The Forbidden Forest
“Hamilton catches the Snitch! Gryffindor beats Hufflepuff! Two hundred and sixty to one hundred!”
The stands covered in scarlet erupted into raucous applause as the Gryffindor team took a lap of honour around the Quidditch Pitch, celebrating their victory in the first match of the year. It had not been a difficult match by any means; the victor had been decided before the Quaffle was released. It wasn’t that Hufflepuff was a terrible team; it was that Gryffindor was better, and everyone knew this. Initially it had been Ravenclaw they were set to take on, but a Chaser had injured his arm during practise, and they had no replacement. The mass of scarlet slowly descended to the ground, following out the remaining backs of canary-coloured robes to the changing rooms. The spectators in the stands began filing out, talking excitedly about the match and the odds for the upcoming games.
Sirius, Remus and Peter caught up with James outside of the changing room. It had been a week since he and Remus returned from school and they had hardly had any time to talk about what went on while they were gone. James had been hauled out to Quidditch practise every night, literally by the ear, by Cory Hamilton, who was on a training binge. While James was gone, Remus was absorbed in whatever work he was doing. Sirius and Peter knew better than to bother him while he was working. It was only a matter of time before Remus pulled out that four hundred page book again, and this time he might actually use it. Sirius and Peter had news to report and now was the perfect opportunity to report it.
“So what is it that you’ve been dying to tell us?” James asked, swinging his trusted Silver Arrow over his shoulder.
“Some Slytherins, the older ones, they disappeared for a few hours the nights you guys weren’t here,” Peter reported in a quiet voice.
“Where?” Remus questioned, looking interested.
“That’s the thing, we don’t know,” Sirius said, casting a glance around to make sure they were not being overheard. “It’s strange… suspicious. They all got up from the Great Hall at the same time and looked like they were going to the same place.”
“Maybe it’s nothing important.” Remus tried shrugging it off. It wasn’t unusual for a few students to disappear somewhere in the castle. It was so large; there were many places to go. They, themselves, had been vanishing for a few hours one or two nights a week in the Room of Requirement.
Sirius seemed to guess what Remus was thinking. “They’re not going to the Room of Requirement. Peter and I managed to get in. If they were in there, they wouldn’t want anyone else getting in, would they?”
“I s’ppose not.”
“I don’t think its anything to worry about right now,” James said decidedly. “Let’s keep an eye on them; if they do it more often we’ll see what they’re up to.” He shifted his broom to his other shoulder and looked at Remus. “Have you spoken to your parents?”
“My mum wrote me yesterday. She says Dad’s starting to feel better.”
Sirius nodded, peering closely at his friend. “How about you?”
“I’m alright.” Remus wanted to get off this particular topic. So he let his eyes wander around the grounds until he saw a group of students moving as inconspicuously as they could across the way. The students were casting covert glances over their shoulders, trying to detect trailers. They didn’t seem to spot the boys. Remus could tell from a few faces that he recognised that they were older Slytherins. He stopped in his path. “Look at that.”
Peter’s eyes followed where Remus was pointing. “Those are the ones we were talking about.”
“Where do you think they’re going?” James asked.
“I dunno.” Sirius moved closer. “This is earlier than they usually leave. It’s not even six.”
“We don’t even know if it’s anything bad they’re doing. They’ve only left for a day or two,” Remus said suddenly. “Unless they’ve been doing it all week and we haven’t noticed?”
“They might have,” Peter agreed. It was very plausible that these Slytherins had been disappearing and the boys had not noticed, being too wrapped up in their own affairs.
“Let’s follow them,” Sirius proposed, already moving at a swift pace towards the Slytherins. James followed Sirius, but Peter and Remus hung back. The Slytherins looked as if they were headed towards the Forbidden Forest, no good could come from that.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Peter asked, hoping to stall them as much as he could. “We don’t know what they’re doing.”
“Which is exactly why we’re going to follow,” Sirius said, sounding as if it was the most obvious thing. “Come on, if we see it’s something we can’t handle, we’ll go back.”
Peter and Remus still looked uneasy, though there was an undeniable streak of curiosity. They took off behind James and Sirius, who walked as quietly and quickly as they could across the grass. As they neared the edge of the Forbidden Forest they slowed their pace, wanting to give the Slytherins a head start, but have them close enough to keep in sight. They couldn’t hear the conversation their rival house was having, but it was excited, they could tell that much.
Both groups trekked farther into the ever-darkening forest, one impatiently waiting to reach the destination, the other waiting impatiently to find out exactly what the destination was. The sounds of the forest increased as they loomed further in. Howls, screeches, an occasional roar, the boys were beginning to discover why it was called the Forbidden Forest. James fished inside his pockets, hoping to find his Invisibility Cloak inside, only to remember that he had taken it out before the match. Of all the times for him to clean up after himself…
None of the boys dared speak, not wanting to give off their location if their voices carried. Soon the forest became so dark that they could not define a path before them, but they did not want to risk lighting their wands. Ahead they could see a faint orange glow; the Slytherins had been thinking the same thing “ that it was dark, but they were unafraid to light their wands. Stepping over branches and uprooted tree roots they found that the faint glow was no longer faint. They had been approaching a clearing and could see a large crackling fire. The Slytherins had not only been searching for the right spot, they had been searching for the right people.
Tall figures wearing masks and black cloaks stood around the fire, their wands drawn. As the Slytherins approached, they said something the boys could not hear correctly. Whatever it was, it gained trust between the two groups. The boys ducked down behind several bushes, peering through the branches.
“You could bring no more?” asked one of the voices behind a mask. It was a harsh voice, demanding.
“We didn’t have much time,” replied a Slytherin that the boys did not know. He seemed only slightly apprehensive at the masked face before him. “There was a Quidditch match, you see, and everyone was busy for it. We couldn’t ask at the pitch, there were too many professors around.”
“Be that as it may, you should have put more effort,” said a second voice, this one recognizable. It was a cold drawl, and even if the man had been wearing no mask they would have been able to see his pale, sneering face. Lucius Malfoy. “He waits for no one. He doesn’t believe in obstacles as immature as a Quidditch match.”
“We are very sorry,” said another Slytherin, a slightly rougher voice. “We promise, by our next meeting we will bring others.”
“Do not make a promise you cannot keep. He does not take well to broken promises.” It appeared that Lucius was running everything and the other masked figures were simply there for the intimidation factor. He did all of the talking, and generated most of the fearful obedience from the Slytherins. “You do remember what happened to the last person who broke a promise?”
The Slytherins nodded, not one of them chancing a word. The boys looked at each, wondering what they had stumbled into. This was a meeting, a meeting for wizards that would have made the Black Family proud. Sirius was the first to see this, even before Lucius Malfoy had announced his presence. Part of them wanted desperately to leave, but their feet were stuck. They listened on.
“We have come to discuss more of our cause with you,” Lucius went on, his voice deadly calm. “You do know about our goals “ purifying the Wizarding World where it needs to be?”
“Getting rid of those Mudbloods,” the third Slytherin chipped in gleefully.
“Yes, disposing of those born to unworthy blood. But we also have to go beyond half-bloods and Muggle-borns. We have to think about the half breeds. Vampires, Giants, Werewolves. How can we use them to our advantage?”
James felt Remus shift behind him, he had become oddly still.
“If we offer them what the Ministry has denied them “ their rights “ we can have them on our side. He will be very pleased.” This pronouncement was met with a round of approval. “Those disgusting creatures, they may be of some use after all.”
“Then we can get rid of them?” asked the second Slytherin hopefully.
“If they do not serve us well. Unforgivable Curses will be a must; we must use them to our strongest strength.” Lucius basked in the cheers of those around him, but something made his smile falter. “Quiet, quiet,” he instructed. “I think we are not alone.”
The boys did not even have a chance to look at each other before they were at their feet, running as fast as they could. But it was no use. They were too far in, there was no escape. Four spells hit their backs and they knew nothing as a sheet of blackness fell.
“Poppy, come quick. One of them is coming around!”
Through blurry eyes, Sirius could see the form of Madam Pomfrey hurrying over to him. He could also see the recognizable shape of Professor Handlin. He was standing over the bed across him, holding the wrist of whoever was in it, checking for a pulse. Why was Handlin there? And how had they gotten to the Hospital Wing? The last thing he could remember was running as fast as he could out of the Forbidden Forest. Something had happened. He had blacked out. He wondered if James, Remus and Peter had too. They must have; Handlin had said that one of them was coming around. He groaned as Madam Pomfrey pressed her hand against his forehead.
“He doesn’t feel warm anymore,” the nurse said, placing two fingers against his neck. “His pulse is good. Are the others waking, Samuel?”
Who’s Samuel? Sirius wondered, before realising that Samuel must have been Professor Handlin’s first name.
“Ah, James is,” Handlin responded. “Evening, Mr. Potter.”
Sirius raised his head off his pillow and saw James lying in the bed next to the one Handlin was standing at. James looked just as confused as Sirius felt. Of course, that could have been because someone had taken his glasses. He saw how white James’s face was and wondered if he looked similar. Putting his glasses on, James caught Sirius’s eye and mouthed: What happened? Sirius bit his bottom lip and James understood that his friend had no more of an idea than he did.
Madam Pomfrey bustled over to James’s bedside, muttering something about getting to be too old for her job. She checked James’s pulse and went to the cabinet, presumably to retrieve a potion.
As Madam Pomfrey’s back was turned, Professor Handlin said, “Here comes Peter.”
Peter slowly raised a hand to his head, murmuring something incoherently. He glanced at Sirius, who was in the bed next to his, and across at James. None of them could figure out how they ended up in the infirmary. If they had been caught by those Slytherins and those other wizards with Lucius Malfoy, they should have been dead. They had been hopelessly outnumbered. Who had rescued them? With Professor Handlin hovering over them, they had no opportunity to discuss the events of the day.
“Take these,” Madam Pomfrey ordered, returning with three bottles of teal potions. She handed one to each of the boys and refused to look away until they had downed the entire thing. They tasted disgusting, as did all of the potions in the infirmary. Luckily the bottles were small and could be taken in one gulp. When they were finished, the nurse collected the empty potions and brought them back to the cabinet to wash and refill. Professor Handlin excused himself for a moment to use the lavatory, giving the boys the chance to talk about what they had seen.
“So that’s what they’ve been doing,” Sirius whispered, eyes downcast. “They’re in some sort of society.”
“Not a good one either,” Peter added.
“I knew Lucius Malfoy was up to no good when we saw him in Knockturn Alley,” James said.
“No one’s ever up to anything good there,” Sirius interjected.
“But what exactly were they doing?”
“Talking about someone with no name,” Peter said. “Malfoy just kept calling the guy ‘him.’ Not very enlightening.”
“Shh,” James hissed suddenly. Madam Pomfrey was coming back within earshot.
The boys fell silent as the nurse went through the same procedure with Peter that she had with James and Sirius. Once she finished with Peter she went to the bed beside James, which contained Remus. His eyes were shut, so they could not tell if he was sleeping or had not yet come around. The sight of Remus reminded James of something they had heard in the forest.
“Malfoy was talking about werewolves,” he said when Madam Pomfrey had gone into her office. “He was talking about using them, and giants and vampires. And killing them once it was over.”
“Yeah, but using them for what?” Peter asked fearfully. He was not scared of these species, but he could not stand to think of what they could be tempted into doing.
“We never got around to hearing that, did we?” Sirius said vehemently. “I hate people like him.”
“We all do, Sirius.”
“I hate people who use others who have something different about them and use it to hurt them.”
“Same here.”
James, Sirius and Peter looked around to see that Remus’s eyes were fluttering open. He greeted his friends with a tired smile. “Let’s never follow Slytherins into the Forbidden Forest again, agreed?”
“We have to find out what they were doing,” James insisted.
“James, they would’ve done worse to us than just Stunning us if they’d gotten the chance.”
“That’s what I want to know “ how didn’t they get us?”
“Dunno, Sirius.”
Their conversation was halted by the reappearance of Madam Pomfrey, who had come in when she thought she had heard Remus’s voice. The nurse checked his pulse as she had done with James, Sirius and Peter, then proceeded to feel his forehead, check to se if his pupils were dilated, and a number of other medical procedures. The three boys were who not being inspected grinned at each. Madam Pomfrey had more of a maternal side when it came to Remus, who had been in her care more than any other student. When the nurse deemed their conditions “survivable” she went back to her office, after instructing them to spend the night.
“You four are lucky… in the Forbidden Forest of all places…”
Just as the office door closed, the entrance to the ward opened and Professor Handlin walked in. “Moaning Myrtle decided to come to the teachers’ bathroom… enormous flood.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think some of the water may have been her tears.” He shrugged and turned to the boys. “Would you mind telling me what were you doing in the Forbidden Forest?”
“We… we thought we saw people going in,” Sirius admitted.
“So you followed them?”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” James said, suddenly realising that they should not have followed the Slytherins, although he did have every intention of doing it again.
“I didn’t see anyone when I found you.”
Remus looked up. “How did you know we were there?”
“No one saw you return to the castle and one of the centaurs was close to the grounds. He told me he saw four boys go into the forest.”
Peter’s eyes widened in surprise. “It was you who saved us?”
“I wouldn’t call it saving, just looking out for my students.” He stood up and headed towards the exit. “I’m not going to force you to, but it is in the best interest of the school if you tell us who you saw going in there. Professor Dumbledore has no idea any of his students went into the Forbidden Forest. He will, if you tell us what you saw.”
It wasn’t that the boys were frightened of what Dumbledore would do to them if he found out they had gone into the Forbidden Forest. It was that they were a bit afraid of what they had witnessed. Those Slytherins and those masked figures knew they were being watched and it was guaranteed that they were looking for whoever it was. The boys couldn’t even be sure that their faces had gone unseen. How long had it been before Handlin had found them? Was it right after they had fallen unconscious or was it a few minutes later, when they were already at the mercy of their attackers?
In the end they decided that, for the time being, they would not tell the Headmaster what they had witnessed. The boys began noticing that the Slytherins they had tailed did not get up during dinner any longer. They must have realised it was too dangerous to continue going, for the moment at any rate. When they were alone in the dormitory they could not keep their conversation off the Forbidden Forest. Who were those people Lucius Malfoy was with? What were they doing there? Who were they trying to recruit? What did they want with the giants, werewolves and vampires? These questions had no answers that they knew of yet.
“Where are there vampires anyway?” Remus asked one night, looking up from the letter he was writing to his parents.
“Up in the northern parts of England, some live in Scotland too,” Sirius replied, leaning back on his pillow. “They don’t usually come to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley or any of the other places wizards go to.”
“So why would Malfoy want them?”
“Remus, they don’t stay away from here by choice. The Ministry keeps them away. Malfoy figures that if they gave vampires things they can’t have because of the Ministry, they’d have them on their side.”
“We don’t even know what their side is, James.”
“I know, Peter, I was just saying.” He turned back to Remus. “Think about it. If you weren’t allowed to come to school would you be so eager to be friendly with wizards?”
“I’m a wizard, James.”
“I know you are, but what if you were denied everything every other wizard has?”
“I pretty much will be once I get out of here.”
“Then look at the situation from there. Once you’ve graduated, what’s to stop the Ministry from taking all your rights from you? Any other werewolf would want revenge on them. Malfoy knows this.”
“Well, I don’t want revenge.”
“I’m just saying that other werewolves would.”
“I’m not those other werewolves, James.”
“James,” Peter hissed warningly. He knew that James was not intending his words to come offensive, but they were.
“You know I didn’t mean that, Remus.”
“That’s how it’s coming out.” Remus snatched up his letter and left the room with it.
“Brilliant, James,” Sirius said sarcastically, clapping his hands. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone crash and burn so badly.”
“Shut up, Sirius.”
“No, really, I mean that was just amazing. Comparing him to those crazy wolves that bite people for fun, like the maniac who bit him? That was a stroke of genius! I’m surprised he didn’t punch you because that’s what I would’ve done.”
“It’s a good thing I wasn’t talking to you, then.”
Sirius sat up. “Honestly, James, you just showed him the reason why a lot of werewolves go over to the bad side. People are ignorant.”
“I am not ignorant.”
“We know that, both other people don’t. I’ve told you a million times how my parents talk about werewolves; they don’t give werewolves a good reason to stay on the side of good wizards.”
James knew there was no point in arguing it, Sirius was right. He hated when that happened. “I’ll go find him.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said in the past fifteen minutes.”
After flinging his pillow at Sirius’s face, James left the dormitory and made a beeline for the Owlery. He suddenly wished they had never followed those Slytherins into the Forbidden Forest; it would have saved them a lot of trouble. The world as they knew it was turning for the worse and they had witnessed it. For the past two years they had been hearing about strange deaths “ starting with Professor Flitwick’s sister and Alice Gordon’s father. No one seemed to know who or what was behind it or if they did they were unwilling to share it. The boys had managed to stumble upon something that had to do with these deaths. There was no solid proof, but they knew it anyhow.
The path up to the Owlery was freezing; James wished he had brought his cloak with him. As he neared the door he could hear the sleepy hooting of the numerous owls that roosted in the tower. Pushing the door open, he saw Remus leaning his elbows forward on the windowsill, looking out into the darkening night.
“I’m not like them, James,” he said without looking around.
“How’d you know it was me?” James asked, surprised.
Remus chose to ignore this. “I don’t want revenge on the Ministry because they’re not going to let me live like normal wizards. I won’t like it, but I’m not going to hurt them because of it.”
“I know that.”
Remus finally turned around and James saw an anger that he had never seen before. “Well you didn’t act like you did. The whole reason Fenrir Greyback bites children is so he can fill their heads with those stupid ideas “ that we should hate wizards for treating us like we’re scum. My parents worked hard to keep me from thinking like that. I’m not about to adopt Greyback’s plans just because I heard Lucius Malfoy talking about werewolves like we’re puppets he can use.”
“I’m sorry. I was just trying to show you how werewolves like Greyback are, not werewolves like you. You’re different and we know that!”
Remus visibly relaxed. “I’m not going to end up like them.”
“No, you’re not. And you don’t have to remind yourself.”