Forbidden Forest

Enter at you own risk........

Dangerous creatures lurk in this forest but also wonderous beautiful creatures as well.

Enter if you dare...

"How could I be so stupid?" Diana said to herself.

During Care of Magical Creatures earlier that day, she'd dropped her locket, a family heirloom. A locket past on for as long as the Casillas family could remember.

She was foolish enough to wear it everyday, but it was just so pretty, she couldn't resist. What girl could?

She was usually very careful with it, she'd take it off in every Quidditch Match but somehow she forgot to take it off during class. The unicorns that were brought to class were just so breath-taking.

She couldn't leave it till tomorrow, Merlin knows what would have happened to it by then - no she needed to look for it now.

She approached the Forest hesitantly. She took out her wand. “Lumos,” she whispered. Immediately her wand tip lit up.

“It has to be here somewhere.” When she was nervous and alone, Diana usually resorted to talking to herself. It soothed her, hearing something other than the pregnant air in the forest.

“Point me!” Diana said. And with red sparks her wand pointed in the northeastern direction. It was a shame that there was no spell to be really precise when you were looking for something. The first thing that Diana was going to do when she found her locket was put a tracking charm on it so she could have a better spell to use, the next time she lost it. Not that she was planning to lose it again, any time soon – heck she need to find it first.

The forest really worked on the nerves. It was quiet now, a little too quiet for Diana’s taste. Even Gryffindors felt fear once in awhile. The forest was like a great big question mark. There was that possibility of encountering a creature in every turn. She looked furiously down on the forest floor. She needed to focus on her task at hand. “Point me!” She said again. But instead of pointing at just one direction, her wand started spinning madly. “It should be here then.” She said to herself.

She was so focused on the floor in front of her that she hardly noticed the branch that was at the side. When she did however, it was a little too late. She fell forward landing face down on the forest ground. “Perfect, bloody perfect.” She said.

She put her palms on either side of her and pushed her body up. Just as she was, she noticed something gold, a few metres in front of her. “There you are!” She said excitedly. Great now she can leave and go back into the warmth of the castle. But as she reached for it, she saw that there was a pair of legs, standing in front of it.

It wasn’t actually a pair of legs, it actually had four. “And there you are.” Diana whispered softly. She looked up and noticed it was one of the unicorns from class that day.

She froze on the spot once the unicorn started to move. It bowed it’s head down and took Diana’s locket by it’s mouth. Diana wasn’t worried though, she didn’t know why, it could have eaten it or broken it but she knew, she didn’t know how she knew but she knew it wouldn’t do any of those things.

It approached her and dropped the locket right where her hand was. Diana blinked in surprise. “T-thank you...” She said, baffled.

Slowly, she brought her palm on the unicorns neck to pet it. It didn’t object. In fact, it turned it’s head so that Diana could get a better hold.

Diana giggled. “You like that, don’t you?”

Then it dipped its head in Diana’s robe pocket. “Hey!” She said, “What are you doing there?”

It had found Diana’s stash of Hogsmeade sweets. “Well, I suppose you could have some, you did find my locket.” Diana said stroking the unicorn’s neck.

It then turned to leave. “Well good bye!” Diana said. “And thank you!”

With one final look at Diana, it disappeared into the depths of the forest.

“I should be heading back too.” She made sure she had the locket safely in her hand and headed back into the castle.

Ana wandered aimlessly across the grass, wending her way between the towering trees. A solitary speck in the sky drew closer and closer, becoming more defined as she stopped to watch it.
A black eagle soared down and landed on the tree branch in front of her. She recognised it, of course. Darien's eagle. He'd been given it as a present last year.
Darien...What could he have to say? Fear gripped Ana. Was he angry at her for telling the Headmistress what he'd been learning about Horcruxes?
Ana reached for the letter grasped in it's talons. It was from Darien.
Wary of what the letter would contain, Ana prised open the seal and began to read.

"Ana,
I know it was you who told the ministry about our 'experiments' and got our new professor arrested!
But I also know that the new Professor killed my friend while creating one of those Horcrux things, and planned to kill our whole class too, including me.
So I guess, maybe, I should thank you.
So thanks little sister.
Maybe I'll come and join your school sometime...
That's not definite, mind!
Darien."

Ana re-read the letter several times.
Wow, that was unexpected. Darien's friend had been killed...
It could so easily have been her brother that died! Ana folded up the letter and stroked the eagle's magnificent head as it climbed onto her proffered arm. Time to draft a reply...Back to the Common Room.

Kiara stepped into the forest she hadn't even realized she walked in until now. Tears still filled her eyes as she walked along the forest floor. The words of her boggart that had taken the shape of her ex husband had cut her more deeply then she cared to admit.

Because on some level she still blamed her self for her daughters death.

Leening against a tree Kiara placed her face in her hands as tears ecaped once again.

The sudden encounter from Danny had brought back painful memories which she believed she had barried, but now they were flooding back with a vengence.

Eglantine sighed as she approached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Why did students have to continue to deliberately disobey the rules? She pulled her wand out of her pocket and entered, the barrier around the forest's edge leading her to the student.

Soon she heard sobbing and stopped when she saw the Headmistress leaning against one of the gnarled trees. Obviously her barriers had thought Kiara was a student... rather odd.

Backing up, Eglantine moved to leave the other woman in peace.

Kiara gasped when she heard movement from behind her, rubbing her eyes she pulled out her wand.

she looked around the tree to see Eglantine moving away.

"Eglantine?" she spoke at followed the women out of the forest.

She turned when Kiara said her name. "I am very sorry. I thought you were a student." Pausing, she glanced around. "Are you alright?"

Kiara looked down she probably looked like mess.

"If I said yes would you believe me?.... truthfully?"

"No. I wouldn't. What happened?" Eglantine was careful to watch their surroundings, after all forests that were forbidden were not good places for conversation.

Kiara sighed and rubbed her eyes again as tears still continued to fill them. She walked a head noticing the nervous look on Elgantines face as she looked around the forest.

"I had a run in with a boggart earlier today, it brought up something I thought I barried six years ago....."

Kiara paused and took out a locket from around her neck. Inside it was a muggle picture of her, a man beside her, and a child no more the 2 years old.


"Do you have children Eglantine?"

"No." Eglantine could almost feel the conversation headed for some terrible revelation on Kiara's part. Had she had a child? Eglantine almost hoped she hadn't.

((Eglantine is looking around and did not see the locket...))

"Hmm..... it's a shame you would have made a great mother..." kiara stopped and handed her opened locket to Eglantine.

"This picture was taken a little over six years ago, I was 24, married and had the most deligtful little girl you would have ever met"

In the picture there was no mistaking the toddler for Kiara's daughter she looked just like her. Curly, dark almost black hair and bright ocean blue eyes.

"Her name was Serena"

Eglantine looked at the locket in obvious horror. The sweet innocent face in the picture should not have been referred to in the past tense. Her eyes lifted to look at Kiara from the locket.
"What happened to her?"

Kiara's eyes darkened as tears feel down her face again

"She died,"

Kiara looked down at the photo tears streaming down her eyes as she recalled what had happened.


“It was at the time of the dragon pox epidemic, I was immune to it so I was asked by the ministry to help transport victims to a hospital….. What I didn’t know at time was that I may not have been able to get sick from the Dragon Pox but I still carried it……” Kiara took a long paused the next part was painful to say.

“I.. I brought the dragon pox home with me, a week later, my baby girl came down with it…… she died in St. Mungos a few days later”

Kiara choked back a sob and tried to swallow the lump in her throat with no such luck.

"Danny, my husband blamed me for her death....."

Eglantine moved and wrapped an arm around Kiara's shoulders. "You had no way of knowing." she comforted. "It was not your fault."

"That is what I kept telling myself, time and time again, but Danny was angry and he wanted someone to blame. The obvious choice was me, I brought it home and it resulted in Serena dieing right in front of us. Danny never let me hear the end o it. If it would't had been for me she would still be alive. After a while I had started to believe him"

Looking at the picture again she sighed

"That is who I saw today on the third floor, Danny remaining me why our little girl died" Kiara barely whispered the last part.

"It was a boggart. Not your husband. I'm sure that he does not really believe you killed your daughter. But more importantly you cannot believe you did. Guilt can cause more pain than any weapon."

"Oh he believed it alright... he left me and asked for a divorce. He lives in america now. Last I heard he remarried and has twin girls, I haven't heard from him or his family in 4 years now."

Kiara took her locket back closed it and put it back around her neck.

"I guess I should be thankful to the boggart, I barried what happened so deep inside I almost forgot about it"

Then she hugged Eglantine,

"I am sorry I dumped all this on you, I don't know why did, you already have so much to worry about. It's just your the only one I can talk to I guess. Viper isn't the most sensitive person, and I barely know Flinn. I trust you"

Eglantine returned the hug, enjoying the brief moment of caring about someone. "Thank you, Kiara." she murmured.

Tears came to her eyes as she thought about how much emotional trauma Kiara had gone through with her injuries, the death of her daughter, her divorce, her being related to Voldemort, the constant pressure of her being headmistress of Hogwarts... it was small wonder that she needed to speak to someone about it all. And Eglantine felt honoured that it had been her that Kiara had chosen to confide in, despite the fact that there were few people for Kiara to pick from.

"No, I thank you, you have been so much help these past few weeks. I can't begin to repay you. No matter what happens in the years to come Eglantine you will always have a home at Hogwarts. I will make sure of it"

She smiled softly, dropping her arms to her side. "I suppose in the years to come...you may regret that promise." she quipped. Suddenly serious again, Eglantine continued. "You asked me if I had ever had children and I told you I didn't." she sighed. "I suppose that is not entirely true."

"Oh? what do you mean?" Kiara asked still drying her eyes from all her crying.

"I have always viewed every child I ever taught as a part of me. Through passing on knowledge, wisdom and time to them, I can see a whole new generation start their own families and their own professions. You can as well."

Kiara nodded and gave a small smile.

" Yes I discovered I love teaching, even more then I thought i would, I know it is a bit unconventional for the headmistress to teach but I will be teaching Advanced Spells/Magic on a regualer basis. I think the students who take it will find it interesting. Things never taught at Hogwarts before, non verble and wandless magic, Expecto Patronum and many other things. "

"I can see why you take such pride in it"

"My father told me when I was a child that in order to teach you must have a passion for the subject, a love for those taught and absolutely no sense. But speaking of teaching. I was wondering if I could take the Muggle Studies class permanently along with my Transfiguration classes. I would be able to." Eglantine looked at Kiara hopefully.