The Prophesy of S

Chapter 5

"Why did Jackdaw insist on meeting at the Forbidden Forest at night?" complained Sebastian as we walked the path out of Hogwarts. "We could have gone while it was still daylight out."

I scoffed. "Excuse me? Whatever happened to 'professors need to have more confidence in our defensive abilities'?" I reminded him of the time he made that statement a couple of days ago.

"What I mean is, venturing into the Forbidden Forest would be a cinch if we were able to see clearly."

"Well, think on this. It'll better prepare us when sight isn't in our favor."

He smirked. "Someone is sure feeling confident about our odds."

"How could I not, after all I've faced and miraculously survived?"

"Plus, you got me here," he said with a smug smile. I replied with my own smile and gave him a light slap to his arm. We were crossing the stone bridge that was giving me a sense of déjà vu. When we made it to the other side, I noticed a random piece of parchment sitting on the bridge. Curious as to why the parchment was there, I picked it up and saw that it was a note.

My dearest Apollonia,

Would you care to join me for a picnic?

I know you enjoy a good Cornish pasty almost as much as you enjoy a good mystery.

See you soon, I hope.

Yours,

Richard

My eyes widened at what I read, and this had me thinking back to Apollonia's grotto and what we found there.

"Selene? What is it?" Sebastian asked, concerned when he realized I stopped walking with him.

"You still have that map we found in the grotto, right?"

"Yeah."

I held out my hand. "Let me see it." He looked puzzled, but complied with my request by taking the map from his pocket and handed it to me. Looking at the map, there was a forest with the moon hanging above, buildings, an archway, and the familiar stone bridge. "I believe this is the same bridge on the map."

"You're sure?" He looked back and forth, comparing the bridge we crossed to the one on the parchment.

"Positive. Look." I held up the map to him and pointed to the forest on the map. "This has to be the Forbidden Forest."

He inspected the map and pointed to the buildings drawn on the upper corner. "If you're right, then this must be Hogsmeade that's down the road." He then gestured to the archway. "And this for certain is the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. So, this is the bridge depicted here. Now what?"

"Well, I see a wand drawn here, an upside down V, and candles."

"Wait...that V is the wand motion for Lumos. So, we cast Lumos and the candles appear. That's my best bet."

"Right. And from the image of the moon, we have to do it at night. Lucky for us—it is. You might want to thank Jackdaw for the meeting time," I teased.

"Yeah, yeah, just cast the spell already." I took out my wand and casted Lumos. Bright light came from the tip of my wand, and instantly, lit candles appeared before us. "Wow," I said in awe. The enchanted candles floated away in the direction of the forest.

"Following floating candles into the Forbidden Forest? Well then, after you." Sebastian and I hastened our steps to follow them. They pasted through the archway that was on the map and we crossed the rickety wooden bridge. It looked to me that inside the forest was a lot darker. I was glad that we at least had the light from our wands. It would've been a nightmare doing this without magic.