Shaking her hand to restore the blood flow after Roze finally let go, Dani followed the instructions of the teachers to stick together, picking up her pace so that she didn't get too far from either of her friends.  She hoped that Roze had just been imagining figures in the woods, but something didn't seem right.  As Roze got the attention of Richard to voice her concerns again, all hell broke loose as a hoarse voice uttered a curse, the clearing lighting up and the trees casting shadows that made it seem like they were surrounded by tall, skeletal figures.

With reflexes that had to have been honed with years of practice, Richard deflected the curse with the tip of his wand, sending it off into the woods.  In virtually the same motion, he pushed Roze away from him towards a nearby tree.  Though she had hesitated at first, Dani drew her wand and scurried to kneel next to Roze and make sure that she was okay.  While it was unlikely that she would be able to do much against the fully trained wizards that were attacking them, she figured that the adrenaline coursing through her veins would provide the willpower she needed to fuel her magic.

Figuring it would be a good idea to try and do something to protect her and Roze, Dani took her wand and gestured it vaguely, imagining a force field of some sort covering them and willing it into existence.  Oddly enough, her wand seemed to understand what she wanted, pulling her magic through and creating a crystal-like bubble around them as a curse streaked into the tree they were near, sending a shower of bark shards that bounced harmlessly off the shield. 

Despite the fact that they were in the middle of what was essentially a war zone and that the shield was quite misshapen and uneven, Dani felt elated that she had managed to cast a spell at all.  Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last long, as a streak of orange light crashed into the shield, ricocheting up into the sky and reminding Dani that the events they were engaged in were pretty serious and definitely not the time to congratulate herself on successfully casting her first spell.  Hopefully the shield would last long enough for the teachers to fight off the attackers or for reinforcements to arrive from the castle (someone definitely should have seen the orange streak flying up into the sky) or something.