[Chapter Size: 1700 Words.]
---------------------------------------
"We can't go to the Forbidden Forest. It's not allowed, especially at night," Draco exclaimed. "There are many dark creatures in there. My father told me there are..." At that exact moment, a piercing wolf's howl echoed faintly from the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
Draco immediately blurted out, "There's a werewolf in there." When he mentioned the werewolf, Draco glared fiercely at Harry. Earlier, Harry and his friends had threatened to throw him into the Forbidden Forest to feed the werewolves.
"A werewolf? Oh, yes, but that's not entirely true!" Filch looked at Draco's panicked expression and seemed to take great pleasure in it. "There are more than just werewolves in the Forbidden Forest. You should've thought about that before causing trouble, right?"
At that moment, Hagrid entered. The tall figure gradually emerged from the darkness. He was wearing a fur coat and carrying a massive hunting bow, with a fully stocked quiver on his back. Beside him was an enormous dog that resembled a black bear and was extremely fierce.
"I've been waiting for nearly a quarter of an hour. You should've been quicker." Hagrid frowned at Filch, then turned to Harry and the others with a much softer expression. "Harry, Neville, and Draco, how do you feel?"
Filch was very displeased with Hagrid's attitude, but Hagrid clearly ignored him and dismissed him with a wave.
"I'll come back tomorrow to collect the bodies," Filch said angrily as he left.
Hagrid didn't care at all. He laughed and led Harry, Neville, and Draco toward the Forbidden Forest. As they saw Filch walk away, Harry and Neville immediately began to complain to Draco.
"Malfoy, you really broke your vow," Harry glared at Draco.
"Rubbish!" Draco said proudly. "The noble Malfoy family never breaks promises or vows."
"You're still arguing!" Harry said angrily. "Didn't you take Professor McGonagall and Filch to the Astronomy Tower to catch us?"
"That's correct," Draco spread his hands. "But don't make the mistake. I swore not to tell anyone about your dragon-raising activities. I did it. I told Filch that someone would be wandering the castle tonight."
At this point, Draco remembered that Filch had said nothing to defend him when he was caught and punished by Professor McGonagall, and he stomped his foot in frustration. He secretly thought that one day he would find Filch to get back at him.
Harry was a bit confused after hearing what Draco said. He looked at Neville beside him and noticed that he also had a dazed look on his face.
What Draco said seemed to make sense, but something felt off.
"Alright, alright, let's forget about it," Hagrid waved his hand to signal to Harry and the others not to think about it and looked at Draco.
"Draco didn't break his vow. I was here that night, watching from the Astronomy Tower. The vow ended when Norbert left Hogwarts. It ended naturally, without being canceled or broken midway."
Since Hagrid had said this, Harry and Neville could only roll their eyes. They couldn't defeat Draco here.
"Why?" Harry suddenly remembered the pair of boxing gloves his cousin had given him for Christmas, and it seemed plausible.
Draco was clearly very reluctant to enter the Forbidden Forest, but Hagrid had clearly told him that if he didn't accept Hogwarts' punishment rules, all that awaited him was packing his bags and going home.
Draco was clearly unwilling to accept that outcome.
Wizarding families have their own circles. If the direct descendant of the Malfoy family were expelled from Hogwarts, it would be a huge blow to the family's reputation and prestige.
Even Draco, who was extremely favored at home, knew that his parents would never tolerate such a thing happening to him.
In desperation, he had no choice but to follow Hagrid, Harry, and Neville into the Forbidden Forest.
"I have to warn you in advance. There are still very dangerous things in the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid said after entering the forest and handed some fireworks to Harry and the others. "And we're not here to play."
"Then why are we here?" Draco asked angrily.
"Well, because of this," Hagrid pointed to a spot not far away in the forest. There was something silver and shiny on the ground and on the tree trunks.
"What is that?" Harry asked, a bit curious. He had never seen anything like it before.
"Unicorn blood," Hagrid's tone was filled with concern. "A unicorn in the Forbidden Forest has been injured by something, and it's gravely hurt. This is the second time in a while. I found one last week, and it was dead. What we have to do now is find the injured unicorn as quickly as possible and help it relieve its pain."
"What could hurt a unicorn?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised.
While investigating the three-headed dog, they had studied some books about magical creatures. Harry had read about unicorns back then. Unicorns are high-level magical creatures that are relatively gentle and not very afraid of people.
Their bodies have powerful magical properties, so their fallen hair is often used to make wands. For example, Ron's previous wand was made from unicorn tail hair.
The danger rating for unicorns is three stars, but this is because they are relatively friendly to humans and not very aggressive. According to the book's description, the magical power of this creature even exceeds that of most four-star magical creatures. They run fast, have strong endurance, and are resistant to most spells.
Not even a fire dragon could easily kill a unicorn.
"I don't know, but I think it's from outside. There's never been a record of a unicorn being attacked in the Forbidden Forest before," Hagrid replied.
"Now we need to split into two groups and search two different routes. If anyone finds anything, use fireworks to notify us. You can use the fireworks I gave you."
Neville nodded obediently, but Harry and Draco both furrowed their brows at the same time.
"And what if we find the thing that's attacking the unicorns?" Draco voiced Harry's concern. "I don't think I can run faster than a unicorn, or be more durable than one."
"As long as you stay with me and Fang, no creature in the Forbidden Forest will harm you," Hagrid said. "Of course, you can't wander off the path in the forest. Well then, shall we split into groups? Harry, you and Malfoy can be in one group."
There weren't many ways to group the four. Hagrid was worried about letting Neville follow Draco alone, fearing Draco would intimidate Neville. This had happened several times during the week when the baby dragon had been raised.
Therefore, Hagrid had to either be with Neville or Draco.
"No problem," Harry seemed to feel something was wrong but couldn't quite figure out what it was at the moment.
"I want Fang," Draco said, pointing to the giant black dog beside Hagrid.
"Alright, Malfoy, but you may not know that he's not as brave as he seems..." Hagrid handed the leash to Draco and reminded him again, "Set off the fireworks immediately if you find anything, understand?"
Harry nodded, and Draco pursed his lips in disdain.
As the four were getting ready to split into two groups, a rustling sound suddenly came from the forest.
Hagrid reacted quickly. He grabbed the hunting bow, nocked an arrow, and drew the string all the way back. Harry had no doubt that this arrow could kill a cow outright.
"Who's there? Come out, I'm armed," Hagrid shouted.
Once again, there was a rustling in the forest, and a figure slowly emerged from the bushes. It was a centaur.
He had red hair and a beard, and below his waist, his legs were brownish-red with bright red hair, with a long tail behind him.
The first-year textbooks didn't mention anything about centaurs, but Harry had read some larger books that contained records about centaurs. He hadn't expected to find them in the Forbidden Forest.
Centaurs are a type of humanoid creature with very high intelligence and are often found in vast forests. However, according to the description in the book, centaurs are not particularly friendly toward Muggles or wizards.
"It's you, Ronan," Hagrid visibly relaxed and slowly released the tension on the bowstring. "How are you?" As he spoke, he stepped forward and shook the centaur's hand.
Even the tall centaurs seemed small and graceful next to Hagrid.
"Good evening, Hagrid," the centaur, named Ronan, said, his voice giving an inexplicable feeling of sadness. "I'm not sure if I'm alright. It seems like you were about to shoot me with a bow and arrow."
"You can't blame me for that, Ronan," Hagrid spread his hands. "I'm sure you know what's going on in the forest. There's something not too good wandering around. Oh, by the way, these are Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. That's Draco Malfoy. They're all students at Hogwarts. Let me introduce you two. This is Ronan, a centaur."
"Of course," Draco rolled his eyes.
Draco, coming from a traditional wizarding family, didn't have a good opinion of centaurs.
Harry and Neville were curious and went to greet the centaur.
"Good evening." Ronan didn't mind Draco's attitude. After a simple greeting, his eyes fell on Harry. He stared at Harry for over two seconds, then raised his head to look at the sky.
"Mars is very bright tonight."
Harry: "???"
He looked up and saw that the Forbidden Forest appeared the same as it did on any other regular day. It was covered by a thick layer of mist, and the sky couldn't be seen. In that case, how could we see that Mars is so bright?
Harry felt that the centaur was speaking like a charlatan, but considering this was the wizarding world, Harry felt a little unsure.
—————————
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and wish to support me, you can visit my P-@-t-r-3-0-n, where you can read 50+ extra chapters ahead!
Thank you so much for your support. It means the world! 💙😊
P-@-T -r-3-0-n [.] com / DylanBriak