Harry hid behind a huge beech tree, his heart pounding. Even though it was only an exercise, he was still nervous. The Forbidden Forest was dim, and the air smelled of earth and rotting leaves. The rustle of some unknown creature in the distance only added to the tension.
In his first year, Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, had attacked him in the Forbidden Forest.
Harry moved slowly along the bushes, scanning his surroundings.
"Watch your front left, behind that patch of trembling ferns," Strange warned.
Harry went on alert at once. He held his breath and stopped moving, hidden behind a bush.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, a Gryffindor boy cautiously poked his head out. Harry flicked his wand without hesitation, swift and silent. "Petrificus Totalus!"
The spell struck true. The boy toppled over stiffly, still caught in the act of peering out, surprise frozen on his face.
Harry apologized to his classmate in his mind, but he really did not want to write the essay Professor Moody had assigned. He had Quidditch practice to worry about, too.
"Nicely done. Clean and quick," Strange said approvingly. "Now move. Immediately."
Harry crouched low and hurried to a hollow a dozen or so feet away. He had barely settled in when spells cracked through his old hiding place, followed by a scream. Someone had clearly been drawn there.
Over the next half hour, with Strange's warnings and his own increasingly sharp eye, Harry successfully "took out" two more opponents.
He used the terrain to approach one unnoticed. For the other, he deliberately made a noise to draw them into the open, then attacked from the side.
Strange kept praising Harry for growing steadier and more skillful with his spells.
During a brief lull, Harry happened upon Ron, who was also sneaking