Old Habits Die Hard PV Chloe Rose Baggins Close

So the forest was dangerous AND it was restricted? Those were two things that only fueled Erin's desire to explore this infamous "Forbidden Forest". Why would the school ban students from entering without a professor if there wasn't something amazing hidden inside. The darkness seemed to thicken around the forest, making it impossible to look into. Erin felt drawn to the forest, like the trees themselves were calling her name.

"That's the Forbidden Forest. Students aren't supposed to go there without a professor with them. I want to explore it, but I'm terrified at the same time."

Erin looked at Chloe and narrowed her eyes a bit at the girl. She couldn't tell if she was a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, in a way she reminded her of herself, but they were also quite different in a few ways. The biggest difference was that Erin really couldn't be arsed by the rules of the school, she saw them as a hamper on her independence. This would probably get her into a huge amount of trouble on day, but that day hadn't come yet. The moon provided a faint light on the top of the forest, the green tops of trees silently swaying in the wind.

"I came out here just for a walk, but eventually I'm wanting to get the courage to explore in there..."

"Well lil' lassie. Adventure doesn't just wait around for some random person to come along, adventure chooses the ones who seek it. Have a deko at the forest, its practically calling yer name. I say we go right now, no time would be better!" Erin exclaimed with a confident look in her eyes, her body ready to run towards the forest and not look back. But she also wanted to wait for her newfound acquaintance, seeing as she was the one who came up with the idea and saved her life. Erin hoped that Chloe could be convinced, because she could tell that Chloe wanted to explore the forest more than she did, and exploring the forest with her would be the least Erin could do to pay her back.

Chloe paused for a moment, trying to decide if she was brave enough to explore the forest. She could definitely tell Erin was wanting to explore. "Well lil' lassie. Adventure doesn't just wait around for some random person to come along, adventure chooses the ones who seek it. Have a deko at the forest, its practically calling yer name. I say we go right now, no time would be better!" Chloe nodded, grinning. She pulled the hair tie she always had on her off of her wrist and pulled her hair in a ponytail to get it out of her hair, since they would be walking through the trees.

Chloe nodded again, looking from the forest back to Erin. "Tonight? Let's go.' Chloe was excited. She turned toward the forest and took a step. She pulled out her wand, just in case, and took a deep breath. She was ready to explore. She was ready for an adventure and a new friend. She gazed longingly at the forest, ready for the girls to go over there. She took one more step towards the forest, trying to keep herself from running. She didn't want to go by herself, that was the whole reason she was wanting to explore with someone else. 

Chloe looked back at Erin, practically bouncing in excitement. She was just waiting for Erin to say the word that the pair would explore. 

It seemed that her advice had worked, Erin looked on in glee as Chloe started to put her hair into a pony tail. The girl also pulled out her wand, Erin wondered if she knew any spells, her classes hadn't started yet so at the moment she would have to rely on her wits and fists. They were actually going to do this, she couldn't back out now. After all Erin found herself quite loyal to Chloe, maybe she might even consider her a friend. She didn't have many of those yet, most of the people she met were just acquaintances.

"Tonight? Lets go."

The girl said with her head turned to Erin, she locked eyes with Chloe and nodded her head, ready to explore this reportedly dangerous forest. Neither of them truly knew of the danger that lurked in there, and they probably didn't want to know. She didn't need to change out of her robe as it was already quite destroyed from the whole tree incident. With a deep breath in, Erin would walk right beside Chloe and look at her with the readiness of a lioness about to pounce on its prey. "Alright lassie, lets do this."

The night was young, and so were they, both of them looking into the unknown dangers of the "Forbidden Forest". Not old enough to comprehend what was really inside, but not young enough to not be tempted by the mysteries it held. Regret would start to try and take over Erin's mind, but it was overwhelmed by her curiosity and stubbornness. The trees loomed over them, almost as if it was a last ditch effort to ward them off. But to a blissfully ignorant 11-year old, it only stood as an invitation to explore the darkness beyond.

Chloe grinned as the girls made their way to the forest. The pair of girls were brave. Chloe felt a rush, breaking the rules at night. She was sure there had to be something dangerous there, but she didn't care at all. She was simply excited to see what would be in the forest. 

As the girls got to the edge of the forest, Chloe stopped. She gazed into the darkness, almost daring something to come out towards the girls. She took a deep breath and took the first step into the forest, the darkness engulfing her. She waved her wand wildly, hoping that if she thought hard enough, she could conjure up some light. Unfortunately, she only knew one spell that she had learned in one of her classes. 

Chloe looked over at Erin beside her and grinned again. She was extremely excited. Maybe there were unicorns in the forest, or maybe something more dangerous. She tightened her grip on her wand, prepared for anything. The girls made their way deeper into the forest. Chloe was listening closely for any sound of a creature, but she was only hearing silence. 

Chloe looked around, barely able to see 5 feet in front of her. Not being able to see scared her a little bit,  but she was swallowed her fear. 

As the pair entered the forest, it seemed as if the world around them was engulfed by an eerie darkness. Silence was the only companion to the darkness, the girls' steps smashing leaves and grass as they moved aimlessly through the dark. Erin wished that her classes had started because at the moment her arsenal of spells stood at a pathetic zero. She had never walked through a forest herself, but she had heard stories about bears and wolves. She was tough for her age, but she stood no chance against an angry bear.

Erin turned over to Chloe, watching her try to cast a spell and unfortunately failing. She couldn't know for sure what spell she was trying to conjure, but she guessed that it was probably a light charm. To Erin's relief, Chloe seemed just as confused and lost as she was, meaning that she wasn't the only one who had absolutely no clue what she was doing. Her hand would wander down to her boot, making sure that her wand was still in there. The cold, hard feeling of willow wood eased her anxiety a bit, at least her wand didn't fall out during her tumble.

"Um, lassie? You don't happen to know any useful spells, do ya? Because I know choicer." Erin would say with a soft giggle, Chloe had to know something useful right? A slight shiver would run down Erin's body as the air around them grew even colder. She would start to rub her hands together vigorously, the added body heat shooting up her arms like a small wildfire. Warmth was a welcome feeling, anything was better than what the forest provided them.



Walking through this cold darkness reminded Erin of when she would roam the streets with ragged clothing. Those were a lot harder times, her father didn't have work and her mother had a rather bad bout of scarlet fever. She hated to see her parents struggle, so she went out at night and burglarized stores and small banks. As she got deeper into the life of crime, her crimes became more severe and dangerous. She started to mug people and sell stolen vehicle parts, but Erin was a different person back then.

Maybe this new life at Hogwarts would allow her to finally let go of her less than stellar past, this was a new country after all. This new companionship could be her turning point, and that was a pleasing thought to Erin. It trumped all of the other things she was feeling on account of the forest and made her think of happy things. A warm smile was on her face, happy memories and new friendships were a good reason for her expression. Darkness nor silence were going to stop them now, because happiness was a feeling that conquered all.

Chloe looked over at Erin and shook her head. "No, I don't really know any. I'm hoping that I can just wave my wand around and it will save us." Chloe laughed awkwardly as she looked around, trying to peer into the darkness. She felt adrenaline rushing.. She was breaking the rules, something she never did. She was extremely nervous to get caught... or killed. She was terrified, but was hiding it well. 

"So what do we do if we do run into something dangerous?" She looked at Erin again, genuinely curious. She was hoping that Erin would simply say that they would run. She wasn't going to lie, that was probably what she would do herself. 

Chloe kept listening for any other sign that there was someone or something else with them. She almost wanted to run into a creature, something mysterious in the forest. As the girls stood in the silence, Chloe thought about the new friendship that she was hopefully gaining. She liked Erin, and was excited to be exploring with the girl. 

Chloe rubbed the back of her neck, nervous. It was completely silent, almost too silent. Why was the forest forbidden if it was so silent? 

After hearing that, much like herself, Chloe didn't know any spells that could help them in their expedition, Erin couldn't help but let out a disappointed sigh. If there were magical beasts or evil wizards in the forest, they essentially had fancy tree branches. Erin tried to convince herself that her fighting experience would help them if they had to fight something, but deep down she knew that her fists were akin to pom-poms when put up against a centaur. Waving around their wands wildly would likely not help them in any means, it would probably look like they were inviting something to attack them. But who knows, maybe her weird lucky streak would allow Erin to cast a useful spell out of pure desperation.

"So what do we do if we do run into something dangerous?"

She heard Chloe say, the silence of the forest allowing her voice to flow smoothly to Erin uninterrupted. Erin didn't truly know the answer to the question, she had spent most of her time beating herself up for not paying attention during the introduction to Charms class. Her eyes narrowed as she considered the question more seriously, a habit that she had developed during her time laundering money. Maintaining an angry look, even when you were anything but, was essential to intimidating the people around you.

"Well... since our wands are biscuits to a bear, I guess we'll have to box 'em into submission. You know how to fight don't ye?" It wasn't something that she had particularly wanted to do, but it was the only thing they COULD do in that situation. Running was out of the picture for Erin, she hadn't run from anything since she was 6 years old. Fear was in the back of her mind, but it was overwhelmed by her unrelenting will to win. She absolutely despised losing, so she felt obligated to fight whatever came at her until the very end.

Chloe chuckled awkwardly and nodded. "Yeah, I can fight a little bit." She laughed, glancing over at Erin. She was worried about what they may see in the forest. Still, even though she knew no spells and didn't fight much, she felt safer holding her wand. 

She stopped walking for a moment, when hearing what sounded like footsteps in the darkness ahead of the girls. She felt her breath catch in the back of her throat. Chloe took a moment, looking around. She didn't see anything, but she also couldn't really see five feet in front of them. She kept listening for a moment, but the footsteps had stopped. She wasn't sure where they stopped at, but the just stopped.

She started walking again, catching up with Erin, who was a few feet in front of her. She tightened her grip on her wand as she heard the footsteps again. She grabbed Erin's arm, trying to get her to stop with her. "Do you hear that?" She looked at her with wide eyes. She turned her head, looking for the source of the footsteps. It was making her nervous, hearing noises but not seeing what might be making them.