The Forbidden Forest

[Maggie, Disapparition is my middle name.]

Eerie howls and other strange sounds emanate from the Forest's depths. You would do well not to stray far from the path, as creatures like Acromantula and centaurs haunt its depths. Most students skirt 'round this place, as thestrals and nightmare seem to call to you, daring you to explore its depths.

[E.J.]

Sam Winchester walked along the border of the Forbidden Forest. He'd been inside many times before for his Care of Magical Creatures classes, and knew of the monsters that haunted within, as he was told by Rubeus Hagrid. The vampires, werewolves, and other ghostly creatures. He also knew that there were kind, beautiful creatures though like thestrals, unicorns, and owls which he had to learn about for his class. He still debated whether he should go in just now by himself or not. He decided no, since it was, as it is called: The FORBIDDEN Forest.

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

((1. How is he in two different places at the same time? Don't say a time turner. They were all destroyed.
2. The Forbidden Forest is, well, forbidden to students unless they are a part of Care of Magical Creatures.))

[E.J.]

((Ah, forgot to say he left the Ravenclaw Common Room! And he could always sneak in... couldn't he? Harry and Ron did it all the time))

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

((that's not to say that its allowed, nor is it smart. In case you haven't noticed, Harry and Ron never really thought their plans through.))

[E.J.]

Since he decided not to go in, he decided to leave the forest alone and went back to the castle.

[.]

The dark-haired girl was perfectly still, sitting cross-legged at the base of a slender maple, its leaves in autumnal, russet colours. Her face was the epitome of serene calm, back erect, moccasins half-buried under the canopy of fallen leaves and twigs as if she'd stayed there long enough to be covered with the tree's detritus. Knowing Dena, she probably had.

And from her emanated a melody, soft and quiet - a prayer, and for fleeting moments it seemed as if her voice divided into three in a haunting echo. With the wand balanced on her knee, it was clear some magic was altering her voice - and the very leaves rustled like breaths. "

"Hear me ... O Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the wind ... Whose breath gives life to all the world. Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom ...

" [Here's the choral rendition of the prayer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFS4NF...]

[.]

So immersed was Dena in the prayer that no other sound but that of nature interrupted her voice. It rippled and flowed, quiet but almost disturbing in its quality.

"Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice

Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people."

[.]

It was another five minutes before Dena had finished singing the prayer and another two before she opened her eyes, the feeling of the cold rushing back to her skin as if someone had placed a fleece blanket over her while she'd been in her trance.

Pale green eyes flickered and opened with her calm silence to regard the girl standing before her. She didn't recognize her but then again she'd only been at Hogwarts for a week. The gaze was utterly neutral and would have made most extremely uncomfortable; as such, Dena was still surfacing from the effects of her meditation.

[.]

"Yes," Dena assented, dark locks falling across her face in silky strands as she bowed her head in a nod. She didn't say anything else, wanting to make the most of the tingling feeling stretching across her skin and most of all the wholeness she felt, the oneness, the clean acceptance of herself as a being.

[.]

"Dena Lesage, sixth year," she replied, American accent much coarser sounding than the British. Dena was slightly amused by the almost-military form of introduction: State your name and rank, soldier! "Ravenclaw," she added as an afterthought.

[.]

[...That makes no sense... She'd be 11, since school starts in September.]

"Does it really matter?" Dena asked, tilting her head to the side. "I was born in December. And so what?"

She didn't sound aggressive at all; on the contrary, she sounding dreamily thoughtful, as if she genuinely wanted Alison's opinion. And she did.

[.]

[LOL, no Thera. You get it the YEAR you're turning 11.]

[.]

[No. You can turn 11 the next month after getting your letter so everyone in the year is born in the same year.

OK. Night!]

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Witch of Rebirth]

[LOL, that confuses me, too. :) ]

Mrrrow, Moonshine brushed against Haley's ankles, attempting to distract her from her work. She brushed him away lightly with a smile. "Go play," she ordered pleasantly.

She had come to the forest as a favor for Hagrid, to check on all the unircorns here.

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

Maybelle came racing down the hill. She'd nearly forgotten that she had agreed to help Hagrid. She skidded to a stop just outside the forest, panting. The trees loomed over her. They looked a bit daunting. Maybelle looked down, and made her way in.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Witch of Rebirth]

Haley jumped upon hearing the crunch of footsteps. Too hurried and light to be Hagrid's. She relaxed when she remembered that Hagrid had told her that she'd have someone helping her. She leaned against a moss-covered tree to wait for her anonymous(?) companion.

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

((Sure))
"Hi! Sorry. I was caught up with some stuff back at my common room," Maybelle panted out. "I'm Maybelle." She extended a hand for the Gryffindor girl to shake, grinning.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Witch of Rebirth]

[LOL]

Haley smiled a small and sheepish smile. "Hi, I'm Haley. Gryffindor." As she gave her hand a good shake, she felt her smile widen slightly.

"Oh, don't worry about it," she said with a small wave of a gloved hand. "You're here now, which is what matters."

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

"Nice to meet you." And she dropped her hand to her side. Maybelle glanced about the forest. "Should we be going on now?"

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Witch of Rebirth]

Haley nodded eagerly, and gave a low whistle. In response, a small bundle of fur and leaves raced out form a leaf pile, ahead of the two girls.

"Apparently, we follow that little stinker." Haley smiled again, and started out along the forest.

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

~*~
Daniel hadn't stopped running from the castle to the forest until he saw a flash of green ahead. His eyes widened slightly, gripping his wand until his knuckles turned white. He crept forward until he reached a slightly less dense patch of forest, where he was greeted by the familiar face of the old man accompanied by another. Four more were scattered at their feet, two he recognized, two he didn't.

"I told you to tread carefully, Mr Summers, but I must say they seemed so determined that you'd show up, though I can't say you'd have done much in the way of helping--"

In an instant, Daniel was firing spell after spell.

[Jo]

((*Tread))

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

((ga-ah. Thanks))

[Vanessa]

Bruce was left to wander among the woods for a few good minutes before he found any sign of a struggle. The first was a dim red light that blinked into existence some yards away. Then, as he drew closer, he heard a strangely familiar voice, taunting, twisted, cold.

The image was seen but just barely processed: Summers battling two wizards, the man who had threatened him only weeks before, four bodies on the ground, two of their faces strange to him and the others painfully familiar.

One of the wizards cried out, his hand hit by a flash of light that came from the forest. Then it was two-on-two, Bruce springing from the shelter of a tree and sending spells at the pair with untamed ferocity.

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

His head whipped back to see who had fired the spell (another one?), and his eyes widened in shock. As he did so, a spell caught his side, leaving a gash across his side. Daniel let out a grunt, stumbling back. He regained his balance, clutching his side with a scowl on his face.

"I thought I told you to get inside," he said with a glance to Ackerman. He was fully aware that he hadn't locked the door with magic, but he thought the boy had at least some sense not to follow.

[Vanessa]

"You did." There was no time to be quippy. Bruce wasn't capable of that now; his demeanor had changed completely. His head was filled with rage and shock, so many feelings that it was easier to detach from it all and just focus on one thing: these two worthless rotters.

Time went by in a series of excruciatingly slow moments and moments so fast it was hard to tell whether they had really happened. It was in one of those speed of light moments that the Death Eaters were suddenly faced by a team of professors, led by Victrine.

Bruce felt an arm pushing him aside, someone telling him to stay back. It was Professor Balique, looking fearsome even with her small stature. He obliged and let them take over.

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

Perhaps it was the adrenaline pumping through his system that kept the wound from bleeding too badly. Perhaps it was the flurry of emotions weling up inside him that kept the pain at the least concern. The entire side of his white shirt was stained with blood. Then, there was a loud ringing in his ears that made it near impossible to hear anything, but still he fought.

He felt an arm on his shoulder pulling him back. Nyx, in all his intimidating glory, took his spot. It seemed all the rationality had left him, and Daniel stepped forward, continuing to fire away. He felt the grip of the professor around his waist, pulling him back and saying something to him. Tears clouded his vision as he struggled, though eventually he allowed himself to sink to the floor, head hanging, as their teachers subdued the pair.

[Vanessa]

While Daniel had taken the most severe blow, Bruce had not been left unscathed. He was less skilled and experienced than Daniel. The scratches, bruises, and burns left on his body, however, had nothing on the total brokenness he felt inside. A wrecking ball of pain had taken mercilessly to his heart, and all he could do was stand there, shaking, as it smashed in again and again and again.

He could not look away from the pale, lifeless faces of his mother and father. Their vivacity gone - no, stolen from them. The tears flowed freely now and still he did not look away until the fight was over, and suddenly he was being guided back towards the castle.

[Iviana (The Sign Painter)]

Eventually the ringing stop, the curse removed by Victrine, who looked at him with an expression somewhere between pity and disappointment.

Daniel was siting between the two limp bodies by the timethe fight was over. He'd closed their eyes when he figured no one was watching. His shoulders shook as he tried to suppress his cries. He couldn't do it in front of these people--these people who were meant to know him as the talented young wizard who would make it far. Not the boy who so easily succumbed to emotion that he forgot to think.

Then there were hands on his shoulders, a pair of arms linking under his own and pulling him to his feet. He resisted, of course, half-shouting his protests as he struggled to break free. He wanted nothing more than to simply sit there between the pair, just to have both of them there, like always. Besides, why did it matter anymore if he went back or not? He'd only gone at all to make his parents think he was finding himself, and it wasn't like any one would be missing him.

Soon, however, he obliged, mainly because he felt exhausted and lightheaded, and he couldn't keep resisting. Aside from the stabbing pain in his side, he hadn't suffered too many other wounds, save for the occasional scratch here and there.