Rambling Through the Woods 4
Chapter 4 - So Close
Pansy waited for the horseless carriage to do something about them, but it seemed to have forgotten that it had even stopped for them. Still, they were going in the direction that they wanted to go in once again. Pansy had even taken the chance to do a quick Point Me spell to make sure that they were near Hogwarts. The horseless carriage was heading almost straight towards the castle, only deviating to make its way around trees and other obstructions.
Luna and Puppy were curled up on the seats, sleeping. Luna had assured Pansy that she had trusted the creature they were riding in, telling her that Harry had ridden in it before. ‘Luna puts a lot of stock into Potter,’ Pansy thought before turning her mind back to the horseless carriage. It clearly was magical, as there was enough room for both Luna and Pansy to spread out on the seat with the gytrash curled up in between them. It was bigger on the inside than the outside, and Pansy felt that meant something, if she could only remember what. It was something that a muggleborn student was rambling about before the older students shut her down, Pansy sleepily remembered as her eyes slid shut.
When she woke up again, it was morning and she could tell that they were closer to Hogwarts, as the trees that she could see streaking past the window were not as dense as the trees that they had slogged through earlier on. The gytrash was still sleeping, but Luna was awake and watching out the other window.
“Hello,” the Ravenclaw greeted as Pansy sat up.
“How close to Hogwarts do you think we are?” Pansy asked, wiping her face to try and wake up some more. She felt a pang of sorrow at the state of her makeup; she must look horrible by this point.
“I can see the Whiplogs now; they feed on human emotions, but they always stay at a certain distance from human population,” Luna answered.
“So, we’re fairly close,” Pansy replied, not bothering to protest Luna’s unique way of viewing the world. From the reflection in the window she could see Luna turn and grin at her, but she also ignored that bit of strangeness.
The creature that they were in showed no signs of knowing that they were in its belly, even when the gytrash woke up and started jumping everywhere. It continued moving for most of the morning, taking them closer and closer to Hogwarts.
”It’ll be good to get back,” Luna mused.
“The first thing I’m going to do is take a shower,” Pansy said.
“I’ll have to find my shampoo,” Luna replied.
“Find your shampoo?” Pansy asked, blinking in surprise.
“It was missing this morning, but I’m sure to find it,” Luna answered, blinking in reply. “If not, I’ll only ask the house elves for some more.”
“You know, I could probably teach you a few hexes to protect your things,” Pansy mused to herself more than to Luna. It would have to be in a place where no one would see them together, but it wouldn’t’ take up too much of her time. Most of the hexes were simple to cast even if they made a big impact. Plus, it would be getting one over the Ravenclaws who might have read about the hexes, but haven’t dealt with the actual magic involved in it.
“Really?” Luna blinked in surprise this time. “It doesn’t really bother me that much.”
“I hate it when people try to go through my stuff,” Pansy said, scowling over the fact that the blonde didn’t mind. “It’s my stuff and they don’t have the right to go through it.”
“It always comes back after a while.” Luna shrugged.
“I’m still going to teach you some of those hexes,” Pansy decided. “I’ll apply them to your trunk myself, if I have to. It’s your stuff, Lovegood, they shouldn’t have access to it.”
“Thank you,” Luna replied.
“Yeah, well.” Pansy shrugged as she realized what she had agreed to. “I can’t stand people like that.”
“We’re getting close,” Luna said as she peered out of the window.
Pansy had actually squealed when she spotted Hogwart’s highest tower poking through the trees. Luna clapped her hands together in delight as she also spotted the tower and Puppy began leaping everywhere once more, feeding off of their excitement.
This time it seemed as though the creature did notice that it was carrying them around, because it stopped and opened up. Its insides seemed to shrug and Pansy, Luna, and Puppy all tumbled out onto the ground. Before Pansy could curse the creature for their abrupt release, the creature sped away; looping around and heading back into the forest.
“At least we can see Hogwarts from here,” Pansy grumbled as she brushed herself off.
Luna perked up, looking over into another clearing. “This way,” she exclaimed as she darted forward.
“Hey, wait up,” Pansy called as she followed after the Ravenclaw and the gytrash. When she finally made it into the clearing, Luna was standing in the middle of the clearing, petting thin air. “What are you doing?”
“Petting a thestral,” Luna answered as she continued to pet thin air.
Pansy gave her a doubtful look; she knew that thestrals were invisible to anyone who hadn’t seen death, and she hadn’t seen death, but she couldn’t hear anything. Still, Luna did seem to be petting something, even if it was thin air. Puppy also seemed to think that something was in the clearing, as he bounced around in large spaces.
So, Pansy held her hands out as she stepped forward, being cautious until she hit something solid. It vaguely felt like the thestral she had petted in care of medical creatures, so she accepted the fact that it was a thestral. “The thestral clearing is close to Hogwarts, right?” Pansy asked.
“We just need to follow that pathway,” Luna said, as she nodded towards the other end of the clearing.
“Really? Then what are we waiting for?” Pansy asked as she perked up. She took a cautious step to the side and ran into another thestral.
“I always take the time to visit the thestrals,” Luna answered, her voice sounding dreamy as usual. “Aren’t they pretty?”
“They look like trees to me,” Pansy answered.
“Really?” Pansy could see Luna blink and peer closer at the thestral she was petting. “It doesn’t really look like a tree to me.”
“That’s because you can actually see the thestrals,” Pansy snarked back.
“You can’t?” Luna continued to blink in confusion.
“Not all Slytherins are murders, you know,” Pansy replied.
“I never said that they were,” Luna answered and left it like that. She looked over to where Pansy was trying to cautiously move her way through the herd of thestrals that surrounded her. “They like you.”
“Yeah, I like them, too,” Pansy grumbled as she stumbled over both a thestral and Puppy.
“Would you like some help?” Luna offered. She left her thestral and deftly maneuvered through the herd to get to Pansy’s side.
“Everywhere I turn I keep running into the stupid things,” Pansy explained, and glared at a nearby tree.
“They like you,” Luna repeated. She had only seen them react this way to a few people: herself, Hagrid, and Harry. “I think they wish that you could see them.”
“Oh right, I’ll just go out and watch someone die, shall I?” Pansy sarcastically asked.
“They can’t help being tied to death,” Luna scolded. She grabbed Pansy’s hand and started walking. “This way.”
“And I can’t help it that I’ve never seen someone die,” Pansy replied. She still kept running into the thestrals, even with Luna’s help, but it was definitely better than trying to go through on her own.
The thestrals seemed to follow them across the clearing and down the path, though Pansy wasn’t exactly sure why. Things started to look familiar to her, though, while they walked down the pathway. Luna seemed to have a clear idea of where they were, but Pansy never really had much contact with the Forbidden Forest. She preferred to stay out of the forest and had only gone in when Care of Magical Creatures required it.
But, as the pathway got closer to the Hogwarts, Pansy recognized the other clearings that they had been dragged to for class. And through the tree tops, they could see the other towers of the castle, rather than just the tallest one.
Pansy increased her pace when she saw how close to the castle they were, but Luna was the one who started running. The girl was laughing in delight and her hair streamed behind her. Puppy started running after Luna and Pansy found herself joining them. Even the thestrals picked up their pace - their hoof beats echoed back oddly from the trees.
They broke through the tree line, not into another clearing, but onto actual Hogwarts grounds. The castle towered up ahead of them and Pansy laughed in relief. “We did it!” she exclaimed.
“We’re alive!” Luna replied, looking as relieved as Pansy felt.
Everything was looking up and then the thestrals took off. Pansy couldn’t’ see them, but she could hear their panic and she felt the breeze that they made when they swooped past her.
Luna was watching the thestrals, but Pansy started to scan the area around them. Thus, she was the first one to see the werewolf. “Luna!” she called out, her voice shrill, “Run!”
Pansy started running, too slow. She grabbed Luna’s hand as she passed the Ravenclaw - it’s going to get us! And they were running as fast as they could towards the school. We’re not going to make it.
Just as that through rushed through Pansy’s head, the werewolf jumped over them, turning as soon as it landed to bare its teeth at them. Pansy and Luna skidded to a stop and stared at the werewolf in horror. But, instead of attacking them, the werewolf did another impossible thing. The werewolf transformed back into a human.
Pansy and Luna were paralyzed with fear and an overwhelming sense that this shouldn’t be possible. Werewolves can’t be transformed in the daylight and they definitely shouldn’t be able to control their transformation, Pansy wildly thought to herself.
They were so caught up in the sight of the werewolf, which was why the voice startled them. Pansy didn’t catch the unexpected word the first time, but she knew what it had been when Luna collapsed. She caught the word the second time, though, turning just in time to see the red flash of the stunning spell before everything went black.
Chapter 5
Pansy waited for the horseless carriage to do something about them, but it seemed to have forgotten that it had even stopped for them. Still, they were going in the direction that they wanted to go in once again. Pansy had even taken the chance to do a quick Point Me spell to make sure that they were near Hogwarts. The horseless carriage was heading almost straight towards the castle, only deviating to make its way around trees and other obstructions.
Luna and Puppy were curled up on the seats, sleeping. Luna had assured Pansy that she had trusted the creature they were riding in, telling her that Harry had ridden in it before. ‘Luna puts a lot of stock into Potter,’ Pansy thought before turning her mind back to the horseless carriage. It clearly was magical, as there was enough room for both Luna and Pansy to spread out on the seat with the gytrash curled up in between them. It was bigger on the inside than the outside, and Pansy felt that meant something, if she could only remember what. It was something that a muggleborn student was rambling about before the older students shut her down, Pansy sleepily remembered as her eyes slid shut.
When she woke up again, it was morning and she could tell that they were closer to Hogwarts, as the trees that she could see streaking past the window were not as dense as the trees that they had slogged through earlier on. The gytrash was still sleeping, but Luna was awake and watching out the other window.
“Hello,” the Ravenclaw greeted as Pansy sat up.
“How close to Hogwarts do you think we are?” Pansy asked, wiping her face to try and wake up some more. She felt a pang of sorrow at the state of her makeup; she must look horrible by this point.
“I can see the Whiplogs now; they feed on human emotions, but they always stay at a certain distance from human population,” Luna answered.
“So, we’re fairly close,” Pansy replied, not bothering to protest Luna’s unique way of viewing the world. From the reflection in the window she could see Luna turn and grin at her, but she also ignored that bit of strangeness.
The creature that they were in showed no signs of knowing that they were in its belly, even when the gytrash woke up and started jumping everywhere. It continued moving for most of the morning, taking them closer and closer to Hogwarts.
”It’ll be good to get back,” Luna mused.
“The first thing I’m going to do is take a shower,” Pansy said.
“I’ll have to find my shampoo,” Luna replied.
“Find your shampoo?” Pansy asked, blinking in surprise.
“It was missing this morning, but I’m sure to find it,” Luna answered, blinking in reply. “If not, I’ll only ask the house elves for some more.”
“You know, I could probably teach you a few hexes to protect your things,” Pansy mused to herself more than to Luna. It would have to be in a place where no one would see them together, but it wouldn’t’ take up too much of her time. Most of the hexes were simple to cast even if they made a big impact. Plus, it would be getting one over the Ravenclaws who might have read about the hexes, but haven’t dealt with the actual magic involved in it.
“Really?” Luna blinked in surprise this time. “It doesn’t really bother me that much.”
“I hate it when people try to go through my stuff,” Pansy said, scowling over the fact that the blonde didn’t mind. “It’s my stuff and they don’t have the right to go through it.”
“It always comes back after a while.” Luna shrugged.
“I’m still going to teach you some of those hexes,” Pansy decided. “I’ll apply them to your trunk myself, if I have to. It’s your stuff, Lovegood, they shouldn’t have access to it.”
“Thank you,” Luna replied.
“Yeah, well.” Pansy shrugged as she realized what she had agreed to. “I can’t stand people like that.”
“We’re getting close,” Luna said as she peered out of the window.
Pansy had actually squealed when she spotted Hogwart’s highest tower poking through the trees. Luna clapped her hands together in delight as she also spotted the tower and Puppy began leaping everywhere once more, feeding off of their excitement.
This time it seemed as though the creature did notice that it was carrying them around, because it stopped and opened up. Its insides seemed to shrug and Pansy, Luna, and Puppy all tumbled out onto the ground. Before Pansy could curse the creature for their abrupt release, the creature sped away; looping around and heading back into the forest.
“At least we can see Hogwarts from here,” Pansy grumbled as she brushed herself off.
Luna perked up, looking over into another clearing. “This way,” she exclaimed as she darted forward.
“Hey, wait up,” Pansy called as she followed after the Ravenclaw and the gytrash. When she finally made it into the clearing, Luna was standing in the middle of the clearing, petting thin air. “What are you doing?”
“Petting a thestral,” Luna answered as she continued to pet thin air.
Pansy gave her a doubtful look; she knew that thestrals were invisible to anyone who hadn’t seen death, and she hadn’t seen death, but she couldn’t hear anything. Still, Luna did seem to be petting something, even if it was thin air. Puppy also seemed to think that something was in the clearing, as he bounced around in large spaces.
So, Pansy held her hands out as she stepped forward, being cautious until she hit something solid. It vaguely felt like the thestral she had petted in care of medical creatures, so she accepted the fact that it was a thestral. “The thestral clearing is close to Hogwarts, right?” Pansy asked.
“We just need to follow that pathway,” Luna said, as she nodded towards the other end of the clearing.
“Really? Then what are we waiting for?” Pansy asked as she perked up. She took a cautious step to the side and ran into another thestral.
“I always take the time to visit the thestrals,” Luna answered, her voice sounding dreamy as usual. “Aren’t they pretty?”
“They look like trees to me,” Pansy answered.
“Really?” Pansy could see Luna blink and peer closer at the thestral she was petting. “It doesn’t really look like a tree to me.”
“That’s because you can actually see the thestrals,” Pansy snarked back.
“You can’t?” Luna continued to blink in confusion.
“Not all Slytherins are murders, you know,” Pansy replied.
“I never said that they were,” Luna answered and left it like that. She looked over to where Pansy was trying to cautiously move her way through the herd of thestrals that surrounded her. “They like you.”
“Yeah, I like them, too,” Pansy grumbled as she stumbled over both a thestral and Puppy.
“Would you like some help?” Luna offered. She left her thestral and deftly maneuvered through the herd to get to Pansy’s side.
“Everywhere I turn I keep running into the stupid things,” Pansy explained, and glared at a nearby tree.
“They like you,” Luna repeated. She had only seen them react this way to a few people: herself, Hagrid, and Harry. “I think they wish that you could see them.”
“Oh right, I’ll just go out and watch someone die, shall I?” Pansy sarcastically asked.
“They can’t help being tied to death,” Luna scolded. She grabbed Pansy’s hand and started walking. “This way.”
“And I can’t help it that I’ve never seen someone die,” Pansy replied. She still kept running into the thestrals, even with Luna’s help, but it was definitely better than trying to go through on her own.
The thestrals seemed to follow them across the clearing and down the path, though Pansy wasn’t exactly sure why. Things started to look familiar to her, though, while they walked down the pathway. Luna seemed to have a clear idea of where they were, but Pansy never really had much contact with the Forbidden Forest. She preferred to stay out of the forest and had only gone in when Care of Magical Creatures required it.
But, as the pathway got closer to the Hogwarts, Pansy recognized the other clearings that they had been dragged to for class. And through the tree tops, they could see the other towers of the castle, rather than just the tallest one.
Pansy increased her pace when she saw how close to the castle they were, but Luna was the one who started running. The girl was laughing in delight and her hair streamed behind her. Puppy started running after Luna and Pansy found herself joining them. Even the thestrals picked up their pace - their hoof beats echoed back oddly from the trees.
They broke through the tree line, not into another clearing, but onto actual Hogwarts grounds. The castle towered up ahead of them and Pansy laughed in relief. “We did it!” she exclaimed.
“We’re alive!” Luna replied, looking as relieved as Pansy felt.
Everything was looking up and then the thestrals took off. Pansy couldn’t’ see them, but she could hear their panic and she felt the breeze that they made when they swooped past her.
Luna was watching the thestrals, but Pansy started to scan the area around them. Thus, she was the first one to see the werewolf. “Luna!” she called out, her voice shrill, “Run!”
Pansy started running, too slow. She grabbed Luna’s hand as she passed the Ravenclaw - it’s going to get us! And they were running as fast as they could towards the school. We’re not going to make it.
Just as that through rushed through Pansy’s head, the werewolf jumped over them, turning as soon as it landed to bare its teeth at them. Pansy and Luna skidded to a stop and stared at the werewolf in horror. But, instead of attacking them, the werewolf did another impossible thing. The werewolf transformed back into a human.
Pansy and Luna were paralyzed with fear and an overwhelming sense that this shouldn’t be possible. Werewolves can’t be transformed in the daylight and they definitely shouldn’t be able to control their transformation, Pansy wildly thought to herself.
They were so caught up in the sight of the werewolf, which was why the voice startled them. Pansy didn’t catch the unexpected word the first time, but she knew what it had been when Luna collapsed. She caught the word the second time, though, turning just in time to see the red flash of the stunning spell before everything went black.
Chapter 5