Chapter 5: Creature Catchers

Cat stood at the front of the class as she listened to Professor Scamander list off the creatures that were near them. She was excited mostly, but she couldn't understand why. Maybe it was because the Crup in front of her was feeling that same excitement and wonder, and she could feel it. She could also feel the seriousness and pride that was coming from the Hippogriiff, the indifference from the Plimpy, and the curious wonderment and small fright coming from the bow-truckle on Scamander's shoulder. She watched how the old wizened wizard told them about his creatures with eyes full of pride and excitement. Cat noticed how the Professor felt comfortable around these creatures and felt that they were an extension of him.

Cat's head snapped when she heard the wail of an animal from the forest. As well as the rest of the students, she heard galloping and the breaking of branches. She heard voices from people but she became overwhelmed with certain feelings that protrude from the forest. Her heart began to beat faster and her breath quickened. She could terror, pain, and dread; her eyes watered as she witnessed a white unicorn burst out of the forest and run towards the class. She heard screams from her classmates, but she was too afraid to move. She could only watch as the unicorn run up and suddenly collapse on the ground, sliding in front of them.

Scamander turned to someone. "Mister Weasley! Please go get the Headmaster!" he ordered. Hugo nodded and quickly ran back towards the castle. Cat felt terror and fright from the other creatures, but she mostly felt the dread and the anguish coming from the unicorn. She also felt the loneliness and suffering as tears rolled down her eyes.

Scamander knelt next to the Unicorn and looking it over, conjuring bandages over the wounds of the Unicorn. Without knowing, Cat had moved towards the unicorn, kneeling in front of it. Its eyes looked directly into Cat's eyes. She could feel the helplessness of the Unicorn and she could feel the heart of it beating slower and slower.

Cal noticed his sister walk forward, but there was a hand still in his. He looked down and then up to see he was holding Lily's hand instead. He saw the saddened look upon her face and understood, letting Lily hold his hand.

Scamander looked up when he noticed Cat was across from him, tears in her eyes. He watched as she reached over and touched the Unicorns face, shushing the animal. She could feel everything the Unicorn was feeling, and it broke her heart. It whined and she knew. "It's okay," Cat whispered, "You're not alone. We're here." She pet the unicorn with both her hands. "He's not going to make it," she said to the Professor who was trying his best to stop the bleeding. "He's going to die," she sniffed.

Scamander sighed and nodded. He turned to the class. "Class dismissed!" he announced. "Go back to your dormitories." The students gathered their things and began to leave except Cat who stayed next to the unicorn. Cal didn't leave either as he didn't want to leave his ailing sister behind. "I'll take it from here, Miss Ares."

"I want to stay," Cat cried. "I don't want to leave him." Scamander nodded, sitting down and petting the Unicorn as well. Cal slowly walked over to his sister and knelt next to her. It only took a few minutes as the breathing of the unicorn became slower and slower. Until then, the breathing stopped. Cat turned away from the unicorn and began to slowly sob into her brother's chest.

"What could have done this to you," Cal heard his Professor mutter. He looked over to see the Professor too was saddened by this. He noticed Cal's glance. "Unicorns are the most graceful and innocent beings know to the Wizarding world. To kill something so pure... even for another creature... is a crime against nature." Scamander looked into the forest.

"What kind of creature could have done this?" Cal suddenly asked.

"From this forest?" He said, turning to the twins. "I don't think anything could have, unless..."

Cal turned back to the dead unicorn, suddenly feeling sad for it. He reached over to touch it but as soon as his hand touched it, something incredible and terrifying happened. Cal instantly jumped up and screamed as images flashed into his mind. Images of a full moon and a dark beast with yellow eyes. Suddenly day time, flying through the forest, seeing his classmates, and then looking up at his sister who was crying from the ground.

Cal opened his eyes and blinked. He was staring at the ceiling of the castle. He sat up and looked around. It was in a room lined with beds and if he didn't know any better, he figured he was in the Hospital Wing.

"Ah, you're awake!" Cal turned to see a tall skinny, middle aged man in white and green vest walk over to Cal. Cal knew this man as Thatcher Binx, the school's Healer. "Gave your sister and Professor Scamander quite a scare. I'm sure seeing a dying unicorn can take a toll on you." Binx waved his wand over Cal. "Well, physically you are perfectly fine. How about mentally?"

"I'm okay," Cal answered. "I'm not exactly sure what happened."

"My theory is you just merely fainted," Binx suggested, "It could have been the trauma of what you saw earlier."

"Well," Cal wondered if he should tell Healer Binx what really happened, though he wasn't so sure of it himself. He opted not to. "Yeah, I guess so," he said to the Healer.

"Alright," Binx nodded. "Well, then you are free to leave and take it easy. Get some dinner and rest."

Cal nodded and left the Hospital Wing. "Cal." Cal snapped around to see his sister walking towards him. Her eyes were red still from all the crying. She ran up to her brother and hugged him. "Are you okay? What happened?" she worriedly asked.

Cal looked around, and then pulled his sister into an alcove. "I think I have a power like you," he told her. "Though it's not like your power."

"What do you mean?" Cat asked.

Cal shrugged. "I'm not sure," he said. "I don't know how to explain it." He relayed to his sister that when he touched the unicorn, he had images flash in his mind, ending with them looking at Cat crying.

"Wow," Cat breathed, looking pensive. "I think you saw the Unicorn's last memories, and you saw it was attacked. Must've been horrible to see." Cal nodded. "Did you see what did attack him?"

Cal shook his head. "It was too dark, so no," he answered, "Just a pair of yellow eyes."

"We have to find out what it was."

"Why?" Cal asked with a scrunched face. "It was most likely killed by another creature. Just nature doing its thing."

"You didn't feel what I felt, Cal," Cat responded, sincerely looking into her brother's eyes. "I felt everything the Unicorn was feeling. How scared and helpless if felt. How much pain it was in, and then nothing. An emptiness I just felt when he died. I hated that feeling. I don't want to feel that again. No creature or human should have to die like that." Cal agreed with that and nodded. "I need to know what attacked him and I want to bring it to justice."

"What?!" Hugo and Lily screeched at the same time when Cat told them she wanted to find thing that killed the unicorn. When she told Cal, he wasn't so sure to go with her, but she was his sister. He knew Cat had made a determined decision, she was going to stick to it. If she was going to do this no matter what Cal could say, he was going to have to go with her. He was her brother, was going to support her, and was going to protect her if he needed to.

"You can't be serious," Hugo spoke. "A bloody massive beast must have killed that unicorn and you want to go find it? And bring it to justice!? How do you think we go about that?"

Cat shrugged. "I don't know yet," she answered, "I haven't planned it all out yet."

"Cal," Lily said, "You really don't agree with this, do you?"

"Of course I don't," Cal answered simply, "But once a Cat has made up her mind, it'll be unstoppable to stop her or change her mind. So, I'm gonna help her and support her."

Lily looked appalled at this idea. "You can't be serious?" she said looking between the twins. "This isn't america where you can do whatever you want. The Wizarding world is way more dangerous. We have dragons for merlin's sake!"

"Is there one in the forest?" Cat seriously asked. Everyone looked taken aback. "Okay, we will draw the line at dragon."

"Look, Cat, I understand seeing something so pure die is horrible," Hugo said, "But it doesn't mean you should run out there and find out what killed it. It would be dangerous!"

"You don't think I don't know that!?" Cat said to Hugo and then turned to Lily, "And you don't think I know how more dangerous this world is. Trust me. I know, but you're forgetting one thing. I have this." She pulled out her wand. "And I'm going to learn some spells to help me fight or maybe just one..." She trailed off, looking pensive and looking away. She then looked up to at her friends. "Let's sneak into the forest!"

"What!?" Hugo, Lily, and Cal said in unison.

"Are you insane?" Hugo spoke, "You are, aren't you!"

"Hey!" Cal protested, lightly shoving Hugo's shoulder, but then tuned to his sister. "He's right, that's a crazy idea, Cat."

"How else do you expect us to find the creature who killed Bilbo?" Cat replied.

"Who's Bilbo?" Cal squinted in confusion.

"The unicorn," Cat said, "I named him to give him more meaning for myself." Hugo and Cal shared an exasperated look while Lily rolled her eyes.

"You are incorrigible," Lily muttered.

Meanwhile, Professors Flitwick, Thomas, Longbottom, and Firenze were standing around Scamander's teaching grounds next to the dead unicorn with Scamander still examining the wounds of the magical creature.

"This reminds me of my first year here," Longbottom spoke, "When Voldemort was killing the unicorns and drinking his blood to stay alive."

Firenze nodded. "It's almost as if history is repeating itself," he spoke, "Though it doesn't seem any one or thing is drinking the blood of this unicorn. It's like this was done for sport."

"Professor, can you identify the creature that did this?" Flitwick asked Professor Scamander.

Scamander stood to his feet and turned to the others. "What did this," he started, "Is not native to this forest."

"I must agree," Firenze agreed, "Something else has made its home inside the forest. We must investigate further."

Flitwick nodded in agreement. "Yes," He turned to Longbottom. "Neville, gather Hagrid and Arrius. Have them assist you in this matter."

"I shall assist as well," Firenze spoke up. "I can help in case we run into my brethren." Flitwick nodded in agreement as Longbottom sent his Lion patronus to call for Arrius as Scamander left to tell Hagrid about what happened.

It was about an hour later the small group of Professors and Hagrid stood at the edge of the forest. Longbottom and Arrius rolled up their sleeves, wands in their hands as Hagrid was loading an arrow into his crossbow.

"It's been er long time old frien'," Hagrid murmured to his crossbow. He looked up at the others. "Do we know wha' we're lookin' fer?"

"Something that doesn't belong inside this forest," Longbottom answered, removing his tie and putting it in his pocket. "Something you've never laid eyes inside this forest ever before." Hagrid nodded, lifting his bow.

Firenze was already staring deep into the forest. "Unicorns usually lie unusually deep within the forest. There is no doubt we will run into Acromantulas," he said, turning to the others. he too was wielding a bow with a quiver of bows strapped to his back.

"I understand what we're doing here," Arrius said, "But are we sure we're looking for something so dangerous that we all need to arm up?"

"That is an excellent question, Arrius," Longbottom said, "Just a precaution of course. There are many creatures who do kill Unicorns."

"Not many," Firenze spoke up, "There are a few who do, including humans if we all remember correctly." Hagrid and Longbottom visibly shivered as a memory of a dark wizard popped into their minds.

"Alright," Longbottom heaved. "Let's move." Longbottom waved his wand towards where the Unicorn had died. A spell shot out and hit the same spot which glowed pink and suddenly, a pink trail appeared that led into the forest. "I believe if we follow this trail, we will find where it was attacked."

Firenze took the lead and entered the forest first, followed by Hagrid, then Arrius with Longbottom bringing up the rear. They walked for a couple of hours before the sun began to set and it began to get dark.

"I can't believe the unicorn made it this far," Arrius spoke.

"Unicorns will try to hold on as long as they can," Firenze spoke, "They are magnificent and pure creatures. Not only does their blood keep beings alive, but it slowly bleeds from their bodies."

"I haven't been this deep since," Longbottom remembered, "Actually, I don't think I've ever been this deep. Still reminds me of my first year back at Hogwarts."

"I remember tha'," Hagrid spoke, "We ran into Quirrell that night, that's when Harry met Firenze for the first time." Longbottom nodded, smiling back when things seemed a lot complicated for an eleven year old.

"Luckily there's no dark lord around this time," Longbottom commented, "At least I hope so."

Soon, the group arrived at a clearing where the pink magical path was weaving around in circles, as if the unicorn was running around while being attacked. "This is certainly where the unicorn was attacked," Arrius said as everyone stood in the center of the clearing.

"Hopefully there's still some magical traces," Arrius said, and the held his wand up to his mouth. "Appare Vestigium!" He blew on his wand like a trumpet causing golden glowing dust to flow out and spread through out the clearing. The figure of half a unicorn appeared bucking and jumping around as if something was on its back. Scratches and cuts magically appeared on its body, but the attacker wasn't shown.

"The attacker must not have any magical traces," Longbottom said, "Right? Otherwise we would see it."

"Even non-magical beings have some kind of magical trace," Firenze said as he watched the Unicron dance around. "This creature or being, whatever it was, is magically covering its traces from tracing spells."

"So, its human or at least half human," Hagrid said. The group watched as the Unicorn bucked one last time before running off in a random direction.

Everyone turned away and continued in minor conversation except Arrius whose eye caught something on some roots of a tree. He slowly stepped forward when he noticed it was a black, long, and hairy. He continued to step closer to it, curiously wondering what it was. Hagrid noticed Arrius was slowly sneaking towards something and noticed what it was he saw. "Arrius!" Hagrid called. "Don' move!"

Arrius froze and turned to look at Hagrid in confusion. "What?" he said, as he didn't notice the black hairy thing move. Another one appeared over the roots as did another.

"Arrius!" Longbottom yelled as he and Firenze too noticed the black hairy stems moving. There was more movement has something was moving and suddenly, a figure jumped out. Firenze had his bow read and fired an Arrow. Arrius turned back to see a giant spider had jumped towards him but it was suddenly struck by an arrow right between its eyes. Arrius rolled out of the way as the spider feel onto the ground, unmoving, right where Arrius had been standing moments earlier.

There was the sound of skittering and hissing as the ground began to rumble. "More of 'em are comin'," Hagrid spoke as the group gathered around one another, wands, bow, and crossbow at the ready. A small fleet of spiders appeared over vines and roots, crawling towards the group. Incantations of 'Arania Exumai' were spoken from Arrius and Longbottom while Firenze and Hagrid shot arrows.

"We have to get back to the castle!" Longbottom shouted, blasting away a spider.

"It looks like the way we came is blocked," Arrius noticed.

"Follow me!" Firenze shouted, shooting one more arrow, striking an acromantula, turning and running away. Hagrid, Arrius, and Longbottom each disposed of a spider and followed after Firenze.

Arrius waved his wand widely. "Corpus Effingo!" Everyone's body glowed and a transparent copy was magically created and ran in another direction. Arrius stopped momentarily as the others ran. He watched as the acromantulas noticed and followed after the copies instead. He smiled and turned to run after the others. He found Firenze, Longbottom, and Hagrid in another clearing filled with dead spiders with torn off legs and spider guts spilled everywhere.

"Did we run in a circle?" Arrius huffed out.

"No," Firenze exhaled. "This is a different area. These spiders have been dead for a couple of days."

"It looks like they were ripped apart," Longbottom noticed, leaning on his knees. "We should head back to the castle and inform Flitwick what we know." The others nodded in agreement.

After classes had ended the start of next week, Cal and Hugo were walking down the corridor when they heard shouts of Hugo's name. The two boys turned to see Fred Weasley and James Potter running up to the two boys, both looking eager and excited. "Hugo!" Fred called as he and James stopped in front of the two boys. "We just heard about your Creatures class incident!"

"That was like last week," Hugo replied with a raised brow.

"We've been busy," Fred smirked, "Trying to get back at Goyle and Lester for pranking us at the end of last year."

"Must've caused you firsties quite some terror," James said with a grin. "Tell me everything!"

The four boys found hung under the big tree in the courtyard as Hugo recounted everything up to the wailing sounds of the Unicorn, to it collapsing in front of the entire class, to him having to run for the headmaster. Hugo's story had actually brought a small crowd to gather in curiosity. It made Cal a bit uncomfortable. "Cal and Cat were the ones who stayed after class dismissed," he continued. "I think they witnessed it die."

Everyone turned their eyes on Cal who awkwardly looked up. "Well?" said a random Hufflepuff. "What was it like?"

"What do you think dunderhead," said another student from Gryffindor. "He fainted, remember? Longbottom brought him to Hospital Wing." He then turned to Cal. "But what do you remember before you fainted?" Cal sat their silently, as the images he had seen when he touched the Unicorn flashed through his mind once more.

"What's wrong with him?" A Ravenclaw girl asked when Cal hadn't answered after about a minute. She gasped sadly. "Is he truly traumatized from this incident?"

"Alright, alright! Ease off!" Fred said, "You all got what you wanted, so buzz off." Many of the students groaned and began to walk away except for Fred and James. The two boys turned to Hugo and Cal after everyone left. "We want to go into the forest."

"What!? Why?" Hugo exclaimed.

"We want to know what killed that unicorn," James stated the obvious. "Apparently the Professors didn't find out what it was when they searched it that day. We just heard they found a couple of dead thestrals."

Fred nodded. "But we think they were looking in the wrong direction," he said. "Maybe we should check where they didn't. We're going to plan everything out and go in time."

"We have to make sure everything is perfect before going," James spoke. "Plus, we're going to need a lot of supplies." Hugo and Cal shared a worried glance.

Cat dropped a couple of books and a map onto one of the tables of the Library. She, Alice, and Lily had decided to study though Cat had something else in mind. "Is that a map of Howgarts?" Alice asked, glancing at the map Cat had brought.

Cat nodded, "It is, but more importantly," she pointed at the heavily wooded area, "A map of the Forbidden Forest." Lily sighed. "I also have a book of its history and what lies inside."

"Most of the creatures there wouldn't harm a Unicorn," Lily commented, taking notes for her Transfiguration class.

"Exactly!" Cat exclaimed. "Most of them wouldn't because they considered them sacred like the Centaurs do." She took out a quill and ink. "So we can mark off this area." She circled an area on the map and marketing it out.

"Wait!" Lily gasped, "You can't draw on that!"

"Relax, I asked Mister Korrin to make me a copy," Cat replied with a roll of her eyes. "We were here," she marked the edge of the forest, closest to the lake. "When the Unicorn appeared. So, what I've read about Unicorns, it take a while for them to bleed out. So Bilbo had to have traveled far. Either here - " She marked a deep area of the forest at the edge of the map, " - Or maybe deeper."

"That is a lot of ground to cover," Alice said who was listening and paying attention to Cat.

"Not to mention that Professor Longbottom, Xander, Firenze, and Hagrid already looked into this," Lily said. "They didn't find the culprit, so it could have already left the forest."

"Possibly," Cat said, "But you forgot to mention the dead Thestrals they found. Which means this area could be a great hunting grounds for someone who just moved in."

"We can't possibly know that," Lily argued.

"That's why we should investigate!" Cat said, opening a book. "I looked into creatures that have attacked Unicorns before. Acromantulas are one, and they definitely live in our forest. We have Vampires, Werewolves, Dragons, Manticores, Quintapeds, basically any creatures that have some kind of carnivorous nature."

Alice nodded while Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you even listening to yourself?" she asked.

"Yes," Cat ignored, "We can mark out Vampires and Werewolves, and especially Dragons, because those are huge. There's no way they can hide so easily."

"You'd be surprised," Lily mumbled, and then added, "You should add humans to that list."

"A human wouldn't kill something that pure, would it?" Cat asked. Lily didn't answer, yet gave her a strained look. Cat looked over at Alice who gave her a slight nod. Cat swallowed nervously.

"Look, we shouldn't even be worrying about this," Lily said, "We're first years. We should be worrying about other things. Homework and learning magic. Theatre try outs are starting soon. We should all try out. I heard the play is about the founders of Hogwarts." Cat didn't say anything, instead looked at the map while leaning a hand against her cheek. "We could try out for house elves or something?"

Weeks passed as the Ares siblings and their friends continued to learn more about the magical world and learn more magic. News about the dying Unicorn had spread throughout the castle like wild fire and everyone knew every little detail about it, down to Cal fainting which he was widely made fun of Oakley and some of the other older students. Cat told her brother to ignore it and he did though sometimes he just wanted to blurt out the truth. Though, he was a lot more worried about his Cat especially when the mail came or whenever they were in Magical creatures class. She would always reach over to squeeze Cal's hand when the entirety of the school owls would swoop in to deliver mail, and did her best to put on a brave face. No one really noticed or the twins thought. As for class with Scamander, there hadn't been too many creatures. They have been studying Bowtruckles as of late and it was only a handful to study. Cat told her brother how easier it was to manage her feelings since there weren't hundreds of owls. She seemed happiest in Care of Magical Creatures. Cal seemed happiest in Transfiguration and Potions.

As for Cat's vendetta against who or whatever killed the Unicorn had died down a little bit. She wasn't so obsessed with it, but it was still around. The next day after the incident, the Professors had announced that whatever killed the unicorn had left the forest even though Cat didn't believe it. She had dragged Lily and Alice to do a little investigating and eavesdropped on Longbottom, Flitwick, and Mr. Potter about what they found in the forest, which included some ripped apart Acromantulas and a couple of dead thestrals they had found on their way back to the castle. They would of heard more if Mr. Armstrong and his dog, Bigby, had appeared and chased them off. Cat hadn't brought up the Unicorn in the last week, that is, until Fred and James brought it back up.

It was Friday night after dinner when the twins and their friends were in the common room working together on their Transfiguration homework. Hugo and Alice were glancing over at Cal's work just to make sure they had the same thing as Cat did the same with Lily's work.

Hugo leaned a little too close over to look at Cal's paper. He pointed at the third paragraph. "What in the world does that mean?" he asked.

"Maybe if you hadn't fallen asleep last class, you'd understand," Cal replied.

"Maybe if Parkin didn't snore so loud, I would have gotten some sleep," he said, crumbling up a piece of parchment and tossing it at Parkin's head who had been sitting by the fire. It struck Parkin who turn in annoyance and made a rude gesture towards Hugo.

"Boys," Alice mumbled.

Suddenly, a bag fell onto the table they were at causing them all to jump. Fred and James appeared next to Hugo, both with black paint striped underneath their eyes. They were wearing jumpers and jeans, while James had a headband tied around his forehead. "We're ready," Fred announced with a grin.

James nodded in agreement. "We've got a bunch of things to help us," he said opening his bag. "We've got Whiz Bangs to surprise the monster - "

"Decoy Detonators, in case we need a diversion - " Fred continued.

"Shield Hats," James said.

"Shield Gloves."

"And a Puking Pastille - Wait, how'd this get in here?" James said.

"Must've been left over," Fred said, grabbing the candy and looking around. "Oi! Frankie, want a sweet?" He then tossed the candy over to boy named Frankie. He turned to see Lily looking at him disapprovingly. "What? He screwed up my potions last Potions class. Told me the wrong ingredient."

James nodded in agreement. "We also have this old camera to take a picture of whatever we see in the forest."

"I'm hoping its a Chimera or something cool," Fred said in excitement.

James nodded in agreement. "So, anyone coming with?" he smiled.

Cat jumped up. "I will!"

"Oh, no you won't!" Cal instantly spoke, pulling her back into her chair.

"And you two shouldn't be going either!" Lily said, crossing her arms.

"You can't tell us what to do!" Fred retorted.

"Exactly," James said. "Plus I'm the older brother here, so you do what I tell you."

Lily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Don't make me tell mom," she threatened.

James squinted and glared at his little sister. He smirked. "You do that, and I'll tell her you were the one stealing Dad's lucky potion to cheat on your primary exams!"

Lily's eyes widened in horror. "You know about that?!" she gasped.

"Albus told me," James smiled and the grabbed the backpack, heaving it over his shoulder. "So, you first years have funny doing your schoolwork."

"Right, James and I have a culprit to catch!" Fred nodded. "Stick around later if you want to know what happens."

"Yeah, we'll be back by midnight!" James told. The two boys turned and left the common.

"I'm going to kill him, and Albus," Lily grumbled, snapping her quill.

"I'm sure they're going to be okay," Cal said, having not looked up the whole time from his schoolwork. He had just finished and looked up. "They're fifth years. They've learned a lot more than us, and more experienced. If it was us, we probably get lost. I'm sure they won't."

Lily smiled at Cal. "I know they won't get lost," she sighed.

"How do you know they won't?" Cat curiously asked. "I didn't see a map in their bag."

"Oh...erm," Lily hummed, "Anyways we should probably stay up and wait for them, at least." Cat eyed her friend wondering why she changed the subject.

And so they did. Cal, Cat, Lily, Hugo, and Alice sat there in the common room, in front of the fireplace. Cal and Lily were both reading books in plush chairs. Cal was reading Hogwarts, A history, learning all about the school and how it came to be. Cat and Alice were snuggled up together under a blanket, nodding off; while Hugo was laying on the carpet in front of the fire, fast asleep, lightly snoring.

Suddenly, the portrait door opened as Cal and Lily heard hurried footsteps. Lily quickly nudged Cat and Alice as Cal kicked Hugo in the foot. "Wazzit?" Hugo moaned, sitting up.

Two figures ran into the light, breathing heavily. It was Fred and James. They were covered in mud and leaves, their clothing was torn in many places, and they both had horrified expressions on their faces. "What happened to you two?" Lily worriedly asked.

"We...we..." Fred puffed. Cat and Alice shared a look.

"Saw...something," James huffed. "Big..."

"Monster..." Fred finished, widening his arms. "Huge..." Hugo's eyes widened in shock.

"White...eyes," James said, "White fur...everything white."

"It...growled at...us," Fred huffed.

"We...ran," James puffed. "Lost...bag...cloak..."

"Cloak!?" Lily gasped, her book falling to the floor, "You can't be serious!" James nodded. "Dad's going to be furious!"

"It's a cloak," Cat tiredly commented, "What could be so special about it?"

"It makes you invisible," Hugo yawned.

"What?!" Cat and Cal exclaimed. "And you left it in the forest?" Cat continued.

"You weren't there," James breathed out as he and Fred sat next to the fire. "We went inside, starting from where the unicorn was found. We went the deepest we ever been."

"We heard all kinds of howls and growls inside," Fred said. "We weren't entirely scared." James shook his head. "We wanted to see what it was that killed the unicorn, maybe capture it or something."

"And we definitely found something," James said. "It was huge, with white hair and bright blue eyes."

"Huge claws, big feet, razor sharp teeth," Fred said. "It instantly knew we were there."

James nodded. "I think it could smell us."

"But then it just disappeared," Fred said.

"Disappeared?" Cat repeated.

James nodded. "We lost track of it for only a minute."

"Only a minute," Fred repeated, "Because it turned out, that this monster was behind us. We didn't know how it got there so quickly, but it was in front of us, then a minute later, it was behind us."

"It was like he had silent feet or something," James continued. "But then it growled out us. We screamed our heads off and quickly ran back here. Luckily it didn't follow us. I don't think."

"Sounds like a Yeti," Cat spoke up, remember he had read about in his Fantastic Beasts book.

"Why would a yeti be in the forbidden forest?" Fred asked.

Cal shrugged. "Maybe he wanted a change of scenery?"

James rolled his eyes and then laid on his back. "Well, whatever it was, it was terrifying."

"You know you have to go back into that forest," Lily said, walking and looking down at James.

"Are you insane?" James replied, "I am not going back in there."

"What about the cloak?" Cat asked.

"What about it?" Fred replied, "If we go back out there, we're going to be dead meat."

"Yeah, and it'll probably be looking for us since we were trespassing in its territory," James said, closing his eyes. "I'll just come up with some excuse to tell Dad. I'm sure he'll understand..." And a second later, he was lightly snoring.

"It always amazes me when he does that," Fred said.

"I tell you what will amaze me," Lily said, "If he's still alive when dad finds out he lost the cloak."

News of best friends, James and Fred, forbidden adventure into the forest with their scary encounter spread through the castle like wild fire over the next few weeks. Of course, the two older boys were given detention for a month, but they thought it was worth it. As for their story, it had warped from them running away like cowards to being heroes of discovering a monster and taking it down with a fizzing whisbee to the eyes. Half the school seemed to believe the latter as it was much more logical.

Everyone seemed to believe that it was something other than a Yeti because most of the people knew a Yeti would never leave the mountains, but Cal was so sure that's what Fred and James had encountered. Everyone believed it to probably be an enormous wolf or a Gryffon om some kind. Professor Arrius, Firenze, and Longbottom took another look into the forest but the found no evidence of a Yeti or whatever monster Fred and James encountered. Headmaster Flitwick assured the school that whatever was inside the forest was gone and what happened to the unicorn was a terrible tragedy, and that the unicorn was taken away and buried by Scamander and Hagrid. There was a small memorial to which Cat would attend, dragging Cal, Lily, Alice, and Hugo along. Most of the other students that had attended were girls who loved or felt bad for the unicorn.

On a Saturday, Cal, Lily, Hugo, and Cat were gathered together in the courtyard in front of the great hall. There was a manly laugh. Everyone's heads turned to see a group of four men and one woman enter the courtyard, each dressed in different clothing that looked singed, ragged, or torn as they had recently gotten out of a battle. They looked haggard yet professional and the man who was leading them inside was standing straight with confidence and prowess. He was tall with brown hair and green eyes. They all looked fit and ready to fight.

"You there!" The leading man called to the kids as the men walked up to Cal and his friends. "Where's the headmaster?"

"In his office I expect," Cal answered, closing his book.

"You don't know where he is?"

"I'm not my Headmaster's keeper, Sir," Cal replied with an attitude.

"Watch your tone, Yank," one of the other men spoke. "Don't you know who you're talking to?"

"It's alright, Kit," the leader said, "He's just a kid." He gave an assuring smile towards the kids. "I'm Geralt. Geralt Marigold, and this is my crew." He pointed to the men behind them. "That's Kit, Vesi, Eskel, and Jada. We're the Creature Catchers."

"You're those witches and wizards that hunt down the magical creatures for hire," Hugo spoke.

"That's right, kid," Vesi spoke, "We hunt down everything from small fairies to gigantic Ukrainian Iron-belly Dragons! All for a fair price, of course."

"Interesting, but i don't think anyone hired you here," drawled out a voice. Everyone's head turned to see Professor Malfoy had appeared from the the doors of the Great Hall, a book in his hands.

"Ah, Draco," Geralt said, walking passed the children. His crew followed after them while the kids curiously watched. "You're right, no one hired us, but we did hear you had a problem. Something about a Yeti being spotted and having killed a unicorn, some acromantulas, and a few thestrals."

"And where'd you get this information?" Malfoy asked while crossing his arms.

"My nephew," Eskel spoke up. "Wrote me and told be about this goings on here lately."

"Well, sorry to bare the bad news," Malfoy started. "But it looks like whatever was in the forest is gone already. There hasn't been any attacks since."

"Are you sure about that?" Geralt asked with a raised eyebrow. Malfoy nodded. Geralt raised his hand and waved it forward. Jada came forward. She had been carrying a bag and she stepped in between the two wizards and dropped the bag. She opened it up. Malfoy peeked inside. Cal, Cat, Hugo, and Lily all strained themselves to try and also get a peek to what was inside the bag.

"What am I looking at?" Draco asked.

"Mooncalves," Geralt answered, "Found it near the gates last night which of course just happened to be a full moon."

"What's so special about that?" Cat whispered to her brother.

"Mooncalves only come out when the moon is full," Cal told his sister and the others.

"Here's your proof that whatever is in that forest, is still there," Geralt said, his arms crossed.

Professor Malfoy stared blankly at the Creature Catchers. "Very well," he said, "Follow me." Geralt nodded and waved toward his crew to follow.

Cal watched Jada lift the bag, his eyes furrowing towards the bag and the ground it was under. He suddenly looked pensive and suspicious. "Are you alright?" Hugo asked, shaking Cal from his thoughts.

"Yeah," Cal nodded. "It's probably nothing." Hugo nodded as he and the others returned to whatever it was they were doing before the Creature Catchers had appeared. Cal had opened his book, though his mind was on what he saw. He didn't notice how Cat was still staring at the Creature Catchers enter the Great Hall with the Professor, wondering about something herself, a small smile appearing upon her face.