Chapter 17 - Into the Forest
James was trying his best not to shake uncontrollably with fear as he made his was silently out of his dormitory and down the steps to the common room. He was lecturing himself furiously inside his head, telling himself not to be a chicken, that it would be fine, that he had his wand if anything went wrong, that he was well able to defend himself. These thoughts did calm him slightly, although they didn't seem to stop the shivering. The school was dark, silent and cold at this time of night. The only sounds James could make out were his own quiet, rhythmic footfalls on the stone floor and the distant echo of a shriek of delight, originating no doubt, from the trouble loving poltergeist Peeves who was probably overturning some furniture at that moment for the pure fun of it. Still, at least that meant that Pringle would be occupied. He tiptoed as quietly as he could towards the entrance hall, throwing himself into a nearby cleaning cupboard as he heard Pringle prowl past him, cursing Peeves. He scolded himself inwardly, he was under the invisibility cloak, Pringle wouldn't have been able to see him anyway. Still silently reprimanding himself he squeezed out of the door, opening it just enough to allow his skinny body through and started making his way across the grounds to the dark outskirts of the forbidden forest. Now that he had almost reached his goal he felt braver. His senses were alert, his eyes had quickly adjusted to the inky blackness where even the light of the distant moon could not penetrate and his ears were listening for any sign of movement. He found what he was looking for in less than half an hour, spotting some particularly large leaves in the shadow of a particularly large tree. He spent a few minutes pulling and digging in order to force a few roots out of the ground. It was difficult and time consuming work without any tools, and James had no idea if there was a spell he could use to do the job for him, but finally he came away with a handful of sticks of reddish green rhubarb which he stowed safely in the pocket of his cloak before setting off towards the castle. But that was when he hit the snag. He couldn't see the castle anymore. And he had no idea how to get back. There was nothing but dark tree trunks and eerie shadows surrounding him, and only a canopy of branches and thick leaves above him. Through small gaps between leaves James could just make out the odd chink of moonlight or the twinkle of a distant star, but to all intents and purposes he was alone, in the dark, and lost. In the distance he heard the howl of a wild animal, and suddenly felt very vulnerable, alone with animals like that with only a stick of wood to protect himself with. He wandered around for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was probably not more than forty-five minutes. He was searching frantically for any evidence of which way he had come, flattened leaves, broken twigs, anything that looked like it had been recently stepped on, but there was absolutely no sign that anyone, or anything had ever walked on that ground. In despair he sat himself down on a large stone to think over his predicament, deciding just to walk for a while in the same direction, he couldn't have come very far and soon he would be able to find the way out, to see light, to catch a glimpse of the massive towers of Hogwarts School. He walked for what seemed like an age, trying to fight the feeling that he was going the wrong way and that his attempt to escape was just taking him deeper and deeper into the forest and into danger. He stopped when he reached a large clearing to get his bearings, but suddenly froze in fear as he heard a loud, persistent clicking sound. It was coming from behind him. Slowly, very slowly he revolved on the spot, turning to face whatever it was that was making that irritating and oddly terrifying sound and found himself staring at three pairs of hairy knees. Looking up slowly his gaze travelled over long hairy legs, a huge round hairy body and a head with what seemed like hundreds of cold, mad eyes and two more legs, these held in front with huge pincers on the end, this was what was making the clicking sound. It was a spider, an unnaturally huge, hairy, vicious looking spider. He knew he should run, he turned and made to go, but he couldn't. His invisibility cloak had snagged itself on a branch and James was stuck. He couldn't leave it behind because then the spider would see him but if he stayed there then the spider might smell him, or hear him, perhaps he could already. He tugged desperately at the cloak, willing it to come loose, but it was stuck fast. He gave a last, hard yank and heard a sickening tearing sound as a huge hole appeared in the bottom of his cloak and the bottom of his legs came into view. There was an excited clicking, but this time there was more than one sound. James looked around and saw that he was suddenly surrounded by what looked like dozens of huge, hairy, monstrous spiders all clicking their pincers menacingly. He had no idea what to do, he racked his brains for a spell, but nothing came to him. What on earth was he going to do now? He thought desperately about trying to reason with them, telling them that he was just a boy, a student from the school and that someone was bound to come looking for him, but he decided that the spiders probably wouldn't have been able to understand him, that all they understood was the smell of fresh meat. But quickly, he was proven wrong. "So, human. Who is it that wanders into out forest so late at night? Is it a man, a woman, a witch or wizard, a student, a teacher or someone else?" James was stunned, too stunned to answer the spider, the speech that he had quickly been preparing when he thought there was no chance that the spider could talk had flown from his head and he could barely open his mouth. "No matter," the spider continued "it shall make a tasty treat, it has been a long time since we have enjoyed human meat." James stared in horror at the monster in front of him. So this was how he was going to die, devoured by giant spiders on the hunt for rhubarb. The thought was so ridiculous that it almost made him laugh. He would have laughed if the situation had not been so dire He reached into his pocket for his wand, determined to at least attempt to defend himself, but all he found was the fruit that he had gone to so much trouble to locate. He looked around wildly, he couldn't lose his wand! He saw it on the floor a little way off. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he was pulling at his invisibility cloak. Weighing his chances he tried to edge his way over to his wand, hoping to be able to grab it before they attacked, trying to keep his movements imperceptible. When it was within reach he quickly stretched out his hand, but as his fingers closed around the cool, hard wood he felt a sharp pain in his legs as something closed tightly around them. Next he found himself moving upwards. His cloak slipped away from his shoulders and he just about managed to grab it before he found himself suspended upside down and a long way from the ground. Once again he was trying desperately to think of a spell, racking his brain until it hurt almost as much as his legs. The blood flow to his head had increased making it difficult to think, making it difficult to stay conscious. He was fighting his hardest to stay awake, and the world was spinning, and that's why he thought he was hallucinating when he saw his broomstick hovering just below him. Shaking his head to clear it the best he could he looked again, and it was still there. Thinking surprisingly quickly he shouted 'Expelliarmus' while pointing his wand at the spider. The spider opened his pincers and as he was hurtling to the floor James managed to grab his broom and swing himself onto it. It was fortunate that he was so good at flying, as he had to dodge numerous pairs of clicking pincers during his upward flight, if he hadn't been so good then he and his broom would have been reduced to a pile of splinters and bone within seconds. When he had reached a safe height he stopped to catch his breath and get his head together he decided to put his cloak back on, the hole was still there, but thankfully there wasn't anything to see while he was on the broom. He looked around, scanning the skies for a clue as to who it was that had come to his rescue. Maybe Sirius had come looking for him after his detention, maybe Remus had had a change of heart, although a glance at the sky put that idea out of his mind, it was a full moon and Remus would be more of a danger than a help to him at the moment. No wonder he had not wanted to come in the first place. Looking around he thought he saw a figure on a broom a way off to his right, he looked intently at it, hoping to see some clue as to who it was but all he could make out was the colour of the hair, and from here it looked like it was a deep, vibrant red.
James was trying his best not to shake uncontrollably with fear as he made his was silently out of his dormitory and down the steps to the common room. He was lecturing himself furiously inside his head, telling himself not to be a chicken, that it would be fine, that he had his wand if anything went wrong, that he was well able to defend himself. These thoughts did calm him slightly, although they didn't seem to stop the shivering. The school was dark, silent and cold at this time of night. The only sounds James could make out were his own quiet, rhythmic footfalls on the stone floor and the distant echo of a shriek of delight, originating no doubt, from the trouble loving poltergeist Peeves who was probably overturning some furniture at that moment for the pure fun of it. Still, at least that meant that Pringle would be occupied. He tiptoed as quietly as he could towards the entrance hall, throwing himself into a nearby cleaning cupboard as he heard Pringle prowl past him, cursing Peeves. He scolded himself inwardly, he was under the invisibility cloak, Pringle wouldn't have been able to see him anyway. Still silently reprimanding himself he squeezed out of the door, opening it just enough to allow his skinny body through and started making his way across the grounds to the dark outskirts of the forbidden forest. Now that he had almost reached his goal he felt braver. His senses were alert, his eyes had quickly adjusted to the inky blackness where even the light of the distant moon could not penetrate and his ears were listening for any sign of movement. He found what he was looking for in less than half an hour, spotting some particularly large leaves in the shadow of a particularly large tree. He spent a few minutes pulling and digging in order to force a few roots out of the ground. It was difficult and time consuming work without any tools, and James had no idea if there was a spell he could use to do the job for him, but finally he came away with a handful of sticks of reddish green rhubarb which he stowed safely in the pocket of his cloak before setting off towards the castle. But that was when he hit the snag. He couldn't see the castle anymore. And he had no idea how to get back. There was nothing but dark tree trunks and eerie shadows surrounding him, and only a canopy of branches and thick leaves above him. Through small gaps between leaves James could just make out the odd chink of moonlight or the twinkle of a distant star, but to all intents and purposes he was alone, in the dark, and lost. In the distance he heard the howl of a wild animal, and suddenly felt very vulnerable, alone with animals like that with only a stick of wood to protect himself with. He wandered around for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was probably not more than forty-five minutes. He was searching frantically for any evidence of which way he had come, flattened leaves, broken twigs, anything that looked like it had been recently stepped on, but there was absolutely no sign that anyone, or anything had ever walked on that ground. In despair he sat himself down on a large stone to think over his predicament, deciding just to walk for a while in the same direction, he couldn't have come very far and soon he would be able to find the way out, to see light, to catch a glimpse of the massive towers of Hogwarts School. He walked for what seemed like an age, trying to fight the feeling that he was going the wrong way and that his attempt to escape was just taking him deeper and deeper into the forest and into danger. He stopped when he reached a large clearing to get his bearings, but suddenly froze in fear as he heard a loud, persistent clicking sound. It was coming from behind him. Slowly, very slowly he revolved on the spot, turning to face whatever it was that was making that irritating and oddly terrifying sound and found himself staring at three pairs of hairy knees. Looking up slowly his gaze travelled over long hairy legs, a huge round hairy body and a head with what seemed like hundreds of cold, mad eyes and two more legs, these held in front with huge pincers on the end, this was what was making the clicking sound. It was a spider, an unnaturally huge, hairy, vicious looking spider. He knew he should run, he turned and made to go, but he couldn't. His invisibility cloak had snagged itself on a branch and James was stuck. He couldn't leave it behind because then the spider would see him but if he stayed there then the spider might smell him, or hear him, perhaps he could already. He tugged desperately at the cloak, willing it to come loose, but it was stuck fast. He gave a last, hard yank and heard a sickening tearing sound as a huge hole appeared in the bottom of his cloak and the bottom of his legs came into view. There was an excited clicking, but this time there was more than one sound. James looked around and saw that he was suddenly surrounded by what looked like dozens of huge, hairy, monstrous spiders all clicking their pincers menacingly. He had no idea what to do, he racked his brains for a spell, but nothing came to him. What on earth was he going to do now? He thought desperately about trying to reason with them, telling them that he was just a boy, a student from the school and that someone was bound to come looking for him, but he decided that the spiders probably wouldn't have been able to understand him, that all they understood was the smell of fresh meat. But quickly, he was proven wrong. "So, human. Who is it that wanders into out forest so late at night? Is it a man, a woman, a witch or wizard, a student, a teacher or someone else?" James was stunned, too stunned to answer the spider, the speech that he had quickly been preparing when he thought there was no chance that the spider could talk had flown from his head and he could barely open his mouth. "No matter," the spider continued "it shall make a tasty treat, it has been a long time since we have enjoyed human meat." James stared in horror at the monster in front of him. So this was how he was going to die, devoured by giant spiders on the hunt for rhubarb. The thought was so ridiculous that it almost made him laugh. He would have laughed if the situation had not been so dire He reached into his pocket for his wand, determined to at least attempt to defend himself, but all he found was the fruit that he had gone to so much trouble to locate. He looked around wildly, he couldn't lose his wand! He saw it on the floor a little way off. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he was pulling at his invisibility cloak. Weighing his chances he tried to edge his way over to his wand, hoping to be able to grab it before they attacked, trying to keep his movements imperceptible. When it was within reach he quickly stretched out his hand, but as his fingers closed around the cool, hard wood he felt a sharp pain in his legs as something closed tightly around them. Next he found himself moving upwards. His cloak slipped away from his shoulders and he just about managed to grab it before he found himself suspended upside down and a long way from the ground. Once again he was trying desperately to think of a spell, racking his brain until it hurt almost as much as his legs. The blood flow to his head had increased making it difficult to think, making it difficult to stay conscious. He was fighting his hardest to stay awake, and the world was spinning, and that's why he thought he was hallucinating when he saw his broomstick hovering just below him. Shaking his head to clear it the best he could he looked again, and it was still there. Thinking surprisingly quickly he shouted 'Expelliarmus' while pointing his wand at the spider. The spider opened his pincers and as he was hurtling to the floor James managed to grab his broom and swing himself onto it. It was fortunate that he was so good at flying, as he had to dodge numerous pairs of clicking pincers during his upward flight, if he hadn't been so good then he and his broom would have been reduced to a pile of splinters and bone within seconds. When he had reached a safe height he stopped to catch his breath and get his head together he decided to put his cloak back on, the hole was still there, but thankfully there wasn't anything to see while he was on the broom. He looked around, scanning the skies for a clue as to who it was that had come to his rescue. Maybe Sirius had come looking for him after his detention, maybe Remus had had a change of heart, although a glance at the sky put that idea out of his mind, it was a full moon and Remus would be more of a danger than a help to him at the moment. No wonder he had not wanted to come in the first place. Looking around he thought he saw a figure on a broom a way off to his right, he looked intently at it, hoping to see some clue as to who it was but all he could make out was the colour of the hair, and from here it looked like it was a deep, vibrant red.