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Post by Lyra James on Jun 2, 2011 20:49:26 GMT
Lyra hadn't been back at Hogwarts more than a week and already she was hating having to be couped in a classroom most of the time. Though that wasn't really her own fault but the ADHD's. She really had it bad a she didn't like sitting still at all. It was the reason's she would run or skip from class to class instead of walking like a normal person. But then again Lyra wasn't a normal person. She was a witch who had grown up in a circus which for most part of her life had been in Ireland. Though once she had come to Hogwarts her parents had moved over to England claiming it was time for them to take to the English circuit for a while. Though Lyra did miss preforming in the circus while she was at Hogwarts as when at the circus she was constantly doing something. She would either be preforming, practicing or training. And if she wasn't doing any of that she was pranking another performer backstage. Sighing Lyra made her way from the castle and towards the brassy banks by the black lake. The weather outside wasn't all that chilly yet so she was just wearing a light jumper to keep her warm over her top. She also wore some lose joggers and pumps on her feet to allow her room for flexibility. It was late afternoon so the lake was shimmering nicely as the sun hit the small ripples been blown by the gentle breeze that was passing over. The lovely site made Lyra smile as this was one place that she often came. It was wide open and had a few tree along the banking that she could climb. Also the grass was quite soft if she ever did stumble so it didn't hurt all the much. Also it wasn't every often people where around the Black Lake for fear of being dragged in by the octopus. Lyra didn't know which lune had started that rumor off as the octopus in the lake was very friendly and would even play with students at times. Skipping over to a nice patch of grass not all that far away from a shady tree, Lyra began to do some stretch before she did anything too drastic. She had seen what could happen to people if they didn't stretch properly. A young acrobat thought they could get away one performance without doing so and had ended up in the hospital with a pull ligament. So before she did any kind of gymnastics like she would do to preform Lyra would always stretch herself out to make sure she didn't injure herself. First she started off by spreading her legs out a little bit and reaching for her toes. She had he back facing to the castle so if anyone was behind her she wouldn't have noticed if they was watching her. Once she had done that ten times she let her legs side out beneath her until she was sat on the ground in the splits and she began to stretch out her legs by leaning down the length of her right leg which was out in front of her and laying her body down it's length.
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Post by Aster Harkin on Jun 2, 2011 21:18:49 GMT
Aster sat on the banks of the Black Lake, staring out at the gleaming lake that reflected the September afternoon sun and rippled with the breeze. This had been a ritual of his for the first week of term at the start of a new year, he would sit by the lake debating with himself whether or not he should try and place a strong enough wind charm on the lake to muster up some waves to surf, so far he had yet to muster the courage.
He dragged his hand through his golden locks as he reminisced on the previous year, the Triwizard Tournament had been exciting, the tasks had been daring, risky and chilling to watch, evidently to chilling as death inevitably unfolded at the Tournaments climax.
The Summer had been clouded by a dark shadow in the magical world, the Ministry covering up evidence that screamed Death Eater and Dark Lord at the world, it had frustrated Aster to read there explanation of Diggory's death, he found it downright disrespectful and wrong. He clenched his fist
"England, you have been here tooo long, And the songs you sing are the songs you sung On a braver day. Now they are wrong."
He spat as he quoted the poetry of Stevie Smith, highlighting the ignorance of this supposedly glorious country. He sighed letting his anger subside as the breeze calmed him like a birds feathers brushing his skin.
He turned around to look across the grounds and had turned to have a girls behind right in his face, not that he minded but it had still taken him off-guard. The girl then slid into a split and Aster squirmed uncomfortably. He recognised the girl, for once not by her butt, as Lyra James the current Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team a year below him, he'd spoken to her a few times before and had gotten on well. He tapped her on the shoulder
"Comfortable?" he laughed
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Post by Lyra James on Jun 2, 2011 21:51:48 GMT
Stretching out of the grass felt good to Lyra as it let out all the tightness in her muscles and loosened her up. As her hands reached to her right foot she took hold of her foot and removed her shoe and sock before swapping her legs around and doing the same for the left foot. She found it much easier to keep her balance with bear feet as then she could get a better grip on the ground beneath her. She also quite liked the feel of the grass underfoot when it was crisp and dry. Now with both her shoes and socks off Lyra straightened her body back up and look up into the sky. There of course was a few grey Scottish clouds floating about across the gradually darkening blue hue of the sky. Though the was quite a light grey so would not yet be heavy enough to be rain clouds. Though Lyra knew that it wouldn't be all that long before there rain would start to plague the grounds of the castle as autumn dragged onwards. Though as she cast her gaze over to that of the forbidden forest where many nasty and dark creatures where suppose to hide she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Looking around to see just who was there she found that it was a face that she knew but wasn't all that familiar with. It was Aster Harkin, a Ravenclaw prefect in the year above her. She had spoken with him on occasion before and he seemed nice enough so she didn't mind him coming over at all. He asked her if she was comfortable which made her smile. "Yes I am quite comfortable down here care to join me or do you fear it will be too painful for you." Lyra told him a mischievous smile wavering across her lips as she looked up to him raising an eyebrow as she did. Most boys she knew wouldn't even attempt the splits for fear of damaging a certain area of the body. Boys like that where just wimps, a true man would at least give a a shot. Lyra didn't know why boys could be such wimps when it came down to doing things as simple as the splits. She knew not everyone could do them as easily as she could but if they practiced as she had they would soon learn how to. Without injuring their pride at all. Though there was once a male acrobat in her family's circus once who could tie himself into amazing knots but would refuse to do anything that resembled the splits. He said it was because it was an amateur move and wouldn't do it for that very reason. Though Lyra could tell that was just a cover up for the real reason. "Don't worry I wont laugh at you if you fall over, you wont be the first person I've seen to have done that." Lyra told him as she stretched down to her toes once again to loosen up a little more. Even if Aster was here with here it wasn't going to stop her from doing what she originally come here to do.
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Post by Aster Harkin on Jun 3, 2011 10:18:13 GMT
Aster laughed as he stood up, stretching his muscles exaggeratedly as he prepared to take this plunge. He was a sucker for a challenge, his younger brother Tai had once challenged him to get as many Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans in his mouth, the overall taste had been disgusting.
As he spread his leg slowly he realised that this was going to be impossible, the chance of actually completing the splits both to the fact that he was in jeans and also a certain anatomical complication.
As he got quite far down he felt things begin to lock and ache and he fell forward, laughing and groaning in pain.
"Why must you torture me like this kid?" he chuckled
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Post by Lyra James on Jun 3, 2011 14:41:47 GMT
When he stood and began to stretch himself out in a over exaggerating manner Lyra couldn't help but smoother a giggle. She had only said that she wouldn't laugh at him if her fell over. She had said nothing about laughing at the way in which he chose to stretch. Though she did have to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laugh too loudly as that would just be rude. He was at least giving it a try and for that she would have to commend him. She wasn't going to expect him to be able to do it straight off but maybe if she convince him to practice more often with or without her one day he might just be able to do it. Though she wouldn't push him into it as Lyra herself knew all too well that there was no good at pushing somebody into doing something they really didn't want to as it rarely got you anywhere. Once he had finished stretching and Lyra managed to calmed down her little giggles she watched as he began his attempt to do the splits. At first it didn't seem like he was doing too bad as he lowered himself further and further down the the ground. His legs getting wider and wider apart from each other as he went. It wasn't a half bad attempt really especially for a man. Though when he did reach that point when he couldn't go any further without being in a considerable amount of pain Lyra could see it on his face. And then his legs gave way and he toppled forwards onto the grass in front of him. Lyra didn't laugh at his failed attempt as she had told him that she wouldn't. Plus she really didn't find the fate amusing any more from having grown up in a circus. Pulling her own legs underneath her so she herself was no longer doing the splits Lyra pushed herself up off the ground so that she was stood up behind him as he laid face first in the grass. "Bravo, bravo, what a terrific job." Lyra told him jokingly as she clapped her hands in a mocking fashion. Walking around him she smiled down at as he ask her why she was torturing him. Now Lyra cross her arms loosely across her chest as she looked down upon him from where she stood. "I have done nothing of the sort it is you who choose to take on the challenge. You could have always just said no." Lyra told him before she bent down a little and offer him a hand back up. "Care for some help?" She asked him as she waited to see if he would take her hand or push himself back up.
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Post by Aster Harkin on Jun 3, 2011 20:08:13 GMT
Chuckling he grabbed her hand, a wicked glint in his eyes, with a hard pull he dragged her down to the ground, cushioning her fall with his body. He burst into an eruption of laughter at her little squeal of surprise, it was rather cute when she did that, he remembered first hearing it when she first ever tried to fly, back in her first year - when he had met her- she had squeaked at her first time flying. It was a fair reaction Aster thought though, he had never been very fond of flying, much preferring the Floo Network and couldn't wait to Apparate.
Still laughing he rolled over, gripping his wand and aiming, quickly firing a disarming spell before the young Gryffindor could hex him, he had no intention to spend his day jumping about in a leg-lock bind or have his nose dribble with bat bogeys.
"So how was your summer sweetheart?" he smiled, sitting down next to her wrapping an arm around her shoulder to show there were no hard-feelings
His face went a little hard as he asked the question he'd been a little weary to enquire about
"What's your thoughts on all this You-Know-Who business?"
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Post by Lyra James on Jun 3, 2011 21:43:55 GMT
He took her hand so Lyra took it that he was going to let her help him up off of the ground but instead he pulled her down to the ground onto him which cause Lyra to let out a little yelp of surprise. Though she didn't land too badly as she did land on him as he had pulled her down so she would land onto of him and not the grass. He burst out laughing so she drove her first into his back as to say that wasn't neither funny or fair. Though she too started to laugh as the expression that smiles and laughter could be contagious was certainly true in this case. As although Lyra hadn't found it particularly funny as she had been the one who was pulled over she was still laughing as she lay onto of the Ravenclaw. She just hoped that nobody else was around to see as from a distance they might get the wrong idea. Especially if it was one of the old boring professor's like Binns. Though when he rolled over a little she was just about to get her wand out and hex him for what he had done but with him being a Ravenclaw he thought she might as he already had his wand out. So when Lyra raised her own to cast the hex he quickly disarmed her sending her wand pinging off into the grass somewhere behind her. "You better not have lost that." She told him as she believed that it had landed somewhere near her shoes and so would get it later one. He asked her how her summer had been as he sat down and wrapped and arm around her shoulders. "My summer same old, same old. Did the summer loop preforming with the circus nothing out of the ordinary really. Well for me anyway. I trust you had a pleasant summer?" She asked him in return as it was only fair that he told he about his summer if she had told him about hers. When he asked her what she thought about this all this You-Know-Who business her mind went back to that night in the summer when she was visited by the ghost of Godric Gryffindor. He had told her that he really was back an it was her job as his descendant to help prove he was back and help to defeat him. The prospect of this had shaken Lyra up something rotten though the fact she wasn't alone as he told her the other founders had done the same eased her a bit. Though she darn't not tell anyone about that night nor that she was the gryffindor descendant. "I believe he is back. Something seems off balance in the world. And when you have walked a tight rope as much as I have you soon learn who to keep things in balance." Lyra told him as she really did believe that he who must not be named was back. "What about you? Do you believe he is back?"
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Post by Aster Harkin on Jun 5, 2011 18:00:11 GMT
"Summer was pretty ok" he said in answer to her initial questioon "However I spent most of it worrying over my OWLs, which went very well in the end"
He smiled at his achievement as she responded to his dark question, firing it back at him
Biting his lip he was cautious of what to say, especially after all the accusations being made by the Ministry. But he could trust Lyra, besides she seemed to believe it as well.
Rubbing his temple he sighed, concentrating on every word. Carefully calculating what he was gonna say before saying it. How very Ravenclaw.
"It seems to much of an elaborate coincidence for it to be mere accusation" he replied, looking out over the lake, he gripped her shoulder tightly trying to cling to a reality "Besides the air feels colder and tastes darker then it should"
He turned to her, looking into her eyes and sighing
"Would you fight if it came to it?"
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Post by Lyra James on Jun 5, 2011 22:34:43 GMT
There was a gentle breeze out about the grounds which softly blew at Lyra's long honey blond hair. She was glad to hear that Aster had done well in his O.W.L's. Maybe she could get him to help her with her own as after all he was a ravenclaw and they where all supposed to be smart. Couldn't do her any harm in asking him anyway. And she was sure that he wouldn't deny a friend the opportunity of a helping hand if she needed it. She would help him if her needed it though she doubted there was anything she could help him with well apart from learning how to the master the art of doing the splits. And that probably wasn't something that Aster would be wanting to learn as it would cause him much more pain before he reached any sort of glory from it. Not everyone was as supple and flexible as Lyra was as she had been doing splits and cartwheels ever since she was little and had been train by professions who worked in the circus her parents owned. As Aster seemed to say that he agreed that the Dark Lord was back but in a way only a ravenclaw would have but it she nodded as what he said was true. The air did feel colder and taste darker as if there was dementors lurking near by sucking the life out of the world. Though she was glad that they was no longer guarding the school as they had been instructed to do for the most part of her third year. She found them rather creepy and like something out of a lord of the rings book. If muggle could see them she would have said that the looks of the dementor is what Tolkien had based his Nazgul riders off of as the two did look freakishly similar. Just dementor could suck out all the happiness and then your soul unlike the Nazgul who would just kill you with a quick swipe of there sword. A much nicer and painless way to go then that of the dementors. Though when Aster asked her if she would stand and fight against the dark lord and his followers. She knew her answer as she would be a traitor to her house and herself if she didn't. And she didn't plan on dishonoring Godric Gryffindor anytime soon. "I'm a gryffindor, it's in my nature to be brave and bold. In the words of simba, 'I laugh in the face of danger, ha, ha... ha.'" She told him holding her head up high as if she was actually simba herself. "Gryffindors are brave and courageous, we stand up for what is right and defend those who cannot defend themselves from darkness. And he is darkness of the worst kind. A wizard gone bad who needs to be out back into his place before he does something that could tear our world apart." Lyra told Aster as he needed to be stopped before he had the chance to gain anymore power and followers than Fudge had already allowed him to get.
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Post by Aster Harkin on Jun 6, 2011 9:17:46 GMT
Aster sighed, it wasn't that he didn't believe that they should fight for what was right but he generally thought that no one should fight, wars change people. He shivered slightly as she quoted the characteristics of her house.
"Is it courage or foolishness that makes a man raise his wand upon another?" he said taking her hand looking at her "'Those long uneven lines Standing as patiently As if they were stretched outside The Oval or Villa Park, The crowns of hats, the sun On moustached archaic faces Grinning as if it were all An August Bank Holiday lark.
Never such innocence, Never before of since, As changed itself to past Without a word.
The men, leaving the gardens tidy The thousands of marriages lasting just a little bit longer Never such innocence again.
Finishing his quote he sighed, the poetry of the First Wizarding War echoing the dark truths of how people died for courage and for the name of justice. Strangely he felt uneasy of Lyra's determination to fight, not for the fighting but for something deeper that he couldn't lay his finger on.
"Have you heard the story of the good man that went to war?"
The look of confusion on her face showed that she did not so he continued
"Demons run when a good man goes to war Night will fall and drown in sun When a good man goes to war Friendship dies and true love lies Night will fall and the dark will rise When a good man goes to war Demons run but count the cost The battles won but the child is lost "
He ran his finger along her cheek as she stared at him confused
"You're a good kid Lyra" he said "And I'm not saying that we shouldn't fight but war's change people, we must be sure this is a war worth fighting for"
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Post by Lyra James on Jun 6, 2011 11:31:02 GMT
Now Lyra was all piped up and ready to go. Her ADHD kicking in making her wanting to go out and do something like run around the grounds or go punch a Slytherin in the face who was picking on a little first year. Sure it would get her into trouble but she didn't care as it would make her feel good and the detention would be for a good cause. She wouldn't mind if they made her go into the forbidden forest with Hagrid or clean up the owl droppings in the owlery. If it was for a good cause it was always worth doing to Lyra no matter what it might mean for her. She had done it before and wasn't afraid to do it again as she was no stranger to detention. She wasn't the worst culprit in the school but she wasn't exactly miss goody two shoes either. Sometimes those people just got on Lyra's nerves who wouldn't dare break a single rule. Though thankful there wasn't many people like that in her house if any at all. Though when Aster voiced his own opinion and started sprouting poetry Lyra listened as best she could though since poetry wasn't an interest of hers she could feel her mind trying to wonder away from what he was saying causing her to miss a few words that he said. Though had had managed to get the most of what he said she didn't really understand what he had meant by it. She could only guess it was something to do with once the war was start they could go back into the innocence of the time before it or something like that. She had never really been that good at different things herself like that. Sometimes she could hit a winner but she was definitely now match for a ravenclaw such as Aster. Though she would just go alone with it and gently nodded to what he had said as he finished his poem, still unsure of what it's true meaning was supposed to be. When he asked her if she had heard of the story about the good man that went to war a rather confused looked settled upon her face as she hadn't heard of it. It was clear that Aster had read her body language and so he told her the story. It was only a short one which was good as it meant Lyra was able to listen to it all without her mind wondering though when he had finished she still didn't quite understand what he was saying. She felt his finger gently brush down the line of her check bone as he told her that maybe they shouldn't go jumping into a war that might not be worth it. She could see his point and understood what he meant but deep down she knew she would still fight even if it was just to save one life it would be a success to her. "I understand that, so maybe I'll let the adults handle things for now anyway." Lyra said a cheeky grin slipping onto her lips.
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Post by Aster Harkin on Jun 6, 2011 12:46:47 GMT
He smiled at her, she had probably struggled to follow the complex and subliminal meanings behind the poetry, he made a mental note to explain it to her sometime. It was her determination that intrigued him most, even though she had said that she would leave it to the adults the smile that snaked across her face told a different story.
He shook his head laughing at the obvious sense of determination to fight that she was trying to hide, he raised his wand and aimed it behind him
"Accio" he cooed
From in the grass a small stick came soaring towards them, Aster reacted and caught it mid-air, not taking his eyes off Lyra. He handed the girl back her wand.
"I guess I'm just gonna have to fight with you then" he smiled "Someone has to stop you from getting killed"
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Post by Lyra James on Jun 6, 2011 21:12:34 GMT
Apart from being confused by the poetry that Aster had told her Lyra was rather confused as to what he had been saying, she was finding this time with the older Ravenclaw rather enjoyable. If he hadn't of spoiled it with his ravenclaw knowledge Lyra would be having a really good time, not that she didn't mind his list knowledgeable outbursts sometimes Lyra just wished he would tell her things that would end up making her confused as it made her feel really dumb and she didn't like that. It was bad enough with the ravenclaw from her own year let alone and older and possibly more wiser one. Lyra knew she wasn't stupid as he grades proved that she just didn't like when people made it obvious she wasn't as smart as them as frankly it was down right rude and degrading. Though she didn't believe that Aster was doing this on purpose so she would saying anything about it. When he cast the summoning spell Lyra wondered just what he was summoning that was until she saw what he caught in his hand. It was her wand. The one that he had disarmed her from using earlier. Well what was the point in disarming her if he was going to summon it back for her. When he handed her back her wand without saying anything before handing it to her like making her promise she wouldn't hex him or anything. She took it back in her hand twisting the wooden rod in her hand and she studied his face. He had an idea but Lyra didn't know what it was. He was being very quite and Lyra didn't like the silence that filled the space between them. I wasn't an awkward silence but one that had Lyra's curiosity was set on full whack as she tried to decipher just what this witty ravenclaw had in store for her. She wanted to know his next move but he wasn't giving anything away. When he said that he was gonna have to fight her so that she didn't get herself killed a twinkle sparked in Lyra's eyes. She loved to duel and she knew it would be a good match against Aster for her as he was a year older than her and a ravenclaw. "Alright now where taking." Lyra said jumping up from where she had been sat and waited for Aster to stand. "Though no using any fancy spells I haven't learned yet as that's just not fair now it is." Lyra told him putting the tip of her wand onto her right cheek as she looked down upon him a smile curving upon her lips. She hadn't had a duel since before the summer holidays and was definitely ready for some one on one wizarding action. Her wand hadn't been used for anything though the summer because of the underage wizarding law that prevented her from doing so. She was defiantly ready to show Aster what she was made of.
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Post by Aster Harkin on Jun 7, 2011 10:00:42 GMT
He smirked as she challenged her to a duel, the girl was spunky he had to admit. However, he could tell that she was the type of girl who would dive in head first without checking to see how deep the water was, people like her normally ended up getting themselves killed so Aster knew that he was in for a hard-time if and when this war broke out trying to protect her.
She ordered him not to use any fancy spells that she hadn't learnt yet so as to even the battlefield, Aster was more then happy to oblige. He smirked devilishly looking up at her, his wand angled enough towards her. He cleared his mind and felt the spell run through his body his mind echoing the word 'Flipendo' as the spell shot out the end of the wand without the girl even realising he was casting and smashing her square in the chest. He had done a bit of independent study over the holidays in non-verbal magic in preparation for this year, the good thing about living in a full wizarding community the trace seems to be quite leniant in performing magic.
Standing up he laughed, looking over her, he had stuck to her order, the spell wasn't fancy it was a simple first year spell, the method however gave it the deadlier edge
"If you're wanting to fight in the coming war you're gonna have to be more on the ball then that" he said sternly "If I had been a Death Eater you'd have just been killed, now get your wand ready"
There was an air of authority in Aster's voice that he had not noticed as if he was pushing her to fight as if not in a duel but in an actual battle.
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Post by Lyra James on Jun 9, 2011 18:57:04 GMT
As Lyra took up a duel like stance to ready herself for the spell that Aster would throw at her she surveyed his movements to see if she could so where he was going to try to strike. Though she mostly concentrated on his mouth to see which incantation she said. She knew her best better would be to use protago the shielding charm as it would block most types of spells that he could throw at her. But Lyra hated doing the obvious and so would only use it if she couldn’t think of any other option to counter act the spell her sent at her. For elemental spell it would be easier to defend herself as they tended to have a weakness of one of the other elements like fire’s weakness was water. The more advanced spells tended to be the harder ones to block like confundus and rictra semptra. As you could only really identify them when the enchantment was verbal said by the caster as the released the magic from the tip of the wand. Though as Lyra waited and waited Aster said nothing and there was silence between the two which started to build up the tension between them in the air. Though when he just flicked his wand Lyra just thought he was toying with her but he wasn’t as second later she was knocked flat on her back as an invisible force struck her straight in the middle of her chest. It thankfully didn’t wind her or right now she would be gasping for breath. “Hey no fair.” She shouted at him as she sat up and shot him a soul penetrating look. “Non verbal magic isn’t allowed either it heavily tips the odds in your favour. And it doesn’t help that you’re already a year above me and a Ravenclaw, Mr Smarty pants.” She said as she still sat on the ground rubbing her chest a little as the force had hit her quite hard and pain still emitted from her chest. “You better not have broken a rib or anything as I don’t want to spend any time in the hospital wing.” She told him before she brushed herself down getting any dead grass of her clothing and steadily standing up ready to spend her own spell back at him. Though what spell she had yet to decide as she knew it was going to be tough to knock him down as easily as he had done to her. When he made a crack about having to be more on the ball or she would have been dead she just sneered at him before replying. “Though death eater aren’t smart enough to use no verbal magic and just scream spells at people instead. Unlike you they give people the curiously of knowing what spell they gonna send at you.” She told him before walking from side to side as she surveyed him again. Though she did let her gaze wander a little way behind him where she saw a fallen twig from the tree. This gave her an idea. “Accio.” She said pointing her wand at the twig to Aster it would probably look as if she was summoning him. The twig few into the air and since Aster was stood in between her and the twig it quite nicely clocked him on the back of the head. A rather crafty spell for a Gryffindor but then Lyra wasn’t all that dumb, she wasn’t as smart as Hermione but she defiantly wasn’t stupid. “Whoops.” Lyra said a soft giggle erupting as she watched his reaction to the twig hitting him from behind.
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