Charlie knew he shouldn't have done this. He had snuck out of Gryffindor House, out of his dorm, and somehow managed to get around the prefects and even Filch's cat! And now he was getting away from the castle after managing to shut the panting up for trying to rat him out.

Bill had told Charlie not to go without him, the forbidden forest was somewhere someone should be going alone. But Charlie wasn’t going to wait until the weekend to go. Charlie knew his brother wouldn’t go with him during the week, Bill needed his beauty sleep.

Charlie’s shoes, hand-me-downs from Bill, crunched against the dry leaves. The air was chilly, not just chilly, but cold. It was mid fall, turning to late fall, soon snow would start setting in. Something that Charlie was excited for, because it meant Christmas break was coming soon.

As Charlie walked into the forest, he was starting to think. . . What trouble was he going to get into today? Going to see the Centaurs? Maybe try to find the Unicorns Bill insisted were in the forest? He was unsure but he learned his lesson last time to stay away from the Acromantulas.

Just as he was about to set off in a certain direction, he heard some branches snapping behind some trees. That certainly piqued his interest! The sound was too light to be a Centaur, definitely too heavy to be Bowtruckles. Charlie quietly walked over. He tried to stay hidden by the trees, but he peaked around them to see whatever it was that made that snapping noise.