Beth wasn't anticipating the midnight excursion with much excitement. She'd been out on S.S.A. missions before, and they had a tendency to be nerve-wracking if not outright dangerous. Nevertheless, she and Melissa stayed by the fire yawning until they were the only two. The common room was gloomy at that hour; the low green lamps cast strange shadows around the high-backed chairs and ornately worked fireplace.
Evan and Mervin came down at around a quarter to midnight, looking like they'd woken up specifically for the event. Richard followed soon after. It was incredible how he could look like he was having the time of his life even in the middle of the night. He beamed around at the sleepy members. "Well, we're all here -- let's get on."
Melissa looked around in surprise. "This is all?"
Richard nodded. "Bruce and Uther had Quidditch practice all evening and begged out due to exhaustion. One of the firsties is having a crisis of homesickness, so Riggs needs to stay around in case it happens again. Herne is right out." Evan snorted. "As for Vivian, I didn't even tell her we're going -- she's had a lot on her mind -- I don't know if she'd be up for it." He spread his arms. "And that leaves us."
Mervin gave Evan a very mistrusting look, as if he were the last person he'd want with him in the Forbidden Forest.
Richard was tugging on one of the high-backed chairs. Beth went to help him pick it up and move it several feet to one side. When it was out of the way, Richard peeled up the edge of the carpet until there were several square feet of stone floor showing. As hard as Beth looked, she couldn't make out the outline of a door of any kind.
"Isn't there a trap door?" Melissa asked, also staring hard at the solid floor.
"Of course." Richard was beaming again; there was nothing he liked better than being the only keeper of a secret. He bent down and tapped the floor with his wand. "Gettus outtathis madhaus."
The stones shimmered. They started to melt and peel away, leaving a gaping hole in the floor. A very narrow staircase went down into the hole, but Beth couldn't tell how far -- it was soon swallowed up in the inky blackness.
"What's down there?" asked Mervin nervously, running a hand through his curly red hair.
Richard waved his hand distractedly. "Just a tunnel. Now hurry up and get down there so we can close this back up!"
Without hesitation, Evan started down the staircase. His figure disappeared into the darkness. Melissa followed, not looking at all excited about the excursion, and Mervin went after her. He seemed to want to stay as close as possible to everyone else. Beth waited until he had vanished into the shadows, then started down the stairs.
The depth of the darkness was overwhelming. Beth put out her hands and felt dirt walls on either side; not knowing what else could be there, she quickly drew them back. Behind her, Richard was already inside, laying the carpet back and closing up the hole with a quickly whispered command. The blackness was complete.
"Lumos." Evan had had the presence of mind to light his wand. Embarrassed, Beth and the others followed suit. The dark was replaced with eerie blue light, and Beth could finally see what was around her; earthen walls, a damp dirt ceiling, and a long straight tunnel where the stone staircase ended. She joined the others at the bottom of the staircase.
"Straight forward now," muttered Rich, coming up to them. They started down the tunnel. Even the light from their wands only illuminated a few feet before them. Beth was grateful; she didn't want to see the spiders, earthworms, and heaven-knew-what-else lurking in every niche and crack.
Finally Evan drew up short. "End of the road," he whispered. Beth peered over Mervin and Melissa for a better look. The tunnel came to a complete halt; a ladder stretched up ten feet through a hole in the ceiling. Evan scrambled up the ladder; there was a scrabbling noise, and suddenly moonlight filled the passage.
One by one they clambered out and rolled onto the ground. Evan stood nearby, a large block of snow-covered sod at his feet. When they were all out, he bent down and fitted it over the hole in the ground, completely obscuring the passage from sight. The only evidence that they had been there was the disturbance in the snow. Richard smoothed that over with a few kicks before turning to the others.
"We stay together and follow the map," he ordered, his voice low. His breath could be seen against the dark, cold forest. "No one strays, no one. Understand?" They nodded. "Come on."
The Forbidden Forest was stark in the moonlight. The crunching of their footsteps in the snow was nothing compared to the squeaks, hoots, and rustles in the leaves around them. The pale blue light at the ends of their wands barely penetrated the thick woods, and more than once Beth saw something dart just outside the corner of her vision. She pulled her cloak around her tighter.
Richard bent over the map, reading by the vague light of Mervin's wand. Something about the shadows and the way he was concentrating gave Beth a sudden, sharp vision of the adult he would become. Then it was gone, and the woods loomed over them in silent dominance.
A feral snort made them all jump; they huddled closer together. Melissa was shivering from the cold. Evan's face was more pale than usual, but his expression was just as stoic as ever. Richard looked up from Gudgeon's map and spoke.
"We seek help."
His voice was quiet but forceful. Beth thought first that he was crazy for speaking aloud and second that if it were her, she'd be asking for more than just help.
The moonlight to their left began to shift and slide as a dark shape moved behind the brush. Then it stepped out toward them, and Beth saw that it was an impossibly tall man -- no, a man on a horse. It came closer, and the light of the moon illuminated a naked black torso and a sleek horse's body. A centaur, Beth realized, with unabashed awe. To stand in the presence of a creature of myth was eerie and exhilarating.
It spoke, and its voice was deep and rustic. "You are from the school?"
"Yes. We have business in the forest. Dave Gudgeon thought that we might find some help from you and your kind."
The centaur dipped politely but firmly. "We do not meddle in the affairs of men."
"But you have given aid to the affairs of our Society." Richard pulled the ring from his finger and held it out like a talisman.
The centaur looked at the ring. "Tin and lead," it said softly. "Together, stronger and brighter than each. It represents you well." Beth realized that it could actually see the ring, but in the darkness she couldn't tell whether it wore a ring of its own or used some gift of its species. It turned its dark head to the sky. "See the Pleiades, their youngest sister almost obscured. You are seeking something."
"We seek the Precious Tree," said Richard clearly. "We need safe passage through the Barren Glen."
The centaur pawed at the ground with his front hoof. "What fruit would you find?"
"The silver. A friend of ours is enchanted."
Tossing his head, the centaur gave a little sigh. "Mankind is forever enchanted," he said cryptically. "I will take you through the Glen, but no further. Your quest is your own."
"Will you wait for us to return as well?"
The centaur inclined his head. "Come." He started off through the forest, completely disregarding the path. Richard followed, motioning to them to come along.
Walking through the Forbidden Forest at night, creepy as it may be, was nothing compared to following a fantastic creature off the beaten path and into its fallow depths. Beth felt her whole body tense up as the gloom pressed in, weird noises on every side. Mervin started to whistle nervously until Melissa threatened to kill him if he didn't knock it off. Twice the centaur stopped and cried out sharply; this was followed by some loud rustling nearby, as if something was running away. Beth caught a glance of long, hairy legs and after that resolved not to look around any more.
Finally the centaur drew to a halt. The students gathered around him. They stood at the brink of a vast empty field, brown with decay, a wreath of mist hovering barely a foot from the marshy ground. Dead trees poked out at odd angles, and the mist swirled in places where small creatures must be stirring it up from beneath. Beth gave a shudder.
"The Barren Glen," said the centaur gloomily. "You must stay with me, step where I step -- and never obey what you see or hear."
Before Beth could wonder what that meant, the centaur stepped into the Glen and, one by one, they followed.
The ground was spongy; Beth's sneakers sank in at least an inch with every step. She stayed close behind Evan, who kept his wand lit with an eerie blue light and kept peering around into the mist as if willing himself to see something there.
Something was there, gradually taking shape from the swirling mist -- it was a tremendously long neck and a head that bobbed high above, faintly like a snake, but thick at the bottom, like a dinosaur, or a --
"S-s-sea monster," stammered Mervin, frozen with terror. He lurched as if to run. Richard grabbed him by the arms and held him in place even as the great neck bowed and the head bore down on them, sharp little teeth gnashing above them. Beth closed her eyes tightly.
"It is a shade, nothing more," called the centaur from the front of the group. "Leave it be. It cannot harm you."
Slowly, Beth opened her eyes. The sea monster roared once, flinging its head back, and then sank back into the murky earth.
Mervin drew a shaky breath. "Heh. N-nothing." He gave an unnerved grin. Still it was a minute before he was persuaded to move on.
"Bogarts own these woods," the centaur said gloomily, and his deep voice carried over the flat marsh. "You must not listen."
A sound rose to cover his voice: another voice, masculine, and vaguely familiar.
"Disgrace! Failure! Disgrace! Failure!"
Richard stopped in his tracks. As they watched, Jules Rothbard came stalking through the mist, his cape billowing, wide white moustache twitching in anger.
"You've led this group astray ever since your induction," Rothbard bellowed at Richard, who now practically quaked in his shoes. "Nothing's gone right -- lost everything. You're a disgrace! Failure! Disgrace!"
Beth felt a deep shame welling up inside her, as if she were taking the brunt of Rothbard's rant. "Rich, it's a lie!" she cried in a high-pitched, terse voice. Rothbard turned on her, eyes flashing. Then he vanished into the smoke.
"Come," called the centaur. "We have far to go."
Richard ran his hands over his face. "No wonder nobody knows where the tree is," he muttered to himself. "It's halfway through Hell."
His voice echoed in the clearing.
"Come on," said Melissa clearly. "Let's just finish the job."
The echo sounded ... job ... job ...
That's not a woman's job, you'll see when you're older ...
"What?" shrieked Melissa furiously. She whirled around but there was no one to be seen. The Glen was empty and dead.
You can't do it, a mere female could never accomplish anything worthy enough ...
"Shut up!" screamed Melissa. Her face was contorted and she clenched her fists at her sides. "You're nothing!"
Nothing ... a girl is nothing ...
"You're not real!"
real ... real ...
And the sound died away.
Beth's heart sank. She leaned toward Evan. "We're next," she said quietly.
The wind picked up and the fog began to whirl and shape, leaving swirls of gray behind as it twisted into a pair of whirlwinds that rose and contorted until the mist was blown away to reveal two people standing together: a dark-haired man, and a woman with curly black hair and a beaky nose, whom Beth had only see in photographs.
"Mom?" she croaked.
Melissa grasped her arm. "It's not her, it's a trick!" she hissed ferociously. "Don't go toward it! It's an illusion --"
But even as she was speaking, Evan gave a hoarse cry of "Dad!" and bolted toward the male figure who stood and beckoned to them. As soon as he left the path, the two images vanished; and Evan disappeared into the mist.
Richard gave a strangled cry and started forward, but the centaur bellowed, "Do not move!" and plunged away from them. He galloped to where Evan had been last seen and sank away from sight; only his head reappeared above the fog once or twice before bobbing down again.
Melissa's fingers dug into Beth's arm. Mervin goggled in blatant disbelief as the centaur struggled with nothing.
Slowly, the tumult calmed and the fog smoothed over.
Richard let out a long moan. Melissa drew in a deep breath before whispering, "Where -- where do we go from here?"
There was deep silence. Then --
The centaur burst out of the misty march, covered with slime and fog that seemed to cling to his flanks. He had Evan in his arms. He fought his way back to the group of them and set Evan down on his feet before turning back to them.
"Only walk where I walk. Stay close."
Then he turned and moved on.
They followed numbly behind. Evan let his wand go out and stuffed it into his pocket, morose and utterly ashamed. They struggled through the deepening mud and the mist that closed in around them, until the centaur said,
"We have arrived."
Suddenly Beth felt solid, dry ground beneath her feet. She looked up in surprise. They were on a slight rise -- a kind of island in the sea of fog. In the center of the island was a tree that even in the darkness glimmered from a thousand points of light nestled in its leaves.
"The Precious Tree," breathed Richard.
Longing full and sincere swung over Beth. She had never seen anything as lovely as the tree, or as inviting and warm as the fruit it bore. The silver pears, the copper plums -- above all, the golden apples beckoned to her, ripe and shining amid the dark leaves.
They started forward; then Richard, at the fore of the group, pulled back. "Wait," he whispered.
A rustling sound reached their ears. From behind the tree's massive trunk strolled a lion -- no, more than a lion, it had wings and the head of a woman. Richard sank to one knee. "My lady Sphynx."
The rest of them hastily followed suit. The Sphynx bestowed on Richard a smile, kindly but strong. She spoke, and her voice was an eerie song.
The words were a jumble in Beth's mind. Anxiously she turned back to where the centaur had last stood.
He was gone.
Richard and all the others had risen to their feet; they drew into a huddle.
"Mad," said Mervin, shaking his head, "stark, raving mad, absolutely mental -- that's four riddles, and I haven't got a clue about any of them --"
"Given but not received ..." Melissa murmured. "Seen but not believed ..."
Evan looked back at the Sphynx. "Will you repeat it, please?"
The Sphynx obliged. Her voice rose and fell with the rhythm of the rhyme.
"Seeing is believing," said Richard hopelessly.
"What is born but never dies?" Beth said slowly. "A fantastic creature ... that never dies ... but that's ridiculous, everything dies," she finished furiously. "There's no answer to this riddle!"
Melissa looked up suddenly. "Of course!" she breathed. "Every gift is received or it can't be given. Everything that's born someday dies. Seeing is believing -- and you can never succeed if you don't try!" She straightened up and looked the Sphynx in the eye. "The answer is -- nothing!"
The Sphynx smiled at Melissa, and her delight was genuine. "Your answer is true, you will be let through. Pick but one fruit from the tree, but be cautious -- choose carefully." She stepped aside. The Precious Tree loomed before them, glittering and glorious.
"There they are," breathed Beth. The golden apples hung full and ripe on the tree, low on their branches. Enthralled, she moved toward them and put out her hand to pick one. The gleam of the golden apple filled her sight, rung in her ears, drew her closer to the shimmering fruit that promised life, happiness, and more ...
Beth's arm was wrenched away from the apple. "What?" she cried angrily, the entrancing apple forgotten.
Evan had pulled her back. "The golden apples are the poisonous ones," he said softly.
Beth jerked away from the tree. "I don't know what -- it was calling me --" she tried to explain. It sounded lame even to her, but Evan nodded like he understood.
"Got it!"
Richard ran toward them, clutching a silver pear in one hand. "This will cure him -- this is it!" he rejoiced. Melissa and Mervin followed behind him, cheering. "Now all we have to do is get back ..."
He stopped and looked out across the vast marsh and the mist that enveloped it.
The centaur was nowhere to be seen.
Richard's shoulders sagged. "Here, hold this," he said, shoving the pear into Beth's hands. Very slowly he walked to the outside of the island and walked around its perimeter. The centaur did not appear.
"He didn't promise," said Melissa helplessly.
Beth put the pear in her pocket. What good was finding it if they could never get back? One wrong step and the swamp would swallow them all -- and this time, there would be no fantastic beast to dive in and save them.
"My lady."
Beth turned around. Mervin had approached the Sphynx and now knelt before her. "I ask a boon from you, Guardian and Riddle-Keeper of the Precious Tree."
The Sphynx tossed her head and batted at the ground with one large lion's paw. "Ask."
"I beg passage out of the forest for the group of us."
Mervin looked up at the Sphynx anxiously. The fabulous beast tilted her head, then smiled down at him.
A vast, broad whirring noise filled the sky.
Beth looked up in horror. All she saw was a flutter of tawny wings before she was clenched around the shoulders and pulled up into the air. Panicking, she struggled with the force until she saw the others being lifted the same way, by monsters that were part lion and part eagle ...
"Griffons," shouted Mervin, almost crying with relief, as he was hoisted into the sky.
They rose higher and higher, supported only by the claws on their shoulders. Beth got dizzy and gripped the griffon by its ankles before clenching her eyes shut.
"Look down, it's fabulous!" cried Melissa.
Beth slowly opened one eye. With a gasp, she opened them both. Below them, the Forbidden Forest was teeming with life. Centaurs gathered around a vast bonfire; pixies twittered and flitted around an old pine tree; a mother wolf gathered her cubs around her at the peak of a hill. Beth had never imagined that the dark forest was so bright with activity, so full of magic and magical creatures.
I wonder if Dumbledore knows about all this, she thought giddily. The answer came to her. No one knew -- not Dumbledore, not Dave Gudgeon, not any of the five who had been through its depths and back. The forest was impenetrable, and it was beautiful.
The beating of the griffon's wings slowed, and Beth felt herself sinking to the ground. She looked back over her shoulder for one more look at the forest from above; but then she was landing softly on the earth, and the griffon flew away. One by one her friends dropped onto the ground and their transports flapped off, cawing to each other in the clear moonlight.
Beth stood up. They were on the very edge of the Forbidden Forest. She let out a shaky sigh.
"We did it," said Richard, and he sounded more in awe than relieved.
They had the fruit -- they were all out of the forest, and safe -- the castle was in sight, their beds were a few minutes away. Warm relief filled Beth's chest. She felt fully relaxed for the first time since Daedalus had been Petrified. It was all going to turn out all right.
A blinding light flooded her sight. She stopped in her tracks, completely blinded, and heard the rest of the S.S.A. come to a halt around her. "Who's there?" a gruff voice demanded.
The light subsided and became the wick of a lantern, high in the darkness. It was held up by the huge arm of the enormous gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, and he didn't look at all pleased to see them.