Accompanied by the gentle sound of hoofbeats, a creature with human speech, carrying a bow and arrow, with a human upper body and horse lower body gradually came into view.
A centaur—a legendary being in Muggle records, a humanoid creature possessing intelligence close to that of humans. Though they don't consider themselves magical creatures, and in their proud nature they don't consider themselves the same as wizards, vampires, or hags, the Ministry of Magic simply classified them as beasts.
It's said that a herd of centaurs lives deep in the Hogwarts Forbidden Forest. This was one of them.
Seeing this, the cloaked figure was very decisive, quickly flying backward and disappearing into the dark forest. Throughout the entire process, it said not a word and made no unnecessary movements.
Dudley didn't pursue—he understood the wisdom of not chasing a desperate enemy. He couldn't capture the opponent for now.
"Thank you for your help, Firenze."
Dudley thanked him. Without his assistance, just himself and an immature dragon would have had serious trouble dealing with that cloaked figure. Both the variety of spells and magical power were far beyond ordinary wizards.
Though Dudley still had plenty of trump cards he hadn't revealed, who knew if the opponent was also holding back? At least he was certain the opponent seemed to have some reservations—never releasing that infamous killing curse from the wizarding world, Avada Kedavra. No one would believe the opponent didn't know it.
"Don't mention it," Firenze said, snorting like a real horse.
Due to frequently entering the Forbidden Forest, Dudley had some contact with the centaurs. Most centaurs despised contact with wizards—or rather, despised contact with any creature other than centaurs. They certainly wouldn't help, but this centaur named Firenze was an exception. He would help young wizards lost in the forest and stand up when they faced danger. This was quite unique among centaurs.
After a brief greeting, they went forward to examine the unicorn's injuries. The unicorn lay weakly on the ground, silver blood pooling everywhere. Clearly, this was the cloaked figure's doing.
The unicorn's injuries were severe, with silver blood continuously seeping out, accompanied by black vapor rising from the wounds. Unicorn skin has high magic resistance—to be injured this badly must have required extremely advanced Dark Magic.
"Mr. Dursley, you should have a way to treat its injuries," Firenze asked with slight concern.
He only knew Dudley by acquaintance and wasn't aware he was just a first-year Hogwarts student. Based on Dudley's size and their frequent nighttime encounters, he naturally assumed he was a professor of some subject at Hogwarts.
Dudley didn't bother to explain. After observing the unicorn's injuries for a while, Dudley nodded and pulled out several potions from his waist, carefully beginning to treat the unicorn.
Charizard in the sky kept flapping its wings, consciously standing guard, afraid the opponent might return for a surprise attack.
"Firenze, you shouldn't have helped them."
Light hoofbeats sounded again as several more centaurs emerged from the dense forest—one with a reddish-brown coat, another pure black. The black-coated centaur was extremely agitated, his tone very unfriendly. He was the one who had just spoken.
"We have sworn an oath never to defy the heavens. Can't you see the omens shown by the movement of the planets?" The centaur spoke again, loudly questioning Firenze.
The other centaur first looked sadly at the unicorn, then at Dudley treating it, showing no intention of helping. He simply said flatly, "Poor creature." Then he just stood there, coldly observing, not even bothering to inquire.
"Would you have me stand by and do nothing? The unicorn is a fellow inhabitant of the Forbidden Forest, and this is a Hogwarts wizard," Firenze shot back without backing down.
"That's not our concern. The stars haven't guided us. We're not mules—we don't need to run around following humans."
"They might get hurt or die!"
"That is their fate."
Though not malicious, that tone still made Dudley frown slightly—very annoying. He was blaming Firenze for meddling, for helping himself and the unicorn.
If Dudley wasn't very familiar with centaur history, he would definitely teach the other a lesson. You not helping is normal—you don't owe me anything. But blaming others for helping me? That gives me reason to beat you up.
Centaurs were a species obsessed with astral divination—perhaps "obsessed" wasn't the right word; it was more like pathological fixation. They relied on stellar signs for everything, consulting the stars before any action. If the stars didn't show something, they would never do it under any circumstances.
Though centaurs often wouldn't actively fight with others and weren't aggressive, they cared about no one but themselves. Like this injured unicorn—even seeing it, they'd only sigh faintly:
"The innocent are the first to suffer."
"It has been so for centuries, and it is so now."
Then silently walk away. Typical refusal to help.
They were skilled at divination, able to see many things from the stars—some genuinely useful. This led centaurs to believe they had seen through fate, positioning themselves as prophets with a constant attitude of "everyone else is drunk while I alone am sober."
Actually a very foolish approach. This made centaurs perhaps the most unpopular humanoid species, which is why the Ministry of Magic would rather classify vampires and hags as human than give centaurs a place.
They never helped others, even when directly asked for help—they'd only watch coldly. So when centaurs faced invasion and attacks, no wizards or magical creatures helped them. Now centaurs were nearly extinct.
In Dudley's words, they brought it entirely on themselves.
"Today you stand by while that thing kills unicorns, tomorrow you'll stand by when it kills other magical creatures in the forest. When the blade turns toward us, no one will help us."
Firenze snorted white vapor from his nostrils, roaring excitedly, "We must resist whatever is lurking in the forest—it's too dangerous. Bane, if necessary, I will stand with the humans."
Firenze saw clearly that something capable of nearly killing an adult unicorn could easily kill them centaurs too. Maintaining good relations with the unicorn herd and Hogwarts wizards was absolutely necessary.
The centaurs had no way back. If they lost the Forbidden Forest as their habitat, he didn't know where else they could go.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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