Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Forest of Mystery.
Hermione nodded and sat down, the others came to sit with her, forming a circle. "I don't know much about it. All I've read are theories, most people are not even sure themselves how this place works since no one risks coming directly inside. Also I've noticed several things and I've made my own theory. Which one do you want to hear?"
Seamus was the quickest to answer. "Yours. I don't know about the others, but I trust your judgement about this matter and you're actually in the forest, so you will probably know more about it than anyone else."
Everyone else nodded and Hermione smiled a bit "Ok, but keep in mind they are just theories." After everyone had nodded once again, she started. "What I have read says that this forest is divided in several parts, that are somehow joined together in a illogical order. Meaning that in a few steps we can find ourselves in the middle of a river or, in this case, in a cave, where there shouldn't have been one. What I've figured out so far is that these parts are joined together by magical portals that allow you to walk from a space to another. If Neville hadn't fallen in that particular bush, we would not have been in this cave, we would have remained in that part of the forest or ended in some other place. That's also what happened when we came in the forest. We probably came through a portal and ended up deep into the forest."
Lavender interrupted her. "But doesn't that mean we could just look for the portal and go back out?" Hermione shook her head sadly. "We could try, but how many portals did we go through? Any idea? And if so, where exactly are they located? Imagine there were two portals a few inches apart, we could go through the wrong portal and end up who knows where." Hermione rubbed her temples. "The main problem is that I have not thought of a way to see portals yet, and there may not be one. We will have to find a way to walk around safely, we can not stay copped in this cave forever."
Harry sighed. "Anything else on the practical side of this place?"
Hermione shrugged. "I already told you about the magic, although we should test it a bit since we are probably going to be staying around for a while. Other than that, the normal things you can find in a forest, I guess. You know, animals, plants, Hagrid's kind of pets..."
Everyone nodded, some of them shifting nervously at the last mention. Neville's trembling voice rang through the cave. "Harry, what did you do to that beast? Did you use magic?"
Harry sighed and leaned back against the wall of the cave. "No, Neville, I didn't use magic. And I had to kill it, it's still lying at the entrance."
"Then, what did you do, Harry?"
Harry looked at Lavender and he pulled out his knife from his sleeve. Most of the teenagers gasped, but Ron and Hermione looked closer. Ron rose an eyebrow. "That's one of the knifes Charlie sent you for your birthday."
Harry nodded. "I learned how to use it during the summer. Just in case..."
Ron and Hermione nodded in understanding and Harry turned to the others and shrugged a bit at their apprehensive expressions.
"Being the Boy Who Lived has it's downsides. One of them is that I have a whole group of insane wizards after my blood." Harry fingered the knife and the re-sheeted it. "Sometimes it's better not to rely too much in magic, a good knife can save your life at any moment, if you know how to use it, of course." Harry smirked then. "I happen to have more weapons than I thought possible, I barely got anything else for my birthday, some people are so over-protective."
Ron slapped his head in mock-annoyance. "You mean you don't like that nice sword I got you? I'm so hurt!"
Harry laughed. "Oh, I liked the sword, but I began to feel a little freaked out when Charlie gave me the knifes, Hagrid a crossbow and Snuffles some more knifes. Honestly, there's only so much I can carry around. But then again, this will be rather useful if we can not use magic."
A bit more relaxed, the Gryffindors laughed. Sighing, Hermione turned the conversation towards their situation. "What now? What do we do?"
Harry waited for someone to talk, he had been feeling rather uneasy making all the decisions so far. Unfortunately for him, the other seven teenagers were looking at him expectantly. "Why are you looking at me like this? Some of you could say what we have to do next."
The teens looked at each other and Seamus was the first to reply. "No, Harry. Listen, if we have to get out of this we need someone to lead us, someone to make the decisions. Else we will be arguing over every single matter for hours and not come to a decision. We are all different, we think different and we do things a different way. We need someone to have the final word. And I don't know about the others, but I think I want you to do that. So far you've managed to keep us together, unhurt and as safe and comfortable as you can. I trust you to continue doing so. If you want of course."
Ron leaned back, a small smile on his lips. For once the jealousy that had been lying in his mind for a few years now didn't come up, the situation was to important, and if there was one person the red-headed boy trusted, that was Harry. Jokingly he expressed what the others were thinking. "What he said. Come on, mate, you have done a smashing job so far, I'm sure you can keep doing it, else we'll have to knock some sense into you, now we wouldn't want that, would we?"
Harry laughed a little, still studying the expressions on the other teens carefully. Finally convinced that that might be for the best, he nodded. "Ok, but you'll all have to help me."
Neville smiled a little nervously. "Of course, Harry."
The black-haired boy sighed. "Ok, first things first. We need to decide on what to do. We can walk around the forest, trying to find a way to get back and trying to find places where the portals are. The advantage of that is that we might stumble back to the exit of the forest, but as Hermione said, that's not very likely to happen. And there are a lot of problems about that idea. First we would be vulnerable to anything that roams the forest and without the use of magic, things could get nasty. Second, we might not be able to find a place to rest every night, that would mean staying out in the woods and, if the weather in here is the same as the weather outside, then that would not be very enjoyable. Not to mention it's already September, winter is approaching and we have no idea if we would still be in here." He paused for a while, letting his reasoning sink in and then continued. "On the other hand, we could stay here. We are in a cave that seems to be pretty comfortable, I don't know what those rocks are but it seems they give off some warmth. I am nearly sure there are other caves leading away from here and we will be able to settle into them as soon as we have made sure there are not portals in them. From here we have direct access to the forest so we will not be locked up in here if we want to leave." The others were nodding, but Harry added the only disadvantage to staying there. "If we decide to stay, we will know for sure we will be spending a lot of time in the forest, because once the winter has begun it wont be safe to move until spring has come, that would mean we will be staying here for at least six months."
Dean broke the silence. "What about food?"
Harry looked at him pensively. "What do you have with you?"
Mostly they had sweets from the train, but it would barely last two days. Harry, on the other hand had a lot of food stored in his trunk, mostly tins of conserved food, he had bought them the day he went to Diagon Alley, preparing for the next summer at the Dursleys. Even so, he had only been counting on having to feed himself so it would at most last them two weeks. Finally he came to the only possible answer.
"Well, I'm afraid we will have to hunt, no matter what we do. We have weapons enough and we will have about two weeks to practice our skills. We'll have to live on the animals we hunt, the fish we fish and the plants we find." Harry then groaned. "This is going to be so fun."
Everyone stayed still. Harry looked around once again. "I suggest we go to sleep now, think about it, we should make the decision tomorrow and work from there."
Harry looked as everyone laid down as comfortably as they could. On the other hand, he stayed sitting leaning against the wall and looking at his friends pensively. "Harry?"
The boy looked in the direction the voice had come. "Yes, Neville?"
"Why don't you go sleep?"
"Someone has to make sure nothing attacks us."
Harry heard some movement to his right and saw Dean looking intently at him. "You don't have to do it alone. Wake me up in a few hours and I'll take up the watch."
Harry, seeing the determination shinning in the other boy's eyes just nodded in acceptance. Both teens laid back down and went to sleep.
To be continued.
A/N: Ok, I hope it's easier to read this way, I don't know why it was uploaded without spaces in between. Oh well, never mind. Thanks for all reviews.
Forest of Mystery.
Hermione nodded and sat down, the others came to sit with her, forming a circle. "I don't know much about it. All I've read are theories, most people are not even sure themselves how this place works since no one risks coming directly inside. Also I've noticed several things and I've made my own theory. Which one do you want to hear?"
Seamus was the quickest to answer. "Yours. I don't know about the others, but I trust your judgement about this matter and you're actually in the forest, so you will probably know more about it than anyone else."
Everyone else nodded and Hermione smiled a bit "Ok, but keep in mind they are just theories." After everyone had nodded once again, she started. "What I have read says that this forest is divided in several parts, that are somehow joined together in a illogical order. Meaning that in a few steps we can find ourselves in the middle of a river or, in this case, in a cave, where there shouldn't have been one. What I've figured out so far is that these parts are joined together by magical portals that allow you to walk from a space to another. If Neville hadn't fallen in that particular bush, we would not have been in this cave, we would have remained in that part of the forest or ended in some other place. That's also what happened when we came in the forest. We probably came through a portal and ended up deep into the forest."
Lavender interrupted her. "But doesn't that mean we could just look for the portal and go back out?" Hermione shook her head sadly. "We could try, but how many portals did we go through? Any idea? And if so, where exactly are they located? Imagine there were two portals a few inches apart, we could go through the wrong portal and end up who knows where." Hermione rubbed her temples. "The main problem is that I have not thought of a way to see portals yet, and there may not be one. We will have to find a way to walk around safely, we can not stay copped in this cave forever."
Harry sighed. "Anything else on the practical side of this place?"
Hermione shrugged. "I already told you about the magic, although we should test it a bit since we are probably going to be staying around for a while. Other than that, the normal things you can find in a forest, I guess. You know, animals, plants, Hagrid's kind of pets..."
Everyone nodded, some of them shifting nervously at the last mention. Neville's trembling voice rang through the cave. "Harry, what did you do to that beast? Did you use magic?"
Harry sighed and leaned back against the wall of the cave. "No, Neville, I didn't use magic. And I had to kill it, it's still lying at the entrance."
"Then, what did you do, Harry?"
Harry looked at Lavender and he pulled out his knife from his sleeve. Most of the teenagers gasped, but Ron and Hermione looked closer. Ron rose an eyebrow. "That's one of the knifes Charlie sent you for your birthday."
Harry nodded. "I learned how to use it during the summer. Just in case..."
Ron and Hermione nodded in understanding and Harry turned to the others and shrugged a bit at their apprehensive expressions.
"Being the Boy Who Lived has it's downsides. One of them is that I have a whole group of insane wizards after my blood." Harry fingered the knife and the re-sheeted it. "Sometimes it's better not to rely too much in magic, a good knife can save your life at any moment, if you know how to use it, of course." Harry smirked then. "I happen to have more weapons than I thought possible, I barely got anything else for my birthday, some people are so over-protective."
Ron slapped his head in mock-annoyance. "You mean you don't like that nice sword I got you? I'm so hurt!"
Harry laughed. "Oh, I liked the sword, but I began to feel a little freaked out when Charlie gave me the knifes, Hagrid a crossbow and Snuffles some more knifes. Honestly, there's only so much I can carry around. But then again, this will be rather useful if we can not use magic."
A bit more relaxed, the Gryffindors laughed. Sighing, Hermione turned the conversation towards their situation. "What now? What do we do?"
Harry waited for someone to talk, he had been feeling rather uneasy making all the decisions so far. Unfortunately for him, the other seven teenagers were looking at him expectantly. "Why are you looking at me like this? Some of you could say what we have to do next."
The teens looked at each other and Seamus was the first to reply. "No, Harry. Listen, if we have to get out of this we need someone to lead us, someone to make the decisions. Else we will be arguing over every single matter for hours and not come to a decision. We are all different, we think different and we do things a different way. We need someone to have the final word. And I don't know about the others, but I think I want you to do that. So far you've managed to keep us together, unhurt and as safe and comfortable as you can. I trust you to continue doing so. If you want of course."
Ron leaned back, a small smile on his lips. For once the jealousy that had been lying in his mind for a few years now didn't come up, the situation was to important, and if there was one person the red-headed boy trusted, that was Harry. Jokingly he expressed what the others were thinking. "What he said. Come on, mate, you have done a smashing job so far, I'm sure you can keep doing it, else we'll have to knock some sense into you, now we wouldn't want that, would we?"
Harry laughed a little, still studying the expressions on the other teens carefully. Finally convinced that that might be for the best, he nodded. "Ok, but you'll all have to help me."
Neville smiled a little nervously. "Of course, Harry."
The black-haired boy sighed. "Ok, first things first. We need to decide on what to do. We can walk around the forest, trying to find a way to get back and trying to find places where the portals are. The advantage of that is that we might stumble back to the exit of the forest, but as Hermione said, that's not very likely to happen. And there are a lot of problems about that idea. First we would be vulnerable to anything that roams the forest and without the use of magic, things could get nasty. Second, we might not be able to find a place to rest every night, that would mean staying out in the woods and, if the weather in here is the same as the weather outside, then that would not be very enjoyable. Not to mention it's already September, winter is approaching and we have no idea if we would still be in here." He paused for a while, letting his reasoning sink in and then continued. "On the other hand, we could stay here. We are in a cave that seems to be pretty comfortable, I don't know what those rocks are but it seems they give off some warmth. I am nearly sure there are other caves leading away from here and we will be able to settle into them as soon as we have made sure there are not portals in them. From here we have direct access to the forest so we will not be locked up in here if we want to leave." The others were nodding, but Harry added the only disadvantage to staying there. "If we decide to stay, we will know for sure we will be spending a lot of time in the forest, because once the winter has begun it wont be safe to move until spring has come, that would mean we will be staying here for at least six months."
Dean broke the silence. "What about food?"
Harry looked at him pensively. "What do you have with you?"
Mostly they had sweets from the train, but it would barely last two days. Harry, on the other hand had a lot of food stored in his trunk, mostly tins of conserved food, he had bought them the day he went to Diagon Alley, preparing for the next summer at the Dursleys. Even so, he had only been counting on having to feed himself so it would at most last them two weeks. Finally he came to the only possible answer.
"Well, I'm afraid we will have to hunt, no matter what we do. We have weapons enough and we will have about two weeks to practice our skills. We'll have to live on the animals we hunt, the fish we fish and the plants we find." Harry then groaned. "This is going to be so fun."
Everyone stayed still. Harry looked around once again. "I suggest we go to sleep now, think about it, we should make the decision tomorrow and work from there."
Harry looked as everyone laid down as comfortably as they could. On the other hand, he stayed sitting leaning against the wall and looking at his friends pensively. "Harry?"
The boy looked in the direction the voice had come. "Yes, Neville?"
"Why don't you go sleep?"
"Someone has to make sure nothing attacks us."
Harry heard some movement to his right and saw Dean looking intently at him. "You don't have to do it alone. Wake me up in a few hours and I'll take up the watch."
Harry, seeing the determination shinning in the other boy's eyes just nodded in acceptance. Both teens laid back down and went to sleep.
To be continued.
A/N: Ok, I hope it's easier to read this way, I don't know why it was uploaded without spaces in between. Oh well, never mind. Thanks for all reviews.
