September 27th
7:00 AM



Zel had gone through his morning routine, though on weekends his routine for the rest of the day tended to differ. As a result, he hardly knew what he wanted to do. He knew that he needed to focus on studying Astronomy, but his life had been so hectic, he didn’t think he could bring himself to focus on something that was also frustrating.

At approximately 5:00 AM, he had started jogging. Around 5:30, he found himself in the lake. He had spent the next hour and a half in there, both swimming for exercise, and swimming to make his mind go blank. He swam because it was the best place for him to think, but also the best place for him to clear his mind. To the werewolf, it was therapeutic. Without this sort of outlet, he knew that he would be hopelessly lost; more lost than he was now. 

His clothes were dripping wet, his shirt plastered to his emaciated body. His ribs were clearly visible.  The shorts that he exercised in were also damp, though they weren’t sticking to his body in the same way that his shirt was. His white hair was drying in a rather messy way, though it would naturally fall in a neat way over time. It was almost impossible for Zel’s hair to stay messy for long, since it was so painfully straight.

Zelig decided that a small walk after swimming was in order. He didn’t bother to dry his clothes, just in case he decided to take another dip in the lake. Although he was a little chilly with the wet clothes, he kept to the shadows as much as he could to avoid getting an uncomfortable sunburn. With his pale complexion, he was extremely susceptible to such things. 

His small walk led him to the hospital hut, and the werewolf decided to explore the area a little bit more. He knew that there was a half unicorn, half mare walking around here. Zel was very curious about this creature, being quite the animal lover. He walked around the hut, only to see, not only the cute little equine, but his classmate.

Zel and Sasha had never been what one would call friends, though they were never enemies. They simply were two introverts who were never put in a position where they had to talk to each other for long periods of time.  “Err. Guten Morgen.” He said softly, a small blush appearing on his cheeks. “A-are you here to see the horse too?” He didn’t know what else to say, but if Sasha had an interest in animals, perhaps it was worth getting to know him. Males had always been rather intimidating to Zel, but he knew he needed to make more friends eventually. That was part of being ‘normal,’ right?

Rather uncharacteristically, Sasha had not been up and out at the first crack of light.  The previous day had exhausted him - between the tournament and the fanfare afterwards, he'd actually fallen asleep on the Ravenclaw couches fairly early and had only woken up an hour or so before.  He had not gone on his typical morning jog.  Instead, as his first stop, he'd arrived at the paddock about a half hour before the Hufflepuff.  The stalls had been cleaned and the mare and Gelar, the half-unicorn yearling, had been fed and troughs had been refilled. 

The chores done, Sasha had lingered to get his equine fix.  It was near impossible for boys to go near unicorns, a fact Sasha had learned early on and had been bitter about since.  But, Gelar had enough of whatever he was mixed with to dampen that particular response.  It had still taken time for the hybrid to grow accustomed to Sasha but it had been possible.  And, having started caring for both the mare and Gelar when Gelar had been very young had been helpful. 

Sasha was sitting on the top rail of the paddock fence, watching both animals as they munched lazily on their individual flakes of hay.  Footsteps behind him heralded the Hufflepuff's arrival and Sasha glanced over his shoulder at him.  He knew Zel from classes, of course and Zel was amongst the relatively small group of Hogwarts early risers.  But, they'd only really ever crossed paths.  The Hufflepuff had, obviously,  been coming to see the mare and Gelar but he'd stopped a short distance away at the sight of Sasha. 

"Morgen," Sasha offered in return.  Did he know that Zel spoke German?  Or, was that the extent of German Zel knew?  There was, of course, an easy way to find out.  "You speak German?" he asked. 

Sasha looked back towards the two horses and shrugged.  "Ja."  He slipped off the top rail, inside the paddock, and moved towards the mare.  Mostly to see if, by moving away from the fence, Zel would be more likely to approach it.  "I help take care of them most mornings.  So the Healer can sleep in."  There was a quiet splash from the horse's trough and, without looking, Sasha sighed.  He didn't have to look to know Baldur had, once again, climbed into the trough and laid down in the water.  "And, it's relaxing.  I like being around horses."    A bit of an understatement.

He flushed slightly and looked down at his feet anxiously. He thought he caught a hint of a German accent in Sasha’s voice. He wasn’t completely sure if Sasha knew German, was from Germany, or simply knew how to respond to basic German greetings.  “Ja, I lived in Altötting until I was eight, but I still visit often. My Opa and Oma still live there. I have some other relatives.” He paused, “My mother’s family is from Cardiff, but I don’t like it as well.”  As he spoke, he did not look at Sasha in the eye. He had learned to simulate eye contact by looking at the person’s eyebrows instead of their eyes. Even that was uncomfortable for him. At least Sasha was tall, so it didn’t feel painful to be standing next to him.

Zel glanced over at the paddock, and took a few large but gentle steps towards the paddock. As soon as he did, though, Baldur decided it was a good time to fall into the trough. The were couldn’t help but smile and chuckle inwardly at the sight. “I love animals. Any animal. I like them more than I like people.” He spoke softly, as if speaking any louder would be a strain. Because he naturally was soft-spoken, it would definitely have taken more effort for Zelig to speak loud.

Anywhere else on campus, Zel always seemed to have an aura of nervousness. At the moment, the nervousness was practically gone. Being around animals had that effect on him; he even had a tendency to make friends with other people’s pets. Care of Magical Creatures was by far his best subject, and it was the subject he was most passionate about. It was the only subject that he felt fully confident in. Animals were different from people in that they didn’t judge in the same way. It was something that he truly respected and admired.

He gazed at the horses gently, careful not to make eye contact with them—he didn’t want to seem like some sort of threat.  Zel wasn’t quite ready to go into the paddock, yet. He wanted to first make sure that the horses wouldn’t be uncomfortable with it.

Sasha looked up, surprised to hear the Hufflepuff was, under it all, a fellow German.  At least, originally.  "Altötting?"  Sasha repeated, grinning slightly.  "Really?  That's ... I know where that is.  It's ... there's the Chapel of Grace there.  It's not far from my home."  He'd been to the town often enough; it was a pleasant place, especially in the spring.  "My family has a home in Schönau am Königsee.  Just south of Altötting."  Presumably, Zel knew of it.  It was a fairly popular resort and tourist destination.  He'd never been to Cardiff, though.  There were no major horse shows there. 

Finally, Sasha followed Zel's line of sight to where the dog was now lying in the trough.  His body was completely submerged in the water, except for his head, which dangled unceremoniously over the side of the edge.  "Under normal circumstances, he is actually a fairly dignified and noble creature."  Of course, there was no trace of that now. 

"You like animals?  That's neat."  Sasha recognized the signs of shyness easily enough but, as of yet, the other sixth year hadn't moved off.  He assumed that meant he was aiming for some sort of normal interaction.  "I see you out a lot in the mornings.  Swimming and such. I used to swim in the mornings."  That had stopped about the time Rita Skeeter had caught him in his swim trunks one morning.  Now he stuck to dry land where he could remain more appropriately clothed.

The Hufflepuff was hovering back some - whether that was because of Sasha or the horses was impossible to tell.  "They're accustomed to people," Sasha offered.  He gestured towards the mustang mare.  "Especially her.  Gelar can be a little standoffish around new guys.  He's, you know - it's the unicorn part.  But, whatever he's mixed with seems to temper that.  With time, he gets used to certain males."

A fellow Bavarian. For some reason. That put Zel more at ease around Sasha. They were both from the same general area, both seemed to like animals, and both were rather quiet and soft-spoken. He was positive that Sasha was someone he could spend time with, without having to talk much if neither party felt like talking. It was difficult to find people like that—there were so many who were so uncomfortable with silence, that they had to fill it with small talk.

“I know where that is. It’s beautiful.” He thought many places in Germany were beautiful, it wasn’t exactly hard to impress him.  Zel visibly relaxed when Sasha mentioned that the horses were used to people. Good, that made things easier. Without much hesitation, he quite easily got into the paddock. He began to approach the mare, his steps silent and his movements slow.  He glanced back at Sasha, and his pale eyebrows furrowed together.

“Are you sure that she’s used to people?”  Zel wasn’t sure if she was used to people, or if she was simply used to Sasha.  The werewolf wasn’t nervous at all, he just didn’t know these animals well enough, and he didn’t want to ruin their first impression of him.

"It's hard to find a place in Bavaria that's not beautiful."  There were areas of Germany that Sasha felt weren't quite as nice - most of the area east of Berlin was just a little too flat and mundane for him.  They didn't have the dynamics and the presence of the mountains.  Even London grew stale on Sasha after a while.  He much preferred being here in the mountains to being back in London. 

Sasha glanced around them, his gaze following the crest of the mountain ridges surrounding them.  Six years Sasha had been at Hogwarts and he'd still only seen the surrounding mountains from the confines of the school grounds.  "I'd love to get out there and explore," Sasha admitted.  "I've always wondered how far the Forbidden Forest extends - or if it just turns back into forest.  I wish we could explore outside of Hogsmeade on weekends.  Go hiking up there.  Or, cross country skiing in winter."  What was on the far side of the ridges?  Did it look the same?  Were there other creatures over there?

Sasha's attention returned to Zel and he watched a moment as the Hufflepuff moved slowly towards the mare.  "Wait."  Sasha took a step towards them but stopped, not wanting to make the boy nervous.  Hesitantly, he asked: "you're ... you haven't been around horses much, have you?  Creeping like that's going to make her nervous.  They're, you know, prey animals.  In their world, predators are the only ones that creep.  You can walk up to her normally and purposefully." 

He glanced over at the mountains and couldn’t help but let out a sigh. “I- I wonder what sort of animals live there.” He said softly.  Zel had a particular attraction to nature. Even as a small child, he loved going out in the woods and camping more than anything in the world. He loved exploring the forest, hiking on mountains, and swimming in lakes. Indoors, he often felt caged in. In the city, he felt like there were too many people, and gave him a claustrophobic feeling. Zel would love nothing more than to live in an area without many people, an area close to nature, and working a job that revolved around working with animals.

Zel jumped a little when Sasha spoke, despite the fact that the other male was soft spoken. He felt heat rushing to his face, and all he could do was nod and take a deep breath—Zel loved animals, he loved horses. However, he never had the opportunity to be around them. He knew how to interact with cats, dogs, owls, rats, and hippogriffs—but horses were foreign to him.

“Thank you.” He murmured, looking down at his feet for a few seconds, before making his way over to the mare. With his long legs, he walked slowly for his height, but at a fairly average speed for most males his age. “How old is she?” Zel asked, watching the mare with kind, gentle eyes. He held out a hand to her, just in case she wanted to take in his scent. Zel glanced over at Sasha, as if asking if he was doing the right thing.

Again, Sasha glanced over towards the mountain ridges.  He too wondered about the biology of the neighboring valleys - animals but also plant life.  Were there other lakes?  Waterfalls?  Caves?  Were there slopes nearby suitable for skiing?  What did their surroundings really have to offer that, as of yet, was largely unknown?  More importantly, for what Sasha was interested in, was there some sort of distinct line between their own 'magical' valley and the 'muggle wilderness' around them?  Or, did they all just blend together. 

If there was one thing Hogwarts education was lacking was some acknowledgement of the world around them.  There was herbology but that still focused primarily on the wizard, human cultivation of plants.  It was about what wizards could get out of the plants they grew and harvested - like a farmer learning cultivation techniques for their corn or wheat.  Care of Magical Creatures was the only class that really came close.  And, Astronomy - though that class directed its attentions to other celestial bodies than the one they lived on. 

"I'd love to find out," Sasha admitted after several moments thought.  He turned back towards Zel and considered him a moment before turning back to Gelar.  "How fun it'd be to get a couple of horses up here and pack out into the mountains.  Just spend a few days surveying and searching and looking around." 

Sasha moved away, briefly, to fetch a couple of brushes from a tack trunk on the porch of the hospital hut.  "Her name's Sawki," Sasha said, offering one of the brushes to the Hufflepuff.  "At least, that's what the nurse calls her.  I have no idea what it means.  I don't think we know how old she is - at least fifteen, I think.  The nurse brought her over from a reservation in America.  She was a wild horse.  Or something like that.  She helped raise Gelar."  He pointed towards the mis-formed yearling who was now already an impressive size. 

He took one of the brushes and offered it to the mare, though he was much more comfortable with the idea of chatting with the Ravenclaw. He didn’t spend much time with other males, and had always felt intimidated around males. Men had a tendency to be a bit harsh, and although there were women who were equally scary, Zel was equally more comfortable around them. For example, his mother was a rather harsh woman with a dominant personality, but Emeline—his closet friend, was a kind and gentle person.

He had to admit, the idea of travelling around in the mountains with a couple of horses was appealing. “M-maybe we should do that sometime. Just explore, you know? We wouldn’t have to think about anything, but the beauty of, well… Where we are. If that makes sense.”  Zel was very attracted to that idea. He’d love to do that—though definitely not anytime around the full moon. Maybe right after the full moon, in the summer—it’d give him a couple of weeks to have fun before reporting to the ministry.

"Here you go, Sawki." Zel said kindly, hoping that the mare would feel comfortable taking food from him.

There were, ultimately, more than a few females around that were considerably more intimidating and harsh than Sasha.  He didn't really consider himself intimidating - at least not when compared to the likes of Tawse or Knight or any number of the Durmstrang students. 

"That would be fun," Sasha commented, giving one last glance towards the mountains before turning his attention to running the brush over Gelar's coat.  "I'd have to figure out a way to get ..." He hesitated as he considered his choices for mounts.  Of course, this was a ways off - he had time to figure that out.  "I'm not sure if we could use either of these two.  I don't really know how rideable she is," Sasha pointed the brush towards the mare.  "And, even if he was old enough, I ... we don't really know what his back is like.  No idea of he could or should bare weight." 

Not to mention those short stubs of wings would likely be very uncomfortable. 

"I'd just have to get a couple horses up here.  It shouldn't be that hard."  Kronos managed to get horses to his various residences.  Presumably, he used magic.  There had to be a way.  It was just a matter of finding out how. 

Zel soon felt very comfortable interacting with the mare, and it certainly helped that Sasha was in his element, dealing with equestrians. “Would it even be safe for the horses for me to ride them?” Zel was tall, tall, skinny and lanky. Lately, he had been gaining back more weight, but every time he got stressed he simply did not have an appetite, and simply did not eat. With all the stress in his life right now, standing at 6’7 in height, he only weighed between 150 and 160 pounds. When he’s healthy, he generally goes up to 200 lbs even, though that was the weight Zel was concerned about when riding horses.

“Do you have any animals at home?” Zel asked. He never had any pets growing up, though he loved animals. He never got the chance to interact with personal pets, though he did manage to make friends with the neighbor’s cats and dogs. He also had a tendency to spoil and love on the resident felines of Hogwarts.  "If you have horses... Maybe, if it's safe, we can take them riding sometime?" He sounded unsure, as if he didn't think Sasha could possibly want to spend any quality time with him.
 

Sasha glanced over in Zel's direction, giving his size consideration.  The Hufflepuff was skinny, certainly, but Sasha hadn't really given that any thought - it certainly never occurred to him that the other's slender build was due to ill-health.  He, himself, tended to stay as slim as possible - for the sake of riding.  Zel may not be well-suited for those delicate, drool-worthy Arabians they'd seen on the trip to Egypt but Sasha was certain they could find an appropriate match. 

"With the right horse," Sasha ensured the Hufflepuff.  "I mean, there are horses that used to bare a full-sized man wearing sixty pounds of armor way back when."  Of course, the consensus seemed to be that people back then were shorter.  But, sixty pounds of dead weight was sixty pounds of added dead weight.  "You'd probably just be on a really tall horse." 

Sasha nodded and turned his attention back to Gelar.  "Ja.  I have him, obviously," he pointed over towards Baldur who had abandoned the trough to roll around in the tall grass outside the pasture.  "We always seem to have a barn cat or two but they don't really, you know, interact with us much.  They're there for mousing.  I also have about ten horses-" Not counting the ones at Kronos', of course.  "And, usually my family has a herd of seventy-five head of dairy cattle but we've scaled that back, some.  I'll regrow the herd, again, when I finish Hogwarts.  You?" 

Ten horses? He couldn’t help but feel like Sasha was an incredibly lucky and privileged person in some ways. After all, he had all the pets he could possibly dream of, except a dragon. Zel secretly wanted to work with dragons when he was older, though he didn’t express that wish to most others. He felt like people wouldn’t expect that out of him-- dealing with ‘dangerous’ creatures. It seemed out of character for him in some ways, though in others it would suit him perfectly. Working with dragons would allow him to be totally focused on animals, it would be such an intensive job, that he wouldn’t have to do much else than work.

“I’ve never had pets.” Zel said quietly, “My mom had an owl for awhile, but it died of old age.” That was the only pet he had ever had, “It was the one animal that never liked me.” He commented, “He would bite me every chance I got. That owl had a nasty temper. The only person he really liked was my mom. Every time she sent letters, I’d get bit.” He held up his hand. There were small little scars that, presumably were given to him by the owl that he had just mentioned. “I started to dread getting packages from my family for awhile.” Zel laughed and shook his head.

Sasha opened his mouth, about to correct Zel when he closed it again.  He didn't really think he had pets but that was probably more a matter of semantics than strictly facts.  He considered pets as being animals one had purely for the sake of companionship.  Pets didn't do much.  All of his animals worked for their keep.  He'd always considered them working partners.  Not pets.  But, he reminded himself, that was all a matter of perspective. 

"Oh.  I have an owl, too," Sasha confirmed.  "Jack.  He's pretty friendly.  I'm sure he'd like you.  He's never bit.  But, even if he did, there's only so much he can do.  He's about the size of a budgie."  He looked over when Zel displayed the scars on his hand.  "All of those are from the owl?  Did your mother know he was biting you that much?  I don't know if you can really train an owl.  But, it seems she could have found nicer ways to send packages." 

A small little owl. The very thought of an animal that tiny and cute just made Zel feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Then those feelings vanished when he realized how fragile such a tiny owl must be, and if he was ever around Jack, Zel would probably accidentally injure the creature with his giant hands. He shook the thought from his head and gazed at his hand. There was the smallest starting point of a  purple scar on his wrist—one that led up  to show more scars on his forearm, another memory of the attack.

“Yeah, the owl gave me all of those.” Zel shook his head and put his hands in his pockets. “It was ridiculous, really.” Zel raised his eyebrows in slight amusement. “My mother would never think of a way to make delivering packages  pain-free. Sending her own owl is less of a hassle.” He was thankful, in an odd way, that the owl was now dead. That meant he didn’t get packages as often, but he’d take that over getting more owl bites. "Plus she's not all right in her head." He looked down at his feet, and quickly changed the subject.

"So. How does your family afford all of the animals?" He asked quickly.