Lost

[Patrick Vernier]

After successfully joining the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team as an alternate, Patrick felt like he could do anything. The boy was in a good mood today and so he decided he would go out for some adventures, especially considering it seemed like a nice day out. Being unable to find Wilfred, Patrick tentatively went out on his own, not really sure where he was headed to. As the boy walked through the grounds he came across ubiquitous trees in the distance. Patrick didn't know what it was and so he slowly began to approach it, his curiosity getting the better of him. Before he knew it, he was walking further and further into the forest and soon enough he managed to get himself lost. Suddenly realising this, the boy felt himself begin to shake out of fear and he didn't know what to do. Luckily, no dangerous creatures had found him yet and so he was fine for now. Patrick kept walking before coming across a hollow tree trunk, in which he sat in front of, bringing his knees up to his face. It was becoming cold and dark and Patrick began to sob, not even bothering to wipe the tears from the side of his face. He knew he should've only gone if Wilfred was there too and now, after making a big mistake, Patrick was lost and didn't even know how much longer he'd stay alive for.

 

[Jocelynn Moors]

Jocelynn was laughing and running. She was loving the grounds of Hogwarts. Everything here was an adventure for herself, she had already been up to the Forbidden cliffs and now she began to gravitate towards the forest. She didn't see why a forest would be forbidden. Jocelynn loved wandering in the trees and only hesitated for a minute before running off into the woods. She was on her own not that the young girl minded that too much, a year from now she could be running through here with her younger sister. Although she thought Sissy might stay out of the forest being more of a rule follower than herself. A grin on her face as she made her way through the large trees. It felt like a magical place, the trees were much bigger than any she had seen before and it was easy to walk through as well, hardly any undergrowth. It meant exploring for plants would be tough in here, everything she had seen was various grasses and weeds. She stopped when she heard a sound that didn't really fit in with the sounds of the animals in the trees. For a moment she thought it was going to be a werewolf or something like that, but she remembered it wasn't nighttime and the moon wasn't out at all anyways. She followed the sound, getting more serious than she had been before when she was running in the trees. To her shock she came upon a small boy around her own size sobbing at the bottom of a large tree. She looked around wondering if this was some sort of trick the woods were playing on her. Her father had always told her folktales of creatures that would steal children away if they had wondered too far from home. But Jocelynn thought that hadn't been real. Now she wasn't too sure. "Uhh, hello there? Are you alright?" She questioned the boy standing about 5 meters away from him.
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[Patrick Vernier]

Patrick was sure that he wasn't going to survive out in the woods. How could he with no food or water supplies? He could probably curl up on the ground and sleep that night if no animals came and ate him and maybe try to go hunting the next day, but it wasn't enough, especially for a boy of his age. Patrick didn't know what to do as he cried, leaning up against the tree. When he heard a voice he jumped and quickly wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his robes. "N...no." Patrick stammered to whoever was standing away from him. He couldn't make out what it was and at first thought it was a centaur. But this voice was a female's and Patrick had never seen a female centaur before. "Who...who are you?" He was eager to face it on, whatever it was, as he knew he would have to learn how to do that eventually as he spent his life in the forest.

 

[Jocelynn Moors]

Jocelynn wasn't really sure who she was talking to but he seemed human enough to come closer. "I'm Jocelynn. A Gryffindor," she said trying to sound proud about her house, although she really hadn't cared what house she got into. The boy seemed to be crying so she pulled out a tissue from her bag and offered it to him. Jocelynn however much she may talk wasn't one to judge others unfairly. She knew what it was like to be scared, even if she was a part of the House of the Brave. "Who're you? Why did come all the way out here on your own? Well, I guess you could ask the same of me, well I like adventures and I thought I could manage getting around the forest alright. But now it seems like you've brought me off the path I was headed. I'm guessing you don't know how to get to the castle from here? No, well if we start walking we can find our way back," she said rambling on, almost hoping her words would comfort the crying boy and that he'd stand and walk with her.
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[Patrick Vernier]

As the voice announced that it was Jocelynn, a Gryffindor, Patrick took a sigh of relief. It meant that it wasn't a scary monster, especially since it gave him a tissue. "Thanks." he said, taking it to wipe his eyes. He was about to answer who he was but instead she just answered who she was. When he was sure she was done he replied, "My name is Patrick, first year Hufflepuff." and left it at that, figuring she didn't have to hear his whole life story like he apparently had to know hers. "So does that mean we're both lost now?" He had a hopeful look in his eyes as he scrunched the tissue up in his hand. He was more than happy to get out of the forest with her if she was willing to and was glad she wasn't anything dangerous.

 

[Alexis Kramer]

Alexis was wondering around the lawn when she saw Patrick Vernier venturing somewhere. She took notice of this, thinking that it was just another part of the school grounds. She assumed that he would soon came back the same way he had gone to. She walked about, kicking a pebble off her path when realization hit her. "The Forbidden Forest!" She turned back and started making her way towards the forest, trying to remember her way by looking at some trees with weird looking shapes. She peeled her eyes for the boy while sharpening her ears for any sounds, human or not. After a few minutes, she could faintly hear a cry and tried to follow the sound. Suddenly, she heard another voice - a girl- closer to where the Ravenclaw was and she turned in her place trying to locate the sound. A few meters away, she saw Jocelyn Moors, a Gryffindor, talking to Patrick, who had his face tear streaked. She called out to them,"Are you guys okay? Jocelyn? Pat?",using her nickname for Patrick, letting him know who she was even though she was still far from where there are.

 

[Dannii Merrythought]

It was Dannii's turn to patrol the forest, and so she had asked Professor Summers to accompany her. The two had formed an understanding in the year she had worked at the school, and worked amazingly to sniff out students in the forest. The lioness crouched low to the ground as she stalked through the underbrush. The soft dirt muffling her heavy steps. Suddenly a smell hit her nose, and she paused to give a good sniff. Students. Dannii turned to her partner, and gave a nod before running towards the smell of the children. As they got closer Dannii let out a low warning growl. If they thought they were tough enough for the forest she would show them just how wrong they were.
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[Aeon Summers]

Patrols were always a boring part of being a professor. It was a job Aeon rarely felt like doing, at least, within the castle walls. Walking up and down corridors was nothing short of dull, and on most nights felt like a complete waste of time. The Forbidden Forest however, was an entirely different matter. It gave the animagus an excuse to stretch his legs in his canine form, and enjoy the wild freedom of the woods for at least a short time. The nighttime exploration of the forest was enjoyable, especially whenever he was joined by other animagi. Kida, Justin, Dannii, a paw patrol who had a slight advantage at finding students sneaking through the forest. Though on most nights, Aeon hoped they wouldn't run into anyone, and have to go through the trouble of escorting them back to the castle to see their respective heads of houses. It was such a hassle.

Unfortunately, on this particular afternoon, there were students wandering through the Forbidden Forest, careless to the dangers that lurked inside. The husky followed after the lioness as they pursued the scent and sounds of rulebreaking kids not too far away. Making sure to circle around, to block them from running further in to the forest, Aeon joined in on the intimidation act with a drawn out howl from the darkness, hoping to frighten the kids enough to have them think twice about wandering into forbidden territory again.
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[Jocelynn Moors]

Jocelynn looked around as she thought about being lost in the forest. She wished she had paid more attention to her father talking about tracking animals. She could use those skills to track one of their paths back out of the woods. She knew to look for broken twigs but it was getting dark now. She actually was very surprised to hear the voice of another student, this time it was Alexis, a Ravenclaw girl she knew from Flying class and another class she couldn't think of. "I think we both got a little lost. But Patrick you're fine now right?" She asked looking down at the boy. Suddenly she could hear a growl and a howling noise echoing around them. "Uh, I'm not sure about you two but I'm not really that familiar with animal noises. But I'm gonna say we should run now!" Jocelyn said feeling the urge to run she took both of the hands of her two classmates and tried to pull them away from the noise of the animals. She did have to note it sounded like two different kinds of animals, one wolf like and the other she wasn't sure, but it was intimidating nonetheless.
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[Alexis Kramer]

Alexis was relieved to hear them being fine. She glanced at Patrick to see if he was doing okay. She looked around the surroundings and sharpened her hearing to notice even the rustle of the leaves. "We should probably-", she was cut off when she heard two unfamiliar sounds. She even felt Jocelyn pulling her and Patrick away from the source but something was telling her not to run and just stay put. "I don't think we should run, Jo. We could be in more danger if we do.",she said softly. First, they heard a growl which sounded like a lion or lioness followed by a howl of a wolf or a dog. That she was not sure. She glanced again at Patrick to gauge his reactions on all these.