"You can't stand?" Asriel asked, staring at his friend. "What happened?"

"I jumped over that crack in the ground and my forelegs slipped on something. I heard something crack. I tried to stand up, and I fell backwards," Dubran said. His eyes were shut, and his face was screwed up in obvious pain. "My legs just collapsed from under me. I had to pull myself over to this tree." He opened his eyes again, and Asriel could see fear in them. "I think my foreleg is broken."

"It's okay," Asriel told him, putting a hand on the centaur's shoulder, "We'll find a way..."

"Asriel," Dubran interrupted, the fear had escaped into his voice now. "Do you know how hard it is for a centaur with broken legs? A broken arm Firenzie could set, but a leg?" He stopped, his face paling. "Is it true, what humans do to horses when they break their legs?"

Asriel had no idea what humans did to horses. But Madam Sprout must have. "Do not worry about what muggles do to unthinking beasts," she admonished, coming up from behind Asriel. "You are neither, nor are we muggles. Expecto Patronum!" A ghostly white badger appeared from Madam Pomfrey's wand. She spoke to it quickly, and it went tearing off the way they had come. "A message for Dumbledore," she explained. She then pointed her wand straight up in the air, and fired a beam of bright blue light into the darkening sky with a loud bang. The coerus took off, spooked by the sudden noise. Asriel would have to remember to bring some sort of reward later.

On the other hand, Asriel wasn't convinced anyone else was going to notice the signal, as bright as it was. They were still in the middle of the forest, but he wasn't going to bring that up to Madam Sprout. "We shouldn't wait here, should we?" Asriel asked her. "It's going to be dark soon."

"I think you're right," Madam Sprout said. She was looking around them in the approaching darkness, holding her glowing wand aloft. She moved the wand back and forth, trying to attract the attention of anyone who might be looking for them.

"We shouldn't stay here," Asriel told Dubran, "Could you lean on me?" Asriel held out his paw to the centaur.

"I'm not sure that..." Madam Sprout began, but it was too late. Dubran had already reached out grab Asriel's paw, and he pulled. Asriel tried to hold his balance, and failed miserably. The centaur was far heavier than Asriel was, and he was pulled down into an undignified heap.

"Asriel!" Dubran exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Ow," Asriel said, slowly picking himself off the ground. He brushed the dirt off his robes. "I'm alright, Let's try that again," he said gamely. "But lift yourself with the tree," he ducked down, taking Dubran's arm and put it over his shoulder. "Just use me to steady yourself."

"I'll try," Dubran said. He reached out with his right hand, and pushed against the tree. Slowly, Dubran was able to straighten his hind legs and his good foreleg, though his left foreleg hung limply in the air. Asriel was able to shoulder the weight, Dubran put on him, though it wasn't easy.

Madam Sprout looked fretful about something, but she really wasn't in a position to physically support Dubran, unless she knew some magic that would help. She was too tall to support Dubran the way Asriel was doing. A howl in the distance interrupted their thoughts, and it wasn't any animal Asriel had heard before. The professor frowned, and made a decision. "This is the way to the centaur camp," she said, pointing in the direction the badger had run off in. "Don't move any faster than you're comfortable doing," she warned them.

It was slow going. Dubran's body was heavy, and when he picked up his good foreleg, Asriel was supporting a good deal of his weight. He wasn't used to just moving one leg at a time, either. At one point, he picked up – just for a second – his good front leg and the hind leg on Asriel's side, and threatened to bring them both down again.

They hadn't gotten far when they were interrupted by "Asriel! Dubran!" Frisk, with Professor Snape behind her, came darting through the trees. "You found him!" She stared at the two of them. "What happened?" she asked, her eyes drifted down to Dubran's limp leg.

"What happened?" echoed the potions master.

While Madam Sprout told them what had happened, Frisk slipped to Dubran's other side. "Let me help then." Dubran took the offered shoulder, and between the three of them, began to make slow, if steady progress back towards the camp."

"You all came to look for me?" Dubran asked. "How did you even know?"

"Bane came looking for you at Hogwarts," Asriel told him. "Opal overheard him. Look, I think that's Dumbledore."

But it wasn't just Dumbledore that was joining them. Thundering in from a separate direction was Magorian. Asriel couldn't help but notice that the older centaur had a bow in hand. They both stopped, taking in the unlikely scene of the centaur being partially carried by two humans. Magorian stepped toward them, and Asriel got a distinctly hostile impression, but he was intercepted by the headmaster.

"You will let me see my son," Magorian said through gritted teeth. Dumbledore stepped aside, and Magorian walked over to the three of them. He looked down at them, studying the two humans and centaur. "What happened, Dubran? Why do you need the help of these humans?" Magorian asked, his voice was softer than Asriel had ever heard it before.

Dubran looked down, avoiding his father's gaze. "I... I think I broke my leg," he stammered.

The older centaur looked at him. "It does happen, Dubran. Not often, and it's not easy, but it does happen. Come home and we will look at it together."

"Magorian, sir," Dumbledore began politely. "I would like to offer the services of Hogwarts in seeing to your child's injury." He paused, turned and knelt to address the young centaur at eye level. "My apologies, young sir, I seem to have forgotten your name. May I ask you for it?"

"Dubran," the centaur replied, blinking in surprise. Asriel didn't know why Dumbledore needed to ask, he'd just heard it from the father, hadn't he?

"Dubran," Dumbledore repeated. "If you wish, I would be happy to ask Madam Pomfrey to see to your injury," he stood back up, addressing Magorian again. "If that is alright with you, sir."

"You wish me to be in your debt?" Magorian asked, his eyebrows were furrowed, and his sharp eyes had narrowed on the Hogwarts headmaster. "You wish to have leverage over the centaurs, don't you?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "I want nothing of the sort," he said. "All I know is that one of Hogwarts neighbor's has a child that has had an injury, and is in pain." His eyes focused back on Magorian, refusing to match his glare. "I would do no less to a child of any race that needed help. You know Asriel's story. You may not know all of it, but you know enough of it. I was willing to help enough that I, technically, broke wizarding law to do so."

"Yet Monsters have been subsumed into wizard society," Magorian snapped in response. "Would you give centaurs the same opportunities that you have given Monsters? Would you teach a centaur, my son, to use a wand, as you have taught the monster foal?"

"Magorian," Dumbledore replied, his voice low, but eyes intense. "That hangs on a question. Are you willing to join the greater magical community and take part in the shaping it for future generations?"

"That magical community still includes such monsters, excuse me, creatures, as hags and vampires, Dumbledore!" Magorian snarled. Asriel and Frisk exchanged glances at the use of that term in that way. "Tell me why I should align myself with blood drinkers!"

"Because they are still intelligent creatures," Dumbledore told him. "Vampires in particular are no more deserving of your ire than werewolves are. While many, yes, succumb to bloodlust and darkness, they do not have to. In fact, if more of people treated them with kindness and tolerance, I daresay more of them would have success in not succumbing. As for hags, they do their best. Mostly."

"And goblins?" Magorian continued, "They have fought for years to be awarded such privileges. But Monsters have their first student at Hogwarts within a year of arriving on the surface!"

"You should ask the goblins that question," Dumbledore said, though his patience appeared to be ebbing. "Yes, a lot of them are envious. But at least as many support the Monsters, seeing their acceptance as a way to get what they've wanted as well. But all of this is aside the point, I offer my colleague's assistance in seeing to young Dubran, right now, without any conditions. Are you willing to accept my help?"

"Please, father," Dubran said. "Let the humans help."

Magorian looked between Dumbledore and his son, then Frisk and Asriel. "Very well," he said. "I accept your offer, Dumbledore."

"Excellent!" the headmaster said. With a gesture of his wand, he called a stretcher into being on the ground before him, much as Snape had done the previous year. "Come, let us help him onto the stretcher here. It will be easier for all of us this way. Dubran, perhaps stretch your forelegs out so you do not put weight on them unnecessarily. Very good." When the centaur was properly loaded, Dumbledore levitated the stretcher with another wave of his wand, and set it moving slowly through the forest.

The sun had fully set by the time they'd arrived back at Hagrid and Firenzie's huts. The others had all arrived back before them, and they were about to crowd around when Dumbledore stopped them. "Please give them their space. Severus, would you kindly go fetch Madam Pomfrey?" He asked. Then, a moment later, "And, Pomona, would you be willing to run to the kitchen? Dinner is over, but I am pretty sure everyone is famished. I am sure we could conjure up enough sandwiches for everyone?"

Professors Snape and Sprout gave nods, and headed back up into the castle. Asriel, then, was left to tell the story of what happened in the forest to the others. He was about to ask them what they'd seen when Madam Pomfrey arrived, and shooed everyone away from Dubran so she could attend to him. "Except you, Frisk," she said. "I'm going to need a light, I can't just mend this with Skele-gro, it's not formulated for centaurs."

"Lumostos," Frisk said, lighting her wand with a silvery glow. Asriel strained to watch what was going on, but was too far away to see anything properly. She moved her wand over Dubran's leg before being stopped by the healer.

"Very good, hold it there Frisk," Madam Pomfrey said. It took time, and more then a few spells. But eventually, Madam Pomfrey wiped her brow. "I think that does it," she fished in her robe for a small bottle of potion. "Numbing potion," she said. "But let's see if you can stand, first."

Dubran put his arms out, and tried to rise to his hooves. Asriel hurried over to him, to give him a shoulder to balance on. With help, Dubran was able to stand on all four limbs, shakily at first, but steady quickly after. He looked up at Madam Pomfrey, and bowed as best he could. "Thank you," he said.

"Of course," Madam Pomfrey said, smiling. "Are you still sore? I have the numbing potion here. I had to increase the dose a bit, since it's supposed to be done by weight. It may still be a bit less, but better than a bit much." She opened the bottle, and held it out.

"Thank you again," Dubran said, reaching out, taking the bottle, and downing it in one go.

"While I also thank you for your assistance," Magorian said. "It is time to go."

"No," Dubran said. "I want to stay here. This is where my friends are. They came to find me too."

Magorian stopped in his tracks, staring at his son, then at the gathered students.

"You threatened to attack them, and they came anyway," Dubran continued. "I want to stay here, with them," He repeated.

It was Dumbledore who spoke up, "Dubran, I do not have the ability to take in a border like yourself. You will do much better with the centaurs of your tribe then you would spending all day here. But," and his focused expression turned on Magorian. "That does not mean you are not free to visit after school, should your father agree."

The silence afterward was palpable. Madam Sprout and a house elf, carrying trays of sandwiches, came down the walkway toward the group. Finally, Magorian nodded. "I shall allow it." Asriel released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "But it is late, and it is time to go."

Madam Sprout walked up to them, offering each a sandwich.

"Thank you for finding me," Dubran said, accepting the food. "And Asriel, thank you as well."

With that, Magorian took his own sandwich, and was about to walk with Dubran back into the forest when Dumbledore called out to him. "The answer to your question, Magorian, is 'Yes'. Let us resolve to work on that."

Magorian touched forehead, smiled, and vanished into the trees.

"Eat up," Dumbledore said brightly. "Then it's off to the common room."

"Excuse me, headmaster? Can I ask you a question?" Frisk asked as they walked back up to the castle, after eating. Vampires are able to not drink people's blood?" The question had been on her mind since the headmaster had come to their defense in the woods. Her only experience with the term had been through non-magical stories.

"No, they must drink blood, human blood every so often," Dumbledore explained. "But nothing says they must bite humans to get it. We have muggles to thank for this, actually. They've perfected a method of extracting blood from humans in a painless manner, and not taking so much that it harms one in the long run." He smiled down at Frisk, "I'm sure Lupin taught you something about them, and you will learn more about them next year. They are generally a third year subject."

And with that, they made their way back through the great hall to their common room.


"Did you find anything in the forest?" Asriel asked, as they got out their homework. He had already detailed finding the coerus again to Frisk and Chara. "It sounds like there's a lot of interesting things in there. What was that about an acromantula colony?"

"That was not nearly as fun as Hagrid though it would be," Chara told them, as Frisk got out her charms book. "Acromanutla are giant spiders..."

There was a bit of a shriek next to them, as Ronald Weasley looked around at her. "Please don't mention those things! I was in there once. It was terrifying!"

"It wasn't that bad," Chara told them. "Hagrid was with me, and none of them attacked me," she shuddered. "The leader, the one Hagrid called Aragog even called him by name. But he didn't look that well, and I think he was blind. But he still had control of the other ones. I don't want to think about what it would have been like if Hagrid hadn't been there. Anyway, you went with Professor Snape..."

There was such a snort of derision from Asriel's right that Chara stopped talking. "Are you alright, Harry?" Frisk looked up from her potions book. Harry was looking at her sister a dark expression that made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"Why would anyone want to go with that git Snape?" Harry asked, looking over at their table. "He's such a sadist. You should see him in potions, the way he treats Neville, especially."

"You get the worst of it, mate," Ron added, he lowered his voice, "Neville keeps melting cauldrons and part of the table, which can't be easy to clean up. But he has it in for you. He hated you from your first class. And you didn't hear the way he mocked Hermione in class for what happened in Witches Weekly."

Frisk felt very small. She remembered all too well how the potions master had treated her before she'd befriended Steven Marsh. "He's been a good teacher to me," she whispered. "He went looking for Dubran with me. We even saw the living car. Why would he do that to you?" she looked desperately at Chara and Asriel. "You don't have any problems with him do you?"

"Only that one time," Chara said, "When I caught him by surprise. But all teachers have favorites and least favorites. Has Professor Snape turned one of you into a ferret and bounced you around the entrance hall?"

"Professor Moody says he only dislikes Death Eaters," Asriel added. "But Draco isn't a death eater. What did he do to deserve that happening to him?"

"He's the son of Death Eaters, that's why. And he'd be one just like his parents if he could. All the Malfoys are like that," Ron growled. Frisk's eyes flickered to look at Chara. Her eyes were closed tightly, and her hand was tight on her pen.

"Death Eaters that didn't go to Azkaban," Harry added. "Snape fits that. Draco fits that too. Besides, he aimed a curse at my back. I'm just lucky he had a terrible aim."

"Chara?" Hermione asked, "Are you alright? You look like you're going to be sick."

"I'm alright," Chara said, opening her eyes again.

But Frisk didn't believe her. She could see the tears trickling down one side of her sister's face. "It's been a long day, Chara Dreemurr," Frisk told her. Chara's eyes opened suddenly, and she looked to Frisk in surprise at the use of her full name. "Come on. Why don't we go to bed early tonight. We can practice charms tomorrow."

Chara stared at her, then, without saying a word, stood up and embraced Frisk about the shoulders. Then they both packed their books away and head up to their dormitories. As they left, Frisk could hear Ron asking, puzzled, "What was that about?"