Though Headmaster Trent hadn’t meant to say that out loud, Nina was very pleased that he did. She responded to the praise with a dazzling smile both at him and at her peers. Were people purposefully answering with such stupid ideas? Ride the Kelpie? These people were out of their MINDS. If they had minds. Nina was starting to doubt it all just about now. She wasn’t surprised that there may be a safety seminar in their future. Not that Nina would need one, but everyone else? Yikes.

Happy hunting?

Nina didn’t like that. But she did walk over to the bucket and pick out a bridle. After carefully deciding between a few of the options. They were all the same, yes, but still. She was choosey. The last thing she needed was to select a defective one. With her bridle in hand, she walked herself back to her original spot to practice saying the incantation a few times and made sure to practice the wand movement as well. While her wandwork was never an issue, she liked to be prepared. Especially if they had time allotted for practice.

After a few minutes of practice she looked around before finding her wooden horse. Well then. Here it goes. ”Fixate,” she concentrated as she tried to guide the bridle to the horse’s face.

Yeaaaaah that didn’t go too well, but she had tried at least? Islay had managed to get the spell to work but the horse was gone, we can do this. She told her self as she cast the spell and started to walk to find the horse, trying not to get too far from everyone incase y’know the worst happened.

Moving her wand in the shape of the bridle she cast the spell again, “fixate.” And it moved much faster and more fluidly this time and she started walking the charmed bridle toward the horse, with it tucked behind her back so that the horse wouldn’t see it coming.

Maybe she could sneak it onto the kelpie without it reacting too badly?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayla Taaffe

A show sounded spectacular. She wanted to show people what she was made of. But Kelpies were another story.

Parents. A distraction. She wanted to be Auror. Merlin's beard!

Another distraction: not paying attention. Easy as pie! Concentrate, Vivienne!

Not at all engaged, the wooden horse turned from the girl and began making its way over toward the lake. If she ever decided to get to the task at hand, she knew where to find it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

After a few moments, Fiona fetched one of the bridles and approached one of the wooden horses, her wand at the ready and her face determined. Once she was a close but safe distance from the horse, she aimed her wand at the bridle and said firmly, "Fixate!"

She watched as the bridle began to move.

The bridle moved and the horse moved, too. Each time it came closer, the horse took another step back. Eventually, it turned completely, giving the girl it's rear end. The lake looked nice, perhaps it would go down there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

She pulled a bridle from one of the buckets and went to stand....about TEN feet from a very nice looking wooden horse. "You'll be named Fredrick....here's your bridle," she said simply, more under her breath than anything as she focused. She placed it on the ground...and....gave her wand a brandish. "Fixate!" she cried, and to her delight, it lifted into the air. WHOOH. SO now with her very delicate wrist movement, she moved with it and got closer....until she was about SEVEN feet from the wooden-horse-named-Fred and did her best to guide it to him. But she found her hold on the spell was shaky....she supposed because she wasn't close. She didn't WANT to get closer, though, because in a real life situation, she wouldn't necessarily be ABLE to. So....time to perfect that. She took a step backwards and continued to try to get the bridle on....her eyes were squinted in extreme focus.

Well this had been fun.

The wooden horse watched the bridle struggle to stay up and the girl who must've thought it diseased to be keeping at such a distance. If she wanted to play all the way over there, he would be over the other way. In the lake. The wooden horse began making its way.

Was she coming?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

He slumped his shoulders. Maybe he ought to just give up?

Noah turned away from the horse momentarily trying to regain his composure. He paused and picked up his wand. He didn't attempt the spell again. Instead he focused on drawing the bridle with his wand. Noah continued to practice this until he felt confident in his abilities. Right... Okay.. Wait. Where did the horse go? He had LOST a wooden horse...

Everything was fiiiiiiiine. it was fine.

By this point, the horse had gotten to the edge of the lake. It paused and looked back at the boy impatiently. Was he coming along or not? They didn't have all day. Must he do all the work in this drowning?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

She grabbed a bridle and watched for her classmates to get to work. Very unsuccessfully. It appeared that kelpies didn't like the sight of the bridle, so a slow approach didn't work. And a fast approach seemed to startle them. And Kale was getting eaten. "SOMEONE SAVE KALE!"

Phoebe flung herself at where her best bud was being eaten alive. She almost threw the bridle, but instead she thrust it toward the horse and shouted, "FIXATE." Not that she expected it to work, but maybe it would distract the kelpie and save a life.

The boy who's sleeve was currently in his mouth was a tad too big for the bridle to be effectively placed on the horse's mouth but the sudden appearance of the girl DID cause it to release the sleeve and rear up on its hind legs.

The raised legs kicked in the air and it snorted furiously at the pair of them. Someone was going into the lake with it today. They would have to decide but someone WAS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by love-for-HP

Fixate, Fixate, Fixate - That was the spell he was suppose to be preforming. With a this horse in front of him ... umm.... that would require him getting nearer the horse that he didn't really want to.

But slowly approaching the wooden horse, at least it wasn't a real kelpie this time ... but Blake wouldn't put much past the headmaster anymore ...

"Fixate" He shouted with the bridle in tow, Blake said it was confidence he was sure that the bridal would stick .. he was sure of it...right???

There were very few things in life that were sure. This was not one of them. The horse charged toward the floating bridle, leaping when it was close enough to go right over it. This landed it mere centimetres from the boy.

It stomped and its nostrils flared in discontent. Keep that bridle AWAY.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

K separated the two bridles, leaving one near her horse while she returned the other to the bucket, and came back with new determination, even if she was unfortunately reduced to staring at the rear end of the creature. She glanced around seeing that it appeared no one else was having quite the success yet, and turned to square her shoulders and try again.

She aimed her wand at the bridle she had left, Fixate!. Thankfully, it rose in the air, ONE bridle. However ... now there was the difficulty of trying to figuring out how to get to the head of the horse.

Merlin's beard.

The head of the horse you say? Why, it was following--leading, rather--the rest of the horse toward the lake. It's backside remained in the girl's view but if she wanted him, she would have to follow along.

Come to the water, child.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Isla got a good grasp on the bridle and tossed the first part of it into the air right in front of her. "FIXATE!" she called out, and then she used the point of her wand to guide it toward the horse and hopefully secure it into place. With any luck, maybe the part that secured its mouth shut would go on first, and then she could use a little magic to get the rest in place.

Hopefully.

Not likely.

Hopefully secure in place? Did the girl think the horse would stand there and wait patiently for her to get it locked down?

Hardly. It watched the bridle only a moment before turning and dashing toward the lake. If she wanted to bridle it that badly, she'd follow him into the waer.

Hmm...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Naya tried not to panic. Panic only made things worse. Focus was what she needed, focus and concentration. Taking a few steps back, she raised her wand again. Naya went through the proper motions and said, “Fixate”, more forcefully this time. Moving back a little further, she concentrated on guiding the bridle toward the horse. She had to get it place. She had to because if she missed, it would only anger the horse more. The Headmaster wouldn’t let her get trampled by a kelpie horse......would he? Hopefully she would handle the situation and not have to find out.

With the proximity of the horse to the girl, the clooooose, proximity, it would surely have been awkward for her to manuevre her arm in such a way as to get a good angle on the horse's face without getting her arm bitten off. In fact, the horse's face was quite close to her own and each time she moved forward, it moved forward.

It shook its head firmly, not at all inclined to simply stand still and let her do as she pleased. When the bridle was close enough, it chomped down on one side, turned, and darted for the water. She'd have to come get it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by macaroni

She tossed the bridle in the air, making sure to follow it with her nose. Didn't want that hitting her on the head, did she? That happened to one of her teammates once, and her mom had to drive her to the emergency room. Except it was a ball and not a bridle, and it wasn't at 'early-o-clock' in the morning. She did have a very minor concussion, though. Not Alexia. Her teammate.

Rooted feet. Clear throat. Wand out. She was definitely making the first two instructions up. Anyway....

"Fixate!" She practically yelled the words as she hurriedly made the wand motions. She was feeling pretty confident right now. Maybe a little TOO confident.

While she was wasting time throwing the bridle into the air unnecessarily, the horse had taken that as all the warning it needed. It turned and made for the lake as some of its companions had.

It was kind of the girl to go out of her way to give it so much warning. Let it return the favour. Care to join for a swim? The water was fine and the horse was already stepping in.

Hurry now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Fixateeeeeeeee, she practiced the wand movement and words to herself a few times before fetching a bridle. And a horse. Fixate fixate fixate. How hard could this be?

"Oi, horsie, watch this!" she called out LOUDLY, making sure the fake horse had its attention on her as she aimed the bridle straight for its snout. What had her housemate said? PUNCH IT ON THE SNOUT. Hehehe. If Bernie didn't concentrate, the bridle might do exactly that....

Watch what?

Her?

But she wasn't doing anything. Ah, the bridle, yes, of course. Uninterested in becoming bridled, the horse simply turned its hind quarters to her. Must protect its face at all cost. Turning this way made that easier. Turning this way was the plan.

Take that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Nina didn’t like that. But she did walk over to the bucket and pick out a bridle. After carefully deciding between a few of the options. They were all the same, yes, but still. She was choosey. The last thing she needed was to select a defective one. With her bridle in hand, she walked herself back to her original spot to practice saying the incantation a few times and made sure to practice the wand movement as well. While her wandwork was never an issue, she liked to be prepared. Especially if they had time allotted for practice.

After a few minutes of practice she looked around before finding her wooden horse. Well then. Here it goes. ”Fixate,” she concentrated as she tried to guide the bridle to the horse’s face.

Was that a snack? Surely it was. The girl couldn't be trying to bridle it, so it must be a snack. As suck, when the bridle was close enough, the wooden horse reached out and chomped down on one of its sides.

This belonged to the horse now. It turned with the stolen bridle and began toward the lake.

Did she want this back?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist.Prime

Moving her wand in the shape of the bridle she cast the spell again, “fixate.” And it moved much faster and more fluidly this time and she started walking the charmed bridle toward the horse, with it tucked behind her back so that the horse wouldn’t see it coming.

Maybe she could sneak it onto the kelpie without it reacting too badly?

By now, the horse had hit the water of the lake. It moved in among its companions, minding its own business. Was the girl ready?

Perhaps she'd like to step into the water and give this a real shot? It was waiting.

She had stayed quiet for the rest of the discussions, just standing their with her sour look and listening, yes, even though she was made at him, she was still listening. Chloe did want her marks to be good even if her quidditch was slipping. So she listened and wide looked at everyone including her brother. How were they giving these types of answers and did the headmaster really consider this safe? Maybe he should pick who continued and who needed to go back to the basics.

As he flicked his wand though and the horses appeared, Chloe soon forgot about her annoyance as curiosity grew. She would go back to holding her grudge after the horses disappeared or they were all killed with whatever this lesson was going to be, for now she headed over to grab the bridle and searched for a horse that wasn't trying to harm another student. Were they all this crazy? It seemed that way, but she did bust up laughing seeing Ewan's take off towards the water with the bridle not in the right place. It wasn't anything again Ewan, it was just a funny sight and if he needed her help she'd try to help, but she did need to find her own horse too.

Moving along she was noticing a horse alone and thought maybe she could sneak up on it. Moving as quietly as possible she was just about to send her bridle over when a horse reared up and two third years were in it's path. Turning quickly she flicked her wand "Fixate" and sent the bridle it's way instead as it went towards the horse she moved to get in front of them with her wand. If she needed she would send another spell towards it, though Trent might not like her burning the wooden horse in his class, though if it was the horse or his son, which one would he pick? She figured it would be his son, but Chloe still wasn't wanting to gamble the odds of her getting her first ever detention because she burned wooden horses.

..........
..............
......................."REALLY?!"

He had not even held up the bridle as he was still walking towards the wooden horse and the thing was already running toward the lake! But was Minjae mad? no. In fact he LOVED the reaction and now he got why the Headmaster had mentioned that he would need the energy. If he had gotten the bridle on without any trouble it would be very boring.

Without a second hesitation, the fifth year RAN after the horse as fast as his short legs would let him. Dashing over the grass , jumping over a stray rock getting closer to the lake water. There was probably a proper way to deal with running horses but did he look like a professional? Absolutely not.

But wooden horses couldn't swim right? Which meant that if he continued running he would be able to corner the horse and once he was sure that he was near enough to use the charm, Minjae took out his wand from his robe pocket while he was still running and pointed it at the bridle in his other hand. "FIXATE!" he shouted and let the bridle go as it hovered in the air. He directed it towards the horse's face and hoped for the best.

Okay. That had just happened apparently. One moment, he’d been about to attach the bridle to the wooden horse and the next moment, it was trying to take his head off!

How? What? Why?

With a small sigh, he trudged off towards the water, wand held up in front of him, not ready to give up. Part of him, and a very small part of him, was kind of happy for the challenge. If his has gone on straight away, where would the fun have been in that?

Briefly, he noted that what had happened to his horse had also happened to several other’s too. Guess not everyone had had an easy time either.

As he neared the water’s edge, he slowed down so as not to get too close, making sure he wasn’t close enough for the creature to pull him in. Sure, this was a wooden horse but he wasn’t about to let himself be covered in splinters. Eyes fixed on the creature, he muttered ”Fixete” again, this time, with the aim of just trying to get it unstuck from the creatures legs.

One step at a time Jones. One step at a time, he repeated in his head as he tried to untangle it.

Oh great. Just because some people were stupid, they all would have to sit through a boring safety seminar. Way to go, guys!

That said, Whitney thought it was a rather good thing they were only working with animated wooden horses. Really, what harm could they do? She had an urge to swing the bridle she’d chosen around like a lasso before putting it on her chosen horse but resisted. She was a Ravenclaw after all, not a silly Gryffindor. Instead, she approached the horse calmly and slipped the bridle over it’s face. ”Fixate.” The spell was uttered with her wand pointed at the bridle, of course.

WHY WAS HER HORSE LEAVING AND GOING INTO THE LAKE?! She wished her elbows were weapons she could USE NOW. She glanced over at Noah to see if he was having any better luck. Because NOW she was going to have to go wading into the murkiness of the Black Lake to chase after her wooden horse.

"Listen here, Fred, I really am NOT TRYING TO HURT YOU," she said as she shed her robe...no need getting the bottoms wet. She even rolled her sleeves, giving the floating bridle a break before casting FIXATE again and getting even CLOSER to the horse. "Come on now...easy does it..." she muttered, watching as other horses entered the lake, too. She clenched her teeth. Why hadn't Headmaster Trent told them to wear bathing suits to class today? They were going to get.....well, soaked.

She was getting more apt at the spell, at least, and as she waded into the water, about ankle deep, she could SEE that her bridle was SO CLOSE to being attached to her horse. She was muuuuuch closer to her horse than before.

ALMOST THERE ABOLI.

This was definitely not working out the way that Naya had planned. The horse was getting a little too close into her personal space and if this was a real life situation, she would probably be dead by now. As hard as she tried, she was not able to get the bridle onto the horse. And then......oh no he didn’t. Did the horse just bite her bridle? Naya guessed it was better the bridle than one of her body parts.

The horse took off and ran........toward the lake? Seriously dude? Was she supposed to follow him to her doom? Naya had no desire to visit the bottom of the lake via a wooden horse/kelpie ride. If this was happening for real, it would be her opportunity to run in the opposite direction. Why would anyone in their right mind follow a demon horse toward water? This was class, however, and she was meant to bridle the horse or was this a stupidity test?

With a reluctant sigh, Naya slowly headed toward the water. She had no intention of actually getting close to either the water or the horse. Could the spell work from a distance? She was about to find out. With plenty of distance between herself and the horse, Naya aimed her wand at the bridle bitten bridle and said, “Fixate”. The odds of her moving the bridle that far and getting it over the horses head were slim to none, but she had to try........from a safe distance of course. Maybe if she aimed for where she thought the horse might go next, rather than where he actually was, she had a slightly better chance. Maybe.

The bridle was definitely not supposed to go on top of the horse's head.

And the horse was definitely not supposed to go into the water.

"Nooo!" Flora was off, chasing after the horse towards the lake with a different bridle in her hands. Hehe. How many bridles would she be allowed to stick to the horse before it weighed him down enough to properly secure one? Well, she didn't know. But if the horse kept acting the way it was acting, she was sure she'd find out soon enough.

"Fixate, fixate, fixate!" She made an attempt the THROW the bridle at the horse's head, hoping that she would somehow, MAGICALLY hit the correct spot this time. "You are made of wood, horse! You can't go into the water! You'll get WOOD ROT!"

She might've been a little jealous of that kid being eaten.

In the time he had taken to figure out how he wanted to go about getting the bridle onto the wooden horse it had walked away! Lukas blinked at it watching it for a moment before shaking his head to clear his thought.

Standing here doing nothing was not getting him anywhere.

Slowly he followed after the 'horse' keeping what he hoped was a safe distance between himself and it as well as the others around him. "Fixate," he cast aiming his wand at the bridle in his hand, only nothing happened.

No, no. Now was NOT the to not be able to do this. He closed his eyes a second, took a deep breath and blew it out as he opened his eyes. "Fixate!" he repeated firmly again a small grin on his face as the bridle rose from his grasp towards the 'horse'. He could do this. All he had to do was get the bridle onto the 'horses' face area.

The bridle drifted towards the 'horse', Lukas inching closer very slowly to make sure the bridle made it all the way to where it was supposed to go. Please land on it's head!

Oh no.

The horse had escaped from her. Claudine thought of this as both a good and bad thing. For one thing, this meant that she was away from Cole and so she would get to practice better. The bridle was brought along with her and as she approached her runaway horse, she set it on the ground. “Hi again,’’ she said softly. She rubbed the thing’s neck for a moment. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”

Her wand was readied. “Fixate.’’ When nothing happened with the bridle, she tried again. “Fixate. Fixate.’’ And again and again. Claudine looked nervously towards the horse. If she didn’t hurry, it was going to run away again. “Fixate.’’ Finally something happened. She stared with utmost concentration at the bridle as it moved as was directed by the wand. Closer and closer she brought it to the horse and soon it was ready to slip onto the thing.

Would it let her do that though?

Kale was fixated (hehehe ba dum pun)
on the wooden horse as it approached him. This was his moment. THE moment. He was going to make the horse his friend and prove that his dinner and show idea was absolutely solid. Innovative even.

The third year cleared his throat and prepared to sing--

The wooden chompers clamped down on his shirt. Forget singing. He YELPED.

It was a big horse. Up close. A big ol' scary horse. His eyes went big and alarmed as he was dragged toward the water.



It galloped closer and closer to the water, which Kale loudly protested.

So he cried out in relief when he was released. But his calm utterly shattered when he looked down at his arm. His shirt sleeve was in utter TaTTeRs. And he felt his eyes well-up with tears. WAAAAAAH. He wasn't any good at transfiguring his clothes. How was he going to FIX THIS TEAR?!

Oh yeah. And there was a wooden horse planning to stomp on he and Fifi's face. That was, uh, happening, too.

Oh look, Kale thought, as he cradled his ruined shirt sleeve, someone was coming to save them from untimely death. Or at least try.

"Wait!" Alexia wasn't quite sure why she was calling out to a wooden horse like it was a pet dog she was going to be able to control. She obviously COULDN'T control it. Because while she was attempting the spell, her horse had turned away towards the water. What was she supposed to do now? Was this a cruel trick? Was the Professor trying to get her to swim today? Was that what he had meant earlier? She didn't exactly pack a swimsuit today, and the water looked pretty cold and dark.

Not that she was scared or anything. Definitely not. Alexia just didn't want to get in trouble by jumping into the very water she was no supposed to jump into. That wasn't being scared, that was common sense, and also being a good student.
She needed a plan though, and she was going to have to think of one fast.

Maybe she could try and get the bridle on while it was heading towards the lake? With that question posed, she was moving. This shouldn't be hard, running was like an old muscle memory to her. And how fast could a magical wooden horse go anyway. This was at most, a minor setback.

Okay, there had to be something different that would make this work, but she couldn't think of anything. Thinking and running together was HARD. Normally when she ran, the objective was already cemented in her mind. Go to the next base. She didn't exactly know the objective here. Besides the main objective of not ending up in the water. That was an important one to remember.

She couldn't help but feel a little silly, chasing a wooden horse. But maybe this was what she needed. One more time on the spell.

"Fixate!" Alexia was hoping, no, praying that this was going to work. Because she didn't really have any other options besides this. At least not any planned right now.

"Noooooooooooo," bad horsie! Bernie let out a giggle as the horse showed her its rear. She dropped the fixate spell holding the bridle in the air and instead pointed her wand at the horse to turn it around.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She turned the horse around and plopped it back on the ground. "Now, stay there! Annnnnnnnnnnd fixate!"

Attempt #2 to get the bridle on the horse's snout.

Isla watched, defeated, as the horse dashed further into the water. With a curious expression spreading across her face, she turned to the headmaster. "Headmaster? What am I missing here?" she asked. "I mean, the horse is moving away from me, so can't I just walk or run away at this point? It seems kind of pointless to go after it." She wasn't challenging him at all. She was genuinely curious. If that kelpie wanted to run away, then let it. That's what Isla wanted it to do...

Was Fixate the only spell he wanted them to use? Because she was thinking Petrificus Totalus might come in handy if the kelpie kept running away...

With a sigh, she scooped up the bridle and began wading into the water...after a wooden horse. "You better be glad these aren't my good shoes," she told it. "Can't you just stay in one place?" She was getting tired and hungry, so being hangry was the obvious next feeling coming on. Then it hit her...no, not the horse. An idea! When she got close enough, she aimed her wand toward the horse instead of the bridle. "Fixate!" she said.

Then she tossed the bridle back into the air and casted Fixate a second time. She repeated what she'd tried before, and that was to move the bridle onto the horses face with the guidance of her wand, hopefully all happening without it taking another gallop further into the water. If it did, she couldn't make any promises she'd go after it...

.......... WHAT.

Did it just??? Um. Nina GLARED (because clearly glaring at the wooden horse would get it to stop before it reached the lake, right?). She did, however, go walking after it too. Not running because running would look ridiculous and she did not plan on looking ridiculous today. Or ever. Thank you very much. She had a reputation to uphold here.

As such, she simply GLARED and walked at a pace far faster than she typically walked at. It's called power walking. Look it up.

"Accio bridle!" she called out concentrating very hard on the particular bridle her wooden horse was currently SNACKING on.

WELL THEN.

Why did Missa think this would be easy? Because when has easy made them learn anything? There must be a reason the headmaster made them think about battle plans, right?

Keeping her cool, the brunette refused to look away from the horse - even though there was someone being highly distracting and DARTING through the grounds toward the lake after their chosen horse.

Reaching the edge, she pointed her wand at her own horse and firmly called out, “Immobulus!”

Quote:

Originally Posted by *screams* wooden horse

By now, the horse had hit the water of the lake. It moved in among its companions, minding its own business. Was the girl ready?

Perhaps she'd like to step into the water and give this a real shot? It was waiting.

Islay walked to the edge of the lake and squared her shoulders ready to, if she had to, step into the water and do this. She was not going to die today ”Fixate” she cast the spell once more as she tried to guide the bridle to her horse as it stood there, defiantly at the water’s edge.

Maybe this would go well - maybe hopefully no one would die today.

Wait..... Kelpies took on unassuming forms? Wasn't that the point of Hogwarts lessons for them to know how something is a kelpie? Because Carsyn may have read somewhat and listening to her peers given their answers, it seemed she knew more ... at least in that she didn't have a death wish. Honestly, she was terrified upon hearing some of these answers. Hadn't the Headmaster literally JUST SAID to NOT ride it?!? Like she might not have known how to tell if something was a kelpie, but she apparently was growing up more skeptical the older she got. If you would have asked her a year or two ago, yes, maybe she'd have just jumped on its back. Maybe toooo that is the reason half her peers would too. But now?

"I ... don't know." She admittedly quietly, honestly, to answer the Headmaster's question about knowing it was a kelpie. But the flying answer by Józef was a good one and Carsyn was sad she hadn't considered it; obviously he meant fly by broom.... summon his broom and that was a wondrous answer and the sixth year stared admirably for a moment in appreciation.


Basic safety seminar. So basically just a lesson about vigilance?

Moving on though, they were practicing the placement charm on a bunch of wooden horses.

Okay but how could wooden horses be dangerous??! That was when she noted Phoebe was going after Kale being dragged toward the lake... but oh, Chloe McCarthy was on it.... okay, they would be alright. Well then, hmmm, may as well practice her own because she was pretty sure she was going to be needing it to rescue others.

"Fixate," She rehearsed for a moment or two, her eyes watching carefully of her own wooden horse. She hadn't done any sort of offense yet, sooo surely she'd have a moment or two to get the bridle, but just in case, she took a tip from hearing Nina Castillo and summoned a bridle herself. Quicker the better, yes? "Accio bridle," she aimed at the bucket.

Dear Merlin, Blake stood frozen in fear or ... terror more likely as the wooden horse charged at him/ the floating bridle. And then it leaped well over them around them whatever you want call it, but Blake blinked a few times and was finally able to compose himself and recover.

"Okay then horsey ..." Blake took a deep breath and prepared himself again... Moving closer .. slowly .. ever so slowly ... "Fixate" Blake said, this time not shouting, but could feel the air of authority in his voice. It WAS going to work this time ... it had to, he had to prove himself at some point to the headmaster.

"Whoa!" Cecelia backed away quickly, hands held up to show that she didn't mean any harm. These horses were a bit testy, huh? She was going to have to do better than that if she hoped to get the bridle on it without getting attacked. "Accio bridle." She wasn't about to move closer to retrieve it, that's for sure. Once she had it, she set it by her feet and eyed the horse again. Round two, buddy.

Concentrating real hard, or as hard as Cecelias could concentrate, the third year tried again. "Fixate!" Her aim was better this time and she made sure not to worry about anything (not even Phoebe yelling for someone to save Kale) but getting the bridle on the horse's head.

Heath’s cheeks blushed the bright red shade of a Sith lightsaber at the barrage of questions from the headmaster. He wasn’t at all confident in his answer beforehand, but now he felt like a total idiot! He thought for a moment. If spells didn’t work on the kelpie itself, he would need to use them on something else. Possibly create a physical barrier out of an object nearby? Place an engorgement charm on a rock in the kelpie’s path or something… He had ideas, just none he felt confident about enough to voice. Not wanting to humiliate himself in front of everyone any further, he stammered, “I-I don’t know, sir.” Point taken: his answer wasn’t good enough. Story of his life…

It took all of Heath’s concentration to block out his embarrassment and self- loathing long enough to pay attention to the placement charm demonstration. Great, something else for him to mess up… He had a really bad feeling about this activity, even before he saw the wooden horses! His eyes widened at the sight, but somehow he willed himself not to run or freeze as he remembered the headmaster's instructions.

He decided to use the brief amount of time it took him to walk to the bucket of bridles to practice the individual components of the spell. "Fixate, fixate…" he repeated, keeping his voice down to try not to tip off the horse. He had just enough time to trace the wand movement a couple of times before he reached the bucket. Bridle in hand, it was time to try the spell for real now! Heath turned toward the nearest horse and cast, "Fixate!" Absolutely nothing happened.

"Fixate!" he tried again, speaking more firmly. This time, he managed to get the bridle in the air. Now he just needed to keep it there long enough to guide it! Come on, concentrate! Keep your focus, and… Did it work? Did he do it?

Well then. Maybe it was stupid of her to presume that the placement charm would work on the first try. But did the horse really have to show her its rear end? So rude, honestly. Avalon glanced around at her classmates, somewhat relieved that nobody else seemed to be having any success either. And Merlin, one of the third years was being dragged toward the lake. Was it ever a proper DADA class if somebody didn't leave injured?

There had to be something to else to this activity. Headmaster Trent would never expect them to just put a bridle over a wooden horse and be done with it. There was always some trick to it. Could the trick have something to do with the water? And why did Trent say 'Happy Hunting' before they started?

Maybe they had to give the horse something to hunt first. Were they supposed to lure the horse? That truly seemed like a terrible idea. She could be dragged away like poor Kale. Maybe a distraction would be better. Something to catch the horse's attention. But she didn't really have anything on her to use. Glancing down at the ground, she noticed a fairly large rock. Well, it was worth a shot. Hopefully she would make it out of this class alive today. She picked up the rock, steadied her wand in her other hand, pointing it at the bridle. Then, she heaved the rock, aiming for the water right behind the horse. The second that she released the rock into the air, she exclaimed "Fixate!" and quickly moved the bridle into position, prepared to lower it onto the horse's head right when it turned to look at the plunk of the rock into the lake. Merlin, she hoped this would work.

Expand on the flying? Sure, Jó could do that! "Well, you know Headmaster, a lot of people are saying they would run away. But horses are pretty fast, and I don't know how fast the Kelpie!horses are, but I bet they're as fast if not faster. And even though I'm fast, I'm not stupid enough to think I'm faster than a horse -" stupid, yes, but not that stupid - "so I'd either have my broom on me, or it would be close enough to summon. And then I'd fly away."

DUH.

Now, however, they were talking about practicing on these horse-dummy-things? Interesting. Scoping out how his classmates were doing, it looked as though these horses were pretty smart, and fairly fast. After all, they were avoiding the bridles like it was their job.

Eyeing the one in front of him for a moment before he went to the bucket, Józef wondered if there was any way to trick it. The best way, probably, would be to distract it with another live object - or seemingly live object, but transfiguration wasn't his strong point and he couldn't conjure anything like that, either. So instead, he grabbed two bridles. Maybe, if he could make it think he was trying to put one bridle on, get it to focus on that.....

Returning to his horse-dummy-thing, Jó took a deep breath and dropped one of the bridles on the ground. Flicking his wrist holster so his wand landed in his right hand, he used his left hand to wave the other bridle around in front of the horse, hoping that its eyes would follow that, and not the one he was planning on actually putting on it.

"Fixate." he muttered under his breath, taking his eyes off the horse for a moment to make sure the spell had worked. Trying to suppress a grin, he focused on moving the bridle upto the horses muzzle.