It's been about a week since I had to leave my somewhat comfortable rock home behind and run deeper into the forest. I didn't have a choice after that old man appeared, every moment I thought of stopping I would remember that old man's eyes and my legs would continue to move.
Considering how long it had been, I could guess the man had probably given up chasing me down. Him being a wizard, despite his age, he should have caught up to me by now but there was no sign of him. I can only hope he's given up… but remember the obsession his gaze held I couldn't just accept that false optimism.
As each day seemed to come and go, I stopped the suppression on my magic since my 'incident'. In doing so, magic phenomena would appear here and there at random times as it roamed free however it was clear that compared to before it was far more violent and brutal when it flared, so I found myself constantly on the move. I can't count the number of times at this point I've been close to death due to something happening, beasts being lured to me was the main source of my problems as my body was now littered in scars and bruises from each encounter. Somehow id managed to survive them all so far.
Everyday I cursed myself for supressing my magic in the first place. If only I had just accepted it but what point was there in thinking that now? Afterall I don't think anyone in my position would have assumed they'd been dropped into a random forest in the Wizarding World the second they accidently teleported. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. My heart only knew where I truly was after the old man casted that spell.
I did have some decent understanding of this world. When me and my father would camp out, I would always bring a few of the books to read. I would joyfully tell him each day about a certain part of the story and happily explain to him what was happening, although I don't think he ever really listened. I used to always say that I wanted to go to Hogwarts, go to Hogsmeade, go to Diagon alley…
"Who would have thought I actually have the chance to go now..."
There was no excitement in those words as they slipped out my mouth. There was a difference in being dropped into the Wizarding World and the Harry Potter World. I wasn't with the 'main characters', I didn't even seem to be near anything here actually. I was stranded in a world where magical beasts and dark wizards could loom around any corner.
The pages of a story that I once escaped to were now something I was trying to escape from…
"Theres no use lamenting on this… Let's just- try and focus on the here and now".
My first main course of concern was of course the obscurus I had cultivated. If I wanted to even live for another year, I would need to suppress it somehow. Unfortunately, even in the books and other stories there was not much on how to suppress or cure an obscurus. A good start with suppression is letting my magic roam free a bit rather than forcing it down, but the main food of an obscurus came from a young wizard or witches' sense of belonging lacking, pain, resentment all the negative emotions that build up a person was what cultivated this parasitic force.
For me currently, I was a melting pot of those emotions. My only benefit was that my mental age was much older than my physical age. If I had the mind of a young boy in this situation id already be dead. Still, even with me trying to calm my emotions and keep cool I couldn't hold back my emotions in this kind of situation.
I was just human at the end of the day…
.
As more time passed, I felt my mind starting to break and with that came pain from my obscurus. Each night when I slept id have dreams, nightmares plagued me but that wasn't the worst dreams I had. The worst was a specific dream that would replay in my mind almost every other night.
In a warm log cabin, I would sit at a table waiting for food. As I stared at the TV near the table a plate would be placed in front of me. A full English breakfast. I looked up and saw my mothers warm gaze as she rustled my hair. My dad would then sit down next to me and my mother on the other side of the table. The atmosphere was warm… so warm…
As I found myself not wanting to leave that warmth, something would always happen that would tear me away from that happiness. The log cabins fire would die out and my parents would crumble. The cabin would collapse, and I'd feel crushed. A light would flash, making both my parents slump over and in would walk the old hunch-back man with a evil grin. Each time I dreamt that dream, I would feel pieces of myself breaking.
My warmest memories were being invaded by my depressed mind and each time I woke up from these dreams the obscurus within me would pulsate, as if joyful of my suffering. Some mornings id claw at my chest wanting to rip the thing out only to stop and realise that was folly.
As these dreams invaded my mind, the outbursts from the obscurus returned and they were becoming more painful each time. If I gave up on the last slither of will I had left… to know why I was even here or how this was all possible, I would have long been dead.
That last slither of will was what kept me going and each time I broke down, tore at myself, wanted to remove myself from this nightmare, I managed to pick myself back up again and build myself back up. I guess I have a talent for resilience… or maybe stupidity at this point. Each time I was close to losing it one question would resound in my mind.
"Why am I here?"
This situation of shattering emotions and rebuilding, constant brushes with death in the forest and running all seemed to be endless. It felt like my own personal hell, one that I was becoming more and more adamant to escape from.
That was until one day, I saw it again… Whilst washing my face in the cold water at a stream I heard rustling in the leaves. After weeks, maybe months of this routine I instantly started to back away silently to run however I heard a roar from this beast, one that took me back to my first day here.
Despite my senses telling me not to, I couldn't stop myself from looking and there it was. The demonic black beast stood near the riverside. This time however, it didn't look around absentmindedly. It looked directly into my eyes.
"I-I guess this may be finally it…"
I did well to get to this point… but to escape that thing was just impossible. I had no hope here. I just stared into its deep yellow eyes as it seemed to study me.
The next moment was something I could never had guessed happening. As I stared into the beasts' eyes, a voice flooded my brain. Broken, fragmented words spoke to me in a tongue that was barely human.
"You... omen... unrecorded... unrecorded..."
For a moment, I thought maybe this was the old wizard's trick. I looked around but… nothing. The only thing that could be happening here was that the beast was speaking to me.
"Omen..."
As each word flooded my brain my body shook to its core. The words it spoke… this beast was not normal I knew that when I first saw it but at this point, I was wondering if this beast was even a 'magical beast'. It's almost like… it seems to know that 'I' do not belong here, in this world.
I stayed still, wondering if it would speak more or come for me however nothing happened. The beast seemed to just turn its head and turn into fog, disappearing once again as if it was never there in the first place.
"I-I guess I survived again…"
I should be glad, but I couldn't find it in myself to be happy. The words the beast spoke, 'unrecorded', 'omen', they lingered in my mind as I tried to collect myself.
When I discovered this was the Wizarding World, I had some hope in gaining some sort of foothold here, at least with some knowledge from the books and such Id have a little advantage. However, it seemed I was being too naïve. This world had mysteries outside the pages of the books, creatures unexplainable and some that even seemed more like… deities. That's the only word I thought of that could describe this beast.
"Take this as a lesson Axel, there's a lot I need to learn here if I'm going to survive…"
Attempting to boost my confidence, I mustered the energy to continue onward, further into the dark forest hoping for some kind of help or escape...