stranded in the dark / tagged

[GIOVANNA ELISABETA NERO]

Four students in various parts of the castle and grounds were minding their own business when they spotted a random object on the ground. It looked harmless enough so each of them picked it up. They were all different, just random assortments of things, nothing magic or unordinary. But unfortunately for the students, they suddenly found themselves in the Forbidden Forest after touching the objects.

Portkeys.

Now stranded deep in the forbidden forest, lost and alone, they would have to find their way out and somehow work together to do so.

((Feel free to incorporate dangerous creatures in your posts - acromantulae, centaur, etc. There are still rumours of werewolves in the forest so maybe someone thinks there are, but there actually aren't. Maybe an actual wolf, though.))

LOTTIE CADWALLADER DOMHNALL MCEVOY @alecto KALE RIVERA

[DOMHNALL MCEVOY]

Eager to try out his newest purchase - a Fanged Frisbee - Don was headed for the courtyard when he noticed a Knut just lying on the floor. He stooped to pick it up and was instantly met with a sickening sensation of being pulled through space by his stomach. There was no way to let go of the coin, it felt as though his fingers got glued around it. It was similar to a swing ride at an amusement park, only far less enjoyable as he hadn't been expecting it. When the unpleasant trip was over, the first year found himself sprawled on the ground in semi-darkness.

He stood up, startled to see trees surrounding him. Where was he? Well, obviously in a forest - he wasn't daft - but what forest? Surely not the Forbidden one on the Hogwarts grounds. There were werewolves in those woods! Or so Aiden had insisted the last time Domhnall pondered sneaking off to explore the forest.

"Great prank, bro!" he called out, hoping that whoever it was that brought him here would step out from behind some tree and they could just laugh about it. But nobody answered. "Riiiiight..." Perhaps this was one of the more advanced multi-step jokes and this was just the first part. Oh, well. Don shrugged and began walking, curious to see what other traps were set for him. This must be some older student's work, too. Magic that made you travel from one place to another was difficult to perform, they had learned about it.

"Anybody here? What am I supposed to do?" His hollering didn't get any response, except for an eerie echo. Was today April first? He had lost track of time, but perhaps the wizarding world had some insane traditions for April Fool's...

Since the prankster still refused to answer, the Slytherin figured he was just expected to keep walking. Only in what direction? He pulled out his wand. "Lumos!" The spell worked on his first try, which was unusual for Don. If he was indeed in the Forbidden Forest, the goal was to find his way back to Hogwarts. So, how did one go about it?

He remembered reading somewhere that when lost in a wooded area, it was advisable to look at where moss grew on the trees - that would be the north side. Feeling like an expert survivalist, the boy examined the nearest oak only to find out that, apparently, the north was in every direction around the tree. Huh. Don wasn't too bummed, though. He didn't know in what direction he could find the castle, even if he'd figured out where north was.

For a while he just continued walking, illuminating his way with the tip of his wand. But soon he felt as though someone was watching him. His skin was dotted with goosebumps now. "Yo, who's there?" he tried again. "I warn ye, I have a wand and I'm not afraid to use it!" And he wasn't bluffing. He had no fear of using his wand. He just didn't have much skill in doing it.

LOTTIE CADWALLADER, @alecto, KALE RIVERA

[Deleted]

Alecto was just having a stroll around the castle grounds, trying to relax after a difficult day in class. She saw a quill on the ground that looked quite similar to the one her roommate was just bragging about buying last week, so she carefully picked it up. Did the girl lose it? It only made sense that she would try to return it. She made a squeaky sound of surprise when she suddenly felt like she was being sucked out of the corridor, so she held tightly onto her wand in her sleeve, and even more tightly to the quill, for really no logical reason; it just happened to already be in her hand. She landed somewhere, and all she could tell in the first couple of seconds was that it was very dark, and it definitely wasn't somewhere inside anymore. Then the smell hit her.

It was a forest.

She blinked slowly, trying to let her eyes adjust to the darker environment as she looked around. Although the quill was so similar to that of her roommate, she didn't think the girl was responsible for this. She wasn't the type. Perhaps someone had set up a trap for her, instead? Her first thought was that it was some boy trying to get her roommate to some clandestine date, but it seemed strange to take a girl to a date in the middle of a forest. Not only that, but she doubted a student would just readily have the means to teleport another student too far from the school, so she could only assume this was the Forbidden Forest. Which was... all kinds of illegal. As far as the school rules were concerned, at least.

She knew that she couldn't use her wand outside of school, but some of the forest was on school grounds, right? She bit her lip slightly as she considered that, before finally taking her wand out and casting a wand-lighting charm, so she could better look around her. She stepped ahead very slowly, quietly inspecting her surroundings. After a few steps, she realized she had a knot in her throat, and her nose was burning. She was about to cry. She furiously shook her head, trying to control herself. Slytherins didn't just cry because of some silly little portkey. She took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together. What could she do now? None of the spells and charms they had learned so far in school would be useful right now. She could conjure a fire, unlock a door, make freshly-painted colors flash in different shades ... nothing about survival skills, really. Perhaps the curriculum could use a bit of a rework.

After walking for a while, she heard a voice. A young, male voice. Another student? She walked in that direction, trying her hardest to hold back her tears. Once she was able to actually see the student, she rushed towards him and tried to grab his arm before she even thought twice about it. It felt a lot safer to be together with someone else. But then again... She blinked at him a couple of times, realizing she recognized him from class. Another first year.
"Domhnall? What are you doing here?" she asked in a squeaky voice, involuntarily betraying how distressed she was. He was also just a first year, he couldn't be the one responsible for this, right?

DOMHNALL MCEVOY, KALE RIVERA, LOTTIE CADWALLADER

[KALE RIVERA]

It was fun moving around the castle. Kale had been looking for where she'd feel the most comfortable outside of her dorm room. She needed more places to hang out. But it just felt so open and airy, even as she wandered around the full inside. But there was an object on the ground. She frowned to herself as she picked it up. And then....

Then she was somewhere else. This was a good way to test if her eyes made her able to see in the dark! That was good. And she had her wand. Pulling it out of her sleeve, she dropped it. Before she could get to it, a pixie took off with it. So now she was testing her eye sight in the dark as she chased the the pixie.

But she started hearing voices which made her feel a little bit nervous. It felt like something was going wrong every three seconds. "There's an evil pixie! Hold onto your wand carefully!" She started as she crashed into a tree somewhere behind the voice of Alecto. Note to self, she couldn't see in the dark any better then a normal person.


LOTTIE CADWALLADER,DOMHNALL MCEVOY,@alecto,