"The Forbidden Forest," Lee read.
Things couldn't have been worse.
"I was wrong," Harry muttered.
Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Hermione was trembling. Excuses, alibis, and wild cover-up stories chased each other around Harry's brain, each more feeble than the last.
"Always go out with an excuse. Rule of mischief number four," Fred told the younger students.
He couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time. They were cornered. How could they have been so stupid as to forget the cloak?
"That was pretty dumb," Percy nodded his head.
There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the invisibility cloak, and they might as well be packing their bags already.
Had Harry thought that things couldn't have been worse? He was wrong. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.
"Oh no!" Katie cried.
"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other two. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag—"
Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.
"I love the way your mind works," Cedric said with a chuckle.
"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explainyourselves."
It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher's question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue.
"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble.
"Glad to know it wasn't a cock-and-bull story," Neville told the trio.
I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"
Harry caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt. Poor, blundering Neville—Harry knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.
"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before!You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this.
"She knows how to lay the guilt trip," Bill said impressed.
All three of you will receive detentions—yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous—and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."
"No!" Charlie moaned.
"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Cho asked. "I mean, she only took twenty off of Slytherin."
"Fifty?" Harry gasped—they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match.
"Don't question her!" Fred and George yelled.
"Fifty points each,"
"You had to question her?" Lee moaned.
said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.
"Ha! We've seen her worse," Fred said.
"Professor—please—"
"You can't—"
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."
A hundred and fifty points lost.
"We know!" All the Gryffindors yelled at the book.
That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the house cup. Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. How could they ever make up for this?
"We'll find a way," Ron chuckled and whispered to Harry.
Harry didn't sleep all night. He could hear Neville sobbing into his pillow for what seemed like hours. Harry couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him. He knew Neville, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out what they'd done?
"Found out fast enough," Harry muttered.
At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first years.
From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated.
"Fair weather fans," Hermione huffed.
Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup.
Cho and Cedric felt a twinge of guilt. While they hadn't partaken in this, it was still their houses.
Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"
Those gits!" Charlie yelled. Cho and Cedric glanced at each other and then Cedric said, "Harry, I'd like to apologize on behalf of Hufflepuff house for the way you were treated last year."
"And I for Ravenclaw," Cho said. Harry smiled.
"Apologies accepted," he told them.
Only Ron stood by him.
"Of course I did," Ron said wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders.
"They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."
"Yes well—"
"—we're very likeable." the twins said.
"They've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they?" said Harry miserably.
"Well—no," Ron admitted.
It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on.
"Nice one Harry," Hermione giggled.
He'd had it with sneaking around and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself that he went to Wood and offered to resign from the Quidditch team.
"I don't understand, resign?" Charlie gasped.
"You'll see," Harry sighed.
"Resign?" Wood thundered. "What good'll that do? How are we going to get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?"
But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him "the Seeker."
"I'm sorry?" Oliver hissed glancing at his team. "I really hope I misheard Lee."
The fact that Katie was trying to avoid his eye told him everything he needed to know.
"Captain's office now!" he ordered. Fred and George ran for the door. "Hold the reading Lee," Oliver told him and followed his team. When he got in there, he shut the door and glared. "How could you?" he came right out and said. "I had no clue what was going on."
"Oliver—" Alicia tried to speak but Oliver cut her off.
"Harry was a first year. A first year and you all treated him like something you would scrape off the back of your shoe. Alicia, how many points did you lose when you managed to blow up the library?"
"Two hundred," said girl said softly.
"And were you treated like dirt by the rest of the team?" Oliver asked. "No. So what gave you the right to treat your fellow team mate like that?"
"Oliv—" Katie said softly but was cut off as well.
"We are a team. A team I say. We do not treat each other like dirt and if we have a problem, we come to the captain. Understand?"
At everyone's nod, he pointed to the door and said "Let's go and finish this chapter."
Fred and George again scrambled for the door in case Oliver decided to rant some more. Those two were met with glares from their three brothers as well. As they sat down, Angelina and Katie said "Harry, we're really sorry about how we acted last year."
"We are too," Alicia and the twins said. "Can you forgive us?"
Harry thought for a minute. They did treat him rather poorly but on the other hand he thought the twins had earned his forgiveness for rescuing him from the Dursley's this summer.
"Of course I can," he said with a smile.
Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren't as well-known, but nobody would speak to them, either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence.
Oliver shot his team a glare, well with the exception of Harry. Even though he hadn't known Hermione back then, they were all Gryffindors and they had all lost points at some point in their school careers. Despite the apology Harry had given, the twins and Alicia, Katie and Angelina bowed their heads in shame; along with Lee and Percy.
"You know," Neville whispered to Ron. "If Hermione could have answered a few questions, we'd won all those points back in a day."
Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the studying he had to do kept his mind off his misery. He, Ron, and Hermione kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions...
Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry's new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern him was put to an unexpected test.
"Why am I not surprised?" Ron chuckled.
Walking back from the library on his own one afternoon, he heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.
"No—no—not again, please—"
"What's happening?" George asked.
It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry moved closer.
"All right—all right—" he heard Quirrell sob.
"Oh," Alicia cried. "Poor Quirrell!"
"Poor Quirrell, my ass," Ron muttered under his breath.
Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Harry didn't think Quirrell had even noticed him. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Harry was halfway toward it before he remembered what he'd promised himself about not meddling.
"So it lasted longer than I thought," Hermione teased.
"150 points," Harry hissed. "Plus the entire house hating me, you, Neville, and the rest of the first years."
The rest of the Quidditch team—except for Oliver—looked down in guilt.
Oliver was right; they didn't act much like a team.
All the same, he'd have gambled twelve Philosopher's Stones that Snape had just left the room, and from what Harry had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step—Quirrell seemed to have given in at last.
"Oh no!" Lee cried.
Harry went back to the library, where Hermione was testing Ron on Astronomy. Harry told them what he'd heard.
"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell—"
"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.
"I'm still amazed that Hagrid named a three headed dog Fluffy," Katie chuckled.
"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?"
The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Hermione answered before Harry could.
"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."
"Aren't you the smartest witch of your age and Harry the boy who lived?"
Fred asked. "They're not going to throw you out of school."
"But we've got no proof!" said Harry. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor—who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."
"He's Dumbledore," Charlie said. "If he can trust Snape, he would believe you."
Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn't.
"If we just do a bit of poking around—"
"No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough poking around."
He pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to learn the names of its moons.
The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Hermione, and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:
Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight.
Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.
Professor McGonagall
"Your detention was in the forbidden forest?" Katie asked.
"Yep." Harry said, popping the 'p'.
Harry had forgotten they still had detentions to do in the furor over the points they'd lost. He half expected Hermione to complain that
this was a whole night of studying lost, but she didn't say a word.
Like Harry, she felt they deserved what they'd got.
At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to Ron in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there—and so was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.
"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.
"Do we have to?" Harry muttered.
I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."
"Why is he still working here?" Charlie asked.
They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible, or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.
"Flich is an evil bastard," Bill said. "Anything involving pain would make him happy."
The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."
Harry's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. His relief must have showed in his face, because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy—it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."
At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.
"Ah Malfoy. You provide us with great entertainment," Cedric chuckled.
"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual."We can't go in there at night—there's all sorts of things in there—werewolves, I heard."
"That's nice Filch. Get them scared before they have to go into the forest.
Really nice tactic." George said.
"That was sarcasm right?" Fred asked.
"Ya think?"
Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.
"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"
"Oh yes—"
"—because we always think about werewolves before we decide to break rules."
Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.
"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?"
"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, they're here to be punished, after all."
"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."
"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.
Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.
"I'm not going in that forest," he said, and Harry was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.
"Good, it's the git's fault you're all out there." Lee said.
"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yehve got ter pay fer it."
"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd—"
"—tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone. Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on."
Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.
"Drat."
"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."
He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.
"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."
"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
"Malfoy's afraid?" Ron and the twins asked, failing to keep the glee out of their voices.
"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."
"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.
"That dog's a ruddy coward," Charlie chuckled.
"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. " So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other.
"That'll be a mistake," Fred said.
Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now— that's it—an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh— so, be careful—let's go."
The forest was black and silent.
"Odd phrase," Lee piped up.
A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Neville, and Fang took the right.
They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.
Harry saw that Hagrid looked very worried.
"Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.
"Not fast enough," said Hagrid. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."
They walked past a mossy tree stump. Harry could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.
"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter—GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"
"What is it?" Katie, Alicia and Cho yelled.
Hagrid seized Harry and Hermione and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The three of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.
"I knew it, " he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."
"A werewolf?" Harry suggested.
"That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," said Hagrid grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful, now."
They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound.
Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.
"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself—I'm armed!"
And into the clearing came—was it a man, or a horse?
"Centaurs," Cho and Charlie said at the same time.
To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard, but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped.
"Not the thing to do when meeting a centaur," Charlie said with a chuckle.
"Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid in relief. "How are yeh?"
He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.
"Good evening to you, Hagrid," said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice. "Were you going to shoot me?"
"Can't be too careful, Ronan," said Hagrid, patting his crossbow. "There's summat bad loose in this forest. This is Harry Potter an'
Hermione Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you two. He's a centaur."
"We'd noticed," said Hermione faintly.
"Good evening," said Ronan. "Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?"
"Erm—"
"A bit," said Hermione timidly.
"A bit, Hermione?" Fred chuckled.
"I'm muggle born," Hermione said in defense. "To people like me, centaurs aren't real."
"A bit. Well, that's something." Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."
Hermione paled. Mars was the god of war in Roman mythology. That couldn't be good if it was bright.
"Yeah," said Hagrid, glancing up, too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt—you seen anythin'?"
"He's a centaur. He's not going to help," Charlie glared at the book.
Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, then sighed again.
"Always the innocent are the first victims," he said. "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."
"Yeah," said Hagrid, "but have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"
"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him impatiently. "Unusually bright."
"But he already said that," Fred said rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home, said Hagrid. "So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"
Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, "The forest hides many secrets."
"That's not what Hagrid meant though," Cho huffed.
A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and -bodied and wilder-looking than Ronan.
"Hullo, Bane," said Hagrid. "All right?"
"This'll be fun," Harry muttered.
"Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?"
"Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn bin injured—would yeh know anythin' about it?"
Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward.
"Mars is bright tonight," he said simply.
"Can't they say anything else?" Ron moaned.
"We've heard," said Hagrid grumpily. "Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."
Harry and Hermione followed him out of the clearing, staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.
"Never," said Hagrid irritably, "try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."
"Are there many of them in here?" asked Hermione.
"Oh, a fair few... Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs... they know things... jus' don' let on much."
"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" said Harry.
"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns—never heard anythin' like it before."
They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder. He had the nasty feeling they were being watched. He was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. They had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm.
"Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!"
"Oh no!" Katie cried. "Were you alright?" she asked Neville.
"You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"
They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.
"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" whispered Hermione.
"I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Neville... it's our fault he's here in the first place."
"Thanks Harry," Neville said softly.
The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Harry's seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going on? Where were the others?
At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy, Neville, and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks.
"Git," Charlie huffed. "The Forest is no place for games."
"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups—Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot.
I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we've gotta get this done."
So Harry set off into the heart of the forest with Malfoy and Fang. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because
the trees were so thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. Harry could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.
"Look—" he murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy.
"Why?" the twins asked.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged.
Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.
"Don't!" Cedric yelled. "You're in the Forbidden Forest! It's not called that because of friendly things that roam in there!"
"Aw thanks Cedric. Way to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Cho shot him a glare.
It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.
"That poor unicorn," Katie sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes.
Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered... Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Harry, Malfoy, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.
"That is sick! Sick and wrong!" Charlie yelled.
"Run Harry!" Angelina, Katie, Cho, Alicia and the twins yelled.
"AAAAAAAAAARGH!"
"Lee! You're worse than Fred!" Hermione jumped a mile when Lee screamed.
Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted—so did Fang.
Everyone couldn't help but chuckle at the words.
The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry—unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward Harry—he couldn't move for fear.
Then a pain like he'd never felt before pierced his head; it was as though his scar were on fire.
"What's going on?" Cho gasped.
Half blinded, he staggered backward. He heard hooves behind him, galloping, and something jumped clean over Harry, charging at the figure.
The pain in Harry's head was so bad he fell to his knees. It took a minute or two to pass. When he looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.
"Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling Harry to his feet.
"Yes, I'm perfect and going to go skipping away now," Harry said rolling his eyes.
"Yes—thank you—what was that?"
The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.
"You are the Potter boy," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time—especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way. My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Harry could clamber onto his back.
"You..he…what?" Charlie gasped out an answer. Everyone else was just staring at Harry.
"What?"
"It's very rare for centaurs to let humans ride them," Bill explained.
There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.
"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have a human on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"
"No, he's just trying to help a first year." Bill glared at the book.
"Do you realize who this is?" said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the better."
"We quite agree," Everyone nodded.
"What have you been telling him?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"
"Oh no! What ever will we do?" Fred said in mock horror.
Ronan pawed the ground nervously. "I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best, " he said in his gloomy voice.
Bane kicked his back legs in anger. "For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"
"I dislike this centaur," Charlie said with a huff.
Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger, so that Harry had to grab his shoulders to stay on.
"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."
And Firenze whisked around; with Harry clutching on as best he could, they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them.
Harry didn't have a clue what was going on.
"I was a little flustered," Harry chuckled.
"Completely understandable mate," Ron told him.
"Why's Bane so angry?" he asked. "What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"
Firenze slowed to a walk, warned Harry to keep his head bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did not answer Harry's question. They made their way through the trees in silence for so long that Harry thought Firenze didn't want to talk to him anymore. They were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.
"Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"
"No," Cho, Cedric, Oliver…well everyone but the trio said.
"No," said Harry, startled by the odd question. "We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions."
"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."
"And that is why evil gits are idiots," Bill said with a nod of his head.
Everyone else was disgusted at the thought.
Harry stared at the back of Firenze's head, which was dappled silver in the moonlight.
"But who'd be that desperate?" he wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"
"Very wise Harry," Percy said with a nod.
"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else—something that will bring you back to full strength and power—something that will mean you can never die. Mr. Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"
"The Sorcerer's stone," Cho said, already not liking where this was going.
"The Sorcerer's Stone! Of course—the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who—"
"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"
"Holy shit!" Cedric gasped, but all the females were too shocked to hit him.
"No, no way," Oliver shook his head. "It can't be."
It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Harry's heart. Over the rustling of the trees, he seemed to hear once more what Hagrid had told him on the night they had met: "Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."
"Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was Vol-"
"Harry! Harry, are you all right?"
Hermione was running toward them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.
"I'm fine," said Harry, hardly knowing what he was saying. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."
"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."
Harry slid off his back.
"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."
"I hope so too," Alicia said softly.
He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry shivering behind him.
Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to return. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook him awake.
"Nice one Ron," Fred chuckled.
In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry began to tell him and Hermione what had happened in the forest.
Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire.
He was still shaking.
"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort...
"Which is even worse than him wanting it for himself," Katie moaned.
and Voldemort's waiting in the forest... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich..."
The twins snorted.
"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them.
Harry wasn't listening.
"I thought something was distracting you," Ron whispered to Harry.
"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so... Bane was furious... he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen... They must show that Voldemort's coming back... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me... I suppose that's written in the stars as well."
"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.
"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone,"
"Harry!" Angelina said. "We've got to talk about you being so pessimistic."
Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off... Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."
Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort.
"Glad I could help," Hermione smiled at Harry.
"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of.
"He is," Charlie and Oliver nodded.
With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."
The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over.
When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his invisibility cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it:
Just in case
"That was lucky," Alicia commented. Lee closed the book and said "That's the end of the chapter. Who's next?"
"Neville, I think." Hermione said. Neville nodded and took the book from Lee. "The next chapter is called Through the Trap Door."
Everyone groaned at the thought.