For the Houses Competition. Set during Albus and Scorpius's 3rd year.
House: Ravenclaw
Year: 6
Category: Standard
Prompt: "Why is it so cold in this place?"
Word count: 1509
There's a part of Hogwarts, not so far away from the castle, where no one goes. Students aren't forbidden to go there, per se; there's no barrier or chains, no sign saying 'Keep Away' in bold, jagged letters. They aren't told 'Do Not Enter' on the first day of term - perhaps, if they were, the place would be a challenge rather than a deterrent. None of these things exist, and yet the place remains untouched, as it has been for many years.
Its appearance contributes much to the aversion - a thick mist constantly surrounds it, day and night, and it is said that you can't even see five centimetres in front of your face when you're in the middle of it. Those few who have dared to enter don't speak of what they saw, only that it's cold and lifeless. The nearest thing to describing it would be a Dementor attack, which every sensible witch or wizard knows is something to be avoided at all costs.
And yet, just as with every other forbidden danger, there will always be some who are brave or stupid enough to try. Some who can't resist the pull of the unknown; some who do it on dares, reluctant though they may be; others whose curiosity simply gets the better of them.
Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy would be counted among the latter, although it must be said that a certain amount of boredom added an extra incentive.
Albus sighed and flopped down on the sofa, his head hanging over the arm. "Merlin, I'm bored," he groaned, looking at Scorpius upside down.
"It's your own fault for burning your permission slip," Scorpius muttered, frowning over a potions essay. Albus grimaced at his words, feeling a twinge of guilt as he realised that it was also his fault that Scorpius was stuck inside; whilst everyone else went to Hogsmeade, Scorpius had volunteered to stay behind and keep Albus company.
He chose not to reply, however, instead bounding to his feet and kicking Scorpius's quill away, causing the other boy to look up at him in annoyance.
"What did you do that for?" he asked, pouting slightly.
"Because," Albus started, grabbing Scorpius by the arm and dragging him to his feet. "We might not be able to leave the grounds, but that doesn't mean we can't leave the castle. Let's do something fun!"
Scorpius folded his arms, but Albus thought he could see a hint of interest and amusement underneath his grumpy facade.
"Like what?" he asked, raising a brow somewhat sceptically.
Albus thought for a moment, then grinned wickedly as an idea came to him. "Let's go check out that weird place by the Black Lake. You know, where there's tons of fog and stuff."
"No. No way," Scorpius said, shaking his head firmly.
"Come on," Albus whined. "Aren't you even a little bit curious?"
"Curiosity killed the cat," Scorpius retorted, causing Albus to roll his eyes. Scorpius had been parroting all kinds of Muggle sayings for ages now, probably because he's trying to impress Rose. Not that it was working; Rose seemed thoroughly unimpressed.
"Not this cat," Albus said, pointing to himself. "And not you-cat, either."
"'You-cat'?" Scorpius asked drily, still not convinced.
Albus sighed. "Whatever, smart-ass," he said, then grabbed Scorpius by the arm and forcibly dragged him from the common room. Not that Scorpius was putting up much of a fight, Albus realised, grinning. Clearly he was as curious as Albus, he just didn't want to admit it.
When the two of them arrived, thankfully not having run into any Prefects or professors, they were both out of breath, courtesy of Albus turning the journey into a race. They hesitated on the edge of the fog, staring into the expanse in trepidation, more than a little nervousness twisting in Albus's gut.
"Scared, Potter?" Scorpius asked to his left, although the slight tremor to his voice betrayed him.
Albus glanced over and tried for a grin. "You wish," he replied, knowing he was no more successful than Scorpius in disguising his fear. "Come on," he said, taking a deep breath and turning back towards the fog and taking a careful step into it.
He heard Scorpius follow him a moment later, but couldn't see him when he turned, the fog swallowing everything completely. In a panic, Albus swung his arms around wildly, eventually connecting with something solid, something which gave an annoyed 'Ow' at the contact. Sighing in relief, Albus quickly latched onto Scorpius's sleeve, pulling him until he could feel him next to him.
"We should keep a hold of each other," Albus explained. "So you don't wander off and get lost."
"Me?" Scorpius asked, affronted, but then followed suit and held onto Albus's jumper. Slowly, the two of them headed further into the fog, Albus waving his free arm blindly in front of him.
As they moved deeper and deeper, Albus felt a freezing chill seep into his bones, and he shivered, wishing desperately that he had thought to pick up something warmer. "Why is it so cold in this place?" he chattered, hunching his shoulders up to his ears.
Before he could get an answer, however, Scorpius's grip on his jumper tightened, and Albus was pulled to an abrupt stop. Albus turned in what he hoped was Scorpius's direction, but then a voice from behind him stopped him in his tracks.
"You really don't know?" the voice asked, sounding sad and almost shocked.
Albus scanned for the source of the voice, but the fog prevented him from seeing anything. "Who are you?" he called out, his heart beginning to crawl up his throat in fear.
The voice sighed heavily. "Of course," it said. "One moment."
Albus heard a loud clapping sound, then a shrieking sound pierced the air, causing him to clap his hand to his ears, losing his grip on Scorpius as he did so. The sudden lack of pressure on his own arm let him know Scorpius had done the same, and a horrible panic overwhelmed him.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the shrieking stopped, and Albus blinked, realising that the fog had cleared somewhat. He quickly located Scorpius, then looked for whoever the voice belonged to.
Nearly-Headless Nick stood in front of them, looking far less jovial than his usual self, his head wobbling precariously as he shook it at them.
"Nick?" Albus asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"See for yourself," Nick said cryptically, and Albus frowned in confusion. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but then Scorpius tugged on his sleeve.
"Look," he breathed, pointing in the direction of the lake. Albus followed his gaze, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw figures moving at the shore.
In fact… There were figures everywhere, completely surrounding them, most of them only appearing for a few seconds before vanishing again into the air. They were milky white, the same colour as the fog, except much more see-through, and Albus realised with a horrible sinking feeling that they were all ghosts, trapped here to wander between life and death.
"What -" he began, but the words wouldn't form. Nick looked at him with sad eyes, and the sight of it made Albus feel terribly sad, too. He was so used to Nick being almost irritating in his exuberance, that seeing him like this made Albus certain that this place couldn't be good.
"After the War, there were so many dead," Nick said, heaving a sigh. "Most went on, of course, but a lot of the Death Eaters were too bitter to let go. And then there were others who simply refused. They didn't want to believe it was over, you see. They all came here."
"Why?" Scorpius asked, his voice small and childlike.
Nick shrugged, and his head wobbled in a way that would be comical but for the gravity of the situation. "We don't know. The best guess is that they were all just drawn together."
A heavy silence fell over them as Albus and Scorpius watched the many ghosts drift aimlessly around. Eventually, Nick cleared his throat, and the two boys looked up at him.
"You boys should go back to the castle before you're missed. It's late."
Albus opened his mouth to protest that it hadn't been that long, but then he glanced up at the sky and saw that Nick was right; the sun was hanging low on the horizon, and it was going to be dark soon. He nodded wordlessly and he and Scorpius silently walked away from the ghosts and back to the castle.
As they crested the hill that looked over the lake, they stopped and glanced behind them, noticing that the fog had once again settled over the ghosts' haunt. They shared a look, agreeing silently that they would never tell anyone what was walking in the fog near the Black Lake.
Scorpius had been right, Albus realised as they headed back into the castle. Some things were best left undiscovered after all.