The Forbidden Forest

Magnus and the Weasley twins knocked on Hagrid's hut right after dinner the next day for their detention. Hagrid came out of the house carrying a large crossbow and a lantern. Fang followed him out meekly. "So, yer kids ready?" Hagrid asked.

"Yes"

"Are there werewolves in the forest?"

"Or a dragon?"

"Or a troll?" Fred and George went on their usual banter. 'These guys are treating it like a sight-seeing tour,' Magnus rolled his eyes.

"Er, no. No werewolves that I know of. Otherwise we wouldn't be going out on a full moon. No dragons either or it'll burn down half the forest. There are trolls though, but we'll not be going near their territory. Stick close to me and there'll be no problem," Hagrid assured them.

"What'll we do today then Hagrid?" Magnus enquired.

"Prof. Sprout asked me to bring her some Mooncalf dung. Shy creatures, Mooncalves. They only come out on a full moon so today is our chance. Prof. Sprout said it's used for some Sop-sop-something-"

"Sopophorous plant?" Magnus helpfully offered.

"Ye that. I've brought my shovel and the bucket so we're all set," Hagrid patted the shovel hanging from his waist.

"We'll need to shovel dung? How is that any better than what the Slytherins are doing? What about fighting a werewolf?"

"Or wrestling a troll?" Fred and George protested.

"Fight a werewolf? What'd ye do that for?" Hagrid exclaimed. Magnus wondered why Hagrid didn't talk about wrestling a troll. There's definitely a story there and Magnus asked him so.

"Ah, well, you know. When I was a teenager, I was full of energy yeh? It used to make me restless and overconfident. So, I found a young troll, Bob, in the forest and we used to wrestle. Good man Bob. Unfortunately, he died after something bit him," Hagrid said sheepishly.

"Something poisoned a troll?" George exclaimed. Their excitement toned down at this revelation and was replaced by a little caution. They reached the Forest proper now and their conversation slowed down to the occasional whispers.

[Impact Points+20]

Magnus got the points as soon as he entered the Forbidden Forest. 'Hmm, nice. Let me see how many I have now.'

[Magnus Webb

Title: Seer Descendant

Traits: Beast Blood (Magic), Blood Curse (inactive), Beast Blood (Deformation)

Body: 3

Mind: 16

Magic: 20

Impact Points: 1166

School: Divination Lv3 (10%), Healing Lv3 (10%), Charms Lv3 (20%), Transfiguration Lv3 (20%), DADA Lv3 (10%), Potions Lv3 (80%), Herbology Lv3 (80%), Astronomy Lv3 (10%), Magical Theory Lv3 (10%), Mind Arts Lv2 (30%), Care of Magical Creatures Lv1(80%), Runes Lv1(60%)

Skills: Wand Magic Lv3 (30%), Wandless Magic Lv3 (10%)]

Most of his schools of magic were Lv3 now. He even gained Care of Magical Creatures and Runes when he read through a bit of Newt's book and the Hieroglyph book he got from the hag. Magnus was happy at his progress. The only disappointment is that the Body and Mind stats are increasing very slowly.

By now Hagrid's lantern alone wasn't sufficient to light their little-trodden path. So, they decided to light up their wands.

"Lumos" the twins went. The tip of their wands lit up with a milky light.

"Lumos Ignis" Magnus used his modified spell. A small ball of fire was released from his wand which hovered over their heads. It provided both light and heat in a large radius around them.

"Blimey mate! What's that?" Fred exclaimed.

"Ya, why's your light different?" George followed.

"This gentlemen, is my modified spell," Magnus told them smugly.

"Yer pretty smart Magnus. Not many students can modify spells," Hagrid complimented with an impressed look.

"You know what this means?" Fred asked George.

"I do George"

"Teach us!" both of them exclaimed at once.

"Er, no," Magnus refused.

"Oh, come on. We'll give you two chocolate frogs each," Fred offered.

"Four. Each," Magnus countered.

"Four each? You take us for some rich blokes? Three and half," George bargained.

"Fine. And you also tell me how you made that Tongue-toffee," Magnus replied. He didn't mind teaching them. The twins would also tell him of their discoveries from time to time, so it was all well.

"Deal," the twins agreed.

"Alright, ye kids. We are nearing the area of the Mooncalves, do not make any loud sounds or sudden movements-" Hagrid was about to continue when he stopped all of a sudden and said," Do you hear that?" His body tightened as he became alert.

"Hear what?" Magnus asked. Hagrid made a shushing gesture and they all listened closely now.

"AWOO" a distant howl was heard. This time all of them heard it clearly. It came somewhere from their front.

"Is that a werewolf?" Fred gulped.

"No. Werewolf sounds a bit different. These are just wolves. But they can also be dangerous as they move in packs. The wolves in the Forbidden forest are powerful and dangerous. The white wolves are still fine as they are smart and don't attack easily. It's the black ones we should worry about. I think they're hunting. Merlin's beard! They are moving towards the Mooncalf territory. Let's move, quickly," Hagrid urged them to move quickly as he started lumbering forwards.

The trio started running to keep pace with the giant man. Soon, they could see at a distance a herd of strange large-eyed creatures being cornered by a group of large black wolves, each over a meter in height and two in length.

"Hey, just to be clear. If we fight, the big dog will protect us, right?" Fred asked jumpily.

"Fang is more like a mascot. It might need our protection," Magnus burst their hopes.

"Then why did it grow that big?" George exclaimed.

"To eat more food?" Magnus offered with a shrug.

"Stay close to me. Don't get surrounded. We just need to scare off the wolves," Hagrid instructed them as he came to a stop. He quickly loaded his crossbow and shot a warning bolt towards the feet of the wolves. The wolves were startled by the sudden bolt, but their attention was quickly turned towards the new intruders. There were six wolves in total. The largest of the wolves, which was probably the leader, gave a threatening growl towards them. Three of the wolves split up and quickly rushed towards them.

Hagrid's bolt made one of them slow down while the other two still continued on forward.

"Flippendo," Magnus quickly waved his wand and one of the wolves was thrown back at the same speed it came forward.

"Petrificus Totalus," Fred's spell missed as the wolf suddenly accelerated. These wolves are smart Magnus observed.

"Rictusempra," George's spell hit the wolf just before Magnus threw another Knockback jinx. The wolf was yipping happily while it got thrown backwards.

"Really George? Tickling charm?" Fred asked.

"Hey it worked didn't it? At least mine hit it," George retorted. He just threw it out of reflex as they mostly used such spells for their pranking. Real life combat is much different than learning in class they realized. You don't have much time to react in the real world. Magnus was still better as he trained with Tonks, but the twins either couldn't aim properly or use a proper spell. The last wolf finally made it closer and all it got was a shovel to its face from Hagrid that made it fly across the clearing over the others. The mooncalves looked on in wonder as three wolves flew over them one after the other.

The lead wolf still wasn't cowed but another quick bolt from Hagrid and another Knockback jinx from Magnus made it change its mind. It quickly signaled its pack and they ran away quickly. Hagrid and the trio relaxed. The Mooncalves made some endearing sounds that sounded like a thank you before they started doing their weird dance.

[Impact Points+30]

"Well, at least we have enough dung," Hagrid pointed towards the forest floor around the Mooncalves. Apparently, these creatures have weak stomachs which are easily disturbed when chased by wolves.