Chapter 18
A "Forbidden" Excursion

After Halloween, Hagrid had assigned a new creature for the seventh years who were in the "Care of Magical Creatures" class. Hagrid had explained that he had found a pack of mother-less Crups alone and hungry in the Forbidden Forest and decided to take them in. The students were assigned to take care of the Crups and bring them back to full health. He had paired the students together and it just so happened that Jamie had been paired with Romeo. The moment he had done this, Jamie noticed that Jane had a very confused look on her face.

"What?" Jamie asked Jane.

"Is Hagrid angry at you or something?" Jane asked, "He paired you with Romeo! We could have been teamed up, but instead I am paired up with Alice!"

"What is wrong with being teamed up with me?" Alice asked.

"Oh, nothing, Alice," said Jane, still looking at Jamie, "It is just... Hagrid knows Jamie and I are cousins and that we would get alone nicely. But instead Jamie is teamed up with Romeo. I am trying to figure out why he would do this..."

"He's the teacher, Jane," Jamie said, "He can do what he wants."

"Yeah, well, good luck Jamie," Jane said, "You are going to need it."

Jane, however, found out that she had been wrong. Jamie had noticed that Jane was spying on her and Romeo, and it was getting very annoying.

"You know, Romeo," Jamie whispered, looking over at Jane who was busy with her own Crup, "I am starting to think Hagrid and Professor Lupin aren't the only ones who know about our relationship."

"Well, you would be right," Romeo whispered, "Remember, Jasmine and Cope know about us as well."

"You don't think Cope would tell anyone, would you?" Jamie whispered.

"No, he wouldn't," Romeo whispered, feeding a piece of raw rabbit meat to his Crup, "But I can't say the same thing about Jasmine. Oh, I didn't tell you. Cope tried to put a Memory Charm on Jasmine, but Madam Pomfrey caught him. Too bad, it would have been nice for Jasmine to leave us alone. You know... ow!"

The crup had taken a swipe at Romeo's hand with its pitch-fork tail.

"Man, that is the second time he did that to me," Romeo said, turning to Hagrid, "Oi, Hagrid! When can we remove these tails? These things are dangerous!"

"Oh, not fer 'nother two weeks, Romeo," Hagrid said, "They ain't ready fer it. Oh, I fergot, I need ter tell ya guys somethin'."

Hagrid walked to the center of the class and motioned for the students to listen to him.

"Aw right, students, listen up!" Hagrid said, "Y'all know that these Crups were born in the forest. Well, I have decided to do something. In a couple o' weeks, I think they will be ready ter go back ter der natural home. Unfortunately, this means that we won't be able to remove those tails. 'Cause if we did, the Crups wouldn' be able ter defend demselves."

"So, we will be able to go into the forest?" Alice asked.

"'At's right, Alice," Hagrid said, "I got permission from McGonagall, so we will be able ter go in ter the forest at the end o' the month. But until then, we have ter make sure these little guys are strong enough ter survive in der. So get back ter work, all o' ya."

Jamie laughed silently. She didn't know how Hagrid could call what they were doing "work". All they had to do was feed the Crups and take them for walks. The only homework Hagrid had assigned was that the students would have to come down to the garden once in a while and play with the Crups.

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The last Thursday of the month, the day of the trip into the Forbidden Forest, came in like a lion. Grey clouds covered the skies, threatening snowfall. The temperature was nearing freezing point and it wasn't unusual for students to be seen carrying jars of everlasting fire with them while they walk. It was very forntunate that the Care of Magical Creatures class would be the last class that day, because Jamie was sure she would be frozen to her skin when she came back from the forest.

"Hagrid, Snuffles doesn't like his leash!" Jamie yelled over the icy wind, "Are you sure we have to keep it on these guys!"

It was minutes before Hagrid would be taking the Care of Magical Creatures students and their Crups into the forest, and many of students were chatting excitedly. Most of the students had never been into the forest, and this was quite a treat. Unfortunately, the Crups were barking too loud to continue many of their conversations.

"Ya don't want ter be losing them inside that fores', Jamie!" Hagrid said.

Jamie knew Hagrid was right, but she was pretty sure the Crup wasn't listening. Jamie was doing all she could to keep Snuffles from biting at it's leash.

"Romeo, this isn't working," Jamie said, "I don't know why Snuffles won't behave."

"He doesn't like the cold, Jamie," Romeo said, "Here, I will take the leash."

"Your a lifesaver," Jamie said, handing the leash over to Romeo.

"You know, Jamie," Romeo whispered, getting nearer to Jamie, "It is going to be quite dark in there... and cold."

"Romeo, don't even think about it," said Jamie, "Remember, Jane has been keeping her eye on us."

"Don't remind me," Romeo said, rolling his eyes, "Sometimes I think it would be better if we just came out and told her about us. We will have to tell her sometime! The Ball is less then a month away and I am going with you! I don't care what your cousin says."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Jamie said.

"All righ' ya lot," Hagrid said, "Let's get goin'. It's down right cold out here! Now, remember, it is gonna be bloody dark in der. So keep yer wands lit. And please keep track o' yer Crups. It's a long way to der cave n' we don't need any of you to get lost. All right... C'mon Fang!"

Jamie lit her wand and followed Romeo, Hagrid, and the rest of the class into the dark forest. A howl was heard minutes after the class entered the forest, and some of the students started whispering.

"Don't worry," Hagrid's voice said in the distance, "None o' the creatures in this fores' will harm ya as long as yer with me. That howl was in the opposite direction o' where we are headed anyway. Keep up, the lot o' ya!"

"You can keep close to me if you want, Jamie," Romeo said from behind Jamie.

"What did I say, Romeo?" Jamie said, "And besides, you have enough trouble with Snuffles."

This was true. As Jamie said this, the little Crup dragged Romeo ahead of Jamie and into the darkness.

"Romeo, wait up!" Jamie said, "You are out of my line of sight!"

Romeo didn't reply.

"Romeo?" Jamie called, moving forward, "This is not funny!"

Suddenly, Jamie heard someone groaning.

"Romeo?" Jamie called again.

"Over here... bloody animal," Romeo's voice said.

Jamie pointed her wand in the direction of Romeo's voice. She then saw Romeo getting up from the ground. The leash was in his hand, but there was nothing attached to it.

"Romeo!" Jamie said, running over to Romeo, "What happened to Snuffles?"

"He ran off," Romeo said, picking himself off the ground, "He chewed through the leash and freed himself. We better get Hagrid."

"No," Jamie said, "Besides, I can't see any light other than mine."

"You mean we are lost?" Romeo said, "Oh, this is just perfect, Jamie."

"We aren't lost, Romeo," Jamie said, "We just need to find Snuffles and get back on the path. We will find Hagrid before long."

"He probably doesn't even know we are not with them," Romeo said.

"Come on, let's get going," Jamie said.

Jamie and Romeo walked off the path into the direction of where the Crup ran off. They kept quiet, listening for any sound of barking, but all they heard was crickets chirping and a faint howl in the distance.

"It is no use," Romeo said, "We are going too far away from the path. We..."

"Shh... listen!" Jamie said, "Do you hear that... Snuffles? Are you there? Come on, Romeo, follow me..."

"Jamie, no, Jamie!" Romeo said behind Jamie, "Come on..."

"I am not leaving without that Crup!" Jamie said.

Romeo caught up with Jamie, and they both kept walking. Suddenly, Jamie heard the sound of a twig breaking and pointed her wand ahead of her.

"Who is there?" she yelled, "I have a wand!"

"I am coming out," a voice said.

Suddenly the owner of the voice appeared.

"You... you are a Centaur? Aren't you?" Romeo asked, staring at the owner of the voice.

"Yes, I am," the Centaur said.

"Aren't you Firenze?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, I am," the centaur said again, "And you are surely Harry Potter's daughter. You have his eyes."

"Yes, I am Jamie Potter," Jamie said.

"It is nice to meet you," Firenze said, "But what are you doing out here?"

"We were looking for the Crup we were taking care of," Jamie said, "We were with Hagrid, and we got lost. We were taking the Crups back to their cave."

"I know the place," Firenze said, "I can take you... wait, hide!"

Firenze turned quickly and raised his bow. Jamie pointed her wand in the direction of where Firenze was looking.

"It is okay," Firenze said, lowering his bow, "I believe we have found your Crup."

"Snuffles!" Jamie said, at the sight of the Crup. It was laying beside a tree, staring up at Firenze. "It is okay, Snuffles, this is Firenze. He is helping us."

Snuffles looked from Firenze, to Jamie, then jumped in Jamie's arms.

"It's okay, yeah, nice to see you again," Jamie said.

"Well, we better get to the cave," Firenze said, "Hagrid must be worried."

Jamie and Romeo agreed and followed Firenze back to the path. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the cave. Hagrid and the others were there.

"Oh, Jamie, Romeo!" Hagrid said, "Oh, thank Merlin, I was worryin' about ya!"

"They had lost their Crup, Hagrid," Firenze said, "I found them and their Crup found us."

"Thank you, Firenze," Hagrid said.

"It was a pleasure, Hagrid," Firenze said, "I better get going."

"Thanks again!" Hagrid said, "And say hello to your son, Libra, for me!"

"Will do, Hagrid," Firenze said, before leaving.

"Well, Jamie, Romeo," Hagrid said, "You can say goodbye ter yer Crup, and then we need ter get going. It is getting down right cold out here."

Jamie and Romeo nodded and put Snuffles down with his brothers and sisters, then walked with the rest of the students and Hagrid out of the forest.

Yeah, Weird way to end the chapter...but this probably didn't have much with the main storyline.

The next chapter will be in a totally different point-of-view and will have nothing to do with the storyline... but it is just an idea going through my head...

Feedback appreciated...