It was not the fact that Filch had caught them that made them so anxious. Of course, that didn't help, but the real reason they felt as though they were going to vomit at any given moment was that they were being escorted to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor. When they arrived, they obeyed Filch's demands to sit while he went to retrieve the woman from her chambers. Harry, Hermione, and Aralynn sat in sobering silence, just waiting for the moment McGonagall would burst into the room and deliver their expulsion. Aralynn wondered what she would tell her mother. How could she explain that she had gotten expelled without even completing her first year? If anyone was expected to be expelled, it would have been Fred and George—not Aralynn. She was sure that her mother would kill her. If she didn't, Aralynn would have to spend the rest of her miserable life knowing that she was an utter failure who just couldn't manage to stay out of trouble. Even the mere thought made her hate herself.

Aralynn tried to distract herself while waiting through antagonizing despair. Instead, she focused her attention on the way McGonagall's study looked. The walls were lined with several, massive poplar bookshelves. The shelves were packed full of dusty old books of various colors. Some of the books were inlaid with gold. Aralynn wondered where Minerva McGonagall could have procured such rare and expensive books. Small, glistening trinkets decorated the shelves, many of which, Aralynn noted; were cats. Her desk, which was positioned near the center of the room, was wide and made of walnut. The chair, also of walnut, seemed more like a throne. There were framed photographs on the desk, but Aralynn couldn't make out any faces in the darkness. Even while focusing on the room, Aralynn could still feel her stomach twisting into knots. Doom was upon them. There was no escaping it—not this time. The expressions on Harry and Hermione's faces told her that they felt the same.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, and attempt to calm their nerves, Professor McGonagall came tearing into the room. By the elbow, she had Neville Longbottom. He looked panicked. However, he perked up when he noticed them. "Guys!" he called. "I overheard Malfoy—I was trying to warn you! He said he was going to make sure that you were all caught, but he also said that you had a drag—"

The three of them violently shook their heads. Unfortunately, McGonagall had noticed them trying to silence Neville. She blistered. "This behavior—abhorrent! I would have never thought any of you capable! Mr. Filch has informed me that you were in the Astronomy Tower. Blasphemous! It is one o'clock in the morning! Explain yourselves this instant!"

Hermione was utterly silent. She looked petrified.

Harry was tapping his knees, trying to think of an answer.

Aralynn was stumbling over her words.

McGonagall stuck her nose in the air. "I had thought not. Allow me to explain it for you then, hm? The three of you—perhaps four if Mr. Weasley was involved—promoted some nonsense of a story to Mr. Malfoy about a dragon… and for what? To get a gullible young man in a great deal of trouble for being out of bed after hours! He's already been punished, but you managed to drag one of your own down with you! Poor Mr. Longbottom overhears the story and believes your lies!"

Neville was standing within McGonagall's grip, now looking extremely hurt. He couldn't believe that the people he thought of as his friends would do something like that to him. They wanted to tell him that that wasn't the truth, but there was no way they would be able to get words in without McGonagall having a tiff.

They may have been terrified of what Norbert would one day accomplish, but at this moment, McGonagall looked far more likely to breathe a much hotter fire than any dragon. She was towering over them and seemed to be growing larger by the moment. Aralynn became nauseous once more.

"I have never been more appalled with student behavior before in my life. In fact, I have never experienced having five students out of bed all at once. I am extremely disgusted with all of you. I thought better of you. Miss Granger—your intellect; your promise. I am shocked to know you would sacrifice that for a silly prank!"

Hermione crumpled into herself.

"Mr. Potter—so graciously thought of by your fellow Gryffindors, only to betray that house and show your utter lack of regard for your classmates!"

Harry wanted to protest, but instead, was silent.

Professor McGonagall then jerked towards Aralynn. "As for you, Miss Weasley—a combination of both! Your intellect and promise; your disregard for your classmates and house; the importance lying before you." She turned her head sharply and exhaled. "All four of you will receive detention—not including Mr. Malfoy. It is incredibly dangerous to wander around the castle at night, and to mention—FORBIDDEN! I will be taking fifty points from Gryffindor."

Harry and Aralynn gaped. "Fifty?"

"Each," McGonagall hissed warningly.

Wisely, they silenced themselves.

"Get back to your dormitories immediately. I would find it wise that none of you make a detour, as all eyes are on you now. Await your punishment—GO!"

They shuffled out of McGonagall's study and quickly returned to their dormitories. They didn't even bother to say goodnight to each other as they trudged up the stairs. Hermione was like a zombie as she crawled into bed, not even bothering to remove her slippers before doing so. She lay frozen, almost like a statue that had been placed there. Aralynn was too wired to sleep. She simply curled up in her bed, thinking of the two hundred points that they had lost Gryffindor in one night. Their house was officially in last place—therefore meaning there was no chance in hell that they would be able to redeem themselves and win the House Cup.

They had become the black sheep of Hogwarts. Harry seemed to be taking it particularly hard. He was no longer Hogwarts's Golden Boy, but their Cursed Boy, instead. The people who had once flocked to him for attention were now ignoring him. Aralynn, Hermione, and Neville weren't without their penalties. Hermione, who had once been so eager to show her prowess and answer every question a professor proposed, now was keeping her head down and working in silence. Aralynn was sure that some people were quite relieved that she was no longer being a know-it-all; however, it made her sad. She had never seen Hermione so miserable in her life. Ron had done his best to try and reassure them, but to no avail. His best attempt was when he assured Harry that Fred and George had lost plenty of points for Gryffindor but were still well-liked. Harry countered by pointing out that they had never lost two hundred points in a single night. Most seemed to blame Harry solely. They were aware that other first years were present at the time, but Aralynn was unsure that they knew which first years they were.

During one of their study sessions in the Common Room, Harry had told them that he vowed to no longer stick his nose into business that didn't belong to him. The rest of them made the same vow. They figured it would be better to keep to themselves. They had done enough damage, and they didn't want to do more. It was their faults alone that their chances of winning the House Cup had gone out the window. They were determined for the remainder of their year to be completely disaster-free. They had their exams to worry about, and so they focused all their time on studying. It was enough to keep themselves distracted, especially from the insults that were being thrown at them. It had gotten out that Aralynn, Hermione, and Neville were also responsible for losing Gryffindor points. They suspected it had been Malfoy's doing.

One afternoon, Ron, Aralynn, and Hermione were going over their notes. Hermione was helping Ron memorize certain Astronomy teachings, and Aralynn was poring over a textbook, trying to memorize the dates of certain wars for History of Magic. Ron was struggling to name the constellations that Hermione was quizzing him on. "Ah…" Ron stumbled. "I know this one, it's um… it's, ah…"

"Cygnus," answered Aralynn.

Hermione dropped the piece of parchment in her hands dramatically. "Aralynn, please!" she huffed. "Ron has to learn these things. Your intervening isn't going to help him!"

"At least I'll know that one," said Ron. "I was going to say Orion…"

Hermione put her arms down on the table, laid her head on them, and sighed loudly.

Harry came bustling in. He hurried over to the table and threw his books down. Hermione nearly jumped out of her seat. "Blimey, Harry—what is it?"

He told them all about what he had heard when he was walking the corridors. How he had heard Quirrell giving in, and the way he looked when he exited the room. That was that—Quirrell had finally given in to Snape's demands, and the Philosopher's Stone was no longer safe.

Ron was shaking his head. "He held out so long. What are we going to do now?"

"Fluffy is still guarding the Stone," Hermione pointed out.

"There's a chance that he figured out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," Harry said with a frown. "What can we do? What should we do?"

Aralynn recalled the pact they had made. "What else can we do? We must go to Professor Dumbledore—just as we should have from the beginning. If we try to stop this ourselves, we'll surely be expelled. Remember what we said, Harry? No more meddling."

Harry was exasperated. "How are we supposed to get Dumbledore to believe us, Ara? We have no proof of any of this. We haven't proven to be much more than troublemakers. There's no way Dumbledore will buy any of it. We don't have Quirrell to back us up, and we're not quiet about hating Snape. What if he thinks we're making everything up just to get Snape sacked?"

Aralynn shook her head. "Dumbledore is brighter than that, Harry."

"It doesn't change the fact that we have no evidence," Harry said with a sigh.

Ron was shaking his leg anxiously. "Maybe if we did just a bit of poking around—"

Harry shook his head. "No. Aralynn is right. We can't get involved. We've done enough damage as it is." Without another word, Harry began to study like the rest of them had been. His mind was completely made up.

They received their detention notices that afternoon while at lunch: Eleven o'clock that night. They were to meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall no later than then.

When night fell, Aralynn, Hermione, Harry, and Neville gathered in the Common Room. Harry, Aralynn, and Hermione said their goodbyes to Ron and went through the castle to meet Filch in the entrance hall, as ordered. Draco Malfoy was standing at Filch's side, looking completely infuriated. Aralynn had nearly forgotten that Malfoy had also received detention. It was clear that he believed his punishment was undeserved. Harry, Aralynn, and Hermione, however, felt that theirs was. Filch was looking far too satisfied with the number of students who were receiving detention. He had a lit lantern in his hand. He ordered for them to follow him, and they did so—in silence.

As they walked the dark grounds, Mr. Filch went on and on about how much he missed the old punishments. He talked of students being hanged by their chained wrists in the past. He also told them that he still had the chains in his office. Apparently, he kept them well-oiled, just in case they would ever be needed again. Pain and suffering—that was the punishment he believed most effective. He made that much clear.

Filch led them to Hagrid's hut, where he was standing outside, readying a crossbow beside a lit fire. "Hurry up now," Hagrid called to Filch and the students. "No time to be wastin'. Best we get started now."

The three of them, and perhaps even Neville too, were feeling a little less doom and gloom knowing that Hagrid was going to be leading their detention. Filch, however, made sure they didn't feel too comfortable. "Don't get too excited," he snarled. "You'll be going into the Dark Forest. You'd count yourselves lucky if you come back in one piece."

Malfoy turned on his heel. "The forest?" he asked, incredulously. "We can't go in there. It's forbidden and it's dangerous! There are werewolves… and vampires!"

Filch was scowling at Malfoy. "Well, that sounds like your problem, doesn't it?"

"This is absurd!" Malfoy growled. "My father will hear about this!"

Hagrid came striding over. He had a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder. "Where ya bin?" he asked. "I was waitin' for half an hour for yehs to come along." He noticed the three, and frowned, but smiled softly. "Alrigh' there, you three?"

Filch rolled his eyes. "They're being punished, Hagrid. Best not to be too kind."

Hagrid glared at him. "Go on an' get outta here. You'll have 'em back at dawn."

"What's left of them," Filch corrected with a nasty smile. He then wandered off.

Hagrid shook his head. "Well, best be off!"

Malfoy was glued firmly to the ground. "I'm not going in there."

Hagrid turned to him. "Well, tha's yer choice, but, if yeh want ter stay in Hogwarts… yeh'll get movin'."

Draco scoffed. "This isn't for students to do! This is servant work! I thought we would be copying lines. If my father knew about this—"

"Then what?" Hagrid asked, growling a little bit. "He'd wouldn' say nothin'. Lucius Malfoy went ter Hogwarts, too. He'd tell yeh this is jus' how it is. What good does copyin' lines do? Hogwash!" He strode over to Malfoy and ushered him forward with a mindful nudge of his back. "Git goin'!"

Malfoy was hesitant, but walked towards the forest, anyway. Hagrid nodded and signaled for the rest of them to follow. He stopped them when they reached the edge of the forest. He pointed to something down the narrow earth pathway leading through the black trees. There was something silver shining on the ground. "See that?" he asked. "That there's unicorn blood. It's somewhere in there, an' it's bin hurt. I found a dead one not too long ago. Summat's bin attackin' these poor creatures. We're gon' go try an' find the beast."

"The violent one?" asked Malfoy, clearly panicked.

Hagrid grumbled. "No," he said. "The unicorn. Might have ter put the poor thing out of its suff'rin."

Malfoy relaxed, but barely.

"Nothin' out there will hurt any o' yeh so long as yer with me, or with Fang." He gestured to the large dog at his side. "Here's what we're gon' do: we're gon' split in two. Now, there're two diff'rent trails—poor beast bin staggerin' 'round all night. Gotta split up ter find 'im."

"I want Fang!" Malfoy demanded.

Hagrid stared at him. "Fine, but he's a coward," he said. "Harry, Hermione an' Aralynn will come with me. Draco, Fang, an' Neville will go th' opposite way. Stick ter the path. Send up green sparks if yeh find th' unicorn."

Hagrid waved for the three to follow him. They did so, stumbling fearfully.

The forest was pitch black. It was impossible to see a mere few feet in front of them. What could be made out was terrifying. The trees were tall and thick-trunked. Their leaves waved with the gentle breeze, which could have been soothing, but considering where they were—it was just that much more menacing. Aralynn figured she would feel a bit more comfortable if the forest were silent, but there were so many tiny little noises that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. When Hermione tripped over a rock, Aralynn nearly belted out the loudest scream she could muster. Thankfully, she managed to swallow it. Hermione had yelped, but quietly. Hagrid made sure that she was okay before they continued.

There were pools of silver unicorn blood scattered along the ground. The path wound through the forest, bringing up unexpected twists and turns. Aralynn would have surely gotten lost if she didn't have Hagrid to follow. Harry was asking the man several questions, mostly about werewolves, and what could have possibly harmed the unicorn. Hagrid was refuting his theories and telling him why his suggestions couldn't have been what hurt the unicorn and killed the other. Aralynn and Hermione were walking side-by-side. Hermione was looking quite downtrodden.

Aralynn nudged her. "Are you okay, Hermione?"

Hermione offered her an unconvincing smile that could barely be seen through the thick darkness. "I'm fine," she answered. "Don't worry about me."

"I am worried about you," Aralynn told you. "I know you've been really upset since McGonagall ripped us apart."

Hermione sighed sharply. "This school year hasn't gone the way I expected it to. Not at all. I'm thankful for the friendships I've found in you, Harry, and Ron, but… so much has happened—so much has been sacrificed. I'm worried that I'll fail my exams. What will happen if I'm not admitted next year?"

Aralynn placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "That will never happen, 'Mione. You're the smartest person I know. There's no way you'll fail your exams."

"We've been in so much trouble. I'm not blaming you guys; not at all. It's my fault, too. Our curiosity has cost us so much, and I'm not willing to let it cost me anything else."

Aralynn nodded. "I understand, Hermione. You shouldn't have to."

"I'm sorry," Hermione sighed. "I feel awful."

"You have no reason to," Aralynn reassured. "You value your education, Hermione. You care about your future, and what's going to happen to your reputation. I can't fault you on any of that."

Hermione smiled at her. "Thank you."

"Of course—"

"GET BEHIND THAT TREE!" roared Hagrid. He seized the three of them by their jackets and placed them away from the pathway, behind a towering oak. They huddled closely together, shaking from fear.

"Hagrid," Harry whispered. "Is it a werewolf?"

"No," Hagrid replied. "Summat diff'rent. Summat that ain't supposed ter be here."

They continued to follow him when he beckoned for them. They made sure to stay as close as they could to him, still feeling extremely uneasy. Hagrid was tiptoeing (as well as he could for a man of stature) towards something in the distance. He had his crossbow raised. "Who's there?" he asked. "Show yerself!"

A man appeared under a thin gleam of moonlight. Or, rather, it wasn't a man. Well, it was, but the lower half of his body was that of a chestnut horse. Hagrid lowered his bow. "Oh, hello there, Ronan. Good ter see you."

The redhaired man-horse nodded respectfully. "Good evening, Hagrid." His voice was lulling and full of melancholy. "You were going to shoot me?"

Hagrid looked embarrassed but shrugged. "Can't be too careful. This here's Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, an' Aralynn Weasley. Students up at Hogwarts."

Ronan the Centaur's neck was craned towards the sky. "As students, do you learn much at Hogwarts?"

Hermione hesitated. "Yes."

"Excellent," said the Centaur.

Hagrid stepped forward. "Ronan—have ye seen anythin' unusual out here? A unicorn's bin hurt, summat dangerous is loose in these woods."

"Mars is bright tonight," said Ronan, who was still looking longingly into the sky.

Hagrid glanced up. "Yeah… Ronan, have you seen anything? Anything odd?"

"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan stated again. "Unusually bright."

Hagrid rubbed his head. Another Centaur, apparently named Bane, appeared. Hagrid tried to ask him, too, if he had seen anything unusual, but Bane gave the same answer that Ronan had: "Mars is bright tonight." The large man grew far too frustrated to continue speaking with them. He explained that there was no point in trying to get an answer out of Centaurs. By the way Hagrid explained it, Aralynn came to understand that they were too idealistic. Hagrid had simply called them 'ruddy stargazers'.

They continued to move throughout the forest, searching for the culprit behind the unicorn attacks. Harry and Hagrid were discussing what they could have seen and heard before they encountered Ronan and Bane. Hagrid didn't seem to know what it could have been, but he suspected it was the creature behind the attacks.

Aralynn noticed red sparks splitting through the darkness in the distance. Hagrid had advised they be sent up in case anyone was in trouble. Aralynn tugged on his sleeve. "Hagrid, the others are in trouble," she said, pointing to the sparks. Hagrid ordered them to stay put. He went running towards the red light.

The three of them stood stagnant, feeling extremely awkward. "What are we supposed to do?" asked Harry.

"Wait to get killed," Hermione answered, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"Hagrid wouldn't let anything happen to us," said Aralynn.

Just in time, Hagrid returned. He had Draco, Neville, and Fang in tow. Aralynn swore that she could see steam coming out of his ears. He was obviously furious. He explained that Draco had frightened Neville, who sent up the sparks. He had already admonished Malfoy for quite possibly jeopardizing their mission, considering all the noise they had made. To salvage the remainder of their investigation, Hagrid regrouped them. Neville and Hermione were to stay with him. The rest of them were to break apart.

Harry seemed quite unhappy with the arrangement, but Hagrid made sure to apologize profusely for doing that to him. It was only after Hagrid apologized and offered him an explanation that Harry seemed to understand.

Once more, they embarked on their journey. They traveled deeper and deeper into the forest, very sure that they were lost now. Malfoy, of course, was running his mouth. Their patience was beginning to thin. If he didn't shut up soon, Aralynn wasn't sure what she would do.

"My father is going to tear this school apart once he hears about this," said Malfoy. "He'll be absolutely appalled. I bet he'll have Dumbledore sacked for allowing such barbaric punishments. I hope he gets that blundering oaf sacked as well. Completely useless, that one."

Harry was prickling. "Shut up, Malfoy."

Draco sneered. "Have I offended you?" He laughed. "You fancy that fat oaf, or something? I wouldn't be surprised."

Aralynn turned sharply. "Malfoy, I'm warning you—shut your mouth. Now."

He turned his chin up to her. "Or what, Weasley? How are you going to do that? You going to shove your hand-me-downs into my mouth?"

Aralynn took a step forward. "Or my fist."

Harry grabbed Aralynn's arm. "He's not worth it, Ara. You're going to get into more trouble. Do you want to risk expulsion for him?"

Aralynn puffed. She forced herself to relax, but Malfoy was on thin ice. If he made another gross remark, she wasn't sure that she would be able to control herself.

They continued through the forest. It only seemed to be growing thicker with each step. They could barely make it a few feet without walking into a tree. There was hardly any space between them anymore. Suddenly, Harry held up his arm, which stopped Aralynn and Draco from going any further. "Quiet," he warned. He pointed through the trees, into a clearing.

On the dark, black ground laid a gleaming white shape. As they inched closer, they noticed that it was the unicorn. It had died, but it seemed to have done so only recently. They stopped a good few feet away. Draco and Fang stood transfixed, but Harry and Aralynn did not. Aralynn noted that the sight of the dead unicorn was the saddest thing she had ever seen. The creature was gorgeous, and pure, and it seemed a sin for it to have been killed. She wanted to cry. In fact, she almost did.

There was a soft rustling through the thicket. They looked over to see a large, hooded figure come into the clearing. It went over to the unicorn, bent before it, and began to feed. When its head lowered, Aralynn felt a searing white-hot pain afflicting her scar. Harry's scar also seemed to be bothered. The two fell backward, screaming out in agony.

Draco and Fang both ran for the hills. Nothing less than Aralynn would have expected. Too bad she couldn't focus on anything other than the burning in her head. The two dropped to their knees, unable to keep themselves standing. The pain was far too fierce. While Harry likely would have questioned her for experiencing the same pain, he wasn't quite able to focus on anything, either. The hooded figure looked directly at them and came swiftly for them. There was nothing they could do but give up and be killed.

Harry reached out his hand, palm outstretched towards Aralynn. Aralynn reached over to take it. When their hands touched, and their palms were linked, the connection they had experienced on Halloween sparked between them. This time, they didn't fight it. Instead, they fed into it. If they were to die, at least they would die together. They held on for dear life, praying that this wasn't the end. A white, glowing aura appeared before them. It seemed to act as some sort of shield. The hooded figure shrank backward, sounding as though it were hissing at the light.

Then, suddenly, hooves sounded. They were near. Aralynn and Harry released their grips, and the white light faded away. The beast, which appeared to be a Centaur, fought the hooded figure. When the pain in their heads had gone, they looked up. The only thing left standing was the Centaur—not Bane, nor Ronan. Someone different.

He galloped over to the children. "Are you alright?"

"Better now," said Aralynn weakly.

"You two are—" the Centaur paused. "Students," he said suddenly. "I am Firenze. The forest is not safe for you. Get onto my back. I will return you to Hagrid."

Harry and Aralynn climbed onto Firenze's back when he lowered his front legs. Aralynn wrapped her arms around Harry when the Centaur took off. She closed her eyes tightly and laid her head on his back. She was trying to make sense of what had just happened. Not the figure, but the forcefield. Their scars hurt simultaneously.

She could hardly pay attention when Firenze came across Ronan and Bane. The Centaurs were arguing, but her head was pounding, and she couldn't bear to focus. It wasn't until she was pried off Firenze's back that she realized they had been returned to Hagrid. As they were escorted back to the castle, Harry told her all about what Firenze had revealed—the use of unicorn blood to keep a being alive, the reason the Philosopher's Stone was being hunted—to bring You-Know-Who back into life and power; delivered by the slimy hands of Severus Snape. Harry didn't even seem to acknowledge what had happened between them.

When they returned to the Common Room, Harry had hurried over to wake Ron—who had fallen asleep on the couch—and tell him all about what happened. He tried to use Aralynn to corroborate the story, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, Aralynn had gone directly upstairs and into her dormitory. She was sitting on her bed, while the other girls were sleeping, with a wastebasket between her knees. Her arms were wrapped around the basket, holding it tightly to her chest.

Aralynn sat there, dripping with sweat, thinking about the forcefield that appeared before them—thinking about the burning on her forehead. She closed her eyes tightly, heaving dryly, before finally vomiting into the bin.

All she could think was: What the bloody hell?