Onto the next chapter!

Detention with Quirrell, perhaps some more development with the Horcrux, who knows?

Guess you'll just have to read in and find out :3

So let's go!

—0—

Merlot scribbled out her signature with a delicate flourish. Her writing had come quite a long way in the past few years, and she actually happy with how her first chapter was turning out.

Twenty pages detailing the meanings of the Anglo Saxon Futhark, and their uses as cardinal runes. The second chapter would be all about the difference between cardinal runes and minority runes, with a few diagrams to help in her explanation.

"Miss Scortwit…"

Merlot looked up to see Professor McGonagall looking down at her table in the library.

"Professor! I didn't see you there."

"We need to have a talk."

Merlot blinked, before gesturing to a seat at her table. She noticed that McGonagall flicked her wand a few times with a few quiet mutters.

"Privacy spell." McGonagall spoke pointedly, stowing her wand. "You should know that I personally pushed to have you removed from the castle."

Merlot nodded. "This is about the troll incident then. I went when I heard screaming, I thought someone was in danger of being killed and so I acted."

McGonagall nodded. "I know that, although I didn't allow my colleagues to discern that from our meeting yesterday. The reason I pushed for you to be removed is because you are in grave danger here. Something is here at the castle, plotting, planning. Albus won't tell me more, but I suspect it relates to he who must not be named."

Merlot blinked. "The last dark lord?" 'So he is after the philosophers stone…'

"You must be careful Miss Scortwit. Your true identity is still a secret, but should you flamboyantly step into the spotlight once more, it may be a secret spilled to save your hide."

"I will take that into account, Professor."

"See that you do. I am delighted to tell you that your transfiguration work was praised at multiple other schools, which I had been speaking to in advance just in case."

Merlot smiled. "You knew that Dumbledore would be against it."

"With how much we had spouted praise about you? Oh he wouldn't dare try to toss you out." Minerva's eyes twinkled. "I had hoped that my own change in attitude would prompt his own, and you could be sent to Beauxbatons, or Durmstrang. Alas, it seems he has also seen your capabilities for himself…"

"Yes. I took his advice about some of it." Merlot nodded, gesturing to her writing.

"Ah, your discoveries in magic runes?" McGonnagal took out a pair of spectacles and balanced them upon her nose. "May I?"

Merlot nodded. "Of course. I actually would love your input on some of it. Writing like this has given me some new ideas for rune functions, including high tier transfigurations."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows as she began reading. "Indeed… I was never the best at runes myself, but your simplistic explanation on each runes functions makes the area of study seem rather easy!"

Merlot blushed. "It isn't that good…"

"It is. Very good. Albus is right, you are a prodigy." The woman closed the notes after skimming them and passed them back to Merlot. "You should probably store those in a safe space. There's no knowing who might take them as their own."

Merlot nodded and thanked the professor, who put away her glasses and stood up. "I shall take my leave now, Miss Scortwit. I believe you have detention with Quirinus in an hour. You should get prepared."

"I will ma'am." Merlot nodded. "He told me to simply bring my wand and to dress in a school uniform. Why my outfit matters I have no idea…"

"Detention is meant to be a punishment, Miss Merlot. However, it is also a way to learn. Perhaps he has found a way to have you do both."

Merlot pondered that for a moment, before nodding and packing up her materials. "I will see you at dinner."

The professor nodded and dispelled their privacy charm, before bidding farewell and leaving the library.

Merlot left the library soon after, walking down to the Hufflepuffs dormitories and leaving her things. Before she left, she spotted the invisibility cloak gifted by Dumbledore and picked it up.

To the untrained eye, the tiny flecks of silver in the silky material of the cloak would appear to be stars, but Merlot could spot that they were each runes, dozens upon dozens of runes, woven into the fabric and infused into its surface. Merlot ran a hand over the cloak and breathed out slowly, feeling the cool touch of each tube, each fleck of silver. This cloak was a marvel, beyond her current abilities as a rune carver. But she hoped now, now that she looked it over, that she could decipher it's secrets.

Merlot folded the cloak into a square and draped it over her notes, causing both to vanish. With a smile, she stowed them beneath her bed. If nobody could see them, nobody would find them. Except for her.

Merlot stood up and brushed herself off, before taking her wand and stowing it in her sleeve. A wriggle in her breast pocket alerted her to the fact that Despereaux was awake from his nap in the library.

"Good nap?" The girl inquired, her lips quirking into a sly smile.

"Des-pir-oo nappy!"

Merlot giggled at the rat and patted his head, before allowing him to climb up and sit upon her shoulder. "You have my back, right?"

"Protect Queen!"

The girl smiled as Despereaux waved his hairpin in the air mightily, before grabbing the 'blade' and holding it in a sheathed position.

Merlot nodded and walked out of her room. Making her way to the defense classroom, she prepared herself for what was to come.

—0—

Quirinus Quirrell was quite frustrated.

Well actually, the dark wizard lodged in the back of his head was the one who was frustrated, he was just suffering from a horrific headache because of it.

He had failed to get the stone. He had failed to get the key to their combined survival, and the dark lord was no closer to returning as he had been months ago. And now, thanks to that greasy potion master, Severus Snape… He was under Dumbledore's microscope.

Although, he couldn't complain. He was assigned a student to watch over, the Scortwit girl. The dark lord seemed to shy away from her, but even he had shown interest in the girl's mind.

Her essays on runic foci and arrays were incredible, and although it stung to show such information to Albus Dumbledore, it was necessary. Such a promising mind consigning themselves to be chained was a tragedy among tragedies. Allowing her to be placed into his hands… it was a blessing, and may end up being one of Dumbledore's greatest mistakes.

Not only was her work with runes astounding, but the girl had a knack for combat magic. If her defeat of the troll he let in was anything to go by.

Yes, while the new restrictions were quite frustrating, the promise of shaping this brilliant mind was in and of itself a blessing. Quirrell reminded himself of this as the door to his classroom opened, and the girl slowly walked in.

She had dressed as he asked, and brought her wand. A rat was seated upon her shoulder, with a silver hairpin that looked like a sword. It was quite fitting, in a way. They definitely shared a bond of some sort.

"Professor? I am here for my first detention."

Quirinus nodded and got to his feet. "Y-yes. I have p-p-prepared s-s-something suitable f-for you."

Merlot watched as Quirrell stood and walked to a cupboard. The man took out a heavy cloak and a pair of silver knives, before passing Merlot a cloak of her own.

"Couldn't you just have told me to bring a cloak?"

"It Isn't l-layered with the p-p-proper protections. Come now."

Merlot followed the professor out of the room. They walked down from the defense classroom and into the corridors of the castle, eventually exiting the great edifice through a small door which Merlot had never noticed.

As they trudged through the frosted over grass, Merlot noticed where they were heading. "Sir. Students aren't permitted to be in the forbidden forest."

"Not without a t-t-teacher. You and I are going in for some c-c-components."

Merlot looked at the silver knife he slipped into her hand with a queasy expression. "I don't suppose that these components are living…"

Quirrell smiled as an answer before picking up his pace. They reached the edge of the forest, running straight into Hagrid, who wiped his eyes and nodded. "I found it for yeh, dragged it a ways closer to the edge so yeh wouldn't have teh go too far."

Quirrell nodded, his face white. "Th-th-thanks you R-r-rubeus. Come now M-m-miss Scortwit."

Merlot saw the look of surprise on Hagrid's face as she passed by, following Quirrell closely as he raised his wand and lit it with a quick mutter of latin.

"K-keep close. N-no telling what's out h-h-here."

They trudged into the thick leaf covered ground of the forest, winding around trees and ducking under fallen trunks. Eventually they came to a small clearing, where a beautiful creature lay, dead.

"Is that-"

Quirrell nodded and walked forward, quickly muttering a few spells. Merlot watched as a glowing dome appeared over their heads. Quirrell gestured for Merlot to join him by the carcass of the unicorn.

"Something has been k-k-killing these c-c-creatures in the forbidden forest. The headmaster and Hagrid have b-b-been unable to find out what… it is a tragedy…"

Merlot nodded, running a hand over the somewhat muddy fur of the dead beast. "So soft…"

"Unicorns yield a bevy of m-m-magical components. It w-would be a shame t-to w-waste this one." Quirrell took his knife and gestured to one of the unicorns' feet. "Come one then."

Merlot watched as Quirrell picked up the front leg of the beast and gripped near its ankle. With a few flicks of the knife he drew back the fur, before slicing downward and circling around.

"J-just like this, and then… t-twist!"

With a small snap. The hoof of the Unicorn broke off cleanly into a cloven puck of black keratin. Merlot covered her mouth as Quirrell placed the hoof in a pouch, holding back the bile which was rising in her throat.

"Why…"

Quirrell looked at her, his face white. "B-because it is d-detention. I don't appreciate d-doing this either. It c-comes with the profession."

Merlot watched as he procured a crystal jar from his robes and stabbed into the de-hooved leg, causing a flow of silver blood to leak out. The blood filled the jar roughly halfway, before tapering off into a slow dribble. Quirrell sighed as he put the jar away. "I am supposed t-to m-m-make this a l-lesson. I am showing y-you proper harvesting t-techniques, and hoping t-to dull your fear of harming others."

Merlot watched as Quirrell took the rest of the leg and carefully ran his knife up them, skinning the appendage quickly and cleanly, before folding up the unicorn hide and placing it in his pouch, with the other collected materials. "S-so, get to w-work. If you do well, I will let you k-keep the materials you harvest."

Merlot nodded and went to the back legs. Quirrell began explaining as he shaved the muscle and fat from the leg he was processing. " We always s-s-start with the legs. Obviously, unicorns have four. Begin by taking off the hoof, as I did."

Merlot noticed that the man was getting into a groove, as his stutter was waning away throughout his lecture. She brought the knife he had provided to the bottom of the leg and pushed the fur back, before slowly slicing down and around the hoof's edge. The material was hard, and grated against the blade of the knife as she cut through. Finally, she twisted the hoof and snapped it off cleanly, being left with a puck the same as Quirrell had taken.

"Unicorn hoof is a powerful component in many potions. It is also naturally infused with magic, so you can turn it into a charged artifact with enchantments." Quirrell explained, before moving on. "Next, b-b-blood."

So he still became nervous when mentioning blood or death. That was understandable.

"Here." Quirrell handed her two crystal jars, like the one he had used. "Collect from both legs. Like I did. Just like hooves, Unicorn blood is a powerful potion ingredient, but it is much more potent. No more than a drop is ever used in each batch of brews that require it. It can also be used for runecarving, as it acts like mercury, or quicksilver."

Merlot held her breath as she punctured the unicorn leg and collected the blood. The jar was filled up more than when Quirrell had filled his.

"You're working on the back legs, which have more muscle. Next, take care of the hide."

Merlot nodded and watched closer as Quirrell took care of the hide on the second front leg. He cut it into strips and then ran the knife down underneath each, perfectly severing the hide from the muscle. Merlot took her own knife and did the same, finishing up with six strips from the hind leg. Quirrell nodded, before demonstrating how to remove the muscle and fat from the bone.

"Note that the bones are made of silver. Unicorns are incredible creatures, are they not?"

Merlot nodded as she took the muscle off and was left with the bare silver bone of the unicorn's hind leg. Quirrell stepped over and examined her work.

"W-well done. May I observe you with the final leg?"

Merlot nodded and went to the final appendage. Quirrell nodded as she cut off the hoof. The blood was drained perfectly, and the hide was separated cleanly from the rest of the leg. Quirrell nodded as she finished up with the muscle and left the bone.

"Next is the rear."

"Sir, isn't it getting late?"

Quirrel smiled. "T-time ward, it causes everything in here to go faster. Only a half hour has passed."

Merlot blinked, before turning back to the unicorn. "Handy…"

"Indeed. I can sh-show it to y-you sometime. Come on, let's look at the t-t-tail."

Merlot followed Quirrell to the rear of the Unicorn. He pointed to the tail and nodded. "This will be the most time consuming part, but also the most rewarding. Would you like to do the tail? Or the rest of the body?"

Merlot looked over the rest of the unicorn and saw its dead eyes. With a shudder, she shook her head and held out her hand. "What do I need?"

Quirrell smiled and handed Her a pair of shears, as well as a pair of tweezers.

"P-pluck each tail hair, and trim off any of the stained portions."

Merlot nodded and knelt down as Quirrell walked around to the front of the unicorn. She watched him as she plucked out and trimmed the tail hairs. Quirrell removed the unicorns horn and began taking care of its head. It was rather sickening to watch, so Merlot chose to focus on the unicorn tail hairs.

Each was beautiful. Long and thick. Glossy and smooth. There was no splitting along any of the fibers, and the only imperfections were small stains upon the end of some of the hairs. It was a long process, but eventually, Merlot had plucked out each hair and trimmed them down. When she looked up, Quirrell had finished up on the head, processed the neck, and had finished hollowing out the torso of the magical creature. He was finishing up with the remainder of the hide when she cleared her throat.

"Ah! You've f-finished. Give me one m-moment and we can get back to the c-c-castle."

Merlot nodded and watched as the man quickly finished with the unicorn, leaving only its silver skeleton laying upon the ground.

"What do we do with the bones?"

"M-melt them. Unless y-you'd like something from it."

Merlot blinked, kneeling down near the spinal column. The spinal cord ran between each of the vertebrae of the creature and was still completely intact. Merlot turned to Quirrell. "This is asking a lot, but may I keep it?"

"Certainly out of y-your shell, keeping the sk-sk-skeleton?"

Merlot pressed her lips together as her stomach twisted. "It… feels wrong, yes. But it's dead. I didn't kill it… I should make sure that it finds a purpose beyond death."

"Excellent. I b-b-believe this detention is concluded. You may take the skeleton."

Merlot nodded and drew her wand. With a quick few spells, the skeleton was deconstructed, except for the spinal column, and organized in a small stack, which Quirrell gave her a bag for. The girl noticed that the bag also contained the other materials that she had harvested.

"You're okay with giving me all of this?"

"You h-h-harvested it, and y-y-you learned a lot. It is all yours. M-make s-sure to use it w-w-well."

"Thank you… I don't know how-"

"Make sure to come p-p-prepared for d-d-detention tomorrow." Quirrell interrupted. "We will work on d-d-dueling."

Merlot nodded. "I… I will do my best."

"Good. N-now let's get b-back to the c-c-castle."

Merlot nodded and slung the bag of unicorn parts over her shoulder, before following Quirrell back to the castle as he dispelled his wards.

The day was still not over, there was more time for Merlot to study, and she had a feeling that she'd be looking into books on unicorns.

—0—

And that's another one down. A good way to have Quirrell get unicorn blood without stalking the forest, no?

This also opens the door for wandlore, runecraft, etc. With the components from the unicorn, many more discoveries can be made.

Thank you to all of my reviewers, and commenters. I finally got to posting this on AO3, and I'm happy to see people enjoying it so far. Leave a review or a comment, any questions are welcome and I will do my best to answer them.

Until next time,

adios.