Magical Hogwarts

March 2005

CW: Potion use

The season opening was coming closer. Aglaya was working intensely on preparing her new routines, feeling that some aspects were getting harder every year. She had the experience, of course. Some elements came naturally. Her body memory kicked in when she did them. She was also always full of ideas for choreographies. However, what was challenging was to get into competitive shape. She felt sore and tired after each and every practice and she knew that a competition was even more straining.

Nonetheless the artistic flying champion didn’t want to give up. Ignoring the fatigue and the pain she had gone through a full practice session with Aleksandra Viktorovna. Her coach was strict and always made it clear that she would not be treated with more leniency because of all the titles she earned in the past. It was not like Aglaya expected that anyway. With years of experience in the sport she knew that only regular hard work and focus lead to top results.

Given the difficulties of the past two years, Aglaya had gotten used to the consumption of mood altering potions as well as energy potions. She knew that this was a bad thing and consequently kept it a secret. However, she couldn’t deny that she was getting addicted. There was not a single day anymore when she did not take the potions.

Today Aleksandra Viktorovna had changed the scheduled training sessions because she had some kind of appointment and thus, Aglaya had shared the arena with Rodion and a few other athletes that Rodion’s grandmother taught. While they rarely ever got to train alone under the guidance of their coach, the air space felt crowded and Aglaya got annoyed with a girl from Smolensk who had only recently applied to the flying school in Rybinsk to train here. She never gave way when someone else’s music was playing, didn’t seem to look left or right, up or down and had almost crashed into everyone else by now. It was infuriating to the point that Aglaya landed next to Aleksandra Viktorovna and announced she’d end her training ten minutes early. It was too risky to try and do difficult elements if there was the constant danger of a crash. Besides, she felt quite sore and exhausted already.

“You know that she’s no good. No matter what her family pays, please, send her away.” She said this loud enough that people in their surroundings could overhear it.

Then Aglaya shouldered her broom and went to the stands where she had stored her bag. She sat down, lifted the protective enchantments from the bag, and pulled out a bottle, taking a sip as she leaned back to watch the others. Two almost crashes later the next athletes were too annoyed to stay in the air until the very end of their training session.

“Hey Rodya,” Aglaya said, “I hope you, too, told your grandmother to send that girl away.”

@Rodion Shishkin

Rodion tried to be conscious of when he was being overly judgmental, but in this case he barely gave it a second thought. It was bad enough that the girl wasn't very good, but the lack of awareness of those around her was what had him not feeling bad if she was dismissed. Multiple near crashes was not acceptable, not from anyone old enough to know how to avoid them, and the sport was dangerous enough as it was, they didn't need one of their own making the risk that much higher.

As he settled into a seat not far from Aglaya he shook his head lightly, and gestured down at his grandmother "I didn't have to." He said as he also began packing his things into his own bag "Look at her face, she looks ready to knock the girl off of her own broom." Granted, his grandmother could be hard to read and was not known for her cheerfulness, but he knew her well enough to know what she looked like when she was unhappy.

"I would think her dismissal will be coming after this session or next." He mused, watching the remaining fliers for a moment "As it stands she is an absolute liability to herself, others, and the school's reputation more than anything." And they both knew how much the school's reputation outweighed almost any other factor in the mix, save for safety concerns "Feeling up to a friendly wager?" He asked playfully, unable to resist the temptation for some fun. Plus, they both knew the girl's dismissal was imminent, so why not have a little fun at her expense?

Plus, he was curious to see if Aglaya would take his wager or not, despite being related and in the same sport, he'd never had a chance to know her better, and he figured that being on the Senior circuit, it was time he made an effort.

It was true, Aleksandra Viktorovna looked beyond annoyed and it was good to see that. The elderly witch was strict and demanding but Aglaya knew that she had a good heart and could even be humorous - away from the arena. Artistic flying always came first.

Aglaya remembered how she had sometimes gone out for dinner after a successful competition with Aleksandra and her mother. The good old times… Now their relationship was more strained. At some point Aglaya had left the coach to train on her own. Then the poisoning had happened and afterwards she had come back to Aleksandra Viktorovna. They got along now, respected each other, but the familiarity of past years wasn’t there anymore.

“I wish she’d really do that,” Aglaya said. It was surprising that this total disaster of an artistic flyer had not fallen off her broom more often during this practice. Then again, she had had at least around a dozen falls. One thing Aglaya had to admit, though, was that the girl always got back onto her broom quite quickly. She nodded as Rodya said that he expected the dismissal to be coming after this session or next and that she was a liability. It was a fact that someone like that girl did not deserve a spot on their training team. In fact, it was surprising that she had continued to compete as a senior when she had so little talent.

“I agree,” Aglaya said, her gaze on the girl. She frowned when she saw another awkward move from her that almost led to a collision with the stands on the other side of the arena. “I really just wonder what makes her think she can pursue a career in artistic flying. She never placed well in juniors. Why does she believe she can make it in the senior circuit? She might think that she just needs more practice but… honestly, she’s hopeless. and someone needs to tell her.”

Rodion spoke of a friendly wager and Aglaya finally turned her gaze away from the girl to look at her younger relative. “A wager?” she asked, the hint of a smile spreading across her face. He got her interested.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm in agreement with you." Rodion admitted, turning to watch the girl with Aglaya, and wincing outwardly as he watched her struggle to not crash into the stands. "I suppose she would, if it weren't for the politics that comes along with these families." He didn't think his grandmother was unkind, but with the way the flying school had been allowed structure his childhood and young adult life so far, it was easy to lose sight of what his family was like when they were away from the arena.

He would have been more alarmed by the thought if artistic flying didn't always come first, no matter what. He was actually quite fond of his grandmother, but his respect for her as his coach, and her expectations of him as an athlete tempered his want to show it.

Rodion shrugged at Aglaya's question, allowing himself to think aloud while he watched the girl in question "Mm. Maybe it's like an addiction? You know how easy it is to fall in love with this sport, no matter how cruel and unforgiving it is." He mused, "It's just in her case, her family is too wealthy for someone to have broken the news to her earlier, and that desire to chase success keeps her blinded more than anyone else." The grind for success, to be first, for Rodion was like what he imagined it would be like for someone who had a vice, and assumed it was like that for everyone else.

He almost felt bad for the girl, imagining what it would feel when someone told her, or she realized that her future was not in the sport, at least not at a highly competitive level. Sympathy aside, Aglaya was right, someone needed to tell her, and his grandmother or any other Senior level instructor would not shy away from the task. Feelings were considerably lower on the list of things that got considered than success and ability. It likely seemed cruel outside of the sport, but for them, it was a fact as much as needing to breathe was.

The young wizard smiled slightly in response as he nodded "Yes, a wager." He confirmed, gesturing to the girl across the arena "We both know that she'll likely be dismissed soon, so I figured we might as well have some fun with it. We could bet some money on who dismisses her and when they do it?" He was pleased Aglaya seemed interested, but he wondered if she would end up agreeing to the premise of the wager, or have something else to suggest.

“True,” Aglaya said. Their family was well off, had influence in the sport but they weren’t super rich and couldn’t afford turning down children of rich parents too easily. The school needed more than just the prize money of the athletes from the family to survive.

Nodding at Rodion’s comment on the girl, Aglaya watched how she tried to fly a sharp turn and almost fell off the broom again. “I think I’d volunteer to break the news to her,” she remarked drily, averting her gaze from the unfortunate athlete.

“What annoys me most is not that she is being trained here,” Aglaya added, “it’s rather that she gets to train with us. I mean, yes, I know today is an exception but still… Having her train with athletes that are preparing for championships is too risky. We could get seriously hurt because she keeps getting in the way and can’t seem to change her direction quickly. I cannot even count how many times I had to suddenly change direction to avoid crashing into her today.”

Aglaya looked at Rodion, an amused expression on her face. “Alright,” she said, “how much money do you want to bet?” A movement caught her attention and she looked at the girl again who was once again on the ground and mounting her broom again.

“I wouldn’t bet on your grandmother,” Aglaya said thoughtfully. “I think if she was the one to do it, she’d have done so a while ago.”

"So why don't you?" He asked, half teasing, half goading "You might be right about grandmother, but I can't see Andrey doing it either, but maybe he is the better bet between the two of them." He conceded, continuing to stow his gear halfheartedly as they chatted.

"You're not wrong, and with the season in the not too distant future, injuries now could derail anyone's season in a big way. Especially with the schedule the way it is this year. But, if the donation that got her a chance here was big enough, I could see someone bending the rules for her in hopes there might be more where that came from, no matter what comes of her own career." It was stupid in Rodion's opinion that anyone would think to put such a clear novice and danger in the same arena as some of the schools best talent, and he wasn't only thinking about himself.

The blonde considered, his own amusement mirroring Aglaya's as he paused for affect "How about 100 galleons?" He offered, knowing that it was a small sum, but he was also testing the waters to see what the witch's reaction would be. Not to mention, he might be having fun at someone else's expense, but he wasn't about to get taken in a silly wager, either.

"If nothing else she is persistent, I'll give her that" Rodya commented, wondering how the girl hadn't been able to see what was going on around her and compare it to her own performance yet.

“I would love to do it, but I don't think I should," Aglaya admitted. "Andrey won’t do it either,” she added, feeling quite certain that her grandfather would avoid the confrontation. “Honestly, out of the two I think your grandmother is the stronger person, but…” she shrugged, “I don’t think either of them will tell Polina or her father that this isn’t working out.”

She nodded, the fear of injuries was always there in this dangerous sport but with a person flying uncontrollably among them, the risk was higher than usual. Of course, Aglaya’s mother was an example of an apt healer but even Alyona couldn’t heal every injury with a flick of her wand or a potion. Aglaya was an athlete for long enough to have gone through the one or other injury that, even with magic, had taken some time to cure.

“100 galleons?” A gambler would probably put in a higher sum, but Aglaya thought that for their little bet it was already a remarkable amount. “Well, okay,” she said. “So… who do you bet on? I could actually see my mother losing patience with her if Polina happens to injure one of us.”

Rodya called Polina persistent and Aglaya looked at the girl again, raising her eyebrows as she watched another unfortunate manoeuvre. Persistence was only admirable when it wasn’t entirely in vain. With Polina all persistence seemed to go to waste.

“I think it’s sad. She’s trying so hard and doesn’t see that her energy would better be spent on something else. I’m sure she has some other talent, everybody has some kind of talent, after all.”