The 13th Chapter is here, on a Friday! Make of that what you will 😜
Enjoy!

At 11 o'clock that night they said goodbye to Ron in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already standing there with Malfoy. They marched off across the dark grounds. As John promised, they heard a distant shout from Hagrid,

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry, I got to get started."

"If you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf, think again, it's the forest you're going into," said Filch, looking at Harry's happy face. At this Neville let out a little moan and Malfoy stopped dead.

"The forest?" asked Malfoy, but a cold look from Filch.

Hagrid then explained to the lot about how he found a unicorn dead the previous week, and how there's unicorn blood all over the forest now. They were to split into 2 groups and look for the injured unicorn in the forest. Since Malfoy wanted Fang, Hagrid split the 2 groups as Malfoy, Fang, Neville and himself in one group whereas John, Hermione and Harry in another.

"Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, send out green sparks, and if you're in trouble send out red sparks," said Hagrid. The 2 groups left in separate directions inside the forest.

"What could be hurting the unicorns, werewolves?" asked Harry. John was wondering the same thing. His mind was on the fact that both Hermione and Harry were shown to be in danger, and the fact that unicorns were found dead and injured didn't seem like a coincidence.

"No Harry, werewolves aren't fast enough. I have read a lot about unicorns, they are quick and powerful magical creatures," replied Hermione. There were traces of unicorn blood all over the place. As they kept walking, they could hear a faint sound of running water.

"We have been walking for 15 minutes," sighed John. Just that moment they heard a rustling of leaves. "Get behind that tree," whispered John.

Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby, it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. They squinted their eyes up the dark path, but couldn't see anything. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved. John removed his wand slowly and was now pointing in the general direction.

"Who's there?" he called out.

And into the clearing came, was it a man, or a horse? To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard, but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped.

"He's a centaur," whispered John.

"Good Evening," greeted the centaur. "Students, are you?" he asked.

"Yeah," replied John as Hermione and Harry stood there petrified.

"There's something different about you," said the Centaur looking at John.

"I'm John, this is Harry and Hermione. Have you seen a unicorn nearby? There's unicorn blood all over here," asked John.

"Always the innocent are the first victims," he said. "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."

"Have you seen anything?" repeated John getting frustrated.

"Mars is bright tonight," replied the Centaur. Harry, John and Hermione looked at each other confused. Looking at their confused faces, the centaur continued, "The forest hides many secrets."

Suddenly there was movement behind the trees, and John got his wand up again, but it was only a second centaur.

"Good evening," greeted the second centaur.

"I was just asking, have you seen an injured unicorn in the forest?" asked John.

"Mars is bright tonight," replied the second centaur.

"Thank you! Well, if you do see anything, let us know," replied John and the three of them walked ahead.

"What was that?" asked Harry after they got a few metres ahead.

"Your guess is as good as mine," replied John.

"Do you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" asked Hermione. Nobody replied, since neither Harry nor John had any idea about what was going on. They were now walking through the dense, dark trees. All 3 of them looked behind nervously from time to time. They had walked for nearly 40 minutes now. Deeper and deeper they went into the forest until the path became almost impossible to follow. They were now closer to the heart of the forest. The blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by.

"Look..." said Hermione and all 3 of them came to a stop. They could see something bright gleaming on the ground. They inched closer to have a look. It was the unicorn and it definitely was dead. 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. As they took a step forwards towards it, a slithering sound along with the rustling of leaves made them stop and hide behind a tree. Then out of the shadows, they saw a hooded figure come crawling across the ground. It reached the unicorn and lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side and began to drink its blood. As they watched in horror, they saw another figure come out of the shadows. This figure was a man who was in his late 30s, possibly early 40s.

Seeing the man, John nudged Harry and Hermione, gestured them to keep quiet and came out from hiding with his wand pointing at the man.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked. The man looked up and saw John who was standing with his wand pointed at the man.

"Master, shall I finish this boy off?" asked the man in a whisper looking at the hooded figure.

"Finish him!"

The man took out his wand and in a swift motion pointed his wand at John and cried, "Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green light issued from the man's wand and went towards John. John, who was prepared for this, dodged the curse easily by apparating out of sight and back in. Then, he flicked his wand at the man, red sparks flew from his wand that the man deflected. The pair exchanged spells at each other, that was either countered, blocked or dodged easily. Harry and Hermione were watching the scene with utter shock.

"Who are you boy?" asked the man as white light from the man's wand collided with the white light from John's wand.

"That is not the answer to my question," replied John and cast a spell at the man which he tried to dodge, but failed. He got pushed back a few metres and he stumbled. Just then, Harry felt a pain piercing in his head as he'd never felt before, it was as though his scar was on fire. Hermione let out a shriek as Harry, half-blinded, staggered backwards. The pain in Harry's head was so bad he fell to his knees. But this had caught the attention of the man and the hooded figure.

"Harry Potter," said the man.

"You are a death eater, aren't you?" asked John. But he wasn't expecting an answer, he just wanted to distract the man for a second. The man paused and looked at John surprised, but before he could react, John waved his wand around and a ball of wind caught the man and was pulling him towards John. The man was struggling to set himself free and failed.

After a few seconds, John set the man free but immediately cried, "Expelliarmus!"

The man's wand flew from his hand and fell to the ground. John flicked his wand at the man again, a jet of green light hit the man and he fell motionless. The cloaked figure was gone and all that remained were the bodies of the man and the wounded unicorn.

John muttered something under his breath and the body of the man disappeared. He sent red sparks to the sky and looked at Harry and Hermione. Harry was sitting on the ground while Hermione was standing beside him looking back at John.

"Harry, are you alright?" asked John.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better, thanks," he replied. John sighed in relief and sat down. He looked at Hermione who was still standing and then back at Harry.

"Who are you?" asked Hermione bluntly.

"Who was that man? Is he dead?" asked Harry.

"I… I'm… Okay… I know you both must have questions. After what happened today, I owe you both answers too. But, I beg you not to tell anyone about what happened here. When Hagrid comes, I'll talk to him. You both, don't utter a word, especially not about what you just saw. Tomorrow morning, you'll get your answers." replied John and looked hopefully at Harry and then at Hermione.

They seemed mildly convinced by his answer.

... Stay Tuned ...