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Title: The Signers of the Oath (or: The Story of the Forbidden Forest, Part 2)
Date/Challenge: 4 - the light gleams, and is gone at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
30_hath and 22: House Pride at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
potterverse100
Claim: The Hufflepuff House
Rating: PG
Word Count: 899
Author's Note: The first part of the story is at Sentry Duty.
A new moon is always a black night. The blackest of them all, it is said. A single candle, lit by the power of imagination and desire, shall drive back the darkness with barely a flicker of warmth or light.
On this night alone, all misdeeds and wrongs shall be put aside and the badgers stand true. Loyalty, the spirit that binds us together, shall be the only emotion with us on this night of nights, and we shall make this vow to lay aside all else but our feelings of community.
On the darkest night, we shall know nothing but gold and sable; see nothing but yellow and black as the candle gleams against the darkened sky.
Signed,
Megan Jones
Susan Bones
Ernie Macmillan
Justin Finch-Fletchley
2 May 1992
Zacharias Smith
Cedric Diggory
Maurice Cadwallader
Wayne Hopkins
9 September 1992
Stella Davison
Denby Summers
Christophe LeCroix
16 September 1993
Laura Madley
Owen Cauldwell
Joshua Pollock
Mitzi FitzWilliams
Eleanor Branstone
2 December 1994
“I don’t see why Rose couldn’t come with us,” Megan grumbled, clutching the short white taper she and Susan had taken from the sconce at the top of the stairs leading the dungeon. Normally, the mischief of finding the new moon candle was more dramatic than it had been this time because their heart just hadn’t been into it.
The group of Hufflepuffs that walked through the Forbidden Forest this year was sadly diminished from the group a few years ago. For the past two years, the New Mooners hadn’t accepted any new members so there was no First, Second or Third Years. Of the original four members, only Ernie and Megan were there to lead the group. Susan had been battling a rather nasty head cold that had escalated because of her lack of sleep last night and Justin hadn’t been at school for the last two months. He and Zacharias had left to join in the fighting with a good majority of the Gryffindors in their year.
“fI you’re so worried about her,” groused Joshua, a short Fourth Year with a nasty streak that Ernie had never been able to talk him out of, “then why don’t you go back and strand guard with her?”
“Wanna rethink that?” Wayne asked, turning on the boy suddenly. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Megan. We can leave you behind. You’d better learn your place or-“
“Leave him alone,” Megan interrupted, putting her hand on Wayne’s elbow and steering her bodyguard back to the front of the pack. He had been taking Zach’s parting words a little too seriously, especially in places where safety seemed lax. Megan didn’t mind it here in the dark woods but it was getting a little irritating on the Quidditch pitch or at meals.
“It’s not like anything will happen to her,” Ernie said as if he’d missed most of the last moments of the conversation. “We’ve been coming here every year and nothing’s happened to us.” He emphasized the last word, his face set into a frown that he often wore these days. It reminded Megan of the look that Zach had been using right before he left as news filtered back to the school about Harry Potter’s movements. Even when he was preparing to leave, the look had stayed in place. Now, it seemed, it had passed onto Ernie as many other things had. He had wanted to go with his friends but there had been arguments late into the night about someone needing to stay behind and protecting the group. Since Ernie would be busy keeping track of the House with the help of the Head Girl, Wayne was put in charge of keeping track of Megan. She’d fought this but had lost – just like usual.
“But she’s so small,” Megan reasoned, pushing her hands into the sleeves of her robe. The night was still chilly, especially under the canopy of dense leaves. “And she could have come along. It’s not like we’re Slytherin. If someone finds us, they find us. What are we doing that’s wrong?”
“Coming into the forest, for one,” Laura reminded them from her point behind Megan. She hadn’t been asked to watch over Megan but she’d taken the request to heart and always tried to be at the older girl’s back.
“Semantics,” Ernie growled. “It’s just a forest. I doubt any animals even live here. They just circulate the stories to scare us away.”
“I’m sure they have their reasons,” Laura insisted, staunching trying to prove her point to Ernie once again. The two of them kept bickering until the group found their way to the opening in the trees.
Right away, Megan noticed that something wasn’t right. At her feet, there were tracks in the soft ground that hadn’t been there anytime she could remember. Wayne noticed where her gaze went and she felt him tense, preparing for trouble.
“We should leave…” he started to say before a flash of light gleamed on the other side of the glen. The Hufflepuff wands pointed toward the disturbance as they looked for the worst even as the light died away.
“You’re late.”
Megan was the first to recognize the two shadowy figures at the other side of the open space, but lost valuable time fighting out of Wayne’s powerful grip. “Let me go,” she growled as the boy tightened his grip. “It’s Zach.”
Date/Challenge: 4 - the light gleams, and is gone at
30_hath and 22: House Pride at potterverse100Claim: The Hufflepuff House
Rating: PG
Word Count: 899
Author's Note: The first part of the story is at Sentry Duty.
A new moon is always a black night. The blackest of them all, it is said. A single candle, lit by the power of imagination and desire, shall drive back the darkness with barely a flicker of warmth or light.
On this night alone, all misdeeds and wrongs shall be put aside and the badgers stand true. Loyalty, the spirit that binds us together, shall be the only emotion with us on this night of nights, and we shall make this vow to lay aside all else but our feelings of community.
On the darkest night, we shall know nothing but gold and sable; see nothing but yellow and black as the candle gleams against the darkened sky.
Signed,
Megan Jones
Susan Bones
Ernie Macmillan
Justin Finch-Fletchley
2 May 1992
Zacharias Smith
Maurice Cadwallader
Wayne Hopkins
9 September 1992
Stella Davison
Denby Summers
16 September 1993
Laura Madley
Owen Cauldwell
Joshua Pollock
Mitzi FitzWilliams
Eleanor Branstone
2 December 1994
“I don’t see why Rose couldn’t come with us,” Megan grumbled, clutching the short white taper she and Susan had taken from the sconce at the top of the stairs leading the dungeon. Normally, the mischief of finding the new moon candle was more dramatic than it had been this time because their heart just hadn’t been into it.
The group of Hufflepuffs that walked through the Forbidden Forest this year was sadly diminished from the group a few years ago. For the past two years, the New Mooners hadn’t accepted any new members so there was no First, Second or Third Years. Of the original four members, only Ernie and Megan were there to lead the group. Susan had been battling a rather nasty head cold that had escalated because of her lack of sleep last night and Justin hadn’t been at school for the last two months. He and Zacharias had left to join in the fighting with a good majority of the Gryffindors in their year.
“fI you’re so worried about her,” groused Joshua, a short Fourth Year with a nasty streak that Ernie had never been able to talk him out of, “then why don’t you go back and strand guard with her?”
“Wanna rethink that?” Wayne asked, turning on the boy suddenly. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Megan. We can leave you behind. You’d better learn your place or-“
“Leave him alone,” Megan interrupted, putting her hand on Wayne’s elbow and steering her bodyguard back to the front of the pack. He had been taking Zach’s parting words a little too seriously, especially in places where safety seemed lax. Megan didn’t mind it here in the dark woods but it was getting a little irritating on the Quidditch pitch or at meals.
“It’s not like anything will happen to her,” Ernie said as if he’d missed most of the last moments of the conversation. “We’ve been coming here every year and nothing’s happened to us.” He emphasized the last word, his face set into a frown that he often wore these days. It reminded Megan of the look that Zach had been using right before he left as news filtered back to the school about Harry Potter’s movements. Even when he was preparing to leave, the look had stayed in place. Now, it seemed, it had passed onto Ernie as many other things had. He had wanted to go with his friends but there had been arguments late into the night about someone needing to stay behind and protecting the group. Since Ernie would be busy keeping track of the House with the help of the Head Girl, Wayne was put in charge of keeping track of Megan. She’d fought this but had lost – just like usual.
“But she’s so small,” Megan reasoned, pushing her hands into the sleeves of her robe. The night was still chilly, especially under the canopy of dense leaves. “And she could have come along. It’s not like we’re Slytherin. If someone finds us, they find us. What are we doing that’s wrong?”
“Coming into the forest, for one,” Laura reminded them from her point behind Megan. She hadn’t been asked to watch over Megan but she’d taken the request to heart and always tried to be at the older girl’s back.
“Semantics,” Ernie growled. “It’s just a forest. I doubt any animals even live here. They just circulate the stories to scare us away.”
“I’m sure they have their reasons,” Laura insisted, staunching trying to prove her point to Ernie once again. The two of them kept bickering until the group found their way to the opening in the trees.
Right away, Megan noticed that something wasn’t right. At her feet, there were tracks in the soft ground that hadn’t been there anytime she could remember. Wayne noticed where her gaze went and she felt him tense, preparing for trouble.
“We should leave…” he started to say before a flash of light gleamed on the other side of the glen. The Hufflepuff wands pointed toward the disturbance as they looked for the worst even as the light died away.
“You’re late.”
Megan was the first to recognize the two shadowy figures at the other side of the open space, but lost valuable time fighting out of Wayne’s powerful grip. “Let me go,” she growled as the boy tightened his grip. “It’s Zach.”
