Alexandra Quick and the Thorn Circle

The Hodag

Mrs. Minder scoffed when Alexandra asked about hodags. "I'm sure there are books about them," the librarian said. "But you'll find them properly referred to in magizoological texts as 'mythical.' Stay away from old Mystic Inquirer reprints and books written by conspiratorial warlocks. There is no such beast, Miss Quick. Upperclassmen have been trying to frighten younger children with stories about the hodag ever since I was a student."

The books Alexandra found did mostly treat the hodag as a myth, though a few authors were convinced that the enormous forest-dwelling beast existed. From its description, it certainly sounded improbable to her: the body of a crocodile, the head of a frog, an elephant's tusks, the claws of a wolverine, and a long spiky tail. It was supposed to be virtually unkillable.

Anna found her still in the library, and dropped into the seat across the table from her. Alexandra looked up at her, feeling bad about their argument earlier but still annoyed.

"I don't need another lecture, Anna," she said.

"Good," replied the other girl curtly, "because I don't need an apology. I'm coming with you."

"What?" Alexandra almost shouted out loud, then looked around and lowered her voice, before Mrs. Minder came around to lecture her on using her "library voice."

"I'm coming with you," Anna repeated in a whisper. "It's too dangerous for you to go out into the woods at night by yourself and you know it, or you would know if you ever listened to anything -"

"I said I don't need a lecture!" Alexandra snapped.

"Fine. But I'm coming."

"No, you're not."

"Yes I am, or I'm telling."

Alexandra's mouth dropped open. "What?"

Anna paused to sniffle and wipe her nose, and Alexandra thought she was about to cry, but then she looked up again. She met Alexandra's gaze and didn't look away.

"I mean it. If you go without me, I'll tell the Hall Supervisor," she said, referring to the old warlock whose portrait hung above the entrance to Delta Delta Kappa Tau hall.

"You wouldn't!"

Anna looked determined. "Don't think I'm bluffing! You're not the only one who can be stubborn, Alex."

Alexandra gritted her teeth, trying to think of a counter-argument, while Mrs. Minder walked past with an armful of books.

"Fine!" she hissed. "Just after sundown, meet me by the aviary." She got up and walked out of the library without another word.

A shockingly cold blast of air blew past her as she exited the library. Curious, she went left instead of right, and followed the cold breeze to the entrance of another residential hall. The Greek letters were ΠΚΚΠ, and 'Pi Kappa Kappa Pi' was printed beneath them. A portrait of a very old, very thin woman wrapped in red velvet robes and holding an equally thin black cat (it looked as if it were starved) glared down at her. "You don't look like a junior!" she said sternly. "I don't recognize you."

"Nope," Alexandra agreed, and kept walking. She saw Mr. Thiel and Mr. Journey standing in the hallway just beyond the entrance. Beyond them, the entire hallway was iced over. Icicles taller than Alexandra dangled from the ceiling.

"Students are going to do things like this," Journey was saying in exasperation to the younger man, as he held out his wand. "You need to practice your counterspells instead of calling me every time some prankster decides to do an indoor weather transformation." He sounded gruffer than Alexandra was used to, but he paused and turned around when he heard Alexandra's footsteps. Thiel also turned, and regarded her dully, with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slumped forward.

Alexandra hadn't seen Mr. Journey much this semester. Mr. Thiel was sometimes out on the grounds, or in the hallways, and Alexandra was never quite sure what he was doing, but he always looked at her in a way that she found slightly creepy. She had heard other students say that Journey was constantly having to show Thiel how to do simple things or cleaning up after his messes, and found his "assistant" rather more hindrance than help, so she supposed that accounted for his unusually sour disposition lately.

"Well hello there, Starshine," Journey said. "You're not supposed to be in this hallway."

"I felt cold air blowing all the way back to the library." She was staring at the icicles.

Journey chuckled. "Just older students playing pranks. Nothing to worry about. Now run along back to your own dorm."

"Okay." But when Journey turned around and began weaving a series of spells to undo the indoor ice cavern, she stayed and watched. In a matter of minutes, he had de-iced the hallway and vaporized the icicles, until all that was left was a large puddle.

"Now do you think you can handle cleaning that up?" he said, with annoyance, gesturing at the puddle. Thiel nodded. Journey turned and saw Alexandra still standing there.

"Starshine, I told you to run along," he said, and for the first time there was a trace of annoyance when he spoke to her as well.

"I was just curious," she said. "That was pretty good magic." Journey opened his mouth, and she said suddenly, "Mr. Journey, is there really any such thing as a hodag in the woods?"

He frowned. Thiel, who'd been dispelling the puddle with an Absorbing Charm, glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Why are you asking about hodags?" he asked. "You aren't thinking of going out in the woods, are you?"

"No, of course not. I was just curious if the hodag is real or something made up to frighten kids."

"I've never seen a hodag," said Journey. "But the woods can be dangerous. That's why the Ranger covens always go in groups, with adults along." He frowned at her. "Starshine, if you're up to more mischief..."

"I'm not, I promise! Bye, Mr. Journey." She turned and walked out of the juniors' hallway, back towards her own.

"Show me your Hall Pass!" snapped the witch in red velvet, behind her, but Alexandra ignored her and kept walking.

Anna wasn't in their room, so Alexandra put on her heaviest coat, mittens, boots, scarf, and a wool hat. She wished that the hand-warmer Constance and Forbearance had given her hadn't burned in the fire at home; she suspected it was going to be very cold in the woods.

It also occurred to her that she should have joined the Witch Rangers at the beginning of the semester. They learned camping spells, among other things, but the uniforms and magic badges and 'The Good Witch's Pledge' had not appealed to her. But she was sure a few light and fire-starting charms should be sufficient for one night in the woods. It wasn't as if she were going hiking. She had a bag of snacks she'd filled in the cafeteria, so there was only one other thing she wanted to take with her.

Anna had started leaving her owl in the aviary, saying she was old enough to begin socializing with other owls, but Charlie still stayed in their room. Alexandra opened the window, and then said, "I'm going out tonight, Charlie. Will you come find me?" The raven squawked in surprise, and then made a great show of fluttering and shivering.

"I know it's cold!" Alexandra said. "But I need my familiar. Don't be lazy!" She opened the window partway, and then left her room. Several students asked where she was going on her way out, dressed for the cold, and she said she had detention again. No one questioned this.

Charmbridge had a curfew - younger students were to be inside by sundown. She slipped outside just as the sun was disappearing, and tried to avoid passing by any windows as she made her way around the huge perimeter of the academy towards the aviary. She knew older students were allowed to be out past dark, but not many would be in this weather. Still, she was watchful, but encountered no one before reaching the three-story tower in which both students' avian familiars and the many owls that carried letters and packages to and from Charmbridge lived.

With a squawk, Charlie descended and landed on Alexandra's shoulder.

"Thanks, Charlie!" she said, petting the bird. Charlie ruffled its feathers and looked less than happy.

She heard the crunching sound of footsteps in the snow, coming from a ground-floor exit out of the aviary, and then a sneeze, and then a soft hooting. Anna appeared, wearing her red hooded cloak, with Jingwei on her shoulder.

"Are you catching a cold?" Alexandra demanded. "You should go back inside."

"Of course not," Anna said. "Witches don't catch colds." She sneezed.

"Well, come on then," Alexandra said reluctantly. She turned and began walking towards the woods. Anna followed.

"You should never have accepted that dare," said Anna.

"No lectures," said Alexandra. "And anyway, it's too late now. But it's not too late for you to -"

"No way."

"You really do look like Little Red Riding Hood."

"Little Red Riding Hood probably didn't have a weather-proof charm on her cloak," Anna said smugly.

They were silent until they got to the edge of the woods. It looked a lot deeper and darker at night. The lights of Charmbridge Academy were warm and beckoning behind them.

"Last chance. I'll be all right, Anna," Alexandra said. "What would you do if the hodag did come to get me, anyway? Besides get eaten first?"

"Not funny." Anna looked at her. "I don't want to do this, Alex."

She sounded scared, and Alexandra's immediate impulse was to say, "Then don't." But she felt her annoyance melt, and she just sighed. "Then why are you?" she asked. "It can't be that dangerous, just to stay in the woods practically within sight of the academy, or the Rangers wouldn't go camping at all! If you think it is, then you should have stayed in our room."

"Would you let me go do something you thought was dangerous and stupid by myself?"

Alexandra opened her mouth, and shut it. She shook her head. "Then why didn't you just go ahead and tell on me?" she asked, more quietly.

"Would you tell on me?" Anna replied.

Alexandra sighed. "No, of course not."

"You know Larry just wants to see you get in trouble. He set you up and you fell for it, because you just can't turn down a dare." Anna sneezed again.

"Well, we have Charlie and Jingwei to help be lookouts," said Alexandra. The two birds hooted. She put an arm around Anna's shoulders. "Come on." They walked into the woods, and within less than two dozen paces, the lights of Charmbridge were swallowed in the darkness behind them.

They stopped in a small flat patch of pristine snow, between three trees. Anna reached into her cloak and withdrew a small leather bag. She opened it, and began pulling out a bedroll that was much too large to fit inside such a small bag. In the half-moonlight, Alexandra's face was barely visible, but Anna caught her surprised expression.

"Don't tell me," she sighed. "You didn't bring a camping kit?"

"I figured we could just sit by a fire," Alexandra said. "Where did you get a camping kit?"

"I was in the Junior Witch Rangers for a while. But I didn't like the other girls." Anna shook her head. "You didn't plan this out at all! How can you just do that, Alex? Just decide to do something and do it without even thinking ahead? Do you think being brave and not caring what others think makes you immune to bad stuff happening? Achoo!" Anna sneezed violently again.

"No." Alexandra watched her friend unroll a sleeping bag, and then pull three perfectly-cut sticks out of the leather bag. "I know bad stuff happens. But there's always something you can do about it." But with her face hidden in the shadows, she frowned. Was this true? She had rarely escaped trouble because she was well-prepared for it. In fact, luck probably had more to do with her surviving her many hazardous mishaps than anything else. It wasn't a question she cared to examine too closely at the moment.

Anna formed a little tripod with the sticks, and waved her wand over it. "Ignite!" she said, and bright orange flames instantly blossomed. She held her hands over the fire, and sniffled.

"You do have a cold!" Alexandra said accusingly.

"I've never had a cold in my life!" Anna sneezed.

"I have, so being a witch obviously doesn't make you immune."

Anna pulled her cloak around herself, and shivered a little.

Alexandra sat down next to her, while Jingwei flapped up to a branch overhead, and Charlie joined the owl. She took out some of the food she'd brought with her, and offered Anna a roll.

The fire burned without diminishing at all, and the logs that fueled it didn't appear to be consumed. As the night wore on, they heard owls, other night birds, and four-footed creatures moving through the woods, sometimes sounding a long way off, and sometimes very near. Alexandra was unbothered, though she was alert. In her mind the worst they might encounter would be a bear, and she knew bears usually avoided humans, and even some of the simple charms they'd learned would be sufficient to scare one away.

Anna, however, was growing increasingly nervous, or maybe she was trembling from the cold, despite her cloak and the fire. Alexandra was also worried by her roommate's increasing sniffling and sneezing.

"Mrs. Minder and Mr. Journey both said hodags aren't real," she said, trying to sound reassuring, after Anna jumped again at some animal moving about in the woods.

"They were probably afraid you'd go looking for it otherwise," the other girl sniffled.

Alexandra frowned. "Don't be like that, Anna."

Then a loud crashing sound made both girls look up. It sounded as if a tree had fallen over, some distance away.

"Probably an old dead tree, weighed down by snow," Alexandra said. Anna nodded, but her eyes were wide enough for the whites to gleam in the shadows cast over her face by the firelight. Alexandra scooted closer to her. "Why don't you go to sleep? I'll stay awake, and Jingwei and Charlie are both watching over us too."

Anna was shivering. She crawled into her bedroll, just as snowflakes began to drift down. "Great, now it's snowing," she muttered.

"Is your bedroll warm enough?" Alexandra asked. Anna nodded. "It's got a warming charm. Here, you should wear my cloak." She pulled off her red all-weather cloak and handed it to Alexandra, who took it reluctantly.

As Alexandra stood over the fire, the snow became heavier, and she could feel a drop in temperature as well. Charlie squawked overhead, and then another noise made Anna sit up and Alexandra turn around. It sounded like something much larger than a deer, making its way through the trees nearby.

"Just a bear, maybe," Alexandra said.

"Just a bear?" Anna repeated, in a high-pitched voice.

An even louder noise echoed from further away. It was a bizarre sound, like a cross between a screech, a howl, and a croak. Alexandra had never heard any animal make a sound like that, and it was immediately followed by the sound of another tree crashing to the ground. Whatever animal had been prowling about nearby went running off deeper into the woods and away from the other sound, dashing through the snow in a panic.

Alexandra and Anna were both staring at each other wide-eyed.

"What was that?" Anna squeaked.

"I don't know," Alexandra admitted. Her hand was on her wand. She kept listening.

Anna's owl was fluttering from one branch on the tree overhead to another, obviously disturbed. Charlie too was making a racket, until Alexandra shushed the raven.

"Alex..." Anna said. Her teeth were chattering, and she sneezed.

The snow was becoming heavier, and it was definitely getting colder. Alexandra's heart was beating a little faster, after that bizarre cry from the deep woods, but it was something else that made her swallow hard and say, almost in a whisper, "Let's go inside."

Anna stared at her, her expression a mixture of desperate hope, relief, and trepidation. "Really? But... but... you'll lose the wager. You'll owe Larry a boon." She looked down. "It's because of me, isn't it?" she murmured

Alexandra knelt next to Anna. "You're sick," she said. "And it's getting colder."

Anna sneezed, then looked up at her stubbornly. "I can make it until morning," she said. "I know I'm not brave like you, Alex, but -"

Another long inhuman howl, like the groaning of something large and in pain (or hungry) set Jingwei and Charlie both to protesting overhead, and made Anna gulp. It sounded closer this time.

"Come on!" Alexandra said. She helped Anna stand and extract herself from her bedroll. Anna quickly stuffed it into the improbably small leather bag it came in, and extinguished the fire.

Charlie squawked very loudly, and Alexandra started to hiss, "Charlie, be quiet!" when she saw that a very large owl was attacking her raven. Charlie ducked aside, and Jingwei was coming to the rescue, but then another owl swooped out of the darkness, directly at Anna's owl.

"Jingwei!" Anna screamed, and then someone said, "Petrificus Totalus!" Anna suddenly froze in place.

Alexandra spun around with her wand out, and sprayed a shower of red and gold sparks into the darkness. She saw Larry, Ethan, and Wade crouching by a tree. Larry snapped, "You got the wrong one!" as he pointed his wand at her. Alexandra ducked the spell that went whizzing over her head, and then caught Larry with a Tripping Jinx as he rose to lunge at her. He went face-first into the snow and Ethan and Wade both stumbled over him.

She tried to cast a hex on Larry as he stood up, but Ethan blasted her off her feet with a hex of his own. Alexandra almost hit her head on a log, and rolled to the side without looking. Another hex sprayed snow where she'd just been lying.

"You creeps!" she yelled.

Larry stood over her, pointing his wand. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled, and her wand flew out of her hand.

"What are you doing?" she snapped.

"Petrifying you," he said. "So when they go looking for you tomorrow morning, you'll be caught, and you'll lose the wager."

"You're just going to put Body-Bind Curses on us and leave us here?" she exclaimed. "We'll freeze to death, you jerk!"

He snickered, then yelped as she lashed out with her foot and kicked his ankle. She rolled to her feet and threw her shoulder into the taller boy as hard as she could, and he went tumbling backwards, but then Ethan and Wade grabbed her arms and pinned her, cursing as she struggled and tried to kick them. Larry stood up again, and pointed his wand at her.

"You didn't even have to do this!" she snarled. "We were about to go inside anyway!"

He was so surprised, he almost dropped his wand. "You were? What for?"

An impact shook the trees around them so hard that snow fell on all their heads. Very close by, there was a groaning, splintering sound as another tree crashed to the ground, followed by that awful croaking that Alexandra and Anna had heard earlier.

"Oh, crap!" exclaimed Ethan.

"It's the hodag!" gasped Wade, as he let go of Alexandra.

"There's... there's no such thing as a hodag!" Larry stammered, but as his two friends fled, he cursed and turned to run after them. "Better get out of here, Quick!" he called over his shoulder.

Alexandra scrambled about in the snow, trying to find her wand. Charlie and Jingwei were both flapping around her head and screeching. Along with the snow flurries, this was only making it harder for her to see anything. "Both of you shush!" she exclaimed, but neither bird heeded her. She heard whatever beast was knocking trees over grunt loudly, sounding almost like an enormous belch.

Her fingers finally closed around her wand, and she ran over to where Anna was still standing motionless, petrified by Larry's curse.

"Finite incantatem!" she gasped. It took her two more tries to dispel the Body-Bind Curse. Anna almost fell into her arms, sobbing. "We've got to get out of here!"

"Come on." Alexandra took her friend by the hand, and they both ran.

It was difficult, in the darkness, especially with Anna sneezing and shivering all the way. They nearly stumbled several times, but their familiars led the way through the trees. When they saw the lights of Charmbridge, they made directly for the school, across the great lawn between it and the woods.

"We're almost there, Anna," Alexandra said, half-supporting her friend. It was easier for her, still wearing Anna's weather-proof cloak. They opened one of the outer doors, and stepped through into the warmth of the interior, only to find themselves facing Larry, Ethan, and Wade. Charlie and Jingwei had followed their owners inside, and now screeched and puffed themselves up threateningly, as the three boys' owls did likewise.

"So you really did ... what's that Muggle term? Chicken?" Larry was grinning with delight. The sight made Alexandra's face burn with fury.

"You were going to cheat!" she yelled. "And you were trying to kill us!"

"Oh, stop whining, Troublesome." He was almost chortling. "You lost the wager and you know it."

Anna sneezed. Then a deep voice said, "What's this about a wager?"

They all turned. Mr. Journey had followed Alexandra and Anna from outside, through the still-open door.

"I thought I saw some kids running across the grounds, from the woods," he said. "What in Merlin's name are you young'uns up to?"

They all looked at each other.

Journey folded his arms across his chest. "No one wants to talk, eh? That's a shame. I'm guessing it had something to do with a dare, involving a certain young lady with more courage than sense?"

Alexandra shuffled her feet, not meeting Journey's eyes. Larry pulled his cloak around himself and said nothing.

"You know I should report all of you to the Dean. None of you had any business being outside at this hour, much less running around in the woods."

Anna shivered, and Larry and his friends looked at each nervously. Alexandra just kept her eyes on the floor.

Journey shook his head. "All right, wands out."

They all looked at each other again, confused.

"Starshine, Youngblood, both of you. Show me your wands."

Slowly, Larry and Alexandra both took out their wands. Journey looked at them and nodded. "Huh. Care to tell me what you two swore to?" Alexandra and Larry glared at each other silently.

"No, huh?" Journey drew his wand. "Well, that's enough nonsense for one night." He tapped his wand against Larry's, and sparks ran up and down it, jolting the boy's hand and making him jump. Then he tapped Alexandra's wand likewise, and she flinched as a shock ran through her arm.

"You shouldn't be swearing magical oaths," Journey said. "You might not be old enough to cast a binding magical contract, but even schoolyard oaths can be dangerous." He waved his wand admonishingly at them. "Now get back to your dorms. If I see any of you out after curfew again, I will report you!"

"Yes, sir," mumbled Larry.

"Yes, Mr. Journey," Alexandra muttered.

"Thank you," Anna murmured, and coughed.

Larry spared Alexandra a look of fury, and stalked off with Ethan and Wade. Alexandra shrugged out of Anna's red cloak, and wrapped it around her shivering friend.

"We have to go see Mrs. Murphy," she said.

"No," Anna said. She coughed and clung to Alexandra's arm. "If we show up wet and cold like this, Mrs. Murphy will know we've been outside, and she will tell Dean Grimm."

---

They argued briefly, but Alexandra agreed to go back to their rooms first, where they changed into dry clothes.

Mrs. Murphy was appalled at Anna's condition when they arrived at the infirmary. "Why, if I didn't know better, I'd say you have Muggle Flu!" she exclaimed, putting a hand on the girl's forehead.

"I think it's just a cold," said Alexandra.

Murphy scowled at her. "Oh, you understand healing, do you, Miss Quick?" She gave Anna a potion. "Drink this, and I'll check on you in an hour."

Anna drank the potion, while Alexandra slumped in the chair next to her. They were both quiet for a while, as steam began coming out of Anna's ears.

"You were going to give up," Anna said at last. "You were going to let Larry win. He would have except for Mr. Journey. I'm sorry, Alex."

Alexandra shook her head. "No, you were right. You're always right, Anna." She sighed. "It was dangerous out there. It's not right to put my friends in danger."

She looked down at her lap, while Anna stared at her for a while, then said quietly, "I wish you wouldn't put yourself in danger either, Alex."

"I don't always put myself in danger, you know."

"I know. Not always."

Alexandra smiled slightly, then turned her head to look at Anna seriously. "You were wrong, though."

Now Anna frowned. "About what?"

"About not being brave. You are brave, Anna. Even when you're scared."

After a moment of stunned silence, Anna smiled slowly.

"Do you think that was really a hodag out there?" she whispered.

"I don't know." Alexandra looked out the window of the infirmary. Snow was still falling. "But - oh never mind. If I say I'm not going to get in trouble any more, you wouldn't believe me, would you?"

Anna laughed quietly, as steam continued to billow out of her ears. "Not really."