[b]Charlie Weasley[/b] 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 [i]'Stupefy!'[/i] 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 [i]pranks[/i] 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.

[b]Moirah[/b] 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... 

[b]Cassandra[/b] 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... 

[b]Caelum[/b] 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. '[i]Do they know where I am?'[/i] 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 [i]away[/i] from the path [i]away[/i] 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. 

[b]More roots[/b] 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...