There was fuss over Myrtle and her sudden new appearance after the night she had spoken with Lavender and joined her for dinner. Students began gifting her with special sweets that were meant for poltergeists. Luckily Myrtle didn't let the treatment go to her head. She was still close with Lavender, possibly closer than Parvati was now. Lavender was just glad that the drama over her being found in the woods had finally blown over. This soon reminded her that she never got the name from Hagrid, which irritated her but this was easily fixable. She had all her lessons done and homework was finished, so why not give him a visit? Hagrid looked nearly embarrassed when she showed up at his door.
"Ohh, I'm terribly sorry, dear. Forget ya been wanting that centaur's name...well..alright come in. There's still some other stuff that needs to be discussed while we're at it." Lavender was a bit confused, and also worried but she waited patiently as Hagrid cleaned around his hut and made a seat for her.
"So 'is name. It's Ziyadah. And let me tell ya, he's quite important to a centaur tribe. They almost didn't let me near him until I mentioned ya." Hagrid looked a bit spooked as he thought back. Lavender guessed that Hagrid probably had weapons pointed at him the whole time he was with Ziyadah.
"And he would rather not speak to ya for some reason.." Lavender felt crushed when she heard this bit. But she didn't need to guess why. Ziyadah probably thinks that she is wanting to report him. But that isn't what she is wanting to do..
"But he did ask many times if ya were alright. Almost obsessive. But I let 'im know you were fine." Lavender drained this part out as she had thoughts flooding her mind.
What was an important centaur like him doing out by himself?
"Do you know..WHERE I can find him?" Lavender was looking down while she asked this question. She obviously couldn't see the concern in Hagrid's face.
"Why are ya so bent on seeing him again?"
"Hagrid..I just want to ask him a few personal questions myself. I just do.."
"Lavender..I don't recommend ya go out in the fore-"
"There HAS to be SOME place closer they go. I've seen centaur by the castle before.." Lavender's face flushed with frustration along with desperation. Hagrid could see her color go from pale to pink.
"You said you help students all of the time.." She almost started giving Hagrid the stereotypical sad girl eyes. She seemed to know he wouldn't be able to resist. The half-giant breathed in hard and let out a grunt.
"Lavender, I'm only telling you information I know. What ya do from here on out is out of my control, and responsibility." Hagrid chose his words carefully. The last thing he wanted was to be held responsible if something happened to the girl again. Lavender widened her eyes, ready for the information.
"I know for a fact, that every evening or so, they sometimes hang out near the meadow. They like eating the blooming flowers on the trees, along with the fruit, if there's any. They like sweet things. But they don't like bein' bothered. If ya plan on visiting, not that I know, ya must bring your wand. I can't stress that enough. And know your defense spells! I suggest ya bring a broom so ya can high tail it outta there if things get ugly..But AGAIN, I have no idea what ya plan on doing from here out." Lavender let the information sink in and a new fire of confidence burned in her chest. She quickly got up and made for the exit. Hagrid watched her go, mildly sweating with worry. Lavender suddenly turned to him before closing the door.
"Hagrid..thanks. And don't worry..I'll be okay."
Lavender didn't have long before evening would set in. She had just purchased several sweet candies from the shop in Hogsmead when the sky began to change to an orange color. She had hurried back to her room and bathed fast. She felt rather silly, like she was going on some date, but she wanted to look nice for...for Ziyadah! She didn't understand why she had become this obsessed but she did. She kept her wand in her robe where she could easy grab it if she needed to. Before she could get outside the castle, she was stopped by Filch.
"Going somewhere?" He said in his greasy annoyed voice. Lavender clinched her fists as her temperature rose. Being kept from finding Ziyadah was making her show a new aggression.
"Yes! I am! I'm seeing Hagrid because Dumbledore asked me tell him something important!" A few weeks ago, she would have never said such a thing with such bold courage and aggression to one of the adults, let alone Filch. He was just as shocked as she was with the snappy aggression. It was clear that he wasn't use to students standing up to him, especially with a feminine snappy tone. He tried to reclaim dominance in the situation.
"Oh really? How important?" He tried to get her to break.
"Obviously important enough to where YOU or anybody else are not needed in knowing what it is! Is that all? Or do I have to drag the head master down here WITH me? I'm sure he won't be pleased if he had to put his work aside just to prove to you that I'm running this errand for him!" Lavender's angry tone bounced off the cold walls of castle, her eyes sparked a brilliant fire within them. There was no putting it out. She gave off the clear aura that she would fight tooth and nail if someone were to stop her now. Filch even took a few steps back in fear. For the first time. He tried renewing his attempt in control and spoke a few words but they melted into tuneless hums as he finally turned around and walked back into the shadows of the castle. Usually Filch would end conversations with students with warnings such as, "I'll be watching you. Just one slip up.." But Lavender heard nothing else from him. She continued onward to the direction of Hagrid's hut. When she got there, she slipped to the side of it and snuck into the forest from behind his hut.
She made her way to the meadow and sure enough, she heard the snorts and grunts of centaurs. She ducked under the large brush. She needed a find a way to get a look at them without revealing herself. She came to a large tree with brush around it. Perfect for spying. She positioned her head to where she could finally see at least six centaurs pawing the ground and stripping the long tree branches of fresh blooming flowers. Among them was Ziyadah. Her heart skipped a beat and she suddenly felt hot. That is until she heard the sound of several sticks breaking next to her and an angry grunt. She instinctively turned and drew her wand, pointing it at the centaur that was just a couple of feet away from her. He looked furious at the sight of her. She saw him reach for the bow and arrow wrapped around his waist. Lavender didn't want to use a stun spell. It would alert the others. But she didn't have time to go down the list of defense spells in her head. She found herself saying the first thing that came to mind.
"Imperio." The curse left her lips and a clear smoke ring left the tip of her wand, instantly hitting the centaur in his face. His angry expression quickly dropped to a dumb expression, then a bubbly look as if he was feeling very happy. Lavender gasped. She had just used an extremely illegal curse! For second, she wondered if the ministry of magic would appear in front of her any second. Her legs shook as she waited several minutes but nothing happened, other than the bubbly centaur shipping his weight like a bored child. Her confidence slowly began to return.
I can use this to my advantage... She thought as she stood up and started whispering to the jynxed centaur.
"Okay..I want you to take me to the other centaur. All except for Ziyadah. But hide me as well!" She waited for the curse to control him. The centaur nodded in a dopey manner and began walking to the closest centaur while Lavender hid behind him. The other centaurs were too preoccupied with finding small blooming flowers to give their undivided attention to the jynxed centaur. Lavender whispered the imperio curse to each of them. She now had them in a small group.
"Now..All of you go back to your..um.. home.. and..uh..go to sleep for the rest of the night." Lavender wasn't exactly sure if they would understand this, but to her relief, they all began walking out of the meadow calmly, leaving only her and the engrossed Ziyadah. Now what? She actually hadn't thought this far. Was she going to approach him? Call his name? How was she to get his attention without startling him? She didn't need to think. The lone centaur finally noticed how quiet it had suddenly gotten. He let go of the branch he had and looked around him, not seeing any of his men. Then he turned around and finally noticed Lavender, a wave of deja-vu hitting both of them. However this time, Ziyadah didn't have a wild look on his face. He looked absolutely terrified.