Skylar Rogers || 1st Year

Forbidden Apples

Outside the castle, we sat near the black lake while watching Netflix. Hermione thought we could get fresh air from noises of our housemates. Brianna's probably spending all her free time with Slytherins. Maybe they'll get caught hexing a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. This lake is super breathtaking and pretty. Nothing could damage it's oceanic beauty and peacefulness. Most of that I've seen through pictures of beaches. "Hey Sky, ever wonder about the Forbidden Forest?" Harry whispered in my ear. I snapped out of my thoughts and was confused. "What?" I whispered. "Check out the Forbidden Forest." He whispered. My eyes diverted to the creepy, gray-darkish-brown view across from the castle grounds. I sighed. "Wow, never really thought about it." I told him. Hermione and Ron looked up from my tablet. "Thought about what?" She asked. Harry fake smiled. "Oh nothing." He lied. Ron smirked. "You two were wondering about the Forbidden Forest." He said. Instantly, Hermione gasped and paused the movie. "No bloody way! We cannot go through the forest! Professor Dumbledore told us not to go there!" She said firmly. I shrugged. "What's so bad about a forest?" I asked, air quoting the last part. Harry chuckled. "And it's no wonder you love Halloween." He joked. Ron giggled. She hummed in response while rubbing her chin. "I don't know. How about dangerous creatures, giant spiders, poisonous trees or perhaps centaurs." She said sarcastically. Centaurs? Cool! I've never seen one up close. Ron rolled his eyes. "Centaurs aren't bad." He added. She nodded in agreement. "No but it's not good to walk on their territory unannounced." She said. Harry huffed annoyedly. "Cmon Mione, what could go terribly wrong?" He asked. The true thing about me and Harry's friendship is we have a sweet taste for adventure. We'd watch adventurous movies and act as if we're solving the mysteries. He smiled excitingly. "Let's do it! But we have to be careful because we can't let McGonagall find us." He beamed. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. Hermione sighed annoyedly. "Or catch us if we're in the hospital wing from being bitten or attacked." She said. Ron shuddered fearfully. "Please stop talking about spiders!" He muttered. Oh yeah, Fred told me Ron has a fear of spiders. I patted his shoulder. "Relax Ron. I highly doubt there's spiders." I assured. She scoffed and crossed her arms. "Oh yeah? Ask Hagrid." She sassed. "Ask Hagrid what?" A voice asked. We turned to see Brianna in her dress robes and gloves. We shared confusion. "Brianna?" Hermione asked. "Where have you been?" Harry asked. I chuckled. "It might be faster to ask her what's right." I joked. Ron covered his mouth in a giggle. She huffed. "Never mind that. What's this about Hagrid?" She asked. Ron sighed. "Harry and Sky were thinking of visiting the Forbidden Forest." He told her. Brianna bursted into laughter. We shared confusion. "What's so funny?" Harry asked. She chuckled. "It makes sense you two would do something rather mischievous and not listening to the rules." She said. I smiled proudly. "What a fine trait we share!" I said. Harry was chuckling. Hermione smiled approvingly. "And you agree they're absolutely mental about visiting one of the restricted areas of Hogwarts." She said. Brianna nodded her head no and smiled excitingly. "Nope! Let's go check it out!" She cheered. We laughed, getting off the ground. My tablet magicked into fitting my robe pocket. Ron sighed nervously. "Are you lot sure about this?" He asked. Hermione nodded her head no while we nodded yes. He groaned softly. "Oh man." He mumbled. Brianna pointed to the pathway from the castle to the forest. "There it is." She said. I rolled my eyes. "We know where it is genius." I said. She stuck her tongue at me. We inhaled deep breaths before skipping the pathway and following where she pointed. Hermione facepalmed her forehead. "A month of detention here we go." She mumbled.

The forest is exactly what I described. A couple trees with strong-pointy branches, hundreds of fallen leaves on the ground, the sky turning an awful blue with grayish clouds and eerily sounds of bats in the air. All our eyes widened. "Whoa, you were right. This place is creepy." Brianna said. Hermione kept placing rocks on the ground. I looked at her weirdly. "What are you doing?" I asked. She fake smiled. "Leaving footprints so we don't get lost. We'll probably be helping a monster catch us thanks to you all!" She whispered. Ron slightly gulped. "That would be helpful." He added. Brianna scoffed and smiled. "Oh stop! It's not that horrible. Right Sky?" She said. I nodded in agreement. "Yup. Nothing horrible." I assured. Harry hummed in response and stared at a somewhat tree. It was three feet tall with bright green leaves holding up...apples? His jaw dropped. "Look at this!" He whispered/yelled. A quick sound of a crow went off. Everyone shushed him with their fingers. He rolled his eyes. "Look at this tree!" He told us. We walked up to the tree holding a few bright red apples. Ron stared at it confusedly. "Why would a tree of apples be in the Forbidden Forest?" He asked. Hermione was busy leaving more rocks on our trail and muttering how insane we are for coming here. Somehow my gut felt weird about this tree. Usually apple trees would be good for picking apples. Brianna hummed in response. "Something weird about it. Then again, everywhere here is weird." She said. Ron sighed rather shakily. "H-Harry...we can't touch anything here. It could be...very dangerous." He whispered. My gut kept ringing as I looked at the apples. Harry cautiously grabbed an apple. Brianna smiled."Maybe it's just an apple tree. Nothing but fruits." She said. Hm. Nothing seemed horrendous or dangerous about them. He inhaled a deep breath. "Yeah. But we're not sure what they could be. Let's leave now." He said. He dropped it on the ground. Brianna looked at him in disbelief. "What? Why?" She asked. "Because we want to live." Ron said sarcastically. She huffed. "Are you serious? You're leaving because of a apple tree?" She asked. I pulled out my phone to check the time. 4pm. We need to be back before dinner. I looked up and nodded. "He's right Bri. We can't be late to dinner or Filch will catch us." I told her. Brianna playfully rolled her eyes. "We're the first ones here! How awesome it'll be to wonder in an unknown forest like this!" She whispered/yelled. I shushed her. Harry sighed. "Brianna, we're not staying here." He said firmly. "And we're not taking creepy apples home either." I said firmly. She sighed sadly. "Fine." She muttered. Hermione walked up to me. "Are we leaving now?" She asked anxiously. I nodded. We began following the rock trail. Brianna looked back at the apple then us. She picked it up and put it in her pocket. "Silly tasty apple." She whispered while smirking.

******

At dinnertime, we talked and ate while listening to Dean and Seamus's silly stories. Brianna kept nodding while inhaling quick breaths. She's been doing that for half an hour. My big sister instincts were beginning to come out. Hermione noticed and cleared her throat. "Brianna, are you ok?" She asked. She quickly nodded. "I'm...fine." She whispered. I almost spoke until she got up from her spot. "Excuse me..." She trailed off. We watched as Brianna clutched her throat in terrible pain and collapsed on the floor. Our jaws dropped in shock. "BRIANNA!" I yelled. It soon alerted other house tables by gasps. "What happened?!" Harry asked worriedly. "Somebody get McGonagall!" Oliver yelled before lifting her up. I covered my mouth in shock with huge adrenaline pumping.