[Professor Llwellyn]

Professor Llwellyn stepped out onto the quidditch pitch and contentedly breathed in the near frozen air. Maybe some professors would have cancelled flying lessons with several inches of snow on the ground, or even held them in the great hall, but Rhodri Llwellyn wasn't some professors. In any case, most of his first years did not have the broom control or spatial awareness necessary to avoid flying into the walls if the class had been held outside.

Rhodri was not an unduly harsh man however, and had decided to adopt a comparitively mercifula ttitude to hsi students. He had posted notices in all the common rooms telling them to dress for warmth and practicality rather than wearing school uniform. Now he lit a large magical fire which provided plenty of warmth whilst leaving the snow frozen. It would keep any early arrivals (and more importantly him) warm until class started.

Making himself comfortable on his low hovering broom, Rhodri waited for the first students to arrive, surely none of them were short enough to get lost in the snow?

[Charlotte Blackwood]

Charlotte Blackwood was grateful that she checked the notice boards at least once a day. It allowed her to be able to plan her outfit for the next Flying Lesson in advance. Throwing most ideas of formality out the window, she had donned a pair of very warm trousers. The combination of fur, cotton, and wool made for great insulation, and her father had some how made it so the pants were not completely hideous as well. They were always Charlotte's first pick of winter trousers to wear, whether she be in Finland or Scotland.

There was also a blouse made of the same material, and Charlotte threw on her Slytherin jumper as well, for the extra warmth. On top of that she had her winter cloak, and a warmer thing than that she had never encountered. With her matching green and silver hat, scarf, and gloves set she was ready for the snow. With a quick glance at the clock she realized she was quite early, but decided that it was better than being late. She pulled on her furry snow boots and left the Common Room, eager to get to the outdoors. Charlotte knew she would be grateful for the warm clothing later, but at the moment she was nearly sweating.

Grateful she was indeed when she felt the bitter air around her. Charlotte loved the winter, bitterly cold air and all, so it was gleefully that she made her way to the Quidditch pitch. The snow was nearly a foot tall, which made walking quite difficult. Perhaps the Professor should have started the class near the doors to the castle, making their first challenge of the lesson to fly to the pitch. It would certainly make the trip easier, but then again Charlotte wouldn't put it past some of the idiots in her class to go careening into the Black Lake.

It was some minutes later she finally arrived, and the cold wind had given her cheeks a rosy look. She saw her Professor had made a small fire to keep himself and students warm, and she happily made her way towards it. Soon after arriving she noticed it was only her and the Professor in the pitch. Suddenly she wasn't so grateful for her pre-planning. So far during the year she had never been the first to a class, and thus avoided the awkwardness. Charlotte was never one to be awkward, however, so she sent a warm smile her Professor's way. "Good afternoon, Professor." she said brightly. She enjoyed flying, and was glad that the teacher was so agreeable.

[Cerridwyn Glynn]

Cerri wasn't excited for flying lessons. To be honest the heights of a broom scared her, but she didn't want anyone to think that about her. Everyone else seems perfectly fine to get on the blasted thing and soar off into the Ether. Cerri was just happy to sit on the thing a few inches off the ground and go really slow. She could climb trees, and sled down icy hills at speeds no one could manage, but they were relitively close to somethng she could put her feet on....the ground or atleast another limb. But in the air, there was nothing to protect you when you lost your balance. It was way too much to consider. In the first class she thought she could handle it just fine. She had to finally come to her senses at the end of that first lesson, she was no flyer. As graceful as she could look sitting there like a girl on a broom, she just wasn't that great at it.

But it was Professor Llwellyn's class. Sure he looked like a bear sometimes, but it was great that he spoke in the same accent. Cerri understood him better and it felt like it was home when he spoke, both being from Wales as they were. She might fail the class, but it didn't matter to her. She had come to class as prepared as she could. As the notification had said no uniform, she was well dressed without her black robes. A decent dress made of wintery wooland a thick and fuzzy cloak adorned her body, all the while she had on a pair of breeches underneath. But that was a secret, the other girls might laugh at her for duing her utmost to stay warm. Her House scarf covered her head and wrapped around her throat so that the ends wereloose and hanging over her shoulders.

Cerri plodded through the snow, unashamed as her legs were kept quite warm thanks to her cleverness. There he was, Professor Llwellyn and with not many around, just yet, as Cerri was early to class.
"Professor Llwellyn. How was your Holiday?" She began the simplicities of a typical greeting really more curious to know how Professor Hale was fairing. No one had seen her since her collapse at the Halloween Feast and subsequently the rumors after about how he carried her out with such daring.

This post has been edited by Cerridwyn Glynn: 30 June 2010 - 03:33 PM

[Lisette Amber Heartstone]

Luckily Lisette's grandparents were quite paranoid about her catching her death of cold, so there wasn't any shortage of warm clothes for her to wear. Lisette hurriedly rushed outside, rubbing her hands together and blowing on them, trying to keep warm. It was a big relief when she finally arrived at her destination and there was a big fire waiting for her.

"Good afternoon, Professor Llwellyn." Lisette huddled herself against the fire, then noticed two other girls had already arrived as well. Their names were Cerridwyn and Charlotte, she proudly remembered (the result of a whole week of trying to remember all those names). Striking up a conversation with the girls, Lisette grinned and said: "Do you like flying?"

She herself didn't much care about the learning bit, but was extremely excited when finally she'd be able to try out. Who cared if she didn't get in? As long as she was on the Quidditch pitch. Lisette really wished she could try out earlier and get into the Slytherin Quidditch team.

[Estelle D'Elven]

Flying class again! Estelle struggled through the inches of snow, wishing she knew some spell to let her walk on top. Being so short did not help, either. Snow was pretty, of course, but it made walking so slow and running almost impossible. At least it made no difference to flying! And at least she was not cold. Her mother had made her a special flying dress with spells for warmth sewn into it. The skirt of the dress she was split like boys pants, but so wide that none could have known except that it made her flying so much easier. Her woolen tights were also spelled, and her fleece-lined boots and cloak so well made that they hardly needed it. Estelle grinned to herself. She had practiced already this week, now that she had the permission to fly alone, but flying class would still be fun. Perhaps she would learn some new trick!

She reached the place of the lesson at last, spattered in snow. Her breath curled like smoke infront of her face. There were a few others already about, but Estelle said nothing to them. She reconsied one as Cerridwyn and was glad she was talking to the Professor. Estelle stepped back a little, hoping the girl would not notice her. They had not spoken since the time of levitating the bushes and Estelle had shamefully run away.

[Artemis Wolf]

The snow made it hard to walk on and with every step she took, she sank in to her knees so that by the time she reached, she had worked herself into a sweat puddle, not a nice thing to imagine. In the cold weather, her perspiration dried rapidly, forming cold spots on her skin. Shivering, Artemis blew on her fingers, trying to rub some feeling into them.

To keep her hands warm, Artemis had wrapped strips of black cloth around her palm so that only the tips of her fingers showed. Dressed in her customary black cloak, she wrapped it even tighter around herself to block out the cold.

The first thing Artemis noticed was a Gryffindor girl standing alone on the field. Artemis had noticed that she was quite a good flyer the last lesson and wanted to learn from her but had not had the chance yet and thus walked towards the girl.

"Hello, I'm Artemis." Artemis said politely with a friendly smile, hoping that this girl would not reject her.

[Siobhan Quinn]

Pulling her cloak tighter around herself, Siobhan trekked laboriously through the snow toward the Quidditch Pitch. She was surprised that today's flying lesson was still going ahead, but not disappointed. In fact, quite the opposite. She loved spending as much time outdoors as possible, not matter the weather. The snow would just present another challenge that she was happy to face.

Reaching her gloved hands up to straighten the beanie on her head, Siobhan heard voices drifting on the wind as she drew closer to the pitch. When her vision cleared, she saw a few of her fellow classmates huddled around a fire, as well as Professor Llwellyn. Hurrying towards the warmth, she gave a friendly "Hello!" to the group.

[Iphigeneia Lockhart]

Flying class, the first flying class where they were going to fly in the snow- how very exciting! New things always excited her, that was for sure. She had found flying fun right in the first lesson and she loved snow so this lesson was bound to be amazing. Optimistic as usual, Genie set out of the castle- only to realise how deep the snow truly was.

Fortunately for her, she was slightly taller than the average eleven year-old so the snow stayed below her knees. Unfortunately for her, though, her sense of balance was far from what one would call average. But Genie knew she would not be deterred by this small disadvantage- she would conquer the snow that threatened to leave her frozen in that spot, not by freezing literally but by being rotted to the ground as the snow piled around her legs slowly. She eyed Professor Llewellyn. and the small group of students in the distance. If they could reach the lesson area, why couldn't she?

So Genie raised her right foot and brought it down again some distance in front of her, looking rather comically like an angry baby elephant in her stomping act. Then her left foot went down strongly again, then the right again, then left, then right... Why, it wasn't so bad after all! With a self-confident smile, Genie continued trudging across the snow. It was actually so easy, really: all she had needed was technique, and that had been taken care of now so she would never fall, never-

"Aah!" She let out an astonished cry as she kicked a particularly hard part of the snow in her attempt to continue trudging forward, instead falling over and ending up face-down in the snow. "Mmmf," Genie mumbled as she sat up shakily with her mouth full of the white stuff. Then she immediately spat it all out and hoisted herself off the ground, smiling sheepishly when she found how near she was to the rest of her schoolmates and the Professor. How silly I must have looked, Genie thought with an embarrassed blush creeping across her cheeks. She stomped through the last few steps before she was at talking distance with the members of the class. Among them were Estelle and Cerri, both of whom she more or less knew(and Estelle had been a wonderful flying partner the last time).

"Hello Professor, Estelle, Cerri!" Genie chirped in her usual voice that teemed with enthusiasm. "I'm Iphigeneia, but you can call me Genie," she added to the girls she did not know.

This post has been edited by Iphigeneia Lockhart: 02 July 2010 - 02:42 AM

[Estelle D'Elven]

Estelle suddenly discovered that the best thing about all this snow was that it made impossible for anyone to sneak up on her. She heard the scuffling, stattering footsteps long before the girl was close enough to speak to her.
But perhaps she will go by. Estelle thought. She is a Slytherin and we do not talk... for even though they were out of uniform, Estelle had heard enough roll-calls to know all of her classmates by name and face.

"Hello, I'm Artemis."

Estelle turned to face Artemis, shadows of doubt flicking over her face. What did the Slytherin want, then? Would she really dare to bully in this class, right infront of the bear-like Professor?
She gave a small nod to show that she had heard.
"Estelle," Estelle murmured her own name, automaticly polite. She had noticed Artemis' friendly smile, but that meant nothing. Anyone can smile sweetly while planning wicked things. What did she want?

She looked up when Iphigeneia called her name, feeling suddenly happy inside. Estelle felt Genie was one of those girls who was friends with everyone, but still it was nice to be called to in such a way. It did not save her from the coversation with this Slytherin, though, and Estelle waited for some clue as to why the girl had come over to her.

[Professor Llwellyn]

((OOC remember that you had lots of lessons last term, you just didn't get to RP them! We'll assume that those of you who aren't totally hopeless can all fly a broom reasonably well. Those who are totally hopeless will at least have a soft landing))

Rhodri greeted each of the early arrivals cheerfully, not least because he was impressed by students who came out early rather than hiding in their warm common rooms until the last moment. Not that the castle was entirely warm, early this morning he had needed to melt some ice in an isolated area of the seventh floor. On the bright side, at least the howling winds of teh past few days had given away to a pleasent and less bone chilling calm.

"I had a very pleasent holiday thank you Miss Glynn" he replied "I hope you did too". Maybe she had gone home, back to Wales. Rhodri hadn't been home in years, trapped in the barbarian nations of England and Scotland. He was a seasoned traveller and not in the least given to sentimentality but none the less he felt a hollow ache whenevever he thought of the great green mountains, cruel grey cliffs, and soft golden beaches of his homeland.

Jerking out of his reverie the Professor spoke again, the sing song lilt of his accent slightly more pronounced that normal. "We still have a few minutes, you may continue to talk amongst yourseles. And crowd round the fire, no need to be shy. Miss Lockhart allow me to assist you". The Professor wafted his wand over the girl, magically dusting the snow from her clothes before it could melt.

[Joseph Arthur Wilkins]

Joe had made a point of dressing in clothes best suited for a spell or two in greenland than the average lesson on the hogwarts grounds. He was pleased he wouldn't be required to wear his uniform today as he was sure he would get frostbitten the moment he stepped out of the door. He was wearing a thick winter cloak with a couple of woollen tops underneath, several layers of long socks that ensured no part of his legs were exposed to the elements as well as gloves and boots. He only hoped that would be enough to ward off the chill. Despite his best attempts to cover up though he was sure his ears were likely to suffer.

He wasn't exactly enthusastic about his flying lesson, and that wasn't just because of the current climate. Snow was one thing, it was natural after all, being human and several feet above the snowline on nothing more than a bit of twig and bristles was about as unnatural as things got though in his opinion. Man had no place in the sky, that was the province of birds and other feathered beasts. SO far as he knew mankind had not sprouted feathers yet though, so by all rights they should keep their feet firmly on solid ground.

Despite his misgivings though, this was a lesson that he knew he should attend, so he would honour his timetable at least and at least make some show if trying to fly one of those wretched broomsticks, the fact that he was unlikely to ever touch one outside one of these classes didn't really make that much difference, it was a lesson and as such he was here partaking in it.

He was glad of those boots as he made his way slowly and steadily towards the pitch where the classes would take place. He wasn't only going slowly in order to put off the inevitable spectacle as long as possible, mainly he was taking his time so he didn't fall in the snow and possibly injure himself. He was fairly sure he was likely to fall off his broom sooner or later, and when he did the snow was likely to cushion his landing. He didn't want to add further injuries to the list that he would inevitably present the school nurse with though, she probably wouldn't thank him for that.

"Hello professor, everyone" he commented as he arrived, feeling that now he was here he may as well get this over with. The sooner the lesson started, the sooner it would be over and the sooner he could be back inside, hopefully by the fire in the common room with a warm butterbeer. In the mean time though, he started walking back and forth a little, feeling that he would keep warmer by moving than he would by simply standing still and waiting.

[Cerridwyn Glynn]

Cerri looked back to Professor Llwellyn smiled. It was a very human smile and she could easily imagine a hearty laugh to go with it.
"I did, sir. It was nice to go home. A nice dinner during the week and I saw the Fountain of Fair Fortune play. I loved it." She offered her own explanations of how her break had gone complimented with a fair smile. It was one of those smiles that can only be expressed with a good memory.
"But I couldn't help but think about Professor Hale all week. Is she all right now? Maybe I could bring her some flowers to cheer her up and make her feel better. She is still in the Hospital Wing, isn't she?" Cerri asked a rather straight forward and direct question. That was how she was raised, if you wanted an answer it was better not to beat around the bushes.

Right about then, Genie tripped in the snow. This, of course, caused a huge eruption of laughter from the other students behind her. It also seemed to garner the Professor's attentions as he waved a wand to help clean off her misery.
"Genie. What on earth are you doing?" Cerri couldn't help but laugh lightly seeing her friend covered in snow like it was powder from the kitchens. Genie offered a wave and a hello to both her and Estelle. Estelle was here? The glyn girl hadn't seen her yet and she hadn't offered a good morning yet. Cerri quickly scanned over the numbers of students seemingly appearing out of the white and while it was hard, Cerri finally spotted the girl. Not because of some outlanding feature, Estelle about blended in quite nice, but because the dress was so small and short in comparison to the others around. Cerri grinned seeing that Estelle had just not made it over to her yet. Cerri offered a genuine wave while she wondered how the briar's were doing. She still had a mind to teach them a lesson for ripping her dress during the last semester.

[Artemis Wolf]

"Estelle."

"Pleased to meet you." Artemis searched around her mind for something to say. All her rehearsed words in her mind was gone in a flash once she was in front of this girl.

"I...er, I...just...want to say...that I, er, saw you flying last lesson and it was great..." Her voice trailed off and she scuffed her shoe in the snow nervously. "Yes, I...er, would like to...er, be...er...friends, that is, if you don't mind. I know that you Gryffindors probably er...dislike Slytherins so I...er... do not know if you would mind being friends with me." Why did she had to go red now?

"I'm Iphigeneia, but you can call me Genie." Another girl suddenly said from near Artemis. Artemis smiled at the enthusiasm in Genie's voice, "Hello Genie, I am Artemis." Slipping a little on the wet snow, she turned carefully around so that she was facing the Hufflepuff girl.

[Ada Ashenhurst]

Ada walked out into the quidditch pitch, dressed in several layers of clothing. Since her family was not the kind to spend large wads of cash on luxurious clothing, she had to put together what she had. The result was a suffocating Alice bundled in layers and layers of clothing. Ada tried to comfort herself by thinking, well, at least I am warm.

She walked slowly to the group of people gathered at the quidditch pitch and noticed Professor Llwellyn standing there, looking gruff and reprimanding. Ada quickly greeted him before looking around for some friends. She noticed a Ravenclaw girl standing near her and recognized her to be Siobhan Quinn, a girl with a slim frame, brown hair and intelligent eyes. She knew her by face from many of their lessons together, but have yet to have a chance to speak to her.

"Hello," she spoke, "I've seen you in classes, but we've never spoken before. I'm Ada." She smiled in the friendliest way she possibly could, hoping that it wasn't friendly to extent of scaring her potential friend away.

[Sylverster Kelestral]

As she walked across the lawn, Sylverster was shuddering and she felt her forehead, it was of a lower temperature now. When she woke up that morning, she was having a fever and had to gulp down one of those disgusting potions that her mother had prepared for her in her trunk. It was bitter and sour at the same time, thoroughly unpleasant. She could see that a lot of people already gathered around the pitch, and she picked up her pace, joining them.

Seeing Estelle among the crowd, speaking to Artemis, she smiled and walked towards them. "Hello there, Estelle. And hello Artemis." She spoke, glad that they were making friends with each other.

She fingered her small glass bottle inside her pocket, wondering what she should do with it. It contained some more fever reducing potion, and she should drink it, but maybe later? Frowning, she ignored the gentle throbbing in her head, it was worse that morning, but at least it was better.

Turning back to her friends, she spoke, "Artemis, you shouldn't worry about Slytherins and Gryffindors not being friends, I am sure that is rather rare," She wasn't sure, actually, but was determined that it could be changed. She casted a smile at Estelle, hoping that her friend would understand. Sylverster really hoped that Estelle can be confident and make more friends, because it would make the girl happier. Shouldn't everyone be happy if they found friends who could care for them and at the same time, they can show concern for?

[Alistair Bauldaugh]

Alistair had been a bit of a mess since he had returned to the castle. He had nearly been late simply arrive to the castle, the portkey having left without him, he had had to run all the way home with his trunk and have his father apparate him to the nearby village. He hadn’t hardly unpacked his belongings and he had left one of his text books at home; hopefully the family owl would arrive with it soon. Now he was forcing his thin legs to run as fast as they could through the piled snow on his way down to the flying pitch for class. Many of the students were already gathered, talking about their break. He breathed a sigh of relief, which fogged thickly in front of him, when he heard Professor Llwellyn say that there were still a few minutes left before the class began.

Stepping in the path of a student who had already arrived, it was much easier than trying to create his own, Alistair went to stand next to Cerri, the only other student in the castle he seemed to be able to find regardless of what was going on. She was talking and saying hello to a few other people that Alistair had come to know only by name. “Good morning to you too,” he told her once she had stopped speaking. “I’m glad I wasn’t forgotten.” He gave her a quick half a smile to remind her of how often he was trying to be amusing.

[Estelle D'Elven]

Estelle knew she was not making things any easier for Artemis by listening silently to her stutters, dark eyes filled with shadows and face expressionless. She counted how many times that girl said 'er' and found it to be seven in three short sentences. That, combined with the red face, made her believe that Artemis were as nervous as herself.
Yet braver than me, Estelle thought, a little gloomy. For she had the courage to apporach and speak.
And what was she supposed to say to this offer of friendship? Estelle knew nothing about her, except that she seemed both nervous and brave.

But the situation was suddenly saved by Sylverster. Estelle turned as her friend spoke, relief flowing through her and a smile spreading unbidden on her face.
"Hello," she gave the simple reply. So Sylver was friends with Artemis? The girl could not be so bad then... could she? But she was still Slytherin and what Sylver said was wrong.
"No, most Gryffindors and Slytherins do hate each other," Estelle corrected her friend, showing just how much trust she had in her. It was rare that Estelle would dare to contradict anyone.

[Professor Llwellyn]

Rhodri cleared his throat briskly and allowed the chatter to cease before speaking. "Welcome back to Hogwarts everyone. Last term most of you worked very hard and many of you made excellent progress. So much so in fact that all of you are at least competent fliers and that means taht we can move on to something more exciting than basic flying drills". He paused to allow this brief speech to sink in, which might take a while given that many Hogwarts professors did not care to compliment their students.

"Impressive as your progress has been, letting you play quidditch as many of you desire would still result in an unacceptably high death rate. However it is never too early to start learning some fundamental skills such as balance, flying one handed and awareness of other people in the air. There are many excellent drills for teaching these things... but none so excellent as a snowball fight. Divide yourselves into two teams and start making snowballs!"

((OOC, if you weren't here before pretend you were. I don't mind who goes in which team provided they have roughly the same number of people in))

[Artemis Wolf]

"Artemis, you shouldn't worry about Slytherins and Gryffindors not being friends, I am sure that is rather rare."

Silently, Artemis disagreed in her heart, but she knew that Sylverster was trying help Estelle and her make friends so Artemis said nothing to either contradict or agree with her.

"No, most Gryffindors and Slytherins do hate each other."


Artemis smiled at this similarity in thought. "Yes, but I am not most Slytherins."

"Welcome back to Hogwarts everyone. Last term most of you worked very hard and many of you made excellent progress. So much so in fact that all of you are at least competent fliers and that means taht we can move on to something more exciting than basic flying drills".
"Impressive as your progress has been, letting you play quidditch as many of you desire would still result in an unacceptably high death rate. However it is never too early to start learning some fundamental skills such as balance, flying one handed and awareness of other people in the air. There are many excellent drills for teaching these things... but none so excellent as a snowball fight. Divide yourselves into two teams and start making snowballs!"

Artemis felt a burst of excitement at Professor Llwellyn's words and could not help turning to her two companions. "Do you guys want to be in the same team as me? I am sure that this lesson is going to be awesome!"

[Alistair Bauldaugh]

The professor had just announced that there was to be a snowball fight, and Alistair began to feel excited. It seemed to him that the professors were a little obsessed when it came to pitting students against one another. There were separate houses, separate years, DADA generally had students blasting away at one another, and even during Halloween there was a candy war between two sides. But, then again, that made things interesting, and a snowball fight would certainly be fun.

“Shall we dominate the competition, then?” Alistair asked Cerri, not wanting to be forced to fight against her like last time. Of course, she was perfectly at liberty to join the other side that seemed to be forming. "One team over here!" Alistair took a few steps away from the crowd and began to pack the fluffy white flakes as best he could into orbs. After making a good small pile, he looked around to see if anyone had joined him.