Open Round and Round

[Maggi Watties]

((Open after Kiersten))

Maggi knew summer was over and cold weather was on the way, but she wanted to make as much of the nice weather as she possibly could. Any chance she could get to spend time in the sunshine she was going to take, and today was comfortably warm for once. Maggi had decided to take the opportunity to practice some tricks, since the soft grass made a decent safety mat. She had never taken any gymnastics classes, as much as her mother had wanted her to there simply wasn't time in the schedule, but Maggi knew the basics. She was pretty good at easy things like cartwheels and roundoffs, and at the moment she was trying to master the one-handed cartwheel. She knew she was strong enough, but something made her chicken out and set her second hand down automatically every time. She had been cartwheeling back and forth for what felt like half an hour, and made no progress at all, beginning to get frustrated with the lack of change. She had to figure this out!

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara felt so lucky to have performed with her family during the break. However, she quickly realized her skills weren't up to par when she first went back in the air. The trapeze act was definitely more difficult when you hadn't been working your upper body, and Elara fell more times onto the net below than she cared to admit. It was a good reminder to keep strengthening herself because months of not throwing herself through the open air had led to potentially dangerous situations. The same went for her silks routine, which her dads had decided was not allowed during their few shows. Elara had to prove she could keep up with the circus life even with her academics and hopeful quidditch career. As she made her way down to some trees, the Gryffindor noticed one of her roomates doing cartwheels. She tossed her bag on the ground and took a seat as a spectator. "How many cartwheels are you going to do before you get dizzy?" she joked, giving Maggi a smile.

 

[Maggi Watties]

Maggi looked up at the sound of a familiar voice, pleasantly surprised to see the one person at Hogwarts who might be some help. "Elara!" She said brightly, head continuing to spin slightly as she stopped moving. "Can you help me? I'm trying to do a one handed cartwheel, but I just can't get it." Maggi explained in frustration, gesturing with her hands as she spoke. "You can do cool stuff like that, right?" As a matter of fact, this may be a perfect opportunity. Adding circus skills to her repertoire wouldn't be a bad thing at all, and there was probably something she could help Elara with in exchange.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara grinned at her roommate as she spoke, remembering when she was learning how to do cartwheels and round-offs properly, as they were the basis for a lot of tricks. "I mean, most of my 'cool stuff' is in the air," she giggled using air quotes, "but I definitely can help you with that. What's your regular cartwheel look like?" she asked, leaning forward to place her chin in her hands as she watched Maggi.

 

[Maggi Watties]

The casual way Elara talked about doing tricks in the air sent a pang of jealousy through Maggi, and she knew she would have to pick her roommate's brain a lot in future. For the moment though, she had a goal. "I think I'm pretty good, I just can't get all the way around without wanting to put my hand down." She explained, before showing Elara cartwheels on both sides. A basic cartwheel had been part of her dance training, and she liked to think she was pretty good at them, but she didn't know how she stacked up to circus standards.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara nodded as she watched the girl's cartwheels. They were good cartwheels, and it seemed like there might just be one thing keeping Maggi from her goal. "So, you want to think about putting your one hand more center since you'll have to balance your body on it," she started. "But you just have to be afraid to fall! I fall all the time and have soooooo many brusies from hurting myself." Elara stood up and walked near Maggi. "See, I'll show you." Elara could do tricks easily when there was no ground, but she had been struggling to acheive a back handspring for over a year. Running in the distance, she started with a round-off and went back but didn't tuck her legs enough, resulting in her falling backwards through the air and onto the ground giggling. "I can flip in the air, but I'm so scared of hitting the ground hard, I just gave up." Elara smiled at Maggi as she stood up and crossed her arms again. "Now you try."

 

[Maggi Watties]

Maggi listened seriously to Elara's advice, nodding as she absorbed it. Acrobatics had never been her strongest suit, and it made sense that fear was the thing holding her back. Her eyes widened as elara launched into an elaborate flip like it was nothing, and though the other girl fell down, Maggi was quick to applaud her nonetheless. "That was so cool!" She said earnestly, determined to take inspiration and not let Elara down. When it was her turn Maggi wound up for a cartwheel, taking a breath before launching her full energy into the move, determinedly keeping her left hand tucked up off the ground. As her feet hit the ground, Maggi let out a squeal of delight. "I did it!!"