CHAPTER FIVE: DRAGON, UNICORN AND CENTAUR
Surprisingly, Quirrell was a lot braver than we gave him credit for and as the weeks passed, the Stone remained untouched. We knew this since Quirrell would only reluctantly be near Snape and as the weeks past he seemed to become paler and thinner. Snape was also sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe, but just to be sure, Ron, Hermione and I decided to visit Hagrid to see whether we could weasel any information out of him.
When we knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut, we were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called 'Who is it?' before he let us in, and then shut the door quickly behind us. It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made us tea and offered us stoat sandwiches, which we wisely refused.
'So – what can I do for yeh?'
'We know about the Philosopher's Stone.' I said bluntly, causing Hagrid to choke on his tea. 'And we were wondering whether you can tell us what's guarding it, besides Fluffy.'
Hagrid frowned at me.
'0' course I can't,' he said. 'Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy.'
'Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here,' said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and we could tell he was smiling. 'We only wondered who had done the guarding, really.' Hermione went on. 'We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you.'
Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Ron and I beamed at Hermione. Who'd have thought that she was so good at fluttery?
'Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that... let's see... he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall –' he ticked them off on his fingers and I wasn't surprised to hear Grandmother mentioned in the list, 'Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.'
'Snape?'
'Yeah - yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it.'
'You never know, Hagrid.' I said reasonably. 'It could just be an act. Snape's in on protecting the Stone, so it would be easy for him to find out how the other teachers have guarded it.'
'Listen ter me, Harry. I know Snape and yeh don't like each other, an' I know that ain't 'bout ter change, but believe me when I say that Snape isn't 'bout ter steal it.'
I wasn't convinced.
'You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?' I asked anxiously. 'And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?'
'Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore,' said Hagrid proudly.
'Well, that's something,' I muttered. 'Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling.'
'Can't, Harry, sorry,' said Hagrid. I noticed him glance at the fire. I looked at it, too.
'Hagrid - what's that?'
But I already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.
'Ah,' said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, 'That's er...'
'Where did you get it, Hagrid?' said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the dragon egg. 'It must've cost you a fortune.'
'Won it,' said Hagrid. 'Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest.'
'But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?' said Hermione.
'Well, I've bin doin' some readin',' said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. 'Got this outta the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on I em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognise diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them.'
He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.
'Hagrid, you live in a wooden house,' she said while I sternly glared at him.
But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire. Hermione and I exchanged a look while Ron was looking interestedly at the egg.
So now we had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut. We constantly tried to convince him to get rid of the egg, but he refused to listen and several days later, it hatched before our very eyes while we were still trying to convince him that having a dragon was a bad idea, after sneaking out of the castle.
'Isn't he beautiful?' Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.
'Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!' said Hagrid.
'Hagrid,' Hermione said half-heartedly, 'how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?'
Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.
'What's wrong?' I asked nervously.
'Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school.'
I bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him. Draco had seen the dragon.
Ron, Hermione and I quickly left after that and snuck back into the castle, wondering if Draco had gone to any teachers yet. We soon got our answer as Grandmother walked out of her office in her nightgown, with Draco next to her.
'Good evening,' she said coolly, before motioning us to go into her office. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.
'Nothing. I repeat, nothing, gives a student the right to walk around the school at night.' Grandmother said once we were standing in front of her desk with our heads bowed and shoulders sagged. 'And therefore as punishment for your actions, fifty points will be taken.'
'Fifty?' I gasped - Gryffindor would lose the lead, the lead I'd won in the last Quidditch match.
'Each.' Grandmother's eyes were hard as she looked over at me. So far, I hadn't had much of a chance to talk to my family to get to know them. I was still to meet my father's brothers. 'And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all four of you will receive detention.'
'Excuse me, Professor,' Draco interrupted with a small frown on his face. He had been sitting on a nearby desk looking as though he had been enjoying Grandmother's lecture. 'Perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said that four of us.'
'No you heard me correctly, Mr Malfoy. You see as honourable as your actions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will join your classmates in detention.'
Huh, at least one good thing came from tonight. I thought happily as I struggled not to laugh at the look on Draco's face.
On the down side, a hundred and fifty points had been lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, Ron, Hermione and I ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the house cup. How could they ever make up for this? I didn't sleep all night for I was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out what they'd done?
At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first years. From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school,
I was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on me, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup. Everywhere I went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted me. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as I walked past them, whistling and cheering, 'Thanks Potter, we owe you one!'
The following morning, notes were delivered to Ron, Hermione, and I at the breakfast table. They were all the same: Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr Filch in the entrance hall. Professor McGonagall
So at eleven o'clock that night, we went down to the entrance hall where we found Filch waiting along with Draco.
'Follow me,' said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. 'I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?' he said, leering at them we walked across the school grounds. 'Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well-oiled in case they're ever needed...'
We all paled slightly, grateful that Filch wasn't in charge of punishment. Then they heard a distant shout.
'Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started.'
My heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. My relief must have showed on my face, because Filch said, 'I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy - it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece.'
Draco stopped dead in his tracks.
'The forest?' he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. 'We can't go in there at night - there's all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard.'
'That's your problem, isn't it?' said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. 'Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?'
Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder. He looked as though he had been crying.
'Oh good lord, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are yeh?' Filch said, looking disgusted.
I looked quickly at Hagrid.
'Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him to Romania to live in a colony.' Hagrid sniffed.
'But that's good, isn't it? He'll be with his own kind.' Hermione said gently.
'Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's just a baby after all.'
'Oh for god sake, pull yourself together man.' Filch said impatiently. 'You're going into the forest after all. Got to have your wits about cha.' He then turned and left.
'Right then,' said Hagrid, 'now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment.'
He led us to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted our hair as we looked into the forest.
'Look there,' said Hagrid, 'see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery.'
'And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?' Draco asked, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
'There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang,' said Hagrid. 'An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least.'
'I want Fang,' said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.
'All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward,' said Hagrid. ' So me, Ron, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Harry, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now - that's it - an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful - let's go.'
The forest was black and silent. A little way into it we reached a fork in the earth path, and Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Fang and I took the right. We walked in silence, our eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.
At one point, I bent down to get a better look at the blood and Draco thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to scare me. So as I stood up, he grabbed hold of my shoulder and made a weird growling noise. Panicking, and forgetting that I had a wand and what Hagrid had told us, I whipped around and punched him in the nose, thinking that a werewolf or something had grabbed hold of me. Draco fell to the ground holding his nose.
'Argh! I think you broke my nose!'
'Serves you right for trying to scare me!' I said, trying not to laugh as I helped him to his feet.
Once Draco was back on his feet, we continued towards the heart of the forest with Draco occasionally complaining about his nose. I had no sympathy for him.
We walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. I noticed that the blood was getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. I could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.
'Look –' I murmured, holding out my arm to stop Draco. He flinched slightly, thinking that I was probably going to hit him again.
Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. We inched closer. It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. I had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.
I had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made me freeze where I stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered... Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Draco, Fang and I stood transfixed with our hearts so beating so fast that it hurt. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.
'AAAAAAAAAARGH!'
Draco let out a terrible scream and bolted - so did Fang. The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at me - unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward me - I couldn't move for fear. I knew that I should follow Draco and Fang, but I just couldn't move. Then a pain like I'd never felt before pierced my head; it was as though my scar was on fire.
The sound of hooves could be heard behind me, galloping, and something jumped clean over me, charging at the figure. At this stage, the pain in my head had gotten so bad that I fell to my knees. It took a minute or two to pass. When I looked up, the figure had gone and a centaur was standing over me; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.
'Are you all right?' said the centaur, pulling me to my feet.
'Yes - thank you - what was that?'
The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at me, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on my forehead.
'You are a Valkyrie Princess,' he said, not that I understood what he meant. How could I be a princess when I was male? 'You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time - especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way. My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so I could clamber onto his back.
He then took off at a steady gallop and after a while he slowed to a walk and warned me to keep my head bowed in case of low-hanging branches as we made our way through the trees in silence. However, as we were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees Firenze suddenly stopped.
'Princess, do you know what unicorn blood is used -for?'
'No,' I said, startled by the odd question and confused as to why he insisted on calling me "Princess". Maybe "princess" had a different meaning to centaurs. 'We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions.'
'That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,' said Firenze. 'Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.'
'But who'd be that desperate?' I wondered out loud. 'If you're going to be cursed forever, deaths better, isn't it?'
'It is,' Firenze agreed, 'unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else - something that will bring you back to full strength and power - something that will mean you can never die. Princess, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?'
'The Philosopher's Stone! Of course - the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who –'
'Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?'
'Do you mean, that was Vol-'
'Harry! Harry, are you all right'
Hermione was running toward them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.
'I'm fine,' I said, hardly knowing what I was saying. 'The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there.'
'This is where I leave you,' Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. 'You are safe now.'
I slid gracefully off his back.
'Good luck, young one,' said Firenze. 'The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times.'
He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving me shivering behind him, wondering what he meant.
When Ron, Hermione and I arrived back in the Gryffindor common room, I began to tell them what had happened in the forest as I paced up and down in front of the fire. I was still shaking.
'Snape wants the stone for Voldemort... and Voldemort's waiting in the forest... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich...'
'Stop saying the name!' said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them. He hated it when I said Voldemort's name as did nearly every other living soul in the wizarding world.
I wasn't listening.
'Firenze saved me and I think the centaurs must show that Voldemort's coming back... at least I gather that's what Firenze meant. So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone. Then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off.'
Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort.
'Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic.'
'Maybe, but Firenze sounded like he knew what he was talking about.' I muttered glancing at the sky. Dawn was approaching. 'We should get some sleep.'
Ron and Hermione murmured their agreement and went to bed, while I followed more slowly, thinking over the events of that night.
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Written: 2 March 2012
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