7. Hunting Centaurs

They crept through the dark corridors of Hogwarts Castle. Draco was in the lead, Crabbe and Goyle were on the flanks, and Harry brought up the rear. Harry thought that Draco would lead them straight to the main entrance of the castle, but instead he took them in a round-about route. "There's something I want you three to see," he whispered.

They came to the portrait of a fat lady. She was weeping piteously and eating ice cream directly from the carton.

Draco gave her one of his contemptuous looks. "Revenge is sweet," he told her.

She looked up at him with her watery eyes, but did nothing.

"You heard me," he sneered and repeated the password. "Revenge is sweet."

The fat lady whimpered, and pulled open the portrait she was in. Behind it, was a secret passage. Draco led the way in.

They found themselves in the now-abandoned Gryffindor common room. "Lumos!" said Draco and his wand illuminated the scene.

This spacious room was much homier and more inviting than was the dreary dungeon of the Slytherins. Off to one side stood the stone statue of a stern-looking woman, whom Harry liked immediately despite her sternness. "Who is she?"

"Professor Minerva McGonagall," replied Draco. "She tried to use a translucent shield spell to take on a basilisk. It almost worked." He gave her a friendly pat on the backside.

"She's real? She's human?" gasped Harry.

"Was, my dear Longbottom, was," grinned Draco. "But now she will be a stone statue for the rest of eternity. –I wonder if they ever die, these people who are turned to stone."

Crabbe rumbled, "Let's trash this place."

"Let's not," snapped Draco. "We are not two-penny vandals out on a tear; we're centaur hunters, out to make a name for ourselves. Let's go." He led them out of the room and down to the main entrance of the castle.

A cat with lamp-like eyes barred their way.

"I'll take care of her," sneered Draco as he slipped out his wand.

Filch's voice snapped across the room like a bullwhip. "Don't you dare harm Mrs. Norris!" The caretaker stormed out of the shadows and glowered over the boys.

"I wasn't going to harm her," Draco lied. "I was just going to move her aside."

"No need to do that. I don't know where you boys think you're going, but I know where you're about to end up-in front of the head master, himself. Out of bed after curfew," Filch chuckled malevolently.

"That would only happen if you saw us," replied Draco calmly, taking out a purse of gold. He tossed it to Filch. "But you haven't seen us, have you?"

Filch checked inside the bag. His eyes grew wide. He slipped the purse into his pocket, hurried over to the main gates, and opened them. "You boys have a pleasant stroll, you hear?"

Draco laughed and the four boys walked out of the castle.

Draco led the way into the Forbidden Forest. The clouds were breaking up, and a crescent moon lit their way. "All our fathers work for the Ministry of Magic," Draco explained to Harry as they walked along. "My father is one of the chief lieutenants of He Who Must Not Be Named. Crabbe and Goyle's fathers handle special projects. You saw them earlier. They did the blood tests. What does your father do?"

Harry squirmed. "Both my parents are in St. Mungo's," he replied. "During the Great War, they were, well, you know."

"Sorry, Longbottom. Didn't know. So who brought you up?"

"My grandmother."

Draco stopped walking. He turned around with a gleeful smile on his face. "Wait a minute. Not that crazy old witch with the stuffed buzzard on top of her hat?"

Harry blushed. "That's her."

Draco laughed and took up walking again. "And that loser brother of yours, he couldn't even make it into Slytherin House. Longbottom, you do have some crosses to bear."

They came into a clearing that ran up to a rocky ridgeline. Atop it, stood a centaur. "The new moon reveals that which has been hidden," the creature told them. "The stars stabilize all, and bring us to the path once lost."

Draco didn't bother to ask what this blather meant. He raised his crossbow and fired a bolt straight into the middle of the centaur's chest.

The centaur whinnied and bucked. Crabbe fired and hit the centaur in the flank. Goyle fired and hit him in the shoulder. Harry fired, but purposely aimed high, and his bolt flew off into the forest somewhere. Draco ordered the boys to reload, which they did. Then they walked up to where the centaur lay panting on top of the ridge. Draco raised his crossbow.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" roared the 12-foot giant who came leaping out of the trees. With one swipe of his mighty hand, he knocked Crabbe flying. "IF IT'S MURDER YOU WANT, IT'S MURDER YOU'LL GET!" He belted Goyle, who went tumbling. The giant turned on Draco next, but the boy had already dropped his crossbow and was running for his life. So the giant turned on Harry, who had been standing, paralyzed with fright. He lifted Harry up with his left hand and drew back his mighty right fist. "SAY GOOD-BYE TO THIS WORLD, YOU MURDERING SWINE!"

The only thing that could save Harry at that moment was if Draco or Crabbe or Goyle attacked the giant from the rear. He looked around desperately for any of them, but they were long gone.

"Please don't hurt Mr. Potter, Hagrid," said the centaur as it clambered back up to his feet. Its voice was different now. It no longer had the dreamy voice of a centaur but rather, the centaur sounded like a wise, old man. He was getting difficult to see too, all blurry and wavy. When he cleared up, he was no longer a centaur but rather was a wizard with a long white beard.

The giant gaped. "Professor Dumbledore? You're alive?"

The wizard smiled gently as he plucked the three bolts out of himself and tossed them aside. "The day that a group of first years can hurt me with their toys is the day I hang up my wand for good. How have you been Hagrid?"

"Cold, wet and lonely, sir," the giant replied sadly.