Ugh.

The Bloody Baron was so wicked cool it gave Lulu Patterson goosebumps. Lulu wanted to be just like him.

Except for the being dead part.

Dessy. He was alright for being one of the male species. Lulu flashes him a toothy smile. Sir Robin curled around her calf and Lulu leaned over to grab him by the scruff. "Come on, Robin," she said dumping him on the top of her messy head. "We're going on an expedition. Maybe we'll find something interesting like a banshee or a hag. That would be awesome." It would also prove that she was right about Professor Hecate Lafay being a polyjuiced banshee.

She was so right. She could feel it in her bones.

Patterson followed after the Bloody Baron, trying to keep his luminescent form within eyesight. She could see Professor Dessy out of the corner of her eyes. "It's creepy," she whispered loudly with a delighted smile, swinging her lantern around to illuminate her own face. "And it smells!"

The trees started to become taller and taller. The Baron floated through them, not looking back to see if he was being followed. He came to a fork. Scores of tiny, scuttling spiders spilled out from one path and a long loud wail came from the other.

The Baron ignored them and floated along the second path, leaving a silver light in his wake that dimmed and died as he glided onwards.

Kyle looked around smiling. She was so excited. she wanted to SCREAM with joy or was that fear?

She took another step forward, excited, something furry crawled over her foot. Looking down, she saw it was a rather fat squirrel. Harmless right? Well, she thought so. Stepping over it, it jumped to lunge at her.

Since when did squirrels have full on fangs? Was that a vampire-squirrel or something she'd never heard of before. Evil, she knocked it away casting a quick petrifying spell on it. Eventually it would wake up and regain consciousness.

"Scary thing." She pointed at it. Glaring.

She looked up to the Bloody Baron, Kyle saw the spiders, heard the wail and felt her breath quicken. She quickly followed the Barron he knew where he was going. And spiders could mean big scary ones that eat you.

While she was glad that she had earned a few more points for her house, that jouy quickly vanished when she saw the Bloody Baron show up. Perhaps it was his name, but Kurumi always felt like hiding under something any time she saw him.

No rocks in sight, Kurumi decided to cling to Patroclus in stead. The prefect DID say that nothing bad would happen to her as long as he was around...and she was going to make him live up to that statement.

Tugging on the string a bit, Kurumi watched as the kitten followed it and she decided to scoop it up in her free hand and wrapped it up tightly in her robes so that its head was popping out around her chest area. "You'll be nice and warm there," she said scratching it behind the ears. Unless, you know, the Professor didn't want the kitten coming along...

Grabbing her lantern now with her free hand, Kurumi tried to stay in the glowing path that the Bloody Baron was leaving behind.

Caroline followed behind the Baron and the other students. She looked around as she walked, looking at the trees, and ...... spiders? Eww spiders Caroline hated spiders. She jumped and squealed grabbing who ever was standing next to her. She couldn't quite tell. Sorry. She told who ever it was and walked onward.

Concentrate on less dazzling light?

Destiny wondered what Professor Despereaux would do if she told him she wasn't concentrating at all? Of course she really was, but it would be funny. And she was thinking about telling him until he handed her a pair of sunglasses! "SWEET!" she exclaimed, shoving them on her face and glancing over at Evelyn.

Hehe. She was awesome and had a pair of sunglasses on.

Holding the lantern out in front of her, Destiny followed behind the Professor and the Baron into the spooky forest.

Ooo, look! SPIDERS..that totally distracted her from the horrifying wailing noise. And the fact that that little Gryffie was STILL clinging to Patroclus.

"I'm not so sure," Jared said. He looked down, the kitten peeping out of his chest pocket. Strange.

...

Okay, adorable.


Something interesting like a banshee or hag?

Jared liked this kid.

"Isn't it?" He asked, grinning at the delighted smile that had lit up the Slytherin's face. "It's going to get creepier." He might have sounded like Christmas had come several months early. Might.

It did smell. Not a bad kind of smell though, at least not the one that held the current spot in its grip. More the smell of ancient trees and ancient wood and ancient grass and ancient mysteries.

"Don't use spells unless you have to," Jared said, voice low. "Especially not on the creatures." Casting on a creature could mean the wrath of its friends, and that was a risk they did not need.

Yes. Now let's hope those don't make you stand out if big, poisonous spiders come to eat us, after all.

Emily followed the Baron, the Professor and her peers into the thick forest. It was dark... that was certain, but she felt comfortable.

Holding up her lantern Emily was amazed by how far the light seemed to reach into the darkness.

There were strange noises coming from the trees, the sound of cracking twigs could be hear audibly as she walked on them.

"This is brilliant", she said more to herself than to anybody else.

Lulu glanced down at her arm. There was a hand there that didn't belong to her. She followed the path of it to look at the head attached to those shoulders.

"Jumpy?" she asked with a smile in a hushed voice. "It'll be fine, you know. Unless something bigger than Professor Dessy comes out. Then you might want to consider some escape routes."

Lulu giggled. "Wicked," she breathed out holding the lantern between herself and the girl that held on to her before. "I mean for me it is," amended Lulu and raised a brow at the Slytherin girl. "Creepy doesn't mean deadly."

Not technically, anyways. Robin held tighter to her head and Lulu glanced up, spotting the point of his nose. "Easy," she whispered to him and plucked him up with one hand. She offered him to the girl next to her. "You want to hold him? He's fuzzy."

Fuzzy and warm things usually comforted people, didn't they? It worked for Greer whenever she started blubbering over every stupid little thing. She was such a cry baby.

The wail grew louder as the Baron glided along the path but, eventually, it died out. He floated through clusters of trees that grew so close to each other, the students could pass through them only one at a time. He emerged into a clearing and came to a halt, clanking his chains.

In the eerie quiet, the noise echoed.

Kyle walked up to the trees, small space. She thought her chest feeling suddenly very heavy. Taking a step through the cluster she squeezed into a much larger clearing.

"Wow" she smiled, the clearing was nice. And the clanking eerie as ever.

The light of all the lanterns made it easier to see everyone. Catching the last bit of Emily's statement, Jared gave her a faint smile.

Lulu had a point. Personally, Jared preferred the potentially deadly over the creepy, even if he had never gone out of his way to seek either. Okay, once or twice. But not sans a reason [or reasons] that justified the act.

There was not enough space between the trees for all the students to pass through at once, so Jared brought up the rear, the light of the lantern not dazzling but covering a large expanse, so that he could see all the students in front of him. Once the students had all stepped into the clearing, he cleared his throat.

"We'll stop here, for a bit," he said. "This clearing is known as the Impenetrable Clearing." The Impenetrable Clearing of Death, actually. It occurred to him that the actual Latin name sounded for the place sounded much fancier. "As the stories go, this part of the Forest was once home to a tribe of warriors. Enemies wiped it out, but the 'curse' of the tribe hangs over the clearing where their councils occurred - no human or creature can enter, and those that attempt to defy the curse and enter, are injured or die mysterious deaths."

"But all of us could enter, and quite easily. What do you think this tells us about this myth?"

Professor Descoteaux was going to kill them all.

... And he'd garnered the assistance of the Bloddy Baron.

Arya had decided all of this while practicing the new spell and glaring at Chicken Girl. Going into the forest? At night?? Totally gonna kill them all and dump their bodies were the duels were held her first term. More than once she'd considered sneaking out of the lesson before they went into the forest, she'd learned one new spell which was more than enough for one lesson. She'd even found the courage to do so until the ghost appeared out of the forest.

Too late now.

Lantern in one hand and wand in the other, she made sure to stick with the group as they entered and traveled further into the creepy forest. She didn't have much time to wonder if the ghost was trying to lose them in the forest, (hewasgoingsofast!) distracted by the spiders and all the fears the suddenly arose at their sight and her overactive imagination.

When the entered the clearing probably filled with giant spiders waiting to feed on them she made certain to keep close to Destiny, something she'd been doing the entire trip through the forest.

Had to offer someone to the spiders before she escaped.

Hearing the professor's speech, and keeping an eye out for raccoons any sudden movements, she moved closer to Destiny, sending more glares to the girl. She DEFIANTLY was going to be sacrificed now.

"Maybe it's cause we have the Bloody Baron with us." She raised her lantern hand. "He entered first. Its possible his passage made it easy for us to enter." AND because they HAD someone to sacrifice if it came to that. "That or we'll die or become mysteriously injured later because the curse isn't instant."

She sent a quick glare to Destiny.

See? Why couldn't Mr. Stryker give, like, private tours on the Forbidden Forest? Because that was the only thing that could top BOTH Saylen and Descoteaux, right now.

Yes, yes, this was...pretty awesome, there is no deny.

Especially...er, cursed? Say what? But the awesome Sir Baron was in there, actually, weren't they all?

'Impenetrable'. Yeah, right.

So, his eyes were on the Baron as he replied, and the hand raised, "Perhaps it was told to keep people away," he shrugged, "or, maybe it IS cursed, but nothing happens if you don't believe in the stories." Or whatever.

Taking off the sunglasses and returning each and every glare that Raccoon Girl sent her, Destiny made it through the space between the trees, even tempting to trip the girl for a good laugh. But, she had remembered what Professor Despereaux had said about no laughing during this 'adventure'. Well, she just added the adventure part to what he said. Made it sound less scary than what they were really doing.

And why was Arya so close!?

It made her feel uncomfortable. Not that she would ever admit that or anything. It felt like she was going to try something. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Destiny moved closer to the Hufflepuff this time. Hehe. Let HER be uncomfortable.

Hearing the Professor speak, she raised her lantern up a little higher to get a good look at where they were. Impenetrable Clearing, say what!? "Since the curse hangs over the clearing, we should enter over the curse."

It made sense to Destiny and they just test her theory on Arya.

Glare.

Kurumi listened to the professor' story and looked into the forest and back at the Bloody Baron for a few minutes before speaking. "That wizardingkind didn't want non-magical beings venturing into the forest to keep our world's identity a secret," Kurumi offered in response.

Lucy heard the story as Professor said, it was quite strange that the people were dead if they entered, hmm, so what is the reason. Thinking hard she finally got to an answers and said "Professor,it maybe because they don't wand any humans or creature to know more about them?" saying that she looked around at others.

Emily put her arms around her shoulders as she walked, staying close to Nika the whole time.
This was cool... in a scary sort of way. The bloody baron probably being the scariest.
As the teacher spoke, she jumped in surprise. Everything had been so quiet, and this place was so... spooky.
"Um, cause they wanted to stop muggles coming through and... discovering Hogwarts?" she guessed.
Nika! Stay close to her!!!

Septimus said nothing. He was paying attention, really he was. His mind had simply gone blank while searching for an answer. Surrounded by spiders… he thought. He smiled to himself. Septimus liked spiders. Because they were on the Galen crest, it was tradition not to kill them. He had grown to like-possibly love- their company. Hmmm… Tricky question… *slacker*

Emmy raised her hand shyly.
"Um, professor? Is it because the 'curse' is a Muggle-repelling charm - in which case, we could get in because we're all witches and wizards?"
Hopefully, she thought right - she couldn't honestly think of any other reason...

With his bright little lantern on his right hand, Cedric followed the professor and the others as they wonderfully blazed a trail (lantern paraaaade!) but, being Hufflepuff and protective that he was, he kept a comfortable distance from the little girls (i.e Lulu!) just in case they might need his presence to be protected from all those wicked things that might be lurking around the forest and were stealthily watching them from a distance.

And they jarred to a halt. Impenetrable Clearing? Hmm. The clearing itself was interesting, let alone the curse that hung upon it. His face took on a pondering air as he thought of a possible answer for the professor's question. "I agree with Arya, sir, I think it's because the Baron entered first. He's a ghost, not a human or a creature. And you said that the sole reason the Baron is here with us tonight is to guide us to the path that guarantee our safety. Perhaps the Baron knew the path or direction where the curse of the clearing is weakest..."

"Professor? Since this is the Impenetrable Clearing, and since we entered with no problems at all, maybe the spirits let us enter without the curse coming to us. That's a possibility. They sensed the great Bloody Baron's intent to bring us in, and they cleared it for us. By the way, are the warriors buried in this clearing, and that could explain the lack of vegitation in this clearing? And, also, this is the coolest place I think anybody has EVER taken us." Benjamin stood close to Jaina trying to make her relax and keep her hair red. He then found it a little enticing to walk the perimeters of the clearing, and grabbed Jaina's hand and walked with her in tow around the clearing. Hmmm, very odd that all the vegetation should be outside of this area, but not in it. I wonder why? There HAS to be a reason for this. "Jaina, I think we are in a circle of death here. There has to be a reson for this lack of vegetation," he whispered to her as they walked and he searched the outer circle for any kind of dangers to the other students or the professor.

What an odd night. A ghost was leading them in the Forbidden Forest for what seemed to be know important reason. K-Lee had stopped freaking out about being in the forest now, though she'd have prefered to be in there in the middle of the day.

Coming into the clearing, K-Lee looked around. Did the professor jsut say that there was a curse? Better not have been. Listening to the question, K-Lee answered.

"It could have been because the Baron entered first, but would the curse drop just because a ghost went in first? But you said it was a myth, so does it actually exist? Couldn't the myth have originally been no muggles can enter, maybe from a muggle-repellent charm, and then the myth over the years changed." K-Lee said.

She really hoped the curse didn't exist. Curses didn't equal good.

Oh my god!


Patroclus was beyong excited, like he was CRAZY excited.......he was bouncing up and down like a fool, but he could just not help it!

With Kurumi following closely behind, the Lion Prefect made sure that he pointed out tree stumps and roots that she had to be careful of, no one wanted to trip. With a swish and flick of his wand, the he had his lantern hovering infront of him, that way he was able to have one hand free to be able to steady his movement, and his wand at the ready as well.

Entering into the clearing, Patroclus listened to the other answers, "Professor could it be that the myth is just that; a myth. Perhaps the wizards thought that the mere nature of the myth, would be enough to scare off any intruders. The clearly seems to display no sort of markings, or none that I can see, so perhaps it's a case of what you see is, pretty much nothing special."

It was like when a grown up told you that the washed floor was lava, that way you wouldn't dirty it.....it was nothing but words.

His speel over and done with, the Lion had the greatest urge to walk through the Baron, it was something he had always wanted to do!

"Would, or I mean could that mean that the myth was simply not about a curse but protective spells that only allow witches and wizards into the clearing." Kyle asked, thinking besides if the warriors were witches and wizards that would explain their ability to go through the clearing.

"Also we didn't have bad intentions while going into the clearing." She remarked.