After sending her letters a few days ago. Although it wasn't her own letters, the aide given to her had written it instead and sent it, apparently she isn't good at enough at writing, which she didn't understand why she needed to. Was it really important to read and write? It just seemed like a waste of time, especially when you could hunt or read the stars.
After sending it anyway, she had been looking forwards to visiting, she'd heard it was the best school in the world, with a natural and magnificent looking building, along with having Centaurs living nearby. She was obviously more interested in the Centaurs, but from what was said the leader of Hogwarts was a wise person and she was interested in seeing the magical creatures at the school.

When she managed to see the stars the previous night, annoyingly to her the humans didn't like reading them and preferred cruder and less sophisticated means of divination, as such she cannot see them in London. But once she could see them, she observed Mercury as being bright, seeing as she was going here today, she perceived it as a positive. Whether others saw it bright, she didn't know, it helped to have others with you when observing.

She'd been dropped off in Hogsmeade, her current aide knowing now that she'd rather go alone and will do everything to lose them, for a figure twice the size of a human, much heavier and much larger. She was rather good at avoiding them, especially when it was woodlands.

Starting from there she found the road that lead to the castle, despite arriving earlier, by a few hours it was unlikely she had any element of surprise. She didn't fit in very well in places, especially villages in Scotland, when its daytime and people are going about their business. Atleast her aide would be pleased she wore a leather jacket[1], although she hated to have it on her they always fussed alot at how it looks if she didn't have anything on.

The village was nicer then London, it was still ugly, the buildings were against nature but it worked better then entire cities of ugly buildings. Although she never got to explore London itself, she got told it wasn't a good idea, she was pretty sure they were afraid that she could take over London by herself if attacked. Humans were fragile, a kick could end them.

She was happy as she traveled through the forest path, arriving at the gates of Hogwarts, it felt good to be around trees and nature, although staying in the Schlagenweit Estate did put her with nature, it always felt unnatural to her, probably due to the living conditions of the house built. But regardless, now she was in the trees again, until she hit the gates into the school, when she was reminded of how humans had to mark everything.

"Can never leave nature to itself." She said in a soft but disgruntled tone.

1.	This type of leather jacket, I don't know if it has a name type, sorry.

"We are meddlers, aren't we," came the voice of the wizard Knox Greyfriar as he ambled down the path in the sharp January cold. "Curious, fidgetly, and fiddly. Even  the best of us can't help but to touch when we ought just watch. At least we make very good spirits."

It had been a long time since Knox Greyfriar had seen a centaur in person. They were astonishing in their presence, exactly as awe-inspiring as one would imagine. Marida was no different. Chestnut coat and black hair,  she towered over him in a way none but giants could boast over Knox Greyfriar, himself tall for his species. He approached her but did not come close; indeed, he felt he had to stand back just to be able to take her all in.

"Welcome, Marida. I'm Greyfriar. How can I be of service?"

There were always the usual centaur requests such as 'leave' or 'stop all that' and 'with the Ministry of Magic perhaps could you not', but Knox was hoping it was something more manageable over a weekend.

Now here was a man who understood sense, he seemed to be on her way of thinking, humans kept chopping down trees instead of just living with them. It was fairly annoying, especially when expected to hide from them by other humans. Although she hated to admit it though, the comment on spirits she had to agree with, she hadn't had much but it was better then the cider she was used to drinking.

Introductions were in order, he had introduced himself, she should do it properly, not the over paper that no one should be able to understand but she was expected to. Squiggly lines on objects were not something that should be used for entire conversations, runes helped with many things but you should never use it for the full thing she believed. It just seemed odd to her, it seemed impersonal and alot of nuance wouldn't work.

She bowed her upper body forwards, head leaning down with it, although she hated the constraint of it from her jacket, her arms stretched to the sides. Soon her front legs rested down in a...sort of bow or curtsy. She stood up again and rested her arms to her sides. "Marida. Huntress and apprentice seer."

Apprentice seer was sort of true, she preferred huntress though, she wasn't old enough yet to sit down and stare at stars all day. The gillyweed with other young centaurs didn't hurt though.

"I am here to see about visiting the Centaurs living in the Forest and maybe to see around the castle? I will be open to offer services in return. A lesson on the correct divination method perhaps? Or to help look after magical creatures? Assistance in defending from werewolves on the full moon perhaps?" She knew only a few things about the man before her, she hadn't really listened to much else said as she would rather learn from him. But what she knew was he was the leader of the school, he didn't like the WCU, and his name was Greyfriar not Grayfrier.

Knox was content to listen patiently, happy to give a guest of the Hogwarts centaurs her due. But she was not like any centaur he'd  met before. She was deferent to him, even making a series of offers. It was very odd and he might have made some genteel attempt to deflect them, but one of them set his teeth on edge.

"I think it is the werewolves who need the defending," he said with a furrowed brow, firm but with a tentativeness. She worked with the Ministry of Magic, Beast Division. Did Marida not know of the troubles plaguing them? If she was like other centaurs and had a bias against werewolves she hadn't shown it in the way he treated him. Or more awkwardly, was Marida unaware that Knox himself suffered the same curse.

"As garish as it is, Hogwarts' wall are enough to keep we werewolves in and all others out. I assure you."

The Headmaster had meant to lead her on into his stewardship, but now felt firmly planted on the path.

"Ah, you are a Werewolf." She said gently and bowed her head. "My apologies, I am used to having to defend from...the beast forms." She tried thinking of politer ways then saying the monstrous creatures. She sized him up again, taking in his posture and form, he would be a big werewolf on the full moon, that much was certain. But she was fairly certain could take him, with difficulty but mutually assured destruction was as much of a win as it was a loss.

"Are you sure it is wise to stay in the castle on the full moon? Perhaps given recent incidents, I can help guard when you do transform so that I can stop a wizard from taking you." She thought that was a decent trade, its not like a wizard could easily take her. A witch on the other hand she figured would be more difficult, they would be more cunning in their approach.

"I only offer as I have learned through what the Ministry call work, and what the people exchange for objects. That most humans always expect something in return for anything. Although some offers are odd." She considered offering the man before her a cure she knew for Lycanthropy, however she did not believe he would want her cure considering his reaction to her offers.

"But I will repay in any way you want, exclu-..." She bit her lip and looked skywards, one of her back hoofs kicked the ground in annoyance as she thought something over in her head before she looked towards the man again. "Including if you wish to sit on my back."

If things weren't the way they were and Knox Greyfriar wasn't most nights jolted awake by dreadful dreams, the thoughtfully tolerant wizard might have been more tolerant (even curious of) of the centaur's peculiar offers. He might have appreciated the centaur's earnest efforts for what they were: well intended; but he simply couldn't take it in stride.

"Marida, all you owe me is that you allow us to address our own affairs. I'm sorry, but it was only seconds ago that you offered your services in harming my students. I should forgive you, I know it. I should give you the benefit of the doubt."

He was keeping his baritone voice measured, but he had none of the professorial satisfaction he might normally. He shook his head.

"I don't want to count you among my enemies, but you've given me reason to be wary. Your kind are wise; surely you see this."

Knox clasped his hands behind his back to keep from pressing his fingers against his temple. He wasn't himself.

She stood to full height, back straightened. She had not offered to harm anyone! Was he trying to insult her by implying she is a murderer? She does not murder! Was this human dumb? If this was the one who was leading the school and they just leap to assumptions about her murdering things then its no wonder the ministry values muggles over her species. The true owners of the land they are on, but instead keep giving more land every year to those barbarians who would crush all things good in the world!

"I never offered to harm anyone. I said I would defend, there are many ways to do so without harming." A huff came from her while her hands clasped at themselves. "I don't know much about your school, I didn't even know that there were any werewolves. I do know that the Forest is perceived as dangerous, with giant spiders living in it, wolves, giants and werewolves inside. And that you allowed Unicorns to be murdered inside of it!"

She may be, correction. Is wrong about the man before her allowing Unicorns to be murdered inside the forest, but she did know that they had been slaughtered inside before. The mere thought of them being harmed disgusted her, let alone that something managed to do it under a headmasters rule.

"I do not wish for you to be my enemy either but you're the one claiming I wish to hurt children." She took a step back, firstly to calm herself, but it also had the benefit of moving away from the striking distance if they were to engage in a fight, although her reach and speed would be superior then his.

Slowly her eyes closed and her breaths slowed, while she attempted to calm herself down. Why did almost everyone that wasn't a centaur have to be so stupid. She pondered in her mind, it was like talking to children.

"There are no werewolves in the Forest," Knox said. Of course there weren't; they were in the castle. He then turned and began walking back up the road. He drew his wand then letting his arm move freely at his side. Hogwarts grounds were safe, but Marida wasn't entirely wrong. Things lurked in these woods worse than spiders.

The centaur could hedge her offer all she wanted, but he wouldn't hear it. The vast majority of werewolves worked diligently to exist safely. To group them together with forest beasts would only ever cause them harm, but perhaps he shouldn't expect more from a representative of the Beast Division. This was going poorly. Hogwarts could benefit from a centaur's contributions in the study of Divination and Astronomy, and certainly any improvement in the co-existence between Hogwarts and the centaurs would only make their world a better place.

She's requested a tour of the castle and a moment ago he would have granted it without hesitation. She wanted to learn of their school and he was proud to share.

"The tragedies on the last full moon are not isolated in their locales. We've already had threats. I can't take chances," he explained without turning.

Knox knew he was not the lone sentry, he knew that the other staff were formidable and committed even if they had their own prejudices. It calmed him to remember that, but today he was alone on the road with a centaur who thought him dangerous.

He was being annoying, humans were annoying. And he was really trying her patience. "I can make other offers, I will not do anything you do not wish for me to do. You can have someone monitor me all day. But I will make an oath if you so wish me to." She offered her hand. He could be stupid, but she figured he wasn't that stupid, he seemed to know Centaurs and she assumed he knew she would keep to any oath given to her.

With a huff she clopped forwards to him. "Ask me anything and I will answer. I would not harm any of your students, if not for that they are children, then because I have no reason to. The ministry pretends they care about Werewolves but they obviously don't other then them liking their public image. I only care about Werewolves in one way, like most others. If they pose a risk to my people. If they're in a school, they obviously aren't much of a threat to anyone."

She could be wrong, but at this point she could tell he was frustrated, he was very emotional over Werewolves. She didn't get it really but they got attached to things very easily over the weirdest things really. "I heard you apparently a thing, the unbreakable bond? Fine, I'll do it if you wish."

The centaur kept on, prattling at his back, speaking of the Ministry, her feelings on werewolves, an oaths. But soon he couldn't just ignore it.

"You are an odd one," he said, turning over his shoulder. It was not the gentle observation he made with students, but it wasn't either the brooding threat he used with the likes of Bagnold and his lot. It was an accusation. "A centaur in the Beast Division, how far did that set you back among your peers kind, I wonder. Has it made you so desperate to please that you're offering oaths to grouchy old wizards without any prior acquaintance? I don't know how to make it clear that there's nothing I'll ask from you or accept from you."

He stopped. "You work for the Ministry as do I." He was a Wizengamot elder. "What the Ministry does and doesn't like or want is not an abstraction separate from ourselves. And further more - !"

Knox raised a finger but then curled it back into his fist. He stopped his tongue and checked his temper. Blowing up would not pair well with claiming werewolves were no threat. He ought to be defiant of the stereotype, but most of the time he paid it heed.

That was it. How she appeared to her family was none of his concern. Humans were arrogant, too arrogant. He had no right questioning her honour or how she is around her home now that she is with the Ministry. She wouldn't take that talk from another centaur, definitely a human. And absolutely not from a dog who thinks he can flaunt about without repercussion.

"Do not speak to me in that tone!" She snapped loudly as she reared upwards, just barely holding back from calling him a filthy mongrel. Once she reached her peak in the air she reached into her jacket, opening what was likely a fairly expensive jacket with a pair of silver blades. Landing down with a thud she huffed as the remains of her jacket fell in pieces from her not so careful drawing of the objects.

With a flourish of both blades she stamped a hoof on the ground. "If you are so eager to be cured of your illness, I will happily provide a cure to you mutt." At this point she didn't even care how it would look, he had insulted her honor and implied she was not a true centaur. He wanted to fight, she was happy to oblige, and he would learn to fear her. "Draw your weapon, we will dual right now." She glared daggers at him.

The centaur roared and reared, and Knox shuttled backwards. His wand was up in a flash, held straight out in front of him. The centaur's knives were clear to see, but were nothing to her hooves.

"Stay back!" he bellowed, his big voice never difficult to find. Knox hadn't lifted his wand in self-defense since forty full moons ago, that night in October of 2008 when he'd become what he was today. No witch or wizard had ever been so bold. It wasn't so much that Knox was a formidable duelist (he wasn't, bu no one had ever bothered to ask) but that he was a figure of some standing. But then, Marida was neither witch nor wizard and seemingly had little knowledge of care of what wand-wielders did.

"Stop where you are!"

As much as Knox Greyfriar was protected from most who'd assail him, he was very aware of the protections Marida bore (other than her hooves and knives). Firing his wand upon a centaur here so close to the Forbidden Forest could summon the wrath of the local herd and he had no doubt at all their presence was known in the wood even at this moment. Yes, Knox believed they were at a stalemate that had to be resolved without violence. He hoped that she would agree.

He nodded his head towards the treeline. He tried to keep his frowning voice level. "Your business is with the centaurs, not with Hogwarts. Perhaps it's best if you find your own way."

With a huff she dragged a hoof back on the ground, attempting to play chicken to see if he'd flinch at the thought of her charging. But ultimately she could not do anything now, she had not expected a man of his size to have been able to get his wand up so quickly. She flourished the daggers again, she wasn't going to back down but she had no way of attacking.

For all her mental boasting earlier, if she attacked he would win, she had no way to know if he could cast without speaking and she had no way of knowing how quickly he can speak. She was fast but she's close to pick up speed and too far away to strike without getting much closer, one spell can finish her. Throwing a knife wouldn't work, it was too slow and they were not in a dual.

Ultimately this was her weakness, a straight on fight was not doable in most occasions, she needed to rely on an ambush or her speed, neither of which was on her side. With intimidation gone there was nothing she could do.

But he had insulted her very nature, he claimed she was not a centaur and there was no way she could ever allow him to go unpunished for such a crime. "You dare to insult my species, what I am, who I am. And expect me to just leave."

She could try to back up, but it would again give him too much time to cast on her, he could call the roots to claim her. She should of paid more attention to her elders, she knew some magic but nothing that would of been able to help her in this situation, healing was not something you wanted to do to your enemy.

Stars and cosmos, he was going to be slain by a centaur. The thought flashed through Knox's mind when the impressive being initially showed no signs of standing down. He wasn't completely sure that spells had the same effect on centaurs as humans, but he was completely sure he didn't want to find out.

"I expect you to go about your business you came here to do without further interference from me," he insisted even as Marida seemed to hold herself back.

"And I'll thank you to allow me to do the same!"

Knox lowered his wand until it pointed at the ground between them and took a deep breath. He wouldn't make the first move to attack, but rather he'd be the first to move for a truce.

He had lowered his wand. As much as she wanted to strike him, she could not. He had attacked her honour, her very being as a Centaur. She would not prove him right by doing something so dishonorable as attacking when his guard is down. Or when someone surrenders. Even if he was just another dog that deserved to be put down like the sickened beast he is. She could not just kill in cold blood.

She started to lower her weapons, she had honour. She did expect mongrels to have the same however. So she was hestitent to show her back. He figured his pack was in danger. Why she would go after pups? She didn't need another coat so she didn't need the pelt. Besides she never went out of her way to hunt down a Werewolf.

"We are going to meet again. So you can prepare yourself. And if at any point you decide it is too much. Just send an owl. I'll make it quick, and beautiful." There is a sadistic tone in her voice upon ending it. But she took a few steps back, trying to show it as a good grace for him so he has time to get behind the gate and to safety. Although she was untrusting of him and so would not look away, he could still attack her when her own guard is down, it would be just the excuse she needed.