Closed Nature Of The Beast

[Lysander Summers]

#108990​

The castle receded behind him as Lysander half-walked, half-ran toward the forest, torn between not wanting to get caught by the staff, and not wanting to cause any more damage than he’d already had. How could he have been so stupid? He thought he’d planned for everything, with the upkeep of his charms and enchantments, and the lengths he'd gone to to keep the area secure, he’d been so sure that it shouldn’t have been able to escape, yet it had all gone wrong. So, so wrong. He gave a look over his shoulder, wand pointed behind him in case a professor appeared out of the blue. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if one did, only that he had to do something. There was still time to fix this without being caught. All he needed was a bit of help. “Hurry!” He urged Kas, lowering his wand again to look ahead. There had been no time to explain in the castle, not with so many people about. Even the portraits had ears, and there didn’t seem to be a corridor that wasn’t home to at least one.

Breathless, Lysander stumbled through the forest tree line, kicking up mud from the recent rainfall as he ground to a halt. He paused to lean against a tree and catch his breath, his mouth too dry to immediately form words. They had to keep going, there was no time, but he…he just needed a minute. One minute to get his thoughts together and breathe. He hadn't stopped running since he'd found the empty hollow, and every muscle ached. “I f*cked up, Kas. I f*cked up bad.” He choked. His throat felt raw, every word almost painful. “They’re all dead, there's so many of them. I didn’t mean…I didn’t think…” Merlin. All of those animals he’d come across laying in the forest, cold and stiff to the touch. Because of him. Because of what he’d done. What about Aspen, and the other centaurs? What if it reached them before they reached it? "It's a basilisk, Kas. I..I hatched a basilisk, and it escaped." ​

 

[Kasim Safir]

If they hadn’t been walking so fast, Kas would have already expressed his immense displeasure as Lysander urged them to hurry, crossing the lawn with long strides that had Kas’ calves protesting already. Lysander was lucky Kas liked him so much, he thought bitterly as he nearly slipped on a slicker patch of grass, ready to say something prickly and appropriately glib when they finally came to a halt just inside the forest until Lysander beat him to it. “Did you… Finally kill Juniper then?” He asked slowly, feeling distinctly off-kilter. If this was a joke, it wasn’t one of Lysander’s usual and Kas hated how just standing in the forest was making his hair stand on end. He didn’t think he’d seen Lysander this worked up, and his stomach was a hard pit of worry at the look in Lysander’s eye. It reminded him of some of the creatures they got in at the menagerie who’d been cooped up for too long, overwhelmed by the back to school rush and feeling trapped.

Whatever Kas had been expecting Lysander to say, a basilisk hadn’t been it, his head snapping so fast to look back at Lysander from where he’d been investigating a nearby tree branch that he swore he’d nearly given himself whiplash. “A what?” he said incredulously, stepping closer to Lysander. “I hope this is just one too many bludgers to the head talking because you did not bring me out here cause you set a basilisk loose in the forest,” Kas said sharply, resisting the urge to look around. It was tempting to believe Lysander was just playing a very poor joke on him but this would be exactly the sort of stupid thing Lysander would actually end up doing, wouldn’t it. “What, did you think I could just ask it nicely to please come home and then what?” Kas could hear his voice rising, forcing himself to speak in a harsh whisper instead, suddenly aware of just how unnaturally quiet the forest around them was.

 

[Emma van Houten]

The anxious feeling got just a little worse every day closer to graduation. Emma's time at Hogwarts was really almost over, and she stayed awake most nights wondering what things would be like after graduation. She tried to tell herself not that much would change, that she still had her friends and that they would keep in touch. But... lately, she felt like Lysander was pulling away from her. He was her best friend, and they were on the Quidditch team together, so they still saw each other, but he was clearly distracted by something.

So, when Emma saw Lysander rushing off with Kas on his heels, she frowned as she watched them go. Then, she turned on her heel and decided to follow them. What was so important that he had to do with Kas? He hadn't asked her to go on any adventures lately. And it was clear that's what the two boys were doing, as they headed outside and in the direction of the forest. Why wasn't she invited? Why was he going without her? Emma felt a sharp stab of jealousy, resisting the urge to call out to them and confront Lysander. But then realization hit her. Maybe... maybe they were going there for some privacy. Were they dating? The thought only made Emma angrier. How dare Lysander date someone without telling her. She thought they told each other everything. Without stopping to think about it, or do as much as put on a proper coat, she rushed outside, following them. Emma shivered a little, the light rain quickly starting to turn her robes damp. But if she hurried, she could catch up with them and see what they were up to. If they really were making out in the forest, she could tell Lysander how crappy it was not to tell her, before telling him how much better he could do than Kas. Emma headed into the forest, quietly following their footsteps in the mud.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Had this been a good idea? Had any of it? Lysander didn't know what kind of response he'd expected from Kas, but now that he'd had enough pause to think it through, he was suddenly terrified that his friend wouldn't help him. Had he thought that he - that anyone - would just accept such a huge request, no questions asked? This wasn't a niffler escaping the Care of Magical Creatures enclosure, this was a basilisk, and who knew where it was by now. There had been no time to figure anything out. "Yes!?" He responded, almost pleadingly. That was exactly what he'd thought. Kas simply had to talk to it, tell it to stop, or stay put, and then…then what? "Then…then I don't know! We hide it, or take it somewhere safe. We could use a sleeping charm on it, or, or, I don't know! I haven't had time to think! The longer it's out there, the worse it's going to be. I'll just, I'll figure it out." He continued, exasperated, trying not to let his voice rise with the growing panic he felt. "Wh-what else am I supposed to do? This wasn't supposed to happen. If anyone finds out-" Merlin, he didn't want to begin to even think about the consequences. He took a shaky breath. Why couldn't he just turn back the clock on today? Forget any of it even happened, or intervened before it was too late. "It could put so many people in danger. Even if I told the Ministry, who knows how long it'll take them to get here? And then I'll be…I can't trust anyone else, and you can talk to it! Please. All you have to do is talk, and listen. No one needs to know. Nothing else bad has to happen." As long as they hurried.

Lysander gave a fearful look back the way they came, both eager to get to get a move on to wherever the basilisk was, and fearful of what he might find when they got there. He put a hand on Kas’ shoulder, unsure if he were trying to reassure him, or stop him from leaving him. "I need you. Whatever you want, I'll do it. Please. The basilisk, it's just a baby, it'll listen to you. It has to." He didn't know what they'd have to do if it didn't, but he had to hope it would. Nothing was born dark and evil, right? It probably didn't know right from wrong, or what it was doing. He could still help it, and help everyone else.​

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas liked to pretend Lysander was stupid and, in a lot of ways he was, but Kas also knew that Lysander could be clever, confident, and incredibly stubborn- all traits that would allow him to do exactly the stupid thing he was telling Kas right now without a second thought.

Kas breathed in sharply through his teeth, turning to glance out at the forest around them before thinking better of it and looking back at Lysander. "Does anyone know?" He asked, quickly, already fishing out his wand and rolling up his sleeves. The idea was ridiculous, the entire scenario was ridiculous, Kas had no idea if a basilisk would even listen to him, or hear him out in the forest, but he wasn't going to leave Lysander to fend for himself out here. Kas had agreed to stupider things anyway. "Don't think for a second that I won't haunt your ass if I die doing this," he offered, joking tone choked as he turned to tentatively step through the underbrush, ears trained for any sound. Really, even if he hadn't known what Lysander had done, he might have noticed something was up, the forest was unsettlingly quiet, birdsong muted in a way Kas had never heard before. "Hello? Uh- Basilisk? Can you hear me?" Kas tried, his nerves about actually getting an answer easing how ridiculous he felt, hissing into the trees, eyes trained down and ready to look away at the faintest sound of movement as they headed further into the forest.

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma's righteous indignation grew with every step she took into the forest, realizing Lysander was taking Kas to a part of the forest she had never explored with him yet. A new thought occurred to her as she ducked under a low-hanging branch. Was... Lysander replacing her with Kas? Maybe they weren't dating, maybe Kas was just his new best friend. The thought made her want to call out to them, to confront them, but she realized that she would look kind of weird for having followed them. She considered what to do for a moment, but then decided to keep following them. She was curious, and she knew it would just bother her if she headed back to the castle now.

But the lack of light and a clear path was starting to become a problem. Emma was having a difficult time following the footprints and she stopped, straining her ears to hear where the boys had gone. She heard some rustling to her right and headed in that direction, keeping her steps slow and steady. Emma frowned as she made out a strange noise, it sounded like.. hissing. She headed a little closer, trying to see what was happening. Was that Kas? She knew from Lysander he could talk to snakes but hearing it was strange. Emma jumped in alarm when she put her foot down in a puddle of water, immediately soaking her sock inside her shoe. She grimaced and looked down, trying to see how bad the damage was. But before she could even look at her sock or shoe, Emma noticed a weird movement in the reflection on the pond. She squinted, making out something that looked like... scales? The thing moved and Emma saw a flash of a yellow eye. It was the last thing she saw before everything turned black. Emma fell down on the forest floor, petrified.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander shook his head silently, the thought of anyone else knowing too terrifying to think about. Who else could he possibly tell? His father? He'd never trust him again, and best-case scenario, he'd be grounded for the rest of his natural life. The headmistress? Professor Burleigh? He couldn't imagine it would get swept under the rug and he'd go on graduating as if nothing happened. Aspen would have put an arrow through him if she'd found out. He'd already been stepping on eggshells around her anytime he was in the forest. This was his and Kas' secret to the grave. He was already contemplating just how willing his friend would be to an unbreakable vow never to breathe a word of this to anyone. "Don't say that. Nothing and no one is going to die. I'll make sure of it." He whispered harshly. His voice suddenly felt too loud at a regular volume, compared to the quiet of the forest. There was no way it would travel all the way back to the castle, yet it felt like it could, and he didn't want to take any chances. "...Being a ghost wouldn't be that bad, though." He added after a quiet moment, trying to alleviate his own fears. He shut up quickly, on alert at the familiar sound of Kas' parseltongue, doing his best to ignore that usual pang of envy. His ears strained to pay attention to it, as if he'd be able to pick up on any words amongst the sounds of hissing. In all of his years of trying to learn the language from his friend, none of it sounded like it had made any sense. If it wasn't for the fact he'd seen snakes actually understand what was being said, he might've thought it was totally made up.

Progress through the forest was slow. It was difficult to walk, when the only thing Lysander could look at were his own two feet, and the short distance to the next spot he planned to step. He passed another bird, laying still in the mud. His gut wrenched. A shiver ran down his spine. How many creatures of the forest had died because of him? It had all seemed like a good idea to begin with. He hadn't considered what could go wrong, because it simply wouldn't. Everything was supposed to go to plan. It had been destined to. He never should have attempted this. This had been about creating a life, how glorious it would've been if he'd successfully raised a basilisk and proved they weren't all dark creatures. All he'd achieved was the opposite. There was so much death, and he was responsible. He wanted to close his eyes and look away from it all, but he couldn't. He had to see. He couldn't turn a blind eye to what he'd done.

What sounded like another hiss, distinct from Kas' own parseltongue, cut through the quiet of the forest. Lysander paused, eyes wide as he looked up to try and gauge Kas' reaction. "Well? Do you hear it? What's it saying?" He asked, throat suddenly dry. He could only hope it was as simple as telling the snake to stop where it was, or tuck itself away until they could find somewhere to keep it. It had to listen. Impatient, he took a few more steps toward the sound so they wouldn't lose it, his eyes trained on his friend's face until his foot caught on something on the forest floor. He tumbled, stumbling into the mud, and squeezed his eyes shut in panic. What was it? A root? A rock? The basilisk? No, no, the hissing sound hadn't been close enough to come from right beneath his feet. It couldn't have been that. He cautiously opened an eye, and his heart sank at the sight. There was another person laying there. They didn't move, didn't seem to even react to him at all. What was worse, even in the dim of the forest, he could recognise her. Why was she here, of all places? Of all times? Why wasn't she back at the castle? This didn't make any sense. He didn't want to believe in what he was seeing. "Emma? Hey, hey Emma." He said, crawling forward to shake her arm and rouse her from her stupor, but the moment he touched her skin, felt the resistance in his fingertips, his blood ran cold. She didn't...didn't feel like a person should. It was like touching stone. She didn't respond, eyes didn't blink, her chest didn't rise with breath. He looked up at Kas, searching for support, or answers, he didn't know which, before dropping his eyes back on the face of his best friend. "Quit playing around. Come on." He said, giving her arm another, more insistent shake. "Wake up, Emma. Wake up!" His voice rose with desperation, tears stinging the back of his eyes. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. He'd already messed up enough. He was supposed to be fixing it. It wasn't fair. This wasn't fair. It didn't have to be any worse,yet it was, and in the worst way he could imagine. "Kas, please, she won't wake up. She won't - I don't, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do." He choked. He felt sick. He couldn't breathe. His throat constricted with each word. His heart, which had been hammering in his chest the whole time he'd been in the forest, now felt as if it had stopped entirely. This couldn't be real.​

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas swallowed thickly, giving Lysander a tight nod when he confirmed no one else knew about this. Maybe they could still salvage this then, quickly, he thought grimly, picking his way through the trees with Lysander. "Oh that's comforting, at least if I die it'll be cool," he said dryly, trying to mask the uneasy panic fluttering in his chest as he tried calling out for the basilisk again, eyes darting wide to Lysander before staring blindly into the dim forest around them as they strained their ears for any sound.

Kas hadn’t actually expected a response, stomach dropping at the sound of something else wending its way through the forest. It wasn’t like talking to the snakes at the Menagerie; they were fairly eloquent, for snakes at least, and easy to understand. This was something else entirely, Kas only able to make out fragments. Hungry. Movement. Hunt. Kas’ heart dropped into his stomach and he blinding reached back to grab Lysander’s sleeve urging him to be quiet. “I don’t think-“ he started, cutting off as Lysander slipped, stepping back and clenching his eyes shut, heart hammering. Surely they would have heard the basilisk if it was right on top of them he thought frantically, letting out a gasp of air when Lysander said Emma’s name. “What is she even doing out here-“ He started, cracking open an eye and freezing when he saw Lysander shaking something- a body- on the ground. “Oh sh*t,” he said quietly, scrambling over to join Lysander on the ground, hands fluttering over Emma’s still form, not quite able to bring himself to touch her. “Is she…?” If anyone had asked him even an hour ago if Kas wanted Emma dead, he would have jokingly said yes but the thought of it now made Kas sick to his stomach.

“We need to go,” Kas decided, grabbing at Lysander’s arm. “We can say we found her out here, no one needs to know what happened,” he said firmly, stilling in his attempt to pull Lysander to his feet at the sound of something moving through the leaf litter nearby. For a moment, the only other thing Kas could hear was his heart beating painfully in his chest before the hissing started again. Warmth. Hungry. “Stop,” Kas tried, slapping a hand over his eyes, his other still gripping Lysander’s arm painfully tight. “We’re friends. You need to stop- Lysander it’s not listening,” he said in a rush, voice high with a thread of fear as he tried to jerk Lysander backwards away from the sound of movement again, stumbling blindly in an attempt to get away. They might be fairing better than poor Emma knowing not to look, but it wouldn’t save them from getting bitten if the basilisk attacked, his blood running could as the hissing voice got louder. Movement. Hungry. Bite.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

It was quiet. Too quiet. it had been a while since elvera had wandered through the forest and she hadn't thought much about it but there had always been the sound of life. the scurry of creatures looking for insects looking for food. and birdsong. even at night there was scuffling. but tonight there was nothing. silence. Elvera thought she knew what she had seen. she didn't know a huge amount about magical creatures but there was something about looking at it. she realised that she still had the mirror in her hand. she held it up and navigated trying to only look at it. there was something her gut was telling her to do and she trusted her gut. "be careful where you are going. any movement close your eyes" she said. as she trailed further into the woods her skirt catching on branches and almost making her trip. she didn't know what direction she was going. but she thought she saw something ahead a glimmer of light and subconsciously was making her way towards it like a moth to a lamp. as she grew closer she heard noises, not animal sounds but very much human noises whispering. she started heading towards them gaining confidence. and feeling a sinking feeling. she was glad that she hadn't freaked out over a vision only for it to be wrong bu was no particularly thrilled that this was the vision in question.
They reached the small space where the students were and stepped through a gap in the trees. "Good Evening" she said. before she realised what the boys were leaning over. "Iris? no, emma?" she said crouching down next to the group. she wasn't a healer. she knew her herblore and home remedies but this was beyond her skills. she looked up at Catherine "She's alive" she said. a wave of relief washing over her.

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

There was no guarantee that there was anything going on in the forest, particularly with how incoherent Le Fey's prediction had been, if that was what Katherine had witnessed outside of her office, yet the woman made her way from the castle with composed haste. It was difficult to piece together the seemingly unrelated babble of words, but she had picked up on perhaps the most important parts. Trouble in the forest. A student dead. These were not the words the headmistress wanted to hear in her school, from a seer no less, but the latter fact let her hold on to the hope that there was nothing yet to worry about. A seer saw the future, which meant there was time to intervene. If it were the future at all. In her experience, not all of them could differentiate vision from nightmare.

Katherine spent little time in or around the forest bordering the school, but as the two of them made their way through the trees, even she felt that there was something different, though she couldn't quite place her finger on why. She held her wand low to illuminate the way, not exactly dressed for a walk through untamed, overgrown land. Her lips pursed at Elvera's warning. "I beg your pardon?" She asked, stepping over a gnarled branch. She may have been an older woman, but she needed no help navigating the forest. Certainly, she did not think it made sense to close her eyes, nor did she think preening in a mirror was appropriate at this time.

With the silence that had fallen over the forest, Katherine had started to believe that there was no threat, until panicked voices cut through. Voices, and hissing. Elvera had predicted snakes. Her pace quickened. Branches curled themselves out of the way of her wand as she headed toward them. The voices were clearer.

We can say we found her out here, no one needs to know what happened.

The words did not bode well. Katherine came to a stop when she finally saw them, panicked, arguing about leaving. Two students - no - three. Another lay still on the forest floor. Katherine's breath caught. Were they too late? The hissing she had heard - it was clear it had come from the parselmouth. He was speaking to something. Commanding it. "Kasim Safir." Katherine spoke, her voice cold, numb with the shock of what she was seeing. "What have you done." The snake. The mirror. The students covering their eyes. Petrification. She'd seen something like this in her time at the department of experimental charms. There was dark magic at work. The parselmouth had spoken to something here, instructed it, perhaps, and now it sounded as if he were trying to cover it up. And then there was Lysander. Why and how was he involved? What, exactly, had happened here? There was no time to interrogate any further. Movement caught Katherine's attention, from the direction the boys had been trying to get away from. The sound of a creature slithering toward them. It was all besides them that seemed to be stirring in the area.

For the first time since entering the forest, Katherine felt her fear. She couldn't keep it at bay, not now that she'd seen Elvera's warning come to be realised. She raised her wand and averted her eyes. A crack, like thunder, rumbled through the forest as she sent a blasting charm the creature's way, but it seemed to do little to deter it. The sound of movement continued, spurred on if anything by the additional voices. Spells, it seemed, weren't going to work on it directly. She moved her wand again. A flash of light, the beating of large wings as her patronus flew toward - and past the creature headed their way. The slithering receded, giving chase in the opposite direction. It only gave them a small window of time, but it was enough for now. "We won't be if we stay here." Katherine responded, momentarily relieved that at the very least, Le Fey had confirmed that Emma van Houten was still alive. For now. She took a shaky breath, and prepared to levitate the petrified girl from the muddy forest floor. "Professor Le Fey, bring Miss van Houten to the hospital wing to be seen to, and contact the Ministry of Magic. With haste." Katherine instructed, before she turned her eyes on the two boys. What had happened, what they might have done to their fellow classmate - she didn't have the words for it. "You two. My office. Immediately." She commanded, voice edged with anger to mask her own dread. "Run. Now."​