Facing down your Fears [Closed]

Darcy didn't know if what she was doing was a smart thing. Not at all. But she had to. She was scared, and she didn't want to be. She knew this might be really foolish, but she needed to. She had disbanded the owl and asked the girl to meet her here. A hundred meters inside the forest. She had gone inside, knowing no one had seen her. After all, the clock was past midnight. Oh, she really shouldn't have walked inside here.

Honestly, she wasn't even sure if Morgana would show up. Why would she? The girl didn't like Darcy, and why on earth would she risk her house points for a Gryffindor. For all Morgana knew, Darcy might not even be there. It could've simply been a setup. And the setup could even be by someone else than Darcy, who simply didn't dare to stand forward...

For every second that went by, Darcy grew more and more uncertain. Her wand was in her hand, and her hand was wrapped tightly around it. Her hand was, in addition, also sweating. Her eyes were wide open, drifting back and forth, up and down. Whenever she heard a sound, she jumped and turned, her wand at the ready. And every time, she sighed in relief. Honestly, why would she pick a spot like this?

And then a branch broke, very close to her. Darcy turned instantly, her wand pointed at where the sound came from. Something was moving out there. And it wasn't a human. Darcy grit her teeth and tried to remember what spells she knew. But none of them would come to her.

But she found that she wouldn't need light to see the creature in front of her. Her eyes landed on it and she was about to scream, but the sound got stuck in her throat. She didn't know what it was, but it was huge and shiny. It looked like a massive dog, giving off a spectral glow. She stumbled backwards and her foot got stuck in a branch. She wanted to scream for help, but it was impossible. She shut her eyes harshly, knowing she was about to die.

This thread is closed to Morgana Gaunt

Morgana wandered off to the grounds in the middle of the night. One of the things about living in the dungeon; less space to get caught on. She smirked as she moved through the castle in pathways she had found. She wondered if anyone else knew about them. The professors clearly didn't. They'd station one there every night. They would be very protective over a pathway that lead into the castle, wouldn't they? Good that it was neigh impossible to find on the outside. It was hard enough to find on the inside. Also, you'd need to know how to speak parseltongue to find it…

Morgana couldn't stop a smirk when she thought about that. So many good things came from being the descendant of Slytherin. Of course he'd make pathways that only his relatives could speak. A good thing, really. Morgana soon walked on the wet snow outside. She walked in the shadows of the castle, having silenced her steps and a spell that hid her footprints. She hadn't learned the concealment spell yet, but those two did help.

She reached the edge of the forest and walked inside, instantly feeling a lot safer. Her wand was at hand, though, as she didn't underestimate the dangers in this forest. She just knew how to repel most of them. Not all of them. She wouldn't be able to defeat a werewolf, but it wasn't a full moon, so that was perfectly all right. She was also on guard of lethifolds, something she really had no wish to meet, as they required the patronus charm, one she didn't know. Not for lack of trying, though. She just couldn't make it work. And she knew why, she just didn't like the fact.

She then heard a branch crack somewhere nearby. And she heard some rustling. She frowned and walked in that direction. Was the Gryffindor girl really stupid enough to make so much noise and not light her wand? Honestly, was she daft? Morgana then heard something fall to the ground. She frowned and then saw the ghost-like glow of a creature she knew. It was a bit further away, and she sped up, her footsteps and movements still silenced. She then saw the girl lying crouched on the ground. Morgana had her wand out a second later.

"Lumos Maxima!" she shouted, and the woods around her lit up and the creature rushed made a low sound, something sounding like a yelp, and then it rushed off, its paws making soft sounds in the ground below. Morgana walked over to the girl, looking down at her. "Are you stupid, or are you just doing a remarkable job at pretending?" she snarled, annoyed at the girl, and also quite aware that the light might have brought some attention from unwanted eyes.

Darcy was so sure she was about to die, but she did crawl a bit backwards, her eyes still shut, as if it would make the truth of the situation less real. She jumped sky high when she heard a voice and a strong light. Was it the light? Was she dead? If that was what it felt like to die, then Darcy was extremely surprised. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

But then a voice snarled at her, and she shrunk back, and finally opened one of her eyes. Morgana was standing over her, looking beyond angry and Darcy looked feverishly around, not caring about Morgana for a second, but where the dog had gone. When she was certain it was gone, she slowly, shakily, got to her feet. She looked at Morgana again.

"What was that?" she asked, ignoring Morgana's insult. She was a bit angry, not to mention embarrassed, but still. No need to snap at Morgana, though. The Slytherin had saved her life...

Morgana watched as the girl finally opened her eyes and rose when realizing the threat was gone. Morgana was now really wondering what on earth she was doing here. Darcy was obviously just proving as a pain in the ass. Again. Honestly, she hadn't met such a softhearted girl in all her life. There wasn't much more needed than that for Morgana to call the girl pathetic.

She looked resigned away from the girl as Darcy asked her what the creature had been. "'twas a Gytrash," she said, "It's a spectral hound that hunts in packs. In other words, the reason for why I didn't use a simple Lumos spell."

Morgana was still on her guard though. She wasn't about to get defeated by a dog that was so easily defeated on its own. She knew they were hard to spot, so she lit the tip of her wand with a simple lumos to look around herself. She didn't see anything and whispered "Nox". The light vanished from her wand and she looked back to Darcy.

"We should move on. The light might have called upon other creatures. Or worse… Teachers," she said calmly and turned to walk to the east. Stopping only to make sure that Darcy was following her; the girl obviously couldn't fend for herself.

Darcy frowned. "A Gytrash?" she asked softly. She then felt frightened again, and looked around. "Packs?" she repeated, feeling pretty intimidated. But when Morgana said that that was the reason she had used lumos maxima, Darcy understood that the light would've scared of all of them. A smart choice, in other words. Darcy looked at Morgana as she said that they should move on. She had been thinking the same thing, but she hadn't dared to tell Morgana; the girl was so scary.

Darcy grit her teeth; that was why she had decided to meet Morgana; she needed to face her fears. She walked after Morgana, deep in thought. And for some reason, she just wasn't scared anymore. Of Morgana, yes, but not the forest. It was like... Morgana might be scary on her own, but it felt safe to be in the forest with her. If Morgana wanted to hurt Darcy, she could've just left Darcy to get killed by the Gytrash.

Darcy then stopped. "Morgana," she said, the first time she had said the girl's name. She sighed. "I'm not stupid, you know. I-" Darcy stopped for a moment. She looked at Morgana again. "I was just scared," she admitted softly, feeling extremely foolish for standing there and saying that to the Slytherin girl.

Morgana ignored Darcy's outbursts at the name and pack thing. Darcy seemed to settle down as she understood the use of lumos maxima. Morgana kept walking, trying to see if she could find a clearing somewhere. It was cold out, but she didn't really care, and the trees did provide shelter from the cold. She walked on until Darcy called out her name.

Morgana stopped and looked back at the girl over her shoulder. When the girl proclaimed that she wasn't stupid, Morgana turned all the way around and looked curiously at her. Just afraid, huh? she thought to herself, and then turned back around and continued walking. When they finally reached a clearing, Morgana went to lean against a tree.

She studied Darcy where she was standing and wondered what it felt like to be afraid. She hadn't felt it herself. Not in many, many years, so long so that she couldn't remember the feeling. She wondered what it did to the body? Did it really make you feel more alive? Morgana titled her head to the side. "I don't think you're stupid. I just don't think you think through things well enough," she said monotonously.

Darcy felt seriously exposed under Morgana's gaze. It was as if the girl was piercing through her very soul. And she felt even more so when Morgana didn't say anything, just looked at her. Maybe Darcy was a bit stupid after all. For asking Morgana to come here, at least. Darcy honestly couldn't begin to understand why she had invited the girl here. Morgana was terrifying. There was no other word for the girl. But she didn't seem to want to hurt anyone either. Not as Darcy could tell at least.

But a problem about Morgana was that she wasn't easy to read. Darcy couldn't even begin to understand the girl, and she followed obediently as Morgana continued walking. Darcy studied her, from the way her feet were walking to her arms swinging to her head being held so high. And Darcy found that no matter Morgana being terrifying, Darcy actually admired her. In a terrified way.

When Morgana again stopped, this time in a rather nice clearing, Darcy found a tree to lean against as well. She blinked at what Morgana said, and then nodded slightly, sinking a bit against the tree so she was crouched down, but not quite sitting on the ground.

"I think so too. I just say whatever comes to mind. I don't think things through at all. I mean, I just wandered aimlessly into the forest on my own, not having any idea of what a Gymrash is," Darcy said, annoyed at herself, "Which is sort of why I asked you to come here. Mainly it's because I fear you, and I don't want to fear you anymore."

Darcy took a deep breath, and was relieved at how good it felt to simply say that. She felt much better now. "And the other thing is that ... Well. I don't attend DaDA, and I'd - um - I'd like to learn how to defend myself, and ... well..." Darcy stuttered, looking at Morgana, hoping the girl would understand what she was trying to say.

Morgana listened to Darcy's explanation. She wasn't at all surprised, and only interrupted once, saying "Gytrash" correcting Darcy's try of calling it a 'Gymrash'. She wasn't surprised as the girl told Morgana that she was afraid of her. Morgana had noticed the girl's fear on the Express, but she felt a very, insy, tiny boost of respect for the fact that the girl managed to admit to it. She hadn't, however, expected that the girl would want to learn spells and want Morgana, of all people, to teach her.

"Why me?" she asked curiously, but she felt she already knew the answer. It wasn't a hard deduction at all, really. The girl obviously found Morgana intimidating, and therefore would do even better to defend herself from her. Instincts and all that. However, Darcy might be braver than Morgana initially thought, but she might not be smart enough to have figured that out on her own. "Also, do you honestly want to practice spells with me, in the middle of the forest?" Morgana asked, another reason for why Morgana didn't think Darcy was being smart about it.

Darcy looked at Morgana as the elder girl asked why she wanted her to teach her. Darcy bit her lip, thinking about it. She wasn't quite sure. Maybe it was because Morgana was so intimidating and serious that it would pressure Darcy to do her utmost. She believed that was it, but now that she was here, she wasn't quite sure. Why couldn't she simply have picked a person who wasn't quite this terrifying, but who wouldn't hold back on her?

"Because you wouldn't hold back on me," Darcy said, "You wouldn't try to be nice to me. And you wouldn't mind sounding all bossy. You wouldn't feel bad about it." That was her reason. She smiled at Morgana despite feeling terribly exposed. However the blackhaired girl's next question made Darcy think twice.

"Um... No... I heard some of the professors had started a study group? Couldn't we ... meet there and you could teach me?" Darcy asked, "I don't feel like causing too much ruckus in this forest, both for the sake of myself and my house."

Morgana nodded to herself; just as she had thought. This girl really wasn't as dumb and helpless as she had thought. Even though she hadn't really thought it… Morgana rolled her eyes internally at herself and then looked intently at Darcy.

"Fine."

((Figured this was an okay way to end this thread and start the new one))