Hogwarts - Whomping Willow (Grounds)

[Hollywood Heidi]

Whomping Willow

Whomping Willows are a very valuable, very violent species of magical plant. As was eloquently put by Ron Weasley, it is the only tree in the world that will hit back. A deciduous plant, its limbs functioned as arms and any damage to them was treated in much the same way.

There are very few who know that the tree can be frozen by pushing a knot on its base. Those who do not know of this trick but are skilled with a wand have tended to opt for the Immobilus charm which immobilizes it for a short time.

[Hollywood Heidi]

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The night passes. It is the morning of the next day.

Classes are postponed for the week to welcome the visiting schools during Tri-Wizard Championship.

A special visit to Hogsmeade is scheduled for today.

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[Hollywood Heidi]

***Anya enters from Shrieking Shack and Surrounding Area***


Anya had managed to collect herself enough to taper down the fear that had been eating at her to a only a gnawing. The weather up ahead through the opening appeared as if it had calmed, though it wasn't the normal, clear winter day that was expected. Wind was still higher and clouds still obstructing the nice sunshine they'd been expecting.

Pulling herself up from the hole at what appeared to be the base of a large tree, Anya was starting to get to her feet when she caught something extremely large and dangerous looking come rushing toward her in the corner of her eye. She gasped and fell into a crouched position with hands raised in defense, the sudden threat in her still fear-riddled nerves drawing a lighting bolt from the storm above to strike at whatever was about to attack her.

A high pitched, terrifying inhuman scream screeched forth from whatever had viciously lashed out at her and she felt the whoosh of its limb barely missing her. Anya braved a look up to get a grasp on what she was up against this time. The tree. The bloody tree was trying to bludgeon her. Anya reached a new level of terrified when she realized one of its limbs was sporting her greatest fear. She felt herself pale, watching the flame grow bigger as the tree erratically went back and forth between trying to shake out the fire that the lighting had started and still trying to attack her with the fiery limb.

Keeping her head down, Anya quickly and blindly scrambled away. She felt the heat of the fire as the limb came crashing down, just barely missing her. She gasped and made the mistake of glancing over at the fire just inches away. Her gasp escaped in a sound that was half cry of fear, half scream as it lifted then came crashing down on her other side, sending her skittering to a crawl in the opposite direction.

Anya's heart was racing. Fear and adrenaline were coursing through her on a level she hadn't felt since she was a seven-year-old little girl trying to flee from her burning home. The storm was back in full force. Howling winds whipping around her, dark clouds gathering above, snow starting to fall heavier and heavier. She was panicking and reaching her breaking point as she felt tears stinging in her eyes once again. This day that had started out like a dream, had turned into a nightmare.

Anya's hand hit something hard and she immediately pulled back her scraped knuckles and stopped her crawl, seeing that large rocks were blocking her escape route. She quickly turned and pressed her back against them, pulling her legs up to hug against her, shrinking back as much as she could as the fiery limb came crashing down near her boots, just out of reach. It came crashing down again and again, seemingly annoyed at being so close yet unable to reach her.

Anya buried her face in her knees, feeling the heat of the fire and the force of the limb hitting so near. She could feel tears once again escaping as terror pulled her back into that abyss she'd last fallen into as her home had burned down in front of her, taking her parents with it.

[Ariel]

***Draco and Boyle enter from Hogwarts - Benjamin Boyle's Office***

There was no plan that had been discussed between Draco and Boyle as to how to handle the tree and save the student. They were so wrapped up in themselves, that neither was willing to level with one another to come up with anything intricate. Draco figured teachers had combatted this tree before, how hard could it truly be?

The wind howled around them as the dead leaves of winter swirled around their heads. The storm brewed in the ugly grey clouds above as Draco and Boyle shielded themselves from the harsh precipitation. The closer they got to the Willow, the more angrier it appeared to grow. The tree threw down it's branches repeatedly around the same spot, where the student appeared to be seeking solitude behind some large rocks. A young girl with her winter attire on had her face buried as she appeared to be trembling with fear. Draco's heart immediately sank, and as a father himself he was heartbroken by the agony this young girl must be going through. They needed to get her out of there.

Draco was too pompous to consult with Boyle before deciding to go in on his own. Draco peered up at the tree through his blonde hair that had become ruffled by the wind as he tried to map out where the tree was planning to land it's branches next. Rocking back and fourth on his heels a few times, Draco decided to make a break for it and lunged his entire body underneath the tree. One of the branches came for him and nearly knocked him off of his feet, however his timing outwitted the tree itself as he dived over the top of the waving branch like a hurdle. He landed feet first on the ground, however another branch was coming for him faster than the previous one.

"Bombarda!"  Draco whipped out his wand from inside of his dark trench coat and out of instinct shouted the first spell that came across his mind. The branch exploded into pieces of bark right in front of him, which made the Willow furious as it raged harder. Draco ran around the tree, it's branches thrashing at the earth behind him as he missed it with every step he took forward. Just as he missed the latest branch that tried to knock him away, he tripped over his own footing and began to roll. Draco took a few tumbles before finding his footing again, landing himself right in front of the girl.

"Anya?" Draco breathless voice stuttered in shock as the student turned out to be Callum's friend. He didn't waste any time with questions, those would come later, "It's okay, love, we're going to get you away from here." Draco's fatherly instincts took over and without question he scooped the shaking, frightened girl up into his arms. Though, he now found himself in the same place that Anya had found herself in - trapped by the rocks. He hated how scared she was, the terror in her eyes shook him to his core. Draco held her close to try and soothe her as his eye's darted around for any sort of escape route. There wasn't one.

[DarkSideCookie]

As soon as Severus found himself in the scenario of watching a student in real danger, he was no longer a man only interested in his own mission but instead Professor Severus Snape, a man still mostly interested in his own business, yet not able to see one of his students suffer death, not even in times where that student had been Harry Potter. After all, that boy had not only been the son of a swine but also Lily's. And even if not, Severus probably still would have rescued him whenever he was facing a danger, which had happened a lot.

Along with the upcoming memories of just having to defend a student, the memories of having to defend himself from getting his true self revealed got pushed into the background. There was no time for thinking about another way to protect them - Draco certainly would need that protection as well - without using his knowledge about how to bring the willow under control. Draco might or might not be aware of the spell that most people would use to immobilize it for at least a short time, but that would give them only a little moment, probably too short to get her out of the range without any harm. Unfortunately, the knowledge of instead pushing this one knot that inactivated it entirely wasn't widespread but only held by a handful of teachers who were part of the council for much longer than Professor Boyle was.

However, when suddenly Draco was playing a lone hand on getting closer to the girl, Severus saw his knowledge about that secret spot as the only possibility. And as much as he would have liked to grab Draco by his collar a second time, for his hasty action, as much were parts of him actually impressed by just that. Draco had proved to be still a nuisance only a moment ago, but he also had changed, and definitely for the better. Bravery had never been one of the boy's strengths, yet it was one strength of the man Severus saw right now. A man who was fighting his way towards a frightened student to protect her with his own life.

Severus had allowed himself to get distracted by that, but only for a short moment. And while Draco scooped the girl up into his arms, he knew it was his role to deal with the Whomping Willow, obviously even angrier than before. Knowing that every second could become one wasted, he neared the willow with mentioned spells of only temporary immobilizing single branches that were about to flail at him while, at the same time, trying to get closer to the also mentioned knot. Almost gotten hit by one, the pair of sunglasses on Severus' nose, during his action of getting out of the way last minute, fell on the ground, yet he didn't allow himself the slightest moment of distraction, as surprised as he was. As soon as Severus got to the knot and managed to push it last minute before another arm whipped closer, all branches and roots drew back at once; Back into a deep sleep, until it was no longer a danger but only an old tree, its leaves swaying from the still heavy yet calming wind.

Silence.

Severus' eyes slightly turned to Draco and the girl, especially to Draco, though. The boy, or rather the young man that he was nowadays, was giving him the same look that had been laying on his features when Severus had pinned him against that wall back inside the building, just like he had done twenty years ago. Severus had as well not forgotten that scenario. But never mind how much he was reminding Draco Malfoy of Professor Severus Snape in that and also this very moment, Draco would not believe it to be true. How could he? How could anyone? Believe that Severus had not only survived a snake's poisoning bite but also came back to Hogwarts after all this time. He probably wouldn't even believe it himself if it wasn't his own story.

Instead of saying anything, Severus gave Draco only a slight, almost unnoticeable nod before stepping back to the spot where he had lost his sunglasses, picking them back up and turning around to absent himself to a spot where he could find some time for himself. He had to come up with a good story that explained Professor Boyle's training in dealing with the Whomping Willow, because he knew that Draco would seek him out for one at some point later. Only one last time, Severus' eyes were wandering over at the student, yet she wouldn't notice anyway, due to his eyes back behind dark glasses again. Anyways, He was no one who gladly received gratitude for his actions. He had just done his job.

Then Severus finally turned his back on both of them, exiting towards somewhere nearby, yet far enough away to be out of earshot.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Anya?" "It's okay, love, we're going to get you away from here."

Anya barely registered that someone had called her name. She flinched when something first came in contact with her, the burning branch of the tree being the thing she'd been worried would be that contact, but when she felt the gentle warmth of another person, Anya blindly gravitated toward it and allowed the person to take hold of her. Briefly opening her eyes to register the form of a person, she transferred her buried face from her knees to the crook of the person's neck while her arm closest to him wrapped around his neck and her increasingly cold and numbing gloveless hand of her other arm grabbed hold of his jacket front. There was a bright light of several scars on her palm emitting from between her fingers and out of the corners of her fisted hand.

Despite both being stuck crouched against the rocks, she still felt more at ease. Only in her fear filled mind, she'd reverted back in time, back in the arms of a firefighter who'd carried her a safe distance from the burning house. "Mum and dad are still inside," came the repeated line of her seven-year-old self.


She heard but did not fully understand the man's soothing words. The sound of them were enough to have her start relaxing and to start realizing the smell of smoke had dissipated as the willow had managed to put out its fire sometime in its violent thrashing about. The smell of burning wood nearly gone, Anya began to ease and the storm along with her. Her fisted hand loosened, revealing more of the light and the hint of only certain scars amongst the several lit up.

As she started to come back to herself and to the right place and moment in time, the loosened grip had her lose hold. Her hand fell and came to rest on her torso, upturned with fingers loosely curled. The light from her palm began to dim and the storm along with it until finally, both her hand and the skies were back to normal.


Her breathing had returned to normal and her rigid muscles had relaxed. She was so exhausted from the ordeal that she did not yet lift her head, not quite ready to deal with the reality of everything that had occurred this awful day.

[Ariel]

"Mum and dad are still inside,"

The branches of the Whomping Willow suddenly grew distracted as the flailing branches of terror diverted into another direction. "You're alright, Anya, you're safe," Soft words of comfort were the only thing Draco could offer Anya in this moment as he held her close. Draco's wildly puzzled gaze followed the branches to see what they were so occupied with. With a wand in hand, Boyle appeared to be approaching the Willow in a brave attempt to tame it. Draco couldn't help but to watch nervously from where he was frozen in place, afraid to move a muscle as to regain the attention of the violent tree once more. Draco appreciated this professor's bravery, as much as he was a complete tool, but Draco was afraid for his man and knew that his attempt to be a hero was going to get himself seriously injured or worse. 

From the corner of Draco's eye, he caught the wispy tip of an angry branch narrowing in on Boyle for a lashing. "Boyle!" Draco shrieked in his frightened state. The branch had barely missed the wizard, knocking his glasses away from the bridge of his nose as he lunged forward. Draco felt like a helpless spectator, unable to move or help the man any further. Suddenly, any remnants of dead leaves and wooden debris that shed from the tree in it's angry fit stopped falling around them. The furious branches began to ease to a calming state, as if the tree felt that the threat was over. Draco peered up and around at the tree in awe as he began to back away slowly, his gaze unmoved in shock as the tree reverted back to an unanimated state. Just a simple tree, the only movements made were by the wind passing through the branches that stood back in their rightful places. But how? As far as Draco was aware, there were only a few professors that had worked at Hogwarts that had known how to tame this beast. Draco looked from the tree to Boyle. Without his glasses hiding his gaze, this man looked different. Draco's alarmed eyes locked with Boyle's for a moment as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. There was a glimmer of something that resided in Boyle's gaze that Draco hadn't noticed until now. Something warmly familiar.

"How did you know to do that?" Draco called out. At that, Boyle gave Draco a single nod before scooping up his glasses and leaving without a single word. Panic started to bubble within Draco, "Hey! I asked you a question!" Draco's voice grew louder in desperation as he took a few quick steps in Boyle's exiting direction, yet not once did he turn his head around. Draco had so many questions, yet he wasn't going to get answers to any of them. Not yet at least. "Who are you?" Draco breathlessly whispered as he slowed his feet back down to a stop, watching Boyle disappear into the distance. Looking down in his arms, Draco remembered the girl he was still holding. She felt less tense than before, yet she currently fell victim to exhaustion as she rested peacefully in his arms. "Bless your heart, darling," Draco spoke with a strain of concern in his voice as he looked at Anya. He wasn't sure what she had gone through up to this point. Whatever it was had caused her a great deal of trauma, and he wasn't just referring to any events of this day, "Let's get you back to the castle." Draco did not dare to disturb her and let her recuperate in his arms as he carried her back to the castle.


*** Draco and Anya exit *** 

[DarkSideCookie]

Severus decided that ignoring Draco's distant shouts and demands on getting answers would be the best for now. As much as this might cause him even more trouble later, as much didn't he actually care. Neither was Severus afraid of his former student himself, nor of the consequences. He would find a way to get to where he wanted to be, no matter what. Granted, it would make things easier if he played by the rules, but, as already in the past, he was not so much a fan of blindly playing by anyone's but his own rules.

Only for a short moment, Severus' eyes had turned back towards the willow and the two figures still standing next to it. It was the very moment that Draco had accepted his questions would remain unanswered and his attention-seeking unrebutted. And while he seemed still occupied with the matter between them, Severus' eyes were catching something else, something that seemed to slip Draco's attention entirely. For a moment, he observed a light, like a glow, radiating from the student's palm. It was too much of a short duration to get a more precise look, especially from this distance, but also too intriguing to just shrug it off as delusion.

Realizing that with the fading of the light also the wind around him calmed, Severus turned his head back to the landscape around him. He had no explanation for such a hypothesis yet, but he dared to believe that there was some kind of connection between the heavy storm and this student, as the tempest had only come on with her appearance. She must have found her way back alone from Hogsmeade while everyone else was still there, or otherwise, he wondered what else she had been doing here outside. When Severus turned his attention back to Draco and the girl, they started to head back inside the building, her getting carried in Draco's arms.

Severus sat there for some more moments, hesitant if he should give in to his curiosity or not. He had his own mission that had nothing to do with all this, but he also was somewhat concerned and involved in what was happening around him. Or was it just the familiar concern and involvement that had come back to him ever since he'd set a foot into Hogwarts after all these years? Either way, he couldn't just avert his eyes. Draco had, not at all, noticed this peculiarity about the girl he probably was bringing into the infirmary to get her checked.

With one deep sigh of still inner reluctance, Severus decided to get himself involved entirely by following Draco inside, keeping a safe distance, though. He rather wanted to just check the girl's palms himself, without having to explain himself to Draco, or even worse, getting asked more questions about the mystery of Professor Boyle before having come up with answers to those himself.


*** Severus exits ***