Draco followed on Harry's heels, but Harry had no time for that. He was tense, ready for a fight. What had he been training for, if not this.

What he came upon was worse than he'd expected. There was a fallen unicorn, squealing a death cry (it looked like it had just been pounced before Harry came.) On it was some - half humanoid creature, black and somewhat shapeless. It hissed at him, seeming to flare bigger.

From behind him, Harry heard hoofbeats, and then an blue-fletched arrow struck the ground in front of the unicorn, which had ceased struggling.

Harry felt, rather than saw movement, and as his eyes found the unicorn, there was nothing else there. Whatever the thing, it had vanished.

"You're a long way from home," the bay centaur said, and Harry just stared for a moment, both in wonder, awe and fear.

"Been that way for a long time, I suppose." Harry said.

"You'll find home is closer than you think," The centaur said. "Would you like me to take you there?"

Harry nodded, having the vague idea that wherever the centaur took him, couldn't be worse than where he was now. And where exactly had Draco gone anyway?

"Well? Get on. You may call me Firenze" the centaur said.

"You honor me, Master of the woods." Harry says with a bow.

"Remember me, and tread carefully in the woods. Our hearts overflow with pain from man's inhumanity."

Harry nodded, somberly, "Harvest nothing so fully it shall not regrow, and leave nothing but footprints."

Harry jumped aboard, throwing himself belly down on the centaur's back, and then spinning and pulling himself up.

By the time Draco had returned with Weasley and Fang and Hagrid, Potter was quite gone. Weasley, of course, accused Draco of murdering his friend. Which was patently ridiculous, and Draco was just about to say so, when -

Hagrid spoke up, "Centaurs. They'll have him out in a trice." He looked at Malfoy, "No sign of the predator. Malfoy, I'll need to know everything."

That wasn't what Malfoy said first, first he just sputtered, "I don't know why Potter didn't follow me. That's not for a first year to deal with!"

"What?" Hagrid asked.

"It was dark, and black, and looked like a man, an obscenely stretched out one. It had just struck the unicorn, and we could hear it dying." Malfoy asked, "That won't have any ill effects on us, will it sir?"

"no, likely not," hagrid said.

[a/n: voldiemort! voila! reviews?]