Harry, Ron and Hermione knew Hagrid would be devastated when he woke to find Norbert gone and they would have felt sorry for him, only they were too worried about what they were going to have to do. Running around at night was one thing but smuggling illegal dragons would get them expelled, or worse. Harry had heard too much about Azkaban to ever want to go there, at least from Remus. It was the look Sirius got on his face whenever it was mentioned and the way he refused to talk about it that really scared Harry. It was also hard to feel sad about finally seeing the last of the, rapidly growing, Norbert.
They crept into Hagrid's hut, tiptoeing around the snoring mass of gamekeeper. Norbert stirred and a wisp of smoke curled upwards from his nostrils. Harry immediately whipped out his wand, "Petrificus Totalus," he whispered, and then sighed with relief as Norbert stiffened. Dragons were extremely resilient to magic but since Norbert was only a baby he was weaker and more susceptible, although Harry didn't think the phrase 'only a baby' could accurately be applied to the bad tempered dragon. They then walked as quickly as they could under the Cloak and carrying Norbert, into the Forbidden Forest.
There was a narrow, winding track that disappeared into the thick black trees that Harry, Ron and Hermione set off down, pulling off the Invisibility Cloak as they went now they were away from the school. They held up their lanterns and saw that there was something shining on the ground and Harry heard Hermione gasp. "What?" he hissed. Hermione turned to him and he could see her eyes were wide,
"Harry, that's unicorn blood," she hissed back, and Harry was surprised to hear a definite quaver in her voice, "something's been attacking unicorns. Unicorns are powerful magical creatures and very hard to catch because they're so fast and hard to see. There's not much that could hurt a unicorn and whatever hurt this one might still be out there." Harry glanced at the blood.
"Then let's get this over with as quickly as we can," he said grimly turning to Ron and Hermione who hadn't moved. "We have to do this, c'mon," he begged, but they were all reluctant to venture further into the Forest.
"Couldn't we just dump him here and go back now?" asked Ron,
"He'd just find his way back to Hagrid's hut and you know Hagrid will never get rid of him. C'mon, he won't stay petrified for long. Dragons are too powerful for it to last, even when they're babies. The sooner we do this the sooner we can go back," replied Harry, who was now starting to panic and promising himself that if he ever got out of the Forest he would never do something as stupid as kidnapping a dragon again.
They were running further and further into the Forest, trying to ignore the unicorn blood until they almost tripped over something pure white and gleaming on the ground. It was the unicorn whose blood they kept seeing and trying to ignore and it was very definitely dead. There was a curious kind of beauty to it, even though it's legs stuck out at odd angles and mud was beginning to seep into the white fur. It seemed to radiate an almost tangible sadness and its mane billowed around its head like, and Harry was almost embarrassed for thinking it, a halo. Harry Ron and Hermione were all staring at it transfixed, half hypnotized by the dead creature until they heard a slithering sound and a nearby bush quivered. Then a hooded figure emerged from the shadows. It was like nothing Harry had ever seen before and seemed to Harry to ooze malevolence. Harry would have found the strangeness of the creature curious but his mind was frozen by fear. The figure didn't seemed to have noticed them and moved towards the unicorn, bent its head and began to drink.
"No."
Harry didn't know what made him say it, only that something in him knew it was indescribably wrong for this - whatever it was - to be drinking the blood of the unicorn. Whatever made him speak the damage was done. Despite it only being the slightest of murmurs spoken under his breath the figure looked up and stared straight at Harry, although Harry could not see any eyes. A pain like he'd never known before pierced his scar and a distant scream echoed in his head. He stumbled back, half-blinded. He felt Ron and Hermione grab his arms and try to wrench him up and away, but he could barely move, his mind was burning. Then Harry heard hooves galloping, but he wasn't sure if it was real or all in his mind. Something jumped over him and charged at the figure as he curled up, slamming his eyes shut. The pain in his head slowly receded and he cautiously opened his eyes, staring at, what he now saw was a very real centaur, in front of him. "Are you alright child?" asked the centaur in a deep, reverberating voice as he watched Harry struggle to his feet.
"I – yes – thank you – what was that?"
"You need to get back to the castle. The Forest is not safe, especially for you Harry Potter," Harry did not question the centaur's words, he was still trembling with fright,
"Can you show us the way?" he said in a small voice. The centaur stared at him for a long time, as if weighing him up.
"Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?" Behind him Hermione let out a small gasp and the centaur looked at her for the first time,
"It was hinted at in the Defence Against the Darks Arts book. It will keep you alive," she whispered, "but to kill a unicorn, I've read … it's a crime so terrible … so … to kill such an innocent thing … you'll live a cursed life. A half life." The centaur nodded.
"But who'd be that desperate?" Harry wondered out loud. "If it's so bad, death would be better, wouldn't it?"
"Yes it would," the centaur agreed, "unless all you needed was enough time to drink something else. Can you think of no one, Harry Potter, who would go to any lengths to gain power? Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"
"The Philosopher's Stone!" Said Harry and Ron together, "but who?" asked Ron, but to Harry it was starting to make a sickening sense. His scar hurting, the distant scream. Harry had heard a scream like that before in his nightmares, an echo of the night his parents died. An iron fist seemed to clamp around his heart and he was breathing with difficulty. He couldn't come back, not now. Something must have shown on his face, because Ron said, "Harry, what is it?"
"Voldemort. It's Voldemort." Ron winced at the sound of the name,
"Don't-"
"I will take you to the edge of the Forest now. You will be safe then. Children should not witness such things." All three of them jumped. They had forgotten about the centaur.
They walked to the edge of the forest in silence. Harry was shivering and stumbling as he walked. Ron and Hermione kept shooting him worried looks and stood either side of him, hoping to catch him if he fell again. Once they reached the edge of the Forest the centaur left them and they pulled on the Invisibility Cloak, huddling together under it. Not bothering to even attempt to be quiet, they ran all the way back to the common room. Ron and Hermione collapsed in the armchairs but Harry started pacing and talking feverishly, running his hands through his hair. "Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself, he wants the Stone for Voldemort so Voldemort can come back … Voldemort's waiting in the Forest drinking unicorn blood to stay alive until he can get the Stone-"
"-Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, glancing out the window as if thought Voldemort could hear them. Harry wasn't listening.
"- And I might as well dig my grave now because once Voldemort comes back he's bound to come after me … I'm the reason he needs the Stone on the first place … I suppose that's why Snape's been trying to kill me."
"We don't even know if it was Snape who tried to kill you Harry," said Hermione,
"Well somebody did," replied Harry, "somebody did and they nearly succeeded. If I had fallen I would have died."
"Listen Harry," said Hermione in her most reasonable voice, "I know this is frightening, but everybody says that Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around you're safe Harry, and the Stone's safe. That's why it was brought to Hogwarts in the first place. Besides, who says the centaur was right anyway?" Harry looked away. He wanted to believe Hermione, he wanted to believe that Dumbledore could make everything better, but he couldn't quite bring himself to.
The sky had turned light before they stopped talking; obsessively going over the few things they knew. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore and very glad that it was a Saturday the next day and there was no lessons to got to. Harry fell asleep almost immediately; it was a lot harder to be afraid of shadowy figures when it was light outside.
The shadowy figure in question sat brooding in the Forest. It had been him, the figure was sure of it. The boy. Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. The boy who, when he was a mere baby had robbed him, the greatest wizard of all time, of his powers and most of his life. The boy who had reduced him to a mere parasite, relying on others to survive, on fools like Quirrell. The boy had been right in front of him, staring at him. Then, as if he had needed any more encouragement, the boy had collapsed, been unable to move. He had been so close; he could have killed him right there and then, then the world would have known that even in Hogwarts, even under Albus Dumbledore's nose even The Boy Who Lived could die. But he had failed, beaten by a centaur of all things, a mere beast.
Quirrell, who he was unfortunately sharing a body with, started to shiver. "My lord," he whispered reverently, "my lord, I need to get back to the castle, or they will suspect my lord,"
"Are you cold Quirrell?" asked the back of Quirrell's head in a cruel teasing tone. "Are you scared? Are you scared of nasty Professor Snape?" Voldemort felt a flash of anger burn through him at the thought of his treacherous servant. When he returned to power he would make Snape beg for death before he killed him.
"My lord," said Quirrell again, and Voldemort was pleased to note that he sounded terrified, "if we do not return soon they will notice my absence my lord. I will drink more unicorn blood before we return if you wish it."
"If I wanted you to drink more unicorn blood I would have told you to drink," spat Voldemort.
"O – of course my lord. It was stu-"
"-You will take us back to the castle now." Voldemort laughed lightly as Quirrell ran, tripping over his robes in his haste. He needed his own body, and soon, then he would dispose of foolish Quirrell.
Dear Canis and Moony,
OK, this is going to sound insane but please just read.
The Philosopher's Stone (which turns things into gold and makes the drinker immortal) is being hidden in Hogwarts after it was almost stolen from Gringotts. We know that much for fact. We think that Voldemort is trying to steal it, letting the troll in at Halloween as a distraction etc but has so far been unsuccessful. Also, because when we were in the Forest, trying to get rid of Norbert (which was pretty successful by the way, although Hagrid is broken hearted) we saw something drinking unicorn's blood and my scar started hurting like crazy and I heard mum screaming in my head. We were saved by a centaur.
Anyway … Help?
Harry
Sirius read the letter. Then read it again, "Blimey," he said, "you really have outdone us this time Harry."
"What is it?" asked Remus,
"Dragons and Philosopher's Stones and centaurs," replied Sirius, then when he saw Remus' bemused face, "look, just read it yourself."
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
We've just received a letter from Harry saying that he thinks that Voldemort is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone that is currently being hidden in Hogwarts. We suggest you take him seriously because 1, his evidence is pretty good. 2, he has a knack for knowing things he's not supposed to know and since he knows about the Stone which students presumably aren't supposed to know about we'd say he's probably right about the Voldemort thing.
Canis and Moony
Dumbledore chuckled to himself, then reached for a piece of parchment and a quill.
Dear Canis and Moony,
Harry is a truly remarkable boy and he is indeed right. Please inform him that I have the situation in hand and that he should not do anything rash like try to save the Stone himself.
Yours,
Professor Dumbledore
Remus looked from the letter to Sirius, "You don't think Dumbledore's trying to hint something?" he asked.
Dear Harry,
We wrote to Professor Dumbledore and he said this –
'Harry is a truly remarkable boy and he is indeed right. Please inform him that I have the situation in hand and that he should not do anything rash like try to save the Stone himself.'
Canis and Moony
Harry grabbed the letter then laughed. "Hey," he shouted, "Ron, Hermione, look at this." They gathered round Harry and the letter.
"Well that's alright then," said Hermione, "we don't need to worry, Professor Dumbledore is sorting everything out," Ron snorted,
"Honestly Hermione, you think all teachers are super powerful or something," Hermione turned to answer Ron angrily, but before she could reply Harry said,
"Whatever, he knows what he's doing. Dumbledore can stop whoever stealing the Stone much easier than we could, I mean, he's Dumbledore and we're only First Years after all."