Note:

So I sort of combined the last two chapters into one with a bit of editing. No need to reread it, really. But here's the updated list of who's in the Witcher world: Anna, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Fred and George, Dean, Seamus, Padma and Parvati, Lavender, Neville, Katie, Susan, Tracey, and Daphne and Astoria Greengrass. Eighteen in total.

I don't really have any plans for romance in this fic, but leave a review if you have suggestions anyway.

I've also got a Bloodborne x Witcher crossover I've written a few thousand words for too, but I've no idea if anyone would be interested in that. It would follow the Good Hunter (Evelyn), Eileen, Alfred, and Djura as they attempt to stop Micolash from using Ciri to bring Great Ones into the Witcher world.

Chapter Two

The Thing in the Woods

Anna tried not to sleep.

She sat near the cave entrance, wary and ready. Nothing came through, yet there remained an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. They had to leave the forest behind soon, for something dark and dangerous dwelled within.

And they were intruders; already Anna had damaged a tree, already they had caught the attention of the Thing in the Woods: branches for arms, skull and antlers for a head, judgment for its eyes. Anna didn't feel she had passed its testing stare into her soul, if that was indeed what it was.

But as she let her own eyes stare into the darkness, the temptation to drift off floated to her. It had been hours now, and nothing had come for them. She hadn't even heard anything rustling outside, which was probably wrong in and of itself, but it seemed that the danger was over.

Pointing her wand at the entrance, she conjured a door of sorts, round and wooden, Transfiguring it and the rocks in the proper places to make it all fit; a few well placed Sticking Charms to keep it in place, a Hardening Charm to strengthen the door, and a Locking Spell to seal the door completely.

Anna laid herself down to sleep, and nightmares plagued her. It was usual for her by now. Green flashes, cloaked figures, screams of her mother, fire and death, swords and fangs, her mother's screams, Fleur's scream, her own screams, screams... screams... screams of her friends...

Anna bolted upright. Screams. People were screaming. The light had gone all out in the cave, and she couldn't make out anyone — nor could she breathe — but it was not someone choking her, as she learned raising her hands to her throat; it was a piece of wood — her wand, bent in a way it couldn't, twisting and contracting.

"Agh — Finite —"

The wand was already too tightly wrapped around her slender neck, and it refused to bend back no matter how hard she pulled, and only her strength kept it from sending her over the edge into unconsciousness and then undoubtedly death...

An idea came to her then. She closed her eyes... focused... and began to shrink... Fur was sprouting all over, claws replaced her fingernails — she became a fraction of her original size and her slender neck slipped out of the wand's ever-tightening grip. Unable to bend any further, yet still trying, her wand snapped into pieces.

Taking in as much air as she could, Anna looked around. She could see nothing. The screams had stopped and were replaced with wheezes, grunts, and the sounds of people thrashing against stone. Her mind whirled in panic — she was unsure of what to do — they were dying —

She grabbed the pieces of her wand and whispered, "Lumos!"

All the bits and chunks burst with light, nearly blinding her, and she threw them all. Scattered about, the light was able to give Anna some idea of what was happening: it hadn't been just her wand turning murderous, but everyone's.

Hermione was nearest, desperately clutching at her wand to keep it from strangling her. Anna grabbed both ends and tried pushing them apart, just as desperate... She could not lose Hermione... but Hermione's face was already turning colors... and still the wand refused to budge.

"Reducto!" said Anna, but it was no good; she had hardly ever practiced wandless magic before and it was unlikely to start working now. There was only one thing she could think to do: she grabbed the nearest piece of her wand, plunged it into her arm, and ripped it back out, ignoring the pain as she used her fresh blood's magic to fuel her wand's power just enough to split the middle of Hermione's wand with a Severing Charm.

Then Anna scrambled from one person to another, picking up pieces of her shattered wand and fusing them with her blood to destroy the suddenly murderous wands of the others. Each piece turned to dust every time she used one to perform a spell. And when the last bit of her wand fell apart before she could help Parvati, she called out for Hermione's wand.

One half of it was flung at her from the darkness, and she swiftly turned back to Parvati as Padma and Lavender sobbed nearby. It was all a bit of a struggle, as the original wand wasn't fully suited to her, much less a single piece of it, but in the end she was able to free Parvati too.

Anna realized what she had done, how she had removed their best tools, but it was either that or death. There simply hadn't been time to find an alternative. Even now, with everyone safe and her mind calming, she could not think of any way she could've done it better.

Still, the fact remained that no one had a wand anymore. Not a full, complete one. And if she herself had trouble with pieces, she doubted the others would be able to make use of their own split ones... And in hindsight, maybe using a broken wand to cast a spell on Hermione's neck wasn't the brightest idea, considering what Ron's broken wand had done...

Anna felt a bizarre desire to laugh at the idea of accidentally blowing Hermione's brains all over the cave.

"What the hell," said Ron, the first to speak up, "was that?"

"I..." Hermione began, but she trailed off, rubbing her throat.

"Woke up with your wand trying to do you in?" said Fred, looking unusually disturbed. "Yeah..."

"Wrapped right around my throat," said George, "like I'd personally offended it or something."

Anna stayed flopped down on the ground, eyes closed and refusing to think about how she had almost lost a few members. The others murmured, whispered, and talked amongst themselves, and Anna lay still, a rage kindling inside her. They were hers, and something had tried to kill them all. Nevermind herself, she had a responsibility to each and every member of Dumbledore's Army, especially seeing as she had brought them all here in a way.

But even if she hadn't, she was still their leader, chosen by the D.A. themselves. And after seeing Fleur killed by Wormtail in that graveyard... She couldn't bear to see another die, not when she could've been there to save them. Few were close to her as Fleur had become, but nonetheless...

"Cut it rather close with some of us, Potter," said Daphne hoarsely, no heat in her voice. She had been one of last Anna had saved; almost too late.

"Slytherins last," said Anna, finally pushing herself up to sit. She had been unable to keep the heat from her voice. But it wasn't directed at Daphne. No, it was aimed at the subject of her suspicions. For what thing could have turned their wands against them? The answer seemed obvious. It, the Thing lurking beyond the cave, that which unnerved Anna so deeply. Perhaps it was right outside. It couldn't be just a coincidence that their wands had done something so unholy with a forest-dwelling, wood-controlling creature nearby.

"Anna?" said Hermione, kneeling beside her.

Anna looked over to her, and her eyes were drawn to Hermione's neck. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but —" Hermione cut off when Anna brushed her fingers over the bruises. "I'm fine, I'm okay — you saved me. Again."

"What good is saving you if I'm the one dragging you into these messes in the first place?"

Hermione shook her head. "It's —"

"Your choice, yeah," said Anna, pulling her fingers away from Hermione and getting up. "I don't even know what to do. We're wandless, lost, cornered, and I'm seriously questioning if we're still on the same planet."

"Don't be ridiculous, the Room of Requirement couldn't have placed us on a different planet."

"You saw the stars, Hermione, I know you did."

"The Southern Hemisphere has different constellations," said Hermione. "Those could just be Australia's stars, or somewhere in in South America, or —"

"What stars?" said Ron, overhearing them and scooting closer.

"The constellations aren't ours," said Anna.

Ron frowned. "What? You think we're on another planet?"

"Of course we aren't," said Hermione, making sure to keep her voice down. "It's just — just absurd. There are no planets anywhere near Earth — or even our solar system — that would allow for a forest, much less breathable air for humans."

Ron seemed to find this more unlikely than the idea that they were on another planet. "Why?"

"Because we've discovered what's around Earth, Ron — both muggles and wizards. Muggles understand the science, which is why I know not every planet would allow us to breathe on it, even if it did have trees. And wizards can look at any planet or star in the galaxy — but they don't, because there's literally billions."

"So?"

Anna snorted at Ron's blasé attitude.

"So," said Hermione, getting irritated now, "we know there are no planets anywhere near Earth that could house a forest, so if we're on a different planet, that means it has to be considerably far away — and that's still unlikely on its own as not every planet that can house a forest can house us. So the chances are —"

"Small, yeah," said Ron. "I'm not saying we are on another planet, but Hermione, it's magic."

"Space and time matter when it comes to magic!"

"Perfectly normal wizards have used Portkeys to travel to the Moon," said Ron. "Why can't something created by the Founders of Hogwarts not take us further?"

"Honestly, what's more realistic, that we're somewhere in Australia or Brazil — they do have terrifying magical creatures down there — or that we're on a different planet?"

"Haven't you studied those constellations too, though?"

"Well, yes, but — my memory might be fuzzy — it doesn't mean —"

"Your memory's never fuzzy!"

"Yes it is!"

Anna shook her head and tuned them out.

"Are they really arguing at a time like this?" said Seamus, throwing his hands up.

"You know them," said Anna, her mind whirling. Was falling back asleep an option? Here they were cornered and defenseless. But trekking through a malevolent forest in the middle of the night? There they would be even more vulnerable, having to watch all sides for an attack.

What magic could they perform now that they were wandless? Could the seventh years even Apparate without wands? She could turn into her Animagus form, as could Hermione, but that was it. And Hermione's form was rather useless anyway. It was a shame all the others had yet to complete their transformations.

Ginny sidled up next to her. "Are you okay, Anna?"

"No."

"What should we do?"

"You tell me," said Anna, and she looked expectantly at Ginny. "No, really, you're not particularly stupid. Got any bright ideas?"

"Thanks," said Ginny dryly. "I was going to suggest using Greengrass as bait for whatever attacked us, but maybe we should just use you instead."

"Pretty sure the spriggan just wants to kill us all."

"Spriggan?"

Anna shrugged.

"That... makes sense," said Ginny.

"It doesn't make any sense."

"But —"

"I only called it that because it's made of wood and can control it." Anna looked to the cave entrance, still covered with a closed door. "I know what spriggans look like, and that wasn't it."

"And you know what this thing looks like too?"

"No," said Anna sardonically, "I'm merely taking a guess at what it might look like and naming it accordingly."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "No need for that tone. I'm only trying to help."

"And I'm trying to think of a way to keep us alive!" Ginny's eyebrows shot further up, and Anna sighed. "I didn't mean... Sorry," she said quietly, rubbing Ginny's wrist.

Ginny stared at her for a moment, then put her hand on Anna's. "I know you're our leader and all that, and that you've got the most experience out of all of us with this sort of thing, but you can't singlehandedly keep us all alive."

"Didn't I just do that?"

"No," said Ginny, "you had help from us. If we hadn't resisted, most of us would have been strangled before you reached us."

"Wow, basic survival instincts."

"And anyway," said Ginny, leaning closer, "the point is that you can't be there all the time. So quit acting like the bloody Girl Who Lived I used to read about, trying to carry the whole world on her shoulders. We'll all be better off if we know what you know, just like we were better off knowing our wands were trying to kill us."

"It'll just freak them all out," said Anna, glancing at the pale and frightened faces of the rest of the D.A. members.

"Haven't you been complaining about Dumbledore doing this exact same thing all year?"

"Yeah, well, I'm starting to think I understand Dumbledore's reasons."

"And yet you still resent him," said Ginny. "Don't look at me like that, you know it's true."

Before Anna could respond, however —

"A-Anna?" said Susan, her voice hoarse from what must've been terror. And when Anna turned to look she understood what had put that fear in her.

The doorknob to the entrance had begun twisting, slowly and silently, and then the door itself began to move... steadily... until at last, with Anna on her feet ready for whatever, it opened fully.

There was nothing on the other side but darkness. She couldn't even see the trees. It couldn't have opened on its own though... She had placed numerous charms on it to ensure it couldn't be even shattered without magic more powerful than hers, nevermind opened... and yet...

Anna thought she knew what was going to happen before it did.

Someone screamed, and not two seconds later panic erupted all over. Those nearest to the back wall fled first, and those next didn't wait to see what it was that had made its way into their cave.

As everybody dashed for the exit, Anna shifted back into her cat form and hopped between rushing legs like a slithering snake — but not toward outside.

Instead, as the cave emptied, she prowled into the darkest corners and waited for the forest fiend to reveal itself. She didn't have to wait long. Slowly, its branch-like arms reached out from the darkness of the back wall, its claw-like hands stiff, the fingers stretching unnervingly long. And then emerged the skull-face with its deadly antlers, turning slowly to look at her as she crouched low to the ground.

She hissed, spine arched and hackles raised. It was involuntary, as if the skull's vacant stare triggered a frantic instinct in her feline brain; or maybe it was simply her human mind stirred here, reminded of some long-forgotten but deeply-rooted terror from some ancient hollow of subconscious memory.

Suddenly it attacked, sending out branches from its arms to ensnare her. With the agility of a cat Anna leapt forward, scrambling up the wood as it writhed and sprouted — then she was in the air, feet from its bony face, claws unsheathed and sharp for all they were worth —

And then she was flying backward, soaring through the air, hissing in pain and attempting to right herself to land on her feet. She crashed into dirt, skidding and bouncing like a flat rock skipping across a lake. The thing had hit her with such force that it had thrown her out of the cave completely.

She transformed back just as she came to a stop, using the momentum to bring herself to her feet and immediately start running. There were none of the others around.

"Hermione!" she called. "Ron!"

There was no answer, and it seemed to her that the mist had become a much denser fog overnight, so that even if the others were near she would still not see them... but they would hear her, surely, so her unanswered calls must have meant they were far, far away. It was for the better, she supposed...

As she ran, the fiend chased her; or rather, appeared at the edges of her vision, never moving quickly, always slow and yet still keeping up. Something inside her twisted at the idea of any of her friends being hurt or killed out here, so she kept running, kept the thing's attention on her as they, hopefully, stuck together and made their way out of this inhospitable forest.

At length, she slowed. Her whole body was aching, likely from the way that wood-spirit had tossed her like some pathetic doll. She took a moment to catch her breath, keeping an eye out for an approaching attack, and then turned back into a cat to sniff around, hoping to catch the trail of the others. Instead she caught a whiff of something metallic... Iron, it seemed...

Her heart dropped. There was the smell of blood in the air, and its source was certainly near. Around that tree closest to her, maybe... She crept along, slowly, partly due to caution but also fear of what she might find.

Feet. There, showing just past a protrusion in the tree's trunk, were somebody's two shoes, connected to legs. Anna leapt to them, unable to take the suspense any longer — she had to know — and the sight shocked her so badly she turned back to human form.

Lying on the floor, most certainly dead, was Crabbe.

It felt as though her mind had been plucked from her skull and stretched back, reeling from this bizarre new addition to her reality. Vincent Crabbe had somehow appeared in this dreadful forest, obviously dead with how his guts were hanging out of his torn stomach and how pale he was. What could've done such a pointlessly cruel thing she didn't know, nor did she understand how or why he was here.

Were there more of those fiendish things in this forest? Or had the one chasing her now killed Crabbe earlier?

She backed away and turned, only to run into another body feet away that had been hidden by an exposed root. There lay Goyle, the other of Malfoy's goons, also looking as though a wolf had torn out his insides but not bothered to actually feast. Half-expecting to find Malfoy himself dead on the ground she twisted and looked around, scanning the grass for any marks of body or blood.

Was she hallucinating? Had she been hit on the head that hard?

"Malfoy!" she called, hoping he'd show himself if he was hiding. He and his friends might've snuck into the Room of Requirement to spy on them, or had burst in at the last second, and had been transported with them to this new, cruel world. Though if he had, he wasn't around now, or he was ignoring her. It also meant there might've been others, such as the rest of the Inquisitorial Squad, or Umbridge herself. Either way, she wasn't going to stick around to make sure people like them were safe.

As she trekked through the forest she yelled out for the other members of the D.A., from dear Hermione to distant Daphne. Not one of them answered. The longer the silence went on, the harder her heart began to pump, as if it wished for someone other than her to hear it.

And for Anna, the longer the silence went on, the more she wished her heart would shut up. She was sure she was still being stalked, though she didn't know why she hadn't yet been attacked. Surely the forest fiend knew where she was and could catch up to her swiftly... Or maybe... maybe it was too busy with her friends.

"Hermione!" she screamed in desperation, looking around. "Anyone?"

Yet the silence persisted. The forest was eerily quiet, with no leaves or grass being shifted by the wind, which itself was slow and thick like the mist hanging always nearby but never quite there with her.

Anna could feel the beginnings of utter horror creeping along the edges of her mind, ready to consume her like it had so few times before. She was alone, and her friends could be getting slaughtered right now as she stood here helplessly.

Her Animagus form being nearly twice as fast as she normally was, she transformed back into a cat and began sprinting back toward the direction of the cave. Maybe she could pick up a scent there... or maybe the others had come back to it, and were now looking for her.

They were not. The cave was empty when she arrived and there were no traces of anyone. She transformed back, breathing hard — both from the run and her rising panic. God, where were they?

"Hey!" she screamed. "I'm here!" She picked up a few leaves off the ground and rubbed them furiously between her hands. "Come — get — me — you — bundle — of — sticks — Incendio!"

They burst into flame, and she threw them into the biggest pile of dry leaves near her. They caught on fire quickly, and soon became a bonfire. Despite this, nothing came for her.

In despair, Anna left the area, leaving the fire to continue, though she didn't know why. Maybe it ought to burn the whole forest down.

She was glad for it, though, for the smell of it allowed her to find her way back to it each time she traveled out in hopes of finding anyone. But this was a small pleasure to the all-consuming dread of this ever-growing nightmare. After an hour or so of this, her hope might as well have been the ash with the fire.

"Anyone?" she called out weakly.

Nothing but silence greeted her.