#18 Unlockey Day.

Toby looked around as he entered the room, glancing first at the windows and then towards the large pond that lay ominously in the middle of the room. There was something about the pond that made his gut instinct scream at him to stay away from the edge, and so he did... For five seconds.

Walking further into the room, he approached the pond for a better look. Peering down into its depths, he found it was almost impossible to see beneath the surface of the water, giving no indication to what might be hidden beneath. That didn't make Toby any more confident about what it was doing locked away in a room, especially now that he was in there with it.

Moving away from the edge again, Toby turned his attention towards the plaque. He read it once, and then again to ensure that he understood what it was saying. He was supposed to enter the pond and retrieve... A stone?

Toby was a confident swimmer, having grown up playing in the creek nearby his house, but the idea of diving into a pond where there could be monsters lurking ready to drag him down to a watery grave... That did not fill him with a sense of joy. If Ryan was there, he'd probably call him an idiot for even attempting it.

But Toby was a lion among birds, he'd let them deal with the logical side of things.

Worried that they might weigh him down, Toby first took off his robes and tie. It would be much easier to swim in his shirt than with all the extra layers of clothing floating around him in the water- but he didn't want to enter the water in his underwear, then his bare skin would have no protection from whatever dangers lay beneath.

Toby approached the pond once again, easing himself into the water so that he made as little noise as possible. If he dived in, he might attract unwanted attention. So far so good, nothing reached up to grab his legs...

Taking in a deep breath, he dived beneath the water. It was dark and difficult to see as he kicked his legs out, hoping to propel himself deeper towards the bottom of the pond. There were thick walls of kelp that he had to push through to make any progress, and the ways they tangled around his limbs as he moved made it difficult not to panic.

It felt like forever before his hand finally brushed against the smooth surface of a stone- indicating he'd reached the bottom of the pond. His lungs were starting to burn with the effort of holding his breath, and he quickly snatched up the stone and began to kick as fast as he could towards the surface.

Toby couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. It started as queasiness in his gut, that was then confirmed by the sound of something with him in the water. The plaque had warned about something in the pond waiting to drag him to 'a watery grave' and in a surge of panic, he clutched the stone to his chest and kicked faster.

He felt sure that he was almost at the surface, when he felt something grab his leg- halting his ascent. Toby felt his stomach flip, by now his lungs burned with the need for air and he realized that this thing intended to drown him if he did not free himself from its clutches.

His first instinct was to reach for his wand- which remained abandoned at the side of the pond, in his robes pocket and that wouldn't work anyway due to this being the one place in a magical school that magic wouldn't work. His next instinct was to kick the hell out of whatever it was, until it released him.

Getting enough force behind a kick was much harder in water than on land, but Toby was determined. He was supposed to die on the Quidditch pitch after miraculously catching the snitch, saving his team from a dramatic loss- not in a murky pond at the hands of some unknown entity.

Toby kicked once, feeling his foot slam into something beneath him. He kicked again, this time aiming at the (presumed) hand that was wrapped around his ankle. He felt the grip loosen ever so slightly and kicked again, and again... Until suddenly he was free.

Propelling himself upwards, his head broke the surface and he sucked in a large lungful of air. His breathing coming in fast, ragged gasps as he swam towards the edge of the pond and hauled himself out. Tossing the stone into the black bucket without giving it much thought about whether it was the right one, he scrambled away from the edge and tucked his knees up to his chin.

Would the creature follow him out of the water?