Open Curious Discoveries

[Fiona Burke]

OPEN AFTER ROWAN REPLIES AS LUCY

It had been a few days since Fiona had been in Hogwarts and Fiona was absolutely enjoying it. Everything looked so cool and so exciting! But there was one thing that had piqued her interest at the moment, and that was the Forbidden Forrest. She had been told a bunch of times that they weren't supposed to go in or have a look. But Fiona ignored that rule at this very moment. Having the rule of not being allowed to go into the forest had made her far more interested and why they weren't allowed in was picking on Fiona's curiosity. She had decided to bring Lucy along with her. She didn't particularly want to go on this adventure alone. They stood at the edge of the forest entrance. "Should we go in together? Or should someone go in first?"

 

[Lucy Holland]

Rose had gotten a lot of advice from all sides of her family about how to make the most of her time at Hogwarts, and she was ready to completely ignore most of it right here and now. She would have been drawn to the forest even if it wasn't forbidden, what with all the time she had spent in nature with her father. But making it off limits was far too tempting. She had been relieved that Fiona was thinking along the same lines, and eagerly went with her friend to embark on whatever adventure was ahead. "Together." Lucy said firmly, taking charge immediately. She took Fiona's hand, gripping her wand in her other hand as she pulled her classmate into the forest. She didn't exactly know any spells yet, but she had at least read about them. Surely it couldn't be that difficult once you knew the words. "What do you think is actually in here?"

 

[Fiona Burke]

If Fiona was being honest, she was glad that Lucy had stated that they were going in together, and was glad that Lucy was somewhat taking the lead. Which Fiona didn't mind at all. Fiona didn't expect Lucy to take her hand but went along with it anyway. She too grabbed her wand out, hoping she could somehow defend them if something did happen, even though she had no idea what spells to use.

Fiona shrugged at Lucy's question. "I dunno. I heard there are like these HUGE spiders!" Fiona said enthusiastically. The idea of seeing a huge spider seemed like a cool idea. "People say there are dangerous creatures in here. But surely they can't be that dangerous if they're in a forest near a school right?" Fiona explained with a shrug, following along with her friend, as she still grabbed a hold of Lucy's hand. "What do you think is actually in here?" Fiona repeats the question back to her.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy gripped her wand as she led the way into the forest, looking around. She was almost disappointed - it looked pretty much the same as any other area of bush she had wandered through out in nature. She glanced back when Fiona mentioned spiders, cringing slightly. "Ewwww, no!" She protested. "If there are spiders, you're fighting them." She teased. Fiona's logic made sense, and she nodded. "There can't be anything really bad here, or they wouldn't have built a school." She thought about the question, running her mind over history books she had read. "Well at the other Hogwarts there were centaurs too, but I don't know if there are any centaurs in Aotearoa. And they're not really dangerous." She added, thinking about it.

 

[Fiona Burke]

The further they went in, her excitement slowly diminished. Maybe people were advised not to go in because it was a bit boring and the same as any other forest. Fiona nodded as Lucy teased a little. "Of course! Don't worry, I'll protect us!" Fiona then said with a giggle. While she was happy to protect both of them, she wasn't sure if she was going to be the best to do so. She had no idea what spells to do, but she might be able to figure something out. "Maybe I could use my epic karate movies to protect us," Fiona says with a laugh, as she tries to move her free arm like she was doing karate moves. Fiona listened as Lucy spoke about possible creatures being in the forest. "Centaurs are those ones with the human body but legs of a horse or something, right?"

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy kept her eyes peeled as she looked around the forest, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see much of anything interesting. She let go of Fiona's hand eventually, so that she could more easily navigate the branches and rocks that got in their way from time to time. She grinned at Fiona's offer of karate, nodding. "We can take 'em." She agreed. She nodded at the question about centaurs. "Yeah, they're supposed to be really wise. I don't think a centaur would try to kill us..."

 

[Aroha Blenheim]

Aroha had been curious about the Forbidden Forest from the first moment it was mentioned. It sounded like fun - otherwise, why would it have been forbidden? Aroha had set out early in the morning, having gotten up for the express purpose of going on an adventure. She'd had her breakfast, and snuck a few rations into a bag for later consumption. Aroha had had no clue that two other students had made similar plans to go to the forest, and had been walking around already, exploring the place. She hid behind a tree when she heard the pair, for a moment not knowing who they were. When she peered around and saw they were two students - and one of them her dormmate - she relaxed. "You two going for an adventure too?" she asked, coming out from around the tree. "Haven't seen anything dangerous yet. Don't see why this is forest is forbidden at all," she said easily, approaching the two other girls.

 

[Fiona Burke]

Fiona nodded. "Agreed!" Fiona says with a nod and smile. She knew that they both could try and take them. She had hoped they could anyway. "Let's hope nothing kills us today," Fiona says as she continues to walk around the forest. Nothing seemed to be too interesting at the moment. However, she jumped slightly when she heard a new sudden voice. She whipped around quickly but only relaxed a lot more when she noticed it was just Aroha. "Oh hey, Aroha!" Fiona says with a smile and a small wave. Fiona was a little bummed when Aroha mentioned she hadn't seen anything dangerous. "Awh really?"

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy wasn't sure how she hadn't heard the approaching footsteps until it was too late, but the sudden arrival of another girl made her jump. "Oh!" She squeaked, heart stopping for a second before she realised that the newcomer was way too young to be a prefect come to get them in trouble. She relaxed more when Fiona greeted her, glad to have found a new friend instead of anything dangerous. "Hi!" She said cheerfully. "I'm Lucy. And yeah, we haven't seen anything interesting either, it's just normal bush."

 

[Aroha Blenheim]

Aroha waved back at Fiona. "Hi Lucy," Aroha said by way of greeting, secretly enjoying that the girl had been startled. She hadn't planned on it, but sometimes it was nice to get a reaction out of people. "Yeah, maybe we have to go deeper. Maybe that's where all the interesting things are hiding." She peered off to the side, to a dense thicket where the light was struggling to find a way in, the area looking dark and dank. Tall trees stood somberly, reaching up to the sky and it seemed strangely quiet further in. "Do you want to go in?" Aroha suggested confidently. She wasn't scared - well, maybe she was a little, but she wasn't about to say that.

 

[Cecras]

The centaurs sharp ears detected the voices of young wand carriers drawing near. Their conversation implied they thought centaurs were nonexistent in Aotearoa, painting his kind as beings with human torsos grafted onto horse legs. An irksome irritation pricked at Cecras, stirred by these inaccuracies.

The humans, driven by an apparent curiosity, seem to make light of the potential dangers of their quest. Cecras found their relentless inquisitiveness perplexing, all while understanding the risks better than they did. He scrutinised them, his gaze marked by concern for their wellbeing. He felt a need to caution them before they went further.

Emerging gradually from the foliage, he fixed his eyes on the wand carriers. His features were stern. "Wand carriers," he introduced, "Heed this warning: the forest is no playground. Numerous unseen perils lurk within its depths. You would be unwise to venture further."

 

[Wisteria Lacewing]

The annual first year investigation of the forest seemed to be almost a tradition, according to Wish's observations. There always seemed to be a few of them every year who ignored the 'forbidden' part of the forest and wandered right in. Wish couldn't judge them without being a complete hypocrite, seeing as one of the first things she'd done upon returning to Hogwarts was to reacquaint herself with the friendlier creatures who lived among the trees. The small group of first years she'd spotted werent difficult for her to spot and, although she didn't want to leave her little nook, she felt oddly responsible for making sure they were safe.

Keeping her distance, and trying not to agitate the bowtruckles climbing on her, Wish followed the girls until they ran into a centaur. She usually had the good sense to avoid centaurs as she was technically trespassing in their home and didn't want to offend them. She was a little afraid of the centaur and wondered if the girls were too or they were braver than she. Wish stepped out from around a tree and examined the girls. "Mm. He's not kidding, it's not a safe place in here." She wasn't a prefect, but hoped she was able to sound somewhat authoritative to the younger girls. She couldn't tell them not to be there because, again, the hypocracy would be a bit silly when she was having her hair pulled by a bowtruckle.

 

[Fiona Burke]

Fiona was happy that her friends were starting to become friendly with one another. Fiona nodded in agreement to walk further into the forest. They were already in the forest and there was no turning back now. "Yes! Let's keep going, I wanna see if there is anything interesting at all" Fiona says with a smile, as she then decides to walk further into the forest. However, so many things started to happen. A creature, which looked like a centaur had turned up, which made their trip somewhat interesting now. Fiona's mouth and eyes and wide at the sight of it, not fully expecting to see such a creature. She was speechless throughout the time the creature had been speaking. Fiona then whipped her head around again when she heard another voice. Their trip was somewhat becoming interesting now.

 

[Aroha Blenheim]

Aroha was amazed to see an actual centaur - something she'd only ever dimly remembered hearing about. He was tall and big; so much bigger than her and her fellow adventurers. Similar to Fiona, she was speechless but managed to recover. "Oh," she said, finding her voice, and was about to say more when a student appeared as well. Aroha listened to her agree with the centaur's warnings, and was starting to feel a little sheepish. In all honesty, she still wanted to explore, but with an older student and a literal actual centaur telling them not to it was hard to find a way to say 'hey, I'm just going to ignore everything you said and go about our way anyway'. She didn't want to make the centaur angry. "Okay, um, sorry about that," she said. "We were just exploring a little bit. Uh, we're not in trouble, right?" she said, addressing the older student.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy couldn't help jumping when a stranger appeared from the bushes, head snapping around quickly half expecting to be caught by a professor. To her relief it looked to be another girl their own age, and to even more relief Fiona recognised her. "Yeah, let's go!" She said brightly, glad to have another companion. Before they could go any deeper though, a creature she had only ever dreamed of seeing appeared before them, and Lucy gazed up at him in awe. A real centaur. Her mind roiled and reeled with questions, and it was hard to know where to start. The situation only got more overwhelming when an older girl showed up, and it hardly felt like she had a moment to breathe. "Then what are you doing here?" She asked pointedly to the older girl, annoyed by being talked down to. As if they hadn't known it was dangerous in here - that was the point. She proceeded to entirely ignore her, looking up to the centaur with wide eyes. "What kind of perils?"