To Build Trust [Alice]

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Being out in the Forbidden Forest wasn’t exactly…allowed. Particularly these days, after a student had been murdered out here. But Carcer considered himself somewhat of an exception. Nothing in the forest could hurt him, after all. Lycanthropy couldn’t affect him, as it was a human disease and he was only half human. The acromantula could overpower him in great enough numbers, but they couldn’t pierce his skin to poison him. And they had to get past his spellcasting to do it. Since completing his animagus transformation, Carcer had been practicing with rapidly shifting back and forth. He hadn’t had any opportunities to use it in a real-life situation, but he was pretty sure now that he could shift to dodge an attack, reposition with all the speed the tiny form granted him, and shift back to attack. Besides, he’d have to go deeper into the forest to run into any really big spiders. As it was, he was still in sight of the castle and lake, so it hardly counted as being in the Forbidden Forest, really.

Carcer was brushing down a large, white unicorn. Well…large being subjective, of course. She was half a ton of horseflesh with a wicked spike jutting over a foot out of her head, but to a guy that regularly controlled horses the size of elephants through pure strength, she wasn’t big at all. A colt, shining like a miniature sun in the afternoon light, was rubbing against his knees, keeping its body between Carcer and its mother for safety. Most unicorns were quite wary of humans, and for some reason, the grown ones generally only let women touch them. But exceptions could be made under the right circumstances—Carcer had saved this particular mare once, and had won her trust, and now her colt’s as well. He smiled as he brushed at her fur with the handheld brush he normally used on his Abraxans. He knew his dad had had the trust of several unicorns when he was groundskeeper here, so it made him feel a little closer to the old man, having this pair trust him.

Not to mention, unicorns were simply gorgeous creatures, and not everyone got to see them from so close.

@alice

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It was a fairly nice day, considering the weather. This was likely to be one of the last decent days before the weather got particularly nasty. Alice was enjoying it with her pygmy puffs Fizzio and Quinn, the latter given to her by Carcer Hagrid. As Alice sat down upon the frosty grass watching the puffs chase one another, she thought back to the last few weeks. She felt she had grown. She had begun to spend evenings in the common room instead of hiding behind her four poster. She had even spoken to people and made friends with people she never thought she would, such as Maryn and Carcer. It was different but it was nice.

If anything in her life was wrong, it was the absence of James. It was like he had disappeared. Ever since that day in Transfiguration when James sat with Aurora instead of her. Ever since he started walking to and from class with Aurora. And even after Aurora had been pulled out of school, Alice felt like James was still being distant. She missed him. She hated not seeing him and now that Aurora was apparently back at school, she figured she would be seeing even less of him. If that was even possible.

With the thoughts of James with Aurora, Alice was becoming increasingly frustrated and mostly with herself. Why did she have to feel that way? Why did James have to disappear? Alice was so preoccupied with these thoughts that she did not realize that the little green puff seemed to stop playing with Fizzio. She stuck her nose up into the air and seemed to catch some sort of scent and almost instantly, she took off. At this, Alice's head shot up as Quinn began to scurry to the treeline. Without thinking, Alice snatched up Fizzio and got up to run after Quinn. "Quinn!" She shouted after the puff. Alice looked around in a panic. Quinn was the color of all of the leaves surrounding her and Alice began to worry that she would never find her. Then a sound in the leave made Alice jump as she looked to her right.

"Quinn, you nasty puff!?" Alice scolded the little puff who was spinning in circles now at her feet. "Don't run off like that!" She picked up the reluctant puff and held her up to her face, to which Quinn responded with an indignant huff. Alice smiled at the puff then stuck her into her robes with Fizzio. Alice then looked up, just now realizing she was in the Forbidden Forest. This was never a place Alice thought she would be, with the title "forbidden" in it and all. She was just about to leave the forest when she turned and something caught her eye.

First she saw the unicorn. Alice had only ever read about them. She knew they resided in the Forbidden Forest but she never thought she would see one for real. It was... well, "beautiful" didn't seem to do it justice. She looked it over, her mouth falling open slightly in awe. Then her eyes looked to its side where another being stood, except this being was very familiar. Alice would recognize that half-giant anywhere. Slowly, Alice moved closer, her eyes on the unicorn. She didn't want to startle either of them so she made a little awkward wave to show that she had entered their space. "Hey," she said quietly, a soft smile appearing on her face.

@carcerronaldhagrid

[Deleted]

Unicorn hair was incredibly resilient. The hair of the tail and the man was the strongest, but a unicorn’s body easily deflected swords. It took some form of magic to easily penetrate the hide—a werewolf bite, for example, though werewolves couldn’t catch a unicorn on foot. Yet, for such resilient hair, it was remarkably soft to the touch and easy to brush. Carcer had often wondered how wandmakers plucked the tails of unicorns. It couldn’t be a matter of just walking up and tearing a hair out. That would cause pain to the unicorn, not to mention they’d notice if someone was yanking on their tail. And for all their representation of innocence, unicorns were just as dangerous as any wild animal under attack. That horn? Not for show, not at all. His father had told him that a unicorn could thrust with enough force to stab even through his half-giant skin. Carcer would still win a fight with one, of that he was sure, but it was telling that the unicorn had that kind of physical power. He continued to run the brush over the mare’s flanks, humming softly to himself as he did.

Then the unicorn tensed up. Carcer blinked, raising an eyebrow, and looked around. Something was nearby. The mare pushed closer to the half-giant, crowding the young colt in, trying to keep him safe. Was it really that dangerous? Carcer was generally too large for predators to want to come near him. And the acromantula in the forest had learned a very painful lesson that Rubeus Hagrid’s amused response to their attacks was NOT the norm for half-giants. They didn’t come near him anymore. But then she stepped into view, and Carcer felt his breath catch just a bit. Alice Longbottom. He’d found himself hanging out more and more with her lately. The Magical Creatures club was one thing, but she had also taking to spending time in the common room, sometimes sitting off to the side with him where he liked to watch and listen to the sounds of his housemates. She smiled and waved at them, and Carcer felt himself smile in response. “Hey.” “Hey yourself.” Next to him, the mare tossed her head nervously.

Carcer smiled and got down on one knee in a kneeling position. He kept one hand on the mare, but his current posture covered the colt even more, while showing he didn’t consider Alice a threat. And unicorns already liked her gender more than his. As he hoped, the mare stilled. Slowly, Carcer reached out a hand to Alice. Once she took it and he led her over, the mare would at least let Alice touch her first. Once she was satisfied, she’d let the colt see her too. And Carcer found himself looking forward to that. The colt was at a playful age and would be excited to meet someone new. For now though, it tried to make itself inconspicuous. No doubt Alice had seen it already, but she knew enough about animals to know that she should pretend otherwise. All that was left now was for her to step forward, take his hand, and come greet the mother properly. “I didn’t expect to run into anyone out here. Getting some exercise?”

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Alice couldn't help it, but when Carcer greeted her in response, her eyes were on the unicorn. She had never seen something so... majestic and beautiful. It was truly a sight to take in. She watched as the unicorn seemed to nervously toss her head and Alice took just a quiet step backwards. She didn't want to frighten it at all, but she knew one could never be too careful. It was sort of a personal dream of hers to get near enough to one to touch it, to brush it like Carcer was. Alice often daydreamed of herself surrounded by many magical creatures and taking care of them. One day she hoped to travel much like her aunt, Luna, and discover new creatures. But it all came down to wanting to be around the creatures, spending time with them. It was Alice's favorite thing in the world.

A close second was becoming spending time with the half-giant.

Carcer was a lot like her, Alice was coming to realize. He preferred solitude, much like herself. And he seemed to have quite a passion for animals, too. There was something else about him, too... like Alice felt like she could really be herself around him. She didn't feel like she had to force anything when he was around. More importantly, he seemed to understand her limits. Alice didn't like to voice her limitations out loud, but she felt like she didn't need to with Carcer. He was pretty perceptive to people's feelings. He was a far better people watcher than Alice could ever hope to be. He was kind. A true Hufflepuff. She smiled down at him as he got into a kneeling position, one hand on the mare. "But of course," she said quietly, so as to not disturb the mare. "My favorite past time is walking my Pygmy Puffs," she smiled softly. As he reached out his hand to her, Alice glanced briefly at the mare. That was when she saw something move between them. Her eyes darted back to Carcer. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Is that...?" She asked, not quite able to finish her sentence out of shock. Was it really a colt behind the mother?

Slowly, Alice took Carcer's hand, knowing this was a necessary process in greeting the mother. But she couldn't ignore how warm Carcer's hand was as she did so. For a moment, Alice felt her cheeks go warm herself but she blinked a few times and focused on making whatever redness that was surely appearing, disappear.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Of course, she was out here for Quinn and Fizzio. If he’d bothered to think about it, Carcer probably would have figured that out for himself. But he hadn’t even thought about it, he’d just been happy to see her. Then the colt shofted, and he knew Alice caught the flash of sunlight from the ground. “Is that…?” Carcer grinned in response and motioned with his hand. “It is. Come on, Longbottom, the sooner the mother trusts you, the sooner you get to meet the son.” Alice blushed as bit as she took his hand, and the half-giant chuckled quietly. So even someone as eager about animals as Alice could lbush over the idea of meeting a baby unicorn. He led her forward by the hand slowly, turning to the mar and rubbing her flank soothingly with the arm that was still around her. He could easily keep the magical horse away from Alice, but the closer together they got, the more damage the unicorn could do before he stopped it.

Alice had a lot of experience with animals. She didn’t need to be told to move slowly, easily, to keep her free hand palm up so as to show that she wasn’t hiding a weapon. Carcer had to remind himself, again, that she was one of the few students in the school who knew animals better than he did. And that was no mean feat, to outdo a child of Rubeus Hagrid in the animal department. As Alice approached, Carcer raised up his arm—it would be in her way otherwise—and carefully draped it back around her, keeping their hands together the whole time. Now she could get closer. The unicorn tensed, but Carcer kept the slow pace, moving carefully, until after what felt like an hour, Alice’s hand was pressed between his own and the unicorn’s neck. The horse shuddered for just a moment beenath the touch, then stilled. Carcer grinned at the success. “You’re a natural at this, you know?” he murmured quietly, eyes still on the unicorn for comfort, arm still encirlcing Alice without him really being aware of the fact.

But it was comfortable.

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When Carcer confirmed Alice's belief, she began to feel her heart beating rapidly inside her chest. A colt? Right here? Right now? Not just the mother, but her infant? This was already easily one of the best days of Alice's life, if only because she even got a glimpse of a unicorn. But two? She didn't know how Carcer did it, but he never managed to not surprise her. As Carcer slowly led Alice forward, she kept her eyes on the unicorn. She kept her expression soft and blank, but kind. The hand that wasn't in Carcer's slowly moved into the unicorn's sight and she held her palm up to show that she wasn't hiding anything. It was hard to ignore the beating of her heart, the closer she got to the unicorn. She focused on steadying her breathing at least, so as to not put the unicorn on edge.

It felt like everything around her had disappeared. All she was conscious of was the fact that she was slowly moving toward the unicorn. She wasn't... nervous, she realized. She was more excited, than anything. This was a unicorn, after all. But then she found that that wasn't the only reason that she wasn't nervous.

Finally, Alice's hand rested on the unicorn's neck and it was like she was brought back to reality. She felt an overwhelming happiness surge through her upon touching the unicorn as she smiled, and then she was made aware of Carcer's hand behind her own. And his arm around her. Alice normally would have been so self-conscious about someone being that close to her and leading her, but with Carcer... it felt so natural and comfortable that she hadn't even realized it was happening. Alice could help but let a small smile appear in response to his comment. Her eyes remained on the unicorn for a moment. "You're not so bad yourself," she joked, quietly. Then she looked up at him, her eyes playfully mocking him.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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He didn’t fail to catch the blissful smile that crossed Alice’s face when she finally felt the silky hair of the unicorn. His other arm, bracing the mare just a bit, felt it relax at the touch as well. It was as though they connected in that instant, and the mare was suddenly rather okay with the girl’s presence. Perhaps Alice would never have had the chance if Carcer hadn’t earned the unicorn’s trust first. But she had done it so much faster. And this was a protective mother. If there was no colt to worry about, would Alice have been able to do it just by her movements and some soothing words? Carcer wanted to know, but since he had no way of finding out right now, he filed the thought away with his other questions about the eldest Longbottom child. For now, he let her take in the unicorn, the feel of its fur, the soft ripple of muscles when she played her fingers over them.

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

The half-giant raised an eyebrow and smiled as their eyes met. Crouching as he was, Carcer was still taller than her, but not by much. They were close enough together for him to fully appreciate the smoky quality of her sky-blue eyes, her sun-kissed hair. She took after her mother, he knew, having seen the woman at the Leaky Cauldron and on Platform 9¾ before. But there was something about her rare smiles and even rarer grins that reminded him all too much of Professor Longbottom. She was smiling now, which he always liked to see. In fact, all he had to do right now would be to lean forward just a bit and he could—an impatient whinnying distracted him. Carcer blinked and looked down, then laughed as the colt shouldered its way past his knee and began to sniff at Alice. “Now how did I forget about you, little guy?” he asked as he shifted to let the golden horse free. Of course, he knew how he did. It had been that tiny little impulse that the colt had stopped before he’d had time to even figure out what the impulse was really telling him to do.

He carefully moved back a bit, removing his arm from around Alice and sitting down on the ground. He pulled at a bag tied to his belt and handed it to his fellow Hufflepuff, giving the bag a little shake for emphasis. “Here, apples and sugar cubes.” The colt was in a playful mood now, the excitement of meeting yet another “safe” person exciting it. It moved around Alice almost like a puppy trying to start a game, while the mare turned her attention back toward the forest, ever watchful. Carcer watched Alice interact with them like it was the best day of her life. It had occurred to him that he rather liked her when she was in a good mood, and it had also occurred to him that she seemed to be in a good mood quite often around him. Funny, how often James Potter left her looking sour and put out. Maybe he should… “Hey…Alice? The Slug Club party is coming up soon, and…well, I know we both have our own invites, but…would you like to go together?”

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To be quite honest, Alice had never really thought of venturing out into the Forbidden Forest before so the thought of coming into contact with a unicorn was something of a dream to her. She knew enough of unicorns, and any protective animal mother, to know when one trusted a human enough to let them anywhere near their infant. That was a big thing in the animal world. The fact that this particular unicorn let Carcer, a half-giant male, anywhere near her in the first place really impressed Alice. Carcer was a lot more in tune with animals than she initially thought. But that was no surprise, considering he was a Hagrid. She had had so many new experiences thanks to him. She had flown on the back of one of his Abraxans, he had given her Quinn, and now... she was running her hand gently across a unicorn because of him. Granted it was completely accidental for her to stumble into the forest, she was grateful beyond belief that she had happened to stumble upon Carcer Hagrid.

Alice looked up from the unicorn to look at Carcer again, her eyes meeting his as they both shared a smile. For once, he was closer to her height instead of towering over her like he normally did. She could easily just look at all of his facial features at a near eye level now, something she had not before been able to do. She looked over him a moment, her hand still slowly going over the mare. Alice wasn't certain, but for a moment it looked as if he was looking her over as well but she couldn't be sure. She was just beginning to get a little self-conscious when he fortunately looked away and down at the colt. She let out a little breath of relief, but why? Was she actually feeling a little embarrassed that Carcer Hagrid was looking at her so closely?

The colt moved forward to sniff at Alice and she was thankful for the distraction even if only for a moment. (But distraction from what, exactly? Alice wasn't even quite sure.) She looked down at the golden colt, her eyes widening in amazement. It was certainly a sight to take in. She felt her breath catch again, but for an entirely different reason. She truly couldn't believe she was getting to experience this: a mother and her colt, all in one day. She slowly lifted her free hand up to let the colt sniff it before setting her hand on his neck to pet him. As she did so, she felt Carcer's arm move from around her. She pretended not to notice, but she had grown quite used to it being there that she had forgotten he had placed it there in the first place. Her eyes flashed to Carcer when she saw him pulling at something out of the corner of her eye. As Carcer handed her the bag, she accepted it and the colt began to run around her playfully. Alice couldn't help but laugh, of course. It was such a joyous experience she thought she would never be able to stop smiling.

Alice reached into the bag and pulled out an apple, holding it out in front of her to playfully tease the unicorn. She held it just over its head as she playfully said, "Reach for it!" And the little colt lifted its front legs briefly off the ground as if in a little jump to grab it out of Alice's hand. She grinned widely. She honestly had no words for how she was feeling or how to describe the situation. Breathtaking? Magical? They didn't even cut it. Alice was so distracted again by the scene in front of her that Carcer's question caught her off guard completely.

"Would you like to go together?"

Like a date? To a party? Alice blinked at him, her lips parted only slightly in what could only be surprise. To be honest, Alice had not even thought about going to the party. She would much rather stay in her dorm all night, reading or something. On the other hand, a part of her felt like she would choose hanging out with Carcer over reading a book. He just... put her in a good mood. And Alice couldn't ignore that any longer. She went a little red in the cheeks at the question, but was far too distracted by it to really notice that she was turning red at all. She tightened her lips in a thin line but began to vigorously shake her head, "yes." While parties really weren't her thing, she figured... for some reason... with Carcer, they could be.

Alice continued to shake her head up and down until she finally stopped, realizing she had not yet spoken any words. She blinked again, still a little red in the face, and finally opened her mouth to speak. "Y-yes, I would... like that." She said slowly. She avoided Carcer's eyes out of embarrasment but a small smile played at the corner of her mouth.

@carcerronaldhagrid

[Deleted]

Carcer could watch Alice interact with animals all day. There was something so natural about it all that appealed to him. The half-giant was content to let the world roll by at its rapid pace while he watched, but no matter how busy people got, animals always took time to work with. Alice seemed to work faster with them than most people, but it was still a pace Carcer was quite comfortable with. It was like...when they were together, the small small world that was just them and whatever they were doing moved more slowly, more comfortably. He wondered what she was planning to do when she graduated. He was planning to stop by Gringott's in December to discuss their Cursebreaker program, which was what he wanted to do. Carcer loved animals and the outdoors, of course, but his skill and passion was in reading the underlying magic, deciphering it. That was what he loved most, and why he loved Transfiguration and other classes based on complex wandwork. Well...maybe not what he loved most. He loved his family, his friends...and, he had realized, the girl playing with the colt. Carcer wasn't sure when it had happened, but he liked that as cold as she was to everyone else, she would be soft with him. Like he was different, more important to her, enough that she wanted to keep him around.

Maybe he'd drop by the Leaky Cauldron during Christmas break. He had an idea about a present for her.

He had asked the question without really considering it, but now that it was asked, Carcer suddenly felt nervous and self-conscious. The complete surprise on Alice's face wasn't helping much, but he forced his gaze not to waver. It might look like he was reconsidering the question—and he wasn't, not even a little. Well, he might be regretting asking it without thinking, but he wasn't regretting the idea of going out with her. And Merlin knew she didn't need any more incentive to avoid groups of people. As it stood she was probably....probably going....to say no....err? She was blushing super hard and nodding. Nodding meant yes, didn't it? It had to, Carcer was having trouble thinking but that was one of those instinctive things. And then she spoke up. She was accepting! And blushing! And smiling! These were all good things! Carcer couldn't help the grin crossing his face. Suddenly the day had gotten a lot better (and it had not been a bad day to start with). “Well, good, so...good.” Yes Carcer, that's the response she was hoping for. Real charmer, you are. Mental note: smack self in the face later when Alice is not around to misinterpret it. In the meantime, he was finding it hard to figure out something else to say.

Or tear his eyes away from her, for that matter.

Once more, the colt appeared to save the day, headbutting the treat bag in Alice's hand and rearing up a little. Clearly, he wanted the attention back on him. Carcer grinned and laughed again. “Unicorns aren't used to not being the center of attention,” he said with a pointed look at the colt, who was entirely unabashed and, for that matter, not even paying attention to him. He stood up and walked over to the mare, running his hands soothingly along her back. “There there, little mother. You're alright here, it's safe.” He walked around her, putting his back to the Forbidden Forest, so he could still look in Alice's direction. He stroked the mare, but the smile on his face wasn't for the animals. Now, he was barely even thinking about them.

He had a date to think about, and she was standing ten feet away.

@alice

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Alice had never before this moment realized the good that Carcer brought out in her. There was no doubt that he knew how cold she could be to others most of the time and that had not scared him away, and Alice felt that was probably why it was initially so easy to talk to him. The fact that they shared a love for animals was just a huge plus. She hadn't thought much about how she acted around Carcer simply because it came to her so naturally. But as they both stood there by the unicorn, Alice couldn't help but allow a very small smile. She was happy that she had gotten as close as she had to Carcer and... she was glad that she was now going to a party. With him.

"Well, good so... good." Alice looked up at Carcer to see he was wearing a grin. Still a little pink in the face, Alice couldn't help but smile back at him. She looked at him for a moment in silence as he seemed to be doing the same. When he had asked, it sure did take Alice by surprise... for she never thought she would be asked out on a date by anyone at Hogwarts. She thought her ill-tempered personality was much too well known for anyone to want to spend more time than they had to around her. Not that that stuff bothered her; she preferred to be alone. But... she found that while she was surprised, she was... happy, excited even. That was something Alice never thought she would feel about a party.

When the colt headbutted the bag in Alice's hands, she looked away from Carcer to the colt. She smiled at it and reached in the bag for another apple. She took it out and held it in her palm, offering it to the colt as Carcer walked around by the mother. Alice watched the colt as it ate the apple and when it had finished, Alice looked up to face Carcer again. She couldn't find any words to say... but a smile slowly appeared on her face as she looked at the half-giant next to the mare. She felt a little nervous, but... all the fun she had had with Carcer kind of outweighed her nervousness. She was actually excited to be going on a date. On a date with Carcer.

@carcerronaldhagrid

[Deleted]

Looking at the unicorn, Carcer found himself happily amused that he’d rendered Alice speechless. Normally, she had something to say and someone in mind to hear it. Other times, she didn’t want to talk and everyone around her could tell with ease. Most people avoided her in those moods, though not Carcer—he had more fun pulling her out her foul moods than just letting her be. But rare was the time when she just simply had no words. Most often, this happened with animals, but not all—only some. She could still talk around most of the larger ones, like Apollo and Diana. He wondered briefly if any person had left her without words before. He decided not to ask—it sounded weird even in his own mind. But he liked the idea that he was the first one to do so.

Wait a minute he hadn’t seen her since—that’s right! “Oh, I almost forgot I’ve been wanting to show you something. I got my registration a week ago, so now I can do this legally.” He grinned at Alice again, though it was more mischievous than satisfied this time. He carefully put on hand on the back of the mare, then jumped, his legs swinging sideways as though to vault over the unicorn. But midair, he began to change. The most obvious part was the extremely rapid shrinking of his form. Carcer went from thirteen feet tall to rodent-sized in a matter of seconds, leaving a flying squirrel sitting on the back of the unicorn and looking at Alice. His fur was the exact shade of his hair in his normal form, and he was also twice as large as any flying squirrel of that species had ever been. Which, of curse, left Carcer about a foot long, if you counted the seven inches of tail. He’d gone from thirteen feet of height and 300+ pounds of muscle to a one-foot gliding rat that might weigh a pound soaking wet.

He twitched his nose and chattered at Alice for a moment before launching himself from the unicorn’s back and gliding over to her. Learning to control his flight had taken some time, and he still needed to work on it—he almost missed her shoulder coming in, but managed to catch himself on her sleeve and pull himself up. He sat on her shoulder for a few seconds before there was a sudden rustling on her robe pocket and with a mighty (with respect to size) roar, Quinn came charging out and up the robe to face off against him. Carcer was tiny now, but still much too big for a Pygmy Puff to fight. But Quinn was still snarling, still prepping to charge….then she paused, sniffed a bit, and seemed to recognize him. She tackled him with an affectionate chirp, and Carcer patted the little green puff.

It was nice to be able to see the little furball in detail for once.

@alice

[Deleted]

Alice's mind was a bit off the fritz now as she stood in the forest with Carcer and the unicorns. Two pretty monumental things had happened to her in a short time. She saw a unicorn for the first time ever and... she had been asked out on a date. She was feeling a bit restless as she shuffled her feet beneath her, looking anywhere but at Carcer. She was embarrassed... but only in the best of ways.

"Oh, I almost forgot..." Carcer caught her attention again and her eyes darted up to meet his. Registration? Alice cocked her head to the side in confusion, wondering what on Earth the half-giant could possibly mean by that. The grin on his face did seem quite... mischievous as he went to place his hand on the mare. As he did, the next thing Alice knew, Carcer was jumping and swinging his legs over the mare. She watched him but what happened was almost instantaneous that Alice almost didn't believe her eyes. Now, on the back of the unicorn, was not a half-giant but a squirrel of some sort. Alice's eyes widened in amazement, speechless once again thanks to Carcer Hagrid.

The blonde watched the rodent as it was suddenly gliding over to her. It was hard to believe that just moments ago, this squirrel had been Carcer. He caught her sleeve and pulled himself onto her shoulder. Alice looked at him, her mouth slowly forming into a smile as it dawned on her that Carcer was an Animagus! It was unbelievable. Alice had not met many, and even then no one she was close to... Was she close to Carcer? She let out a little amazed laugh when she felt something in her pocket stir. Suddenly, Quinn came charging out of her robes toward Carcer. Alice was just about to seize the puff when realization seemed to dawn on her as well as she sniffed Carcer and began to chirp and tackle him. Alice watched with a smile on her face.

"How long did it take you to -" Alice stopped mid sentence. "Guess that's a better question for when you can answer," she recovered a little sheepishly. Alice offered up her hands, hoping that Carcer would accept her silent invitation to crawl into her hands.

@carcerronaldhagrid

[Deleted]

Alice started to ask him a question, but seemed to think better of it, saying she should probably wait. Yeah, being capable of human speech might make the answer quicker. Though he would have tried to answer her anyway. Carcer chattered, the sound clearly meant to be laughter, but he jumped onto Alice's outstretched hands anyway, turning to look up at her. He tilted his head a bit to the side. Squirrel vision was actually quite good, if a little odd to get used to. Predator vision was binocular, able to judge distance to a high degree directly in front of them. Humans had the same vision, save that their binocular vision was much wider. But prey vision was much wider, to see threats coming from more directions, while at the same time not being able to focus as easily. Carcer's vision wasn't quit THAT bad, he retained enough human-style eyesight to focus better, but it was still disorienting at times.

He chased his tail around for a bit in Alice's hand, but he didn't plan to sit in this form long enough for her to forget he was who he was and start hugging or petting him. Both would cause embarrassment for one or both of them once the thought process kicked back in. So after a few minutes, he jumped out of her hands and down to the ground, and a few seconds later, thirteen feet of giant sat at a golden colt cantered and danced around him. He grinned. “I got permission last May to work on it, so close to eight months. Now I can get around without being stared at so much and get through doors that I don't fit through normally. It's pretty nice.”

(OoC: Argh sorry it's so short >_<)

@alice

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Alice chuckled as Carcer the flying squirrel jumped into her hands. How funny that Carcer, a half giant, had an animagus form of a tiny little squirrel. The thought made Alice chuckle audibly. Alice had read plenty over her years to know about animagi. She knew becoming one wasn't easy, and that one had to register with the Ministry so that they could "keep ties on you" so to speak. Alice wasn't really into politics. However, she wondered how long exactly it must have taken Carcer to perfect such an art. He seemed to phase so flawlessly. It blew her mind and had really taken her off guard. Alice didn't think she could ever be an animagus. She was far too invested with taking care of animals to be one. Plus she didn't think she could ever master it... she wasn't terribly good at Transfiguration. Carcer on the other hand, had always been good in that class. Alice could always see that.

Carcer took the eldest Longbottom by surprise again when he jumped out of her hands and suddenly he was his normal, tall self again. Alice looked up at him with wide eyes, but grinned all the same. "Wow," Alice muttered quietly. She smirked a little when he said he could easily slip through doors now. "So that's why you went with the small animal, huh?" She folded her arms across her chest, eyeing him with mock suspicion. She chuckled again and relaxed her arms again to her sides. "That's really cool. From what I understand not many students can accomplish something like that so young," she said, beginning to ramble on about her studies. As always, Alice never thought twice about talking with Carcer. It just came so naturally.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Carcer grinned unashamedly as Alice pretended to accuse him of choosing his form for ulterior motives. Not that he would do such a thing anyway, but even if he wanted to, Hogwarts had enchantments that would stop him. Or…should, at least. Right? Great, now he wanted to find out while at the same time never wanting to know. He rubbed the back of his neck a little nervously when she complimented his ability to shift forms. “We all have our strengths. I don’t think you know how amazing it is that the unicorns didn’t run as soon as you appeared.” Frankly, he couldn’t have managed that. If they didn’t know him from before, they’d have run long before he caught sight of them. She was able to fly Diana really well, and now even Apollo seemed to like her, though she simply didn’t have the physical strength to actually control him. At the very least, the winged stallion wasn’t hostile to her—and he would ignore anyone who couldn’t actually strong enough to control him. Carcer just happened to have that strength.

Now there was a thought.

“You know, we won’t have many more opportunities for flying before the holidays. I know Diana’s missing you. Do you…have time right now?” He stood up from the ground, the unicorns behind him forgotten. There was something much more important in front of him, and he was actually kinda scared to try and identify it. What if he couldn’t? What if he could? Carcer hesitated for a moment, then held out his hand, waiting to see if she’d take it.

@alice
OoC: Gaaaaah I made you wait two months for a crappy post :C Should we wrap this thread up and move on to one that takes place during the Christmas break? ^^;;