Angel had been walking along when suddenly she saw some creatures walking around. "ARGGGGGGGGGGGG!" Angel screamed as she just stood there. "What's Going on here?" Angel hoped her screaming would get someone attention, she wasn't moving another muscle until the creatures were gone what if they were dangerous, she hadn't seen anything like these before.

It was so cold.

That wasn't stopping Lux from taking a nice walk. Even though she preferred the heat any day, being stuck inside the castle was stifling her; fresh air was always welcome even if it required wearing several layers of clothing.

Watching the snowflakes falling all around her, there was a sense of beauty. The trees were all bare and covered in snow. It reminded her of icing sugar, which made her stomach growl. Okay, not the best time to think of food since she didn't have any on her besides a few Chocolate Frogs. Why was the wind being so loud? It sounded as if someone was screaming. O_____O

Wait, someone WAS screaming.

Rushing along the path, Lux saw that it was Angel. "What's going on? Are you -" Sweet Circe was that a Centaur? Shock momentarily overcoming her, Lux stared at the creature wide eyed. First the Unicorns, and now this. What was going on? It seemed as if there was a migration of sorts. Did this mean that werewolves and other bad things that lurked in the forest would come their way? Not wanting to think about that, Lux decided to be polite.

"Hello, Mr. Centaur." Okay, so he would have a name, but she didn't know what it was and hopefully he wouldn't be offended because no harm was meant.

Pathways... Sophie wasn't really sure what she was doing here. After all, it was cold and nasty outside, and even the dungeons would be nicer than this. Nevertheless, there was only so much indoor time a person could handle, and that had Sophie roaming around outside in the snow. Besides...the cold couldn't be that bad, right?

Hmm...

She had just stepped on the pathways and was busy watching her footprints dig into the snow, when she heard a sound just ahead. She gave a casual glance ahead, not really expecting what she'd soon see. Blinking, she paused in her tracks. "Whoa, I've never seen centaurs on the school grounds," she half-whispered. Had anybody even heard her?

He had only lived in the best place on the whole planet! “Melbourne, Australia,” he added with a grin. Proud Aussie. Heh. Simon nodded his head. “You do? Cool! I know Piersie and Botros quite well. I’ve walked Feo around the grounds a lot..” Yeah, Piersie and him were good. Piersie was someone that Simon looked up to. His eyes widened with excitement when she mentioned that she’d gone to Disney with Airey. “YOU WENT TO DISNEY WITH PROFESSOR FLAMSTEED?" Okay, Simon was super jealous of that. Flamsteed was such a cool guy.

He joined her and began to walk a bit too. Brrrrr… He shivered a little. Had it gotten colder? Merlin, he did not enjoy the winter here at all. He tried to think of warm beaches and the hot sun in Australia, but that didn’t help at all. Now back to the Hufflepuff look alike. “Oh cool. Maybe I’ll meet this look alike soon enough, hey?” he offered with a grin. Simon frowned as he saw her shiver too. OH WAIT. He could fix that!! He pulled out his wand. He could use the Hot Air Charm that he had learnt in Herbology. “Ventus,” he said, warming up the air around the two of them as they continued to walk down the winding snow-covered pathway.

“Oh really? Stranger than some Slytherins you’ve encountered, I assume?” he said with a rather warm grin. He raised his eyebrows when she mentioned a girl called Brynn who was both pretty nice and smart. Well she sounded pleasant. “Yes, the Gryffindors are rather silly. I have a good friend in Gryffindor. He’s pretty awesome.” Yep, he and Zander had discovered that the two of them had lots in common despite coming from different houses. “I don’t know many Hufflepuffs, but two I’ve met have been rather friendly.” He chuckled when she told him that their house was where all the cool people were. Simon nodded in agreement. “Of course, that’s why we’re the best house!” he exclaimed with a wide grin as he began warming up more to this opinionated girl.

“Thank Merlin for textbooks. Well if you think its pretty easy, then perhaps we can confer about it sometime?” he asked. If she was good at it, then it would be good to get her help when it came to the subject. He blinked when she asked him about his favourite subject. “That’s a rather tough question, y’know,” he began as his eyes lingered down to the snow-covered pathway ahead of them. “There are just so many classes to choose from. I’d say either Charms or Astronomy.” Professor Flamsteed was- wait for it and I hope that you’re not lactose intolerant- LEGENDARY. Very cool.

All of a sudden, some centaurs appeared. He blinked and then stared. Ah, Simon! It's rude to stare. He looked away and then whispered to Agatha. "Am I seeing things or are there actually centaurs over there?"


He wondered why the centaurs would've been on the Hogwarts' pathways in the first place... Was something wrong? He could only postulate. Instead of staring any longer or whispering, he gave a centaur a friendly wave. "Hello, sir. Harsh weather we're having." Right. Harsh weather was an understatement. The wind had picked up again.

"That's 'cause we bug them and they're smart enough to avoid stuff that bugs them," Mo was on his daily jog when he'd spotted the odd group - a majestic centaur emerging from the trees, a hyperventilating underclassman, and two others who were reacting a bit more intelligently. Even if everyone was staring at the being in front of them.

Mo studiously avoided staring, since he knew how much he hated being stared at, and he suspected it was that much worse when you preferred the company of your own kind. "Be polite, Newell."

He doubted she was capable, actually. Little girl had a lot of 'tude packed into that small frame.

Sophie was so focused on the harsh winter weather accompanied by an unusual site ahead of her, that she actually jumped a little when she heard someone reply to her. Whirling around, she came face to face with Mo Branxton, the guy whose mom was really, really scary if meeting her last year was any indication. "Oh," she said. "Well, that's kind of anti-climatic." It was. Fleeing the forest on account of something large and dangerous, like a Nundu maybe, was a much more interesting answer.

She chanced a look ahead, debating on whether to say hello, when Mo warned her to be polite. She glanced at him out the corner of her eye. "Aye, Capt'n," she said. Not in a 'Quidditch captain' kind of way, but in a 'Yes, sir' kind of way. "I was just thinking about say hello..." So--..."Hello," she said, looking up at the centaur. She turned her attention back to Mo. "But really--do you think there's some reason the creatures are coming out the forest? Some kid said there was a group of unicorns walking around Hogsmeade."

Ohh, Australia. It was probably as hot as in Brazil, wasn't it? "Nice. Why are you here now?" Agatha asked bluntly. It did seem like a long distance to travel just to come to school. Hm, so he was acquaintances with professors as well. So maybe this kid was cool after all. Only the cool kids hung out with professors. His reaction to her going to Disney with Airey made her really proud of herself. "Mhm, he's really funny." Even though Agatha thought most of the time he wasn't trying to be funny. But he just was. "I also went to professor Bellaire's house and swam in her pool." While her uncle learned how to swim from the woman. But that bit was a bit embarrassing to tell people. Her uncle should be seen as someone who could do simply anything.

The girl shrugged at his comment about meeting his look alike soon. "I guess." She wasn't really that much into trying to befriend random people, especially boys. Besides, that Hufflepuff kid seemed too nice for his own good. Agatha watched from the corner of her eye as Simon raised his wand and did a funny spell. She wondered what it was and almost immediately understood what he was doing. Ohhhh! "Thanks." That was clever. She tried to memorise the incantation to use the next time she needed.

If Nigel was stranger than some Slytherins? "Definitely." 'Mr Hair' was too strange. Simon agreeing with her comment on Gryffindors being silly made Agatha nod a few times. When he said he had a lion friend, she eyed him. "If you say so..." So far she hadn't met any normal Gryffindors. Or nice ones, for that matter. They were all silly and loud. Bart was the worst of them all. Just the thought of him made her frown. And she had heard Hufflepuffs were meant to be friendly, so Simon's remark didn't surprise her. "I still haven't spoken to any, so I wouldn't know." She shrugged.

Oohhh no. He was asking for homework help? Agatha didn't really know much about Arithmancy... but they could use the book, she reckoned. Besides, she wouldn't admit she was bad at it. "Sure. And we can use the textbook." The Slytherin thought it would be less awkward if she kept repeating they'd use the book, so that when they went to do homework he would remember she had said that since the beginning. Sounded like a good plan.

Agatha paid no attention to his answer to her last question, as she saw THOSE THINGS.

Text Cut: THOSE THINGS aka CENTAURS!

Quote:

Originally Posted by CENTAURS! (Post 11625188) The forest was no longer hospitable. The signs had been unclear for a time, yet had since made themselves visible to the colony of centaurs who resided there. Many of the animals that had also called the forest home begun to flee and Gurion knew with great reluctance that they would have to follow. It seemed that day had come. Hooves barely making a sound in the snow as he stepped through the large drifts, he braced himself against the cold winds as he made his way towards the school known as Hogwarts. Had Thereos already made it there? Gurion had only momentarily gotten separated from his colony. Heading up the pathway towards the great castle, this centaur paid little attention to the handful of human foals scattered there besides finding it curious that they were not under the protection of shelter in this hostile weather. Youth was often foolish.

What in Merlin's beard were they doing there????? Agatha had heard they were dangerous! She immediately grabbed Simon's wandless arm and stepped behind him.

...What was he doing talking to them creatures????? She quickly looked around and saw some other kids talking to some other centaurs. She questioned their intelligence but said nothing.

:blink: Well, she was rather blunt about it all. No need to whack around the bushes... Or was it beat around the bushes? Simon never remembered that phrase. But, he liked her bluntness. It was refreshing. "I originally was offered to attend here when I was eleven, but my parents wanted me to go somewhere close to home. I didn't like that school at all so I finally convinced them to let me transfer here," he explained. BEST DECISION EVER. Well, despite the frigid weather, transferring had been a pretty good decision after all. Then Agatha went on to further explain that she had gone to another Professor's house to swim. Merlin. This girl was quite connected to the faculty and staff of Hogwarts. He was really amazed and still super jealous that she had gotten to go to Disney with Flamsteed.

"No worries, I noticed that you were shivering and it reminded me of this charm we learnt in a workshop a while ago," he said as he rubbed his gloves together. It was so cold that he could even see his own breath. Seeing his own breath had been a pretty cool concept at first, but now, Simon just wanted to be back on the beach playing cricket with his cousins. Yep. That was the best way to spend a summer's day.

He nodded. "Plus, the lions are troublemakers." Simon was a good kid. He played by the rules. He hadn't broken any yet. He didn't want a detention. Detentions were bad. He had to have a clean record. Clean slate. Mhmm.. Those were the things that were important to the young Snake.

Then Agatha, the girl who had seemed rather fiery and brave, grabbed his arm (:eyebrows:) and then hid behind him when the centaur came to the pathways. Simon turned and glanced behind him to see if he was okay. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you," he whispered as he turned his blue-eyed gaze back onto the creature in front of them.

Agatha nodded, understandingly. "I studied somewhere else before coming here too. So this is your first year here as well?" She didn't know that! That was interesting. So him, Ethan and herself had transferred from others school that year. "Hogwarts is much better than any other school." She smiled smugly. Not only was she studying at the best school ever, she was also friends with the professors. She was awesome like that.

The third year gave him a genuine smile. Why couldn't other boys their age be nice like Simon? It would be so much easier to get along with them. But no, they had to be stupid like Bart and Dax. Hmph. At least there was still hope with boys like Simon and Cutty.

"I agree." The Gryffindors she knew were all troublemakers and really irritating. All of them.

But yeah, centaurs and all. They shouldn't be there. Their place was in the Dark Forest and NOT there amongst students! Where was her uncle??? Simon said they wouldn't hurt her and he was right. Agatha would be the first one to run back to the Castle if the centaurs did anything crazy. She kept clinging to his arm and hiding behind him. He wasn't an older student, but he was the closest person to her. She could also spot an older boy nearby and she hoped he would know what to do in case of any emergencies.

Gurion continued his trek through the deep drifts of bitterly cold snow, pausing only when a horrid sound pierced the air and reached his ears. He turned his amber eyes in the direction of the offending noise. He sensed fear from some of the female young, most notably the one crying out so dramatically. And soon a crowd had gathered. Who knew that centaurs commanded such attention. Of course, he could hardly blame them - he was of the most noble kind - but they acted like they had never seen a centaur before.

"Is it customary for the young of your kind to address beings by the name of their species or to speak about them as if they cannot hear you?" he said, addressing the females who could not stop staring. Certainly they were taught better manners? And he surely would not call any of them Miss Human. But the male foals seemed to be more respectful.

Gurion paused, his hoof lightly kicking at a clump of snow, and he gave a slight nod to the boy who mentioned the weather. "It has become increasingly severe, no longer suitable for habitation." Why these children were even out of doors for what appeared to be recreation purposes was lost on him. "It might do you all well to seek shelter." Even bundled up, he knew that youth had such tender flesh, susceptible to dangers that bitter cold could bring.

He then turned his amber eyes on the male who implored the females to be polite. "I seek your Guardians. I must speak to one of them." This foal seemed to be the eldest of the group, perhaps their leader.

Simon raised his eyebrows at Agatha. It was her first year at Hogwarts as well? Huh, he wouldn't have guessed that by how close she seemed with the Professors. "Where did you go last year?" he asked curiously. He nodded. Hogwarts was the best and so was their house. Agatha and him were just totally awesome and people would have to deal with it. Yep.

Simon felt Agatha continue to cling to his shoulder. Merlin. He had not expected her to be the kind of girl to be afraid of a centaur. But he would protect her. He had always been quite over protective over his few girl friends- that was probably due to him having a younger sister. He knew one day she would get herself into all sorts of problems with the boys. He'd have to protect her from them. It was his duty. "Agatha. Come on, see he's friendly," he whispered, trying to assure his new friend of that.

Then the centaur addressed him and actually nodded towards him. AWESOME! Simon blinked at the centaur's response. No longer suitable for habitation? Blimey, if the forest was no longer habitable then where would they live? "By Merlin, that's disturbing to hear," he said as he began to wonder whether or not they should inform a Professor of this. Was the Headmaster aware of this? He nodded at the centaur's suggestion. "I agree," he said and gazed at Agatha. Perhaps they should head back in soon... but a centaur had just appeared... He wanted to stay to see what else the centaur had to tell them!!

Then the centaur was asking the older boy about speaking to their elders! Aha, good, good. But if the centaur had to speak with one of their elders, that would mean something dark and dreadful was out lurking the forest... Danger.

"The Brazilian Wizarding school." Which didn't matter at all anymore. She didn't want to go back to that place ever again. Hogwarts was much, much better.

The centaur actually turned their way and spoke to Simon. Agatha took a step back when he did so but didn't let go of Simon's arm still. The boy was trying to assure her the creature meant no harm, but WHY was it there then, hm???? Hmmmmm?????? Suspicious Agatha was suspicious.

The girl looked from Simon to the centaur as they seemed to be having a conversation about the weather. Really??? She blinked several times and relaxed a bit when another girl started chatting to the massive creature too. Hm... maybe he wasn't that terrible. But STILL. Agatha wouldn't want to be alone with a centaur and she was staying behind Simon until they left.

Agatha would feel a lot safer if her uncle was there. He was BIG and knew how to deal with creatures of all sorts. Who were they suppose to call then? The Headmistress? Probably. But she would still rather if her uncle was there. And no, she wasn't going to volunteer to go and call a grown up. What if this was a trap and when she left the other students to go back to the Castle by herself something terrible happened to her??? Nope, she was going nowhere by herself. She'd stay behind Simon until they were all safe.

Angel was still in shock and there was no reason to tell Lux what was wrong because well Lux had just seen for herself, deciding to calm down a bit she smiled at the Unicorn. "Everything alright today sir?" Angel wondered what he meant about them seeing shelter. "Can I just ask what is making the forest uninhabitable?" Angel hoped nothing bad was coming there way like a bad storm of something, she wondered what it would be like to be stuck inside Hogwarts for ages.

Centaur and Mo
 

Sophie grew wide-eyed and looked from the centaur to Mo then back to the centaur. "I--...I apologize," she said. See. Mo had told her to be polite, and even though she thought she was, she'd gone and offended the centaur anyway. She started to ask his name and then tell him her name, but then she discovered he had more important things to worry about.

He wanted to speak to their guardian? She looked at Mo, because that was who the centaur seemed to be talking to. "Do you want me to go get somebody?" she asked him. "The Headmistress? Or somebody else?" She figured with Mo being the oldest, he might want to stay out here with the others, since something shifty seemed to be going on.

Her eyes traveled from Mo to the centaur again. "We'll get you some help," she promised him. She hoped. Maybe they wanted to stay in Professor Thompson's stables...

Mo nodded, a long bow of the head that was a marked sign of respect and deference. See? Centaurs were interesting beings, but they didn't suffer fools gladly. He waited while the centaur addressed the others, and when it was his turn, he stepped forward, closer to where Newell stood.

"We'll send someone for the Headmistress. My name is Marcus Branxton." He paused before adding, "My mother is Cassandra Rae-Branxton. You may have dealt with her in the past? What's your name, sir? So we can pass it on to the Head."

Mo gave Newell a side-eye when she called him captain. Was that a dig at his loss of position? His team still called him that, but it was a sign of respect. It was so hard to read some of these underclassmen, and this one was top of that heap.

Finally, he offered her a comforting grin and a pat on the shoulder. No reason to be nervous, really. Just reason to be cold. "Why don't you get the Head? Or would you rather I send a patronus?" He could do that, y'know. He was a seventh year.

Mo and the centaur
 

Sophie watched Mo as he interacted with the centaur. He was bowing--should she have done that? She looked up at the centaur and took a long bow of the her head, as well. "...and I'm Sophie Newell," she said. She decided not to mention that she was Hecate Lafay's granddaughter. She may have worked with the centaurs same as Mo's mom, but Sophie was also afraid her grandmother may have used them as ingredients, as well. Yup--it was safe to just leave it at her name.

She looked back at Mo just in time to catch him giving her that side-eye. What? She was being polite now! Or was there something else she was supposed to have done? Greeting a centaur was hard! "I can go get the Headmistress...unless you think a Patronus is better," she said. "I'm good with either one." Mo had somehow become the leader over here, so Sophie figured she should run things by him first. That way, if something went wrong, she had someone to point a finger at.

There were questions and idle chatter, which wasn't unexpected to the centaur, but he didn't have time for frivolous conversation. Not with the rapidly decreasing wind-chill and the colony anxious for departure. He gave a nod to each of the foals who had provided their name and answered in kind, "I am called Gurion." He appreciated the growing courtesy of the foals, yet he was unsure why they were not heeding his advice.

"The Headmistress will do quite fine," he said with a slight bow of the head. Ah, it was no wonder then why the eldest of the foals was a respectable guide for their group, he had a good example. "The name resonates clearly in my memory as a dignified leader of your kind." He could put his trust in this young one then.

He looked between several of them as they discussed the actual method of retrieving their Guardian and tried to wait patiently for the foals to make up their minds. It soon did not matter as he spotted the mane, a color not readily found in nature, from a distance as it peeked out fro under her head-wrap. He bowed his head slightly to the human mare as she spoke. "Headmistress of Hogwarts...the centaurs have a message for you."

Gurion lifted his amber eyes to the sky for a moment, gazing where one might find stars were it a bit darker. "Mars has not been this bright in an age," he said to himself - or to others - he did not make that exactly clear. And as for the message, could he presume that Thereos had not yet made it to speak with her?

If his words themselves would frighten the young humans, he did not know, though what they implied could. But that was not up to him to decide. He simply turned his eyes back to the Headmistress and repeated his earlier words, "It would do them well to seek shelter." His colony would be doing the same, though the fate of the humans was not up to him.

"I thank you for your assistance, young humans," he said to the collective group of students, then took a few steps just past the woman, a bit away from the children. "The forest has become a hostile environment, it is no longer suitable for our kind. We must leave tonight," he said, turning slightly to her and speaking in lower tones than before.

Before the centaur was able to address the inquires from his fellow Hogwartians, the Headmistress appeared. Simon stared wide eyed at her for a brief second before smiling shyly. He glanced over his shoulder at Agatha and whispered, "See there's no danger. The Headmistress his here." Without thinking, he grabbed her hand gently and tried to lead her around to his side so she too could see that the centaur met none of them harm. And what was more amazing was that the centaur had introduced himself to everyone present. Gurion was his name. Cool. He remained silent for the rest of the conversation and watched the Headmistress speak to Gurion.

Simon observed the centaur glance up at the sky and his eyebrows rose when he heard that Mars had not been as bright as usual. He frowned. That sounded bad. Was it apart of a cycle or something? The centaur was well mannered and instructed them to seek shelter. He turned and glanced at Agatha. Gurion was really amazing and Simon desperately would've wanted to hear more, but he felt as if it would be more important to heed the centaur's advice and head inside. Seek shelter. "Want to head out of this weather and head to the Common Room?" he offered, giving her a smile.

Whoa. HELLO, HEADMISTRESS.

She was a quick one, eh? One second, they were talking about going to get her, and then the next second, she was HERE. Sophie kind of stared at her with a dropped jaw expression for a second or two. After that, she figured she'd get yelled at and therefore clamped her mouth shut.

Besides, it seemed a big piece of juicy gossip was about to get told, so it was her cue to be all eyes and ears. But--the centaurs were LEAVING?! "What's made it so hostile?" she asked. "Will you be coming back?" Where are you GOINGGGG?

Was there something IN THERE?!

Oh, my MERLIN, they were all under attack!