AN: Thanks to my amazing Beta Mira! You make me look good :)

I don't own the Harry Potter world, I only live there.

6/18/16

Chapter 11 – The Forest

It was Christmas morning, and Mia awoke super early, excited for the adventure she would be going on that night. She sat up and went to go to the bathroom when something caught her eye. There were a few shiny wrapped lumps at the end of her bed. Presents? Mia had never gotten a Christmas present before, unless you counted a rock to the head from Bradley. The mysterious RJL only ever sent birthday present, but Mia had never cared about getting presents, many of the kids in the orphanage didn't.

Mia knelt next to the small pile and saw two packages, she opened the first one to find a small pile of pumpkin pasties from Hermione. The second one was a book from Professor McGonagall. 'Potions for the Inventor at Heart'. This was a book with simple base potions that you could build off of to create your own simple potions if you understood enough about the subject. The fact that Professor McGonagall had given something this advanced to a first year showed that the professor believed in Mia and wanted her to succeed, and Mia appreciated it immensely. Mia grabbed up some pumpkin pasties and her book and went down to the common room to steal one of the good arm chairs by the fire before the other students woke up. There weren't many Gryffindor's left for the holiday, so Mia didn't feel as much pressure to hide out. She spent a few hours reading the brilliant book and Mia got super inspired to try out some potions concoctions. Slowly the other students emerged from their rooms, some with presents in hand. Ron and Harry both came out wearing lumpy sweatshirts and looking rather excited. They saw Mia, and thanked her awkwardly for the presents. They invited her down to breakfast with them and Mia ran upstairs to put away her book.

She made a point to go up and thank Professor McGonagall for the wonderful book. She just blushed and made Mia promise to share all of her wonderful inventions with her. After breakfast Mia escaped up to her room and began preparing for her mission. She packed everything she needed for the supplies gathering into her knapsack and left it on her bed with her robes. She wanted to leave while it was still light out, but if she skipped the Christmas dinner feast, she knew Professor McGonagall would notice.

The feast was amazing. The great hall was beautiful and it was truly the most magical Christmas Mia had ever had. Mia made sure she didn't eat till stuffed like she wanted to. She wanted to still be agile for the long night ahead of her. She pulled a few wizards holiday crackers with Ron and Harry and got a funny pink wizards hat out of one of the cracker. Mia had a good time at the feast as there were only a few students and the teachers left in the castle. Mia got to see a side of Professor Dumbledore she hadn't known was there as he paraded around in a flower bonnet he had gotten in his cracker. As the festivities were wearing down, Mia slipped from the room. Mia was usually absent from meals and festivities so she knew no one would be surprised at her early disappearance.

The early darkness of winter was beginning to fall on the castle as Mia slipped her satchel filled with vials and harvesting materials over her head and snuck out of the castle. As Mia snuck across the frozen land and passed Hagrid's hut, she prayed that no one in the almost deserted castle would look out a window and see her walking to the forest. The forest was well known as off limits and Mia tried to let her brain go and followed the bit of herself that said rule breaking was fun, into the forest.

She paused just into the tree line, hiding from view of the castle behind a large fir tree. Was she really doing this? It wasn't too late to go back. Mia looked into her satchel and made sure she had everything she needed, and once she was sure she had all of it she summoned all of her blind Gryffindor courage, pushed off of the tree and started walking straight back into the forest. She quickly realized it was very dark in the forest so she grabbed her wand and muttered lumos and held the wand high enough so that she could see.

Mia pulled out a compass and kept walking in the same direction into the forest, trying hard not to think about any of the magical creatures who were rumored to live in the dark woods. She may be able to talk a wolf out of eating her, but what about the centaurs? Mia would just have to make sure she didn't run into anything too scary. After about a half hour of walking Mia was starting to hear noises in the dense forest. Of course there were animals that lived there, and she occasionally heard the frightened scamper of a rabbit or mole who thought she was there to eat her.

To take her mind off of her stupid decision to come into the forest, Mia started looking for one of the blue pine trees that were rare, but could be found in the forest. It was at the base of this tree that Mia was most likely to find her ptolemy. It was a short clover like plant that grew under the fallen pine needles. Mia started hunting around the base of pine trees, rustling around, looking for one with blue needles, so she didn't hear the beginnings of pounding paws hitting the dead leaves or the panting breath of a large group of animals approaching. But then suddenly a pack of wolves burst out of the trees and filed in a circle around her. Mia was so scared, she didn't want to hex the beautiful creatures if they weren't planning on harming her, so she just froze with her wand out in front of her, light still shining on the end. The wolves were growling, but Mia hoped their opinion of her could be changed.

A large gray wolf with black across his legs, the leader of the pack, stepped forward and spoke with a growl. "Who are you to have crossed our domain?"

Mia bowed her head in respect, thinking fast on her feet what the best way not to be eaten would be. "Please forgive me honorable Leader of the Pack. I do not have a nose as good as yours and was unable to tell when I entered into your land." The wolf didn't seem to expect her to answer as the large giant man who sometimes entered the forest never understood them. He took a step forward and sniffed the girl in front of him.

He knew the smell. "You are Witch Pup. You are friend of the Pack and will not be harmed here. Pack, learn her scent. She is friend." Mia was shocked at the words of the Wolf and even more shocked as the rest of the pack came up to her, some of the younger ones a little too eager with tails wagging and sniffed her. "I am Fleetfoot, leader of the pack. This is Riveruner, my mate." he pointed his nose at a beautiful silver/gray wolf with black markings running down her back. The rest of the pack was introduced to her and Mia tried to remember most of the names. "Tell me Witch Pup, what brings you into the forest? Did our songs finally call you out at last?"

Mia thought on this for a moment. Were their songs really about her? Maybe Witch Pup was just the title given to all witches who could talk to animals, if there were any others that is. "I've been listening to your songs for a while now and they are very beautiful and I hoped to be able to meet you someday, but honestly my reason for coming to the forest tonight was to gather supplies."

"Gather supplies? You mean hunt. We can help you hunt. We are great hunters and the Pack will protect you from any of the other beasts of the forest." Fleetfoot ordered Riverunner and most of the Pack to continue the Hunt and to bring dinner back to the pups in the den, while he and Bearchaser helped Witch Pup to hunt her supplies. Fleetfoot and Bearchaser headed off with Mia into the forest as the rest of the wolves continued the Hunt. Mia explained to Fleetfoot what she was looking for and he told her that although wolves could not see color, he knew of a strange smelling pine tree and led her towards the grove it was in.

As they walked they talked. The Wolves seemed to love telling stories, and were endlessly curious about the life the Witch Pup lead in the tall stone cave. Bearchaser was a large brown wolf who apparently got his name as a pup because he would stupidly try to play games with a bear cub. The mother had chased him away, but for his bravery they named him Bearchaser instead of Chasedbybear.

Once they had walked and talked for a while, Mia finally got up the courage to ask a question she had been thinking on. "Fleetfoot? You said you have been calling for me. Why was that? I heard the songs but I didn't know they were for me."

Fleetfoot hoped over a fallen tree lightly as Mia struggled over it. "Pack was told to watch over you. And we can't watch over you if you stay up hidden in the stone all the time."

"But who told you to watch over me?" Mia couldn't believe it. Who else could talk to wolves? Was it someone in her family? Maybe an uncle who had her ability? Mia had quickly learned that talking with animals wasn't a common thing even among wizards, so she had kept it to herself.

"Moonwalker." That was the only answer the wolf was offering, so Mia took it. They kept walking for a while until they came to a large tree that Fleetfoot sniffed. "This is the strange pine. Is it the tree you were looking for?"

Mia bent down holding her lighted wand up so she could see. Blue tinted pine needles lined the ground around the tree. "This is it! Now I just have to find the ptolemy." Mia got onto her hands and knees and started lightly lifting the pine needles not wanting to hurt the foliage underneath. She held her wand in her left hand and sifted with her right until she found it.

A small clover shaped plant that grew in a mass to create a sort of ground cover. Mia got out one of her large vials she had brought with her. She carefully dug up the plant making sure she didn't damage the roots. This plant needed to stay connected to its roots to maintain its potency. Once she had brushed off as much dirt as possible, she placed the plant into her vial, tucked it into her knapsack and stood up brushing off her cloths. The wolves were looking at her trying to understand what the Witch Pup found so interesting about the plants.

The next ingredient Mia needed was Saltpertr. This was a hard fungus that grew out from underneath the bark of a fir tree. Mia explained to the wolves that it would look like a thin white pokey rock that was growing out of the side of the tree. Fleetfoot thought this hunt was strange but a fun game so he lead Mia in the direction of a small grove of fir trees. Mia told the wolves to keep an eye out for any Horned Slugs while they went since that was also on the list. The silverweed couldn't be collected until midnight when it would be the most potent.

As they headed towards the grove of trees Bearchaser had his nose in the leaves sniffing as they walked. He seemed to get a bad smell in his nose and sneezed. "Found a horned slug! Ew, horned slug's smell like Centaur droppings." Mia went over to where the wolf stood and lifted up the leaves to reveal a long fat and gooey slug with little purple horns down its back. Mia scooped it up into a vile and put it in her bag.

As she kept walking, she explained to the curious wolves how the slug affected the potion she was making. The wolves didn't understand the potion theory but they still found it interesting that a slug was important. Just then there was a strange rustling in the trees to the south of them. The wolves heard it before Mia and jumped around her to protect her from whatever it was. "What's coming?" Mia asked Fleetfoot.

"We can't tell, the wind is in the wrong direction. But don't worry; we can take on almost anything in this forest." Bearchaser got in front of her with his lips raised in a snarl, ready to attack anything that came out of the woods. Suddenly something big and pure white jumped from behind the tall leaves of a poison berry bush and landed directly in front of them. Mia looked up in awe as the large unicorn, glowing like the moon, stood tall in front of her.

"Wow." Mia was stunned. She knew unicorns were real, but somehow she just hadn't believed it. Mia remembered her manners that some magical creatures demanded and she bowed her head. "Forgive my rudeness; I wasn't expecting a creature as beautiful as you to come out from behind those trees."

"Your kind words are not necessary from you, most peculiar of witch girls, although they are appreciated. I had heard rumors in the trees that a young witch was roaming in the forest with the wolves, but I did not believe it." The wolves respectfully greeted the unicorn. "Tell me young witch, what brings you to this dangerous forest."

"Well Sir," for Mia could tell the unicorn was male, "I've come to collect potion ingredients that I couldn't find anywhere else."

"And what is this potion for?" The unicorn came in closer to Mia.

"It's purely for academic reasons, I want the practice of brewing difficult potions."

"You lie." It was not a question, it wasn't even an accusation. It was a statement. The unicorn didn't seem upset or offended or surprised. He was simply stating the fact as if it was the weather. "Did you know unicorns can tell when someone lies? No, I don't imagine you would know that. The wizards knowledge of our race is limited as we do not like wizards very much and tend to avoid them. So tell me young witch, what is the true reason you brew this potion."

"I wish to become an Animagus." Mia knew there was no reason to hide the truth from this fantastic beast. He wouldn't tell anyone, he couldn't tell anyone. But that wasn't the truth; Mia didn't really want to become an Animagus! She just wanted to learn the potion; she wasn't going to use it. The unicorn must realize she had lied the second time. But the unicorn didn't challenge her answer.

"That is a noble task. I can see you hold much value in all life, even that of simple beasts. There are very few who can communicate with animals. It is an ability to be treasured. Do not take it lightly."

"Thank you Sir. I won't."

"Lastly, before I leave you this night, I wish to give you a warning and a gift. There is great evil lurking in this forest, and I advise that you do not spend more time here than you must. You are safe with the wolves, for I know they will protect you from most harm. But do not venture off without them. As for the gift, please take a hair from my mane. I know wizards hold them as valuable. Perhaps it will come in useful in the future." Mia reached up and ran her fingers threw the silky mane and a hair came free in her hand. The unicorn met Mia's gaze one last time with its beautiful pearl eye.

"Use it well." And with that the unicorn left just as quickly as it came. The wolves spent a few minutes complaining on the rudeness of unicorns as Mia placed the shining white hair into a vial and sealed it shut. Mia had read it was considered great luck to be given a gift from a magical beast. Mia would make sure not to treat it lightly.

Fleetfoot barked to get her attention. "Is that your saltpertr?" Mia looked up at the tree to her left where Fleetfoot was pointing with his nose and saw a rock hard fungus growing from the side of the tree.

Mia smiled. "Thank you Fleetfoot, I never would have seen that."

"Of course not, females are always distracted by shiny things, and unicorns are very shiny." Mia laughed at the joke and stepped up to the tree. She got out her short knife with the silver blade and started peeling away the bark. Saltpertr was a rock hard fungus and was very hard to break. Sometimes a wizard would use a cutting or exploding spell to remove the plant, but for Mia's potion, using magic would change the properties of the ingredient to much.

Later Mia would use a hammer to break it up for her potion, but she had decided the best way to harvest it was to peel up the bark covering the base of the fungus where it attached to the tree and then pry the whole thing off. This process only took about 45 minutes. At the end of her struggle with the fungus she was breathing heavy and just stuffed the whole thing into her bag. She looked at her watch. It was 15 minutes until midnight, and Mia needed to find her silverweed.

Mia turned to Fleetfoot. "We need to find some silverweed fast!" The wolves took off running in opposite directions. Mia started looking around where she was for the plant when a howl came from her left. Fleetfoot had found it. Mia took off running towards the wolf and Bearchaser caught up to her, running after her and telling her to go faster. Mia wanted to point out that she was human and couldn't run as fast as him but she was too busy breathing to talk.

Mia ran into a small clearing with Bearchaser flanking her. Fleetfoot was standing next to a small shrub wagging his tail. "I found it! Is it time yet?"

Mia looked at her watch. "Good job Fleetfoot. We still have a minuet." Mia dropped to her knees next to the plant and pulled out her scissors. Most people cut the plant just above the roots, but her book had told her that the chemical in the silverweed plant that gave it its potency was in the very tip of the long leaf. When you cut it the chemical spreads through the whole leaf, so if you cut it at the base, it lowers the potency of the weed. So Mia watched her watch and at exactly midnight Mia cut the weed in the middle of the leaf. She placed the weed into her vial. That was it. Mia had everything she needed.

Mia and the wolves began the long walk back to the edge of the forest. It was over an hour before they came in view of the edge of the forest. Mia wished the wolves good night, thanking them for all their help and promising to come to see them again. They had been good companions and Mia loved talking to them.

It was late, and Mia was tired. She was also very aware of the fact that it was well after midnight, and Christmas break or no Christmas break, if Mia was caught out of bed she would be in serious trouble. Mia snuck accost the grounds and into the castle. She was almost to the landing in front of the portrait of the fat lady when Harry and Ron suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "What are you two doing out of bed?" Harry stuffed a shiny cloak up his shirt when he saw her.

Ron was quicker with his thoughts. "Shouldn't we be asking you the same question?"

Harry stepped between the two short tempered teens and stopped them from waking the castle. "How about we all just agree that we didn't see each other? Deal?" Mia and Ron both grudgingly nodded and Harry spoke the password to the half asleep painting who angrily questioned why they were out of bed. Ron told her to mind herself and they climbed inside.

That night Mia held her Moony Bear and wondered if there was any connection to the wolves in the forest and the wolf in her arms. Finally she fell asleep to the wolves in the forest singing.

AN: OK so the unicorn part felt a bit cheesy to me, but I added it in anyways, hope you don't mind.

Review if you have a right hand.