Chapter 2 - The Forbidden Forest

At quarter to seven Harry found himself dragging his feet towards the dungeon. It was an interesting mix of dreading the next few hours with spiteful Pot- Defense professor and anxiety over not wanting to be late and make the situation somehow even worse that led to his downturned gaze, shuffling gait, and pounding heart as he descended the last set of stairs into the cold dungeon. Even though summer was still holding out against the onslaught of autumn, the dungeons seemed to perpetually hold a frigidity that was unrelated to the weather.

He had arrived at the office door with 5 minutes to spare and was internally debating if it would do any good to show up early or if Snape would blame him for wasting even more of his valuable time.

He was standing there waffling when a voice boomed out from behind him, "Harry, my boy! So good to see you!"

Harry almost jumped out of his skin as Professor Slughorn clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Must be eager to get on the new professor's good side, seeking me out on the first day," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "Not that I don't like your enthusiasm. A talent like yours should be nurtured accordingly," he beamed down at Harry.

Harry just blinked confusedly at him. "Professor… Wha- What are you doing here?" He managed to get out.

"Well, seeing as this is my office, I would think that would be my question for you. Now, what can I do for you, my boy?" Slughorn asked, sweeping the door open and striding in. Arm still around Harry, he was dragged in as well.

"Shit!" Harry went pale. Slughorn turned and blinked at him, not expecting that response.

"Are you quite alright, my boy?"

Harry paled a little further when he realized he had just cursed in front of a teacher. He shook his head slightly and stammered "No- Yes- I mean- Professor Snape-"

"Professor Snape? Are you sure you are OK?" He asked, peering at Harry.

Taking a deep breath Harry collected himself slightly. "Yes. I had detention with Professor Snape tonight. Erh, still have, I guess. This has just always been his office…" he trailed off.

"Ahh, I see. I think you will find better luck up in the Defense corridor," he chortled lightly.

"Yeah. Umm, sorry to bother you professor." He glanced down at his watch- shit! It was already seven. But at least this time he managed to keep his cursing internal. "I really need to be going…" he said as he ducked out of Slughorn's grip and began backing out of the office.

"No problem at all." Slughorn replied good-naturedly. "I hope to be seeing you soon!" he said, but Harry was already long gone sprinting off down the hallway.

Sweating lightly and panting heavily, Harry arrived at Professor Snape's actual office at four past the hour. Already knowing he was screwed, Harry took 30 seconds to attempt to compose himself before knocking on the door.

"Enter," came Snape's cold hiss.

Harry edged the door open and slipped into the gloomy office.

"Really Potter, even I would think you possessed enough intelligence to grasp the concept of telling time."

"Sorry Professor," was all he offered in reply knowing any excuses would fall of deaf ears.

"I think an hour of yours for every minute of mine you have wasted might help you learn to keep track properly in the future." Snape said curtly.

Harry held his impassive face. Any reaction to the injustice would only serve to dig him deeper and, worse yet, give Snape the satisfaction of knowing how he ruined Harry's night that much more.

Snape gave him an appraising gaze as he rose from his desk. "Come along," he said as he swept past Harry, not sparing him a second glance as he entered the corridor.

Harry, with his much shorter legs, hurried to keep up with the Professor's swift strides all the while wondering where they were heading. Was he going to have him write lines? Or maybe he was going to force Harry to clean his new classroom without magic? But as Snape continued purposefully down the corridor going straight past the DADA classroom Harry found himself completely at a loss. Surely Snape would not be passing off Harry's detention to another staff member so early in the year? He couldn't possibly be so busy yet that he could not make room in his schedule for his favorite pastime of Potter torture.

His confusion went up another three notches as Snape proceeded to lead him down the grand staircase, out the front doors, and into the grounds. Harry felt the sweat return though this time from nerves rather than exertion. Where was Snape taking him? The sun was beginning to set and as they trekked down the lawn, his anxiety gradually overtook his earlier resolution. Forcing his breath to calm as much as he could while essentially jogging behind his professor, as steadily as he could manage, Harry said, "Umm, sir? Where exactly are we going?"

Snape did not break stride or turn around or in any way visually acknowledge that he had heard Harry's question at all. Harry was pondering if it was worth the risk of repeating the question when Snape said, "It astounds me that you would waste your question on something that could be answered with if you exhibited a whit of critical thinking or a modicum of patience."

Well, that wasn't a very helpful response, Harry thought, internally rolling his eyes. "Okay… Well, then, what exactly am I going to be doing for my detention?" Harry tried again. "Sir." He added hastily.

Even from his position slightly behind his professor, Harry could tell he was flashing an evil smirk. "I have decided to show a little hospitality to our newest professor," he said as if that explained what they were doing.

Harry huffed behind Snape. "Are you familiar with moon grubs?" he asked seemingly at random.

"No, professor," came Harry's reluctant reply.

"And to think you intended to pursue NEWT level potions," Snape scoffed. "Moon grubs are an elusive but useful ingredient in many complex potions as their unique properties allow them to act as a stabilizer to many of the more volatile ingredients required in such brews. A very specific environment is required in order for them to reproduce. They rely heavily on ambient magic," Snape lectured. "As a result there are very few locations in Britain where they are naturally found. Hogwart's own Forbidden Forest just so happens to be one such place."

Harry got a sinking feeling at his professor's last words as the pair passed Hagrid's cabin. He glanced longingly at the glowing windows, wishing that he had just come down for a social call and to catch up with Hagrid after the summer apart. But alas.

"You will be harvesting moon grubs for professor Slughorn- a little welcome gift for the new potions master." Snape was actually managing to gloat about his new position and rub it in Harry's face while also having found a loophole to ensure Harry's detention was not only long, but gross and -shudder- potions related.

He was going to kill Ron. Seems Hermionie was not the only one who Fate was listening to last night. Harry made a mental note to sit his best friends down and have a serious talk about them provoking Lady Fate on his behalf. He had enough going on without their help, thank you very much.

Snape finally drew to a stop at the edge of the forest. "Moon grubs can be found under the stones beneath oak trees. They are ½-1 inch in length and will glow faintly in the moonlight. You will collect them in this," he said as he produced what looked like a solid silver tomato tin.

"Erh, Professor? Are you not coming in?" Harry asked tentatively.

"The great Harry Potter, afraid of the dark?" He scoffed. "I have better things to do than be traipsing around after you in the woods. You will check in every hour, on the hour. You will not stray more than 3 meters from the path. You will stick to your task and not go finding more trouble." Snape shoved the tin at Harry and pushed him towards the trees. "It is now quarter past. I will see you again at 8:15." And with a swirl of black robes Snape was striding away back towards the castle.

Harry gulped slightly, clutching the tin, and tentatively stepped into the forest.

Harry was surprised to find himself, well, surprised. Yes, Snape was an evil git who hated Harry's guts, but this- sending Harry alone into the Forbidden Forest at night- seemed like it should have been against some kind of school bylaw if not merely against common sense! So much for 'increased security' this year he snorted to himself. After that disastrous detention in his first year Harry really thought that they had collectively decided that an unsupervised detention with Flich was wiser than sending students off into the forest. At least Harry was 16 this time around rather than 11 and he knew much better what to avoid in the shadowy trees and how best to do so. He just wished he had Hagrid with him this time. Or even Fang.

He promptly decided not to venture far enough in as to risk encroaching on the centaur's territory. Given the currently political climate, that was not a situation even his dumb luck could likely get him out of and contrary to popular belief, he did not indeed have a death wish.

Crouching down next to the first oak tree he came across just off the path, Harry muttered a quiet "Lumos." He held his wand at the ready as he tentatively reached out his other hand and cautiously turned over a large rock nestled in the tree's roots. Who knows what else lives under the rocks in here Harry thought bitterly. Bending closer to the newly exposed dirt, he did not see anything of note, so he turned towards another smaller stone. As he readjusted his positioning, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. Whipping around in search of whatever caught his eye, Harry toppled from his squatting position, dropping his wand in his effort to catch himself. As he stabilized and began groping around for his lost wand, Harry's searching gaze fell on what had startled him in the first palace and he nearly laughed. There, in the freshly revealed patch of earth where Harry had removed the rock, he could now see what almost looked like ghostly sprinkles.

Finally finding his wand (which had somehow managed to end up in between his own feet), Harry crouched down next to what he had to assume were the grubs he was searching for. He cast another quick "Lumos" and the wriggly little thing seems to disappear. With a "Nox" they seemed to materialize once again. Well, at least he understood now why this activity had to be done at night. Realizing that there was nothing for it, he scooped up a handful of dirt and glowing little Tic Tacs, he carefully began picking out the grubs and dropping them into his tin. Once he was pretty sure he had gotten them all from this spot, he examined his prizes- about a dozen of the tiny grubs. Barely enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Harry sighed dejectedly. This was going to be a very long night.

Harry spent the remainder of the first hour working out a system to collect the little Ghosts of Tic Tac Future as he had started calling them in his head. It was quite tedious work and annoying having to constantly be switching back and forth with his wand for light to see his surroundings and harkness to see the grubs. Talk about an exercise in 'constant vigilance'. Leave it to Snape to have come up with a punishment so boring and yet so anxiety inducing. And dirty too. By the end of the first hour he was rather filthy with so much earth under his nails they looked black in the wandlight.

Harry made sure to meet Snape at exactly 8:15 not willing to risk him adding another hour to his already ridiculous detention. Luckily the collection process was so slow going that Harry had barely gone more than 100 meters into the forest before he had to return. Snape was waiting for him as he emerged. He swept his gaze over Harry, took the proffered tin about ¼ full of grubs and shoved another identical container into his hands. "9:15 sharp," was all he said as he promptly turned and headed back towards the castle once again.

The second hour of his detention Harry managed to remain focused on his work. It was kind of like that trance you can enter when doing the dishes. The repetitive movements allowing you to disassociate and get lost in the task.

As he entered the third hour, Harry was pissed. And it was only the halfway point for this atrocious activity. It had only gotten darker and colder. His body was starting to tire of the crouched position it had been in for the past 2 hours. His back ached and his fingers were stiff and cold.

His mood was not helped by a run in with a nest of Doxys he had accidentally disturbed. They were small, but that did not make their teeth any less sharp. Not wanting to disturb anything else that may be lurking nearby, it took Harry more than 5 minutes to immobilize all of them, sustaining numerous bites in the process. He quietly thanked years of quidditch training for his above average aim and Hermione for how she had used Immobulus on those pixies in their second year. He quickly hurried away from the scene unsure of how soon the charm would wear off and not wanting to find out the hard way if Doxys held grudges.

By the fourth and final hour, Harry was just plain tired. He dragged himself further into the forest not quite remembering where he had left off after the Doxy incident and not wanting to risk wasting his time searching the same trees over again. Snape had sneered at how few grubs he had collected in hour three.

"Really Potter. If you are not going to put the appropriate effort in, then perhaps the time should not count" he had threatened.

So now Harry was determined that this would be it. There was no way Harry was going to give Snape an excuse to keep him out here past midnight. It was the first day of term for Merlin's sake! And he hadn't even done anything wrong! Snape was just looking for an excuse to torture him and Malfoy was more than happy to obliged. Really, it was Malfoy's fault that he was here. The broken nose was not enough embarrassment. Wait 'til my father hears about this! He could hear Malfoys threat echoing in his head.

Harry sighed and distantly wondered if that was what parents do? What would it be like to have someone whose sole purpose was to protect you? Go to fight for you? Of course he had Hermione and Ron, but it was just different with them. And he could stand up for himself too, thank you very much. But it was just different. Parents are adults. It was just that simple. What they said held more sway than a couple of kids. Hermione could lay out the most rational argument in the world as to why this was unfair and Harry could shout himself hoarse trying to make his point heard, but they, like always, would just be dismissed. Professor knows best and all that. Anyone who does not believe that power corrupts is a moron, Harry concluded. The scars on the back of his hand glinted in the moonlight as a menacing reminder of just that.

Get away from my godson! Harry could hear Sirius' words as clearly as if he had been standing next to him in the forest. It was not just the memory of Sirius that made it heart clench, but specific choice in wording. He had not said Get away form him or Get away from Harry. He had said Get away from my godson. As if Harry was his to protect. Wait 'til my godfather hears about this! His mind supplied in a Malfoy approximation. Not that he hadn't used an eerily similar threat against the Dursleys not so long ago. He shivered. The thought made him half want to laugh and half want to cry. The problem was that when it came to Harry, "protect" did not mean "stand up to your head of house about an unjust detention," it meant "die for".

And now he was tired and sad. Great. Harry shook his head in an attempt to dispel his depressing thoughts and refocus on the task at hand. He had Ghosts of Tic Tac Future to collect. In an effort to lighten up his thoughts, he wondered idly if he really had set a new school record for punishment and point loss during a school year or if the Marauders had him beat.

He turned to the next oak tree in the small clearing he had found himself in and searched its base for any promising grub hidey holes. His eyes caught on an odd looking stone. It was larger than most of those he had been kicking over all night, but it was not the size of it that had caught his attention. It looked as though it was made of granite. A slab with broken edges unlike the other smooth forest rocks. But the strangest thing about it was the pattern on it. It almost looked like waves. Not like a squiggly line, but like when a child draws the ocean with little peaks on each wave. And there was something lurking beneath the water.

Harry set his collection tin next to him and leaned in for a closer look. At first he had thought that it was just interesting coloring, but upon further inspection the design appeared to actually be carved into the stone.

Then his brain caught up with his wandering mind and reminded him of Snape's threat. He shrugged off his captivation with its unique features and went to flip it over, hoping that the different type of rock would still be hospitable to the moon grubs. He found his mind wandering back to his previous train of thought- just what exactly was the Marauders' record for earliest trouble of the year- when his hand made contact with the stone and he felt an instant hit of dread along with a sickeningly all too familiar hook behind his navel.