Witcher at Hogwarts

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Ethan and Tonks, having packed their gear, left the towering castle and began their trek down the muddy road toward the village entrance. To their surprise, this time, they attracted the attention of the villagers.

Unlike when they had first arrived, when the villagers avoided them, now the people emerged from their homes, pausing their work to acknowledge the pair. They bowed slightly as though participating in a solemn ritual.

At the gate stood Reznov, waiting for them with a warm smile.

"This is a special ceremony in our village," Reznov explained.

"A tribute to those willing to leave the safety of our walls and fight for us."

His voice carried a mixture of pride and sadness.

"Those who step beyond the village are warriors. But fewer and fewer are willing to do so now."

His tone grew somber, and a heavy silence hung in the air for a moment.

Suddenly, Aunt Oni burst from her tavern, rushing toward them with a large sack.

"Children, take this!" she exclaimed, shoving the bag into Ethan's arms. It was filled with freshly baked bread.

Ethan stood frozen for a moment, slightly bewildered by the gesture, as though they were heading off on a casual picnic rather than a dangerous hunt.

Tonks stepped forward, trying to politely refuse, but Aunt Oni insisted.

"You'll need your strength," she said firmly. Unable to argue with her persistence, Ethan thanked her and tucked the bag away.

Reznov pulled Ethan aside once more, sharing advice on what to watch for in the forest. Ethan listened closely, committing each crucial detail to memory.

Soon after, the heavy village gates creaked open, and a blast of cold wind swept in, biting through the layers of warmth.

Ethan and Tonks stepped out, their boots crunching over the snow-covered ground as the gates closed behind them.

They followed the butler's directions toward the mountain, the path growing narrower and more desolate with every step. Ethan kept his eyes sharp, observing the land.

It was eerily quiet—no signs of life, no wild animals. Just as the butler had warned, the creatures of the forest had all been wiped out by the Canines.

As they reached the base of the mountain, they began the ascent, carefully treading up a worn path. Tonks gripped her wand tightly in one hand, while Ethan kept his sword at the ready, strapped to his back but close enough to draw in a flash.

Despite the tension, they encountered no signs of danger during the climb. When they finally reached the top, Ethan activated his heightened witcher senses, his nose twitching as he tried to pick up even the faintest scent or clue.

But there was nothing. The mountain was deadly still, devoid of life: no birds or insects—just an unsettling silence.

Standing beside him, Tonks remained utterly silent, not daring to disturb Ethan's concentration. She had been with him long enough to recognize when he was deep in focus, and now was one of those moments.

After thoroughly searching the summit, Ethan found only a few unusual scratches on the trees—nothing confirming the dog people's presence.

"It seems the monsters have moved on. We should head deeper into the mountain," Ethan said, his voice low and thoughtful.

Tonks hesitated, her eyes betraying a flicker of doubt, but she nodded in agreement without protest. Together, they continued their cautious journey into the heart of the mountain.

The air grew colder and drier as they ventured further in, but their enchanted clothing protected them from the worst of the chill. Every step felt heavy in the thick, oppressive quiet as if something unseen was watching from the shadows.

The deeper they went, the more they realized—whatever they were hunting, it wasn't just the wild that had been driven away. Something far darker had taken hold of this place.

To avoid getting lost in the dense forest, Ethan made sure to mark their path along the way, carving signs into the trees with his dagger. But despite their efforts to explore the mountain's depths, they hadn't found anything out of the ordinary.

As the sky gradually darkened, Ethan considered calling off the search. The butler had warned them that the Canines were most active at night, and the last thing he wanted was to encounter them in the dark.

"Alright, let's head back before it gets too—" Ethan started to say, but his sentence was cut off as the ground beneath his feet gave way.

The snow sank in a large chunk, and Ethan plunged into a deep, hidden hole before he could react.

"Ethan!" Tonks screamed, lunging forward to grab him, but her hand missed him by mere inches as he disappeared into the darkness below.

Ethan landed hard, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. Pain shot through him, sharp and immediate. He heard a sickening crack—something was broken. Biting back a groan, he grimaced, knowing this fall had left him worse for wear.

Above, Tonks' panicked voice echoed down into the hole.

"Ethan! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Ethan glanced up, seeing a small patch of the evening sky and the frantic face of Tonks peering down from the hole's edge.

"I'm fine!" Ethan called out, trying to keep his voice steady despite the pain radiating through his body.

"Thank Merlin!" Tonks' relief was palpable. But then her voice shifted to concern again.

"Can you move? Did you break anything? Hold on, I'll figure out how to get you out!"

"I'm alright!" Ethan reassured her, though his body told a different story. He took a moment to gather his bearings and scanned his surroundings.

The hole wasn't natural. The sides of the cave were steep, and the ground was littered with bones—cattle, sheep, wild animals, and, disturbingly, human remains. The air was thick with the stench of decay, so foul that even Ethan, accustomed to such horrors, wrinkled his nose in disgust.

There was something wrong with this place. Ethan noticed crude carvings along the cave walls—marks indicating it wasn't just a random pit but part of something more deliberate.

He reached into his pouch and pulled out a bottle of cat potion, uncorking it and quickly downing the contents.

The world around him immediately sharpened as his enhanced vision cut through the darkness. He could now see every detail of the cave's twisted structure.

"Ethan! Can you hear me?" Tonks' worried voice brought him back to the moment.

"Yes, I'm fine," Ethan replied. "But there's something strange down here. I need to investigate it further."

"What?" Tonks' voice rose with disbelief. "You can't stay down there alone! It's too dangerous!"

"No, Tonks," Ethan said firmly.

"It's getting dark, and you must return to the village. If you come down here and we run into trouble, who will help us? I need someone on the outside."

Tonks hesitated, torn between her concern for Ethan and the logic of his words. She chewed her lip, clearly fighting the urge to argue.

Finally, she relented. "Alright," she said, though her voice was worried.

"But you'd better come back by morning. If you're not back by then, I'm coming to find you—and I'll bring help."

"I'll be back," Ethan promised.

"Now go. The village needs to know we've made progress."

Reluctantly, Tonks glanced into the hole before turning and heading back toward the village, her silhouette fading into the deepening twilight.

As her footsteps disappeared, Ethan turned his full attention back to the cave. He unsheathed his sword, every instinct screaming that this place held far more danger than it appeared.