(( um side note - I really like that we are all doing the space thing XD I love these new sets omggg galactic high-fives! ))

(( I know right? its amazing! working on getting enough for the new female line. And your ha is so cool and cute.))

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Eros thought about the stakes for a bit. Eros was in his sixth year so he was already in overdrive mode when it came to practicing in order to impress recruiters. He also wasn't the most social although this workshop has gotten him out of his shell a bit. However, if he was going to be more social, might as well be practicing at the same time. Eros nodded. "Ok, sounds fair," he agreed.

Eros was ready to start, but almost forgot his bracelet. He flew back down to the box and grabbed both bracelets. He decided to take the sapphire one and offered the ruby one to Magnus ().

[img align=right]http://i.imgur.com/1Q424Wm.png[/img] "Bludgers will start chasing you once you pass the first ring," Leo warned, folding his arms to watch the first two to go.

(and everyone XD)

Magnus beamed and grabbed his bracelet. He nodded at Leo. He was excited. Magnus started through the first three rings zigzagging along at a fair speed. So far the zigzagging was helping to keep the bludger from hitting him as well. He sped up in the middle of the third ring so he could alter his course to get through the fourth ring. He had to hand it to Leo, this was a good course. If he was doing this upside down he’d likely get concussed—or worse. He would definitely have to practice that more. He accelerated through the fifth ring and suddenly pulled back, the bludger missing him and crashing through the red shield—then turning around heading right back for him. He zoomed through the sixth ring briefly glancing at were Eros was.

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Eros took off, speeding through the first ring carefully pacing himself to get through the ring's rotation without getting hit or having to adjust his course. Fortunately, it was a slow moving one. Once he was passed it, he zigzagged through the second, third, and fourth rings with ease. Eros took a quick glance behind him to see the proximity of the blue bludger chasing him. As he approached the fifth ring, he began to accelerated just enough to get pass the rotating ring, but without increasing the gap between the bludger and him. He wanted to keep it close for what he knew was coming next. Eros flew straight towards the sixth ring and when he close enough, pulled up. The bludger had very little time to react and went through the ring, deactivating the blue shield for him. Eros looped back down and rocketed through it. He had to quickly veer to the left a bit to dodge the bludger that had made it through before him and was shooting back at him. He also note of Magnus, who was tad bit ahead of him. Eros sped up and moved to the right of Ravenclaw (), maintaining a position next to the werewolf.

As he entered the u-turn, he kept accelerating to build a comfortable distance between him and the bludger, as well as try to get a lead on Magnus. Once out of the turn, he passed through the next ring fast rotating ring without issue. The ring after was moving upwards as Eros approached it. He looked further ahead to see the one immediately after was moving downward. The captain couldn't afford to wait for the two to line up so Eros elevated up higher than the first ring and then curved back down like a roller-coaster to get through the rings.

Eros was right on his tail as he U-turned and headed through the next ring. Magnus lost time though, trying to wait for the rings to line up. He swore as Eros passed him. Now his bludger had caught up to him, whizzing near his head. As he approached shielded ring. He took a page from Eros’ book and flew upwards a fraction, letting the bludger miss him and get through the shield but Eros was now further ahead. He leaned forwards to gain speed.

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Eros shot towards the shield-protected hoop, moving fast enough to keep the bludger right on his tail. As he approached the ring, he rolled to the side, letting the blue iron ball zoom ahead of him, unable to stop its momentum. The Slytherin followed after, swerving to evade the bludger that had darted back towards him. Eros spared a second to check behind him to see that Magnus was closing in on him. The Aussie followed suit and leaned forward to speed up, determined not to let Magnus catch up.

The ring ahead was probably the most intimidating in the series so far. It moved vertically as well as rotated at a speed just fast enough to make it a challenge. That wasn't even factoring the bludger preying on him. However, Eros had already begun timing its movement and spin and was already counting down in his head. Eros swayed left and right as he made his way towards it, slowly increasing his velocity at he got closer. "3...2...1," he counted under his breath. At zero, Eros soot through the ring. From behind him, he heard a loud banging sound as the ball hits the side of the ring while chasing him through it.

Eros looked behind him to see if he still maintained a good lead on the lycan. However, now came the final part. Either he would crash and skid through the mud, or he would successfully pull off Wronski's Feint. Eros pushed downwards and aimed his broom directly towards the ground, directly above the the bullseye on the ground. Gravity helped him accelerate towards the earth. At the last minute, Eros jerked his broom to the left to avoid hitting the ground. As he did, he heard as the bludger hit the mud, sending a tremor through the earth. Eros's feet was almost touching the ground as he flew parallel to it. Having completed the course, the boy turned around and saw that the iron ball had landed in the bullseye, although not in the perfect center. It was a little left, right on the border of the center.

Magnus managed to get a little closer to Eros but the Slytherin still had the lead and he couldn’t be distracted because the rings were more complicated now and he had the bludger on his tail. His speed was dizzying as he flipped upside down through the spinning and shifting ring, flying in a loop he arched at a dangerous speed heading straight for the ground’s target, he’d done this before and pulled up right before hitting the ground and heard the bludger hit the target, just millimetres from the bullseye, but it was too late Eros had won. He sighed. Still he'd given Eros a run for his money... right? He hopped off his broom and extended his hand to Eros--not sure if he'd want to shake. "Guess you're going to visit this 'oliday with us to the 'Arpies." He smiled.

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Eros watched at Magnus came diving down with the red bludger on his tail. At the end, Mags had pulled up, causing the iron ball to crash into the earth. Eros smiled at the werewolf's skills. He returned to the ground, shoving his hands into his pocket as he approached the other boy (). "I guess I am," Eros replied before glancing down at Magnus' hand. The sixteen year old narrowed his eyes, remembering the day he first met Magnus during a Quidditch club meeting. The boy had offered his hand like this, but Eros had totally ignored it. Eros' eyes focused back up to Magnus as he pulled out one hand from his pocket. Instead of a handshake though, Eros held out a fist for a fistbump. He smiled at the boy. "Not bad. You definitely had me nervous," he smirked.

Magnus was about to pull his hand way. He'd gotten used to his girlfriend not liking contact all the time. Then Eros offered a fistbump and Magnus followed through with that. "I was worried you'd breeze through it before I got to the first ring," he admitted. "I'm really glad I learnt that one already or I'd likely be sprawled out in the mud." He chuckled. Part of him was a bit disappointed though. He would've liked to practice with the other boy. "Thanks for letting me go against ya. Maybe when you visit, you can meet Vega, our owl. We've been teachin' 'er quidditch moves. She's really good at the Feint." He smiled shyly.

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Eros' eyes lit up with interest when Magnus () mentioned Vega. "You have an owl?," Eros asked nonchalantly, trying not to sound too excited at the idea. He was very fond of birds, especially those of the predatory sorts. "Vega sounds cool," Eros replied. "Deffo, mate. I'd love to meet her," he nodded as he shoved his hand back into his pocket. "It sounds like she had a good teacher. I could use some work on the Feint myself, which was why I wasn't the one teaching it. Maybe I should have had you demo instead of Lionheart," Eros studied the boy.

"Yeah," he said grinning. "Gaia's family raises 'em. Mum's putting in an order for several more cos she's swamped with quidditch supply orders. So we might 'ave a fleet o' 'em." Magnus nodded, happily--blushing at the teacher remark. And blushed even brighter at the compliment of Eros saying Magnus should have taught it. "Nah, I'm not that good. I need loads of practice. 'Sides, you beat me. And look 'ow terrible I was in the first course."

Fade whooped from the sidelines and cheered wildly when Magnus () accomplished the Wronski Feint. So much so he almost dropped his plate, good thing it was empty. “That was awesooommee!” He yelled out across the pitch. Really he hadn’t expected his best friend to fail, but another broken bone wasn’t always out of the question. Having avoided any injuries this time around Fade was both relieved and massively impressed by the first two fliers. Although when the bludgers had crashed into the mud it was a little jarring, even hearing the sound from where he was sitting, imagining it hitting a body part instead.

Magnus heard Fade's cheering and turned to wave. When he and Eros finished talking, Magnus made his way back to the stands, grabbing a drink in route. He sat beside his friends and went to work on his sketch of Eros."Is it silly that I wish I'd won?" he asked.

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/KTKugF2.png[/img] Eros' eyes drifted away from Magnus towards the other students when Gaia's name was mentioned. He didn't want to make it too obvious that he was looking for her, so he quickly looked at the ground before taking Magnus' lead and going to take a seat . He settled next to where the brooms were.

[img align=right]http://i.imgur.com/1Q424Wm.png[/img] "Awesome race, guys," Leo gave the pair a quick clap. "Disappointed you guys did so well, though," he exaggerated a frown, jokingly hinting that he had hoped someone would've gotten dirty in the mud. He looked around at the others. "Any other brave volunteers want to give it a go," he asked with lots of enthusiasm. "C'mon, I heard that Hogwarts breeds champions and great wizards and witches. I've seen two so far, we got any more?," he grinned.

Merlin got up and jumped when Leo asked. "I wanna try!" He looked around. "I'm not sure if anyone wants to try it with me but at least I won't be the one following, just a very nice bludger." He grins. "I'm hoping not to get dirty again but give me a sapphire bracelet, I like the color blue."

Merlin was impressed with the previous act and pats Magnus in the shoulder. "You aced it!"

Surely Leo didn't mean he was a champion or great wizard. Magnus frowned and tried to focus on his art.

Magnus giggled a little. "I'll go against if no one else wants to." He wanted to give everyone else a chance to go as well. "I'm sure you'll do well."

He shook his head. "Nah, I didn't but thanks."

Merlin frowns. "Of course you did! The last part was simply awesome, I'm not sure if I can get out on time, but i am sure I can get very close to the ground!" He laughs as he imagines himself crashing to the ground. "Hopefully I won't break my bones this time."

Magnus laughed, "Yes, you and the ground are good friends... with you tripping all the time. And you know, if you do get 'it with the mud it should do wonders for your skin. Muggles go to these places called Spa's and spend crazy money ta 'ave a mud bath. You'd get one for free." He grinned, "though today I reckon you'll be brilliant." He didn't really know how to reply to Merlin's assessment that his flying was good, so he didn't.

Merlin lifts his brows. "Why would I pay for a mud bath when mud is free? Muggles are nuts! And it's not like I don't like mud, but I don't like getting my clothes dirt which normally doesn't work for me with my affair with the ground."He giggles. "Still, I have pretty good skin already...or at least I think so." He grins and sticks his tongue out.