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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 88: The Guardians of The Black Forest
"Remus, calm down, and don't attack them," James hurried to say.
The sounds were very close now.
"Do you know w—"
"Centaurs," James interrupted Sirius. "Let me do the talking."
"Humans, what are you d—…"
"A werewolf! What is that thing doing in our forest?"
"By the stars… human children, step away from the beast!"
Three centaur scouts, armed with bows and arrows, stood before them. All of them became tense immediately after spotting Remus.
James saw one of the centaurs lift his bow to aim at his friend, so he stepped in front.
"That's enough. The werewolf is no danger to anyone here… unless you attack us first."
"Are you threatening me, human?" the centaur asked, his bow tensed.
"Bane, wait," one of the centaurs said to the one aiming the bow. "You cannot harm humans. We have an agreement."
"Firenze is correct. It is our duty to escort these humans out of the forest. The Leader's instructions were very clear in these matters," the third centaur added in a calm tone.
"And what about the werewolf?" Bane still seemed eager to shoot a few arrows at Remus.
"That's…" Firenze, usually the most friendly toward humans, hesitated—defending a werewolf was a different story. "It doesn't look hostile for now."
"You better leave Remus alone." Sirius stood next to James.
Peter also stepped in front of Remus. "Y-yes! You better… please."
"The werewolf is under the effects of a potion that allows him to keep his savage instincts under control. As you can see, he hasn't ripped your throats out already," James said calmly.
"He does seem oddly calm for a werewolf…" Firenze noted. He had never heard of a potion with such effects, but he wasn't knowledgeable enough to argue.
"Mmm… that one does not speak like a child," the third centaur pointed out.
"Ronan is right. There is some strange magic around him," Bane said.
Centaurs, more in tune with nature and the stars, could perceive things beyond what human wizards could.
They could pick up some of the residual magic from James' transformation. It was different from the magic of any wizard.
Firenze glanced further into the distance and spotted what he was looking for. "Those Acromantulas… were you the ones who took them down?"
"That's right! And if you don't back off, w—"
"Sirius." James hit his shoulder. "I told you to let me do the talking, remember?. We need to deescalate the situation."
"Right…" Sirius calmed down a bit.
James stepped forward, his wand tightly gripped in his right hand but held low. "My friends and I were taking a night stroll around the forest when we encountered those spiders. They attacked us first. We're students of Hogwarts, and we meant no harm to the inhabitants of the Black Forest." His amber eyes moved to Bane and his bow. "So, you mind lowering that thing before you get hurt?"
"Me, hurt?!" Bane screamed and pulled his bow further.
"What happened to deescalate?." Peter asked.
"I believe the little human is challenging you, Bane," the other centaur commented.
"That's enough, Bane. Lower your weapon," Firenze said firmly. "You know what will happen if you break our laws."
"Tsk…" Bane looked annoyed but lowered the bow. "I just wanted to put that arrogant human boy in his place."
"We will now accompany you to the forest entrance. I'm sure you can make your way back to the castle from there," Firenze suggested.
"There's no need for that. We can find the entrance on our own," James said, making a quick mental calculation, they were only about half a mile from the forest's edge.
"Humans are not supposed to roam around this forest without supervision...especially not at night," Firenze argued. "Only the Groundskeeper has permission to do so."
"We won't get close to the Centaur Camp. But our friend likes to run around a bit during full moon nights." James pointed back at Remus.
"Oh, I see… you are keeping him company during his transformation," Firenze understood.
"Leaving the humans aside, we can't just let that beast roam freely through our forest, I don't care if it looks calm at the moment," Bane exclaimed.
Remus growled.
"Easy…" Sirius tried to calm him down.
James frowned. He didn't like this centaur. "The forest isn't your property. You don't get to decide who is or isn't allowed."
"What do you know, human? We centaurs are the ones keeping order here," Bane shouted.
"Calm down, Bane. The human isn't incorrect. The forest is not ours alone," Firenze corrected him. His eyes turned to James. "These rules were made by one of your Headmasters a long time ago. It's meant for your protection… this forest can be very dangerous for those unfamiliar with it. There are even places that even we, the residents of this forest, avoid at all costs...dark creatures dwell there. And certain death awaits for those who are careless."
"We won't go that deep. Just on the outskirts. At most, we'll run into some stray Acromantulas, and we've already proven we can handle that much," James said.
"The human is insistent…" the last centaur murmured.
"Mmm…" Firenze looked troubled. "We can't exactly forbid you from entering… if you refuse to take our advice, there is little we can do about it…"
"Just leave them. If some beast eats them, it won't be our fault. We already warned them and offered to escort them out. Nothing more can be expected from us," Bane said, done with the conversation.
"What is your name?" Firenze asked.
"James Potter."
The centaur nodded. "Very well, James Potter. Just remember: do not venture too deep into the forest, and do not harm any creature unless it's necessary. If you and your friends can do that, we will leave you be."
The centaurs left shortly after, leaving the Marauders alone in the forest.
"Well, that was kinda tense…" Sirius said. "I thought that guy was going to shoot at us."
"He really wanted to," James said.
"Grrr…" Remus seemed to agree.
"Centaurs can be scarier than those spiders," Peter said.
"Tempus." James checked the time. "We still have several hours before sunrise, and there's a lot of forest to explore… are you guys up for it?" he asked.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Sirius exclaimed.
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