Forest Exploration PV Slytherin & Ravenclaw Cl

Phaedra watched on keenly at the Slytherin students, taking in their stances, wand movements - anything that could possibly offer the slightest bit of help for when Ravenclaw's turn arrived. Fewer Slytherin than she had expected - only ten - had volunteered to cast at the spiders but even more surprising, only one had successfully done so; everyone else's either missed, didn't work at all, or backfired completely. She gave a silent root for her partner Kyden, who had managed to cast his spell even if it did fly over his target. Aim was an easy fix and she was certain he'd get it after few more attempts.

Suddenly, Professor Yornikovych addressed his students with firm instructions; that both groups were expected to switch. Obeying, Phaedra dropped her bag onto the dirt and reached into the side pockets to retrieve her wand. The Head of Ravenclaw conjured up the same amount of spiders for them and warily, Phaedra stood and scooted forward along with the rest of her house, to take a place in front of the eight-legged beasts. She wasn't the biggest fan of arachnids, but they didn't terrify her to the point of paranoia, and besides, if things got out of control, the students would be in good hands. Hopefully.

After being conjured, the spiders made a beeline for the line of Ravenclaws, the movement of their fuzzy, eight legs making Phaedra scowl in disgust. She couldn't stare for long, however, as the beasts were approaching quickly.

Ah-rahn-ee-a eggs-oo-may, the professors had pronounced to the crowd earlier. She was one of many who had to repeat the incantation to themselves, but after a few tries, she felt comfortable enough with the tricky 'ex' sound. Gripping her wand tightly, she lifted her left hand and articulated "Arania exumai!" as clearly as she could into the group of spiders. She silently hoped her casting could be as effective as the talented Slytherin in the previous group, if not to please her professors then to at least be content with herself.

Action: Cast Arania exumai

Having arrived slightly too late to find a partner (about which she was secretly quite relieved), Evianna found herself standing alone behind Professor Yorkinovytch. Nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot, she watched as the Slytherin students casted spells toward the acromantulae.

Suddenly, Professor Yorkinovytch was giving directions to the Ravenclaw students, telling them to switch places, his booming, heavily accented voice carrying easily through the forest. Evianna listened closely as he pronounced the spell. Okay. Ah-rahn-ee-a eggs-oo-may, watch the pronunciation on the 'ex,' she repeated under her breath. As some of the other Ravenclaws dropped their bags and drew their wands, Evianna did the same, discarding her backpack against the trunk of a tall pine and pulling her wand out of her sleeve.

Moving slowly toward the spider, she took a moment to assess it from afar. Long, jointed legs extended from a round, hairy body and scrabbled against the dry leaves of the forest floor as it moved toward the Ravenclaws. Its head held a deadly-looking pair of pincers and eight glistening, furious eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Evianna took a stance that would enable her to turn around quickly and run back toward Professor Yorkinovytch if her spell went wrong. Then, taking great care to pronounce the spell correctly, she pointed her wand at the spider and said, "Arania Exumai!"

Action: Cast Arania Exumai

Cecily watched Professor Scheinberg as she demonstrated the spell they were to use. Taking out her own wand, she did her best to copy the movement-- a sort of flick of the wrist-- and the pronunciation. Arania Exumai. Stepping back to let the Slytherins try to fend off the spiders, she studied their movements, though apparently they were demonstating what not to do, as only one of them-- Kyden, whom she remembered meeting once before in the library-- managed to cast the spell correctly, out of the ten that tried. Cecily felt confident that she and her fellow Ravenclaws could best that performance.

Facing the eight legs scrambling in her direction, Cecily stared it down as she raised her wand. She had never been particularly afraid of any creatures, even spiders. She grew up practically in the wilderness, so she had developed a love for all creatures. But these acromantulas were currently charging at the line of Ravenclaws, and all Cecily could see was their pinching fangs and long, spindly legs carrying them quickly in her direction. Taking a deep breath to steady her hand, she focused and aimed at the spider racing towards her. She could hear a couple of her housemates cast the spell on their own spiders, and Cecily listened and focused on their pronunciation to cast her own spell, taking care to copy the wand movement and enunciation just as she was supposed to.

"Arania Exumai!" Cecily yelled.

ACTION: Cast Arania Exumai on one of the spiders.

Adam watched the Slytherins try their hand at the new spell, surprised that the majority of them were met with failure. The charm -- was it a charm? He wasn't sure -- seemed tricky, and Adam was a little bit nervous that it would get the best of him, too. He didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of his friends and Housemates, and although he knew that the rest of them would be in similar situations, that thought didn't do much to dispel the worry.

Professor Yornikoych announced that the Ravenclaws could step up and try out the spell soon after the Slytherins had finished, and Adam watched as a few girls took on the challenge. Cecily, Celynne, and a couple of other students that he didn't really know that well stared down the spiders in front of them, raising their wands in opposition. Inspired by their efforts, Adam stepped forward so that he was facing a spider of his own, bringing his wand up to the ready. Running the pronunciation through his head on repeat, Adam took a minute to think about his enemy.

Spiders annoyed him. He wasn't afraid of them, not exactly, but he viewed them as a nuisance and a pain. Ever since he'd been little, he'd been bothered by the constant presence of arachnids everywhere he went, always just sitting in a corner or on the wall of a closet, not doing anything useful except scaring people away. He knew that they were living things too, and that they were useful in things like catching flies and other bugs, but he just couldn't get over his dislike for them. He was aware of how crazy it made him sound, so he'd resigned to bring it up as little as possible. Now, however, it could be useful.

Positioning his wand properly, Adam pointed it at one of Professor Y's newly-summoned arachnid targets and recalled what the Transfiguration teacher had said about the verbal component of the spell. Drawing the tip of the wand through the air as he'd seen the Slytherins and Professor Scheinberg do, Adam commanded "Arania Exumai!" and bit back a smile. This would knock those stupid spiders down a few pegs.

ACTION: Cast Arania Exumai on a target spider

Midas made sure to pay attention when the Slytherins and Ravenclaws began casting the spells. However, he eventually began to take note of his surroundings. He had never liked spiders, but he still felt that blasting them with a spell which literally DISINTEGRATED them was a bit cruel and unfair for them. Still, it "could" be useful someday in the real world... Emphasis on "could"... 

As he was looking around, he noticed something that gleamed in the forest. Something shiny, but not too big was there. Moments later, it disappeared. "Wait what?" he thought. "Did I just... see something shiny... in the forest?" Was it simply just a trick of the light? Or was it actually something? Midas pondered about whether he should investigate. It would be extremely dangerous to go investigate off the path into the forest for something that might not even be real. When the Slytherins finished their spell casting, Midas made his decision. "I better stay for the spell casting! I don't want to miss anything important. But, I'll be ready to go investigate what that was after I cast my spell. "

Midas, a bit louder than he usually talked, said "Arania Exumai.", while remembering the tips Professor Yornikovych had noted. Midas noted that his spell casting was quite odd actually. Midas usually stuttered when he talked, but when alone or casting spells, he rarely stuttered.