Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Long Trip to the Forbidden Forest
Chapter 11
0 reviewsThe Marauders needs a guide though the Forbidden Forest for a month trip. No one knows the way. What would happen if they find out the only one who does is a Slytherin…but not only a Slytherin, b...
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Beta-ed version! Thanks Dawn! Your the best!
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The Long Trip to the Forbidden Forest
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Summary: The Marauders needs a guide though the Forbidden Forest for a month trip. No one knows the way. What would happen if they find out the only one who does is a Slytherin…but not only a Slytherin, but Snape? What secrets will be relieved?
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Chapter 11
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“Tell me again, brother. Why are we going after Sev?” Gabriel Snape asked his older brother as they walked through the dark woods. “You know as I do brother, that he wouldn’t want us to trail after him, even if we were just making sure he doesn’t get hurt.”
“How many times must I tell you, Gabe? We’re going after Severus before mum finds him first. And besides, brother, how long has it been since we have been here? It has been since our 7th year…” Answered Mykhael. He stopped in thought. “He’s our younger brother. We must be there to protect him. You know full well that our dad would kill us after he gets out of the slammer if he ever found out that we let Severus get killed.”
The younger twin nodded in agreement.
The Snape twins had been looking for their younger brother, Severus for the past few days. When they overheard their brother talking to their mother about his “summer job” they were suspicious. What was he hiding? It wasn’t like Severus to keep things from the family. So why was he hesitant when they asked him who he was guiding when he came into their room to say good-bye?
After he left, two of them agreed with each other that they would go look for their brother when the summer holidays started. However, when they arrived on the grounds of Hogwarts, their brother wasn’t in sight nor was he on the train heading home.
They followed his scent into the Forbidden Forest, following it for a few days. They knew their brother loved the Forest, just as they did when they went to Hogwarts themselves a few years before Severus and Svana. It was in their blood to love the Forest, for them and many other creatures that Mother Nature created; they were part of it. But Severus’ scent went further in then they ever thought it could be. They knew that Severus would never travel by himself that far, for they and their father warned him not to. They knew that Severus knew what he was doing, whatever his doing that is. They taught him well and with Aodh with him, he wouldn’t get hurt, they hoped.
They had not spoken to one another in hours. Where was their brother? And why did they smell the scent of three wizards and a magical werewolf? Who the heck was their brother traveling with? Didn’t he realize that the full moon would be up in a few weeks?
The twins came into a clearing and stopped in horror, as their brother’s scent suddenly got stronger.
They smelled blood, lots of it.
Quickly the twins followed the blood scent that they found at one side of the clearing. They studied the five sets of tracks and massive paw prints that seemed chase them all over. It was clear with the evidence of the cold fireplace and sleeping place around it that their brother and his companions had slept here. It was also obvious that they had been attacked by surprise early in the morning.
“I can smell Severus’ and another wizard’s blood.” Gabriel said, sniffing as he looked down at the blood soaked prints on the ground. ”It wasn’t the werewolf, the tracks a little too wide but…” He measured the beasts footprint with his hand, “By the looks of things, whatever attacked them followed them into the river,” He studied the evidence carefully, “One of them wasn’t so lucky. See here” He indicated the one set of footprints that were slightly deeper than the rest, “some idiot jumped out and attacked the Beast unsuccessfully.”
He took note of the footprints that were near those of the beasts and nodded as he recognized the pattern. “Our brother, bless his stubborn heart, went and helped the idiot who was wounded.” His eyes narrowed as he took note of the different scents. “His blood was spilled also.” And look! Aodh’s paw prints… see? It looks like Aodh attacked the Beast that attacked them and it split.” Gabriel looked around at his twin. “Hey, Mykhael aren’t you listening to me?”
Mykhael wasn’t paying attention to him as he had noticed more evidence as to what had happened.
Gabriel watched as his twin walked slowly towards a nearby tree. Part of it was crushed inward as if someone was thrown heavily against it. There was a strong scent of blood on one side and on the ground. Mykhael bent onto his hands and knees sniffing it.
“It is Severus’ blood.” He said with concern. “Whom do you think the other blood scent belongs to?” he asked, ignoring the look that his twin was giving him.
Gabriel shrugged. “Who knows? It’s human through.”
“No shit.” Answer Mykhael.
“He’s not dead, I think whoever he was with also survived as there are no bodies here.”
Mykhael nodded in agreement. “Unless the creatures of the Forest ate them before we got here.”
“There would have been a lot more evidence of blood and bits of skin and bone on the ground if that was the case.” Gabriel said as they followed the blood trail into a river.
“Head over to the other side.” Mykhael ordered his younger brother.
Gabriel snapped his neck towards his brother. “No fair! You know I hate getting wet. You go in first, you’re the oldest.”
Mykhael also hated the water. He was the older brother so therefore he was in charge. “Our brother crossed it. And by the gods we both will do it. Now get your ass through that river or I will throw you in.”
Gabriel knew that Mykhael wasn’t joking. He also knew that his twin had a short temper. Not wanting to get him any angrier Gabriel approached the river, eyeing it as if it was going to bite him.
“If I die, it’s your fault.” Gabriel hissed at his brother, as he jumped into the river. “Ah, it’s cold! It’s so cold!” he yelped as the chilly water surrounded him.
Mykhael rolled his eyes. His brother was so immature.
Gabriel kept yelping ‘it’s cold’ and ‘curse you Mykhael’ all the way to the other side. He pulled himself out from the river on his hands and knees. He was shivering as he shook his body to get rid of the water from his clothes and hair.
“Can you smell our brother near by?” Gabriel heard his brother ask from the other side.
Gabriel didn’t answer; he was cursing his brother’s name under his breath. He got up and looked around. He could smell four scents, as he noted that there were four sets of footprints, one set was that of his brother running away as if something was chasing them. But if so, where was the strange paw prints of the creature that they found on the other side of the river?
“There are four sets of prints. Severus is alive! Can’t find the fifth one though!”
Mykhael took a breath. Slowly he stepped into the river, with the freezing water creeping up with every step he took till it was deep enough for him to swim across.
By the gods the river was cold! Mykhael bit his lips as he swam across it. Oh how he hated the he got across and shook the water off.
“What do you think happened to the fifth one? Do you think they left him or her behind for dead?” Gabriel asked him when his brother caught up to him.
“No. Can’t see Severus doing that to a person. They are wizards; if one of them was injured then they could be carrying him or something.”
“They are heading north to the pagan village.” Gabriel said turning to his brother. “Do you think one of them is really hurt badly?”
“Knowing our brother and the quantity of blood they left behind, I say one of them is either dead or is close to visiting Uncle Death soon, unless our brother brought some of his potions with him which would delay the other persons death for a few days.”
Gabriel nodded in agreement.
The Snape twins ran further into the forest, heading towards the pagan village.
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“So Severus, could you tell me more about this village that we are heading towards?” Lupin asked him.
For the past few hours, the five wizards had been walking non-stop. The four Griffindors followed Severus down the narrow trail. Severus for the most part kept to himself with his wolf companion beside him. Lupin was directly behind him with Potter, Black and then Peter following in single file.
Lupin for the past hour had been trying to get Severus to have a proper conversation with him.
“It’s a muggle village.” Severus finally answered him.
“A muggle village? Come off it Snape.” Potter said, shook his head. “Everyone knows that muggles can’t get through the Hogwart’s barrier.”
“We passed the barrier days ago Potter. The barrier was first created to protect the students from the Forest, not from the muggles. This village is ancient; it is said that the village is one of the last villages still standing which housed the muggles that helped build Hogwarts over a thousand years ago. The descendents of those muggles still live there, waiting to be commanded to serve Hogwarts once again.”
“I don’t buy it.” Potter said, folding his arms. As far as he was concerned Muggles didn’t build Hogwarts. It was impossible, after all Hogwarts was magical, therefore wizards created it.
Severus shrugged. “Muggles were the original builders; the wizards just took over the castle once it was finished, and then applied the wards and other protective charms to prevent the castle ownership from returning to muggle hands. People like you Potter don’t deserve to know the secrets of the Forest or Hogwarts for that matter.”
Lupin turned toward him, his eyes twinkled in amazement. “I never read about that in Hogwarts, a History.” exclaimed.
“That’s because hundreds of years ago, it was taken out from it. Wizards then as now didn’t like to be told of how the Wizarding World still needed the muggles. Without muggles, the Wizarding World would still be in the Dark Ages.” Severus told him.
“I doubt that, Snape.” Pettigrew said, as he ducked down before being smacked by a lower tree branch. “We are smarter then them.”
Severus shook his head at the pathetic excuse that many other wizards had said before him. “Wizards long ago had been smarter then muggles, only because magic back then was much, much more full of mystery then it is now. Magic then was considered a gift, not something that was expected to happen just because it appeared consistently in some families and not always in others. That was just the way it was. But after so many thousands of year’s people with magic started to think that they were better then others that didn’t have the same powers like them. Wizards now take magic for granted. Most muggles don’t have any magic, however every so often a handful of them around the world are gifted by the Gods.”
“You lost us, Snape.” Black said listening. “Muggles don’t have any magic.”
“Wow, so there really are muggles with magic?” Lupin asked.
“Where do you think the muggle-borns come from?” Severus asked him. He smirked at the werewolf.
Lupin shrugged. “I just figured that they were related to squibs.”
“Some of them are born to squibs.” Severus said nodding. “But some haven’t any connection whatsoever with known magical families.”
“How can muggle-borns have magic when they are not related to any magical families? After all the squibs may not have magic themselves but they can have children who do.” Potter asked, as he believed that to become magical one must have relatives with magic in the family.
“What I mean Potter, is that many muggles aren’t wizards, however they have a form of magic that resides within them. It is a raw magic that most wizards have ignored or forgotten. Only powerful wizards can do wandless magic, where the muggles who are so gifted can do it without thinking, for they believe that magic is naturally a part of them, just as it is part of the Gods. Magic like that is all around us, a part of us.”
“Now you sound like a pussy.” Potter said evilly. Behind him both Black and Pettigrew laughed. Lupin glared at his friends.
“That wasn’t nice, James.” He said to him. Potter shrugged.
“Believe what you wish.” Severus told them, not wanting to get into a fight. He was hungry, tired and fed up with Black and Potter. They needed to get to the village, or Black would be in mortal danger.
Beside him, Aodh suddenly growled. Both Severus and Lupin stopped, followed by the rest of the group. Severus nodded at Lupin as he motioned to look above their heads. The four wizards looked up and startled to find a bunch of jars dangling from the tree limbs, filled with water.
“We’re close to the village.” Severus told the group. “Those jars are filled with water from the darkest deepest pools that surround their burial grounds. They are placed there to protect the village from evil spirits.”
The other wizards didn’t know if Severus was telling the truth or not. After all why would muggles think jars of water hanging from the trees would protect them? That idea was just a little strange to their way of thinking.
“How much further? Sirius needs rest.” Potter asked as black stumbled slightly.
“In this rate, next week!” Severus snapped. He glowered back at them as Black leaned on a nearby tree, panting with weariness. How dare they give in to weakness when they are so close to the village?
With anger building within him, Potter approached Severus with clenched fists. “Can’t you see how worn out Sirius is and how much we all need to rest? Do I have to knock some sense into your… ”
Pettigrew muttered some threats under his breath as he watched eagerly for the fight to develop between James and Snape. Black
“Severus! James! That is enough.” Lupin growled as he quickly stood between them and kept James from striking Severus whose own anger with the arrogant Griffindor was barely kept from spilling over..
“Shut up all of you!” Severus hissed at them. “We can’t fight, already Potter? Do you want another attack to happen? We cannot fight. We are all hungry, tired… even a bit anxious.”
“So… you saying you want a truce?” Lupin asked; his voice filled with hope. It would be a miracle if James, Sirius and Severus agreed to a truce; his life would be so much easier.
“If you wish to call it that.” Severus growled under his breath. He didn’t wish to fight unnecessarily. He just wanted to get to the village where they would be safer. “ With our situation it is better for us to be civil.”
Potter, Black and Pettigrew looked at each other. Is this Slytherin really asking a truce?
“No.” Black said, folding his arms. “It might be a trick.”
The other two agreed.
Severus rolled his eyes. He tried “We may as well stop here for the night.” He finally said after some thought. “However we will have to make it to the village tomorrow.”
“With those things in the trees?” Pettigrew yelped.
Severus ignored him as they prepared to make camp. Dry dead wood was quickly gathered and the five travellers were soon sitting around a warm comforting fire.
It wasn’t that long; maybe an hour or so before the Forbidden Forest became darker and colder. The fire was going strongly; it flickered as the five wizards cuddled close to another for warmth. Around them were sounds of growling and chirping.
Aodh had gone off hunting while camp was being made.
Severus was bored. He looked up and saw Black leaning heavily on Potter’s shoulder.
“Black, you alright?”
For a moment Black didn’t reply. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He muttered. “Just tired.”
Both Lupin and Severus glanced at each other. Neither of them thought that Black was being fully truthful.
“Sirius, we need to check on your wounds.” Lupin said sternly to his friend whose face took on a greyish tinge.
“I’m fine—,” Sirius muttered again as he tried to sit up straight. Suddenly he collapsed slumping forward toward the fire
“Sirius!” Potter gasped as he caught his friend just in time.
Both Severus and Lupin leapt up on their feet, and the three wizards laid the unconscious wizard down on the ground.
“Lupin, get my backpack.” Severus ordered. . Lupin nodded as he grabbed Severus’s backpack and gave it to him. “Pettigrew, stop your crying over there and get your ass over here and help.”
Slowly the cowardly wizard approaches the group.
Suddenly Black started to shake. “Hold him! Don’t let him hurt himself!”
Four pair hands grabbed the shaking wizard. “What is wrong with him?” Potter asked faintly.
Severus shook his head as he didn’t know the answer.
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“When I get my hands on my son, I will strangle him to death and send him to his room!” Orion Black muttered under his breath the hundredth time that day.
The four wizards, Charlus Potter, Orion Black, Lucifer Lupin and Simon Pettigrew for the past few days had been looking for their sons in every place they could think of. They found that the boys hadn’t been seen anywhere they would have normally hung out.
After their unsuccessful search, they all decided to start looking for them at Hogwarts, the last place where they knew their sons were. As they got there, Lucifer pointed his wand seeing that the others weren’t doing anything. “Point me, Remus.” He said.
His wand turned to his right, pointing towards the Forbidden Forest. Lucifer grinned, shaking his head. He should’ve known that his son would be there. Remus loved the Forest, enough that he would be happy to live there if he could. Lucifer knew that his son lied to him about the ‘school trip’ when his son mailed him because there wasn’t any parental signing forms. The only reason he let Remus go was because he trusted his son. Questions formed in his mind as he stared towards the dark forbidding forest. ‘But why did his son lie to him? What was he hiding? Was the white lie having some truth in it, as they did in fact go into a trip to the Forbidden Forest?’
Lucifer long ago had learned to trust his son, but he knew that teens would be teens as they try to push back the parental boundaries to prove their independence. He groaned slightly and sighed as he approached the forest, being an only parent to a teenager, much less a werewolf teenager had some drawbacks.
“Remus is in the forbidden Forest, I suspect the others have gone in there with him.”
“The Forbidden Forest?” Simon hissed, his eyes dark with worry over his son. “My son would never go in there, much less get near it.”
Orion rolled at the pathetic man beside him. “Point me, Sirius!” he growled to his wand. His wand also pointed towards the Forbidden Forest.
Charlus sighed. Why didn’t James tell him of his plans? With both Remus and Sirius in the Forest, it wasn’t farfetched that James and Peter would be there too. ‘But why were they in the Forest?’ he wondered. To purposely head into the forbidden forest was to court death and he did not wish to find any of the boys’ dead.
“I’m going to kill him.” Orion muttered again, his eyes burning with anger, glaring at the Forest. “That boy is so grounded!”
Charlus ignored Orion. Unlike his wife, his bark is far worse then his bite. “Come on, we can’t just stand here all night. We need to find the boys.” He said, heading towards the Forest.
Lucifer followed him, however Orion and Simon stayed where they where. “You expect us to go in there? There wild animals in there.” Simon paled.
Orion didn’t comment. He was a Slytherin, therefore he would not show weakness. Mutely he followed the two men, leaving Simon behind.
“Are you coming, Simon?” Charlus said turning to see if he was following or not.
Simon mutely nodded and the four wizards went into the Forbidden Forest.
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For hours the wizards searched for their sons with no luck. The Forest was more like a maze, a trap for unexpected victims to be fed to the creatures that walk in the woods. The only thing that kept them from knowing that they are not going into circles was the fact that they staying on the trails that were revealed by the light that glowed from their tips of their wands.
Everything around them was eerie and cold. With every sound they heard; every howl from the darkness, every chirp from the treetops, fear started to grip their hearts in each step.
Only Lucifer seemed to be enjoying himself as the other three griped their wands with the fear of being attacked by some unknown dangerous creature that inhabited the darker regions of this nearly impregnable forest.
Just then they spotted a dark thin figure, that they could have sworn wasn’t there a moment ago,.
“Who’s that?”
The wizards stopped, pulling out their wands expecting the figure to attack them. As they approached slowly, they saw it was a woman.
What was a woman doing out here in the Forbidden Forest? Was she lost? Or was it a trick of some forest demon that would lead the wizards into a trap?
The wizards cautiously walked towards the woman. As they got closer they saw that the woman stood off to the side waiting, as she knew that they were coming after her. They saw she held no wand or any other type of weapon in her hands. Was she unarmed? Who was she?
“It’s just a filthy muggle. Let’s just leave it be.” Orion hissed at the others.
“Muggles can’t get through the barrier, Orion.” Charlus told him as a thought flashed through his mind. ‘If this woman was a muggle then how did she get through the Hogwarts barrier?’
“There is a first time for everything.” Simon pointed out.
“We passed the barrier long time ago. There is no barrier past it to keep Muggles from walking in the Forest.” Lucifer said knowingly.
“Besides Orion, what if she seen the boys? Even if she is a muggle she can help us, we have to talk to her.” Charlus said, knowing that Lucifer could be right; he had been in Ravenclaw for a reason.
“Yeah, and afterwards we can Obliviate her.” Simon told them, nodding. Both Lucifer and Charlus didn’t like that part of the plan, but they knew they had to do it if it came to it.
Orion seemed to like this idea. Slowly they put away their wands into their pockets, but close enough if needed to be, they would easily get to them if necessary.
The four men and woman was only a few feet away from each other, the men saw the woman was tall, pale and had dark eyes and hair. She was sickly looking woman, but yet she held a beauty that none of them ever seen before; something about her made them uneasy, as if there was something unnatural about her. She wore a white shirt with short puffy sleeves, a long airy blood red skirt with a black cloth around her waist half covering her skirt. Around her shoulders was black cloak.
Only Lucifer seemed not to notice anything unusual about the woman. It was as if he was used to seeing and meeting people like this woman. They knew that his son was a werewolf, for Lucifer thought long ago that if Remus wanted true friends, their parents needed to know the truth. Perhaps that was the reason.
Charlus Potter looked at the woman, a weird expression across his face. He felt that he met her before. But who was she? And if they did… where did they meet before? “Hello, milady.” He said to the woman. The woman’s eyes snapped towards him.
Orion looked over at the elder wizard, his face clearly telling him not to be so formal to the muggle. “May I ask what you are doing here? Surely a young woman such as you shouldn’t be out here on your own. You cannot be too careful, for the creatures of the night lurk out here.”
The woman stepped forward with one step before she spoke. “A lady like me can take care of herself.” Her voice held a chill within but yet also held sympathy. “And what may I ask are four wizards like yourselves doing out here?”
The four of them stiffened when the woman spoke the word ‘wizards’.
“So you know of our kind.” Orion said, hiding the shock from his face and voice.
“And what kind is that? Muggle, wizard, half-breeds, werecat, werewolf, vampire…. All of us in the end are human.” The woman said. Charlus could tell that Orion was getting little uneasy with this woman. Either it was of how the woman looked or talked. “A few of you look enough like decent men... are you all having family problems?”
“Few of us?” Orion hissed. How dare this woman judge them, especially a pure-blood like himself. “What makes you so judgmental?”
The woman smiled. “The aura around you tells me that you do not like me. You wish to do me harm. Soon you and the other small men beside you wish to Oblivite me. You and many others like you despise the muggle world because you fear it….”
“I do not fear anything, muggle.” Orion hissed.
“It is human nature to fear things that one does not understand.”
Orion stepped forward towards the woman, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
“Orion, enough. She doesn’t mean any harm—,” Charlus hissed, stepping towards the man before he does something that he would regret.
“What gives her the right?” Orion hissed, whipping out his wand as a red spark flew from it and headed straight towards the woman.
The other three wizards yelped in surprise at what happened next.
With unearthly speed the woman leapt away from the red light, twisted Orion’s wand arm behind his back, and made him drop his wand onto the ground.
The four wizards cringed as a large crack was heard, followed by a yelp of pain.
Simon, seeing the other wizard getting beaten by the woman, pointed his own wand toward the woman’s back as another red beam of light shot from it. The woman, seeing this let go of Orion’s arm, dropping him onto the ground with a large thud.
“Ow!” yelped Orion as he landed hard on the ground.
The wizards watched in awe as the woman twirled her body into the air and landed safely on a nearby branch. She crouched, landing her hands on her knees, eyeing the three standing wizards and one still lying painfully on the ground yelping about his arm.
The woman clicked her tongue. “Naughty wizards, very naughty. What would your mothers say about your rudeness?”
“Charlus, she’s not human…” Orion yelped painfully. “She broke my arm.”
The woman laughed. “I am human, just like each of you! I maybe a half-breed, but I am still human.”
“Begone you foul beast!” Simon yelled stepping forward towards the tree that the woman crouched on.
The woman shook her head. “Me? A foul beast? Perhaps you should look in the mirror.”
Then at that the moment that woman disappeared into thin air.
“Simon, let her go. Orion needs a healer.” Lucifer said.
Simon nodded mutely.
As they looked at the damage that the woman caused, the four wizards’ silently had the same thought.
Who was that woman?
(End of Chapter)
Words: 5,407
About muggles having the gift of magick from the gods: if anyone is confused of what I meant about muggles having magic for themselves, think of the other religions in the world: paganism, witchcraft, voodoo etc. Even the Catholic Church has some powers that can be called magick. To me Rowling’s type of magic in her books are FAR different then the magick of today.
Author’s Notes: Sorry for the long wait! I know I’m neglecting this story, like the others I have, but I have a life you know!
The reason I was afk is that fact that I recently got married, we moved to an AFB in North Dakota and living in a Inn until we get a house in the Base, which we need to do all the paper work. My husband couldn’t do half of them when he was at Tech School because we weren’t married at the time. But now that we are, we have to do them now. .
It doesn’t help that it’s very cold here last time I checked it was -10 degrees! Anyway, I figured because of the wait I would make the chapter long.
Read and Review!
—FireChildSlytherin5
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The Long Trip to the Forbidden Forest
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Summary: The Marauders needs a guide though the Forbidden Forest for a month trip. No one knows the way. What would happen if they find out the only one who does is a Slytherin…but not only a Slytherin, but Snape? What secrets will be relieved?
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Chapter 11
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“Tell me again, brother. Why are we going after Sev?” Gabriel Snape asked his older brother as they walked through the dark woods. “You know as I do brother, that he wouldn’t want us to trail after him, even if we were just making sure he doesn’t get hurt.”
“How many times must I tell you, Gabe? We’re going after Severus before mum finds him first. And besides, brother, how long has it been since we have been here? It has been since our 7th year…” Answered Mykhael. He stopped in thought. “He’s our younger brother. We must be there to protect him. You know full well that our dad would kill us after he gets out of the slammer if he ever found out that we let Severus get killed.”
The younger twin nodded in agreement.
The Snape twins had been looking for their younger brother, Severus for the past few days. When they overheard their brother talking to their mother about his “summer job” they were suspicious. What was he hiding? It wasn’t like Severus to keep things from the family. So why was he hesitant when they asked him who he was guiding when he came into their room to say good-bye?
After he left, two of them agreed with each other that they would go look for their brother when the summer holidays started. However, when they arrived on the grounds of Hogwarts, their brother wasn’t in sight nor was he on the train heading home.
They followed his scent into the Forbidden Forest, following it for a few days. They knew their brother loved the Forest, just as they did when they went to Hogwarts themselves a few years before Severus and Svana. It was in their blood to love the Forest, for them and many other creatures that Mother Nature created; they were part of it. But Severus’ scent went further in then they ever thought it could be. They knew that Severus would never travel by himself that far, for they and their father warned him not to. They knew that Severus knew what he was doing, whatever his doing that is. They taught him well and with Aodh with him, he wouldn’t get hurt, they hoped.
They had not spoken to one another in hours. Where was their brother? And why did they smell the scent of three wizards and a magical werewolf? Who the heck was their brother traveling with? Didn’t he realize that the full moon would be up in a few weeks?
The twins came into a clearing and stopped in horror, as their brother’s scent suddenly got stronger.
They smelled blood, lots of it.
Quickly the twins followed the blood scent that they found at one side of the clearing. They studied the five sets of tracks and massive paw prints that seemed chase them all over. It was clear with the evidence of the cold fireplace and sleeping place around it that their brother and his companions had slept here. It was also obvious that they had been attacked by surprise early in the morning.
“I can smell Severus’ and another wizard’s blood.” Gabriel said, sniffing as he looked down at the blood soaked prints on the ground. ”It wasn’t the werewolf, the tracks a little too wide but…” He measured the beasts footprint with his hand, “By the looks of things, whatever attacked them followed them into the river,” He studied the evidence carefully, “One of them wasn’t so lucky. See here” He indicated the one set of footprints that were slightly deeper than the rest, “some idiot jumped out and attacked the Beast unsuccessfully.”
He took note of the footprints that were near those of the beasts and nodded as he recognized the pattern. “Our brother, bless his stubborn heart, went and helped the idiot who was wounded.” His eyes narrowed as he took note of the different scents. “His blood was spilled also.” And look! Aodh’s paw prints… see? It looks like Aodh attacked the Beast that attacked them and it split.” Gabriel looked around at his twin. “Hey, Mykhael aren’t you listening to me?”
Mykhael wasn’t paying attention to him as he had noticed more evidence as to what had happened.
Gabriel watched as his twin walked slowly towards a nearby tree. Part of it was crushed inward as if someone was thrown heavily against it. There was a strong scent of blood on one side and on the ground. Mykhael bent onto his hands and knees sniffing it.
“It is Severus’ blood.” He said with concern. “Whom do you think the other blood scent belongs to?” he asked, ignoring the look that his twin was giving him.
Gabriel shrugged. “Who knows? It’s human through.”
“No shit.” Answer Mykhael.
“He’s not dead, I think whoever he was with also survived as there are no bodies here.”
Mykhael nodded in agreement. “Unless the creatures of the Forest ate them before we got here.”
“There would have been a lot more evidence of blood and bits of skin and bone on the ground if that was the case.” Gabriel said as they followed the blood trail into a river.
“Head over to the other side.” Mykhael ordered his younger brother.
Gabriel snapped his neck towards his brother. “No fair! You know I hate getting wet. You go in first, you’re the oldest.”
Mykhael also hated the water. He was the older brother so therefore he was in charge. “Our brother crossed it. And by the gods we both will do it. Now get your ass through that river or I will throw you in.”
Gabriel knew that Mykhael wasn’t joking. He also knew that his twin had a short temper. Not wanting to get him any angrier Gabriel approached the river, eyeing it as if it was going to bite him.
“If I die, it’s your fault.” Gabriel hissed at his brother, as he jumped into the river. “Ah, it’s cold! It’s so cold!” he yelped as the chilly water surrounded him.
Mykhael rolled his eyes. His brother was so immature.
Gabriel kept yelping ‘it’s cold’ and ‘curse you Mykhael’ all the way to the other side. He pulled himself out from the river on his hands and knees. He was shivering as he shook his body to get rid of the water from his clothes and hair.
“Can you smell our brother near by?” Gabriel heard his brother ask from the other side.
Gabriel didn’t answer; he was cursing his brother’s name under his breath. He got up and looked around. He could smell four scents, as he noted that there were four sets of footprints, one set was that of his brother running away as if something was chasing them. But if so, where was the strange paw prints of the creature that they found on the other side of the river?
“There are four sets of prints. Severus is alive! Can’t find the fifth one though!”
Mykhael took a breath. Slowly he stepped into the river, with the freezing water creeping up with every step he took till it was deep enough for him to swim across.
By the gods the river was cold! Mykhael bit his lips as he swam across it. Oh how he hated the he got across and shook the water off.
“What do you think happened to the fifth one? Do you think they left him or her behind for dead?” Gabriel asked him when his brother caught up to him.
“No. Can’t see Severus doing that to a person. They are wizards; if one of them was injured then they could be carrying him or something.”
“They are heading north to the pagan village.” Gabriel said turning to his brother. “Do you think one of them is really hurt badly?”
“Knowing our brother and the quantity of blood they left behind, I say one of them is either dead or is close to visiting Uncle Death soon, unless our brother brought some of his potions with him which would delay the other persons death for a few days.”
Gabriel nodded in agreement.
The Snape twins ran further into the forest, heading towards the pagan village.
-
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
-
“So Severus, could you tell me more about this village that we are heading towards?” Lupin asked him.
For the past few hours, the five wizards had been walking non-stop. The four Griffindors followed Severus down the narrow trail. Severus for the most part kept to himself with his wolf companion beside him. Lupin was directly behind him with Potter, Black and then Peter following in single file.
Lupin for the past hour had been trying to get Severus to have a proper conversation with him.
“It’s a muggle village.” Severus finally answered him.
“A muggle village? Come off it Snape.” Potter said, shook his head. “Everyone knows that muggles can’t get through the Hogwart’s barrier.”
“We passed the barrier days ago Potter. The barrier was first created to protect the students from the Forest, not from the muggles. This village is ancient; it is said that the village is one of the last villages still standing which housed the muggles that helped build Hogwarts over a thousand years ago. The descendents of those muggles still live there, waiting to be commanded to serve Hogwarts once again.”
“I don’t buy it.” Potter said, folding his arms. As far as he was concerned Muggles didn’t build Hogwarts. It was impossible, after all Hogwarts was magical, therefore wizards created it.
Severus shrugged. “Muggles were the original builders; the wizards just took over the castle once it was finished, and then applied the wards and other protective charms to prevent the castle ownership from returning to muggle hands. People like you Potter don’t deserve to know the secrets of the Forest or Hogwarts for that matter.”
Lupin turned toward him, his eyes twinkled in amazement. “I never read about that in Hogwarts, a History.” exclaimed.
“That’s because hundreds of years ago, it was taken out from it. Wizards then as now didn’t like to be told of how the Wizarding World still needed the muggles. Without muggles, the Wizarding World would still be in the Dark Ages.” Severus told him.
“I doubt that, Snape.” Pettigrew said, as he ducked down before being smacked by a lower tree branch. “We are smarter then them.”
Severus shook his head at the pathetic excuse that many other wizards had said before him. “Wizards long ago had been smarter then muggles, only because magic back then was much, much more full of mystery then it is now. Magic then was considered a gift, not something that was expected to happen just because it appeared consistently in some families and not always in others. That was just the way it was. But after so many thousands of year’s people with magic started to think that they were better then others that didn’t have the same powers like them. Wizards now take magic for granted. Most muggles don’t have any magic, however every so often a handful of them around the world are gifted by the Gods.”
“You lost us, Snape.” Black said listening. “Muggles don’t have any magic.”
“Wow, so there really are muggles with magic?” Lupin asked.
“Where do you think the muggle-borns come from?” Severus asked him. He smirked at the werewolf.
Lupin shrugged. “I just figured that they were related to squibs.”
“Some of them are born to squibs.” Severus said nodding. “But some haven’t any connection whatsoever with known magical families.”
“How can muggle-borns have magic when they are not related to any magical families? After all the squibs may not have magic themselves but they can have children who do.” Potter asked, as he believed that to become magical one must have relatives with magic in the family.
“What I mean Potter, is that many muggles aren’t wizards, however they have a form of magic that resides within them. It is a raw magic that most wizards have ignored or forgotten. Only powerful wizards can do wandless magic, where the muggles who are so gifted can do it without thinking, for they believe that magic is naturally a part of them, just as it is part of the Gods. Magic like that is all around us, a part of us.”
“Now you sound like a pussy.” Potter said evilly. Behind him both Black and Pettigrew laughed. Lupin glared at his friends.
“That wasn’t nice, James.” He said to him. Potter shrugged.
“Believe what you wish.” Severus told them, not wanting to get into a fight. He was hungry, tired and fed up with Black and Potter. They needed to get to the village, or Black would be in mortal danger.
Beside him, Aodh suddenly growled. Both Severus and Lupin stopped, followed by the rest of the group. Severus nodded at Lupin as he motioned to look above their heads. The four wizards looked up and startled to find a bunch of jars dangling from the tree limbs, filled with water.
“We’re close to the village.” Severus told the group. “Those jars are filled with water from the darkest deepest pools that surround their burial grounds. They are placed there to protect the village from evil spirits.”
The other wizards didn’t know if Severus was telling the truth or not. After all why would muggles think jars of water hanging from the trees would protect them? That idea was just a little strange to their way of thinking.
“How much further? Sirius needs rest.” Potter asked as black stumbled slightly.
“In this rate, next week!” Severus snapped. He glowered back at them as Black leaned on a nearby tree, panting with weariness. How dare they give in to weakness when they are so close to the village?
With anger building within him, Potter approached Severus with clenched fists. “Can’t you see how worn out Sirius is and how much we all need to rest? Do I have to knock some sense into your… ”
Pettigrew muttered some threats under his breath as he watched eagerly for the fight to develop between James and Snape. Black
“Severus! James! That is enough.” Lupin growled as he quickly stood between them and kept James from striking Severus whose own anger with the arrogant Griffindor was barely kept from spilling over..
“Shut up all of you!” Severus hissed at them. “We can’t fight, already Potter? Do you want another attack to happen? We cannot fight. We are all hungry, tired… even a bit anxious.”
“So… you saying you want a truce?” Lupin asked; his voice filled with hope. It would be a miracle if James, Sirius and Severus agreed to a truce; his life would be so much easier.
“If you wish to call it that.” Severus growled under his breath. He didn’t wish to fight unnecessarily. He just wanted to get to the village where they would be safer. “ With our situation it is better for us to be civil.”
Potter, Black and Pettigrew looked at each other. Is this Slytherin really asking a truce?
“No.” Black said, folding his arms. “It might be a trick.”
The other two agreed.
Severus rolled his eyes. He tried “We may as well stop here for the night.” He finally said after some thought. “However we will have to make it to the village tomorrow.”
“With those things in the trees?” Pettigrew yelped.
Severus ignored him as they prepared to make camp. Dry dead wood was quickly gathered and the five travellers were soon sitting around a warm comforting fire.
It wasn’t that long; maybe an hour or so before the Forbidden Forest became darker and colder. The fire was going strongly; it flickered as the five wizards cuddled close to another for warmth. Around them were sounds of growling and chirping.
Aodh had gone off hunting while camp was being made.
Severus was bored. He looked up and saw Black leaning heavily on Potter’s shoulder.
“Black, you alright?”
For a moment Black didn’t reply. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He muttered. “Just tired.”
Both Lupin and Severus glanced at each other. Neither of them thought that Black was being fully truthful.
“Sirius, we need to check on your wounds.” Lupin said sternly to his friend whose face took on a greyish tinge.
“I’m fine—,” Sirius muttered again as he tried to sit up straight. Suddenly he collapsed slumping forward toward the fire
“Sirius!” Potter gasped as he caught his friend just in time.
Both Severus and Lupin leapt up on their feet, and the three wizards laid the unconscious wizard down on the ground.
“Lupin, get my backpack.” Severus ordered. . Lupin nodded as he grabbed Severus’s backpack and gave it to him. “Pettigrew, stop your crying over there and get your ass over here and help.”
Slowly the cowardly wizard approaches the group.
Suddenly Black started to shake. “Hold him! Don’t let him hurt himself!”
Four pair hands grabbed the shaking wizard. “What is wrong with him?” Potter asked faintly.
Severus shook his head as he didn’t know the answer.
-
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
-
“When I get my hands on my son, I will strangle him to death and send him to his room!” Orion Black muttered under his breath the hundredth time that day.
The four wizards, Charlus Potter, Orion Black, Lucifer Lupin and Simon Pettigrew for the past few days had been looking for their sons in every place they could think of. They found that the boys hadn’t been seen anywhere they would have normally hung out.
After their unsuccessful search, they all decided to start looking for them at Hogwarts, the last place where they knew their sons were. As they got there, Lucifer pointed his wand seeing that the others weren’t doing anything. “Point me, Remus.” He said.
His wand turned to his right, pointing towards the Forbidden Forest. Lucifer grinned, shaking his head. He should’ve known that his son would be there. Remus loved the Forest, enough that he would be happy to live there if he could. Lucifer knew that his son lied to him about the ‘school trip’ when his son mailed him because there wasn’t any parental signing forms. The only reason he let Remus go was because he trusted his son. Questions formed in his mind as he stared towards the dark forbidding forest. ‘But why did his son lie to him? What was he hiding? Was the white lie having some truth in it, as they did in fact go into a trip to the Forbidden Forest?’
Lucifer long ago had learned to trust his son, but he knew that teens would be teens as they try to push back the parental boundaries to prove their independence. He groaned slightly and sighed as he approached the forest, being an only parent to a teenager, much less a werewolf teenager had some drawbacks.
“Remus is in the forbidden Forest, I suspect the others have gone in there with him.”
“The Forbidden Forest?” Simon hissed, his eyes dark with worry over his son. “My son would never go in there, much less get near it.”
Orion rolled at the pathetic man beside him. “Point me, Sirius!” he growled to his wand. His wand also pointed towards the Forbidden Forest.
Charlus sighed. Why didn’t James tell him of his plans? With both Remus and Sirius in the Forest, it wasn’t farfetched that James and Peter would be there too. ‘But why were they in the Forest?’ he wondered. To purposely head into the forbidden forest was to court death and he did not wish to find any of the boys’ dead.
“I’m going to kill him.” Orion muttered again, his eyes burning with anger, glaring at the Forest. “That boy is so grounded!”
Charlus ignored Orion. Unlike his wife, his bark is far worse then his bite. “Come on, we can’t just stand here all night. We need to find the boys.” He said, heading towards the Forest.
Lucifer followed him, however Orion and Simon stayed where they where. “You expect us to go in there? There wild animals in there.” Simon paled.
Orion didn’t comment. He was a Slytherin, therefore he would not show weakness. Mutely he followed the two men, leaving Simon behind.
“Are you coming, Simon?” Charlus said turning to see if he was following or not.
Simon mutely nodded and the four wizards went into the Forbidden Forest.
-
For hours the wizards searched for their sons with no luck. The Forest was more like a maze, a trap for unexpected victims to be fed to the creatures that walk in the woods. The only thing that kept them from knowing that they are not going into circles was the fact that they staying on the trails that were revealed by the light that glowed from their tips of their wands.
Everything around them was eerie and cold. With every sound they heard; every howl from the darkness, every chirp from the treetops, fear started to grip their hearts in each step.
Only Lucifer seemed to be enjoying himself as the other three griped their wands with the fear of being attacked by some unknown dangerous creature that inhabited the darker regions of this nearly impregnable forest.
Just then they spotted a dark thin figure, that they could have sworn wasn’t there a moment ago,.
“Who’s that?”
The wizards stopped, pulling out their wands expecting the figure to attack them. As they approached slowly, they saw it was a woman.
What was a woman doing out here in the Forbidden Forest? Was she lost? Or was it a trick of some forest demon that would lead the wizards into a trap?
The wizards cautiously walked towards the woman. As they got closer they saw that the woman stood off to the side waiting, as she knew that they were coming after her. They saw she held no wand or any other type of weapon in her hands. Was she unarmed? Who was she?
“It’s just a filthy muggle. Let’s just leave it be.” Orion hissed at the others.
“Muggles can’t get through the barrier, Orion.” Charlus told him as a thought flashed through his mind. ‘If this woman was a muggle then how did she get through the Hogwarts barrier?’
“There is a first time for everything.” Simon pointed out.
“We passed the barrier long time ago. There is no barrier past it to keep Muggles from walking in the Forest.” Lucifer said knowingly.
“Besides Orion, what if she seen the boys? Even if she is a muggle she can help us, we have to talk to her.” Charlus said, knowing that Lucifer could be right; he had been in Ravenclaw for a reason.
“Yeah, and afterwards we can Obliviate her.” Simon told them, nodding. Both Lucifer and Charlus didn’t like that part of the plan, but they knew they had to do it if it came to it.
Orion seemed to like this idea. Slowly they put away their wands into their pockets, but close enough if needed to be, they would easily get to them if necessary.
The four men and woman was only a few feet away from each other, the men saw the woman was tall, pale and had dark eyes and hair. She was sickly looking woman, but yet she held a beauty that none of them ever seen before; something about her made them uneasy, as if there was something unnatural about her. She wore a white shirt with short puffy sleeves, a long airy blood red skirt with a black cloth around her waist half covering her skirt. Around her shoulders was black cloak.
Only Lucifer seemed not to notice anything unusual about the woman. It was as if he was used to seeing and meeting people like this woman. They knew that his son was a werewolf, for Lucifer thought long ago that if Remus wanted true friends, their parents needed to know the truth. Perhaps that was the reason.
Charlus Potter looked at the woman, a weird expression across his face. He felt that he met her before. But who was she? And if they did… where did they meet before? “Hello, milady.” He said to the woman. The woman’s eyes snapped towards him.
Orion looked over at the elder wizard, his face clearly telling him not to be so formal to the muggle. “May I ask what you are doing here? Surely a young woman such as you shouldn’t be out here on your own. You cannot be too careful, for the creatures of the night lurk out here.”
The woman stepped forward with one step before she spoke. “A lady like me can take care of herself.” Her voice held a chill within but yet also held sympathy. “And what may I ask are four wizards like yourselves doing out here?”
The four of them stiffened when the woman spoke the word ‘wizards’.
“So you know of our kind.” Orion said, hiding the shock from his face and voice.
“And what kind is that? Muggle, wizard, half-breeds, werecat, werewolf, vampire…. All of us in the end are human.” The woman said. Charlus could tell that Orion was getting little uneasy with this woman. Either it was of how the woman looked or talked. “A few of you look enough like decent men... are you all having family problems?”
“Few of us?” Orion hissed. How dare this woman judge them, especially a pure-blood like himself. “What makes you so judgmental?”
The woman smiled. “The aura around you tells me that you do not like me. You wish to do me harm. Soon you and the other small men beside you wish to Oblivite me. You and many others like you despise the muggle world because you fear it….”
“I do not fear anything, muggle.” Orion hissed.
“It is human nature to fear things that one does not understand.”
Orion stepped forward towards the woman, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
“Orion, enough. She doesn’t mean any harm—,” Charlus hissed, stepping towards the man before he does something that he would regret.
“What gives her the right?” Orion hissed, whipping out his wand as a red spark flew from it and headed straight towards the woman.
The other three wizards yelped in surprise at what happened next.
With unearthly speed the woman leapt away from the red light, twisted Orion’s wand arm behind his back, and made him drop his wand onto the ground.
The four wizards cringed as a large crack was heard, followed by a yelp of pain.
Simon, seeing the other wizard getting beaten by the woman, pointed his own wand toward the woman’s back as another red beam of light shot from it. The woman, seeing this let go of Orion’s arm, dropping him onto the ground with a large thud.
“Ow!” yelped Orion as he landed hard on the ground.
The wizards watched in awe as the woman twirled her body into the air and landed safely on a nearby branch. She crouched, landing her hands on her knees, eyeing the three standing wizards and one still lying painfully on the ground yelping about his arm.
The woman clicked her tongue. “Naughty wizards, very naughty. What would your mothers say about your rudeness?”
“Charlus, she’s not human…” Orion yelped painfully. “She broke my arm.”
The woman laughed. “I am human, just like each of you! I maybe a half-breed, but I am still human.”
“Begone you foul beast!” Simon yelled stepping forward towards the tree that the woman crouched on.
The woman shook her head. “Me? A foul beast? Perhaps you should look in the mirror.”
Then at that the moment that woman disappeared into thin air.
“Simon, let her go. Orion needs a healer.” Lucifer said.
Simon nodded mutely.
As they looked at the damage that the woman caused, the four wizards’ silently had the same thought.
Who was that woman?
(End of Chapter)
Words: 5,407
About muggles having the gift of magick from the gods: if anyone is confused of what I meant about muggles having magic for themselves, think of the other religions in the world: paganism, witchcraft, voodoo etc. Even the Catholic Church has some powers that can be called magick. To me Rowling’s type of magic in her books are FAR different then the magick of today.
Author’s Notes: Sorry for the long wait! I know I’m neglecting this story, like the others I have, but I have a life you know!
The reason I was afk is that fact that I recently got married, we moved to an AFB in North Dakota and living in a Inn until we get a house in the Base, which we need to do all the paper work. My husband couldn’t do half of them when he was at Tech School because we weren’t married at the time. But now that we are, we have to do them now. .
It doesn’t help that it’s very cold here last time I checked it was -10 degrees! Anyway, I figured because of the wait I would make the chapter long.
Read and Review!
—FireChildSlytherin5
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