MY PHYSICS MIDTERM ENDED TODAY! YEAH!

You have no idea how relieved I am that that is over with. Anyways, with it out of the way, I finally managed to finish this story. This was one of the first concepts for my Harry Potter Catharsis Series. I just got around to writing it because it didn't seem to come out right every time. This time, I think I got it.

In the end, though, it seemed to be more of a horror-story/Creepypasta, but the "I-got-rid-of-this-character-in-a-horrible-way" feeling is still there.

I don't own Harry Potter... or the other character that shows up, but I think he/it is the property of the internet. I don't think there's any one person who can claim him.

-Crow

P.S. Shoutout to "Fugacity" (Guest). You were so close to the Easter egg. I'll give you a hint. Flip the two words around.


Dolores Umbridge walked cautiously through the Forbidden Forest with three, pureblood, minister-loyal aurors in tow. She grimaced as her expensive shoes made slurping noises in the damp, muddy ground around her, but kept going. Cornelius confided in her that he had reason to suspect Dumbledore had a weapon prior to his escape. In her short time as Headmistress, she had explored every location in the castle for such an artifact that would allow Dumbledore to usurp her dear Cornelius's position.

Her breakthrough had come earlier that week. She happened to be looking out the window when she noticed a student outside around sunset. She initially thought it was just some troublesome child, but she realized that if the weapon wasn't in the castle... it very well could be in the vast forest around Hogwarts.

And that student would lead her right to it.

She watched the next evening and the same student went the same way. She reasoned that Dumbledore must have given instructions to a few students to maintain whatever the weapon is.

That night, she flooed in three aurors she knew were loyal to the ministry. She never trusted that Tonks woman and Shacklebolt was too close to Dumbledore for her liking. She had them hide outside until she saw the student leave the main doors. When the student disappeared into the forest, she motioned for the aurors to follow.

The mud gave clear imprints for them to follow. They didn't actually see the girl for a while, but given the fresh footprints, they assumed they were close.

After roughly half an hour of walking, their search stopped abruptly-

-along with the trail.

The toad-like Headmistress looked around confused, but confirmed it. The tracks vanished suddenly. No indication of a broom or apparition (there would have been scuff marks and certain patterns for mounting the broom or turning to Disapparate). It had been a clear line of prints and they had been following the student efficiently, so the student couldn't have backtracked.

She rounded on the aurors. "Fan out! Find her! I will not tolerate the loss of this lead! My dear Cornelius will be so pleased when he finds out I've got Dumbledore's weapon." She gazed fondly in an arbitrary direction, lost in imagination.

That way, she didn't see all of the aurors visibly shudder.

After about 10 minutes, their search brought up nothing and they decided to head back. Dolores lead the way as they followed the tracks back into the dense woods.

After an hour, they were still following the tracks, though much more suspicious. They had only followed them in for, perhaps, twenty minutes. What's more, the forest attained its usual nightly properties.

A chilling fog rolled in around the trees and only added to the moist ground (AN: I know a lot of you readers probably hate that word, but it's great to get the imagery across. Moist. Moist. *quiet cackle*). The moon was full, but there were no signs of werewolves.

In fact there were no signs of anything at all.

The three wizards and the squat witch suddenly stopped in the realization that there was nothing around them. There were no birds trilling or ravens cawing in the treetops. No crickets or insects calling out. Not even wind or limbs creaking. They proceeded forward, the slurping sounds from the muck on their shoes echoing in the silence.

The continued following the trail of small, reversed footprints-

-until they disappeared.

Dolores Umbridge hid her unease in rage. "I will not tolerate such trickery! It's obvious they've Vanished their tracks, stop shaking! And you call yourselves Aurors! These games have gone on far enough! Come out! As Headmistress of Hogwarts and Undersecretary of Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, I order you to show yourself!"

Her rant echoed in the silent woods. The adults suddenly realized the situation very clearly.

The footstep trail ended on either side.

There was no trail in or out of the Forbidden Forest.

They were lost.


The ministry representatives followed the line of footprints back and forth for almost an hour before deciding it was futile. Umbridge took out her wand irately, planning on a simple location spell.

"Point me!" She exclaimed, dropping the wand.

The wand fell uselessly to the ground.

Confused, she tried again... and again... and again...

One auror took out his wand as well. "Lumos!"

The tip remained dark.

The magic-reliant wizards and witch shook with the sudden realization-

Their magic was gone.


They kept walking amongst the trees and brambles for what seemed like hours. No one mentioned how impossibly dark it was for what they presumed to be almost daytime. The Forbidden Forest was notorious for its thick treetop canopy regularly reducing light filtered to the ground level.

Their magic was still gone. Although, even without a Lumos spell, the forest was oddly lit at an almost constant low-level blue.

After several whines from a certain stumpy witch, the aurors agreed to set down for the... night?... day?... next few hours.

Thankfully, one of the aurors had paid enough attention in his Muggle Studies class that they were able to make a fire. "Headmistress" Umbridge and the not-used-to-roughing-it aurors unhappily settled down on the ground, unable to conjure a tent, bed, blanket, or even get a proper meal.

Being wizards without an ounce of common sense, not one thought to have someone stay up to keep watch.

And the one who watched, waited.


Professor Umbridge awoke to incoherent mumbling. Confused, she sat up, grimacing at the discomfort of sleeping on hard ground. She looked around in a daze.

The fire had long gone out. Along with any embers. But the blue-ish glow that saturated the woods somehow was still present despite it being at least noon. Looking around, she discovered that two of her aurors were gone without a trace. The third being the source of the mumbling.

She carefully approached, wand at the ready. Although, given the situation, she might as well have been pointing a tree branch around.

She carefully eased forward until she landed oddly on a small stick with a sharp *crack*. The auror whipped his head around like a frightened rabbit. His eyes were bloodshot with dark circles around them. His nose was dripping with blood that he made no effort to staunch. Oddly, his hair looked thinner than it had been.

He looked carefully at the figure of Dolores Umbridge and somewhat relaxed. His gaze shifted slightly to the left-

"AAAUUUUGHHHHH!"

He scrambled up to his feet and was stumbling blindly away. The toad-like witch turned in the direction he was facing, but came across nothing. The screams and crunches of the auror's footsteps died away quickly, leaving the witch enveloped in the silence.

She firmed her grip on her wand and, ignoring the shaking of her hand (and the uselessness of the piece of wood), she held it out in front of her as she made her way quietly through the woods.


It must have been hours.

Hours.

But the forest was still just as dense and dark as ever. No matter what, that blue glow seemed to permeate the woods and maintain a low enough light level for her to see.

Still. Dolores Umbridge wasn't anywhere close to finding a way out.

She hadn't thought at all about the other aurors. She assumed they got lost in the forest and fell astray with some horrible half-breed like those centaurs or werewolves. It was clear that the last auror went mad. She dismissed him as dead the second he flailed blindly into the most dangerous forest in the Wizarding World.

She continued her path through the trees.

Unaware of the slight ringing in her ears.

And the one who watched her, waited.


The stout witch walked through the forest.

There was something wrong.

Something wro-

What was that!

No. No. Something. No.

Someone?

Someone?

"Hello?"

Ringing.

High pitched ringing.

The stout witch wiped blood off her nose.

The stout witch.

Who?


Running!

He knows!

He's following

Won't go

Won't leave

Won't stop

Panic

Running

Can't stop

Can't look

Can't turn

Black

Arms

Black suit

No No NO NO NO NO NO

Face

White

Blank

He has no face.

Krshshttchthchshsshshshshhshhshkt-


A mysterious student skipped through the Forbidden Forest, merrily. A small basket of some pastries she'd managed to save from dinner that night swung at her side. She kept her gaze fixed on the canopy of the trees. She paused when she saw someone nearby.

"Oh, hello there! I remember you. You're one of the aurors who was with Headmistress Umbridge." She said dreamily to the calm, passive face of the auror. "Oh, yes, you're the talk of the entire school, now. I can't imagine how you'd have gotten here. Still, I suppose it is difficult to make it to the school dinner with that branch through your chest. Goodbye sir."

She skipped off, leaving the impaled form to dangle on its limb.

The happy blonde girl continued her route, the same one for the past few weeks, to a small clearing in the Forbidden Forest. She took out a small blanket, tea set, and some plates for the pastries from her basket and set it up in a small picnic. She nibbled on a danish while she waited for her friend.

After a few minutes, she noticed him out of the corner of her eye. "Ah, hello! I was wondering when you'd come. Would you like to join me?" She patted the ground beside her. The figure moved awkwardly towards her and sat down, his disproportionate limbs awkwardly forming a criss-cross.

"I'm learning lots in school today. Although my dorm mates aren't terribly kind to me. What's that? No, no. I don't need any help with them. Thank you. Though I am grateful for your help with the main problem." She nibbled on her danish politely.

"Speaking of, did you enjoy the meal I brought to you, Master?" Luna Lovegood calmly asked.


AN: I still love Creepypastas. Even the Slenderman.

I understand many people are upset about the incident in Wisconsin. Believe me, I am too. I am very glad that the girl survived and that the two attempted murderers have been arrested and are facing trial.

But understand that pretty much nobody who enjoys Creepypastas are like those two and are not a danger to society.

The Creepypasta Community knows that the stories we make aren't real. We all know that the videos are doctored or the photos are photoshopped, but it's fun to read/write them. It's like the classic campfire story or Bloody Mary ritual. It doesn't mean we worship a mirror-demon or believe that every "Hook-handed Camper" story is true, but it's fun to scare ourselves. We don't know why, but it's fun. *shrugs*

It's just the same as enjoying a good horror movie. We don't necessarily believe that Freddy Krueger is going to kill us in our sleep or that birds will suddenly start attacking everyone (Alfred Hitchcock). We just like the thrill of the story.

No. I do not endorse, encourage, nor support psychotic Proxy attempts. In fact I discourage, disapprove of, and admonish such attempts. It's purely a work of fiction and not something to be repeated, mimicked, or idolized.

I enjoyed writing the sporadic descent into madness of Professor Umbridge. Outside of a cinema, it's hard to capture that frantic running without making it seem really boring in writing. Writing like this still gets everything across and more, while making it interesting. I wanted to capture the paranoia, ringing, nosebleeds, confusion, and panic that ensues in supposed "Slender Sickness".

If anyone's wondering "Why Luna?", who else would come even close to a Proxy? Come on, she's pretty much the only person who's crazy enough (and still an OK character) to be able to calmly talk with Slendy. Plus, she sees things that may or may not be there...

If it's any comfort, this one's more of an AU Dark!Luna or Insane!Luna (I hope I'm using the "_!Luna" things right).

I hope you enjoyed this

Sincerely,

-Crow