A vampire at Hogwarts

Forbidden Forest

Rachel's POV

The night I was meant to serve detention with Draco, Ron, Harry and Hermione we were all dragged outside to Hagrid's hut by Mr. Filch. With Miss Norris in one arm and a lantern in the other he made us follow him until we reached the edge of the forest, Hagrid was there waiting for us, crossbow in hand with Fang by his side and a couple of lit lanterns. We trudged to a halt, obviously, none of us wanted to be there, in fact, I was attempting to think of many different ways I could purposely get lost in the forest. I desperately needed to hunt something considering my last meal was so rudely interrupted. My mouth watered at the idea of a hearty feeding but it was obviously ruined by the grouchy old man's voice.

"A pity they let the old punishments die. There was a time detention would find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, I miss the screaming" Filch lulled. His scratchy voice reflected an expression of thoughtful reminiscing to which I noticed Draco swallow nervously while Hermione rolled her eyes and walked passed. I merely scoffed at the idea. "They call that a punishment? How weak" I murmured under my breath. Luckily no one heard or at least pretended not to, I hardly cared either way. "You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the dark forest" The grounds keeper informed us as if it were the last thing he cared about. "A sorry lot this, Hagrid. Oh, good God, man, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?" The old man scowled. Upon closer inspection of the Half-giant I indeed noticed that he appeared to be sniffling. 'What about the dragon?'

"Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony" He cried sadly. "Well, that's good, isn't it? He'll be with his own kind" Hermione spoke reasoningly. The girl obviously saw the bright side to everything, I'm sure that'll come back to bite her someday. "Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania? {Filch rolls eyes.} What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby, after all" I noticed Filch roll his eyes again. I barely managed to suppress my own. Hagrid was kind but he was a fool in a lot of ways, he should know better than to try and keep a dragon as a pet and moreover he shouldn't be so emotional over a creature that hatched less than 36 hours ago. And the Dragon's not dead for Merlin's sake, it's in Romania where it will be with its own kind.

"Oh, for God's sake, pull yourself together, man. You're going into the forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you" Filch spat obviously annoyed by Hagrid's sulking. "The forest? I thought that was a joke! We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are..." Draco pauses only for a distinct howl to ring in the background. "...werewolves!" He finished looking beyond frightened.

I stuck my nose up unwavered by the though of encountering a werewolf. "What's there to be scared of? Werewolves are relatively dumb creatures when in their beast form, anyway. I could easily take one" Despite never actually meeting a werewolf in my life I was certain I could overpower one, after all they weren't nearly immortal like I was. Everyone gave me a pointed look, some questioning whether I was serious then obviously concluding that I had a death wish. Mr. Filch, on the other hand, gave me a crooked grin as he responded. "You say that but there's more than werewolves in those trees, You can be sure of that"  He chuckled, leaving Draco slightly whimpering in fear as he dismisses himself and his cat. "Nighty-night" He sang creepily. "Right, let's go" Hagrid ushered shortly after.

I didn't bother picking up a lantern, I'd leave them to the others who needed the light to see where they were going. "Rachel don't wander to far your going to trip in the dark" Draco warned. I heard Ron snigger, I assumed he was laughing at the idea of Draco actually caring about someone other than himself. "I'm fine. I can see perfectly where I'm going plus I wanna find it" I replied. "Find what?" Harry questioned curiously. "Whatever it is we're looking for" I replied quaintly hopping over a large tree root sticking out of the ground. "And I thought you were ambitious" I heard Ron groaned to Hermione quietly. "Shush" Harry told him. 
I screech to a halt looking down at my feet. In the middle of a clearing next to a tree, I stood in front of a silvery puddle of some sort of liquid substance. I crouch down next to it and tilt my head in wonder. Hagrid appears next to me as the others follow.