Tracks
“So where is this place we’re going to?” Poppy asked as she and Hans walked side by side toward the edge of the castle grounds.
“It’s pretty far into the forest, beyond Hogsmeade in the direction of North Ford Bog,” Hans answered her as he came to a stop, causing Poppy to stumble as she stopped just a little too late. “Let’s let them out here.”
Hans was of course talking about the Hippogriff and the Thestral in the bag he was carrying. Poppy nodded, “Okay.”
She watched as the Ravenclaw unclipped the bindings on the bag and opened it. There was a strange swooshing noise as a long white blur started to blast out of the bag, forming into a more defined shape. In the next moment, Highwing was standing there, turning her head this way and that, clicking her beak as she spread her wings.
Poppy moved forward to greet Highwing as Hans momentarily shut the bag, before opening it once more to release a darker streak from it. This streak formed into the shape of the dark thestral, Sepulchria, who turned and stared at Hans with reproachful eyes.
“I know you don’t like the bag,” Hans patted the thestral’s nose, who snorted.
Hans looked over to Poppy, who was already on Highwing’s back. She grinned at him, before looking between him and Sepulchria with an expecting gaze. Hans wasted no time climbing onto Sepulchria’s back, who bent her front legs so he could do it with ease.
After Hans was settled on the back of his thestral, the two moved up next to Poppy and Highwing. Poppy looked at him, “Are we going?”
“Yep!” Hans answered, and with that, Sepulchria took off on a trot, spreading her wings and flapping them several times to rise into the air. Highwing was quick to follow, gliding just behind the thestral.
Hans and Poppy laughed as they swooped around each other, bringing their two mounts close enough that their wings would touch, before pulling apart and diving toward the forest below. This odd yet gleeful charade continued between them as they crossed over the Forbidden Forest, approaching the Hippogriff den.
With a heavy impact of hooves, the two flying beasts landed on the ground, slowing to a trot as they neared the den. Hans had decided to not land too close to the den, as to not scare away the hippogriffs themselves. Eventually Han drew Sepulchria to a halt, jumping off her and patting her side. Poppy did the same with Highwing.
Poppy and Hans began to walk together deeper in the forest, Hans walking calmly in the direction he was sure the hippogriffs were whilst Poppy was craning her neck, trying to see through the trees for the hippogriff den. Highwing and Sepulchria were walking behind the two, looking about the forest and sniffing flowers as they passed.
“I don’t see them,” Poppy remarked as she continued to scan the area.
“I had us land a little far back so we wouldn’t scare them,” Hans answered her, “don’t worry, we’re coming up on them.”
The two fell silent, though Poppy was still looking this way and that, searching for the den. At some point of walking, Hans abruptly came to a stop. Poppy looked up at him, curiosity in her expression.
“They’re just around these trees. Sepulchria should stay a little bit back. You and Highwing should go first, I’ll follow behind and keep Sepulchria back,” Hans told Poppy, to which she nodded.
“Good idea.”
And with that, Poppy turned to Highwing, touching her beak lightly and beginning to walk in the direction that Hans had instructed. Highwing followed behind her, chirping a little as her eyes turned in the direction they were walking.
Hans watched them walk off for a moment, a gentle smile on his face as he thought to himself how much he adored Poppy. He shook his head, looking up at Sepulchria who had turned away and was now munching on some foliage. Instead of dragging the thestral away from her small meal, Hans decided he would allow her to eat for a moment, there was no rush after all.
This small moment was broken however, as Poppy, beyond the tree line and out of Hans’s sight cried out, “Hans!” in a most worried and stressed tone.
Without any hesitation, Hans spun on his heel and charged out of the forest and into the clearing that led to the hippogriff den. As soon as he sprinted out of the forest Sepulchria was right behind him, moving swiftly to catch up with Hans. Once he had broken the tree line, Hans saw Poppy standing in the center of the area that the hippogriffs used as their den, with Highwing right beside her. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary at first, but then Hans realized there were no hippogriffs.
Hans came to a halt right next to Poppy, looking around for the hippogriffs. “Where are they?”
“Not here,” Poppy said, worry in her voice, “but look, on the ground.”
Hans looked down, and to his dismay he saw the ground was heavily disturbed. He could make out heavy boot prints and hippogriff footprints all in jumbled circles, as if there was some sort of struggle. There were also strange impact craters in the mud, as if spells had been discharged and struck the ground. Too on the ground was a long strand spun rope that was torn, it’s many strings splitting away from the body of the rope.
“Poachers…” Hans murmured.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Poppy’s face was now set, a mutinous glare in her eyes.
“Can you track them? We need to go get those hippogriffs back,” Hans looked at Poppy, blinking at the furious look on her face. Hans could hardly be afraid of Poppy, but the way her eyes burned with rage reminded Hans to never get between her and any beast.
Poppy didn’t look at Hans, her eyes had been scanning the area around the den as she searched for more tracks. “I was hoping you would say that. Yes, I can.” Poppy pointed at a trail of deep abrasions in the ground, a mixture of hoof prints, bird claws, and boot prints trailing into the forest. Of course she could track them, Poppy could track a dragon in flight, she could track hippogriffs on the ground blindfolded.
“Wait,” Hans turned to look at Sepulchria and Highwing. He brandished the back he used to capture beasts, opening it and turning it toward his thestral. In the next instant, the thestral was gone, and Hans turned the bag toward Highwing.
Poppy stuck her arm out, shoving the bag down as she looked at Hans before he could take Highwing in the bag too, “No, don’t. We might need a ride out of here if things go south, also she might be able to calm the hippogriffs down if they think we’re a threat.”
Hans hesitated, thinking that it was more of a liability keeping Highwing out, but he figured Poppy knew more than he did, and so he relented. “Alright, but she stays between us. I’ll lead-“
“No,” Poppy sternly interjected, “I’ll go in front, if the trail gets difficult to track then I need to be following it. Highwing behind me, you in the back.”
Once more Hans hesitated, believing it more of a risk to have Poppy in the front, but again he did not argue. She was right about the tracking, he didn’t know much about the process besides following footprints. “I- alright, just be cautious.”
“You don’t need to tell me to be cautious, Hans, I’ve done this kind of things before. Trust me,” Poppy said, her voice a bit more gentle as she patted his arm, before turning away and trailing into the woods after the footprints.
Hans of course would trust her, he trusted her more than anyone. But could he trust himself if things went south and he couldn’t reach her in time? That he did not know. Highwing followed after Poppy with a little prodding from Hans, and soon after followed.
The Ravenclaw was scanning the forest and trees, watching for any signs of movement, it did not help that it was a rather windy day. Highwing seemed to understand the situation well enough, and she was watching the path forward, ensuring eyes were scanning the direction Poppy was taking them as Poppy’s were stuck on the path they were following.
Eventually Poppy suddenly stopped, and so did Highwing. Hans was not paying attention however, and so he ran into Highwing’s rear, stumbling back and shaking his head. “Oof- wha- what is it?”
Highwing clicked her beak with disproval as Poppy answered in a whisper, “I can hear voices, and there’s a fire ahead. I think we’ve found them.”
To this, Hans moved around Highwing, hoping now to take the lead since they had found their target. However, Poppy did not wait for him, charging through the woods in the direction of the voices.
“Poppy!” Hans exclaimed, keeping his voice as hushed as he could as he jogged to keep up with the Hufflepuff. “Wait!”
The Hufflepuff did no such thing, and now had broken the tree line once more, charging into the camp with her wand drawn. Hans was quickly behind Poppy, his wand out too as he prepared to duel whoever was on this other side of the trees.
Poppy stopped, suddenly, like before. This time Hans did not run into her, but sidestepped and stopped beside her. They had just walked into the center of a large camp, with many faces now turning their direction. There was an incredibly large campfire in the center of this camp, with huge logs several feet long stacked like a teepee, covered in towering flames. Several tents surrounded the fire, each with their entrance in the direction of the fire, their fabrics shuddering beneath the powerful winds the fire was producing. In the back of the camp was three cages, each of which were occupied by a single hippogriff. Poppy made a strange sound, almost like a hiss as her eyes landed on the hippogriffs.
Hans counted eight poachers, all of which stood and turned in the direction of the two Hogwarts students and the white hippogriff behind them.
“You just made a bad decision,” the closest poacher said, a female, who had a mask covering her face and black cap covering her short blonde hair as she drew near the two students. Both Poppy and Hans stood their ground, and Highwing clicked her beak once more, spreading her wings in a tactic of intimidation.
“You are a bit far from your little school aren’t you?” another called, a man this time, with long black hair and a slender form, raising his wand as he did, “somebody ought to punish you for being out in the Forbidden Forest.”
As the man opened his mouth to use a curse, the poached next time him grabbed his arm and forced it down. The one who intervened was chubbier than the others, wearing a vest that seemed two sizes too small for him, “No!” the chubbier man hissed, “don’t you recognize that kid? That’s the one Rookwood and Ranrok put a bounty on.”
A murmur rippled across the group as Hans and Poppy stood there, their wands raised as they waited for the first attack. “Who’s the girl?” another poacher called.
“‘ang on! I ‘ecognize dat one!” a balding poacher with missing teeth said, pointing at Poppy, “she ‘eleased a dragon ‘rom Horntail Hall!”
Once more murmurs rippled across the poacher camp, but this time one of the students spoke. “Let them go!” Poppy angrily said, her voice not wavering any bit in the slightest. Hans could not be anymore proud of her.
The ring of poachers all laughed, the woman who first spoke saying, “and what are you going to do if we don’t, you’re not in a position to be making threats.”
“Actually,” Hans interjected, “we are. Back off, now, and release the hippogriffs. We don’t need any bloodshed, so just let them go, and nothing bad will happen.”
Laughter did once more encircle Poppy and Hans, too which Poppy murmured to Hans, “They don’t think we can take them.”
Hans internally admired Poppy’s confidence, nodding a short one as he looked back at the poachers. “Alright, we’ll do it your way,” he said smoothly to the group of poachers, internally wishing it didn’t have to come down to this.
The Ravenclaw raised his wand, this time ready for a fight.