1.1 "Wand loaded at both ends."
An allegorical fic, by LitCrit.
1.2 Chapter 2
Neville blinked into the darkness, trying to make something out, but there was nothing to see - only a cold mist. The coarse, damp grass was soaking his clothes, numbing half his body with the cold. He sat up and looked around. He was sitting on a band of rough grass, perhaps ten yards wide, curving into the distance away from the empty mist and around a dark forest. The forest was dense, towering and forbidding – strangely silent.
Neville knew about forests. They are noisy places, full of howls and whines and groans, designed to scrape across your senses and chill your bones, prompting your thoughts with just one word: flee, flee, flee.
The silence of this forest cut across all those senses. It did not communicate with him or hide anything within its shades. Its silence made it all clear, and it was complete, final and eternal. Death was not present in the forest, because the forest was Death.
Whimpering quietly, Neville grabbed the first person he could reach.
Malfoy responded with a jump, and opened his eyes to see Neville's tearful face. Neville's expression caused Malfoy to pause for a while, tilt his head, and smile like a snake.
"What are you scared of, Longbottom?" He stretched out straight on his back into the cold, wet grass, placing his hands behind his head and crossing his legs. "A few minutes of night air never hurt anyone. Good for the constitution, you know. Maybe if you took more exercise you wouldn't be such a piggy." He laughed loudly.
"M..M..M.." stuttered Neville.
A moan came from two large lumps near Malfoy as Crabbe and Goyle started to come to their senses. It had probably been a long search for them. A wet rustling turned their attention to Harry and Ginny striding through the long wet grass towards them.
"How sweet," sneered Draco. "A romantic stroll in the woods. So much more interesting than being in Gryffindor Tower all the time."
"Very clever, Malfoy," shouted Harry. "Just what do you think you were doing in our Common Room? And do you have any idea just how dangerous it is to Apparate a whole group of people? Anything could have happened."
"H...H…Harry," stuttered Neville.
"Frightened, Harry? Of a little Apparition?" Draco sneered up at the sky, and settled into his damp nest in the grass. The icy water had soaked through his thin black shirt, sticking it to his long, thin shape. Droplets glistened on his slick hair, rolling onto the ground instead of soaking in. His tongue flicked between his sharp teeth as he glared across at Harry.
With a quick, sinewy movement Draco curved his back and rose to his feet. He walked around Harry slowly, rising and falling gracefully.
"It really is laughably easy to catch you off your guard, Potter. If I were serious, you would be in all kinds of trouble now. I mean, your minions wake the whole of Hogwarts blundering around the library at night, practically give me their invisibility cloak, kindly point out the correct reference in the book they shouldn't be reading, and then leave all sorts of things lying around the common room. It's lucky for you that I only Apparated there for a little practical joke." Malfoy pulled a parchment and sugar quill out of his wet pocket. The sugar quill had melted in the heat and damp of his trousers, and the writing there was such a mess as to be unreadable.
"Where is that Weasel? He can't write, you know."
"That's Ron's!" insisted Ginny. "What are you doing with it? Give it to me."
Neville was treading the ground nervously. "H...H…Harry," he repeated, pulling on Harry's sleeve. He couldn't tear his eyes off the forest.
"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," said Malfoy, squinting at the writing. "Weasel only wants to know about a sick frog. Still, at least the owl will get a nice snack when it delivers this letter."
Ginny gasped and placed her hand over her mouth, turning to look at Neville.
"Now look here, Malfoy!" Harry stepped aggressively towards Draco, but Ginny pulled him back.
"Harry, look at Neville," she said.
Neville was transfixed, staring straight at the forest, white and shivering. Harry and Ginny followed his gaze, puzzled.
"What is it, Neville?" asked Ginny.
Harry continued to turn around, taking in the surroundings. He looked straight past Malfoy's sneer, ignoring him. Malfoy tried again.
"What are you frightened of, Potter? Are you missing your teddy bear?"
Harry continued to turn, looking beyond the sward into the mist, not even acknowledging Malfoy's existence.
"Potter, you little coward, you are completely useless."
Still Harry ignored him, slowly turning full circle, taking in their little sphere. In the distance he saw Ron and Hermione hurrying round the trees to join them.
"I'm bored with this now," sniggered Draco. He snapped his fingers, and Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him. "Give my regards to the adventurous couple," he said, nodding towards Ron and Hermione, "but it really is time to leave."
He wielded his wand, but Harry didn't even look his way. Ginny glanced at him before turning back to Neville, giving him her hanky.
With an exaggerated "tut" Draco waved his wand.
This time, the wrong nothing happened.
*****
"This is not the Forbidden Forest," said Harry. He tightened the belt on his dressing gown and thrust his hands into the pockets. Neville was still staring rigidly at the forest as Ginny tried to comfort him. She looked at Harry out of the corner of her eye, speaking some soothing words to Neville. Harry understood the message: not now, not yet.
Ron and Hermione were still a short distance away, so he turned to look at the others.
Malfoy was staring at his wand in disbelief. He tried a few spells just to be certain.
"Arefacio!"
A droplet of water teased its way down his cheek, collected itself on the point of his chin, and fell spinning to the ground. Harry smirked.
"Recalere!"
The thought made Harry pull his dressing gown collar up round his ears. Thank goodness he wasn't as wet as Malfoy, but then not much is as wet as Malfoy and his cronies.
Crabbe and Goyle shivered, but Malfoy's fury was warming him far more effectively than his magic. He gave up on his wand and threw it to the ground in disgust. Seeing Hermione and Ron arrive at Harry's side, he ran to the trio.
"This is all your fault, Potter. And yours too, Granger. If it weren't for you two doing your own thing, my magic would achieve anything I want. It's because of you that I am soaking wet and freezing cold. Why do you have to ruin everything?"
"We did nothing, Malfoy. If I'd been quicker, I'd have managed 'Oblittero' and your pathetic attempt at a multiple Apparition wouldn't have landed us here. Wherever 'here' is." Hermione stopped walking as she spoke, and stood facing Malfoy with her arms folded.
"I don't know where 'here' is," said Harry. Draco sneered at Harry yet again.
"What? The great Harry Potter is lost, is he? What a let-down that must be for you, Ginny. Still, I'll bet that Gryffindor Tower would be a far nicer place without you two there all the time."
Harry just looked at Malfoy. Not a word was spoken for a long moment.
Draco turned around and stormed off, Crabbe and Goyle scampering behind him, pausing only to fight over the privilege of picking up his discarded wand. The Gryffindors watched them recede into the distance.
"Where are we, Harry?"
"I don't know, Ron. But this is not a welcoming place. And that forest has given Neville the creeps."
"I'm sorry about that, Harry. I don't know what came over me. But it felt like death." Simultaneously, the five of them shivered. Harry and Hermione looked at their own useless wands, and then stared across the mist for a few seconds. There was no magic, nothing to look at, and no knowing how they were going to get back.
"Come on," said Harry, "we need to find somewhere warm and dry so we can get some rest. Do you think you can manage coming into the forest, Neville?"
Neville stood carefully upright, and as the colour drained from his face, he nodded stiffly. With Ginny on one side and Hermione on the other, he led the way into the forest.
*****
"This is a foul night to be stuck outside," thundered Malfoy, breaking a branch from the undergrowth and throwing it across the sward. He brushed gritty pieces of bark from his shrivelled fingertips, still sticky from the sugar quill he had cast aside. He cursed Harry Potter and the rest of Gryffindor Tower. Looking out into the mist, there was still no sign of Hogwarts. Seething, he started walking again. Crabbe and Goyle trudged after him, playing with his useless wand.
I know I can Apparate, thought Malfoy. In fact, I can Apparate with other people. I took Crabbe and Goyle from the Slytherin common room and into the Gryffindor common room. So why did I end up outside the school? He stopped short, Crabbe and Goyle almost walking into him.
Was he walking towards the school, or Hogsmeade?
He looked to his right, and saw only mist. Surely there should be some lights visible across the water?
Malfoy walked towards the sea of mist, Crabbe and Goyle following tentatively behind him. The lake was a long way across the sward, but no matter how far he walked, he couldn't see anything but mist. He turned and looked around. Crabbe and Goyle were just behind him, but beyond them there was nothing but mist. Shaken, he rushed back until he could see the trees again. This was not right.
Faster this time, more apprehensive, the three paced along the sward, careful to stay close to the trees.
An allegorical fic, by LitCrit.
1.2 Chapter 2
Neville blinked into the darkness, trying to make something out, but there was nothing to see - only a cold mist. The coarse, damp grass was soaking his clothes, numbing half his body with the cold. He sat up and looked around. He was sitting on a band of rough grass, perhaps ten yards wide, curving into the distance away from the empty mist and around a dark forest. The forest was dense, towering and forbidding – strangely silent.
Neville knew about forests. They are noisy places, full of howls and whines and groans, designed to scrape across your senses and chill your bones, prompting your thoughts with just one word: flee, flee, flee.
The silence of this forest cut across all those senses. It did not communicate with him or hide anything within its shades. Its silence made it all clear, and it was complete, final and eternal. Death was not present in the forest, because the forest was Death.
Whimpering quietly, Neville grabbed the first person he could reach.
Malfoy responded with a jump, and opened his eyes to see Neville's tearful face. Neville's expression caused Malfoy to pause for a while, tilt his head, and smile like a snake.
"What are you scared of, Longbottom?" He stretched out straight on his back into the cold, wet grass, placing his hands behind his head and crossing his legs. "A few minutes of night air never hurt anyone. Good for the constitution, you know. Maybe if you took more exercise you wouldn't be such a piggy." He laughed loudly.
"M..M..M.." stuttered Neville.
A moan came from two large lumps near Malfoy as Crabbe and Goyle started to come to their senses. It had probably been a long search for them. A wet rustling turned their attention to Harry and Ginny striding through the long wet grass towards them.
"How sweet," sneered Draco. "A romantic stroll in the woods. So much more interesting than being in Gryffindor Tower all the time."
"Very clever, Malfoy," shouted Harry. "Just what do you think you were doing in our Common Room? And do you have any idea just how dangerous it is to Apparate a whole group of people? Anything could have happened."
"H...H…Harry," stuttered Neville.
"Frightened, Harry? Of a little Apparition?" Draco sneered up at the sky, and settled into his damp nest in the grass. The icy water had soaked through his thin black shirt, sticking it to his long, thin shape. Droplets glistened on his slick hair, rolling onto the ground instead of soaking in. His tongue flicked between his sharp teeth as he glared across at Harry.
With a quick, sinewy movement Draco curved his back and rose to his feet. He walked around Harry slowly, rising and falling gracefully.
"It really is laughably easy to catch you off your guard, Potter. If I were serious, you would be in all kinds of trouble now. I mean, your minions wake the whole of Hogwarts blundering around the library at night, practically give me their invisibility cloak, kindly point out the correct reference in the book they shouldn't be reading, and then leave all sorts of things lying around the common room. It's lucky for you that I only Apparated there for a little practical joke." Malfoy pulled a parchment and sugar quill out of his wet pocket. The sugar quill had melted in the heat and damp of his trousers, and the writing there was such a mess as to be unreadable.
"Where is that Weasel? He can't write, you know."
"That's Ron's!" insisted Ginny. "What are you doing with it? Give it to me."
Neville was treading the ground nervously. "H...H…Harry," he repeated, pulling on Harry's sleeve. He couldn't tear his eyes off the forest.
"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," said Malfoy, squinting at the writing. "Weasel only wants to know about a sick frog. Still, at least the owl will get a nice snack when it delivers this letter."
Ginny gasped and placed her hand over her mouth, turning to look at Neville.
"Now look here, Malfoy!" Harry stepped aggressively towards Draco, but Ginny pulled him back.
"Harry, look at Neville," she said.
Neville was transfixed, staring straight at the forest, white and shivering. Harry and Ginny followed his gaze, puzzled.
"What is it, Neville?" asked Ginny.
Harry continued to turn around, taking in the surroundings. He looked straight past Malfoy's sneer, ignoring him. Malfoy tried again.
"What are you frightened of, Potter? Are you missing your teddy bear?"
Harry continued to turn, looking beyond the sward into the mist, not even acknowledging Malfoy's existence.
"Potter, you little coward, you are completely useless."
Still Harry ignored him, slowly turning full circle, taking in their little sphere. In the distance he saw Ron and Hermione hurrying round the trees to join them.
"I'm bored with this now," sniggered Draco. He snapped his fingers, and Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him. "Give my regards to the adventurous couple," he said, nodding towards Ron and Hermione, "but it really is time to leave."
He wielded his wand, but Harry didn't even look his way. Ginny glanced at him before turning back to Neville, giving him her hanky.
With an exaggerated "tut" Draco waved his wand.
This time, the wrong nothing happened.
*****
"This is not the Forbidden Forest," said Harry. He tightened the belt on his dressing gown and thrust his hands into the pockets. Neville was still staring rigidly at the forest as Ginny tried to comfort him. She looked at Harry out of the corner of her eye, speaking some soothing words to Neville. Harry understood the message: not now, not yet.
Ron and Hermione were still a short distance away, so he turned to look at the others.
Malfoy was staring at his wand in disbelief. He tried a few spells just to be certain.
"Arefacio!"
A droplet of water teased its way down his cheek, collected itself on the point of his chin, and fell spinning to the ground. Harry smirked.
"Recalere!"
The thought made Harry pull his dressing gown collar up round his ears. Thank goodness he wasn't as wet as Malfoy, but then not much is as wet as Malfoy and his cronies.
Crabbe and Goyle shivered, but Malfoy's fury was warming him far more effectively than his magic. He gave up on his wand and threw it to the ground in disgust. Seeing Hermione and Ron arrive at Harry's side, he ran to the trio.
"This is all your fault, Potter. And yours too, Granger. If it weren't for you two doing your own thing, my magic would achieve anything I want. It's because of you that I am soaking wet and freezing cold. Why do you have to ruin everything?"
"We did nothing, Malfoy. If I'd been quicker, I'd have managed 'Oblittero' and your pathetic attempt at a multiple Apparition wouldn't have landed us here. Wherever 'here' is." Hermione stopped walking as she spoke, and stood facing Malfoy with her arms folded.
"I don't know where 'here' is," said Harry. Draco sneered at Harry yet again.
"What? The great Harry Potter is lost, is he? What a let-down that must be for you, Ginny. Still, I'll bet that Gryffindor Tower would be a far nicer place without you two there all the time."
Harry just looked at Malfoy. Not a word was spoken for a long moment.
Draco turned around and stormed off, Crabbe and Goyle scampering behind him, pausing only to fight over the privilege of picking up his discarded wand. The Gryffindors watched them recede into the distance.
"Where are we, Harry?"
"I don't know, Ron. But this is not a welcoming place. And that forest has given Neville the creeps."
"I'm sorry about that, Harry. I don't know what came over me. But it felt like death." Simultaneously, the five of them shivered. Harry and Hermione looked at their own useless wands, and then stared across the mist for a few seconds. There was no magic, nothing to look at, and no knowing how they were going to get back.
"Come on," said Harry, "we need to find somewhere warm and dry so we can get some rest. Do you think you can manage coming into the forest, Neville?"
Neville stood carefully upright, and as the colour drained from his face, he nodded stiffly. With Ginny on one side and Hermione on the other, he led the way into the forest.
*****
"This is a foul night to be stuck outside," thundered Malfoy, breaking a branch from the undergrowth and throwing it across the sward. He brushed gritty pieces of bark from his shrivelled fingertips, still sticky from the sugar quill he had cast aside. He cursed Harry Potter and the rest of Gryffindor Tower. Looking out into the mist, there was still no sign of Hogwarts. Seething, he started walking again. Crabbe and Goyle trudged after him, playing with his useless wand.
I know I can Apparate, thought Malfoy. In fact, I can Apparate with other people. I took Crabbe and Goyle from the Slytherin common room and into the Gryffindor common room. So why did I end up outside the school? He stopped short, Crabbe and Goyle almost walking into him.
Was he walking towards the school, or Hogsmeade?
He looked to his right, and saw only mist. Surely there should be some lights visible across the water?
Malfoy walked towards the sea of mist, Crabbe and Goyle following tentatively behind him. The lake was a long way across the sward, but no matter how far he walked, he couldn't see anything but mist. He turned and looked around. Crabbe and Goyle were just behind him, but beyond them there was nothing but mist. Shaken, he rushed back until he could see the trees again. This was not right.
Faster this time, more apprehensive, the three paced along the sward, careful to stay close to the trees.