31st July, 1895 — Hogsmeade-side outskirts of the Forest

Connor might have been part of the problem here in egging this adventure on, but now that they were out past Wellingtonshire and in amongst the thick canopy of trees as twilight darkened into evening, he blamed the Gryffindors. Hutton didn’t like the water, so he couldn’t dare be a chicken about exploring the Forest – and Callum was the oldest, so he couldn’t let them down either. Connor didn’t like the outdoors, but... he needed friends badly, and he, at least, had a quiet, furtive interest in finding the vampire caverns, if they got that far in tonight.

(He didn’t care what Angie thought he was up to, or if she was irate with him – presumably she was busy with her work or her own life. He was old enough to take care of himself, besides.)

Perhaps he should not have read so many horror penny-dreadfuls to drown his sorrows this summer, though, because he was already getting an irrational, sneaking sense that amongst all the falling shadows that they were being watched. “At least it’s not a full moon,” he pointed out with a casual grin, trying to seem cool and relaxed and unbothered.

---

"Do you think this is where the secret werewolves comes? Some of them must, I bet," James said. It was too bad being a werewolf was so terrible in general, because getting to run around the woods as a wolf sounded kind of fun. If his Transfiguration grades weren't depressingly average, he'd consider becoming an animagus. At least that you could control.

---

Charlie was more a leader than a follower, but he also wasn’t one to be deemed a scaredy cat, so of course he had to come along. It had been easy enough to slip out of bed once the house had settled down, and Charlie promised himself he’d be back before anyone knew better. His nose scrunched as he stared at the root that looked too much like a hand twisting out of the ground for his liking. Connor was right - at least they weren't in any danger for werewolves.

“A secret clubhouse would be cool.” Charlie said, turning his eyes toward Callum. “No humans allowed, must howl to enter.” And because he was still childish, he let out a small howl before grinning.

---

Connor nodded his agreement, because wouldn’t be surprised if James was right – the forest already seemed huge, stretching out for miles, and an easy place not to be found.

And he couldn’t help but snicker at Charlie’s howling, even as it startled a bird from its roost somewhere in the canopy above them. Connor managed not to jump at it, but his heart lurched a little anyway – a fun kind of thrill. “Well, there must be something in here that’s dangerous enough to make it forbidden at school, right?” Connor wondered aloud. “So maybe werewolves. Or other things.”

---

"I think there might be vampires," James said, though he couldn't remember where he'd heard that. Possibly it was a conversation he wasn't meant to overhear. Or it just seemed like a spooky, dark forest was the sort of place vampires would hang out. It fit with the theme. "Or hags, I'd bet."

---

Charlie grinned at Connor, because he was right – there had to be a reason why the forest was forbidden to them. When Callum mentioned vampires, his eyes went wide, although more impressed than scared. “Vampires would be cool!” He said, although his nose wrinkled at the idea of hags. “Mum says that hags eat children, but she might’ve just been trying to make me behave.” He wouldn’t put it past her to say that.

Charlie stepped right past the first tree before he looked back at both of them. “There’s only one way we’ll know for sure what’s out there, yeah? Unless you’re both scared.”

---

Connor didn’t say anything about vampires, even if Charlie thought they would be cool. (Cool was all well and good until you found out your friend was a halfbreed, born of one such bloodsucking monster.)

Still, for this reason, he wasn’t scared of vampires. They would know what he was, but they wouldn’t drink his blood. “Oh, hags definitely eat children,” Connor affirmed, matter-of-factly; he had read it in a non-fiction book on magical beings as well as reading many gory accounts in his usual penny dreadfuls. “But Gryffindors aren’t the only people who can be brave,” Connor ribbed, lightly mocking, as he strode up to Charlie and past him, leading them further in. Whether this was confidence, or there was something about fast-walking that somehow made him feel safer, who knew.

---

Charlie made a face at the ribbing, though Connor had already shouldered past him. Typical. “Coming Callum?” He called out over his shoulder, although he wasn’t about to let Connor take the lead without protest, so Charlie quickened his pace too, stomping a bit louder than he meant to.

His hand moved to his side to rest on his wand, although he didn’t dare pull it out; brave people didn’t need to rely on their wand when there was no immediate danger. This was supposed to be fun, he reminded himself. They’d come for fun. “Just wait till one of them mistakes you for a snack.” Charlie hummed. Though if they did run into a hag, Charlie would fight alongside his friends… although he was really hoping they wouldn’t find anything here.

---

"Of course I'm comin'!" James picked up his pace. He was taller than both his friends, it would be embarrassing if he fell behind. Long legs had to be good for something other than tripping over his own feet. "Anyway, I bet we could outrun a hag. They look like ugly old women, don't they?" James had only seen pictures of them in books before, of course, but still. If they looked like old women, maybe the moved like them, too?

---

They were talking loudly enough – and Hutton was stomping all over the place – that they would either scare every creature out of their path before they saw any signs of life, or the creatures would hear them from a mile off. Connor had never tested it explicitly, whether his hearing or eyesight was any better than the next person’s, given his inhuman heritage – he was sure his sense of smell was more sensitive – but he couldn’t decide if he was seeing things in the shadows or hearing things in the distance now, or just imagining them. He thought he had better not ask.

Instead, he snickered at the ludicrous image of a hag, or some ugly old woman, running. “You’d better be able to run faster than her,” he told James, grinning fervently. James was the tallest – so, probably more meat on his bones. “I think she’d pick you for her meal.” Connor had never run a race in his life, or he might have suggested they try now – but he didn’t want to lose.

---

Charlie snorted, trying to look serious but failing miserably. “Don’t worry,” he said to Callum, “We’re both Gryffindors so I know we’re brave. I’d save you from a hag, obviously.” Unless she looked really scary, in which he might have to save him from a distance. Charlie wondered when they’d learn about them at Hogwarts and then how cool it might be to tell the class that he met one and survived.

Then, with a grin, he added, “But if I can’t save you, I’ll tell your mum you were real brave before you got eaten.”

---