Her hand raised and wrapped around the heavy Salazar Slytherin locket hanging around her neck, bouncing against her chest with each heavy step she took. The smell of dead leaves against the damp earth stood potent against Hermione’s sense of smell. It was all she had come to know in the large amount of time she had spent in the forest. As much as she wished she could rip the locket straight off, she knew it would be useless. The near-death attempt they had done on trying to take it off just days before, nearly costing Ron his life, was proof enough.