hunting unicorns

[metamorphmaga]

As spring approaches and the snow begins to melt, Jenny and Emma take to spending their free afternoons outside, practicing flying or doing homework on the lawn or just generally enjoying the sunshine. Their spot of choice is not, as such things go, all that far from the forest, and for Jenny it becomes something of a game: see if you can spot a unicorn. She never does, but she never gives up hope. Someday.

After about a month of this, Emma decides to leave the lawn early- she's finished her letter to her parents, and wants to drop it at the Owlery- so Jenny is left to her own devices. Bored, she examines the forest. It's only supposed to be unsafe at night, right? It won't hurt to go wander around a little in search of unicorns. She won't go very far.

And if she's lucky- unicorns.

---

Half an hour later, Jenny is deeply regretting her idea. She is completely lost, and the forest has gotten much darker and gloomier. She would go back, if she had any idea where to go. She's taken to making little piles of rocks, to attempt to mark her way; unfortunately, so far all this has told her is that she is definitely going in a circle.

The next time she re-encounters a pile, she branches out to the left instead. She's pretty sure she came from that direction, so maybe-




Cold.

Jenny is friends with Miranda. Miranda has been compulsively researching Dementors all year; she knows what it means, this cold, the screaming terror. But it's so much worse than anything ever, ever said it would be. She's frozen to the spot, unable to move, brain screaming in terror.

And then the Dementor appears. Slowly but visibly, it approaches her. Is it bigger than the books said they should be? She thinks it is. It's already looming and it's not even close.

Frantically, crazy with fear, Jenny does the only thing she can think of- she shifts away her mouth.

The Dementor stops, seeming to hover in place. Jenny stays frozen in place. The Dementor doesn't seem to be planning to Kiss her... but it's not moving, either, and she's still stuck.

Oh, God. Now what?

Comments

[parental_guidance]

"More Patronus tests?"

[chanuphis]

"Tests on the wand in general, I think. For a bit I was scared she wanted to take it away, but it seems like she's not going to do it unless it's really bad and she can convince my mum, and my mum listens to me."

[parental_guidance]

"Really bad like how?"

[chanuphis]

"Like the explanation for it is 'Dark magic' and not 'chimaera hair', I guess."

[parental_guidance]

Emma blinks. "That didn't even occur to me. I guess it's good that they're checking...? It's, um, we don't actually know it's chimaera hair really."

[chanuphis]

"I don't think a really Dark wand could do a Patronus at all, let alone a special Dementor-busting one," opines Miranda. "Anyway, let's get dinner and tell Alli and then go see if they'll let us visit Jenny."

[parental_guidance]

"Ooh, yeah, we can tell her now," Emma agrees, brightening. To dinner it is.

[witch_please]

Alli is awaiting them at the entrance, not particularly patiently. "What. What. You've all been missing all day, and Jenny's in the infirmary, and I had to be told by an older Slytherin who thought I did it and it's all part of my," air quotes, "'evil plan for hanging out with you guys.' And... and..." she throws her hands in the air in angry exasperation. "What is going onnnnn?"

[chanuphis]

"Jenny got lost in the forest and cornered by a Dementor, and when Emma found a professor to help look for her me and Karen were with him and we came along, which was good because it was a giant one and he passed out as soon as he saw it and I killed it with a huge Patronus from my chimaera wand," reports Miranda.

[witch_please]

This earns her a few good seconds of blank, confused stare, before the scowl returns. "If you're pulling my leg, I swear..."

[pleating]

"It's true it was amazing," defends Karen.

[witch_please]

"Giant dead Dementor? They don't even die! They just... float, or something."

[pleating]

"They don't die until Miranda's Patronus goes up to them and squeezes them into nothing and all that's left is a cloak," says Karen. "She really, really did it. It was amazing and she's not lying."

[parental_guidance]

"It happened," Emma confirms. "I, um, I know it sounds crazy-"

[witch_please]

"No kidding," Alli grumbles.

[parental_guidance]

"-but it did. She saved us, it wanted to Kiss us. We're not lying! Be nice!"

[witch_please]

Alli raises an eyebrow. "That's an awful lot of insisting from- y'know. You two," she says reluctantly. Neither of them is normally this... fervent, about anything. "If it happened- if- then that is stupidly stupidly cool and Miranda, thank you for saving them." She looks at them suspiciously. "But I might not believe you until I hear it from a teacher," she warns. "I mean... still. Giant Dementors at Hogwarts. And if you are messing with me and Jenny, I dunno, hurt her ankle flying, man are you going to catch it."

[chanuphis]

"We aren't lying. Come with us to visit Jenny after dinner and ask her if she's - talkable-to yet. Follow me up to the faculty table between dinner and visiting when I ask Professor Reed when she wants to meet to test my chimaera wand."

[witch_please]

"Well, yeah. Visiting Jenny, duh." She pauses. "Should we bring something? I dunno, does she need any of her stuff?"

[parental_guidance]

"Oh, Merlin, I didn't even think to ask," Emma says, looking struck.

[chanuphis]

"Well, you have the same classes as she does, so you can bring her assignments, unless you think they'd make her relapse," says Miranda. "I'm sure Madam Pomfrey is drowning her in chocolate. I think there's a spell to conjure flowers but I don't know it."

[parental_guidance]

"I think it's something about orchids...?" Emma says slowly. "Mother uses it sometimes when she has people over. But- yeah, I can bring homework."

[witch_please]

"Homework is bad enough when you're not sick," Alli opines. "We should- leave it with Pomfrey. Or something."

Alli's method of kindness: try to delay your homework from reaching you as long (legitimately) as possible.

[pleating]

"Leaving it with Pomfrey's a good idea," says Karen. "Anyway, let's eat."

[witch_please]

"Food!" Alli agrees cheerfully. Lunch looks good today; she is happy to dig in. Potatoes nom nom nom.