A/N: Soooo, sorry for the late update, I had exams going on, and my schedule was just too packed to find any time to update

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Things could not have been worse.

After catching them outside the Gryffindor Common Room, Filch had taken them down to Professor McGonagall's office, which must have been connected somehow to sleeping quarters or a floo, because she was there much faster than Ginny would have thought. She seemed livid to be woken up, and Harry thought they were quite lucky to be alive. She had even informed Snape, who seemed absolutely gleeful at the prospect of Harry getting into trouble.

Both Harry and Ginny had lost fifty points each, putting Gryffindor and Slytherin in lowest places. Suddenly, it seemed as though the entirety of Gryffindor House had turned on Ginny, and no one but her brothers seemed to be on her side.

Ginny pretended not to care, but Harry could tell she was upset about this new development. Slytherin seemed to hate both him and her with a new passion as well. However, that wasn't anything new, which was how they tried to console each other.

But what was quite a bit more troublesome was the fact that they had detention in the Forbidden Forest this weekend. Harry had been both nervous and excited for this, and after suffering a minor heart attack, Ginny was too.

"There are so many beautiful animals in there," Ginny had told him. "Like Unicorns, Harry. Unicorns!"

He hadn't been able to hide a smile at her enthusiasm, and he was quite happy about it as well, until they figured out that their detention was to take place at midnight. A lack of sleep coupled with the fact that they would be heading into a dark forest squashed their enthusiasm like nothing else.

"I hate this bloody place," Ginny grumbled as he met her outside the Great Hall on the night of their detention. "You were right, Harry."

"Really?" He raised a doubtful eyebrow. "When?"

"Remember that one time when you were you were in a cranky moody mood and said you'd rather go back home than stay in this dump of a castle?"

"Oh," he said, a blush rising to his cheeks. "Yeah, I'm not so sure about that, actually."

"Yeah, well, I am," Ginny replied. "Mum wouldn't send us to the forest at night."

"You're not scared, are you?" He poked her side.

She batted his hand away. "In your dreams, Potter."

Harry's retort was cut short when they saw Filch come into the hallway they were standing in. He had his lantern with him, as well as the purring beast who was looking at them as though daring them to break rules again. Privately wondering whether Hedwig would like a cat for dinner, he followed Filch as the man led them out of the castle without speaking so much as a word.

"You're lucky that you've got Albus Dumbledore as your Headmaster," Filch said, glaring at them over his shoulder. "Back in my day… oh, back in my day children used to be hit with canes for breaking rules."

"Back in his day people didn't know how to light a fire," Harry muttered, causing Ginny to snicker behind her hand.

It didn't take Harry long to notice that they weren't, in fact, heading towards the forest. Instead, they were walking towards a small hut near the edge of the treeline. He could make out a large figure waiting for them with a lantern in its hand (Harry was sick of seeing these things), as well as something else that seemed to be a dog.

Upon coming closer to the small hut, Harry recognised that it belonged to Hagrid the Groundskeeper. And indeed, it was Hagrid who was waiting there for them, along with his dog- Fang, who growled at Mrs. Norris upon seeing her.

"You'll have your hands full with these two," Filch said, smirking. "They're quite the troublemakers. Be sure to give them the full experience of the forest."

"Oh, off with ya," said Hagrid, rolling his eyes. "Stop scaring 'em."

Filch just laughed as he walked away, Mrs. Norris following along, but not before throwing a look at Harry and Ginny.

Hagrid smiled down at them both. "Did he tell yeh both abou' the time they used to hang children by the thumbs in the Dungeons?" Hagrid asked, breaking the silence.

Harry and Ginny shook their heads. "Nope. Beat with a cane," she provided.

"Ah," Hagrid nodded in recognition. "For breaking curfew, I reckon?"

Harry nodded. "How'd you know?"

"He tells that story almost every single time," Hagrid said, shaking his head. Harry caught Ginny's eye and they smiled. "Don't worry, they're not even true. And even if they were, nothing like that's going to come after you where we're going. Not with me there, anyway."

Slightly more reassured by the large man's words, Harry and Ginny followed along as he walked towards the forest. He led them 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 their hair as they looked into the Forest.

"That's where we're headed," said Hagrid, and they set off down the path.

Upon entering the forest, the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, and it seemed as though he was seeing everything through a hazy, dirty lens. The forest was already dark, which was why this didn't help.

"Yeh'll get used ter the feelin'," Hagrid said, smiling back at them. "It'll be fine."

Harry didn't believe so anymore. There were so many monsters here, he knew. And werewolves! "What do we do if a Werewolf comes after us?" He couldn't stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth

"It's not a full moon," Ginny whispered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

But something about this forest didn't seem right. He could hear a growl in the distance, and the rest of them seemed to be hearing it too. "Probably just a wolf," Hagrid said. "They don't come near the school."

Harry nodded to show that he understood, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why they were here instead of doing something normal such as writing lines. This seemed far too excessive a punishment just for breaking curfew, it had to be something else. Unless…

"Are punishments always like this?" Harry asked Ginny in a whisper.

She shook her head. "Not that I've heard of, no," she replied.

"Then why are we here?" Harry asked.

"Maybe we're the guinea pigs for a new punishment programme," Ginny said, and Harry snorted.

"Think Filch is getting his life's wish?"

"Absolutely."

"Look here," Hagrid said, pointing at a nearby tree.

It took some time for Harry's eyes to focus on the substance Hagrid was pointing at, but when they did, Harry made a face. There was a silver, gooey substance dripping from a branch and onto a puddle on the ground. It wasn't glowing or reflective like normal silver, though. It was very dull.

"What is that?" Ginny asked, similarly disgusted. "Some parasite or something?"

"Not a parasite," a voice said from behind them.

Hagrid whirled around, drawing out a crossbow as he positioned himself in front of them. Harry and Ginny drew their wands out, and peeked around Hagrid just as he heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Oh."

"Forgive me for scaring you," said an animal that Harry had never seen before. It looked like a man, but from the waist, it had the body of a horse, complete with four legs that Harry couldn't stop staring at.

"It's a centaur," Ginny breathed, her mouth open.

"Indeed, young one," said the centaur, giving Ginny a short bow before turning to Hagrid. "I am grateful that you did not ignore my warnings."

"Do yeh have any idea wha' could'a done this, Firenze?" Hagrid asked, gazing back at the pool of silver substance.

"I am afraid not," said Firenze, walking forward to take a closer look. "I have, however, heard from the werewolves in the forest. They say that it is a monster far worse than any they have seen."

"They would know abou' monsters," Hagrid muttered. "I'll check this out, Firenze. Thank you for your help."

"I wish you luck," Firenze said, before bowing to Ginny again. "We shall meet again."

It sounded as though he was certain of this fact, but before Harry could ask why, he galloped away, the sound of his hooves fading away soon after he was out of sight.

"Why did he bow to me twice?" Ginny asked, furrowing her brow.

"They bow to those they respect," Hagrid said, scratching his chin. "Respect or worship."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I don't fit in either of those categories," Ginny said as Harry went to inspect the silvery substance.

Hagrid just shrugged in response. "They are mysterious creatures," he replied.

Harry kneeled and poked the substance with his finger, his curiosity getting the better of him. When he took his finger out of the puddle, some of the substance seemed to have gotten stuck on it, so he wiped it on the grass.

"Hagrid," said Harry, standing up. Hagrid looked at Harry and immediately ran towards him, shoving him away from the puddle. Harry barely managed to avoid falling on his backside.

"Did yeh drink any!?" He asked frantically, his eyes wild.

"Hagrid, what are you doing!?" Ginny screamed.

Harry was at a loss for words. He'd never seen Hagrid so angry, he always seemed so kind and gentle. Sure, Harry was only at the school for a few weeks, but even still…

"Harry?" Hagrid asked, softer this time.

Harry shook his head in response. "I haven't," he said. "Why? Is it poison?"

Hagrid shook his head rapidly. "No! Thank Merlin, no," he said, sounding relieved. Ginny came to stand beside Harry. "Really gave me a scare there."

"Yeah, I can see that," Ginny snapped, her tone not exactly kind.

Hagrid gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry," he said. "No, I am," he insisted when Ginny opened her mouth again. "It's just… well… I s'ppose there's no easy way to say this."

"Spit out, then," Harry said when Hagrid didn't say anything else.

"Right." Hagrid shook his head. "It's unicorn blood."

"What?" Ginny breathed as Harry's jaw fell open. "Why would anyone want to hurt a unicorn?"

"Many reasons," Hagrid said, sitting down in front of them. "Poachers kill them so that they can sell their hide for coats and other clothes, and their horns are excellent for permanent De-Aging Potions, not to mention the unicorn hairs that are used in wands."

Harry felt a bit sick as he looked back at the puddle of silver blood. A unicorn had been hunted here, perhaps it was dead now, or perhaps in need of help… and they couldn't do a thing to save it.

"Can we help somehow?" Ginny asked, wringing her hands. "I don't want to just sit by."

Hagrid nodded. "Only if we find an injured one, and only today," he said. "Anything else, you leave to me."

Neither Harry nor Ginny disagreed.

Hagrid stood up and went back to the tree, peering at the branch for a long time. He then began walking deeper into the forest, still following the trail. "Stay close," he said.

"Are you tracking this unicorn or something?" Harry asked.

"Can't track this one, unfortunately," Hagrid muttered, sounding sad. "It's dead."

Ginny gasped. "How do you know?" She asked.

"The blood isn't glowing."

A silence fell upon them, but they did not stop walking. The sounds of the crickets and the occasional howl, as well as the snapping of a twig were the only sounds that could be heard. There were no more puddles of blood, but at least the forest was becoming more visible with every passing second now.

"Did Firenze tell you about the unicorns dying?" Ginny asked, breaking the silence.

"Aye, he did." Hagrid nodded. "Tragic business, this. The whole forest's shaken up, and the fact that the Werewolves are scared makes it that much worse."

They soon found another puddle of silver blood, but unlike last time, it was glowing.

"This means it's still alive!" Ginny shouted in a whisper. "We can help it."

Hagrid nodded. "It's off the trail, though," he said, walking towards the blood. "You two stay here."

"What? Alone?" Harry asked, his jaw dropping open.

"I want to help!" Ginny said at the same time.

Hagrid ignored both of them.

"Send sparks up if you need me." Was all Hagrid said before he told Fang to stay with them and keep them there. The dog in question happily circled them, wagging his tail as he sat on the grass, facing them.

Ginny huffed. "This is ridiculous," she said. "I'm going."

Fang barked at her, and Harry snorted as Ginny jumped. He fully ignored the little voice in his head telling him that he would have done the same thing if he was in her place.

Ginny groaned. "What do the animals in this castle have against us?"

"Maybe Fred and George pissed them off too much?" Harry suggested.

"At this point," Ginny said. "I wouldn't even be surprised if they did."

A silence fell on them for just a few moments before they heard a scream coming from deeper inside, a scream that was unmistakably Hagrid's.

Almost as if they had a mutual understanding, Harry, Ginny and Fang set off together, sprinting through the forest at breakneck speed. The twigs snapped, the bushes rustled, and Fang barked as they ran, following the trail of blood.

The trail led them into a clearing, where they saw Hagrid lying down on the ground, panting. There was a small fire a few metres in front of him, and it looked as though it had been caused because he'd thrown and broken the lantern.

But the most chilling sight of all, was the panting, heaving unicorn that was lying on its side, making pitiful sounds as its blood was leaking out of its body. Harry felt like throwing up, but this sight didn't stop Ginny from rushing over to the creature and kneeling down beside it.

"You can help it, right?" Ginny asked Hagrid desperately as he stood up and limped over with Harry in tow. Hagrid shook his head in response, and a heavy weight settled in Harry's stomach.

"It's lost far too much blood," Hagrid said, sounding miserable. "And the wound is too big. I have dittany, which will help, but -"

"Give it," she said, holding her hand out, looking determined.

Hagrid didn't refuse her. Ginny uncorked the bottle, and poured the liquid inside on the wound. Harry watched as its skin sizzled, and seemed to come closer, but didn't fully close. The unicorn made a sound of relief.

"I've seen Mum do this with Charlie." She shook her head. "And he had a bigger wound than this unicorn does. This doesn't make sense Why won't it work?" She looked at Hagrid with wide, frantic eyes.

"Dittany works best on humans," Hagrid explained gently. "It was made for us, not for them."

"Well, there has to be something," she replied, a tear leaking from her eye.

"I'm sorry," Hagrid said, tears in his eyes.

Harry kneeled down and threw an arm around her shoulders. "You tried," he whispered, wiping at his own eyes with his free hand.

She took a deep breath in and shook her head, placing her hand next to the unicorn's wound. The unicron's breathing grew laboured now, and all they could do was just watch as it died.

He saw Ginny close her eyes, and just when the unicron's breathing stopped, Ginny's hand began glowing a white colour. "Gin?" He turned to fully face her.

But she didn't respond. Her eyes were closed, and she looked serene, as if she was at peace. "Ginny?" He shook her, panicking. When that didn't work, he tried to take her free hand in his and give it a squeeze. She did that whenever he felt bad, and it usually made him feel better, but right now, it had no effect on her.

"Ginevra!" He called, shaking her harder. Again, she didn't respond. This was wrong. So wrong. She would have ripped him a new one if he'd have used her full name, but she looked just as calm as she was before. It was unnerving.

He didn't understand what was happening, but he was distracted when the glow from her other hand grew bright enough to illuminate her face.

"What?" Hagrid whispered in shock.

Harry couldn't really blame him, because the unicorn's skin had started to glow as well. Not only that, it had even started to move, stitching itself back together. The unicorn's breaths grew relaxed, and the blood on the ground seemed to glow even brighter.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him. He felt as if he was witnessing an actual miracle, but that feeling passed when Ginny's hand stopped glowing, and she slumped against him, heaving. He adjusted his position so that she would be more comfortable.

He realised that he hadn't heard her breathe while she'd been healing the unicorn. And he hadn't even thought to check on her during that time... What sort of a friend was he?

"Ginny?"

"M'fine," she whispered, her voice sounding hoarse. He felt like letting out a cry of releif.

"Do you have water?" Harry urgently asked Hagrid instead, watching as the unicorn stood up and nudged its horn against Ginny's other side.

She smiled. "Hey," she whispered, stroking its face. Hagrid handed Ginny a bottle, which she would have nearly dropped if he hadn't caught onto it with her. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he said, helping her drink. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her in that moment. Since when could she do this? Why hadn't she told him? Was she okay? Did it hurt?

But he kept those questions to himself and shoved them down along with the weight in his stomach. He could hold onto them until she was better.

Meanwhile, the unicorn bowed to them and neighed loudly. From behind a few bushes, Harry saw a few more unicorns reveal themselves. The unicorn Ginny had saved, went towards a nearby tree, and began hitting it with its horn, which fell off after the second hit.

Harry and Ginny gasped in shock, but the unicorn simply picked the horn up in its mouth and brought it to Ginny, but then later gave it to Harry, perhaps because it could that she was far too tired. "Thank you," they both said.

The unicorn bowed before galloping back to its herd as her head fell on his shoulder. A horrible thought struck him, and he quickly checked her wrist for a pulse. While he couldn't find one, he could hear that she was breathing.

"What on earth happened?" Hagrid asked faintly. Harry had almost forgotten he was there.

"We should get back to the castle," Harry said.

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A bright white coloured ceiling was the first thing that Ginny saw when she woke up the next morning. This was rather strange, because Gryffindor Tower did not have a white ceiling anywhere in sight.

It was only when she sat up that she realised she was in the Hospital Wing. The bright rays of the sun assaulted her eyes, and she held up a hand to block them. She looked beside her bed, where there was an empty chair.

She sighed loudly, and fell back against the bed, trying to remember why she was even here. Had she been hit by a Bludger during Quidditch practice? No, that would be starting the day after tomorrow. Did a prank from Fred and George go wrong? That seemed more likely than her getting hit by a random Bludger.

All of a sudden, a figure appeared in the chair, and she screamed.

"Not again!" She cried, clutching her chest. This boy was going to kill her with these jumpscares!

"Sorry," Harry said, wincing. "You woke me up, and it would be weird if I just sat here and watched, you know?"

"Why are you here?"

He furrowed his brow. "Don't you remember last night?"

"Last night…?" She trailed off. And just like that, it all came rushing back to her. The detention with Hagrid, the unicorn blood, the injured unicorn… "I healed it," she said, looking at her hands in awe before turning back to Harry. "Right?"

Harry nodded with a smile. "You did," he said. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. She felt as if a massive burden had been lifted away from her, leaving her feeling lighter than she'd felt in a while.

"By the way," Harry said, bringing her out of her thoughts. "I think this is yours." He handed her a unicorn's horn. It was dark in colour, and had a spiralled structure from the bottom to the top.

"I can't take this," she said, handing it back to Harry, who took his hands away.

"The unicorn gave it to you," he said.

She looked back at the horn again, turning it over in her hand. The horn was a beautiful gift, but she couldn't understand why the unicorn had chosen her to have it. She didn't even know what she did. All she remembered was a burning desire to help, to relieve the unicorn from its pain, to help it reunite with its kind, and then her hand had started to glow.

"I don't think I should have it," she told Harry.

"Why not?" He asked. "You saved it."

"I don't want a trophy for that," she replied. If asked a month or two ago, she would have happily taken the trophy. That was what she wanted after all, to be a hero, who was known for helping people, and what better way to do that than to have a tangible reward for what she did?

Except that wasn't the case.

"Why not?" He sounded genuinely interested.

"Because… well, because… I don't know."

"Makes sense," he replied, smiling. She rolled her eyes. "You saved that unicorn, though."

"Well, yeah," she said. "And that feels good. It feels like… like I made a difference, you know? A whole trophy on top of that seems… too much."

"Well, Hagrid told me it was less of a reward, and more a sign of friendship," he said. Ginny felt a warm feeling in her stomach as she smiled. "Besides, it's not like you're gonna parade it around, are you?" He teased with a smirk.

Ginny from a month or two ago definitely would have, but now… Harry was right.

She was about to tell him exactly that, but they were interrupted by Hedwig flying into the Hospital Wing. She landed on Ginny's shoulder and gently nipped at her ear.

"Hey." She smiled at the owl as Harry waved at her. "You got anything for us?"

Hedwig hooted and stuck her leg out. Ginny took the letter from her, and Hedwig perched herself on Harry's knee. Ginny was surprised to see that the letter was from Hagrid.

Dear Harry and Ginny,

Could you both join me for tea this evening at around 5 pm? I would like to talk about what happened back in the forest last night. Send me a reply if that's okay with you both.

Regards,

Rubeus Hagrid.

Keeper of Grounds and Keys at Hogwarts.

"He probably wants to know what exactly I did," she said, a bit worried. "Which sucks, because I don't know myself."

"I didn't even know that something like that was possible."

"Yeah, I didn't either," Ginny replied, breathing a sigh. She hoped this was a part of Ancient Magic because she could solve two mysteries for the price of one if that was the case.

A silence fell upon them, but it was broken soon by Madam Pomfrey, who had come to check on Ginny. Harry hid himself under the Invisibility Cloak, and she knew that he was waiting till she was done.

"I'll write a response to Hagrid and send it off," Harry said when Pomfrey was done. "I'm glad you're okay, though."

She smiled and gave him a wave as he walked towards the door.

Ginny was on her best behaviour in the Hospital Wing that morning, and she was released by the time breakfast came along. Classes went by rather uneventfully that day, littered with the most boring bits of theory in the textbook. It didn't help that she only shared two classes with Harry, nor did it help that Ginny desperately wanted to know more about the random act of healing she'd performed.

Her day was made slightly better by the fact that Malfoy and Parkinson seemed absolutely shocked that she and Harry were still in the school at all. Oh, she couldn't wait to exact her revenge.

The relentless torture ended with their last class of the day. Thankfully, there was no homework other than the essay in Potions, which was why she and Harry could easily get to Hagrid's Hut at the appointed time.

"Are there any more abilities I should know about before we go in?" Harry whispered to her at the door. She smiled as she shook her head, shoving his shoulder.

He laughed and climbed up the stairs before knocking twice on the door, which opened pretty soon, revealing Hagrid. Fang bounded out from behind the man, and nearly tackled Harry to the ground before jumping backwards.

She smiled. "He seems excited," she pointed out as Harry ruffled the dog's hair.

"He is!" Hagrid said happily. "He doesn't get many visitors, y'know? Anyway, 'nough about us, come in! Tell us about you. How was yer day?"

She and Harry accepted the invitation and took turns in telling the whole story, a rather boring one, but Harry did manage to spice it up by mentioning that the entire class had fallen asleep in History of Magic, but Professor Binns didn't stop teaching.

They were not here to discuss their day, though, Ginny knew. She shared a look with Harry, who seemed to be thinking of a few questions himself.

"Hagrid," he said before she could. "Did you see whathurt the unicorn last night?"

Hagrid's face instantly lost a bit of colour, turning pale. "Aye," he replied with a nod. "Not the prettiest thing I've seen, that I'm sure of."

"What did it look like?" Ginny leaned forward.

"Like a black cloud," Hagrid answered, swallowing. "Arrows bounced off of it, so did physical blows, but then I threw the lantern at it, and it flew away."

"That's when we came, I reckon," Harry whispered to her. She nodded in acknowledgment.

"Why was the creature killing the unicorns anyway?" Ginny asked.

Hagrid shook his head. "You're too young for that," he said, and Ginny pursed her lips to keep her momentary burst of anger in check. "This… this is some disturbing stuff. I shouldn't tell yeh this."

"Mighty glad you could save the unicorn, though," Hagrid said, clearly changing the topic and beaming at her. She decided to let it go and try again later. "Didn't even know tha' was possible. But I won't lie, yeh gave us a right fright. Harry here carried ya out o' the forest 'imself -"

Harry smacked his head on the table. "Hagrid," he groaned.

Hagrid ignored him. "Would not let ya leave his sight after either."

She blushed as she turned to Harry, who was still sitting with his head buried in his arms on the table. She had to fight herself to not hug him.

"Can I get you some more tea?" Hagrid asked.

"Yes, please," Ginny said, handing her cup over. Hagrid took it and made his way to the kitchen. She turned to look at Harry, who was now staring at her.

"Don't say it," he pleaded.

"Say what?"

"You know what!"

She smiled at him, blinking innocently. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Stop it," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I think it's pretty… sweet, actually."

"Gin-ny."

"No, really," she said. "You carried me all the way through the forest with your little niffler arms? That's really sweet."

He groaned and buried his head in his arms again. She thought it was adorable, but he was also her best friend, and thus, it was her duty to take the mickey out of him.

"Seriously," she insisted. "If I was any other girl, I'd be fawning all over you, hey wait, is that a new muscle? -"

He cut her off by chucking a pillow at her and she burst out laughing.

Hagrid returned with her tea before their tiff could result in a full-blown pillow fight, but Harry did manage to stick his tongue out at her before Hagrid fully turned to them. They talked a bit more about school, and Hagrid told them what he did on a day-to-day basis: taking care of animals, maintaining relations with the tribes in the Forbidden Forest, and growing the vegetables needed for the year.

"Hagrid, have you ever heard of anyone being able to do what I could yesterday?" Ginny asked.

Hagrid shook his head. "That's why I was so surprised, wasn't I?" He asked. "The only ones I've heard that can do something close to this are empaths, but they take the wound upon themselves."

Ginny checked her neck, just to be sure, but she was okay, just as she was before.

Harry had gone really silent, probably trying to remember if he'd read it in one of his books, but Ginny doubted it, because Percy would have found out about it, and wouldn't have stopped talking about it back at home.

"Could we find something in the library?" Harry asked, looking up. "I've been meaning to check it out for a while, might as well look something up for Gin." She felt a surge of gratefulness surge through her, because she would not be able to survive the library.

"Maybe," Hagrid said, nodding thoughtfully. "Maybe. Try askin' for a book about Magical healing. One without any spells. Madam Pince won't give you the spell books for healing unless you've got a note."

Harry nodded his understanding.

And that was how they found themselves in the library the next morning. Originally, she had only planned to come here to see how Harry was doing, and maybe make fun of him if there were too many books.

Indeed, the latter did turn out to be true, and Ginny did make fun of him, but then Harry gave her the puppy dog eyes and she ended up staying back with him to help him out.

Curse her weakness for his eyes, she thought grumpily, but maybe not, they were so pretty after all… She shook herself and flipped a page of the book she was reading from.

She stumbled upon yet another chapter about empaths, and after reading another version of the same thing again for the third time, she could safely say that she wasn't one. For one, empaths were completely wiped out, and for another, their powers didn't activate until they were well into their twenties, and sometimes never.

"Hey, look at this," Harry said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Ginny put her book down the moment his words registered in his brain, feeling a spark of hope, she leaned over their table, grabbed the book he was handing to her, and began reading.

There is no shortage of harmful and risky treatments for fatal wounds in the world, but none of them would come close to willingly drinking the blood of a unicorn.

Unicorns are among the three purest creatures on this planet, and therefore, causing them any harm, is seen as a stain on one's very soul. However, if one decides to drink the blood of the unicorn to sustain themselves, the consequences for doing so shall be dire.

One will be healed of all injuries, all maladies, and all diseases, but it will come at the cost of one's soul. The soul shall be broken, splintered and scarred in ways beyond the human mind can comprehend; in ways horrifying enough, that only the most desperate ever seek it out.

Individuals with such a soul are destined to live a cursed life. These people are never the same. They suffer through spasms, insanity, hallucinations, depression, an inability to die, and an insatiable hunger for their own death.

Under the paragraph, there was a picture of a woman with long dark hair, and crazy looking eyes. She was on top of a tree branch, on all fours, looking straight into the camera. The picture showed her crawling away once spells were cast at her.

She put the book down in disgust. Was it any wonder that Hagrid refused to tell them? "That's why the creature is killing the unicorns?" She asked. "Immortality?"

"Looks like it," Harry agreed.

"Why?" She asked, unable to comprehend why someone would do that to themselves. She got the allure of immortality, living forever would be so cool! But like that? Absolutely not. "Why would anyone want that?"

"I have no idea," Harry relieved that he hadn't licked the blood.

《••••••••••••••••••••》

A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! If you did, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. See you next time!