Into the Forbidden Forest

Once Upon a Time…

In a distant land long ago stood a country strong in magic and mystery. 8 kingdoms allied together encircling a dark enchanted forest called the Forbidden Forest. They say that those who travel into the Forbidden Forest are never seen again. A forest filled with magical creatures, fairies, witches, monsters. Only the stories of legend truly know what lies within the dark, thick, tangled wood.
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Our story begins in the Kingdom of Macdonald, a king who lived with his fair queen. Many years they longed for a child and finally their wish was granted. A daughter was born, they called her Mary. Yes, they named her after the beloved gift the gods had gifted them, for she filled their lives with endless love. Then a great holiday was proclaimed throughout the kingdom so that all of the high or low estate might pay homage to the infant Princess.
And our story begins on that most joyful day.
Everyone was invited to this most auspicious occasion, Princess Mary’s christening. The kings and queens from the surrounding 7 kingdoms attended the event. King Orion and Queen Walburga Black of the Kingdom of Black were in attendance along with their heir Prince Sirius Black, whose christening was held just last year. King Bartimus Crouch and his Queen of the Kingdom of were also in attendance, along with kings and queens of the Kingdom of McKinnon, Kingdom of Meadowes, Kingdom of Rosier, Kingdom of Evans, and the Kingdom of Vance.
The King and Queen not only invited the surrounding kingdoms but the creatures of the Forbidden Forest as well. Centaurs, Fairies, Ghosts, and many more came to see the heir of the Macdonald Kingdom. Among those invited included the Witch of Twisted Wood Pomona Sprout, Witch of the Runic Caves Irma Pince, and the Witch of Changing Branch Minerva McGonagall. The three witches approached the young baby ready to give their gifts.
Pomona Sprout gave her gift to baby Mary first, “To the young princess I give the gift of generosity, may she see the kindness in hardest of hearts,” casting the spell pink magic swirled around the princess filling the room with love and peace.
Irma Pince gave her gift to the baby princess second, “To the princess, I give the gift of wit, may she use her keen intelligence and sharp mind to find the beauty in life,” casting the spell blue magic wisps around the princess and the room fills with pride and vision.
Finally, Minerva McGonagall approached the princess to give her gift, “To the baby princess I give…” but before she could finish an explosion or fire and gray smoke fill the room the terrifying screams of the guests’ ring throughout the throne room. The smoke clears and there a terrifying creature of a man appeared before them. Standing before everyone was the dark wizard Mulciber, he resides in the trenches in the darkest part of the Forbidden Forest.
“Well, what a fine celebration we have here,” his black robes trail behind him, his magic staff clicking against the stone floor as he slowly walked towards the witches and baby princess, the guards taking their positions to protect the royal family. “I don’t recall receiving an invitation.”
“Maybe it’s because you weren’t wanted,” Pince snapped at the dark wizard.
“Not wanted?” Mulciber questioned the witch’s remark a smirk growing on his face, “Oh dear, what an awkward situation,” he paused his eyes falling onto the baby in her cradle, “I only wish to give a gift to the child.”
“We don’t want your gift!” the king bellowed at the wizard.
“But you shall have it,” Mulciber was not having any of the disrespect he felt he was receiving “See it as punishment for your insolence towards me,” he begins moving his staff in a circle gray smoke trails to the princess “Before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, the princess shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die,” casting the spell dark gray magic filled the room and the feeling of dread and terror filled the minds of the onlookers. “Let this be a lesson to all of you, if you have thoughts in your minds of repeating these actions, look back on this day and know the fate you will suffer!” he screams before disappearing in a cloud of gray smoke. The people begin to clamor before a voice speaks up.
“I believe I still have my gift to give,” McGonagall walks back up to the cradle, “Though I can’t reverse the curse Mulciber placed on the princess, I can adjust it to ensure a better fate,” the king and queen held each other in anticipation of the witch’s gift. “Instead of the fate of death the princess shall fall into a deep slumber and shall awaken after 100 years or should true love kiss the spell shall break,” green mist fills the room and the terrifying feeling from before changes to a feeling of relief and sorrow. While it is not the best fate to befall their little girl, the king and queen are grateful for a fate better than death.
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Following the christening of Princess Mary, the king and queen ordered all spinning wheels to be burned and made illegal in the kingdom. The king and queen became paranoid, they wouldn’t allow Mary to leave their sights to ensure Mulciber wouldn’t return. That was until McGonagall approached them with a deal. To ensure the princess’ safety McGonagall will take the baby girl and raise her in the Forbidden Forest right under Mulciber’s nose until her 16th birthday when she would be returned. The king and queen are apprehensive at first but soon agreed that McGonagall is the only one capable of protecting their precious daughter.
With heavy heart they give Mary to McGonagall and the witch disapperates into her cottage tucked away beyond caverns and rocks, sitting next to a river. McGonagall takes the little girl inside the cottage not knowing this would be the first of many children for Mother Minnie.
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5 years later…
Young Mary ran out of the cottage to the shed behind the house to collect her basket. McGonagall told her to go to the bushes near Pink Wood and collect some wild blackberries. Mary’s 5th birthday is coming up and McGonagall also makes her a special treat to celebrate. After grabbing her basket, she skips along the path McGonagall hot on her trail.
“Mary, my dear, you know the rules do not stray from the path or go to the edge of the wood do you hear me?” McGonagall said sternly, “And Mary don’t forget…”
“Be back within 10 minutes, I know Mama Minnie!” Mary yelled as she ran down the path in the wood. McGonagall took a seat on the bench outside with worry, normally she would go with Mary on these trips for her protection, but she also knew that Mary was going to want to be independent and she needed to allow Mary that independence or else she will find it on her own. She sat waiting, anxiously for her adopted daughter’s return.
Mary continued on the path humming a little tune as she reached Pink Wood which was near the border of the Forbidden Forest, she was never allowed past Pink Wood which she never understood why, Mama Minnie told her it was because the land outside the forest is dangerous, but she’s never seen it for herself. The blackberry bushes come into view, and she began to pick the berries that were nearly ripe, that’s when she heard a shrilling voice of a woman screaming obscenities and insults, the ones Mama Minnie never would allow her to say as it is un-ladylike.
She knows she’s not supposed to, but curiosity gets the better of her and she quietly walks past the bushes to where the noise was coming from.
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Slap. Her hand strikes his face as he collapses to the ground. A little boy with sandy blonde hair with dirt and cinder ashes across his face and clothes, not much older than 5.
“How stupid can you be boy!” the woman screamed at the boy. She was a toad like woman with a shrilling voice you could hear for miles, “You were supposed to put the clothes on the line and here you are still cleaning them! You lazy moppet, what have you been doing all damn day?” she demanded the boy.
“I-I was j-j-just the c-clothes you asked of me,” the boy stuttered not knowing what words to say, “Victor c-came in and p-put more in t-the wash,” he finally his sentence out.
“So, you blame your stepbrother for your own time mismanagement?” she questions daring him to answer incorrectly.
“N-no, of course not!” the boy exclaims, “It was s-so much at once, I didn’t…” he didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before the woman grabbed him and begin to drag him outside of the house.
“How many times must I remind you no stuttering or excuses in my house,” she continued to drag him past the clothesline and the garden towards the stable. “Some stable work ought to get your behavior in line, in fact not only will you go without supper, but you will also be sleeping here tonight after you have cleaned the stable and pig pen, do I make myself clear?” the woman throws him into the stable glaring daggers at him. He nods his head in understanding, trying to keep the tears from slipping out from his eyes, his stepmother hated crying and he knew he would be punished if she caught him crying, he just had to keep them in. His stepmother walked away from the stable leaving him out in the cool spring air with the smell of horse and pig manure hitting his nose. Once she was out of sight, he finally let the tears out of his eyes, oh how he wishes his papa was here. He was gentle and kind and never hurt him in any way. He finally wiped away his tears on his sleeve and grabbed the tools that were obviously way too big and heavy for him. He was about to start sweeping the stalls when he hears a tiny voice say…
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Mary continued through the wood line until she reached the edge of the wood, right outside the border was another cottage, it was bigger and nicer than her and Mama Minnie’s, but it looked lonely despite the screaming of words from within it. Mary contemplated leaving the house all together and go back to her cottage when the back door burst open and a woman whose face looked ugly almost like a frog, wearing a bright pink dress came outside dragging a little boy with sandy hair and freckles that were hidden by dirt and ash. She continued to watch as the woman yelled at the boy and throw him into a small stable next to a pig pen.
What a cruel woman, he doesn’t look older than me, why is she treating him like that? Who could treat another person like that? She thought. She was pulled from those thoughts when she saw the woman leave to go back into the house, slamming the door on her way in. Now was her chance. Mary snuck out from the Forbidden Forest into the world beyond and climbed over the fence to the stable. She saw the boy crying, calling for his papa. After a few minutes of crying, he wiped away his tears and began gathering equipment that was obviously too big for him to carry and that’s when Mary had enough.
“Are you ok?” she asked quietly so the angry woman wouldn’t come back.
“W-what are you doing here, y-you shouldn’t be here! Go, go away!” he stuttered at her with fear in his eyes, but Mary did not move a muscle. “You n-need to go before she comes b-back,” he warns but clearly, she wasn’t listening.
“Who is she?” Mary asked the boy in a worried tone.
“My stepmother, Dolores, and if she sees you, she’ll hurt you and you’re pretty, pretty girls aren’t supposed to get hurt,” he says with more bravery in his voice.
“Well, kind boys aren’t supposed to get hurt either,” she said smiling at him causing his eyes to widen tears poking out, no one has ever called him kind before. “I’m Mary,” she introduces herself outstretching her hand. He nervously takes her hand and shakes it.
“I’m Peter,” he replies in almost a whisper.
“Why don’t you come live with me and Mama Minnie, we have tons of room, and she won’t hurt you, I pinky promise,” Mary says outstretching her pinky finger, Peter looked at her confused. “You link pinky fingers together to make a promise, see!” she grabs his and puts all his fingers in a fist leaving his pinky finger out before wrapping her pinky finger around his. “Mama Minnie won’t hurt you, just come with me,” she outreaches her hand again waiting for Peter to accept it. Peter looks at the house his mama and papa owned before they died, and it fell to his evil stepmother. The house where the past 2 years have been nothing but hurt. He looks back at Mary, she had a kind smile on her face, he looked down at her hand that was waiting for him.
“O-ok,” he stammers grabbing her hand. She pulls him to turn the fence and they crawl over it together and they link hands again and start on the path. Once Peter realizes where the path is leading, he stops pulling Mary back to him. “Mary, t-that’s the F-forbidden Forest, if we go in there we won’t come out,” he warns, and Mary’s gentle smile turns into a mischievous grin.
“Mama Minnie and I live in the forest, and I came out of it and found you, didn’t I?” she asked him with amusement in her voice. He nervously nodded his head not sure what to believe, “Then the legend is wrong, so there isn’t anything to worry about, let’s go!” she says pulling Peter along with her. They got closer to Pink Wood, when Mary remembered.
“I need to get some blackberries, grab the ones that are almost ripe and put them in my basket,” Peter helps her fill the basket till it’s almost spilling over. Mary giggled at their fun and grabbed his hand again, the two of them running to the cottage. The two can hear a woman call out Mary’s name in the distance.
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McGonagall was panicking. Her ward has been gone for 20-minutes; she was only supposed to be gone for 10. Her worst fears were clouding her brain as she called for Mary in the woods. Suddenly she hears footsteps running towards her and giggling, her mind hoping that it’s Mary.
She follows the noise and much to her relief it is Mary and some boy she’s never seen before, who could desperately use a bath. She rushed over to her adopted daughter to check for injuries.
“Mary, what did I tell you, you were only supposed to be gone 10-minutes I was worried sick,” McGonagall fussed over her, “And who is your friend here?” she asks the boy shuffled behind Mary hiding himself.
“This is Peter, I found him in a cottage outside the forest,” Mary replied, this angered McGonagall.
“You went beyond the forest, Mary what have I told you about going outside the forest!” McGonagall yelled at Mary, causing the boy, Peter, to flinch and hide even further behind Mary. McGonagall’s gaze softens at the boy’s fear. “I’m sorry for yelling my boy, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she said to him in a gentle tone then looked back at Mary with a stern look asking her to explain herself.
“I went to the bushes at Pink Wood, like I was supposed to then I heard a woman screaming really mean words, the ones you said I can’t say, and I was worried someone was hurt,” McGonagall sighed, this girl has too good of a heart she can’t help but make sure everyone is safe be it an animal or a person. “I saw this ugly woman drag Peter out and throw him in a stable telling him he can’t have dinner and he had to sleep outside. She hurt him Mama Minnie, please don’t send him back there,” Mary pleads tears threatening to spill. McGonagall gave Mary a warm smile and turned her gaze to Peter.
“Come here,” she said softly to Peter, and Mary nodded to him that he would be ok. Peter slowly went up to the woman and she began checking him over for injuries. She found multiple cuts and bruises, some old and some new, fury rages, what kind of person does this to a child. “Don’t worry, you’re not going back there, we’ll set you up a room in our home and you will live with us from now on,” Peter looks at her in shock before running to her and giving her a hug, McGonagall instantly wrapping her arms around the boy as she turned her gaze back to Mary, “Though I’m upset you broke the rules, you did it for the right reasons so you won’t be punished this time but do not do it again,” Mary nods her head in agreement. She pulls Peter back from the embrace and gives him a gentle smile, “I expect you to keep her in check, she has a free spirit,” she says to Peter with amusement causing him to chuckle and not his head.
“Good, now that that’s settled lets go home you two,” McGonagall says standing up.
“Home?” Peter asks hopefully.
“Yes, my dear, home,” McGonagall grabs both of their hands and walks them back to the cottage a new kitten in Mama Minnie’s litter.
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A few months later…
Peter has settled in nicely at the cottage, definitely better than his old house. While Mama Minnie is strict, she doesn’t hurt him like his stepmother did, she’s kind like mama was. He spends most of his time exploring the grounds of the cottage, especially the caverns. His favorite spot is a cave that opens into the river next to the house, Peter likes to take his shoes off, roll up his pant legs and just stick his little legs into the cool water while reading books from Mama Minnie’s library.
However, this day wasn’t like any normal day.
It started off normal at least, McGonagall called Mary and Peter down for breakfast which was usually eggs, a piece of bread, and a fruit, every now and then they’d have sausage with their meal but that was only on special occasions like birthdays or holidays. McGonagall would make sure the kids have enough to eat before sitting down and eating with them, telling them what chores needed to be done for the day. Chores were a shared effort in the household, McGonagall handled the bigger chores like laundry, dishes, and feeding the animals, the kids are too young to do any of that. Mary and Peter usually had to dust, sweep, and do general upkeep. Once their chores were done, they would have their homeschooling lesson, afterwards they could do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day as long as they stayed within the grounds of the cottage.
Peter’s chores today were sweeping and organizing his room. Mary also had to organize her room, but she also had folding clothes, which he and Mary had finished right before lunch, meaning they had their lesson right after then free time. Mary decided to help Mama Minnie in the garden, the first autumn chill has arrived, and they need to make sure they will have a good harvest. Peter takes one of his favorite books Much Ado About Nothing and begins to make his way to his favorite spot. McGonagall has been making sure they are well educated and Peter loves Mama Minnie’s lessons, especially the ones in science.
Peter reaches the caverns and crawls through to the cave. Upon reaching the cave he notices something weird, no not something, someone! There in the water was a boy with dark brown messy hair that was sticking up everywhere, he looked to be a little bit older than him, and Mary and he had round black glasses on his face and a green bag that he pulled from the water. Peter wondered if anything survived in that bag. The boy began pulling items out randomly, they all looked like junk to Peter, but the other boy was fascinated by them. Peter continued to watch the boy, when suddenly he put his hand on a rock that gave way, revealing Peter to the boy. The boy naturally freaked out and tried to go under the water.
“No don’t go, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you,” Peter said quietly.
“I-I wasn’t scared, what are you talking about?” The boy said trying to act tough causing Peter to laugh. Peter started walking towards the water’s edge. The boy tries to gather his treasures to keep them from Peter.
“Oh no I’m not going to take your things don’t worry,” Peter smiled at the boy, who was still a little apprehensive. A light bulb went off in Peter’s head, he started picking at his light jacket, he had a loose button that’s been nagging him. After a few minutes of picking, he finally gets the button off and hands it to the boy, who takes it staring at it in amazement.
“What is this?” the boy asked with wonder in his eyes.
“It’s a button, it goes on clothes to hold them together,” Peter explained, and the boy turned his amazement from the button to him.
“You know what this stuff is?” he asked. Peter nodded of course, he did he’s a human just like this kid is why wouldn’t he know what these things are. “Brilliant! You know I’ve never met someone like you before,” the statement caught Peter off guard, but he shook it away extending his hand to the boy.
“I’m Peter!” He tells him with a smile, the boy looks at the hand and pokes it, “Aren’t you going to shake my hand?” Peter asks the boy cocked his head to the side confused, “Here take your hand and grab my hand,” the boy grabbed Peter’s hand slowly and carefully. Peter then slowly shakes the boy’s hand for a few seconds before letting go and the boy just stared at his hand.
“What’s your name?” Peter asked.
“My name is James,” the boy, James, replied, causing Peter to smile.
“Why do you have all this stuff, where did you get it?” Peter asked him amusement lacing his voice.
“I like collecting things, ever since I was separated from my pod I’ve just been on my own, so I collect items I find washed up on the beach from the water,” James explains to him.
“You don’t have any parents?” Peter asked solemnly.
“No, I do, it’s just our pod got attack a year ago and all of us got separated, Mum told me if I got lost to stay where I was till, she and Dad could find me, but they haven’t yet,” James told him with a sad smile on his face. This is Peter’s chance, his chance to help someone like Mary helped him.
“C’mon let’s go see Mama Minnie, she can help you!” Peter says, extending his arm to help James out of the water.
“Um, I don’t think I can,” James said nervously.
“Of course you can, Mama Minnie can help and so can Mary, she’s like my sister, she helped me, now I’m going to help you,” Peter said proudly.
“I assure you Peter, I can’t go with you,” James tries to tell him, but Peter isn’t listening, instead he grabs James by his arms before he can swim away and starts to pull him to the surface. James was heavier then Peter, but he still managed to get him out of the water.
“Ok let’s get you to…” Peter pauses what he was going to say when he gets a whole look at James. Starting at the top of his head it looks normal, but where human legs would be is a shiny, scaly, red tail. “You’re a mermaid!” Peter said in awe.
“Merman!” James replied, “Mermaids are girls.”
“Oh sorry, merman,” Peter corrected, “Let me go get Mama Minnie, she’ll know what to do,” he runs off before James could tell him no. He finds McGonagall and Mary still in the garden checking on the beans. “Mama Minnie, I need your help!” Peter exclaimed.
“What is it, what’s wrong my dear?” McGonagall rushes over to see if he’s alright or injured.
“Not me, my friend he needs help,” Peter says swatting her hands away.
“What friend?” McGonagall asked. Peter grabbed her hand and dragged her through the caverns to the cave; Mary followed close behind. Once they reached the cave, James was struggling to get back into the water on his own. McGonagall rushed to help the little merboy get back into the water.
“Mama Minnie, you can fix it right?” Peter asked with desperation in his eyes.
“Honey, this isn’t something to be fixed, he was born that way, and there isn't anything wrong with him,” McGonagall explains.
“But James can’t come live with us if he stays that way,” Peter’s eyes become misty. McGonagall sighed; these children will be the death of her.
“I will be right back, you two stays here with James,” McGonagall says pointing at Peter and Mary. McGonagall returns to the cottage where she fastens together a contraption using a large bell, a wooden post, and some rope. She returns to the cave and finds the children talking and laughing, Mary and Peter both have their feet in the water and James is showing them his treasures and where he got them.
“A lot of these I got from a beach near a castle up the river close to the ocean. It’s my favorite place to go, the castle is gloomy and looks grim and yucky but that’s not why I go there. “There’s this really pretty boy I see almost all the time there,” James said his eyes look lovestruck just talking about this boy. “He’s a little younger than me but he has curly black hair and stormy gray eyes; he sits on the beach under a tree almost every day just looking at one of those paper things you have.”
“Oh, you mean books, he likes to read!” Mary said excitedly.
“I guess so, I’m still new to human stuff, but I just sit near the rocks and watch him, he has an older brother around my age that will hang around him sometimes,” McGonagall decides to make her presence known and sets up the contraption.
“Since James can’t come live with us here’s what we will do, James whenever you are here just pull this rope and this metal piece will make a noise telling us you’re here,” McGonagall explains. “We can bring you food and eat here and you can play with Mary and Peter,” the children got excited over this, while they’re upset that James can’t live with them, they still get to see their new friend.
“Thank you, Mama Minnie!” Peter said excitedly to both him and Mary hugging her, her returning the hug. Once they let go, she ruffles James’ hair and tells the kids she will bring dinner in a few hours and that they can play here with James as long as the 3 of them are careful. The kids promise and McGonagall makes her way out of the cavern to work more on the garden and potential harvest.
As she walks back towards the cottage but stops part of the way there. 3 kids in a span of 5 years, she feels as though James isn’t the last of their merry little family. Oh well, add him to the litter, 2 kittens and 1 goldfish. She smiles at the thought of their little family growing. This will be good; she thinks before entering the cottage doors to grab her tools.