Hidden Slytherin

Chapter 61 Currently Unable To Give A Fuck

Jane trudged back to the castle after saying goodbye to Aldric. It had already been a long day and she still had to go to Astronomy class. She was wondering what she should do now, she still had a few hours. She could go to the library and do homework or read up more on Astronomy to try to get better at it but the idea of having a run in with O'King so soon did not sit well.

Normally she would head to the lake but after her little swim she was less than thrilled by the idea.

The lake...

Shit. Jane cursed herself out as she realized she could have asked Aldric about the stone. Another thing she wanted to look up but couldn't if she was avoiding the library. She really wanted to find or make a search spell.

Where oh where should a little terror go, she hummed as she walked. Jane pushed her fingers threw her hair and yanked on a knot, listening to the wind whistle. She smirked slightly at the lack of sound for her boots. She had used muffling spells on her shoes and even her socks along with some of her cloths. All the easier to sneak my pretties.

She could wonder the forest. She could feel a pull to the dark growing things and the gently swaying tree branches. She had her bag.

Jane hummed as she tapped her fingers along her thigh before changing direction and walking towards the tree line.

As the forest closed around her and she left the grassy field behind Jane let her magic spread out around her. It stretched through the trees, checking for other presences.

Jane walked further in, her boots sinking slightly into the soggy leaves needles cushioning the forest floor. Trees with massive trunks grew far into the sky, easily dwarfing herself. She dragged her fingertips over the ruff bark and took a deep breath in.

Cold moist air filled her and she let the scent of growing things and soil sink in.

Memories played at the edge of her mind. Falling into that mushroom ring and meeting Thane. The conversation she had witnessed that started it all. Something wiggled in the back of her mind. She slowed to a stop as her mind started making connections and she began searching her satchel. When she found what she was looking for, Jane pulled out the small pouch she had received for Yule, the fabric soft and cool against her fingers as she pulled it open, muttering the password before reaching inside.

Her fingers closed around the locket and Jane unclasped it, her eyes falling onto the faces of her family. One face in particular caught her interest. Anwir looked back at her from the photograph, looking only slightly younger then when she had seen him in these very woods.

It seemed her family had more secrets then she had thought.

Jane wandered the forest, humming quietly as she went. She was mapping the woods in her mind. Where there were clearings, or small lakes. Where boulders formed a small mound and where her magic sensed lingering creatures. Where a tree had grown twisted, leaving it hollow. Jane climbed up onto a fallen tree to get a better angle and pulled herself onto a lower hanging branch, her arms burning at the strain. She climbed a bit higher before sitting and swinging her legs, the bark biting into her palms.

She would go back in time for dinner, but damn was staying in this tree an appealing thought. She quietly watched as she felt a magical signature pass below and Jane caught a glimpse of a pale horse with a silvery main and a twisting horn. The unicorn paused, turning its head back and forth before nickering. A small golden foal trotted after its mother before they both disappeared from sight.

'The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep,' Jane hummed the poem or at least the lines she knew.