The Roaring Snake – 24

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I am just playing in the world created by JKR. As usual, all criticism is welcome.

Rehabilitation and Diplomacy

The news that Malfoy had lost them a hundred points in a nighttime escapade sent had shock waves running through the Slytherins. No longer was the blond Slytherin prince a darling of the House, the peck order of the Slytherin House had turned topsy turvy in less than a few hours, and now Draco Malfoy was at the bottom of the new order. The next morning, Draco hurried down to the Common room, trying for once to avoid attention from others, but he found it impossible. A harsh voice of a third year called out a tripping hex and sent Malfoy barrelling into a fifth year. Now even in the ordinary times, careening into a fifth year was a bad idea. But now, with Malfoy in so much disfavour, the results were far more unpleasant. The older boy simply elbowed Malfoy so savagely that he crashed heavily back into the Common room wall. A jeering laugh from the others greeted him, while the prefect looked on in utter unconcern. Malfoy opened his mouth to protest to the prefects, but saw the suppressed fury in the eyes of the girl, and without a word stalked off towards the classes. Only Pansy and his two gorillas followed Malfoy.

It was Daphne and Millicent who brought this news to Harry, leading Harry and his group into an impromptu discussion of what had transpired. Daphne was coldly satisfied with the development – she looked on in disapproval at the antics of her House mates, but had no real sympathy for Malfoy's fate. Millicent was much more gleeful – she had long suffered under Malfoy's taunts and disdain and she was glad of an opportunity to get her own back on the blond Slytherin ponce. Hermione initiated the discussion, "Harry, you said you wouldn't do anything to hurt Malfoy!" she half-accused.

"And I didn't," returned Harry, proceeding to narrate the whole story of how it had happened that Malfoy had been caught. "It was just his bad luck that he got caught by McGonagall. I could do nothing to help him."

"Help him!" echoed Millicent incredulously. "Why in Merlin's name would you want to help him?"

"Ah – that was an expression of speech," chuckled Harry.

"So what can he do?" asked Susan

"Very little, I would say," replied Rosier thoughtfully. "He'll probably try to lie low, and avoid attention. Any 'interest' his House may show in him will be detrimental to him."

"The more important question," smiled Anthony, "is what should we do?"

"What do you mean? We should put down Malfoy now!" answered Millicent.

"We can't go baiting Malfoy, even if we don't like him," flared up rule-abiding Hermione at once.

Harry's mind was working overtime at the moment. There were several options that he could glean in the current circumstances. The dark haired Hufflepuff leant back in his chair and spoke distantly, "Correct me if I am wrong, but we have three options, I think. We can do nothing and keep away from the whole ugliness, hammer Malfoy as hard as we can, or be kind to Malfoy."

The others all nodded, and Harry continued, "There is much to be said for doing nothing at all. Malfoy will reap the wages of his deeds and I doubt the next few weeks will be kind to him. How are things for him in Slytherin, Daphne?"

"Bad," returned the slender girl. "Almost everyone has turned against him except his cohorts. Even Nott, the most neutral Slytherin, was furious with Malfoy – although he said nothing."

"So apologising to us is going to cost him a lot of face?"

"Immense," nodded Rosier. "That one thing could ruin his reputation badly."

Harry nodded, "So – even our doing nothing will damage his reputation badly in the short term."

"Why do you say 'short term'?" asked Justin.

"Public memory is notoriously short, Justin," replied Harry wearily. "The moment Malfoy does something that pleases them, he will be back in favour with the House. And being the son of Lucius Malfoy – not to mention his own abilities – he has plenty of opportunity to do just that. Besides, Snape will help Malfoy impress Slytherin as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Snape gave Malfoy more points in Potions this week."

Rosier, Greengrass, Bones and Goldstein all nodded slowly at that. What Harry said made sense. Harry continued, "What will attacking him do? Will he lose any more respect from Slytherins?"

Daphne answered slowly, "I don't know. I don't think so. The people who are sticking close to him now are his old allies. Pansy has been friends with him for a long time. She won't leave him. Crabbe and Goyle are not functional without him. None of them are not going to leave him because we throw a few hexes at him. In fact, our being hostile may even do him some good. Slytherins don't like to see their House mates attacked by others. Some might even defend him just because it is other Houses attacking him."

Harry nodded grimly, "It is as I suspected. We really have nothing to gain by being cruel to him. Now my friends, what have we to gain by being kind to him?"

"Nothing," answered Millicent.

"Not quite, Millie," smiled Harry. "For one thing, we know how much he values face. Suppose we offer to let him off apologising to us this evening?"

The others stared at him with expressions from surprise to horror. "He wouldn't be grateful to you," said Daphne flatly.

"No, I don't expect he will. But, tell me, will he still view us as the main enemy? After all, even if we don't target Malfoy, others aren't going to stop doing it. The Gryffindors – specifically the Weasleys – loathe Draco too much. They will use this opportunity to attack him and earn his hatred more than us. I suggest that we sit back and let them fight it out. It might get him off our back for sometime – at least, until he is back in full favour with Slytherin."

Harry continued, "But there is more. Malfoy has been able to make Daphne and Millicent's lives hard mainly because he has a lot of influence in Slytherin. His year mates obey him, the prefects dare not punish him, Snape supports him and so forth. Now, Malfoy's disgrace gives us a golden opportunity to undermine his influence there. It would make Daphne and Millie safer as well."

"How do you propose to do that?" asked Millicent.

Harry smiled, "Malfoy apart, there are eight students in our year in Slytherin, and three of them – Parkinson, Goyle and Crabbe – are Malfoy followers. If Daphne and Millicent had another couple of allies in Slytherin, I would be happier about their safety."

"And you propose to utilise Malfoy's disgrace to gather allies in Slytherin?" asked Goldstein, catching on to the game Harry was considering.

Harry nodded, "Nott, in particular. He has never been a Malfoy minion." Harry leant back in his chair and spoke almost absently, "I have long been considering getting Nott on our side. Apart from his value in keeping Millicent and Daphne safe, he is the only one who has been nearly matching Sak in Astronomy, and has beaten all of us except Hermione at every test in History. We know from experience how good Sak and Hermione are at Astronomy and History, so Nott's abilities are not something to be sneezed at."

Rosier and Granger blushed and waved it away, but Harry continued seriously. "Listen, people – when it comes to academics, our group has the top three spots in all the subjects except for a very select few. Only Padma Patil in Herbology and Potions, Nott in Astronomy and History and MacDougal in Defence have been in the top spots. I have been thinking of inviting them to our weekly homework meetings. If that is acceptable to you all that is."

There were slow nods, while Hermione questioned, "Why bother, Harry?"

"They have ideas that we don't. It will be interesting to compare notes and their views." Harry finally locked eyes with the muggleborn girl and his voice was stern and sombre, "Finally, in this school, we have all been attacked at least once over the last few months. First it was Malfoy and his goons attacking Millie and Daph, then it was the troll, then it was me getting poisoned and cursed. More friends to watch each others' backs cannot hurt!"

"What makes you think they will be interested?"

"Well, our group has been at the top in almost every subject. They are ambitious enough and they want to succeed. They will accept the invitation to better grades, if nothing else!"

There was a moment's silence. "All this is fine. But why does not burning our bridges with Malfoy matter?" asked Justin.

"It doesn't. But in this case, we've got nothing to gain by being harsh with Malfoy. Think of this – let us say we force him to apologise to us tonight. Do you think he will really feel sorry? No. His words will have no meaning, and we will be seen as trying to humiliate him. In fact, I would not be surprised if there were rumours that we are forcing him to apologise to us. Therefore, we might as well try the kinder alternative. Also, if Malfoy decides to retaliate, he will likely choose his greatest enemies. Let him think of others as his greatest enemies!"

"Harry, I suggest that you extract a price from Malfoy for letting him off apologising to us. Even if it is a small one, and even if we know he is not going to pay it," suggested Tony quietly.

"Why?" inquired Harry curiously.

"We don't want to hurt his pride, since we get no benefit out of it. Gifting him your pardon, so to speak, will look like condescension to him."

Harry nodded. He recalled his old teacher in his elementary school mentioning a cynical bit of information about the Cardinal Mazarin in the course of one of his lessons. The Cardinal, his teacher had informed the class, was in the habit of putting down rebellions he had himself organised. The situation that applied to him was now similar. True – he had not meant to organise this revolt against Malfoy – but he was grateful for the opportunity, and was just in the situation as the arch-politician to reap the rewards of his campaign. He continued, "As a price for letting him off, what do you think of asking him to leave us alone in the future? That we'll stay out of his business as long as he stays out of ours?"

"I doubt he'll keep it," answered Goldstein.

"I don't think he will either. And his keeping his word is really immaterial – he is too weak to do anything much by himself. We just want him distracted so that he does not focus on us. But he'll stick to it in the short run, because he's got other problems to deal with."

"Okay," concluded Harry. "Now about MacDougal, Patil and Nott – what shall we do? Shall we invite them to our weekly meetings? We can gauge their ideas and reactions before we proceed further."

No objections were raised to this, so Harry continued, "How do we approach them?"

"I can talk to Nott, Harry," answered Daphne.

"Tony and I will speak to Morag and Padma," supplied Rosier.

"Good – let me know how it all goes," replied Harry. With that decision from Harry, the group broke up. As the others began to leave, Harry pulled Sakarbal aside. "Sak, can you let Narcissa Malfoy know what really happened? And you can tell her what we are doing to clear up the mess. Tell her we'll try to defend Draco as much as possible!"

"Are you really planning to defend Malfoy?"

"I won't let him get hexed in my presence if I can help it!"

Rosier offered a suggestion, "If we're going to let him off apologising to us, I think we should discreetly let the other purebloods in Slytherin know that we did it because 'we don't want a member of an old wizarding family shamed'."

Harry stared, "D'you think people will believe it?"

"It can't do us any harm to try. It will win us a few brownie points if it succeeds," replied the pureblood with a wry smile.

Harry nodded, and the duo parted on that note.

--(Scene Break)--

Harry, accompanied by Sakarbal, had gone straight to Malfoy and hailed him. "What's it, Potter? Want to kick someone who's down?"

"No, Malfoy. Listen to me for a minute. I am willing to ask Dumbledore to let you off apologising to us."

This was something totally unexpected that Malfoy stopped short. "You said?"

"You heard what I said. I am willing to ask Dumbledore to let you off apologising to us."

Draco was quick to catch on, Potter was willing to bargain with him, "What do you want in return?"

"Nothing more than your word of honour that you will leave us alone."

"Why Potter? Afraid that your blood traitors and mudbloods will bite the dust? Or, after getting me in trouble last night, you ..."

"Give it a rest, Malfoy," returned Harry wearily. "Just now for a moment, you looked almost reasonable, when you went off into that psychotic blather. Now – I am feeling generous and am willing to come with you and ask Dumbledore that you be let off from apologising to us. In return, you and your little friends will keep away from me and my friends. That way, we'll all be happy."

"I don't need your charity!" snarled Malfoy.

"Oh very well, then – you can always humiliate yourself in front of the school if that's what you want." Harry had seen Malfoy flinch at that, and decided to twist the knife. He laughed unpleasantly, "I wonder what your Slytherin friends will say when they see you apologising to a half-blood in front of the school ..."

Malfoy stood clenching and unclenching his hands. Acknowledge the gift he would not, refuse it, he could not. He stood irresolute. A minute's silence followed and Rosier and Potter stood indifferently, their eyes focussed on something outside the window. They seemed to be giving Malfoy himself not another thought. Finally, Malfoy broke the silence, "You got me in the mess last night. Why would you do it, Potter?"

Harry looked at him for a long time and finally answered, "Your mother did me a great favour. She helped me when no one else would."

"Eh? What was that?"

"Ask your mother, Malfoy. She'll tell you. In the meantime, do you want to do this or not?"

"How d'you know I'll keep the terms?"

"If a Malfoy were to break his word, he would only shame himself and his family," returned Harry coolly.

Malfoy was trapped and there was no way out of this corner without losing enormous prestige. Potter was extending him a virtual lifeline. There was nothing else to be done. The terms Potter was proposing were not harsh – far from it actually. He gritted, "I accept your terms."

"Good," replied Harry nonchalantly. "Let's go to Dumbledore and settle this right away,"

--(Scene Break)--

Dumbledore had objected to the course being proposed by Harry. "Mr. Malfoy made reckless accusations against you, Harry. He must apologise for his actions!"

"Malfoy made a mistake. As things stand, I hardly see how he has done me or my friends any harm. Nor do I see any reason for him to apologise to me publicly, especially since he never accused me publicly," returned Harry stolidly. For this expedition to Dumbledore's office, Harry had taken Hermione and Susan along with Malfoy. Rosier had been left behind – the Ravenclaw had pointed out that his presence could do no good, and it would be better if a half-blood and a muggleborn accompanied Harry on his clemency petition.

Dumbledore was inwardly furious. This had been such a splendid opportunity to sow more discord between Harry and Narcissa Malfoy and Harry was ruining it all for him. To force Draco to apologise now was dangerous – Harry might get up at the table and say what he had said just now to him. That would be disastrous. Besides, Malfoy knew that Harry truly did not desire an apology and had done everything to stop Dumbledore from forcing the Slytherin prince to apologise in public. Therefore, he had to accept the situation as it was. He acceded to Harry's request and they departed.

Once they had departed, Dumbledore fell into a profound reflection. He had been trying to prevent Harry from becoming an independent entity. Harry's actions gave him a sense of deja vu. Fifty years ago, another half blood student had managed to gather the brightest and the best, the most talented and knowledgeable of the school to his standard. He had shown enormous talent, skill, resolution and ruthlessness in his career, even as he appeared a model student. Now, before his eyes was playing out another drama on similar lines. The finest of the first years were resolutely standing beside Harry Potter willing to do much for the Boy-Who-Lived. But there was one curious difference – Tom would never have shown anyone mercy, if he got the chance. He would have utilised the opportunity to humiliate his enemies. Harry Potter had shown mercy, not because it was the kind or the correct thing to do, but because he saw more profit in mercy. That was frightening.

The headmaster had hoped that Harry would be an easily honed weapon, which could then be launched against Voldemort when he returned. Things would have been easier for Harry had he been the mindless pawn that he was meant to be. In fact, his chances of surviving the headmaster's attentions would have been far better, if he had shown real use to Dumbledore's schemes. But now, ..

--(Scene Break)--

Narcissa had accepted Sakarbal's explanation of the events, and had besought Harry and his group to protect Draco as much as possible. Harry had accepted that request and was doing as much as possible to stop Draco from being attacked by others. Even with Harry Potter and his friends remaining neutral, Draco was having a terrible time in school. The Slytherins had taken it on themselves to make Draco's life as painful as possible. The Gryffindors kept popping in and out, particularly led by the Weasleys, to make Draco's life even more difficult. Assaults against Draco – both verbal and physical abounded and Draco was, for the first time in his life, finding out what it was to be a victim of the displeasure of his peers. Draco was walking down a corridor, when the Weasley twins played a prank that tied his shoelaces together. Malfoy tripped and fell over, banging his knees painfully, while Ron, Dean and another Gryffindor guffawed at the prank. Percy, the Gryffindor prefect was looking disapproving at the antics of the twins. What he would have done became a matter of academic interest, as Harry, Rosier, Greengrass and Granger who were passing by stopped, and acted before he could. Rosier muttered a simple charm that undid the knot, while Harry called out to Fred and George, "Can you two stop tormenting Draco? It is bad enough what he is going through without you adding to his burden!"

Everyone looked flabbergasted at Harry, since defending Draco Malfoy was the last thing expected. "Harry?" muttered the twins in surprise.

Harry nodded, "Leave him alone. He's got enough to deal with." He sighed, "For my sake, you two – leave him alone!" Leaving everyone outside the group gaping in surprise, Harry and his friends walked past and Harry flung a Parthian shot at Ron and his friends, "It does your Gryffindor nobility little credit to kick someone who is down!" Turning to Draco, he remarked, "Are you alright?"

Draco had turned pale with anger and mortification. Without a word, he pulled himself to his feet and vanished down the corridor. Harry shrugged, turned away and with is friends, disappeared into the school. "That was a very noble thing you did, Harry," praised Hermione, her eyes shining with admiration.

Harry's lips quirked cynically, as he returned, "There are times when kindness is more useful."

--(Scene Break)--

Draco was working full time to reconcile himself with his House and in this endeavour, he had been assisted ably by Snape. The four weeks before Easter holidays felt like four years to Draco, but they passed at last, and many of the school members became more relaxed, finally procuring for Draco the much needed respite. Children were not, after all, capable of sustained vindictiveness and Draco was hoping that time would cool off their vengeance against him.

In the meantime, Harry Potter was working full time on his studies with his friends. Their collective efforts were sufficient to gain the group the top spots in almost all subjects, and the weekly meetings with Nott, Patil and MacDougal were proceeding fruitfully. In the meantime, Harry's lessons with Quirrell were also continuing, although the Defence professor seemed to be getting tireder with each passing day. They had gone back to the one session per week, and in one of the sessions, Harry had observed that the man's fingernails had turned blue. Clearly, he was in the grip of some slow and debilitating disease or disorder.

During Easter, occurred the first incident of note. Millicent got a letter from her mother, after reading which, the muscular Slytherin girl went pale. "What's it, Millie?" inquired Harry, seeing the pallor of the girl.

"Those idiots want to round up and tag centaurs," snarled Millicent.

"Sorry, who wants to round up and tag centaurs?" Justin was confused.

"That bitch, Umbridge! She's got a law passed that requires centaurs to 'register' and get tagged by the Ministry!"

"Who the deuce is she?"

"A Ministry official who hates all non-humans," sighed Anthony. "She's very high up in the Magical Creatures department. And she's got the Minister's ear."

Daphne closed her eyes and spoke wearily, "She can get Fudge to sign off on anything she wants. Not that the Minister would need any encouragement to go after centaurs. He thinks they are all just wild beasts."

Susan added bitterly, "Umbridge made auntie's life miserable last year – asking her for aurors to go hunting werewolves that were minding their own business!"

"How come she's that high up if she's so bigoted?"

"Because she's so bigoted," answered Daphne caustically. "There are plenty of wizards, Harry, who believe that all non-humans are barbarians. They think all other beings should be controlled by humans. The very fact that this law was passed shows how many in the Wizengamot support it."

Harry filed away that information for future. He would research who had voted against the centraurs and would try to find out their agenda. "Okay – so what do we do?" asked Harry.

Millicent answered, "Well, mum's asked me to warn them of this. Hagrid'll know where to find them."

Harry rose to his feet, "No time like the present. Let's find Hagrid and warn the centaurs of this." He added almost as an afterthought, "Besides, I would like to meet the centaurs and find out for myself what they are like."

--(Scene Break)--

Hagrid had proved most cooperative when told of the mission the duo had come on. At first, he suggested that he take the message himself, but Millie declined that offer. She had been charged by her mother to do the job and she would do it herself. So, Hagrid agreed and the trio walked with Hagrid and his dog into the Forbidden Forest.

They first came across a red-haired centaur named Ronan. Millicent dropped a curtsy and called in Centaurian, "Greetings!" Harry and Hagrid both looked in astonishment at the heavy-set Slytherin girl who seemed to know a wide variety of languages.

"Who are you, youngling? And how come you speak my tongue?" returned the surprised Centaur.

Millicent returned haltingly in the same language, "I am Millicent Bulstrode, the daughter of Bianca Crouch-Bulstrode. I come bearing a message for the centaurs from my mother."

"Your command of my language leaves a lot to be desired, young one," remarked the centaur dryly in English. "What did you wish to speak to me about?"

"I bring a message from my mother, a friend of centaurs. The Ministry is trying to pass a law that would force all centaurs on public lands to register and be tagged." Despite her attempts to control her feelings, she had practically spat the last few words in disgust.

The centaur made an angry noise, but Millicent continued hurriedly, "My mother apologises for what is happening, but requests that all under Ministry jurisdiction move to private lands as soon as possible to escape this madness."

Ronan looked at the trio for a long moment, and then drew a horn from his belt and sounded it in a strange pattern loudly. He, then, made a gesture to follow him. As they followed the centaur, Harry asked Millicent in an undertone what had transpired between her and the centaur a few minutes ago, and the girl translated their conversation for him. A few minutes of walk brought them to a clearing, and there were about fifty centaurs all gathered there, waiting in some puzzlement why the meeting had been called.

As Ronan came with the giant gamekeeper and the two students, he greeted everyone else and spoke for a few minutes with the one who appeared to be their head. The large centaur who was speaking to Ronan finally asked Millicent to speak her news to everyone. The Slytherin girl did, although it was plain that she was more than a little intimidated at the prospect of addressing a whole crowd of centaurs. When she had finished, there were angry shouts and threats, but Magorian commanded them to silence. He turned back to Millicent, "Tell your mother we are grateful for the warning. The centaurs will consult with the stars and decide what to do. Ronan will escort you back to the edge of the Forest."

As they all walked back, Harry spoke to Ronan, "Is there nothing we can do to help you?"

Ronan looked coldly at Harry, "We don't need your pity or charity."

Harry shook his head, "I'm not trying to offer you charity. What's happening is just wrong. No one should be humiliated like this."

Millicent added, "Certainly not an ancient race like the centaurs. The centaurs were a civilised race when humans were picking berries naked! And you know Crouches have always assisted centaurs."

Ronan remained silent, as Harry continued, "Please. We only wish to help. Is there anything we can do at all?"

Ronan finally sighed, "What is written in the stars will come to pass, Harry Potter. So – don't worry about us. We can take care of ourselves. In this forest, we are safe since the Ministry has no authority here. We can invite our brothers and sisters from outside to move in with us."

Almost as an afterthought, he added, "I appreciate your intention, though and we centaurs certainly owe some gratitude towards the family of Crouch." He gave Harry's face a long, intent and very serious look and spoke clearly, "Take care, Harry Potter. Mars is unusually bright, and it is the innocents who die first. The food of the gods is not for mortals, but when wizards aspire for that which should not be, it may yet be made of that which is hidden and yet not hidden. The dead who are not dead may return to life and the reign of Mars may begin once more. Beware!" The cryptic warning spoken, the centaur disappeared back into the woods.

Harry looked in bewilderment after the retreating centaur, but Millicent had drawn a small writing pad and was busy scribbling down everything the centaur had said just before disappearing. "What did he mean, Hagrid?" asked Harry.

"I dunno, Harry. Centaurs ne'er speak easy."

"He said something about innocents being the first to die. Has anyone been killed in the forest?"

Hagrid shook his head. "No one's been killed." But Harry detected a faint note of concern in the gamekeeper's voice. "So who's been hurt?"

"No, no. Summat killed a unicorn some days ago and another one yesterday. But that happens now and then. We should get back to the school."

--(Scene Break)--

"A unicorn has been found dead, you say?" Daphne had jumped to her feet, her eyes shining with concern and unhappiness. "I need to see it."

Harry looked in surprise at the girl's demeanour. "I don't know where it is. Hagrid said he .."

"In that case, Hagrid will know where it is. I need to see it immediately!"

Harry nodded in acquiescence – he understood Daphne's concern considering the significance of the unicorns to the Greengrasses – and accompanied Rosier, Bulstrode, and Greengrass to Hagrid's hut. Leaving Rosier to console his friend, Harry whispered to Millicent, "About the dead unicorn. What does Daphne plan to do?"

"I think she wants to see if she can identify what killed the unicorn. If so, she will inform the other unicorns on her estate of this threat. She will also, if she can, get her parents to inform other unicorns in the Forest of the threat, and may even try to persuade them to evacuate this Forest until the threat has been eliminated."

Millicent sighed wearily, before continuing, gesturing towards the Forbidden Forest, "This Forest once counted the largest number of unicorns in a single preserve in the world – there were over a couple of hundred. Today, there may be a couple of dozen unicorns – perhaps even less."

"But why?" queried a perplexed Harry. "Surely, no one's been hunting in the Forest?"

Millicent laughed sourly, "My mum reckons Hagrid's the reason. He's got a colony of acromantula – giant spiders – in this Forest. While the acromantula can't catch the adult unicorns which are very fast, they can and do catch and eat foals, and very old unicorns. Given that unicorns breed slowly, the loss of even a few foals leads to a general decline. Besides, when the acromantula moved in, the unicorns migrated away. Some of them were relocated to the Lestrange estate, others on the McKinnon-Vance estate and yet others moved to the preserve near St. Mungo. Of course, during the migrations, many perished from want of forage and physical exhaustion."

"Dumbledore allowed it?"

"Dumbledore needs Hagrid more than the unicorns, Harry. The only way to preserve the unicorns in the Forest would be to exterminate the acromantula – which are not creatures native to Britain. They were introduced here by Hagrid and they now are taking their toll on the endemic species. Exterminating the acromantula would antagonise Hagrid, so Dumbledore has taken the easier method of prohibiting everyone entrance into the Forest. No news – so no trouble. Problem solved!"

"How on earth do you know all this?"

"Through my mum. The Ministry conducts biannual surveys of all magical creatures in all preserves of Britain. An year ago, their surveys indicated that there were about thirty unicorns in this Forest and they were in severe decline." Her lips twisted into a bitter smile, "The report, though, was never published. Dumbledore wouldn't allow it."

Harry was scowling on hearing how Dumbledore was allowing things to fall apart to please his proteges. The old coot was utterly indifferent to the effects on others – as long as it served his purposes, he was more than willing to pursue his own objectives with a frightening and single-minded recklessness and ruthlessness. Finally, he returned to earth, "You said that acromantula have never captured adult unicorns. How do you account for this dead unicorn?"

"I don't know, Harry. I need to see. I'm sure that's Daphne's main concern as well."

"Do humans hunt unicorns?"

Millicent was silent for a moment. Finally, she answered slowly, "It is possible. But only a nutcase or a truly desperate man would do such a thing. Unicorn body parts have a lot of uses, Harry, but to slay a unicorn is a monstrous thing. Even the most despicable of Dark Lords refrained from that particular atrocity. Slaying a unicorn brings a terrible curse on you because you have slain a truly pure creature for your gain. Unicorn blood will keep a man alive even if he is at the point of death, but from that moment, he is cursed."

"So who would want to do something so stupid and dangerous?"

Millicent shrugged, "I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. Ah – here we are! Let me see that unicorn's injuries" Millicent hurried forward with Daphne, leaving Harry and Sakarbal standing back from the two girls, watching them with rapt interest.

Daphne rose after a few minutes, her lips compressed and her eyes flashing with fury. Without a word, she stalked towards the school, leaving her friends staring in her wake, before they followed her. Daphne went straight to the owlery and sent off two letters,

Finally, they all returned to the others and swiftly explained everything that had happened. Harry's first concern was for Daphne, who was reclining sadly on a sofa. Rosier was sitting with her, his arm around her shoulders, when Harry questioned, "Daphne, is there something we can do to help you?"

The pureblood Slytherin shook her head slowly, "I don't think so. I've sent owls to mum and uncle Rabastan about the unicorns. Tomorrow, they'll be here and will try to persuade the other unicorns to leave the Forest." She continued very softly, speaking almost to herself, "The question is where."

"Sorry?" interrupted Harry.

Daphne sighed wearily, "Both Greengrass and Lestrange estates already have all the unicorns they can hold. And unicorns are not something you can feed in a manger – they are intensely territorial and they need their space. Those relocated in either of these two places will be very uncomfortable."

"Is there no other place they can be moved to?" asked Harry. "How about your place, Sak?"

Rosier shook his head sadly, "Our estate is a thickly wooded, broken and swampy area. Unicorns need plains, grasslands and clearings."

Susan Bones spoke thoughtfully, "I can speak to auntie and see if we can host a few unicorns on our estate. There are a few clearings there."

"The best place, though," went on Daphne thoughtfully, "is on the McKinnon-Vance estate. And they have space for more unicorns. But that is just wishful thinking."

"Why?"

There was an uncomfortable silence at the question. Finally, Rosier answered succinctly, "Our relations with the McKinnons are badly strained, Harry. They wouldn't do anything for us."

Harry thought out loud, "What if I were to request them?"

A sharp intake of breath was heard at this. "You'd do this for us?" stammered Daphne.

"Why not? This is dear to your heart, and you are a friend. That is enough for me. So – if I send a letter of request to Emmeline McKinnon-Vance, would it help?"

"I guess so," answered Daphne. Harry immediately complied with her request and sent a message to Lady Emmeline, requesting a few minutes of her time. He told her that it involved some unicorns in Hogwarts, and that he needed he help. Similarly, Susan Bones wrote to Amelia Bones asking for her help in relocating the unicorns. Daphne stuttered out her thanks – it was unlike the completely self-possessed girl in control of everything, but Harry waved them away. That done, they all settled back into a more lively conversation.

Harry finally asked a question, "Daph, Millie – care to tell us what you learnt from the dead unicorn?"

Daphne was still very deeply disturbed by what she had seen, so Millicent explained for her, "The unicorn was not killed by direct magic or by any predator. But that is not surprising – they are resistant to magic and are fast and stealthy. It was struck by an arrow or javelin or some such piercing weapon. But what was worrisome was that it was drained of all blood. And the horn was taken. Curiously, the tail hair and hooves were left behind."

"Someone was desperate enough to take unicorn blood," murmured Harry. "But what use is the horn?"

Daphne pulled herself together to answer that question, "Unicorn blood and ground horn are combined together and used to make servo mortalitas – a very powerful healing and restorative potion that can keep you functional even if you are dying. It heals injuries instantaneously and can literally keep death away. However, it is also one of the foulest potions since it requires the slaughter of a unicorn and collection of the blood while it is yet alive!"

Harry frowned – he remembered Millicent telling him how valuable the tail hair was in wand making. He commented, "Millie – I think you said the tail hair is very valuable."

The hefty Slytherin caught on to what Harry was thinking, "The blood is not so valuable – since it is too vile to be used. So whoever hunted the unicorn was not after money. They just wanted to make the potion!"

Harry nodded grimly, "There is more. Hagrid said that this is the second unicorn that has been killed. Assuming that the first one was also killed by the same person, who would require so much unicorn blood in such a short time? "

The implications of Harry's words sank in and there was a collective gasp of horror. Harry continued, "In fact, what has been happening coincides very well with the warning the centaur gave. Millie, would you like to read the warning?"

Everyone looked at him questioningly, so Harry explained the warning Ronan had given him and Millicent read the actual warning.

Finally, Rosier spoke, "That is very worrisome, Harry. Centaurs are diviners par excellence, and I would take that warning seriously."

Hermione interrupted, "McGonagall says that Divination is a very imprecise science, Harry."

Susan answered, "Not quite. McGonagall is biased against Divination. There are more charlatans in Divination than in other branches of magic, it is true, but Divination itself is not remotely imprecise. We need to be able to understand and interpret correctly."

Rosier sighed, "Let's take the warning piece by piece. 'Mars is unusually bright' – Mars is the Roman god of war, and his being bright points to a chance of a war or violence. But it is 'unusually' bright – so dies it also point to an unusual kind of war or violence? Or does it point to some kind of violence that has not been foreseen or is thought improbable?"

There were no answers to it, so he continued, "'It is the innocent who die first'. This, I think, we can take to refer to the unicorns. There is nothing more innocent or pure than a unicorn." There were nods of agreement at his words, so he continued, "Now we come to the more difficult part, 'The food of the gods is not for mortals'. What is the food of the gods?"

"Nectar? Ambrosia?" supplied Goldstein thoughtfully.

"I have never heard of anyone making nectar or ambrosia," objected Daphne, "since that is what the next bit says."

They were getting nowhere with this. Harry sighed, "Very well, people. It's getting late tonight. We'll discuss this tomorrow and do some research on it."

On that note, they all rose and made their way back to their Houses. On the way back, Susan whispered to Harry, "It was noble of you to offer to help the unicorns. But you need to be careful."

"Of what?"

"You are the Boy-Who-Lived. Everything you do will have political overtones. You should be careful not to give people the wrong impression!"

Harry nodded grimly, "Thanks for the warning, Susan, I'll watch my step."

--(Author's Notes: )--

What would be the effect on Malfoy if he lost them a hundred points and put them at the bottom of the table in one go? Would the House that values success above everything pardon Malfoy? What about his friends? How many of them would hang on to him? How would the rest of the school react to a chance offered to put the Slytherin ponce in place? Also, this is the first chance I have had for Harry to play a bit of manipulation of his own. Let us see how well I can write Harry's manipulation, shall we?

Also a bit of explanation about Crouch's ability to speak so many different languages. I've never seen anyone assign a reason to that. Considering that the Wizarding World in general and the purebloods in particular are not particularly admiring of non-humans and/or their traditions, it would be interesting to explore why old Barty could speak so many languages fluently.

Thanks to my Beta readers – Voice of the Nephilim and Abstract Error.