Closed A Circus for Gryffindors

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara had been surprised by how many of her friends were interested in learning about her skill sets. To her, growing up in the troupe was just normal, and it was kind of shocking to attend Hogwarts and realize what she thought was normal was actually considered weird. Having agreed to meet some of her roommates in the conglomerated arts room, she wasn't quite sure what they would get into, but maybe they could be the next big entertainment for the Yule Ball. She placed a couple mats on the floor for cushioning and sat down to start stretching.

 

[Maggi Watties]

Maggi had been looking forwrd to today ever since the idea came up. She was parched for new skills to learn at Hogwarts, and she wasn't getting to put any of her talents to use. Finally, this was something she could sink her teeth into. She gave Elara a bright smile as she joined the other girl in the arts room, looking around at the mats in excitement. "Ooooh, looks like we're gonna get serious!" She said cheerfully, sitting down to join Elara in her stretches. "What kinda stuff are you gonna teach us?"

 

[Salem Lee]

ooc: aaah this completely fell off my radar sorry!

Salem was always keen to pick up new skills, and since seeing Elara's family perform over the break she'd been getting in more and more trouble attempting unstructured cartwheels or flips around the castle. Thankfully, Elara was willing to share her knowledge, and Salem hadn't wasted any time rushing down to join her and some of her roommates. Her brain had been stuck on the idea of starting their own circus and she was ready to learn.

"We can do flips and stuff right? Like you guys did over the holidays?" Salem asked, entering the room and immediately joining Elara to stretch on one of the mats, copying her friend's movements as best she could. "Or maybe we could do like a human pyramid thing? We could do that if we had enough people, right?"

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara grinned as Maggi entered and laughed. "I mean, we can definitely try more serious stuff, but I also got told by my dads that I would get in trouble if I tried to teach you guys without following 'safety basics,'" she said, placing the last part in air quotes. Sure, it was nice to have a net under her when she was doing acts with her sisters, but it was more fun knowing that there might not be something to stop you expect someone using magic very quickly. Elara's eyes widened at Salem's suggestion. "Hmm, maybe we could do a human pyramid if we started an actual troupe, but I'm not sure how fun a small pyramid would be... unless we stood on each other's shoulders!" she said with glee, staring up at the ceiling to figure out if it was high enough. "But we should probably start with something simple - like a cartwheel." Elara walked over to the mat and did a cartwheel on her right side and then flipped to her left. "You guys wanna try?"

 

[Maggi Watties]

Maggi grinned when Elara confirmed they could learn some more serious skills, excited to begin. It was the first time in more than a year that she really felt like this time at Hogwarts wasn't a total waste, and she couldn't wait to get started. Salem's idea of a human pyramid sounded fun too, and she was pleased that Elara didn't write it off. She watched as Elara got them started off, grinning in excitement. "Oh, super easy." Maggi said confidently, doing a couple of cartwheels on each side and finishing with a one-handed cartwheel on her right side, a skill she had been practicing since Elara had given her pointers last year.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara was impressed by Maggi's inherent ability to do cartwheels, until she remembered that last year they had kind of helped each other. "Good work, Mags," she threw out, hoping the girl wasn't too offended by her using a nickname. After all, Zay did it. "Alright, now you, Salem. If you both have the cartwheels, we could easily move onto more fun stuff," she added, a huge grin on her face.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem tossed her head in begrudging agreement when Elara mentioned safety basics. It made sense, but it sounded boring. She was back to being excited when Elara did some thinking about her human pyramid idea, already keen on it. "We should definitely start a trope! I bet I could hold you up, easy," she said, scrambling to sit more upright from where she'd been trying to touch her toes, distracted as Maggi moved to execute a cool looking cartwheel.

"Oh, right!" Salem said, hopping to her feet and trying to replay what Maggi had just done. Cartwheels were pretty stock circus stuff, Salem was sure she could do it. She just had to... Salem planted her hands on the ground, flinging her legs into the air in a sort of kick before pushing herself back onto her feet. It hadn't felt as smooth as what Maggi had done, and not as cool as flips and rolls and stuff, but maybe it was passable. She really wanted to move onto the other thing Elara had mentioned.

 

[Maggi Watties]

Maggi beamed when Elara complimented her, smiling even more at the nickname. She watched Salem take her turn, wondering what kind of experience her other roommate had. Watching the girl though, it quickly became clear that experience was.... not a lot. She glanced at Elara, wondering whether this meant they would be spending the day on cartwheels or moving on to more fun things right away.