Unicorns, Bowtruckles, and Wolves! Oh My!
“Can we please go into the forest Neville?” Cordelia begged her newfound godbrother, giving him puppy dog eyes that she had seen in baby photos of her and Neville.
“Cori, students aren’t allowed in the Forbidden Forest, it’s y’know Forbidden.” Neville nervously responds, not loving the look in Cordelia’s eye. It was a look similar to the one she gave after she hexed Malfoy after flying lessons.
“We’re going during the day and I know enough spells that if there’s an emergency I can notify Hagrid, please.” She begs, dragging out the ‘e’ and jutting out her lip slightly; pouting. She really wanted to go out and explore. She read about different animals in the forest and she wanted to look at all of them. She could see Neville’s resolve falling, and she lets out another small “please.”
“Okay fine, we will go but only for an hour since it’s still light outside and we are staying on the path Hagrid made.” Neville lays down the rules with a firm shake of his head causing Cordelia to squeal hugging him tightly.
Cordelia led Neville out of the building, holding his hand as they walked past Hermione who was berating Ron. The Weasley Twins had stopped them and told them to cause lots of mischiefs, something that didn’t help Neville’s growing anxiety.
“Finally!” Cordelia cheered as they came up to the edge of the forest, using Cordelia’s invisibility cloak it was easy to get past any professor patrolling the forest edge. They start walking together, staying on the path with their wands clutched into their hands. “Look!” Cordelia cheered excitedly, seeing the Bowtruckles on the trees, she went up to one, cooing at one that was crawling on a branch.
“Woah look at the plants.” Neville grins, recognizing a bunch of them. “Do you think I could take some and place them in preserve jars till I get home this year?” Neville asks his godsister while she coos at the bowtruckle.
“Yeah, Snape does it at the forest edge all the time.” Cordelia shrugs, turning back to the bowtruckle. She starts talking to it a bit, keeping it calm before she moved on to its friend. Neville started collecting ingredients while she made friends with all of them.
“I feel at peace,” Cordelia mentions a while later, sitting on the ground of a small clearing, watching her godbrother get some more plants, including a couple of different ones used in potions. “The forest, it’s soothing, especially after listening to Hermione and Ron argue over stupid things,” Cordelia adds, laying back on the blanket she had brought.
“What feels peaceful?” Neville asks curiously.
“Just the atmosphere of the forest, from the animals to the woodsy exterior,” Cordelia responds before letting out a tiny gasp. Neville goes to talk but she puts her hand up. “Hi, little guy,” Cordelia whispered to a wolf cub, it had walked toward their voices and was growling. Neville was panicking, of course, Cordelia was going toward the growling wolf!
“Cordelia!” Neville sharply calls causing the cub to start growling toward him and walking close while Cordelia shushed both of them.
“Nev!” She scolds before turning to the cub. “There, There don’t growl baby, we’re not a threat I promise, we are just exploring the forest is all,” Cordelia assures the wolf, sticking out her hand for the wolf to scent like a dog. The wolf lets out a small growl before starting to sniff her. The wolf yips after a moment, giving her a wolfy grin once he sees that she isn’t a threat. Cordelia coos at the snarling wolf, going into her bag and pulling out a piece of bacon that she had in a jar. “Here you go little wolf,” Cordelia assures, motioning for Neville to come over while the wolf was distracted. Neville reluctantly came over, worrying now more than ever about his godsister’s sanity.
“You do know that wolves are one of the most dangerous animals in the forest right?” Neville rhetorically asks her, glancing at her concerned.
“They’re also pack animals and this little guy clearly lost his pack.” Cordelia frowns as she soothingly runs her hand down the back of the wolf, letting him nibble the bacon out of her hand. “You need a name don’t you little guy,” She murmurs, causing the wolf’s ears to perk up at the suggestion. “Hmm, how about… Leo, it’s a constellation and means lion.” She offers the first name, getting a snort of disbelief from the wolf. “No, you don’t like that okay, what about… Hmmm… Lowell means little wolf in Old French.” Cordelia offers the second name getting a sniff of approval from the cute little wolf.
“Do you just know names at the top of your head?” Neville amusedly asks as Cordelia feeds the wolf another piece of bacon before motioning it to continue in the forest. Cordelia shrugs, walking toward the path with Cordelia before he puts a hand out in front of her. “Don’t, the Unicorns are over there and we really shouldn’t disturb them,” Neville warns, knowing all about Unicorns because his grandmother taught him about them.
“Oh my, they’re so cute.” Cordelia squeals quietly, watching the herd with a small smile. The Unicorns notice the two of them and start to travel away before one comes up near the two of them. Still far enough that they can’t touch it but close that they can hear the light breathing of the majestic creature. “Hello,” Cordelia bows to the Unicorn, similar to how one would bow to a Hippogriff. Neville follows suit and they were both surprised to see the Unicorn bow back before running off to join its family.
“Did that just happen?” Neville rhetorically asks her as they walk toward Hogwarts, sticking themselves under the invisibility cloak.
“I think it did Nev,” Cordelia responds, glad her godbrother agreed to spend time with her in the forest.