Dancing with the arachnids

[Minoas Stratis]

"Lumos!" he muttered as the dusk was approaching fast. Minoas was entering again the forbidden forest as his was moving his wand like a crescent. Its tip glowed with a blue, yellowish light, enough to cast away darkness for a few meters. The stormy, moonless night was ideal for such a kind of venture. His sounds and movements were concealed by the rampling of the lightnings and thunders. It wasn't raining though. Rain had stopped after several hours of constant pouring. Now the forest's terrain was muddy, sticky and slippery.

He was particularly careful. It was like he was expecting the thick roots of the trees' that had spread along the muddy ground, to attack him any time soon and try to strangle him. He wasn't sure why he was there. He wasn't planning to search for something specific. Or maybe he was. Searching for a way out of his boredom. It was too late to practise flying and exploring inside the castle meant more chances to be caught than venturing into the
forest. It was that urge, that itch he had sometimes. A mixture of curiosity
and adventure that had to be satisfied, during the most inappropriate times

He was hoping to see a magical creature. Maybe a unicorn or a centaur. He couldn't understand why he had to wait until his third year to study magical creatures. They weren't all of them dangerous. They could start with the basics like nifflers. He had find so many textbooks about creatures in the library that he had already read a couple of them in his free time. He was
fascinated by wildlife and nature as well as he was fascinated by this mysterious forest. Every time he was glancing towards it during his flying
lessons from the Quidditch pitch, something was calling him, inviting him to
descover it.

His deep thoughts continued. He hadn't realized how deep inside he had ventured. He had even lowered his wand as he was daydreaming. His guards were completely down until he heard suddenly an odd, crawling
noise. He froze at the spot and his heart raced but he didn't panic. He scanned with his illuminated wand the area. He couldn't see anything that could have possible caused that noise. Just the thick, trunks of the trees
and the fog, slipping among them. Reluctantly, he moved on with the crunching noise of the dead leaves underneath his feet. He just had his first thoughts that maybe all this wasn't a good idea, that he should return back to the safety of the grounds but another noise behind him, made him jump startled. He started running, charging through the forest. His instict didn't allowed him to ask who might was there. As he was crashing through branches he looked behind him, illuminating the area where the sound came from but nothing was there. Suddenly, before he was able to recover from his check behind him, the ground was gone underneath his feet. He fell into the darkness.

He slammed into a musty wall of earth and then crashed backwards with a splash, landing in what seemed to be mud and water. Fortunately, that saved his life from the fall. Unfortunately, he had lost his wand and probably
the lumos charm had attenuated. He couldn't see a thing; the blackness was complete. The only source of light he could see was above him, a thin veil of lighter black in the shape of a circle. He had realised by that moment
that he had fallen in a pit, in a trap possibly. He stood up awkwardly, the mud squishing under his feet, the cold muck dripping off him. He started looking, blindly for his wand, the water and mud swirling just a bit lower
from his knees. He moved to his right bumping against something. He touched it with his hand and realized that it was the carcass of a dead animal. He pulled back, trying to keep his cool. "Great, seems that I'm not completely alone." he commented sarcastically to himself.

He then spotted a faint, tiny light coming out of the dark, swallow water. That was his wand. Relieved, he reached for it and took it out of the mud.
His lumos spell was still there. He casted some more light in the pit as his eyes were adjusting. He saw the muddy walls of a circular pit and filthy water in which, right to him, was floating the carcass of a deer. Its eyes
were wide open but lifeless. Chunks of flesh were missing as well as one of its legs and two holes had been formed on its neck. Terrified, Minoas realized that the carcass wasn't smelling yet. It was a fresh kill. What he hadn't realized was that above him, on the muddy walls, they were resting remnants of spiders' web.

"Acromantula." he whispered as he heart starting pounting behind his chest. He heard the water sloshing as he moved around in the darkness to find a possible way out before the killer was going to
finish off what had remained from its dinner.

It was hopeless. The walls were slippery. Everytime he had tried to climp up that walls, the mud was retreating underneath his feet. He could start shouting, calling for help but he didn't want to bring closer unwanted attention. He decided to cast a spell. Sparks won't be left unnoticed and creatures were usually afraid of magical lights. He raised his wand, aimed upwards at the pit's exit and whispered.
"Verdimillious!" a jet of green sparks launched out of his wand's tip, flew out of his wet prison, into the forest. The sparks went so high that they even passed through the dark canopy of the forest.
He remained silent and waited. Avoiding his eyes to meet the floating carcass, he rested his back on the muddy wall, taking deep breaths. He hoped that someone would arrive soon.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar had stayed behind late at quidditch practice. as she wanted to practice a new manoeuvre to got away from two players coming in ether side of you. it involved sort of shooting up and backwards and then curling round underneath them it wasn't too hard to pull off once you got used to shooting backwards fut there was a knack know when to do it as to not give any warnings as to when you would go.
it was getting dark as she left and just as she was about to turn up the path to the castle she saw a light appear at the edge of the forest. she looked at it and saw a student slipping into the forest. she mounted her broom and flew after him until she reached the edge of the trees where she dismounted and followed him on foot bedroom still in hand, you never know when a quick get away may be useful in the forest on a night like tonight. although she was certain she would be okay, she had had lots of practice in the forest at night and knew this particular one like the back of her hand she wasn't sure the younger student would be as well trained in all things woody.
she moved silently through the forest, her wand clasped in her hand but not lit, she hoped that she wouldn't have to alert the boy to her presence or use her wand for anything other than freezing the branches as she passed by to stop them rustling too much.
the boy was heading deeper and it was getting harder for the girl to see where she was going. she almost tripped on a vine that had wound its way across her path, falling she let out a couple of words of her native tongue, not thinking that the boy may hear, or that anyone else would for that matter. however she realised that he had and was running away form her. she picked up her broom and chased after him still trying to remain as quiet as she could, her hunter instincts aiding her in this way.
suddenly the light she was following vanished along with the boy. whats happened to him she thought as she reached the place where she had last seen the light. she just heard his voice in time to stop him falling down the pit. she leaned over just as green sparks flew past she could smell them singing the ends of her hair. "Calm down I"m already here, no need for the fireworks. she said trying to blink away the green lights from her vision. deciding split second what she should do she called down to the student "do you know how to fly?" she hoped he did, and was okay at it as she didn't want to go into the pit herself to rescue him. and her broom would be the easiest way to get the boy out.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

No more than five minutes have past since Minoas' verdimilious charm and his pleas for help were answered. He looked up at the circle-shaped opening of the pit, the only source of light except from his wand. He raised it higher to see better. He could recognise a shadow in the lighter black, standing at the edge of the pit.

"Watch out! Don't come closer! The ground is really muddy and unstable!" he warned her. The last thing he wanted was to remain trapped with someone else with the company of a deer carcass. He had recognised that the person that had just arrived was a girl. An older one. Her voice was holding the kind of confidence that a first year wouldn't have yet. However, in the darkness he was unable to recognise her or tell from which house she was.

Suddennly, he felt something fluffy but rough, touching his free hand.
"Yeah, I can fly." he said shuddered as he realised that the carcass floated again closer to him.
"Do you have a broomstick with you?" he asked her. Flying for him was something really natural, like running or swimming. In case the girl had a broomstick with her, he would be out of that pit in no time.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

briar couldn't help but smile as the boy told her not to get any closer to the edge of the pit. "I'm fine up here" she called down. she had enough experience with the Forrest to know then the soil would collapse on her. and she knew that this wouldn't collapse on her. she felt a little unsure of lending her broom to this boy, it was her prised possession, the belonging of that that really mattered, she didn't mind that her clothing had gotten ripped on brambles as she was making her way through the forest, but she would mind if her broom got broken. She knew that it would be the best way to get him out. "I will pass my broom down to you. and fly up and land here, they we can get out of here before anything unpleasant comes by." If they needed to fly out she would feel much more comfortable if she was driving. she dropped the broom into the pit. and hoped that it wouldn't get too dirty. "I'm Briar, by the way fifth year Gryffindor" she said hopeing that the boy would introduce himself.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

As Minoas eyes were adjusting in darkness he could see better the shadow of the girl. He could see also the shadow of a broomstick extended from that of her hand. The broomstick's shadow was gulped in the blackness of the pit and although Minoas couldn't see it anymore, he extended his free hand and grabbed it in the air. "Got it!" he shouted to let her now that her precious belonging had landed in the safely in his hands. He didn't have his own broomstick yet but he could imagine how precious it could be for someone.

He mounted it carefully, trying to keep it clean although he was dripping cold muck. He kicked as hard as possible the sticky ground underneath his feet. At first, his feet were pulled inside the mud like it was glue but then he shot himself upward to the exit of the pit. He avoided to touch the pit's walls, the speed he had built could make them cave in in no time. He left a sigh of relief as soon as he was out and he flew a bit higher towards the forest's canopy, letting the cool breeze remind him what meant to be free. He then maneuvered and dove towards the girl the she was waiting for him. "Thanks so much. You are a saviour!" he landed next to her softy, in a safe distance from the pit. "Sorry for the mess but I don't know a cleaning charm." he apologized for the mud dripping off her broomstick. On him, on the other hand, the mud had dried, covering his clothes with a crusty layer of dirt. "I'm Minoas, first year Gryffindor. You can't imagine how pleased I'm to meet you." he recognised her from the first night in Gryffindor's common room when professor Weasley had organized that night for them. He remembered also that Briar was a Gryffindor prefect.

"You were patrolling the forest?" he asked curiously, unaware that the forbidden forest was generally forbidden, even for prefects. He was ready to ask her if she was playing Quidditch but her attention was caught by the sound of something moving in the darkness. He couldn't see it but he could hear it clearly. It was moving quickly, scattering dead leaves on its way, stomping on them. "Did you hear that?" he asked Briar, hoping that she would tell him that more people were coming for rescue. The noise was growing louder, coming closer.

He raised his wand-arm to cast some light at the direction of the sound. He jumped off frightened and left a muffled gulp. He saw his lumos' light bouncing in several black eyes, gathered a few meters away from them. A group of acromantulas was standing on a higher ground, curiously checking on them, slightly confused. They were possibly here for the carcass in the pit. They weren't expecting more fresh meat to come willingly close to their trap. For a moment, the group remained silent and still. It was like the light emitting from Minoas' wand was dazzling them, keeping them stunned but as soon as the acromantulas' realised that they had two young humans in front of them, their appatite make them snap their pincers greedily. As soon as the leader of the group raised several of its front, hairy legs in the air, the acromantulas started charging towards them from the higher ground.

Minoas felt his blood freezing in his veins. He wanted to run, to escape but he knew that acromantulas were creatures made for speed. As a small one was only about four meters away from them, he instictively raised his wand, shaking and cried out. "Locomotor Mortis!" the bright pink flash of light zoomed towards the young acromantula's legs that locked together, making the beast stumble and fall on its sideways, leaving a cloud of dust and dead leaves in the air. The rest acromantulas, left this event unnoticed and continued their charge. They were so many, it was like they had called reinforcements telepathetically. Minoas used three knockback jinxes to counter back the next acromantula which fell backwards on the ground, moving maniacally its legs in the air. Three more acromantulas came closer, followed by a larger one behind them. Minoas knew that his aim wasn't that great but he hoped that this time wouldn't let him down. He tried to keep his cool and and aimed for the fourth one with a tripping jinx. Although his hand was shaking violently, the jinx hit the large spider. It tripped forwards, like a black, hairy ball and landed on the acromantulas that were charging in front of it, crushing them underneath its huge body. He didn't had time to recover from his tripping jinx and another acromantula arrived, too close that he almost felt the vibration from its snapping pincers. "Tarantallegra!" he yelled and aimed for the spider's legs. The spider started dancing uncontrollably, jumping high off the ground, making some impressive backflips. The acromantulas' charge stopped all of a sudden. The group started looking curiously the dancing one, confused of what was happening to it. Their empty. dark eyes were switching from the two humans to their dancing companion, clueless of what they had to do next. Attack or retreat.

"What we should do?" he asked Briar, hiding the panic that was reigning in his voice. He kept aiming at the acromantulas, expecting them to attack again at any moment.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was glad that the boy had managed to fly out of the pit. and she was glad that he landed safely and the broom was safe with just dirt on it, which would easily clean off. "don't worry about it, Its what i'm here for, and its only dirt, it will clean off easily once we are back at the castle." she said as he thanked her for rescuing him. she thought that she heard something, but as soon as she tried to train her ears to the forest it had gone. she laughed as he asked if she was patrolling the forest. "no no, no, i want patrolling the forest, students aren't allowed in, although i quite often come in. I saw you go in when i was coming back from quidditch training, and i saw you sneaking in, so i decided to follow you to make sure you were alright" she said realising that it may have sounded a little like she didn't trust him to look after himself. but then she wouldn't trust any other students to look after themselves in the forrest on their own at night, especially a firstie. she was an exception, she had a lot of experience. just then she heard the sound again, a scuttling, and rustling of leaves. this time he heard it too. "yes i did, wands at the ready i think" she said hopeing that the firstie knew some spells. however before she even finished the first spider came bursting out of the trees. "Impedamenta" she shouted, pointing at the arachnid. it stopped but many more kept coming. "Impedimenta, stupify, Stupify, Impedimenta" she said firing off curses into the forest hearing the spiders stumble and fall. however they mush be pretty near their nest, and feeding area as they kept coming, surrounding them, but she was happy to see the firstie, knew some decant spells bringing down his fair share of the creatures. however within a few minutes they were completely surrounded. there was only one thing left to do. and that was to make a get away. for the second time since she entered the forest this evening she was thankful that she had decided to bring her broom with her. she passed it to the boy and shouted at him between curses "Stupify. Mount it near the front. Impedimenta". she was trying the hardest she could to keep them at bay whilst the boy had time to mount, but even during the ten seconds they were pressing closer and ever closer.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

The group of acromantulas was increasing in numbers. There were several stunned, others slowed down, some of them were dancing uncontrollably and some others were lying on the ground backwards, struggling to regain their balance. Minoas was impressed by the power and precision of Briar's spell casting. He was also proud for himself for managing to fend for himself.

"Nice one!" he praised her as she was stunning another hungry acromantula. He knew that the situation they were in was extremely hazardous but Minoas couldn't deny that he was actually in some way enjoying all that. He was feeling adrenaline replacing his blood in his veins.

Although many acromantulas were weakened, more and more were arriving, charging from the hills. Their numbers were swelling unstoppably. He might have managed to take down a few small of them but he wasn't quick enough to continue now that more of them were arriving. While his next spell was missing its target, creating a cloud of smoke and dust, Briar passed to him her broom. He didn't really heard what she was saying in the hubbub of spells and lights but he mounted her broom without hesitation. He left some space behind him for her. He tried to distract the creatures, to give her the opportunity to mount it as well.

"Caerula flammis!" he yelled but nothing happened. He hadn't really practised that spell. He had found it in a textbook and he had only learnt the incatation and its use. "Stupefy!" he turned his spell towards a huge one that was coming dangerously closer but it wasn't enough to bring it down. "Stupefy!" he yelled once more. The large arachnid missed its steps, causing chaos around it, stomping on smaller spiders.

Minoas' stunning spells weren't enough to take it down and Briar was already busy keeping at bay another huge spider. He decided to try once more, this time more determined and focused as the rampaging beast was giving him more time to concentrate.
"Caerula flammis...Caerula flammis!" but he was unsuccessful again. The large acromantula regained its focus and infuriated turned its pincers towards him.

"Caerula flammis!" his voice fueled by fear and despair, echoed in the blackness of the forest. For a moment his wand's tip glowed with a tiny ,beautiful, blue light. Then blue, bright flames were spit out of the tip and landed on the ground between them and the creatures, forming a wall of mesmerizing blue flames. That was their chance to escape as the beasts had stopped attacking, feared and hipnotized by the blue glow of the fire. "Now, it's our chance..." he called Briar, mounted on her broomstick.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar saw that the boy mounted however in that small amount of time the spiders were so close that they had practically no space left around them, and they had also started to climb the trees above her so that there was no obvious way out. turning her wand form the spiders on the floor she pointed directly above her and let out a sentence of curses, she watched as the spiders started to rain down around them, stunned, or fully bound. she got onto the broom behind the boy, just as he managed to get a fire going, she didn't have the heart to tell him that fire made them even more angry. Instead she, leaned over him slightly to protect him from the branches, and kicked off hard using their split second confusion to get clear from the ground, which almost instantly turned into a sea of black legs beneath her. "watch your head" she shouted as they headed up towards the branches of the trees above them, she tried to dodge most of the branches, but some of the smaller twigs ripped at her bare arms. she hoped that the boy okay, and not getting too hurt.
she flew through the tips of the trees for a while leaving their scent, there, before rising up into the open sky, a little further and dropping down again "I'm sorry about this, but i don't want them to track us" she said to the boy as she repeated this a few times.
about ten minutes later she was in the clear air again, as she flew to the other de of the forest before landing in a clearing and dismounting. "are you okay, I'm sorry about the ride, it was a little rough, i don't usually fly like that, i was trying to dodge the branches, and the broom is harder to control when there is two on it" she said. walking over of one of the plants nearby and plucking off a couple of its leaves. she crushed them in her hands. she knew that she could just go into the hospital wing, but she didn't want the nursed o ask funny, questions, anyways with this on them the cuts will be healed in a few hours. "do you have any cuts, or bruises. this will help them heal" she said absentmindedly rubbing some of the liquid into a cut across her face, she felt it sting, but then the heat went away, and she knew that it was working.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

His bluebell flames spell, hesitated the enormous arachnids but not for long. It was the first time casting that spell and soon the blue flames disappeared, leaving behind them numerous furious eyes, turning back at them. They had cornered them for sure, Minoas didn't know what else to do. He had used most of the spells and charms he knew but those beast were resistant and impervius because of their size.

Hopeless, he was ready to cast another stunning spell, knowing that in the best case the spider would be dizzy for a few seconds. But before he was able to to aim at the spiders, Briar had casted a series of spells and curses above them, towards the forest's canopy. Only then Minoas realised that above them on the trees' branches, the acromantulas had covered every single branch that could hold their weight. Jets of lights and bright flashes, flew towards the trees' branches, followed by the rain of hairy beasts. The acromantulas that were waiting on the trees a few moments ago, were now falling on the rest of them that had surrounded him and Briar. It was the perfect chance.

He was looking on the chaos caused around him, still mounted on Briar's broom, until she mounted too just right behind him. Finally, they were off in the darkness but still Minoas could see underneath them the hairy sea of spiders, struggling to stand up again. Before he was able to take his eyes away from the spiders and look in front of him, he felt a small pain on his right cheek and something warm running down it. He ignored the insignificant pain and enjoyed the way Briar was flying. Soon they were out of leaves and branches under the starry night sky. He hadn't realise how quickly time had passed from the moment he entered the forest. He couldn't really answer to what Briar was telling him, as the cool breeze was freezing his body that was covered with cold mud and muck. Instead he nodded, trying to keep his grey eyes open against the wind.

He couldn't understand were exactly they were heading but later they were landed on a clearing, probably close to the castle. "It was awesome!" exclaimed the young Gryffindor excited. "Are you in Gryffindor team?" he asked recalling those times that he had past at the stands, studying the chasers' moves. He had definately caught an eye of her. He watched curiously as she was searching for some kind of plant. When she found it, he watched her crashing the leaves in her hand, producing a soothing paste. "What plant was that?" he asked her as she was applying it on her bruishes and scratches. He looked around too casting a lumos charm to watch better. He couldn't find any dittany or molly around that could possible apply ot his wounds. He traced with his fingers his cheek. He then realised that blood was oozing out of his cheek's scratch.

"Hmm, I think I have a small cut on my cheek." he said indicating with his index finger the spot were the pain was coming from. "That was amazing! I mean I started losing my cool when they had cornered as but otherwise I had a blast!" he said ignoring the blood that was now dripping off his cheek. "Are you doing that often?" he asked now hypered and energized.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar chuckled slightly as the boy said that it was awesome. "I guess it was pretty exiting" she said letting herself relax slightly, the flight had needed a lot of concentration as she had been flying at the levels in the trees where there were most branches, and she didn't want to hit one too hard, plus the broom was a lot harder to fly with two on, she was thankful that she had practiced with ember, another first year earlier in the year. "yes, I'm on the gryffindor team, I play chaser, I want to go pro when i finish school." she said. heading back to the boy with her leaves. "I'm not entirely sure what it is called, but it works well, watch" she said as she smeared the fluid along a long, deep gash in her arm where a tree had cut her, leaving it in for about en seconds, she wiped it off, and now, although the skin looked hot, and tender, it was unbroken, and she knew that it would be normal by the morning.
she then reached up and spread some on the boys cheek, hopeing that the brief sting wasn't too painful for him, she walked around him checking to see if there was any other big cuts, that needed tending to, as she answered his next question "do i do what often? go into the forest? yes. follow younger students to make sure that they are safe? sometimes. end up in the accromenter hunting ground? no. fight acromentuer? once i think, but that was back home, and i just watched my family fight them. fly through the forest at night? yes, but usually on my own, and not flying for my life. you can wipe it off now she said sure that whichever aspect he had meant she had covered. "how about you? do you often go into the forest, and get stuck down a pit?" she asked. hopeing that the answer was no.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas looked at Briar impressed as she was telling him that she was a chaser in Gryffindor's team. One of his biggest ambitions for Hogwarts was to join the team as a Chaser as well. "Wow, it must be great. I'm dying to join the team. I had started already to practise for next year's tryouts. I like the post of Chaser but Keeper's is pretty decent as well.". His excitement about Quidditch was obvious. He could be talking hours about it, regardless if the listener was a Quidditch fan or not.

He watched her applying the fluid, produced by the squeezed leaves, on her gash. His eyes widened as soon as the gash was healed almost completely. He let her do the same on the cut on his cheek. He felt a brief sting for a moment but then a soothing sensation spread across his cheek like a warm touch. " Nice one. I think it's almost gone." he said as he was stroking his cheek. Only dried blood was there. The cut was completely gone. Minoas checked out the plant from which Briar, plucked its leaves and memorized it for future uses. He made also a mental note, naming it 'Briargrass'.

He smiled as Briar was covering whether she was having similar experiences with today's or not. He chuckled when she said that she had never ended up in acromantulas' hunting ground and nodded several times at some things she had mentioned as he had experienced them as well. "Me? Well, I almost enter this forest everyday. I don't know why, I just like it. I guess the title 'forbidden' attracts me a lot. If it was called just 'the forest' probably I would be sitting now by the lake." he said and laughed. He was expecting something great residing in the forest. What else could it be hiding to get the name forbidden?

He moved his head in denial as she asked him about getting stucked in pits. "No, it's actually the first time." he confessed although he was pretty sure that he would get in similar troubles in the future. "I was just venturing. I didn't realised how far I got. Their noises distracted me and lured me further inside. I hoped that I would be witnessing a herd of unicorns or find again the centaurs but I was unlucky." he revealed the true reason why he had entered the forest. "Pretty nice spell casting back there. I bet you have practised a lot." he said hiding the envy in his voice. He wished to be as good as her but he lacked experience and most notably, aim.
"So what else do you like doing around here?" he sut on a nearby rock, embracing his feet to warm up himself. He was hoping to hear about new staff. Staff that he could try himself.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar smiled as he said that he wanted to get on the team too. "I am sure you will get on if you really want to. you seem like a natural. Keepers pretty good position, but i bet if i wasn't a chaser i would be a beater." she said, he was pretty confident when he was getting out of the pit, and he could sense when she was changing direction and aided her considerably. also he seemed very exited talking about the game.

"I'm surprised that i had never seen you here before, but then you seem to enjoy spending time in the acromentua territory, next time you are in, head to this end as it is a lot safer" she said. smiling as she saw that is face was healed. she took her water bottle out of the bag that she always carried. "here, take as much as you want. drink it, use it to wash your face." she said handing him the bottle. "I know what you mean, I love the forest, it really clears my head.' she said, knowing why she liked the forest. her childhood was entirely inside a forest like this, so she always felt at home in there, often more so than the forest.

Briar nodded as he sad that he wanted to see a unicorn. "unicorns are rather shy, you tend to need to be really calm and quiet and they are out most in the late afternoon, they are most likely found in the clearing with the stream and the waterfall." she said heading over to another tree and taking some of the berries of them, the evenings adventure had kept her usual hunger at bay, but now it was back with a vengeance. "want one, they taste pretty nice, sort of sweet but a little sour too" she said offering him one of the fruit, and taking a bite of one herself.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

His face shined with excitement when Briar told him that he could get a post in Gryffindor's team if he really wanted it. Generally, when Minoas wanted something a lot, he was working restless to get. For now, he had started practising for next years try-outs. "I hope so! Never thought of becoming a Beater. I'm sure is far better than Seeker. Seekers are missing all the action." he could keep talking about Quidditch for hours and never get bored. "I'm looking forward for the first match. Do you know which teams will be facing each other?" he asked curiously, hoping that Gryffindor well be one of them at the next match.

The topic of their conversation changed about forbidden forest, another pleasant subject for Minoas.
"I don't really know where exactly I'm wandering when I enter the forest." he said clueless. He had no idea that there were different territories. "I'm usually entering and just venture. I have sometimes the need to get in it. It reminds me of home. The house my family used to live was next a grove and a gorge. I was spending a lot of time there, exploring." he explained to her with his grey eyes glazed, as he was remembering those childhood's memories. "I received actually my first education in the nature by a centaur. An old friend of my father. I can say that his teaching was much better than most of my current professors." he said with a grimace as he had a particular professor in his mind that he disliked a lot.

Only when Briar took out of her bag the bottle of water, Minoas realised how much thirsty he was. He could hardly shallow and his lips were chapped. He thanked her for her kindness and greedily gulped some amount of water, making sure he had left enough for Briar too. Wasting water for cleaning himsef was pointless at that moment as his clothes were almost covered with mud. So he returned the bottle back to her with a smile. "Not only clears your mind. You get some isolation, well at least if you don't have the unwanted company of acromantulas. It's the kind of isolation that you won't find inside the walls of the castle." he nodded as the most isolated places he had found inside the castle were the dungeons, were humidity was rediculously high, the towers and several abandoned classrooms.

Then their conversation moved on the other favourite topic of magicl creatures. He listened instresting about the unicorns, wondering if Briar had learnt those information by herself or at lessons.
"Have you ever taken the care of magical creatures lesson?" he asked as he wanted to learn more about it, while he was making mental notes of the places she had mentioned where he could possibly find unicorns. He wasn't particularly hungry but Minoas wanted to taste the berries that Briar had collected. She was the kind of people that he liked to hang around with and learn. He took one and studied it. He hadn't see anything similar. Not at least from where he came from. He took a tiny bite, just to taste it. The flavour was suprisingly good. It was sour but the sweetness was balancing the taste of it.

"Pretty nice!" he said and took another bite. "You seem to know a lot about nature. Where are you from?" he asked curiously as he was finishing his berry.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briars eyes lit up as Minoas said that beater was better than seeker "Exactly, no one else seems to get that, they think the see is best because they win the game. but they just sit out for most of it, and thats no fun" she said laughing. "I am not sure who is playing first, it think it may be hufflepuff and slytherin" she said, knowing that it want her team.
Venturing is always fun, just try not to venture into prey pits next time" she said wondering where he came from, when he mentioned centaurs she had to ask. "where about are you from? Its just that we lived near a forest, and we knew a few of the centaurs, they do know a lot about plants, and creatures, and the start" she said, it wasn't exactly a lie, in fact it was a lot closer to the truth than she told most people, but it still wasn't true, only her closest friends knew her real upbringing.
she thought to her creatures class, when the boy asked about them "Yes i take care of magical creatures. its okay, Professor Margera is nice, he teaches third and fourth years, i wish i had him this year" she said not mentioning that she probably knew more about magical creatures (or at least some of them) than mist of the first graduating students when she had started the school five years ago. she finished her fruit, and picked another one, mentally thanking the tree for its work for feeding her. "I grew up traveling around eastern europe" she said, once again not lying, but defiantly omitting huge chunks of the truth.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"Yeah I know what you mean. Winning the game is pretty important but I prefer seeking some action rather than an irritating golden snitch." he nodded as he could totally relate to what Briar was saying about Seekers.
"I can't wait for the first match. I'm looking forward some action and study some moves. Maybe I could use some of yours for next years tryouts." he said imagining the roaring crowd on the stands and the players, darting on their broomsticks, in the air.

"It happened by accident. I think something lured me there. I was following a strange sound. Maybe it was them, maybe not." he reffered to acromantulas. It could be one of their hunting techniques. He was a daredevil but not at such extend to put his life in danger. Now that he knew that the particular part of the forest was the hunting ground of those creatures, he would think better before entering again. "I'll keep my distance next time. I consider myself really lucky today." he said, indicating how much grateful he was for her assistance.

His smile and his good mood evaporated when Briar asked him where he came from. That was a question he wasn't expecting actually. His parent's had adviced him to avoid mentioning their family's origins. Minoas' family had trespassed several rules estabished by the magical community at his homeland and they were on the run since then. That was the main reason why his family came in New Zealand. He hesitated for a moment, trying to find a random place, to lie. However, he was feeling that Briar was trustworty and his intuition was never wrong.

"Umm, actually I come from Greece. I used to live in an island, a beautiful one. Generally the magical community there let their children's education, prior to magical schools, to centaurs." he explained as he had understood why her curiosity was triggered. It wasn't so common to be raised and educated by magical creatures, although Minoas didn't really think of centaurs as creatures. "It's a tradition actually. I was taught a lot from my tutor Boreas. About astronomy, herbology, nature, creatures, archery, swordmanship, pottery, sculpturing and smithing. I sometimes send to him owls to help me with my herbology homework." he confessed with a mischievous smile. "He also helps my dad with his bussiness. He's a magiczoologist, he had wrote a couple of books and now he works as a breeder. He specialises in winged horses." he revealed more information about his background, unsure whether what he had just done was right.

He tried to avoid to talk more about him and focused on care of magical creatures, glad to find that the subject was taught by someone nice. "I have to wait two more years until then. I have borrowed some books though about magical creatures from the library. The creatures here in New Zealand are so much different from my homeland's. I just want to learn more and more about them." he said thirsty for knowledge.

"So you are somewhere from eastern europe." he commented interested reminding him all that traveling his family had to do to avoid the mgical authorities of his homeland. "And how come you ended up here?" he asked hoping he wasn't getting to nosy.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar thought when the boy said that he was following some strange sound. maybe you were following a hinkypunk" she said nodding. they were good at leading people in the wrong direction. "they tend to lead people into marches, so a pit was pretty close. she said. as he explained where he came from she felt somewhat bad for having to twist her truth, but she couldn't betray her family, especially not here in the forest. "grease, interesting, that is not a normal way for the centaurs to act, you must have had a really good past with them for them to trust you so much." she said halt to Minoas, and half to herself. however when he spoke of his farther she smiled. "winged horses hey, they must be a bit of a hand full" she said, wondering what they would be like to bread.
If you look close enough there are a lot more similarities between the two places than you may imagine. but i definatly know the creatures at home more than the ones here. she thought, not liking thinking about her family and friends as creatures, but it was one of the easier ways to make keep their annonimusy. she decided to swing the topic away from the uncomfortable. however before she could he asked her a question, thankfully she had well rehearsed the answer. "we used to travel a lot, never in one place longer than necessary, i cant remember the manes of the places that well, they all sort of blur together. but i am looking forward to visiting australia next holiday, do you have any plans for that. sticking around for the ball? she asked. feeling much more comfortable talking about the school year than her childhood.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"Hmm hinkypunks..." he wondered for a second remembering those creatures from the books he had borrowed from the library. "Well it might was a hinkypunk but I didn't noticed any kind of light apart from my wand." he said recalling those lines stating that hinkypunks were carrying some sort of light with them to lure their victims.
"I'm actually unsure whether that pit was created by creatures. It was so circular, it looked like it was made by humans. Maybe someone was hunting out there. The deer down the pit, however, looked like the dinner of acromantulas." he stated and shuddered, remembering the absent leg on the animal's carcass.

Minoas could sense how close Briar was with centaurs, mainly because she waas looking more interested in them than other wizards and wiches. Usually, in most parts of the world, the wizards and witches communities were treating centaurs as inferior beings. However, in Minoas homeland, centaurs were respected as wise beings that could share their knowledge with wizards. "Well, it wasn't always like this. In ancient times, they were both respected and feared, later wizards envied them for their knowledge and tried to banish them, calling them barbarians. Some of them were actually pretty evil but not all of them. Many centaurs died back then. Now the ministry protects them and they have their rights. The magical schools in Greece have mostly centaurs for professors, they are the top educators. I guess if you treat someone with respect then they will treat you the same way." he chronicled the whole story that once Boreas had told him about his kind.

He then remembered the first time he flew with his father on a winged horse. "They are such beautiful creatures. I consider my father lucky. They trust him so much and the young ones are so friendly." he said, missing those days that he was helping his father. "I would like to work as a magiczoologist. The combination of creatures and travelling sounds extremely appealing but I'm too young to decide already. What are your thoughts about your profession after you graduate?" he asked her, believing that a fifth year would have a better idea of what would like to be. "Unfortunately, creatures back in Greece are quite deadly dangerous. Here are easier to be studied without putting your life on the line." he commented as his father had several hazardous encounters in the past that almost cost him his life.

"That sounds cool! Visiting new places, never staying at the same one, meeting new faces. I prefer though our previous house in the island but I used to New Zealand too. It is such a versatile place." he said as his family had found a place near the desert. His grey eyes glowed when Briar stated that she was planning to visit Australia during her holidays. "I really want to go to Australia. I would like to meet in person my favourite Quidditch team, the Thunders." he said although he would be compromised with just a ticket for their match. He didn't have a single idea what he was going to do for his holidays. His parents hadn't mentioned anything in the owls he was receiving and the semester was almost over in a few days. "I have no idea actually. Maybe visit back Greece or stay around here. I have neglected my lessons with my tutor by studying here so holidays would be a great opportunity to catch up." he said and tried to recall when was the last time he had used a bow or a sword.
He looked clueless at Briar when she mentioned something about a ball, almost puzzled. He hesitated to ask, wondering if it would be embarrasing to ask. "Umm, what's a ball?" he asked reluctantly ignoring the existence of something like that.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

briar nodded as he said he didn't see a light. "maybe it wasn't, or maybe it lost its lantern she said. she doubted it was the latter, "I didn't see the pit that well, and the edge was pretty caved in when i was there, so i don't know, but their nests are rather circular so maybe their pits are the same way." she said actually unsure as to what the pit was, she couldn't see spiders digging, but she didn't know who else would have done it.
as the boy described home islands past she thought, it was a very rare thing. she knew a lot of centaurs, from quite a few herds and as fas as she knew hers was the only one to interact wit humans and that was because of her, and she wasn't on the whole seen as a human. she listened as he told her about it his past, it was interesting but she didn't want to offer any more about hers. she was somewhat glad that the topic turned form the past to the future. "I want to play quidditch professionally when i graduate, its one of the only things here that i am particularly good at, but a zoologist sounds pretty good though." she said, she had never been good at written class work, although she was good at fighting.
when he said that he didn't know what a ball was she laughed slightly, don't worry i didn't know what the ball was when i started. it is basically a big dance. It is okay, but it is not my thing i doubt i will go must most of the students love it, girls in dresses, and boys in suits, the food is good though. so i may just go for that"[/b] she said although she knew that she wouldn't, she had an idea of going with her friends but she decided against it at least this year, maybe next year, she had been a few times before and it was loosing its sparkle. "maybe we should start making our way back, we have been gone awhile. she said, it was only a short walk from here to the lawn.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

After eating just a bit in the Great Hall, Professor Weasley left the staff table. She would have loved to head up to her room to read for the rest of the night, or even better, to write a letter to her husband inquiring about his day. It was one of those gloomy days that had stretched out into a gloomy night, the rain having left its mark on the castle and the grounds. And, on the professor's mood, especially since it was her turn to patrol the grounds this evening. She'd already donned some rain boots, knowing that the ground would be extremely muddy.

As she opened the doors to the castle, the professor cast the Impervius charm on her robe and her hair. Tucking her wand away, the professor stepped out onto the grounds and began to walk. She walked as far away from the castle as she could, until she was just at the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. Walking parallel to it, the young professor was pleased to see that the students had enough sense to not be outside when the day was so terrible. Just as she was about to wish for the evening to continue in such a manner, the professor thought she heard a voice. She turned her head to the forest, and heard another voice. Surely...there's no one in there on a day like this she thought to herself as she pulled out her wand, performed a quick non-verbal Lumos and headed into the forest, following the voices that weren't even bothering to keep their volume down.

It wasn't long before the professor could see the outline of two students, one larger than the other, and she stepped out of the clearing. Professor Weasley was not happy at all, and she became even more unhappy when she discovered that the two students were from her own house. Crossing her arms, the professor's eyes narrowed as she spoke. "Mr. Stratis. Ms. Rowan, I am very disappointed to see you both here in the forest. What on earth were either of you thinking? Do you know what kind of creatures might be out tonight because of the rain we've had?" She shook her head and pointed to the castle. "We can continue this conversation...in my office" she angrily added.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"I've never seen an acromantula's nest." he said impressed as Briar sounded like she had witnessed one, at least once in the past. "Well it might have caved in because of my fall but maybe you are right. It's strange though. Strange that the pit was quite deep." he added not really knowing how much could an acromantula to dig. It was exciting for him the fact that something unknown might have created that pit. However, he was so exhausted that he didn't had the courage to investigate it furthermore, something that he would have done at any other ordinary day.

Briar's choices for her future job were already considered options for Minoas. He wanted to become a professional player, preferably playing for Thunderrers or follow his father's job as a magizoologist. On the other hand he liked the idea of teaching defence against the dark arts or creating his own spells and potions. He was hoping that he would be able to do more than one thing. "I bet you'll become a great Quidditch player. I hope I'll have an autograph when that happens." he smiled to her.

The ball that Briar was explaining to him, didn't sound really appealing. Maybe because he was still young for such kind of events.
"Nah, I don't really have a suit, plus it will be the perfect time to sneak out of the castle. So many people gathered at one place means that the rest of the castle will be almost empty." he commented with a smirk.
He agreed with Briar, it was too late. It was nice hanging around the forest with her after her assistance but if they were going to stay more, they could possibly find themselves surrounded by spiders again. Minoas had just stood up when a familiar voice, not Briar's, spoke from behind him. His heart raced when he turned to see professor Weasley, head of Gryffindor house, appearing at the edge of the clearing. Minoas hadn't see her that angry before, she was usually kind and chatty the times he had seen her in the great hall or in Gryffindor common room. "Professor let me expl..." he stopped when she ordered them to follow her in her office.
There was one word flashing in Minoas' mind. Detention. As he was passing by her, pointing at the castle, he wasn't so sure which one was worse. Detention or being stucked in that pit. As they were escorted to the castle, he hoped that professor Weasley would give him an opportunity to explain to her what had happened.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar froze as she heard a sound as Minoas was talking about not having a suit. she strained her ears and was sure she could hear footsteps, she quickly put her finger to her mouth to silently indicate to the boy to be quiet then she flicked her wand and the light went out plunging them into darkness. she could now concentrate fully on the noise. she realised whatever it was seemed to be heading towards them. she also realised that it didn't sound like they belonged to the forest, they sounded too loud, ind out of place with forest creatures. she held her wand ant pointed it through the trees to where she could see a light coming. when she realised who it was she lowered it slightly and relit it.
she was kind of glad that the boy hadn't used the water to wash the dry blood of his face as he did look like her had been in trouble, plus the amount of mud on him showed that they hadn't just been for a walk, she herself knew that her clothes were torn and stained a little with blood. she was thankful that she had left her quidditch robes in the changing room. "I'm sorry professor but it is not what it looks like. Be assured that both Minoas and I know full well what creatures are lurking in the forest tonight. and i will be happy to explain further when we are inside" she said picking up her broom and bottle. she followed the professor up to the castle thinking how ironic it was that the one time she had been in the forest for good reason was the one time she had gotten in trouble. she knew that Minoas was probably seriously regretting his night walk now with detention at stake, but for her as a prefect she could loose a lot more.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

After seeing the state of the two students before her, the professor's anger grew even more. It was obvious to her that something had happened, what exactly had not been revealed to her. Since they were both standing and in full possession of all of their limbs, Professor Weasley was not in a rush to find out what it was. She listened to Briar for a moment, her mouth set in a grim line. She was really quite disappointed in the newly appointed prefect and hoped that she did indeed have a good reason for being in the forbidden forest on such a terrible day, with a first year no less.

"I'm not sure that either of you do" she said sharply. "I will be up in my office in a moment. I'm going to do a quick check to be sure no other foolish students have decided to roam into the forest today." She turned away for a second and then turned back. "I trust that I do not have to ask you two to not touch anything in my office." With that, she waited for the students to leave the forest so she could get on with her patrol. The students were lucky she wasn't right behind them. It was bad enough that she was already thinking of ways to punish them. There was no need to have them right in front of her. Thankfully, she did not find any other students roaming and soon enough Professor Weasley was in the castle again and heading towards her office to deal with her Gryffindors.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Out of Character:

for future reference for us and for those following this topic it has been continued here in professor Weasleys office.
I tried to look for it on one of my other accounts and it doesn't seem visible for non Hogwarts related accounts I am afraid (I couldn't see it as a shopkeeper). so time to use, beg, borrow, or steal a student account