10/01/2015 - The white wolf - HP

Skyler Mason, a 16 year old Hufflepuff, loves to explore forbidden grounds. Recently she discovered an old house a few kilometers outside of Hogsmeade. It was situated in the middle of a wild field, filled with knee-high grass that had lost all of his green colour, weeds and unknown plants with sharp thorns. But Skyler wasn’t afraid of getting some cuts in her ankles; she had had worse than that.

It was late in the afternoon and Skyler had just finished her last lesson of the day: charms. Now it was time to explore. While her friends stayed in the common room, finishing some assignments, she slipped out of the castle. She found her way into Hogsmeade through a hidden corridor she discovered some years before. The town was deserted; it felt strange to see the streets empty from students and teachers. A white mist crept over the grounds, making it almost look like a ghost town. But Skyler shook off the feeling – Hogsmeade was a cheerful town - and walked towards the field where she had seen the old house.
The field was surrounded by a wooden fence, the white paint already peeled off in some places and most of the wood was rotten. There were signs planted in front of the fence which said ‘No trespassing.’ ‘Dangerous grounds.’ ‘Not for sale.’ And someone scribbled words on the white fence itself: ‘Don’t pass the fence if you love your life.’ Skyler ignored these signs however and pulled out her wand before pointing it towards the fence.
‘Reducto!’ she yelled calmly, only wanting to create a little gap. But the effect of the spell was greater than she expected. A great deal of the wood exploded and thousands of wood splinters flew into the air. Skyler threw her arms before her face to protect it from the sharp little spikes that seemed to attack her. When all was quiet again, she opened her eyes and saw that a great part of the fence was blown to bits.
She took a deep breath and stepped into the field, for a moment she expected that the weeds around her would grab her ankles, but nothing happened. With the help of her wand, Skyler waded through the sea of green and brown until she reached the house. The first thing that caught her attention was the neatly cut grass that surrounded the house, it looked fresh and healthy, as if someone took care of it daily. It formed a huge contrast with the plants she just walked through. Flowers in various colours were hidden between the blades of grass. The house itself didn’t look abandoned at all. A weird feeling crept up her spine but Skyler ignored it and walked towards the front door. She hadn’t come so far to turn around now. She tried the doorknob but the door was locked so she pulled out her wand again and whispered: ‘alohomora,’ not daring to speak out loud. Her heart pounded in her chest as she pushed against the door. Quietly it revealed a small hall with moving portraits on the walls. The inside of the house looked as clean as the outside; there were no signs of dust, no signs of decay. If she didn’t know better, she would guess the house belonged to a nice, old witch or wizard.
Slowly she walked to the end of the hall and opened the door to her right. It revealed a cozy living room, reminding her of her own common room. A fire crackled in an old fashioned fireplace facing the door. An old lady sat in a wooden armchair near the fire, on her lap there was a ball of wool and two knitting needles clicked in a hypnotizing rhythm, creating a yellow scarf. Skyler wanted to turn around and leave the house, she had an uncomfortable feeling about all of this. But the old lady was faster. ‘Good day my child, tell me, on what occasion do I deserve the pleasure of a visit from a fine, young lady as yourself?’ The old lady looked at her, her black eyes peering into Skylers, as if she was able to lay bare her soul. Skyler tried to reduce the fear she felt and said with a slightly trembling voice: ‘I thought this house was abandoned, I wanted to explore. I’m sorry if I disturbed you.’
‘Disturb me? You don’t disturb me at all, on the contrary. And you don’t have to be afraid my child, I’m not going to hurt you.’
The old lady stood up from the chair and walked towards Skyler. The yellow scarfed followed her as if it was a obedient pet. The lady put a trembling hand on Skylers cheek and Skyler felt a shiver running down her spine when she felt the cold fingers on her skin.
‘Look, madam, I don’t want to be rude but I really have to go.’
Skyler turned around and started to walk away but the old lady grabbed her wrist. Her grip was tight and hard and held Skyler on her place.
‘But you just arrived,’ said the old lady in a sweet voice. ‘Stay a little bit; do you want a cup of thee?’
The self-knitting scarf tied itself around Skylers waist, pulling her towards the fireplace. The old lady let go of her, a grin slipped around her dry lips as she watched Skyler struggling against the scarf.
‘You know,’ said the old lady. ‘I’m very hungry, do you want a piece of pie?’
‘No thank you, that’s very sweet of you, but I really have to go,’ said Skyler.
‘Oh, but I insist!’ said the old lady with a stern voice.
She pinched Skylers cheek and Skyler moved as far away from her as possible. She was not easily afraid but in this moment, she was terrified. She thought of a fairytale her muggle-born mother told her as a child: a tale about a witch who ate children. But that was fantasy, this was real.
Slowly and carefully Skyler pointed her wand at the old lady from underneath her leg. ‘Stupify,’ she whispered and the old lady fell backwards on the wooden floor. Skyler pointed her wand thereafter at the scarf, sending it into the crackling flames of the fire.
She wished she was old enough to apparate while she ran as fast as she could, out of the house and into the field. The thorns cut into her bare arms and legs, but she couldn’t care less. She wanted to get away from the creepy old lady as fast as she could. When she reached the fence however, the gap she had created was gone, the fence was smooth again as if it was never destroyed by a reducto spell. She pulled out her wand and pointed it towards the fence, but before she could pronounce the spell, the weeds around her grabbed her ankles and dragged her back towards the house.
The old lady stood in the doorway, her eyes gleaming violently.
‘As I said, I’m hungry,’ she said before turning into a majestic, white wolf with flaming red eyes. She growled at Skyler, showing her sharp teeth. And while the weeds held Skyler in a firm grip, the wolf put his teeth in the tender flesh of the sixteen year old girl. Her scream got lost in the darkness.