Open Looking for Something Magical

[Oscar Davies]

So far Oscar had successfully avoided stepping foot into the Forbidden Forest, his studies had mostly been able to keep him from doing so, as his education was priority number one even after the year was almost over. But upon hearing that there might be certain plants hidden away in the forest, there had been a certain desire to venture into the forest. Not alone, of course, it was called the 'Forbidden' forest for a reason after all. And it so happened to be that he knew someone else who'd be just as much into this idea as he was. Rosemarie. He did not know how dangerous going into the forest would be but figured that it would not be that bad if they allowed it to be on school grounds. Because who the heck would keep all sorts of dangerous creatures near a school full of children? Only a mad person, he thought. ''So we just make a run for it if we come across something that shouldn't be there, right?'' Oscar asked, going over the plan one more time before going into the Forbidden Forest with his friend.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rosemarie had read the Goshawk's Guide to Herbology almost every evening after her regular watering round. The plants around her bed were growing great and she was eager to find more. This plan had been in her head for a while and she couldn't get rid of it. She was sure there was more in the forbidden forest and she had read up on everything that could live there. Rose had told Oscar she didn't want to go on nights with a full moon. Werewolves were a thing according the books she had read and she didn't want to become one in the near future or any future at all. The guide didn't specify that some magical plants would grow in the forest, but she was sure that there were special plants there. Why not allow students in the forest, a forest should be enjoyed and loved not be hidden away for students. She knew there could be dangerous creatures inside, but she was prepared. She knew how to handle bears and even read up on some magical creatures. Spells and charms wouldn't do her good, she couldn't preform half of the first year ones anyway. Rose grabbed a backpack that she had left at the greenhouse and grabbed a tiny pot with a succulent, she had been caring for. The succulent could withstand a bad environment, her precious flowers could not. Soon she arrived at the start of the lush forest, wearing a black robe that she had borrowed from a dorm mate. ''Yes, expect if we see a bear never run from those.'' Rose giggled I brought everything we might need and I didn't see any light or patrols'' Rosemarie had scouted the parameter and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. She knew Professor Carter was going to be cross with her, but this had to happen what if she found something new. A scientific discovery could be made tonight.

 

[Oscar Davies]

It surprised him how well prepared Rosemarie seemed to be for their little venture into the forest, more so than he was at least. He furrowed his brows when she said not to run from a bear, thinking that he'd do the exact opposite of it would they found themselves faced with a bear. Glad that there was no one on patrol around the edge of the forest for the moment, Oscar hoped that it would stay that way. He didn't know if there was anyone else in the forest but he had heard from some older students that one could easily hide behind one of the thicker tree trunks a bit into the forest. Still, getting caught would be worth it if they came across some weird plant with magical properties. It'd be even better if it was a plant that had never been discovered before. ''Alright, I am ready. I think,'' the Ravenclaw told his friend. It bothered him that she was slightly more prepared than him, as he did not want him to be the reason that they wouldn't be able to find anything interesting or magical. He got his wand out of his pocket and lit up the tip of it with Lumos.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rosemarie knew she had limited abilities in magic and thus she had brought a tiny lantern with a candle in it. She retrieved it from her bag and lid the candle inside the lantern. Rose didn't want to show Oscar she couldn't even do Lumos properly. The fire could scare animals away so the lantern was a good option if you couldn't do a good Lumos. When Oscar said he was ready Rose nodded ''I am ready to find the Herbology gold'' So far nothing had been scary or dangerous. These trees were just the regular kind that grew in forests and the forest floor harbored some moss and other plants she knew. Rose knew that it could get dangerous, she wasn't stupid, this forest was forbidden for a reason. She just wanted to know what the reason was, maybe they had a Herbology project inside that they didn't want students to know. ''Shall we go in?'' Rose said while stepping into the dense forest.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar frowned once more as Rosemarie retrieved a tiny lantern from her bag. He gave her a questioning look, wondering why she wouldn't just use Lumos like him to light up their way into the forest but did not pursue it. She'd probably have a good reason to use a lantern instead of her wand and magic. He chuckled at his friend's reaction, nodding encouragingly. He was ready to find Herbology gold, too. He nodded again, following her as she stepped into the forest after taking one more look around to make sure that no teacher or groundskeeper or Prefect had seen them enter. They were aware of the fact that they'd be breaking a school rule by entering the forest but he still thought it was worth it if they came across some interesting flora. It honestly couldn't be that bad, right? Oscar looked around curiously once they, pointing the tip of his wand around anytime he thought he saw something funny behind a tree or a bush. ''I swear, sometimes I think that the vines are moving,'' the Ravenclaw said as he was following one of the vines along with his wand to see for how long it went up the tree.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose stepped inside the forest alongside Oscar. So far there was nothing special to this forest and the plants that were around here, were very tame if you knew how to handle them. Oscar mentioned that the vines were moving and Rose knew it was true. She had read Goshawk's Guide to Herbology twice now and she had spotted some magical plants already. The distinct colouring or spikes alongside the fact that she was sure vines could move made it she was sure which plants were close to them. She knew that it couldn't be devilsnare, otherwise the plant would have attacked already. ''You are right Oscar, they do move I think its a Flitterbloom or Venomous Tentacula that you see'' It was a younger plant though, since both could become very large and these vines weren't as thick. Working with Professor Carter had its perks and it also meant Rose knew a lot about most magical plants. She wouldn't know how to care for half of them, but she read enough descriptions to recognize them. ''Where do you think they hide the good stuff?'' Rose looked around and the only thing she saw was dirt, soil, moss, trees and some magical plants here and there. The kinds that were also in the Greenhouses, so they weren't the special ones Rose desired to seek.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar was still tracing the light from the tip of his wand along the vine wrapped around the tree, only stepping one step backwards when Rosemarie said that it could be a Venomous Tentacula. He had read enough about that particular plant to know that one shouldn't stand too close to it if one valued its life, which he did. It didn't seem that dangerous yet but he wasn't going to risk it, not with the possibility of discovering a plant no one else had found yet. He made his way back over to his friend again and shrugged. ''Probably a little further into the forest, right? We're still too close to the edge of the forest, so I don't think there's anything interesting to find here except perhaps for whatever that vine was back there,'' the boy answered, walking next to Rosemarie and pointing his wand towards random spots again so that they could look around properly. ''What do you think we'll find? I hope it's something new, that'd be awesome.''

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose knew they weren't alone in this forest, not only were some of the plants alive she also knew that certain creatures lived in the forest. She kept her eyes open for dangerous situations. So far they hadn't seen anything special or found a plant that she hadn't seen in one of the Greenhouses. ''I think so too, they would never hide the secret plants so close to the edge otherwise everyone would have found them by now.'' The forest wasn't that old, but it was still relatively big. ''I am sure I saw that vine in Professor Carter and Professor Castillo's greenhouse, it grows in Greenhouse two I think'' Rose said so it wasn't all that interesting. ''I hope we find a new species of plant or tree'' Rose said ''We could name it Carrie or something, Oscar and Rosemarie combined?'' Rose was pretty sure they could find something that hadn't been found before. ''Maybe the Professors hid the good stuff for the students here, the special plants you know, that could also be an option.'' Rose muttered while still looking around.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar began to relax a little once they were further into the forest. He was aware of the potential danger that they had put themselves in as soon as they stepped foot into the forbidden forest, but he had also heard of a certain centaur who was rather friendly towards Hogwarts students, often helping them out or offering guidance. That, and the fact that Rosemarie kind of seemed to know what she was doing, at least it seemed so to him, made it so that he was getting more and more relaxed. He nodded in agreement, thinking that the school would never put anything special close to the edge of the forest, it'd be way too easy to spot. A loud laugh escaped his mouth when she talked about naming their discovery a combination of their own names. ''Carrie? No, that sounds horrible. What about Oscarie?'' Glad that she was just as confident in thinking that they could potentially find something that had not been found ever before, the young Ravenclaw continued to shine his light at various spots that caught his attention while they walked the path deeper into the forest. ''You think? It could certainly be possible. I mean, you'd have to hide it somewhere, right? Wouldn't it be awesome to be the youngest discoverers of a rare species? We'd be mentioned it all the Herbology books, even the ones they've got in the library here.''

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose snickered why did plants always need to have male names. Since they hadn't discovered anything yet, she decided to not make too much of a problem out it. ''That could be an option too'' Rose said while looking around. So far everything had gone great, they hadn't seen anything that was out of the ordinary. She had expected to hear something, but so far it had been quiet. ''Yeah, I am sure.'' Rose paused to see if there was something in front of them ''I am hoping we find something big and amazing, I would love to be in some of the herbology books'' It was one of Rose's dreams to make discoveries into the Herbology community. ''I thought this forest was going to be way more dangerous, but so far it is just the same as other forests'' Rose muttered while looking around.

 

[Oscar Davies]

After what felt like at least half an hour of walking around in the forest to try and find anything yet to be discovered by wizards, Oscar turned back to his friend and said, ''Do you think we should go back? I don't think that there's anything here to find other than thicker trees and a lot of moss.'' He was all for going in a bit further to see if there would be something behind the line of trees, but it was getting late and by now someone would be patrolling the edge of the forest in search for anyone who was not supposed to be there at this time. He also didn't want to get caught and risk losing Ravenclaw points, he'd worked hard for them and so had other students.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Although Rose didn't want to go back she knew that Oscar was right. It seemed that the forest didn't hold the secrets she thought she was going to find. ''I think there is nothing here for us, lets go back indeed'' Rose nodded in disappointment. She adjusted her grip on the succulent and turned around. ''The forest is a bust, although it is lovely for a stroll there isn't anything here that is really peeking my interest'' Rose gave it one final look around and knew this was the right choice. It was getting late and she was sure there were people patrolling the borders of the forest now. They had to be quick and fast if they wanted to leave the forest before getting caught. ''Lets go back and dim our lights when we arrive at the edge, don't want to be seem by others.'' Rose said.

 

[Mitchell North]

''If I were you, however, I would not dim those lights,'' Mitchell said as he moved from behind one of the thicker trees and into their line of sight. ''It'll only lure certain creatures towards you. Even towards the edge.'' He didn't often patrol inside the forest for students, but when he noticed the two lights stepping into the forest when looking out of the window of his office, the Muggle Studies Professor knew that something was happening that shouldn't be happening. ''So, what were the two of you doing here, then?'' he asked curiously, pointing the tip of his lit up wand towards each of them.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar was about to tell Rosemarie that he agreed with her about the forest being lovely for a stroll when there was nothing dangerous around to harm them when a strange voice made him jump. He didn't think that they would get caught when they walked into the forest, they had been careful about it after all. Apparently not careful enough. He glanced sideways at his friend when the professor asked what they were doing here. They honestly weren't doing anything bad, at least he didn't think that looking for magical plants was something bad, but didn't know if the professor would believe that. Students often went into the forest and nine out of ten times it wasn't to look for something magical. ''I... eh... we weren't doing anything bad, professor. We're only looking for plants and stuff,'' he said truthfully, giving it a shot despite thinking that the professor wouldn't believe them anyway.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose was busy looking in front of her and planning the best way to escape the forest that it took a while to register that someone had joined them. She saw that a Professor had spotted them, she didn’t recognize this Professor and she was sure he didn’t teach the lower years. The Professor talked about keeping the lights on since the darkness would only learn creatures towards them. Rose wanted to respond that so far, she hadn’t seen any creatures and that she was sure it was all a myth. Maybe the Professor had seen something scary before and that was why they all were scared of the forest. When the Professor asked what they were doing Rose wanted to reply, but Oscar was faster. Rose look at her succulent and kept it closer to her body. She wasn’t scared, but she was nervous. What if this Professor decided to tell Professor Carter. ‘’We wanted to do a scientific discovery and find a new species of plants.’’ Rose said honestly ‘’We thought that if we found something new, we would find our names in the herbology books’’ Rose paused ‘’Help the world with maybe a new potion or medicine for muggles’’ There were still so many muggle diseases without a cure and Rose hoped that with a new discovery in magical nature muggle diseases could be eradicated.

 

[Mitchell North]

Mitchell listened to what the two students said and then stared at them for a moment, considering what to do with them. He didn't think that either of them was lying but the fact remained that they went into the forbidden forest when they were perfectly aware that they were not allowed to enter it. ''If you wanted to go into the forest to look for plants and such, you should have asked either the Herbology Professors or the groundskeeper for permission and an escort. I get that new students have a certain urge to explore the Hogwarts grounds but the forest isn't the place to satisfy that urge. Even if it's just searching for magical plants.'' Mitchell told the two of them, giving each a stern look. ''For now, I will deduce ten house points of each of your houses and will escort you out of the forest.'' He pointed his wand at the path behind them to indicate that they should start walking.

 

[Oscar Davies]

While Oscar did not agree that they should lose house points over the fact that they went into the forbidden forest with the sole reason to look for anything new to discover, he did agree with the professor that maybe they should have asked for permission. It would have been a lot safer too to have someone with them who actually knew magic if he was to believe the stories the older students told the first-years. Yet he hadn't seen any of those 'dangerous' creatures around whilst Rose and he were wandering around. ''Sorry, professor,'' the Ravenclaw said, keeping his head low as he started to walk the path back to the castle. He didn't like that they had been caught and definitely did not like that they had lost their house ten points each.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

The Professors logic was sound and it was true that they could have asked someone. She knew that if they asked the groundskeeper or Professor Carter they could see the forest. She had no desire to go into the forest anymore though, there was nothing special about it. It was just a boring forest. When she heard about losing the house points Rose shrugged. She knew that her actions could have consequences, but she could only hope Professor Carter wouldn't find out. ''Sorry Professor'' Rose said after Oscar and she walked the path the Professor had pointed out.

 

[Mitchell North]

Glad that the two students didn't try to convince him not to deduce house points from them, Mitchell eventually led them out of the forbidden forest and back to the castle. After asking their names and their houses, he took each of them back to their common rooms to make sure that they'd actually stay inside once they were back in the castle. Thankfully neither of them had gotten hurt whilst wandering around in the forbidden forest.