Quote:

"Neptune and Pluto are in conjunction with your words," he nodded.

Hady sat there for a moment and said NOTHING. Actually she did nothing at all as she took in his words. What?

Neptune and Pluto? What did that have to do with what she said? Conjunction? That was the joining of two things. So is what she said then correct? She hoped so because that's how it sounded to her.

More continued silence came then as she listened still. Centauromachy? She wasn't entirely sure but she vaguely recalled somewhat reading something about that once sometime ago. "Thereos, Sir. I'm not entirely sure but isn't that when our kind and yours battled? As well as your kind against others of your own kind?" Yeah she probably worded that very wrong just then. Sorry about that. It sounded much better in her head.

"Nor do I." The centaur's eyes seemingly stared into the very soul of the man as he spoke.
This one showed promise.
"Very perceptive, you with the hair of sun kissed wheat," Thereos said with an approving nod. "Turbulent as the tides in a storm, such efforts you speak of lay on the well informed shoulders of both human and centaur, but cannot be attained without understanding and respect."

Which was why the centaur had been asked here. To bridge the gap between the Forbidden Forest and Hogwarts in a harmonious way and build a foundation of respect.

Previous. Point. Proven.

The centaur snorted and swished his thick tail back and forth. Unimpressed.

Thereos did nothing more but nod his head at the human.
And again at this human.
And once more.

"Just like Mars in Capricorn, centaurs show a fierce strength with a bow. Your connection is that of the constellations, lines visible to the mind but invisible to the mind."

The centaur's tail lifted skywards ever so slightly.

"There are no weapons here today. Only instruments of a rite of passage."
To be expected. But it was not the little one's fault she knew nothing. Not entirely.

"Centauromachy, as very few of you shared, is a term referring to a fight in which a centaur is a participant. For many humans, the vast majority of them muggles, the term refers to a famous fight featured in Greek mythology and on a broader refers specifically to humans pitted against centaurs, but I will not delve into such talk today." They were, however, encouraged to do a bit of research on their own. "In your own history we see instances of centauromachy, most notably the efforts of the Great Firenze and herd of that time in the Second Wizarding War. Efforts that with the passing of time many have forgotten it's significance. How it became a turning point in both our kind's histories. How a centaur's pro-human leanings were not shameful, but honorable and how human's could trust and depend on my kind. That wand and bow may align."

Pausing, the first smile of the session graced the centaur's bearded features.

"Wand is to wizard as bow is to centaur," he continued with a sweeping gesture towards the pile of sticks collected off to the side. "These woods should be familiar to you all. Or at least the look of one of these woods should as they are the very same as the ones you hold in your hand. Now tell me, what do you know of wand woods?"

There were more words coming from the Centaurs mouth that he didn't understand. Seriously... did the school not think to hire an interpreter for this thing? WHAT was the seminar even about?

The only part he WASN'T confused about, were the sticks. Sticks were sticks, that much was fine... and then questions of wand woods?

Why?

Centaurs didn't use wands. Did they? Did they MAKE wands? ... wait.... better question, were there centaur hair wand cores????

If he was going to be able to participate in ANY other discussion point this lesson, it might be this. Wand woods. Hand raised, Zeke rattled off the only thing he knew. "There are lots of therm, Sir." Lots of wand woods, "And they have different properties and things. Some are stronger, some are more flexible, harder to control, friendlier..." wait, did he just call a wand wood friendly?

...

He was officially lost.

A nod! She got a nod! That was WAY better than a scolding. Norah gave Thereos a teeny weeny smile before switching to a face of concentration as he continued. He was saying a whole bunch of stuff that didn't make loads of sense, but she was still listening. He was a real live centaur, after all. He was probably juts 800 times smarter than she was. That happened with Sebby too, sometimes. It was hard to comprehend what came out of his little genius mouth. She saw him smile, though, and he got a big grin right back. It looked nice on him. He really should try smiling more often.

She wasn't entirely sure about why wand woods were even relevant, but she put a hand up anyways, because there was at least something she could contribute. Well, it wasn't very relevant, but y'know. It was true and about wand wood so technically there shouldn't have been anything wrong with it. "Bowtruckles like to live in trees whose wood is used for wands! I guess...that might mean the trees are special and magical or something." They were definitely more magical than the trees in her back garden, anyways. She and Sebby and Marcel had tried to make wands back there before they were big enough for wands of their own, but they'd never worked.

Confused. That's what was she was now. Even more so then just seconds ago. It was like Thereos was speaking in riddles to her right now. Or at least that's how she was feeling. A few things stuck out to her and others went completely over the fourth years head. All she was able to do then was try to connect what she could understand to together and hope that in the end it all somehow made sense to her.

Hazel eyes shifted off to the side finding the pile or wood or sticks or whatever that were now being spoken of. Hady had to blink confused with how this all fit together. What did she know of wand woods. Only what she read in texts or was told. So therefore not very very much. However her hand once more went up, "I know that each wand wood is different therefore depending on the type of wand wood used would depend on the type of wand." Okay no. That made next to NO sense what-so-ever. Just ignore her please. It seemed she could read and understand information just fine but when she had to explain it out loud it next to never came out right.

So Bentley may or may not have been paying full attention. The thing was, he had never really seen a centaur in person before. This was all so bloody cool! Would the centaur let him take pictures of him so he could send them to his father???

He'd ask him after class.....but look how his man body turned into a horse right by the navel.

HOW DID HE DO THAT?!! So cool.....

The centaur man was talking again and this time Bentley caught some of what he was saying.

"I know! Me! Me!" Bentley shot his hand in the air. "Bowtruckles, which are really cool..I've taken a picture of one...usually live in wand wood trees."

First: This centaur looked so grumpy. Or maybe all of Centaurs were grumpy to human? Dunno.

Second: What on earth "Venus passes through Aquarius." meant?

Third: She didn't know anything about centauromachy. So she'd better not to say anything since... like she'd said before, centaurs didn't seem like a friendly creatures. Maybe because they thought that they were smarter than humans. Pfffft.

And what did she know about wand woods? The younger lioness raised her hand and answered. "I think different wood represents different magical strengths.. like in transfiguration, dark arts and stuffs." Was she make sense?

Sorry Centaur Sir, but Zander still wasn't paying much attention. Not that he wasn't hearing the questions, just choosing not to answer and instead stare into the forrest. Or maybe he didn't hear the questions either. But he did hear something about wand wood or something... Which meant this was all up Sophie's alley. But honestly, that's the only bit he caught.

So he was still looking into the forrest.

Couldn't they have picked a more neutral location? What if something came out of there to get revenge? Zander would be the first out of his seat and running to defend. Just sayin'. He was being vigilant, okay? No time for listening when there was a forrest filled with man-eating-beasts sitting right there in front of them.

This was a terrible idea. He had a bad feeling.

He didn't know what Serpens had to do with him but considering the centaur didn't look nearly as miffed as he did when answering the Hufflepuff Prefect, Blaise was willing to think it was a compliment. Naturally, after receiving a compliment from such a wise creature, one did not immediately say anything to have him take it back. That being the case, he offered no answer to the machy business they were on about. Why? Because he'd never heard about it before in his entire life and didn't want Serpens to suddenly NOT be resonating with him, y'know?

It was a thin line, so Blaise sat, listening intently to others give their answers, some getting shot down with silence itself. He'd be keeping Serpens, thanks.

Some of the guesses were pretty neat though and if the centaur was gonna teach them how to fight then he was aaaall for it.

Huh. So THAT was what all that machy business was about. See? He knew it would be something interesting and they were even talking about bows and arrows. Were they gonna get to shoot those? His aim wasn't the best but he didn't think he'd be the worst either by principle of the fact it didn't require casting a spell first.

Count him in.

This time, the boy did raise his hand, feeling perfectly knowledgeable about wand woods.

"Girl ones don't work nearly as well and don't like doing what you tell them. Super moody, mhm and they think they're in charge every time you try casting. I'd highly recommend getting a boy wand wood--not that YOU need one of course. Your kind is brilliant without them." Or was it the same thing with arrows. Were there GIRL arrows too? Did they shoot as well?

Questions, he now had them.

It wasn't like Adi but he was DISCOURAGED, yo. This centaur was getting him down in his favourite class off all time. well, it was sort of like a Magical creatures class? They WERE learning about centaurs and their ways. But from that point on he decided he would just shut up and not say anything further. At least not for now. It seemed all of his answers were just off.

Wand woods? Yep, Adi knew a bit about those. Did he not do something with those in his first year? A seminar taught by Ira Banner if he remembered correctly. Never the less, he focused his attention on his classmates replies, deciding fully he was going to sit this question out.

Oliver was staring blankly at the centaur professor. Was he supposed to have understood any of those words? Because he didn't. Swift as a coursing river, that was what the centaur had said to him and it was about the only thing that made sense. Did centaurs watch Mulan?

Centaurmachowhatever meant fighting? They had to FIGHT a centaur? Olly did not think that would be a good idea. He did not want to have to fight a centaur. Plus, this one was so tall that he would probably only be able to land a punch on the horse part. Which probably wouldn't do much damage. Plus, he had big horse hooves that could kick and that would really hurt.

Oh, no fighting? Talking about wood? This centaur jumped subjects too often for Olly to keep up. But he was much more comfortable with the topic of wand woods than with fighting. So he raised his hand. "My wand is made from walnut wood." Was that helpful?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thereos

"Wand is to wizard as bow is to centaur," he continued with a sweeping gesture towards the pile of sticks collected off to the side. "These woods should be familiar to you all. Or at least the look of one of these woods should as they are the very same as the ones you hold in your hand. Now tell me, what do you know of wand woods?"

Why did Caleb continuously feel like dude was talking in riddles? Caleb was all for centaurs having freedom to do whatever they wanted in the forest and all, but they were NOT fit to be teachers. Nope.

He raised his hand. "Only certain types of trees can be used to make wands. The wood has to be just right or it won't work," he explained. He knew there was more to it, and some runic stuff was involved too sometimes (like with the work of his Uncle Alex) but that was pretty much the gist of it.

Angel looked at the Professor as he spoke, well a centaur was a creature and he was an he so that was right, right? this was so confusing but it was a fun lesson and she was seeing a cool Centaur here. "Professor, I know that you have to be careful with the wood right, you don't want to damage it."

When the centaur arrived, Soph had looked a bit skeptical. Like, yeah, WE SEE YOU THERE, CENTAUR. She kept her wand firmly in her hand, but eventually as the centaur posed no threat to them and simply began class, Soph lowered herself onto the stone next to Zander, still alert as ever.

She was fully prepared for anything else that might come out of that forest.

What did she know of centaurs, though? Quite a bit, but the others had it covered - at any rate, she was way more interested in listening to the centaur's replies to everything her peers had to say. He had a funny way of talking, didn't he? She knew centaurs did, but it was the first time she'd ever really gotten to experience this up close and personal. His stuff about Mars and Neptune and Pluto and Aquarius and all the astronomical things piqued her interest greatly, but she remained silent, simply observing and soaking in all that was this centaur standing before them. He was very noble, very wise, but also kind of... strange. Very strange, and slightly unnerving.

As the subject moved along to centauromachy, Soph only knew the basics, that it referred to a centaur fighting, but she didn't know much more than that, so she stayed silent once more. Best to keep the centaur's gaze off hers as much as possible, probably, as she still looked VERY alert and ready to move if something happened. As Thereos explained centauromachy, Soph took it all in, and was surprised when the centaur SMILED. What in Merlin's name...

But the moment he mentioned a wand, Soph straightened up a little, her curiosity rising further, and as soon as the next question was posed regarding WHAT THEY KNEW ABOUT WAND WOODS, Soph was smiling, too, smugly as ever, and her hand raised triumphantly. "There's forty-one wand woods traditionally used by most Wandmakers - or, well, at least Ollivander's in Diagon Alley, but there's about twenty other woods that are suitable for making wands that I know of, too, so that's SIXTY different woods that are good for that." That was a lot. "And they all have different properties, different attributes that they bring to an individual wand, like some woods are 'specially good for healing spells or potions or divination and whatnot, and wand woods tend to have, like, an affinity toward different elements and produce different energies and respond to different energies from the wand bearer and all the woods have various hardness, too, like some woods are softer than others and some are stiffer and all of that stuff's gonna affect how a wand will act upon casting. It's super cool."

Clasping her hands in her lap, Soph smiiiiiled at Thereos, and for the first time she noticed that Culloden was there, too. Ahem. He wasn't gonna get jealous of her wandlore love over his potions, was he?

Had everyone heard that? Capella shone brightly with him. His eyes may have twinkled just a little bit, but he blinked away the tears as it was highly unusual to cry with pride for yourself. And probably seemed a little egotistical, but he was really truly honestly just overwhelmed because this was so very much interesting and HE had gotten praise. ...Well, it had been praise, right? It wasn't like he'd said something wrong, he was actually positive of the answer he had given even though he had asked for confirmation that he was right.

Overwhelming. Overachieving. Over--oh wow.

Thereos agreed with him. He agreed that Miss Charlotte had hair of wonderful things. Of course, Rooney had likened it to daffodils, not sun kissed wheat, but what was the difference between those two things? He hadn't an answer for the question about wand woods, because he was too busy analysing Miss Charlottes hair from a distance and hoping to find more daffodil colour than wheat. OH BUT MISS SOPHIE BROWN WAS TALKING -- No, no. Miss Sophie Brown was teaching. Lecturing. Wonderfuling. Being perfect. Oh how he wished that he could give her a flower right now and ask her to wait for him. (His books said that was romantic, but what did the person that wrote books on love know?)

MORE TWINKLES IN EYES. HELLO MISS SOPHIE.

Oh, how pretty her words were.

Rooney had never been so invested in wands until now.

She was so super cool.

Benny wasn't quite sure what to make of the centaur professor. He seemed to be a mix of the free-spirited Morgan with the way he spoke at times and his connection to divination, but the half-beast certainly had more than a touch of Bellaire...and Lafay! Great, instead of his favorite class he got reminded of the professor that scared him to death from his first year in potions and they were out in a place he wasn't all that comfortable in.

Not to mention Thereos was clearly annoyed at his bestie for one reason or another.
Fighting involving centaurs. Alright, he got that message for the topic they were currently discussing. And there was history on the matter that he might be looking up later. Benny's head tilted curiously at the mention of the connection with the bows and wands and perking up at mention of wandlore. Perhaps it wasn't going to be all proud professor.

Adi remained quiet this time and he couldn't really blame his other half. The Gryffindor had decided to speak up since he knew something about the matter at hand, however as he went to raise his hand in politeness to speak, a certain head girl took her turn and went on and on about it, seemingly taking the words right out of his mouth with what he knew.

Way to be a know-it-all.

Guess he'd remain silent too.

What did wand wood really have to do with centaurs and the study of magical creatures, though, unless they were talking about bowtruckles? And why would they study bowtruckles when they had a perfectly good real and live centaur here in front of them? Davie peered closely at the centaur-professor before he raised his hand to contribute.

"You have to be careful not to try to make a wand out of mundane wood, I think... so, as the others said, you should look for bowtruckles nesting in the tree. That's a sign it's a good tree to make a wand from."

Professor Centaur talked about Centauromachy but Owen simply did not understand all that was said so he made a mental note to read up on that when and if he had the time. Can't let reading interfere with his daily eating routine, eh?

...So. Smiling. The Professor centaur smiled at them. Owen didn't really know what to think of that. But it made him comfortable enough to share his answer to the question asked. What did he know about wand woods? Hmm... He had read up on some books about wands when he first got his because curiosity. Now what did he remember? ...Oh! That one. "Because they never nestle on mundane trees, um, bowtruckles help wandmakers in identifying the few kinds of trees that can be made into wand woods."

Wait, why were they talking about wand woods? Shouldn't they be talking about centaurs? And MORE about centaurs?

"Friendlier," the centaur nodded, agreeing with all the boy had said but electing only to focus on that word for now.
"Which is why it is important to seek confirmation and assurance from bowtruckles before taking from their homes. A wood taken without permission will be crafted only to betray its wielder."
The centaur nodded.

"The same is true for our bows."
This human's enthusiasm was of the sun in Leo. Overbearing.

Thereos merely nodded at the boy before speaking. "I hope you paid your respects and offered gratitude to the bowtruckles after."
Thereos nodded and moved on.
"WE have no necessity for wands," Thereos corrected firmly. "But those too arrogant to listen to vibrations of their earthly match shall never prosper."
"Walnut. You shall find some of that wood over there," the centaur nodded. "Although it may not resonate with you in the same way again."
Thereos nodded and lifted his tail slightly.
"Damaging the wood indicates that one is not listening to its vibrations and communicating clearly," the centaur nodded.

"Help," the centaur nodded. "Gemini smiles down upon you."
The centaur nodded.

Thereos may have smiled at this human, but it was fleeting.

"Capella shine brightly with you," he bowed towards the human girl.

"Much like wand woods resonate and respond to the energies of witches and wizards, they too do so for my kind," Thereos continued with his attention now towards the rest of the class. "We centaurs have their own use for these noble woods - crafting their own bows before coming of age as a right of passage just as you all ceremoniously receive your first wands. A rite of passage my kind have decided to allow you to participate in today."

Thereos gently trotted over towards the pile of sticks and lifted from it a great bow adorned with natural dyes and intricate engravings. "This is Wind Whisperer, the bow I crafted myself when it was time made from thick vine only found in the Forbidden Forest and representing seeking a greater purpose, vision beyond the ordinary, and hidden depths. Young centaurs are sent into the Forest alone to listen to the forces of nature until they find the tree that speaks to them and from it cut the wood necessary to craft their own bows. For some, this may take mere hours. For others, days."

His dark eyes drifted towards the Forest and then back to the humans.

"Seeing as that part of the ritual is sacred and your understanding of the Forest limited, I have already sought the acceptance of the bowtruckles and collected woods for you. The tools used to craft a centaur's bow are also sacred and I may not share even the names with you. We have agreed that you are permitted to use your wands in shaping your wood. I trust you all know the proper spells for cutting and shaping. If not, your Professors are here to assist you."

He gave a cursory look towards the adult humans.

"Besides finding a wood that speaks to you, you must also name your bow and in its wood engrave the name. Should you break your bow at any time during the crafting process, it merely means that that was not the wood for you and you must start over. Remember, you must listen carefully to the wood and let its energies resonate with your energies. You may begin. Instructions are engraved on the stone beside the pile."

"Once you have successfully crafted your bow, we will move on to the main activity where you will participate the ritual of the ceremonial first use of a centaur's bow."

Hmm. They got to make their own bows today. That was pretty cool for a lesson, but still not really studying magical creatures, and that was the ONE CLASS Davie had wanted to take at this school. It was hard being so close to the forest, and not being allowed in, to look at the acromantulas or spot the tree-hugging bowtruckles....

Ah, anyway. The Ravenclaw first year hopped off his stone when it was time for the activity and wandered toward the bow woods, to select the one he wanted. He was careful and focused, sensitive to a wood that would seemingly go along with the rare wood of his wand. His hand stopped over one he believed to be ash, and he picked it up happily, pleased with how it felt in his hand.

Davie also picked up the caterpillar silk while he was over here and then went back to his stone seat area to work on his bow. He gently set the wood on the ground to press on it and feel for its middle point. Pressing... pressing... there it went! Cool! Davie hurriedly used his wand to mark out the notches for the bow's handle, or where he'd grip it. So far, so good.

It was weird seeing Adi remain silent, but Paulina couldn't blame her friend; clearly he had touched a nerve with Thereos and didn't want to repeat the same mistake. Even if it had been an accident.

The Seventh Year tried not to frown because she knew how proud Centaurs were and that they could feel insulted easily.

As the conversation moved on to wand woods, Paulina was about to raise her hand to reply when the Head Girl basically explained it all and then some. Wow. Okay. That was a lot of information. Paulina didn't really have anything else to contribute, so she remained silent.

They got to make their own bows?

That was pretty cool, she had to admit. Testing them out on the other hand WASN'T. Even if the arrows were blunt she could still shoot herself with one. She was paranoid.

Heading over to the wood pile, Paulina looked over her choices before selecting pine. Her reasoning was that since this was her wand wood, it would be perfect for her. That was part of step one done, and now she needed to begin the process of shaping which shouldn't be too hard because she had experience doing that kind of thing before. Obviously not to make a bow, but for other things.

Before heading back to her stone, Paulina grabbed a strand of caterpillar silk since she would need it later. Time to get to work.

There was walnut wood over there? Oliver followed the centaur's gaze, toward what was apparently walnut wood. Cool.

The centaur was saying a lot of words. That was usually the point in the lesson where Oliver stopped paying attention. But he actually paid attention this time. Mostly. The talk of bows was pretty cool. And Olly was excited to make his own. It was a rite of passage for centaurs, and he felt kind of honored to be included in something like that. Did it mean he would officially be a centaur? Ahem, no. But it was still cool.

He went over toward where the centaur had motioned earlier. Toward what he believed to be walnut. If that was the wood his wand was made of, it made sense for it to be the right wood to make a bow out of. Right? Right. Olly picked up a piece of wood and brought it back to his spot. He put one end of the wood on the ground, and held the other end carefully. Okay, it was time to press against the middle. But what if it broke? It was very nervewracking. Olly squeezed his eyes shut as he pressed against the middle of the wood.

...was it broken?

Beatrice had almost been startled when Thereos approached the group. Very silently, besides the clip clopping of course. Annnnnnnnd there he was, looking down on them. It made Beatrice slump down a little more, and she was sure her back would be mad at her later for such poor posture.

Lisening to all of the conversation between Thereos and the students was what Beatrice prefered to do. But her eyes widened as he gazed upon her, and the others, accusing them of teaching their students with a narrow perspective. Beatrice, not enjoying any sort of conflict, lowered her gaze. Thankfully Paul had the confidence to say something, at least, though really what point was there defending themselves to a centaur? Let him believe what he wanted. Meanwhile Beatrice would continue to feel like an overgrown student, awkward in his presence. There really wasn't anything Beatrice had, knowledge, experience or... confidence, to add to the discussion, but listening to everything the students knew was impressive. To her at least.

However, Beatrice couldn't deny that she had been impressed when seeing the bow Thereos himself had crafted. And then he looked towards the present Professors for their assistance. Beatrice tried to smile, with a small nod, indicating that yes she was in fact here to help. And with the end of Thereos' talk, and the instructions appering on the stone, Beatrice heaved herself off the stone, before slowly making her way around the students in case any of them needed a hand with anything.

Okay, next, he had to shave this thing down some. Davie cast diffindo again and thinned down the sides, right to where he'd made those notches. Nice and smooooooth, just trimming down the edges and the extra. From time to time, he picked it up again and checked it for weight and height until it was nice and proportional to him, with a little room to grow.

He put another little notch in the top and bottom and then strung the bow carefully with that caterpillar silk. Now, when it came time to carve his name in, well... he didn't know how to do that spell, so he waved down the nearest professor.

"Miss York? Professor York?" He cleared his throat a little. "What is the spell to carve your name in here?" Er, rather, the name of the bow? He didn't KNOW.

As Beatrice was weaving around the students, looking at all of their work with a smile, she heard someone speaking her name. Turning around, she saw Davie with an almost complete bow. "Well done Davie, that looks wonderful," she said. And then she realised he was asking for a spot of help with the final step. "For the engraving spell, the incantation is Intaglio," she said, trying to say the name of the spell slowly and clearly.