Professor Snape was right; their Defence teacher made no more moves against any of them, and Hermione had been watching very closely. He called on her even more in class now than he did before, no longer content to ignore her and instead worked on subtly degrading her in front of the whole class – "T-t-terrible effort-t-t on your part," and "B-better luck-k-k next time, eh, Granger?" – with his typical innocent façade. Hermione watched even closer.

But with nothing happening with the Professor, she could only focus on her studies, her friends, and her approaching Animagus transformation. She and the twins changed their meeting-place to hide on the third floor in a classroom away from Fluffy as the weather drove them indoors. By the end of November, they'd each managed a small body part, something inconsequential, but to them, it was the first sign of success and they all celebrated their accomplishment. Fred itched awfully when he sprouted some feathers at his fingertips, George grew a beak, and Hermione had managed hooves for her feet. That was a clue though; she was an equid, at least. Her black hooves made her think zebra, but she might just be a plain old horse. The thought of being so ordinary was a little discouraging, but with the victory of even a minor self-transformation, she still renewed her practice vigorously.

December came around, and with it came another dose of the potion. Hermione felt the potion's impact this time, felt the tingle in her limbs as they learnt her form through the added potion. She was frustrated; the magic was there, she just needed to use it.

Daedalus was the one that broke them through fully. They were in the classroom on the third floor, the kitsune with them, and they'd started changing. Feathers, beak, and hooves were back in place but no other progress was being made.

The kitsune ran in the middle of their meditative circle and barked loudly, interrupting their trance.

"Daedalus, quiet!" Hermione ordered tersely. The frustration was getting to her. "We're focusing."

Instead of quieting down, he did another loud yip and shifted right on George's lap.

In his place was a bird. About the size of an adult forearm with a beak that doubled the size of its head, beautiful brown plumage and Daedalus' signature black tip merging with the feathers to gain more contrast.

Fred and George grinned at the little fox-demon.

"Is that us?"

Daedalus, in his bird form, was able to give a loud laughing noise and a nod before he moved to the center of the circle and shifted again, this time looking directly at his owner.

From the hooves, she'd already guessed she was some kind of horse or pony, but hadn't pictured anything but the fully-grown version of herself. Daedalus turned into a smaller horse, clearly not fully grown and on knobbly legs. Daedalus had clearly tried to make the horse fully black, but had only succeeded on making the body black; the mane was still the Daedalus platinum blonde.

"Is that me?"

Daedalus didn't neigh for her or yip, but she still nodded as if he had agreed.

They knuckled back down into their meditations, their forms firmly in mind.

George was the first to manage. One minute all was silent, and then a birdy laugh echoed in the stone classroom. Hermione and Fred's eyes snapped open and looked at the pint-sized, blue, white, and orange bird who was exactly where George had been.

It took George another few minutes, but he returned to human form and beamed manically at the pair of them. "That was amazing!"

Fred only had to try for another ten minutes to get it. The twins both turned into their larger, fluffy birds and pecked at each other happily.

That's when Hermione got frustrated. They had both transformed before her, very much before her. She was impressed, sure, but it took a back seat to how embarrassed she felt. And because she was tense and annoyed, the transformation eluded her.

Fred and George tried to help her as much as they could.

"I think I got mine mostly cause of Georgie and my sympathetic magic," Fred told her. "I could already feel it, sort of. It was like George had freed up."

"Yeah, just imagine yourself as not a person, but a free spirit," George said. "You can't hold on to being human and still change. I think, when I got that, that's when I changed."

"I'm trying!" she snapped.

It took her another few days. Both twins were kind and encouraging, and Hermione was really happy that Fred was being kind, but she had always been exceptional. She had wanted to get it first; she had wanted to win; she wanted to be even better.

Then, one day, she said a prayer over it in the middle of meditating. It was silly, Hermione thought, to ask about something as fantastical as turning into an animal when God had given them human bodies for a reason, but she thought she'd ask.

It must have worked. Her mind caught hold of the idea of calm and peace, and she felt the magic of the potion crackling again in her magic. With her calm, she finally felt the spark light in her core and she changed.

Fred and George changed back from their kookaburra forms (they looked it up gladly, grinning the whole time), and they clapped her on. When she turned back, she demanded a mirror before turning again.

Her body was just as knobbly as her familiar said. But she was all black, mane and tail included. Both were also curly, beautifully curly and shiny. She had never really been around horses, but it seemed strange for a horse to have curly hair. Maybe this was like Professor McGonagall looking like she had glasses in her cat-form, or the unusually bright hue of orange on the underside of Fred and George's beaks.

She was expecting to feel powerful as a horse, but when she tried to walk, she was shaky. Like a newborn filly, it seemed she needed to learn to walk. Fred and George helped her to feel better about it, learning to fly beside her, but they could practice in the classroom. Her form needed to run and run fast, not in a small room in a stone castle, but out on the lawns.

"What if we're seen?" Fred and George hummed thoughtfully. "It's not exactly like we're registered, you know. We're technically –"

"If we want to be precise –"

"Breaking the law."

"Won't be good for someone to catch us."

Hermione grinned. "Then we change behind the trees! There are centaurs in the forest, I'm sure running in there will be better than running here."

"The Forbidden Forest?" Fred gaped.

George's jaw dropped too. "You, skip-two-grades-Granger, want to break more rules?"

She folded her arms primly across her chest. "Well, I don't see why not. We don't have to really enter the Forest, we can stay at the edge. And when we decide to tell a Professor about our forms, I'd rather be able to walk and run properly."

They groaned. "Of course, she wants to tell."

"Yes, I do!" Hermione huffed. "Professor McGonagall told me I was too young to do it! I have to tell her she was wrong! And I'm sure Professor Snape will be impressed."

The twins gave her a strange look, then shrugged. "Well, your choice. Don't tell on us, though."

"Of course not!" she assured them. "But we will be practicing outside, right?"

So they agreed. The next night, they snuck out into the cold December air and a few rows of trees into the Forbidden Forest. The cold and the silence made it feel more ominous, and then the dark of the trees blotted out the light the moon could have given them. It was dark, and it was a little scary.

"I want to transform now," Hermione said, trying not to sound scared.

"Yeah."

"Let's do it."

Hermione shifted first, leaning forward to catch her new hand-hooves on the ground. She shook her curly horse mane out of her face with a nicker.

The twins transformed next and immediately flew onto her back, giving her a laugh when she tried to shift them off. They couldn't really communicate, so she neighed in what she hoped was laugh-y annoyance.

They practiced for a little while, and she tried running only a little because she was still shaky. The twins were getting along really well with their flying, but they weren't very quick and had to land very often because they were tired.

After about thirty minutes, the atmosphere in the forest suddenly shifted. Hermione wasn't sure if the twins knew why, but she could feel the magic in the air suddenly becoming darker. Her horse head turned violently, trying to find the threat.

The first thing she saw was shadow.

She knew it wasn't a tree. It was moving, moving like a snake in the wind. It was trying to dart between the trees, working ever closer to the trio. The form, robed in black, was approaching swiftly. Hermione started running in the opposite direction, but her shaky legs weren't ready for the speed she was trying, so she fell to the forest floor. The twins landed on her again, sending warning chirps at the approaching figure while she struggled to her four legs.

Before the spectre could strike, the sound of hooves grew to a thunder in the forest, coming ever closer. Centaurs came through the trees, bows cocked. Arrows zinged past the now fleeing spectre, but none hit their mark.

The dark figure floated away, disappearing into the dark, sinister forest.

Centaurs approached the trio with a somber mien. None of them thought to transform until the leader stepped forward, a robust older man with greying blonde mane and brown fur, and addressed them.

"Foals of Hogwarts, and foal sister," he nodded to her equestrian form, "you are safe. I am Magorian, and these are herd-brothers. Come, speak with us."

The twins hopped off her back and they all transformed together. The twins appeared unaffected, but Hermione was a little shaken and more than a little embarrassed. She could hardly look the centaur in the eye.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, quickly covering her face.

A vicious-looking dark centaur snorted. "As you should be. Night woods are no place for foals, and especially a unicorn foal who can't even run the winding paths."

"Bane," their leader warned, "be mindful."

The twins looked to her and she looked up, confused, at the dark centaur. "Unicorn?"

Another centaur, the one to the right of Magorian, interjected. "You may not yet have grown your horn, sister, but we recognize you all the same."

"But … unicorns aren't black," Hermione said. "Are they?"

The centaurs all nickered lightly, a laugh-like noise. Magorian spoke this time.

"As there is light, there is dark," he said sagely. "Those white unicorns have their own power, to heal and comfort and gather. They are the heart of their herd. The black unicorns are the defenders, the hand and mind of the herd. The horns of the white unicorn are brittle while the black unicorns have hard horns, imbued with the magic to defend their herd even from magic. The white unicorns have the power to heal and often use it on their black protectors, but the black unicorn is given of magic by as many as they protect. Thus, the more white beings in their herd, the more powerful the black protectors are.

"I would imagine," Magorian eyed the girl, "that there are people who you would protect with all you have, aren't there, sister?"

Her mind flashed to Harry, Draco, the twins, then it lingered on Professor Snape. And her mum and dad too. She nodded firmly.

"That's good," he said kindly, but then he sighed, "but you are not fully grown. That shade is a danger to you in that form, foal, and you require more protection than your companions should you come here again. You cannot be a protector until you can protect yourself."

"Why?" Fred asked determinedly. "Why was it after her? Why a unicorn?"

The centaurs considered them gravely, then seemed to agree to tell.

A centaur came forward, and Magorian nodded to him. "Firenze."

Firenze bowed to the leader then looked with distant eyes to Hermione. "Unicorn blood is the most terrible of cures. For all the ills it heals, the price it costs is greater than them all.

"The shade seeks immortality, a quest the blood may grant, but in his quest, he has given himself over to the never-ending hunger. By killing the unicorns of this forest and partaking of their blood, he will forever endure in thirst."

Hermione's eyes widened, and the twins subconsciously stood closer to her.

"Unicorn blood is so pure, its healing power so complete, that it is burnt into the very soul of the one who drinks it," Firenze told them, his voice soft. "The blood of the unicorn should never be consumed, for whoever drinks it is cursed with a half-life, a life filled only with hunger and famine. The pleasures of the world are nothing to them, for only the blood of a unicorn can give it to them. The shade will thirst for the blood of any unicorn it comes across; especially yours."

Firenze noted their stricken looks. "The blood of a black unicorn is multiplied by their herd; the shade cannot reach them normally for their power. But you, little herd-sister, you have no horn to channel your power. You are defenceless against the shade. He hungers for your blood when changed, sister; you must not transform without a strong defender to stand with you."

Fred and George looked pale and understanding. Hermione was shaking a little, picturing how the shadow had approached them, already picturing the teeth that would have eaten her. But... "I can't transform again? Ever?"

Magorian set his horse-body down before her to look into her eyes. "We did not say that, sister; we only urge caution. Your teachers, do they know where you are right now?"

Hermione looked down, ashamed. The twins frantically shook their heads.

The herd leader nodded in understanding. "I advise you to look to your elders, foals, for they know better of this shade than I. Trust in them to protect you best they can."

Turning his equine eyes to the school, Magorian nodded. "I see that Pluto has pulled closer to the sun to watch over you . . . do not hide in his shadow but stand before him. All foes fall; death himself shall defend and direct you against them."

Hermione understood immediately, although the allusion confused her some as well. Pluto, the embodiment of Death and also meaning Hades. It was an image that her Professor cultivated well. And he did watch over her. But the thought of telling him filled her with dread.

Magorian rose to his feet once more. "It is time; the shade hunts once more. Foals, you must return to the castle."

The melancholy that crept over Hermione was inexplicable. She'd only transformed into her horse— no, unicorn, she reminded herself—a few times, but the thought of never transforming again felt like something wonderful had been ripped away. The twins moved her escort her back, but she could not help the sorrow on her face as she turned from the centaur herd-leader.

"Sister," Firenze stepped forward, his face vacant as Magorian's had been when he mentioned Pluto, "if you wish to transform, come to the forest when the dark is most, right here. My brothers fight the shade better than I; I will guard you while they search it out."

Hermione felt the darkness lift and smiled a timid, but genuine smile at the kind centaur. "Thank you. I will."

The twins hurried her out of the forest then, strategically flanking her. She waved timidly back at the centaurs before they disappeared into the gloom again in a rumble of hooves.

When they got to the entrance of the castle, Fred and George pulled her down towards the dungeons instead of the tower.

"No," she protested, pulling back and halting the group in their tracks. "No, no, no. You can't tell him, you can't!"

Fred came up to her and grabbed her shoulder, his face panicked. "Do you have any idea what almost happened? You were attacked, Hermione! You could have been killed, you could have been drained like some vampire victim! We have to tell someone, we have to."

"This isn't the same as larking about," George interjected, his face just as grave. "This is serious. You heard the centaurs; that thing wants your blood, sure as day. We have to tell someone, and I think you'd rather we tell Snape than ol' Dumbles, yeah?"

Hermione shook her head. "No! I won't transform again, okay? I promise! We don't have to tell him if it's not going to happen again!"

Fred ran a hand through his hair. "'Mione, we have to! What if your blood changed when you became an animagus? What if it still attracts the shade? What if it knows who you are?"

"And there's something in the forest that wants to kill unicorns, don't you think the professors should know?"

Hermione bit her lip. She hated when people besides her were right, especially when it meant she couldn't say no to something. Telling the professor was the last thing she wanted. The fear of death was nearly nothing next to the thought of disappointing her professor, but at the same time, the twins seemed just as scared for her as she had been when the shadow jumped at her. And the thought of going to the Headmaster, who she didn't even really know …

"Just Professor Snape?" she pleaded then, unashamed to be begging.

Fred and George gave her weak smiles. "Yeah, only him. That okay? You wanted to show him some time, right? No time like the present!"

Together they did their death march down to the Professor's quarters. Hermione could only stare at the forbidden wood door, unable to raise her hand and knock. The twins did it for her.

Professor Snape was, surprisingly, wide awake. He threw open the wooden door too quickly and made them all jump. Still in his forbidding black robes, eyes dark and piercing, he glared down at the trio.

"Well, well, well," he observed, "it must truly be dire for three Gryffindors to come to my office in the middle. Of. The. Night."

Hermione could only stare at the ancient stones beneath her feet, and Severus noticed.

He sighed. "Come in."

The three shuffled guiltily into his rooms. For Fred and George, it was guilt at endangering Hermione. For Hermione, it was guilt that she'd broken rules – laws even – and that her Professor would soon know.

"It is very late, you three," Severus reminded them when they remained silent before him. "Not the time for dithering about. You will tell me what happened immediately and without embellishment."

Hermione refused. She could not look at him and she couldn't look at the twins. Tears were welling up in her eyes, whether from fear or shock or guilt she didn't know. The twins took the reins.

"Something tried to kill Hermione, sir."

His black eyes flickered to Miss Granger to assess the damage. She appeared unharmed, if rattled. "Was it him?"

Hermione shook her head. "I didn't see who, sir."

Fred and George jumped. "What do you mean, him? Someone else is trying to kill you?"

"I do not believe so," Severus calmed to twin menaces. "It was merely a possibility. Proceed with your story, Messers Weasley."

So the Weasley twins told him everything. How she had started them off on the path to becoming Animagi, how they'd discovered their forms, and how they'd decided to try them on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.

"You're not mad yet, right?" Hermione interjected before the twins could go further. Snape was sitting there, so stone-faced, she wanted to make sure. She knew he would blow up once they got further, but … "We did extraordinary magic, right?"

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. "Miss Granger, do you believe you three are the only ones who have attempted this after seeing Professor McGonagall transform? I am neither surprised nor upset."

Fred grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, you will be."

"See, when we got to practicing—"

"When something straight out of mum's stories jumped from behind the trees."

"It was a shadow," George continued, "all black with red eyes. It went straight for Hermione."

Severus froze. Red eyes. He had decided early on that Quirrell was working for some unknown master—that idiot could not be working alone—but one with red eyes . . . vampire, perhaps? Many of the undead sported those eyes as a show of their inhumanity. A vampire would not seek out a unicorn, however. That only left another undead that they had been sure would show up for the stone . . . his former master.

"The centaurs showed up and scared him off," Fred said.

"But they knew we were animagi—"

"So we transformed back. They said he was some sort of shade, sir."

"And that he was hunting unicorn blood to keep himself alive."

Severus head snapped up to regard Miss Granger. "Unicorn?"

The twins nodded, placing hands on Hermione's shoulders in support.

"Yeah, turns out, hey, spitfire's not a horse!"

"She only hasn't grown a horn yet."

"Anyway," Fred continues, a little bit more seriously, "that's why we came to talk to you, sir. That thing was gunning for Hermione when she was changed …"

"But we don't know whether that will change when she's human, see?"

"Unicorn isn't covered in 'Intra Animagus', sir—"

"And most animal blood is basically the same, anyways—"

"So we never thought whether our blood would change when we shifted."

Severus raised his hand, stopping their twin babble. "I understand. It was wise of you to admit your delinquency in these circumstances."

All three relaxed a little, but Hermione still looked abnormally tense before him. He hated it.

"Animagus transformations," Professor Snape explained, "often bring traces of your human forms with them into the animal form. For example, your intellect and physical appearance; distinctive traits in your human form often become little tells in the animal. Glasses on Professor McGonagall turns into eye markings, for example.

"There have also been documented cases of the animal form affecting your human form. A dog animagus turn back only to find they're a little bit hairier, a cat animagus being able to see just a bit better in the dark, or a snake animagus – no, they were not Slytherins – having quicker reflexes.

"There has been documentation in the past, as well, that magical animagus forms carry over as well." Snape thought carefully. What were they. . ? "I believe one example an older man from the Americas who could turn into a thunderbird; they say he could still conjure small storm clouds if he was upset, no matter his form.

"This does not mean the change you experienced will affect your blood, Miss Granger," Professor Snape explained to the fearful girl. "Not all transformations are alike, and not all will display physical symptoms. It simply means we will need to test it.

"You three, follow me."

He led the trio of rulebreakers to his lab, where he collected all his necessary equipment. The last was a syringe, which had Hermione looking relieved and the twins looking terrified.

"In order to establish whether your blood has the same properties as unicorns when human, first I will need to draw some of it from you," Severus explained, putting Miss Granger on one of the stools. "Try to relax your arm; it may hurt more if you tense."

Hermione did as she was bidden although she was looking a little too closely at the needle to not flinch when it was inserted, and Severus was able to draw the normal-looking blood from her veins. "It looks human, at least. White unicorn blood is generally silver in colour and more viscous than a human's."

"Oh, Hermione's unicorn is black—"

"Is that different?"

Professor Snape looked down at the girl in mild amusement. Of course she would be; she was far too aggressive for her to be a placid white unicorn.

"Because of certain differences in their biology and magic, the black variety has a more golden or a rare orange tinge to their blood. Still, as your blood is red—"

Professor Snape cut himself off and held up the syringe to the light, twisting it periodically as if looking for something specific in the liquid. To Hermione and the twins, it just looked like normal, red blood, but Professor Snape clearly saw something else.

"Perhaps some more testing," he seemed to murmur to himself.

Hermione, Fred, and George watched carefully as Professor Snape started up a cauldron, warming the blood with a small amount of steeped ginger water to keep it from congealing or sticking. Slowly, ribbons of gold started floating at the top of the liquid.

Professor Snape took a small, nearly solid skimmer and drew it over the golden ribbon, taking it from the top to place it in its own vial. Once he'd collected what he could, he then took a completely new cauldron and made a simple blemish reducer before he added a drop of the gold collected to the brew.

A rat was fetched from the Hermione shrieked, "No, don't!"

Severus ignored her and made an incision along the rat's tail, nearly splitting it in two. The rodent screeched and flailed in his hand.

"Sir!"

Then, with a small brush, he applied the test potion on the tail.

A potion that was only strong enough to remove pimples and spots shouldn't have much effect on an incision except, perhaps, as a disinfectant. But that wasn't the case. The addition of unicorn blood – yes, that was what was in her system, undoubtedly – made it a potent healer for physical wounds. The tail that he had cut sealed and the incision faded. It still looked somewhat pink, however. Severus thought the blood must be slightly less potent in her human form. Still, even this comparatively minor healing factor was impressive . . . and very dangerous to reveal to the general populace. He knew quite a few healers at St. Mungos that would give their arm for a pint of unicorn blood, and the average 12-year-old had 6 pints that they could potentially skim to get that precious medicine. This was worrisome.

"So … I do?" Hermione looked up, guessing.

Snape nodded. "You do have remnants of it, but the amount and magic are greatly reduced. That tail should have been healed without scar if it were at full potency. However, regardless of its limited effect, any amount of it in your blood is worrisome if there is a unicorn hunter near."

Hermione was immediately situated between the twins.

"The centaurs said—"

"The shade was hungry, sir, for unicorn blood."

"Desperate, he made it sound like."

"Is she—"

"In danger?"

Professor Snape looked on the trio and tried to think rationally. The second he'd seen the golden ribbon skim the surface of her blood he'd known it was true, and a feeling of dread settled in his stomach. If Quirrell's master was so close to Hogwarts—close enough to attack Hermione Granger—then he was close enough to pick the girl off from under their noses.

But that was only if he could sense the blood's magic from within the girl, discern it from her own. Severus was not gifted at feeling magic, at least none besides his own. He would be unable to tell them if the shade was a danger to her in human form. They needed someone else to consult.

"I believe we need to speak with the Headmaster," he said finally, his voice involuntarily hard. Dumbledore was the last person he wanted to tell about Miss Granger's form, but it was now necessary. Of everyone in the school, he was the best at discerning auras and magic, and the most powerful wizard. If he could tell, there was a chance the shade could.

Before Miss Granger could protest, he silenced her with a glare. "The Headmaster will not be surprised by your actions, not in the least; I have told you that you are not the first students to change in these walls. However, in light of all that has occurred, he must be informed."

They all followed him like ducklings to his Floo. Hermione was nearly hysterical, having to be held in between the twins for crying. He heard multiple mentions of "expel me" and "disappointing him" that he was not going to address. He threw down the Floo powder and stuck his head in. "Headmaster's office!"

His vision swam until the crowded circular office came into view. Dumbledore was already sat in front of the fire as if he was expecting him. It took everything in him not to close the connection and call Minerva instead.

"Ah, Severus!" Dumbledore greeted happily. "How can I help you this evening?"

"You can come through to my quarters is what you can do," he snapped at his employer. Oh, how he loved doing that. His other master would have him on the floor for such impudence, but here he was at least free to condescend and spite whomever he pleased. "There's an urgent development."

Dumbledore did not hesitate to come through, landing with a majestic bend of the knee and sporting a smile specifically for the Gryffindors. "Ah, my favourite mess-makers! And Miss Granger, wonderful to see you again."

"Enough pleasantries," Snape growled. "Headmaster, do you feel anything different about Miss Granger's aura?"

All four of them watched the Headmaster carefully as he scrutinized Hermione. The Headmaster put a hand on her hand then, testing that too, before releasing it thoughtfully.

"No different than many other young students I see," Dumbledore admitted. "The magic is young and untainted, if a little stronger than most."

Severus let out a sigh of relief. "You cannot tell what her Animagus form is?"

Dumbledore smiled widely at the three of them. "You completed your animal transformations? Wonderful! Tell me everything."

"Headmaster!"

Dumbledore waved away Severus' outrage. "It is an exciting day when the young take on advanced magics and succeed, Professor Snape; enjoy the moment!"

Fred and George grinned briefly at the Headmaster, but Hermione shrank back.

"Sir," she pleaded, "I'm sorry."

Presented with the scared girl—scared of him, Dumbledore, of all people!—the Headmaster had to comfort her.

"Dear girl, all youth make their mistakes," he said kindly, "but sometimes the restrictions we make on our youth only stifle you. I'm delighted you took initiative to master such a fun bit of magic."

He beamed. "Now, what are you forms? We should get you registered as well—"

Severus stepped in then, still bitter. "Miss Granger must not be registered. Ever. And neither of those menaces who were spotted with her will either."

"No?" His eyebrows rose above the golden frames. "What are the forms?"

Seeing that Hermione didn't want to do it first, Fred and George jumped in. "We're laughing kookaburras! See?"

The jumped and transformed, laughing all the while. Dumbledore gave each bird a chuckle.

"Not a more fitting form for you two, not a one!" He praised. He then levelled his eyes at the hesitant Miss Granger. "May I see yours as well?"

Even though Hermione was still scared from the encounter in the woods, she was excited for an adult to see what she'd done—what Professor McGonagall said she was not able to, she thought rather smugly—and so she did. She lurched forward and landed on her front hooves. Her eyesight shifted so she could see much more of the room at once, and the reds on Dumbledore's robes changed to a greener colour. She nickered happily; being a unicorn filled her with such delight.

Dumbledore's eyes brightened, delighted to see her change, then flickered with unease and moved to observe Professor Snape.

"A unicorn?"

Professor Snape nodded. "She was attacked earlier tonight on the edge of the forest, very near the school. We're lucky the centaurs were there."

All three students turned back into their human forms, unease now returning to the room.

"Yes, I see," Dumbledore said, pondering. "You are right, of course, Severus. They must not register, and she must not change again—"

"No!" Hermione protested immediately, unable to help herself. Everyone turned to her again. "It's not too dangerous, not if someone's nearby. Firenze promised to run with me."

"Spitfire…" Fred pleaded.

"What if someone sees?"

"What if it shows up again?"

Dumbledore nodded sagely, the twinkle gone from his eye. "Your friends are right, Miss Granger. It is too dangerous. For your own good, you must not transform until it is safe again."

A thrum of defiance went through her. They couldn't stop her from shifting, they couldn't! But one look at Fred's face and she knew the twins would be no help this time. And Professor Snape looked forbidding, almost like when she'd brought Harry to see him. He looked angry. Only Dumbledore seemed sympathetic to her feelings.

"I understand, child," Dumbledore comforted. "But it's only for a little while. The shade will be caught soon enough, I should think."

She was outnumbered. No matter what she thought, no one would let her change again. So she just nodded, her heart hand heavy in her chest. All she could think about was Firenze, the kindly centaur who offered to run with her, waiting at the forest edge tomorrow when she wouldn't show up.