Encounters in Forbidden Territory

[Alkander Avaskantiras]

Dusk found him on the fringes of the so-called Forbidden Forest. The radiating orb of light at the tip of his wand, unveiled a wet green world where brooks ran through the dark forests thanks to the light rain and the ground was made of mud and rotting leaves. Huge trees grew along the watercourses, larger than any that Alkander had ever seen. Their great trunks as gnarled and twisted as an old man's face and festooned with beards of green moss. Trees pressed close on every side, shutting out the sky; red cedars, white oaks, black pines that stood as tall and straight as towers, colossal sentinels, big-leaf maples, redwoods, even here and there a wiggentree, were just some of the trees that the boy could name. Underneath their tangled branches ferns and flowers grew in profusion; belladonnas, nightshades, mushrooms sprouting down among the tree roots and toadstools festered besides rotting logs.

Alkander loved nature. He felt at peace when he was at environments like this forest. The castle still had a plethora of secrets left to be found but he couldn't resist any longer to the potential of this forbidden territory. He could see why this place was out of bounds. The forest was certainly house to some extraordinary creatures, some of them possibly dangerous, but he wasn't planning to venture too deep within this wondrous realm.

The boy was following for an hour now a crookback path that snaked through huge moss-covered rocks. Sometimes the path petered out entirely, vanishing among the ferns, leaving Alkander to find his own way among the silent trees. The rain still fell, soft and steady but thanks to the thick canopy the larger of water was filtered before reaching the ground. This wasn't enough to prevent the sound of moisture dripping off the leaves all around him, and every a few meters or so the music of another little waterfall would call to him. The forest was luring him deeper with every new aural and visual stimuli but Alkander decided it was enough for the day.

Having an exceptional sense of direction, he suspended his quest for another day and headed back following the path. Nature was constantly transforming but the boy had pinpointed certain landmarks to find his way back easier. A fallen hollowed trunk, then a pine tree with branches growing only at one direction, a small cascade piercing through a boulder that had been cracked in half. Alkander knew he was on the right track every time he came across these distinctive works of nature. His Lumos charm that he had to recast now and then, was a much welcomed companion in this dark place. It offered some sort of security and the subtle warmth of the light source was kissing pleasantly his face.

Suddenly, footsteps slapping through the muddy terrain alarmed Alkander who acted quickly. "Knox!" He breathed the incantation and plunged into darkness. With his free hand he located the moss-covered boulder near him and leaned against it, listening attentively the footsteps that were growing closer.

 

[Perry Wyatt]

Out of Character:

Hope you don't mind me joining

In his first year they had talked a lot about going into the forest. It was a year later and he still hadn't gone there. He decided it today was the day and he had gathered a sack with supplies he might need. He walked outside to the start of the forest and took out his wand. ''Lumos'' the first time nothing happened. ''Lumos'' this time his wand lit up and illuminated the trees in front of him. It had rained the day before and the ground was muddy. Luckily for Perry he brought his hiking shoes with him. He entered the forest and looked around. It didn't look scary at all nor had he seen any amazing beasts. He had seen a couple of snails and worms, but that didn't classify as highly dangerous.

The forest felt nice at this moment. It was dark outside, but his wand gave enough light to illuminate the forest. After crossing ferns and moss he decided to sat down. He grabbed a hazelnut bar from his sack and started eating it. Until he started to hear footsteps. He decided to follow them, maybe it was a fellow explorer. He hadn't seen anything dangerous so far and if it was something he knew stupefy. With his wand bravely held high he followed the footsteps. When the footsteps stopped Perry came to an halt. He was sure he heard something. ''Hello is anyone here?'' he said while cleaning some mud of his jacket.

 

[Alkander Avaskantiras]

Out of Character:

You are more than welcome!

New light pervaded the short lived darkness. At least now Alkander knew now it wasn't a beast but another human. The question remained, was it a professor or a prefect patrolling or just another student exploring? The light was glowing stronger behind the boulder he had hid. The voice seemed unlikely to belong to an adult so Alkander decided abandon his hiding spot and reveal his presence before being found.

"Lumos!" The light orb flashed out of the wand's tip and washed his face with a soft glow as he appeared from behind the boulder. "Hey, erm... didn't mean to sneak up on you. I thought you were a prefect so I hid back there." He gestured at the boulder that he left behind him as he took a couple of steps towards the other boy. Looked like they were of the same age. "Are you off to somewhere?" He asked when he noticed the sack the boy was carrying. He didn't seem like he was out there just for a regular stroll.

 

[Perry Wyatt]

With his wand still at the ready to fire some well placed hex he finally got to know where the sound was coming from. It was another boy which seemed younger than him. At least he didn't know him from his year. Perry would never be a prefect, that was impossible. Perry smiled and looked at the other male. ''Nah, came here to explore and see what it is all about'' His dorm mates had talked about grave dangers and mighty beasts. Which he had yet to witness.''Not really, I wanted to check if the stories were true''

The forest was big so he had no clue what loomed behind him. But the worms and snails he had seen weren't that impressive. ''What about you?'' he took another bite of his hazelnut snack and looked around. It just looked a regular forest with nothing scary or iery. Perry thought it was funny that a first year that just hear the don't go into the forest speech was already here. ''It doesn't seem scary at all'' Perry muttered slowly. He had been alone camping in a forest behind his house. It was way more scary than this was. He was sure he had heard bears and wolves.

 

[Calypso Furie]

Out of Character:

hope it's ok to join

Dusk was settling fast over the castle and Calypso did not fancy being cooped up in the girls dormitory for another night. She had already been exploring parts of the castle and thought it was high time she ventured to the grounds and found out for herself just how forbidden the woods really were. Quite a few of the older students had obviously been trying to frighten the first years by telling them all sorts of stories from centaurs to werewolves that lurked there but Calypso didn't like being told she couldn't go somewhere or that she couldn't do something. She had a stubborn streak that had gotten her into more trouble than most people her age and it would probably get her into a lot more before her first term at the magic school was over.

Dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, with black boots on, she made her way down through the relatively quiet stair wells to the entrance hall and not finding her way blocked by anyone or anything, Calypso opened the doors and set out for the grounds towards the forest. It was beautiful, eerily so and she found the freedom that this time alone afforded her refreshing. She wasn't used to sharing a room, not to mind a house with tons of children or a school with hundreds of them. It was new to her sure but the magic world wasn't anymore, her grandmother, the old battle-axe had been preparing her for it for a long time now. With her wand up her sleeve she didn't bother removing it, there was still enough light to see her way to the forest edge before she turned around to glance up at the school.

An owl hooted somewhere in the distance and another replied but Calypso didn't stand about wondering at the world about her but turned and ran into the forest, taking out her wand as she did so and lighting it only when the denseness of the trees hampered her view. It was dark now, much darker here than she had thought it would be and the silence was foreboding. Twice she stopped to listen for what she thought was a sound but there was none to be heard. The ground at her feet was like sludge, skidding here and there in parts as she made her way off what had been a beaten path.

Her wand lit up just enough for her to view a few steps before her but not much else, Calypso ducked beneath an overhanging branch but rose too quickly letting it snag on the hood of her top. Swearing under her breath she tugged it free before moving on, a branch snapping behind her caused her to turn around swiftly. Something or someone was out there, she could hear her own heart beating rapidly and her breath as she panted, perhaps outing the light from her wand would be the best option but she had no intention of running blindly in this place. Again a sound emanated from behind her and this time she didn't stop, she ran.

She was fast but the mud and mulch of the forest undergrowth slowed her pace somewhat. Ahead of her she could see a light of sorts and ran for it, not thinking that danger could just as easily be ahead of her as it could be behind her. Another branch whipped her face leaving a small scratch across her cheek but still she ran until she came panting through a small break in the trees. There were voices, she could definitely hear voices ahead and this time she did stop. What was she to do now, she glanced behind her and then ducked behind a tree to move slower up towards the voices.

 

[Alkander Avaskantiras]

Another explorer, Alkander thought when the guy explained his business that deep in the forest. Of course he wouldn't have been the only one who couldn't resist to the mystery veiling this forest. There was an other-worthy air in the atmosphere, like ancient spirits of the forest were present, watching while they weren't seen. "Stories about what?" He furrowed his eyebrows, suddenly intrigued about the prospect of a secret.
"It seems we are on the same page." His conspiratorial grin was easy to discern on his face that was showered by his wand's light. The boy looked around them at the tall trees. Their wrinkled barks had a silver sheen under the magical light. Indeed, nothing looked daunting at the aglow perimeter. Beyond it though, darkness was pitch black, movements were completely concealed and only sounds were hints of what could be lurking around. "So far no but I'm sure there are creatures around." He said and cast a wary glance behind him at the sound of wings flapping above in the canopy. An owl possibly.

Alkander was planning to stick around this guy. The only spells he had mastered was the wand-lighting charm and its counter-spell. He was defenseless in a sense but having the company of another person felt much more reassuring. He was about to tell him how far deeper he had ventures when he heard another sound coming closer to their location. From what he could make out, whatever it was it was now moving slower than a few moments before. Perhaps an animal that was attracted to the lights. "Hello?" He pointed his glowing wand towards the source of the strange sound, not sure what he was going to do in case it was a wild animal attack or a professor patrolling the area. Alkander couldn't pick which one could be proven worse.

 

[Perry Wyatt]

The only reason Perry really went into the forest was to find something cool. Maybe meet a centaur or two and learn a thing about them. Perry smiled and started to think maybe the secret of this forest was that it had internet connection and no one wanted to share it. How he missed his muggle things as what they called it here. ''You know the stories about amazing animals and beasts'' Trees and plants weren't what Perry deemed as amazing or exciting. Finally he found someone with similar interests and someone that wouldn't go snitching on him. ''When I walked to here I literally saw sixteen snails and five worms'' Perry laughed about his amazing discovery. The snails were just the regular non magical sticky ones, he had also seen back home. They used to eat his tomato plants and other vegetables.

''I did think I heard a wolf for a second, but that could also be what I wanted to hear'' Although he had never seen a wolf in his life he knew what they sounded like. But still he wasn't sure it was a real wolf or not. When the boy pointed out that he was sure there were creatures around Perry got excited. He was going on an adventure and he wasn't going alone. Suddenly the two heard footsteps and Perry raised his wand. He knew magic after all and wasn't afraid to use it. ''Who's there'' He spoke loud and clear.

 

[Calypso Furie]

Whatever was behind her had suddenly gone quiet as well as if mirroring her own movements in order to keep it or whatever it was as hidden as possible. She could see no light from that direction and still refused to put her own out. The voices that she had heard were suddenly clearer, calling out to whoever was there. It took Calypso a moment to realise that they were speaking to her and not whatever she had run from. Lowering her wand so that it didn't blind her vision of whoever was speaking, Calypso took a steadying breath and chided herself mentally that she was wearing her big girl pants and was not scared ... not even a smidgen, decidedly less than that, if at all in fact. Putting on an air of nonchalance, she stepped forward moving from behind the tree and forward to where the voices had come from.

"Good grief" she said at last coming in to view to see two boys from her own house standing there, she knew they were of her own house because she had done a serious head count at the Gryffindor table after she got sorted and she recalled seeing one of these being sorted also.

"Anyone would think you want to get caught!" she exclaimed with some amount of exasperation tinging her voice, as if they were two colossal berks for calling out the way they had. Calypso looked from one to the other giving a lopsided grin, it felt decidedly much better now that there were three instead of one, she mused giving a cursory glance back over her shoulder.

"Calpyso Furie" she said, giving her name without waiting to be asked, she had never stood on ceremony at any rate, "not to freak you boys out but there was something behind me back there so we can stand here doing our whole icebreaker thing or we can ... maybe, I dunno ... move?"

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin walked through the Forbidden Forest & hoped against all odds that he wouldn't find any students hiding inside. He didn't have to walk for very long, however, before he found himself raising an eyebrow when he heard not one, not two, but three different voices talking a little bit ahead of him. He sighed, emerging into a small area where he heard one of them talking about getting caught. "We should definitely, move, but I'm sure it isn't the direction that any of you want to move in." He told them with a sigh. "Let's move towards the castle, and you can all explain to me what we're doing out here." He told them, gesturing with his lighted wand tip for them to start moving.

 

[Perry Wyatt]

When the girl said there was something behind her a bad feeling crept over Perry. If you were sure that you were being followed you shouldn't lure the thing to others. Perry shrugged and immediately knew what was going to happen. He knew that Professors and prefects patrolled in these woods to find people like them. They liked to take points away from people, they didn't know what fun was. As soon as the thoughts went through his mind he heard footsteps. He was greeted with the face of his flying professor. Well ex flying Professor they only had one year of flying. Perry looked at the others and shrugged. He looked like he really meant it and he didn't look too happy. They were caught like rats in a trap. He looked around to find any means of escape, but he knew he could just be immobilised with magic easily. How he hated magic at times like these. Since he was sure he could outrun this poor professor. And the professor knew his name, so that wasn't really an option either. ''Spoilsport'' Perry muttered under his breath sounding angrily.

Perry looked at the others and snorted. They were caught and there was nothing they could do. You could hardly jinx a professor and he was way above Perry his level anyway. He really didn't want to move and get out of this forest, there was still so much they could see. He decided it was best to stay docile and walk with the tiran.