Chapter 13
If Professor Snape thought the boys would be able to sleep after telling them there was one of the wizarding worlds greatest thieves lurking the castles walls, then he was just kidding himself.
Snape sent them off just before 12 and didn’t answer any of the thousands of questions getting hammered at him, just crossed his arms and raised his nose like he did in the classroom.
He said, “Off to bed, if you have any questions don’t ask me.”
The students were all terribly confused and Millicent even started crying. She sobbed loud and ugly and seemed to only find comfort in Crabbe, who rolled his eyes to the boys but wrapped a reassuring hand around the girl.
Back in the dorm, the boys made a small circle on the fluffy white rug Blaise got from Christmas and glanced hesitantly at one another.
Harry knocked shoulders with Draco who he noticed was awfully pale.
“You okay?” He asked.
Draco woke from his wide staring and cocked his head at Harry. “What?”
“Nothing, you were just staring at the ground.”
Draco shrugged. “It’s a very nice rug, the white works well with the dark green walls-“
“Mate, shut up before I bloody loose it.” Goyle surprisingly snapped, putting his hands in his curly hair.
“You good, Greg?” Crabbe asked hesitantly.
“No! I’m not good actually!” Goyle yelled. “This… this thief got past a dragon and is probably in the Great Hall when we eat, or even in the classrooms! He could be in one of our dorms for all we know!” He took a deep breath, trying to cool his bright red face. “He could be anyone and I don’t know how all of you are so calm.”
“We’d be mad if we weren’t at least a little scared.” Blaise agreed.
“What should we do, then?” Crabbe whined.
“Why should we have to do something?” Draco said passionately. “We can’t even do the cushioning charm without repeating it five times.”
The boys all nodded and Blaise stood up to stretch his back.
“Draco’s right, even though Snape said Dumbledore was useless he’s not that stupid to let a thief into Hogwarts.”
Goyle nodded solemnly. “I’m too tired for this shit.”
Blaise grinned and slapped Goyle’s shoulder. “Aren’t we all, now let’s get to bed. We still have classes tomorrow.”
As the boys breathes evened out and their snores echoed around the dorm, Harry lay awake staring at the Edwardian ceiling. He knew the exact person to help him.
——
“Hermione.” Harry said when the duo were studying in the library. “I need your help.”
Hermione looked up with her chin on her palm. “With what?”
He slapped the old Prophet in front of her and watched impatiently as she read it. She clicked her tongue and looked at Harry in confusion.
“Why did you ask me to read this, Harry?”
“We think the thief is in Hogwarts, I heard that Hagrid retrieved something from Gringotts the same day this happened,” Harry pointed eagerly to the article, “maybe the thief is at Hogwarts to get what he came for.”
“But what did he want to steal?” Hermione asked.
Harry’s grin widened. “Nobody knows, but Hagrid does.”
“So you want me to come with you to talk to Hagrid?” She asked slowly.
“Exactly! Will you help me?”
“Help you?” Hermione rolled her eyes fondly. “Exams are coming soon and I need to finish drawing up our study schedules and colour coding my notes so I know where everything is. With such an academic mother, I thought you would be doing the same!”
“Hermione, the exams are ages away.”
“Ten weeks,” Hermione snapped. “That’s not ages, it goes by much quicker than you’d expect.”
“What are you even studying for? You already know you’re the smartest witch in our year.” Harry reminded her.
“What am I studying for?” She yelled maniacally. “Are you crazy? You realise we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They’re very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don’t know what’s gotten into me…”
“Good god, she sounds like the teachers.” Harry muttered.
Suddenly, out of pure coincidence or the earth alining, Hagrid shuffled into view, looking very out of place being surrounded by books in his moleskin coat.
“Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?” Harry called.
“Jus’ lookin’,” he said in a shifty voice that pricked the students interest at once.
“What’re you looking for?” Harry asked, looking over the giant.
Hagrid shook his head and tutted. “Nothin’ of importance.”
He talked to Hermione a bit more about her very organised notes before smiling tightly at the pair and rocking back and forth on his heels.
“Welp! Bes’ be off. Come an’ see me later, ye haven’ visit’d in ages.”
“See you later, then.” Harry said.
With one last nod, Hagrid shuffled off.
“What was that big toad doing in here?” Draco asked, glaring back at the Groundskeeper as he strutted into the library.
“I don’t think he’s ever even been in the library before” said Pansy rudely.
Hermione groaned in annoyance and went back to angrily writing notes.
Harry grinned at his friends. “I’m not sure but I think he was returning some books.”
“I’ll look at what section he was in.” He said, Harry had had enough of egging Hermione into his plan. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down of the table next to Hermione’s who grunted in annoyance at them. Harry, Draco and Pansy looked at the covers and frowned.
“Dogs!” Pansy whispered. “Hagrid was looking at books about dogs? Large Dogs of Great Britain, Ireland and Scotland; From Puppy to Adult, A Dog Keeper’s Guide.”
“Doesn’t he already have that awful mutt that follows him around?” Draco scowled.
Harry shook his head. “No, no. These books are about magical dogs, dangerous ones.”
Draco snorted. “No dog could possibly be bigger than Hagrid himself.”
“But there aren’t any giant dogs in Britain?” said Pansy.
“Of course there are,” said Harry. “My Godfather had an interest in them when I was younger and took me to an animal sanctuary. There were dogs bigger than a classroom, some that could set themselves on fire, some with supersonic hearing. The Ministry of Magic has a hard job keeping them from Muggles, that’s for sure. They have to keep putting spells on Muggles who’ve spotted them to make them forget.”
“Good grief, what on earth is Hagrid up to?” Pansy sighed.
Harry knew Hagrid asked him and Hermione to meet up with him but Hermione was too busy studying to focus on anything else so Harry decided to bring his own companions instead. When Harry, Draco, Pansy, Blaise and Tracey knocked on the door of the gatekeeper’s hut an hour later, they were surprised to see Hagrid dog, Fang, guarding the door.
“I hope he doesn’t have rabies.” Tracey whispered, eyeing the dog untrustedly. “Millicent has a new cat.”
Hagrid called “Who is it?” Before letting them in and shutting the door immediately. Hagrid took a look at his guests and paled drastically when he took sight of the four uninvited students before giving Harry a glare. Hagrid, still the gentlemanly host, had made them tea and offered them burnt looking sandwiches, which they all refused.
He cleared his throat and gave Harry a warning look. “So… wha’ do I owe this pleasure?”
“Yes.” Said Harry bluntly. “We were wondering if you knew anything about what happened at Gringotts back in September?”
Hagrid spattered into his chipped teacup. “E-excuse me?”
“Subtle, Harry.” Draco growled.
Blaise rolled his eyes and slapped the old prophet on the table. “We’ve been told that you know something about this event. You can reread it if you’ve forgotten.”
Hagrid looked so dumbfounded he couldn’t make out any words.
“Yes, yes, take your time, it’s not like we have all day or anything.” Pansy bit.
Harry glared at his friends and smiled reassuringly at Hagrid. “You don’t have to tell us anything, Hagrid, but we have much to believe that the thief from Gringotts has come to Hogwarts to finish what they started.”
To everyones surprise, Hagrid started laughing. “Is tha’ wha’ you think is happening? No one can ge’ to it, don’ worry yourselves.”
“Get to what?” Tracey asked.
“THE STONE!” Hagrid shouted with laughter, wiping his eyes from tears. “It’s impossible to ge’ passed Fluffy.”
The group glanced at each other.
“What are you talking about, Hagrid?” Harry asked. “Whose Fluffy? And what stone?”
This seemed to remind Hagrid that this was meant to be a secret and he covered his mouth hastily, staring wide eyed at the Slytherins.
“ ‘Aight! Think it’s time you all lef’.”
“But-“ harry started.
Pansy stood. “We were asking you to help us!”
“Can’t, sorry.” Said Hagrid. “I’ve said too much, way too much. Forge’ everythin’ I said, see you Harry!” Before slamming the door in their faces.
Blaise blinked slowly and a big grin etched onto his face. “Ladies and gentlemen, We have a case.”
——
Harry felt like Hermione with all the extra hours Blaise was coaxing them up in the library. The other first year Slytherins that didn’t come to Hagrid’s were now involved and each of them borrowed three books about infamous stones and large dogs that Hogwarts library had to offer.
Harry wrote to his parents to see if they knew anything more about what happened at Gringotts but they seemed just as clueless as Harry. He knew the others had hit the same dead end with their families.
“I can literally feel my eyes falling out of my head.” Pansy whined in the common room after Madam Pince had kicked them out of the library.
“You’re allowed a ten minute break then get back to reading.” Blaise said, his head deep in a book.
“I honesty don’t care anymore, let this guy get whatever stone he wants and leave us out of it. As long as it doesn’t effect me.” Millicent agreed.
Blaise was not having it.
“Don’t quit just because you’ve never read more than three pages in your life! The school needs us and we aren’t stopping till something comes of it!”
Harry felt his head fall onto Draco’s shoulder and he forced his eyes to stay open. Draco chuckled above him and softly closed both their books.
“Blaise, the girls are right, we’ve been reading for hours and it’s a school night.”
“But we can’t rest! Who is Fluffy? What is the stone? How aren’t any of you as invested as I am?” Blaise defended.
“Mate, you need more sleep than any of us.” Goyle grumbled.
The girls got up and went to bed and with more pushing, Blaise eventually followed the boys to their dorm.
“We’ll figure this out Blaise. Just when we can keep our eyes open for more than a second.” Draco promised.
The boy groaned in protest but plunked his heavy book on the floor and stretched his back. “No falling asleep, alright? We have to much work to do.”
Millicent yawned widely. “Yep, just a short break.”
Obviously, the moment Blaise’s head hit his pillow, he was out cold, snoring softly on top of the covers. Crabbe and Goyle followed quickly, snoring not so quietly. Draco and Harry giggled softly at their friends and took it upon themselves to retrieve all the books from the Common Room.
“Is your muggleborn friend going to help us?”
Harry looked up from reading the blurb of Tracey’s book. “I think so. If we ever needed her, she knows more spells than any of us.”
“I still don’t know how we can trust her, she is a Gryffindor.”
"Nothing is bad about being a Gryffindor, just that some of the people make stupid decisions.”
Draco laughed loudly. “That’s basically the whole house.”
“Not Hermione though, she’s a good one.” Harry said sternly.
“Alright, everyones a bastard besides Hermione, I can live with that.” Draco said lightly, holding his hands in the air.
Harry was about to say something when he noticed the page Blaise had stopped his very large book on. It was an old book but Harry could make out a detailed picture of an amber stone. The Philosophers Stone, created by Nicolas Flamel: It is capable of providing eternal life and limited wealth to its owner. The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.…
“Hey Draco, look at this.” Harry called.
Draco leaned over and read the passage Harry was pointing at, he read it with furrowed eyebrows.
“Nicolas Flamel, he sounds awfully familiar.”
“It’s because he’s a Chocolate Frog card! Ron has about three of him.”
“Do you think this stone is what everyone is after?” Draco asked.
“It does sound rather desirable, doesn’t it? Unlimited life and wealth, anyone would want it.”
“But it says it belongs to Nickolas Flamel, who is still alive might I add.”
Harry groaned. “It’s just an idea, okay?”
Draco crossed his arms and read the passage again. “I can see why it would want to be stolen, and I know for a fact that Nicholas Flamel and Dumbledore are somewhat friends. Father has told mother about seeing them laughing at a party when he was younger.”
“Then what could Fluffy be about? And the dog books Hagrid was looking at?”
Draco shrugged. “They could be seperate thing, Fluffy sounds like it’s guarding something, because Hagrid said ‘it’s impossible to get passed Fluffy’.”
“A guard dog?” Harry offered.
“A guard dog called Fluffy? Yeah right. Hagrid has one called Fang, I’d think he’d name a large scary guard dog something scarier.”
Harry shrugged. “You never know with Hagrid, he’s a strange one.”
Draco read over the page about the philosophers stone again. “It says he’s immortal, along with his wife, and they’ve been alive for more than 600 years. Good god, he’s got to be one of the oldest wizards alive!”
“Must be because of the stone.”
“But why would Dumbledore have it if Flamel is still alive?”
Harry whined and put his head in his hands. “I don’t understand any of this.”
“Don’t…understand…what?” Snape’s voice snapped behind the boys. Draco and Harry whirled around and were met with the suspicious glare of their Head of House.
“Hello, Professor.” Draco said brightly.
Snape ignored him and looked over their shoulders to the open book. His eyes slightly widened and he looked accusingly at Harry.
“What are you trying to get into, my boy?”
“We- we think the thief is trying to steal the Philosophers Stone, sir, we’ve been doing some research into it.” Harry stuttered.
Snape sighed tiredly. “I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected.”
Draco’s eyes widened. “So it is the stone?”
“I will tell you boys nothing more as you both seem to be solving this mystery fine on your own.”
“But sir, what about Fluffy?” Harry jumped up.
Snape sighed again. “How do you know about Fluffy?”
“We heard a rumour.” Draco said convincingly.
“That stupid prat.” Snape muttered to himself, probably referring to Hagrid. “That man cannot be trusted with anything of importance! First he the three headed dog from a complete stranger who could have been anyone! How he's telling students left and right! ”
Harry and Draco both cover their mouths to stop the professor from seeing them open in shock.
So Fluffy was a three headed dog?
Snape seemed to come in on himself and coughed into his fist before fixing his robes and nodding stoutly to the boys.
“Be off to bed before I take off house points, and don’t tell anyone else of what you’ve figured out.” Then he was off.
Of course, Draco and Harry could not keep what they discovered a secret for very long and had to wake up their dorm mates at 5 in the morning to tell them the news. With two angry and tried cousins and an excited Blaise, they didn’t fall asleep for the rest of the night.
“Now we have two thing covered, but where are they hidden?” Blaise asked. Goyle was drawing up a rough sketch of the castle, adding details Crabbe was remembering.
“It will have to be in a secret chamber.”
“Well, duh.”
“There are a few chambers around here.”
Draco grinned. “Could be in the Chamber of Secrets.”
Blaise gasped loudly. “Mother told me about that! She said it was a myth but I really think she believes in it.”
“Sorry but, what is the Chamber of Secrets?” Harry asked dumbly.
“Salazar Slytherin had a disagreement with the other Hogwarts founders about only allowing pureblood’s into the school and he apparently created a Chamber in hopes of purging the school of those he considered unworthy to study magic.” Draco explained.
“And,” Goyle jumped in, “according to legend, the Chamber of Secrets was home to an ancient Basilisk."
“And only Salazar Slytherins true heir can open the chamber using Parseltongue and rid Hogwarts of Mudbloods. Headmasters have searched for centuries but haven’t found anything. Hence the belief it’s merely a legend.” Blaise added.
“Woah.” Harry breathed. “But that doesn’t make sense, if no one knows that it exists then how did Dumbledore hide the Philosophers Stone in there?”
Blaise slapped his knee. “Good point, a different chamber then.”
“Isn’t the third floor out of bounds?” Crabbe asked, scratching his short black hair. “The Headmaster mentioned at the start of the year.”
Harry frowned. He could not recall that being announced.
“I almost forgot about that! You don’t think-?
“You’d think he’d be less obvious.”
“It can’t be-“
“No-“
Realisation hit Harry and he covered his mouth. “Fluffy and the stone are on the third floor!”
Draco laughed. “Took you a while, Harry.”
Since these first year Slytherin boys were not normal and didn’t want to wait till the morning when they’d had a full nights rest, Harry grabbed his cloak immediately and they all managed to fit under it. After Harry’s realisation, the dorm mates smiled widely at each other and as if it was a silent agreement, they all rushed up, put on clothes and shoes and were now huddling under Harry’s cloak walking down the silent third floor.
“Why does this floor suddenly feel much more haunted than all the others?” Crabbe whimpered.
The four other boys hushed him.
Draco casted ‘lumos’ and they silently took the cloak off so each of them could open a door. There were a few doors in this floor and no wall torches which were usually all lit.
Harry open the first door on his right and looked around for anything peculiar, unfortunately it was just a normal classroom.
No one else was having any luck till Blaise’s terrified scream filled the hall and he came running down, his hands shaking.
“What happened?” Draco asked.
“Are you okay?” Harry muttered, holding onto his friends elbow so he didn’t tumble over.
“I-I-I, I think I found Flu-Fluffy.” He stuttered.
“What did you see?” Goyle asked earnestly.
Blaise squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled shakily. “It has three giant heads and its- their fangs, oh Merlin and Morgana both.”
Harry smiled tightly. “It’s okay, at least we know where it is and no one will be able to steal the stone if that thing is guarding it.”
Not bothering with a cloak, the boys headed back to their common room. Crabbe and Harry were practically carrying Blaise who kept tripping on his shoes.
“You think you can walk on your own, mate?” Crabbed asked once they got to stairs.
Blaise nodded faintly but the moment Harry and Crabbe let him go, Blaise fell head first down the stairs.
——
Harry didn’t know what he expected but it definitely wasn’t for Madam Pomfrey to snitch on them after they brought an unconscious and bleeding Blaise Zabini in. They had been up till 6:30 in the morning, when the early birds were waking up and breakfast was starting to get made. The nurse must have known the boys hadn’t been in their beds for the whole night because an angry Professor Snape and McGonagall entered the infirmary.
“What were you thinking?” Snape snapped at them, not even caring that one of his students was lying asleep on the bed in front of him.
“Professor Snape, Mr Zabini needs rest-“ Madam Pomfrey started, Snape raised a hand to hush her.
“I know what you children were looking into, if you’re anything like your father.”
“If you’re going to talk, do it outside of my wards.” The nurse warned.
Snape rolled his eyes but clicked his fingers and demanded everyone follow him outside. Harry looked guiltily at Blaise who was lucky enough to have a decent excuse for not receiving their teachers wrath.
Professor McGonagall was already outside and raised an eyebrow at the boys. “Explain what you were doing out of your rooms at 5am.”
Being the little pussies they were, Crabbe and Goyle looked to Draco and Harry to explain their situation.
“We were exploring.” Draco said strongly.
“Exploring?” McGonagall repeated, seeming to raise her eyebrow even higher.
Harry nodded along. “Yes, Professor, we were curious and- and decided to see what was around the castle.” Grateful his cloak was on the chair next to Blaise’s bed, he hoped Pomfrey didn’t move it.
“At 5 in the morning on the third floor which you were all warned was off limits?” Snape asked slowly.
“Funny where our young legs take us.” Goyle joked. This did not help their case at all.
McGonagall hummed and looked expectingly at Snape.
“Detention tonight and 20 points from Slytherin, each.” He said.
“20?” Draco gasped.
“But that would be 100 points off Slytherin?” Harry argued.
“Be grateful I didn’t do more. Only you are for blame.”
“We're still in the lead with 100 points lost.” Draco whispered.
McGonagall hummed disapprovingly at them and crossed her arms. “Good luck, Severus.” Before walking off.
Snape rubbed a hand down his face. “Keep your little nosey fingers out of things that are not your business, if you want to survive here, know when it’s not your time.”
“The thief could take the stone and do Salazar knows what?” Harry fought. “We need to get it before they do.”
Snape managed a small smile. “10 points to Slytherin for courageous thinking.”
The boys cheered but Snape pulled back his smile and raised a hand to silence them. “Meet Mr Flinch in the entrance hall at eleven tonight for your detention. Mr Zabini will join you only if he’s feeling up to it. Don’t disappoint me again.”
Harry had almost forgotten they still had detentions and half expected Hermione to complain that he had lost a whole night for studying in the library together. Luckily, she only groaned when he told her and went back to work.
At eleven ‘o’ clock that night, they said good-bye to Blaise who was now consciousness but was being kept in for extra precautions and went down to the entrance hall. Flinch was already there with a malicious grin and his cat at his feet.
“Follow me.” Said Flinch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. “I bet you’ll think twice about breaking school rules again, won’t you, aye?” He said, eyeing them. “Pity they let all the old punishments die out… in my day, they used to hang you by your wrists from the ceiling… still got the chains well oiled in my office just in case they’re ever needed…Right, if anyone runs off, it’ll be the worse decision in your young lives.”
Flinch led them across the dark grounds and Harry wondered what their punishment was going to me. It must be something pretty awful, otherwise Flinch wouldn’t be so delighted.
The moon was bright, like a lantern for them to follow. Ahead, Harry could see that the lights were on in Hagrid Hut. Then they heard a distant shout.
“Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want her get started.”
Harry smiled and saw his friends grinning as well: if Hagrid was here then it wouldn’t be so bad. Filch must have seen their relief, because he said, “I suppose you think you’d be enjoying yourselves? Well, think again boys- it’s into the forest you’re going and if I were you, I’d be hoping to come out in one piece.”
Draco stopped dead on his tracks and Crabbe and Goyle clung to each other.
“The forest?” Draco repeated, all his confident demeanour gone. “We can’t go in there at night - there’s all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard.”
Crabbe and Goyle were hugging each other now.
“Sounds like a you problem, that sounds.” Filch said gleefully. “Coming, Hagrid!”
They reached the groundskeeper who got a big smile on his face at the look of Harry.
“ ‘Arry! Wha’ are you lot doin’ here?”
“Detention.” Harry grumbled.
“Welp, thank you Filch. Come on then, we best be quick in these parts.”
Draco whined loudly and quickly ran up close to Harry. He gripped his sleeve and moved them up so they were walking next to Hagrid as a source of comfort. Harry had never seen him this scared before.
“What are we going to be doing, Hagrid?” Harry asked.
“See here,” said Hagrid, “see that stuff shinin’ on the ground? Silvery stuff? That’s unicorn blood. There’s an injured unicorn in here badly hurt by summat. I found one dead last Wednesday. We’re gonna try find the poor thing, maybe ter put it out of misery.”
“This is slave work Harry, we’re going to be worked till our death!” Draco whispered nervously to Harry, gripping his sleeve tighter.
“You gonna tell your father, aye Malfoy?” Hagrid snapped.
“Possibly.” Malfoy replied quietly.
They walked silently in one group, Harry was looking thoughtfully at the ground slightly disturbed by all the silver blood.
“What if the creature that injured the unicorn finds us first?” Crabbe asked, fear evident in his voice.
“Nothing will hurt ya if you’re with me or Fang.” Hagrid reassured. “Now, we’re gonna split inter two groups, this poor unicorns been stagger’ing ‘round for ages. Look a’ all this blood!”
“We’ll have Fang.” Draco said quickly, looking at the dogs large teeth.
“ ‘Aight, jus’ know he’s a coward. Crabbe ’n Goyle will go wit’ me an’ you an’ Harry can go with Fang. Now, if one of us finds the unicorn, send green sparks up in the air. Ge’ out your wands an’ practice… Now, if one of you are in trouble, ye send red sparks an’ we’ll come an’ find yeh. So - erh - be careful and the sooner yeh leave, the sooner yeh can go to bed.”
They followed Hagrid a little longer before Hagrid, Crabbe and Goyle went right and Harry, Draco and Fang turned left into the dark and silent forest.
They walked in silence and Harry watched concerned as the moon raise showed through the trees and hints of silver blood covered the ground and on the leaves.
“Could a werewolf kill a unicorn?” Draco asked Harry.
Harry grinned, growing up with a werewolf had its advantages. “Werewolf’s don’t usually go after other animals, they only seem interested in killing humans. Guess they can tell a friend if they smell one.”
Draco groaned in fright. “Now we’re even more likely to get eaten by a werewolf.”
“S’not even a full moon yet, calm down Draco.”
A rustle sound came from the blackness of the forest, and the rustle was coming closer. They stopped dead still, even Fang seemed to notice something was near them, so close that he started huffing. Draco visibly shattered and hid behind Harry, holding close to his robes.
“It’s a werewolf, we’re going to die and no one will find us!”
Harry shushed him and slowly took his wand out of his pocket, he heard Draco do the same and was about to suggest they run when the creature appeared into the clearing. A half man from the top, and a half horse from the waist down. With shiny blue and red hair and beard, then his horse half was a beautiful mixture of both with a chestnut tail. Harry’s and Draco’s jaw dropped.
Fang seemed to be familiar with this man as he stopped huffing and wagged his tail happily, his long sloppy tongue hanged out of his mouth.
“Good evening, Fang.” The centaur grinned, he reached down to pat the dogs head.
“Wha- who are you?” Harry breathed. Still having their wands raised.
“Are going to spell me, young wizards?” He asked suspiciously.
“No.” Harry said sternly, putting it back in his pocket, Draco had his one raised still and Harry slowly lowered his arm.
“Students, are you?” The centaur asked.
“Yes.” Draco answered, it sounded more like a question.
The centaur hummed. “Do you learn much at school?”
“Uh-“
“A bit.” Harry replied weakly.
“A bit, well thats better than nothing.” The centaur sighed and looked up at the sky. “Mars is bright tonight.”
“What is your name, sir?” Harry asked.
The centaur looked down and smiled. “My name is Jadis. What is yours?”
“I’m Harry Potter and this is Draco Malfoy.”
Jadis hummed again. “What are you lurking the forest for? You are far from where it’s safe.”
“We’re with Hagrid, looking for an injured unicorn. Have you seen one nearby?”
“Mars is very bright tonight, so very bright.”
“What has that got to do with the injured unicorn?” Draco snapped.
The centaur hazily pointed to the path directly across from where they were standing before walking off.
“Everything’s walking off on us today.” Harry muttered.
The duo walked in the direction Jadis pointed to but it seemed the deeper they walked, the less they could see. The trees grew thicker and very soon, the moonlight was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s a trap to kill us.” Draco whimpered when a gust of cold wind spurred through them.
They had been walking for half an hour and Harry noticed the blood was getting thicker and thicker. There were splashes of it on tree trunks and dripping from bushes. This was not a trap, Jadis was helping them.
“Look-“ He said, stopping Draco from walking any further.
Something white was gleaming on the ground in the clearing. They inched closer.
It was the unicorn, and it was dead. Harry had never felt so sad about something so beautiful before, its legs were cracked in weird directions and its gorgeous mane was draped around its face. Harry had the urge to stroke it.
“AHHHHHHH!” Draco screamed bloody murder from beside him, then he sprinted off with Fang howling and whimpering behind him.
Harry was about to call him back when he saw a hooded figure kneel in front of the unicorn and start drinking its blood from its still stomach. With Draco and Fang gone, Harry was stuck standing there in pure fear.
The hooded figure came towards him, wiping it mouth from the silvery liquid.
Pain like nothing he had ever felt before seared his head and made Harry fall to his knees. It was slightly familiar to the pain he felt in the Great Hall a few times and it took only a minute to pass. When he looked up, the hooded figure was gone. Standing in front of him was centaur, not Jadis, but a younger one, his hair platinum white with albino fur.
“You alright?” He asked, lowering a hand for Harry to take.
“I-I’m alright, thank you. What was that?” He thanked, getting to his feet.
The centaur didn’t answer. Instead he looked over Harry with his too blue eyes before his eyes locked to the scar on his forehead.
“You are the Potter boy.” He said. “You better return to Hagrid, this forest is not safe for young boys, especially for you. Can you ride? It will be much quicker.”
“My name is Firenze.” He said, lowering his lower body so Harry could climb on.
“Thank you-“ Harry started before two centaurs came running towards them.
“Firenze! What are you doing with a human on your back? The shame! Have you not read the constellations?” The black one shouted.
“Do you not understand? This is the Potter boy, he is in danger here.” Firenze defended.
"We cannot stoop as low to the level of humans, allowing them to ride us like horses in a cart.”
Firenze arched onto his back legs so quickly and without warning that Harry had to hold onto his shoulders. “Do you not see that dead unicorn there? We are all in danger if this boy is not returned safely to the arms of Hagrid. I will let myself lurk with human muck for the safety of our forest.”
Harry had no idea what was going on.
Firenze took off in the direction Harry came with his shoulder stiff from the fight.
“Is everything alright back there?” Harry hesitantly asked.
Firenze slowed down and looked over his shoulder. “Do you know what unicorn blood is used for, Harry Potter?”
Harry shook his head, “No.”
“It is a monstrous thing to kill a unicorn.” Firenze said, “only one with nothing to lose and everything to gain would do such a thing. The blood will keep you alive even if you’re a breath away from death. But at an awful price. To kill something so innocent and pure, something that would never fight back, will curse you indefinitely.”
“Then… why would someone do that?” Harry asked, feeling slightly frightened.
"Someone who is fighting for a second chance of life. Someone who knows the consequences but can drink it away with something else - something that will bring them back with their full strength and power - something that washes away the consequences. Do you know what is currently hidden at your school, Harry Potter?”
“The Philosophers Stone! It can create the Elixir of Life, of course, but who else would know that?”
“Can you think of someone, anyone, who waited years to return to full power, awaiting the chance to get back what they once had?”
Harry went cold. “You don’t mean Vol-“
“Harry, is that you?” Draco called out, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Oh thank Merlin, I thought you were dead, I thought I had left you for dead while I ran like a coward! Oh Harry, thank Merlin you’re alive.”
“I leave you here.” Firenze whispered, lowering his back to let Harry jump off.
“Good luck, Harry Potter.” He called. “The planets have been wrong before, it is rare for Mars to make such mistakes, but for your sake and ours, I hope it is one of those times.” Before he turned and left the small group shivering in the cold.