A nod. That was good. It meant Conan had understood it all. Now, he left out the part where instead of the Snitch, Wizards used to catch a Snidget, even though it would explain why the Snitch would lose all its strength once it had been caught. But, yeah, killing birds for a sport wasn't as awesome as catching a golden Snitch.

"Yes, exactly, only once," he nodded, and then noticed how deep in thought Conan seemed to be, more than usual.

Treyen noticed his reaction, the expected reaction, and smiled. Conan was probably thinking of a way to open up the little ball and check out what was inside it, or how its mechanism worked. Yeah, he wasn't going to get his Snitch, sorry. "What are you thinking about?" he was curious.

Only once. That was kind of cool. But how did they...ya know make it? Or let it go or anything. If it could only be touched by the catcher, that meant noone had touched it before. Maybe they all wore gloves. That would make sense. Special snitch gloves. He had to get a pair.

What was he thinking about? "Well I...want to take it apart. I wanna see how it works." Not necessarily this one. But one of them. Maybe he could ask the Quidditch guy. What was his name again?

Nika walked around and around. Her getting lost plan seemed to be working out just fine.... until... Oh no. Oh no. It was Emily. She had asked Heather what to do and the third year had told her that talking it out would be the best thing, but Nika wasn't sure if she was ready quite yet. After Emily's first call she heard that her fellow lion was unsure so Nika tried to speed up. Hopefully Emily would just forget that she saw Nika. But no. Now she's running. Dear Merlin no. Nika wasn't sure what she'd say. She wasn't sure if she'd break down into tears in front of Emily this time. So taking Heather's advice she turned around to say something, but nothing would escape her lips but a small whimper. Okay... Okay Nika you've got to say something. Don't just stand there like an idiot SAY SOMETHING! "Hi." And that was it. The only thing she could say.

Aha! He knew it! That's what Conan was thinking about. And...truthfully, Treyen didn't know exactly how a Snitch worked, he's never seen one being made, but it would be fairly brilliant to see it, no?

He wasn't going to make this one go into little pieces just to find it out, though, maybe if he caught another one...

...but he didn't know if that was happening or not.

"I think...maybe Professor Vindictus knows how," besides being involved in Quidditch, professionally, he ought to know those little secrets, right? "Or maybe some book may have that information," because it shouldn't be a secret, right? And it couldn't all be magic, there had to be something else as well. Unless it truly was all magical. All charms and spells. "I attribute it all to magic, though," Wright worked with both metal and charms, so, it may be all magical after all.

VINDICTUS! That was his name. But he lived in the outside. Like right outside. He couldn't stay inside forever, but he had to think of a way to get outside. "Don't worry. I intend to go to the library as soon as I leave you. I might take a sandwich, and stay there all night." Or until he got kicked out anyway.

"Can't all be magic. It is cold, and metallic." He felt the cold. He knew that is was barely magical. He would find out though. Oh yes he would. When he got his hands on a snitch. He could ask Vindictus for one.

Treyen smiled, "Well, since you're already going to the library, you might as well search for Goblin-made objects and such," he said, with one nod, and Conan totally should, without asking any more questions about it. Goblin-made stuff also had certain abilities that may help him comprehend what Treyen was thinking of the Snitch.

Bowman Wright probably learned something from the Goblins as well, who knows.

"Have you heard of Lord of the Rings?" yes, it was related, because the rings were forged by Muggle ways but contained magical abilities. Since Wright was a Wizard, he probably made the first Snitch with magic when it came to handling metal. Probably.

"How do Goblin-made objects help?" Conan frowned. And goblins weren't real anyway. But he wasn't getting into this with Treyen anyway. Goblins were fantastical creations.

"Lord of the Rings? Of course. J R R Tolkien was a genius. My favourite is Elrond. The elf lord. He is awesome. Especially in the movie. Hugo Weaving." That was all he had to say about Hugo Weaving. He didn't even need to describe the guy, he was that amazing. Where was Treyen going with this though? Oh yeah. The ring. It was forged in the fires of a volcano. It was special. Magical if you will. But it wasn't real.

Treyen didn't answer his first question on purpose, because he was going to wait until Conan answered his last one first. They both kind of related to each other. The answers, not the questions.

And he knew that Conan had frowned upon the 'Goblin' word, and probably the creature. Then again, this was the boy that believed that house-elves were little people who dressed in some sort of Halloween costumes for the whole year. Funny.

Oh, but he should've seen that coming, because Conan was into books, and he was Muggleborn. Elrond? Really? Treyen would've been shocked if he said that his favorite had been Gandalf. Tolkien probably knew too much, truth be told. But, yeah, the relations between all this and the Snitch...will bring more questions and complains on Conan's side.

"Well, the rings, as well as Goblin-made objects, are forged the Muggle way, at least to my knowledge," because he'd never seen either of those being made, and certainly not the rings in Lord of the Rings. "But they come with a magical trait, so to speak," magical trait didn't mean MAGIC, Conan.

Treyen breathed before he could continue, "Maybe the Snitch is related to that way of making," it made sense, everyone involved in the process was magical, anyway.

Conan frowned for a moment, thinking about it all. "You do know that Lord of the Rings is fiction right?" he asked, "Nothing in it really happened. There aren't dragons that hoard gold. And there aren't elves that use bows and arrows." Did anyone actually believe that these things existed? This was what confused him about this place. They believe all these things existed, but they had no proof. It must secretly be a mental home, for crazies that hallucinated. Then why was he here? He would question it later, for the 90th time this week.

"The rings are elven. Not goblin made." But it had the same point though right?

"So you think that a snitch is made in the fires of a volcano, while incantations are uttered?" Made sense. Sort of. He'd find out when he looked at the books. Maybe he could make snitches. That would be amazing.

After a long while playing in the snow, Ariadne started to feel cold, sleepy and hungry all at once. So the logical decision in this case was to return to the castle, have dinner in the Great Hall, spend some time in front of the fireplace in the common room and then head to bed. And this was exactly the plan Ari had in mind. So she took one last glance at the funny snowman she had made and then left the courtyard, taking the corridor to get back to the castle. Even at this time, it was quite packed with students. Maybe she would run into someone familiar. Not literally run into, though. That wouldn't be very good.

Viola walked through the corridor leading back to the castle, feeling good. She had a nice long walk even if it was freezing cold outside. Bleh. Why was it so crowded? She carefully made her way through groups of students and she spotted someone familiar, who was heading back to the castle as well. Um. What was her name? Ari, right? Ariadne? She waved at the girl and said, "Hi Ariadne." She hoped Ari recognized her. If not..well, it would be embarrassing. To say the least.

Humming a merry tune to herself, it took a while to realize someone was calling her from the crowd. Ari turned around to see Viola, walking towards the castle as well. 'Hi, Viola!' she greeted in a very friendly manner, making her way to her Hufflepuff friend. 'Freezing, isn't it? Did you go for a walk? I didn't have this much fun in ages, today's snowball fight was great!' she remembered. 'Too bad homework and classes take up so much time.' the Gryffindor sighed. But she did want her house to win the cup so all the work was worth it. 'So, what have you been up to lately?' she asked Viola.

Emily ran up to her then stopped. She didn't quite know what to say now. She needed to apoligize first, but would Nika accept it?
She seemed to be talking to her. "Hi." she said in reply. In felt like they hadn't spoke in ages. Well they hadn't. There was scilence for a moment as she looked at the floor, the ceiling. Anywhere except at Nika.
"We have to talk..." she said slowly, hands in her pockets. "Nika I'm sorry!" And that was it. The only words she could manage before some tears rolled down her face. She wasn't afraid to cry in front of her friend, she just wanted her to understand.

Nika couldn't keep eye contact. Thank Merlin that Emily had looked away too. Nika went directly for her shoes. She just stood and stared at her shoes trying to decide whether to run away or to say something. But again nothing would come out of her mouth. She was at a loss for words. Then Emily spoke up and broke the silence. "We have to talk"? Dear Merlin no, that's what she was afraid of. The second year was suddenly in a state of panic. Talk?! She could barely even say hi! How was she supposed to talk!? Maybe Emily could just do all of the talking? No, but that would only make things worse. Okay Nika brace yourself. Brace yourself.

She was saying so many things in her head, but only silence was escaping her lips on the outside. She waited for Emily to say something else. Anything. Just to brake the awful silence. She waited and waited and then finally Emily spoke again. Nika thought that Emily's next words would be able to break the tension and just make things better. But the words that Emily had said were the words she wanted to hear the least. "I'm Sorry." Nika was sorry too. Sorry for running away, sorry for not talking to her, sorry for avoiding her, sorry for being angry, sorry for being upset, and sorry for not being happy for her best friend. Nika was the sorriest person in the whole world, yet she couldn't say it to her best friend.

She looked up for what seems like the first time during the short exchange of words and saw tears. Tears were rolling down Emily's cheeks. Nika quickly looked down and took a few deep breaths. She was probably making Emily feel like such a bad person, when really she was only doing the right thing. This made Nika feel horrible, and that's why she couldn't cry in front of Emily. It would make her friend feel even worse. That's why she ran away, but she couldn't tell all of this to Emily even if she tried. Nothing would escape her lips. Not even a whimper.

She took a few more deep breaths and after a very long pause she looked up again. Sucking up all of her courage she looked at her best friend, "No." She could do better than one word though. It may have been only a word, but it took forever to get it out. "Don't be. You shouldn't be." She moved her mouth to say more, but nothing else audible came out. That was it. To pitiful sentences. All that she could manage. Yet the two sentences could have meant a lifetime of thoughts. Emily was probably feeling confused, but Nika even more so. Nika was confused with her feelings. Of course she was sad because Emily is her best friend. Anger was also an issue. Towards herself for being unhappy about her friend's news and angry towards the world for making this happen. She was frightened that she would never see her friend. She felt lost. All of her emotions were jumbled around and she didn't know how to describe any of it.

Second year isn't as great as she thought it would be.

There we go. Right. Treyen nodded, because he knew that it was a book, nevertheless, that may have happened before the Witch hunts began, right? Waaaaay before that, if we take into account how Tolkien divided the Earth's time. "Of course, they're just books," he'd rather not discuss the probability of how possible all that may be with Conan. "Plus, everyone can use bows and arrows," he added, with a wink.

But at his next remark, he chuckled, "Your point? Made by other kinds, nonetheless," for Goblins were like dwarfs, no?

Oh, my dearest Gilderoy. No, Conan, just not THAT alike. Treyen shook his head, slightly amused, though, "Not exactly like that, not with a volcano, maybe there's some incantations to it, though," he still believed it was pretty much forged like any Muggle would do it.

Conan smiled at Treyen, "I can't use a bow and arrow. I can use a sword though." Well a plastic one. He wasn't allowed to use a real one. It was too dangerous.

"But they are different. Goblins are little but so are dwarves. Dwarves are miners though." According to Lord of the Rings anyway. What did goblins do? Were they creepy? He couldn't remember.

"I think I want to make snitches," he smiled. "When I get bigger."

Presley wandered toward the courtyard, not really minding where she was going. She was simply wandering. Bored as she was, wandering was still the only thing she felt like doing. Her life might seem exciting to...muggles or something, but right now, Presley felt it was the dullest life anyone had ever experienced. She had nothing to do. So she wandered around the grounds, in the cold, without a cloak.

"Hey Presley!" Rachel said happily, she felt happy today, but had no idea why! Presley seemed quite bored and as she had nothing to do, Rachel decided to walk with her. Rachel smiled at her friend, "What are you doing then?" she asked.

Gwen decided to take a break from studying, and go outside. Yeah, taking fresh air would be a good idea, she decided.

As she walked towards the Courtyard, she noticed a girl about her age around. I know her from somewhere!, Gwen thought, willing to find out from where. The Common Room, maybe, she told herself. Or, perhaps- from some class? The great hall? Hmm... Only one way to find out...

So Gwen walked straight to her and grinned. 'Hi', she announced shortly.

Emily wiped the tears and finally looked up at Nika. She wasn't crying. Now she felt stupid. Was her friend not sad she was leaving? Well she didn't have to cry to prove it! she told herself.

The scilence was killing her. Nika hated her for sure. She knew it. And she didn't blame her. They were best friends! She had helped her so much and this was how she repayed her?! She felt like Nika may slap her, storm off, shout at her. Anything. Anything but this scilence!!!
'No'
No? Emily looked up again in confusion. She shoudn't be sorry? But... well she didn't know what to say. Was Nika mad at her or not? Her face was unreadable!
"But... I am. I really am." she managed to say playing with her sleeve. "This is all my falut!" They were supposed to be best friends forever and she was messing it all up to be with her mum.

In a way she felt Nika was being selfish, but she knew this part of her wanted Nika to be mad at her so she could be mad as well. But her friend didn't deserve this.
"I need to give you an explanation. It's the least I..." she coudn't finish. She leaned against the wall and put her head in her hands. Why did this have to happen?!

Pres was descended upon by a couple of people at once. She jusmped and looked up. "Oh, hi Rachel." she looked at the other girl. She was in Presley's dormitory. What was her name? Gretchen? "Hello," Pres finally said, skipping the name. She didn't want to seem rude. "I'm just wandering," she said to Rachel. She resisted the urge to whisper to Rach and find out the other girls name. "What's up with you guys?"

A sword? Well, maybe Conan can practice kendo with Kurumi, eh? Because Treyen didn't know how to use a sword, "I can use the bow and arrow, it's not that hard, really, we could practice, if you want," it wasn't that hard, really, you only needed good posture. Mostly.

Treyen was still smiling, never mind the fact that he'd noticed the differences that could exist between both medieval creatures, "They're not like us," SERIOUSLY, Conan, "At least according to books," he was wondering if perhaps he'd gone into Gringotts at all.

WHAT?!

Treyen pretty much grinned at that thought, "That's brilliant! If you find out how, then I completely encourage you to do it," he nodded. Then again, Treyen would encourage little Conan to do whatever he wanted to do, regardless of whether it was magical or not.

"Nothing really," Rachel said smiling, she still seemed really happy, and active, odd she thought, but it was nice to be happy, "What about you?" she asked, she smiled at the other girl, she knew her name, it was on the tip of her toungue, Gretta, G, G, G, G, GWEN! she remembered, "Hi Gwen," she said.

Conan beamed, "I can teach you to swordfight." It was all about the stance. Sort of. But they could play together. "Or we can play Cowboys and Indians." He had cap guns at home. He wasn't allowed a real one. He was only 13.

"I know they aren't like us," he frowned. What was Treyen trying to say? He was confused.

He smiled, "I am gonna find books and talk to the flying guy. He should know lots." Snitches and rollercoasters. It will be amazing.

"That sounds good," he said, with one nod, but then his look changed to a rather confused one. Cowboys and Indians? Yeah, Treyen wasn't precisely a cowboy. At all. Sure, the indians used bow and arrow, but he wasn't playing the part of the indians either.

Treyen chuckled, "I think...let's just leave it at sword fighting, yes?" he said, patting his shoulder lightly.

Well, yes, that was rather obvious, but there was no point at saying that, it was just so Conan could know some differences, yet again, he wasn't going to describe all the magical differences between Goblins and the Elven race and all.

Haha. No, wait. "The flying guy is named Vindictus, Professor Vindictus," he said, rather serious, "And...it would be best if you addressed him as such, rather than calling him the 'flying guy', okay?" he added a smile somewhere along the way.