15
"Where are we going?!" Faithlynn screamed after Ashton as they ran down the marble staircase.
They had just missed Annelise, Robert, Courtney, and Matthew going in the opposite direction, and it's a good thing they did! If caught, they'd be questioned and nearly forced to hand over the note.
"Once again," Faithlynn shouted, becoming agitated. "Where are we going?!"
Ashton screeched to a halt right outside of the giant Oak front doors. He closed the doors behind them, and then turned around to talk to Faithlynn.
"That paper that was attached to the key..." began Ashton.
"Yeeeeeeeeeah... get to the point!" Faithlynn screamed at Ashton.
"Ok!! It was a map of the Forbidden Forest!"
"Oh my gosh!"
"Yeah! And look!" Ashton handed Faithlynn the map and pointed to an area close to the top right corner of the map.
"A red X? What does that mean?"
"I have no idea, which is why we are going to go and see with Ernie, Hagrid, and Fang after lights out tonight."
"Are you sure we should do that? Couldn't that get us kicked out of Hogwarts and the Battle of the Houses?"
"We can't get kicked out of school if the school year hasn't even started yet."
Faithlynn took a few seconds to process this over in her head. Then she looked at Ashton with a grin on her face.
"Logic defeats all rules in the end, I guess." Faithlynn laughed as she said this. Soon they were both laughing as they turned around and ran down the gravel path leading away from Hogwarts."
"So where are we going now? You said we weren't going into the forest until after bed."
"We can't go into the forest without Hagrid and Fang, right?"