Well someone was a little touchy.

Drew was not bothered by the other guy's attitude he had dealt with worse, he had gone to Beaubaxtons for three years. He merely shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing. It just looked more interesting than what was going on over there." He glanced back at the group just in time to see the Headmaster gesturing for them to move closer to the group.

Were they doing stretches?

Well now things had just got interesting over there, oh man now he was torn between seeing what the Snake was up to and going to join in with the stretching, because there were girls...stretching. He gave himself a shake, maybe he should give himself a break from hitting on the girls at least for an afternoon anyway.

"Do you need help with anything?" He asked finally dragging his gaze away from the exercising group and turning back to the Slytherin.

Islay’s cheeks flushed as she heard realized what she had said. “Sorry, its…I’m not the best with names,” she murmured, “my apologies Headmaster Trent,” she bit down on the edge of her lip and smiled as apologetically as she could.

It was nice that he didn’t fight her on the hair ruffle, after all she probably would have just pouted at him until he let her do it. Besides, it looked so fluffy she just had to. Islay just turned her head toward Noah and raised an eyebrow, “I really, don’t remember doing this much stretching last year…so this is new?” she shrugged as she spread out her arms and hoped that she didn’t stretch them into someone’s face.

That, would be unfortunate.

In no way shape or form was Charlie going to participate in this little activity that the headmaster had brought upon them. She felt obligated to be there because obviously the headmaster was her head of house. But sports was absolutely not her thing. She had just given her nails a fresh look and didn’t want to ruin that yet.

Plus she had much better things. Like admiring a few of the Slytherin boys. It was all good until someone mentioned the purple skies. Oh Merlin she did not need to be stormed on. She had just gotten a dry day to not feel like she was living in a perpetual lake. Sighing she watched as everyone began to stretch. She supposed she could pretend she was interested in stretching.

Nodding to Islay and Noah and Carsyn was fine, that was all good, but Bernie did NOT trust the Headmasterprofessor's smile; it was very wolf-like to her!!! She DID relax only slightly when...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Phoebe came barrrrrrrreling down the hill, pumped by the music and her friends there and HI HEADMASTER. It was exciting, ok? And loud and busy and there was FOOD. Merlin, the food alone would be enough to bring Phoebe down to the party, and it wasn't JUST food. It was food and OTHER STUFF.

"I made up a cheer for the Gryffindors. It has some rude words in it, honestly, so I'll just say it in my head." She hugged the Headmaster and then she hugged Professor Cheekbones and then she hugged Bernie.

...Phoebe successfully hugged him!? WOW! She hugged Pheebs back and whispered, "You can tell me the song. I like rude words." And she was a VERY good hummer, or so she told herself, so she could just hum around any bad words when they went to sing it.

And now came the stretching. Great! So this was going to be just like Schmoe's Jazzercise class. And one and two and she touched her toes and nose and left and right and was Claudine here yet? Bernie was really really looking forward to giving her a big SMACKSMACK with one of the hot dog things.

Lots more were showing up, which was definitely delightful to Carsyn that soooo many wanted to take part in this competition. Of course she just KNEW that Gryfffindors were going to win, so no need to really comment back to Noah. Polite nods all around.

Although, why was Eiji walking over that way?? Didn't he know the group was this way? She was actually surprised to be honest that he was even outside to begin with, but shrugged it off because one, Drew was there with him and two... they were starting.

Wait, what was Phoebe on about with a less than appropriate cheer?? Carsyn's interest was peaked and she moved over to the younger lion to whisper at her, "I'd like to hear it later, if you don't mind."

Now, stretching... she was good with this. Up down .... arm circles, ankle circles, one arm over chest and then the other, reaching down to touch her toes and back up again...

Oh yeah, look at all those supportive snakes and lions showing up! Piers had his doubts about how many people would actually turn up, but he was pretty impressed with the turn out. As each student arrived and greeted them, Piers greeted them back, occasionally glancing at the sky and wondering what was going on with it.

Whatever, it was time to get started. Piers glanced at Trent as he got the ball rolling with some stretches. Yes, good, stretching was a VITAL prequel to doing any physical activity. Did this count as a health and wellness club meeting? Heh.

Piers followed the Headmaster into doing some stretches, bending this way and that way. He wouldn't actually be participating in any activities, but there was some quote somewhere about leading by example. "Come on, Rasting, you too," Piers called out to the boy in the back. He wasn't getting into a fight with that Gryffindor, was he?

"Isla, we're stretching, this isn't ballet." What on earth was she doing? TRYING to hurt herself?

After a few minutes of good stretching, with a glance toward the Headmaster, Piers decided it was time to get the ball rolling and start some activities. The charms professor clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone, let's get this thing started! We're gonna do some stretches!" Yeah! Stretches were SO IMPORTAN-

Wait.

..... They just did stretches.

Did he really just forget that?

"Err... just kidding." It was a joke. hA HA. Ha.

"Okay, we need two volunteers!" Piers said, throwing an arm towards the foam pit. "One Slytherin and one Gryffindor, right up!" Yes, it was time for that FRIENDLY competition! "And, err... the Headmaster is going to go over the rules." Piers looked over at Trent with a questioning look. "There's rules, right?" This seemed like it could be dangerous without rules.

Turning his head slightly to see Summers properly, Nem grinned, matching her eagerness, sans the bouncing. "Sounds like it! I've never done anything like this before." Not the whole foam and padded melee weapon situation, anyway.

Looking back at Trent again briefly, Nem then glanced towards the pit. "Cool." More than likely the Headsman wouldn't be wild about 'first to draw blood' rules, so Nem opted to not make the suggestion. Maybe he could get some other kids together for that kind of thing another time. "Oh, no worries. I'm sure I'll fall in sooner or later."

Stretching time, too right. No need for unnecessary injuries from strains and strains. Save that for being belted around the face and in the guts with a pugil stick.

But also, a lot of eyes seemed to be on that sky. Nem looked up again too, and then nudged Summers to get her attention again before moving into a space for stretching reasons. "I read a theory once that said the end of the world will start with a purple sky," he said, at a normal conversational volume so she could hear him, while doing the stretches Trent had shown them, and then some. "Something to do with all the excess magic - purple being a big magical colour and all - from billions of spells building up in the atmosphere and suddenly mixing and spreading. And then becoming this sort of big unstable cloak of energy that eats away at the world and eventually destroys it." Crazy stuff! "Doubt it's true, though. This is probably just a storm."

Anyway, Nem was ready to get this thing rolling, and-

... Interesting. He shuffled closer to Summers again and said now, in a much lower voice, "Memory lapses?" before glancing ~worriedly~ at Fuller-Thompson, and then at the sky... and leaving it at that. It was probably fiiiiiiiine.

At the request for volunteers for the activity, Nem kept quiet and watched the others who had assembled.

Isla was enjoying another spin 'round and 'round when she happened to overhear her name. Fuller-Thompson had noticed her sudden launch into ballet. "Sorry!" she said to her Head-of-House. "I just couldn't help it! The opportunity just presented itself!" She'd stop now, though, mainly because they were now looking for volunteers.

Hmm...

Isla considered it, but she stayed quiet for now. What kind of Slytherin would she be if she just jumped headfirst into whatever it was they wanted them to do? She'd wait and see what kind of shenanigans they were up to first. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and then she looked around. Volunteer? Oh, volunteer? Wherefore art thou? Looking at you, Bernadette O. Grantham! She hadn't missed the fact that Nem, too, had passed on the opportunity.

Claudine, who really wasn’t a huge fan of Trent these days because of his lessons {truely, she was still mad at herself for failing strongly during some of said lessons} threw him a skeptical look. Really? He wasn’t worried? It was purple for crying out loud. Well, they’d find out soon enough if they should be worried about this strange happening.

She was only too glad to put distance between herself and others. Once done, she began to follow Trent as best as she could. See? Claudine could actually do okay-ish at something Trent taught. Claudine was also judging her fellow students, especially that certain set she was avoiding. What in the blazes was some of them doing? Making a fool of themselves, that’s what.

The third year rested her hands on her hips as Fuller-Thompson began to speak. Did he know that he had bumped himself up onto her very short list of favourite Hogwarts persons? No? Well, she’d never tell him that but he was. Anyway, Claudine remained silent for a moment, wondering who was going to volunteer for Slytherin.

Nem didn’t. Nor did Bernie’s new bff.

Oh, what the heck?

Claudine raised her hand and waved it slightly, her eyes on her Head of House.

Here's your Snake volunteer!

Oh look at that, they were looking for tributes. Bernie totalllllllllllly wasn't going to put herself up for this, until.... ah. AHAHAHAHA. Who did she just say she wanted to SMACKSMACKSMACK with a giant foam hot dog?

Claudine Blaze.

Bernie THREW her hand in the air now. "I VOLUNTEER, HEADMASTER HEAD OF HOUSE PROFESSOR, SIR."

PLEASE let her do this. Her volunteerism was not based on a petty need for revenge, no not all. This was all for HOUSE PRIDE and all that jazz.

"Me neither," The blonde admitted, though it was clear from her body language that she was dying to try. Who WOULDN'T want to whack their classmates off a balance beam type thingy into a pit of foam blocks? It was a no brainer. It was something you wanted to do. It just was.

Headmaster Trent was doing it wrong, did he know? She was practically an expert on stretching and so the little lioness thought she would just do her own version. Deciding to start from her neck and work her way down, Cecelia rolled her head towards the right, humming to herself. She paused briefly to glance at Nem when he nudged her, a nudge from Nem always warranting one's full attention, and followed his gaze to the sky. Wait....what? Brow furrowed, the blonde glanced at the Slytherin as she rolled her shoulders. "But magic has been around for ages and nothing has happened in all that time. Why now?" He had to be wrong. Or, well, whoever had come up with that theory had to be. It was just silly...

Continuing to stretch, arms being her focus now, she tried to put what he'd said out of her mind. TRIED. Only the sky did seem to be getting purpler. Purple-er. More purple now that she was really paying attention to it. Or was it?

>_>

......

"He's just...old, Nem. It's nothing." Or WAS it something?

!!!

She didn't have time to volunteer because Cecelia Summers was now wondering if these were the last stretches she'd ever do.

Hmm...now this taken an interesting turn of events. Surprisingly, Claudine Blaze had been the first to volunteer for the Snakes, and to make things even more interesting, Bernie volunteered just a split second later. Isla had no idea what was planned for them, but whatever it was, it was about to get good.

The She-Snake edged her way through the small crowd of people to try and get a front row view. It was too bad it was one house versus the other, because Isla didn't even have a preference as to which one she'd like to see win. Not that she had anything against either one, because she truthfully she didn't. She just knew a good show in the making when the signs started popping up.

Ah good they were nice and limber and it was time to begin.

Oh look! Students!

When had they gotten here?

"Yes, yes, let's begin with stretches!" Smart, yes, Piers had the right id--what? They'd stretched already? Had they? When? Malachi blinked a few times, trying to remember even as his colleagues moved the students forward. Er.......if he was sure......then......

Ahem. The Headmaster cleared his throat, trying to move past that little faux pas. Volunteers, yes.

"Alright you two, step onto the beam." He waited til they did before handing them the cushion ended poles. He looked to the others. "You can only hit each other with the cushioned ends, not the middle. Not many rules, just hit each other into the pit. DON'T aim for the face. Cushioned ends or not. No low blows. Let's keep this clean. Loser is the one who falls in."

But were they REALLY losing? It was a comfy pit. "Everyone else, come get a pole thing. Grab a partner while you're at it."

Kale Trent had arrived. He was beauty. He was glamour. He was living his greatest and most iconic Jane Fonda L I F E. When he had heard there was going to be some friendly competition between houses (Gryffindor and Slytherin, age-old RIVALS), Kale knew immediately what outfit he was going to sport to embody the spirit of intimidation. Grrr.

He had been saving this golden, full-body jumpsuit for an occasion such as this AND THE WAIT WAS WORTH IT! Twirl. Look at this svelte body-ody-ody. It was made for cheer. It was made for competition. It was made for intimidation. Spell that with a CAPITAL I, bro.

When he arrived, mostly on time, he lingered at the back of the pack and warmed up. Streeeeeetch. He knew his Jane Fonda impulse was right on the money. He was gun do some old school aerobics to limber up. It was 1983 and Kale Trent was killin' it. Cardio was important to raise the heart rate and get his sweat on.

Kale took these thing seriously, you see. His FULL BODY GOLD JUMPSUIT was proof.

Once the group stretch was done, Kale put his hands on his bony hips and looked around. Partner? Partner??? He was lookin' for one.

Noah noted the nod Bernie had given him and Islay. Looking at Islay, he shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. I wasn't here last year. It does feel different from Illvermorny stretches." With that, he turned his gaze back to the leaders in charge.

Noah listened to the Headmaster's instructions and learned they'd have to partner up. He saw Kale in front of him, the boy who had been jamming to the beat at the feast, looking around. WOW. He felt blinded by the full gold boy suit. Noah had to step up his game for sure.

He could respect a fellow dancing friend. "Wanna partner up?"

The Hufflepuff had been outside for a change instead of being stuck in the technology room playing video games. Honestly though, people should be proud that he got out for once. The weather was also in his favor. Not too hot or cold, it wasn’t raining either and the sky was starting to become more purple. It was perfe—wait… was a purple sky a normal thing? Mweh must be effects from a spell.

His idea was to try and find the butterfly garden. The place was actually pretty soothing to walk through even when there were no butterflies yet however, the sight of a group of students, the Headmaster and Groundskeeper (or was he the Charms professor now?) gathered around some kind of foam pit and he mildly panicked. THEY HAD CLASS TODAY?! No..no that couldn’t be it. It was weekend! Then why were they all over there?

One way to find out. Minjae marched forward towards the group of people when in the corner of his eyes he noticed the table with food and he immediately dropped the idea of asking what they were all doing there. Instead, he walked over to the table and eyed the snacks. UHM HELLOOOO? Why were they all standing over there when there was FOOD right here?

Shrugging, Minjae picked up one of the snacks and began to eat while he looked over at the group making teams near the foam pit. They had a competition of some sort and he wasn’t invited?!

RUDE

Oh hey Noah was there as well ! Let’s see what this was all about.

Aboli took note of everything and everyone. Firstly, Curtis arrived, and she immediately went to go stand with HIM. Because he was actually a snake she felt okay with despite him suggesting they EAT her snails. And eating her carrots without asking! Then, Islay was waving at her. She just shook her head, but waved back. They were enemy today, did they understand? She wouldn't fraternize with the enemy just yet.

Then, Headmaster Trent was speaking to her....and at his words she wiggled her whooooole body and did a few runs in place. Loosen up. He HAD told her that before, and she really should heed his suggestion at this point.

She began to stretch at Trent's directives, up...down...all about...rolling her neck a bit, too, to LOOSEN up, see. She reaaaaaached down to touch her toes, to touch the ground. Aboli was flexible enough. She did catch Noah's eye as she stretched and gave him a wink so he'd know she was all right. He'd probably have noticed by now that she wasn't feeling her very best.

Her body only straightened up when Professor Fuller-Thompson began to speak. Had he...forgotten that quickly? He didn't seem that old! But maybe professors had so much on their mind they had loony moments, you know. Aboli could totally see it because dealing with students all day every day must be very tiresome. She eyed the younger Gryffindor girl [Bernie] who nearly shouted herself into a new planet as she volunteered, but Aboli figured she was just excited. It must be nice to be excited about this and not absolutely stark-raving NERVOUS.

...Had Trent forgotten they did stretches too? Aboli blinked...maybe they were playing a joke on the students. It was weeeeeird.

No matter.

Moving on!

SoooOOooo Aboli grabbed a little pole thing and searched around for a partner - where had Curtis gone???

Nem had an answer for that too. Because of course he did; he had an answer for everything. "It's because it's been around for ages. The theory goes that at a certain point the world will sort of meet its capacity for magical energy, and that's what sets everything off. All relatively sudden, too, because it's so volatile." Pause. "But I think you're right, it's nothing."

Also... also Trent had briefly looked a little on the confused side there too. Interesting... but mostly extremely convenient. As Nem watched Grantham join Blaze as a volunteer, he spoke again to Summers, injecting just a little bit of trepidation. "I guess Trent is old too... yeah. Yeah, they both are."

He let it drop for a moment. Two moments. Then spoke again, sounding ver much like he was fighting to hold back the uncertainty. "I'm sure unstable magical energy wouldn't actually eat away at the brain or whatever..."

Nem did not move to find a partner. If necessary, he had Summers - she boxed, she might be a good fight - and in any case he was enjoying this game right now.

Isla waited, eyes wide with one wonder, to see how Trent planned to let Bernie and Claudine kill each other do this. It sounded awesome, so when it was time to partner up, Isla was ready this time! There were only two more Gryffindors, so one of them was the obvious choice. She had already targeted Kale as a possible partner (Noah), when one of his own housemates snagged him.

"I thought it was Slytherin versus Gryffindor?" she asked them. "Pretty sure you two need a Slytherin partner, and I need a Gryffindor partner." Kale was younger, so she was holding out for a partnership with him, but Noah would do, too. If it didn't matter if she picked her own housemate or not, Nem was nearby. Aboli, too.

...and Minjae?

"Minjae? I thought you were a Hufflepuff?" she asked. I mean, if he went and put on a green or red shirt, she was about twenty-five percent sure nobody would notice him, and then he could finish eating some of the snacks. A lingering question still remained, though. "What are you doing at the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match?"

Morgan was here and eager to kick some Slytherin booty! He wasn't completely sure exactly what they were doing today - all he knew was that it was some sort of competition between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and he intended on helping his house win.

He had no problem doing his stretches, but when it was suggested that they do them a second and then a third time, he gave weird looks to both the Charms professor and Kale's dad. Why were they acting so weird?

At any rate, he blamed his mild confusion for not being quick enough to be the first volunteer for this... game. It looked super fun and he supposed it was okay that Bernie beat him to the punch for the Gryffindors.

He ran over to grab one of those padded stick thingies, spotting his bro Kale in the process. "Wow, you're shiny!" he informed him with a grin, never seeing an outfit quite like it. And bonus? He could blind his opponent which was totally a legit strategy.

So now he needed a partner and he looked around for an unoccupied Slytherin. Morgan spotted his buddy Nemesis not far away, but it looked like he was pairing up with Cece maybe. And Isla was eyeing up a few Gryffindors and... a Hufflepuff? "Uh... is he your partner?" he asked Isla as he walked over. "Cuz I could use one if not." Who was this party crasher anyway?

So Professor Fuller-Thompson was now telling them to do stretches ... again?? Oh wait, no nevermind, asking for volunteers. She kind of felt as though maybbeeee she should offer to demonstrate first, but before she could do so there was Claudine Blaze volunteering and right after her Bernie volunteered. The latter of whom seemed all toooo eager about this? Was there something Carsyn was missing? They were best friends weren't they? Who knew, but Carsyn could barely keep track of her own year's dynamics let alone her younger peers.

Oh wait, now they were to grab a pole thing and while at it ... a partner, which Carsyn assumed would need to be a Slytherin. So why was Noah and Kale partnering up? Also, she realllyyyy needed to make more slytherin friends apparently. Although if she was being honest, she wouldn't mind having a go against Nina Castillo, who ... was not present? And rather unsurprising too.

Partner ... partner.... wait, what was Minjae doing over there - eating THEIR food!?!? Weren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be honest?

Oh there was one. She strolled over to Aboli confidently enough. "Partner?" Perhaps being partners with someone she didn't really know was for the best.

Of course.

The two words resonated in Claudine’s mind the moment she saw the hand belonging to Bernadette Grantham. Bernadette’s own words seemed rather eager to Claudine. The Snakette narrowed her eyes. This was a case of revenge, she was sure of it. She shook her head, regretting her presence at the event. The only reason she had come was because of her fondness for Fuller-Thompson. It seemed as though her liking people always got her into some sort of trouble that could be avoided if she just stopped liking them.

Also, was it her or did Trent look confused? Claudine was wondering this as she moved towards the pit. She collected the cushioned pole, getting a closer look at the Headmaster. Hmmm. She pushed it out of her mind for now and instead nodded in acknowledgement of the rules.

Claudine stepped onto the beam, carefully balancing herself on it. She positioned herself so that her right foot stood a pace behind her left. All the better stance to keep her balance. She held the pole in both hands. Up until now, Claudine had avoided meeting Bernie’s eyes but now there was no choice but to do so. Her expression was neutral but her usual intense gaze was in play. She surveyed the Gryffindor, waiting for the first move.

Minjae picked up one of the bowls of snacks as he half sat half leaned on the edge of the table. He popped the food in his mouth as he was watching the lot of them stretching, probably to get ready for whatever they were going to do. Perhaps he could blend in somehow? He wasn't wearing his school uniform as it was Saturday and the Sorting Hat had debated in placing him in Gryffindor before going with Hufflepuff in the end so he kinda was one?

Munching on the food, his black eyes turned to Isla as she came up to him and he nodded his head. "I am" he said honestly with his mouthful and looked at a younger guy (Morgan) coming up to them as well to ask if she had a partner yet.

What was he doing at a Gryffindor VS Slytherin match? So that was what this was? "Cheerleading?" He asked as he placed the bowl of food down on the table and actually put his hands in the air "Like whoop whoop?" he said enthusiastically. Come on, let him be an unbiased cheerleader! "Honestly though, i was just curious" Looking over at the pit he pointed at the foamy stick things some of them had in their hands before turning to Isla. "What's going on anyway?"

Noah's eyes flicked over to someone who he HADN'T been expecting here. MINJAE!!! HIS BEST MATE! His small smile WIDENED immediately when he saw him. Oh how he WISHED the boy could come join them... but his HoH said specifically that it was a Slytherin and Gryffindor blind date (well... paraphrased obviously... friendly competition and all)."Minjaaaae!" he called out. "I think we're going to try to knock the other person into the foam pit... A little duel." Maybe ... Minjae could participate? He hoped so. If not, Noah would have been regretting the two of them raiding the laundry room to find a Gryffindor uniform that fit Minjae.

Minjae was...cheerleading? Okay...well, as long as he was cheering for Slytherin, then whatever. She laughed at his little 'whoop, whoop' before shrugging. "I don't really know. It's just...a friendly competition?" she answered, that statement coming out as more of a question. "That's what they keep calling it, at least. Looks to me like a super cool way to jump into a foam pit, though!"

Isla had no idea why Minjae was here, but all she knew was that she needed a partner, and Minjae couldn't be hers. Why? Well, because this was a Slytherin versus Gryffindor event, of course. So when Morgan came up and asked if Minjae was her partner, Isla gave him a firm shake of the head. "No, he's just being a curious Hufflepuff. I think it's supposed to be Slytherin versus Gryffindor, so come on! Let's give it a go!" she said. She was super excited to get into that pit, and right now, it didn't matter to her who won, because falling into the pit looked like the most fun!