>>42765394
>>Go find Professor Morse
we have to report this.

>>42765394
>>Go find Professor Morse

>>42765394
>>Go find Professor Morse

As your mind wonders you think back to what you were doing right before you passed out last night. You sit bolt upright in the snow. You have to tell Professor Morse.

You jump up and start quickly moving toward the castle.

“Where's Professor Morse?” You ask a group of people standing around talking.

“Hospital wing.” One of them says.

You start walking toward the hospital wing, but at some point you find yourself running through the halls.

You screech to a halt at the door to the hospital wing and knock loudly.

The old male nurse opens the door.

“I need to see Professor Morse.” You huff.

He swings the door open and you run over to the Professor.

You explain to her what happened the night before during the battle in the courtyard.

“Did you see their face? Or what they looked like?”

>No
>It was Lom, I'm sure of it.
>Other

>>42765765
>>No
"I just know that they were dragging people into the woods and that those people were hurt bad enough to leave a blood trail...should we call the aurors?"

>>42765765
>>No

“No. I didn't, but it looked like they were dragging people off into the forest.”

“Well, you're wrong about that thankfully, though some people might wish that he dragged them off into the forest.”

It wasn't until now that you actually looked at the people in the hospital beds. They were all dueling club members. And every one of them was missing something. An eye, a finger, an ear, and none of them were missing the same part, every wound was unique.

“So are we going the to call the aurors?”

“Boy, I am an auror. And I'm going to solve this myself. Take me to where you saw this.”

You lead her back to the courtyard and show her the spot.

As soon as she sees it she starts following the trail, down to the boathouse.

>Follow
>Stay put
>Other

>>42766144
>>Follow

>>42766144
>>Follow
"You need my help with this, besides you can't go in there without backup."

>>42766144
>>Follow
Keep our head on a swivel.

You start to follow her and she rounds on you.

“No, stay here.”

“You need help, you can't go alone.”

“Boy, I appreciate the attitude, and in a few years you might even be good enough to actually be of help, but right now, you'll get in the way. Stay. Put.”

At that she spins again and is down the icy stairs to the boathouse.

Not one to be deterred, you follow her, this time more slowly, and of course, secretly.

You stop outside the boathouse, listening and waiting. After a short search you hear her mumble a spell before launching a boat.

When you can see her boat on the lake, you duck inside the boathouse.

Its a large shed-like building that overhangs the lake, with a large hole in the floor and in the side of the building, creating a sheltered dock for the small boats the first years use.

The small drippy blood trail ends at the edge of the dock, where two boats are missing.

>Explore for clues here
>Follow Morse
>Other

>>42766406
>>Follow Morse
but keep the fact that two of the boats are gone in mind.

>>42766406
>Explore for clues here

>>42766406
>>Explore for clues here

You start looking around the boathouse. The first thing you notice is the discarded chain and lock on the ground next to the door, the lock is busted, it looks like someone had to break in.

Inside one of the boats you see a blanket and a pillow both slightly bloody, and under one of the low shelves you find a number of gnawed bones and empty water bottles. It looks like they lived here for a while.

Its on one of the raised workbenches that you find the strangest thing. Loose papers cover the table, most scribbled out or crumpled. All of them seem to be astrological markings.

>Roll2d10

Rolled 5, 4 = 9 (2d10)

>>42766729
here goes nothing

Rolled 1, 3 = 4 (2d10)

>>42766729

>>42766782
shit.

You try to decipher the diagrams but they go way over your head, you learned about the planets last year in astronomy class but this is talking about moon phases, stars, and seasons, its really advanced.

You give the boathouse another once over and then decide to move on.

You can just barely make out Morse's boat on the otherside of the lake, next to some brush.

Unable to figure out how to make the boat move on its own, you just row yourself across.

When you get to the other side you see that the brush is actually camouflage for a boat that has been pulled up on the shore. And a blood trail leads from it into the forest, along with two sets of footprints in the rapidly melting snow.

You follow.

Almost at once the trees close in and it gets dark.

>Light wand
>No lights
>Other

>>42766993
>No lights

>>42766993
>>No lights

Roll 2d10

Rolled 2, 8 = 10 (2d10)

>>42767098

Rolled 8, 8 = 16 (2d10)

>>42767098

The darkness makes it almost impossible to see, but you hope that's true for most other things in the forest too.

You bump your way through the forest, but its too dark, you loose your way fairly quickly, you double back and try again and get lost again.

Then, there's a shuffling sound to your left. A snort followed by a gargle. Something comes careening at you out of the darkness.

>Ward
>Light
>Other

>>42767221
>Ward

>>42767221
Ward, and try to dodge to the side in case its purely physical.

I bet its a cute wild boar.

>>42767221
>>Ward

Roll 2d10

Rolled 4, 8 = 12 (2d10)

>>42767353

Rolled 4, 8 = 12 (2d10)

>>42767353

Rolled 6, 6 = 12 (2d10)

>>42767353

Rolled 3, 9 = 12 (2d10)

>>42767353

>>42767367
>>42767399
>>42767404
>>42767414
wow

>>42767414
>>42767404
>>42767399
>>42767367
That's almost impossible!
And two are the same exact results!

>>42767367
>>42767399
>>42767404
>>42767414

Well, you definitely did slightly above average. That's cool. You passed your checks by the way. Writing now.

You throw up a ward and hear the impact more than feel it. Like throwing a ball at a brick wall. You see a dark shape bound away into the darkness.

All of a sudden the sound is all around you and then lights start flickering on in the trees. Red lights, you mind immediately goes to your DADA book. Carbuncles, a minor nuisance usually, but by the light of their glowing head pustules you can see something is wrong. These are the angry bulls to the cow that is the domestic from your books.

You can see only one solution. You start running.

You search your mind for something that can help you, and then you remember that carbuncles don't like bright light, they're nocturnal.

You spin around, muster the best spell you can and; “Lumos!”

The forest ignites with light like a flash bang and the last you see of the carbuncles are their tails whipping between the trees in the distance.

One problem solved.

But now you're lost, in a forest with a bloody mutilator.

What now?

>Wait for help
>Look for a way out
>Yell for help
>Other

>>42767763
Easy. Trace your footsteps back, you ran in a pretty straightforward path, and forest ground is soft and easily compacted.

>>42767763
>>42767805
This Ravenclaw smart

>>42767805
>>42767763
guy has a point. this.

With your new light you trace your way back through the carbuncles. They growl and spurt as you pass, but always from outside your ring of light.

You return to where you started.

The snow has melted, the blood has seeped into the dirt and frightened carbuncles have marred any chance you have at finding the path that Morse and the mutilator took through the forest.

You could still try to forge ahead or you could go back. You might run into something even worse the next time you get lost.

>Go on (roll2d10)
>Go back

>>42768049
>>Go on (roll2d10)

>>42768049
>Go back

>>42768049
Take some time to collect potentially valuable carbuncle related ingredients, for potions.

Rolled 5, 1 = 6 (2d10)

>>42768266
At the very least we can throw dung at someone if we need to.
Not even voldemort would know what to do.

>>42768049
>>Go on (roll2d10)

You figure that since you can't safely follow, and you don't want to go back yet, so you decide to burn some time.

You spend an hour searching and find a few usable carbuncle horns and some hardened pustules. They'll be useful for potions or the pustules can be ground into a red luminescent paste.

As you're heading back to the path you've now trod through the forest, you hear something. At first you think its a carbuncle, but then you see Morse step from the trees.

She's bedraggled, sweaty, and looks tired. Her leather armor is covered in blood and she looks about ready to cry.

“Professor! Are you okay?” You run over to her and she takes the opportunity to lean against you.

“Take me to the castle.”

“What happened?”

“I've killed the monster.”

End of Part 7

>>42768626
We totally have a (not very believable) story for why we were there, now.
We were getting potions ingredients!

>>42768626
so some shit happened huh.

Thanks for reading everyone.

I will return next sunday. follow @Tiddlybum_HE on twitter to keep abreast of the quest.

Only a few more sessions until the department of mysteries, and then the real story starts. Hopefully

>>42768699
Thanks for the run, Tiddly. Hope to see you again soon.