In the dark of the night, Open Options

[Elizabeth Sander...]

Lizzy wasn't sure why she had decided that it would be a good idea to venture into the forbidden forest, especially considering the fact that an older student had told her that the forest was a meeting ground for Death Eaters. Lizzy didn't think that was true. The forest was too close to the school, and besides, she was convinced that the reason that it was forbidden was because there was a dragon in the forest. She didn't think that any Death Eater would want to take their chances with a dragon. It just seemed silly.

It was dark when she began taking her first steps into the forest. At the very least, she had her wand, and was able to see a few feet ahead. All she could see were branches that were knit close together, and leaves. Lots of leaves. She had been expecting to see a dragon, or at the very least, a unicorn. Maybe a werewolf. But all she saw were plants. Fat load of good that was going to do if she was trying to find a dragon.

The dragon was probably hiding out around the middle of the forest, so she decided that she was going to just have to keep going. She was pretty sure that they had learned some spell in charms to help them if they got lost. Maybe. She couldn't even remember if second years had Charms class the previous term. Besides, because it was second term, she had all new classes. She couldn't be expected to remember everything from a class that she had finished up a month earlier.

Some bird flew out of a tree in front of her, causing her to drop her wand in surprise. As she retrieved her wand, she couldn't help but think that she had heard something. Or someone. Going out to explore the forest was probably an extremely bad idea, and she hoped that she hadn't managed to stumble upon the dragon, because in all honesty, she had no idea how to tame a dragon.

This post has been edited by Elizabeth Sanders: Jun 20 2012, 11:28 PM

[Aiyana Manawale...]

This was about to become a night that had been like no other since Aiyana started attending Hogwarts. A night in which accidents could happen and a young Hufflepuff girl would walk into a situation almost accidentally or was it done on purpose?

The day started off just like any other. A brand new term filled with different classes and the same old familiar faces. A young girl that hadn't made that many friends and was all alone in the sea of first years trying to find her way in life. Classes were followed by meals, dueling, and last but not least a much needed walk along the school grounds to clear her head.

Aiyana had the habit of daydreaming and wandering off to new and exciting places. In other words, daydreaming usually got her lost. Thankfully she always found her way back. Today Aiyana was thinking about the year so far and how she wished that there was more time to duel and improve her skills. The girl also was wondering how to make friends that she could hang out with outside of class.

Thoughts were quickly surrounded by darkness and then trees. Aiyana had her wand and absentmindedly managed to produce the spell that lighted her wand. But as the wand lite up, the Hufflepuff realized that she was surrounded by trees.

Then the daydreaming stopped and Aiyana looked around with a confused look on her face.

Trees?

Darkness?

Oh no! She has entered the forbidden forest without thinking. Panic set in. How was she supposed to get out of here? The place was called forbidden for a reason. All of a sudden, a soft noise was heard in the air. Thinking that it must be a person and hopefully not a wild animal, she somehow found her loud voice, "Hello. Is anybody out there? Hopefully you aren't some dangerous creature out to get eat me since I don't really taste that good." She stayed put hoping that it was another person nearby.

[Elizabeth Sander...]

Maybe it was a stupid idea to think that she would be able to venture into the forbidden forest and discover the reason why it was so forbidden. In fact, it definitely was a stupid idea. She was almost certain that whatever it was that she had heard was some sort of nasty creature that was waiting in the shadows for the perfect moment when she'd let her guard down. She gripped her wand tightly when she heard someone's voice. She didn't recognize who it was, and for a fleeting moment thought that it was a Death Eater, but after rationalizing that a Death Eater probably wouldn't vocalize their hopes that she wasn't a scary monster, she decided that it was probably okay.

"Lumos."

The tip of her wand illuminated, flooding the immediate area around her with light. She was quick to shine the light on the person that she'd heard, narrowing her eyes at them. "Who are you?" the question sounded a bit odd when she said it out loud, but it was a valid question and the girl was under some obligation to assure her that she wasn't some kind of spy or something. Lizzy didn't know who entered the forest, anyway. She didn't fully believe the tales of it being some kind of Death Eater hang out.

"I'm Lizzy," she offered. She wondered briefly how much time they would be able to have to explore the forest. It seemed as though there was constantly only a few minutes before a prefect would show up out of nowhere. It was quite unfortunate, but something that couldn't really be helped. At the very least, she would know a little bit more for the next time she decided to venture into the forbidden forest.

"We should keep moving," Lizzy added, nodding. "That way we will be able to see a little bit more of the forest." She realized that the girl hadn't said whether or not she was keen to explore, but at the same time, Lizzy didn't think that someone who didn't like exploring would have ever set foot in the forest.

[Aiyana Manawale...]

Would a dangerous creature or any type of creature for that matter answer back? Not having been in a forest before that was dark and scary like this one, you never knew. Besides, word had it on the street that even magical creatures could talk to humans. Even being here in the magical world for nearly half a year, the Hufflepuff still couldn't quite grasp a few concepts that she had to deal with such as seeing desk turned into animals or throwing spells that came out of a piece of wood.

At least she hadn't come here by choice but now her daydreaming might get her into trouble. This was going to be the first adventure she had since last spring when her muggle best friends talked her into a cave by the ocean near her house.

A bright light was straight ahead of her. It looked rather harmless and like one a human would use for scouting around the forest and not some wild animal. Aiyana didn't even think it might be a death eater or some person who had just escaped from Azkaban. Besides, her own light was very dim since she hadn't quite mastered the spell that lite it up. She took a deep breath and then stepped forward and started to go towards her destiny until a girl a little bit older then herself appeared. She appeared rather harmless but you never knew out here since it might be some evil witch disguised as a young girl. "My name is Aiyana," she squeaked.

Staring at the girl for a few brief moments, Aiyana started to feel more at ease. This was a good thing. Her instincts were usually right when it came to dealing with people. "What are you doing out here on this mysterious night," she asked Lizzy curiously? Would a Ravenclaw go into the Forbidden Forest on their own free will? They didn't seem like the types of people that would do this. Gryffindors were the ones that were usually out here since they had adventurous spirits and were quite reckless.

"More of the forest? I accidentally stumbled upon it when I was daydreaming about something," Aiyana said while staring at some sort of movement that seemed to be coming from the trees. But the girl wanted to explore the forest and they were here. Plus Aiyana had no idea how they were going to get back to the castle from here. "What sort of things are out here to explore," she asked Lizzy curiously while falling into step beside her?

[Elizabeth Sander...]

Aiyana was a pretty name. She supposed that it would be a good idea to know the name of her companion in the forest. She couldn't believe that a prefect or a professor hadn't found them yet. It seemed like an amazing stroke of luck. At last, she was making some real progress into the forest.

The Hufflepuff asked her what she was doing out in the forest, which made Lizzy blink at her. "Exploring, of course. There might be a dragon out here or something. After all, there has to be a reason why it's called the forbidden forest." Even though she had held true that there must have been a dragon she couldn't help but notice that there were a lack of dragon footprints in the ground or evidence of damage on trees that a dragon's tail would have caused.

Lizzy wasn't sure what there was in the forbidden forest, and that was precisely the reason why she was out there exploring. Her sister Jane, who was also a Ravenclaw, had advised her against it, because apparently there were werewolves out there, dangerous plants and possibly Death Eaters too. Lizzy thought that it was ridiculous that Death Eaters would be out in the forest. After all, it was too close to the school, and after what had happened at the end of the previous term, If she'd actually thought they were out there, she probably wouldn't have gone in the forest in the first place.

"Well there has to be something out here that's really cool," Lizzy said, breaking apart a branch that was standing in their way. "Otherwise it wouldn't be called the 'forbidden' forest. It would just be called 'the forest'."

[Ivan Valvyous]

Ivan had been sitting in the Forbidden Forest all afternoon and into the evening. He had even brought his lunch to eat there. It relaxed him and gave him peace of mind. He loved being in the Forest and it was definitely his favorite place at Hogwarts. School had been back in session over a week and the Forest had been exceptionally quiet since the Death Eaters killed two Professors and kidnapped students.

He was surprised that he heard footsteps though. He wasn't sure what it was and stood up quickly. "Who's there? Who are you to disturb my peace?" He called into the darkness wondering if anyone would answer. He saw the light from what must be the end of a wand. Pulling out his own Ebony, he followed the light. He stopped in front of two girls, a Ravenclaw he didn't know and a Hufflepuff he had met during his first ever Duel.

"What are you two doing out here? Don't you know you could get killed?" he asked, not caring.

[Charles Cavill]

Charlie had been avoiding the Forbidden Forest, not wanting to get anywhere near it after what had happened at the end of the previous year, but he was a Prefect now, and he had responsibilities and things to do. Why the Professors still thought that a bunch of teenagers could protect people from the Forest, he didn't know, but those were the rules. He'd been keeping well away from the forest and just patrolling the perimeter, believing that no one would be stupid enough to go into a forest where two Professors had only recently died.

Unfortunately, it turned out that kids were a lot more stupid than he hoped. He saw a light shining in the distance between the trees, flicking at the end of a wand. Not long after, another joined it, both moving further into the forest. He froze where he stood, wondering if this was another Death Eater attack - but they wouldn't be stupid enough to announce their existence with a lumos charm, would they?

"Hey," he said, "Hey, Nece. Do you see that?"

The two boys had been patrolling mostly in silence for the night, having never really talked before and not having much in common beyond both being Prefects and Fifth Years. (And also Kate Davies, but Oliver didn't know about that.) When going into a possibly Death-Eater-filled Forest, Nece wouldn't exactly be his first choice at back-up, but sometimes you had to take what you could get and really, the bad guys wouldn't be stupid enought to attack the same place twice, would they?

"I think we should go in," he said reluctantly, then added, "You first!" with a bright smile.

[Oliver Nece]

Patrolling with somebody he didn't know had proven much, much more awkward than Oliver might have anticipated toward the beginning of the year when he was still bouncing with joy over the badge crookedly pinned to his lapel. Now, standing at the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest with Charlie Cavill, the Hufflepuff understood just how wrong he had been. He had tried idle conversation once or twice, but had received little more than a nod of the head or a grunt in response, and so he hadn't piped up about anything more since their first step outside. Having Charlie snap at him so early into their patrol wasn't exactly something Oliver was looking forward to.

Then again, neither was stepping foot into the Forest. You know, the Forbidden Forest, because it was kind of forbidden and all. Did everybody miss that part of the beginning of year speech? Or did they just not know the connotation of the word 'forbidden'?

Oliver's bottom lip curled in distaste, but still he took a glimpse into the forest. "Yeah," he said - word twelve of the night, and it wasn't even a good conversation starter. He missed the wide grin from the other boy, his gaze still transfixed on the figures trampling through darkness. "I guess," he said slowly, and took the first step inside.

The Forest was different when he was alongside Charlie and not Kate, and when they were trying to find rulebreakers instead of fairies. It was different when there was an actual risk, and although he knew that Charlie was perhaps a little bit better with magic than he (it wasn't terribly difficult to be), the thought wasn't entirely reassuring as he lit the end of his wand and peered back to the other Prefect. "Disturbing my peace?" he whispered, slowing in pace. Who found peace in the middle of a forest where people had only just been killed? "You don't think there are still... you knows here, do you?"

His heartbeat quickened in his chest, and for a moment, he almost wished it would give him away in the silence rather than having to move any closer himself. If his heartbeat only quickened at the voices, though, then it must have stopped as they came across the owners of the voices. "Oh no." He had dealt with Death Eaters. He had dealt with scary things. He had never dealt with ickles who were clearly trying to get themselves killed.

"Expelliarmus!" he said quickly, fumbling in the air for the three wands but catching (most of) them before they hit the ground at his feet. His voice was close to breaking as he swallowed back the lump in his throat, clutching the wands to his chest. "Are you trying to die? Wasn't what happened last month enough?"

[Elizabeth Sander...]

For being the 'forbidden forest', it sure seemed boring. She had been in the forest for about fifteen minutes or so and hadn't seen anything but a bunch of trees. She certainly hadn't seen a dragon or a unicorn or anything like that. Perhaps there was no dragon hiding in there after all. But if there was no dragon there, it didn't make any sense why the forest would be called 'forbidden'.

It wasn't long before they came upon a Slytherin boy that asked if they were trying to get themselves killed. "We aren't. Why are you here, then?" She hardly thought that the forbidden forest could be called peaceful, though judging by the lack of anything but trees, she supposed that it was a possibility. "You can hardly call it peaceful if you think we're trying to get ourselves killed." She always wondered why people asked that question.

Only a few seconds passed before her wand was suddenly yanked out of her hand. She tried to catch it, and even managed to grasp it for a brief moment before it flew away.

When she looked behind her, she noticed that it was a prefect that had taken her wand. At least, she assumed that it was a prefect, because they didn't sound like a professor. She stormed over to where he was standing and looked up at him. "You--You can't take my wand! That's completely unfair and uncalled for!" she shot out, putting her hands on her hips for emphasis.

Then the prefect was saying pretty much the same thing that the boy had a few moments earlier. "Of course I'm not trying to die! I'm exploring! I've been trying to figure out why the forest is forbidden for ages. There has to be a reason."

She paused for a moment when the prefect asked if what happened in the last month was enough. "It should have been enough for Hogwarts to get some protective enchantments around this place! Besides, why would Death Eaters come back? That would be stupid." No matter how many times Jane explained it to her, she couldn't understand why Hogwarts hadn't put up some protective enchantments or encouraged students not to blindly follow adults, because hadn't those unfortunate children just followed the professors into the trap?

"Just give me my bloody wand back."

[Aiyana Manawale...]

This place looked to dark and scary. Aiyana could hardly believe that she had accidentally stumbled into the forest. Nobody was going to believe she had daydreamed her way into here even though it was true. Liz seemed keen on exploring it even though her intuition said to get the heck out of here. The problem was, Aiyana had no idea which way was the correct way out. So here she was exploring and hoping that this adventure would lead her to the light at the end of the tunnel before anything or anyone else for that matter found them first.

"Are you serous? I would hope that there wouldn't be one around here this close to the castle," she said remember several books she read about the creatures. According to those books, dragons lived further away and were mostly contained to certain places with witches and wizards taking care of them. Surely there wouldn't be one that had escaped here? You never knew since Hogwarts and its surroundings were always full of surprises. Just from hearing this, Aiyana wanted to get out of here even more.

"You got that right..." A faint voice were heard not to far from them. The voice belonged to a boy. Apparently he didn't want his peace disturbed and was saying things that made him sound funny. "Disturbing your peace? Are you planning on being killed," she found herself saying sarcastically?

Then something happened. Two more voices were heard from a faint difference. Aiyana started to get scared and froze in her tracks. The voices came closer, and closer until...her wand flew out of the Hufflepuffs hands and towards two older students. Prefects. Oh no. They were in for it now and she didn't have a wand.

Liz was brave enough to ask for her wand back. Come to think of it.. "Could you please give me back my wand? Wouldn't it be smarter if we all were armed? Unless you plan on taking out death eaters or dragons by yourselves please be my guest." Then she and Liz could make a run for it but not that boy since he didn't seem very nice.