AN: Thank you all who reviewed! I just love input from readers! Thank you
all, enjoy.
Chapter 10
Harry suddenly found him self in a dark, eerily silent forest. He stopped and turned around, everyone else was behind him, in a small clearing. He landed and walked back to them.
"Where are we?" Neville asked plaintively.
"I don't know, does anyone?" Hermione asked, the eerie silence was getting to all of them.
"Look, the ground!" Malfoy said suddenly, and they all glanced down, in the dirt was a large rune, and they stood in the center.
"Um, guys? I, I think I know where we are. We're in the Ways." Harry said, remembering a book he had read in the library just before school ended while looking for information on a famous time traveler.
"The what?" Ron asked, even Hermione looked blank.
"The Ways, they're, well, a transportation system, thousands of years old. Not much is known about them, supposedly they're a forest, where nothing but trees live and there is very little wind. In random places around the world there are entrances and exits to the Ways, all of them are clearings, usually in forests. If you step in the center of one of those clearings you are transported to, well, the Ways, a place between worlds, time doesn't exist here. In the Ways you can walk around, and enter a different clearing from the one you came, if you do you'll be transported to another place, maybe in your own time, maybe in the past, but definitely a different place. This clearing we're in, the rune must represent the dark forest, so lets remember it. Every clearing in here leads to somewhere, somewhen, and each is marked with a rune. Animals too can be sucked into the Ways, they all die eventually if they don't manage to escape through a clearing, there is no water here, no lakes or rivers. All they have is millions of the same exact type of tree, which are inedible to any lifeform, so they only have eachother to prey upon. All the trees are of an unknown species, and nothing can eat them without dying. So we should be watchful, many of the creatures we may see are extinct in our time, or don't even come from the same side of world." His memory, strained by his illness, couldn't remember any more, Harry took out some paper and drew the rune on which they stood, beside it he wrote Dark Forest, Sept 20, 2002.
Harry watched the others digest this new information, plans brewing in his mind. Finally Malfoy spoke.
"How do we get back to the Forest?" Harry suppressed a wince as a quick burning fire in his scar told him Voldemort had just called his death eaters.
"I don't know, I believe that we have to visit another place first, leave that clearing, then go back in, then come back to this one." Harry said uncertainly, the book hadn't said anything about this.
"Um, Harry? Do you think that, entrance, was meant to be there?" Ron asked, Harry didn't follow his thinking, but Ron looked scared.
"Well yes, sure, why not?" He said, confused.
"Could it be another of You Know Who's plots to kill people? Hoping some of the students would stumble upon it or chased there by the spiders?" There was a collection of gasps from the rest, Harry thought, Ron did have a point there.
"No, it might be, but if it is Voldemort isn't here right now, if he was I'd feel it." Hermione turned to Harry quickly.
"What do you feel?"
"No more then the usual these days, feels like someone's pressing a brand to my forehead." He replied, not looking at their astonished faces.
"That's usual? I don't want to know what it's like when he is around or torturing people!" Neville said, shivering. Harry shrugged then suddenly he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled around. Some huge beast was sneaking through the forest towards them.
"Wands out, get ready for an attack." Harry whispered softly, a rustle told him they had all followed his instructions.
Harry had seen quiet a few odd creatures, but none so terrifying as the thing that suddenly came charging out of the forest. It was huge, a roar shook the earth and it came crashing through the trees. It came on two legs, with dark green skin and yellow eyes, two smaller arms halfway up its body hung uselessly, Harry recognized it immediately. "A Tyrannosaur! Run!" No one needed any urging, the huge head came swinging down at them as they fled, Harry cast a stunning spell at it, to his astonishment the beats didn't even flinch. He ducked as the jaws snapped an inch above his head.
"What's that?" Ron gasped, they leaped over a steep hill and landed at the bottom before running on.
"A Tyrannosaur, a dinosaur, a huge predator, very dangerous and this ones starving in here, not much food in the Ways." They both turned and cast stunning spells, no effect.
Their panicked flight continued Harry took the lead and began a weaving course through the trees designed to lead them back to their clearing so they could return, hopefully the T-rex wouldn't follow. Unfortunately it caught on and cut him off, they ducked and dodged about, the jaws snapping just above them, the T-rex could go faster, but it was hampered by the trees more then they were, but it was catching up and they were tiring. It would be useless to fly, it would bite them out of the air, Harry was the only one with enough skill to dodge it and have a chance at getting free, and who knew what flying monsters might be about? These were the thoughts that flashed through Harry's mind, he was becoming short of breath. Normally a run like this would be incredibly easy for him, but he was very weak from so long without real sleep and the constant pain, to make matter worse his car was starting to act up, red hot pain came sweeping over his senses, including his vision. Harry realized that if this continued he'd probably start having visions, soon the all-too-familiar pain of the Cruciatus Curse hit him and he stumbled, before regaining his feet, biting his lip till it nearly bled he ran on. Finally a small clearing emerged ahead.
"Jump through!" Harry shouted, they all dashed into it and vanished, behind them a confused Tyrannosaur roared and stamped, unable to understand where its prey had gone.
Chapter 10
Harry suddenly found him self in a dark, eerily silent forest. He stopped and turned around, everyone else was behind him, in a small clearing. He landed and walked back to them.
"Where are we?" Neville asked plaintively.
"I don't know, does anyone?" Hermione asked, the eerie silence was getting to all of them.
"Look, the ground!" Malfoy said suddenly, and they all glanced down, in the dirt was a large rune, and they stood in the center.
"Um, guys? I, I think I know where we are. We're in the Ways." Harry said, remembering a book he had read in the library just before school ended while looking for information on a famous time traveler.
"The what?" Ron asked, even Hermione looked blank.
"The Ways, they're, well, a transportation system, thousands of years old. Not much is known about them, supposedly they're a forest, where nothing but trees live and there is very little wind. In random places around the world there are entrances and exits to the Ways, all of them are clearings, usually in forests. If you step in the center of one of those clearings you are transported to, well, the Ways, a place between worlds, time doesn't exist here. In the Ways you can walk around, and enter a different clearing from the one you came, if you do you'll be transported to another place, maybe in your own time, maybe in the past, but definitely a different place. This clearing we're in, the rune must represent the dark forest, so lets remember it. Every clearing in here leads to somewhere, somewhen, and each is marked with a rune. Animals too can be sucked into the Ways, they all die eventually if they don't manage to escape through a clearing, there is no water here, no lakes or rivers. All they have is millions of the same exact type of tree, which are inedible to any lifeform, so they only have eachother to prey upon. All the trees are of an unknown species, and nothing can eat them without dying. So we should be watchful, many of the creatures we may see are extinct in our time, or don't even come from the same side of world." His memory, strained by his illness, couldn't remember any more, Harry took out some paper and drew the rune on which they stood, beside it he wrote Dark Forest, Sept 20, 2002.
Harry watched the others digest this new information, plans brewing in his mind. Finally Malfoy spoke.
"How do we get back to the Forest?" Harry suppressed a wince as a quick burning fire in his scar told him Voldemort had just called his death eaters.
"I don't know, I believe that we have to visit another place first, leave that clearing, then go back in, then come back to this one." Harry said uncertainly, the book hadn't said anything about this.
"Um, Harry? Do you think that, entrance, was meant to be there?" Ron asked, Harry didn't follow his thinking, but Ron looked scared.
"Well yes, sure, why not?" He said, confused.
"Could it be another of You Know Who's plots to kill people? Hoping some of the students would stumble upon it or chased there by the spiders?" There was a collection of gasps from the rest, Harry thought, Ron did have a point there.
"No, it might be, but if it is Voldemort isn't here right now, if he was I'd feel it." Hermione turned to Harry quickly.
"What do you feel?"
"No more then the usual these days, feels like someone's pressing a brand to my forehead." He replied, not looking at their astonished faces.
"That's usual? I don't want to know what it's like when he is around or torturing people!" Neville said, shivering. Harry shrugged then suddenly he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled around. Some huge beast was sneaking through the forest towards them.
"Wands out, get ready for an attack." Harry whispered softly, a rustle told him they had all followed his instructions.
Harry had seen quiet a few odd creatures, but none so terrifying as the thing that suddenly came charging out of the forest. It was huge, a roar shook the earth and it came crashing through the trees. It came on two legs, with dark green skin and yellow eyes, two smaller arms halfway up its body hung uselessly, Harry recognized it immediately. "A Tyrannosaur! Run!" No one needed any urging, the huge head came swinging down at them as they fled, Harry cast a stunning spell at it, to his astonishment the beats didn't even flinch. He ducked as the jaws snapped an inch above his head.
"What's that?" Ron gasped, they leaped over a steep hill and landed at the bottom before running on.
"A Tyrannosaur, a dinosaur, a huge predator, very dangerous and this ones starving in here, not much food in the Ways." They both turned and cast stunning spells, no effect.
Their panicked flight continued Harry took the lead and began a weaving course through the trees designed to lead them back to their clearing so they could return, hopefully the T-rex wouldn't follow. Unfortunately it caught on and cut him off, they ducked and dodged about, the jaws snapping just above them, the T-rex could go faster, but it was hampered by the trees more then they were, but it was catching up and they were tiring. It would be useless to fly, it would bite them out of the air, Harry was the only one with enough skill to dodge it and have a chance at getting free, and who knew what flying monsters might be about? These were the thoughts that flashed through Harry's mind, he was becoming short of breath. Normally a run like this would be incredibly easy for him, but he was very weak from so long without real sleep and the constant pain, to make matter worse his car was starting to act up, red hot pain came sweeping over his senses, including his vision. Harry realized that if this continued he'd probably start having visions, soon the all-too-familiar pain of the Cruciatus Curse hit him and he stumbled, before regaining his feet, biting his lip till it nearly bled he ran on. Finally a small clearing emerged ahead.
"Jump through!" Harry shouted, they all dashed into it and vanished, behind them a confused Tyrannosaur roared and stamped, unable to understand where its prey had gone.