The Green Man and the Goddess

When I was a child, I used to look out the window of Malfoy Manor and gaze out over the grounds to the great forest in the distance. I dreamed of running across the grass and jumping over the hedges that lined the paths of our back garden that my mother had termed the Park.

Sherwood Forest was a mystery to me then, something that I longed to see and experience but was forbidden to go near. I would gaze upon it and watch as the birds flew in and out and try to get a glimpse of the animals that were rumoured to live there.

My father was the one who had forbidden me to enter the forest. I was not even allowed to leave the Park. Once I had asked him why this was so and he had looked at me with disapproval before calling a house elf to bring his strap. The strap. I cringe at the thought it of it. A long cord made of leather that my father used like a whip and since I was too young to be properly beat, that was the substitute.

The man who was my father bent me over, strap in hand and soon the look of disapproval was gone, replaced by a disgusting smile. He loved to beat me and beat me he did that day. After that I was too frightened to ask about the forest even though I yearned to enter it and feel its solitude wash over me and forget all my problems.

I learned Sherwood was beyond my reach, but each night I dreamed that I entered it and each night I gained an inner peace that should be beyond a young child. I grabbed it with strength and held it close, for it was my only way out.

The older I got, the more I dreamed. When I was ten, the year I before I entered Hogwarts, I started to have visions of the forest and a beautiful woman dancing in a glade, blending with the trees, moving gracefully with the wind. The visions evolved and soon expanded. The woman wasn't alone. On the edge of the glade a man watched quietly in the shadows, fingering the pommel of his sword, ready to act if anything were to endanger her.

Over the months, as my first year at Hogwarts approached, I began to understand the visions and the man started to come out of the shadows. He would beckon to me to come closer and then he would entrust me with knowledge, one night at a time. Whenever I woke up, I remembered little of what he had told me but I was confident that one day, he would finish telling me what he wanted to tell me and that when I woke up the following morning, I would remember and understand everything. I just needed him to come out into the light.

Of course I didn't really want to wait, like I didn't really want to heed my father about the forest. However, my father was becoming a real threat. I was no longer young enough to be punished with a mere strap. I was old enough to be whipped and he had done so on previous occasions. The thought of such a thing burying into my flesh frightened me and I wanted nothing of it. I suppose I was a coward. But I was still determined to explore Sherwood before I left home, and for the first time in my life I defied my father.

At the time he was away on a 'business venture' but I'm sure he was just trying to bring Lord Voldemort back into power. He wasn't due back until the day I departed for Hogwarts and I hardly thought he would beat me right before I left, since it would leave.

A week before my departure to Hogwarts I found myself running through the Park and scampering over hedges toward Sherwood. It was much farther than I had thought, so when I finally reached the edge of the forest I was out of breath. I walked carefully into the brush and under the trees, examining the plants growing there. Finally my dreams were coming true! I walked and walked, paying no attention to the time or where I was going. I had waited for this moment since I had stared out the great windows at the Manor.

At last I entered a clearing. I could hear the faint trickle of a stream nearby, but my attention was caught by a song played on panpipes. I looked to see the woman of my dreams, transparent and ghost-like, dancing to the melody. I wasn't sure if she was real.

I looked around for the Green Man. He had to be there too, he had to tell me what my fascination with the forest meant, what these visions meant for me. I scanned the glade, seeking out the shadows and the nooks and crannies, and in the darkest shadow of the glade was the one I sought. He moved toward me out of the shadows and his image became clearer. Like the maiden, he was transparent and ghostly, like the maiden, and I could make out the shapes behind him. It was his face that shocked me the most, though.

It was almost my face, give or take a few years. We definitely had the same eyes and his hair was very close to the same colour as mine. There were other subtle differences between us, too. His face somehow looked fierce while I knew mine was sullen and dark.

"I see your father could not keep you out of the forest forever, young Draco," the man commented. His eyes showed amusement, although his mouth was a serious line. "He was stupid to think he could keep you out. This is were you belong."

I looked at the man, wondering what he was talking about. "Really? Why do I belong here and why would Father keep me out? And who the hell are you?" I asked, sneering at him rudely. I had adopted the look from Father. He always had it plastered on his face when he talked to the servants, my mother, and me, his own son. He had no respect for us. I was something to be moulded into the image of himself so he could control me with a flick of his little finger. Mother was submissive, never raising her voice at him. She whimpered each time he so much as looked at her.

The man just laughed, "Taking a lesson out of your father's book I see," obviously thinking it was funny. "You belong here because you are the Green Man, just like me. You could say that I'm an extension of your soul. A personality. A reincarnation. And about your father, he wants to keep you out of the forest because he doesn't want you take your place as the Green Man. He wishes for you to become a Death Eater and overthrow the Goddess, but it's really your job to protect her."

"Really," I looked at him, studying him hard, trying to see if he was insane or not. It was hard to tell, he was so transparent and he had hardly any facial expression. "And who is the Goddess?"

"You'll have to figure that one out yourself, my boy," the shade of the Green Man replied. "Someone, of course, will reveal her destiny to her. Hopefully she'll find out from someone she loves and not have a visit from the last reincarnate, but that is not the issue at the moment. You're only eleven years old, Draco, you have time to find her. For now, you must focus on expanding your power. My Goddess and I were taken down by Lord Voldemort. You must defeat him this time, since he'll try to destroy you two for good when he faces you. That means we'll never come back."

It was starting to become a little too much. I wanted the solace of the forest and the singing of the birds, not this destiny that threatened to overwhelm me. "I want to be a Death Eater and serve my Lord Voldemort," I told him, borrowing Father's sneer again. It was what he had drilled into my head, the destiny he had given me -- but I had a hard time believing the words I had just said and this man, who was a part of my soul, certainly wouldn't believe me either.

"As I said before Draco, you're young yet. You'll have lots of time to come to terms with your destiny and develop your powers. You'll do the right thing in the end, Draco," he said with finality and started to fade. He was gone.

I spun around, but the Goddess was gone too. I was standing in a glade in the middle of Sherwood, totally alone and I had no idea how to get back to Malfoy Manor. I was lost.

I had no idea where I had entered the glade and what direction was home. I was too scared to wander in the forest in case I got even more lost. I didn't think want to be left in the forest to die, so I hoped that I would figure out how to leave as soon as possible.

I wandered around the edge of the clearing until I found the stream, perched myself on a rock, and started to drink from it. When I no longer felt thirst, I spread myself out on the ground and just stretched and basked in the sun.

I don't know how long I was there but I just dozed until I heard the pop of someone Apparating and I opened my eyes. Standing above me was my father, looking furious.

"Get up boy!" he hissed. I thought he was going to hit me then and there but he just pulled me roughly to my feet and started to lead me out of Sherwood. He didn't talk to me at all, just dragged me. His fingers were digging into my arms and I started to bleed. I stumbled, skinning my knees but he kept dragging me, my legs hanging, smacking into stumps and rocks. It seemed like forever before we were out of the forest but finally we were and Father was pulling me across the Park and into the Manor.

"Get me my whip!" Father ordered a house elf as we entered the house. "You will kneel," he said, throwing me down in the foyer and lifting the whip that the house elf handed him. His arm stretched back and he cracked it with all the strength he could. It stung into my back and I screamed at the burning pain. He did it again and again and I screamed each time, louder and louder.

The servants came running and soon most of the household stood watching as Father beat me. Through the red haze that blurred my vision, I saw my mother enter the room. Her eyes glazed over, unwilling to see my father's brutality.

Eventually Father was tired of whipping me though and he punched me in the face, right in the eye. The impact knocked me over and gave me a black eye. Soon I had multiple bruises over my body and a split lip.

Finally, Father was finished beating me. He stood up and all he said was, "I'm very disappointed you went against my commands. You will go to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get your school supplies and you will never go against my wishes again. Do you understand?"

I was able to nod my head in agreement and then the house elves led me to my room to hide the marks with careful charms. The next day I went to Diagon Alley and did as Father bade me. I showed no sign of rebellion since I knew I would soon leave for Hogwarts and I wasn't stupid. Once there, he wouldn't be able to touch me.

Less than a week later I left, and although I took my father's sneer with me I never forgot the Green Man or what my destiny would be some day.

And every time I looked at a girl, I would look for the Goddess inside her.