Quiet Mornings

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Breathing heavy after her run, the woman walked with her hands on her hips as she allowed her body to cool down. She'd been running for years, but morning rums had never been easy for her. It was the often the only time she could get a run in, however, so she forced herself up and out. Lowering herself onto a large rock, much more heavily than she'd expected to, Professor Kingsley stretched her legs out, her hand massaging her hamstring, an injury nearly a decade old.

She took another deep breath and then pulled off her sneakers, peeled off her socks, and dipped her feet into the water. The cold shocked her system, the water still hadn't quite reached a temperature warm enough to jump in. Scooching forward, Cyndi stopped when the water was nearly up to her knees. She let out a sigh of content and leaned back, her eyes closing as she basked in the sun.

 

[Diagoras]

Things had been turbulent on the castle grounds of late, which usually meant that the students were back. A centaur couldn't always tell because they operated on a very different calendar to wizards, but if there was one who had gotten used to the patterns of the human beings at Hogwarts, it was Diagoras. It seemed he spent half of his days hunting for the herd and the other half chasing students out of the forest. The youngest colts always had to go poking around centaur territory, and frankly he was beginning to tire of it. Diagoras had been paying closer attention to the goings on of wizards simply to try and head them off before trouble came to them. Not all centaurs were as forgiving as he. One would have thought that the incident with the arrow would have put the colts off for life- but it was ancient history, for some.

On the far side of the lake, bordering the edge of the forest where few students bothered to walk as it was many kilometers in length, Diagoras patrolled in the early morning mist that just barely covered the ground. The centaur had no reason to bother with the trek to the other side, especially since he was usually met with more students, until he spotted a taller figure that captured his attention. It looked to be an adult, which was far preferable to speak to about Hogwarts business than any upstart little wizard who had more bravado than brains. He watched the Ancient Runes Professor run for at least half an hour, all the while slowly making his way around the lake to meet her in the middle when she stopped to rest. Diagoras regretted approaching her from behind, but there was no alternative in their current positionings.

"Greetings," rumbled the centenarian, wishing not to startle her. "And well met."​

 

[Professor James Cade]

It was rare for James to be up and around so early in the morning, but he had in fact been up all night studying in the common room. When he noticed the sunlight pierce the clouds, he knew going to bed was pointless. He had another day of lessons and revision ahead but he needed a break, to rest his brain before his first class of the day. He decided to head out onto the grounds, the fresh air would hopefully jolt him awake and combined with breakfast should give him the energy he needed to survive the day. There was a chill in the air, and it only grew colder as James got closer to the lake. It was there he saw something he never thought he would, Professor Kingsley with her feet in the water, relaxing. "Morning Professor," James began making his way to the lake. "I didn't expect to...MERLINS PANTS ITS A CENTAUR!"

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

For a few moments, the only noise was the lapping of the water onto the rocks, the soft rustle of the forest’s trees, and the occasional squawk or chirp from one of the forest’s many inhabitants. It was glorious. In spite of it being a voice that interrupted the silence, the woman noted that it wasn’t entirely out of place. She opened her eyes slowly, her gaze, upside down, falling on a man. No, not a man, she realized as the sun’s rays settled enough so she could see he was quite higher than any man in this castle would be. It was a centaur that was speaking to her. How curious, she noted as she made to turn so as not to disrespect him. Though she soon discovered that he was not the only one out this early in the morning.

As a shout pierced through the relative quiet of the morning, Cyndi found her heartbeat kick into high gear. She’d turned by now and shot a glare at her student. The centaurs had never, in her experience, been afraid of students, but they also didn’t seem to particularly like them, and an early morning centaur attack was not in line with the woman’s idea of a good morning. “James! Some manners, please” she said before turning her gaze to the centaur. “Greetings” she replied, mirroring his salutation, as she made to stand, her feet dripping onto the rock.

 

[Diagoras]

Diagoras turned his head to look at the arriving student, and the centaur gave the young man such a long blink that it almost looked like he'd closed his eyes and prayed for patience. When he opened them, he turned his head back to the Professor and summarily dismissed James Cade until further provocation, after which he may be forced to address the Gryffindor. He didn't truly have anything against colts; they were simply too headstrong to talk to calmly. Even his own sons gave him trouble at their present ages, nineteen and nineteen respectively. Perhaps it would be best to proceed with the conversation as if he weren't there.

"May I speak to you, about the forest?" Diagoras addressed Professor Kingsley, gesturing to the far side of the lake from whence he came. "There have been some few disturbing trends of late, and I wish to know whether or not students are still forbidden to enter. I believe I would have been informed with the rest of the herd if the terms of the treaty had been redacted, so I will assume that is not the case. However there have been recent increases in student activity that concern me." It concerned Diagoras specifically, as he was now part of a small squad, including his two sons, whose partial duty is was to chase students out of the Forbidden Forest. Such a group had never been necessary before, so it was a worrisome trend.​

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

It was curious to see a can take venturing out this far, so she was surely curious to hear what he had to say. With a slight nod, Professor Kingsley listened to him speak. A small sigh escaped her lips as she heard him ask about the forest and the increase of students heading in. Last year had been a particularly active year for troublemakers. "They are still forbidden from entering " she stated, "but we've had quite the trouble keeping them out. I don't know if you know, but we've got a new school headmistress?" She waited a moment, not sure how the transmission of information occurred between the school and the forests inhabitants. Cyndi had never thought to ask Ava. She'd simply respected the boundaries whenever she entered the forest, trying to leave it similar to how she entered it. "And I think the students were acting out last year, testing their boundaries" she said.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James was not proud of his reaction to seeing the centaur, especially as his outburst had come in front of his head of house but even for someone who grew up around magic, seeing a centaur for the first time could be shocking. The centaur himself seemed content to ignore James and he didn't blame him for doing so. "Uhm, sorry about that," James mumbled to the centaur before turning his attention to Professor Kingsley. "Sorry Professor, I'll leave you two to talk," He said and began to back away from the pair, unbelievably embarrassed.

 

[Diagoras]

Diagoras was privately amused by the prefect's embarrassment, and he decided he didn't mind if he remained or not, so long as he remained civil. The colt was still young, and couldn't be expected to observe all the social customs as smoothly as himself or the Professor.
He inclined his head towards Cyndi thoughtfully at the mention of a new Headmistress. That would explain the increase in activity- but not all of it. "The older students who have had no experience with this Headmistress I can understand," said the homoequus in his bass tones.
"The younger ones do not know better, however, and require greater supervision. I believe there were once older students assisting in patrolling the borders of the forest. Have such actions ceased? The dangers of the forest have only increased due to the magic flow towards the castle. Our herd grows slowly. Simply put, we cannot keep up. Have you any suggestions?" He'd dearly love to hear them. It would only take one more accident like the one twenty years ago for the Ministry to start rounding up the class XXXX species and putting them behind magical barriers.​