Christmas Day at Weinig Zug!

[Nasser Salah G6]

Everything about Christmas was unusual today. Christmas was usually spent at home with your family, or visiting your relatives; it was definitely an indoor event. The Hogwarts students' however weren't spending their Christmas indoors at all, far from it. They were at Lake Thun, which had frozen many days ago since the arrival of the cold winter months at Weinig Zug, and was now being used as a skating rink by the inhabitants of the town and by the excited students visiting it. Lake Thun was surrounded by mountains which were covered in a thick layer of white snow. The snow enveloped all of the area they were in; almost everything you could see was white. For those who had been dreaming and hoping for a white Christmas, this was their dream come true.

Hogwarts' had organised numerous activities for the students to enjoy. They would be spending the day engaging in different winter sports like skiing, ice-skating, and snow-boarding, here you could do whatever winter sport you wished to. After everybody was exhausted there was to be huge feast, where dishes from all over the world where to be served. The right side of the lake was surrounded by large trees which had long lost their leaves and under them were long tables covered with plates of food, some of it the traditional food everyone ate at Christmas and other plates were traditional Swiss ones which would be new to the students.

A parade was crossing by the lake! At the head of the parade are the whip crackers who announced with the cracking of their whips the arrival of the procession. The high-pitched sweet voices of the young Swiss children as they sung Christmas carols in the different languages spoken in this country filled everyone with happiness and serenity. They were carrying lanterns and dressed in fancy robes that shone as reflected the light from the sun. The tinkling of silver bells could also be heard. They were carried by strong men around their necks and people of all ages could be heard blowing horns and the music from brass bands added to the excitement. This bell ringing custom and in fact the whole was certainly foreign to the Britons but no one could deny that it was very exciting!

The unique spirit of Christmas that existed only on this very special day of the year could be felt everywhere. Nasser Salah's green eyes were dancing as he looked at his friends. They were in for a really fantastic celebration!

((OOC Notes: 1. This post is for everyone. Post with your friends or whoever you want to here. 2. I have moved your post here Kat. 3. For anyone who is wondering if all this stuff really happens in Switzerland the answer is some of it does, but not all of it on the 25th, and some of the events are just a product of my imagination 4. Merry Christmas to those members who celebrate it! )

[Nasser Salah G6]

KAT LURJEE'S POST:

It was the day after Christmas and most everybody were at Lake Thun, where a grand Christmas party was being held.

Kat hadn’t really seen any familiar faces yet and she headed quite immediately to the skating rink. She loved skating – she had even taken classes for 3 years, but Kat had to drop those when she got the letter from Hogwarts.

Kat picked up a pair of white skates and pulled them on quickly, with skill that showed how many times she had done this before. A younger boy and girl next to Kat, who were locals seemed to have trouble with it, so Kat helped the children to put on their skates and then skated with them for a couple of minutes, until the children got the hang of it.

Waving to the children quickly Kat bowed forward and sped off, quickly making a circle around the skating rink and ended it with a twirl on one spot, raising her hands high above her head.

She didn’t twirl for very long and then slowed down skating around the rink calmly, looking around to see, if any of her friends were there.

[Mary Evans]

Mary got up around noon very excited; it was Christmas at last. She eagerly opened the presents stacked at the foot of her bed. When that was done she put on a new outfit her mother had sent her, got ready to be seen, and left for Lake Thun. It was chilly out, but nothing could dampen Mary’s spirits.

She arrived at the lake just in time to see the parade. It was brilliant; Mary simply stood there in awe. As soon as the procession had ended Mary put on her skates with slight difficulty. As she stepped onto the lake she felt she was going to fall. Regaining her balance Mary began skating around; she quickly found her stride, as it had been only a few years since her last skating trip.

[rosewood]

The scene before Julie was not rich in colour; in fact it seemed an endless blanket of white covered everything she could see. The white snow was no longer falling but it had definitely been snowing heavily a few hours ago. Julie had a bag slung over one shoulder that contained her skates and a book she had just been reading. She smiled a little to herself as she gazed at Lake Thun and at the laughing happy faces of the people who were skating on it. Hogwarts could not have chosen a lovelier place for them to spend their vacation. She could see a parade passing by the lake and hear the voices of the children who were singing Christmas carols, but she had missed most of it. She didn’t mind that. She was here to skate. It had been a long time since she done so.

Julie was a talented ice-skater, a fact which might seem rather strange as this was strictly a muggle sport rather than a magical one but then the popular sport of Quidditch was not one Julie could play well. She loved the game and was an enthusiastic fan of the Tornadoes but she could never play it herself. Julie had learnt ice-skating purely by chance when she was traveling with her father on one of his expeditions to collect rare herbs, and had wandered off by herself, made some new friends, one of them an expert at ice-skating. He and his friends had shown Julie how to ice-skate and one week later she was already eager to learn how to twist and twirl herself on the ice. Ice-skating filled her with a liberating feeling. She totally relaxed while she was on the ice and just enjoyed the satisfying freedom she felt as she skated. She could hardly wait to get on the ice today.

Julie placed her bag on a nearby bench and took out her skates to put them on. She did not hear the soft crunching sound of the snow under a person's feet as someone sat down on the same bench.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

An amalgamation of altos and treble notes could be heard, issuing from the vocal chords of the Hogwart's chorus group. It sounded beautiful as the air filled with the sounds of elated singing. The white snow billowed out as if it were coming from saturation bombing. Jaquin watched as thick blankets of snow covered the ground, adding to the aura of Christmas day. Jaquin stood on top of a hill that over looked Lake Thun and from his belt, he produced a shining, white wand that seemed to glow with fusee, the orb of fire that began to grow larger at the tip of the wand was like a star against the dark vaccuums of space. Jaquin burned the oxygen around him as he trudged through the snow, wand raised. The sun had been obstructed by the dense, cold, indomitable, and impregnable layers of gray, billowing clouds.

Jaquin ran along and slid down the hill at full speed atop his snow board. As he reached a ledge near the lake, he went up the steep ramp and found himself spinning in a summerault in midair. Jaquin, although not very attuned to muggle sports was still competent at sports like snowboarding, if not, he could still have pride in having mastered all types of martial arts under the tutilage of his friend, and mentor, Perseus; a Slytherin 6th year. As he turned and twisted, Jaquin found himself disoriented before landing with an almighty thud on ths snow, still traveling at prodigious velocities. He could not stop himself and as he went up another hill, Jaquin found that one of his snowboard straps had broken off. In a flash, he was face down in the snow, completely covered in the powdery substance. "Oh, great," Jaquin said in an undertone.

Jaquin saw another Ravenclaw as he approached a bench next to the frozen lake. It was Julie Rosewood, in the same year as him and one that excelled in the arts of Herbology and at many other subjects. Jaquin respected her just as he respected Perseus. Strolling over, Jaquin commented, "Nice day to go ice skating, eh?" He sat down and viewed the sun that had emerged from the icy, Cimmerian cloud covers.

[rosewood]

Julie smiled brightly as she looked up from what she was doing. "Jaquin! Long time no see," she said, trying to remember the last time she had talked to him. It seemed as if she hadn’t talked to him in ages, and Julie realised with surprise it must be because she had been spending so much more time with someone else – namely Harry. It was great to see the intelligent rather quiet sixth year who she had become friends with the year before despite their very different personalities. "Yes, it's a fine day for skating. You look you've been doing some exercise yourself, do you skate?" she queried.

Julie patted the spot beside her on the bench for him to sit down. Skating could wait till she had caught up with the latest news from Jaquin, or perhaps they could skate together if Jaquin would like that. Julie knew she would be doing most of the talking anyway, but Jaquin was good listener. That was what she liked about him so much, that he took people as seriously as she did, and that he was always somebody you knew you could lean on. It was true that he didn’t like talking very much but when he did talk he always had something interesting to say or good sound advice should she ask for it.

[anderson]

Jasmine pulled on her heavy blue jacket and other winter materials. She was supposed to meet Molly on the lake so they could ice skate but Jasmine never skated before. She knew that she was going to fall down allot and should tie a pillow to her but. With a softly laugh at her thoughts she grabbed her white ice skates and headed out of the room. She closed the door behind her and locked it making sure that no one would enter but her and Morgan. While she walked down the hallways she looked at all the trees that were in the hall and decorated with very pretty ornaments. Jasmine tucked her brown hair over her jacket and stuffed her hat in her pocket because she seemed to not need it.

As she reached the big wooden oak doors she open then and went out into the winter day. Carrying her ice skates on her shoulder and looking around her at all the people either having a snow ball fight or ice skating on the rink. Jasmine smiled and heard the noise of whips cracking and children voices singing. Her hazel eyes lit up and she went up towards the lake and sat down on a bench and pulled on her ice skates. She looked up once and a while to watched the parade happen. She had never seen something like it but when Thanksgiving was happening and the muggle world would have this big parade. There was a smile on Jasmine face and she felt happy that she went on the trip. She got to spend more time with Molly and met some pretty cool people. As her skates were on she balanced her self on the ice. Her legs were shaking and she tired to move forward but fell on the ice. "Err" Jasmine said to herself and got up again and tired to skate again.

Wobbling madly around the lake she tired to balance her self more but each time she fell. Jasmine was about to give up but saw Molly in the center of the lake. She looked at her friend as she seemed to skate around gracefully and beautifully. With a heavy sigh Jasmine tired to skate over towards her friend. "Molly! Help" Jasmine said but it was too late she fell on the ground again. Jasmine groaned and just sat there on the ice. She kept remember what Lena told her about getting back on the horse when she got bucked off. With a sigh Jasmine looked up at Molly and laughed softly. "I can’t ice skate so this was a pretty bad idea." Jasmine stodd up but sliped almost but she caught onto Molly. She continued to laugh at her efferts.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

"Yes, long time no see...." Jaquin replied with an elated expression. "Well, yes, I do skate, but, I am not very good at it." He smiled apologetically, for he knew that Julie was a very talented skater. Not only that, but Jaquin also knew that the fellow Ravenclaw possessed all the qualities of Rowena Ravenclaw herself; she was willing to spend hours on end, studying the subjects taught at hogwarts and attained exceptionally high grades. Of course, Jaquin had a plethora of affinities that Julie shared. For instance both of them fancied herbology as a very intriguing subject because of the multifarious sciences and skills it required. Jaquin also had a talent for Care of Magical Creatures and muggle sciences such as chemistry, biology, genetics, evolution, and environmental sciences, loving to spend his time outside studying all types of flora and fauna.

Jaquin sat down next to her as he smelled the fresh, crisp air of Winter. The trees around them were covered in layers of thick snow after a long week of snowing. The sounds of raucous laughter resonated around them, as there were many people skating about, having a great time. "So, how has the year been for you?" Jaquin inquired. "Have you visited any of the other wizarding towns?"

[Molly Weasley]

Mlolly was in her room getting ready to go on the lake and meet Jasmine. She put on a heavy coat and a frilly little skirt. She tied her hair up and now all she needed was her skates, but she couldn't seem to find them. Oh Great!!! this is just what I need and I'm already late as it is! Molly thought angrily to herself as she ran around the room looking for them. "Yes! now i remember!" Molly looked under her bed and took out her suitcase. She opened it and it turned into a walk in closet. She had put a spell on it so all her clothes would fit inside it along with a few other belongings. Molly climbed into the suitcase and flipped on the light that was hanging on the wall. there they are!Molly thought excidely as she uncovered her light blue skates that were under all the clothes that she had thrown on the floor. Molly climbed the stairs out of the closet and ran out the door, slamming it behind her, her skates dangling from her arms.

As soon as she walked out the door, she felt the cold air hit her legs, making her wish that she had not worn a short, little skirt. She started walking towards the frozen pond, trying to ignore the coldness that made her legs feel like icesicles that would fall off at any moment. Her legs were numb by the time she sat down and started to lace up her skates. As soon as she had done that she walked out onto the ice and started twirling around on the ice. She did a few figure eights and skated as fast as she could on the ice giving her speed, she jumped up and landed a perfect triple. The only reason she could ice skate was beacause her father made her take lessons for six years because her mother used to ice skate. Her father always told her that she had inherited the gracefullness and talent from her mother, along with other traits such as her looks, and her ability to catch on to something quick. She gained her personality from her father, her free spirit, bravrey, and habits. Molly learned from a the letter that her grandmother on her mom's side had given her, that her mother had been in Ravenclaw when she went to Hogwarts. Molly thought that she ended up in Gryffindor because of her father.

Molly heard someone call her name so she twirled around to see who it was, and it was exacltly the person who she was trying to find, Jasmine. She turned around just in time to see Jasmine fall on the ice. "ouch." said Molly, more to herself than Jasmine, she had just had a rather nasty fall and skated over to her. "are you okay? that looked like it really hurt . . ." Molly said as Jasmine tried to get up. "I think you'll catch on soon enough, keep trying." Molly grabbed Jasmine as she slipped and held her steadily on the ice. "The only reason I can skate is because my father made me take lessons, said he wanted me to be more like my mother. And he wanted me to get into the olympics, but unfourtunatley that never worked out because I came here instead." Said Molly as she glided along the ice holding onto Jasmine's arm so she wouldn't fall. "My dad is muggle,so he made me take lessons in all theses muggle sports. My mother was a witch, but died right after I was born and my dad ever knew she was a witch because she never told him for some strange reason." Molly explained. "I can teach you if you want. If you come to my house for a few weeks during the summer, we have a skating rink not far from our house, and i'd really like it if you came to stay for a little while. I can also give you lessons while were here." Molly turned towards Jasmine and smiled.

[anderson]

Jasmine smiled at her best friend as she grabbed her arm and helped her balance. Her legs were wobbly and she didn’t know why she could have such bravery like Molly, all she was a smart and artistic person. As Molly started to talk about her life Jasmine listened intently to her friend. She seemed to not have such a great life like herself. Jasmine never knew what it was like to be around a mother and father. She always dreamed of having a sister and they would sit around at the table and eat. But that was at the time when she was at the orphanage. With a sigh she continued to wobble around on the ice glad that Molly was holding her arm for support.

As the two went around the ring Jasmine looked around her at the other people and saw the parade go by. Her hazel eyes looking at the floats as they drove by. With a turn on the ice as the sweet voices called out for her to sing as well. Jasmine closed her eyes and trusted Molly to glide her around the ice safely. Jasmine didn’t understand why she could trust people no one wonted to give her a chance why should she? Lena always told her because she had a pure and kind hearted soul. Jasmine opened her eyes again and listened to Molly as she asked her if she could teach her. "That would be great! I won’t to be able to do what you do and I could teach you how to ride as well." Jasmine said very eagerly. She was the top rider in her town and she won’t many ribbons and trophies. She also taught other classes and loved to be around the little children.

As the two continued to glide across the ice. Jasmine admired her friend for being so graceful on the ice. With a sigh she turned her head at the mountains and felt the wind slap her across the face. Her eyes burned and her hair blew wildly around in the wind. She started to think of words in her head but nothing seemed to be right. She continued to look around for some one else that made her so heart thuder in her chest wildly. As she realized he wasn’t even near the lake she sighed and turned towards Molly with a sweet smile on her face. "I never told you what my life was like......" Jasmine said with a little hurt in her voice. With a deep breathe she continued, "I used to live with my mother, she was a witch ,and my fathe,r a muggle. I had a pretty bad life my parnets would never know I was there and they ingored me a lot, but then I was taken to the orphanage. Every year I been there I shut out on the world and turned to my books and potion set for comfort. Until one day Lena took me in and I lived with her for a long time now. She is the only thing that I have close to a mother." Jasmine said as tears stung her eyes. She turned back to the mountains view and hid her tears from her friend.

[rosewood]

Julie tied her laces then leaned against the bench and turned her head to look at Jaquin. She was happy to see he looked like he was enjoying the trip. "This year has been…eventful," said Julie, looking for a word to describe the many things that had happened to her that year. "To say the least," she added. She felt herself blush suddenly and she looked in front of her instead of at Jaquin. She didn't know whether Jaquin knew about her and Harry. It was rather obvious of course now, but she wasn't sure. She had never been attached to any boy the way she was to Harry before. The whole idea of having a boyfriend had not been one that she thought about much, preferring to concentrate on what she considered to be more important issues like her education and future. Harry had unleashed strong emotions inside she had never known before, and was still more than a little confused about. Then there was Ginny's kidnapping and rescue, Savannah's reproaches which had thankfully been dealt with, and her father's warnings and worry about her welfare. All of that came on top of a lot of studying since the NEWTs years were by no means easy even for the diligent Ravenclaw. Julie was a student who always aimed high and worked hard to achieve her goals .

She wondered if Jaquin had a girlfriend. He had gone to the ball with Parvati Patil but she didn't think it was anything serious. She hadn't noticed what had gone on between the two having been busy with her own date, but she had never seen them together since. She answered Jaquin's question before elaborating on the first one. "Oh yes, we went to the village yesterday. The Swiss people are very hospitable and friendly it seems, and we went to a small Swiss restaurant which served quite delicious food, especially the dessert, to Cat's delight of course. What about you?" asked Julie. "I mean how's this year been for you; I know you're doing very well with your schoolwork as usual so what about everything else? And what have you done at Weinig Zug so far?" she continued. There was so much they needed to discuss, and Julie was stalling for time before she could tell him about what exactly she had been up to that year wanting to listen to him first before they moved to more sensitive topics.

[Copenhagen]

Justin Lionheart was waking up to Christmas Day to the smell of breakfast in his brothers(Jay)cabin and Justin smiled. He got up and got dressed in his best Wranglers and a regular old t-shirt. He walked out of his room and said " Hey ya'll Merry Christmas!!!'' he walked over to where his brother was cooking and his brother asked him to fry the bacon while he went and got the girls up. Justin said " Sure bro." he fried the bacon and was thinking to himself that he should go see where all his friends were. So his brother came back , took over and said " They'll be out in a minute." Justin said " Well I get the seat at the head of the table." He wet over to the cabinets and pulled out plates and set the table ,then he grabbed some silverware and the salt and pepper. He sat down just as the girls entered. His brothers girlfriend kissed Jay on the cheek. He dished out the food and Justins first thought was " Bisquits and gravy ,but first he had to say prayer. Before anyone could grab a bite of food ,Justin said " Hey we have to say prayer ,do'nt forget today is Christmas." He then let his brother say prayer and then Justin said " Lets dig in."

After breakfast Justin said " Hey Jay ,I'll be back later ,I'm going to go see how my friends are doing." Jay said "Go ahead." and Justin was on his way. He walked through the woods seeing many critters and creatures and he wished he had his dog Rocky with him. He rwched the top and noticed that nobody ws there ,so he headed to the other side where he had heard that the lake was frozen over ,so he thought that his friends were ice skating. He walked down the path to the lake.

As he drew near he heard many voices and he thought to himslef "Ah-hah found 'em." He reached the lake and saw his friends ,well he spotted Molly first and then he spotted Jasmine so he stood on the edge of the ice and said " Hey Molly ,Jasmine. What're ya'll up to?"in a merry voice. He was indeed very happy.

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire woke that morning feeling that today was going to be different for some reason. She searched around in her mind for why. It was Christmas Day. That was it. Sapphire smiled at her own foolishness. Of course it was Christmas day. It had dawned bright and snowy. It would probably be quite icy out there. Sapphire swung her legs out of bed and regarded the sleeping Zara. It was not particularly late yet, and she would get up in her own time. If she woke up now, then fine. If she didn't, Sapphire could say 'Merry Christmas' to her later. They did both have a pile of presents. Sapphire added her own for Zara to it and went about selecting something to wear. In the end she went for dark jeans, combined with a wine-coloured top and sweater. She slipped some trainers on for the time being. It would be slippy outside. She brushed her hair quickly and put it up out of the way, before descending for breakfast.

Once Sapphire had eaten well, she returned upstairs to their room and made sure that she was all set to go. She made her bed and scribbled a note for Zara. 'ICE-SKATING: WILL SEE YOU LATER. MERRY CHRISTMAS!' Sapphire cast a spell on herself for warmth - if she wrapped up warm she wouldn't be able to move, and extracted her black ice skates from near the door. In the end she decided not to protect her hands using magic, and hoped that she wouldn't regret it later.

Sapphire made her way down happily to the edge of the lake, and saw that there were quite a few long tables at the far end of it, festooned with all sorts of dishes. She smiled, but abstained, having only just had breakfast. There would be time enough for that later. Sapphire looked onto the lake, where she saw that quite a few people were already ice-skating, despite the time of day. She smiled and made her way over. Sapphire slipped on her ice-skates and left her trainers in a wooden rack near the edge of the lake. She stepped onto the ice, noting that it really was pretty thick, and wobbled a little. She had done this when she was younger, but not for a long while.

It came back to her remarkably soon, and she was soon moving with graceful ease. She moved a little more into the centre and took the time to look around at her surroundings. They were picturesque indeed. She spotted Molly and Jasmine over at one side of the lake, and saw Justin Lionheart approaching them on foot. She turned and skated towards them, smiling as she approached.

"Merry Christmas!" Sapphire said in greeting, acknowledging Justin Lionheart as well. She wasn't sure if he had a clue who she was, but she knew the names of quite a few people. "Do you not ice-skate?" she asked Justin, smiling at Molly and Jasmine. She didn't know either girl all that well, but she'd found both to be very aimiable.

[Molly Weasley]

Molly smilled at her friend as she mentioned horses. "I would love to learn to ride horses, that would be so awesome!! I've only rode a horse once and that was at a race track where all the little kids were riding these huge horses that wern't racing that day. I was among them and I was five. That was the first and only time I've been on a horse. I really want to properly learn how. I love horses and that would be great!" Molly was very in love with all creatures and had a few pets of her own. She always thought that horses were magnificant creatures and it was ashamed they were used for the pleasure of man kind, running a mile as fast as they could and those horrible men whipping them making them go faster. Molly thought it was quite a cruel thing to do to a poor animal. They always did amaze her the way they held thier heads high, they looked like kings with thier splendid, sleek coats and thier mighty heads held high.

Molly listened to Jasmine tell her about her parents. Molly thought that giving away Jasmine was a very unhuman thing to do. Molly was lucky because even though she didn't have amum at least she had a dad who loved her. Now Jasmine had a good life and spent her time amongst horses so it couldn't be all that horrible. And now she was with a women who cared about her and that is all that matters. Molly looked over at Jasmine to see her try and hide her tears, she obviously didn't want Molly to know that she was hurting inside. Molly stopped skating, took her friends hand and patted it "There, there, it's okay" Molly hugged her friend tightly and continued to glide across the ice with Jasmine when she saw Justin coming up to them. She skated over to meet him, pulling Jasmine along with her. "Hi Justin, we were just skating and I was teacing Jasmine to stand up on the ice, or at least trying to." Molly flashed a smile at Jasmine and looked down at Justin's shoes. "Are you going to go skating with us? Because if you're not wearing the proper skate wear." Molly bit her lip continuing to look confused.

Molly was just about to ask him if he could even skate when along came Sapphire. "Why hello Sapphire and Merry Christmas to you too!" said Molly in a cheery voice.

[Copenhagen]

Justin watched as Jasmine and Molly came over ,maybe it wa him ,but he thought that suddenly the ice seemed more inviting. He still did'nt like the idea of skating on a lake thats temperature was like ,well he did'nt how cold it was ,but he thought he knew that it was re-e-eally cold out there. He said " Well I might go skating out there with you two." Just then he saw another girl come up and she resembled someone whom he had seen before. Suddenly it hit him ,Zara Pheonix. This must be her sister Sapphire Pheonix so he said " Hi ,you must be Zaras sister ,Sapphire. Oh and I ice skate ,just did'nt get any skates yet. Anyways ,I'm Justin Lionheart ,nice to meet you." He then looked around for a place he could find some ice skates ,and he saw a booth ,where they were just handing people skates ,so he said " Be back in a sec'." He ran over to the small booth and said " Can I have a pair of skates ,size 14?" He looked around the booth as the woman went and got 'em. The booth was a little warm ,thanks to the mini heater. She came back with the skates and he said " Thanks." He ran back and took off his shoes ,then he put on the skates and stepped out onto the ice. He then did a started skating and went straight to the middle of the lake ,then skated stright back. He then said " It's all coming back to me now."

[anderson]

Jasmine smiled at her best friend as she took her hand and hugged her. She hugged Molly back with tears going down her checks. It wasnt like her to have that kind of an outburst but Molly had to know why she couldnt trust many people and always keept to herself a lot. "Thank you Molly." Jasmine said and wipped the tears of her check as Justin had greated them. She was about to skate over but Molly was dragging her over. She wobbled again and fell to the ground right in front of him. "Yes but right now I can't skate. I cant even stand up on these bloody things." Jasmine said trying to control her anger. She than got up and grabbed onto Molly arm and balanced herelf until the wobbling stop.

Jasmine sighed with relief and was looking around her at the parde. She seemed to get distracted easly but it was Christmas and the childrens voices sounded like they wonted her to sing. Singing lightly to herself she noticed Shapphire come up to them. Jasmine smiled warmly at the girl and remember there talk in the lounge. Jasmine didnt really know the girl but they seemed to click and were both in the same house. "Merry Christmas to you too. I am trying to learn how to skate but these bloody skates are stupit." Jasmine said in a voice that sounded like defect. She sighed and watched Justin skate onto the ice without a problem. She grumpled to herself and cursed in her head. She than tired to skate over towards her freind but she couldnt and fell. Jasmine just sat there on the ice staring off into the distance with a look of annoyance on her face.

[jaspar]

Colin Jaspar was feeling a little out of things. Everybody on the trip was much older than he was and he didn’t like the feeling that he was tagging along so he was staying away from all the older students and searching in vain for somebody around his own age. Today they were to go skating at Lake Thun. He was going to try once again and find somebody who was 11 or 12 years, hopefulle someone he could spend the day with for he had come on this holiday so he could mingle with more people from the magical community which he still had a lot to learn about.

Colin put on his skates and tied his laces carefully. He had skated before, and was an OK skater but he couldn’t do any of the fancy twirls or skate backwards like some people could. He was fine with that and had never really felt any inclination to try such things but what he did like to do was speed skate. Colin moved on to the ice and started skating at a leisurely pace, enjoying the fresh frosty air and watching the faces of the people whirl around him as he began moving at a faster speed. He soon slowed down again though and skated to the other side of the lake, and that was when he saw a girl of his own age with black wavy hair. She was all on her own! Without another thought he made a beeline for her and then halted beside her.

"Hello! I'm Colin Jaspar, I'm a Gryffindor! Are you waiting for someone? I can’t find many people our age, so I thought maybe we could, um, skate or talk, or whatever you like?" he asked hoping he sounded friendly and not too desperate and deciding he sounded like a total idiot.

[Charles Driscoll H7]

Charles dropped his backpack on a bench near to the frozen lake then ran off with his camera to take pictures of the parade. It wasn't very easy as they were walking and he wanted to get the pictures from a good angle but he did his best to follow them and get as many pictures as he could. That was what Charles loved so much about new places, there were so many things to see and explore, and of course to take photographs of. He wasn't brave enough yet to share his photographs with a lot of people, especially since he couldn’t share them with his family as he wasn't close to any of them, but dreamed of the day when he would finally get the pictures he thought were perfect and would be proud to show off. Now he was content with getting as much practice as possible and that day could wait till he was free of all his family ties and able to do what he wanted and take classes to learn more about his hobby.

Charles was now ready to skate. He had very little experience with skating as it was a muggle sport and his parents would not have approved of him playing it but he had tried one or two times with his friends at Hogwarts when he knew they couldn’t possibly find out. So he teetered out on to the ice, tried to skate but slipped every now and then, nevertheless he valiantly kept at it refusing to give up. He looked around him for anybody he knew who might provide him with assistance or just have a conversation with, and he saw a girl of his own age near the brink of the lake and it didn’t look as if she had anyone with her. What house was she in again? Gryffindor? He didn’t know as all his friends were from his own house and he only saw the other third-years in class. Skating all alone was not his idea of fun however and he would soon get bored. So he decided he would go up and introduce himself, after all there could be no harm in that. He skated over to the girl with the blonde hair and smiled. "Hello! I'm Charlie, from Hufflepuff! You looked like you were on your own and I was wondering if you like to skate a bit with me?" he said, his tone pleasant and friendly.

[kat]

Kat enjoyed skating and made some warm-up exercise, practicing some move along with some local swiss-guy, who she then left with a friendly wave and skated ahead alone, wondering if anyone she knew would be around.

Just then some guy, about her age skated closer and greeted her.
“Hi, Colin,” Kat brushed her hair back and reached out her hand in a greeting, “I’m Kat. Lurjée. Ravenclaw.”<br>
“And I’m only waiting for somebody to talk to,” Kat continued with a smile, ”As nice as this place is – some company would be great!”

[jaspar]

Colin smiled and felt relieved. Kat sounded friendly and glad to see him, so everything was fine and there had been no need to worry! "Oh good! It is nice isn't it? You been abroad before? I haven't been anywhere and this is my first time to travel outside Britain. Mum and Dad were a little worried and it took a lot of letters to convince them to let me go, you see I'm a Muggle-born and half the time Mum and Dad feel they aren't too sure what they're letting me in for, but I persuaded them in the end. This place is amazing, I'm glad I convinced them. What about you, are you a pureblood or a half-blood?" he asked conversationally.

((Yes I did! )