I climbed down the cliff, grabbing onto the tree roots as I climbed down. The cliff had plenty of roots on it and plenty of footholds, but it still took a few minutes to reach the bottom. The cliff was steep.
I rushed over to where Aileen sat.
"Aileen, are you alright?" I asked, kneeling down beside her.
"Yeah, I think so. I twisted my ankle when I fell," Aileen looked down at her ankle. "I think I might've broken it," she admitted, wincing in pain.
"Let me see," I said, gently moving her hands away from her booted foot. I removed the boot as gently as I could and looked at her ankle. There was a large lump on her ankle with a dark bruise already forming. There was also a gash on her ankle that blood was seeping through.
"Goodness! How on earth did you manage to twist it like this? How is it bleeding?" I asked, surprised.
"I didn't expect there to be a bloody hole where there was only supposed to be tree roots," she replied grumpily. "I think I hit it on that rock," She pointed to a rather large rock a foot away from where she sat.
"How are we going to get back if you have a broken ankle, Aileen?" I asked, glancing at the woods around us, my eyes wandering to the cliff I had climbed down. There was no way Aileen would be able to climb that in this condition, much less walk all the way back to the castle.
"Can you fix it?" She asked, "I certainly can't, you know how dreadful I am at Potions, but you told me you wanted to become a healer. Surely you know a spell to heal this."
"Well, I can try. But we've only been taught to heal mild wounds, like a bloody nose or something, not a broken ankle. Especially one as bad as yours. I might end up causing more damage."
She sighed, glancing down at her rapidly swelling ankle.
"If anyone here can do it, it's you, Alexa. Besides, you have any better ideas?"
I didn't reply. Maybe I could go back and get a professor's help. But, I wasn't going to leave Aileen here alone. Nor did I want to go back alone. Not to mention we would be in heaps of trouble if anyone found out we had snuck out.
I tried to remember a spell from the variety of potions, Healing Magic, and Charms books I'd read. Although it was not required of me for school, I read a lot of those books I found in the Hogwarts Library. I had read about and tried to memorize plenty of healing spells from the books, but I had never attempted them on someone, as they were more advanced spells than I had been taught yet, and I had no need to until now.
"Okay," I said, taking a deep, steadying breath. "This would be easier if I had access to some potions ingredients, but I'll do my best."
Taking my wand from my pocket, I pointed it at her ankle. Though I was worried my wand movement wouldn't be precise enough, or I would mispronounce the spell, I muttered the spell anyway.
Nothing happened at first, then Aileen's face turned a deathly pale shade. She didn't make any sounds of pain, but I knew that whatever I did wrong must've hurt from the expression on her face.
"Sorry, sorry," I muttered apologetically.
I flicked my wand and tried it again. This time, her ankle slowly turned back to its normal shape, the bruise fading, the gash fading into a dried scratch, and the bump vanishing. Her face got some color back into it, and she grinned. She slipped her boot back on.
"See, told you you could do it," she said as she stood up, moving her ankle in circles to test it.
Smiling proudly, I stood up and looked around us.
"Where are we?" I asked in amazement, only now truly taking in our surroundings.
Like the forest above us, the trees were large with branches twisting every which way. But this forest wasn't the same as the one we had just been in only moments ago. There was no snow, and a thick mist hung around us. Dried leaves covered the ground, and a light wind made them fly about off the ground.
"I don't know," Aileen replied, looking around us.
"I think we went a bit too far," I said. "Did you see the trees above us? There aren't pine trees up there like there was when we entered the forest, and it was darker out."
"I didn't notice them; I got a bit absorbed in our game of chase," she admitted. "I've never heard of a forest being under the Forbidden Forest, have you? Do you think we're still in the Forbidden Forest?"
"I've never heard of this place. But I've heard the Forbidden Forest is a very old place that holds many secrets. So this shouldn't really be a surprise." I said, following Aileen as she started walking around. "Shouldn't we head back, Aileen? It's quite dark out now, what if we can't find our way back?" I asked worriedly, looking up at the cliff I had climbed down.
"We need only follow our footsteps in the snow to get back. And besides, it's already as dark as it's gonna get out there," she pointed out. "Let's explore this place a little before we head back."
"Alright," I agreed, "But let's be quick. Someone might notice our absence we're gone too long."
We walked around, being careful not to go too far from the cliff that led back out.
"I can't believe there's a forest under the forest!" Aileen exclaimed, a hint of excitement creeping into her voice.
"I know," I agreed, beginning to forget about being afraid as we explored this strange new place. "And there's no snow down here. It's not even cold in these woods."
"I wonder-" Aileen stopped abruptly. "Did you hear that?" she asked, looking around.
"Hear what?" I asked, edging closer to her. Then I heard it. A sound like an animal, or a child, whimpering. We both froze, looking at each other.
"I-I think it came from over here," I said nervously, walking toward a large tree. Aileen grabbed my arm.
"Are you crazy?" She whispered, "We don't know what that was! We should go back. Now." She started to pull me back towards the cliff, but I resisted.
"Aileen," I whispered back, "It sounded like a child. What if there's a child in here, hurt?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Alexa. How on earth would a child find its way here? It is probably some dark creature, trying to lure us to be its next meal."
"We are children," I pointed out, "and we found our way here."
There was another whimper from behind the tree, and we both froze.
"Come on," I whispered, slowly walking towards the tree.
"If you want to risk your life, you can go right ahead," she said stubbornly, her voice a little above a whisper, "I can't believe you, this is just the kind of thing a stupid, reckless Gryffindor would do."
I ignored her and continued towards the large tree. The tree was surrounded by the thick mist, and I couldn't see anyone or anything by it.
Despite Aileen's words, she followed me when she saw I was still going.
"This is so foolish," She whispered as we edged nearer to the tree.
The whimper came again, and it sounded more like an animal than a child.
Aileen and I looked at each other, then back at the tree.
I hesitated a moment, then we both stepped closer, peering behind the tree. Aileen and I gasped in surprise at what we saw.
Sitting on the ground was indeed a child. The boy looked to be a bit younger than us. He was tied in rope, his eyelids were slightly closed, and he looked as if he were in pain. There was a long scratch on his arm, and dried blood surrounded it. Although he was just a boy, he looked very strong. Far stronger than any boy I had ever seen.
That wasn't why we gasped though. From the waist down, the boy had a black horse's body. His ears were pointed and hairy like a horse, and his hands were shaped like hooves, but with fingers.
The boy, thing, looked up in surprise and fright at the sound of our gasps.
We stood still for a moment, just staring at the thing. The boy stared back at us, and then I stumbled back in fright as if my body had only just caught up with my frightened brain.
"W-What are you?" I asked.
The boy didn't answer, looking down at me.
"It, it is a Centaur," Aileen said. "I read about them in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"What? What's a Centaur?" I asked, climbing to my feet and edging behind Aileen.
I noticed the boy had a red and green cloud surrounding him; Strong will, competitive, survival oriented, a love of animals & nature, and restful.
But I also noticed something else. The edges of the cloud looked chopped off and jagged. It reminded me of someone else's cloud, but I couldn't remember whose. Then it came back to me. It reminded me of the day on the train. Remus Lupins' cloud had had that same look about it. Like part of the cloud surrounding him had been jaggedly cut off. Before I could ponder what this meant, the boy spoke.
"Who are you?" the boy asked. His voice was deeper than I expected from a boy. His eyes lingered on my red eye and leg, confusion written on his face, and then his eyes darted to Aileen as she spoke.
"My name is Aileen, and this is Alexa. Who are you?" Aileen asked.
She didn't sound scared, and that gave me courage. I stepped out from behind Aileen.
"My name is Sharem Magoriam," the boy said uncertainly, his eyes darting between the two of us. "Are you part of my Uncle's followers?" He asked. He looked and sounded a bit frightened, but I could tell he was trying to put on a brave front.
"I don't think so. Who's your Uncle? And why are you tied up?" I asked, stepping closer to the boy.
Just then, a loud noise that sounded like a mix between an angry horse and a dinosaur echoed through the forest. We all jumped at the sound.
My eyes widened in fear.
"What was that?" I asked in a small whisper.
The boy had a look of pure terror written on his face.
"Quickly humans, untie me," the boy said, "That is my Uncle. He could be here any moment."
I bent down and started to untie the knots that were wrapped tightly around the boy.
"Stop," Aileen said, pulling me away. "How do we know you don't mean us any harm?"
The boy scowled.
"I assure you, little girl, I do not intend you any harm. But my uncle on the other hand…" he didn't finish his sentence, trailing off.
Aileen scowled back at the boy.
"Little girl?" She asked, visibly offended. "You look younger than me. How old are you? Nine, Ten?"
"Actually-" the boy started, but I interrupted.
"We don't have time for this," I bent down and began to untie him. "I don't know what that thing was we just heard, Aileen, but it sounds more threatening than this boy looks at the moment."
"So?" Aileen argued. "Let's leave him here and get out of here."
"Aileen, he's just a boy. Help me untie him. We can't just leave him here for whatever that thing was."
She let out a huff and started to help me with the complicated knots.
"We'll never be able to untie these!" Aileen exclaimed after a minute, frustrated.
The thick ropes were wrapped tight, tight enough that the boy, who had a lot more muscle than any boy should have on him, could not escape.
I smacked my forehead as a thought came to me. "I'm so stupid!"
I stood up, taking my wand out and pointed it at the ropes. I muttered the Unlocking Charm. The ropes instantly untied themselves.
"I didn't know the Unlocking Charm worked on tied ropes," Aileen said.
"Well, knots are a bit like locks, if you think about it," I said. "I Once used this spell to untie ropes that tied the Great Hall's doors closed."
It had been James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black who had tied the doors shut, preventing me and any other student who wasn't already in there from getting any dinner. They had both worn surprised looks when I was able to enter the Great Hall without a problem. But I didn't mention that to Aileen.
The boy stood and stretched his arms. He was surprisingly taller than Aileen and I. It was his horse body that made him taller.
The angry sound of a horse has heard again, closer this time.
We heard a horse stomping through the forest in our direction from a distance off. Aileen turned pale and grabbed my arm pulling me toward the cliff.
"Quick! We have to get out of here!" She yelled, dragging me with her.
We ran back to the cliff and started to climb back up. I looked behind me. The boy had followed us and was looking hopelessly up at us climbing the cliff.
He couldn't climb it with his horse body, I realized. I paused, looking around. The stampeding thing was coming closer, and the boy looked frightened. He looked around hopelessly, glancing in the direction of the sound.
I looked up at Aileen, who was almost at the top, then back down at the frightened boy. After a moment of hesitation, I climbed back down quickly. I knew that I didn't know this boy, this Centaur, but I couldn't stand by and leave him to whatever was coming towards us.
"Listen," I said breathlessly, "I'm going to try to levitate you up. I'm quite good at charms, but I've only ever used this spell on a feather before. I don't know how well it will work on, well, something as heavy as you."
I pointed my wand at the boy, my hand shaking slightly. The boy looked at me, and then back at the sound that was almost upon us.
Trying to ignore the fear in my stomach, trying to ignore the urge to look towards the sound and see if the thing was here yet, I took a deep breath and spoke the levitating charm.
At first, I thought it hadn't worked. But, the boy let out a whinnying sound like a frightened horse as he suddenly began to float up towards the opening in the cliff.
Once he had reached the top and was safely on top with Aileen, I began to climb the cliff. Aileen's pale, frightened face stared at me from above.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry," she kept repeating, like some kind of desperate prayer.
Just as I was almost up to the top of the high cliff, I felt something grab my leg. I let out a frightened yelp and almost fell. A large hand caught me and pulled me up as if I weighed nothing.
As I was lifted up, I glanced behind me. There was another creature below me, like the boy but only much larger. His eyes were red, and he had a long mane of black hair. His teeth looked like he had filed them to be pointed as he glared up at me.
"Quick," the boy, Sharem, said, "He'll get up here in a moment."
The boy lowered his legs.
"Climb on," He said. He didn't look happy about it, but he let Aileen and I climb on his back. He stood up and wobbled a little.
"Follow the footsteps in the snow," Aileen told the boy.
The boy obeyed and began to run fast through the forest. We heard the dinosaur or horse sound again behind us, but when I glanced back, I couldn't see the other Centaur behind us.
After a long while of running through the dark forest, I spotted pine trees and felt myself relax; We were close to Hogwarts, and we hadn't heard the thing behind us in a while.
I've decided I'm going to have the chapters be 2,000-3,000 words each. It's just too hard having them only be 2,000 words.