Good, Better, Best. never gonna rest

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar ran out of the castle her feet echoing around the near empty entrance hall as soon as she left the castle doors she mounted her scarlet streak whilst still running and took to the sky. this afternoon she was off and she was going to have a hard practice on the pitch. she made a slight detour flying around the castle fast enjoying the speed before heading to the quidditch pitch. she wasn't surprised to see it empty. most of the students were in class, she was lucky being a seventh year that she was able to have free periods.
she landed in the centre of the pitch and went to the store cupboard where she took the set of training balls and setting off the bludgers she headed for the sky. it was actually rather hard to practice technique whilst on her own. so after a few successful goals she landed and went back into the store cupboard to see if she could find anything else. she saw a few hoops that the first years must use for their practice. she took them out and charmed them so that they too flew around the pitch. this time she had an extra challenge. to get through each of them before shooting a goal, and once she had succeeded she would make them smaller and faster. and more oft them. to begin with she started off with four. one of each of the house colours. next she took another and made this one purple and one that she made black. she kept going like this aiming at the hoops and dodging the bludgers soon there were red, blue, yellow, green, black, purple, punk, gold, teal, lighter blue, brown, orange, mint, pale yellow, dark green and dark blue, and at least six stripy ones with different combinations. were flying around with her. she stopped for a moment landing to grab a handful of dried fruit and nuts, and some water from her water bottle eating them as she watched the hoops randomly move around the pitch.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas decided to follow Briar's advice and have fun more often. He was going to do that against his defence against the dark arts class that was taking place that afternoon. He didn't really used to skip classes. Just only when he thought it was a waste of time to attend. He had enough of the useless lectures that Professor Styx was providing to his students. He was craving for some action and he couldn't understand why they couldn't deal with an actual boggart during class.

He made his escape from the astronomy tower on his broom. He didn't want to get busted while descending the grand staircase. What he was planning to do with his free time? He hadn't decided yet but he flew mechanically towards the Quidditch pitch. He might was able to find something there. Maybe come up with a new technique that he could use during next match against Ravenclaws.

He saw strange colors bouncing in the distance between the stand towers. He zoomed towards the pitch until it was clear that the colorful, bouncing objects were the hoops used for first years' classes. He noticed that Briar was there, on the ground. He manuveured through some of them before lowering and hovering closer to her.
"Hey!" he waved at her. "What's all these about?" he wondered if she was practising as well for the next match.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar looked up at the sky as she watched a large white cloud pass in front of the sun. and a cool shadow fall over her. as she was looking up she saw a figure approaching over the walls of the pitch. she put the last bit of food into her mouth chewing and swallowing it before the figure became recognisable. "Hey minoas" she called across to him deciding to overlook the fact that she was pretty sure he was meant to be in class. it was good to have some company, and she hadn't had a proper conversation with her younger brother for a long time. he always seemed to be working when she saw him, or they were in a big group of people and couldn't really talk. "These are for training. Practising on my own was getting boring so I thought I would add a little challenge, so I found the hoops" she said, the aim is to get through them all as fast as posable and score, and each time you succeed they either shrink, add an extra one or start moving faster." she continued before taking a final mouthful of her water and heading towards him. "How have you been? It feels like forever since we have hung out properly" she said. she knew a lot of this was her fault as she had been so busy last semester trying to balance, classes, head girl duties and quidditch through her week, had kept her more than busy. and that wasn't even mentioning her transformations after abstaining from her potion had made the moon cycles rougher, but so far this semester she was keeping a good control on things, and even finding time to relax herself and pursue leisure activities. the things that she had been up to in the holidays seemed to have helped her, even though she wasn't the proudest of some of them, but by some twist of fate realising how much she missed Dederick had made it easier to cope with which was why she was feeling a lot more like herself this term.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

A smirk clunged on his lips when Briar's words were confirming that despite her responsibility as a head girl, she still was the same person he had met almost three years ago in the forbidden forest.
"Nice idea!" he approved, looking at the colorful hoops that whelmed the airspace of the pitch.
"Getting ready for the match against Ravenclaws? Is not going to be an easy one." he stated as he landed slowly on the dried glass. Ravenclaw had a great team this year. Its players were indisputably very experienced, especially their captain and Minoas was really looking forward to make his task of scoring a little bit more difficult.
"We're going to be okay. I hope this time we'll have the chance to cooperate on air!" he beamed, not forgeting the assistance she had offered him last year which offered him a place in the team. He was grateful about that and he hadn't forgotten it.

It was true that they hadn't found time to hang out, mainly because they both had really hectic schedules. Minoas had to sacrifice a lot of things this year. He had stopped being involved with music since he had started creating his own spells. It wasn't like a walk in the park as he had initially thought. It required a lot of dedication and hard work. O.W.Ls might were just two years away but the preperation had already began as the professors were pressuring with more and more homework. Finally, he had his animagi training, spending at least three hours per day on practising and understanding this fine art. It was something that he hadn't shared with his best friend. Now it was the perfect timing.

"I've been quite good. Just a little stressed with classes and my plans. How about you? How's like to be a head girl?" he asked, wondering what was the difference between a usual perfect and her current post. He was hoping that he wasn't going to end up as a prefect himself. His grades were good but he couldn't be the one busting first years out of their bed. It would be so hypocritical from his side when he was once one of those energetic first years. "Oh, I think I forgot to mention it but guess what. I started training as an animagus!" he revealed, hardly managing to suppress his excitement. "I haven't managed to catch a glimpse of what I'm supposed to turn into and the first stages of the training are mostly theoretical but I'll keep my patience for as long as I have to." he continued, hardly recognising himself and the word he had just spoke of. He thought a little bit of the question that was haunting his mind for a long time. He didn't want to seem too nosy.
"Is everything okay with your...werewolf thing? I saw you a few times looking really sick and all. Have you been experiencing any difficult transformations?" he asked, remembering the day of the Quidditch match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw when he saw a wearied Briar at the stands.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar smiled when minoas said that it was a good idea. "I thought so too, as there are only so many times you gan fly full pelt down an empty pitch to score a goal before the novelty wears off" she said. "yeah the match against ravenclaw will be a good one. and I will be playing this time even if it is full moon day" she said though she thought it would be rather bad luck if both matches of the year were scheduled around the time of the full moon if they were she would be suspicious that someone was sabotaging the gryffindor team. "Ravenclaw are a good team, and I know Jeremy is training them hard. but we too are training hard and between you and me I think we ate a better team. especially if we are both on together Min. I was talking to jeremy and he was pretty confident in his team, though he didn't look happy when I told him that my arm is fully healed again so i can play properly" she said, she had been told not to play quidditch my the school nurse after she had bitten herself, and had managed to convince the nurse to let her play so long as she strapped her left arm up and didn't use it. so she had spent a couple of weeks at training playing right handed, which wasn't the best but at least she was still able to play.
when she asked him it he was okay it was a moment before he answered. "I've been okay, but I am starting to feel more like myself. being head girl is fun but a lot of work" she said smiling, she had sort of gotten used to her brother asking about fifty questions on every thing she said so she was surprised that the next thing he said wasn't questioning her about something. in fact it was about to lead to a role reversal. "your are training as an animagus? you actually decided to go for it. wow. " she said. "when you say you forgot to mention am i correct to think you forgot to mention in the same way i forgot to mention I was a werewolf, as in trying not to tell" she said winking. she was just about to ask what he was trying to become when he answered the question. He wasn't sure what animal he was going to be. "Who is training you? when do you train? when do you find out what animal you are going to be? what do you mean by theretical? what are you learning?" she asked in quick succession. before she could even think of any more he asked her about her transformations. "Everything is going okay" she said. Just because Minoas was her brother didn't mean that she tol him everything, especially how bad some of the last transformations had been when she had not taken the potion, and the fact that she hadn't taken the potion before. unfortunately Minoas seemed to have noticed that she wasn't herself at the full moons last semester. probably during the slytherclaw quidditch match as she had left early. "are you thinking about the quidditch match, I think I overexerted myself cheering for us the previous day so my energy drained quicker than usual. but they have been a lot better since the break. apparently I was overworking myself beforehand and that was making them worse" she said. this wasn't the whole truth, but it was tore to an extent, she had found the previous year that when she transformed the mood she had had followed her through so it would be fair to say that if she was stressed she would a a stressed wolf, and a stressed wolf was never going to be a smooth transformation.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"Since you are as threatening as a two puppy when you consume the wolfsbane potion, why not play like a werewolf if it happens to be a full moon on the next match?" he proposed although he knew that something like that was going to be impossible. Firstly, the professors weren't going to allow this and secondly, most people were so biased about the werewolf thing that were believing that it was contagious by sight.
He responded thoughtfully to her statement that she was used to talk with Jeremy, Ravenclaw's team captain.
"Hmm, maybe you could detach from him information about his upcoming strategy. Work your canine charm on him!" he joked about the second part but it would be an ace up their sleeve the knowledge of Ravenclaw captain's plans. "Wait what? What have happened to your arm?" he asked and his grey eyes scanned her arms for any injury indication. He could tell that she was reuctant to tell him something. He could read faces but in this case he lost interest quickly. While not being a kid anymore but more of an adolescent, he had started discovering the limits of being just interested or irritatingly curious.

He wasn't expecting that a mere revelation of him becoming an animagi would cause such a huge stream of question come out of Briar. He suddenly realised how others might have been feeling everytime he was showering them with questions. "I really feel like I have to apologize to you and to many other people right now." he said with widened eyes as the questions kept falling like heavy rocks. "Professor Davenshire had undertook my training for now. I'm practising every day, two to three hours which are not really fixed. She owls me when she's able to see me." he started answering some of her questions. "Hmm, I don't really know when I'm supposed to transform completely into the animal I'm supposed to turn into. I guess the more I'm practising the sooner." he wasn't really sure about this one. He had to wait and see. "By theoretical I mean that first I have to read the whole history of animagi." he explained and rolled his eyes. "Later, I'll be studying anatomy. It's essential to understand the similarities and differencies between a human body and an animal's one. Then I'll have to learn more about my own body, it's limits, it's strengths..." he stopped and thought a little bit. He opened again his mouth but he didn't manage to add anything else. He closed it and frowned. "That's all I'm told for now. I guess and I hope that later, maybe in a couple of years I'll be ready to experience the whole transformation." he concluded with a sour smile.

"And I didn't avoid it to tell you if that's what you mean." he suddenly snapped out of his silence. "We haven't talked like that for a long time. I decided during that time that why you weren't informed." he clarified to distinguish this with her own case of hiding the fact that she was a werewolf for a long time.
He wasn't really convinced when she said the word 'okay'. Funny how the same word could be used but the speaker could give it a different meaning just by their tone.
"That's the kind of 'okay' I say if you ask me how I'm doing during a history class." he sarcasted.
He gave her another chance to try and convince him but she was doing a terrible job.
"Really, is that so?" he folded his arms on his chest and nodded slowly a few times, indicating that he wasn't really buying what she was saying.

"Kate Moon is the most fragile person I have met in my life. However, she managed to pull the whole Hufflepuff team to the end. Now we have you, the most durable person I have ever met and you suggest me that you overexerted yourself just by cheering?" he casted at her a suspicious look.
"Come on, spill it!" he used his middle and index finger to make a beckoning sign as if he was waiting Briar to unleash a whole torrent of information.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

"I am guessing you have never seen me in werewolf form. It is certainly more threatening than a puppy or where do you think all the scare came from? she said adding the rhetorical question to emphasise the point. "a werewolf playing that would be a novelty. I think it would work more as a detraction than a decent player as I don't think my limbs will be in the right position to ride a broom let alone throw a ball" she said. standing up. she was never one for sitting own too long. "I tried getting information out of jeremy but all he said was that he was training his team hard. so we had better train hard but I reckon that we are already. Gryffindor winning the quidditch cup will be an awesome end to the year she said, she was thinking it was her last year in the school, and it would be a great hight to leave on, and good for her to get into a good team. when he asked about her arm her right hand instantly rose to her arm. "I had a little accident a few weeks before the holidays. nothing to bad, and the healers managed to fix it all up" she said not going into any more detail as to the nature of the injury, it would certainly change his opinion of the fact that she was no scarier than a puppy. but either way she didn't want to. Talking about the bad things about her condition made her uncomfortable as she was trying to show that it wasn't too bad a deal being a werewolf, but some times she now knew it really was.
when her little brother said that there was no need to apologise she laughed. "there is no need for that, everyone is entitled to their own secrets. and are allowed to save news for when they want to share it" she said feeling a little bad for making him feel guilty. "that sounds like a full on work load. no wonder I haven't seen you around much. though I think the theory is enough to put me off it. but good luck, you had better turn into something awesome. I don't think i would like having a cat for a brother" she said winking to show that she wasn't 100% serious, though she hoped that he would be something large maybe so that she should spend the full moon with her brother some time, as she had heard that animagi had spent time with werewolves in the past and not been effected adversely. she listened as he continued the list of things he had to learn before he even tried to turn into an animal. "that does sound like a lot of work. though I am sure you will be able to do it. and I am sure it will be worth the wait" she said exited for him. it was something big for anyone. and once he was an animagus her family would consist of a part giant, a centaur and an animagus. she really knew how to pick them that was for sure. when he snapped at her eyes shot to him suddenly hard. but a moment after they were back to their normal self. she knew she was wrong when he didn't tell her siblings about her, she however had only learned it after she had been forced to tell. due to it being revealed unceremoniously "Hey Min. I didn't mean it like that. I meant, i don't know what I meant. I am sorry for not telling you about me from the beginning. I was advised not to tell anyone." she said hanging her head.
when he asked he if her okay meant she smiled and shook her head slightly. "you know me too well. I had a couple of rough transformations last year, but i'm handling them like my old self now." she said she could tell that he wasn't taking the excuse that she was tired. "I wouldn't underestimate Kate if I were you she is stronger than she looks. but I was overexerted. she said pausing. "I will try and explain how the transformations work. it seems like the more energy I use during the month the worse the illness around the full moon is. where as f I have a slow month the transformation is pretty smooth. the month before the quidditch match it was crazy, what with the extra training. long prefect duties and loads of class work. so that meant that it was bound to be a rough transformation. the match before just tipped the scales as such" she said hoping that his made more sense. sure she was missing out that she was not on wolfsbane at the time. but she was telling the truth. it was how she had found the transformations worked.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"No, I haven't." he agreed with a nod. "If you take the potion you are fine, right? Besides, people are always extravagant about things they don't understand." he pointed out that most things that were spreading about werewolves were based on people's fear and misinformation. Obviously he had no idea about werewolves anatomy. He didn't know that it was quite impossible for a werewolf to sit comfortably on a broom and fly casually.
"Mmm shame!" both for the impossibility to play as a werewolf and the fact that Jeremy was keeping his plans as secret as possible. "It would be actually a great, final year." he agreed with her. "Imagine winning both the house cup and the Quidditch cup! A great memory to take with you after you graduate." he said and his vivid expression turned into a frown. He hadn't realized before that Briar wouldn't be around next year.
"Hogwarts will be so empty without your presence. Most people around here are boring." he said with a grimace, meaning boring to him. He wasn't the most easy person when it came to relations. "Well, here comes Brightstone weekends' existance. Promise you'll be dropping a visit." he hoped that they will be able to hang out now and then, that they won't lose touch.

He didn't pressured her about the nature of her accident. Her face were saying more than the words she was speaking. His eyes narrowed as he sensed that her arm's injury and sickness, were closely related. He just let it go as the spotlights were now on him and his animagi training.
"Yeah, this and my own hocus pocus plans, are taking a lot of my time." he agreed, speaking as well for his latest interest of spell crafting. "It's that feeling of accomplishment that makes me keep trying though. You can't imagine how it was when I managed to create my first charm." the smile formed unintentionally on his face as he was recalling that special moment. "Honestly, if I'm going to turn into a cat in the end, I'm not going to declare myself an animagus." he said, wishing he was going to turn into something cooler, something like a lion maybe.
"Well, I'll have to suck it up and work hard if I want to revive the presence of animagi's in my family." he shared one of the reasons that had made him embark on this long journey. After studying his family tree catefully, he found out that there were at least six animagus throught history. Since none of his living relatives was an animagi, he decided to take over that task.

"I was kidding, don't worry." he rushed to fix the misunderstanding. "It was up to you when you were going to tell us. Things like that need their time. First to accept it yourself and then share it when you are ready." he added. He was pretty sure he would have done the same thing if he was in her shoes.
Briar kept on insisting that it was overexertion that got her look like sick. Highly unconvinced, he decided to make her confess it on her own by just dragging her there without realizing it.
"I never said that I was considering Kate weak. On the contrary, she's really strong for her stature and size." he said, remembering how well she had played a few months ago. "Well it seems that I shouldn't judge from the cover of the book." he started talking in a somewhat dramatic tone, as if his role model had been debunked.
"Kate, paper thin but strong like a bull and you, looking fierce like a tiger but in reality hiding inside you a sloth." he tried so hard not to show that he was joking. He was trying to make her react with his smart blow. Maybe in that way he was going to extort the truth. "Are you going to practise some more or are you worried that the wind might snap your legs?" he continued his mocking as he plucked a splinter from his brrom's handle. His face was taking the right expressions. It was a good acting from his side.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar chuckled. "even the potion doesn't make things perfect, but it helps a lot. Keeps me in Briar brain which is better than wolf brain. at least most of the time" she said. the last six words were in a joking tone, hoping that the truth behind it would go unnoticed. she took a couple more nuts out of her bag and ate them slowly as her brother said about winning both house cup and quidditch cup. that was what she was aiming for. the best way to go about with a bang. it was just a shame that the yearbook superlatives weren't going to be on this year she had really wanted to get most reckless flyer, but every time someone bert her to it. oh well. she would show how awesome she was at flying when she became a pro player. "That is my aim, to go out victorious, leaving gryffindor as the best house." she said. raising her hands in gesture of triumph.
she noticed that the tone in minoas's voice as he spoke about next year that he wasn't particularly looking forward to it. as he would still be in school whilst she was looking forward to her future. "Min, Madlyn will be here next year, and Aspen. she wont leave any time soon. and we can still send owls when you want to talk to me. I wont be far away. I am looking at jobs in new zealand, and plan to live in australia. and I will be waiting for both you and madlyn during the brightstone weekends. there would have to be something drastic on to keep me away from the village then. and once I am settled somewhere you can come and visit my home whenever you want" she said giving him a quick hug and ruffling his hair she would miss her siblings a lot. she had gown to depend on them increasingly, they were her family. some people had parents, aunts brothers sisters and cousins. she had Madlyn, Minoas and Aspen. as well as Iris.
The head girl was glad that minoas had dropped the subject of her accident, but she could tell that it wasn't out of his mind, he sort of gave the impression of someone biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike again. when he spoke about his spells however she knew that he was talking about something he loved, the expression on his face was similar to that she would imagine would be on hers when she was talking about a new quidditch manoeuvre, or when she was running full pelt through the forest and felt like she was flying. "what have you managed to create?" she asked wondering what sort of charms he had been creating. as he said that if he became a cat he wouldn't claim to be an animagus she laughed. "I am sure it wont be that bad if you were, a cat. though I think you would suit something more awesome" she said winking. just then she remembered something she had found out just under a year ago. "you know when in aniagus form wizards are safe around werewolves. she said thinking that if he was an animal of a suitable nature she was sure he would like spending full moons with her. "revive the presence of animagi? there were animagi in your family before? thats awesome." she said. the question rhetorical. she wondered if there were any animagi, or anything else interesting in her family. there really was no way of knowing. she could be the child of an auror, or the child of a muggle beggar who had nothing. either way what she became was due to her, and that is what made it all the more important do become someone noteworthy.
"I am glad you said that. I thought for a moment you were still holding a grudge" she said punching his shoulder in a friendly way. when he said that kate was paper thin but was strong like a bull she nodded in agreement. however when he suggested that she looked like a tiger but acted like a sloth she wasn't sure what to say. it took her a moment before saying. "tiger you reckon? I was going for the more lion look" she said shaking her mane of auburn hair. "if you think i am a sloth do you fancy a rase. I bet I run further than you in one morning than you do in a week. how many laps of the pitch? I am sure my legs will cope, find it easy even. the question is will yours?" she said challenging him. she would go soft on him. she had always been a fast runner and was probably one of the fastest one things on two legs in the grounds. she was sure that he would not back down on the challenge.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas kept quite as a new query was born in his mind. "What is like to be in a wolf brain?" he asked his question fascinated with what it could be like. Maybe letting your animalistic insticts to take over wasn't so bad. It might give you an unprecedented feeling of freedom. He was counting on that. That was another reason why he had decided to become an animagus.
"That's the spirit!" he encouraged her objective. He would like to do the same thing if it was his last year at school. He was still going to help for this regardless the final result. Minoas accepted his sister's quick hug although for a moment he was afraid that someone might see them and rekindle the rumours for his supposed favoritism of older girls. They could publish whatever they wanted for their next anonymous issue. He simply didn't care. "You are right. It's not like we are muggles who have transportation limits. I guess you'll have passed your apparition classes and in a few years I'll be having mine as well. There would be no distances." he said, really waiting for that time that he will be able to travel vast distances with a blink of an eye. He will be able to visit family and friends whenever he liked.

He was more than happy to show to his friend what he had managed to accomplish after long sleepless nights of reading and practising. "I'll show you!" he said with a wide grin and took out of his pocket his trusted wand.
"Alosis!" he muttered while he was drawing with his wand an imaginative, rectangular frame of the colorful, hovering hoops that were crowding the air of the pitch. A flash of light quickly zoomed in his wand's tip in the form or a little orb of light. He looked around him to find something good enough to project what he had captured.
"Ensfragisis!" he pointed on his white t-shirt and the orb released from the wand's tip and splashed into colors on the white cloth. The colors took shapes, imprinting on his t-shirt the blue sky, a hufflepuff and a ravenclaw stand of the background along with the numerous flying hoops he had included in his caption.
"There! You have a camera charm! Two charms into one. Unfortunately, the image won't move. Looks like muggles' photos." he said and looked down on the picture he had imprinted on his t-shirt.
"I'm working on something new these days. To be honest, I have really slowed down but as soon as I've finished it, you will be the first to know." he promised although he had a hell of a work to do to reach the point of completion.

He had caught a glimpse of what Briar had said about werewolves getting along with animagus, in one of the books the transfiguration professor had gave him to read. "I know right! That would be awesome!" he exclaimed in enthusiasm. "Imagine if I manage to turn into a wolf. I will be almost a werewolf." he said, hoping that if not a werewolf then maybe something equally cool.
His initial plan of making her tell him the truth on her own wasn't really working the way he had imagined, despite his clever plan. Still, he wasn't the kind of person that was going to give up just with one try.
"Hmmm, I don't know. I don't want you to send you to the hospital wing." he said with a charitable tone in his voice. "I mean, you throw up just by cheering up for the team. I wonder what will happen to you if I'll make you run." he continued mocking her until managing to piss her off and extract the truth.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar thought for a moment about his question. wolf brain was hard to describe, hence why she had given it its name. "It is very simple primitive and animalistic. no space for any complex food. it wants food, water or freedom. and that is what it gets. I cant think of how else to describe it." she said "It is odd I guess because your own thoughts are still going on but it is like they aren't yours, like someone talking at you in the background and you aren't paying attention" she added. that thought coming to her after she had finished. she nodded when he said that she had the right spirit. "and i will be trusting you to keep it that way at well" she said wondering if he would end up a prefect like her and madlyn or not. she thought he may do as according to professor kingsley she picked prefects on how "gryffindor" they were so a little trouble was likely going to help, and she couldn't think of any one else in their year who was more likely, though she didn't know many third years.
she could tell that he wasn't comfortable with her hugging him so she quickly let go. "embarrassed of your sister eh?" she joked though she knew why he pulled away. It had been a while since the dreaded gossip magazine was last out which meant that unfortunately a new isue should be out soon, and she guessed that he was trying not to get into it. she knew full well how much they twisted stories, even that would probably turn into a doomed love affair or something. "yeah, I passed my apparation class just under a year ago. and found it very useful I already went back to my old home. she said referring to the forest that she had grown up in. though when she had visited it she had felt so out of place, maybe because she was no longer welcome there, or maybe it was due to the fact that she had become to human to be there, that was ironic as really she had become less human, but she knew that her thoughts meant. she watched as he cast a couple f interesting charms that caused a picture of the hoops to imprint on his shirt. "that is awesome. must be dead useful at times" she said thinking of classes and copying pages of notes of the board. when she could just transfer them by magic. "It doesn't matter that it doesn't move, at least it works. but maybe a removal could be the third charm in the set." she suggested. though she was amazed that he had actually made some spells of his own.and all the pouring over books she had seen him doing as of late had actually achieved something, both animagus and spell wise. "ooh, I cant wait to see what you come up with next." she said curious as to what he was working on.
the head girl let her hair out of her ponytail and tied it up again using the slight breeze to bull it out of her face. "I actually met someone last year who was training to be a wolf animagus. she was beater for the harpies if i remember right" she said remembering her conversation with the lady before her apparation exam the previous year.
Briar started to jog around the pitch. "there is no way I am going to the hospital wing today unless it is to take someone else there" she said turning round so that she was still facing him as she ran backwards. "come on slow poke. I bet I can beat you around the pitch backwards at this rate" she called as she rounded the corner. "you just don't want to race me because you know you will be beaten by a girl" she taunted. getting faster still. she was probably going at about the same speed as a normal person running though she was still going backwards.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas listened absorbed to what was like for a werewolf to be in their wolf form. Briar's description didn't offer him a satisfactory idea of what was like and it made him wonder if it was the same for an animagus and their animal form. "Hmm, sounds like an escape from your very own problems if you suggest that your own thoughts and worries seem like someone's else." he said thoughtfully, unable to grasp the feeling of getting rid of your own troubles. He got his head out of the clouds when she delegated him to keep the good name of Gryffindors. Almost seemed like she was assigning to him the prefect status, something that he dreaded that one day may happen.
"I'll do my best!" he raised a tigh fist. It was a promise, regardless if he was going to become a prefect or not.

"No, not at all but you know. Even the walls around here have ears." he said and looked around them conspiratorially. As if he was expecting to see a shadowy figure lurking at the tower stands, eavesdropping at them. His uneasiness could be excused since the next issue of the RHI was looming over Hogwarts. Who knew what was going to be included this time.
"You did?" he asked surprised when she told him that she had visited her homeland. "You managed to apparate back to Europe with just a single try or you had to hope from one place to the other?" he asked, not really sure how apparition was working. He knew that his parents could apparate fluently wherever they wanted but his sister, hadn't the same level of experience. There were still too many things that he couldn't understand how they were working but he had all the time in front of him to figure them out.
The big smile returned back on his face when Briar gave him another cool idea. "I might haven't work out the night vision potion you had inspired me last year but this one is more feasible." he said to her recommendation about a removal charm. He definately had to work on that or the image of the floating hoops on his white t-shirt was going to stay there forever. Maybe an ordinary vanishing charm could work on it but he hadn't mastered that one yet to try it out.

He hadn't met another animagus as far as he was concerned, except from Professor Davershire who could turn into a golden retriever. "It would be interesting to meet as well an animagus except from Professor Davershire. It would definately help me to understand the whole process." he agreed, not really knowing the specific animagus that Briar was referring to. He wasn't a big fan of Holyhead Harpies so he hadn't bother to learn more about its players.
Minoas knew his capabilities and his limits, he wasn't stupid. He definately knew that he wasn't a match for Briar's running skills although he was a good runner himself. He prefered to mount his broom and follow her on air. She didn't seem to fall for his deliberate bullying. She had either found out what he was trying to do or she was just too oblivious and patient. Regardless, it wasn't yet the time for him to give up. As he was approaching her, he sat more comfortably on his broom. Almost lying completely on the broom with one leg hanging, the other one on the handle making an arc and one elbow, leaning on the handle as well. "Why bother? I don't want to pick your pieces that you'll left behind." he provoked her with a fake yawn. "Why don't you use your broom? Or you just have started getting afraid of heights as well?" he said as he passed by her still lying on his broom, with his legs crossed and his hand pillowing his head.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar could tell that Minos was interested in what she was saying. and she started to get involved in the conversation and she was starting to let her guards down. At what he said she smiled and nodded. "that was kind of the point" she said before she realised what she was saying. when she realised she quickly replied to his next question "I bed you will. I know that you want to win quidditch as much as me. so that will be easy" she said. winking.
"I guess you cant be too careful. who am i kidding. there is no point living watching over your shoulder. its better to like, and not just make ripples, but send waves that will soak anyone who cares to be judging too closely." she said looking at he stands and glaring at them as if challenging them to do something drastic. "well i was already in Belgium so it want to far. but I seem to be able to go pretty far when i want. i haven't noticed any problems with it" she said. she had appeared half way around the world the day she passed her test, which she probably wasn't meant to do but she had had had guidance so surly that was okay. right? when he said that she had given her another idea she smiled and shook her head "I am glad that I am still able to give you Ideas." she said laughing slightly.
"just keep thinking that. we both know the real reason" she teased as she turned around as she ran sprinting flat out round the rest of the pitch before doing another one just for the hell of it. she had always loved running. and once she stated she often found it hard to stop, usually the only time she would was when she had to go and do something else or she had used all her energy. however once she reached their bags after her second lap she stopped ant took her broom her heart pumping. she then grabbed her broom and the quaffle and took off before she had foully mounted it "Come on. there is no point standing around talking. we need to beet the slytherpuffs next match, so we my as well practice at the same time" she said adrenaline causing her energy to peak. she did a high speed lap of the pitch weaving through several different hoops as she did before passing the ball to him. "no no fear of heights here. sorry to disappoint you" she called shooting up.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

When his eyes caught a glimpse of the scarlet ball in Briar's hands, he sat properly again on his broom, vigilant for what was going to follow. Like a predator that its killer insticts were fueled by the appearance of its prey.
He was losing in his own game. His sister seemed to be evading his little trap and eventually he started losing interest. Especially since she had abstracted him with the quaffle. He followed her course, passing through several hoops on his way that were humming to his passage as he was rending the air. Briar's pass took him by surprise and he managed to catch it at the last moment with a barrel roll. He continued, zooming towards the hoops and he used a hit from the brush of his broom to score at the middle hoop.
"And he scores!" he exclaimed, knowing that in a real match it wasn't going to be that easy. There was no keeper to guard the hoops now and that wasn't going to be the case in the match.

He was going to dive and retrieve the quaffle, passing it to Briar to score now, when he noticed something in the sky. A flying, small figure pass between Gryffindor and Slytherin stands and approached them.
"Glauce!" he recognised his female owl pet. The grey owl landed on the handle of his broom gracefully with a hoot of excitement for reuniting with its master. "What are you doing here?" he scratched his forehead. He wasn't really used to receive letters outside the great hall or the common room. At the sound of his question, Glauce pecked the piece of parchment wrapped on her left leg and hooted once more. Minoas unwrapped it carefully not to hurt his owl and thanked her. Glauce let a hoot of fulfilment and soared towards the owlery. Minoas unfolded the piece of parchment and read through it. "I don't believe it! Have a look!" he passed the note to Briar irritated. It was from Aphrodite, Gryffindor's Quidditch captain. "The next match is cancelled!" he said before she was able to read through it. Quidditch was one of the few things he was looking forward to in that school. What was going to pull him now to the end of the year. "It was going to be your last match here. Maybe we were going to play together as chasers. I wonder what's the reason behind this cancellation." he wondered, wishing that the Christmas Quidditch match had never took place and instead the one that was cancelled was going to take place.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar saw that Minoas was surprised that she had passed the ball. She knew that she had gained the reputation of a ball hog. but even so, it was part of the roll of a chaser to anticipate each others moves. she was glad that he managed to catch it. she lay flat on her broom towards the goals as s wanted to try and intercept it. unfortunately she wasn't the best keeper and as she reached for it the ball sailed through the ring. she looked through the hoop and went after the ball not realising that Minoas was flying in the other direction after an owl. she headed back to the ring ball in hand ready o make an assault on the opposite goal however then she saw where the look on her bothers face she slowed down and flew over. Even before she could ask what was wrong he said what was contained in the letter. her jaw dropped. "No way? Are you sure that is what it said?" she said. before it really hit her. she had not got any games to play his year. she had been working hard to win this match. she looked at the parchment and saw that it i was right. GUH, What Was The Point Of That" she said half shout, half growl. she then threw the ball hard as she could before flying hard to burn off some of her frustration. "I really wanted to play a match with you. It looks like beater and chaser is the closest we will ever get to a game together. unless you decide to follow your cousin and join a pro team" she said rolling her eyes, she had been keeping a close watch on the australian and new zealand league for years, and it hadn't taken her long to notice a new name as keeper on the macaws team, with a familiar name especially when she had been attending try outs for them.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Disappointment was all over the gryffindor's face. Quidditch was his escape from everyday routine, providing him with every day practices for the upcoming matches. Now that the next match was cancelled, practices were going to space out as well. He didn't know who was to be blamed for the games cancellation but he was hoping that they were going to suffer from spattergroit.
"Dammit! I was so ready for this!" he snapped. He had gathered so much energy about that match. Where he was supposed to channel it now?
"I know! If we were going to play together we would have aced the game! It's a shame. Really..." he commented, deciding to let it go. There was no point in thinking about it.

Minoas wasn't really sure what he was going to do after school. He had several years in front of him before that and he already had so many options and aspirations in mind.
"Maybe this will happen in the future." he nodded. He knew that becoming a professional player wasn't a walk in the park. It required dedication and charisma. In addition, they were so many people trying for a professional team and that was making the possibilities to be accepted in one of them, really slim.
"You sound like you have been searching for professional teams. To which you have been applying?" he asked his sister, knowing that she liked the idea of becoming a pro player.
Deciding to cast away any thoughts about the cancelled match, he flew closer to Briar and nodded for a pass.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Brir was mad at the thought that the quidditch match was being canceled. "I bet the snakes chickened out because they were scared" she said loping over backwards holding the broom only by her knees as she went upside down. She was glad that the conversation quickly changed to a topic that was a lot more pleasant to her, although the change was quick is wasn't quick enough for the old lion, and it left a bitter cidic metal taste in her mouth.
She laughed at the question about professional teams. "yeah I have been attending trials for a couple of years. I have tried a few few teams, I actually thought your cousin would have said. the one I want the most is the thunderers, but they seem to be a little full, so my second option is the Macaws." she said. She wanted to play in the australian league as she knew that is was one of the most intense and competative leagues in the world, which some rough matches, and although the macaws were a new Zealand team they plated in the australian league so that there would be enough teams for a competition, she certainly wasn't going to play to the wanderers, as she was a thunderers fan and that would just be wrong. "Do you have any plans over the holiday Min?" she asked wondering what the boy was planning over he big break. she It suddenly struck her hard then, harder than a bluddger causing her to be motionless for a moment before continuing flying it wasn't really a holiday for her as she was going to be out of the school and not returning again. when her brother gestured to for the ball she darted forward in a zig zag before passing it quickly and directly to him.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas smirked when Briar mentioned that the Slytherins might have balked, concluding to the cancellation of the match. He liked the idea that the snakes might were afraid of their skiils and superiority in the pitch but it seemed to him that the reason had mostly to do with Hogwarts's management. Regardless, there was no way to change that so there was no point to worry. He was only feeling slightly sorry about Briar that was going to be her last match as a student. He was going to have more chances in the future.

It was going to be a shame for his sister not to take advantage of her extraordinary talent as a chaser and he was pleased to hear that she had already started making contact with different Quidditch teams. He grinned when she referred to his favourite team. It would be odd to play for Thunderers. He couldn't imagine himself asking her for an autograph. "Good for you. Maybe I'll become a fan of yours. A R-awe-an!" he chuckled as he came up instantly with a name that could be used by her fans."My cousin plays for the Macaws a few months now. A decent team as well to consider." he approved both her choices. His eyes rolled slightly when she mentioned that she believed that Icarus might have informed him about her try-outs. "I'm afraid that Icarus has minimum free time this period. I think he's also seeing someone." he winked mischievously with a large grin to his explanation.

During his course to the goal posts, he tried to pass through as many hoops as possible. He dove slightly to catch Briar's pass and sped up. "Not something fixed yet but my parents are referring a lot in their letters to Egypt. It would be nice to celebrate my birthday along with the company of a few mummies." he sarcasted a little bit but he loved the destination. "Of course we are going to visit family as well, Greece is not far from Egypt so I guess that's why they chose it." he explained. Unlike the southern hemisphere, where winter was slowly announcing its arrival, northern hemisphere was going to have summer with long, hot days. He didn't know if Egypt had any nice beaches to enjoy the sea but he was sure he was going to do so in Greece.
"What about you? You can actually go wherever you like now." he pointed out since she was already an adult and free to roam around the world. As soon as the three golden hoops were within striking distance, he punched the scarlet quaffle from his grip towards the right one goal post.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar laughed at the expression on Minoas's face when she said that hte snakes were probably scaired. she hadnt been serious n this though, though it would have been nice it that was the reason. she didged through a few hoops racing her bother allong the pitch "It is good to know i will have at least one fan." she said beofre ducking to get though a florecent blue and white ring below them. "I noticed her joind. I tend to follow the australian leagu more than the others. they always have the roughest, most copetative games. he is doing pretty well, though he should have saved that goal last match" she said, refering to the last match that team had played agains woolongong, but she n she was one of the kind of players who liked playing hard, if that meant it seemed a little rough then so be it. at the news that he was seeing someone she had an idea as to who it was. "I bet it is the freaky divination professor. I have seen them together quite a few times" she said remembering the ball a couple of years ago when the professor in question had told her that someone would find out her secret. although she had been right Briar didn't trust the woman, she knew too much, she had known about her being a werewolf even though she had no reason to, and had known about jaden finding out even before she did, and she always seemed to talk in riddles which didn't help.
Although briar had heard of Egypt once or twice, an odd word in class, or somewhere else in passing she didn't know much about it. "what is in Egypt?" she asked she was about to ask where it was but minoas already said that it was near to geese. "and what has egypt got yo do with mummys?" she wondered, wasn't mummy another term for mom? what did that have to do with location couldn't he celebrate his birthday with his parents anywhere seeing as it was in the holidays. "I am thinking of moving to australia. I liked it there when I visited over the holidays a couple of years ago" she said. she had gone there the holiday after she had been adopted by the margeras and had had her first holiday, away from the castle there, no wonder why it only contained good memories for her. "then I need to get a job, so that i can buy some land. but once I do you will be welcome to stay any time whenever you need a break from your brothers." she said the last bit getting lost as she darted forward after the ball as minoas shot catching it just before It reached the hoops. "good try, but you got to do better than that" she said turning around and making her way back along the pitch in the opposite direction ducking though the rings as she went.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas was more than convinced that Briar was going to have more than one fan during her professional career. Those who were able to recognise pure talent would ignore her werewolf status annd will concentrate on her skills.
He wondered if she was going to keep hanging out with him in her growing fame. Knowing her for the past three years, she wasn't the type of person that could be intoxicated by fame's sweet taste and forget the people she cares of. "Don't worry...how many werewolves are out there? I'm sure you are going to have their full support as well. You will also become a great role-model for other werewolves who are hesitant to make their big step in life." he said as he could imagine the inspiration she could offer to people with the same status. Everyone needed someone to look up and chase their aspirations.

He frowned when she blocked his attempt to score but he didn't let his guard down. He followed her, flying at the same height, passing through the same hoops. He almost choked with his chuckle when Briar referred to the divination professor. "Knowing from his turbulent life, I would say that she was last years model." he commented as he was catching up with her, recovering with a cough from his choke. He was feeling somewhat bad about the divination professor although he had never talked with her in person.

He was surprised to find that his sister had zero knowledge about the greatness of Egypt. Minoas might was hating most of modern history but he had a thing about ancient civilizations. "C'mon! Egypt! Pyramids, camels, pharaohs, mummies." he tried to use some keywords that could help her get the picture. "I can't wait to learn more about their magic!" he exclaimed, always intrigued by ancient magic. He just couldn't wait to take some pictures outside the great pyramid. His enthusiasm vanished when Briar confessed that she was thinking to move out to Australia. "Never been there." he compromised to that single comment. He was pretty sure that his parents weren't going to allow him travel to Australia and visit her on his own. Not for now. Maybe later that he could apparate as well, they would be able to see each other more often.

"Well, my house is open for you. You can come and stay with us until you'll find a place to stay. Plus, my father is looking for temporary employees. You know, just for summer. You can get yout first money from there." he suggested, offering as much help as he could. As long as he was able to help a friend he was going to do so.
He sped up in an attempt to get himself at the right spot to block her attempt to score.