THE FORBIDDEN FOREST
The four students walked outside the hut, and headed back toward the castle.
- Hagrid always wanted a dragon. He told me so the first time I met him. – Harry said as they walked.
- It's crazy. – Alex said – I mean, yeah, it's a beautiful creature, but not the best pet to have around, if you ask me.
- And worse, Malfoy knows. – said Ron.
- I don't understand. Is that bad? – Harry asked.
- It's bad.
- C'mon, Ron. I know Draco's not the nicest person at Hogwarts but he's my friend. He won't say anything. – just as Alex finished her sentence, Professor McGonagall appeared in her nightgown.
- Good evening. – she looked disappointed and mad. Draco appeared smugly beside her. Alex looked at him with narrow eyes. McGonagall led them inside her classroom. – Nothing. I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken.
- 50?! – Harry gasped.
- Each. – they all looked disappointed. Alex looked at Draco, whose grin had fainted at the sound of those words. - And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all five of you will receive detention.
- Excuse me, Professor. – Draco walked closer. - Perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said… "the five of us."
- No, you heard me correctly, Mister Malfoy. You see, as honourable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will serve detention with your classmates. – as McGonagall said that, Alex and the Gryffindors grinned.
- That's what happens when you snitch. – Alex whispered to Draco. He looked at her knowing that the tables had turned.
Before they knew it, they were being led to Hagrid's hut by Mister Filch, the caretaker.
- A pity they let the old punishments die. There was a time detention would find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, I miss the screaming. – Mister Filch was pretty scary. Especially when he talked like that. Draco gulped, and he rushed to be next to Alex. - You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the dark forest.
- The forest? He must be joking, right? – Draco whispered to Alex.
- I guess…It is forbidden, after all. – Alex used her logic but she wasn't sure that it was a joke after all. Hagrid appeared with a crossbow as he sniffled.
- Oh, good God, man, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you? – Filch said to Hagrid.
- Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony. – Hagrid looked down with tears in his eyes.
- Well, that's good, isn't it? He'll be with his own kind. – Hermione tried to cheer him up.
- Yeah, but what if he doesn't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby, after all.
- Oh, for God's sake, pull yourself together, man. You're going into the forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you. – Alex looked at Draco with a scared face.
- The forest? I thought that was a joke! We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are… – just as Draco was speaking, a howl sounded. - werewolves!
- There're more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that. Nighty-night. – Mister Filch went back to the castle, leaving the students frightened.
- Right. Let's go. – Hagrid started walking, and the five students followed. Alex grabbed Draco's hand. She was scared, but Draco was terrified.
In the Forbidden Forest, the group walked along a path to a tree. Hagrid stopped, bent down and dipped his fingers in a silver puddle. He pulled out his fingers and rubbed them together. A silver trail smeared with his fingers.
- Hagrid, what's that? – Alex asked.
- What we're here for. See that? That's unicorn's blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago. Now, this one's been injured badly by something. So, it's our job to find the poor beast. Ron, Hermione, you'll come with me. And Harry, you'll go with Malfoy and Alex.
- Wait! – Alex said. – You're going to leave three students on their own inside this forest? Isn't that…irresponsible? What if something happens?
- That's why you brought your wands. – with that, Hagrid turned around, like he didn't care. Alex couldn't believe it.
- Okay. Then we get Fang! – said Draco pointing at Hagrid's dog.
- Fine. Just so you know, he's a bloody coward.
The two groups parted. Alex, Draco and Harry were walking through a part of the forest, with Fang leading. Alex was still holding Draco's hand, and he had a lamp on his other hand.
- You wait till my father hears about this. This is servant's stuff. – Draco was obviously scared and mad.
- We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't snitched about it, you know? – Alex squeezed Draco's hand, which caused him to whine.
- If I didn't know better, Draco, I'd say you were scared. – Harry decided to tease Draco.
- Scared, Potter?! – before he could say anything else, another howl was heard in the distance. - Did you hear that? Come on, Fang.
The three of them approached a flat ground with gnarled roots all over. Fang stopped, then growled. Alex knew that was a bad sign. They saw a cloaked figure crouching over a dead unicorn, drinking its blood. The three of them were paralyzed. Suddenly, the figure raised its head, silver blood dripping from its mouth. Draco screamed with pure fear and started running away, dragging Alex along with him.
- HELP!
- Harry, run! – Alex and Draco kept running. Soon enough they encountered Hagrid and the other two students, who had heard their screams.
- What happened? – Hagrid asked.
- There was someone! They were drinking the unicorn's blood! We started running and… – suddenly Alex looked back, and she didn't see Harry. – Harry stayed back!
- C'mon, show us where it was! – the whole group went back to the place where Harry had been left. When they arrived, Harry was on the ground, and a centaur was talking with him.
- Harry! Are you okay? – Alex asked.
- Hello there, Firenze. I see you've met our young Mister Potter. You alright there, Harry? – Harry nodded.
- Harry Potter, this is where I leave you. You're safe now. Good luck. – the centaur turned around and left. The group looked at the dead unicorn.
Hagrid led the groups of students out of the woods and into the castle, before anything else could happen. When they arrived, Draco headed towards the Slytherin common room. He turned and saw that Alex wasn't following.
- Are you coming?
- In a moment… - she stayed behind to talk with her friends about what had happened at the forest. The moment Draco disappeared into the dungeons, Harry spoke.
- You know who is out there, in the forest.
- What? – the other three spoke at the same time.
- But he's weak. He's living off the unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong! Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself. He wants the Stone for Voldemort. With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again. He'll…he'll come back.
- Okay, so now Snape works for him? That's…crazy! – Alex was worried, but this theory was very strange. Snape was scary, yes, but, and evil wizard? She wasn't so sure about it.
- But, if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to…kill you, do you? – Ron looked at Harry with worry in his eyes.
- I think if he'd had the chance, he might've tried to kill me tonight.
- And to think I've been worrying about my Potions final.
- Hang on a minute. – Hermione spoke. - We're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared? Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore's around, Harry, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore's around, you can't be touched.
- She's probably right. We shouldn't worry about it…at least for now… - Alex said goodbye, and walked towards her common room, as the Gryffindors did the same.
Next day arrived, and with it, the exams. Alex had done well in every single one of them. She studied hard. And she had talent, too. That helped.
- I'd always heard Hogwarts's end-of-year exams were frightful, but I've found they're rather enjoyable. – Hermione said to Alex while walking through the halls.
- Right? It's exciting! – Alex agreed with her.
- Speak for yourself. – Ron wasn't so happy about the exams. - All right there, Harry?
- My scar. It keeps burning. – he said while rubbing his forehead. - I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming. – suddenly, his face changed, like he had just realised something. - Oh! Of course!
- What is it? – Hermione asked as they all walked behind Harry, fast.
- Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't I see it before?
Harry was right. It was weird. And convenient. As they headed towards Hagrid's hut, Alex started wondering if being friends with the Gryffindor trio was a good idea. "What a crazy year…". When they arrived, Hagrid was playing the flute.
- Hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like? – Hagrid stopped playing the flute the moment he heard Harry.
- I don't know. I never saw his face. He kept his hood up.
- But you talked with him, right? What about? – Alex asked the giant man.
- Well, he- he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him, I said, after Fluffy a dragon's going to be no problem.
- Did he seem interested in Fluffy? – asked Hermione.
- Well, of course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do you come across a three-headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told him, I said, I said, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him. Take Fluffy, for example, just play him a bit of music, and he falls straight to sleep. – the four students looked at each other and Hagrid knew he had made a mistake. - I shouldn't have told you that. – with that, the four of them started running. - Where are you going?!
Alex, Harry, Hermione and Ron ran into the Transfiguration classroom to talk to McGonagall. She was probably the only teacher they could trust. If Harry was right about Snape, anyone else could be involved, but not McGonagall.
- We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately! – Harry was a bit harsh. McGonagall looked at the four of them.
- I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London.
- But this is important! This is about the Philosopher's Stone! – McGonagall looked shocked.
- How do you know…? – before she could finish her sentence, Harry interrupted.
- Someone's going to try to steal it!
- I don't know how you four found out about the Stone, but I assure you it is perfectly well protected. Now, would you go back to your dormitories, quietly… - it was clear that McGonagall didn't believe Harry's theory. So, they left the classroom talking to each other.
- That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village. It was Snape. Which means, he knows how to get past Fluffy.
- And with Dumbledore gone… - before Hermione could say anything else, Snape showed up right behind them.
- Good afternoon. Now, what would three young Gryffindors and a lost Slytherin, such as yourselves, be doing inside on a day like this? You ought to be careful. People will think you're…up to something. – he walked away, slowly.
- Well, he clearly heard us talking about him… - said Alex looking at her friends.
- Now, what do we do? – Hermione asked.
- We go down the trap door tonight. – Harry said, determined.