. She went ahead and snagged one. A new one. Because she didn't think it was good for student leaders to all smush in together, better to spread out and have the younger kids spread out with the older ones, right? Not that... she would be much use if there was an emergency, not with spellwork anyway. First aid she could do though. And... pep talks. And generally just being... present? Yeah. Also if it got stuck in the bog, she'd not mind that much about jumping out and getting mucky in order to free it. So she had a few things to offer, she supposed, and she'd be pretty good at ducking fireballs, she was pretty sure.

"Anyone want to join me?"

Oh, and while she was waiting for anyone to join her, she addressed the professor's question back to her., hand going up. What if the hand holding option wasn't one?

"Professor, If I was by myself...... I'd pick a direction and stick with it. And ignore the lights. And eventually I'd be out of the bog just by walking in a straight line." That was how straight lines worked. And she was REALLY good at knowing her directions and pretty unerring when it came to figuring out a heading. Another useful skill she could offer, even while being rubbish at spells!

Everyone set? It was time to get moving down the river to the final stop. Malachi did a final look over of the boats. Had to be sure no one tried over-loading a boat but also needed to do some evening out. "Miss Hufflepuff Captain, I'd like you to join either that boat," The one containing the Gryffindor female prefect, "or that one over there." With the Head Boy. They were about to leave the shoreline. One boat could hold one more person and the other had space for two. There was no reason for her to stay in a boat by herself when there were five oars.

He waited a moment for the last few to shuffle in where they needed to be and take their oars in hand if they hadn't already before giving the command. "Everyone, follow me. Remember what I've said."

It was dark, but not so dark that they couldn't make out silhouettes. They would have no issues avoiding each others' boats while they travelled. "I'll give you lot a quick rundown of the year's curriculum. It's nothing to be concerned about in the moment, just a means to keep my voice out there for you." Malachi rowed on, his lantern floating and following him into the darkness. Team work and quick thinking would be their best friend especially given the fog that settled in, obscuring the man and his boat. Only the lantern remained. It shun bright enough that the fog did very little to it.

Just a minute into the rowing, another light appears next to the Headmaster's. It dances around the first light before slowlyyy drifting away from the original lantern. Or was IT the original lantern? Either way, it's begun to veer off toward the left. Do you follow or keep straight?

To make matters worse, there's now a third light. It starts where the left light is but slowly drifts over to the one that continues straight. Both lights continue in this direction. Keep your eyes on them unless you don't believe either to be the Headmaster's. Should you have gone left? The lights aren't so far apart that the distance of the voice makes a difference yet. With how close they currently were, the voice could be coming from any of the three. All of them? Hopefully you've been watching.

OOC: second leg of the mini activity! Lights will be appearing and disappearing, you're kiddos will have to decide which to follow in low visibility. It;ll require concentration on their part but mistakes are fine too. I'll be back with more lights in maybe 18 hrs.

Ugh. Boat. Water. No. Just no. But then again, he did feel slightly comforted by the fact that there would be more people in the boat with him too. “Sure Chloe, jump in!” and it was always nice to have an older student join them too! “Yeah, no problem Vita!” Even when the other student joined them who he didn’t know joined them, it wasn’t exactly a bad thing. Unless they were about to panic and throw up. In which case, that would not be a good thing. Ewan smiled and nodded at Vivian as she entered the boat, filling the last spot “Sure, no we can set off!”

Despite the darkness that engulfed most things, Ewan could make out the outline of several boats as they set off, the voice of the headmaster filling the air. Everything was going fine…until another light appeared next to the headmasters and veered off to the left. Why was it hopping around like that? It was as if it was doing it just to confuse them. Well, that’s what it was doing anyway. “Uh guys, what do you want to do? Do we go left or right?” Despite the situation, his voice calm and cool. He didn’t mind making the choice but after all, there were 4 other people in the boat.

Taking a deep breath, he focused on the two. Nope, three. It was three now. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the three lights carefully, trying to judge which was the headmaster and could be a Hinkypunk.

Right. Cool. It didn’t take long for their boat to fill up with two first years and the lesson could progress. He nodded at the kids as they stepped on and handed over an oar. “Hey, I’m Caolan” Yup, awkward introductions now over and they could move swiftly. He was looking forward to this rowing thing, there was nothing like a bit of physical activity to get the heart beating in the morning (but not as early as the crazy people in his dorm who had got up stupidly early to go for a run before breakfast).

The Headmasters boat started moving and he was only half concentrating on the light from the lantern and the Headmasters voice whilst counting out a rhythm in his head for the rowing.

And row. And row.

Was anyone else going to join him?

He was too busy concentrating on getting his stroke right that he didn’t even notice the second light appearing and then a third that joined the second. It wasn’t until he looked up for a moment that he realised there were multiple and by this point he had no idea which one was the Headmaster and which were a trick.

Umm.. guys?

Once Rylee was settled into a spot at the front of the boat and she was sure Isla was sitting beside her comfortably, well as comfortable as one could be in a boat on a river at night, she turned her attention to the others piling into boats.

"Of course you can," the fourth year smiled at the young girl that was clearly a first year. "I'm Rylee and this is my cousin Isla," she introduced both herself and the younger lioness at her side. Holding out her hand to Charlie she offered to help her into the boat safely before passing her an oar once she had sat down.

"Nice to have you with us, Stas." Having a Prefect and one she knew well in their boat was going to be helpful for sure! They would be okay. All they had to do was follow the sound of Headmaster Trent's voice and follow the light of his lantern. Easy peasy.

"Here we go," she let everyone know as their boat moved along the river. Nice even strokes of her oar along the water, silently counting out her own movement trying to keep in time with the others in the boat. All was well until she could no longer see the Headmaster but only the shining light of the lantern. And than another and... another?!

Rylee blinked once. Then again. One light stayed straight, this was the very first one she was sure... maybe? One veered off to the left and another that started near that one went to join the first. Good gosh this was like following a game of Quidditch or maybe watching a dance competition. "Which way do we go? Left or straight? I say straight but what about you all?" Just because she was at the very front of the boat didn't mean they weren't a team. They needed to be in agreement here... and fast.

... She was morbid? More like thoughtful... and maybe paranoid that magical creatures would have the same liking for her as they had her father... Which was not very much and why she was lucky to have a pygmy puff, who admittedly sneezed on him all the time and it seemed to dislike a him as much as a little pink ball of floof could.

But that was besides the point... She grabbed one of the oars from the boat and looked at the others in hers, "I'm Josephine, by the way..." She gave a weak smile and looked at the ball of light blinking as more appeared and traded directions...

Meep... Hopefully someone here was better at keeping track of where to go.

Smiling huge when Ewan said it was okay she looked around, [b] "Wonder who else will join us. She didn't have to wait long though soon her eyes widened as not one but TWO sixth year joined them. Older students always put Chloe in awe, especially the girls. She wanted to be as pretty as them one day and she always wanted to know everything about them, but this was class and she was going to keep quiet as the fear of what was ahead was more important than knowing the secrets of the older students.

"Hi" was all she could really get out before a fourth year joined in. Looking at the group she bit her lip hoping someone was an expert at this stuff. "No, I don't have a clue how to work a boat." The ones she was on during the first year did everything themselves.

When she heard the professor-headmaster talk again she looked in the way his voice was going. "I guess we have to do something though." She picked up the thing to row with. "Does anyone else find this rather.... scary?" She couldn't be the only one, could she?

As a second light came into view she thought maybe a student did what they weren't supposed to, but then it went a different way, but before she could speak a third one came. She watched all the lights feeling a little panicked. "I.. I don't know. Maybe stay straight with the two lights?" What if it was a trick though and they should go left?

Oh no, oh no, what should they do?

Indigo had kind of expected this to happen. They were talking about hinkypunks and they were talking about what to do if you saw lights trying to lead you astray in bogs. And now they were on boats in a bog and of course there were going to be lights and hinkypunks. That was why Indigo was making sure to keep his eye on the lantern that he was certain belonged to the Headmaster. It was like one of those games. Keep your eye on the ball. Which cup is it under? Except if you got it wrong you would be attacked. Fortunately for his boat, he was certain he knew which lantern was the right one. It certainly wasn't the one veering left.

"Keep going straight." The bigger problem at the moment was that Indigo didn't know how to steer a boat. He kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, focusing on the lantern he knew to be safe and refusing to let his gaze waver so as not to be led astray. He reached down to the paddle and pushed it through the water. He was pretty sure they could keep going in a straight line if they all worked together.

SPOILER!!: Question 2 + walking

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

He looked to the class again. "Moving on!" No need to keep standing around here. This wasn't where they needed to be. "Everyone, follow me. Watch your step, don't dilly dally, we've got places to be. I'm sure it hasn't escaped any of you that I'm the only one currently in possession of any form of light. Keep your wands in their holsters, reholster them if you've drawn them. I don't want to see a single illumination charm cast. That entirely defeats the purpose of this little exercise." The light was bright enough that it travelled some distance. Even if they couldn't see him, they could still very much see him.

"Follow not only the light, but the sound of my voice." Were they clear? "When I've stopped talking, it will be especially important to pay attention to this light, my light."

With that, the man began to move through the bog. The immediate area had bushes, low hanging branches, muddy soil and the occasional over grown root. So long as they were cautious, they would be fine. "Quick recap while we walk." He said, carefully moving through the terrain. It was very important that they followed his instructions because he'd turned his back to them in order to see the path ahead. "Plenty of dangers in bogs. Magical creatures. Magical plants. Regular, predatory creatures. Bugs. The terrain itself. There were quite a few suggestions...and a few consequences. That being said, I'd like to discourage everyone from tripping and breaking your neck. Similarly, I wouldn't recommend falling onto a jagged rock. If you don't die, it doesn't break the rules but....still painful and you'll miss the fun stuff." He covered a few of the answers touched on while he walked, occasionally pausing to ensure they were still going the right way--inconvenient for anyone walking too close to him.

"A few of you mentioned hinkypunks, and in case it isn't by this point obvious that they'll be the focus of this lesson, they are. That said, what do you know about hinkypunks? Or, you can tell me what actions you would take if you found yourself travelling through an area like this with several lanterns leading off in different directions." They could answer both if they wanted to, but he'd appreciate them answering even one.

Tessa’s interest piqued when the Headmaster told them that they were to keep their wands holstered. Where were they going? It wasn’t difficult to follow him, even though the terrain was uneven and damp. She was pretty agile, you know? She laughed when he ‘discouraged’ them from breaking their necks. He was funny, and Tessa suspected that he wasn’t even trying to be funny.

Her suspicions about this lesson being about Hinkypunks were confirmed soon enough. That explained the lack of light and the bogginess. “They’re like smoke and carry a lantern,” she said in answer to his question. And, in a stroke on GENIUS if she did say so herself, Tessa had a thought. "Depending on how far away the creatures are, could you use Homenum Revelio? Then you could find out if the source of the light is a person or not. I mean, that still might not work if there's a person and a Hinkypunk around. So it's not exactly foolproof but it's probably better than yelling 'HEY, YOU THERE. ARE YOU A HINKYPUNK?', right?"

Heh.

Wasn’t she just so concise?

SPOILER!!: get in boats + start of the mini activity

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

"Moving on!" He hoped they'd been paying attention to each other. The students had given the bulk of the information and there wasn't any need to say it ALL again.

Malachi drew his wand to reveal a few boats. Those closer to the front had a better chance of seeing them. "We're taking a little trip that will get us to our final activity. There are boats by the edge of the water here." He paused to gesture. "No more than five in a boat. Don't worry about capsizing, they've been charmed against that. Similarly, they will not sink. You've got nothing to worry about from them." So no unnecessary panic, yeah? They'd all been doing good at that so far. "You will board the boats then follow me in mine. Remember what I've said. Listen for my voice. Look for my lantern. It's very important."

For reasons. Ahem.

With that, the Headmaster climbed into the first boat and nudged himself out onto the water. He brightened his lantern a bit so they could see back on the shoreline. "Everyone into boats, no time to waste."

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Just a minute into the rowing, another light appears next to the Headmaster's. It dances around the first light before slowlyyy drifting away from the original lantern. Or was IT the original lantern? Either way, it's begun to veer off toward the left. Do you follow or keep straight?

To make matters worse, there's now a third light. It starts where the left light is but slowly drifts over to the one that continues straight. Both lights continue in this direction. Keep your eyes on them unless you don't believe either to be the Headmaster's. Should you have gone left? The lights aren't so far apart that the distance of the voice makes a difference yet. With how close they currently were, the voice could be coming from any of the three. All of them? Hopefully you've been watching.

Tessa was not disappointed when they reached their destination. They were getting into boats? It was like first year all over again. Except, presumably, with something related to Hinkypunks added.

People climbed into boats, one after another, and Tessa was having a hard time following who was in a boat with who and which boats, if any, had any spare places. So, she clambered into a new boat. Her boat was soon filled, too, as more students joined, each of them taking control of an oar. She grinned good-naturedly at each of them. "I'm Tessa," she introduced herself before the Headmaster started talking again. They were still supposed to have their wands away, right? The point was to follow the Headmaster's light...and voice, she supposed. Which was actually more difficult now than when they were walking - there was more fog over the water.

"Oh, is that another light?" She asked the other students in her boat. If it wasn't for the fact she was already looking at the Headmaster's light, she would have found it hard to tell which light was the right light to follow. OHHHHH!!! That was the whole point, wasn't it? Duh. "Keep your eyes of that one," she told her boatmates, nodding in the direction of the Headmaster's light.

Rolling the oar, Stella looked at Caolan and the others, biting her lip. She didn't like this, it was dark and they couldn't see a single thing. "I'm Stella." she said calmly watching the Headmaster's latern. Ok... his is shining brighter then all the others ones, she noticed that. She was going to say the one that went left was a fake and stay straight ahead.


"Ok... I think we should stay straight, but that's just me what do you guys think?" she asked them. Whatever decision they made she hoped that they decided quick before they lose the lanterns. This was going to be another great subject, yeah... out in god knows where in the dark and fog. Ok... she was really starting to think fighting the Red Caps was easier then this last term.

They had to work together on this, follow the Headmaster's light and voice, although that was easier said then done. Oh... how she was starting to hate this class, very much now. Although all she wanted to be was right on this, she didn't want to get lost.

Oh, would you look at that? Boats. On water. They were going to row themselves across this lake or whatever body of water it was. Drewett was already dreading this class and once he was on the boat, he wished he hadn't attended this as his first class of the term instead. If this was going to row himself to his death by falling off the boat and drowning, he'd rather just get out of here.

But too late, they were going off already and Drewett held onto his oar very tightly. Good thing it was dark because then his boat mates wouldn't be able to see how pale he really was anymore. And he was pale, it would almost seem like he was close to fainting. "Drew..." he said in introduction. Nice to meet you before my possible death, I guess. The Ravenclaw carefully began to row, making sure he doesn't lose grasp of his oar or else he would have the tendency to drop it any moment now.

And when the other lights began showing up amidst the fog, Drewett patterned his breathing again and again and again. He needed to stay calm and focused on the headmaster's light. It wasn't that difficult, actually, under normal circumstances. Drewett was rather good at concentrating on things and he certainly wasn't easily distracted. It was just his growing anxiety. It would be his worst enemy today, not the hinkypunks. "Straight... just straight...." Please do not move anywhere but straight, headmaster. Please.

Eugh. People.

Odaline supposed that being out on the water at least meant she could make someone fall overboard by accident a time or two. But she still wasn't happy about being here with them. She didn't introduce herself, just took in the names of her group and shrugged when it came to giving her name. Sorry, unavailable.

She was intrigued when it came to the new lights appearing, yet she was already looking in a different direction to what she had started looking in. Was... that the same light her boat mates were talking about? Who knew? Not her, because she wasn't going to even look at them. She'd just move her oar and exist in silence.

Plotting.

Max hadn't even paid attention to who else had clambered on into their boat. They'd said their names.... but oops, he'd forgotten already. He had reached a whole new level of unimpressed and all the sloshing around in the lake really wasn't helping the whole full bladder situation.

He was doing the absolute most to try and avoid any manual labour AKA rowing. Oh, look at that over there. Oh, what was that behind them? Basically anything to avoid looking at the one kid who was using the paddley things.

In fact, he was so busy distracted with everything that wasn't actual class, that he didn't even notice there were now multiple lights in the distance. Until now. Until the small girl piped up. Great. Just perfect.

"I think you better be right because I'm gonna pee myself soon." Just saying.

Zoryn literally didn’t even care who ended up in their boat anymore. She just wanted to take off. She gave Igor nothing more than a curt acknowledgement and shrugged at Patrick. Okay they had five. Could they go now ooooor?

Wait a minute. They had WAY too many underclassmen in their boat.

Was it too late to jump out and switch? Because Zoryn started leaning towards the edge and slowly began to life up her-- Dang it.

They were off. Right well, she wasn't going to let these chumps row on their own because a) her upper body strength was probably WAY better than all of theirs combined and b) she wanted to steer.

"ROW STRAIGHT."

She had made the executive decision. And also, she was just following Maxton's boat. He was pretty clueless, but Zoryn was like 75% sure that he normally received good marks.

"It's a bit eerie, yeah." Vita offered the younger ravenclaw girl a small smile and a nod in agreement. This certainly wasn't her idea of a relaxing pastime, not even if they'd been out on the lake under a beautiful yellow sun, and this was nowhere close.

"I'm with Indigo, we keep going straight." He was observant, Indigo was. There was also the fact that he wasn't chatty, which she imagined made it easier for him to focus on their headmaster and the light he was guiding them with. She did a bit of a test with her oar, noting which side helped keep them on their current path, and then kept it there, helping to move them along. "Eyes and ears open, okay? Just in case the headmaster calls out any directions."

It didn't take very long for their boat to fill up. Abra smiled at Gunnar, whom he mostly only really knew from Quidditch matches, Aaron, his cousin(!), and Harri, a first year Gryffindor, as they each came aboard the boat. "Hey!" he greeted everyone as they appeared. "I'm Abra." Well, Aaron and Natalie already knew that, and probably so did Harri, if she remembered him and Stasya introducing themselves before escorting the Gryffindor first years to the common room on the first night of term. Actually, maybe Gunnar also knew him from Quidditch, making the introduction sort of totally redundant actually. Uhhh... Oh. Well. This wasn't awkward at all...

With their boat now full, Abra turned his attention to the Headmaster and awaited instructions. They came relatively quickly, and Abra scrambled to pick up an oar so that he could get started with rowing the boat after the man in charge. He was still a little hesitant about the concept of following the hinkypunk in disguise guy with the lantern, but hey, what could you do?

Rowing turned out to be a lot more difficult than it looked. Abra couldn't tell what it was about it, but he was terrible at getting into a rhythm and making sure the oar was going into the water and not getting the whole situation backwards. In fact, he had to stop looking ahead and instead look down at his hands and the oar for a moment, to sort of get used to what he was trying to do, but then, when he looked up, there was more than one lantern light up ahead.

Oh. Oh no. Ohhhhhhhh nooooooooooo.

Looking between the light that was off to the left, and the two straight ahead, Abra panicked for a moment. He wanted to glance around at the others, but he dared not take his eyes away from the lights again. Now what?

"Um..." Abra said, trying not to sound quite so strained as he didn't want to alarm anyone, especially not the first year in the boat. "Straight... straight ahead, right?" Please let someone else have been paying attention. Maybe he could blag his way through this.

As soon as Skyler took the oar, it was already time to move. Okay then, let's go.
"Thanks," she said and smiled slightly at her other boat mates. Whoops didn't realize they were there. Oh well, she decided to start rowing towards a light near them to see where they would lead, hopefully the others would take the hint...

Caolan? Okay, so, that was one person he was sure he didn't know. "Lucas," he piped up, even if he was sure that the boy wouldn't know him either. He did recognise Stella's voice, though, which instantly made him smile. Hello!

Before he could say anything, he was being handed something? Something that felt like...... wait, was this an oar?

UH.

Lucas squinted down at the oar and then at where one of his biceps were and then back at the oar again. This meant that they had to row and that meant exercise and he was..... not very happy to hear that. He was very scrawny, actually, but maybe, just maybe, this would help him build up some more muscle.

It was with this thought in mind that he dipped the oar into the water and started rowing. It was..... hard work, actually. Very hard! And people did this for FUN?! That, he didn't understand. But then again, there were a lot of things he didn't understand right now.

Like the three lanterns ahead of them.

UH. Please tell him he wasn't the only one who was SCARED right now.

Stay straight? Pee himself?! Despite how he was feeling, Lucas couldn't help but let out a small snort and nodded...... only to realise that the others might not be able to see him so, ended up saying, "Yeah, let's go straight." He didn't have any other ideas, and nothing that was better, so...... straight it was!

Mariam was starting to think that she had indeed chosen the boat in which she would be the oldest by the mile within it, though had a slight sigh of relief that someone a little older joined them, regardless that it broke their streak of blue and bronze. Not that she had anything against younger years. A little more experience would have been ideal, but who knew, they could surprise her.

Plus, it was learning experience now and all that.

"Mariam," she said with a slight nod of her head to introduce herself. She'd gotten the names of Nettie and Anna, and a hint at the boy's name, but figured if she needed the rest... well, they were sitting right there if they found themselves gliding through dangerous waters. To go or not to go? That was indeed the question. Alas, the professor gave them their cue.

"Looks like zat is our green light." To go, that is, before they lost the professor. Grabbing the oar she'd be working with, she waited to begin so they'd be in sync with one another, at least up until...

Oh.

Which way... captain?

Despite not concentrating too much on what was happening around him he did happen to notice that Mr Prefect was not putting any effort into rowing whatsoever. So much for teamwork then, eh? He gave him a LOOK.

Caolan’s nose started to wrinkle when the prefect talked about needing to pee. Now all he could think about was going to toilet and all of a sudden despite not needing to just FIVE minutes ago HE needed to pee too!

Great!

Thank YOU lazy bloomin’ prefect whose name he did not know. He knew some people nicknamed the toilet ‘the bog’ but they didn’t have to take it THAT literally!! If they didn’t hurry up rowing there was going to be a puddle on the inside of the boat as well as the outside. He grumbled under his breath about needing to keep his legs crossed for the rest of the journey now instead of concentrating on what direction they should go.

“Yeah I’ll agree with the majority” he nodded at Stella who had actually bothered to introduce herself. She looked like the sort of person that would be paying attention. And the small kid, Lucas agreed too and young kids weren’t worn down by education enough yet so they almost always tried extra hard, right? Maybe not but at least Lucas was putting effort into rowing the boat unlike some people so he trusted his opinion more..

Patrick’s eyes followed Zoryn’s movements as she looked to be trying to switch boats. Nah way too late for that. He figured he’d let her take the reigns cause he really hated these lightless classes.

Just as he got used to the rowing rythem the first light popped up. Great now was when it would become fun. Trying to follow the headmaster and not get burned. Great...

Hearing Zoryn y’all straight he just kept rowing... “just keep rowing, just keep rowing...” he started singing from his favorite movie from back home. Only this time he changed the words.

SPOILER!!: you three :3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

Daisy was looking for an available boat when she heard Derf's voice. She carefully boarded the boat as she noticed that Derf had just spotted Chloe in a seemingly fully occupied boat. "Sorry that you couldn't join Chloe, Derf," she said in a sympathetic voice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

Memorising whatever the headmaster was saying - Zachary was following through, not answering and more listening because even though not underestimating the lesson itself (because hey, fireballs could be coming his way soon enough), he was a little disappointed that they were learning about these creatures.

Regardless, the tall sixth year was one of the last ones to reach the edge - so his only option was to follow the blonder than life head boy, and join his boat.

"thanks" he uttered as he stepped inside, noticing how Derf was holding the boat steady.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PuppySara

... She was morbid? More like thoughtful... and maybe paranoid that magical creatures would have the same liking for her as they had her father... Which was not very much and why she was lucky to have a pygmy puff, who admittedly sneezed on him all the time and it seemed to dislike a him as much as a little pink ball of floof could.

But that was besides the point... She grabbed one of the oars from the boat and looked at the others in hers, "I'm Josephine, by the way..." She gave a weak smile and looked at the ball of light blinking as more appeared and traded directions...

Meep... Hopefully someone here was better at keeping track of where to go.

Huh? Derf couldn't help but blink at Daisy when she said that because er, what? He wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that a simple glance could be read into so much. Though he reckoned he was sorta appreciative that Daisy paid that much attention to him. "Er...thanks?" he nodded skeptically while ruffling his hair.

Next to join was Zachary who, well, Derf could admire him as a quidditch player though he had never really had much of a conversation with him. Precisely zero conversation with him, to be exact. Closest her been those handshakes before and after matches. "No problem," he nodded as the Slytherin got into the boat, followed soon after by Josephine. "Welcome aboard, Josephine."

Once the last spot on their boat had been claimed [this is still open to someone who needs it!], the seventh year pushed with all his might to give the boat a bit of a nudge into the water and then hopped into it at the last possible second. The boat rocked a bit, but otherwise there was no danger. Save for this fog which was thick and like his grandma's pea soup. It made the light from the headmaster's lantern all the more difficult to see...plus the sea of heads belonging to his classmates occasionally blocking it. Not to mention that they too, the other boats, faded in and out of visibility with the fog.

........and then there were a few lights. Then none. Then a few. Then two. Then none. And then finally one settled into visibility. Derf was pretty sure his eyes, which were already struggling with this activity and he found himself wishing he had the glasses Stephanie had given him on him now, were playing tricks on him.

"Left!" Derf instructed, dipping his oar into the water to begin that shift.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mar

Camilus was so excited to just get going. He noticed a boy who had been letting a girl join their boat, and hearing his name, he made his way over, not shy to hide his enthusiasm.

"Hi! I overheard your name, Septimus right? I'm Camilus, first year. Can I be the last recruit?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malachi

Malachi gets into the boat and grabs an oar, honestly glad he was accepted. He turn to the others and smiles slightly. "My name is Malachi (pernounced mal-soft a-kai), nice to meet you all."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zannash

"Hi" Mary said. She was a quiet person, but the night was equally quiet, so she was pretty sure he could hear it. She looked forward, towards the other side. Having memories of the boat ride that brought her to the feast, Mary really hoped it would be quick. She looked back towards the bot that just sat down and hoped for not too much sociality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2111jen

SPOILER!!: Septimus

As soon as Skyler took the oar, it was already time to move. Okay then, let's go.
"Thanks," she said and smiled slightly at her other boat mates. Whoops didn't realize they were there. Oh well, she decided to start rowing towards a light near them to see where they would lead, hopefully the others would take the hint...

The girl he had originally joined seemed okay with things albeit on the quiet and perhaps worried side. He made a note to keep an eye on her just in case. Septimus was wondering if they would have their five as other boats around them started to fill up from the remain students before a young Gryffindor spoke up calling his name. “Nice to meet you Camilus,” he said, responding to him, “Sure you can. All aboard,” he answered with a nod, handing out the last oar from their collection. “And you too,” he added to Malachi as the other boy chimed in. They were all set once they all came on board, just waiting on the headmaster to lead them on their way.

Alright, they were off!

Septimus set his oar carefully in the water and guided them away from the shore and after Professor Trent’s boat. That was the light they were supposed to be following after all. Just the light since the fog was getting thicker around it obscuring the man in question. Great. And there was another one. The fourth year kept an eye on the original one, doing his best to focus on it. They needed to go straight…not left. "Straight guys," he said aloud to make sure they were on the same page as they rowed. Straight on after the first light.