Saturday night came and the four of them were led to Hagrid's hut by Filch. It bothered Greyson at how miserable Filch was that he wanted the students to be punished with medieval torture. "Here are the delinquents," Filch grinned, showing his crooked, yellow teeth.
"Thank you, Filch," Hagrid said, fiddling with some rope. Filch walked off, leaving the four with Hagrid.
"What are we doing, Hagrid?" Greyson asked, curious as to what their detention included.
"We," Hagrid started, "are going into the Forbidden Forest. Going te see what's been killing the unicorns."
"The Forbidden Forest?" Draco repeated, horrified. "But that's forbidden."
"Well, it can't be too bad," Greyson said, tilting his head thoughtfully. "I mean, it has unicorns."
"And something's killing them," Draco countered.
"Well... that is true..." Greyson admitted. "But what would want to? And why?" He honestly wanted to grab at his books or dig through the library to figure this puzzle out before tromping off into the forest. But this would give him the answers faster than his books would.
"Alright, now take out yer wands," Hagrid instructed. "Repeat after me, scintilla viridis." They all repeated and green sparks exploded from the tips of their wands. "Now that is fer if we find the unicorn. And now say, scintilla rubra." This time red sparks exploded from their wands. "Now use that in case yer in trouble. Now let's go."
They all followed Hagrid into the forest. Greyson frowned when the leaves were splattered with silver. "What is that, Hagrid?" he asked, kneeling to inspect it. Hagrid came over and hunched by him.
"Unicorn blood," he stated, a bit sad. "And that there is a unicorn." He felt a deep ache in his soul. Whatever was doing this was truly horrible and needed to be stopped. "We need to go an' find her and help her if we can."
Hagrid straightened himself up. "Alrigh', Harry, Hermione, yer with me," Hagrid said. "Greyson, Malfoy, you two are on yer own."
"Well, I want Fang," Draco cried, grabbing at Fang's lead.
"Suit yerself, though Fang isn't going to be much use. He's a coward," Hagrid said.
"I'm sure Fang will do his best," Greyson smiled and rubbed Fang's ears affectionately. Fang positioned his head closer to Greyson for more ear scratches.
"We'll head off this way, an' you two go off that way," Hagrid told them. Greyson nodded and started leading the way with a very terrified Draco behind him.
"I swear," Draco started. "When my father hears about this."
"He'll what?" Greyson asked, amused by his friend's antics. "Get rid of Hogwarts?" As usual, Draco was mostly hot air to try and keep whatever was really bothering him at bay.
"Well... no," Draco said, not sure where he was going with that train of thought. "But he'll be outraged."
"Oh, come on Draco," Greyson grinned. "Just enjoy this." It was sort of peaceful, even though they were out looking for whatever is harming unicorns.
"But there are all sorts of monsters in the forest," Draco said, letting his guard down. Greyson turned to study his face. He could see the fear in Draco's eyes.
"Yes, but, you have me," Greyson grinned, throwing an arm around Draco. "And I am amazing when it comes to magical creatures. All I do is read about them." He honestly had no idea if he could handle whatever creature was off killing unicorns, nor did he really want to befriend something so... horrid. But he wasn't about to tell Draco that. Not after what he said seemed to comfort Draco just a bit, despite not vocalizing it. They moved along in silence, listening for anything to alert them to what is going after the noble beasts.
"Harry!" he heard Hermione yell. His blood went cold. What happened to Harry? "Harry! Where are you!" He grabbed Draco's hand and went barreling straight for Hagrid and Hermione. He didn't call out, not wanting to drown out Hermione's voice with any extra noise and commotion.
He ran right into Hermione, knocking her down, and pulling Draco on top of them. He struggled to right himself, only making it harder for Draco to get up. Fortunately, Hagrid picked them up one by one, allowing them to get to their feet faster.
"Where's Harry?" Greyson demanded. His heart was pounding intensely. He had to find his brother and save him from whatever monster was out there. "Where's my brother?"
"I-I don't know," Hermione said fraughtfully. "He was here a moment ago, and when I turned to tell him something, he was gone."
Greyson nodded and turned to leave, letting Draco stay with Hagrid and Hermione. "Greyson, where do ya' think yer going?" Hagrid said, grabbing Greyson by the shoulder before he could get too far.
"To find my brother," Greyson told him firmly. "Harry needs me."
"And going off by yerself is the way to do it?" Hagrid asked. Greyson paused. Hagrid was right... charging head first in a dark forest that he barely knew by himself wasn't the smartest option.
"But I have to find him," Greyson finally responded. Harry was by himself and Greyson needed to make sure his brother was alright.
"An' we will," Hagrid said, leading them back the way they came. Greyson followed at a more sedated pace. He was going to find his brother and he was going to beat him for wandering off, leaving Hagrid and Hermione.
As they were walking, he heard a tremendous amount of noise to his left. He immediately ran towards it. When he broke through the trees, he came to a clearing.
He spotted Harry instantly, though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Harry was sitting on the back of a centaur. "Harry!" Greyson yelled, as his brother slid off the centaur's back. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you!"
Harry blinked, not quite accustomed to his brother's rage. "You left Hagrid and Hermione and had us all worried sick about you!" Greyson yelled, resisting the urge to punch his brother relentlessly for the worry he caused.
"Sorry," Harry said. Greyson studied his face and knew something had deeply upset his brother.
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you later," Harry said, brushing off the subject. Greyson frowned. It wasn't like Harry to avoid things, but he wasn't going to push it.
"Harry, Greyson," Hagrid said, huffing. "Glad you two are alright." Greyson nodded and turned to the centaur.
"Thank you for keeping my brother safe," Greyson told him. The centaur looked down at him and began studying him more intently.
"The stars were right," he murmured to himself. Greyson frowned. The stars? What about the stars? He looked at the sky, furrowing his brow. He did not like this. Before he could question the centaur, he turned to Hagrid.
"Best to be careful, Hagrid," he told him.
"Of course, Firenze," Hagrid nodded. "We are going to be heading back, too much adventure for one night." He gave a weak chuckle before herding the four off towards his hut. Greyson cast one more look over his shoulder at the retreating figure of Firenze the centaur.
