Chapter 4: Detention

As the term went on and Harry hadn't got remotely into any strife, Alanna was concentrating more on the advanced study the teachers were now loading her up with. Already three months into the school year, the Christmas holidays were soon approaching and the chilling weather was getting worse by the day. Waking up one morning to the howling winds and rain, she felt weird. She didn't know why, but she just did. Every one else in the little dorm had awoken early and gone down to breakfast, leaving Alanna by herself. She didn't mind though. She liked to be by herself so she didn't have to hide her magic. Getting up, she made her bed with a flick of her hand, then dressed. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she ran a comb through her hair, then put it up in a long ponytail. Finally, the last day of term, then the Christmas holidays, she thought quietly to herself. In the Great Hall, she waved to Ron, Harry and Hermione, then sat herself at the Slytherine table next to a fourth year boy that looked like a troll. While helping herself to fruit and cereal, she felt some one looking at her. She glanced up and down the table, seeing nothing, she then looked around the Hall. At the far end of the Hall, Draco Malfoy stood, waiting for his friend to finish his conversation with a Hufflepuff girl. His steady gaze was on Alanna since she had sat down. She glared back at him and could see a mysterious smile twirl on his lips. Dropping her gaze, she looked down at her food and started to eat quickly. She didn't want Malfoy to keep looking at her, it made her feel so uncomfortable. She didn't understand why he was holding his silence. If he really did know what she was, why hadn't he blabbed to everyone? And why was it that he always listened to everything she told him? For instance, when she told him to leave Harry alone, he would always back off. Was he scared of her? Scared that she would use her powers on him? That's stupid, Alanna thought. He'd have to be really thick. Glancing up again, she saw that he was walking towards her, still holding his stare. Alanna decided to hide her fear and insecurity and instead put on an act of stubbornness. Malfoy covered the distance between them quickly, and before Alanna knew it, he was sitting beside her helping himself to some breakfast. She kept her eyes lowered on her plate, pretending to not notice him and continuing to eat her grapes. His friend had sat next to him on the other side and was talking to a boy called Crab who was also in first year. Alanna couldn't resist, so she lifted her head just a little to observe his friend. He was different from Malfoy, having black hair and a tanned complexion. His eyes were a deep hazel and as he flashed a smile, she noticed that his teeth were very white. She noticed also, that his two K-nines were unusually pointy. No way! He can't be....he isn't a...a....! " Yes, I don't believe you've met my friend PJ, have you Alanna?" Draco had caught her looking, and he was now smiling at Alanna, who was taken aback. She recovered quickly however and looked straight into Draco's cool eyes. Hearing his name being mentioned, PJ turned and faced her, flashing another white toothed smile. " PJ, this is Alanna. She doesn't talk much, so that's why you haven't met her before." Draco said. " Hi, How ya doing?" PJ said kindly and winking at Alanna. " Hello." She said politely, returning his smile. She then rounded on Malfoy with an icy tone. " And what would you know about me not wanting to talk or let alone... anything about me?" " Simply because you haven't talked to me since Potions three weeks ago when we had to be partners. And all you said then was whether or not I wanted to stir." He replied in a soft voice, then popped a grape into his mouth. " Maybe that was just you I didn't want to talk to." Alanna snapped. " Mmm..., but you also haven't been talking to much girls in your dorm. You can't possibly hate all of them to can you?" He said with a grape in his mouth. After a silence in which they just looked at each other he said very quietly so that only she could hear, " You don't have to be scared. I just want to talk to you." At this, Alanna couldn't reply. Scared? Of what? She wasn't scared.....or was she? Since she couldn't say anything, she got up from the table and left to go back down to the common room to get her things for class. Almost running out of the Hall, she could feel her heart thumping behind her ribs. Meanwhile, still sitting at the Slytherine table Malfoy turned and looked at his friend with a smile. " So that's Alanna, the one who always stops you from trying to kill Harry?" PJ said. " Yep, that's her. She's driving me nuts." " She's pretty though." " Yeah, but she's a pain. Can't you just bite her and finish her off for me?" Draco said jokingly to his vampire friend. " Ha ha ha. Very funny. You know you like her." PJ said sarcastically looking at his friend. " Or not. I mean, she's cool yeah, but as I said she's painful to put up with." And heaving a sigh, he got up from the table with PJ and made their way to their first lesson of the day which was Charms...

****************************** Professor Flitwick was teaching them levitating charms and soon the class room was full of floating objects that the students had charmed. Harry was getting the hang of this spell quite quickly, but Ron was not doing so well. " Wingardium Leviosa!" This is not working!! Said an impatient Ron, banging his wand on his desk and sending blue sparks everywhere. His feather remained stubbornly still on his desk. " Forget it, I give up." And he slumped back onto his seat looking angry. " Come on Ron, it's not that hard!" Hermione said as she flicked her wand and sent her feather flying. " Shut up." Snapped Ron. " Fine." She replied, annoyed. " If you don't want help..." Alanna, who was sitting close by did not get up or offer any help to neither Ron nor Harry. Although they were still friends, they didn't have time to talk much because of Alanna's work load and the fact that she was doing spells three times their advanced level. At the moment, Alanna was practising the summoning charm under her desk with her wand, making Malfoy's text book come to her. She wasn't supposed to do advanced spells infront of the other students incase it raised to much suspicion, every lesson she was to study the spell out of books and then come back at the end of the day and preform them in an empty classroom. But she was getting bored of all of the secrecy and books. She knew that she could do these spells without even trying. Flipping the pages of Malfoys book, she realised that it was a diary, not a text book. She paused at one of the pages that he had only written three days ago. It read:

Got a letter from father today. He doesn't sound happy with me, thinks that PJ shouldn't be trusted just because he's a vampire. I don't understand why
father only likes pure bloods. I hate the discrimination, the hate, the cruelty.... everything. PJ's parents are both pure bloods, just he was bitten
when he was ten...only a year ago. He told me though, that he would keep growing like a normal person, till twenty-one; then he will stay immortal forever. Father thinks that it is dangerous for me to be around him incase he transforms, but he's on special medication that even lets him go into the sun and makes him safe to be around with. Only, at night he goes some where. He hasn't told me where. Father has taken everything away from me,
including love, but he will never take my best friend.

Alanna snapped the diary closed and zoomed it back to Malfoys desk. He hadn't seemed to notice that it was gone, he was too busy trying to control his feather to float in the direction he wanted it too. Her mind was racing with thoughts. She had no idea that he was so.... In depth. He had seemed so shallow to Alanna, till now. It was like she had forgotten that he was only human. And what about PJ? He was a vampire then? And Draco's father didn't think he was good enough for Draco because he wasn't a normal pure blood.... It was all very confusing. She felt sorry for him in some way. Having to live up to the expectations of his father and still trying to find friends. But he didn't seem to have any trouble in friends, he was actually very popular, not only with the Slytherines. Heaps of girls in other houses were always around him and PJ, talking, laughing, and saying hi and smiling at him in the corridors. He was very mysterious though, but that's probably what the girls liked, Alanna thought. She was definitely going to be nicer to him now. " Home work! Practise on your hovering charms! Next term you should be able to preform it perfectly! Have a good holiday all!" Professor Flitwick squeaked out to the class, as the bell rand and they packed their wands and books away. Alanna saw Draco place the little diary into his bag and walk out of the classroom followed by PJ and a group of other friends. She walked towards Professor Flitwicks desk to get her own home work which turned out to be a foot long essay on how summoning charms could help you in everyday life, then followed out the door. The rest of her day went by with no real disturbance except for peeves the poltergeist trying to trip her on her way down a set of steep stone steps. At the end of dinner, she layed her books across a table close to the fire in the Slytherine common room and started her essay. This is so stupid, she thought. Who cares why summoning charms are used in life? She was getting very frustrated with all these stupid essays that really had no point. As she was the only one at her table, she layed her books and parchment out so she could see them all. No one really talked to her in Slytherine. She had a feeling that they didn't really like her, or that they were scared of her or some thing. She found she didn't really care though. Most of the people just left her alone to do her work...except Draco. At that very moment he walked up to her table and put his bag down in one of the chairs around it. He then pushed aside some of Alanna's books and layed his own books down. Alanna just looked at him, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open. He, however, did not look at her at all, but sat in a seat next to her and started to work. She looked around the common room and noticed that all the other tables had been taken up. Some girls in the corner looked back at her, talking behind their hands to one another. Why couldn't Draco go and sit with them, why her? They would have welcomed him, considering that they were always around him at school. But she decided not to say anything, remembering that she was going to be nice to him. Instead she spread out her books again and continued with her work. After writing a few paragraphs and shuffling some notes, she gave up. She could not concentrate when Draco was always throwing sidelong glances at her out of the corner of his eyes. She stole a quick glance at him, but he was reading a page in a thick book with his brow furrowed and his light eyes concentrating. She went back to her essay. Seconds later, Draco himself stole a glance at her, then went quickly back to his book, flipping the page over. Feeling very awkward, Alanna looked up at him just as he glanced at her again. Their eyes connected. Draco shut his book and tried to talk, but his voice was husky, and he had to clear his throat before starting again. " Er.... If you don't want me here.... I, umm...I can move." Alanna had never seen him uncomfortable before. " No... It's not that. I was just, er... wondering why you didn't sit with Pansy over there." She replied waving a noncaring hand in the direction of the girls in the corner. " Oh. Well, I wanted to sit by the fire. It's really cold. And, well....It's harder to concentrate with all of them chatting away around you." He said, looking more relieved. " And besides, you were sitting here alone and there was more space." " Oh, alright. Okay." It was Alanna's turn to feel uncomfortable now. She started to get up from the table, but Draco held her back. Her head was starting to hurt and her hole body was shaking slightly. " Every time I try and talk to you, you always have to run off. You can't be that busy can you?" He asked, looking at her with his bluish eyes that seemed to be questioning her. " You have no idea." Alanna replied, still standing up. " Then give me an idea." He said quickly, sounding desperate. Alanna just looked at him, then pulled her hand away and gathered up her books. She then left him alone at the table and walked up to her dorm. Her head was aching, but she didn't think it was because of Malfoy. She had felt weird ever since the morning. Dumping her books into her trunk, she got out her night things and started to get changed. After climbing into bed and drawing the curtains around her, she laid awake for what seemed like hours till she drifted off to an uneasy sleep, her head still pounding. She could see Harry. But what was he doing here? It was late at night, he shouldn't be up! Quick, go follow him, she thought. He's in the forbidden forest! But why? It's dangerous for him to be in there all alone. All she could see of him was his cloak as it swished behind tree to tree. Then he disappeared. As she turned a corner on the path, she came into a clearing. What the-? She screamed as a slithering figure floated towards her, all in black with blood running down it's mouth..... " Ahh!" Alanna woke up with a jerk and sat up shaking. "Wow!" She said quietly to herself. Her throat was very dry, so she decided to get a drink of water in the jug by the window. As she was pouring icy water into a glass, she let out another yelp of supprise that was quickly muffled. Her hand! It had turned invisible! All she could see was the jug in mid air, still pouring out water that was now leaking over the floor. But she could still feel herself holding it. She lowered the jug down back on the sill, then put her hand up to her face. She could see right through it and out the window to the lake. Calm down, she told herself, it's alright.... It'll go away soon. But as she watched, more and more of her was turning invisible. The rest of her arm, her legs, waist, and finally she was gone. " Wow!" came her voice from were she had been standing. She couldn't see herself, but she could feel every thing. Dumbledore! She had to go see Dumbledore. He'd know what to do. After grabbing her wand, she raced out the door, which seemed to open by itself, though she could feel her hand around the knob. She ran all the way out of the now empty common room and into the Great Hall. Which way now? She looked around, getting very panicky. But her wand, which seemed to be pointing her towards a statue of a griffin, soon answered that question. As she stood in front of the griffin, which seemed to be glaring at her, she realised that she didn't know the password. This is ridiculous! Pointing her wand towards the griffin she yelled, " Mortifortres!" Her voice echoed around the empty castle as the griffin slowly turned open and reviled a set of spiralling stairs that wound up to a platform with a great oak carved door. As she raised an invisible hand to knock, the door swung open. Albus Dumbledore was looking at her through his half moon spectacles. Or at least Alanna thought that he was, but then she remembered that she was invisible. " Professor! It's me, Alanna... I" " Ah yes, I was wondering when you'd come." Dumbledore said chuckling, opening the door wider and letting her in. " Come, sit down." " But- what, you?" lost for words, she took a seat beside his desk. " I.... I'm invisible!" she stuttered. "What do I do? It just... I just... invisible!" she breathed. But Dumbledore didn't seem as hectic as Alanna. In fact, he was smiling at her, looking very calm, not at all panicky. Alanna had no idea what was going on. " Alanna, your powers are forming. Did I not tell you at the beginning of this term that your powers would form over the years? You have nothing to worry about." He said to her. Alanna would have pointed out that turning invisible at 2:30 in the morning and not knowing what was happening, would worry anyone. " But... how do I come back?" She asked. " The first step is to stop worrying and think about being seen. You will only come back when you truly want to be seen again. You see, Alanna, you now have the ability to turn invisible when you are scared or don't want to be seen. You will come back again when you want to be seen." Alanna thought about letting herself reappear. Looking down at her feet, she could still see right through them, to the red carpeted floor under her. She was still invisible. Come on... try harder... I really don't want to be invisible anymore! She thought desperately. She shut her eyes and pictured herself being seen again. When she opened her eyes, she looked down at her feet again. They were solid! She was back! She looked up at Dumbledore beaming. " That was really scary." She said feeling relieved. " I would imagine it would be. Starting tomorrow you will have lessons with Professor Magonigal to control your new power. I daresay you'll get the hang of it soon." Professor Dumbledore smiled. " It will come in handy in the next week though. That is why it is essential that you control it. Harry has received a detention." " What?! What did he do? I was watching him every day at every lesson I could!" Alanna said supprised. " Yes, but he is just like James. Wondering off at night... You will soon find out what a mischief-maker he is. Mr. Filch caught him on top of North Tower at around midnight. He is serving detention in two nights time." " Well, what do you need me for? It's only detention." " He's going into the forest, Alanna. With Hagrid and some other troublemakers. If anything is after him, it will be the perfect opportunity for them. There is a dark creature roaming the forest at the moment, killing off the unicorns. I have only the faintest idea of what it may be. I need you to follow him and protect him." Dumbledore said very seriously. Alanna's mind rushed. Her dream... it was about Harry in the forest! He can't go! " Professor, if it is so dangerous... why let Harry go?" she asked. " Because he is still a normal child. Voldemort has not yet the power to seek him, and therefore Harry should be safe. It is just a precaution. You must go and also try to find the creature that is not welcome. The animals in the forest will help you." He said. Alanna thought about her dream again. Should she tell Dumbledore? But she didn't want him to think that she was scared. No, she thought. She'll be able to do it. And if she got in to much trouble, she'd simply ask the animals for help... like Dumbledore said. She heaved a huge yawn. All of a sudden she realised that she was very tired and as her eyes drooped, Dumbledore spoke again. " I think it is time for you to get to bed. Holidays tomorrow, you want to be alert for that. Professor Magonigal will see you in the morning." Alanna rose from her seat and made her way to the door. As she reached it she turned around and faced her godfather who was smiling at her. " Goodnight." She said sleepily. " Goodnight, Alanna." He replied, and she walked out the door, back to Slytherine common room.



As Sunday night approached, Alanna took lessons with Professor Magonigal every morning and every evening till she could turn invisible and come back at her own will. It was very hard because sometimes Alanna didn't want to be seen, she often thought about sneaking outside Magionigals office and just roaming around the castle. So with the lessons and extra homework the teachers had given her, Sunday came quickly and brought a fresh wave of cold weather. Alanna spent most of her day inside the library, hiding from the raging winds and rain. She wasn't at all looking forward to her dangerous night ahead in the cold forest. Looking through some books, she found some spells that might help her if there really was any trouble. " Mobilus!" the freezing charm, she thought as she stunned a passing by fly that stoped in mid air. That could be handy, she said to herself. She waved her wand and the fly zoomed away again. Harry, she noticed, was also coming into the library a lot these days that was unusual, as he wasn't the studying type. But he and Ron would pore over huge books with titles like 'Great wizards of the 20th century' and 'Brilliant Minds in Brilliant Times'. Although she decided not to ask them what they were up to, she had a feeling they were heading for more trouble. He didn't seemed worried about the night that lay ahead of him, Alanna didn't think he knew how much danger he could be in. All the same, After dinner, Alanna went back to the common room to get her wand and then headed off to see Professor Dumbledore. She had arranged to see him before she left to follow Harry, to sort out emergency routines. As she sat in his circular office waiting, Fawks sang a breathtaking tune as Alanna stroked him. She shivered. Fawks's songs were always so beautiful, so breathtaking. They made her think about her long lost parents. What they were like and whether or not they knew that she was a nesodeflic. Caught up in her thought, she did not hear Professor Dumbledore slip into the room. He stood behind his desk, but did not say anything till Fawks had finished his melody. He lowered himself into his chair and gazed at Alanna. " Fawks always sings when he is sad." He said quietly. Alanna started and looked up to Dumbledore's smiling face. " But why is he sad, Professor?" She asked. " As a phoenix, Fawks can sense danger before it comes. I do not know what harm he is feeling, but it must be very great for him to sing such a sad tune." Dumbledore sighed looking at the bird that was resting on Alanna's knees. Alanna observed Dumbledore. He looked old, she thought... old, but still strong. A chime went off somewhere in Dumbledore's office. It struck nine, then stopped. She had fifteen minutes before she had to go into the forest. " About tonight, When you are in the Forest Alanna, I want you to be on your guard every second. I do not want you doing any magic yourself, for the risk of you being seen and being found out is too great. If you get into trouble, shoot up red sparks and call to the animals to help you. They will come. I will be able to see the sparks from my window and will come a quickly as possible. But you must also remember, Harry can deal with danger himself. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Harry has his own talent in getting out of trouble. Let him have his turn." Dumbledore said more seriously. " Okay, so I all I have to do is make sure he doesn't get into trouble?" she asked, feeling herself getting slightly nervous. " And how will I call the animals? They won't understand –." " Alanna, Professor Dumbledore, Filch is walking Harry and Hermione to Hagrid's hut now. They just left the castle." Professor Magonigal burst through the oak door, panting as if she had just run up a heap of stairs. Dumbledore rose elegantly from his seat and looked at Alanna. " You must go now. Be quick! And do not be seen!" He hissed, walking in long strides to the door with Alanna. " Turn invisible as soon as you leave the office." He ordered, and waiting for her to go transparent, he turned the doorknob. " Good luck!" And with that, Alanna made her way out on to the icy grounds, feeling very self-conscious. Not even two minutes later, Alanna heard a voice in the wind that was coming by the edge of the forest and she made her way to it. " 'right, Arry an' 'Ermione will come with me. Draco an' Neville go t'gether with Fang. Remember to stay 'n the path, don' go wanderin' away. Forest is dangerous these days..." It was Hagrid. Just in time, she thought. " Alrigh', le's get goin' then." They headed into the forest. Harry, Hermione and Hagrid went on one path, while Draco, Neville and Fang took another. Draco! What was he doing here? She had no idea that Draco was serving detention too... She'll have to find out what for later. She could barely see their outlines as the thick darkness curled in upon them. Both groups went deeper and deeper into the forest, the paths becoming harder to walk through the roots and vines. Walking for almost half an hour with no danger, Alanna was beginning to get board. No one was talking much and as she was invisible, she couldn't exactly pop up and start a conversation. Hagrid on the other hand, had his cross bow infront of him, looking for danger in every corner they turned. Once or twice he stopped abruptly, sending Harry and Hermione crashing into his back. Both of them had their wands lit but even that wasn't very helpful as it only cast a dim light two feet ahead of them. Every thing was very quiet, all there was to hear was the crunching of the dry leave and roots they stepped on. But then out of the darkness rang a frightened yelp and red sparks shot in the air blinding them. Alanna spun around quickly and looked to the lit up sky. The others, they must be in trouble! Her mind was racing. She had to go help them, but she couldn't leave Harry. " Stay 'ere you lot! I'll go an' see what 'appened!" Hagrid said in a slightly panicky voice and trudged through the bushes towards the other path. His footsteps soon faded away and Harry, Hermione and Alanna found themselves in the silent darkness once again. Alanna raised her wand, ready for any trouble. But none came. Although her thin frame was shaking, she could sense that nothing was really wrong and when Hagrids footsteps were again heard after only ten minutes, Alanna drew in a deep breath. " False alarm. It happens tha' this lil' scum thought it migh' be cool to scar Longbottom. I'm sorry 'Arry, but you'll 'ave ter go with Draco 'ere, he'll have a harder time tryin' to scar you." Hagrid puffed, pointing to Draco and glaring at him. " We'll have a harder time tryin' to catch what's in the forest now; af'er the racket you lot made." " Well we best keep trying." Came Hermione's voice, rather shakily, in the darkness. " We can't give up now." " Er right as usual 'Ermione. Get goin' you two, an' be careful 'Arry." Hagrid grunted as Harry and Draco, closely followed by Alanna, set off on a different path. Fang, Hagrids boarhound, roamed behind them; pausing every now and then to sniff a tree root or a leaf. As they moved deeper into the forest the trees got thicker and bigger, making it harder for them to walk, especially Alanna. She had to make sure she didn't make to much noise as she stumbled over roots and vines. It was getting pretty much impossible to do, and she could not risk Harry or Draco finding out that she was there. Pausing for a second, she with drew her wand from her robes and whispered a spell under her breath. " Hovergio!" A charm she had come across in a book that made her float three inches above the ground. She picked up her pace and moved swiftly and noiselessly to catch up with Harry and Draco. It was very weird walking on air. Alanna felt like she was weightless. " This is so cool." She thought to herself. She decided to keep her wand out, incase of any unexpected trouble. Besides, Hagrid wasn't here with his crossbow to help them if they got attacked. The light that was coming from Draco's and Harry's wands was not very helpful to Alanna, and not being able to light her own wand, she found it immensely difficult to wind through the trees without bumping into them. Twice she ran straight into a great oak and scratched herself. Figuring that the only was to prevent it from happening again was to stick close to Draco who was walking behind Harry and Fang. Barely three inches apart, she walked along side him. His face looked very grim and scary half in the shadow. The outlines of his eyes were etched darkly across his face. Though he hid it well, Alanna could see fear in his features. They had been wandering for over half an hour now, coming by nothing out of the ordinary. The path got smaller and the corners got sharper. As the little party ducked and jumped to avoid low hanging branches and high roots, they rounded a corner and found themselves in a small clearing. The trees parted and the moon shone directly above them as they stepped into the clearing. Fang did not follow; instead he sat whimpering just behind a tree. In the very center, a white and beautiful creature lay with its elegant mane and tail spared out before it. It was clearly dead. " The unicorn." Alanna whispered. She had never seen anything so beautiful, yet so sad. She saw the look of wonder on Harry and Draco's face, and was feeling the same thing. How could something this wonderful, be slain? She tightened her grip around her wand as she followed Harry and Draco towards the creature. As they neared it, they could see a gash in the unicorn's throat that was spilling out shimmering silver blood. Alanna's head started to spin. She shook it. Her mind was not working properly; she could hear a soft voice female singing a slow sad tune. She shook her head again. The voice went away, but she could feel some strong force of foreboding. Don't go any closer! Something was telling her that if Harry got any closer to the unicorn..... she rushed and stood three steps infront of him. Who cares if he bumped into her and found out what she was, as long as he was still alive. Harry took a step forward, but paused as a rustling sound came out of one of the near by bushes. Something was crawling along the ground, slithering, using two skinny- clawed hands with long rotten fingernails to put it along. It had a huge black cape on, covering its face. It neared the unicorn and lowered its unseen head. More blood rushed out of the gash on the unicorn's neck as the creature began to drink its blood. Malfoy pulled out his wand and screamed into the darkness. " Explarimmus!" He shouted. His spell missed the creature by just two centimetres. The thing seemed to just realise they were there and raised its head slowly, revealing a dark face with a mouth dripping in blood. Fang gave a loud yelp and disappeared into the darkness. Malfoy stood, stunned at what he was seeing, too afraid to move. Harry, however, had fallen to his knees, clutching his forehead in pain. He could not move. His eyes were watering, his face screwed up in intense pain. The thing rose to it full height and seemed to glide towards them. " Explarimmus!" Malfoy yelled again, this time sending his opponent zooming back only a few feet. The spell didn't seem to have much effect on it. The creature let out a screech, high pitched and deafening. Harry moaned in pain, kneeling on the forest floor. As the creature recovered and came fast at them, it was Alannas turn to yell. " Animalias! Help thou and thou shall be helped!" she screamed to the darkness, as the hooded monster swept ever nearer. She didn't know what she had said, or what made her say it. It was just the first thing that came to her and she knew it would help. As the black figure headed for Harry, Alanna blocked its way by shielding Harry as best she could with a shielding charm that drained her of her power every second she kept it on him. But, as if it were answering her call of help, a centaur came bounding over them and lunged at the black creature. It disappeared in a flash, through the bushes and soon the slithering noise was gone and the forest again was silent. All that was to be heard was the hard thump of the centaur's hooves on the dark forest floor. The last thing Alanna saw was the half horse-half man trotting slowly to them and lowing its head to talk to Harry and Draco, and then everything went blank......