HP - Shadow Monarch!

Chapter 38 - Saturday 02.

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV

Hogwarts.

...

...

The old woman was standing a few meters away from them as the fog circled the area. "What is a student doing here in the middle of the forest alone..." she commented while she examined Snape for a moment.

Snape, meanwhile, was confused; this did not seem like any creature he had seen in his books or about the creatures that inhabit this forest... which made him frown.

"What are you...?" Snape asked with a curious tone, yet calm in the presence of that thing.

The Graphorn beside him seemed to start growling at the creature, clearly not liking her at all.

The old witch looked at him for a moment, surprised by the calmness in Snape's tone that was also reflected in his eyes analyzing her, causing her to start laughing. "I'm surprised you're not afraid of me, since the last students I saw, over ten years ago, wandering through this forest, ran as if their lives depended on it when they saw me, which was true... but it was too late for them. It's been a while for this old lady, but I still remember their scared faces, it was a pleasure to end them... however... you seem different. You're not afraid of an old lady like me, boy?" she said and asked, smiling.

"Should I be? Yes, I am not afraid of you," Snape spoke sincerely, what was there to fear seeing a strange old woman in the middle of this place, others might have, but him?

"Haha. Of course, you should be, everyone should be afraid of me, since I am the Witch of the Forest, the one who has lived in this part of the forest for over 100 years..." she spoke, and looked at Snape's hands, which still held one of the plants he was picking.

"I see, you're after the night lady... But this grove is mine, and I didn't give you permission to take my things," she spoke in a more hostile tone than before, this time.

Meanwhile, the Graphorn started to growl louder at her beside Snape, and she looked a bit surprised. "Oh, a Graphorn! He's a rare creature, must make a nice stew, right, little boy?" she said, becoming more excited again, as she looked at the Graphorn thinking about cooking it afterward.

Snape decided to finally respond to this witch, who seemed to have bipolar personality issues. "I don't care if you consider this land yours, you don't command the forest," Snape said, and the old witch raised an eyebrow.

"Look, I might expect a student not to fear an old woman like me, but someone so confrontational in my presence, youngster. Hahaha. You don't know who you're messing with," she said, starting to get annoyed again, with her mood swinging all the time.

"Alright, boy, you asked for it. I'd usually kill you with some tortures after coming to this part of the forest, but you'll be special... I'll hear your scream for the next few hours!" She moved her hand to the basket on her arm and pulled out a twisted, old wand, shaking off some hoverflies that circled it as if it were rotten.

"It seems I finally found an old witch in a dark forest, like the fantasy books the Muggles describe..." Snape smiled at the irony.

"It's been over ten years since I ate a student and I'll also love cooking this animal," she said, returning to being excited and with a sinister laugh imagining it.

Snape stood firm but looked at the Graphorn and thought about what to do. Suddenly, the witch moved her wand invoking a spell with an annoying voice and released a red beam towards the boy. Snape, however, jumped to the side, making the beam pass by them without touching him or the animal.