The hunt R.O.A.M EVENT

The moke didn’t do anything, of course, they would be sure extremely lethargic due to the cold. So how to catch them?

They’d run out of energy eventually if Elena just followed them around. Maybe, or maybe that was a bad idea, Rowan’s food idea was working better. Elena sighed and looked at the moke.

Elena wasn’t about to use magic on a creature, it would be rude, and it could hurt them. So that was right out, if Elena had a glass and a bit of paper it would work better than anything else.

She glanced around, did anyone have a cup? Or a mug? Anything? Elena took off her hat and looked at it, yes, that could work, now for paper...

A letter she’d gotten from the newspaper team earlier was still folded, without the envelope, in her pocket. Perfect.

Elena crept closer to the moke and attempted to put the hat over it, then slide the paper underneath to catch it.

"Late.Late.Late!"The prefect exclaimed to herself, her cloak billowing in the breeze as she dodged the crowd of students as she hurried on her way to where the next R.O.A.M class was to be held/ She had only met Professor Griffith once but sort of got the feeling he would not take kindly to latecomers. She could only imagine what punishments he had in store for them. As she navigated her way down to the crowd, the girl managed to arrive just in time to hear the Professor's last few words. Mokes. The Gryffindor cast a glance at the paddock and the creatures within.Cold-blooded..huhThe trick was to catch them.

She eyed some of the other student's attempts smiling to herself. This was not going to be as easy as she thought. Her eye landed on a moke, alert and agile from all the attempts the others were making to catch its brethen, this would be no easy task. Elena took slow, gentle steps toward the thing pausing between each step as if not to frighten the thing. She wanted to put it at ease, lure it into a sense of peace before springing."Easier said than done!"She murmured to herself stopping a few feet away eyeing the thing. She really had no idea what she was going to do but she had to think and think fast. That was when the idea of that one fire-making spell came to her and she grinned. They were cold-blooded so heat would work and Incendio did that perfectly. It seemed someone else, Luna funnily enough had the same idea so she decided to try the same. Eyeing the moke carefully, she moved her hand slowly drawing her wand. Directing it at the terrain near her, she inhaled deeply.Let's try not to set the whole place aflame.""Incendio."Elena muttered softly watching a crackling noise erupt as a few flames erupted burning away whatever it was on. The fire provided enough heat for an stove in her opinion, now it was just a matter of waiting. She eyed the moke to see what move it would make.

@Rowan Bane Kept still, and although the lizard wasn't really trusting this free food scenario, or perhaps was trusting it but didn't have the energy to get up and find the food, it wasn't running away either. It was making up it's mind as to the best course of action. Go get the food, or stay and chill on the ground. It crawled forward enough to touch the large wheelchair, and then started to clamber up, stopping about halfway, still not convinced.

Roll: 11

@Nico Shymane starts to sing to the lizard, but although it doesn't run away any more, it's certainly not moving towards her, choosing instead to hang out and watch the little girl sing. No real reaction was triggered by her singing

Roll: 12

@Phaedra Stavrou simply throws her bag at the lizard. It was a good throw, and the opening fell down around the surprised creature, who immediately shrinks down to miniscule size. However, the bag still fell on top of it. Maybe, just maybe if she was fast enough to jump on it...

Roll: 16

@Luna Choi Uses incendio to make rocks super hot, and then places those in her bag, which she places on the ground, to see if it lures in any mokes. The rocks, instead, start to melt the backpack causing a large black cloud of melting plastic to waft about, driving away any mokes in the nearby area.

Roll: 5

@Elena Jones attempts to creep up on a moke with her hat, so as to throw the hat over said moke and slip paper underneath, successfully capturing it. However, the moke in question decides to move away from the girl. The lizard is moving slower than Elena, so she is getting closer, however.

Roll: 11

@Elena Jangleton decides to heat up the terrain near her to use to attract the lizards, and sure enough the crackling heat starts to attract a few of the lizards. Three mokes start to approach the hot area, within about 3-4 feet of Elena Jangleton before stopping. One daring mokes goes a little bit closer to warm up more, but that's it.

Roll: 17

The kids weren't working together, but he wasn't sure if he could realistically expect them to. Kids in Hogwarts looked out for themselves, and realistically only themselves. Some of them had one, maybe two friends but that was it. He knew that the one Hufflepuff girl needed some peace of mind, but the damned mentality of these kids meant that she was not going to trust him at all unless he did something to prove himself not a callous jerk. Which was a lot of work, and probably not worth it.

Well, he could still offer a space to recover. He was pleasantly surprised to see the boy in the wheelchair with a moke starting to clamber up the wheel. How had he managed to do that, anyway? Did he have some sort of bait or heat, or was he as good with creatures as he claimed to be, Griffith didn't know. Rowan was another kid that really needed some peace of mind, the Gryffindor was a basket case of high strung nerves wrapped around an incredibly kind heart.

There were two Elenas attending, but the welshman only knew of one of them. She wasn't quite as bad as the Gryffindor, but she was another shining example of why the faculty needed to step out and help. It was a bit hypocritical for him to say this, considering his goal was to do as little as possible. But he at least did his job well, he even went above and beyond on several counts, something that could not be said for most of the other professors he knew of.

And although the castle was full of danger, he could provide some safety. However, even as he was thinking of the relatively calm stables, and the kids that had left them feeling better for it in the end, he smelled melting plastic. What on earth was that? And then he saw the backpack, smoking black, and not in the least bit pleasant. A little Slytherin by the name of Luna Choi was next to it, so he assumed it was her pack. He groaned internally, and moved forward.

One long arm reached for the pack, picking it up he heard the clacking of stones inside, and that was really all it took for him to guess what had happened. It was alright, no harm done. He dumped the rocks out, both of them now a little sticky with blackened melted plastic that rapidly cooled in the outside air. He flapped the backpack a bit to air it out before talking to the Slytherin.

"You've got to be careful with fire, okay? And that goes for plain heat as well. I know incendio is a spell you guys learn really early on, but it's far from a beginner spell. Fire is incredibly helpful, but it can also be extremely dangerous. You're not in trouble, you can keep hunting. But maybe remember what I just told you."

He wasn't sure if he had a spell to reverse the melting of plastic, and the bag wasn't exactly completely ruined, just smoking a lot. So he placed it back on the ground, and stepped back again, this time a bit more on guard for any silly stunts that may or may not be pulled. Maybe they weren't working together because he had offered that prize?

Alan was not late to the event, he had been there on time wearing casual clothes, which looked rather funny with the dragon hide gloves covering his slim hands. Without a second thought he entered the paddock together with Griffith and the group and further listened to Griffith's small monologue about what they were supposed to do and what Mokes were exactly.

The second year took mental notes as he saw how the other kids directly began to work as he looked around lightly. What exactly could he do? As Griffith said chasing them around would only make him look like a fool and just would end with him exhausted and the Mokes scared of him, which was exactly what he needed to avoid. They were apparently slower at the moment but that would change as soon as they were threatened; like adrenaline?

He scrunched up his nose when he smelled the scent of molten plastic waft through the air and his gaze dropped to a girl he had recently met at the Willow, a prefect if he remembered correctly. He walked over to her, tilting his head.
In slight worry, ”You didn't hurt yourself did you?”, he asked the girl as he struggled to look around to see what all of them where doing, but then he noticed the girl being apparently fine, it was just her backpack.

”Would you mind pairing up? I think I heard they like dark places, keeps them safe you know? And warm stuff... S-So... we could build a cave with... uhh... our jackets to make it dark?”, he asked nervously, rambling idiotically.

♫ Interacts with Griffith and Alan ♫

Oh god. Did she... mess up? Well, from what she had seen, the answer was yes. Before Luna could pick up her bag and checked it, professor Griffith had already taken it and helped her dumping the rocks out.

"Ah... Okay. I apologize." Mumbling but still enough for the professor to listen, the girl stopped looking at him and started using her eyes to search if there was anything wrong with the bag. Alright, she could still use it. Well, what she just did was not intelligent at all. She should have thought of another way. At least, she was still allowed to continue hunting, and that was lucky. Not to mention, her gaze turned to her book from far away, Luna didn't put it in her bag, she was okay that her bag was a bit melted, but if she accidentally ruined the book too, that would be her nightmare. Caring more about your book than your bag was normal, at least it was to her.

Looking at the Gryffindor who just came close to her [Alan], she nodded. "I did not." Yes, this guy sure looked familiar, she couldn't remember his name, but she knew that he was a friend of Nico. Or was Luna wrong? Asking that question would be rude, so... nevermind. She was pretty sure that he could see that she didn't lie, the bag was the only thing that was not okay.

That was actually a good idea. And since the girl wanted to pair up with someone in this class from the start, she didn't have any reasons to refuse. "I wouldn't mind." The Slytherin started talking off her jacket while waiting for this guy [Alan] to continue what he wanted to say.

The Gryffindor smiled in relief when she seemed to be okay and not hurt at all. Well he had already guessed so because she was allowed to continue, yet her telling him that she indeed did not burn herself or anything was nice to know, meaning he had not to worry. He glanced at Griffith and smiled lightly before he turned back to the girl and also shrugged of his jacket.

”So... we should heat up that rock there first”, he mumbled and nodded towards a grouping of stones and pebbles that laid on the ground, away from any grass, as Alan did not want to start a fire or anything. ”Cuz... well our jackets would burn or melt if we cast incendio on them...”, he muttered, not sure whether to remind himself or the girl that just put hot rocks into her plastic backpack. A sigh escaped his lips and he nodded, as if to say he was ready.

”Incendio!”, [roll 26, success] the Gryffindor muttered while assisting the spell with the required wand movement, while he directed the jet of flame towards the few rocks. He didn't held the spell for long, as he did not want to test his control, but long enough to actually heat those stones up.

Alan motioned for Luna to follow him and on his way there he picked up three small branches that he build up to a triangular or pyramidal form, as he draped his jacket over it. Should be fine like this as the fabric was not touching the warmed up stones but was casting a shadow within the small structure.

He stepped back a bit insecure, would this work? Was he being a fool? ”We will need yours to catch them when a few go into the shadowy and warm cave, this is both stuff what they like... Protection and warmth... Don't act too fast though, or all of this was for nothing”, he mumbled, his voice quiet as he watched the area to see if any of the Mokes would run there.

”When one of the runs in there just drape your jacket over it, but make sure you don't knock the branches over this would just alert them and might get them hurt, which I don't want... so we gotta be careful- again which I would have preferred not to use fire but luckily it went well and yeah, well, now we gotta focus”, he rambled, a sign of nervousness.

The lizard stared at her, blinking his eyes as if he reacted to her serenade. 'W-Why thank you.' Nico whispered, covering her mouth, giggling silently. To no surprise, her singing didn't lure him closer but that was okey. She never really had an audience to sing to. A Moke was perfect for her first, quiet, public performance.

Nico thought of what she tried before. Heat doesn't seem to do much. Not with what she had at hands. But... Mokes did slow down when they're cold, right? Maybe she could something with that.

...

Except she had nothing that could make them feel colder than they already do. Sigh. Her scarf looked too scary, her singing was.. good. But it didn't bring the Moke any closer. Nico gently tapped her chin, thinking. What else could she do... She would try something more ... cliché.

It seemed rediculous to do, why would it be any better than what she tried before. But they do say 'trial and error'. So the crazy idea Nico came up with was this. Already on her knees, Nico slowely bent down, her face nearly touching the ground. Her hands slowely stretched out infront of her, holding her hands together like a bowl. The Slytherin did this all very, very slowely, not to scare the Moke by any sudden movements. Everything she did was predictable in a way. Or.. she thought that atleast.

Maybe he'd have a peek at her warm hands.

THUD. Her throw was precise and the hefty bag swiftly fell over the lizard, because one second the lethargic creature was staring ahead blankly, not a care in the world, and the very next it had totally vanished from view.

She was fairly certain mokes didn’t shrink that fast nor seamlessly. Her legs felt like jelly as she stood for a split second, perplexed and expecting the reptile to run out between her feet. When that didn't happen, she got a hold of her mind and pounced forward to land on her knees in the grass. Her hands and arms spread out and pressed against the bag’s opening to trap the moke, assisted along with the body weight from her upper body.

Did she... did she do it? There was what she believed to be movement underneath but she could not really discern whether it was from the lizard inside, the bag flopping over itself, or both. She pinched her lips together in deep concentration— the moke could very well have gotten away by now, camouflaged among the green turf, leaving her lying there like an idiot with an empty bag and no prize. “Alright, little bugger, ya still in there?” She figured she would wait until it grew back into its original size or there were signs it had escaped her grasp.

{ Mentions Phaedra }

Serena almost rolled her eyes at the sight of her arch nemesis. Well that was a big of an exaggeration. In fact, it was a huge exaggeration. The Hufflepuff was kind of actually hurt, though she would never want to admit it. Phaedra Stavrou. Oh how they had been friends. Serena always thought they would be good friends. Perhaps even the bestest of friends as they grew up. She never really understood why everything changed. Her mother always seemed to prefer Phaedra over her, which hurt her even more than their broken friendship.

Well, either way, it was too late now. Phaedra could be the horrible wrench of a human being that Serena's mother adored for all she cared! Oh how it would deflate their ego if Serena actually managed to catch a moke before she did. In all honesty, when Griffith explained the task, Serena had no hopes or desires to catch one. She was just here to distract herself a little from the cruel reality. Now, however, she was getting more motivated to actually getting serious.

The Hufflepuff turned her attention to the nearest moke. It was not too far. She wanted to grab it but she knew it would shrink. She had to do something different... Surprise the moke somehow. Serena pondered for a moment before carefully reaching into her bag with her non-dominant hand. Pulling out a handful of a cloak that was tugged inside, she carefully moved it over her dominant arm till the whole thing was covered - and invisible. Her invisibility cloak was her prized possession. She adored it and never went without that. Well that, and her candle that prevented her from ever having to be in the dark.

With her arm invisible, she had the chance to potentially surprise the moke that would think she was at least an arm's length away from it. Her hand was within her inch or so of the moke. As fast as she could, the Hufflepuff reached out for the moke and grabbed it into the hand that had previously been invisible. With her non-dominant hand, she released the cloak and quickly grabbed the glove, pulling it off the fist that tried to hold the moke.

The glove turned inside out, allowing Serena to twist it close. She had absolutely no idea if the moke was even inside there or not. The creature could have disappeared for all she knew but if she had been quick enough, she would have managed to catch it into her now inside out glove. Serena held the glove closed as tightly as she could, staring intensely at it as she wondered if it was inside or not.

OOC: Sorry this isn't very good. I'm sleepy but didn't want to get too behind so thought I'd throw something up quickly~

The creature had disappeared from his view for a moment. As Rowan looked around, he still remembered he hated doing nothing. H a t e d. This was possibly the least fun activity yet, but as he spotted the creature his heart picked up again, excitement renewing his patience. Okay so maybe it was worth it, and he was just blabering on. Though was it really any different than the numberous dinner paries and business functions his father had made him attend? Sit still, stay quiet, look pretty.

His strategey was at least paying off way more than any of the others had. One girl had even caught her satchel on fire. How did she manage that? He glanced back down at the little bugger, smiling softly. He had still managed to not frighten it off, somehow. Though now that the lizard was on the wheel of his chair, it would likely be able to feel the heat radiating off of his leg. Maybe that would attract it more, though he really didn’t know.