Dan finally found his way back to the dining hall to find it packed with students. He had been right behind Dani and Roze when he dropped his bag and the ink bottle inside it smashed.

He sat across from three fifth year students who were chatting rather loudly to each other.

"Did you hear about the Slytherin Quidditch team?"

"Who hasn't heard? Suspended... for a whole year."

"With that cheatin' lot gone, it'll be easy to snatch the cup this year."

A whole year! Dan thought to himself. A couple of matches maybe, but a year, that would be pretty harsh. Dan looked, and felt, quite alone. A first year, sitting bye himself eating a chicken leg when he remembered... His detention.

He dropped his chicken leg back on his plate and rushed from the great hall, his robes billowing behind him. He burst out of the castle and felt the cool night air on his face as he ran towards the mass of golden light in the darkness. He ran faster and faster and only slowed down when he could se the outlines of bodies.

He arrived just in time to hear the explanation of what they were doing. He looked around for Dani and Roze, but couldn't find them in the mass of students. He was then suddenly being forced into the ominous looking for by older students. He couldn't see and reached for his wand in his robes. He felt the wand in his hand and extracted it from his robes.

"Lumos."

The area around him illuminated and he could see Roze's blonde hair in the distance. He walked beside her, and lowered his wand so it wasn't right in her face.

"Hey. Did anything exciting happen while I was gone? I heard about the Slytherin team being suspended. A bit unfair, isn't it?"

@MiddleEarthRoze

Nolan nodded when answering Caelum's question. "From what I've heard, you usually just end up doing something the teachers don't feel like doing themselves." He paused then realized that wasn't entirely accurate. Sure his brothers had stories of interesting detentions (well except Gus of course), but those were just the only ones they talked about. No, he was sure Roy had once said it was usually just extra school work or lines.

The younger woman, the groundskeeper, finally spoke up and told them what they were to do. A tiny silver lily. Seemed simple enough, so long as he remembered not to eat it or pick the wrong plant. Well it was much simpler than any of what he'd sat through today. He took his pouch and looked around and spotted a few of the plants growing within sight. The flowers weren't too abundant, but it was clear that it was common enough for all the students to at least fill their pouch halfway. Simple.

He couldn't help but wonder what the plant would be used for. It didn't seem to be too uncommon so maybe it was for a simple potion. "What's the plant going to be used for?" He went ahead and asked. If blurting out the first question that came to mind was okay in Professor Quinn's class, there shouldn't be a problem here.

Roze felt slightly crestfallen to discover that all they were doing was picking plants. Yeah, magic plants, but still... she'd been day-dreaming about awesome duels, or meetings with Centaurs, or tracking down Werewolves... not gardening.

Still, looking at it from a logical point of view, it made sense. They were First-Years, on their second day; they wouldn't have the know-how to do many spells, unless they'd practiced before coming - and as quite a few were Muggleborn, it was doubtful they had.

Despite the logic, is was still a disappointing task. However, Roze brightened slightly as she saw Daniel finally make it - she was beginning to think that he wouldn't show up at all, and disobeying a direct detention from the Headmistress herself was a sure fire way of having a bad month... or year, in their stoic headmistress' case. It was clear she wouldn't stand for any tomfoolery, judging by what happened to the Slytherin team.

"Hey - other than a new teacher, there's nothing real interesting happening. We're just picking flowers." She said with a slightly glum tone, some of the blonde wearing off her hair, it slowly shifting back to it's neutral honey brown colour. "I hope they'll let us split up or something. Walking around in a big group like this, we're not going to see any wildlife. We'll just scare it-" Roze's voice ended in a small squeak of shock as she saw shadows moving in the distance, darting between the tree line. In her fear, a streak of white ran through her hair, disappearing as soon as it had appeared - her hands had also automatically clutched onto the nearest pairs available, which happened to be both Dani's and Daniel's.

"Oooooooooooohmigoooodd..... Please tell me you guys saw that!!" She whispered, eyes still latched onto the space where she'd seen the space, hair now several shades lighter, and hands still clutching onto her friends'. Normally, she would be embarressed at the way she acted. Seeing a shadow in a dark wood, known for having scary things in it? Quite frankly, she did feel some relief that no-one else had seen her reaction. But the worrying thing about this shape was not just the fact that it was undoubtedly real, a solid figure heading towards them, and yet disappeared now..

No, the thing that concerned her the most was the shape.
Not of a Unicorn, or a Centaur, nor even a Werewolf.
The shape of a human, cloaked in black.

Moirah responded to the latecomer, Dan. "SO unfair! I knew that they were strict at Hogwarts but... but... Sending us into the forest for something we didn't even start, then cancelling Quidditch for everyone! It's... It's... The Headmistress is such a witch!" Moira bit her lower lip, realizing the insult was... Not quite appropriate, weren't they all witches and wizards? She decided it was best to keep her foot in her mouth and shut up. She simply scowled and kept her eyes on the ground, but did not look for the stupid little flower. She just wanted the night to pass as quickly as possible.

Cassandra shrugged, looking toward Nolan. "It's on my request list. I'm not sure what its for. Maybe you'll find out in one of your classes later. Or maybe its for some professors personal hobby or project." She smiled at Nolan. "I'm just the grounds keeper, I don't really ask... Other than the reason for your detention... How are your classes going? You guys learn anything good yet? My first day they clobbered us with homework. They still do that?" Cassandra spoke and looked around in a way that indicated she was interested in anyone who might want to answer.

Caelum wasn't paying attention to the groundskeeper. Instead she stared, transfixed by Roze for a moment. She watched as the other girls hair shifted and changed. Even in the dim light the change was quite noticeable and fascinating to the young artist. Caelum had noticed it before, but, took the chance now to wonder about it.

'Once I learn how to make wizard paintings... I wonder... If I painted Roze... I wonder if I could make the picture change hair color also...'

She meant to ask Roze about her... Talent... But before she could Roze spoke up. She saw something in the woods.

Caelum was by her side in an instant, gazing at the same space. "What did you see?" Caelums careful eye was studying the dark patch of forest that Roze was staring at. She saw the trees, and many plants she could not name... She wondered what Roze had stopped for...

"Oh. I see!" Caelum exclaimed. Then stepped off the path.

She walked toward the place Roze had seen the figure... Then knelt on the ground. "Good job Roze. I think you found it!"

Caelum touched a tiny delicate flower. Roze must have had very good eyesight to have spotted such a small thing in the dark. Yet, the silver blossoms that were no bigger than her fingernails, must have caught the wand light in just the right way...

She turned back to Roze, her back now toward where the figure had been. "Did she say we needed to get the root also? Or just the flower... I don't remember..."

The instructions that the students had been given as they had been lead into the woods seemed quite simple, as they were just there to collect a particular kind of flower for some of the teachers. The fact that they were essentially there to perform a menial task while the air chilled was rather comforting to Dani, who had heard tales of dangerous things lurking in the woods since she arrived at the school.

In fact, it seemed almost as if their punishment was too lax, as the only difficulty came from the fact that the little flowers were rather hard to see in the gloom of the forest. But even that was mitigated when Dan, who had joined them shortly before they entered the forest, cast the spell and lit up his wand. Seeing Dan effortlessly cast the spell that she had been working on for hours prior with no significant success made Dani a tad envious, though she tried not to let it show, focusing instead on the knowledge that non-verbal magic was evidently more difficult.

As Roze explained to Dan what had transpired while he was gone, Dani stooped down to pick a few more flowers, the roots coming out of the ground with a little digging and tugging, the leftover dirt cascading to the forest floor as she gingerly moved it to the bag on her arm. Dani was about to grab another flower that looked pretty similar to the one she had just placed in her bag when Roze squeaked and grabbed her hand hard.

Wincing due to the tiny lances of pain emanating from her hand, which was being crushed in Roze’s much larger hand, Dani shook her head from side to side. She hadn’t seen anything apart from the flowers growing among the roots of the tall trees on either side of the overgrown path they were walking down. If it had been real, it would probably be a good idea to inform the professors, though Dani had no way of communicating that to her friends.

He saw it, in the shrubs. The moonlight caught it in such a way, that the flower glowed. He was about to walk over and pick it when he felt Roze's hand clutch on to his, and heard her squeal. He stood upright in glared into the direction Roze was staring at. It wasn't to far away from his flower, but he didn't see anything. Now that Roze saw something move, he didn't want to pick the flower, so instead he stayed with the rest of the group and watched a another girl pick up what would have been his.

"I didn't see anything. Do you think it's safe to be out here right now, I mean, it could've been anything."

Daniel gripped his wand tighter, just in case it was something worth worrying about. In all the commotion, Dan was so focused on what Roze had seen, he forgot focus on casting the spell, and his wand light flickered out, and Roze, Dani, and him could only see the light emitting from the others wands a little ways away.

"Lumos. Lumos. Lumos!" Dan was getting more frustrated by the second and felt a cold hand on the back of his robes. His wand ignited with a jumpstart and illuminated the area around him to see that the hand on his back belonged to one of the teachers.

"Come along now, you wouldn't want to fall behind from the group. The forest is dangerous, especially at this time of day." Dan started walking forward with the feeling of relief that there was a teacher waking behind them in case anything did happen. In front of him he noticed one of the flowers. With barely any effort he was able to pick the flower from the dirt, and put it in his bag. Whatever this thing Roze saw was, he hoped it wouldn't come back again.

Charlotte was disappointed by the mundanity of the task at hand, but, she supposed, it was a punishment. She had gotten her hopes up about it being some kind of fun adventure, but no such luck. Life was not fair after all. He held her wand like some of the others, and tried to summon a light by copying another boy's incantation. She didn't get the silver light you were supposed to, but when she shook her wand she could make purple sparks rain gently out of it, and it at least shed some light onto the ground.

The new Professor was the Transfiguration Professor, Richard Nothing his name was. He was as yet an unknown quantity to the students, as most of them had not yet had his class. And just now he wasn't giving much away. He walked quietly along the far edge of the group, every once in a while ushering a student who was wandering away back toward the mass of students.

"Come along now, you wouldn't want to fall behind from the group. The forest is dangerous, especially at this time of day." Cassandra had called out, looking on as Dan cast a light spell. "Not bad for day one." She smiled. She meant to urge the group along when he students seemed to spot the flower in question. "That was quick." She would stand back and let the students inspect and collect these specimens then move them along through the wood. There was not likely enough there to provide all the students with their samples.

Caelum, as observant as she was, did not notice anything amiss. She looked up from the fistful of silver blossoms and in the direction of Richard Notting, the transfiguration teacher. Caelum hoped he would be impressed with her find... Well... It was really Roze that had found the flower... Yet, perhaps since Caelum was the first to pick it... Richard would be impressed...

She didn't notice what lay behind the patch of flowers lurking between the shadows in the forest...

Roze sighed quietly in disappointment, and then let go of her friends' hands with a murmured apology.
"I wasn't talking about the flower..." She muttered, moving along uncomfortably with the rest of the group as the teacher behind them ushered them along, still glancing over her shoulder to stare at the spot where she had seen the shadow. However, as the group passed on, the darkness consumed the trees behind them.

Roze's hair was now much lighter than it had been before - and it certainly wasn't due to happiness.

Moving along with the rest of the group, Roze pondered silently over whether or not to mention it to the Professors. Would they just laugh and not believe her? What if they thought she was just making up stories and she got into more trouble? And what if the rest of the class heard and just laughed at her?!

Roze felt as thought her insides had all twisted up, knotted together in her anxious indecision. Not only that, but there still remained the feeling that they were being both watched and followed.

As the group moved along, she tensed up everytime someone let out a tell of triumph when they found a flower - and her unease only grew as the trees thinned out into a wide clearing. The moonlight shone through the light cover of the branches above, casting a pale light over all of them. It was bright enough to warrant turning their wand light out, but Roze did not put her wand away. In fact, it was raised in the same defensive way she'd seen her brother raise his own when practicing spells at home. There was something seriously amiss in this forest.

As the group came to a stop to dither over which way to go from the clearing, Roze began slowly inching her way to the closest Professor, ignoring the strange looks she received from Daniel and Dani. The closest teacher turned out to be the newest one - Richard.

"Sir," She began in a quiet voice, not daring to tear her eyes away from the treeline. She was sure she had seen more movement. "I think there's something following us."

As Richard looked down at Roze, probably to tell her that she was just seeing things in the dark, or had an overreactive imagination - a hoarse voice from the shadows uttered a curse, and the pale clearing suddenly lit up with bangs, screams, and the terrifying light of dark magic as the attack began.

And from the shadows, their leader watched with a content smile... waiting for the perfect moment to strike...

Had he not stopped to reassure a student, Richard might have gotten a counter attack as well as a shield, but distracted as he was it was all he could do to intercept the incoming curse. He caught it on the tip of his wand, and twirled it over his head, redirecting the curse back into the woods. It flew wild and high, and Richard lost track of the source.

The night was exploding, and Richard shoved Roze back roughly toward the bulk of students, and lifted his wand. A bulb of light, brighter than the moon shot from it and hung just below the canopy of trees, casting both light and shadow over the forested landscape.

"Charlie," he called urgently, not taking his eyes off the tree line, his wand raised in a dueling position. "Trouble." He shot another curse of his own back, but refused to move from his defensive position.

Charlie Weasley heard Richard and drew his wand. He was near the head of the group still, and dashed forward on long limber legs to shield a small penguin-like student who had wandered aimlessly ahead of the group. He brushed her aside, countering the curse, he thought he saw a cloaked figure in the forest... Charlie yelled 'Stupefy!' with his wand outstretched to the enemy in the dark... Were these some older students playing a prank? Charlie thought of the train-car incident... The pranks this year seemed to lean the side of extremism. He would attempt to stun these attackers and determine if they were students or outsiders interfering in Hogwarts business...

Charlie Weasly defended Hogwarts once before, he would gladly do so again if called upon to do so.

Moirah shrieked, nearly struck by a glowing red glob of magic. Charlie knocked her out of the way just in the nick of time... But he also toppled her straight over and she rolled off the path and into the briers. She wriggled and whimpered as the thorns bit through her robes and into her skin. She watched Charlie and a strange wizard begin to duel...

Cassandra turned about as the trouble came upon them. She brought her wand arm up and her lips began to move, but before any words came forth she was struck in he shoulder and she crumpled to the ground. Red blood bloomed from her shoulder and the stain spread down her sleeve. She didn't' move for awhile...

Caelum was blinded by the lights and deafened by the noise. She dropped all the little silver flowers that she held in surprise, then crouched against the tree by self preservative instinct. She was still well off the path collecting flowers where Roze had spotted them... Or had she seen something else? It seemed so.

She wanted to dash back to the group, but hesitated. She saw the crossfire of spells in the air and was afraid of being hit. 'Do they know where I am?' She wondered if in the chaos they would forget her and run away...

Then she felt something grip her ankle, she gasped looking down. At first she thought it was the silver flowers that were the culprit. For they rose up from the earth toward her, the flowerbed undulating angrily. Yet, it was the roots of the tree beneath. The spell-animated root grabbed her ankle, then wrist, then began to drag her away from the path away from the school group and into the dark forest.

"R-RICHA--!" She called the first name that came to her mind, the new teacher. Then felt a spell hit the back of her head, her mouth suddenly felt like it was... was... full of something like peanut butter that tasted foul. She was unable to call for help. She had one free hand left, she clawed at the ground ripping up dirt and silver-flours as she was dragged away.

More roots might threaten to grab the ankles and toes of any students to far on the outskirts... The attackers, for the moment, stayed beyond the tree line...

Daniel dropped his wand in panic as the calm night air illuminated with flashes of bright light, followed by bangs and screams. Daniel was only able to find his wand by the bright light that he was able to will to stay lit. He waved his light around in the dark, hoping to catch some sight of Dani or Roze, who's hair was turning white when he last saw her, but it appeared that he was separated from them. Dan could feel himself shaking, taking in sharp breaths, and exhaling.

He could make out dark shadows in the outskirts of the forest, running around and emitting bright flashes. His eyes started tailing one, and he snapped back into it when a flash of red light flew past his face. Where the bright light came from, a foot appeared, and another, each taking long strides until a body, cloaked in black came fully into view. Daniel started backing up, internally panicking, but attempting to appear brave against the cloaked stranger. Dan eventually backed up into a tree, and was cornered by the attacker. An arm rose from the cloak, the hand gripping a wand, pointed directly at Dan. The stranger started moving his lips, when a jet of red light hit him square in the chest, and he fell to the ground. The source of the spell, one of the teachers, crumpled on the ground, with blood seeping through their robes.

As Daniel went over to help, he felt he couldn't. Though it wasn't fear holding him back. The roots of the tree started creeping up his legs, binding them together. Dan struggled with all his might, but no matter how hard he tried,meh couldn't break free. He reached for his wand on the floor, and with effort, managed to grab it. His shaking hands held the wand, and pointed it at the base of the roots. The roots had closed in on his throat, and though he had trouble breathing, he managed to sputter out, "D-d-diffindo!"

He felt the grip on his throat loosen, and he was able to free himself from the bindings of the roots. He then went over to the injured teacher, and kneeled by her side.

"I-is there a-anything I can do?"

Nolan was been somewhat by himself when it went to hell. While Caelum had seemed distracted, he didn't really feel like talking to any of the rest of the group. He was still a bit bitter. He had been one of the most distant from the attack when it happened, picking a full patch of the silver flower he'd found when the voices began to cry out. He turned just as a ball of light rose into the air, illuminating the scene. What was going on?

He ran back to the group of students, most of who were huddling around uselessly. He noticed Caelum was nowhere to be seen. A few students did manage to prevent Roze from falling as she was pushed back into the group. "What's going on?" he asked. "And have you seen Caelum?"

The flashing lights kept going and there were screams from still more of the students who had ventured farther into the forest than the rest. The muffled calling of curses he could hear from within told him there were other wizards in there, and it was clear this was not something the teachers were prepared for. He looked up at the huge light then back at the castle. Did anyone up there know what was going on? He thought of sprinting back to the castle for help but that would take too long.

In that moment he saw Cassandra fall and the magnitude of the danger they were in really hit him. He raised his wand, but then slowly put it back down. The stubborn thing hadn't so much as made sparks following that first day in the shop when it'd put on an impressive display. He gave a frustrated sigh then looked around at the group of students standing around uselessly. Wouldn't they all be better off just heading back to the castle? There was nothing they could do here. Was the best thing to do really running away?

Shaking her hand to restore the blood flow after Roze finally let go, Dani followed the instructions of the teachers to stick together, picking up her pace so that she didn't get too far from either of her friends. She hoped that Roze had just been imagining figures in the woods, but something didn't seem right. As Roze got the attention of Richard to voice her concerns again, all hell broke loose as a hoarse voice uttered a curse, the clearing lighting up and the trees casting shadows that made it seem like they were surrounded by tall, skeletal figures.

With reflexes that had to have been honed with years of practice, Richard deflected the curse with the tip of his wand, sending it off into the woods. In virtually the same motion, he pushed Roze away from him towards a nearby tree. Though she had hesitated at first, Dani drew her wand and scurried to kneel next to Roze and make sure that she was okay. While it was unlikely that she would be able to do much against the fully trained wizards that were attacking them, she figured that the adrenaline coursing through her veins would provide the willpower she needed to fuel her magic.

Figuring it would be a good idea to try and do something to protect her and Roze, Dani took her wand and gestured it vaguely, imagining a force field of some sort covering them and willing it into existence. Oddly enough, her wand seemed to understand what she wanted, pulling her magic through and creating a crystal-like bubble around them as a curse streaked into the tree they were near, sending a shower of bark shards that bounced harmlessly off the shield.

Despite the fact that they were in the middle of what was essentially a war zone and that the shield was quite misshapen and uneven, Dani felt elated that she had managed to cast a spell at all. Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last long, as a streak of orange light crashed into the shield, ricocheting up into the sky and reminding Dani that the events they were engaged in were pretty serious and definitely not the time to congratulate herself on successfully casting her first spell. Hopefully the shield would last long enough for the teachers to fight off the attackers or for reinforcements to arrive from the castle (someone definitely should have seen the orange streak flying up into the sky) or something.

When the shit hit the fan, Roze was simply too stunned to react properly.
As the first spell went off and Richard shoved her away to safety, the jar or the impact didn't do much to shock her out of her shocked stupor. It was only when Dani found her and let off a shielding spell that she finally came back to her senses, looking both at the shield, and then Dani incredulously.
"Holy crap! No wonder you're in Ravenclaw! That shieldwork is amazing! And without speaki-" Roze's - quite frankly, untimely - praise of Dani's spellwork was cut short as a curse rebounded off the shield and went straight up into the sky. And now, her mind was truly brought back to the battle at hand.

There was an injured teacher on the floor, kids shrieking, and curses flying about everywhere. Not only that, but the roots from the nearby trees had supposedly come alive. Their classmates were being dragged by their ankles up into the air, only making their screaming louder. Some roots had even approached Dani and Roze, but they waved about harmlessly outside of the shield, unable to get inside.
Digging her wand from the tangle of robes she was wearing, Roze winced as she glanced at her arm. Looked like the cut had reopened. For all it had looked healed, it was obviously more of an illusion that actually healing work than Mrs. Longbottom.
So much for resting it.

"Okay... plan... need a plan..." Roze muttered to Dani, taking in the scene before her. As the dark clearing was constantly being lit up by the bright curses being thrown about, it was easy to distinguish the figures in the shadows. There didn't seem to be more than four - and as one of them had just taken a hit straight to the chest, they were beginning to lag. They had three teachers, one of them on the floor and injured, so that left two fighting. The kids between them probably knew three curses, and only knew how to cast one.

Which meant doing things in a more childish manner... Hexes and Jinxes.

"Alright Dani - I don't know if you know any spells like that, so I'll just show you what my brother taught me." Roze said in a swift manner, looking back at her friend. It was obvious the teachers needed some help, and by the time they ran out of the forest and back to the castle, the other Professor's would probably already have been alerted to the battle going on. There were two or three spells Roze could think of - one of which both she and Dani had an unfortunately close encounter with earlier today.

"Right, Diffindo should do some damage. It's a cutting spell, so maybe if we aimed at the roots, or even at the wand arms, it might do some damage. Like you saw Wade, you do it in a sharp swipe movement, like you're... I dunno, slashing a tapestry with a sharp knife." Roze said, hoping that Dani would be able to do it. She wasn't sure how she'd managed to do the shield without speaking, but hopefully, she could do the same with this spell.

As for herself, Roze had two other spells in mind: Flipendo, the Knockback Jinx, and Incendio, the Fire-Making Charm. Leo had taught her these spells in the past - after leaving school, he could use spells whenever he wanted, so he had tried to show Roze as many spells as possible before going to Hogwarts. The Knockback Jinx was a fun one to use - they often played games together where he'd shoot the spell at her and she'd fly harmlessly into a large pile of pillows. They only stopped when she'd missed the pillows one time and instead hit the wall.

That concussion had been hard to explain in A&E.

However, Incendio was a far simpler spell to do. And was certainly far more painful.

Roze looked back at Dani apprehensively, slightly worried for the younger girl. However, with the carnage going on around them, it wouldn't be fair to cower in the dark - especially with the simple audacity of these people. Who gave them the damn right to come in here and start attacking children?!

"A word of advice from a quite grumpy Uncle of mine, Dani - Don't get scared." Roze began as her creased forehead turned into a more aggressive scowl, her white roots beginning to turn red.

"Get angry."

---

---

Within the trees, the battle was no easier. The individual who had been hit square in the chest staggered to one of his comrades, casting a shielding spell as he went.

"That bastard lied to us! He said there'd be no more than two here tonight." The man snarled, only to be pushed aside by his comrade, who regarded with steely gray eyes.

"Watch the way you speak! Darius won't be as kind as I am when it comes to insubordination. If you turn your back on this fight I'll gladly aim the killing curse straight between your shoulder blades. She hissed in reply, deflecting a spell from one of the male teachers in the mean time. Glancing at the two left standing in the clearing, her eyes widened slightly as she recognized one of them.
"Charlie Weasley." She whispered, eyes narrowing. That name was known to her group, and if uttered, was often followed by curse words. He had been one of the fighters in the Second Wizarding War - although some in their group had been too young to have taken part in it, people such as herself recalled the fight. The Weasleys had worked closely with Harry Potter - and Charlie had been one of the more violent fighters on the front.

"If you want to redeem yourself Lawrence, here's your chance - put that redhead down like the dog he is." She said to her colleague softly - and a smile slowly grew across his face as he realized just who his target was.

---

---

Darius chuckled softly to himself as he waited in the gloom, sat upon a patch of roots coming from the earth as he listened to the sounds in the distance. Light shone through the trees as curses were cast and deflected; screams and grunts of pain also making there way to his ears. And a closer sound - one of a curious slithering sound.

These were caused by the roots, which were swiftly dragging his prey towards him. As Caelum finally entered the clearing, Darius stood up, removing his hood to reveal a surprisingly handsome face. Thick, wavy black hair framed a comely face, set off by a brooding brow, strong jawline, straight nose and piercingly blue eyes.

Waving his wand lazily, the roots began wrapping around Caelum, pinning her arms to her sides and covering her mouth, sitting her up so she could regard Darius with her wide, terrified brown eyes.

As he knelt before her, he offered up a smile, that in any other situation, could have been regarded as friendly. But paired with his icy eyes and dark clothing, the smile came across as cold and foreboding.

"Don't worry, litte one. He said in a soothing tone as he knelt before the bound girl, removing a wand from his cloak - one with golden swirls and rubies studded into the handle. A beautiful wand, but the act it was about to commit would not be a beautioful one. "This won't hurt a bit."

Cassandra
"I-is there a-anything I can do?" The groundskeeper heard a student hovering over her. She felt pain, but it seemed far away, the whole situation seemed unreal to her. Which, medically speaking was a bad sign, but in the moment allowed her to think somewhat clearly.

“We need to get back to the castle…” She coughed. “Look in my pouch there might be some potions… If i remember right… There’s one that should help it um… um… the one that… um...” Then she lost consciousness.

If Daniel looked there would be three potions. They were each labeled with hand drawn stick-style letters. One red and marked with an ‘S’, one silver and marked with what looked an ‘R’, and one blue marked with an ‘M’.

~~~

Moirah
Moirah had crawled quietly through the underbrush and back toward the main group. She could hear what was happening behind her between Charlie and Lawrence… The thorn bushes scratched her face and picked apart the seams of her robe, but, she didn’t say a word and slithered back to the group.

Somehow Dani had cast a shield of some sort. Moirah was too frightened to be impressed at the moment. Maybe later she would admire the Ravenclaw mute.

Roze and Nolan were both trying to ‘rally the troops’. Roze was feisty and told them to ‘get angry’, but, as a Slytherin Moirah was partial to Nolan’s plans… He was asking questions and trying to gather a proper plan together. Moriah was drawn to his leadership like a moth to the flame. She didn’t start to get up from her crawl until she was nearly at his ankles. “I-I think I saw most of what happened but. I-I haven't seen Caelum. I-I’m pretty sure we are surrounded, only the groundskeeper lady seems to be hurt… Weasley is up ahead fighting someone but the rest haven't come out from behind the trees… Just these weird vines…”

~~~

Richard
The soft earth under the student's’ feet transfigured, turning to solid stone that the roots could not rise up from. Those that were already grasping were trapped in the stone, unable to catch the students as they fled. At the same moment, wooden partitions sprouted from the trees, in solid wooden planks, forming a wall around the group.

Richard, the source of these magical changes, waved his wand at the ground beneath his own feet, and a stone pillar started to form under him, lifting him up head and shoulders over the wooden partition. He waved his arm like a windmill in the direction of the incoming curses, but nothing seemed to happen until he muttered “Incendio.” Then the Hydrogen he had transfigured ignited in a great plume that rushed to engulf the attackers.

That was when he heard a student crying his name, her voice suddenly moving through the forest, away from the group. His Lumos shed enough light that he could barely make out a form being dragged through the underbrush. He muttered another spell, “Luxicon,” and three floating images of himself appeared, and started to “walk” around in the arm, occasionally pointing their wands and shooting harmless sparks into the trees.

The real Richard, meanwhile, leapt from his pillar to the other side of the barrier, shot a very real stunning curse in the general direction of the assailants, and sprinted toward where he’d seen the student being dragged.

~~~

Caelum
Caelum was shocked, but the spell still muted her and she was unable to cry out. Her wide dark eyes took everything in, the darkness, the vines, the jeweled wand the smooth cold face. His voice was strangely soothing, yet, she knew he was lying. And when the pain came, she opened her mouth to scream. The spell kept her quiet. Which only made it seem to hurt more…

She was wrapped up and blinded by deep purple light. Then the tendrils of the spell gathered and writhed around her limbs like long snakes, then bit her like leeches, then began to burrow and crawl under her skin. She see her arms, and see her flesh rise in little ridges as the worms-of-the-spell crawled underneath, inching by inch. She could feel them doing the same in her legs, and neck… They were crawling toward her heart.

The man was looking down at Caelum, his face still but his eyes flickered with some emotion.

Then, he heard something. Someone approaching, not an ally, and he slipped a mask over his face…. Richard drew near.

~~

Charlie

Charlie Weasley saw a figure come toward him in the forest, he thought the man had strange features at first, but, then realized that the man was wearing a mask.

“Cowards! Show your face!” He was about to cast a disarmament spell when he heard Richard’s spells. The ground underneath him shook, and a wall began to rise up between him and the enemy.

Charlie scowled, his long legs lept over the rising partition, and he rolled in the dirt to catch himself. He sprang quickly to his feet, he had begun the spell during his jumped, and once he was on his feet light streamed from the wand toward his masked opponent.

Their duel began...

Daniel kneeled next to the unconscious teacher, without knowing what to do. He tried to calm himself, and do the best that he could. He searched through his brain, looking for any remnants of potions books that were lined up on his bookshelf. There were walls being created and more flashes of light being shot from wands... He had to hurry. With process of elimination, he got rid of 'S' and 'R'. Dan grabbed his wand, grabbed hold of the bloody section of cloth on the teachers arm, and muttered,

"Diffindo." Nothing happened. His hands started shaking, and he began to panick, but calmed himself down yet again, and Mitch a little more confidence and will, Dan tried again.

"Diffindo!" A flash of light emitted from his wand, cutting the sectioned off part of the robes, giving Dan access to the wound. Dan then grabbed the glass phial labeled 'M'. His shaking, bloody hands uncorked it. If he was right, the contents of the potion would be Murtlap Essence. If he was wrong... He preferred not to think about that. He poured the Essence over the wound. After the mixture settled into the wound, with some difficulty, Daniel dragged Cassandra away from the crossfire of spells.

@Eyeris

@MiddleEarthRoze@Prints Avoid

Dani blushed lightly as Roze came to and began complimenting her on her shield, trying to appear grateful while being focused on what was going on around them. Roze seemed to come out of her stupor when the orange curse hit the shield and rebounded into the sky, as she rose to her feet and started muttering about a plan before she started explaining how to perform the cutting spell Wade had used earlier that day and that they should get angry rather than afraid.

As Roze finished, however, the ground underneath them… shifted to be a solid, stone platform, effectively preventing the roots from getting anywhere. In virtually the same movement, the clearing was cut off from the section of the forest the villains were in by a wooden wall that grew out of the trees themselves. Immediately afterwards, Richard uttered a spell that sent a massive fireball over the wall towards the bad guys, definitely scattering them if not outright incapacitating them.

Unfortunately, flinging fire around in a forest wasn’t really the best idea, as the plume of flames Richard had created caught the trees it touched and, probably the underbrush, on fire. On the other hand, that might be a better signal to the school that something was wrong than the occasional spell streaking into the sky upon rebounding. Richard, however, had dashed off into the woods, which meant that he wasn’t around to fix it or let it go as he saw fit.

Regardless of Richard’s intentions, it was clear to Dani that they needed to get out of the forest before the fire spread too far. Tugging on Roze’s sleeve to get her attention, Dani pointed at the growing mass of flames before then indicating, through quick, charade-esque motions, that they should probably start working on getting everyone out of the forest and back to the school itself. Incidentally, most of the students had already started making a break for it through the forest, heading in the general direction of the castle and, perhaps more importantly, safety.

Figuring that they didn’t have much time to waste before the fire consumed the wall that Richard had crafted previously and began rushing across the clearing in earnest, Dani darted out of the shield she had created towards the nearest student, neglecting to wait for Roze to respond, as that would more than likely have been enough time for the fear that was currently knotting her stomach to take hold and render her more useless.

Once the students who had remained had been urged to gather around Roze, by Dani and a few others who had seen what was going on, Dani returned to her friend’s side, noticing that Dan was struggling to drag an unconscious teacher away from everything that was going on. Realizing that there was no way that Dan would be able to outrun the flames while dragging the teacher, and that there was no way that she would be of any assistance, Dani hurried over to one of the remaining male students whose name was Nolan, if her memory was correct.

Tugging on his sleeve quite furiously to get his attention, she gestured toward Dan and the fallen teacher, hopefully conveying to the Slytherin student that he was going to need help carrying Cassandra out of the clearing and back towards the castle. With any luck, they could all then get the heck out of there and get some help.

He had wanted to do something, really. There was just so much happening at once. Despite his troubles in school, he'd always prided himself on at least being able to think on his feet. He was quickly finding that he was out of his depth here though. He urged the others to get back to the castle. "Stay together, if any of you can throw up sparks or smoke or anything into the air just so teachers know where you are. But mostly, just keep moving." There was already one of his friends unaccounted for. He hoped no one else would get lost. He knew he should just go back to the castle. Despite Dani's impressive shield and Roze's... passion, there was no way the magic of a few first years could do any real damage. At best they might be able to use it to stay out of harm's way.

As Moirah filled him in on all the details, it became clear she was the only one really seeing this the same way he was. Still, she didn't seem to know any better than he did what the best course of action was. The chaos continued, but luckily for the first years, Richard was clearly competent enough to watch out for them while continuing his own battle. The stone platform beneath them served as enough of an obstacle to render the vines useless while the fire convinced more of the remaining students to flee to the castle.

There were only a few students remaining. Some grandstanding Gryffindor kids, some like Roze still trying to fight back, but most seemed to be like Nolan in that they wanted to flee but couldn't leave the others behind. The growing fire and Dani's urging helped them realize that they had no choice but to leave the forest. And yet, Caelum was still missing. A tugging on his sleeve pulled his eyes away from the approaching flames. Dani again. She directed his attention to Dan who was trying his best to drag the groundskeeper to safety. Nolan's stomach tightened as he realized what he had to do. As much as he hated it, he couldn't help Caelum. This was something he could do.

"I got 'em, Dani. You keep helping everyone else. Let's get out of here."

He ran to the other first year boy, who was struggling with Cassandra's weight. Nolan noticed with some anxiety that the spot he appeared to be dragging her from was already engulfed in flames. Luckily the the battle had moved deeper into the forest. Nolan reached the other boy and quickly pocketed his wand. "The fires growing. We all have to get out of here." Some smoke reached him as he picked up the groundskeeper's legs and he began to cough. While there was good distance between them and the approaching fire, the smoke was spreading. He took comfort in the fact that someone in the castle had to have noticed by now.

With the two boys facing each other, the middle of Cassandra's body unsupported, and Dan walking backwards, Nolan knew this wasn't the best or most efficient way to move her. But they were in a hurry, and between the efforts of the two boys they were leaving the growing fire behind, so this was good enough. They could put her down and rearrange themselves once they were out of the forest. Nolan looked behind him, and his stomach tightened once more as he thought about Caelum and possibly other students stuck in that mess of flaming trees with adults firing off curses. "Stay safe," he mumbled.

The flames were engulfing everything around him and the teacher, getting closer and closer each second. He was struggling to keep himself and the teacher safe from the flames, and just as he was about to give up, when another boy came to his aid. He was a Slytherin, he recognized him before, before all this happened. He couldn't pinpoint his name, but he was just glad he was helping him. The two first years still struggles, but they moved slightly faster with two people carrying the teacher. They were finally nearing the group.

A couple of trees in the way caused them to turn, putting Faniel with his back to the flames. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure emerge from the flames. Looking over he saw that it was one of the attackers. The flames, moved away from his as he walked through them, as if he had an invisible shield around him. He lifted his wand up, not pointed at Dan, but at the other boy helping him. He heard him mutter a word.

He couldn't make out what he said, but before he knew it, A bolt of red light shot from his wand heading towards the Slytherin. He (carefully) dropped the teachers upper body, running over to the other side. His wand arm crossed over his chest, with his wand barely catching the spell on its tip. For the second the spell hund on the tip of Daniel's wand, words echoed through his mind.

You've got to mean it. Dan flung the spell back with such power and speed the attacker had no time to react. He met the spell with a scream, and an even louder scream as he landed in the flames as they seemed to engulf him. Dan couldn't tell for sure, he could have use the shield he had around him before to escape. The rest of the group was close enough to see what happened, and Daniel worried. He had just, probably, killed someone. He worried for a second, before his mind shifted back to the now struggling Slytherin first year. His body resumed shaking as he carried the body. Once finally back to the castle, he placed her down outside on the grass, yelling for medical help. As he waited his mind drifted off to nothingness, and he was on his knees on the grass. His hair was a mess, his arms and face were decorated in cuts and scrapes, robes were torn, and hands covered in blood, but how he looked wa nothing compared to how he felt inside. He might have killed someone. The horrible words kept echoing in his mind.

You've got to mean it.