Calming Tragedy [Reserved for Zahir Esperian]

[Cabhan Daley]

The outside was cool and crisp and it felt good against Cabhan's face. He was hot temperature wise as well as hot headed. He had found out recently that his mother was dating again. He knew his mother's taste in men and couldn't wait to find out what kind of winner she found. Now, he tried to be happy for mom, be there for her and try to like the guy she was dating. He wanted them to be happy and he knew that it included him being happy for for them. He let out a sigh and kicked at the ground. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it up and started walking walking towards the lake. He took a deep drag from his cigarette before letting it out. He took a few more steps and counted to himself. "One....two...." He shook his head, he couldn't help it, his OCD was getting the better of him and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get it under control. Even with smoking, which usually helped but it wasn't this time. He groaned and took another drag from his smoke and blew it out his nose. "....Six.....seven." He was annoyed that he was counting but he couldn't help it. It was there and it wasn't going away. Things weren't going well for the man and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't shake the feeling that his life was getting the better of him.

He still woke up to constant nightmares. The flashbacks of his father trying to...well anyway, it was stressing him and taking a toll on him. The large dark circles under his eyes showed just how tired he was. The unkept mess of hair on top of his head and the rumpled robes he wore all showed just how stressed he'd been lately.

The fire in the forest was also keeping him up. He had to find a way and a potion to try to resolve the dry earth so there would be a way to regrow the forest. The animals there were displaced and he knew just how the animals felt to be able to go home. He put out his cigarette and shoved the butt into his pocket before letting out a sigh. The walls and grounds held fond memories but also nightmares.

[Zahir Esperian]

Zahir was in his animagus form flying around the castle's perimeter. He enjoyed taking flight as a grandala more than he did flying, particularly because of his size as a bird gave him an added advantage of being less noticeable to any possible trespassers. Perhaps his bright blue coloring would make him stick out, but he'd rather take his chances. He glided through the air and decided to make his way toward the lake.

Life back at Hogwarts on rotation was quite interesting. Overall, things were fairly quiet. Well, compared to his time with the infamous Boy Who Lived, anyway. Now, there wasn't some snake-face looking man trying to kill a student. He remembered fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts alongside his classmates and professors. It really cemented his desire to become an auror and to take down any of those that managed to escape after everything went down. Now, he was stationed at Hogwarts for most of the month. A few interesting things had happened over the last few months, but it wouldn't be life at the school if it hadn't.

Flapping through the skies, he noticed a figure down by the lake and decided to land on a nearby rock to get an idea of who it was and to make sure he didn't need to get to, err... auror-ing. He observed the man for a few moments and noticed he was smoking. Zahir took note of his features and tried to put a finger on who it was. After a few minutes, he realized it was one of the professors and things seemed to be okay. Perhaps he just stepped out for fresh air. Zahir transfigured back into his normal form and cleared his throat in an effort to not completely scare the man if he hadn't known someone was there. He spoke casually to the man. "Hello, professor. Is everything okay out here?"

[Cabhan Daley]

The man I just finished putting a cigarette butt in his pocket when he heard the voice from behind him. He was a bit startled and turned to look at the man who was an author, there to protect the school. He knew that things have been kind of shaky at Hogwarts lately especially with the fire at the forbidden Forest spreading through hogsmeade. But life had to go on as they knew it. Life had been rather tough lately for the professor, but he was learning to deal with life as it was thrown at him. The only thing that was really bothering him were the nightmares it had been years since his father had died and yet the nightmare still came and haunted him almost every night.

"Alright, yes fine thank you." of course that was a lie, Cabhan was far from okay but he wasn't going to put his doubts and worries and fears on anyone else. It wasn't really their responsibility to take care of him he had to take care of himself despite the sleeping droughts and the potions he made himself to try to help him sleep. "quiet around the school I'm guessing?" he hoped it was true because it hadn't been quiet over the past few weeks.

"I just stepped out to try to clear my head. Although trying to figure out a potion to cure the dry Earth in the forbidden Forest is it trying to ask. It takes its toll, you know?" he felt comfortable sharing this bit with the auror as it was sort of his place to understand what was going on at the school. but as far as the personal things going on in his mind he didn't feel comfortable sharing that with anyone, at least not yet.