Curiosity almost killed the lion.

[Thraex]

"Still, most humans don't even know one." he pointed out as the boy was taking for granted the fact that he had talked with more than one centaur in his life. Thraex was older than him and he never had the chance to talk to humans. He actually could if he wanted but he have prefered to obey the herd's rules and never let himself or his family get targeted by the leaders.
He smiled as the child showed overexcitement over the fact that was going to eat on leaves. Thraex was right when he thought that the human probably never done something similar. Him on the other hand was used to it. Leaves didn't need to be cleaned aftewards as they were for one use, plus, the ones that Thraex was using were bigger than a dish, meaning bigger portions of food.
"You know, it's far better enjoying your lunch with company than eating alone so it doesn't matter." he answered to Minoas as he wasn't abusing his hospitality in any way. "Don't forget I knocked you out earlier. I have to make up." he added with a grin.

"This is a really great and positive way to face life's obstacles but it's not for centaurs like me. As a human, you can have that view point." he said as Minoas father's little quote was good enough for a human but not for a centaur who wasn't welcomed outside the forest's safety. "You must be very close to your father." he pointed out. Minoas was like exhaling stardust when was taking about him.
"You are partially right. I would say either deer or boar. I cannot pick a favorite." he said as he finished his first steak and took a bite from his second one. "Unfortunately, I cannot afford chicken around here and I am not planning to steal from the peasants that dwell outside the forest." he joked.
"So I told you about my family. What about yours?" he continued their conversation asking about Minoas' parents and siblings, if he had any.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas shrugged, with a mouthful of his steak in his mouth as Thraex tried to make him see that most people didn't know any centaur in person at all. He had realised after two years in Hogwarts that it wasn't really common for people hanging around with centaur, let alone being taught by them.
"I'll have to agree with that." he agreed with Thraex on the fact that he prefered to share a meal rather than dining alone. "I'm used to eat either with my family or at the great hall in the castle, where we gather from all houses to enjoy our meals." he added to that as he was used to having a meals around a loaded table, enjoying a conversation either with his classmates or with his parents.

Minoas smiled when Thraex noticed that he had a special bond with his father. He might have figured out as Minoas used to talk a lot about him. "That's true although that doesn't mean that I love my mother less." he felt that he had to make clear that both his parents meant the same thing for him. "It's just we think in the same way. We communicate and bond better. It's like we are more of an old friends rather than father and son." he explained his relation with his father. Speaking of his father and his family, he couldn't wait for his holidays when he would have enough time to spend with them. He had missed them all, even his younger brothers and of course his mother's cooking. "I've never eaten either of them." he said when Thraex mentioned boar's meat. Minoas was so hungry that could eat whatever was given at that moment as soon as it was edible. "No, don't do that." he tried to avert Thraex from thinking like that, although he knew that he was joking. "They don't like you already since the professor's murder. Don't make matters worse." he said as he was slowly ending his meal. He had ate too fast and now he had to pause for a while if he wanted to finish his second stake.

"Well I told you about my father. My mother is also a very nice person. A little bit stricter but I guess someone would have to play that role too." he chuckled as his father was way too tolerant. "I've also have two younger brothers. They are twins and quite a headache. The rest of my family except from an older cousin who is a professor here, are not dwelling in New Zealand." he concluded about the rest family's members. "So now it's you turn. You only mentioned that you had siblings and a mother waiting for you in the herd." he asked as he wanted more information.

 

[Thraex]

Thraex grew restless all of a sudden. For some reason he couldn't concentrate on their conversation. Something was bothering him, a strange premonition coming from his sharm insticts. He offered a nervous smile as Minoas was talking about his family, half focused on what the young wizard was telling him.
His ears were trying to catch distant sounds in the forest. Whatever was making him nervous was surely coming from there. He tried not to show it to Minoas. He didn't want to panic him when he wasn't quite sure. It could be just tricks of his imagination or some kind of harmless creature passing by, closer to the clearing.

"I refered as well to my father earlier. I was also very close to him. A similar connection with the one that you share with your father." he said and paused. Memories flooded his head. Unique and nice memories which he wasn't going to experience again. "I could say that my mother is quite overprotective. I am afraid that she is really worried about me now that I have left the safety of the herd." he paused once more, hoping that he could find a way to tell her that he was doing fine. "I have also two younger brothers, however, they are not twins. We have two years difference between each other. I am sixteen so that would make my brother fourteen and the youngest twelve." he explained to Minoas. "Other than that, the whole herd is supposed to be a centaur's family but if you ask me right now, I won't say that I consider the whole herd as my family." he said, obviously refering to the authoritarian leaders of the herd. He could hear the storming of a dozen of hooves, coming closer. Thraex stood up on his four feet, dropping down the leaf with the remains from his steaks. He stared at the forest from where the invisible threat seemed that was going to appear at any moment. "Do you hear that?" he asked Minoas, his tail moving nervously.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas had the impression that Thraex wasn't really listening to him as he was talking about his family. I seemed that his concentration was distracted by something but Minoas had heard or seen anything. The forest was silent and the only movement where the shadows stretching on the clearing from the roaring fire and its flickering light.
He glanced worried at the darkness at the forest before listening about Thraex's family.
Although he was a human and Thraex a centaur, there were a lot of similarities between their families. Even when he said that the herd was his big family, Minoas remembered of his grandsparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.
He could also match Thraex's dislike for some individuals from his herd with some of his distant relatives who were no longer regarded as members of the family.

"You can't choose family but you have the opportunity to create a new one consisted of friends. This second family you can choose it." he pointed out with a shrug. He loved his family although his brothers were quite the troublemakers and some of his cousins were intimidating. His impression was confirmed by Thraex when he looked towards the forest as well. Minoas instinctively jumped on his feet when Thraex stood up. Now he could feel his uneasiness. Not because he could hear or see something but Thraex's behaviour was making him nervous.
"What is it? I don't here anything." he said, his hand slipping in his pocket to find comfort on his wand's handle.

 

[Thraex]

Thraex raised a hand to make the young human stop talking for a moment. In the silence, he could hear the sound clearer, growing closer. He could now distinguish the galloping of several hooves. It wasn't coming from deers or unicorns. They were large hooves, powerfully stomping on the muddy ground. They were a least twenty of them so that would meant five centaurs coming towards the camp. Thraex didn't lose time.
He took a bucket of water and extinguished the fire. The clearing fade into darkness but a centaur's sight was a little bit better than a human's, being able to still see around him, assisted by the stars' brightness. He tried at the tight amount of time that was left in his hands to cover any signs that could give away the presence of Minoas around his camp. If they were those that Thraex was suspecting, they were probably still looking for the boy. When he finished hiding the evidences, he loaded on his shoulder his bow and quiver and took his axe in his hands. "We must leave! Now!" he said as he kneeled to help Minoas climb on his back.
They disappeared into the other side of the forest when torches' fires began to be visible from behind the trees. Thraex didn't hesitate a moment. He started running as fast as he could. They were going to figure out that he had just ran away and they were going to follow him. He hadto get the boy out of the forest as soon as possible. Under the dense canopy of the forest, starlight couldn't penetrate through and help the centaur see his way. He had forgotten to take a torch with him and he didn't have a clue where they were heading.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas silenced when Thraex indicated him to do so. What was possibly sensed or heard by the centaur was out of his perception's spectrum, making him wonder about the acuteness of centaurs' senses. He was going to whisper this time his questions that were crowding in his head but then Thraex, all of a sudden, started extinguishing the fire and hiding whatever was betraying his presence around the centaur's camp. Confusion but also concern were worn on his face as he looked around in the darkness. He could barely see and he wondered if it would be a good idea to use an illumination charm. Startled, he listened Thraex's voice, closer than he was expecting. With his help, he managed to ride on his back and held him tightly from his waist as levitating flames were clear now behind the trees. Thraex ran to the opposite direction managing to disappear in the clump just in time when the flames, accompanied by their owners, arrived in the clearing. By casting a quick look over his shoulder, Minoas recognised one of the centaurs that was chasing him earlier, the light from his torch illuminating his grim features.

It seemed that they hadn't realised yet about their escape. The flames from the torches vanished behind the darkness of the trees and the bushes as they were heading deeper in the forest. Few minutes later and Minoas had no idea where they were heading. He was completely disoriented but he had put his trust in Thraex and his knowledge of the forest. He started having his first doubts when Thraex seemed to have difficulty as well. In the clearing, the stars were providing some source of light but now under the forest's impenetrable canopy, it was pitch black. Minoas decided that it was safe now to use his wand although he was still concerned that it could give them away. "Lumos!" he murmured and the wand in his hand casted enough light to help them see before them for about few meters. "Any idea where are we going?" he asked, noticing just then that Thraex was heavily armed.

 

[Thraex]

Visibility was decreasing more and more as they were getting deeper in the forest. Thraex was sure that Minoas couldn't see anything apart from complete darkness. His eyes were slowly adjusting but still he could only see the frame of the trees' shadows and nothing more. Fortunately, Minoas used some kind of light magic and brightness bursted around them, helping him a lot to figure out where exactly they were and where they were heading. "Thank you Minoas. That helps a lot!" he said relieved and kept running in the labyrinth of tall trees and thick bushes. "Yes. I am taking you back to the castle." he informed him. He couldn't risk it. Keeping the young wizard within the forest it was dangerous both for his safety but also for Thraex's. He already was in a really bad position after becoming a renegade by disrespecting his leaders. If they were going to find out that he had also helped the human who had managed to fool all of them by getting inside their village and then escaping, they were possibly going to kill him for treason.
He felt his heart letting a sigh when the lights from the enormous castle blinked between the trees' foliage. They were getting closer and there was no sign from their pursuers. Thraex stopped few meters away from the edge of the forest. He didn't want to get closer to the school's grounds. He acted as if he was going to get corrupted if he was going to set foot out of the tree lines.

"Here we are. I think we are safe." he said as he let the boy dismount and turned his ears towards the darkness of the forest. Still no sign of the furious elders but for how long? "Promise me you won't entered the forest for some time. Let them forget today's event. You understand me?" he tried to scare the boy a little bit. From the little he managed to get to know him the past few hours, he had figured out that it was the only way to prevent him from entering inside the forest again. "I will have to move around for a little while as well so I won't be able to help you if you get into trouble once again. So I need yout word that you won't try something like that." he said while he was trying to distinguish any sound that could be proved to be the arrival of the other centaurs. Thraex needed the boy's promise before leaving. He kept looking back and forth from the boy to the forest, stomping nervously his hooves on the ground.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas couldn't believe that he felt relief when Thraex told him that they were heading towards the castle. It was one of the seldom moments that he wanted to hide within its walls and not stay outside in the grounds. Definately, he wasn't going to enter the forest with the same easiness as he used to. Thankfully, holidays were starting tomorrow and he wasn't going to be tempted for three whole months. The lights from the castle's numerous windows danced among the darkness and the shadows of the forest. They were getting close and away from the rest of the centaurs. When Thraex stopped a few meters away from the forest's edge, Minoas jumped off his back. "Thank you!" he said with the smile but it vanished in an instant. Thraex looked now serious as he was telling him to promise that he won't enter for some time into the forest. One thing was sure in the little gryffindor's head. He wasn't going to visit the centaurs' land or stuck his nose in other people's matters.
"I promise." he said unwillingly and lowered his head. He had to. Those centaurs might be keep looking for him for a long time. It was a disgrace towards them what he had done and centaurs weren't the type of creatures that you could cross in that way. "It was a pleasure to meet you Thraex." he said and offered his hand for a handshake. "I hope to see you around again sometime." he said and smiled. "I must go now. Some professors are far scarier than centaurs, this time of night. Goodnight!" he said his goodbyes and turned to the castle. He couldn't wait to collapse in his bed.