"Megan, please show that group of students how to mount," Professor
McGonagall pointed toward Harry, Ginny, Chris, Hermione, and Draco, before
continuing, "Mystic, please show Lauren, Neville, Brittany, Cedric,
Jessica, and Ron how to mount properly."
The two girls nodded in understanding and headed toward their group of riders. Many riders had problems mounting, so after the girls had mounted, they had to dismount and give leg-ups to everyone too short to get on their horses by themselves. (A/N: a leg up is where someone on the ground grabs either your knee or your ankle/foot and boosts you into the saddle.)
After everyone was mounted and sitting comfortably, the professor spoke again. "Alright. Beginners in the paddock to my right; Hermione, you too. Advanced riders to the ring to my left. Megan. Mystic, Madame Hooch will be with you tomorrow, but today you are on your own. Feel free to try the jumps and even raise them if you'd like to."
Megan looked at Mystic and identical smiles lit up their faces. "Okay, thank you professor." They said as calmly as they could; but on the inside they were ready to burst with excitement. "We're RIDING again!" they said in unison as they walked their mounts, Flashy and Lightning, across the field.
The two girls let themselves into the huge riding ring and shut the gate behind them.
The next ten minutes were spent warming up at a nice active walk, doing circles in every corner of the ring, and just warming up the horses in general. Professor McGonagall's beginner class was only doing a nice walk for the first week or two, so some of the students had their eyes focused on the advanced riders' from time to time. When the advanced riders started trotting, all eyes were on them.
After a while of simple walk and trot exercises, the girls were in the mood to canter. The ring was really big, so they could manage a long gallop if they wanted to. "Hey, Mystic? Are you ready to canter?" she smiled at the expression that crossed Mystic's face. It clearly said 'you bet!'
"One at a time, or together?" Megan asked.
"Together."
"Alright. Let's go!" Megan called to her new friend, and the two girls moved into an easy sitting trot
(A/N: There are a few versions of the trot I'll get into more later, but for now remember these two:
Posting trot - the riders move up and down in the saddle with the motion of the horse's shoulder. Sitting trot - the riders don't move in the saddle.)
Megan looked over at Mystic, and Mystic nodded. At the same time, both horses moved into an easy, relaxed canter, covering the distance around the ring at exactly the same pace.
By now, all the beginners had stopped whatever they were doing and had crowded the fence line, watching the riders canter.
Megan slowed Flashy and Mystic did the same with Lightning, and they met up in the center of the ring.
"I really want to gallop Flashy. You can gallop Lightning too, but let's do it one at a time." Mystic's face lit up and she nodded in agreement. Megan took to the rail again, her mount prancing with excitement. Megan stopped Flashy and readied herself, as well as her horse. All the beginners watched quietly; they were not sure what Megan was going to do next.
Suddenly, the pair was off, pounding around the ring at a brilliant speed. Megan lowered herself on his neck, asking him for more speed. He responded eagerly, tearing up the dirt in a blur of copper (A/N: Flashy's coat color).
After two laps around the ring, Megan pulled her horse to a jog and retreated to the center of the ring again, watching Mystic do the same thing she, herself, had done mere moments earlier.
After the two girls had walked their horses out for about ten minutes (A/N: Cool 'em off and let 'em breath normal again.), Mystic pointed out the jumps set up around the ring. "Come on! Let's jump! We can raise them if we want to! Isn't that awesome?" Megan agreed with the other girl and they took turns trotting over cavaletti (A/N: Poles on the ground), warming up before they jumped.
When their horses were thoroughly warmed up and ready to jump, the girls set up a large course with jumps of varying heights from about one foot to three feet, with spreads (width) of up to seven feet. It was a nice course, and the girls were ready.
"Megan, you go first. You designed it, in what order do we take the jumps?" Mystic inquired. Megan nodded and set off around the course at a canter, leaning forward so Flashy would know it was jumping time. As they approached the first jump, a small crossrail (poles in an "X" shape), both the rider and the horse's faces showed immense concentration. The horse popped up and over, landing with a soft thud in the sand. Next was the small vertical (pole straight across), then an oxer (a wide jump), and then a triple-combination (three jumps about 2 strides (18-24 feet) apart from each other), and finally a high oxer.
Mystic went next, her horse moving rhythmically over the high obstacles. "Good boy, Lightning." Mystic praised as she slowed the excited horse to a walk.
Both girls continued to jump for a while, their horses in no way losing energy. After a while, Megan and Mystic noticed the beginner riders had already put their horses away and were crowded along the fence line, watching with wide eyes. Megan smiled and rode over to the fence line, Mystic at her heels.
"Girls, that was very impressive. Do you think you could entertain everyone else for a while? I've got to tend to something in the barn." At Mystic's nod, she turned to the beginners, "Is there anything you would like to see the girls do? If so, feel free to ask them."
"We want to see you jump higher!" a few of the girls chorused excitedly. Megan looked at Mystic and they both grinned. They both dismounted and raised one of the verticals to a higher notch. "Hey Mystic? How high do you think Lightning can handle?"
"As high as you want!" was her reply. Megan soon had the jump set at a whopping six-feet off the ground, with a width of about 6 feet.
The kids had scared looks on their faces. The jump itself was higher than the girl's horses, and the width was longer than one of the kids lying down.
Megan and Mystic didn't look scared. In fact..
They looked excited!
"Hey, you guys? Are you sure you want to do that?" Harry piped up. She hadn't heard him speak all day, so her head snapped around at his voice.
"Of course!" The girls wore matching grins on their faces as they circled their horses at a walk, and then a trot, readying them. "I'll go first!" Megan shouted over the nervous chatter of the other students.
Megan picked up a canter and circled the large ring, picking up a bit of speed on the approach to the massive obstacle. About 20 feet away from it, Megan readied herself, preparing for take-off. As the gelding pushed off the ground and into the darkening sky, Megan felt more at peace than she had in ages. No more family, no more worries, and no fear. Just her, and Flashy, airborne, for what seemed like an eternity.
The soft thud of hoof against sand echoed through the trees surrounding the north side of the ring. Megan's mind snapped back to reality with the loud snort of the horse beneath her. Flashy continued away from the jump, his movement smooth and energetic. The jump hadn't taken anything out of him!
She made her way across the ring to Mystic, whose eyes lit up with excitement as she asked Lightning to pick up a canter, heading toward the high obstacle. Lightning pricked his ears eagerly, clearly desperate to go over it. He kept a nice pace though, and they soared over the jump with perfect timing.
All the beginner riders clapped and cheered, yelling things like "YAY!", "WOOHOO!", and "GO MEGAN/MYSTIC!"
The students dispersed, heading back toward the castle, exhausted, but the two girls spend the next fifteen minutes walking their horses, making sure they were perfectly cool.
After brushing, feeding, and putting them away, the two worn-out girls made their way up to the dormitory and collapsed into slumber.
What they didn't notice was a note, written in blood on the window, that read:
BEWARE! NOT EVERYONE IS WHAT THEY SEEM TO BE.
The two girls nodded in understanding and headed toward their group of riders. Many riders had problems mounting, so after the girls had mounted, they had to dismount and give leg-ups to everyone too short to get on their horses by themselves. (A/N: a leg up is where someone on the ground grabs either your knee or your ankle/foot and boosts you into the saddle.)
After everyone was mounted and sitting comfortably, the professor spoke again. "Alright. Beginners in the paddock to my right; Hermione, you too. Advanced riders to the ring to my left. Megan. Mystic, Madame Hooch will be with you tomorrow, but today you are on your own. Feel free to try the jumps and even raise them if you'd like to."
Megan looked at Mystic and identical smiles lit up their faces. "Okay, thank you professor." They said as calmly as they could; but on the inside they were ready to burst with excitement. "We're RIDING again!" they said in unison as they walked their mounts, Flashy and Lightning, across the field.
The two girls let themselves into the huge riding ring and shut the gate behind them.
The next ten minutes were spent warming up at a nice active walk, doing circles in every corner of the ring, and just warming up the horses in general. Professor McGonagall's beginner class was only doing a nice walk for the first week or two, so some of the students had their eyes focused on the advanced riders' from time to time. When the advanced riders started trotting, all eyes were on them.
After a while of simple walk and trot exercises, the girls were in the mood to canter. The ring was really big, so they could manage a long gallop if they wanted to. "Hey, Mystic? Are you ready to canter?" she smiled at the expression that crossed Mystic's face. It clearly said 'you bet!'
"One at a time, or together?" Megan asked.
"Together."
"Alright. Let's go!" Megan called to her new friend, and the two girls moved into an easy sitting trot
(A/N: There are a few versions of the trot I'll get into more later, but for now remember these two:
Posting trot - the riders move up and down in the saddle with the motion of the horse's shoulder. Sitting trot - the riders don't move in the saddle.)
Megan looked over at Mystic, and Mystic nodded. At the same time, both horses moved into an easy, relaxed canter, covering the distance around the ring at exactly the same pace.
By now, all the beginners had stopped whatever they were doing and had crowded the fence line, watching the riders canter.
Megan slowed Flashy and Mystic did the same with Lightning, and they met up in the center of the ring.
"I really want to gallop Flashy. You can gallop Lightning too, but let's do it one at a time." Mystic's face lit up and she nodded in agreement. Megan took to the rail again, her mount prancing with excitement. Megan stopped Flashy and readied herself, as well as her horse. All the beginners watched quietly; they were not sure what Megan was going to do next.
Suddenly, the pair was off, pounding around the ring at a brilliant speed. Megan lowered herself on his neck, asking him for more speed. He responded eagerly, tearing up the dirt in a blur of copper (A/N: Flashy's coat color).
After two laps around the ring, Megan pulled her horse to a jog and retreated to the center of the ring again, watching Mystic do the same thing she, herself, had done mere moments earlier.
After the two girls had walked their horses out for about ten minutes (A/N: Cool 'em off and let 'em breath normal again.), Mystic pointed out the jumps set up around the ring. "Come on! Let's jump! We can raise them if we want to! Isn't that awesome?" Megan agreed with the other girl and they took turns trotting over cavaletti (A/N: Poles on the ground), warming up before they jumped.
When their horses were thoroughly warmed up and ready to jump, the girls set up a large course with jumps of varying heights from about one foot to three feet, with spreads (width) of up to seven feet. It was a nice course, and the girls were ready.
"Megan, you go first. You designed it, in what order do we take the jumps?" Mystic inquired. Megan nodded and set off around the course at a canter, leaning forward so Flashy would know it was jumping time. As they approached the first jump, a small crossrail (poles in an "X" shape), both the rider and the horse's faces showed immense concentration. The horse popped up and over, landing with a soft thud in the sand. Next was the small vertical (pole straight across), then an oxer (a wide jump), and then a triple-combination (three jumps about 2 strides (18-24 feet) apart from each other), and finally a high oxer.
Mystic went next, her horse moving rhythmically over the high obstacles. "Good boy, Lightning." Mystic praised as she slowed the excited horse to a walk.
Both girls continued to jump for a while, their horses in no way losing energy. After a while, Megan and Mystic noticed the beginner riders had already put their horses away and were crowded along the fence line, watching with wide eyes. Megan smiled and rode over to the fence line, Mystic at her heels.
"Girls, that was very impressive. Do you think you could entertain everyone else for a while? I've got to tend to something in the barn." At Mystic's nod, she turned to the beginners, "Is there anything you would like to see the girls do? If so, feel free to ask them."
"We want to see you jump higher!" a few of the girls chorused excitedly. Megan looked at Mystic and they both grinned. They both dismounted and raised one of the verticals to a higher notch. "Hey Mystic? How high do you think Lightning can handle?"
"As high as you want!" was her reply. Megan soon had the jump set at a whopping six-feet off the ground, with a width of about 6 feet.
The kids had scared looks on their faces. The jump itself was higher than the girl's horses, and the width was longer than one of the kids lying down.
Megan and Mystic didn't look scared. In fact..
They looked excited!
"Hey, you guys? Are you sure you want to do that?" Harry piped up. She hadn't heard him speak all day, so her head snapped around at his voice.
"Of course!" The girls wore matching grins on their faces as they circled their horses at a walk, and then a trot, readying them. "I'll go first!" Megan shouted over the nervous chatter of the other students.
Megan picked up a canter and circled the large ring, picking up a bit of speed on the approach to the massive obstacle. About 20 feet away from it, Megan readied herself, preparing for take-off. As the gelding pushed off the ground and into the darkening sky, Megan felt more at peace than she had in ages. No more family, no more worries, and no fear. Just her, and Flashy, airborne, for what seemed like an eternity.
The soft thud of hoof against sand echoed through the trees surrounding the north side of the ring. Megan's mind snapped back to reality with the loud snort of the horse beneath her. Flashy continued away from the jump, his movement smooth and energetic. The jump hadn't taken anything out of him!
She made her way across the ring to Mystic, whose eyes lit up with excitement as she asked Lightning to pick up a canter, heading toward the high obstacle. Lightning pricked his ears eagerly, clearly desperate to go over it. He kept a nice pace though, and they soared over the jump with perfect timing.
All the beginner riders clapped and cheered, yelling things like "YAY!", "WOOHOO!", and "GO MEGAN/MYSTIC!"
The students dispersed, heading back toward the castle, exhausted, but the two girls spend the next fifteen minutes walking their horses, making sure they were perfectly cool.
After brushing, feeding, and putting them away, the two worn-out girls made their way up to the dormitory and collapsed into slumber.
What they didn't notice was a note, written in blood on the window, that read:
BEWARE! NOT EVERYONE IS WHAT THEY SEEM TO BE.