Hogwarts Mystery: Kenneth Russell & The Mysterious Room

Chapter 4: Dance of the Forest Fairies

As dawn began to appear, Kenneth was called to accompany his parents. It was the right time to go to the special place that his parents had never shown him before. Putting on regular clothing that consisted of a t-shirt, jean shorts and shoes and he joined his parents and they all walked out the door. They travelled back to the road that led to the three forks in the road. This time, they turned towards the forest.

The sky was steadily getting darker and Kenneth wasn't sure how far they were going into the forest. The trees were steadily getting thicker and more ancient looking the further they walked in. Kenneth had never before. He was about to ask how much further they were going togo until his parents stopped and pointed him towards a tree. It was a giant ancient tree with a trunk large enough to fit a car through and it towered like a skyscraper.

"What kind of tree is this?" Kenneth asks in amazement.

"It's a redwood." his father answers. "They are known as the tallest trees in the world and can live over a thousand years."

Kenneth gawked at that statement.

"I took a seed when I was in America a few years ago. I planted it here and enchanted it to grow faster than normal. Just a little further from this tree and we will be at our destination," he said assuringly. He pulls out his wand and approaches the base of the tree. Finding a knot, he tapes it with his wand and then steps back.The base of the tree base pushes inwards and slides down like a sliding door. Beckoning his wife and son to follow, he enters. Inside the tree was a tunnel. Following the tunnel, Kenneth didn't say a word and stayed close. As the tunnel ended there were a set of rocks shaped into stairs that led up.

Mr.Russell climbs the rock stairs first and taps the ceiling with his wand. The part that he tapped turned out to be a giant rock and it opens upwards like a trapdoor. Climbing out he extends his hand for his wife to take and followed by Kenneth. Pulling him out of the tunnel, Mr. Russell says beaming:

"This is it, we're here."

Adjusting himself, Kenneth looks around and his jaw immediately dropped. He was looking at an enchanted forest. It had a stream that had a small waterfall. The surrounding trees were full of giant white fungi and they seemed to vibrate on their own accord. In the centre housed a large tree with hollowed out roots. It was the creatures flying around the tree and out of the roots that caught Kenneth's attention.They were little humanoid magical creatures with insect-like wings of different sizes and colours. Some were only a few inches tall.

"Fairies!" Kenneth said breathlessly. He had seen fairies before but these ones glowed brighter than fireflies. His parents turned to him and smiled.

"These are a very rare species of fairies that few ever see," Mrs. Russell said.

"Indeed," Mr. Russell agreed, "They are actually the only species of fairy that have fairy dust."

"Fairy dust?" Kenneth asked confused.

"Fairy dust is an enchantment that lets others fly for a short period of time," Mr. Russell explains "They won't give it away willingly, but these ones are special."

"How?"

"I rescued them," Mrs. Russell said. "Before you and Jacob were born, I was in a number of task forces to raid homes that housed endangered magical creatures. "These," she pointed, "were in a dark wizard's hideout about to be sold to the black market. I managed to save them during a raid and convinced their leader to find a new place for them to live in peace and harmony."

"Was it difficult?" Kenneth asks.

"Very," she confirms, "It took three weeks for him to finally accept my help."

"I discovered this place before it was like this," Mr. Russell says."I made sure it was deep in a forest that they couldn't be found by Muggles and in a secret hideout that wizards wouldn't be able to find either."

"Before?"Kenneth asks.

"Yes," his father says, "I created this landscape to suit their preference. It was also the place..."

"The 'place'?"

"The place," he blushed, "where I proposed to your mother."

"After the dance," she corrects him with a wink.

"We wanted to show this to you so you can protect it when we can't."

"We also wanted to show you this because something happens in this place on the night of the summer solstice."
"And right on time." Mr. Russell says checking his watch.

The sun had completely set and the night had begun. The moment the sun had set, the fungi on the trees began to grow larger and began to glow. Some glowed a bright green, others blue, red, lilac, pink,orange and yellow. It was a marvel to behold. As soon as the mushrooms glowed, the fairies glowed brighter and began to sing. The sound the fairies made caused a shiver to run down Kenneth's spine.

Mr.Russell sticks out his arm towards his wife and she takes it giggling. They turn to Kenneth and point him towards a tree stump and gesture him to sit. Kenneth obliges, excited to watch. His parents then walk close to the fairies. One large fairy approaches them. Thisfairy was slim with a thick beard Kenneth's parents curtsy to the fairy and the fairy flies above their head and spins. The spin causes light particles to come off of it and it sprinkles down on Kenneth's parents' heads. Facing each other, Mr. Russell takes one hand clasping his wife's and the other delicately on her waist. She places her free hand on his shoulder and they begin to waltz.

Kenneth watched with amazement. He smiled watching his parents dance together. His parents then jumped in they were in the air as though suspended by cables. Kenneth continued watching with awe at the spectacle. They moved from one area to the next without skipping a beat. The fairy that gave them fairy dust flies over to another fairya little smaller than him wearing what looked like twirling dress and they began to dance. All of a sudden the surrounding fairies followed suit and began to dance as well.

After what seemed like hours passing by, Kenneth began to feel tired from his long adventure. His parents noticed as well. The slowly ended their dance and bowed towards the fairies before landing back on the soft ground.

"What you witnessed was the Dance of the Forest Fairies, Kenneth." his father said.

"It only happens once a year during the winter solstice." his mother said.

"Has Jacob ever seen this place?" Kenneth asked.

"Yes," Mr. Russell said. "It was years ago but he didn't have much interest in this, so we didn't try to take him here again."

"Thank you for showing me," Kenneth says, "I'd like to come back to this place again someday."

"And I'm sure you will," his mother says. "Probably not anytime soon because it occurs every summer solstice and I fear that you'll still be at Hogwarts during that time.

Looking up at the night sky, she says: "It's getting late, we should beheading back home now."

Taking the passage back to the giant redwood. Taking his parents' hands they apparate back to the front of the house. It was midnight and Kenneth lay down in his bed and fell asleep instantly. The excitement of the day wore him out.