Burning off some energy

[Hemi Te Rua]

Attending a school which hosted three feasts a day, seven days a week, while providing no physical education other than Qudditch was not good for the muggle born, Hemi, who had not yet learnt self discipline. He was overeating and not exercising enough to burn it all off. This pattern left him with an abundance of energy late in the day, and energy meant rebelling in his mind.

Just a couple of hours were left until dark and he found himself walking on the grass beside the forest edge. He kept stopping every few minutes to peer through the thick foliage for signs of life but saw nothing. He had been warned that such a place wasn't safe for a student, even Professors had met their match in the Forbidden Forest. But that was exactly it, it was forbidden and Hemi wanted so badly to step inside and find out first hand what was in there!

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie had been at Hogwarts for a few weeks now and yet, she still hadn't been to the Forbidden Forest. She had heard so many exciting stories from other students who had been around there but she hadn't had the chance to go there herself. She wanted to make her own stories about the forest, to have her own adventure. No matter the trouble she could potentially get into. Luckily for her, she had a lot of free time this evening so she decided to have a stroll by the forest. Not intending to go in, but to scope out the area, for potential adventures.

As she made her way down to the forest she noticed another student already there who seemed to have the same idea. This could be a good opportunity to pool together ideas on how to approach the forest. Getting closer to the forest's edge she recognised the boy to be a first year Gryffindor named Hemi. "Hey Hemi! What brings you to the Forbidden forest?" she asked him.

 

[Hemi Te Rua]

Hemi continued trying to get a clear view into the forest but the coverage was too thick. If he wanted to get a better look he was going to have to venture further in. At what point did the Forest become deadly? Hemi thought of just going in a couple of metres and reevaluate from there. He took a pace forward as if about to enter when he was interrupted by a familiar face.

"Oh hey Maddie!" He smiled, acknowledging a fellow Gryffy first year. "Ooh well. I was just thinking it'd be pretty cool to go exploring but I'm not sure whether to go in." He replied honestly, she wasn't a Professor or a Prefect, he had no reason to make up another excuse for loitering around the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "And what are you doing here?"

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie raised her eyebrow at what Hemi said, she pondered, it certainly would be pretty exciting to go into the forest. "But you have to go in!" she exclaimed. "I'll join you if you like.. Well if you want the company of course" she added. "I came down here to scope out the forest, see what all the fuss was about" she said to Hemi truthfully. The forest was full of magical creatures and potential adventures that Maddie couldn't wait to get stuck into.

 

[Hemi Te Rua]

Maddie's enthusiasm was enough to tip the scales for Hemi. The young Gryffindor was known to bounce of others energy and easily swayed into rebellion. "Okay!" He replied with certainty, "Let's go exploring then!"

Hemi took his first few steps into the forest. The atmosphere changed dramatically just a few feet in as the temperature dropped and darkness fell under the coverage. He was not afraid with company but was sure he wouldn't have lasted long by himself. "Which way would you like to go?"

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie jumped up and down with excitement, this was really happening. She couldn't help but listen to the nagging voice in her head telling her it was dangerous and they would get in trouble. She shook her head trying to get the idea out. She wanted to do this, she wanted to have fun with Hemi, she wanted to make exciting memories.

She followed Hemi into the forest and they soon came to a fork in the road. Maddie couldn't help but notice how dark it seemed to have gotten already and the cold breeze that whipped around them. The left fork seemed to be covered in fog and Maddie had a bad feeling about that way so she shrugged her shoulders and pointed to the right fork "maybe we should try that way?" she suggested to Hemi. Hoping he would share her worries about doing this.

 

[Hemi Te Rua]

"Right it is!" Hemi agreed, taking the route Maddie suggested. They walked further and, as he suspected, the path began to become rougard and less defined. "We should play a game" Hemi broke the silence. "You know that one called bogies?" He wasn't sure if Maddie would be familiar with the muggle game so it explained it anyway. "One of us would start off by whispering the word bogies, then the other would have to follow slightly louder, then again louder still, and we continue back and forth until one doesn't have the nerve to say it any louder."

 

[Madeline Walden]

Hemi seemed awfully excited for this 'adventure' more than Maddie anyway. She had many reservations about going further into the forest. The paths became less and less defined, the trees grew closer together, shielding most of the evening sun therefore making the forest seem colder. Goosepimples erupted on her arms and she hugged herself in response. 1) To try and get rid of them and 2) to reassure herself that this was a good idea. It had to be! Maddie was grateful that Hemi broke the silence by suggesting a game. A game would definitely take their mind off how creepy the forest was becoming. "Okay... that sounds interesting..." she replied, a bit skeptical about what Hemi was saying but she realised it would be good to have a distraction. "Do you want to start?" she asked.

 

[Hemi Te Rua]

Hemi did have his own doubts about the timing of the game given the spooky forest and abundance of wildlife but Maddie agreed to play so it must not have been such a bad idea after all. He nodded, "Uh okay - bogies" He whispered the word on the first go.

Meanwhile the two first years continued down now what was no longer a path at all, but forestry. The thick canopy of trees blocked much of the remaining daylight and visibility was poor. "I guess we should use our wands." Hemi said, removing his own, "Lumos!" The spell made all the difference, lighting the way for them. "Did you want to go further?" He was concerned that Maddie wasn't as in to it and even though Hemi was happy to continue, he didn't want to drag a frightened girl along with him.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie giggled at the game, it was so silly and it was exactly what they needed. It cut the tension of the forest and made their adventure more enjoyable. "Bogies" she said, barely audible, looking to Hemi for his turn.

"Good idea!" Maddie commented as she took out her own wand to help them see better in the darkness. "Lumos" she commanded and a light erupted from the end of her wand. Joined with Hemi's they could see a great deal more, a faint path was illuminated in front of them. She nodded at Hemi's question, "Of course!" she exclaimed. Trying to reassure herself as much as she was Hemi. She took the lead and carefully picked her way further into the dense forest.

 

[Cain]

Cain slipped another flattened river stone into his chest pouched, pleased at the pretty find. The young centaur really had no use for such an item, as his herd did not have a currency, he personally found them pretty. Abel mostly seemed to be of a similar mind, and he was sure his brother would greatly enjoy this trinket. Trinket now safely stashed for later admiring, Cain cantered back through the forest to find Abel once more and show him. Being the only other centaur even near his age, Abel was often his go-to whenever he was looking to talk or have fun with someone. His parents were much too serious for him, and Abel seemed to think that all of his ideas were amazing. The forestry was becoming thicker, however, but even if he were outside of his usual grazing areas he felt nothing but familiarity within his home. What was unnaturally, however, was a bright light streaming through the trees up ahead.

He slowed down, his tail flicking nervously, and began a slow trot toward the area of interest. He was by no means full-grown, and still rather small in the eyes of his kind, and so the close trees were still able to be navigated without having to squeeze and feel claustrophobic. He had only ever met two students from the school - Orwell and the unnamed girl, and one of their professor's who did not seem very pleased. He was not as scared of these bi-peddles as he had been of Orwell and companion - they were older, to begin with. This couple seemed younger, and whilst his knowledge of their magic was all-but non-existent, common logic told him that the younger they were, the less dangerous.

Brown eyes squinting from the light provided by the youths, Cain approached them slowly, and finally broke into view after trying to remain as silent as possible to avoid spooking them. His forelegs dug into the earth in front of him as he looked at them shyly. It still felt a little odd to address them, but his last greeting seemed to be okay. "Hello? I am, um, my name is Cain."​

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[Hemi Te Rua]

"Bogies" Hemi replied slightly louder, giggling with Maddie at the game He non-threatenly turned his wand on his Gryffindor friend, using the light to check that she was okay. Deciding that she definitely did want to continue on, he nodded and walked further. "Okay, but seriously, let me know if you want to head back. I won't mind." He reassured her, she was nice enough to support him in flying class so he would return the favour in the forbidden forest.

Hemi had been too busy talking to pick up on any rustling or unusual noise before a man had been close enough to speak to them. He jumped back in fright, as a voice which didn't belong to Maddie spoke.

At first he thought the man was a Professor who had come to ruin their fun, but one look was all it took to realise that only the top part was a man, supported by the legs and body of a horse. He knew it was a centeur, they existed in fantasy back in the muggle world, but Hemi never imagined he would meet one in person.

He wasn't quite sure how to respond to the casual greeting. Composing himself after the initial fright, he looked at Maddie before deciding to respond with caution. "Uh nice to meet you!" Hemi replied, "I'm Hemi and this is Maddie."

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie shook her head at the absurdness of this game Hemi had thought of, it definitely took away the frightening atmosphere of the forest. "Bogies!" she said a bit louder and she heard leaves rustling as a bird, or maybe a bat, exited the tree from the noisy disturbance. "Oops..." Maddie thought.

Grateful for the concern of her friend, Maddie shook her head. Not wanting Hemi to think she was scared however, Maddie teased him "Why? Are you scared?" she giggled and she playfully pushed him off the faint path that they were following. Maddie didn't notice that someone else had joined them during their fun and she was shocked to hear a voice coming from in front of them.

The only thing Maddie could make out were hooves, digging into the muddy path. Her eyes moved from the hooves all the way up to what looked like a horses lower body and then onto the upper body and face of a young man. Maddie stepped back in surprise, she had never encountered a Centaur before. they were just characters in stories and myths, even in the wizarding world it was rare to stumble across one. She had definitely not banked on seeing any magical creatures tonight, this was incredible.

The Centaur, known as Cain, seemed friendly enough. Eager to meet them, it seemed. This kind of put Maddie at ease, and she was thankful that Hemi introduced them both. She wasn't sure she was able to talk. She smiled at Cain, "Hi!" she managed to squeak out.

 

[Cain]

As the boy jumped back, Cain too found himself backing up simply because of the sudden movement, and ducked behind a diagonally-inclined tree, his arm wrapped around it and head peering from underneath it. Smaller wizards and witches were nowhere near as intimidating as their adult counterparts, but the bi-peddles were still something the young centaur had to get used to. As they seemed to examine him, he too ran his brown eyes over their forms, deciding to remember their faces should they find themselves here once again. He knew that the two students he previously found still came around, though he had not had the time to break away from his herd to interact with them. He hadn't decided if it were unfortunate or not - he suspected that his parents would not be very pleased to find him here.

Hemi and Maddie, odd names just as Orwell, but easy enough to remember. "Hemi and Maddie," he repeated, before nodded and retreating out a little further from the tree. "Where were you planning on going?" It was rather dark here, especially for those from the castle - it always seemed well-lit with false lights.​

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[Silus Hollister]

Silus was feeling particularly rebellious this evening and so he decided there was no better of a place to look for trouble than the Forbidden Forest. Come on, even the title held a promise of sorts. Donning his school robes -- it was getting chillier, he took off in anxious strides.

Alright. The forest was a disappointment so far. Don't get the boy wrong, there was no other place he loved more than the outdoors, and he did enjoy ventueing out amongst the trees, but he was having trouble seeing why the place was forbidden. Nothin flashed "danger" to him. It seemed to be quite peaceful. Just when he was about to take his leave, his shoulders stiffened, sensing others nearby. After moving further in the forest for a couple of minutes , he spotted three shapes, and watched from behind a large tree. Upon further inspection, two were seemingly students, while he had more trouble making out the third.

 

[Hemi Te Rua]

Hemi found it difficult not to stare at Cain's legs, they were friggin' horse legs after all! He had never seen anything like it, but in an attempt not to appear rude, he forced himself to avert his eyes settling instead for a quick flash from time to time.

"Uh we don't know" Hemi replied truthfully, "We were following this path" He gestured towards the divide in the trees. Hemi wasn't sure if it was a path or not but that had not deterred the two first years from following it for a good while. "Do - do you know where it leads?" Hemi was nervous but not afraid, Cain was friendly which put him at ease. A noice in the forest made Hemi turn his head but he saw nothing.

 

[Madeline Walden]

This was an absolutely incredible experience, how many people get to see a centaur let alone speak to one? Maddie felt incredibly lucky and wanted to talk to Cain for hours. Hemi and Cain seemed to be getting on well and Maddie tried to hide how uneasy she felt here in the forest so she could be more confident in talking to Cain.

She nodded along with what Hemi was saying "we were looking for adventure!" Maddie said enthusiastically. She hoped Cain would tell them the secrets of the forest. If she ever came venturing out here again she would know where the best places were to go. During their conversation Maddie swore she heard footsteps coming from behind them, she looked around but couldn't see anything. She looked at Hemi a bit confused. "Did you hear that?" Maddie turned to the centaur "Have you brought more friends with you Cain?" she asked excitedly.

 

[Silus Hollister]

Silus ran a hand through his hair and stepped out from behind the tree, yet he still lingered within the sheer concealment of shadows. Taking in the scene before him, his eyes passed through the two students and looked upon what he knew couldn't be anything other than a centaur. He still seemed to be in his youth, and Silus couldn't help but eye him admiringly. Stepping out from the shadows he came to stand a few feet away from the other students. Instead of searching there faces, his gaze remained in the centaur. He tilted his head to one side and smirked warmly. "I had no clue this forest was home to your kind." he said in a low voice, surprisingly somewhat friendly despite his usual countenance.

Finally taking note of the other two, he thought he vaguely remembered them. Yes, he met those two not long before he came here, to Hogwarts. They'd been searching for secret passages. He briefly wondered if they'd discovered anything since. He surely had. "I remember you two, gryffindors," He stated, his hands in his pockets. "Sorry to dissapoint you, but no, I am not another centaur." He said with an amused chuckle as he addreased the girl. However, one with sharpened senses might detect slight jealousy in his tone. "Cain, is it? I'm Silus." He said to the centaur.

 

[Cain]

Cain had only ever spent one with humans at one other point, and so was still not used to the staring. But to be fair, he too stared at them - their legs were so weird to him. How they could balance on those things was impossible for him to understand - they looked so top-heavy. He flicked his tail, trying to make an effort to not stare at them should they find it offensive. He didn't exactly love being stared at, but his mind was about as open as his eyes were. He tilted his head at their words, and tilted once more when another noise other than them reached his keen senses. His brown eyes looked at the path they were previously on. "That leads to a clearing where you can graze. Well, you wouldn't. You should not find any trouble there, but along the way the roots of trees stick out. You may trip."

He had been moving closer to his tree as the noises continued. They weren't created by anything he could identify, and so assumed another student, or perhaps one of their professors. He looked at Maddie now, and shook his head. "You would not hear them, if I did." They were not flexible creatures, but they were quiet ones. His increasing discomfort subdued when the culprit finally revealed themselves - another small human. He inclined his head to him in silent greeting, assuming that he was a friend of the pair he was already acquainted with. Silus was another easily remembered name, though certainly odd as well. He was not sure what he meant by Hemi and Maddie being 'Gryffindors' but found no reason to ask about the word.

"There are many centaurs within the forest," he answered to Silus, stepping away from the tree again. "I am one of the younger ones." In fact, he was one of the few youths around. Everyone else was much older than he and his brother. "Is there anyone else with you three? It isn't safe for you to wander around by yourselves."​

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[Hemi Te Rua]

Hemi got rather excited when Maddie suggested that more Centaurs could be joining them so he couldn't help but feel disappointed when the potential herd turned out to be another first year. Hemi instantly recognised Silus, a Ravenclaw who he had tried (unsucessfully) to break into the Potion Masters classroom with earlier in the term. Hemi pulled a face when the Ravenclaw addressed the Centaur, it sounded rude but casual.

He looked to the Centaur who seemed to take it all in his stride, "How long do centaurs live for?" Hemi asked curiously, it must be a tough life in the forest for them. "Uh, no we just came here by ourselves." Hemi replied, it did sound somewhat stupid when he said it like that but what Professor would accompany two first years on an adventure into the Forbidden Forest? "How did you find us Silus? This forest is huge!"

 

[Madeline Walden]

A boy of their own age stepped out from behind a tree, Maddie recognised him instantly. He was almost famous around the school, not for good reasons though. She didn't really like the boy much, he was always skulking around. Even on there first meeting he was sneaking around, it was unnerving. Plus he was never pleasant to Maddie so she returned the attitude. Of course he'd be here in the Forbidden Forest, it suited him here.

Maddie noticed that Silus greeted the Centaur rudely, which wasn't very nice as the Centaur had been really friendly up until this point and Maddie didn't want Cain to leave them because Silus was being difficult. Maddie decided not to answer Silus, it was better to ignore him then to engage him in conversation.

Cain explained to them where the path lead behind them and Maddie was quite disappointed, she was hoping for more adventure and more creatures. She wondered why this forest was Forbidden, there was nothing scary here. She was quite underwhelmed really. Though, of course, meeting Cain was brilliant.

Her mouth opened when Cain revealed there were many more Centaurs in the forest and that he was one of the youngest. She wondered what a fully grown Centaur would be like and if they would be as a friendly as Cain was. She shook her head at Cain's question "we're here by ourselves... strictly speaking we're not allowed in the forest.." she revealed. Hoping the Centaur wouldn't judge them too harshly.