Closed Piecing Things Together

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan brushed a trail of water from where it'd landed on his forehead, undeterred by the damp branches around them as he pushed forward into the forest. It'd taken some planning and convincing to get Augustus out here but after finally managing it he wasn't going to let a little bad weather discourage him. The night around them was extra dark thanks to the heavy clouds overhead and Ryan's eyes strained to see the way as he trudged over the tree roots, leading the way. At least they didn't have to worry as much about being spotted this way, though Ryan had a plan for that too. Hopefully it wouldn't be needed.

"It's been way too long to find any tracks or anything, but maybe we can still find something, left over teeth or skin or something," He said over his shoulder, half to Augustus and half to himself. He'd gleaned enough information between his sister and news on the trial of Lysander and the other student he'd been caught out here with to know there'd been a basilisk at some point in this forest and with any luck that could find out more with a little poking around.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus knew it wasn't particularly smart to go into the forest after what had happened last year, but he couldn't deny that he was extra curious about the place now. So while it had taken Ryan some convincing to get him to go, he felt excitement as well as nervousness as he headed deeper into the woods. He glanced at Ryan, as he spoke, nodding. "Perhaps it shed its skin." He muttered. "Though I suppose the ministry would have taken it." He added, frowning a bit. He guessed basilisk scales were probably fairly magical and worth something. He followed Ryan, lighting up his wand to take a better look at the forest floor. "But we could also find nothing, we have no way of knowing we're even looking in the right place." He added quietly, trying to prepare Ryan for eventual disappointment.

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan hummed in acknowledgement as Augustus speculated about a shed skin. That would be ideal, well, really a fang would be ideal, Ryan knew those had excellent magical properties, but a skin would still be pretty sweet. "The ministry isn't all that smart," he said, already practically bent in half as he stooped to investigate under a nearby shrub. "They could have easily missed something. I mean, after all, they managed to miss someone hatching a basilisk in the forest in the first place." Ryan pushed a clump of wet hair out of his eyes, squinting in the low wand-light, the leaves reflecting back wetly in the dark. "Maybe we should look for a good spot to hatch one? If you wanted to grew a basilisk in secret in the woods, where would it be," he said pensively, trying to think back to any reading he'd done on the creatures since he'd heard what had happened.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus glanced at Ryan when he said the ministry wasn't all that smart. "How do you know that?" He asked, voicing a question he probably would've kept inside his head a few months ago. But Ryan either had a good reason for thinking the ministry wasn't smart, or he was just making this all up. "To be fair, it's more like the school missed it." He said with a small shrug. "It's not like we would want the Ministry to monitor the school, right?" He asked, smiling slightly at Ryan. Augustus followed his gaze around the forest, feeling a shiver go down his back. He shook it off and focused on Ryan's words. "Probably somewhere dark and sheltered?"

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan cast a glance over his shoulder when Augustus questioned his comment about the ministry, shrugging his shoulder dismissively as he poked around some ferns. "Obvious. Any big organization is gonna be filled with people who don't actually know what they're doing," he said simply, though he had to admit Augustus having a point about the school dropping the ball in this case. "I guess technically you're right," he admittedly mulishly, not wanting to admit that the ministry being competent in this situation also vastly limited their chances of finding anything interesting.

"A good start. If I was trying to hide a basilisk from the school I'd probably want somewhere where random kids wouldn't trip over it too," he said when Augustus mentioned somewhere dark and sheltered, squinting as he held up his wand to try and peer through the trees, starting to feel the cold seep in from his damp robes. "Wish we could ask someone for directions. Someone should invent a spell to talk to trees. Or mushrooms. You know there's research that believes fungi communicate with each other," he commented idly, flinching when his movement spooked a bird overhead, causing Ryan to nearly drop his wand.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus snorted at his words. "I suppose you're not going to be joining the ministry after we graduate, then?" He asked, raising his eyebrows a bit. He hadn't really considered it for himself either, even if his cousin's job as an unspeakable sounded pretty interesting, from the little he knew about it anyway. Augustus felt a little proud when Ryan admitted he was right, it wasn't something his friend liked to admit.

Augustus nodded at Ryan's words. "Exactly, and it feels like a creature that would prefer the dark." He added with a shrug. Augustus hesitated. "That way there's a clearing, so maybe we should go the opposite way?" He glanced at Ryan. "The fungi that were around when the basilisk was here are probably gone already." He said with a small shrug. He was fairly sure mushrooms didn't stay around for months, generally. He jumped when Ryan did, mostly spooked by his reaction. "What was that?"

 

[Ryan Fisk]

“Why would I?” Ryan asked, shifting some branches around before carefully stepping through the underbrush and further into the forest. “I doubt the Ministry knows anything we couldn’t figure out on our own,” he said simply, impatiently holding back some branches so Augustus could follow him.

Ryan squinted in the direction Augustus was pointing, towards the clearing, raising his wand some in the low light and frowning. “Might be easier to look for tracks without all the trees,” he offered pensively, not that he imagined there was much to see so much time later, especially with the ground getting so muddy. But he didn’t like Augustus making suggestions before he could either. “Fungi live along time under ground,” he murmured, staring up into the tree that he’d startled the bird out of. “It was nothing, just a bird. Stupid, it startled me,” he muttered, mostly to himself before shaking his head and heading further into the dense forest, away from the clearing.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus shrugged at Ryan's question. "I dunno, money? Resources?" He asked, though he knew and understood why Ryan didn't want to work at the ministry. It wasn't something he really wanted either. "My cousin is an unspeakable, I imagine he's learning things we can't do on our own." He said with a shrug. "But I don't want to work at the ministry either." He added, not wanting Ryan to think he was arguing with him. He was just curious about his thoughts.

Augustus nodded at Ryan's suggestion, following him into the clearing. He nodded at his words. "True, but I still don't think they would say anything useful." He said quietly. He smiled a bit. "Startled me too, don't worry."

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan shrugged at Augustus' comments about the ministry, squinting closely at something on the treebark that turned out to just be a snail trail, something he'd usually be vaguely interested in but not what they were after tonight. "I dunno, I like doing my own thing," he said, flicking some water from his hair as he brushed too close to a tree, feeling the dew soak into his collar.

The mention of Unspeakables was interesting, it was frustrating that the ministry had a whole department dedicated to magic they wouldn't share with anyone, but Ryan figured if they could figure it out, so could he, probably. "You think he'd ever tell us about it?" He asked after a moment, someone mollified when Augustus at least expressed he wasn't planning on going into the ministry. Ryan hadn't thought about it much, but he didn't like the idea of him and Augustus splitting up too far after school ended. It'd feel weird.

They'd been walking for awhile through the thicker brush and Ryan was starting to slow down, the cold seeping into his fingers where he gripped his wand. "Do you know where we are?" He said after a moment of hesitation, passing a suspiciously familiar looking fern. "Might need to do a Point Me spell," he muttered, inspecting the fern sourly.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus glanced at Ryan as he said he liked doing his own thing. That wasn't a surprise to him. "Is that what you're going to do after we graduate, then? Your own thing?" He asked, feeling vaguely curious. He was sure Ryan was going to do wonderful things once he had time, the ability to do magic outside of Hogwarts, and little to no supervision. Wonderful things, but also maybe terrifying things. He winced as Ryan asked about his cousin, trying to picture Edmund's face if he asked. "No, he wouldn't." He said after a beat. "Sorry." He followed Ryan through the forest, fully expecting him to know where they were going until he slowed down and asked Augustus if he knew where they were. He froze, looking around. "Uh, I do not." He admitted. "I thought you knew."

 

[Ryan Fisk]

Ryan straightened up with a sigh when the fern provided no helpful insight, shrugging at Augustus’ question. “I think so. Maybe, I dunno, something with curses. A curse breaker or something,” he said, annoyed to find himself hesitating as he shared the idea with Augustus. It wasn’t like it was a secret Ryan was interested in weird magic or curses, or that he cared about Augustus’ opinion, but he was the first person he’d officially told about the idea now that he’d settled on the thought, not even his dad new that Ryan was considering it for his future. “What about you? Sticking around at Flourish and Blott’s for awhile?” He asked, leaning back on his heels to see if he could spot any stars through the forest canopy; maybe if he could find the Southern Cross…

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, both at Augustus’ cousins apparent unwillingness to share info and that they both apparently had no idea where they were. “It’s fine, we just need to head South to get back to the castle right? We’ll hit the end of the tree line eventually,” he decided confidently, taking a moment to cast a point me charm and pointing decisively south as his wand finished spinning. He was loath to start moving as it would mean officially giving up on their little hunt, despite Ryan’s growing awareness that they were finding nothing and were probably already in for a long, chilly walk back.