We bundled up against the frosty night as Aunt Poppy and I trooped along the fringes of the Forbidden Forest, the Hogwarts castle falling back behind us. Night wind rose and drew goosebumps across my arms. The red coat I wore fell short beneath my elbows. I heard owls swoop below us looking for mice to prey on. I heard night bugs making all sorts of noises from afar. I looked back. Farthest from the saplings came a distinct sound that I could only make out as a stray dog, giving itself away. Something scuttled across the grove, but it was too dark to see.
I fell closer to Aunt Poppy.
"Hold here," she said, drawing to a halt.
Aunt Poppy extracted an old medical bag from her olive-drab robes. She slung it aside. Taking inventory, she drew out an old-fashioned army canteen and a Luger. I couldn't put a head or a tail around it. The clip shone and glistened against her gloved hand, eyeing it carefully lest it break free from her tough grip. She tossed it to me.
"The kid's not dumb, but he doesn't know what's coming," she muttered to herself, though I knew better that she was lecturing me. "Shoot him with that clip only after you've wasted him with the rock salt. Don't fumble around with the rifle when you're handling this round. Get it through his chest because if you aren't too careful and shoot him someplace else, you're just going to make him mad, do you understand?"
I didn't. Well, there were lots of things I didn't understand back then, but this one just didn't make much sense that it gave me headaches just thinking about it.
"Aunt Poppy, what are we hunting?"
"Something larger than a rabbit and smarter than the two of us combined," was all she told me. Her chin aimed at the leafy shadows of the trees feet away from us. "Keep watch and get your aim straight, Georgia Louise."
Well, that narrows it down to Albus Dumbledore, You-Know-Who and intoxicated centaurs. I didn't want to prod Aunt Poppy about it anymore. I was getting tired asking and so was she. She wouldn't tell me if I tried again. And again. Besides, would I really want to know what we were out for in the middle of the night? I just wanted to get this over with.
Aunt Poppy pulled out from her cloak, what looked like smelly, rotting meat. She threw it on the ground. I wrinkled my nose.
"Ugh, Aunt Poppy was is that?"
She didn't answer; she was too busy unscrewing the canteen open, pouring out dark liquid on it. It smelled even worse.
"Blood." She explained, stowing the canteen back inside the medical bag, and wiping dirt off her hands. "Draws him in more. He's smart to get himself out, but I know no one that would pass up a nice big, juicy dragon steak for anything."
I would. "Dragon meat? Isn't that poisonous?"
"For humans," she said. "Don't worry so much about it, Georgia Louise, there's far more things horrible than this creature. It'll be over soon."
I tried to smile. "Well, if we're talking about Lewis…"
Her mouth held back a laugh. "Yes, well, your brother's a whole different creature that's for sure. He used to come with me hunting when he was still studying here. We weren't barmcakes enough to harm the creatures living here, if you're thinking about that kind of hunting."
I was. Don't blame me, but if you could just see her Aunt Poppy was that sort of person who can kill an acromantula. With her bare hands. And actually enjoying it. Maybe she could just kill it with a single stare. That is, if she already hasn't killed one.
"They were mostly for potion ingredients. Medicinal potions. You know the sort."
"He brought back a handful of souvenirs when he returned every summer," I said, remembering the vial of acromantula venom he gave me. "He really was fond of it, always told me about your little adventures."
I looked at her. Her eyes were full of wistful memories but she never carried on. But when our gaze met, I knew in the back of her heart, she was missing Lewis as much as I did.
I gazed up. The pale blue moon glared against the cloudless sky. A star shone. Aunt Poppy and I stood together, remembering Lew. It felt like a perfect moment albeit the horrid smell of the rotting meat, the rifle on my hands and the blood staining our coats.
"Aunt Poppy are we gonna kill it?"
"No," she said, blinking back the nostalgia from her eyes. "We're just gonna stop its heart."
"Isn't that gonna kill it?"
"No, what I meant was that we're just going to paralyze it for awhile. Just enough time for us to treat the reckless bugger." She eyed me closely. "You thinking of killing it, Georgia Louise?"
Of course not. "We're going to treat it? I thought we were hunting it?
"Oh, just tell me if you see something coming all right?"
And I did.
I wish I had brought my watch, I thought. At least I would've known how long we stood there. Waiting. I took aim and squinted hard against the dark foliage of evergreens, peering out of the road for something. Nothing, I was wishing. At least, I hoped to be.
Silence lingered too long. The light from Aunt Poppy's wand grew fainter and fainter. The confidence in me beginning to extinguish.
Then I jerked up. Aunt Poppy straightened and her hand went for the Luger. It was a scream – far from a human's and too distant for us to make out. My gaze fell south of the forest. Birds were leaving their homes in the dead of the night, an untimely moment for them to do so. Evergreens swayed. Aunt Poppy and I stared. The rifle fell loose from my nervous grip. Aunt Poppy caught it, her jaw clenched.
"Take cover behind those trees; don't shoot anything that moves unless I say so." She said pushing the rifle back in my hands. I could feel her thick gloved hand lead me west where we heard the scream. I staggered behind the cloak of the large pine tree, half-swallowed by the darkness. I aimed my rifle steadily onto the dragon meat, ready to protect Aunt Poppy (though I knew she need not any protection especially mine) darkness on my back. But Aunt Poppy was missing. My eyes searched for her, but the grove was too dark for me to make out a shape or figure amidst the trees.
I shivered and I knew it wasn't from the cold.
I waited too long. Something had brushed against the pine trees behind me, for the leaves rustled and I felt no breeze. I spun around, my rifle aiming blindly in pitch-darkness.
"A—Aunt Poppy…?" I called. "W—Who's… Who's there?"
The moonlight found it. Whatever it was. The scream froze in my throat. I tried to pull the trigger in a frantic effort to protect myself, but my hands shook so badly I missed. Thrice. I took a step back.
It was all grey fur and snout, a timid growl escaping its large mouth. Its saliva dripped and stained my red coat. It was a wolf. A very large, very frightening, very angry wolf. My hand fell against my bosom, trying to rid of this painful weight on my lungs. Its glinting eyes met mine. And somehow I knew I had seen them before. But I couldn't care less at that moment.
There came a blast and it was thrown back ten feet from where it stood, hitting the tree. The ground shook as it fell. Was it Aunt Poppy? I didn't know, but I knew well that it was my cue. I bounded through the thick of the trees, scooping dirt on my shoes, and headed straight into the Forbidden Forest.
Author's Notes: Revised it, because A) I realized the end part made no sense and just made it all confusing what the hell was after Georgie, B) Half of the chapter just begged the question and never really resolved anything. So sorry for the guys who reviewed! But hopefully this made more sense.
This was intentionally a three-thousand word chapter, but I decided it was twice as long as the preceding chapters so I split it into two parts for consistency's sake. I hope it's not too short. Or way unbalanced. Anyway, 'd'aaaaaaw' moment from Aunt Poppy! In a sense? In canon, I always thought of her as a tough cookie to break. And I think she wouldn't simply just take Georgie to tea to get to know her more. Hunting for scary, Dark creatures in the dead of the night seemed appropriate.
Pop quiz! This chapter was vaguely inspired by one of my favorite fairytales. Can you guess what? (Clues: read closely and see what Georgie's article of clothing I keep writing about) Answer right and you'll get the chapter a day faster. And cupcakes. Or something of the like.
Hope you loved the chapter as much as I did writing it. Chapter Five will be up soon! Do review and tell me what you think. A single sentence can get me motivated for days. I mean it! Suggestions, critique and feedback is something I look forward to reading. Encouragements are encouraged!
Thanks to ThexWorld'sxAxBrokenxBone, NyA AnY, confuzed, and Rasberry Parfait for taking the time to review! Your thoughts are well-appreciated. Hearts go out to confuzed for putting this on her Favorite Story and Author Alert. WannaBeNinja is too awesome for putting Highly Illogical on Story Alert.
It turns out I'll be posting Chapter Five on the weekends since work caught up and I'm juggling deadlines this week. And they are very large, very frightening deadlines. I hope you guys understand!
