Main prompt: Laverna 'Goddess of Thieves' [Roman]: Write about a deceitful or wicked act.

Optional prompts: (dialogue) "How could you have possibly forgotten?", (object) golden chalice, (creature) Centaur.


The Unicorn Blood

"I need blood!" Voldemort demands.

"O-okay master. What kind of b-blood?" Quirrell stutters.

"Unicorn blood."

"How could you have possibly forgotten? It's unforgivable to kill a unicorn!" Quirrell says nervously.

"As unforgivable as the Cruciatus Curse?" Voldemort threatens.

"N-no master, please don't hurt me!" Quirrell begs.

"Then get me the blood!"

"Are you sure, m-master?" He Questions.

"Of course I'm sure. I need unicorn blood to grow strong, not some nugatory deer blood!"

"O-okay then. I shall bring you your b-blood." Quirrell obeys.

Quirrell is walking into the forbidden forest, careful not to be seen. From Hagrid's hut he could hear Hagrid humming and from his chimney, smoke can be seen. It's dark and cold outside; all the students are sleeping peacefully in their dorms. The teachers are probably going over their last piece of assignments, yet out here, Quirrell is walking into the forbidden forest to go through with the unforgivable task.

He moves quickly through the forest, almost floating forwards, his cape flowing in the air. I must do this swiftly, so no one will see me. In the distance he could hear an owl hooting a long, echoing note. He kept walking, wondering how he should attract a unicorn.

"They like blood!" Voldemort shrieks.

"W-what?"

"Unicorns like blood and they can smell it from a long distance."

Voldemort explains.

"S-so what should I do?"

"Cut yourself!"

"What? No!" A growing fear fills Quirrell like a disease.

"You will execute this task for me, or there will be grave consequences."

"Yes, master."

Quirrell opens his cape and reveals a pocket knife. He breathes in deeply before he presses the edge of the knife against his palm and begins to cut a nasty wound. A long stream of crimson red blood pours from his hand onto the ground leaving a messy puddle.

Minutes pass before Quirrel even hears the faintest sound of beating hooves. He hastily rips a piece of his shirt and finishes tying his newly made bandage when he hears a snort. Quirrell looks up and sees an elegant white steed with a gleaming horn. He feels sorry for having to kill such a magnificent animal. But he had no choice.

The unicorn comes closer to him, but hesitates and stops. It studies Quirrell deciding whether he is trustworthy or not. After a while, the unicorn slowly walks up to Quirrell and licks the blood from the ground.

Quirrell then stabs the creature in the throat with the same knife he used to cut himself. The unicorn screams in pain before it falls down on the side, looking disappointedly and sorrowfully at Quirrel.

He then takes out a golden chalice and brings it to the steed's throat. When the chalice is full he drinks from it, the unicorn blood oozing down his throat. It tastes so horrible that Quirrell gags and almost throws up, but instead he falls down beside the unicorn.

"Drink." Voldemort pleads. "Drink!"

Quirrell throws the chalice away and grabs the unicorn by the mane and begins slurping the unicorn blood directly from the wound. It tastes so good. It tastes so good!

"Power! I can feel the power. Drink, I need more!"

Far in the distance he hears hooves moving towards him. Quirrell hears it but doesn't care. So good! He keeps drinking, chugging and swallowing eagerly. Suddenly he hears a voice shouting.

"Get out of here you filthy thing!"

He looks up and sees a centaur standing over him. Quirrell gets up and hurries away. The centaur keeps yelling after him, but only a few seconds later the yelling stops. Quirrell walks back at a slow pace and hides behind a tree. From there he can see the centaur picking up the unicorn corpse, galloping off with it. After a while he decides to follow the centaur.

The centaur is fast but Quirrell keeps up with him. They run for what seems like an eternity, but then they finally stop. Quirrell looks around and sees that they are outside Hagrid's hut. He jumps behind a giant pumpkin, big enough to conceal him. The centaur walks up to the front door and knocks. It takes a while before Hagrid opens the door but when he does the centaur neighs. Hagrid rubs his sleepy eyes and looks down. When sees the hurt animal he lets the centaur in with haste. The centaur had to lower his head to get inside.

Quirrell can't hear anything since they are both inside, so he sits down comfortably and speculates. What if he saw what I am, or worse who I am. Maybe he will tell Hagrid, who will tell Dumbledore. What if I get fired? Then the master will hurt me once again. Quirrell shivers at the mere thought of the cruciatus curse.

The door opens and the centaur walks out, still carrying the unicorn. Quirrell's mouth starts to water up and he begins to think of the taste, forgetting all about how much he hated it at the beginning. After a while the centaur says his goodbyes and then runs off into the woods. He then remembers his chalice, laying in the woods. That chalice had been on his desk this morning when Dumbledore visited him. If anyone were to find it and take it to Dumbledore, Quirrell would get fired. He stands up and begins to run back into the forest. Where was it? He thought of the place he was at earlier; trees, some stones and… And blood! The smell of the blood would lead him to the chalice. He walked around trying to find any scent of blood in the air.

Then suddenly he can sense it, the scent of blood. He runs towards the smell and sees the puddle of blood. The thought of what he did comes back to him, but he quickly pushes it aside as he starts to look for the chalice. It should be around here somewhere. Where is it? He sighs.

Just as he's about to give up, there behind a rock he sees the chalice. He picks it up and sees that there are still a few drops of blood left at the bottom. He licks them up and dries the remains with his cape.

Quirrell then runs out of the woods and up to Hogwarts, once again being careful. Wouldn't want anyone to see me. When he returns to his office he freshens up and replaces the chalice.

"Master? How are you feeling?" He asks Voldemort.

"I'm fine. You should have drunk more blood though,but I'm sure you will make up for that, right?"

"Yes, of course master."

"Good. Now let me get some rest."