By Maxim Trevelyan
Maxim ignored the droning of the chaperone. Everybody was already familiar with the rules of the trip and the staff was naive if they thought the students would obey them at all.
“Come on,” the blond grabbed at Gary and with a careful look in the chaperone’s direction, started tugging him away from the group. An easy task, considering that the boys were all the way in the back.
“Oh, no, no, no,” Gary whispered, but gave in, slowly following along. “We need to stay with the group. That was one of the rules! There are Muggles everywhere!” he panicked.
“Rules, schmules,” Maxim replied. “Come on, I want to see the mummies.” He dragged them both to the Egyptian wing, where their pride and joy was the sarcophagus of Queen Lafitti. “I heard that she was actually a witch,” Maxim explained to Gary and motioned the boy to follow him to the back of the sarcophagus. “And that the bottom of her coffin is false, and filled with all of the riches she possessed while alive.” Taking out his wand, Maxim tapped Gary on the head, then himself, both boys shuddering when the Disillusionment Charm spread over their bodies.
“An undetectable extension charm?” Gary question, intrigued, though he did not want to admit it.
“Right on you are!” Maxim grinned, then tapped his wand on the glass protecting the sarcophagus. It melted, as he planned. What he did not plan on was the shrieking alarm that started as soon as the glass disappeared.
“Abort! Abort!” Maxim screamed, and ran out of the room, the whoosh of the wind by his side telling him that Gary was following.
By Sky Alton
“Now if you could all follow me…” Sky said, trying for her best ‘isn’t this exciting but at the same time I need you to be responsible’ tone.
The band of second and third years scrambled after her over the tussocky moorland. The wind was making even their muggle clothes flap around them. Thank goodness they weren’t doing this in uniform.
“I think this is the spot,” Sky said, looking round a little wildly. One clump of heather looked so much like another.
“Good,” Fenella Jones said, plunking herself down on the grass and sticking her legs out in front of her.
Other students found places to sit, some a lot more reluctant than Fenella.
“Daniel, will you please just sit down?” Sky pleaded, “A bit of mud won’t hurt.”
Daniel Ollennu mumbled an apology and tested the ground with his foot before carefully spreading out his coat, sitting on it and crossing his legs. Sky took a deep breath, preparing to launch into an introductory speech about the nature trip.
“Where are the butterflies?” Jacob Young piped up.
“I can’t see anything,” Fenella confirmed.
“We’re meant to be seeing birds too,” Amina Foxglove added, “And I don’t hear any.”
“We need to wait,” Sky frowned at them, “And let them come to us. Please get out your parchment and quills, ready to sketch any that you see.”
There was a flurry as people reached for their bags, then stillness fell. The enthusiastic ones were looking around, the less so were just waiting for a chance to start whispering or doodling without being caught. Sky briefly shut her eyes. She’d been excited when the 7th year prefects were asked to lead groups for the nature walk but it wasn’t quite going to plan.
“I still don’t see anything…” Fenella said.
“Be patient.”
They made it a minute before someone else spoke up.
“Can’t you just summon the butterflies, Sky?” Jacob asked.
“Never summon living things like that,” Sky snapped, “It’s cruel.”
They waited just long enough for Sky to have time to wonder whether those were rain clouds over there.
“Perhaps if someone conjured a bird,” Amina suggested, “Its singing would tempt the other ones out.”
“Forget that,” Fenella said, “Can anyone whistle?”
A tuneless cacophony broke out as even people who couldn’t whistle gamely tried.
“A muggle friend from home says you can whistle with grass!” Jacob said, yanking up a handful and blowing a raspberry into it. Sky nearly choked on her tongue trying not to laugh.
“The more you talk,” she said, desperately clinging onto her calm, “The less likely they are to come out.”
Five minutes passed. There was much fidgeting, shuffling, whispering and shushing. When a fat raindrop did indeed splatter onto her nose, Sky leapt to her feet.
“Come on,” she said, “Let’s play a game or something until it’s time to go home.”
“But what about the butterflies?” Amina asked.
“And the birds?” Fenella added.
“They obviously have better things to do,” Sky sighed.
They trooped back a few hours later, liberally splashed with mud and having seen very little nature. All the kids were excitedly chattering except for Daniel and Fenella who were having a heated debate about whether what they’d seen from a distance had been a crow or an augury. Sky sighed as she wrung copious amounts of rainwater out of her sleeves; as her first school trip in charge, it hadn’t exactly been a success but at least she’d avoided an unmitigated disaster.
By Iverian Gnash
The students were getting restless as April approached so the professors decided to do something about it. The older students were hard at work studying for the finals and the first years were still figuring things out for their first time at Hogwarts. However, the second years were left with not much to do. Better to let them find their interests early on, the professors mentioned at a meeting earlier in the year. They were all in agreement so a plan was formulated to bring all second years who could obtain a permission slip to the Ministry of Magic on a field trip of sorts.
Being one of those second years, I couldn’t wait and immediately sent my owl home asking for a signed permission slip which I received back no problem. The day we were to leave, portkeys were placed out on the Hogwarts groups meticulously timed so everyone could reach the destination easily. As I joined six others at one portkey, we were whisked away to find ourselves in the main lobby of the ministry.
We spent the day wandering through the many floors, but all I really wanted to do was go down to the Department of Mysteries. Unfortunately, I got a quick no from the first professor I asked. No matter, I’ll be an Unspeakable one day and work myself there I thought. Well, the trip had been a success in one way: I knew what to work towards.