Chapter Twelve – Our Headmaster Is Really Odd

"Not growing up in the magical world, you may not realize this, but a Troll could not possibly just wander onto the Hogwarts grounds, let alone stroll into the castle. There are far too many magical protections for that," Draco told me, in tone which caused me to fear he was talking down to me.

"I did read 'Hogwarts, a History' – I'm not totally clueless," I bristled. "Are you saying that somebody deliberately brought the Troll into the castle? That thing was fierce. You couldn't just put a leash on it and walk into the castle."

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Likely it was stunned and levitated into the castle. No danger to the perpetrator who was well away when Mr. Troll revived and went nuts in a strange environment. The Troll was as frightened as we were. They avoid groups of us, they avoid any place where there is enough light to see them well. And I was not speaking down to you, nor do I think you are clueless. You can't learn in several months what I've learned in eleven years. Nobody can. That's why Muggle-born Witches and Wizards initially seem out of place here. It takes time to catch up. I'd be totally lost in the world you came from."

The next morning at breakfast, an owl arrived with a message for me. "Be in my office five minutes after I leave the head table after breakfast. You are excused from your classes. Bring Draco with you. – D"

I showed the note to Draco.

"Why?" Draco asked.

"Perhaps he wants to thank us for saving the Gryffindors from the Troll?"

"Then why not Goyle? He also joined in the rescue. Really he and I stood there while you did your thing."

"Let's not tell him that, although he's probably guessed it. Do you think this meeting might be about the owl you sent to your father?"

"Why would he want you there for that, unless he thinks including you will embarrass me. It won't. Dumbledore is behaving even odder than usual. The older Slytherins tell me things."

"I think he is now sorry that he put me in Slytherin."

"He's getting old. His planning ability and skills aren't as sharp as they once were. Being able to react well to surprises is the first thing that goes. My father taught me that. Always analyze an opponent's weakness. Check for the standard weaknesses. This has been a very odd year – both Snape and Dumbledore acting strange and Trelawney gone and now she just walked to the head table."

I saw her and waved. She sat for a moment and then timidly waved back at me.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were seated in front of Dumbledore's desk when Draco and I entered.

"I want to discuss the matter of the Troll and how the five of you happened to share the girls' bathroom with it. Is there anything which any of you wish to tell me?"

"Ron and I knew Hermione was in the bathroom and didn't know about the Troll. We went to warn her to return to Gryffindor, but we saw the Troll go into the bathroom." Harry admitted.

"I saw Harry and Ron leave the Gryffindor line and followed to protect them. They have no magical fighting skills," I told Dumbledore. "Draco came to help. So did Goyle."

"Why didn't you invite Goyle?" Draco challenged Dumbledore.

"I doubted he could possibly offer anything of value. He seems loyal to you, but very dense." He didn't smile at all as he said that. "Do you really want Goyle here? The five of you violated school rules, either by not being in the Great Hall for dinner or by ignoring my clear order to return to your dorms. Do you wish Goyle to share in your punishment, when we both know he had no choice but to follow you, when you asked him to. I know your father pays him."

"Oh. I expected that, but wasn't sure. I can take care of myself."

"No, you can't take care of yourself. None of you can. You haven't learned the basic rudimentary magic required for self-defense. Emako is sometimes protected by her wild magic, which is very powerful, but not exactly under her control. The other reason I invited the five of you to my office is to suggest that I should teach you basic defensive spells. I believe you will all need them long before Professor Quirrell gets around to teaching them to you. My office after dinner tomorrow night. Tonight you will be helping Hagrid watch the Unicorns in the Forbidden Forest. Someone or something has been killing them."

"Actually," Draco declared defiantly, "I can defend myself. Father hired a tutor. The Minister gave special permission for me to practice magic. Because of father's wealth, I was considered at risk of kidnapping. I've had a wand since I was nine. I can do 'expelliarmus', 'incendio', two meteorological charms, and even the 'Avada', although father said to NEVER use that last one, unless my only alternative is to be killed or captured by a kidnapper."

"I am shocked that Fudge and your father would dare to go so far."

"How far would you go if you had an only child and he was in constant danger?"

Dumbledore waved us away. He was shaking his head in bewilderment. As we reached the door, he stopped us with an odd remark.

"One last thing, two nights ago somebody attempted to penetrate the defenses of the forbidden corridor on the third floor. Do any of you know anything about that? Ahh, good. I assure you, the prize is not worth the almost certainty that you would die trying to reach it."

As we walked away from the office, Draco told us "see, I told you the old coot was dotty. That last comment just encourages me to visit the forbidden corridor. It's like I've just been challenged."

"No! That would be wrong and very, very foolish. Would you really risk your life just because you think Dumbledore challenged you?" Hermione's mood had quickly turned from indignation to incredulity.

"Are you so unadventurous that a challenge like that doesn't excite you?" Draco seemed genuinely surprised by Hermione's reaction.

That night, I was feeling less brave as we prepared to enter the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid and his giant dog, Fang. The full moon shed a fair amount of light through a cloudless sky, but that just cast scary shadows as the tree branches swayed in the breeze.

"Wotcha waiting for?" Hagrid asked, as he held his torch above his head and led us into the forest. Apparently girls didn't rate torches, as only Harry, Ron, and Draco were given torches.

"We're looking for Unicorn blood," Hagrid informed us. "It's silver and it will glow in the torch light."

Somehow those instructions actually calmed me. I had to focus upon the ground, both to spot the Unicorn blood and to avoid tripping over a tree root. Not seeing the changing shadows thrown by the tree branches removed my most immediate source of fear.

We walked and walked, but spotted no blood. We were following a narrow trail and eventually came to a fork in the path.

"Draco and Emako go left, the rest of you follow me."

Draco's voice revealed his fear "that's not fair, four of you and dog, but just Emako and me to face whatever. Did Dumbledore tell you to make sure the Slytherins don't come back?"

"Alright, if you're scared, you can take Harry and Fang. I reckon the three of us will be fine."

"I'm not afraid, but fair's fair."

"It's okay to be afraid. I'm afraid," Harry told Draco.

"So am I," I told Draco and then made a huge mistake. "You know magical spells. I feel safe with you. But, if you knew those spells, why didn't you use them on the Troll, when it was about to pound me?"

I knew instantly that I shouldn't have asked that question in front of Harry. That realization was pounded home as Draco sheepishly admitted "I froze up, okay. Then I was going to use the 'Avada Kedavra', but I was afraid I'd be sent to Azkaban, even for using it on a Troll."

I didn't know what to reply, beyond a feeble "I also froze. I can't control my magic," when Harry rescued me.

"I see blood."

He pointed to glittering spots on the right side of the path.

The Unicorn must be badly wounded. We followed the blood path for several hundred yards. The blood was wet. I knew it couldn't be more than a couple hours old. We passed a left turning in the path and instantly saw it.

In a small clearing, right ahead of us, a dark hooded being bent over what must be the carcass of a freshly-killed Unicorn. I didn't know what to do. Then I screamed "Hagrid! We found it!"

"Expelliarmus! Incendio! Avada…" I forced Draco's wand hand down and he stopped in mid-curse.

I saw that the hooded figure had burst into flame. The flames vanished as quickly as they had appeared. By the time my eyes readjusted to the absence of their light, the figure was gone. An instant later Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione came pounding up behind us.

Hagrid led us carefully toward the fallen Unicorn, scanning the trees on the far side of the clearing.

"Unicorns are beautiful harmless creatures. Who would do such a terrible thing?" Hagrid asked the Gods of the forest.

"Why would someone do such a thing?" Ron asked.

"Unicorns are very rare," Hermione told him. "Their hair is used in wands and their horns are prized for medicinal potions. Most of the potions don't even work. This is horrible."

"It's the blood," Hagrid sadly told us. "Drinking their blood can hold off death for at least a week. Some of the dying at St. Mungo's beg for Unicorn blood."

I couldn't sleep at all that night. Foolishly I just lay in bed thinking of how frightened I had been, how badly I had insulted Draco in front of Harry, and the pitiful sight of the beautiful dead Unicorn. Every time I close my eyes I had seen either the Unicorn or the hooded figure launching a deadly green curse at me. If Draco hadn't set it afire, I might be dead.

At breakfast, Draco looked every bit as wasted as I felt. "You couldn't sleep either?"

"No."

"You didn't! You went exploring in the forbidden corridor."

"Couldn't let Harry accept the challenge before I did. Barely made it out alive, though – giant three-headed dog. One of the heads nearly got me. It's breath was bad enough to kill. I just made it out the door in time, tripped over Goyle."

Now I felt really bad. If I hadn't said what I said about Draco freezing up with the Troll, he probably wouldn't have taken such a crazy risk. It would have been my fault if the dog had killed him.

I looked forward with dread to our evening spell-training session with Dumbledore. My mind was only half on what the professors were saying. I was almost caught by Professor Snape, but recovered enough that he decided he didn't need to call out Slytherin me.

After dinner, Professor Snape cornered Dumbledore, just as he was leaving the head table to meet us at his office. We used the time to share what we had learned. Harry was very excited to learn about the three-headed dog on the third floor. He told Draco that the news was particularly relevant because he had seen Filch tending to one of Snape's legs, which looked like it had been mangled by a large animal.

"If you were hurt, would you run to Filch or to Madam Pomphrey," Harry reasonably asked us.

"Madam Pomphrey, unless I had a secret I couldn't risk having her reveal to Dumbledore," Hermione answered.