Loneliness.
Nobody ever went near the whomping willow; which was probably for the best. It had a habit of crushing anything that came too close. Artefacts, animals, people. The odd thing is though, no-one ever wondered why. They assumed the tree had always been that way, that it wanted to be left alone; while on the inside, the pain, regret and loneliness inside the tree grew everyday. Though the tree hadn't always felt such sadness; as with all emotions, there's always a trigger to set them off. The question is; what could have triggered it?
It was September 1st, late afternoon. The skies were gradually darkening, as the excited students made their way back to the picturesque castle they all loved. Usually, the journey started by train; then into the boats for the first years, and carriages for the others. However, two boys decided to take a slightly different approach this year; a less conventional means of transportation. A flying car. Now, as many people have heard the story of those two boys, I will focus from another viewpoint.
The car was terrified. It knew the boys were too young to drive. It knew the trouble in store if they were spotted. It also knew that if this were to end badly, it could be taken apart and scrapped. Broken. Melted down into something else. The car couldn't express how much it didn't want that to happen; there were so many things it hadn't seen, so many places it hadn't been. It would be damned if all of that was taken away by two irrational children.
Due to the stress of the situation, the car started panicking at the thought of the landing. It may have been enraged by the boys' stupidity, but it still didn't want them harmed. It needed to find somewhere at least slightly flexible, so the impact of hitting the ground didn't shatter them all. That's when it saw the tree, illuminated by the light of the headlamps.
The tree's branches shifted slightly, uncomfortable under the harsh beams of light. It's instinct was to attack. That's what it had always done; efficiently remove the object bothering it. But this was different. It sensed the panic the car was feeling, the desperation to find somewhere safe to land, and them something else. Relief. That threw the tree off for a second. Nothing ever felt a positive emotion in its presence. Only fear, anxiety, pain. The feeling of being wanted threw it off-guard, and the car managed to land safely in its branches without being instantly thrown off.
The tree could practically feel the waves of excitement rolling off the car. It had done it! They were safe, and on the ground, and nobody was hurt! The tree felt happiness, it had assisted, and was part of the reason for such joy. It was a whole new experience, and one that the tree hoped he would be able to feel again.
Then the boys in the car started shouting. They had realised were the car had landed, and had assumed the tree would crush them at any moment. Given that the tree was slightly emotionally unstable at being given access to a whole new range of positive feelings, the shouting annoyed it. Those boys were ruining its first moment of true happiness. It got angry. How dare they? Didn't they know what it was capable of? Couldn't they simply be quiet?
The tree made its branches lurch forward, hitting the car in an attempt to startle the boys into silence. However, it had the opposite effect. They began screaming, and tried to drive the car off the tree. The tyres tearing at the bark on the tree caused it extreme pain. No longer able to see reason, it started attacking them in any way it could, to try to make the pain stop.
After the car managed to escape the tree, it made one last attempt at revenge by throwing itself at them, almost uprooting itself in the process. But it was no use. They were too far now. The chance had gone. However, now that the pain had stopped, the tree had managed to reclaim some sort of order in its thoughts. It saw the car, and was immediately ashamed.
It was battered and shaking, the headlights flickering on and off in terror. The doors were barely held on by the partly broken hinges, and the bonnet was caved in, with small branches poking out from underneath. The tree instantly regretted its actions. It desperately wanted to turn back time, before any of this had happened, so the car wouldn't look so traumatized and vulnerable. It made it miserable to see.
The branches twitched, from trying to contain such emotions, and seeing the twitch, the car panicked. It flung the bags and the boys out, and drove in the opposite direction as fast as it could. The tree could do nothing but watch, and the only thing to bring any form of happiness to it drove away. The only thing to trust it, and not be terrified by its monstrous branches and the stories whispered through the corridors.
It was gone.
And from that day forth, the tree vowed to itself to never let anything get close to it again. It didn't think it could survive any more heartbreak.