A Whole New Game ( A Harry Potter Story )

Chapter 3

At first I couldn’t hear anything but the fast drumming of my heartbeat beating in my ears. Everything was moving so fast that my eyes couldn’t keep up; everything was just blurring together in a grey mess. It was so strange, I could feel the harsh wind blowing my hair up and the force of the air making my eyes water but it didn’t feel anything like falling. There wasn’t even that lurching feeling in my stomach like when I went upstairs in the dark and thought one more stair was there when it wasn’t.  My mind wondered back to the house just before I had left, replaying the moment the door blew open over and over again. Who were those men? And why had they broken in to my house? I suddenly became aware of sound returning to my ears; just like the scenery all the sounds of everything I was passing all jumbled together into one piercing scream. I clenched my eyes shut to stop them from drying out and because the scream was almost deafening.

THUMP

I suddenly felt my entire body slam face first into dirt. My eyes filled with tears instantly as pain immediately shot through my nose. I gently moved and shifted my other body parts checking to see if anything had been broken. When I felt no other pain I slowly rose, using one hand to push my body up; I was slightly shaky from the shock of being slammed into the ground but I thankfully took notice that my white knuckle grip had stayed true throughout the entire trip and my suitcase was still at my side. I pushed myself to my feet, my knees slightly wobbling but otherwise keeping me upright. I blinked back the tears and carefully took in my surroundings.  I was in a deeply wooded area; twisted tree’s let their branches and roots curve and grow wild blocking out what little light of day was left and making the ground look slightly treacherous to walk. It wasn’t dark just yet but the trees and shrubbery still gave off a very unfriendly feeling. I brought a hand nervously to my neck and rubbed gently hoping to soothe myself even just a little. I grabbed the suitcase and pushed the handle down, clicking it into place. I grabbed the straps attached to the back and hefted onto my shoulders, nearly toppling over at the suddenly change in weight.

I choose a random direction to start walking in. Walking around randomly was better than just standing in the middle of a creepy woods waiting to be found. I was far more like to run into someone this way, and far less likely to drive myself insane with paranoid thoughts. I wandered aimlessly shifting my attention from watching out for roots on the ground to the various shapes and sizes of trees I was passing.

I had never been all that good with keeping time. My grandmother always said that if we didn’t have a million clocks littered around the house I would have been asking for breakfast at dinner time. I had no idea how long I had been walking for but when I finally reached a clearing that definitely wasn’t the one I had landed I decided it was time to stop. I yanked the suitcase of my shoulders and let it drop to the ground. This spot wasn’t so bad; a lot better than where I was. The trees were less thick here and there were less large bushes blocking my sight, and just to the right was a small body of water. It didn’t look deep enough to be a pond so I thought I would try my luck and sit by it. I pulled my suitcase over by the handle and sat down at the edge letting my legs spread out and rest. I leant forward and took a good look at what the day’s adventure had to my appearance. My hair was knotted and matted with dirt and twigs, almost to the point no red could be seen and I could easily see the bruise on my nose from how I had landed. I pressed a finger to it, immediately flinching and taking it back at the sharp pain; it was certainly bruised but didn’t feel broken.  I thought back to how I had travelled from my house to these woods; I had grabbed what looked like an ordinary jam jar. I racked my brain for anything my grandmother might have mentioned about travelling jars but I came up blank. She must have enchanted it to do that.

A quick rustle of a nearby bush grabbed my attention and my head snapped around so fast I thought it would pop off. I watched nervously, praying at the very most it was just a squirrel. I began to take notice of what had been happening as it got darker in these woods. The trees began to cast frightening shadows on the ground and bushes began to look suspiciously like people. And as the cool day’s breeze began to turn chilly, slithers of mist began to drift in from every direction, almost like smoke. I couldn’t help but gulp nervously; one thing that always made a bad situation worse was darkness. I felt around my back pocket for my grandmother’s letter and squinted, trying to see if she had given any instruction as to what I should do now. I tried to focus but the wind began to nip at my uncovered arms causing the hair to rise and my hands to shake. I jogged over to one of the fatter trees, trying to get a little body warmth going and sat down where it dipped a little inside itself. I had to wiggle about into the right position so little growing twigs or peeling bark didn’t scratch my skin. I unzipped my suitcase and grabbed the first jumper I could see; it was one of my more unfashionable jumpers but I knew that it was good at keeping me warm. I pulled the dark blue woollen jumper over my head and pulled the sleeves over my hands. At this point I had very few options. I could wonder around in a dark spooky forest praying the first person I ran into was friendly, or I could wait here till dawn and try and find my way out in the light.