As Ellie walked, she became so much more interested in everything, or lack of everything that was around them. It wasn't funny so much anymore...just...interesting.

EEP!SPIDERS

The third year grabbed Little Professor's robes and clenched them in her fist.

At least until they passed the spiders. And Merlin knows HOW grateful she was that they went towards the wailing instead. Wailing seemed a ton safer.

After they passed that area of life or death, she released him to look up at the kitty. "I am." Sure. Sure of what, she wasn't sure. But she knew she was sure of whatever Little Professor was unsure of, and that was enough for her. "See how it feels safe with you." Mhm. It must, otherwise it would have run away, wouldn't it? Weren't cats notorious for being easily afraid?

Oooh! Scary stories!

Ellie listened intently to the myth. That...wasn't scary at all. Disappointing, really.

What did it tell her about the myth? "That it's a load of dragon dung..." And not in the literal sense, Vindictus.

Aha! thought the first year lion triumphantly. He was getting better and better at this class thing. Especially Charms. “It tells us this myth is uber fake!” he said.

Emily raised her hand, "Professor is it sort of like the whole nothing is as it seems... in that particularly with myths, as they are handed down through generations, told and retold, rewritten- it changes, in a way its like chinese whispers, one person says one thing but then as it gets passed down the message gets misinterpreted and retold differently resulting in the message being different from the one originally told?" Emily paused..
"I hope I'm making sense", she said as an after thought.

Then it dawned on her, no human or creature...she thought, gasping. "B-b-but wait, if the curse were real the kitty wouldn't be safe...and neither would we, but thats besides the point." The kitty was more important, more fragile - it was adorable is what it was.

Listening to what Emily had said, she had to agree. "Kind of like the muggle game telephone or pass-word. Where you've got a group of people and you tell someone a word or sentence and have them tell the person next to them until it goes round in a circle back to the beginning. And in the end you compare the actual thing said, to the thing everyone ended up thinking it was."

She smiled feeling slightly smarter than before.

Impenetrable Clearing??? Really??? Death and curses??? she thought. It's a good thing she had learned to control her hair. It would have been straight and black for sure. She moved with Ben as he moved, for fear that something wanted to grab her. Thanks to the greenhouse cleaning, she was now petrified of magical woods. Circle of death??? she thought as Ben said it. She glanced over at Belle to make sure she was ok and close by. Now she was worried. She whispered back to Ben, "Ok, next time, we go looking for the circle of flowers and rainbows, got it?"

Alex tapped his chin in thought. Inpenetrable Clearing? That just didn't seem possible. He'd read a couple of charms books before coming to school and hadn't heard of any spell that made you DIE as soon as you entered the area. He raised his hand.

"I think there might be more to the myth that only wizards would be able to understand. Perhaps the charm over this area--if there even is one--is easily disabled with another charm. BUT if you're not a witch or wizard, you don't know anything about countercurses, let alone have the ability to USE them, so you can't enter without getting zapped or something," he explained.

The entire class tonight made Violet's mood change completely. From extremely excited to terrified to death! Violet did not expect to be entering the Forbidden Forest tonight, she did not expect to actually see the Bloody Baron guiding them, nor she did she want to be in the Forest at all, but as long as the Professor was telling them that they'd be alright, that was enough to make Violet calm down.

The entire time they were walking through the Forest Violet's arm was clutched to Selina's not letting go the entire time. Only when they got to the trees that were so clustered together she had to let go of Selina's arm, for the moment, but when they were through Violet was close by Selina once again. As the Professor told them the story about the warriors Violet slowly raised their hand,"Professor, does it mean that it's told to prevent muggles from finding Hogwarts?" Violet smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

Nika kept walking and followed some older students in front of her. She kept her eyes on the ground because she didn't want to have another falling accident. Who did the Professor say would be our guide again? Nika took her eyes off of the ground and started searching for the guide. "GHOST!" Nika was startled by the floating figure. Nika remembered what her professor said about muggles and being afraid of them so she quickly took some deep breaths and calmed down. She walked up to the ghost to apologize. "Err Hi ghost." Do ghosts have names? "I didn't mean to freak out. I was just startled. Yeah, thats it. I was startled." Nika cleared her throat. "I'm Nika." She extended her hand, but then quickly drew it back. Ghosts can't shake hands...

Oooh...! Interesting....though Savannah. This sounds really interesting. She love things like this! Curses! and Brave Warriors! and tribes! and Mysterious Deaths!! The interested girl thought intently as she stroked her tiny braid-a normal thing Savannah does when she's thinking. "I think it might be true." The daydreamer said finally. "It's a magical world we're living, and anything could happened!" Savannah got more excited by the minute. "But...from everything you just showed us before about the Disillusionment Charm, it might just be a secret gaurdian of the tribe who would put the Disillusionment Charm on him or her whenever a foe enters." Savannah finished as she strayed in a fantasy daydream, but still listening to every word the professor's saying.

Belle looked at Jania and made sure she got the charm right. "Luxra Magnifica!" and she got her charm right! "Yes i am soo relieved" she said aloud. and she got her latern lighted up to go into the forest.

Belle was excited to go into the forest. She loved the sense of adventure! "Jania how excited are you?" she asked her but she realized she was talking to Ben. she remained quiet with a smile on her face.

Belle eyes widened,"WOAH A GHOST!" this was her first time seeing one, she believed they exsisted but couldn't believe it. This changes my perspective of things but she greeted the ghost. "Woah Hello Mr. Baron!" she said as he was gliding.

Belle was hearing the eerie sounds. It made her heart pump faster, the tension building and her palms were sweating from being nervous. "This is soo cool! I love scary stuff." she whispered. She held her lamp to make sure nothing was near her feet.

Selina felt a force behind her creep up for comfort. When she turned around her eyes met Violet's and Violet was looking oddly terrified. However, Selina knew Violet would stick it out for Charms. That girl loved this class so much that it seemed she would and did do everything in her power to be an active participant.

"You okay, Vi?" Selina questioned rubbing her friend's arm for reassurance.

Turning back to the Professor Selina replied, "Maybe sir, you are referring to the fact that we are not Muggles. You said humans and maybe the loop hole is that although we are human we are not exactly the average human. We defy the odds with our abilities so maybe we defy the odds with the folklore."

The Baron glanced at the impolite girl and then floated higher, silver luminescence spiralling down into the clearing, leaving a certain hair-raising chill behind.

This one did not even earn the cold glance. The Baron looked at the Charms professor, clanked his chains and then turning around, floated along the edge of the clearing and, passing through a tree, vanished from sight.

Out-of-the-box. "That's not it, Selina, but that's some excellent thinking," Jared said. "Take two points for your house."

"Good thinking, Arya," Jared said, somehow managing to hide the grin that threatened to slip out at her statement. "Take two points."


"There are far more efficient spells to that effect," Jared reminded. Muggle-repelling ones. "The wards here that keep out muggles have, in fact, been in place for centuries."

And? "Take two points each."

That was new. "Not exactly," Jared grinned. "But nice thinking, Savannah. Take two points for Slytherin."

Close. "Not quite, Emelia," Jared smiled. "But you're close. Take two points for Hufflepuff."

"Those are good lines of thought, Cedric, Benjamin." The right answer mattered less than the fact that they had all given the issue thought. "Take two points each."

Jared could feel that Ellie had clenched a fistful of his robes. That was okay, though. If it made her feel safe.

He glanced down at the kitten. "Shouldn't it -" Should he say, she? The kitten being a she and all. "Be scared, even if I am here?" He asked. You know. Of all the spiders and noises and quiet.

He grinned lazily. Know what?

"You can take two points for that."



Jared grinned. "You've all come to more or less the same conclusion," he said, as the responses poured in. "Is this myth, just a myth?"

He glanced over the clearing. "There are few myths that aren't based on what a person or a group of people think is the truth - as discussed, it'd be quite normal for a muggle to think a wizard or witch under an Invisibility Cloak is a ghost, but that isn't the indisputable truth."

"There was a tribe. It did die out. And there was a time when people could not get into this clearing. In fact, even now, it's impossible to pass through it." Holding up the lantern so that everyone could see, Jared strode forward. Near the middle of the clearing, he could not move. It was like an invisible barrier blocking his path. He turned around, to face the class. "Repelling charmwork," he said, not needing to raise his voice, given the quiet. "The simple all-repelling charm creates an invisible barrier around the target, not letting anyone or anything touch it. The magic here is far older and far, far stronger, but it's clearly a kind of Repelling charmwork."

"The enchantments might have been put in place to keep the place safe, or they might have been put in place for another reason. The point is, this is regular - even if exceptionally strong - magic. In the beginning, the few people and creatures that ventured here could not get into the clearing, and this led to the birth of a myth concerning the tribe that had died out. Now, let's suppose the repelling magic begins to weaken, someone realizes it's possible to get into the clearing, at least to some extent, and on the return trip, that person is injured. It's easy to get injured in this forest, but that one incident is enough to lead to talk of people that manage to enter the clearing, being 'mysteriously' injured. In time, the rumours develop, spread and are accepted, and even intelligent witches and wizards begin to believe them, especially because the Forbidden Forest is already known to house some very deadly creatures. The fact that not many enter the forest, makes such a myth unlikely to be refuted."

"This -" He glanced around the clearing - "Is a classic example of charm-work that defies the senses - or, to be precise and in this case, the sense of touch. Repelling charms have been around for centuries, and it is unknown when the first was developed. Not all of them have the same effect: some sever contact - such as Impervius that simply makes water slide off the target - and some have a more roundabout approach - such as Repello muggletum, that makes muggles forget their purpose, if they approach the target."

It looked like the Baron had decided he had stopped in the place for long enough. Jared, having expected this for several minutes now, raised his lantern a tad.

"Everyone, please follow the Baron."

Once again, he'd bring up the rear.

Kyle watched the Baron vanish through a tree, she walked slowly closer to the tree. Hmm, there might be something important about it, but she waited, waiting for instruction walk around the tree? She of course thought Ghosts were absolutely one of the coolest things around.

Turning back to hear what the Professor said, so she was right. Muggle repelling spells.

She walked further to the tree, and stepping around it wait to know where to go next. Keeping a watch out for anything dangerous, and of course the Baron as well.

"Repello Muggletum" she pondered, as she waited for everyone to catch up.

The Baron did not look back to see if he was being followed. He emerged out of the clearing in silence and chose an uneven path, gliding along it, silver luminescence trailing behind.

A snake dangled from a tree, its shining green eyes staring out in the darkness. The Baron ignored it.

Kyle was right behind the baron - the light from her lantern illuminating the snake. Her heart began to beat, faster, faster, faster as she saw it. She did not like snakes - but she could tolerate them more than say, spiders. So she kept walking - the path was rather uneven which slowed her movement down quite a bit.

K-Lee trudged down the path, folowing the Baron. Seeing a snake, K-Lee yelped slightly before calming down. The snake had only surprised her, she wasn't really scared of them. Hmmm.... maybe she could get a pet snake... That would pe pretty cool...

As her footing became more uneven, K-Lee tripped face first. "Ow." She muttered, standing up and dusting dirt off herself. It didn't hurt too much. She could feel a graze on her knees and the palms of her hands but with it being so dark she couldn't really see much.

Cedric listened intently hard so as to grasp what the Professor was explaining to them. "So, sir, you mean to say that there is no Impenetrable Clearing at all? That the myth is just, you know, a myth that emanated from mere rumors?"

Cedric glanced around the clearing, giving it a one last sweeping look as they followed the Baron once more. "So that was the excellent charm work he was talking about," Cedric muttered under his breath, smiled and soon broke into a grin as a thought struck his mind.

Would they be witnessing more excellent charm-work? Excellent.

Jared turned around. "Alright there?" He asked, the concern in his voice apparent. The students should be able to see, given all the lanterns. But the path had become a little uneven.

Jared smiled, a faint but definite smile. "There was an Impenetrable Clearing," he said. "It just wasn't impenetrable because of vicious spirits out to get everyone that tried to enter it."

The snake hissed, exposing deep black fangs, as the light from his lantern met its fluorescent, green eyes. Poisonous, but not the kind to attack unless threatened. Jared lowered his lantern, the one floating one step ahead of him, so that its light shone across the ground, not lighting up the trees.

"I'm fine!" K-Lee said to the professor, still rubbing dirt off her robes. This path was annoying. Even with the lamp light it was hard to see everything on the ground.

Holding out the lamp in a better position so she could see more, K-Lee wrapped her robes around her tighter with her other arm. Merlin it was cold. She wished this lesson wasn't in such a dark place in the middle of the night.

"See? I told you that's there's nothing to worry about. The professor wouldn't let anything happen to any of us, though why no vegetation is a perplexing thought. Oh well." Benjamin really hadn't said that, but because of his pride, he said he did.

"Thank you, Professor," he said once being awarded the two points. The professor was right about the charm work. Benjamin hit it with his big toe as he walked and stubbed it. He was close to yelling out an obsenity, but the group had started to move. he let everyone go infront of him, except the professor, of course.

As they reachedthe uneven path, Benjamin was reminded of Jaina's clumsy-ness. "Jaina, Belle, walk in my footsteps and only in my footsteps. That way, you won't fall over these vines."

Kurumi nodded as she listened to Professor Descoteaux explanation. It was kind of interesting how they were all trying to apply reason to a myth that was just that - a myth. Kurumi began to wonder how many of the myths she grew up with had actual fact to them...certainly something to think about.

Kurumi threw her hands over her mouth when she saw the snake in attempt to muffle her squeak.

Snakes...why did there have to be snakes?

Taking in all that the Professor had saind Patroclus, followed on as the Bloody Baron lead them further into the Forest, his light bobbing in front, lighting his and Kurumi's way.

As the hiss of the snake reached his ears, and that of his little LionGirl ward, the Lion Boy turned to view the reptile. Hanging from it's position, it was perfectly camoflaged as a vine, a vine that someone could accidently grab onto. "Nothing to worry about Kurumi" he smiled, as they pasted it, "If only we had a parsletongue with us, they could tell it to move along" that are ask it to attack someone

The more trees, that surrounded them, the less light there was from the moon, "This is so exciting!"

Helena kept following the Bloody Baron, trying not to complain out loud. Where were they going, anyway? And why the Forbidden Forest? Everything looked just so... creepy.

Heh, a coward Slytherin. Maybe the Sorting Hat made a mistake.

Anyway. Still following the transparent figure, the girl noticed... "S-snake?" She whispered, her eyes gone wide and suddenly walking REALLY quickly towards professor Descoteaux. You know, just in case the snake wanted to have some fun biting her.

"Nope," Ellie said, shaking her head. Why, you ask? Because it felt safe. Mhhmm.

Two points?! Did she really get two points just for saying dragon dung? She'd better have gotten tons of points for inhaling the real thing in Herbology.

Impervious. Repello Muggletum. "Are we going to learn those?" Cuz that'd be preetttyyy awesome to know. That and a disillusionment charm.

Oh? They were going even deeper into the Forest. Awesomeee.

Snake! Ellie, actually, for the most part, liked snakes. Or, rather, they didn't bother her as much. So when it hissed at Little Professor's lantern, she hissed back....making sure she was on the far side of Little Professor, of course.