Chapter 35 - The Forbidden Forest
People in this Chapter.
Lewis James Potter, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Hagrid, Firenze, Bane, Filch, Firenze
At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to the other Brotherhood members in the HQ and Lewis and Neville went down to the entrance hall. Filch was already there - and so was Malfoy. They had also forgotten that Malfoy
had gotten a detention.
"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.
"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again,
won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed... Right, off we go, and do not think of running off, now,
it'll be worse for you if you do."
They marched off across the dark grounds.
Neville kept sniffing. They started wondering what their punishment was going to be. It must be something horrible or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.
Lewis connected to Neville and through,
'You know Dumbledore, he would not approve anything to put us in danger, and neither would Hagrid.'
He agreed, and Neville started to relax.
'Ignore Filch he is a pain but overall, not dangerous.
So guys stay calm show him we are fine with this.'
"You Gryffindor are not scared of what going to happen to you,
This is going to be a punishment you will remember." Said Filch.
"We know the school as well as you,
we are heading to Hagrid's House.
Why should we fear Hagrid." Said Lewis.
"He is one of us Gryffindors after all,
once a Gryffindor, always a Gryffindor, Gryffindor for Life."
The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut.
Then they heard a distant shout.
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."
Said Hagrid.
The Gryffindors looked happy, if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. There relief must have showed in his -face, because Filch said,
"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf?"
Lewis looked at Filch and said, "Don't be disrespectful,
he is one of us." Said Lewis, "And one of your fellow staffer."
Filch looked at Lewis, was like a war of minds was happening,
then he just continued, "Well, think again, boy - it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all
come out in one piece."
Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks. "The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual.
"We can't go in there at night - there's all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard."
Neville clutched the sleeve of Louis's robe.
"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch,
his voice cracking with glee.
"Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"
Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark,
Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow,
and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.
"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already.
You Gryffindors ok?"
"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly,
"They're here to be punished, after all."
"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch.
"Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that.
Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."
"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them,"
he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.
Malfoy now turned to Hagrid. "I'm not going in that forest"
he said. "I am going back to the castle."
The Lewis smiled to hear the note of panic in his voice.
"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts,"
said Hagrid fiercely. "Or you can go home to your Dad.
Yeh've done wrong an' now yehve got ter pay fer it."
"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do.
I thought we'd be copying lines or something,
if my father knew I was doing this."
"He'd tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone?
Yeh'll do summat useful or Yeh'll get out.
If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled,
then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on"'
Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously,
but then dropped his gaze.
"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully,
'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight,
an' I don' want no one takin' risks.
Follow me over here a moment."
Ron and Harry came out of Hagrid hut.
He led them to the very edge of the forest.
Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow,
winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees.
A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.
"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood.
There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat.
This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing.
We might have ter put it out of its misery."
"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
"Ron and Harry what are you doing out here." Asked Lewis.
"They volunteered to help. There's nothing that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if you with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep to the path. Right, now, we're going split inter two parties an' follow the trail in different directions. There's blood all over the place,
it must've bin staggering around since last night at least.
"We are going to split into two groups." Said Hagrid.
Lewis through to Hagrid, 'Put Harry and Draco with me we can make sure he does not cause trouble.
"Lewis, Harry, Fang, and Draco in one group. And Me, Ron, and Neville in the other group." Said Hagrid.
The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Ron, Neville,
and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Lewis, Harry. and Fang took the right.
They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground.
Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.
"Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.
"Not fast enough," said Lewis. "It's not easy to catch a unicorn,
they're powerful magic creatures. "
They walked past a mossy tree stump. Harry could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by.
There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.
"A werewolf?" Harry suggested.
"That was not no werewolf nor a unicorn, neither," said Hagrid.
They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound.
Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something moved.
"Who's there?" Lewis called. "Show yourself - I'm armed!"
And into the clearing came - was it a centaur?
To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard,
but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Harry's jaws dropped.
"His name is Ronan," said Lewis. "How are you?"
He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.
"Good evening you must be friends of Hagrid,"
said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice.
"Were you going to shoot me?"
"Can't be too careful, Ronan," said Lewis.
"There's something bad loose in this forest.
I am Lewis Potter, and this is Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.
My fellow students up at the school.
An' this is Ronan, you two. He's a centaur."
"We'd noticed," said Harry faintly.
"Good evening," said Ronan. "Students, are you?
And do you learn much, up at the school?"
"Harry here does, not sure about the other," said Harry.
"Well, that's something." Ronan sighed.
He flung back his head and stared at the sky.
"Mars is bright tonight."
"Yeah," said Lewis, glancing up, too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run in to you, Ronan, because there's a unicorn
hurt - you seen anything?"
Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, then sighed again.
"Always the innocent are the first victims," Ronan said.
"So it has been for ages past, so it is now."
"Yeah," said Hagrid, "but have yeh seen anything, Ronan? Anything unusual?"
"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated,
while Lewis watched him. "Unusually bright."
"Yeah, but I was meaning anything unusual a bit nearer home," said Lewis. "So, you haven't noticed anything strange?"
Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said,
"The forest hides many secrets." Said Ronan.
It was only a second centaur, black-haired and -bodied and wilder-looking than Ronan.
"Hullo, Bane," said Lewis. "All right?"
"Good evening, I hope you are well?" Said Bane.
"Well enough. Look, I have just asked Ronan, you seen anything odd in here lately? There's an injured unicorn - would yeh know anything about it?"
Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward.
"Mars is bright tonight," Said Ronan simply.
"Thank you," said Lewis grumpily. "Well, if either of you do see
anything, let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."
Harry and Draco followed him out of the clearing,
staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.
"Never," said Lewis irritably, "try and get a straight answer out of a centaur. Dam stargazers. Not interested in anything closer than the moon."
"Are there many of them in here?" asked Harry.
"Their easy to see there a light in the dark.
Would guess about a dozen but not sure,
there a lot of lifeforms in this forest.
Keep themselves to themselves mostly,
but they're good enough about turning up if
ever you want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs...
they know things... just don't let on much."
"Do you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" said Harry.
"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me,
that was what's bin killing the unicorns. Centaurs are pure of heart they would not do that."
They walked on through the dense, dark trees.
Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder.
They had the nasty feeling they were being watched.
The twins set off into the heart of the forest with
Malfoy and Fang. They walked for nearly half an hour,
deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. They thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker.
There were splashes on the roots of a tree,
as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. Harry could see a clearing ahead,
through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.
"Look -" Lewis murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy.
Something bright white was gleaming on the ground.
They inched closer. It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad.
Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen, and its main was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.
Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered...
Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast.
Lewis then did a spell that translocated Harry, Fang,
and Draco to Hagrid.
"What are you three doing here and where Lewis." Said Hagrid.
"Something stupid." Said Harry. "If he alive will kill him.
My scar hurts which means Lewis is in trouble."
Lewis stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.
The figure raised its head and looked right at Lewis - unicorn blood was dribbling down his front. He got to its feet and came swiftly toward Lewis did not move.
Then as the figure got closer a pain like he had never felt before pierced his head, it was as though his scar were on fire.
Half blinded, he staggered backward. He heard hooves behind him, galloping, and something jumped clean over Lewis,
charging at the figure.
The pain in Lewis's head was so bad he passed out.
When he woke up a centaur was standing over him,
not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger;
he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.
"Are you all, right?" said the centaur, pulling Lewis to his feet.
"Yes - thank you - what was that?" Asked Lewis.
The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes,
like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Lewis,
his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out,
livid, on Lewis' forehead.
"You are the Potter boy, the one who will kill Voldemort,"
he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid.
The forest is not safe at this time - especially for you.
Can you ride? It will be quicker this way.
My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Lewis could clamber onto his back,
but stayed on the ground.
There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.
"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing?
You are giving a human a ride! Have you no shame?
Are you a common mule?"
"Do you realize who this is?" said Firenze.
"This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest,
the better."
"I was not planning on riding him seems wrong,
he is very intelligent and kind."
"What have you been telling him?" growled Bane.
"Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"
Ronan pawed the ground nervously. "I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best, " he said.
Bane kicked his back legs in anger. "For the best!
What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!" Said Bane.
"We came to help a creature in your forest,
we are all creatures of magic, we are all in danger from what is coming back, not just Wizards and Witches.
We need to unite for it we don't we fall separately."
Said Lewis, "We can't afford to remain separate."
Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger.
"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane.
"Do you not understand why it was killed?
Or have the planets not let you in on that secret?
I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes,
with humans alongside me if I must."
And Firenze grabbed Lewis and forced him onto
his back and Lewis grabbed him around the waste,
they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane
behind them.
Lewis said, "We don't need to make them angry,
we need them to unite the centaurs with us.
Why's Bane so angry?" he asked. "What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"
Firenze slowed to a walk, warned Lewis to keep his head bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did not
answer Lewis's question.
They made their way through the trees in silence for so long that Lewis thought Firenze didn't want to talk to him anymore.
They were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.
"Lewis, do you know what unicorn blood is used -for?" he said.
"We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions,
but using the blood is dark, rummers say it extends life,
but the cost of killing someone that is that pure."
"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,"
said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose,
and everything to gain, would commit such a crime.
The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive,
even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price.
You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life,
from the moment the blood touches your lips."
Lewis stared at the back of Firenze's head, which was dappled silver in the moonlight.
"But who'd be that desperate?" he wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, deaths better, isn't it?"
"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else - something that will bring you back to full strength and power - something that will mean you can never die. Mr. Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"
"The Sorcerer's Stone! Of course - the Elixir of Life!"
Said Lewis with a look of fear on his face.
"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life,
awaiting their chance?" Said Firenze.
It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Lewis's heart. Confirming the dark thoughts in the mind.
"Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was Voldemort."
"I do. He is coming back. this must be prevented." Said Firenze.
Lewis said, "Then you know what I am going to have to do,
for him to be killed to save all that matters to me."
"Yes." Said Firenze in a sad voice.
"You have not told your twin."
"No, he should not live with that." Said Lewis,
"But he will know when the time is right,
and I want you to help me with it,
just in case I don't get to."
"Sure." Said Firenze then Lewis hugged him.
"Lewis! Lewis, are you all, right?" Said Harry.
The Brotherhood and Draco was running toward them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind them.
"I'm fine," said Lewis, hardly knowing what he was saying.
"The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."
"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."
Lewis slid off his back.
"Good luck, Lewis," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs.
I hope this is one of those times. Lewis what you said is true I will start uniting the centaurs behind you,
I will contact you when we are ready."
They got back to the castle and into the common room,
then they headed for the HQ.
Harry realized what happed in the wood, he walked up to Lewis, and smack him so hard Lewis fell backwards on his but,
then stood up in front of his twin.
"YOU NEVER DO THAT AGAIN, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED, YOU DO THAT AGAIN I WILL SMACK THE SKIN OF YOU FACE YOU SCARED ME." Harry was worked up.
"That why I sent you away." Said Lewis, "I needed you safe."
"But what about you." Said Harry.
Lewis then he started pacing. He couldn't sit down.
He paced up and down in front of the fire. He was still shaking, the Brotherhood started showing,
"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort...
and Voldemort's waiting in the forest...
and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich..."
"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper,
as if he thought Voldemort could hear them.
Lewis wasn't listening. "Firenze saved me,
but he shouldn't have done so... Bane was furious...
he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen..."
"They must show that Voldemort's coming back...
Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me...
I suppose that's written in the stars as well." Said Lewis.
"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.
"All I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone,"
Lewis went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off... Well, I suppose Bane will be happy."
"Lewis, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one
Voldemort was ever afraid of, with Dumbledore around,
he won't touch you." Said Harry.
"Anyway, who says the centaurs are right?
It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic." Said Cedric.
"That true but not sure what all happening.
We have seen Tom name on the map,
Fred is the map ever wrong, can it be tricked?" Asked Lewis.
"No, not in this way making someone show how is not there,
who is Tom?" Asked Fred.
"You don't know much about this man.
Tom Marvolo Riddle who was a Slytherin,
he became known as Voldemort, he is a decent of the Peverell
brother Cadmus." Said Lewis.
Ron said, "Holly Crap."
"What." Said Lewis.
"You're talking about the Deathly Hallows." Said Ron.
"One brother wished for the most powerful wand,
which was Antioch. The second,
Cadmus who you said is Tom's relative,
wished for a stone that brings back the dead."
"The last one, Ignotus wish for a way to stay away from death,
so he was given the only perfect invisibility cloak,
an invisibility cloak that never lost its power through curses of age, this cloak he passed down to his son and their son,
and is still held by the current sons, can't believe this."
"Harry, you know what this means." Said Lewis.
"because Ron knows, just hope he still love me after this."
Cedric realizing the implications said,
"Lewis and Harry you got one of the three Legendary items of the wizard world." Said Cedric. "It is your family heirloom?"
Harry then said, "We are related to pure evil."
"I know." Said Lewis, "But nothing can be done."
Then Ron said, "Tom Riddle and you are vastly different people,
most wizarding family have some connections
like mine and Black and Malfoys and yours.
We all have bad apples in our families.
And noting going to change what I think of you."
Then Cedric added, "Ron is right. We all have those in our family if your pure blood and most pure bloods are related."
The sky had turned light before they stopped talking.
They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore.
But the night's surprises weren't over.