If they took away the darkness, the eerie fog and the dreadful sensation that something bad was going to happen, this place might actually be a lovely spot to sit against one of the trees and read a good book. Mason smiled at the thought despite feeling more nervous with each step. He continued to observe his surroundings, his brain taking in as much detail as he could in case he saw any sign of what was to come. He hadn’t bothered marking his way yet as he had walked in a straight line so far.

While the tip of the wand illuminated his way but it was still not ideal to see. He could use a more powerful spell to light his way but attracting more attention was not what he wanted right now. Nothing attacked him yet and on one hand he had thought it would be like this. Building up suspense for the viewers and increasing anxiety for him. It was all a big mind battle when nothing jumped out at him and Mason might not be the best fighter but he had a strong mind that could battle the negative thoughts on what was going to happen. Unless you were talking to him about N.E.W.T exams... THEN he freaked.

A sudden loud scream tore him away from his thoughts and the Ravenclaw actually jumped because he got startled. His heart went racing and it was pounding so loudly in his chest he was sure anyone could hear it. Gripping his wand tightly in fear of dropping it, Mason had spun towards the direction the scream had been, ready to defend himself but nothing happened. He hadn’t even noticed how clammy his hands were until now or that they were even shaking a bit.

He took a calming breath again when he was sure that he wasn’t getting attacked and waited for a moment to think. Should he go and investigate? His mind was thinking about all the possible creatures that could be in this forest. At first, he had thought he had to battle a dementor when he had entered and had felt the dreading sensation and the cold. Then he had thought about a Hinkypunk that could lure him in the fog but as far as he knew, Hinkypunks used a light to lure unexpected travelers and he couldn’t remember reading anywhere that they could scream. Though they said that Hinkypunks were more concidered spirits than actual creatures....

On one hand he wanted to be the smart one and NOT go to investigate because he was SURE it would be a trap however, if he started to walk the other way he would basically be saying ‘i give up’ and Mason Winslow did not give up! He walked swiftly towards the nearest tree in the direction that the sound had been and after a careful look around the seventh year slashed his wand and drew an X on the tree bark with a non-verbal ‘Flagrate’ spell.

Mumbling an apology to his parents who he knew were at Hogwarts and watching from the viewing area right now, he mustered up the courage and walked in the direction of the sound.