Silver in the Night

"So, what's the point of Quidditch, exactly?"

Harry asked it innocently enough, at lunchtime, but half the table immediately gave him either incredulous or upset looks. There was a brief silence, then several people leaned forward and began to explain over each other.

"It's about team spirit—" began a third-year girl.

"It's the one place we can actually show up the other houses!" This from a large fourth-year. "Not with bookwork, no one cares about that, but we can prove we're the best."

"We get to fly and try to knock Gryffindors off brooms! What could be better?"

"And there's the Snitch," said another boy eagerly. "Chasing it is exhilarating. Like being a hunter, after the most elusive prey."

"Nothing like the moment when the Quaffle goes right past the keeper's arms and into the goal."

"And Derrick is so dreamy," sighed a fourth-year girl. Harry couldn't get a word in edgewise. It was all he could do to pick out individual voices amid the clamour.

"If anyone doubted we were the best, it would have been with a different team."

"Well, it was a different team last year."

"Not a better one though."

"Terence isn't the best seeker," added someone else who hadn't spoken yet. Harry was starting to lose track of who was even talking anymore.

"That would be Cedric Diggory," said the older girl, the same look in her eyes as she'd had talking about Derrick. "He's the best seeker."

"Ew, gross," said Primma, walking by with that sway that Harry had come to associate with her. Pansy's sister certainly knew how to make herself noticeable.

The fourth year blushed. "You can't deny he's handsome though."

"I can deny whatever I please, obviously," Primma said, and continued walking. She paused again to wink at someone farther down the table, who half-stood and grinned after her. Harry thought he seemed decidedly less than intelligent.

Pansy gave a harsh laugh, drawing Harry's attention back to her. The increasingly heated Quidditch conversation continued without him, forgotten.

"Can you believe her?" Pansy hissed. "Modifying her robe like that? How is she even allowed to get away with it?"

Harry didn't see what modification Pansy meant, but Primma was good at drawing attention away from what she was wearing.

Pansy shoved her plate away, scowling after her departing sister. "Ugh. Are you almost done eating? I want to go outside."

Harry grinned and finished eating quickly. He and Pansy hadn't found time to play their practice game together in days. The weather as he stepped outside wasn't the best, proving to be overcast and chilly, but at least it wasn't raining more than the occasional few drops and the wind was relatively calm.

But his hopes for an ordinary afternoon game were dashed a few moments later. Pansy wasn't the only girl to follow him outside to the grounds, and the others were clearly not there for the spellcasting game.

"Where did you see it?" Reiko asked. She looked determined, following close behind Pansy.

"Are you still on about that unicorn?" Harry asked, immediately annoyed.

"Heresy!" proclaimed one of the giggling girls. Harry had stopped trying to tell which was which. Aside from those he shared classes with, Pansy's friends were too numerous to keep track of.

"Unicorns are purity and beauty!" exclaimed another girl, a third year.

Harry wondered how this had gotten so out of hand so quickly.

"So you don't want to come with us?" Pansy asked, pouting at Harry.

"Of course I do," he said without thinking. "I'd love to go with you."

Pansy beamed and raised his hand triumphantly. A few of the girls even gave a cheer.

Harry's annoyance evaporated as though it had never been. He suddenly found he couldn't stop smiling.

So it was that Harry found himself sneaking out of the castle an hour before curfew, excited and terrified by equal measure.

They planned to meet behind the gamekeeper's cottage under cover of evening shadows. It wasn't the whole group, thankfully. At least half had been more interested in giggling about the thought than in actually sneaking into the forest.

Harry liked the thought of his chances when sneaking with a small group much better than a large one.

A few older students walked in pairs or sat studying together throughout the grounds, despite the damp and chill, but the first and second years were already inside. Except those involved in this wild unicorn chase.

Pansy and Reiko were the obvious ringleaders. Harry gathered that there were no unicorns in Japan where Reiko was from, and she was fascinated by the thought of them. Pansy, of course, was convinced that's what she'd seen and was going to prove it.

They were joined by three or four second years, a pair of third years who tried to take over command from Pansy on account of being older and actual Care of Magical Creatures students, and of course the ever-eager Tracey. Millicent and Mildred had elected to remain in the castle, as had Daphne.

Part of Harry wished he had done the same, but he was also ecstatic that he'd been included in the group at all. From their initial conversations, he'd had a distinct impression of his unwelcomeness on this adventure, though it seemed to have dissipated completely overnight. He was sure Pansy was to thank. She had a way with other girls, something mystifying that Harry could never hope to understand or imitate.

"I think we should try that section first," Reiko said, once they were all assembled. She pointed toward the westernmost section of forest, which seemed slightly less forbidding than the rest. "I read that unicorns like to watch the sunset."

"It's a good bit past sunset," said one of the third-years, skeptical.

"And I was over in that area when I saw it last time." Pansy pointed to the other side of the forest.

"I don't think they stay in the same place for very long," said the other third year, a girl with long blond hair and determined grey eyes. Harry had heard her name before, but couldn't bring it to mind. She continued confidently, "I think they would be more likely to range across the entire forest."

"But they might be watching the sunset," Reiko insisted.

"Or they might be anywhere in the whole forest."

"The sunset is over, if we don't try that first they'll be gone before we get there. If they could be anywhere, then we should try the most time-sensitive one first."

"And what're you all doin' back 'ere at this time 'o evening, then?"

Hagrid's booming voice startled them into nervous chaos.

"Nothing," Pansy said, trying to sound innocent.

"Talking about unicorns," said Reiko.

The two older students gave variations on "playing escort to the little kids" which made Tracey burst out indignantly, "Hey, we are not little kids!"

"One at a time," Hagrid asked, chuckling. "How about you, 'arry?"

Harry instinctively hunched under his scrutiny. "We wanted to find a unicorn, sir."

Hagrid laughed. "Yeh won't find any unicorns with so many of yeh. They're shy of strangers. This many, they'd run off as soon as look at yeh."

"Would they come out if I was alone?" Pansy asked.

"Possibly. Can't tell until they see yeh. Some folks they take to right off, others they're shy around until they learn to trust yeh. No way o' knowing until yeh get one in front of yeh."

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "We should have asked a teacher to accompany us."

Several of the girls gasped. "No," Tracey exclaimed. "That would destroy the adventure of it!"

"We were only doing extra research for Care of Magical Creatures," said the darker-haired third year girl, changing her story again. Harry decided he didn't like her very much.

Hagrid chuckled and shook his head. "It's fine, s'long as yeh don't go into the forest alone. I'll come with yeh!"

"But you're big and very, er. . . not a girl?"

"Rubbish. Th' unicorns know me. They'll come to me without worry."

This set off a round of blushing and whispering and giggling between the older girls, which Harry did not understand. And didn't really care to.

The large group moved into the forest, Hagrid swinging an oversized lantern to light their way. The girls grouped up, whispering and squealing whenever they heard the slightest noise.

They weren't stealthy in the slightest. Harry could hear twigs snapping and the branches rustling as they brushed against them. Hagrid was quieter than any of the students, despite his bulk.

They followed what might have been a path, or could simply have been wherever Hagrid could fit between trees. It meandered into ever darker and deeper forest, and Harry was increasingly glad to be in a large group. The giggling, tinged with occasional nervousness though it was, kept the forest from seeming quite as dark or perilous as it could have otherwise.

The group progressed at a slow, steady pace and did not see or encounter anything for what felt like hours. Then Harry began to see shadows in the forest. Flickering, but not in time with Hagrid's lantern. Shapes too high, too low. Too big, too thin. Not tree-shaped, but other.

The group's laughter grew fainter, tinged with more fear. Pansy clung close to Harry's side, holding his hand in her own. He couldn't have said if it was his sweat or hers that dampened their shared grip.

Then Hagrid began humming. Loud and soft at once, and rather tuneless. Normally Harry would have considered the sound horrible, but in this case it actually broke the tension of the dark forest.

"Hogwarts, hogwarts, hoggy warty hogwarts. . ." One of the second years began singing, and with a relieved laugh the third years joined in too. Singing quietly, to Hagrid's off-key backdrop, they made their way through the forest.

Harry didn't know the school song, but as it turned out neither did the rest. It didn't stop them. Pansy joined in, repeating phrases in the wrong places and belting out her improvised lyrics with gusto.

Within moments the shadows ceased to appear threatening. The whole trek grew boisterous, careless. The bantering and giggling returned in full force, though they did make an obvious - though doomed - attempt to keep the noise to just above a whisper.

They didn't stop singing, though, which would have ruined any attempt at stealth even without the frequent snapping of branches and the rustle and crackle as they pushed their way heedlessly through patches of brush or across dry leaves.

Harry still glimpsed shapes moving through the darkness, but tried not to think about them. Keeping his attention firmly on Hagrid's back helped.

So intent was he that he didn't even notice when they actually found the unicorn.

"Quiet, quiet," Hagrid said, shushing everyone with a raised hand. The whispers and giggling died and faded to silence. Hagrid stepped aside, grinning widely, and shuttered the lantern. The girls let out a collective gasp.

Glowing faintly in the darkness, her front legs tucked under her and head lowered to her chest, a silvery unicorn lay in a small clearing. Her shape was much more deer-like than Harry had anticipated. He'd always thought of unicorns rather as smaller horses. Yet there was nothing small about her, despite her delicate form. Her horn was over a foot long, brushing the ground each time she breathed out.

The faint light she emitted illuminated the whole clearing, silver glimmering on dewdrops and damp leaves. It wouldn't be enough to see by properly, but it was enough to cast the place in an unearthly shimmer.

Then the unicorn woke, sensing their presence. She raised her head, gave out a concerned whinnying snort, and stepped smoothly to her feet. She'd backed up a half-dozen steps before Hagrid could start forward, making a soft purring sound Harry wouldn't have recognized as human.

The unicorn huffed, pawed at the ground, and backed up another several steps.

"There there," Hagrid muttered. He continued to slowly advance, but the unicorn shook her glimmering pure-white mane and turned away.

In a flash of silver and white, she bounded away into the forest, vanishing from sight faster than Harry would ever have imagined.

The clearing, though lit by Hagrid's lantern, felt empty and dark and cold without her. All the levity and joy seemed to have fled with the unicorn, replaced with a deep sense of respect.

"It looked right at me," Reiko whispered, sounding awestruck. "Did you see it?"

"It looked at me too," Pansy breathed. "I could never have imagined anything so beautiful."

It was a subdued but satisfied group that returned to the castle. Hagrid escorted them back to the front gates of the castle. They walked back to the dungeons, whispering all the while, but their conversation now held a surreal air of gravity.

They reached the common room just minutes before curfew. Harry didn't feel inclined to linger about the common room. He got ready for bed amid a lingering feeling of wonder and beauty and indescribable magic.

He remembered meeting the unicorn's eye, just for a moment, as she looked at each of them in turn. Into them, it almost felt.

And then she'd left, but not without leaving the most glowing, vibrant vision of herself behind in their memory. Harry knew that her image would remain burned in his mind for a long time, a vision of what magic could be.

It wasn't just about regimented wand movements, directing intention and thought along well-worn paths, and growing stronger in personal skill. Magic was also about hidden glades in evening forests, about beauty found in darkness. And about the wildness that lingered beyond where humanity expanded, the power and freedom of that magic which could never be truly understood.

He slept well and deeply that night, visions and memories blending into dreams of quiet contentment.