Filch hated students wandering the castle at night, and right now, he especially hated Vespera, who was holding Mrs. Norris.
Darn it, Mrs. Norris belonged to him.
"Normally, the rule for students out after hours is detention with a rope tied to one ankle, hanging upside down from the ceiling. But this time, we're doing something a little different."
He led the five students toward the Forbidden Forest, handing them over to Hagrid at the edge of the entrance. "Keep a close eye on your students in the forest. Mrs. Norris, let's go."
The elegant calico longhair cat gave Vespera's arm an affectionate, clinging rub. "Meow~," she purred, neatly leaping to the ground to follow Filch away.
For this, Filch rewarded Vespera with a massive roll of his eyes.
"What! We're going into the Forbidden Forest? Students aren't allowed in the Forbidden Forest!"
Hagrid ignored Malfoy's anger and fear, scooping up a streak of silvery, viscous liquid from the ground. "The forest is perfectly safe, Mr. Malfoy."
"This is unicorn blood. Recently, a lot of unicorns in the forest have been injured, and some have even died."
Yet his claims about "safety" carried very little credibility, as he proceeded to split the students up from himself. "Hermione, Ron, you're with me."
"Quinlan, Malfoy, Harry, you're with me."
"I want Fang." Malfoy felt he had won a point, looking as smug as a peacock showing off its tail.
Hagrid handed out the lanterns to everyone. "Alright. Though Fang is a coward."
-
"My father says carrying lanterns is work for servants. If my father finds out I carried a lantern for someone else, he'll kill me," Draco muttered angrily, holding his lantern.
"Fine, then the three of us can take turns carrying it," Vespera suggested.
The two boys nodded in agreement.
The Forbidden Forest was terrifyingly dark; the dense canopy blocked out the moonlight, and strange cries echoed through the trees from time to time.
Vespera carried the lantern, squeezed tightly in the middle with Harry and Draco on either side of her—and the two boys seemed to be pressing in even closer by the second.
She had to stop in her tracks.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong!"
Both her left and right arms were grabbed and hugged almost instantly, their heads constantly darting left and right to be on guard. "Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Potter. If you keep squeezing like this, we won't be able to walk at all."
"Oh, oh, sorry, Vespera. I'm a little scared."
"Well, well, well, even the Saint Potter is scared, is he?"
They were at it again. Vespera closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Quiet, gentlemen."
"Woof." Fang walked ahead, turning back to give the three of them a mocking look.
By the light of the lantern, the three of them and the dog reached a small clearing illuminated by a patch of moonlight.
A pitch-black mass lay sprawled on the ground, seemingly writhing continuously. Lying motionless on the earth was a pure white unicorn.
Something was drinking its blood.
The two boys were terrified by the sight, letting out an uncontrolled scream that startled the sleeping birds of the Forbidden Forest into flight.
Fang bolted almost instantly.
"Expelliarmus!" "Petrificus Totalus!" "Stupefy... Tarantallegra!"
Vespera ran through every spell she had learned, but—it was completely useless.
That shadowy, dark humanoid figure drew closer and closer to the three of them, his voice raspy and hoarse with ancient decay: "Harry Potter... kill you... kill you..."
"It's you... you ruined my plans..."
The girl's forehead was already covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, and she felt as though the veins at her temples were about to burst.
Draco and Harry instinctively wrapped their arms around her waist, uncharacteristically silent, though the trembling of the boys' arms betrayed their utter terror.
Vespera figured the three of them were goners. She just hoped Fang ran fast.
Otherwise, Hagrid was going to have to come collect three corpses.
Clack-clack, clack-clack. Why on earth were there horses being kept in the woods?
A horse—or rather, a creature that was half man, half horse—came galloping out from the dense thicket.
He had red hair and a beard, but below the waist was a glossy, reddish-brown horse's body, trailing a long red tail behind him.
He reared up on his front hooves, shielding the students, and pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back to shoot at the blood-drinking monster.
"Harry!"
Hagrid's voice echoed from afar. As more people arrived, the monster reluctantly retreated.
"Students, you must leave this place. Especially you, Harry Potter. The Forbidden Forest is not safe for you right now."
"What was the thing you chased off?"
"A monster. Slaughtering unicorns is a terrible crime. Drinking unicorn blood will prolong your life, but at a terrible cost."
Firenze the centaur swept his gaze over the group of weak wizards, finally landing on Vespera in the middle.
"To slay a creature so pure—from the very moment its blood touches your lips, you are half-dead. Cursed for a lifetime."
"Yet who would choose to live like that? Can you not imagine?"
Draco said nothing; he thought this centaur was ugly. Vespera said nothing; she did not want to imagine it.
"Do you mean that whoever killed the unicorn and drank its blood was Voldemort?" Harry asked, picking up the thread of conversation in confusion.
"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment, Mr. Potter?"
"The Philosopher's Stone."
Harry had found Nicolas Flamel's name on the back of a Chocolate Frog card a couple of days ago.
That had reminded Hermione of the large, old book she had borrowed from the library before Christmas.
From that book, they had deduced that the object hidden in the forbidden corridor was the Philosopher's Stone owned by Nicholas.
"Harry—"
Hagrid arrived tardily with Ron, Hermione, and Fang. "Harry! By Merlin's twisted beard, thank goodness you're alright. Hello, Firenze."
"Harry Potter, I shall take you no further. You are safe now. Good luck."
The young wizards left in pairs. Perhaps because they had just been through hardship together, Draco and Harry seemed closer than usual.
Compared to their fleeing pace, Quinlan was a bit slower, lagging behind at the back.
"What is your name, miss?"
"Quinlan. Vespera Quinlan." Vespera paused, locking eyes with him. Firenze clearly saw an ocean of violet tranquility within them.
"Your soul is in pain. It is a silent ocean." The centaur furrowed his brow, the concern in his eyes entirely genuine.
Quinlan didn't even twitch an eyebrow, not caring in the least. "Is that so? Who knows."
"Vespera! What are you muttering about with this ugly... horse-man thing? The forest is dangerous, let's go." Draco came back and dragged her away, while Harry nodded in agreement.
Firenze watched the direction they left in. Ronan appeared from the shadows. "Wise Evening Star. Do you think she can lead us out of the lost stars?"
No one answered him. Centaurs possessed the gift of divination, reading prophecies in the stars.
Yet destiny was always full of variables, much like the arrival of the evening star.