Ice Forest - Part 2

-> Thank you Caesar and Zeshan Qamar for supporting me on Ptrn.

Because of the end-of-year festivities, I had to stop writing for a while, but now I'm back to my normal schedule. 

I hope you enjoy the chapter!!!

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The sound of the animal at the entrance to the cave alerted Nathaniel.

It seemed that the two cubs trapped inside the small cage were the offspring of the beast that had attacked the village the previous nights.

However, as he had already used an invisibility spell, the creature didn't notice him.

'A beast wouldn't make such a home in a cave,' he thought.

That's when a new hoarse, dry voice snapped Nathaniel out of his thoughts.

"A failed attack the night before," a gruff voice also sounded from the cave entrance.

An elderly-looking sorcerer in black robes entered just behind the leopard.

"Grrrrr," the beast grunted.

"Your cubs are in my pose, better behave," he said threateningly as he pointed to the cage with the small creatures.

"My ritual is almost complete, after which I will release you and the cubs," he promised.

"I need a few more bodies of witches or half-breeds and I'll get enough to be used as sacrifices," he smiled.

A silver pendant with green ornaments became visible around the old wizard's neck and Nathaniel noticed.

Recognising the symbol the necklace bore in the centre.

'A follower of Aphrodite,' he thought as he recognised the symbol.

The followers of this goddess used rituals with sacrifices to maintain youth and beauty, but few of these cultists still remain.

He remembered some notes he had read about witches who followed these ancient customs.

Followers of Aphrodite are able to stay young and beautiful for much longer than a normal witch, but as seen in this evil witch, the price paid for failing or not performing the ritual is also very high.

If you don't perform the ritual consistently, all of the witch's youth is stripped away, giving him an old, worn-out appearance.

Assessing the situation, Nathaniel decided not to move and attack right now.

He would wait for a better moment.

Because he was also interested in the leopard and its trapped cubs.

"Now get out and go back to collecting bodies from that little village," the old wizard shooed the leopard out of the cave.

This leopard could only look at its two cubs trapped in a cage and decided to follow the witch's orders.

He growled "Grrrrr" and left the cave.

Seeing the leopard leave, the sorcerer laughed. "And she believes I'm going to release you two," he laughed again as he said the words and shook the cage with the two little cubs to scare them off.

Nathaniel watched the situation unfold in silence.

The wizard sat down in a chair and opened some old-looking books to read.

After a few moments, with no sign of the leopard returning and the wizard concentrating on studying the books, Nathaniel decided it was time to act.

Waving his wand, he cast a silent spell to paralyse the wizard.

'Petrificus Totalus', the spell sounded in his mind.

The energy came out of his wand, hitting the back of the Aphrodite-worshipping wizard who was in a weakened and distracted state at the moment, unable to react.

"You're a long way from home, aren't you, my dear chap?" Nathaniel said as he revealed himself and approached.

Nathaniel's sudden appearance also frightened the locked puppies, who began to cry.

"A worshipper of Aphrodite, a rare find," Nathaniel commented. "Few of you who worship the Greek gods are still alive," he added.

As he moved closer to the paralysed sorcerer, Nathaniel noticed the medallion around the sorcerer's neck glowing.

"Protego," he cast the spell in anticipation, knowing that he would be attacked.

The previously paralysed wizard managed to move and cast a spell, "Incinerate", and a wave of red flames came out of his wand.

But as Nathaniel had been quicker, he managed to protect himself in time.

"Glacius," Nathaniel countered.

Freezing the wizard's legs to the ground, preventing him from moving.

"Shit," cursed the sorcerer.

With the sorcerer trapped, it would be easier for Nathaniel to attack him now. "Sectumsempra," he cast the spell.

Seeing a new attack being launched at him and with no time to react with a spell, the wizard used the arm that wasn't controlling the wand to protect himself.

"Ahhhhhhh, you bastard," he cried out in pain as he was hit by the spell and now had a large gash on his arm.

"Expelliarmus," Nathaniel didn't stop, he conjured up another spell that hit the grey witch and made him lose his wand.

"Shit, who are you?" the sorcerer shouted angrily.

"Just someone passing through," Nathaniel commented. "Interesting books," he said as he read the pages of the open books on the table. "These rituals take their toll, don't they?" he said to the wounded and imprisoned sorcerer.

"Release me now, you bastard, I am the Apostle of the Goddess Aphrodite," the sorcerer threatened.

"Oh yes, Mr Apostle, I don't think it's possible to release you right now, I have some questions for you," Nathaniel denied the sorcerer's request.

'Apostle? Interesting,' he thought.

It wasn't his first encounter with someone who followed the beliefs of the Greek gods and many of these witches were extremely fanatical.

But none of them had ever called themselves an apostle.

'Very interesting'

"The village you ordered the beast to attack asked for help," he said. "And I am that help," Nathaniel introduced himself vaguely.

"Damn you, you will suffer the wrath of the Goddess," the sorcerer threatened again.

"Your Goddess can't help you right now," Nathaniel smiled at the weak threat.

The imprisoned sorcerer also laughed, to Nathaniel's puzzlement, who didn't understand why the sorcerer was laughing,

However, the next moment Nathaniel made a small leap to the side.

That's when the claws sliced through where he had been standing before.

The adult leopard had probably returned at the call of its owner and had attacked.

The beast was truly beautiful, but also deadly.

"So that was your hidden letter," Nathaniel said.

"Attack him, you damned beast. Attack it! Now!" the sorcerer ordered the beast.

The leopard leapt forward again with claws and fangs ready to tear Nathaniel apart.

However, a green glow came from the wand. "Avada Kedavra", the death spell hit the beast hard and it fell paralysed and dead to the ground.

It wasn't a spell Nathaniel liked to use a lot because of the side effects, but in these cases it was a spell with great ability to end the fight.

"Noooo... Damn it," the sorcerer who was trapped in the ice shouted. "You bloody bastard," he roared in anger.

With the leopard dead, Nathaniel now had no other worries.

Nor any use for the sorcerer, for just keeping him trapped was a mistake.

He had learnt from his time with Grindelwald that to end a problem, he must eliminate it once and for all.

And so, with a wave of his wand, Nathaniel cast a spell, causing the other wizard to suffer a cut throat and lose his life.

That left only Nathaniel and the leopard cubs alive in the cave.

'They'll be useful,' he thought as he looked at the small beasts.

Casting a spell, he made the two animals sleep peacefully.

As he had no interest in the books studying the Greek gods, he decided to burn everything to eliminate any traces of them on the site.

"Fiendfire," he cast one of the many powerful spells he had learnt from Gellert.

The flames engulfed everything in the cave without leaving a trace behind as he made his way back to the village.

*****

"Nathaniel," Tom called out to his friend when he saw him returning from the frozen forest.

"Tom," Nathaniel greeted back. "Our problem has been solved," he said as he showed his friend the cage with the leopard cubs.

"Tonight your village can sleep in peace," he added.

"Thank you for your help, my friend," Tom thanked Nathaniel.

"I thought I'd leave one of these little ones in your care," Nathaniel said when talking about the cubs. "It could become a nice guard for you when it's grown up."

"Are you sure?" asked Tom. He knew how rare and valuable these beasts could be when sold.

"Of course, I only need one," Nathaniel commented.

Because from the moment he entered the cave, a strange connection with one of the cubs was generated, something like a calling, much like the connection he had with his constellations and he was eager to find out more about it.

Nathaniel kept the cub that had a connection with him and gave the other one to Tom.

"What will you do now?" Tom asked

Nathaniel pondered what he should do. "I'll have to return to Hogwarts, I have some work to complete there and soon the holidays will be over and classes will resume."

"I see, good luck my friend," Tom wished.

*****

{At Hogwarts}

Harry knew that Hermione meant well, but that didn't stop him from being annoyed with his friend. 

He had owned the best broom in the world for a few brief hours.

But now, because of her interference, he didn't know if he would ever get to see the broom again. 

Harry was sure that, at the moment, there was no problem with the Firebolt, but what state would it be in after being subjected to all sorts of anti-witch tests by Professor McGonagall and Professor WinterHeart?

Ron was also furious with Hermione. 

In his opinion, dismantling a brand new Firebolt was nothing less than a criminal act. 

However, Hermione, who remained convinced that she had acted for the good of her friend, began to avoid the common room so as not to come into contact with the two boys.

The two boys assumed she was in the library and didn't try to persuade her to return. 

Their pain at losing their beloved broom was greater than Hermione's absence at the moment.

Harry also had other thoughts on his mind.

Knowing Professor Lupin's condition was one of them, the anger he felt towards Sirius Black for handing his parents over to Voldemort and many other thoughts.

"What is it, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I'll need another broom for the next game," Harry was worried about the Quidditch match, as Gryffindor needed to win to be able to dream of lifting the championship trophy.

"Ask Professor WinterHeart, he's said a few times that he'll help you with this," Ron reminded his friend.

"Right, I'll check with him," Harry agreed with his friend.

While the two boys were talking, someone else entered the common room.

"Hey Harry, did you have a good Christmas?" Oliver, Captain of the Quidditch Team, asked when he noticed the young Gryffindor wizards.

Without waiting for Harry to reply, he sat down, lowered his voice and said. "I've been thinking over Christmas, Harry."

"About what?" Ron cut in.

"After the last match, where you... you... you know," he tried to explain embarrassed. "If the Dementors go to the next match... I mean... we can't afford for you to... well...", Oliver stopped talking, looking embarrassed.

Harry understood what he meant. "I'm already taking care of that" 

"Professor Lupin and Professor WinterHeart promised to teach me how to ward off dementors. We should start studying next week," Harry said.

"That's great," Oliver replied in relief. "Well, in that case... I really didn't want to lose you as a catcher, Harry," he sighed.

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