Chapter Ten- The Forbidden Forest
Two days later, Harry vanished.
Oh, it started out just like any other day at Hogwarts- Heartless, Gryffindor/Slytherin fights, Neville melting his 262nd cauldron in Potions…But then dinner came around and there was no Boy-Who-Lived to be found. Nobody really panicked at first, after all it wasn't unusual for Harry to seek a little solitude every now and then. But as the evening rolled into night, Hermione and Ron, not to mention Sora, began to fret. Finally, looking a little nervous, Hermione and Ron cautiously opened Harry's trunk, and rummaging through it pulled out what appeared to be a scrap of parchment. Sora failed to see how it could possibly be of any use, but Hermione didn't keep him in suspense, bending over the scrap and whispering,
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Sora's eyebrows shot up, then stayed there as lines began to draw themselves over the parchment, thick ink lines curving and forming some kind of map. The Marauder's Map, appeared boldly at the top of the parchment, and while Hermione was frantically scanning what appeared to be names, an invisible hand was writing something underneath the title…
"Prongs sends his greetings and asks what he can do for you today." Fascinated, Sora leant even closer just as Hermione sat back on her heels with a disappointed and slightly hysterical sigh.
"He's not here Ron! Not anywhere in Hogwarts!"
"Prongs reiterates his previous statement and asks for what you are after?"
"Padfoot agrees and also would love to know the name of such a pretty lady!"
Ron noticed the writing and frowned, before offering hesitantly,
"We're trying to find our friend Harry. He's not appearing on the map. Is there anywhere in Hogwarts he could be and not show up on the map?" The last was said with undeniable hope.
"Harry? Ah, a previous user. There are several Harry's in Hogwarts but none of them are the previous owner of this map."
"Padfoot must regretfully remind that the map never lies. If he is not on here, he is not within Hogwart's boundaries."
Sora bounded to his feet, humming with suppressed energy. One hand fluttered up to cover his heart, warmth growing inside as the Keyblade tried to form, battling the cold Sora felt as he realized something bad had happened to his friend.
Hermione looked sick, and Ron was so pale his freckles stood out like polka-dots.
"Harry… Harry would never leave Hogwarts. Especially not without the Map- or his cloak."
Ron pulled a lovely, shimmering silver cloak from Harry's still-open trunk.
"We've got to tell the teachers right away. Oh God, Ron, what if Vol-Voldemort's got him?"
Ron sucked in an agonized breathe.
"Come on, then," Sora hissed. "Let's stop wasting time- if Harry's been taken we'll just have to take him back. First things first- alert the teachers." And Sora dragged the two shaken teens to their feet and began to race for the portrait.
--
Harry was not having a good evening, period. It had started out badly and then gotten worse. Much worse.
It was Malfoy's fault. So much blame could be tossed at the prat's feet that Harry swore that if he got out of this alive he was going to make him regret everything he'd ever done to everyone Harry cared about. As well as himself. Cause things weren't looking so good, right now.
First, Harry had been staring dreamily across the lake, remembering all that had happened there- a magical competition and the arrival of Sora and his friends. When high-pitched screaming had erupted from over near Hagrid's hut, Harry hadn't even hesitated. Breaking into a sprint, wand in hand, Harry had crossed the intervening space in record time. In Hagrid's pumpkin patch- filled with grossly oversized pumpkins that looked like they were getting ready to take some Cinderella to the ball- a familiar and detested blonde figure was emitting an extremely painful squeal.
Harry gaped for a moment, trying to work out what the hell Draco of all people would be hanging around Hagrid's hut of all places, then reacted as dozens of inky black ferret like shadows surged over the blonde, hissing and scratching. (Some part of Harry's mind that wasn't currently preoccupied with what was happening howled 'ferrets?' and broke into hysterical laughter.) However, as irritating as Draco's squealing was, it was occurring because he was terrified and in some pain. Why's could wait for later, but for now Harry was concentrating on getting rid of the odd magical creatures attacking Malfoy.
And stopping that infernal sound.
"Repelious!" Blasting the shadow-ferrets back from Draco, Harry began to throw Stupefy's, not wanting to kill them and thus face Hagrid's wrath for killing some 'poor, defenseless creatures.' The little buggers didn't like that at all, and hissed and spat furiously, but didn't seem to want to stay anywhere near the irritated green-eyed wizard. They began to back off, and Harry watched them closely as Malfoy finally shut up and rolled to his knees.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what Malfoy had been up to, Harry thought furiously, glancing back. The empty cage next to Hagrid's garden spoke for itself. The petty little brat had been trying to cause trouble for the gentle giant, and Harry shot Draco a look of contempt as he kept his wand on the little suckers that had tried to maul Malfoy as they escaped into freedom.
Great. Now he's have to try to catch them, or Merlin only knew what trouble they would cause. Harry had more than enough experience with Hagrid's 'pets'. A certain three-headed dog with the dubious name of 'Fluffy' immediately sprang to mind. While the ferret creatures didn't look quite as dangerous as a three-headed dog the size of a small house, Harry had learnt that magic made the ordinary into the extraordinary. Hopefully all they could do was scratch and hiss like they had at Malfoy, but Harry was taking no chances.
"Malfoy, help me round them up before something else happens!" A wild-eyed Draco shot Harry an incredulous look.
"Are you mad? I'm getting out of here!" It was Harry's turn to look incredulous as Draco turned tail and ran without a shred of dignity. Well, what had he expected from the prat? Honestly?
"Uh, hello, little shadow-thingies. You know, Hagrid will be real sad if any of you get lost, so how about coming back now that the nasty ponce is gone and getting safely back into your cage?" Harry knew the odds of this working were laughable, but figured it was worth a try.
Not unsurprisingly, the little 'shadow-thingies' didn't seem to trust him, after all he had used magic against them.
"Figures." Harry, starting to get a little angry, quickly began stunning and summoning the critters, tossing their stiff bodies back into the cage by the pumpkins.
"Come on, come on…" The creatures finally showed some magic as a ferret blurred, sprinting away, inky shadow changing to a dark green.
Camouflage, just what Harry needed. Racing after the last creature, trying to summon something he couldn't see, Harry didn't register until too late that he'd run into the Forbidden Forest.
Everything was all right until he realized that chasing the blasted ferret- who'd escaped, damn it- had gotten him inexplicably lost. He knew he hadn't run in that far, but unfortunately in the Forest if you strayed off the path the very trees bewitched you, calling you deeper and deeper in. Considering what lives in the forest, this was very bad. Still, with Harry having remembered the 'point-me' charm, things might have turned out alright.
However, it was at that point that he ran into the centaurs.
The very angry centaurs.
And things had gone downhill from there. So yes, this was clearly all Malfoy's fault.
--
The centaurs hadn't cared who he was or why he was there. They just seemed dead set on yelling furious insults and trying to shoot and/or trample him. Harry, quick on his feet, used his small size to his advantage, dodging the unhappy centaurs, and running in a random direction while cursing Malfoy, fate, and the world in general. Eventually, exhausted, Harry ducked behind a tree and slumped to hands and knees, panting for breath. He was still alive, and that was good. But now Harry was alone, in the Forbidden Forest, with angry centaurs and god-knows-what-else trying to kill him, with no knowledge of which way led to Hogwarts- and no-one knew where he was.
Well, Malfoy might tell people he'd seen Harry near Hagrid's, and possibly someone would make the connection, but Malfoy never did anything for anyone without a reason or compensation. So Harry was on his own here. Happily, Harry was used to being on his own in undeniably dangerous situations, and didn't panic like others might have. He tried a point-me charm with some hope, but the wild magic of the Forbidden Forest just sent his wand on a wild impersonation of a twister on Harry's palm until the youth simply gave up. Having caught his breath, and not hearing the sound of hooves anywhere, Harry got to is feet and brushed himself off. Time to get out of here. With any luck he'd find the path and could follow it- either deeper in or to Hogwarts was impossible to tell.
Really, how was Harry to know that a contingent of Death Eaters were stationed in the hazardous forest under the orders of their completely mad master?
Exactly. So while the following events were regrettable, they were clearly no-one's fault other than Malfoy's.
--
Geriz was a new Death Eater. And not particularly a powerful or clever one. He was still admiring himself in his scary new white mask, for one. He still practiced sneering. Which was why he was one of the people stuck on guard there, waiting for information from some of the more dangerous Dark Supporters. It was easy work, the Inner Circle decided, with the added bonus that maybe one of the werewolves or something would kill him. So Geriz, fledgling Dark Lord wannabe, was on guard duty the evening that one Harry Potter wandered accidentally through their camp. It was hard to tell who was more surprised. Harry, or the Death Eater. It was no contest, however, and Geriz fell to a stupefy in the time it took him to open his mouth. Harry backpedaled, eyes flickering around for the man's companions, but by then it was too late to run. As inept as Death Eater's generally are, even they will notice when the flash of a spell goes off, and their reactions, considering they were stuck in a rather lethal forest, were impressively quick. They were expecting any number of strange things, but the wide-eyed boy with a tell-tale scar was absolutely the last thing they expected.
"Shit! It's Potter!" After this direct statement, spells began to fly between the little Death Eater contingent and the Boy-Who-Lived, both groups rather wishing they were somewhere else. (Harry because, inept or not, they were Death Eaters, and the inept Death Eaters because he was Harry Potter.)
The Forest didn't seem to like the magic being exchanged in it's depths, and around the little group the atmosphere seemed to physically darken, as if the already present darkness got just a little bit worse.
Dodging behind a tree, Harry just missed a hastily thrown cruciatus curse, and whipping around the trunk, low to the ground, Harry shot of a volley of stupefy's and a few creative hexes that conveyed just how unhappy he was right now. A yelp signaled that his gender-reversal curse had indeed made contact, and Harry managed a vicious little smile before crawling behind another tree, listening.
Suddenly, things got very, very quiet. Harry frowned, and slowly slid one hand up to his ear, where he tapped the stone of his hidden earring. The whisper of disturbed greenery came to his ears. He tapped the stone again, and then Harry could hear voices.
"-round the other side. He must be over their somewhere, so if we can just surround him we'll be alright." There was a scraping sound, then a painful pause.
"Should we…Maybe we should go, inform one of the higher-up's… or something." Another pause, this one incredulous.
"Are you crazy? You're- oh Merlin. You're scared. Of a kid. A fucking fifteen year old kid."
"Shut it Merin," the voice hissed, and Harry thought wearily that he probably would have heard him even without the listening charm.
"It ain't just a kid, Merin, and you know it. It's Harry Potter! He's done lots of crazy stuff. If He hasn't managed to kill him, how the hell are we supposed to?" Harry was caught between confusion and laughter. This was just…sad.
"If you don't shut up, right now, I'm going to kill you. No need to be scared of a bloody kid, then. Besides, we aren't trying to kill him. We're going to capture him."
"Not kill him," squeaked a suspiciously high voice.
"That fucking brat," and Harry had never, outside of Snape, been referred to with such venom, "turned me into a fucking GIRL. I'm going to-" Merin cast an infuriated silencing charm on the enraged Death Eater. A quiet voice got in one last mutter, however.
"Think it's a bit of an improvement, Irv."
There was the sound of somebody being strangled.
--
During this fascinating exchange, Harry had had plenty of time to pinpoint the group's location, and then ensure that he was no-where to be found when they arrived at his previous location. Skirting up behind the Death Eater's with some bemusement for just how pathetic this lot really were, Harry prepared for some seriously quick spell casting.
"What the hell is Harry Potter doing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest anyway?"
Harry moved in, and in less than a minute, the group of Death Eater's was unconscious, and bound with both spells and rope. Still wearing a somewhat bemused expression, Harry began to wonder just what on earth he should do now.
--
Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, an extensive search and a lot of worrying was underway. Sora was pacing in Dumbledore's office, absently petting Fawkes as he tried to sort out the evening's events.
"He's been missing since around two o'clock then?" Dumbledore, who was leaning over a spindly, silver contraption, hummed a distracted agreement.
"The Marauders Map- which is awesome, by the way- says he's no-where in Hogwarts. So was he kidnapped? I don't think he would have run away." Sora ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. Ron and Hermione were off running around Hogwarts in the hope that Harry would show up, unable to sit still. Sora didn't blame them, but he also knew thinking things out often helped more than blindly reacting. He was surprised by how distressed and out-of-sorts Hermione had been. Her brilliant logic had fled her with the loss of her friend, and she was just as desperate and wild as Ron was.
Sora paced back past Dumbledore's desk and spread the Marauder's Map flat. He worried his bottom lip with his teeth, studying the details. Hermione and Ron were currently near the Room of Requirement, Snape in the dungeons. Dumbledore was next to him, and McGonagall was near the Great Hall. Donald and Goofy were searching out by the lake…Sora stopped, staring. Donald and Goofy weren't on the map. Sora knew that was where they were, but they weren't on the map.
So the map only showed the castle itself. Which meant Harry could have wandered out by the lake. If he was there, however, he would have been found by now, this panic diverted. But if he wasn't in Hogwarts itself, but on the grounds, then he just might be…Sora's eyes flew to the window, and he stared out, seeing in the distance the dark presence of the Forbidden Forest.
--
Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, and the very determined Hermione and Ron followed Sora as he lead the way fearlessly into the enchanted forest.
"You really think Harry's in here?" Hermione asked in a small, hopeful voice. Whether she was hopeful he was in there or not was hard to say.
"Almost certain," Sora offered. He'd seen the myriad of marks near Hagrid's hut, the open cage and the stunned creatures inside.
"My Herflers!" Hagrid had moaned, rushing to the unconscious animals, while Sora and the others had looked over the ground, seeing the mess- something had happened there.
"Harry must have been trying to capture the- uh, Herflers?- and maybe got lost in the forest." Sora frowned again, raising his head to listen.
"Though, I don't know why he would need to. Why were they loose?"
"My poor babies! Someone musta let the poor dears out! And they hate the cold, too!" Ron edged away from the tearful half-giant.
"Why would anyone do that?" Professor McGonagall asked incredulously. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances.
"Malfoy," they said as one.
"He's been sore at everyone for a while now. Probably wanted to get back at Hagrid for the- uh, Lake Incident- since he didn't dare try Sora. Prick." McGonagall drew in an outraged breathe, but Snape interrupted her silkily.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for your mouth, Weasley." Ron colored with fury, but wisely said nothing, contenting himself with a glare at the teacher's back. Sora interrupted before anything else could happen.
"Um, don't freak out or anything, but it looks like something may have been chasing Harry. Something with…hooves?" Hermione freaked, but it was Ron who spoke.
"Oh Merlin, the centaurs. Harry told me about that detention in the forest. They really don't like humans."
"Not to worry, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said calmly, wrapped up in an almost visible cloud of magic.
"The centaurs and I get along quite well." He pretended not to hear Ron's mutter about that being all well and good, but what about the rest of them?
Sora and his two companions led them further in, choosing a zigzag pattern. Unfortunately, they lost the trail when the centaur tracks petered out.
"Well, the good news is that I don't think that Harry was captured by centaurs. The bad news is that Harry seems to be running further and further into the forest- and I've lost his trail." He sounded perplexed. Dumbledore gave a little sigh, lifting his wand and increasing the light from it's tip.
"The Forbidden Forest is aptly named, Sora. It is a dark and confusing place, and if you stray from the path- or were never on it at all- you are pulled further in." Snape sneered, muttering about foolish Gryffindor's, as he twisted to check either side of the small party.
"Aren't you going to use some magic to find them?" Sora prompted when the group came to a halt, looking around. This time it was a worried McGonagall who answered, as Hagrid and Fang tried to re-find the trail Sora had lost.
"We can't. The Forest won't allow it. Any magic performed within it acts oddly. Sometimes it's stronger- other times weaker. But the directional magic of the Forest works most specifically against location or pathfinder spells."
"Figures." Fang chose that moment to sit down on his haunches with a mournful sound.
"Sorry, Headmaster. Can't seem to find a trace anywhere. Like he vanished, or somethin'."
"Well you were a lot of use," Snape said snarkily, glittering eyes following the movements of an odd glowing bug. Sora, worried for his friend, snapped back before even Ron could.
"And what, exactly, have you done for us so far?" Hermione choked, seemingly in unison with Professor McGonagall, and Snape whirled with a dramatic flair of heavy robes to stare incensed at the Keyblade Master.
"Why you insolent little brat, I'm-" Sora happily steamrolled the disagreeable bastard, no longer acting as student but as the Keyblade Master.
"Shut up. I'm trying to find my friend, and you're not helping. Therefore, unless you have something constructive to say, which I doubt, I would like to hear silence from you." Circumstances aside, Ron looked like he could die of happiness. Snape had gone dead white, mouth pinched with rage, and his wand was held in a white-knuckled grip.
Before the enraged professor could regain the power of speech, Sora continued.
"I'll warn you once. Don't try to attack me. You're a dark bastard alright, but you haven't got what it takes to defeat me. I don't like you, you don't like me, and soon we'll have world's between us. Until then, kindly remain quiet." There was a short, ugly, and very deep silence.
"Ser-" Snape had begun a spell, face twisted into something truly ugly, but before he could finish the first syllable, Oathkeeper materialized and was resting against his throat.
"Didn't I say not to do that?" Dumbledore suddenly stepped between them, gently maneuvering Oathkeeper's tip away from his Potion Professor's throat. Sora allowed him to, although the Keyblade seemed to pulse, deeply, and the Headmaster pulled his hand away as if burned.
"Stop it, both of you. We're all here to find Harry. I'll have no more petty bickering. If we can't find Harry's trail, we'll just have to ask some of the Forest Dwellers for help. Unfortunately, Remus is looking after something for me back at Headquarters" Judging by the way McGonagall was gaping, this was a-must-be-Dumbledore crazy plan.
"Actually, Professor," Sora interrupted, "I think I might have a quicker way."
--
Sora stood with his eyes closed, ignoring Snape's dark, hatred filled whispers. He could feel Ron and Hermione's desperate gaze. Donald and Goofy were protecting them all, weapons at the ready. Sora ignored them all.
He was concentrating. He held Oathkeeper before him, and his entire heart was focused on the blade. Thoughts of Kairi filled his head for a moment, and then he let them fade. He wasn't looking for her. Instead, Sora thought fiercely of Harry, of the trouble he could be in, and begged the Keyblade to find him. For a long moment, nothing happened, and Sora opened his eyes with a sigh.
Then a great warmth seemed to overtake him, and a brilliant light shot from the Keyblade's tip, shooting off into the bushes. It was like when the Keyblade located a Keyhole, but the shimmering path instead led him to Harry. Elated, Sora realized that he could probably find the Keyhole at Hogwarts like this, as soon as he got at least a general idea of where it was. A place of importance, of possibility…
But for now Harry waited, and without needing to explain anything, Sora broke into an easy run, following the path of light.
--
The reunion with Harry was a somewhat emotional one, with Hermione bursting into tears and launching herself at Harry, who was staring at the shimmering light that connected him to Sora's weapon and only now began to die down. Ron sniffed a little, but his attention was caught almost immediately by the unconscious group of Death Eater's at Harry's feet.
"Whaaa?" This seemed to be the general consensus. McGonagall gaped, loosing all sense of decorum, and even Snape seemed shocked. Dumbledore, however, just kept twinkling away.
"Harry! You're alright!" And bursting into loud tears Hagrid lunged forward and enveloped Harry- and by proximity, Hermione as well- into a massive bear hug. Already choking under Hermione's ministrations, now Harry's face began to take on a serious blue tinge.
"Air," he whimpered pathetically. He was terribly glad to see them all too, and guessed correctly that Sora had used the Keyblade to find him. However, if they killed him it would all be for nothing. Hagrid finally began to calm down into sniffles, and let Harry and Hermione's feet find solid earth again. Dumbledore then managed to get a question in edgewise, from where he and the other teachers surrounded the motley crew of unconscious Death Eaters.
"Harry, what on earth happened here? How did you end up in the Forest? And with these men?" Harry winced.
"It was Malfoy," be offered miserably. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. Professor McGonagall sniffed disapprovingly, shooting Snape a dark look.
"Really, Potter. Do tell how this all came about." Harry winced again.
"Well, uh, I was trying to catch all the little ferret things that were climbing all over Malfoy, I'd heard him scream, see, and-" Ron cut him off with a snort here, his voice taking on a peculiar high-pitch.
"Ferrets, you say? You're right, those Her-thingies did kind of look like ferrets…" And trailing off, Ron broke into muffled laughter, trying to suffocate his amusement unsuccessfully into his wrist. Harry might have been mistaken, but he could have sworn he saw amusement flash through Professor McGonagall's eyes.
"Yeah," Harry choked out.
"Um, I accidentally ended up in the Forest, and then these really unhappy centaurs kept trying to kill me…"
"You captured them all by yourself," Professor McGonagall exclaimed, shocked. Harry sighed.
"You make it sound so difficult. These morons were so pathetic it was sad…"
"Death Eaters? Pathetic?" Her voice rose several notches.
"Seriously, Professor. These guys were newbie's, and frankly, sucked. I was just wondering how I was going to get out of here when you guys showed up."
"Don't worry, Harry. Now that we've got you, we'll just follow the path. Hagrid's very knowledgeable about these woods. And what an interesting and unlikely discovery you've made. Doubtless these men will have little useful information, but none the less, well done Harry. In future, however, perhaps it would be best if you avoided the Forbidden Forest." Harry shook his head, confused and irritated. Like he'd wanted to be here. He caught sight of Sora nearby, who was watching the reunion with happy eyes. Beaming, Harry strode over and hugged him, hard.
"Thank-you for finding me in this crazy place! I was starting to go insane…" Sora laughed and hugged him back just as fiercely.
"I've already told you, Harry. Anything for a friend."
"Touching. Now let's get the hell out of here before anything else happens." And after noting the location of the Death Eater's encampment, that's exactly what they did.
--
The tree-line was met with great enthusiasm.
"Yes! We didn't run into or get eaten by any giant spiders!"
"Aragog would never hurt you, Ron." Hagrid began wounded, but Ron began to choke and snarl with such unspoken anger that he broke off.
"The HELL…wouldn't… kill YOU…nearly DIED…" Harry and Hermione both put an arm around the incoherent boy and led him out of the forest, as Sora followed laughing.
--
"A quick stop at the Hospital Wing, I think, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said briskly. Harry's mouth fell open.
"But I'm fine!"
"Mr. Potter," the transfiguration teacher said with a sigh, "You always say that."
"You say it when you fall of broomsticks, when you run into Death Eaters and when you irritate dragons. Forgive me for my disbelief." And before a gaping Harry could say anything, she began to drag him towards the medical wing, with a highly amused Sora half-heartedly offering to heal any scratches or bruises in tow.
--
With the Death Eater's safely restrained in the hospital wing under the watchful eye of several teachers, and Harry once more safe and sound within Hogwarts, it should have been a quiet night from then on.
Alas.