Chapter Six

The Forbidden Forest

“Welcome, students. Today, we are learning to perform the Vermillious charm. There are

three version of the this charm: Vermillious Uno, Vermillious Duo, and Vermillious Tria, each

one more powerful than the last. I am going to teach you the first for a few days, then we’ll learn

Vermillious Duo. This charm produces red sparks from the tip of your wand and can be used in

dueling or for other things. In your case, this will be particularly useful to know in case of an

emergency, where you can use the red sparks to signal for help. Of course, the Periculum charm

is much better for that, but that is a slightly more difficult magic that you will not learn until

second year. Now, I’ve lined up four dummies across the room. Que up, and take turns

attempting to cast the spell on the dummy. Be careful of where you point your wand. I don’t

want anyone to get hurt.”

Professor Horthwrite quickly teaches the class the proper pronunciation of the incantation

and the wand movement, then lets them line up in front of the dummies. Dahlia and Scorpius end

up in one line while Albus and Luka end up in the next. Luka notices Ardeo glaring at him and

Albus from the next line over.

The first time Albus tries, he elicits an impressive string of red sparks from his wand,

although they don’t go quite far enough to reach the dummy.

“Wonderful work, Mr. Potter,” Professor Horthwrite says encouragingly. Luka can

almost feel the discontent ebbing from Ardeo.

 Luka attempts the spell, and gets similar results as Albus, who he joins in the back of the

line afterward. They talk excitedly about the task, both eager to try again. Once they get their

chance, Albus does even better than last time, his sparks grazing the dummy.

“Just a bit closer, Mr. Potter,” the professor says.

Albus’ third attempt yields amazing results. His sparks are bright, powerful, hot, and

wrap around the dummy, causing it to shiver and slightly burn.

“Excellent, Potter, excellent!” Professor Vanderway exclaims.

Luka barely has time to comprehend what happens next. All he sees is a flash of red light

speed through the air from his right and directly hit Albus in the chest. Albus yells, shivering just

like all the dummies did when struck with the spell. The spell subsides and Albus is left

pale-faced and shocked.

“Professor!” Luka yells, but Professor Horthwrite is already on his way.

“What happened?” he asks in a more urgent voice than Luka has ever heard from him. He

doesn’t quite know how to answer the question until he sees Ardeo standing, his eyes wide with

defense but his lips slightly curled into an almost undetectable grin.

“​Someone h​ it Albus with their spell.”

“Are you okay, Mr. Potter?”

Albus nods.

“Do you need to go to the hospital wing?”

“No, I’m fine. Just scared me, is all.”

Professor Horthwrite nods and then looks around.

“Who hit Albus?”

 To Luka’s surprise, Ardeo steps forward.

“I’m sorry, Professor, it was me. I lost control of my wand.”

Professor Vanderway looks stern, but not angry.

“Mr. Ephraim, please keep your wand in control from here on out.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And five points from Gryffindor for your potentially dangerous lack of coordination.”

Despite the points taken and the insult to his skill, Ardeo looks at Albus and Luka as

though he’s won. His smug look makes Luka want to kill him.

After classes end that day, Scorpius, Luka, Dahlia, and Albus sit together in the common

room.

“I can’t believe he did that to you, Albus. Teasing is one thing, but assault is even worse.

Why didn’t you tell Professor Horthwrite that he did it on purpose?”

“Because he wouldn’t believe me,” Albus says, shrugging. “I had no proof. Plus, there’s

no point in trying to fight against him. If we just ignore him maybe he’ll stop.”

“No, definitely not. Once a prick, always a prick. We need to get back at him.”

“Scorpius, no,” Albus protests.

“Scorpius is right,” Dahlia says. That sentence is enough for Albus, Luka, and Scorpius

himself to snap their heads up and look at Dahlia incredulously.

“What?” she asks defensively.

“I’ve never heard you say that,” Luka laughs.

“Especially about something like this,” Albus adds. Dahlia smiles.

 “Yeah, I guess not. That’s because Scorpius is an idiot ninety percent of the time but a

genius the other ten percent.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Scorpius laughs. “I’m glad you agree with me. What do you think we

should to do him?”

“You’re not doing ​anything t​ o him!” Albus exclaims. “We’re only going to get in

trouble.”

“That’s what this school is for,” Luka says, surprising himself with his own words.

“Getting into trouble.”

After an evening full of planning, Albus, Scorpius, Dahlia, and Luka set out for classes

the next day, full of confidence. When they get to Potions, they continually make eye contact

with each other, waiting for the right moment. Professor Slughorn puts them into partners--

Albus and Dahlia are paired, then Scorpius and Luka. He tells them to take a table, and Scorpius

and Luka make sure to get the same one as Ardeo. Albus and Dahlia are only one table away.

They get started, and as they work, Scorpius drinks out of a clear bottle of water. He

makes sure Pravus sees him drink at least a few times. Then, he hides the bottle under the table

and Luka tries not to look as he pours the pink powder into the water. Without attracting any

attention, he whispers a spell that turns the pink water clear again, and puts it back on the table.

He looks at Dahlia, who nods discreetly and whispers her own spell, pointing her wand at

Pravus.

The effects are immediate. Ardeo smacks his lips, a confused look on his face.

“God, my mouth is so dry.”

His partner doesn’t say anything, but Ardeo only gets worse.
 “No, seriously,” he says, his speech slightly hindered. “It’s really dry. I need some water,

now.”

To Albus, Dahlia, Scorpius, and Luka’s fear, Ardeo starts to leave his table to get water

outside of the classroom. But Scorpius saves the plan by saying, “Hey mate, here’s some water.”

“I don’t want to drink yours, you-” but Ardeo’s words don’t come anymore. He coughs,

clutching at his throat, and takes the water with utmost contempt. He down almost all of it,

sighing happily once it’s gone.

“You’re welcome,” Scorpius says, hardly containing his smile. Ardeo frowns and gets

back to work.

` This is when Luka starts to panic. The powder in the water is slow-acting, but he doesn’t

know if it’s slow-acting enough. It’ll probably happen in this class period, and Ardeo and anyone

else who noticed his dry-mouth frenzy will definitely suspect the guy who gave him water.

Nothing else would make sense. Luka’s heart races, wishing they had filled in this hole in their

plan, which now seemed ridiculously risky.

His thoughts are interrupted when he sees the first enormous pimple sprout right on the

tip of Ardeo’s nose. Some of Luka’s panic leaves at the hilarity, but it comes back when

everyone in the class starts staring-- and laughing-- at Ardeo. The pimples spread all across his

cheeks, forehead, and chin. Smaller pimples crawl down his neck and under his robes. Ardeo is

yelling, touching his red face with horror.

“Mr. Ephraim, what happened to you?” Professor Slughorn asks, walking over to the

table.
 “I don’t know, I just-- wait. It was you!” he points at Scorpius. “You gave me that water.

I bet you made my mouth dry, too! I knew something was strange about that. What did you put

in there, huh?”

Scorpius is stammering, trying to save himself, but nothing intelligible comes out.

Meanwhile, Ardeo continues to throw accusations.

“Your Potter friend probably helped you, didn’t he?”

That’s when Luka steps in.

“Albus didn’t help him. It was me. I messed with the water. Scorpius didn’t do anything,

either.”

Ardeo starts yelling about how Scorpius had to have helped, but Luka is now listening to

Professor Slughorn.

“Mr. Jones, Mr. Malfoy, is this true?”

“Yes, I’m sorry Professor. I did it. Scorpius did nothing,” Luka says, but Ardeo interrupts

him.

“Professor Slughorn, I ​know ​the Malfoy kid was in on it. It was his water bottle. He

wouldn’t mess with his own friends’ water.”

“Well, Mr. Ephraim, you make a good point. Mr. Jones, Mr. Malfoy, I do not appreciate

you interrupting my class. Go see Professor McGonagall and she will sort this all out.

Meanwhile, I advise you to not cause a scene like this again. Out you go.”

Scorpius and Luka walk out of the classroom shamefully, Albus and Dahlia staring at

them thankfully as they leave. Luka may have saved them, but every step he takes towards

Professor McGonagall’s office brings more regret for his decision. Why did he sacrifice himself
for them? Technically, he didn’t even do anything, he just helped them plan it. He could have

gotten away with no punishment. A stone of anxiety weighs in his chest as he imagines what

Professor McGonagall is going to do to them.

Finally, after a particularly maze-like journey through the castle, Scorpius and Luka reach

the gargoyle that leads to the office. They scramble for a moment when they realize they don’t

know the password, but somehow the gargoyle moves without them saying anything and reveals

a spiral staircase. Scorpius and Luka reluctantly climb the steps until they reach the door. They

knock, and Professor McGonagall invites them in.

The room is large and circular, with many windows overlooking the sunny grounds.

Shelves line the walls, books and papers and strange objects arranged neatly upon them.

Professor McGonagall’s desk is large and dark, covered with papers and other objects. The

Headmistress herself is sitting behind the desk in a tall chair, wearing ruby-red robes, her eyes

looking particularly stern beneath her dainty spectacles.

“I’ve never known how in the world so many antics can occur during the first week of the

year. I never expect much to happen so early on, but it always does. You’re not the only first

years to have ever caused a ruckus this early in the term. In fact, you are a statistic.”

Scorpius and Luka look at each other. Luka doesn’t know how Professor McGonagall is

aware of what happened already, but it makes him feel extremely uneasy.

“Well, sit,” she says, staring at them with a piercing look. Once they take a seat, she

continues.

“I would like the truth here. Who contributed in this prank?”

 “It was the two of us, Professor,” Scorpius says to Luka’s surprise. “Luka said I didn’t do

it, but I did.”

“I see. And no one else was in on it?”

“No, Professor,” Scorpius lies.

“And may I ask ​why ​would you partake in such ridiculous misconduct?”

“Because Ardeo Ephraim hurt Albus, Professor.”

Professor McGonagall raises her eyebrows.

“What do you mean?”

“When we were learning the Vermillious charm in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he hit

Albus with the spell and played it off as an accident. But it was just because he was jealous.”

“How do you know it ​wasn’t ​an accident, Mr. Malfoy?”

“Because he’s a pompous jerk.”

Scorpius and Luka are both swarmed with confusion when Professor McGonagall’s lips

curl into a smile. But after a moment, they turn back down again.

“Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Jones, behavior like this will not be tolerated here. I’m afraid your

opinion of a student does not count as proof that they assaulted Mr. Potter, although we will keep

an eye on Mr. Ephraim. As for you two, I am taking twenty-five points from each of you and you

will serve detention this weekend. I will have Professor Hagrid send you the details. I know that

Hogwarts is a comfortable place, and I happen to know that both of your fathers were very

playful and curious boys, but that does not give you permission to harm other students, are we

clear?”

“Yes, Professor,” they both say.

 “Good. I don’t want to see you up here again. You are free to go.”

Scorpius and Luka leave the office quickly, stepping quickly down the spiral staircase

into the corridor.

“Well, that wasn’t as awful as I was expecting,” Scorpius says.

“Why did you confess? I could have saved you the punishment!” Luka says, his voice

coated with annoyance.

“I don’t know, I guess I thought it’d be better to be in this together.”

“So you’d rather two people get detention than one?”

“Yeah, I mean, I thought you’d be grateful. Serving detention alone would suck.”

“Well you should have gone along with what I was doing. I was trying to help you and

you just made me look a liar in front of the Headmistress.”

Luka storms off, only angrier after yelling at Scorpius. He knows what he said wasn’t

necessary and that Scorpius was only thinking of him, but Luka just can’t stand Scorpius’

obvious acceptance of the consequences of his mischief. Maybe Luka was right all along. Maybe

Scorpius and the others are a bad influence on him.

Luka spends the rest of the day sitting with the others in class, Scorpius glaring at him

every so often. After class, he goes out to the Quidditch pitch to fly around for a while. He flies

far, as far as he can, winding around the castle and over the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He

knows that if anyone sees him flying like this, he’ll be in trouble, but he can’t help it. Flying is

the only thing that calms him down.

 The next morning at breakfast, he and Scorpius receive a letter from Professor Hagrid

telling them that their detention will start at 9:00 that night and that they’ll be going into the

Forbidden Forest. At that, Scorpius groans.

“What is wrong with this school? They tell everyone that the Forbidden Forest is

forbidden-- as if its name doesn’t already convey that-- and then once you get in trouble they

throw out into it? I mean, there’s all sorts of things in that forest. We could die!”

“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Dahlia says, rolling her eyes. “You’ll have Professor Hagrid

with you, and he’s very knowledgeable about magical creatures. He’ll keep you safe.”

His walk at the lake ends when he sees Albus, Dahlia, and Scorpius heading towards him.

He tries to avoid them while walking back up to the castle, but they already saw him and Dahlia

speaks to him the moment they cross paths.

“Hey, where have you been?” she asks.

“I was flying.”

“Well, do you want to hang out at the lake with us?”

“Actually, I was about to go finish my weekend homework.”

Dahlia looks unconvinced, but she says, “Okay, have fun.” Luka feels bad for turning her

down. She seems disappointed every time he splits off from their group. The thought makes him

happy, but then he realizes that and shoves it out of his mind.

Luka actually does do his homework for a while, but then he resorts to wandering the

castle to entertain himself. He works his way up from the Slytherin common room to the Great

Hall, then goes upstairs. He wanders into corridors he didn’t even know existed, swings his head

into classrooms he’s never entered. At one point, he runs into Filch, who is a very old man with a
very mean grimace, who interrogates Luka for at least have an hour, trying to find a reason to

take him to his office, until a Hufflepuff prefect saves him. The prefect advises Luka to go

outside in order to avoid another confrontation with Filch, but Luka only climbs another flight of

stairs and continues to wander.

It’s then that Luka finds a room that is not a classroom or a closet. It’s a trophy room.

Luka steps carefully inside, already reading the bottom of every trophy he sees. Many of them

are for Quidditch, others are for academic achievement, and some are for special services to the

school. That’s when he sees Harry Potter’s trophy. Or, rather, his trophies. He has seven of them.

Then, Luka notices the other trophies surrounding those seven. They all say Ron Weasley and

Hermione Granger. They all have one for every year they saved Hogwarts. Luka knows the

stories, of course. In fact, Luka’s dad started at Hogwarts the year Dolores Umbridge took over

the school. He saw, secondhand, Dumbledore’s Army come together. He saw Umbridge come

and go as the leader of the school. He was at Dumbledore’s funeral. He saw the Battle of

Hogwarts, or at least part of it, before he and the other underclassmen were led out of the castle.

He saw the end of Harry Potter’s mission to defeat Voldemort. Luka’s dad has shared all of these

stories with his son. But even if Luka hadn’t heard those stories from his dad, he would still

know many of them. Everyone in the wizarding world does.

While staring at these trophies, Luka sees a second row behind Harry’s. There, he finds

one for Luna Lovegood, another for Neville Longbottom, and a third for Ginny Weasley. Only

then is Luka consumed by a deep curiosity of what it must be like to be the son of Harry and

Ginny Potter. Luka remembers Albus’ color-drained face as he heard himself being sorted into

Slytherin. Now, Luka understands. The only trophy on the shelf not adorned with red rubies is
Luna Lovegood’s. But none are adorned with emeralds. No one wanted to give an award to a

Slytherin.

But, as he leaves, Luka’s eye somehow detects a faint shimmer of green. He turns around

to look at a cardboard box, where he finds the source of the color. He pulls out a trophy just like

the others, with deep green emeralds embedded around the bottom. The trophy says, “Draco

Malfoy: For Valiant Nobility in the Face of Darkness.” Luka wonders what Draco did that was

so valiant and noble. He also wonders why this trophy isn’t on the shelf with all the rest.

Scorpius doesn’t speak when Luka meets him in front of the castle. Luka maintains this

silence as they walk through the grounds to Hagrid’s hut, their feet crunching in the first fallen

leaves. When they reach the hut, Hagrid is already outside, holding a large lantern in his

enormous hand.

“Ah, there you are. You boys ready?”

“What are we going to do in there?” Scorpius asks, eyeing the line of trees fearfully.

“We’re lookin’ fer Lepanguis tracks. They’ve been pickin’ around my Kimma Bug

hatchlings. S’been a bit of a problem fer Care of Magical Creatures class.”

“What exactly is a Lepanguis?” Luka asks as he begins to understand Scorpius’ fear.

“Oh, don’ be scared. They only eat little creatures. You two are much too big fer ‘im.”

As if that was enough explanation, Professor Hagrid leads Scorpius and Luka into the

edge of the forest. He takes them down a rough trail and they wind through the the thick trees in

even thicker darkness, the lantern in Hagrid’s fist emitting what feels like the light of a single

match in an expansive dark sea. Luka doesn’t like the feeling that drips over him as he follows

directly behind Hagrid’s massive body that he can’t help but think of as a shield. It feels as
though the entire forest is simultaneously dead and alive. As if the eerie stillness is sinking into

his own body, trying to stop his heart, but also as if the unseen creatures lurking around them are

injecting their own consciousness into the trees and bushes, making Luka feel as though

everything in forest is watching him, waiting for him to make a wrong move.

After about five minutes of walking in silence, Luka hears a twig snap behind him and

his heart jumps as he simultaneously realizes how fake the rustles and groans he’s been

imagining are and how horrifyingly real this one is. He turns around, along with Hagrid and

Scorpius, and he can’t believe what he’s seeing in front of him. At first he thinks it’s a very tall

man, but then he sees the hair and the hooves and the entire behind of the creature, and realizes it

must be a centaur.

“Hagrid. What brings you to the forest this night?” the centaur asks, his voice deep and

raspy, his eyes flickering up to the sky.

“Hello, Firenze. Just bringin’ these first years along with me to find the Lepanguis tha’s

been disturbin’ my hatchlings.”

“I would not advise that you bring young people into this forest, Hagrid,” the centaur

says ominously. “We have been watching the skies. Uranus is coming into its next orbit.”

It’s silent for a moment, until Hagrid finally asks, “What does that mean?”

“Danger is coming.”

Firenze stares into the sky for a long time, Hagrid, Scorpius, and Luka standing

awkwardly in front of him. Suddenly, Firenze looks back down at them and says urgently, “You

must leave now. Do not come back, Hagrid. Do not take the children here for a while.”

“How long is ‘a while’?” Hagrid asks.

 “Until things get better.”

With that, Firenze gallops off through the trees, leaving Hagrid, Scorpius, and Luka very

confused. But Hagrid eventually leads Scorpius and Luka back the way they came, muttering as

they walk.

“Damn centaur. Don’ know what he’s goin’ on about. As if he s’pects me to know what

‘a while’ means.”

“What was that, Professor Hagrid?” Luka asks, his head swimming with questions.

“What did he mean, ‘danger is coming’?”

“I don’ know, but it don’ sound good. Centaurs are the best astronomers of any species,

but they don’ tell ya anything straightforward. But they’re usually right about whatever is they’re

goin’ on about, so I’d take Firenze’s advice and not go back in there.”

Hagrid’s uncertainty stops the rest of Luka’s questions, knowing he can’t answer them.

They’re almost to the edge of the forest when Hagrid stops and Luka almost bumps into

him.

“Sorry, jus’ saw a track. Looks like a Lepanguis.”

Hagrid stands up for a moment, sighing, then says, “Listen, I know Firenze said the forest

was dangerous, but we’re almost to the edge. I need to find this damn animal, so wait here and

don’t move ‘til I get back. I won’ be long. If anything happens, just keep goin’ down this trail

and you’ll get to the castle grounds.”

With that, Hagrid stomps off in search for the elusive animal, leaving Scorpius and Luka

scared and frustrated.

 “What an idiot. He can’t just leave us here!” Scorpius says, rubbing his shivering arms,

silver moonlight peeking through the trees to fall on his luminous white hair and cast shadows

across his scowling face. Luka looks at him for a moment, and knows what he has to do.

“I’m sorry for getting mad at you.”

It takes a moment for Scorpius to register what Luka said, but when he does, his lips

tighten and his eyes blink. He doesn’t say anything.

“Seriously, I’m sorry. I was scared and pissed that we got in trouble and I shouldn’t have

taken it out on you. I appreciate what you did. You’re right, this would be horrible to have to do

alone.”

Scorpius crosses his arms and says with a poisonous tone, “You realize you’re going to

have to trust me at some point, right?”

“Yeah, I know-”

“And for some reason you seem to be perfectly fine with Dahlia being your friend but the

minute I get involved, you close off.”

Luka’s heart feels heavy and sharp.

“That’s not true-”

“Yes it is. Stop lying. You force yourself to hang out with me and Albus because you

have a stupid crush on Dahlia.”

Luka feels the same rage he’s already felt multiple times this week bubble inside him

again, but then he hears a twig snap just like when Firenze creeped up on them, only this time

there is a lot more rustling along with it. Both boys stop, holding their breath, adrenaline
coursing through Luka’s veins both from his anger and his fear. The rustling continues, and

Scorpius asks in a barely audible whisper, “What is that?”

Luka shakes his head, his heart pounding. He watches Scorpius turn and start to walk

back down the path towards Hagrid’s house, laying his feet slowly and carefully on the ground,

but Luka walks up to him, not bothering to stay quiet, and grabs his arm. Scorpius curses at him

in a whisper, but Luka hushes him. He takes Scorpius by the hand and leads him towards the

source of the noise.

“What the bloody hell are you doing? We need to get out of here!” Scorpius

whisper-screams.

“What if it’s a Lepanguis? What if it’s another centaur?” Luka asks.

“Either doesn’t seem very appealing. We don’t even know what in Merlin’s name a

freaking Lepanguis is!”

“Just follow me.”

Luka doesn’t know why he walks towards the noise, but when he finally sees a dark

shape between the trees of the forest, he thinks of Caligo. A shiver runs through his spine and he

suppresses a smile. And then the moonlight finds the shape and reveals a strikingly familiar face,

one that brings disgust rather than fondness.

“Ardeo,” Scorpius whispers.

Luka’s whole body is buzzing with curiosity, but he forces his muscles to freeze as he

watches Ardeo kneel on the leaf-strewn ground. The boy takes out a small dagger-- more like a

letter opener, really-- and swiftly brings the blade to his inner wrist, pressing the metal into his

skin. Licorice-colored liquid seeps out of the wound, and Ardeo directs the blood into a goblet
that Luka didn’t notice before. Luka feels his own blood pulsing in his body, excitement and fear

flooding his veins, but most importantly: familiarity. The adrenaline becomes too much, and

Luka fidgets, re-positioning his foot on the crunchy forest floor. To his dismay, the sound is loud

enough that Ardeo snaps his head up, peering frantically through the trees like a startled animal.

Scorpius’ cold hand wraps around Luka’s wrist and pulls him as quietly as possible through the

trees, back to the trail. Scorpius and Luka walk back to Hagrid’s house quickly, reaching the

edge of the forest in no time. When they reach the steps of the hut, Scorpius says at a normal

volume, “What in the living hell did we just see?”

“I would be lying if I said I had no idea,” Luka responds.