The Battle Of The Basilisk

-10-

"Don't let them!!" Cereza called. "They'll get in trouble!"

Charles ran off towards the Forbidden Forest to stop the senior Ravenclaws from entering. They probably thought they'd find the First-years in there.

"What if they really are in there?" Pranaty pointed out.

Cereza sighed. "In that case, we'll probably have to let them. But it's a dangerous place. I can't afford to put the lives of so many at risk."

"We have Charles!" Replied Raghavi. "We can all go in and have a look."

"Yes." Pranaty didn't hide her smile. "Because if we see even a single ant, Charles is going to turn it into a lovely little statuette."

Cereza looked confused. "Pardon me?"

As Raghavi explained Charles' powers to Cereza, Pranaty jogged towards the Forest, because 1) She wanted to, 2) They would hopefully find something there and 3) She didn't want to stay so close to Cereza.

It was not Cereza's fault. She was very kind to her after hers and Will's breakup, taking every opportunity to apologize.

But the whole time, she never left Will. She was happy with him, and maybe, just maybe, he was happy with her.

Isn't that what you want, Pranaty? Her conscience whispered. To see Will happy?

But why, if his happiness costs mine? She wanted to yell.

Pranaty never found an answer.

As she made her way to Charles, she slowed down a bit. "Are they listening?"

Charles shook his head. "They want a logical reason as to why they shouldn't be going in there. The problem is, I don't have one."

"Then why are you trying to stop them?"

Charles looked like he wanted to slap her, and yet he kept his cool. "They have no idea what's in there."

"Sure they do." Snapped Pranaty. She whipped out her wand, held it to her mouth and muttered, "Sonorous!", hence magnifying her voice.

"ALL RAVENCLAWS, LISTEN TO ME!" Pranaty spoke normally, and the charm did its work. The Ravenclaws at the edge of the Forest turned in surprise. "THE FOREST HOUSES GIANT SPIDERS, UNICORNS, CENTAURS, BOWTRUCKLES, HIPPOGRIFFS-"

"None of which they care about!" Charles pointed out. He was right- The Ravenclaws, completely ignoring her, ran right into the Forbidden Forest.

"WELL, THAT DIDN'T WORK." Pranaty muttered. She quickly realized that the charm was still working. She held her wand to her mouth again. "QUIETUS!"

Charles rolled his eyes and started to follow the Ravenclaws. Pranaty half-jogged, half-ran behind him.

"No point in stopping them!" Pranaty called. 

"I know!" Charles replied. "Stay close, you could easily get lost in here-"

Pranaty slowed down beside him. "I've been here before. I know my way around."

"So do I."

"When did you come here?"

"I come here fortnightly." Shrugged Charles.

"Fortnightly?!?" Pranaty replied incredulously. "For what?"

"Ingredients for my experiments." Charles responded. "The best of them grow deeper in. The environment is perfect for their survival and proper growth."

Typical Gryffindor, then, Pranaty mused.

"Why did you come here?" Charles asked.

"I didn't come of my own will." Pranaty wasn't supposed to tell, but she didn't see the harm in informing Charles. "Ayano dragged me here in the middle of the night. She wanted to sneak a baby Bowtruckle in Damian Wayne's bed. Needless to say, we got caught."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. It was Ayano's fault, actually. She saw a stray Hippogriff and wanted to ride it."

"What?!?"

"She tamed it, sat on it, and the next second she was in the air, screaming with delight. She went too high, though. Professor Snape saw us from his office, and caught us the minute Ayano touched ground."

"So....No baby Bowtruckle?"

"No baby Bowtruckle. Detention for two nights.Cleaning out Snape's office....Without magic."

"Ugh."

"And without gloves." She added.

"Even worse." Charles smirked. "That Ayano is quite a troublemaker, isn't she?"

"It's in her nature. Maybe that's why so many boys are after her. She's rather beautiful too."

"Beautiful?" Charles looked nonplussed. "She has blue hair."

"You need to look carefully to actually see what I'm talking about, here." Pranaty's eyes rested on three Ravenclaw boys, who had their wands at the ready, as though waiting for some monster to pounce on them. They kept yelling out different names. One of them was crying.

"I'm going to check on them." Charles said. He went to them, and Pranaty walked in a completely different direction, her head too full of murky thoughts to actually figure out where she was going.

The Forest seemed to go on forever. It was the same pattern- A tree, a bush, a tree, a bush, a tree....

Pranaty fell over.

She could feel blood running down her cheek. Oh great, she thought. She'd fallen face-first right into a thorny bush. As she pulled herself out, she turned to look down at what she'd tripped over.

She froze.

No, Pranaty thought. No no no no NO!!

It was right at her feet. It didn't move. It didn't make a sound. It's blue eyes were open and glassy. It was bleeding.

Pranaty wanted to scream.

She did.

"HYDRA!!!!!!!!!"