"Let's go, let's head back."
Hagrid hoisted the Stone Bow onto his back and said to Harry: "It's getting late, and you have class tomorrow—if I'm not mistaken, tomorrow morning should be Professor Snape's Magic Potion Class. You don't want to be late for that, do you?"
Even Hagrid had heard of Professor Snape's formidable reputation at the school.
"Alright," Harry said, following Hagrid out of the Forbidden Forest.
Soon, they encountered a Centaur.
Harry noticed that this Centaur was very handsome, with hair the same color as Draco's—a shade of platinum—and a silvery horse's body, looking for all the world like the white Prince Charming from countless girls' dreams.
"Hagrid." The Centaur hurried to meet them, anxiously asking, "The Unicorn—how is the Unicorn? And that Dark Wizard?"
"Don't worry, Ferrenze," Hagrid patted Harry on the shoulder. "Miss Pabi is fine; Harry saved her, and that Dark Wizard was driven off... though Miss Pabi still has some wounds."
"That's good..." Ferrenze exhaled, glancing at Harry with a friendly smile.
"Harry? Is it? Thank you, thank you for saving Miss Pabi."
"It's what I should do." Harry didn't say much more.
"Are you that boy from the Potter family?" Ferrenze asked again, his sapphire-blue eyes shining.
Before Harry could answer, Bane's voice rang out.
"What did you tell him!" Bane thundered up, hooves pounding, his tone furious. "Remember, Ferrenze, we swore an oath—we must not go against fate! Have we not seen the omens shown by the run of the planets?"
"I believe Ferrenze acted out of nothing but good will," Ronan uneasily pawed the earth with his hoof, speaking in his sorrowful voice.
Bane glared at Ronan, angry: "Good will?! What does that event have to do with us! Centaurs heed only the prophecies of the stars! We have no reason to follow lost humans wandering our forest like donkeys!"
"Miss Pabi was hurt! She's so kind! And that Dark Wizard... that Dark Wizard actually dared to attack her! Tell me, Bane!" Ferrenze reared up onto his hind legs. "When you were young and got surrounded by Eight-eyed Giant Spiders, who do you think rescued you?"
"Secrets of the planets? Is that what you call secrets?" Ferrenze was so angry his hair seemed to float. "I'm going to fight that fellow! I will not let him hurt Miss Pabi again! Bane! Centaurs are not an ungrateful race! If need be, I will stand with the humans!"
With that, Ferrenze no longer looked at Bane and Ronan, turning around to signal Hagrid and Harry to come along.
"Why is Bane so angry?" Harry asked in confusion.
Ferrenze didn't reply, only sighed and asked Harry, "Harry, can you tell me what you've encountered tonight?"
Harry left out the part about Crucio, as well as his conversation with Pabi, and only recounted the first half.
"Harry..." Ferrenze suddenly stopped walking.
Hagrid and Harry didn't know what he was doing and stopped as well.
"Do you know what Unicorn blood can be used for?" he asked.
"No," Harry answered honestly.
"It's because harming or killing a Unicorn is an utterly cruel act," Ferrenze said seriously. "Only someone who has nothing left, who desperately craves everything, would commit such a monstrous crime... Unicorn blood can extend your life, even if you are hanging by a thread. But the price you pay is terrible! In order to save yourself, you slaughtered a pure, gentle, helpless life—so the moment that blood touches your lips, what you possess is a half-life, a life cursed for all eternity."
Harry thought for a moment, then said to Ferrenze, "If I were doomed to be cursed forever, I'd rather just die."
"Exactly," Ferrenze agreed. "Unless you're only using it to buy time, to allow yourself to drink another thing—a thing that restores all your energy and magic—a thing that makes you immortal. Mr. Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school right now?"
Harry almost instantly guessed the shadow's target.
"The Magic Stone!" he cried. "Are you saying... the person trying to steal the Magic Stone is..."
He felt he was close to the answer, his heart thumping wildly in his chest.
Some said that man was dead, felled by him when he was just one year old—
But he found it hard to believe that such a powerful Dark Wizard would die so easily?
But now, Ferrenze's words made his breath come fast and uneven.
Now it seemed, there was only one truth!
The taste of revenge... it's sweet, isn't it?
"It seems you understand now—someone has been quietly waiting all these years, craving a comeback; someone clinging desperately to life, biding their moment."
Ferrenze was quite pleased with how quickly Harry grasped the truth.
This boy... perhaps he should learn Divination, Ferrenze thought.
"Impossible!" Hagrid said, "The Magic Stone can't be stolen so easily—it's protected by Professor Dumbledore. As long as he's in the school, You-Know-Who doesn't stand a chance!"
Ferrenze didn't answer, just gave Hagrid a look that was truly hard to describe.
"The stars spoke the prophecy to me," Ferrenze bowed his head and said softly to Harry: "Trust in the star-reading of Centaurs. We seldom go wrong."
"But you're wrong this time!" Hagrid muttered, clearly upset that Ferrenze seemed to slight Dumbledore.
Soon, they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"Well, this is where we part," Ferrenze said to them both.
Hagrid waved to Ferrenze, "Goodbye, and thank you for warning us, anyway—I'd best go tell Professor Dumbledore just in case."
"Come on, Harry, let's head back." Hagrid looked up at the night sky and said to Harry, "Looks like rain is coming—we'd better get inside the castle."
Just as Harry and Hagrid stepped into the castle, spring thunder rumbled in the sky.
The white Unicorn bounded through the dense woods, like a spirit among the trees—her footsteps fleet and strong.
Rain began to fall in a light patter, slipping through the heavy night, threading down among the branches and spattering her back.
She came to a brook, quietly stopping underneath an evergreen pine, seeking a sheltered spot.
A chilly breeze swept through the woods, bringing rain, and the occasional cry of wildlife made the forest seem even lonelier.
A pale white glow shimmered across the Unicorn's body. Before long, a beautiful girl in a Hufflepuff Robe with short hair falling about her shoulders appeared where the Unicorn had stood.
Only her body was transparent.
Pabi leaned against the pine, weakly sitting on the ground, burying her face in her hands, sobbing quietly.
Silvery Ghost Tears drifted through the gaps of her fingers, falling upon the black earth.
(Third update is here, diligent work today, please please please vote for me!)
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