CHAPTER 2

Neither Harry Potter nor any of the characters associated with him belong to me. They are JK Rowlings. I'm not in this for the money, just for fun!

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Ministry of Magic;

Centaur Liaison Office:

"But…why?" Rebecca stared at the two of them in shock. "Surely I can't be that important to them?"

Firenze and Harry Potter both looked at her uneasily.

"You remember all those years ago, when I explained to you the customs of my herd?" Firenze explained. "Do you recall the night when Magorian, my leader, attempted to take you as his intended?"

Rebecca had to think for a moment, wondering what he meant by intended, before she remembered that was what the centaurs called someone who they were about to mate with. When she realised this, the memories of that horrible night came flooding back to her.

"Unfortunately, yes," she admitted, her voice shaking. Out of all the time she had spent with Firenze and his kind, that night had been the one she had tried the hardest to blank out of her memory.

The Centaur race had a low population, with only several herds across the UK, from ten to fifty centaurs at most for each one. The reason for this was because centaurs did not have many of those capable of bearing foals, which they called Breeders. Technically, centaurs were an all-male race. A centaur was human from the head down to the torso, but that part was always of a man, never a woman, while the rest of their body was that of a horse. Most had the horse body of a stallion, and were called Sires, while some had the horse body of a mare, which were the Breeders. But Breeders were few and rare, hence the reason why their numbers were so small.

There had been a time once, though, when their race had numbered in the hundreds, thousands of years ago in ancient Greece, where their kind were known to abduct and rape human women, using them as Breeders to produce foals. That had stopped, however, when the Greeks had driven them out of their country, and their ancestors eventually made their way to the UK where they were welcomed by the sorcerers of the time, on the promise that they would no longer abduct any humans. They had agreed, even though many of them at the time and since then had not been happy with the decision. Even today, because of their race's low numbers, many centaurs often grew frustrated with the treaty.

The treaty stated explicitly that the centaurs would not kidnap any humans, and bring them onto their land against their will. The only other such time, besides Rebecca, when they had done that had been with Dolores Umbridge, and they had done so because she had attacked and aggravated them in the forest, which was their domain after all. The Ministry had agreed that Dolores had been in the wrong, and the centaurs had released her without harm anyway, so no action had been taken.

However, it didn't say anything about a human that came onto their land willingly, as Rebecca had done by accident. Since she had come to them by herself, and because everyone outside the forest had thought her dead, the centaurs chose to keep her with them. The fact that she was also a muggle, and apparently not considered too important by the Ministry and the people of the wizarding world, only made it that easier for them.

When they had decided once and for all that she would be staying with them, they had decreed she would help replenish their numbers. They had even looked into her future, by use of the stars, and foresaw one of two futures for her (a result that still puzzled some of them), in which she would produce many fine foals for their herd.

Rebecca could still remember the night when the centaurs had dragged and carried her into the Circle in their village, and held her down while Magorian, the centaur's leader, had been acting like a horse in heat, preparing to mount her. She had only just managed to escape that fate by demanding that they allow her the right to chose who her first intended would be. It had worked, and she had been given three days to choose, though it was unnecessary, as Firenze had helped her escape two days later.

Harry walked forward and placed a calming hand on her. "You may want to sit down," he said. "It's a long story."

Feeling unable to do anything else, she did as she was told, allowing him to guide her to the chair by the unused desk at the back of the room.

"Do you recall the exact details of what happened that night, what Magorian said to you?" Firenze then asked.

Swallowing, she nimbly nodded.

"You were able to halt his intent to mate with you by asking that you'd be allowed to choose who your first intended should be. Magorian agreed, but he also said something else…"

"He warned me," she whispered, remembering. "He said that I had three days to choose, but if I tried to escape, he'd…" She trailed off.

"You would have no further rights, and he and all my herd would then take you, one after the other, regardless," he finished for her.

Harry gave the centaur a short glare, not approving of the harsh way he was explaining things to her. He didn't feel she needed to be scared further. But Firenze didn't believe in painting over the truth, or keeping things from anyone who deserved to know what was happening, and Rebecca needed to know every thing.

Rebecca sat where she was, trembling slightly, as the memories of that night replayed in her mind. "If you do not choose your partner by the time the third sun sets, or should you attempt to escape again…then any and all of your rights and privileges will be cast out, and you will be taken straight away regardless, and…" Magorian leaned forward, staring deeper into her eyes. "The next time you lie in this circle, it will not be just one of us that will mate with you, it will be all of us!"

"So they're coming after me…" she stuttered, piecing together what Firenze was telling her. "After all this time…they're coming to make an example out of me, for escaping them when they were the ones holding me prisoner against my will?"

Firenze nodded slowly. "That's one of the main reasons, yes. If you had escaped before that night, I doubt my herd would ever bother going to all this trouble of finding you. But whenever a centaur makes a threat to someone, it's the same as a vow, and we always fulfil our vows, no matter what."

"But I thought your race was forbidden from going after a human beyond the forest?" she then asked, remembering more about what Firenze had told her during their time together. "You said your herd signed a treaty with the wizards, promising never to abduct another human, to ensure peace."

Harry gave a loud snort. "They did," he said. "Which makes this situation all the more difficult."

Firenze nodded. "As far as my herd are concerned, they are not violating the treaty. When you came onto our land willingly, albeit unknowingly, and they took you in as one of our Breeders, you immediately became part of our herd. And because Magorian swore what would happen to you, should you try to escape, he and my herd feel it is within their rights to reclaim you."

"But…"

"Despite all objections, they are adamant in their decision," he confirmed sadly. "They see no wrong in their decision, so they no longer care about the treaty or the wizards' objections. They do not even seem to care about being seen by humans, both magical and non-magical. All they care about, all they've really cared about for years, is getting you back, to ensure your punishment. And the thought of having you back as a Breeder, to produce more foals for our herd, makes that desire all the more stronger."

Rebecca stared hard at him. "Are you saying they...they will..." She shook horribly.

He gave a single nod. "Since you left, our herd's population has decreased even further, because of the war. And that makes you an even greater prize to them."

"War?"

"The war with Voldemort," Harry added helpfully.

Rebecca just stared at him blankly. "Who?"

Harry frowned, forgetting for a moment that she was no witch, and knew nothing of the wizarding world.

"A dark wizard," Firenze explained, "who called himself Voldemort. He managed to take over the human wizarding world for a time. But in the end, we were able to defeat him, though at a high price."

Rebecca noticed the dark look on Harry's face, and the way he kept rubbing that scar on his forehead. Apparently, this was not a favourite subject of his.

"He did more than that," Harry added. "Although we did defeat him, he left our world practically in ruins. So many lives were lost during the war, particularly those in the Ministry, the good ones at least. And even now, after over a year since his defeat, our people are still recovering."

"My herd assisted in the final battle," said Firenze, as he stepped closer to her, and then turned to his side, revealing his flank, which she hadn't noticed until now bore a heavy scar. "We lost several warriors, including two of our Breeders, but our losses were insignificant compared to the havoc wrought upon the wizards by this mad man."

Despite having worked at Hogwarts, with access to all sorts of magic that could have healed his injuries without leaving any marks, Firenze, like all centaurs, believed a scar was like a symbol of honour. It showed the hardships and battles they had lived through, and believed they should be shown, and not hidden.

She looked up. "You lost some of your herd?"

Although she felt bad for him, and was worried that some of those lost warriors might have been ones she had known, there was another thing that worried her more.

"Yes," he said, seemingly picking up on her thoughts. "As I said, our numbers have dwindled even lower since you were last with us, which makes capturing you even more important to my herd. For with you, they may be able to replenish some of their lost numbers."

She shivered.

"Some of the centaurs left their home to come seek you here in the city," added Harry. "We don't know how many, exactly, but we've reason to believe that at least half of Firenze's herd are here."

Rebecca felt like whimpering.

"As a result," he continued, "the Ministry has been stretched trying to deal with them and their continuous appearances throughout the city. We've had to Obliviate memories, arrange cover-ups, make up lies, you name it."

She quickly remembered what Chloe had told her about horses wandering loose in the city, and how they seemed to appear and disappear at random. None of them had even been caught.

"But...how?" she asked. "I mean, how are the centaurs not being noticed? Even Londoners would notice a half man, half horse wandering about."

Harry shrugged. "Partly it's to do with me and my team. Like I said, we do our best to cover up the centaur's appearances. But also, the centaurs have their own unique way of...camouflaging themselves."

"Huh?" she said, looking at Firenze. "What does he mean?"

"Tell me Rebecca," he asked. "When Aonghus first approached you, what did you see?"

She paused for a moment, thinking. "Well… At first, when I saw him, I didn't even see a centaur. I saw what I thought was a man on horseback. I thought it was strange he was there, but didn't really take notice till he started riding through the crowd. I didn't see him for... Oh. That's it, isn't it?!"

Harry nodded. "Centaurs apparently have their own form of magic for concealing themselves. Before they came to the UK, they spent centuries wandering lands between here and Greece, so they needed to find a way to hide and protect themselves."

"So what I saw was...what? An Illusion or something?"

"Yes," Firenze answered. "One that protected us for centuries before we came to this land. But it is actually one of two enchantments that we used. The first is the illusion, which makes people see us as something like an ordinary horse, or a man on horseback. The second spell is something that basically makes people not notice us."

"Not notice?"

"You said so yourself. You didn't take notice of Aonghus until he was almost upon you. That was the effects of the second enchantment. It is designed specifically to affect another person's perception, filtering out all their curiosity and common sense. The people can see us, but because of the spell they basically don't find us very interesting, and their minds tend to drift to focus more on whatever else they're doing at the time. And once their heads are turned, they more or less forget about us."

"It's an ingenious way of hiding themselves," admitted Harry, "but unfortunately it has its drawbacks."

She stared at him. "How so?"

"For starters, the spells aren't very strong, so they don't last too long. Plus, if they touch someone, then both spells get broken. That someone will then see them for what they truly are, and even with the perception filter thing on at full strength; it's doubtful anyone would be able to forget seeing a real life centaur in front of them." Harry winced. "You would not believe all the cover-up stories we've had to think up this week alone."

"The spells are well over a thousand years out of date," explained Firenze. "They haven't been used in all of that time, since our herd settled in the Forest, and even then, aside from certain divination rituals, my race doesn't really use magic."

He paused for a moment, frowning. "Aonghus took a great risk in approaching you in a crowd as he did. I almost didn't believe Mr. Weasley when he told me."

"Why did he?" she asked, briefly wondering who Mr. Weasley was.

"The herd has been searching for you for days," he said in a sad tone. "This is a large city, and I assume he didn't want to take the chance of losing you. Also, Aonghus is not the most stealthy one among us, as he values his strength beyond cunning, but…sadly, I believe most of them feel the same as he, as they are all obsessed with finding you. Many believe retrieving you, what they perceive as theirs, is more important than keeping our secret. As far as the general public goes, muggles do not concern them."

"But why are they coming after me now?!" she asked, exasperated. "I haven't seen them or any of your race in close to 6 years. Why are they only just coming after me now? Why not right after I escaped?"

"They did not know where you were. They tried using knowledge from the stars, but what they told was inconclusive."

"Why?"

"The stars reveal the future to us, but nothing about the present or past. And they do not show us what we desire. If there's a future involving you, we will see it, or at least parts of it. It is all up to fate, and even then the future can always be misinterpreted."

"And what did the stars show you?" said Rebecca interestedly. She remembered how the centaurs used the stars for precognition, and had always been interested in it, especially what they had told her the last time she had been with them.

Firenze shrugged. "More or less the same as when you were with us. They showed us two visions. One was of you with our herd, producing foals. The other was of you still here in the human world. With that in mind, it would appear that you still have a choice to make, as before."

Before she could ask anything, Harry spoke up again.

"The centaurs spent some time looking for you," he said. "They went a little beyond their land's borders, but no more than a few miles. Like Firenze said, they had no way of knowing where you were, and it is a big world out there. Then they had some trouble with the old Ministry who were restricting some of their lands, and then, of course, the war started, which took up everyone's time."

"But…" She frowned. "If that's true…then how did you find out where I was? Or have you just been searching for me all this time?"

Firenze shook his head. "Most of my herd have been searching for you in this city for just the last week. They began looking when we were…informed of your whereabouts."

"Informed?!"

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One Week Ago; Forbidden Forest:

Magorian led his hunting party of three centaurs close to the edge of Hogwarts' borders. Their hunts had not been going well, as many of the forest's creatures had fled when Voldemort's forces had attacked the school. Most of them had yet to return, having settled in other areas.

Not that there wasn't still plenty of game left, but alas the only creatures that were still many in number were those of the more dangerous kind, such as Acromantulas and Manticores, which were located much farther away from their Herding Ground.

There had been a time when the centaurs would have not minded the extra travel, or facing such dangerous beasts. They still did not fear battle, but they could not risk leaving their land for too long. Several of their warriors, including one of their treasured Breeders, had been lost in the Battle of Hogwarts, so they did not dare risk leaving their herd alone too long. Their herd's numbers were already dangerously low, and if they lost any of their remaining Breeders, their herd would have no future.

That was why there were fewer of them on this hunt, as usually centaurs would hunt in groups of five to six, but many had stayed behind to watch over the herd. The ones who had come with him were Ronan, Bane and Firenze.

Magorian was the leader of the centaurs, so it was one of his responsibilities and duties to lead the hunts, to find food for the whole herd. He was a big centaur, well muscled with a masculine chest, and a chestnut hind that was not as shaggy as most of his race. The hair on his head, however, was long and black, as was his tail.

Ronan had a lean human and horse body, with a chestnut coat that was brighter than Magorian's, red hair on his head with a matching beard, and a horse's gleaming body with a long reddish tail. He was the most doleful and peaceful member of their herd, with the exception of Firenze.

Bane was dark black, with a wild appearance that would give anyone the shivers just by looking at him. He was a large centaur; completely black throughout his entire body, with a shaggy beard, well developed muscles, a broad chest, and a very fierce and unfriendly expression that seemed permanently fixed upon his face.

Firenze was the youngest among them, with broad shoulders, strong arms, and dark brown hair all over him, including the hair on his head that was shaggy and wild, and a beard that covered the line around his face. The one thing that made him stand out were his eyes, which were a striking blue. Most centaurs tended to have dark eyes.

They were approaching the edge of the Forest, nearing Hogwarts' grounds. They had come this way because some of the Acromantulas were known to wander away from their colony, often going near the school, attracted by the scent of human.

"Be on your guard," Magorian told the others. "Spiders are notoriously tricky, unbelievably fast, and are often not seen unless they want to be seen."

"Wise words, to be sure," a low voice suddenly spoke out.

All four centaurs looked over sharply, as a dark hooded figure stepped out of the bushes, but did not come any closer to them. The figure's hood covered his or her entire face, and the robe the rest of the body, so they could not even see if the figure was a he or a she.

"What are you…?" Magorian was about to demand why he was there, but was halted by Firenze who seized his shoulder.

"Magorian," he whispered. "Don't forget where we are. We are on the human's land now, not ours."

Firenze had gotten permission from the current Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall, to use the land near the school for their hunting. Despite being allowed back into his herd, he preferred to continue teaching Divination there.

Magorian hissed in displeasure, but had to acknowledge that he was correct. Ronan looked indifferent, seemingly uncaring about who was in the right. Bane looked angry, but fortunately chose to remain silent.

"My apologies, human," said Magorian. "I am…unused to being the one on somebody else's land. We are here, though, with your school leader's consent. She said we were allowed to hunt on your land." He took a step closer to the human, but for some reason he/she took an instant step back the moment he did.

He frowned at the human, about to speak, but the human beat him to it.

"I am not here about your hunting rights, centaur," the figure explained in that low tone again. "I am here to convey some information that I thought you may be interested in."

Bane crossed his arms and chose that moment to speak. "What information could you have that we centaurs could possibly be interested in?"

Ronan looked over at him. Despite fighting alongside the humans, witnessing their bravery and sacrifices, Bane's resentment towards humanity had never really lessened. He had admitted on the night of the battle of Hogwarts that the human's resiliency and courage had impressed him greatly, but in the long run it had not changed his views on them too much.

Not that Ronan could blame him really, considering his past with them.

The figure then lowered his hood, revealing his face, and that he was a he.

"I have information concerning a young lady who I believe was once a guest of your race…a Miss Rebecca Leicester?" he informed them all.

All four of them widened their eyes in surprise, though Firenze's reaction was one of shock and horror, as he stared at the man. How could this man know of Rebecca and her time with him and his herd?! No one outside their herd, besides Hagrid, knew of that. As far as everyone in the wizarding world knew, she had wandered around the Forbidden Forest, lost with amnesia, and remembered nothing of her time there. No one knew that she had even seen any centaurs.

"How do you know of her?!" Bane demanded, sparing Firenze from asking the question himself.

The man just smiled and replied, "I have my sources. But tell me, are you interested in what I have or not?"

"We ar…" Magorian started to say, but was cut off by Firenze who all but snapped, "We are not!"

Magorian turned to glare at him. "Firenze, explain yourself?!"

"My Leader, we should not trust the word of a stranger. How do we know what he says is true?"

"Whatever happened to your views of trusting humans, Firenze?" asked Bane snidely.

Firenze gave him a short look. "I still believe in giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, Bane. But even I am hesitant about trusting a complete stranger."

Ronan seemed to be contemplating the whole situation, as he viewed the human carefully. "He knows about the human who stayed with us briefly," he remarked. "He clearly knows more than those in the Ministry did. Besides Hagrid, and perhaps Dumbledore who is now dead, no one else knew about her. Tell us, Firenze, do you believe Hagrid divulged knowledge of the human to anyone?"

Firenze paused, looking as if he were torn, until finally he frowned and shook his head. "No," he begrudgingly admitted. Although this did not help him, he could not fault his old friend.

"Which still begs the question; how do you know of her?" Magorian asked the human again.

"And as I told you," the human replied, "I have my sources. Now, do you wish to know what I have or not?"

"Which would be?"

He smiled. "The location of the human in question."

Ronan half-raised an eyebrow, Magorian frowned, Firenze tried his best to look uncaring but found his heart hammering madly, and Bane… perhaps for the first time in many a year, he looked enticed.

"Where?" asked Bane.

"Peace, Bane," Magorian halted him, and then readdressed the human. "Say we believe you…why would you give us this information?"

He shrugged at them. "I have my reasons, which are of no concern to you. You can take the information I have or not, centaur, but be warned, I won't be making this offer again."

Magorian frowned again, looking thoughtful. Finally, after almost a minute, he asked, "Where is she?"

Firenze looked at him aghast, but quickly covered his expression. "My Leader," he said again. "What possible reason could we have for going after her again? She has been gone from our herd for more than 6 years. Surely she is of no importance?"

The centaur leader looked at him, his expression grave. "Do not forget the last vow I made to her, Firenze. I swore what would happen if she abused my generosity in allowing her the choice of who would be her first intended."

Firenze couldn't help but give a twitch at the side of his mouth, as he pondered Magorian's word 'generosity', considering that they had kept Rebecca against her will.

"But do you not think maybe it is best for us to simply forget about her?" he implored. "After all, she is but one human, and have we not enough problems of our own to contend with for now?"

"Problems that she might be able to solve for us," Bane suddenly interjected, causing everyone to turn to look at him, with Firenze barely holding onto his frustration. "Recall the main reason why we wanted the Rebecca creature in the first place, Magorian?"

Firenze felt his breath get caught in his throat.

"When we originally wanted her, our numbers were as few as they've always been, but now…" Bane seemed to wince. "We lost some of our bravest warriors, and even one of our Breeders. Our herd hasn't been in as dire a situation as this in centuries. The human may indeed be our one chance."

"But she's in the muggle world," said Firenze almost frantically. "We can not possibly go out there exposed, where the non-wizards and non-witches may see us. We'd be risking exposure for all magical races."

"Have you forgotten the spells our ancestors used when they lived in the outside world? We will use those to conceal ourselves."

"We haven't used those spells in over a millennium! And even when they were used regularly, they weren't exactly the most reliable of camouflage charms."

"Maybe not, but they're all we have!"

"We wouldn't have to use them if you just forget about the human. Your thirst for vengeance is…"

"This has nothing to do with revenge!" Bane roared at him.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, BANE!" Magorian bellowed. "And you, too, Firenze!" When the two of them had had a minute to calm down, Magorian looked over to Ronan. "Ronan, what is your advice?"

Ronan remained silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating the question. "Having the human return home with us would definitely aid us, but we must be aware of the consequences. This isn't like how it was before, Magorian. Don't forget, Rebecca Leicester wandered onto our land by her own freewill. We were within our rights to take her in as our own, but now…now she is far from us, beyond our borders."

"Exactly!" Firenze interrupted. "And let us not forget the treaty, My Leader."

Magorian frowned, his front hoof pawing the ground silently. "What you say makes sense, Firenze, Ronan."

Firenze almost let out a sigh of relief, while Bane looked disappointed and angered. However, that soon changed.

"Nevertheless," Magorian continued, "I made my vow years ago to that human. I warned her of the consequences should she betray us, and betray us she did."

Firenze felt himself deflate, feeling once more the stench of failure upon him. "But…the humans, and their Ministry."

"This has nothing to do with them," Bane added, a smirk with his voice. "The human is ours by right. Our law does not take shadow to the humans'."

"You are within your right to chose whichever action you feel best, Magorian," said Ronan. "But Firenze is correct. Going out into the humans' world, risking exposure, to kidnap a human to take back to our herd…the wizards will not take kindly to that. And with our numbers as few as they are…"

"I know, Ronan," said Magorian. "But, as you say, with our numbers as few as they are, what difference does it make if we do go to war. In less than a few generations, our herd may go extinct."

"Not necessarily!" Firenze objected. "Our herd has faced dire situations before, yet we have always bested them."

"But why should we now, when we have an easy solution waiting for us?" said Bane.

"I'd hardly call going out into the world, risking war and death, easy, Bane," Ronan remarked.

"But with a human in our herd, we could replenish all our lost centaurs within a few years! You know humans breed far faster than we do, and the vision we saw of her and her future with our race confirmed that."

"I agree," said Magorian. "If we were talking about some other human, then I might not be so eager. After all, what guarantee would we have that any one human we took would be able to successfully carry a foal, and survive the birth. But with this human, Rebecca, the Fates have shown us we have no worries."

"My Leader, please," Firenze begged. "What you're proposing is nothing less than all-out war! Neither side is in any state to fight yet. The war with the one they call Voldemort and his Death Eaters assured that."

"My mind is made up, Firenze," Magorian concluded, and then looked back to the human in front of them, who hadn't moved. "Tell me, human. Where can we find Rebecca Leicester?"

The human smiled.

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Centaur Liaison Office; Present:

"He just came and told you where I was?" Rebecca asked, shocked breathless.

Firenze nodded, but that just left her with more questions.

"But…why? What does this guy have against me?"

"I don't know. I have never seen him before, and Harry Potter here has no clues either. After that night, I went straight to tell him all I knew. My herd has no knowledge of me informing on them. They think I am just continuing with my work at the school."

"I checked out everything," said Harry. "But I honestly don't know why any human would want to give the centaurs any information concerning you, Miss Leicester. And I know no one who would even know about it. I only know because Firenze told me, but before that, I had no idea."

"What did he look like?" she asked.

Firenze frowned, as he considered for a second. "The man was…I am unsure what counts as age in your species, but he appeared the same age as your late friend, Remus Lupin."

Rebecca looked to Harry who clarified for her by saying, "Late 30s to early 40s".

She nodded her thanks, but wondered why Firenze wouldn't know how old a man would appear to be. Didn't he spend a lot of time with people of other ages?

"He was pale skinned," Firenze continued, "no hair on his head, save for a short beard around his mouth, dark eyes and…"

"Wait!" said Rebecca suddenly. "His beard…it wasn't brown was it, turning grey?"

Firenze paused again for a moment, but then nodded. "Yes, actually, I believe it was." He stared at her curiously. "Do you know him?"

"Yes, but…" she stuttered momentarily. "His name's John Doncaster, but…he's not a wizard or anything. He doesn't know anything about the Wizarding World or centaurs. I mean, he was with me and my friend Chloe the day we crashed into the Forest, but they both had their memories wiped."

"Are you sure?" asked Harry urgently.

"Fairly. I met him once after I got home, but he didn't seem to remember anything. He and Chloe both thought that I never got on the helicopter with them, and they didn't recall anything about wizards or anything that they might have encountered in the Forest."

She thought for a second. "But…I did see him again recently. Chloe and I were having lunch in the city when he just strolled up to us, happy as you please, and started talking like we were old friends. I mean, I've only met him three times in my whole life, including that day, and the way he was acting, it was like we were at a school reunion."

"When was this?"

"About a week ago, on…Tuesday, I think."

Harry looked over to Firenze. "The same day this guy came to see you and your herd," he deduced.

"Indeed," Firenze concluded, pawing the ground in thought.

"But why?!" she said, frustrated. "This doesn't make sense. Doncaster never indicated that he knew anything about you or your world, otherwise he would never have flown me over the Forest in the first place all those years ago."

Harry adjusted his glasses. "When you saw him a week ago, how did he seem to you?"

"What? I don't know. He seemed... Well, actually, he…"

"Yes?"

"Well…like I said, I've only met the guy a total of three times in my whole life, but the first and second time I met him, he was…" She frowned. "Well, I wouldn't say buff, but he was definitely no wimp. He just seemed like the type of guy who took no fuss from anybody, drank beer, maybe had a tattoo, you know the type."

Harry shrugged, but said nothing, as did Firenze.

"But when I met him a week ago, he was… I don't want to be rude, but frankly, he just seemed so flighty to me. He talked with a simper in his voice, and when he asked for tea, the way he put sugar in it was like some old lady might have done. He just didn't talk or act like the guy I met years ago."

Harry chewed his lower lip. "Firenze, did the guy you met act like that?"

"Not really. But then again, he was acting rather nervously towards us."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He kept his distance, and wouldn't come anywhere near us."

"I'll go and check out this Doncaster, see if he's been in London or done anything suspicious," he told them both. "Maybe he had something to do with this, or maybe someone was just using him. He might have been doing this against his will, if he was under the Imperius Curse."

"The…what?" Rebecca stared at him.

"The Imperius Curse, one of the three Unforgivable Curses forbidden by law. It allows a wizard to take control of someone's mind, making them do all sorts of terrible things."

"Oh…" she said blankly, and could only say, "of…course."

"Either way, I'll check him out and let you know what I find."

"Thank you," said Rebecca, but her tone revealed she had more she wanted to say.

"What is it, Rebecca?" asked Firenze.

She looked up at him, her eyes betraying her worry. "Firenze, what you and the other centaurs talked about, the night Doncaster came to see you. You mentioned something about the treaty and…all-out war?"

Firenze looked down for a moment, and then up again, his eyes staring sorrowfully at hers. "Yes," he admitted.

Harry looked at her just as sadly. "It's like I told you, Miss Leicester," he explained. "The Ministry won't stand back and let the centaurs come take you. Not only does it violate the treaty, but also the Ministry would never allow the centaurs to kidnap a Muggle of all people, as it would risk revealing our world's existence to everyone. Our world's most important laws revolve around our need for secrecy."

"Don't the centaurs need the same thing, too?" she asked.

Firenze sighed. "Usually, but now… Now their pride has consumed them. Together with the thought of once again using you as a Breeder, to save our herd, they have lost track of all that's important. Aonghus is the perfect example, judging by the way he willingly risked exposure to seize you."

"And you think all your people will do this?" Rebecca looked hopelessly at him.

He shrugged. "Some will probably be more subtle than he was, but all in all, yes."

Giving a silent moan, she sank back into her chair. "Then…this means they're not going to give up, are they?"

Firenze and Harry both looked unsurely at her.

"That…does seem unlikely," Firenze told her.

"The Ministry have been doing all in their power to try and find a diplomatic way to resolve all this," added Harry. "I know the present Minister, and I'm sure, given time, he will…"

"The centaurs will never give up," she said quietly. "I know that much about them. Once they set their minds to something, they never give in. If they truly want me then nothing will stand in their way, neither the police or your Ministry."

She stared straight into Harry's eyes. "Mr. Potter, tell me truthfully. If your Ministry won't give me up, and if the centaurs don't back down…what will that mean in the long-run?"

Harry paused slowly, looking at her and then at Firenze, and then back at her.

"The truth!" she demanded.

He sighed. "If a resolve can't be reached then the only alternative is war."

She looked over to Firenze. "Your herd would be willing to go to war against the whole Ministry and all its wizards, just to get me?"

He nodded. "Since the war with Voldemort, both my herd and the Ministry have been left severely weakened. Neither side is ready to fight another war so soon, which means that if they do..."

"What?!"

Firenze frowned. "If they go to war, it is unlikely either side will emerge victorious…assuming there is anyone left at all."

Rebecca felt her lungs deflate, as his words sank in. There was going to be a war…and she was the cause of it all!

To Be Continued…