Merlin was already in the air when Magnus told him not to have more accidents to what he replies. "Accidents, me? Like why would you even say that? I'm the safest person around here!" He smirks and accelerates toward the rings. Merlin felt the breeze and did exactly what Eros told him not to, he closed his eyes. To Merlin that gave him a sense of belonging and erased fears from his mind since it calmed him. Once at peace he opened his eyes, memorized the course and set his mind goal. 'You will fly like the wind, just like when you use your own wings, relax and enjoy the ride.' He crossed the rings easily, not a single stop before the u turn, he took the flag without difficulty and kept flying through every hoop. 'Faster!' Merlin wanted speed so he commands it and positioned his body for a good flight. 'I'm a dragon and I'm fearless, dragons own the sky and the earth.' Another flag in hand and an not long after he got confused about a ring but focused his eyes and got through without hitting it. The course was almost over and he felt confident about finishing it without failing, he needed more speed to cross the fastest ring, so the broom passed quickly and easily the last part. There was an instant of peace right after the course ended that made the young wizard once again close his eyes and smile. "I did it." It was barely a whisper to himself, a reassurance that this time he didn't fail.

Another laugh issued from Magnus and he watched as his friend flew up and started the course. Wand at the ready, because this was Merlin--but extra help wasn't needed. Merlin finished the course and had done really well. Finally Magnus was breathing again--he hadn't realised he was holding his breath. "ALRIGHT! WAY TO GO MERLIN!" He was pleased, finally Merlin was gaining confidence.

Merlin was grinning when he lowered himself to the ground. "You saw that? I didn't hit anything!" He was obviously happy. "I think I just need practice and with time I can be a decent flyer." He then adds. "I will try use the broom more often."

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Not saying anything, Eros grabbed a water bottle from Magnus () and immediately began drinking it. Apparently, he was more thirsty than he though, gulping down half the bottle in one breath. "Thanks, mate," finally responding and relaxed a bit, recovering a little from what had happened.

The captain decided to focus his attention on Merlin (), who was taking a practice run through the course. He kept a watchful eye on him since Merlin didn't exactly have a good record. However, Eros was pleasantly surprised that the other Slytherin got through with a pretty clean flight. "Not to shabby, mate. You ready to try for real?," Eros asked. "No pressure, only if you're ready," he quickly added, not wanting to push the other boy.

Magnus nodded to Eros. "No probs."
"Yes I did! you did well, Merls. I told you, you could do it! You just gotta 'ave faith."

"WAY TO GO, MERLIN!" Gaia startled everyone around her as she laughed. "Sorry got a little excited." Hearing Eros she added "don't worry Merlin! You can do this! It is all about strategy. Keep your flag safe." ()

"Better luck this time, Eros. You might need it!" Gaia laughed and grinned at the boy. ()

Merlin nods to the captain while he finished his water. "I'll do it! But even if I can't get close, don't go easy on me just because it's me." He smiles. "Otherwise i won't know when I actually improve."

"Oh thanks Gaia for making everyone deaf." He laughs while shaking his head. "I'm chasing him, so he has to keep the flag safe."

"Thanks Mag, for making me have a little faith in me." Once again Merlin got on the broom and went up, this time the challenge was greater but was not going to stand down.

"I'm ready when you are ready."

"No worries," he said smiling. "You go get 'im."

And then was taunting Eros again and Magnus shook his head with a smirk. She was hopeless--or rather Eros might be the hopeless one...actually he wasn't sure. So Magnus scratched his head, laid on the ground and looked up at the sky.

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Eros heard wish him luck, but he avoided looking at her and mostly not reacting at all. While this wasn't uncharacteristic of him, it was different this time, because he was purposely ignoring her, or at least, trying to.

Eros smirked. "I never go easy on anyone," the captain nodded at Merlin (), agreeing to compete at his best. Eros once again mounted his broom and took his position at the start of the course. "Ready, set, let's go," he timed down before taking off. As before, Eros managed to zigzag his way through the first couple of rings easily. Even the fourth and fifth ring were slow relative to the speed that Eros moved through them. Unlike before, Eros wasn't hindered by the objective to grabbing a flag off someone in front of him. Instead, he just needed to race through, grab a red flag, and finish. Of course, there was the constant threat of someone chasing him, but he figured that if he didn't waste time making unnecessary wide turns, curve, or loops, he would be fine. When he passed the fifth ring, he made a sharp jerk left and as he approached the sixth ring, Eros picked up speed to get through it.

Merlin followed two seconds after Eros left, he had a pretty big advantage over him but he still followed the best he could, not overthinking and just using his instinct. So far he had gone without any misfortune which was good enough for Merlin, still he tried to catch up to the captain. He suddenly felt like doing a twirl and he did which got him through the fourth and fifth easier than before and somehow he speed up a bit more. Eros was still away from his grip but was closer than before so Merlin focused on speeding in order to catch up with him. 'This is too fast..but lets go faster!' Merlin seem to melt against the broom which made him speed but still was not close enough. 'I'm not giving up.'

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Having gone through the sixth ring, Eros maintained the same speed as he veered right to pass the the seventh ring. As soon as he passed it, instead of slowing down into the u-turn, Eros did the opposite. He accelerated. As he propelled pass the flags, he grabbed one and hung on to it. As soon as he did, he spun his broom counter-clockwise. The added spinning motion helped propelled him faster out of the turn and the next ring.

For the next four rings, as he zigzagged through them, he also alternated between being the right way up and upside down as he passed each one. At this point, Eros was kind of taunting Merlin () with the flag on his belt. .

Merlin was not letting Eros maneuvers distract him, on the contrary he focused but once again gaining distance between the two, since Eros was too far in order to grab the flag, Merlin kept pushing. He passed the u turn faster than he should and lost control of the broom for an instant making him missed the 9th obstacle completely. 'Bloody ring!' He cursed in his head as he speed through the 10th. Merlin really wanted to catch up to the captain, even if he didn't grabbed the flag but at least got on his tail so he screamed in frustration with his teeth tight against each other. "AHHHHHH" But this made him explode in magic making him faster, faster enough to close the distant between them by half, even when he was still not close enough to get his flag. 'I won't make it, course is almost over.'

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Eros spared a second to look behind him when he heard Merlin's scream (). The captain was impressed by how close Merlin was on him. The boy was a lot closer than Eros thought he'd be, which made it more interesting. "Too close for comfort, Merlin," he smirked. There was no room for mistakes now that Merlin was right on his tail. Eros noted that the final three rings grew progressively faster and planned accordingly.

The sandy brown-haired boy leaned forward further on his broom, his upper body almost as horizontal as the broom. He sped up just as he went through the 14th ring and immediately rolled to the right to get through the 15th. Eros wasted no time building up momentum. He steered to the left and darted through the final, fastest moving ring, completing the course.

Even when he saw when Eros crossed the last ring, Merlin kept going till he finished. The speed he was going was not meant for the broom he was using, he felt like it was giving up on him. 'Hold on.' Still he made it through the last ring, not without hitting the back of the broom with it. He spins right after the hit over and over but Merlin didn't let go of the broom and finally managed to stop it. "This crappy broom almost threw me off!" He laughed hard. "At least I didn't hit my head!" He went toward the captain smiling. "Great job, I like those fun acrobatics you were doing, better teach me those because that I liked! When I get my new broom, which would be perfect - right Magnus? Then we can try it again." Merlin didn't liked losing, but he had to accept it way too many times when it comes to flying with broomsticks.

Magnus nodded, "You did really well Merlin, and when the new broom arrives it'll be a much better fit for ya. I bet she'll 'ave it made by the next work shop. Probly can pick it up in Hogsmede at the Quiddictch store, ask mum ta send it there for me or the owl post office." Magnus smiled at Eros, "I wouldn't mind a couple 'o tips from you either."

"You did great, Merlin! That was a really impressive run!" Gaia was excited it had been a close call. "Well done, Eros." She said almost in a whisper. He was ignoring her and didn't want to make things worse.

"Are you going next, Magnus?" Gaia distracted herself from her thoughts.

( )

"You want me ta go a third time?" He looked at Eros, wondering if there was time. "I could unless we are moving on..."

"Well I know you said you wanted again. I was just asking." Gaia was a bit grumpy. ()

"Thanks Gaia, I think despite the mistakes during the workshop that I have improved lots in a short time." He laughs slightly. "I wouldn't have dared to go that fast when I first arrived."

Merlin looked excited about the new broom. "How am I going to repay you for that?! I don't think my secret gift is enough." He nods. "i will have it ready for the Hogsmade trip for sure. I'll work hard on it. I must bake some goodies for your mom to thank her too." Merlin looked happy and really felt grateful for all.

His friend sounded out of sorts and Magnus frowned and added a sigh. "You wanna go against me? Whaddya want when you win?"

Magnus smiled and waved him off. "Don't mention it, mum would be mad if I didn't offer." Merlin told him not to argue about the gift so he didn't