CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: The Forbidden Forest

Saturday came all too quickly. Despite the disappointment of having to spend her Saturday night in detention, Ellie was glad to be spending it with most of the people she cared about at Hogwarts. As she, Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville all trudged along to McGonagall's office, she was actually in decent spirits—at least, until Filch informed them that they'd be spending their detention in the Forbidden Forest.

"Hang on," objected Ron as Filch led them out to Hagrid's hut, their takeoff point for this excursion. "I thought students weren't allowed in the Forbidden Forest!"

"Yeh'll be safe with me, o'course," said Hagrid cheerfully from his waiting spot outside of the hut. "Anyway, it's important business. Got ter find the wounded unicorn's been bleedin' all over the place. Ellie, I believe yeh're familiar."

Ellie tried not to blush at the reminder of the little birthday date Oliver had taken her on to meet her first unicorn. "I'm sorry to hear that, Hagrid—I hope she's okay."

"Me, too." Hagrid scanned the students in front of him, then said, "Ron, Hermione—yeh'll come west with me. Draco, Harry, Neville—you three take Fang and go north. Fred, George, yeh're advanced enough to take care of Ellie on yeh're own, aren't yeh?"

The twins looked quite pleased with Hagrid's assumption, though Ellie had a feeling if they met any real danger, it would be her protecting them in her dog form. Still, she remained quiet as they assured him that he was correct, and everyone set off on their missions.

"I swear," Ellie muttered as they headed east into the forest, "if we end up finding a dead unicorn, I'll be scarred for life."

"What was that about you having met her before?" asked Fred curiously. "I don't remember you telling us about that."

She tried to fight back the blush she had only just gotten rid of. "He—er—introduced me to her back on my birthday. It was sort of a… gift."

"From Hagrid?" asked George doubtfully. "Didn't realize you two were so close."

"From Oliver," Fred realized, sounding annoyed. "You went off with him that day, didn't you?"

"I'd hardly call it going off with him," she mumbled. "But… yeah."

George shook his head. "Can't deny the guy likes you, but I can certainly say I'm glad you warded him off." He frowned. "You did ward him off, didn't you? Have there been any new developments since the smooch?"

She groaned. "Please don't call it that. And no, there haven't. He's barely spoken a word to me since then, including the time I dropped the Quaffle at practice—and the time you two let a Bludger bludgeon me half to death."

"Hey," George said defensively, "I was blocking the other one from getting Katie! Blame Fred!"

"I was across the stadium," said Fred, sounding glum. "Couldn't have gotten to you in time. Believe me, I tried."

"It's okay—bruises build character, right? Point is, there's nothing going on, so you can both lay off it for the rest of the year. Okay?"

"Okay," said George, then grinned slightly. "But I do sort of enjoy reveling in knowing he isn't quite the big hot shot he thought he was."

A small grin spread onto Fred's face at that, too, as he said, "Same."

Ellie rolled her eyes and parted to complain further when she was stopped by the sound of a sharp crack.

"What was that?" George whispered urgently.

"I think," Ellie whispered back, "it was a twig." She tried to sound like she was teasing him, but truth be told, it scared her, too.

There were another series of snaps, and then a creature appeared in front of them. He was tall, with white-blond hair and bright, blue eyes. But, most notably, his torso rested on the four legs of a horse.

"You're… you're a centaur!" Ellie gasped.

The centaur looked rather amused. "I am, indeed. And you three ought to mind the rules your headmaster laid out for you. These woods are no place for children."

"We couldn't agree more," said George bitterly. "Unfortunately, our school put us up to this as punishment. We're searching for the injured unicorn."

The centaur looked surprised by this. "Which professor sent you out here?"

"Well, technically Filch," said Ellie. "But Hagrid's out here with us—some of us, anyway."

The centaur nodded. "I shall go and speak to him. The unicorn in question is too far gone for saving, last I checked. There are dark forces at work in this forest. It is not safe for you to be here."

But before any of them could respond, they heard a scream that unmistakably came from Neville Longbottom.

"Stay here," said the centaur, and he took off toward the source of the scream.

But Ellie had no intentions of staying. If the centaur hadn't just revealed that dark forces were at work there, maybe she would have. But Neville was clearly in danger, which meant there was a good chance Harry and the others were, too.

"Don't do it, El," Fred warned.

But she did. She changed into her dog form and tore off after the centaur.

It didn't take them long to find the thing that had undoubtedly caused Neville to scream; a few hundred yards from where they had been sat a frightening, hooded figure, covered in the silvery unicorn blood of the lifeless, fallen unicorn at its feet. But it wasn't preying on the unicorn anymore; it was making its way toward Harry.

The centaur didn't hesitate, galloping over to the hooded figure and rearing into the air to threaten it with his hooves. As the creature ran off into the forest, Ellie ran over to Harry, who looked paralyzed with fear.

For a moment, Harry looked just as afraid of Ellie as he had been of the hooded figure. Once she changed back, though, he went from looking afraid to looking amazed.

"Are you okay?" she demanded urgently. "Where are Draco and Neville?"

"Draco ran like a coward," Harry said through gritted teeth, rubbing his forehead. "Neville was… pushed back, I think, by that thing. Like it… only wanted me."

"It did, indeed," said the centaur from behind them. "Harry Potter, I presume?"

Ellie's heart started to pound. How did the centaur know Harry was Harry? He was an ally, right?

"Y… yeah," Harry stammered. "Thank you for saving me."

"My name is Firenze," said the centaur. "Harry, do you know what unicorn blood is used for—what that creature was after?"

Harry shook his head. "I only know that my scar hurt when the creature came near me… almost like it hurts when…" But he trailed off, probably not wanting to reveal too much. Ellie knew from her own conversations what he would have said: when Snape's around.

"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 will have a half-life; a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

Now Ellie's heart was really starting to pound. She no longer feared that Firenze was their enemy, but the creature who he scared off… for it to be so evil…

"But who would be that desperate?" asked Harry. "Wouldn't it be better to be dead than… half-alive?"

"Indeed," agreed Firenze. "But, perhaps, you would do such a thing if you knew that it was only a means to something stronger… something more permanent?"

Ellie's lips parted in frightened disbelief as she realized what the centaur was implying. "The Philosopher's Stone," she whispered.

"But who…?" whispered Harry.

"Can you think of no one who has been waiting for years to return to power?" urged Firenze. "Who has clung to life, awaiting the chance?"

Ellie and Harry turned to face each other, each pale-faced and shocked. There was an answer, of course—an answer much more terrifying than anything they had allowed themselves to believe thus far. Ellie and Hermione had been right: it wasn't Snape who sought immortality—at least not for himself.

It was Voldemort.

"Ellie!"

Ellie glanced away from Harry and Firenze to see a panic-stricken Fred running at breakneck speed over to them. George was about fifty paces behind him, and the rest of the Breakfast Club another fifty or so behind him.

"Are you okay?" Fred demanded as he came to a screeching halt in front of Ellie and Harry, grabbing Ellie by the face and scanning it for injuries. His face was covered in sweat, and his eyes were wider than she had ever seen them.

"We're fine," she promised him, taking his hands in hers and squeezing them. She tried not to let the intensity of his fear for her get to her, but it was a bit hard not to feel… flattered, to say the least. "Harry had a pretty serious scare, but Firenze here saved him."

Fred relaxed a bit at that, releasing his hands from hers and standing aside while Harry and Firenze repeated their story to the rest of the group. Neither of them directly mentioned Voldemort, but Ellie knew Harry well enough to know that he'd be repeating the full story to Ron and Hermione later, as she would be to Fred and George.

For now, they were safe.

But with the shell of Lord Voldemort out in the forest, searching for the Stone, they wouldn't be safe for long.


Overall it went pretty similar to how it did in the books, but there were still some nice moments with Ellie and Harry/Ellie and Fred, don't you think? There's going to be a BIG bombshell in the next chapter, so please be sure to check it out, and to leave a review. Thanks for reading!