They hadn't talked to Meryl since the day they had had an argument with Malfoy. They had gone to visit the infirmary, because she had ended, they're thanks to the spell cast by Lucius.

It was Monday afternoon; Lily, Calynn and Frank were sitting on the floor by the hot fireplace that gave them warm while finishing some tired duties of Charms that had left them since Thursday.

"Meryl's good mood that makes us happy to do homework is missing," Calynn said sadly.

"Malfoy will pay for them, I assure you," Frank said contemptuously.

"He is not worth it, the great punishment of going to the Forbidden Forest is a well-deserved," said little Black,

"What fault do we have?" Exasperated splashing ink.

"What's in the forest?" Asked Lily, worried about her friends.

"All kinds of creatures," Frank replied, continuing with his writing.

"Like the mermaid I found?" Asked little Black.

"That's nothing, there are much worse creatures than mermaids in the forest," the little boy explained.

"We don't know any spells yet, how will we defend ourselves against those beasts?" Calynn worried.

"I suppose that's what the warden goes with us, to protect us," Frank said, keeping his finished writing and taking a paper out of his robe.

"Maybe, but I still don't think it's completely safe," said the redhead who, although she hadn't earned the punishment, was worried about her friends.

They continued with their homework while Frank read the paper, he had taken out very carefully until he suddenly called his friends.

"Have you read this yet?" Asked the boy, pointing to a text on the paper he was holding.

"What is that?" Calynn asked without looking away from his writing he wrote quickly.

"It's the newspaper The Daily Prophet, the magicians' newspaper. In the bad news section, they talk about the fact that on Sunday night they found two Death Eaters on the way to Hogsmeade who claimed that the dark mark burned them," Frank said quite worried.

The little Black who was taking ink at the moment when the boy read the news threw her ink bottle staining her tunic.

"You're good?" Asked Frank exaltedly.

"Yes, I'm just very clumsy, my hand just slipped. Don't they say the names of the Death Eaters?" Calynn asked trying to clean her robe.

"Nott and Rosier," Frank replied, reading the newspaper again.

Calynn paled when she heard the name Rosier, since it was her mother's maiden name.

"Are you okay?" The boy questioned when he noticed the nervousness of his friend.

"Yes, marvelously, they are only the nerves of going to the Forbidden Forest," the girl replied without giving importance to trying to avoid the issue.

"Are you done with your homework?" The boy asked, noting that his friends had kept her writing and her ink. Both nodded at the same time. "So, I think we should go down to dinner, remember that we have to be on the school grounds at nine in the evening and there is only one hour left for that," Frank recalled as he helped Calynn get up from the ground.

After storing some things in their trunk, the children went down the stairs nervously to go to dinner. When they arrived at the Gryffindor table, they chose their usual places only now that Meryl's place was left over, which was occupied by a jet-haired boy who sat in front of Lily, followed by three more boys who sat next to him. Lily and Calynn looked at each other remembering the inconvenience with those boys on the train.

"How are you guys? I think we had never sat together for dinner," the boy with glasses commented. "I remember, you two are the train girls and you are Longbottom, aren't you?"

"Yes," the boy confirmed as he poured himself a glass of wallflower that he gave Calynn.

A silence formed without anyone saying anything.

"Did you hear about what happened to Lucius Malfoy's?" James asked enthusiastically, getting the attention of the three friends who shook their heads. "During the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Malfoy was bothering us, telling us that we didn't know how to do any kind of spell and that we should go back to a Muggle school and things like that. Then, we wait for all the students to leave the classroom and we followed Malfoy, keeping a distance so that he did not realize it and when Sirius and I was about to go down the stairs, we threw water on the floor with an enchantment causing him to slip, but the best of all was that, he dropped Mary MacDonald when he fell and began to insult him while Malfoy got up quickly because he couldn't stand her because she is Gryffindor and is half-blood. The best thing was that he fell again as the stairs began to move," James finished to start laughing with his three friends out loud while Lily, Frank and Calynn joined the laughter.

"Too bad I missed it," Frank commented when he managed to stop laughing.

"That was a lot of fun, James," Lily said, addressing the boy in glasses who blushed when he heard that the redhead said his name.

"It is fortunate that no punishment was achieved," said the girl.

"That we don't get a punishment? McGonagall suddenly came out of one end of the hall, that woman seems to be able to appear where she wishes and..."

"And also listen to long-distance conversations," said a voice behind the Potter group who were surprised. "Unless you want to accompany Miss Black and Mr. Longbottom to their punishment in the forest, I recommend that you take care of what you say," she said strictly. "Five points less for Gryffindor, it saddens me to have to take points from my own house, but these are the appropriate measures to be taken in cases like yours, Mr. Potter," the professor finished and then went to the teachers' table.

"Score five more points Padf... Sirius," Potter ordered as Sirius pulled a small scroll from his robe where he scored a number.

"It's a record! Thirty points in one day!" Said the boy very proud.

"Maybe we can beat the record with eighty-five in a week," James said enthusiastically.

"Do you like losing points?" Asked Lily confused.

"Every lost point means how high our success has been in getting our own," explained the boy in glasses with a smile on his lips. "Although we have not done anything as serious as earning a nice tour of the Forbidden Forest, what do you advise us to earn that honor?" Potter teased before laughing.

"Use magic against Malfoy, very simple," Frank replied as he poured some pumpkin pie.

"And very funny. Write that down on the list of earrings," James told Sirius and he pulled the scroll back.

"And who gave them that punishment?" Asked the boy with the scars on his face. "Oh, and I am Remus Lupin"

"Nice to meet you," replied the girl, "it was Professor McGonagall," said Little Black.

"Duel of wands with Malfoy in front of McGonagall," James said to Sirius, who was writing quickly with the ink bottle next to his plate.

"I think we should hurry; we have to see the warden on the grounds in less than half an hour," said Frank, who quickly ate another piece of cake that had been served.

"Will Filch accompany you?" James asked again. "I can't believe I can't go with you, let's say we're the most unbearable foursome Filch has had to educate in all of Hogwarts."

"Filch is the warden?" The girl asked after taking a drink of wallflower.

"Yes, but apparently he doesn't like having to collaborate on any punishment unless it causes the student physical pain, they still get used to it, but they have been lucky enough to save themselves from that," James explained, using a little pudding.

When the boys finished dinner, they said goodbye to Potter and his friends and headed to the school grounds near where they had argued with Malfoy.

"Do you think I have to go through the invisibility cloak?" Little Black whispered to Lily so Frank wouldn't listen to them.

"Filch would take it from you, better not," the redhead recommended as they walked in the moonlight. The girl said goodbye before they reached the limits of the Forbidden Forest.

"I think we should wait now; I hope Malfoy won't be late," Longbottom said before sitting on the fresh grass of the school grounds.

They talked for a while about what they might find inside the forest trying to find ways to solve some dangerous situation that could arise within it.

The guard arrived first and began to complain, as James had said, he hates having to deal with students who break the rules. He also told them that they were lucky to have won the punishment of entering the forest and not something more serious even though they deserved it. After a while, the boys stopped listening to him while they watched how the school grounds looked at dusk.

Malfoy arrived ten minutes late from the agreement and also kept saying complaints and how his father would complain to the Ministry about the dangerous punishments that were put on Hogwarts. The guard gave an oil lamp to each one with a lit candle inside so they could see in the darkness of the forest. Filch was carrying a crossbow, something that frightened the little ones, especially Malfoy who hid behind Calynn when he saw it.

They began to enter the forest while following a path marked with dirt. As less and less light entered, it filtered through the trees until it disappeared completely and the only thing that illuminated them were the candlelight that each one carried.

"What we are looking for here is the Descurainia Sophia plant, used to prepare different potions, when you find one they have to pull it in the middle and put it in one of the buckets that I am going to give them to load them in it," Filch explained, handing them a bucket to each other.

"What are those silvers like?" Asked Frank.

"It is green and long, it must reach approximately to the knee, we need at least that each one collect four to be able to get out of here, so, to work, but before I will divide you into two groups," explained the warden, "Malfoy and Black will go together while Longbottom and I will go to another extreme. Whatever they need, but that is extremely urgent, you can shout or try to do something with your wand," Filch concluded, walking towards one corner, leaving Malfoy and Calynn alone in the middle of the road.

"Move on," the girl ordered, taking the path she was going in the opposite direction that Frank and Filch had taken.

"I will stay here to wait for you," Lucius snapped, trying to sound safe, though his voice took on a tone of concern.

"All right, if you want to go look for ladybugs like you, but I will go ahead," said Little Black, embarking on the march.

Malfoy hesitated for a moment, but then he decided.

"It's fine, but wait for me!" Lucius shouted running after Calynn until he reached her and began to walk slowly again.

"What a pity, I was glad to travel alone," Calynn confessed.

"Thank me that I came back because I assure you that without me you could not survive for ten minutes," Malfoy said arrogantly.

"Accept that you were afraid to be alone in the forest and you had no choice but to come with me," said the little girl, mocking under her breath.

That shut up Malfoy for a long time, something that made the girl happy, although she couldn't doubt that he had surprised her.

"Merlin's beard! There are many herbs and plants that reach the knee, how are we going to know which plant is correct?" Calynn exasperated.

"Picking up all that you think it is," Malfoy replied as if that were obvious.

The little girl turned and looked at the kid's bucket.

"We haven't taken ten minutes and you've already filled half of your bucket!" Snapped Calynn.

"I'm going to be the one who has collected the most," said the arrogant blond.

"Yes, you will have collected only garbage," Calynn replied rolling her eyes.

They kept walking, sounds like the movement of the bushes and the whispering of the leaves of the trees were often heard, sometimes there was a sound that featured horses running or the flapping of wings but what really scared them was to see the eyes of owls and owls that rested on tree branches although sometimes the girl wondered if they really were owls or was another type of creature.

It had been about half an hour and Malfoy had already begun to empty his bucket a little of all the plants he had collected during the tour. They were focused on theirs steps, when the galloping of an animal was heard in the distance and began to be heard closer and closer to where they were.

"What is that?" Asked Lucius, almost crying.

"I don't know," Calynn replied, trying to hear more clearly.

"I knew this would happen, run through our lives for some horrible creatures," Lucius whined.

"Shut up, you won't let me hear," Calynn replied angrily.

"As if the gallop of these beasts were not easy to be heard," Malfoy replied.

"Calm down once and for all," the girl ordered, exasperating at Lucius's cowardice.

"How do you want me to calm down if a pack of angry horses comes against us? We're going to die! All because of that Longbottom, it wasn't worth it..." Malfoy continued almost crying.

"We're not going to die and calm down, I insist you to stop and let me listen," said little Black.

"Here they are!" The blond shouted and then ran quickly into the interiors of the forest aimlessly leaving Calynn alone with those creatures.

When the girl was able to observe the herd that produced that sound, she quickly identified that they were centaurs for being half human and half horse by having legs of a horse.

Calynn shouted loudly without being able to avoid it and ran away trying to win at the rhythm of the gallop but each time they were closer to her, the little girl kept running trying not to trip over the branches and rocks that were on the road. They were only a couple of meters away when little Black decided to jump to the side, hit herself with many of the plants that were there and the things she had collected in the bucket fell scattered throughout the forest. As soon as he stopped rolling in the grass she went to hide behind a tree with a broad trunk while the centaurs were passing behind her at full speed just a few inches from Calynn. From where she was, she could see that most of them carried bows and arrows, something that frightened the little girl. After a few minutes, when the entire herd had passed, Calynn limped out of her hiding place because of all the blows she had received when she fell into the forest. She began to look for her bucket all over the place completely in the dark since she had dropped the oil lamp that became porridge when all the centaurs passed over it.

She was crawling on the floor, as if blind, her bucket where she had barely collected five plants that were now all scattered around the place.

She continued crawling although she had already lost hope of finding the bucket, continued on her way until a silver light caught her attention by illuminating the darkness of the forest a bit, the girl stood up while looking for the source that provided the small lighting and observed a beautiful bird that was in the branches of a tree. The bird was silver, when she looked at it, it made a nice sound as if to greet her, the girl approached the tree and the bird perched on her shoulder with great delicacy. Little Black tried to caress it, then slowly fly forward, but stopped and turned to the girl pulling her clothes flying forward again indicating to follow it, something that Calynn astonished and followed the bird full of curiosity.

They walked a large piece of the vast forest, after running so far, the girl had lost the orientation of the forest and now did not know where she was. While they were walking, little Black collected the odd plant that appeared to those she had to look for. Calynn was more attentive to all the sounds she could hear to be able to act quickly, more now that she was alone and could move with more agility, although she had to admit that she was a little worried about Lucius's whereabouts because apparently there were no signs of him for nowhere. The trees were extremely tall and some especially had a very wide trunk. The bird stopped in the grass next to one of the wide-trunk trees and did not move from there while looking at the girl carefully. The little girl sat down next to the bird and observed that she was next to a large mountain of grass with nothing in particular, even some small insects moved among the grass.

"What do you look with so much interest? There is only grass and some insects," Little Black spoke to the silver bird that had large wings of the same color. At that moment the bird shook its head in the direction of the grass and began to pull plants and branches with its beak trying to clear that piece of grass. The girl understood the message, left the plants she had gathered aside and began to remove everything she could with her hands.

After a while cleaning that area, Calynn brushed something with her hands, it was solid and not as soft as all the plants she had removed. She moved closer to see the grass better and observed a wooden hatch large enough for a person to pass through. The bird pulled away a little from the trapdoor and the very nervous little girl lifted her little by little and observed that everything was black and apparently had no end. She was trying to observe something when more than a hundred spiders came out of that trapdoor in the direction of the girl who gave a scream of fright as she stood up trying to shake off all the spiders that had been able to climb to the body.

Little Black approached the trapdoor again curiously after shaking off all the insects that had risen when a voice behind her gave her tremendous fright that she turned with her wand raised and the bird quickly moved away from there.

"Easy, I'm Frank," the boy reassured her when she felt her friend's wand in her chest.

"I'm sorry, but I can't see anything and you have given me a tremendous scare," replied the nervous girl, keeping her wand.

"Mr. Filch, I already found her, we can go now!" Frank said before the warden came out of the trees with a reproachful face.

"We've been looking for you for more than half an hour," said the annoying guard.

"Have you found Malfoy yet?" Asked Little Black to Frank ignoring the comment from the warden.

"It's a good thing we found him alive," said the boy who turned to see the blond who had emerged from the darkness. Calynn watched him and was surprised to see that he had bruises and bumps on his face and hands.

"What happened?" Asked the girl.

"The centaurs gave him their due," Frank explained, pausing. "He wanted to be very brave to make fun of the centaurs, who did not hesitate to take out their weapons, but Malfoy managed to escape from that, but not from his hooves because that half of them passed over him so he stumbled upon one of the rocks in the forest," Frank finished trying to endure the laughter.

"It was all because of you, Black. If you hadn't abandoned me, maybe I wouldn't have had to go through that," Malfoy added, blaming Calynn.

"I abandoned you? You were the one who in less than two seconds were running away from the centaurs asking your mom for help," replied the girl without avoiding making fun Malfoy's weakness.

"It's not time to fight, silly children. We have to get out of here, follow me," the warden ordered as he began to walk through the darkness.