Chapter 19

The Dark Forest

"I can't believe I have detention again," I grumbled as Filch let us outside the castle. "I was just in detention an hour ago!"

"Where are we going?" Draco wondered aloud, ignoring my complaints.

Filch turned his head and grinned, slyly. "You five will be serving detention with Hagrid, and he's got something special for you planned in the Dark Forest."

"Did he just say the Dark Forest?" I whispered to Draco as my flesh shivered in excitement.

Draco rolled his eyes. "He's just joking, Melanie. We're probably just going to help Hagrid with his gardening."

Well, that sounds pretty dull. I suppose I should at least be grateful not to be trapped in McGonagall's classroom writing lines. As we walked down the hill, I turned my head gazing into the mysterious forest, longing to find the secrets hidden within.

Once, we reached the hut, we found Hagrid standing outside appearing rather impatient.

"Yer late," Hagrid growled at Filch, but then his expression softened as he asked Potter and his friends how they were.

"You should not be to friendly with them," Filch grumped. "They are in trouble, remember?"

As the two bickered, I looked over to the Dark Forest feeling the temptation to sneak off while the authority remained distracted. But alas, I think I have put myself in enough trouble for one day.

"Alright ye lot," Hagrid announced. "Follow me to da forest."

I felt my heart begin to pound with both excitement and disbelief. Potter and Weasley and Granger exchanged nervous glances as they reluctantly trudged behind him. Draco, on the other hand, remained at a dead stop.

"The Dark Forest," Draco protested, his face turning white. "I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there. Students aren't aloud, and there are um…" his voiced choked as he gave me a brief nervous glance, "werewolves."

Werewolves, really? I wondered anxiously to myself. What other creatures are there? Will we get to hunt them down?

"Yeh should have thought of that before yeh got yerself in trouble," Hagrid reminded him.

"I thought we would just write lines," Draco complained. "This is just dangerous. Wait until my father hears about this!"

"Yer father is going to get a letter informing yeh of yer expulsion if yeh don't do this," Hagrid retorted, and then ordered, "Now, wands out."

We followed him into the forest. Potter tried to appear brave but I could easily see he was nervous. Draco, on the other hand, looked white as a sheet of snow sprinkled along the ground. At this point, he did not even bother to hide his fear. I had to admit, this is pretty scary, but a part of me remained excited as well.

The moment us lot came to a halt, I burst out, "So what are we going to do, hunt werewolves, search for giants? What kinds of creatures linger about here?"

Hagrid held up his hand appearing a bit startled by my eagerness. He then bent down, stroking his fingers along some silver liquid and sniffed it.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Potter asked.

"This," Hagrid answered, "is what we are here for."

He then explained that the liquid was unicorn's blood. I started to gasp, but then quickly restrained my stock. After all, this is a world of magic so the existence of unicorns should not come as that much of a shock. Hagrid informed us that it was unforgivable to kill a creature such as this.

"So are we going to seek out whatever killed the unicorn," I demanded on my tiptoes, as Draco's face somehow managed to grow even paler.

Hagrid shook his head. "The poor creature may be still alive somewhere out here. Our job is to find it."

"That's it?" I whispered to Draco, disappointed.

Draco opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Hagrid continued, "Ron, Hermione, you come with me, and Harry, you go with Malfoy and Chamberson."

Draco furiously retorted that we get Fang, Hagrid's dog. The giant man agreed, but warned us that this animal was a bloody coward. He also assured that no creature in the forest would come near him or Fang so we should be safe.

We then went our separate ways in search of the unicorn, which I assume is likely dead by now. I walked about five feet ahead of Draco and Potter, eagerly peering through the trees, using my wand for light.

"I still can't believe Lenora and I spent this whole year trying to get in the Dark Forest and it turns out all I had to do was get detention at the right time." I turned my head and gave Draco a grin, which he did not return. "Lenora is going to be so jealous when she hears about this."

"Will you keep your voice down," Draco cautioned a couple octaves higher than normal. "I don't see what you are so excited about. We probably going to die, and the worst part is, we will die doing servant's work."

"Are you scared, Malfoy?" Potter asked. "I thought you said nothing scared you."

"I'm not scared, Potter!" Draco snapped viciously though I could detect fear in his voice. "I just don't think we should be out here doing the chores a servant would do."

"We are not going to do servant's work," I stated firmly, turning my head back to the front, secretly deciding on something else.

"How is looking for a dead animal not the job of a servant would do?" Draco demanded. "And will you keep your voice down, Melanie!"

"Because we are not going to look for the unicorn," I answered, confidently as I turned back around to see their reaction.

They were both silent for a moment, before Potter spoke out quietly, "Um, what do you mean we're not looking for the unicorn?"

I shrugged. "Well, I suppose you two can do whatever you like, but I want to go see what killed it."

"Have you lost your mind!" Draco stammered.

I halted to turn my whole body, facing them. "This might be my one chance to come in here and I will NOT waste it looking for a creature that is probably already dead." Seeing his ghostly, petrified face I added, "You know you don't have to come with me if you don't want to."

"Fine," Draco retorted annoyed. "Go. You're probably going to die, I hope you know."

Ignoring his last comment I stormed off. I could have sworn I heard Potter weakly call out 'wait' but I am not sure.

As I turned off to the left where it seemed to have more trees, my heart started pounding a bit harder. Now that I am alone, this place suddenly seems much more frightening. Maybe this was not such a great plan. I wish for once in my life I would realize something is a bad idea before acting on it. I then started to turn around, but the path seemed to split off into several different directions. I cannot remember which one I came from.

My skin leaped at the sound of a stick cracking. I held my wand up in front of me, seeing a dark figure. As I slowly stepped in closer, my foot slipped and I stumbled down the hill. A sharp jolt went through me ankle as it hit the ground in a vexing manner. I wanted to cry out in pain, but I remembered the figure. I gazed out, hoping it was just my imagination. This time, instead of the cloaked silhouette, I saw an animal on its side. This must be the unicorn. Then I noticed hovering above it, was the figure. The moment, its hood lifted up to see me, it slowly glided closer to where I had fallen. In panic, I backed away but could lift my body up.

It reached its arm out to me and spoke. "Help me, my child."

At the sound of footsteps, the cloaked figure backed away.

"Melanie there you are," I heard Draco's annoyed tone. "We decided to go find Hagrid and tell him we looked all over the place but could not find the unicorn."

"It's right over there," I muttered, lifting my shuddering arm to point.

Not moving my eyes, I only heard the footsteps coming closer.

"Oh, that is steep," I heard Potter say.

I turned my head and realized he stood right beside me.

"Are you alright?" Potter asked, looking down at me.

Before I could answer, Draco demanded, "Alright, we found the unicorn. Lets go!"

"I think I sprained my ankle," I finally choked out, my eyes still on the lookout for the figure.

"Of course you did," Draco commented, frustrated.

Potter, however, seemed to pick up on the fact that since I seemed scared that could not be a good sign.

"Um, did something happen?" Potter asked nervously.

"It's drinking the unicorn blood," I mumbled, knowing I was not making sense.

"What is," Potter pressed on.

My eyes widened as I saw it had returned. I pointed straight ahead. "That."

This time, the dark creature seemed more interested in Potter, as it edged closer to where he stood. The moment its hideous face was revealed, Draco let out a high pitched holler and bolted away with Fang close behind him. I finally managed to stand up, ignoring the pain in my ankle. As I prepared my getaway, I turned my head and saw the figure moving closer to Potter. For some reason, I could not just leave him.

Frantically, I looked around and grabbed a rock in front of me. I thrashed that rock at the figure just as it was only a foot away from Potter. In fury, it flew towards me. As I backed away, I once again found myself fallen to the ground. Before the creature could get to me, a centaur trotted up using its hooves to scare the figure away. After everything I have seen tonight, not to mention the past year, a centaur did not shock me at all.

"Harry Potter. My name is Firenze," the centaur spoke. "You should not be out here. There are many dangers that linger in this forest, particularly for you."

As Potter began to inquire of what that thing was, my mind returned back to its shocked state. It was not until I heard the name, Voldemort, I snapped back out of it.

"Voldemort!" I repeated horrified. "That's who that was?"

Firenze looked down at me and nodded. "Yes, my child, and you stood up boldly to him. I feared I would not get here in time to save Harry Potter so I am grateful you were here."

"I didn't mean to…" I began but my voice trailed off.

Firenze moved his eyes back and forth between the two of us. "Are you two not friends?"

"No," I stated more quickly, thinking of what Draco might say now.

Potter shook his head and answered more softly, "No."

At that moment, I heard Hagrid call down to us. Weasley and Granger stood by him, with Draco hovering behind slightly. After Firenze explained everything, we prepared our way back to the castle. As I could not walk well, Hagrid carried me on his shoulder. None of us said a word the way back. I did not even know what to make of what just happened. I remember Aunt Becky first telling me of Lord Voldemort. I found him terrifying hearing about it but I never could perceive this. Hearing and seeing are clearly two different things. One thing for sure, I will never be able to vanquish from my mind the creepy way Voldemort referred to me as my child.