24 Forbidden Forest

Standing at the entrance of the forbidden forest, reminded me of why the forest is off-limits. I can tell just from the look of the forest that is old and unconquered by civilization. Enormous trees as far as the eye could see tower over the ground, their branches and leaves so thick that hardly any sunlight makes it to the bottom. It was almost like the forest was created to be foreboding.

Seeing how unconcerned Athena was acting about our voyage into the forest made me feel slightly better about not bringing anyone with me. Hopping on my broom, I took off with Athena following closely behind. Unfortunately, flying in a forest doesn't allow for fast speed on a broomstick, but it was better than trudging through the forest on the ground.

Right before we entered the forest, I stopped and pulled out my wand, letting it rest in the palm of my hand. I chanted, "Requiro Fortitudo," while concentrating on my ring. My wand turned to the south, and I told Athena, "At least we know what direction to head."

It was slow going through the forest, and every few minutes, I would pause and recast the seeking spell and check the map. Luckily, we seemed to be heading away from the giant spiders, which is a great relief. As I was checking the map, all of a sudden, the hair on the back of my neck rose, and I could feel something's eyes watching me.

Athena's hackles rose, and her body began to slowly vibrate as she hissed a warning so loud that it scattered all of the animals in the area. Afterward, the feeling of being watched slipped away. Feeling something watching me was unnerving, but what was even more disturbing was knowing something was watching me but not being able to see what it was.

After a few tense minutes of scanning the forest, I recast the seeking spell and moved on. Luckily, after about 15 more minutes of flying, my wand began slowly rotating to the right. A burst of excitement shot through me; I was close; I could feel it.

Deciding I needed to narrow the area down; I continued flying and noting when my wand changed directions. Eventually, I was able to pinpoint the general area and had mapped out a large circle where the ring should be. Luckily, the area had a small creek with a unique bend in it, which let me find where I was on the map.

Studying the map closely, I was glad that there didn't appear to have any markings warning me of anything in the area. However, I couldn't help but think I was missing something. After pondering the issue for a few minutes, I decided to put it out of mind and focus on trying to find my ring.

After landing on the ground, I started carefully searching the ground, knowing that whatever was keeping my ring trapped was most likely magical in origin. As I wandered through the area, I couldn't get over the silence, a forest should be alive, but this area was as quiet as a cemetery.

Just as I was about to give up and head back for the day, I noticed an entrance to a cave hiding behind large rocks jutting out from the ground. The entrance wasn't very big, but with my size, I didn't think I would have any problems.

Still, the sight of that hole filled me with concern. I've seen how this plays out before in books I've read. No good can ever be found from going into a creepy cave in the middle of a deserted forest.

Knowing my options were either to give up on my ring or to take a quick look in the cave. As I started mentally weighing my options, the urge to explore the cave began building within me. Trying to psyche myself up, I took a deep breath and whispered, "Come on, you've got this. This is how all great adventures start; no stupid cave is going to stop me from reclaiming what's mine. Besides, what's the worst that could happen."

Athena shot me a look that seemed to say, "WTF. did you just say, are you nuts?"

Holding my wand aloft, I chanted, "Lumos."

Bright white light shot out of my wand, chasing away the darkness and illuminating the cave entrance. Moving forward and not waiting to see if Athena would follow, I called out, "Are you coming?"

Athena let out a sigh, leaped onto my shoulder, wrapping her tail around my throat protectively. Not far into the cave and it started descending deep within the earth. Eventually, the cave tunnel opened unto a large cavern underground.

Moving into the cavern, I saw that there were multiple tunnels leading to the cavern. I could feel the faintest touch of air moving against my skin, indicating that at least one of the other tunnels also went to the surface. On the far side of the cavern was a door carved into the stone.

Curious about what could possibly be down here, I carefully made my way closer. My first impression of the doorway was how old it was. Above the doorway, "Evincam Mortem" was an inscription branded into the ancient stone, I was pretty sure it was in Latin, but I couldn't be sure.

Annoyed that I wasn't able to understand the inscription, I decided to put learning how to understand Latin on my to-do list. Athena growled softly, reminding me that this was not the place to dawdle.

Walking through the entrance, I discovered that the hallway lead to an open area cluttered with old smashed debris everywhere. The open area was circular in nature and had a few more doors leading deeper within. As soon as I entered, torches on the wall lit up, freezing me in my tracks.

After a minute of no further activity, I let out the breath that I was holding. Whispering softy to Athena, "What door do you think we should choose."

Athena nodded her head to the door to my right. I shrugged and said, "Why not."

Crossing the room was slow going as I didn't want to disturb any of the cluttered material on the ground. By the time I made it to the door, my nerves were starting to become frayed with sweat pouring down my face and my heart pounding.

I slowly opened the door. The hinges started to creak loud enough to wake the dead, panicking, I quickly pointed my wand at the door and whispered furiously, "Silencio."

At once, the noise vanished, and once again, I froze as I strained my ears, listening for any response to the noise that was made. Satisfied that there was nothing, I made my way into the closed room.

At first glance, the room was covered in a film of thick dust, indicating that no one had been in the room for many years. Something about the dust bothered me, like a itch I couldn't scratch. Unable to figure it out, I brought my attention back to the room. It looked like an ancient study of some sort.

Along the wall were shelves that contained a multitude of objects, some were mundane, like ancient tomes, but other objects were strange and sinister looking. There were even some jars of liquid that looked like they contained weird-looking organs.

Creeped out, I turned my attention from the shelves to the desk. There was a book that was opened and written in the same script as the inscription above the entrance. It looked like a journal or logbook of some kind, whoever was writing in it appeared to have stopped mid-sentence.

While I was examining the notebook, I heard a sound that chilled my blood. It sounded like stone grinding against stone. Tucking the journal safely within my robes, I backed out of the room and shut the door.

It was at this moment; I figured out what was bothering me about the dust. That room was full of dust, indicating no one had been in there for ages. But in the main room, even though there were broken materials everywhere, I didn't see any dust, which indicated that someone… or something had been living down here.

While giving the circular room another look, the mess inside appeared to me in a different light. The way all the crap was strewn about was almost nest-like. A sinking feeling began developing within my stomach.

Mentally chastising myself, 'I knew this was a bad idea, stupid, stupid, stupid. But no, I just had to explore a creepy hole in the middle of a forbidden forest.'

Deciding that this train of thought was unproductive, I started moving, before I got halfway across the room, I heard a raspy voice softly plead from behind one of the doors, "Succuro me, Seccuro me."

Freezing in place, unsure of what was said, it sounded desperate. Deciding I needed more information; I called out, "Whose there."

Silence answered me for a moment, then the voice pleaded slightly louder, but in what sounded like a different language, "Voithíste me."

Quickly realizing that he was speaking in a new language to see if I understood, I started sounding off in different languages. After trying out French and Spanish and not achieving anything, I tried speaking in Arabic.

As soon as I started speaking in Arabic, the raspy voice on the other side of the door excitedly responded, "Help me!, I've been trapped inside for ages."

While I was glad that we finally had a common language, I was still rather suspicious of the voice coming from the door, so I demanded, "Who are you, and how long have you been down here."

In a helpless tone, the faceless voice replied, "My name is Octavius Maximus, and as for how long I've been down here. I have no idea, I've been asleep most of the time, being trapped in a room behind an enchantment can be rather boring."

Wanting to put a face to the voice, I opened the door slowly, wand at the ready. As the door swung open, it revealed a rather large room even bigger than the nest area. In the very center of the room was a tall, skeletal, black-haired man. His skin was so pale white as if it had never been touched by the sun's burning rays, and his eyes were pitch black. Hanging off his skin was dark tattered robes that looked ready to fall apart. Oh ya, and he had fangs.

Thankfully, Octavius was sitting on what looked like a stone sarcophagus that looked like it was trapped behind some enchantment of some sort. The carving on the floor reminded me of the spells that isolated the area where my dad tested new enchantments.

Watching him warily, I accused him, "You're a vampire."

A shocked look appeared on his face, and he cried out sarcastically, "I'm am? Are you sure?"

My left eye started twitching in annoyance, and I decided that maybe the cranky, sarcastic vampire needed some more alone time. So I quickly turned and left the room, shutting the door behind me.

Octavius cried out, "Wait! I'm sorry, I was just having a bit of fun. It has been ages since I've had someone intelligent to speak with."

Deciding he learned his lesson, I reopened the door and made my way inside. On the stone floor surrounding him was a series of circles branded into stone. They looked somewhat similar to the spells my father used to isolate an area where he could experiment safely. The spells trapping him made me feel secure enough to get closer.

When Octavius saw me eye the enchantment a wicked look appeared on his face, crooned softly, he said, "You know, I'm the last person you should be afraid of, I can't get in or out of this circle. What you really should be concerned about is what else has been living down here."

His statement made me nervous, as it only confirmed my suspicion that something indeed was living in down here. Trying not show worry on my face. I sneered back at him, and coolly responded, "I'm not scared of anything down here, whatever is lives down here should be frightened of me." To reinforce my point, I waved my wand.

A sly smile appeared on his face, and he replied with fake adoration, "I see young master, I didn't realize you were such a powerful wizard. Since your such a powerful wizard, would you mind freeing me."

Rolling my eyes at his antics and trying not to get too annoyed at him for underestimating me. Afterall in his viewpoint, I was a young wizard, just getting started. Trying to get back his other point, I asked, "What creature lives down here?"

His smile died away, and fear and anger took its place, and he bitterly replied, "It doesn't have a name. But I can tell you; it used to be a wizard."

Needing more information, I asked, "What do mean that it used to be a wizard."

Sighing helplessly, the vampire replied bitterly, "It was a wizard by the name of Tatius, he trapped me here long ago. While I was trapped, he experimented on me; he was obsessed with eternal life. I offered to turn him, but he rejected my offer, saying that there were too many downsides to being turned. He said he was going to create a better version of immortality. One day, he said he was finally finished and that he was finished with his work. He even promised to free me when he was done. I'm not sure what went wrong, but the next time I saw him, he was off. It's hard to explain, but he seemed wrong somehow. Over the next few days, he slowly turned into a monstrous creature and lost his humanity and his intelligence. Soon, he was no smarter than an animal, and I've been trapped ever since."

Wanting more information, I asked, "Was he a teacher at Hogwarts?"

Octavius turned his head in confusion and asked, "What could someone teach about a wart on the flesh of swine?"

After puzzling over Octavius's strange response, I came to a sudden realization. He predates Hogwarts! That means he has been locked down here for over a thousand years. Wanting to confirm my suspicion, I questioned. "Have you ever heard about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

Seeing him shake his head made me wince. I really didn't want to be the one to break it to him that he had been trapped for at least a thousand years. Sighing heavily, I asked, "What year were you captured?"

Raising an eyebrow at my question, Octavius replied, "I believe it was the year 709. Why? What year is it now, I expect it has been at least several decades."

Hmmm. How do you break it to someone, that they had spent close to 1300 hundred years trapped in a small room? Deciding to dive right in and just tell him, I said, "It's 1989, it has been almost thirteen hundred years since you've been in here."

Hearing my response Octavius's face went blank for a moment as he struggled to comprehend just how long he had been stuck in here. After a few moments of silence, an intense look of rage appeared on his face, and he shouted, "THOSE LITTLE BASTARDS! HOW DARE THEY LET ME STEW IN HERE FOR THAT LONG. I COULD HAVE FORGIVEN A CENTURY OR TWO BUT THIRTEEN HUNDRED YEARS. DAMN THEM."

After a few more minutes of creative cursing, Octavius seemed to run out of steam, and he shot me a look of despair. Wondering who he was mad at, so I asked, "Who are you cursing?"

Anger reappeared on his face, and he snarled, "My faithless progeny. They have had more than enough time to find me, the fact that I remain trapped only means that they are fine with me being out of the way."

Curious I asked, "What if they just think you're dead."

Snorting at my question, Octavius scathingly replied, "Every vampire can feel whether their maker is still alive."

Hearing his response piqued my curiosity and I made a mental note to learn everything I could about vampires. Always interested in learning new information, started drafting questions to throw at Octavius. But, before we could continue our conversation, Octavius froze, and Athena snarled violently.

Eyes panicking, Octavius whispered, "Run boy, the beast is coming back from its hunt. Your no match for it."

While Octavius urging didn't worry me, Athena's response did, I don't think I've ever seen her more upset. While turning to make a run for it, Octavius called out, "Don't come back until after the next full moon, the beast leaves for a hunt for a few days every full moon. That's the only time its safe to come down here."

Not wanting to slow down to respond, I simply nodded while running out of the room. Carefully making my way through the next in the outer room. When I made it back to the cavern, I whispered "Lumos." Seeing the tunnel I came in from, I made a run for it. Thankfully, I made it safely to the tunnel, and I started running for the surface. But, when I had made it about halfway to the exit, I heard a roar coming deep within the cavern Whatever it was, it knew something had been inside its home."

The roar only increased my pace, and by the time I made it the exit, I could hear it coming up the tunnel I used. As soon as I exited the cave, found my broom and took off into the sky. When I made it to the top of the trees I paused and turned around wanting to get a good luck at whatever was chasing me.

At the entrance of the cave, the beast stopped and remained in the shadows; it seemed to sense that I had escaped from its clutches. However, I could feel malevolent eyes upon me, watching, waiting to see if I would return.

Deciding not to chance it, I headed back to the Ravenclaw tower; this had been enough excitement for one day.

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Author's note.

Alright guys, I want to head off what I know a few of you might mention. Going into the forest and cave alone isn't the smartest thing to do, so why would Alex who is suppose to be really smart, do something so stupid. First off, while he has read about others doing stupid things and should really know better, deep down he craves an adventure just like in all of the stories he's read, plus he is very young you can warn someone about danger all you want, but the burned hand teaches best. Next, the vampires, So their is almost no lore about them in the Harry Potter books except for a few hints like the blood flavored lolly pops and briefly a few other time. This implies that they have a place in magical society, so I will be exploring the vampire world throughout the story. Also, there is a ton of myths and ideas about vampires, and I will use some of it, but I will also leave other stuff out. So bear with me. Finally, The beast, Before anyone ask, No the creature is not a werewolf, I know its a suspicious that it hunts around the new moon, but that is only a coincidence. As for what it is.... that would be telling... 😁😁😁