The students shifted impatiently in their seats, waiting for the sorting ceremony to start. The first-years were marched into the Great Hall, most looked nervous, but the rest were staring up at the ceiling, entranced.

"As you may know," Dumbledore spoke to the waiting assembly. Eyes all around snapped in his direction; most were puzzled by his decision to give a speech before the sorting.

"Sometime this year," he continued, "we are going on a camping trip in the Forbidden Forest so that you can learn how to survive outside on your own. I am so excited that the Ministry of Magic has awarded us this wonderful opportunity that I have decided that we should have the camping trip right now. Screw being sorted, I now proclaim you all Gryffindors because I'm a bias bastard and I like that house. Now let's go."

All around mouths dropped, some were dropped after a large intake of air.

"What are you waiting for?" Dumbledore asked with a grin.

They continued to stare at him in shock.

"Come on," he pleaded.

Still, the crowd was in a state of shock.

"Now," he shouted angrily, his booming voice echoing around the Great Hall. "Close your gapping pie hole, grab your shit, and get out."

There was a flurry of motion as students trampled each other in their hurried attempt to get to the castle entrance, grab their things, and rush outside. Never before had any of them heard Dumbledore shout in anger like that. To say the least, they were more terrified of him in that moment than of any possibly dangerous creature lurking out in the woods.

"That was odd," Ron stated as they walked out into the middle of the lawn with the rest of the students.

"Students," Professor McGonagall shouted over the noise. "Please gather around your Head of House and await further instruction from them."

They group immediately started moving towards the testy woman and stared at her expectantly.

She smiled at them all, "Good, good. Is everyone here?"

The group looked around and nodded, a few shrugging as there were quite a few new additions.

"Good. Now, each house has its own clearing out in the woods. I want you to stay close and follow me as I lead you to the Gryffindor clearing. Once we are there you will set up your tents, we will eat, and then I want you all to go to bed, immediately."

She turned around and started walking briskly towards the Forbidden Forest. The students followed closely behind for fear of getting lost.

As they entered the forest, they were engulfed in near darkness and frightening noises. The trio seemed unfazed by the evil all around, but the rest of the courageous Gryffindors were quacking in fear with each step.

After about ten minutes, Professor McGonagall stopped at the edge of a clearing that was marked Gryffindor.

"Well, here we are," she gestured toward the center. "Set up you tents and I'll escort you to the central clearing next."

Quickly territory was marked and the friends started setting up tents next to each other. Harry and Hermione both had normal Muggle tents as well as a few other students, but most had wizard tents. Harry glared at them in envy remembering the fact that most wizard tents were roomy and comfortable.

The few people who were unlucky enough to have muggle tents were still putting theirs up when Professor McGonagall announced that it was time to eat. They abandoned their efforts and followed their head of house down a path that led to an even bigger clearing.

Suddenly the layout of the campsite became clear. The central clearing had four main paths leading away from it like the spokes on a wagon. Those paths went presumably to each house clearing. Then there were two smaller paths; one going deeper into the forest and one going back towards the castle.

Other student were beginning to fill up the central clearing, all were looking at the five tables curiously. Four tables were parallel and the fifth was perpendicular. It looked exactly like the great hall, except for the fact that the sky was real.

Slowly the students moved to their tables, whispering amongst themselves. The teachers seated themselves at their own tables, gazing out at their students.

"This is nice," Dumbledore stated. "Isn't it?"

They nodded and the few remaining students sat down. Once everyone was settled, food magically appeared on the table. There were gasps of surprise from all around, especially from the first years who were not even close to being accustomed to having their food magically appear before them.

They hesitantly began eating and as they realized that the food was not poisoned, their eating became more frenzied. Suffering from shock after shock, causes a person to gain an appetite.

When everyone was stuffed beyond stuffed, Dumbledore cleared his throat and began speaking. Most of the students shuddered; the memory of Professor Umbridge still fresh in their minds.

"Over the next couple of days, you will be participating in lessons that will teach you basic survival skills in a non-muggle forest. Breakfast is at seven and your class schedules are...," he waved his hand at them. "...right in front of you."

Harry picked up the paper that had suddenly appeared before him and examined it. They had the first half of the day off tomorrow and for lunch they would be with Hagrid learning how to make food in the wilderness. The group shared a horrified expression. Even though they wished to support the giant of a man, they had encountered his idea of food before and they were terrified.

"We'll be lucky if we still have teeth, that is if we survive," Ron stated mournfully.

"It can't be that bad," Colin piped up.

"Oh yes...it can and will be that bad," Hermione assured.

"And if, by some small miracle we survive with only a mild case of food poisoning, we get rewarded by having to deal with Professor Snape and his outdoor potions class tomorrow," Ginny added.

They all groaned.