Off to Tame Nessie and Maybe Wrangle a Llama or Two

Jack apparated next to the great Loch Ness and looked out across its expanse. An appreciative smile spread onto her face. Nessie. A prankster in his...her...its own way. It had been befuddling muggles for years and years now, with mysterious appearance.

Well, it was about time the befuddler became the bufuddled...-ed...

She turned around, waiting for her friends to appear, but then took off towards the beach. She stopped at the water's edge and ripped off her shoes and socks, not bothering to roll up her pants, and she waded out to knee depth.

Somewhere...Somewhere out there in the water...Nessie was waiting... and Jack could not wait to go get better acquainted.

Andrew apparated behind Jack, but it was very silent, since he had apparated a lot. He crept up close to Jack, and said in a deep voice "Did you miss me?" He backed away quickly, before Jack had managed to elbow him in the face or something. He didn't know if he had actually scared her or not, but he always wanted to take a precaution.

After taking his step back, he laughed momentarily, and looked back at Jack. "So where is this Leek Ness Monster thing?" he asked, keeping his eyes on Jack. He wondered what the large creature may have looked like, and wondered if it would be dangerous at all. Maybe it would be some porcupine like creature or something.

Chase had clung to Andrew before he had gone, seeing as she couldn't apparate herself. Watching from just behind them both, she burst into a fit of silent giggles when he came up behind Jack. She giggled and came up beside Jack. "Wow.. it's beautiful!" She said looking over the lake, but suddenly she was gone, off into the water, not even bothering to roll up her pants. She laughed and looked at Andrew again. "Leek Ness Monster?" She asked and laughed again. "It's the Loch Ness Monster, and it's a giant underwater.. dragon.. thing.." She said laughing and looking after Jack. "JACK! I don't think it's safe for you to be going in the water!" She said feeling her body turn to ice again. What if Andrew wanted to follow? She would have no choice but to follow along with them, she didn't want to be left on the shore like a tag along. She would go with!

"Nevermind.." She said a bit more quietly, she glanced at Andrew and blushed. "Just goes to show why I'm not in Gryffindor." she said with a small shaky laugh. "But I guess we should follow her so she doesn't get eaten or something." She said laughing and rubbing her shoulder with one hand, her laugh like a bell in the outdoors. She turned and went off after Jack. "Come on Jack.. at least roll up your pants or something.. it's.. " Her feet touched the water and she flew back. "IT"S COLD!" She cried out, laughing and almost crying at the same time. "So very cold!" She giggled and looked back at Jack, wondering how she could possibly stand it.

Jack jumped when Andrew snuck up behind her. Unacceptable. She made sure to tear after him and sock him hard in the arm, before continuing on into the cool water. She heard Chase call out to her, but she was kneeling slightly in the water, peering into the depths as best she could.

She heard Chase splash back and Jack turned to grin at her. "Pansy! It's just a little nippy." She threw her head back and laughed. This was nothing; she had fallen through ice when she was ten. She peered out across the water, a sort of longing for adventure bucking inside her.

What she would give to find Nessie...No one she knew of had ever gone after the best. She turned around slowly, the smile leaving her face as she pulled out her wand and straightened up. "I'm going in. I will find that monster."

"So we are really going to find this Loch Mess Monster thing then?" he asked, not even trying to change the name this time. It was very odd, but he kept getting the name mixed up in his head, and didn't even realize it. He removed his shirt, to provide less slack in the water, and then jumped into water. Staying underwater, he let out an assortment of differnt swears, angry about the waters temperature.

He resurfaced and shook his head rapdily to remove water. "Yeah this is very nice," he lied, nearly gritting his teeth. He used his wand and casted the bubble head charm on himself, to allow air in it for an hour. Now they were ready...or so he thought.

Chase watched as Andrew dove in. Great.. She stood for a moment, and then kicked off her shoes, hoping they would stay there until they got back. Cold water.. and not that covering of clothing, sure she wouldn't be pulled down. But it would be FREEZING. Almost like swimming in the lake at Hogwarts in the dead of winter. She took a deep breath, and then jumped into the water, diving headfirst in so as to get it over with quickly. She gasped at the freezing temperatures, and then, following Andrew's lead, she waved her wand, casting the bubble head charm on herself as well. Breathing in warmer air, that smelled oddly of the sea, she looked around the waters, and then at Andrew and Jack, struggling to keep herself from laughing.

They looked like they had giant fishbowls upturned on their heads, and somehow it kept the water out, and fresh air in. She dove under the water, so no muggles could see her with her fish bowl head, and looked around. The charm made it easier to see as well, and she glanced up at the feet of the others, her eyes landing on Andrew's before turning to look down at the bottom. Pebbly, and bare, there weren't any fish around. Nessie probably ate them all. She giggled and swam down, sitting on the bottom of the lake, looking around at the weeds and filtered sunlight.

Jack smiled at Andrew's enthusiasm and automatically casted the charm herself, launching herself under water. She quickly propelled herself forward, twisting in the water and doing a little flip for fun.

She found it funny that she was coordinated in air and in water, though when it came to walking on her own two feet, she needed to be carefully considering each step...She realized she had passed her friends so she twisted around, holding up a thumbs up and then propelling herself forward.

The cold did not bother her; she was well covered. She gripped her wand's handle, which was sticking out of her pocket, just in case. She realized it would be hard to communicate with the other two, so if she saw danger, it would be easiest to deal with it herself.

Andrew then submerged himself in the icy waters, starting to get used to the temperature of the lake. He wished that there was a charm to warm the water up or something. as he swam, he passed a couple schools of fish and smiled as some more ancient fish passed by as well. He had never been in a lake like this, so it was rather exciting.

He turned his body towards Jack and Chase and tried to say something. But he knew it was useless since sound traveled by air. He could hear it, but they couldn't. So he pulled out his wand, which was right next to his magic gloves, and wrote something out, using magic. He wrote out 'So where is this Lekk Lokk Ness Monster thing? Is it large?'. He shot out a couple of magical sparks out towards Chase and Jack, so that they would turn and see the writing.

Swimming beside Jack, she looked in every which direction, trying to take in the amazing sights of underwater. Ancient looking fish, and odd fish that shouldn't look like that. She laughed at a fish that looked like it was to big for it's skin, before she spun when sparks flew past her. She read the words, with a bit of difficulty, and then laughed again, before pulling out her own wand. "Huge" She wrote with a laugh. "It's hard to hide it too, Muggles see it a lot." She giggled and then saw something large move out of the corner of her eye.

Spinning towards the large object, she lit her wand, and glanced around, it was getting darker and colder the farther towards the middle of the lake that they got. But what she saw ended up just being a huge rock, that had somehow found it's way to the middle of the lake, but something about the rock caught her eye. She moved closer to it, and saw large claw looking marks. "See what I mean.. Huge." She wrote with her wand, turning to look at the other two. Putting her hand against the claw marks and looking up and down at the sheer size. She had heard the back feet of the Loch Ness had claws, and the front were flippers, so.. if these were the back feet marks.. She looked back at them again, shock showing on her face. This thing must be huge.

Jack saw sparks and she wheeled around, holding out her own wand, thinking that one of the others must be in trouble. However it was Andrew trying to draw their attention to his question. Chase answered and she nodded, turning to follow Chase as they propelled through the lake.

The gouge marks in the rock were only further evidence of the sheer size and might of the monster. Jack ran a finger through one of the crevices, shivering at how clean the slash in the hard rock was. A chill ran down her spine in appropriate awe and anticipation. It only made her more motivated to find the creature.

She clambered onto the rock, walking along its slick edge, turning her head left and right to try and find anything. A shimmer caught her attention and she wheeled to her left. A large school of fish had just darted out of a watery cove. She shrugged and began to turn away from the sight...

She turned back towards it. What had the fish been fleeing? She stepped off the rock and treaded water for a moment before swimming forward tentatively towards the cove. She turned to face the others and put a finger to the bowl to tell them to be quiet and careful, before pointing at the cove.

She thought she had found Nessie.