Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and
which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise
owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is
implied on the author's part. Enjoy!
A/N: I started writing this story after months of. well. not, because (amazing!) I got a review. Oh course, it's my own dumb fault for uploading all four chapters at once and waiting for comments, but. well, now I know better (. Excuse clumsiness because this is the first I've written in the Harry Potter world for a while. I do hope you like it. I've also gone back and changed problems in earlier chapters, but mainly on sentence structure.
~~Chapter Five: The Forbidden Forest~~
Transfiguration. Divination. Arithmancy. Defense Against the Dark Arts. Care of Magical Creatures.
The next few days seemed to go by in a blur to Kevin. He began taking interest in the classes he had found boring before. The teachers at Hogwarts' way of teaching were very different from the straightforward classes of Ashallan. At Hogwarts, he saw creatures firsthand, instead of looking at a few moving paintings of them in an old book. It was a whole new way of looking at the school. He found that he would rather take the classes he had thought boring then not. with the exception of those mind- numbingly boring lectures that Prof. Binns gave, of course.
There remained the mystery of the book, of course. It wouldn't open. Why a large book with nearly blank gold covers that refused to open would be sitting in the library, he didn't know; however, no opening spells he could find would work on it. And for some reason, he didn't want to tell anybody else about it. The more he tried and failed to open it, the more it intrigued him, and the less he felt like sharing this strange secret.
He didn't stop his nightly wanderings, of course. Every other night he would travel around the school, only content when he had sufficiently explored. He had thought that a busy schedule would help, but it didn't even make him feel more tired. He was fine with only a couple hours of sleep every night. He knew that was very odd, but it didn't stop his habit.
Kevin saw Jon once more after he had ditched the annoying kid a few days ago, in the small amount of time after he finished lunch and before he had to go to his next class. He was talking with a few other boys and girls his age, and that was actually the first time Kevin had seen a Slytherin, a Ravenclaw, a Gryffondor, and a Hufflepuff joined in friendly conversation, without a dirty look traded between any of them. They were sitting around a table in an empty classroom Kevin had passed while walking from lunch. He watched for a while from a distance, intrigued but not feeling talkative. Strangely enough, Jon was not at all acting like his chattery self.
He noticed that they seemed to be playing a card game, although the cards were like nothing he had ever seen before. They showed beautiful pictures of mythical beasts, medieval warriors, and awesome spells, each picture surrounded by several numbers and a description.
All the cards were floating over the table like a shield around each player, adjusting themselves so nobody else could see them. Their placement seemed random to Kevin, although the four at the table were constantly glancing at different bunches of enemy cards as they moved.
Jonathan moved, wearing a perfect poker face. He drew and discarded a card from what appeared to be his hand, and then slid a whole array of cards forward, looking pointedly at the Hufflepuff.
The card game went on for about ten minutes more, and then it as brought to a close. A few comments were traded between the students and then they got up to go to their classes. Kevin hurried away before Jon could see him. He found it odd that the boy should act so strangely when he was around most people, and then completely differently with three of his friends. It was none of his business, naturally, but who cared about that? He would make it his business. He'd find every secret this castle had to hold.
Krysten's bad mood persisted throughout the week, but when Saturday came around she brightened up. She invited Lyra and Kevin to join her for something out in the school grounds, but would not say what. Lyra agreed, and Kevin followed suit after a moment of hesitation. He had hoped to ask Evelyn a few things, but told himself to stop obsessing about her. Although he wanted to find out what the things he had heard his first night here meant, he reminded himself there were other ways to find out. Her two companions could very well be from other houses, houses he was less uncomfortable with.
Krysten ran out the door lightheartedly, followed by Lyra, and behind her Kevin. The day was bright and sunny, and Kevin enjoyed it thoroughly. He hadn't been out in the sun for while.
As Krysten led them further out into the grounds, Kevin began to wonder where they were going. He could see a ramshackle hut not too far off; could that be their destination? They passed up the hovel, however, and continued on, heading straight towards the forbidden forest.
As they grew nearer to the boundaries, Kevin slowed. Twenty feet from the first tree, he stopped altogether. "Krysten, where are we going?" He asked nervously. He had heard and read about the dangers of the forbidden forest, enough not to want to experience them firsthand.
Krysten turned. Although Lyra said nothing, the same question Kevin had voiced was clear on her face.
"Just a little bit further. Come on!" Krysten turned about again, running straight into the long shadows cast by the sun, into the edges of the forest.
Suddenly she stopped. She turned around triumphantly, and beckoned them to come closer. Lyra rolled her eyes and moved closer, followed by a nervous Kevin.
"Look," Krysten whispered, and gestured up at a tree she was standing next too. Kevin did, and saw a normal tree, perhaps an oak, with several branches. He shrugged.
"So, there's a tree."
"No!" Krysten looked at him with a frustrated expression. Without another word, she swung one hand around the lowest branch of the tree and pulled herself up. She then continued to climb steadily higher in the tree, until she stopped at a certain branch and turned back to look at her two companions. "Come on," She said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Kevin looked at her askance and began to follow.
He made it up the first branch without trouble, but then found his foot stuck in an indent in the tree. He cursed, drawing a startled look form Lyra, and tried to pull it out. Finally, he managed to get his foot out of the tricky hole, and pulled himself one branch higher to allow Lyra to climb up.
Unfortunately, Lyra had a bit more trouble then Krysten, and even Kevin, did. Although she pulled herself up by the first low-hanging branch easily, and even with one hand, impressing the duo watching her, she found the she wasn't tall enough to grab onto the next handhold up the large tree. Her feet planted awkwardly to avoid the trap Kevin had found himself in, it was impossible for her relatively short body to reach up high enough to grab the next branch, a large, sturdy thing that shot out of the trunk of the tree only to loop around overhead.
"Krysten, grab my hand," Kevin said. Krysten did, although reluctantly, and then Kevin began to slide lower down the high branch he was on. Finally, with Krysten stretching out as far as she could and Kevin barely staying on the tree, he managed to get down low enough to place of hand on the bough Lyra was trying to get hold of. He pushed hard, once, but the branch barely moved. Realizing he was going to have to put more weight on it, he reluctantly let go of Krysten's hand and shinnied down the branch he was now putting all his weight on. He then carefully placed one foot on the lower bough, and then the other one. His weight made the old limb creak, but it swayed down several inches, low enough for Lyra to grab.
Lyra shot him a thankful look and then pulled herself up too it. As the limb began to creak more, stressed nearly beyond it's limit with two people on it, Kevin jumped back up to the other limb. Lyra found herself carried upwards as the branch recoiled from the release of Kevin's weight, and took advantage of that by grabbing onto the branch that Kevin was balanced on. Surprisingly athletic, she had no trouble pulling herself all the way onto it. They were now high up on the old tree, but Krysten was climbing ever higher.
Unfortunately, this branch was even weaker than the last one. Instantly, it began to creak, and it shuddered under the weight of the two youths balanced on it. Kevin widened his eyes and looked for another limb to climb to. Unfortunately, the only step higher was the sturdy limb that Krysten was just getting onto.
Before Kevin could even begin to speak, Krysten was backing off on the branch. As soon as there was room, Kevin jumped back onto it, but the already cracked limb still creaked with Lyra near its tip.
Lyra nearly sprinted down the branch towards Kevin and Krysten. Under the weight of her forceful, panicked footfalls, the branch finally gave way, and with a last shuddering groan, snapped.
Lyra's scream tore through the near silence of the forest. Somehow, the woods dampened it, made it seem less real, and Kevin knew that no one outside of the forest possibly could have heard her.
In most of the books Kevin had read, moments of panic or desperation happened in slow motion. This moment, however, was painfully fast, too quick almost to be real. He reached foreword with his hand, Lyra fell towards him in midair, Krysten gasped in shock behind him.... it all happened in less than the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, Kevin realized a weight on his hand. He had caught Lyra! He swung his other hand down, and caught her hand with both of his. Her eyes were tight shut-the drop below her was long.
"Lyra," Kevin gasped, "Grab on with both hands!" She managed to comply, still not opening her eyes, shaking with fear. Kevin barely managed to pull her up another inch-and then another-
Lyra grabbed onto the limb of the tree and pulled herself up. "Thank. thank you," She said quietly. But Kevin had turned to Krysten.
Slowly, Kevin turned to Krysten, whose eyes were still wide with shock. "What in the name of all things magical," Kevin began slowly, annunciating every syllable, "did you bring us here for?"
Krysten, finally breaking out of her state of shock, just gestured for Kevin to look at something. He did, looking past her onto the ground below, into the forest. Lyra saw something-she gasped and grabbed Kevin's hand tightly. He squinted down into the underbrush below. What were.
Then he saw them.
A/N: A cliffhanger (. Mauhahaha! This end of the chapter was written rather awkwardly, I hope it doesn't read that way. I'm sorry the chapters are getting shorter, I don't plan it to be permanent. Please R + R!
A/N: I started writing this story after months of. well. not, because (amazing!) I got a review. Oh course, it's my own dumb fault for uploading all four chapters at once and waiting for comments, but. well, now I know better (. Excuse clumsiness because this is the first I've written in the Harry Potter world for a while. I do hope you like it. I've also gone back and changed problems in earlier chapters, but mainly on sentence structure.
~~Chapter Five: The Forbidden Forest~~
Transfiguration. Divination. Arithmancy. Defense Against the Dark Arts. Care of Magical Creatures.
The next few days seemed to go by in a blur to Kevin. He began taking interest in the classes he had found boring before. The teachers at Hogwarts' way of teaching were very different from the straightforward classes of Ashallan. At Hogwarts, he saw creatures firsthand, instead of looking at a few moving paintings of them in an old book. It was a whole new way of looking at the school. He found that he would rather take the classes he had thought boring then not. with the exception of those mind- numbingly boring lectures that Prof. Binns gave, of course.
There remained the mystery of the book, of course. It wouldn't open. Why a large book with nearly blank gold covers that refused to open would be sitting in the library, he didn't know; however, no opening spells he could find would work on it. And for some reason, he didn't want to tell anybody else about it. The more he tried and failed to open it, the more it intrigued him, and the less he felt like sharing this strange secret.
He didn't stop his nightly wanderings, of course. Every other night he would travel around the school, only content when he had sufficiently explored. He had thought that a busy schedule would help, but it didn't even make him feel more tired. He was fine with only a couple hours of sleep every night. He knew that was very odd, but it didn't stop his habit.
Kevin saw Jon once more after he had ditched the annoying kid a few days ago, in the small amount of time after he finished lunch and before he had to go to his next class. He was talking with a few other boys and girls his age, and that was actually the first time Kevin had seen a Slytherin, a Ravenclaw, a Gryffondor, and a Hufflepuff joined in friendly conversation, without a dirty look traded between any of them. They were sitting around a table in an empty classroom Kevin had passed while walking from lunch. He watched for a while from a distance, intrigued but not feeling talkative. Strangely enough, Jon was not at all acting like his chattery self.
He noticed that they seemed to be playing a card game, although the cards were like nothing he had ever seen before. They showed beautiful pictures of mythical beasts, medieval warriors, and awesome spells, each picture surrounded by several numbers and a description.
All the cards were floating over the table like a shield around each player, adjusting themselves so nobody else could see them. Their placement seemed random to Kevin, although the four at the table were constantly glancing at different bunches of enemy cards as they moved.
Jonathan moved, wearing a perfect poker face. He drew and discarded a card from what appeared to be his hand, and then slid a whole array of cards forward, looking pointedly at the Hufflepuff.
The card game went on for about ten minutes more, and then it as brought to a close. A few comments were traded between the students and then they got up to go to their classes. Kevin hurried away before Jon could see him. He found it odd that the boy should act so strangely when he was around most people, and then completely differently with three of his friends. It was none of his business, naturally, but who cared about that? He would make it his business. He'd find every secret this castle had to hold.
Krysten's bad mood persisted throughout the week, but when Saturday came around she brightened up. She invited Lyra and Kevin to join her for something out in the school grounds, but would not say what. Lyra agreed, and Kevin followed suit after a moment of hesitation. He had hoped to ask Evelyn a few things, but told himself to stop obsessing about her. Although he wanted to find out what the things he had heard his first night here meant, he reminded himself there were other ways to find out. Her two companions could very well be from other houses, houses he was less uncomfortable with.
Krysten ran out the door lightheartedly, followed by Lyra, and behind her Kevin. The day was bright and sunny, and Kevin enjoyed it thoroughly. He hadn't been out in the sun for while.
As Krysten led them further out into the grounds, Kevin began to wonder where they were going. He could see a ramshackle hut not too far off; could that be their destination? They passed up the hovel, however, and continued on, heading straight towards the forbidden forest.
As they grew nearer to the boundaries, Kevin slowed. Twenty feet from the first tree, he stopped altogether. "Krysten, where are we going?" He asked nervously. He had heard and read about the dangers of the forbidden forest, enough not to want to experience them firsthand.
Krysten turned. Although Lyra said nothing, the same question Kevin had voiced was clear on her face.
"Just a little bit further. Come on!" Krysten turned about again, running straight into the long shadows cast by the sun, into the edges of the forest.
Suddenly she stopped. She turned around triumphantly, and beckoned them to come closer. Lyra rolled her eyes and moved closer, followed by a nervous Kevin.
"Look," Krysten whispered, and gestured up at a tree she was standing next too. Kevin did, and saw a normal tree, perhaps an oak, with several branches. He shrugged.
"So, there's a tree."
"No!" Krysten looked at him with a frustrated expression. Without another word, she swung one hand around the lowest branch of the tree and pulled herself up. She then continued to climb steadily higher in the tree, until she stopped at a certain branch and turned back to look at her two companions. "Come on," She said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Kevin looked at her askance and began to follow.
He made it up the first branch without trouble, but then found his foot stuck in an indent in the tree. He cursed, drawing a startled look form Lyra, and tried to pull it out. Finally, he managed to get his foot out of the tricky hole, and pulled himself one branch higher to allow Lyra to climb up.
Unfortunately, Lyra had a bit more trouble then Krysten, and even Kevin, did. Although she pulled herself up by the first low-hanging branch easily, and even with one hand, impressing the duo watching her, she found the she wasn't tall enough to grab onto the next handhold up the large tree. Her feet planted awkwardly to avoid the trap Kevin had found himself in, it was impossible for her relatively short body to reach up high enough to grab the next branch, a large, sturdy thing that shot out of the trunk of the tree only to loop around overhead.
"Krysten, grab my hand," Kevin said. Krysten did, although reluctantly, and then Kevin began to slide lower down the high branch he was on. Finally, with Krysten stretching out as far as she could and Kevin barely staying on the tree, he managed to get down low enough to place of hand on the bough Lyra was trying to get hold of. He pushed hard, once, but the branch barely moved. Realizing he was going to have to put more weight on it, he reluctantly let go of Krysten's hand and shinnied down the branch he was now putting all his weight on. He then carefully placed one foot on the lower bough, and then the other one. His weight made the old limb creak, but it swayed down several inches, low enough for Lyra to grab.
Lyra shot him a thankful look and then pulled herself up too it. As the limb began to creak more, stressed nearly beyond it's limit with two people on it, Kevin jumped back up to the other limb. Lyra found herself carried upwards as the branch recoiled from the release of Kevin's weight, and took advantage of that by grabbing onto the branch that Kevin was balanced on. Surprisingly athletic, she had no trouble pulling herself all the way onto it. They were now high up on the old tree, but Krysten was climbing ever higher.
Unfortunately, this branch was even weaker than the last one. Instantly, it began to creak, and it shuddered under the weight of the two youths balanced on it. Kevin widened his eyes and looked for another limb to climb to. Unfortunately, the only step higher was the sturdy limb that Krysten was just getting onto.
Before Kevin could even begin to speak, Krysten was backing off on the branch. As soon as there was room, Kevin jumped back onto it, but the already cracked limb still creaked with Lyra near its tip.
Lyra nearly sprinted down the branch towards Kevin and Krysten. Under the weight of her forceful, panicked footfalls, the branch finally gave way, and with a last shuddering groan, snapped.
Lyra's scream tore through the near silence of the forest. Somehow, the woods dampened it, made it seem less real, and Kevin knew that no one outside of the forest possibly could have heard her.
In most of the books Kevin had read, moments of panic or desperation happened in slow motion. This moment, however, was painfully fast, too quick almost to be real. He reached foreword with his hand, Lyra fell towards him in midair, Krysten gasped in shock behind him.... it all happened in less than the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, Kevin realized a weight on his hand. He had caught Lyra! He swung his other hand down, and caught her hand with both of his. Her eyes were tight shut-the drop below her was long.
"Lyra," Kevin gasped, "Grab on with both hands!" She managed to comply, still not opening her eyes, shaking with fear. Kevin barely managed to pull her up another inch-and then another-
Lyra grabbed onto the limb of the tree and pulled herself up. "Thank. thank you," She said quietly. But Kevin had turned to Krysten.
Slowly, Kevin turned to Krysten, whose eyes were still wide with shock. "What in the name of all things magical," Kevin began slowly, annunciating every syllable, "did you bring us here for?"
Krysten, finally breaking out of her state of shock, just gestured for Kevin to look at something. He did, looking past her onto the ground below, into the forest. Lyra saw something-she gasped and grabbed Kevin's hand tightly. He squinted down into the underbrush below. What were.
Then he saw them.
A/N: A cliffhanger (. Mauhahaha! This end of the chapter was written rather awkwardly, I hope it doesn't read that way. I'm sorry the chapters are getting shorter, I don't plan it to be permanent. Please R + R!