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[Amhlaidh Haugen]

Pete Pano and Onyx the centaur.

 

Surrounding: On the grounds of Durmstrang.

 

 

 

Onyx the centaur

 

The centaur was waiting quietly. In the world not many lived still of his kind, even it was more than twenty years after the great war. Half man, half horse he was born and was comfortable among his kind. But humans were strange, especially wizards. Most were prejudiced against centaurs. He had not been sure to accept this position, but the professor had ensured no dangerous magic would be involved. Thor Haugen had wanted to introduce his students to centaurs, and their branch of magic. That was so particular the professor couldn’t perform that kind of magic. Some sorts of magic were unique to centaurs. Onyx was quite light coloured among his kind. So he was waiting for the young student thought fourth year, Pete Pano.

[Pete Pano]

Pete had no idea what centars had to do with divination but then again he didn’t do much reading about them before he came to class. He was primarily focused on being on time so he wouldn’t have to hear a lecture from the professor. When he got there he looked around and noticed a light colored centaur. He assumed that it was Onyx the one he was going to be dealing with. He wasn’t sure if he was able to ask questions yet so he just kept quiet. He just had to figure out what was going to happen on his own.

[Amhlaidh Haugen]

Onyx the centaur

 

His student had a lot to ponder about. But finally arrived. “My name is Onyx. What do you know of my kind? I hope you’re not prejudiced,” he said friendly enough. “We are a part of the Scandinavian folklore as mundane people say, but I never met them. What do you think centaur magic is?” he hoped this would give the young student give something to think about and could come up with a good answer. “Don’t worry if you don’t know, or what you say is wrong. I won’t judge on that.” Onyx was a bit unsure about himself. He was young and had no experience with meeting students.

[Pete Pano]

“Nice to meet you Onyx I’m Pete Pano and I know that your kind is skilled in healing,astronomy and divination.” Pete didn’t hold any prejudices against anyone or any being. He just hoped that what he said was going to be correct or else it would have been awkward. “I think it is being Clairvoyant and being gifted in divining.” He wasn’t really too confident in his answer but he really hoped that Onyx wasn’t going to judge him because the answer might be wrong. He took a deep breath as he tried to think about what the centaur was going to say.

[Amhlaidh Haugen]

Onyx the centaur

 

His student had nothing to fear from him. Mr. Pano had good answers , and seemed even more knowledgeable upon his kind than he had hoped for. “Good insights you have, I should have expected that of someone your age,” commented the centaur. “Clairvoyance is not easy to handle you know. It gives advantage yes, but can feel as a burden.” Astronomy we have a love for. Mr. Pano do you watch the stars when the nights are clear? And do you recognise what you see in the sky?” He hoped for that Mr. Pano knew some constellations or stars, but couldn’t bet if he did watch the sky at all, when humans went to sleep usually.

[Pete Pano]

“I know that you can see the constellations the Big Dipper,Cassiopeia and the Little Dipper all year long.” Pete didn’t want to admit but he did spend some time looking at the sky and stars before he went to sleep. He was relieved to know that his previous answers weren’t wrong. He realized that he should have let Onyx know in his answer that he watched the stars. He probably thought that the centaur would figure it out when he heard the answer. He wondered if he could ask Onyx a question since he had a few questions in mind.

[Amhlaidh Haugen]

Onyx the centaur

 

Onyx was pleasantly surprised by the answer of the student. But as he watched him she noticed also that Mr. Pano was a bit hesitant and he smiled friendly. “I have an idea you are loaded with matters you like to know more about. Sorry I haven’t said, but you can ask me questions. I am your teacher for today,” he said feeling some effection to the inquisitive boy. “I am proud of you have the spirit of watching the stars. I have known others, even among my people, who have no interest in them.” He waited for the questions of Mr. Pano.

Edited by Prof. Amhlaidh Haugen, 26 October 2018 - 05:09 AM.

[Pete Pano]

“How does your kind handle the clairvoyance and what specific things does your kind look for in the sky at night?” Pete was glad to know that he was able to ask Onyx any question that he had. He always wondered what centaurs look for when they view the night sky. He thought that it was rather sad that not many people didn’t enjoy looking up at the sky at night. But then again not everybody had the same passions or hobbies and some people valued their sleep. He wondered if he was going to learn more about Onyx and his people.

[Amhlaidh Haugen]

Onyx the centaur

 

He pondered over the question of Mr. Pano, which could be chopped up into smaller questions. “Mallowsweet is a herb we use, alongside Sage. We burn them to observe the flames and fumes coming from it. Those flames help us in our stargazing. The properties help us understanding the position of the stars and planets, plotting their routes and what those reveal of their influence upon earth. For example the moon has influence on the tides of the sea,” explained Onyx keen over the interest of the student. “We try to have sense of what the morning shall bring, so we are prepared and protect ourselves.”

 

They had divined  stargazing to an art. The magical forest was a dangerous world, and centaurs were their own species, loose from humans. They had their own natural qualities. Clairvoyance was a natural thing, Onyx had never put much thought to why he had it. “That comes in on  what the morning brings. Small steps ahead in time is how we survived the dangers throughout the ages. I can’t explain what it really is, as never has done medical research to that skill. But I think it’s something in the brains of the centaurs that gives us that advantage over the humans. We are different species and exist only in these magical surroundings. Not outside of it. See it as natural skill we have. It’s good question you asked, because you are challenging me. You have more questions?”

[Pete Pano]

Pete was confused when he listened to Onyx’s answer to his question. He was glad that he was challenging the centaur with the question that he asked. He realized now that if he was going to ask another question then maybe he should break up the question into smaller questions rather than one big question. He asked “what properties do the mallowsweet herb and sage have that help you with stargazing?” He thought that it pretty cool how they use their natural ability to predict what the morning will bring. Humans had to find out when the day came or plan what would happen beforehand.

[Amhlaidh Haugen]

Onyx the centaur

 

The centaur mulled his brains around at the next bit unexpected question. That a human student could teach about himself and his abilities! Onyx felt he was stepping into some sort of wonder moment. What properties? “While mallowsweet and sage are burnt…,” he said. “..the shapes of the flames and the smoke give us the information we need. Each shape has a different meaning and they are very variable. I hope that answers your question. What’s the next?” He expected that Mr. Pano had more of them.

[Pete Pano]

“Oh I thought that there were certain properties in the mallowsweet and the sage that helped you predict things but I was wrong.” Pete wondered if centaurs could stand the smell of the smoke since he would imagine that the smoke had a strong smell. “I do have one more question what prejudices have centaurs faces?” He wanted to get an insight on what they had to face. He was only curious about centaurs he didn’t have any judgment against centaurs. He wondered why anyone would have a problem with them. He had only been around the wizarding community so he had no idea what it was like for others.

[Amhlaidh Haugen]

Onyx the centaur

 

The student had a point, but even Onyx was not so knowledgeable on the herbs as he wished to be. But also there were laws among his kind he couldn’t speak of everything. “That’s alright,” nodded Onyx. “On prejudices? I got a few stories to tell about that. I am not so old yet, I can claim to know it all. Some years ago I was just about as you as you are now… silly, but dumb,  innocent and got a good believe in everything. So also with humans. Despite it all I wouldn’t just go for that there were humans who saw us a second class beings. Like with the elves and the goblins. We see ourselves not as humans, but an own species. But some humans describes us as half breed humans. That is a prejudice. The giants think of us as halfbreed horses. If witchcraft melted a human and a horse together. Not very flattering for us either. May I ask back? What does your kind face for prejudices? I don’t know much about that.” Onyx liked the student and would suggest to the professor a real good mark.

[Pete Pano]

“Well from what I can tell there are pure bloods that look down on muggles and muggleborns and think that they are inferior. I don’t know if that applies to halfbloods though.” From hearing what Onyx said and what he said Pete knew that they predjudices seemed to be different with no similarities between the two. He thought that Centaurs were a majestic species with a lot that they could teach people. He liked Onyx and he valued everything that he had to say and wrote everything down. He was going to remember this experience for awhile and he was glad that he had enough information to study from.

[Amhlaidh Haugen]

Onyx the centaur

 

Mr. Pano was the kind of student who would want to have a readback. Onyx waited quietly until the student had written down on what he had said. He approved of it. He nodded in return when Mr. Pano enlightened him with information upon his own world. “I see some similarities there, as you have told. Do you still have more questions? Or shall we call the day?” he asked. “I wouldn’t keep you from your next lesson, but you’re always welcome to visit me. I am sorry but it’s unlikely though I can come into the school. They won’t like me seeing there.” When Onyx made his evaluation to Prof. Haugen, he would make sure Mr. Pano got what he deserved, an excellent grade.

[Pete Pano]

Pete didn’t think there was much similarities but maybe he just didn’t look at it from a different perspective. After thinking about it for awhile he realized that there was some similarities between them. He couldn’t think of any more questions but he was certain that he was definitely going to visit Onyx sometime soon. “I unfortunately don’t have anymore questions for you so we’re going to have to call it a day so I can get to my next lesson. I’ll definitely visit you sometime soon though.” He waved goodbye to the centaur as he left to go to his next lesson.