Valerie would stop to occasionally as she proceeded forward to turn her head in order to take in the rest of her surroundings in the ever darkening forest. One of the disadvantages of her owl eyes was the absence of seventy percent or so field of view compared to that of a human’s. The lack of ability to roll her eyes about in her sockets and small loss of peripheral vision was regrettable, but there were always sacrifices that needed to be made for one’s advancement. Always.

Her temporary eyes were able to pick up the slightest of movements on the path before her or among the mangled branches surrounding her. Mostly the erratic and speedy movements of insects presently, each of whom received a particularly salty scowl from the sixth year as she proceed further and further into the forest. The growing chill caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand and skin to become covered in goosebumps. Enough so that, for a fleeting moment, she considered administering a few heating charms to herself but soon thought against it at risk of overheating once she undoubtedly had to spring into action.

Coming to a stop at a fork in the path, Valerie knelt down and touched the earth with her fingers. Even going so far as to pick up some of the cold and slightly damp soil to rub between her thumb and index finger for any indication as to which way she was meant to proceed. But the ground felt cold no matter where her hands traveled.

And then came that scream.

Eyes unable to widen any further, the Wampus stared vacantly ahead as the scream tore through her very core and even the adrenaline froze in her veins. The ground soon began shaking beneath her, small tremors at first but soon into fully fledged and unnatural undulations. Then came the snapping of the trees as the earth became uneven around them; uprooting and crashing into one another. Another loud crack and the tree marking the fork in the path had split into two, scattering bark, leaves, concrete, and thin sheets of metal roofing in every which direction.

And still the ground continued its relentless movements all around her.

And then there was their scream.

Weakness suffocated her further as she knelt on the ground and her mind rattled, reeling, from the three terrified voices echoing within her head. Hands moving swiftly to her ears in a feeble plea for the screaming to cease. For the sounds of the destruction around her to cease. “Make it stop…” came a faint appeal into the darkness. An appeal not unlike that of a small child’s. Only this child was beseeching of themselves with desperation clawing at the edges of echoes into the past.

But then her senses remembered something in her hand and currently pressing into her pale cheek. Her wand. She had her wand. Suddenly the ground stopped shaking and the fallen debris disappeared back from whence it came. Back into memory. And there were not three screams but one. One of unknown origin and of no real association with herself other than being distinctly human. Berating herself yet again for that embarrassing display, Valerie pushed herself up on a deep inhale and straightened her posture on a long exhale. All three of her owl eyelids blinking and ignoring the dull throb beginning to form around the sockets, she roughly dusted off her trousers and violently flicked a few leaves clinging there out of frustration.

On top of it all she now had to follow the predictable path to the left towards the scream like some foolish character in a No-Maj classic horror film for the fundamental need of progressing the plot. The sort of character (typically some dippy blonde) that her and Lachlan throw more than disapproving looks at and hardly be surprised when within the next few minutes of the film were lying dead on the ground in some gruesome fashion having victimized themselves with their miscalculated curiosity.

Curiosity killed the kneazle. Good for her that she was no kneazle. Nor was she a victim.

Shunning any more lingering memories clinging to her subconsciousness, she performed a tight arc while whispering “Disillusio,” opting for the variation of the charm that worked best on living things in anticipation of it giving her a slight edge for whatever lay ahead. Switching her wand to her other hand and performing a swish and a tap upon her more dominant hand, she performed a silent Prehenso and waited for the initial tingling sensation to subside before returning her wand to it. Fingers once again wrapping around her wand, she rolled her shoulders loosen some tension and relaxed feeling the slightly more roughened texture of the cherry wood against her palm. After one, two more deep breaths to recenter herself...she continued forward.