Braving the Forbidden Forest ((Cue Chris))

The forbidden forest was not a place Amelia frequented. Not by any means. She had never been keen on the dark expanses of trees inhabited by Merlin-knew-what, and ever since she had been informed by Subastian about the fact that several of the Hogwarts students were werewolves, she had been steering clear of the forest for the week before and the week immediately following the full moon. Logic told her that the werewolf transformation was only a three-night process, but fear, by definition, was irrational.

Whatever her fear, though, Amelia had checked the date of the full moon earlier today to check that her intentions would be safe and found that today’s date fell directly opposite that of the full moon. With her fear of encountering a werewolf banished – How would you run into a werewolf in the middle of the day anyway? – Amelia had left the library with her bag of books in search of a quieter, more solitary place of recluse.

For the past few weeks, Amelia’s social world had been turned almost completely upside down. Where she had previously been utterly anonymous within the walls of Hogwarts, there were now several students and staff members who knew not only her name but were actually interested in knowing something beyond that. She had no idea when or why this sudden interest had taken hold, but it was steadily beginning to overwhelm her. This is why she found herself crossing the sloping lawns of the grounds and, after checking over her shoulder to see if she had been followed, slipping between the trees which lined the forest and disappearing into its shadows.

Being the middle of the day, there were still patches of light here and there. Amelia avoided these patches until she thought she was in deep enough to avoid being seen if the light hit her. Eventually, she found a break in the trees that let in just a person-sized patch of light onto a fallen tree. Not needing more direction than that, Amelia took a seat on the log, dropping her bookbag onto the mossy ground.

Seated, Amelia took out her wand and began fiddling with it, turning it this way and that and sending a cacophony of spells at the bits of brush around her. She had no real intentions with these spells, it was just a habit of hers to practice them when she was alone and needed to take her mind off things. As she spun the piece of holly with particular flourish an entire branch snapped off a nearby tree, landing loudly among the underbrush.

“Oops,” Amelia said, stopping her wand’s motion in her hand. She had been thinking of the diffindo incantation without recognizing where she was pointing. Although there was no one there to see it, crimson blush rose to her cheeks as it always did when she was embarrassed, bringing heat and colour to a previous pale and freckled façade.

((Cue Chris Lysander))

((OOC: Sorry about the loving the forest and hating the forest thing, but they have to be opposites so they get along(which might not make sense, but anyhewsel)))

Chris loved the Forbidden Forest. It was dark, a good place for hiding, and a good place to just relax. On days when them stupid Gryffindors were out and about, Chris ran to the Forbidden Forest. The 'bold and brave' Gryffies would never follow him there. Never have, and never will. Well, maybe they did once. But that Gryffindor had it coming to him! Chris had stunned him, gotton a weeks worth of detention, and had to apologize to the Gryffindor. Chris had been the laughing stock of the day!

It just so happened that Chris had just been bothered by two Gryffindors, and needed to burn off some steam. He walked briskly down to the Forbidden Forest, all the while saying things a 5th year Slytherin... Well, a Slytherin would do that, but what does it matter?! Those insensitive, selfish, horrible, greedy Gryffindors! Why can't they just leave me alone so I don't have to curse them! Chris was definetaly burning off his anger. And now he was pacing as well, which burned off energy.

Chris had finally burned off all of his anger(well, not all of it. He still has plenty left) when he saw a flah of light, and heard a branch fall. Pobably some Gryffie that knows I am in here and is trying to sike me out. Chris thought. But when another spell appeared, he realized that the light was not coming from outside of the forest, it was coming from the inside. Snarling at a student that happened to see him sitting against a tree, Chris got up to go see what was going on.

Chris pushed through the trees as quietly as possible. He could now hear the spells going off, the pauses in between spells, and then more bangs. But nobody was screaming, nobody was cheering, and there were no green flashed of light. Either some crazy person was fighting invisable enemies, or some student had wandered in here and was now practicing spells where nobody could see them. Chris went with the second option.

It was a girl. th or 6th year by the look of her. She had blondish hair with blue eyes, and dark lips. Her wand was setting off a series of spells, left and right, left and right... Chris almost called out, but wanted to watch a little more. The girl cast a couple of spells Chris knew, but also a couple he did not know. After a few more minutes of watching, Chris got bored and decided to come out into the open. He might regret this later, but what did he care? "Um, hello?"

((I am extremely thrilled to have found another fantastic poster! I really appreciate the length of your post because it gives me something to reply to!))

After the unfortunate interception of her spell with the branch, Amelia was more careful about where she aimed her spells. Instead of throwing spells haphazardly, she gathered her focus and gave herself more direction. She tried a few of the spells she had been learning about in class, skipping the patronus charm so as to not draw any unnecessary wanderer to inquire after why there was a glowing hawk circling a certain spot in the forest.

Reviewing spells grew tedious after a while and they were failing to tax her mind to the extent where she could forget all she had left behind at the castle. From there, Amelia began trying out a few of the more “experimental” spells her father had been working on, still unknown to the world at large and, from the strict orders he had given her, not to be revealed to anyone.

Amelia continued to swing spells at the greenery around her, causing minimal damage although the spells could be dangerous if used with that intent. She had just flung an imploding spell at a mushroom growing near the base of the log she sat on when she hear the snap of a twig off to her right, followed by the appearance of a boy whom she did not recognize.

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me. Amelia could hardly believe that even after tramping out into the middle of the forbidden forest she had still managed to meet up with another student. Her attempts at solitude had been thwarted, yet again, and this time by someone she did not even know.

Soon the entire school will know who you are her subconscious teased, a thought which made Amelia’s temper flare.

“Who are you?” Amelia said, perhaps less kindly than she should have. She was on her feet now, her wand pointed in the direction of the boy she did not recognize, though he looked to be a student about her age.

((Sorry for being so mean, but he needs to use his wits so that Amelia can repond))

Chris suddenly knew the name of the student. She was Amelia Lyons! 6th year Ravenclaw, obviously a know-it-all. Oh great. Out of all people, I get a 6th year brainiac! Chris scowled. He stepped backwards to leave, as he was now bored, and stepped on a twig. That snap echoed in the momentary silence as the girl stopped with the volley of spells. He cursed silently to himself. Rule #1 of sneaking-DO NOT STEP ON TWIGS!!!

Amelia looked up as Chris snapped the twig. She raised her wand, asking who he was. "Oh, is that the way you treay a guest. Tisk-tisk. But, because you asked, I am Chris Lysander. And Chris does not stand for Christopher. Anybody who says that will find themselves with a bloody nose." Chris was warning her from far away to not call him Christopher. He did not want to hit a girl, but he would if she said that name.

"And you do not need to introduce yourself. I already know who you are. You are Amelia Lyons, the brains of the school." Chris smirked. He knew he had scored a verbal point. Even if Amelia showed no emotion yet whatsoever. "Ravenclaw. Pfft, try Nerdclaw. That would suit you people well. We Slytherins are cunning, clever, and know how to actually practice spells. Unlike you. Messy, messy work." Chris smiled. "Let me show you how it is done."

Chris took out his wand, and conjured up 3 fake dummies. Aiming his wand at the heart of the first one, he cast a stunning spell at it. It was blasted apart by the force of the impact. Chris moved on to the second dummy. It was thwon backwards by an expelliarmus. Before moving on to the 3rd and final dummy, Chris turned to Amelia. "Now do you see how to practice?" Without waiting for an answer, Chris destroyed the 3rd dummy, so that all that was left o it was some ash. "Any questions?"

((Don’t worry about it. I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for this. I won’t apologize for Amelia’s actions because you knew too!))

Amelia was surprised by the boy’s overly calm exterior when she had her wand focused on him, but more than surprise she was annoyed. First, she had been interrupted in the one place she had thought she could avoid people, and then, the person who interrupted her happened to have a tongue even snarkier than that Selwyn character she had met. As soon as he mentioned his name, Amelia’s mental file cabinet opened to the drawer which bore his name. Evidently she did know him.

Chris Lysander. Fifth year, Slytherin. Takes great pleasure in mocking others. High-and-mighty personality. Shows particular animosity toward Gryffindor students. Nice eyes.

Although that last notation was useless – and embarrassing, though no one else would ever read it – the rest of the file indicated that the person who had crossed paths with her would give her nothing but trouble. His cocky way of addressing her, his flippant attitude about her methodology for practicing spells; all of it suggested that she was yet again going to find herself in a social situation in which her conversation partner needed a good swift kick in the ass. It was all she could do to keep from rolling her eyes every time he paused to breathe.

She had to admit, though, when he conjured the dummies, that he wasn’t all talk. His wandwork was steady, and he was proficient in the use of most practical defense spells. That did not, however, excuse his previous behavior, nor did it lower the temperature of the boiling in the pit of her stomach. Amelia had a temper and a barbed tongue; just because her mother insisted on stifling them did not mean that Amelia had lost the traits altogether.

“Thank you for the… demonstration,” Amelia replied scathingly, putting an extra bit of poison on the last word. She had lowered her wand from him after the introduction, though she still held it in her right hand.

“It was unnecessary, however,” Amelia continued, striking her wand against the palm of her left hand as she walked slowly toward the boy, “as was the time you wasted conjuring up those dummies. If you truly understood the art of practicing magic, you would do as I have, and wait for the dummy to come to you.”

Amelia smirked as she raised her eyebrows toward Chris, indicating that he was fulfilling the role of dummy in the situation. The boy may know of her, but he didn’t know her. There was a lot more to Amelia than intelligence and quick magic, and if he didn’t hold his tongue he was going to see just how much more.

“Any questions?” she mocked, repeating his own line back to him in a particularly barbed attack.

On the outside, Chris looked cool, calm, and totally unnerved by what Amelia was saying. On the inside however, he was this angry pit of fire. How dare this girl insult him?! How dare she even hint that he was not practiced in the art of magic?! Chris was very acomplished in the art of magic. He was even smart enough to learn with the 6th years(he loved to brag about it.)! Putting on a scorful smirk, Chris sighed as if he was unimpressed.

"I happen to be one of the most accomplished 5th years in this entire school. I only conjured up the dummies because i was not under any danger. Not even with you pointing your wand at me, Brainiac." Leaning against a tree, Chris took a closer look at Amelia. She seemed like she could fight if she had to. But he could still beat her any time, any place, any day.

Chris barely flinched as Amelia told him(withou really telling him) that he was the traget of her spells. With two flicks of his wand, he could block any spell and stun her in 3 seconds. "Yes, I have a question. Are you actually a witch or do you just have a fake wand? Becuase I don't think that thing could hurt me." Chris rolled his eyes dramatically. He also had another question, even if Amelia did not want to hear it.

"One last question. Do you really have the guts to hurt me? Because I can hurt you in 4 seconds." Slipping his hand unnoticed into his pocket where his wand was held, he put it behind his back, making sure the correct end of the wand was pointing at Amelia. Pretending to look bored, he yawned, and hummed silently to himself. "You know what, I think I know what your answer will be." Chris narrowed his eyes. "Oh, I can't, cause all I know is books and essay's." He laughed, still keeping his wand pointed at Amelia.

Although the boy put up a good façade, it was clear that he was unaccustomed to being challenged. Amelia knew many of her peers would have simply backed down to the kind of taunts Chris had thrown at her, but Amelia was as stubborn as they came. Even on her best day, Amelia would not have reacted kindly to the flashy show Chris had put on, and today she was exceptionally annoyed by the fact that she seemed to have lost her knack for finding places where she could exist alone.

The sigh and the smirk did not fool her, just as his grandstanding did not impress her. He might be the very best student in his year, the best looking man to ever have walked the earth – doubtful – and the king of England for all she could care. Right now, he was an interruption, and one that seemed to be awfully full of himself, at that. His pompous attitude was even worse than the children of her parents’ friends, and their inflated egos were enough to make Amelia wonder how they all managed to fit in the country club at once.

“You’d be surprised,” Amelia responded to his question, refusing to rise to his bait. That was what the boy was doing, after all: baiting her. She had seen it a thousand times, and, as a prefect, had broken up many fights which had been the result of someone falling for the trick, “Sometimes the most deadly creatures are those which disguise themselves as harmless.”

The description, while vague, was clearly referring to Amelia herself. She didn’t look harmful; her lithe form and freckles give her more of a “girl next door” look than that of a crouching tiger. She was properly trained, though, and would not hesitate to act if given reason. She focused on her breathing as Chris continued his brazen tirade, making assumptions about her abilities and motivations.

Although he was making an attempt at pushing her buttons, attacking where most students were weak, Amelia was not like most students. While most girls might be self conscious about their appearance or magical abilities, Amelia had never lacked confidence in these areas. She cared very little about the way she looked, feeling it was generally superfluous, and she had never been given a reason to doubt her skill with a wand. Her training had been and still was rigorous, so Chris’s taunts about her understanding only the theoretical and not the practical rolled off her like a wave against a rock on the shore, taking very little from her. If the boy wanted to get to her, he was going about his attack the wrong way.

“I won’t pretend that I enjoy hurting others,” Amelia replied calmly, keeping her gaze level with his, “But I have no qualms about acting in self-defense. If you give me reason enough, you will see just how far beyond books and essays my knowledge lies.”

Amelia was refusing to allow Chris the pleasure of provoking her to attack. It was clear the boy was looking for a fight, his words and posture indicated it, but she knew better than to be drawn in. Her reputation – although limited, as not many knew her – rested on a carefully organized stack of order, etiquette, and rationality. She would not be so foolhardy as to cast the first curse – she knew better. But that did not keep her from holding her wand at the ready, her mental defenses rising against possible attack.

"Now, now. I do not believe that there is any need to be so mean, is there Amelia?" Chris looked at her like he knew she knew he was right. Rule number one about intimidating a person: Always look straight into their eyes to show you are not afraid of them. Chris had never looked away from Amelia since the moment she spotted him. And to add to the affect, his eyes were very bright and they seemed to look right through you.

"Oh, I'm soooo scared! What are you going to do? Use your self-defence to hurt me? You don't stand a chance."

Chris moved three steps closer. But he was not going to attack. One of the many ways to also intimidate an opponent is to make them feel like they have nowhere to go. Of course, in the forest, you have everywhere to go unless you are in a hollow. Then you can freak out and panic. Which is rule number 235 of how to live. If all else fails, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!

"By the way, the only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved. Just like every single thing I say to you." Chris smiled, and took 4 more steps forward. He could not believe that he had thought of that saying. It was something his dad had told him; Chris had use it twice. This was the third time.

The sky was turning orange, and the sun was low in the sky. Chris examined it's position. It was maybe... 5:00 pm, 5:30. And Chris had a little...meeting with a Gryffindor at 6:00. He had the "gift" in his pocket(a stink bomb) to make the Gryffindor feel more at home. But that did not mean he could not use it here...Well, maybe he could not. But it was still an idea!

"By the way, what do you think of Gryffindors? Mean, snooty, selfish, or alright?" Chris had no idea why he asked this question. Sometimes when he was thinking about thing, his mouth asked a question about the thought. Atleast his mouth said three bad things about the Gryffindors and only one good thing about them. It was exactly what he was thinking anyway.

Amelia wasn’t usually one to be intimidated. In fact, she was afraid of very little that was self-inflicted. She was afraid of failure, of not living up to her expectations, of disappointing her parents. The stare-down Chris was giving her was unsettling, his light-coloured eyes piercing her own, but she was not going to show her discomfort. The boy already seemed to think he had the upper hand in the situation – showing how she felt about his staring wasn’t going to deflate his ego any.

Crossing her arms across her chest, Amelia held her place as Chris continued to taunt her. He seemed practiced in the art, as if he had been bullying his peers long before he encountered Amelia. She was working very hard to control her temper as he provoked her, sarcasm dripping from his voice. When he stepped toward her, closing in on half the space between them, Amelia’s heart began to beat harder, pumping adrenaline through her in case she needed it.

Amelia was not accustomed to being attacked this way. In general, Amelia stayed out of everyone’s way, and most people didn’t bother to say much of anything to her, much less taunt her to the extent that Chris intent on. She was uncomfortable in most every social situation, especially those which involved confrontation. She did not know why this boy had chosen to confront her, though – she hadn’t been doing anything to bother him. She had come out to the forest with the express purpose of avoiding all human contact. The fact that she was being forced to have this confrontation with Chris – a boy she knew only from a distance – was unsettling her. Her temper threatened to flare into view, but she focused on her breathing, mentally reminding herself what the repercussions of attacking him might be.

Amelia kept her eyes focused on Chris’s penetrating ones as he lectured her on insults. His confidence in what he was saying was evident; he wasn’t just saying something in order to get a rise of out her. That might have been part of it, but when it came to insults, Amelia could probably learn a thing or two about the process from Chris. Amelia had the type of personality that was insulting enough without having to work at it. She usually managed to offend people without ever intending to, which didn’t bother her much because she really had no ambition to befriend anyone.

When Chris took the last four steps toward her, he had completely closed the gap between them. He now stood only inches from her chest, somehow managing to look down at her even though he was only taller by perhaps half an inch. He was so close to her that Amelia could feel the heat rolling off his body in waves, focusing on her own breathing in order to steady it. She didn’t want Chris to see how nervous he was making her by being so close. Although she probably could have staved off his harsh words for much longer, just by putting himself close to her Chris was breaching the personal space Amelia used to distance herself from others – both physically and emotionally. It was an attack that would work much better than his insults, but she didn’t want him to know that.

“I…” she stuttered, hating her tongue for betraying her nerves. She cleared her throat again before continuing, keeping her eyes on his in order to pretend that she wasn’t intimidated, though her voice sounded smaller now than it had before, “I don’t personally know any Gryffindors, so it would be difficult to say.”

She wasn’t lying. Amelia barely knew anyone at Hogwarts, at least not personally. Although she had files upon files about the students and staff of this school, very few of those same people would be able to say anything at all about Amelia. Nearly everything she knew about her peers, including the Gryffindors, she had gained from observation. She wasn’t really an any position to pass judgment on them, seeing as she was not personally acquainted with them. In addition, her brain seemed to have stopped functioning at its usual level as soon as Chris’s body moved within inches of her own, and any other answer would likely have been too difficult to formulate in the given amount of time.

Chris felt victorious. After all of his taunts failed to intimidate her, moving closer did the trick. It felt good, as he never did get to move closer to a person. The taunts nearly always did it. "You, what?" His eyes burned into hers. They seemed to be like emerald fire, enveloping everything around it. Usually, anybody who looked into them felt like walls were closing in around them, or that they were in a burning building, with noway out. Chris had never experienced this, but he was told it was very scary.

Chris' eyes were not the only thing that people were scared of, even if they were the best intimidation. He happened to be very tall, and if you look down on somebody, they tend to feel small and weaker than you. Fortunetaly, Chris was just an inch taller than Amelia. An inch was not much, but he would still be looking down upon her. There was one other thing that was scary about him. He had this way of seeming so calm, and smiling like he knew something was going to happen to you. At times, to some people he seemed phsycic.

But was he really that scary? When Chris looked in the mirror, he saw nothing wrong with him. He was just an extremely smart 5th year that just so happened to be in Slytherin. Yes, most people did not like Slytherins, but they could be nice!...sometimes... But, according to those stinking Gryffindors, Slytherins were this evil. And according to Slytherins, Gryffindors were prats. The Slytherins were right. Gryffindors were prats, through and through.

"So, what were you going to say? Something cowardly, or something bold? I might be wrong, but I think it would be something foolishly bold. Just remember one thing, sometimes boldness can be mistaken with coldheartedness."

Chris shrugged his shoulders. He was on fire! Never before had somebody lasted this long with his taunts, and he was still going. Usually, it took him months to come up with the best taunts and intimidation tactics ever!

"And here is some more advice. When trying to defend yourself from a verbal attack, never mumble. It shows weakness and that you are crumbling. Never good."

Chris remembered this one kid. He was a 4th year, and he was as tough as metal. It took Chris hours to figure out his weak spot. He only figured it out when the boy jumped at an animal. Chris had smirked, and said "You know, all animals aren'y nice like rabbits and squirrels. There are bears, werewolfs, snakes..." The boy had shrieked, and ran off before Chris could finish.