The young lady reassured him in a surprisingly effective way, though Bragi preferred to focus on an inner promise — he would grasp the spell. Absolutely he would. In fact he’d been so close, more so than ever before, though he suspected the stranger hadn’t seen just how close he’d been. She hadn’t seen the blue haze briefly taking form, small, four-legged… what had it been?

The girl’s patronus would not be cautious and timid, that was for sure. Bragi could not help but return her infectious smile, and raised his brow in interest at her own learnings on the charm. But he also felt a twinge of mild unease as she walked closer and toyed with her own wand, turning this from a brief encounter to, potentially, a full-blown conversation. Yes Bragi looked younger than his years, but he was evidently a gentleman, and single to boot. The presence of an unknown young woman subtly perturbed him in a manner that he did not really like, but he knew to be proper.

”Quite”, he chuckled as she lauded the relative uselessness of the popular spell. And then he glanced briefly between the trees as if spotting someone there (he had not). A sudden chaperone would’ve been nice. ”I do hope I haven’t interrupted your walk? This is my first day in Hogsmeade and I’m already bothering the locals with my mischief”, he added with a smile.