บท 37: Chapter 37

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"I'm not going into that forest," Malfoy said to Hagrid, feeling shivers down his entire back as he looked between the tall, dark trees. Despite trying to stay composed, a hint of panic had appeared in his voice.

Hagrid held no pity for the boy who had tried to stop his precious dragon chic from finding 'freedom' as he said, "You've done wrong, and now you've got to pay for it!"

Malfoy did not seem to grasp how much he had angered the half-giant as he scrunched up his face. "But this is servant's work! I thought we'd be copying lines, not...

Malfoy lost his voice as he stared into the forest, and Cassia, as much as she enjoyed seeing Draco lose his bearings, muttered, "It does seem a little irresponsible to send students into the Forbidden Forest."

Cassia looked at her two fellow Gryffindors and saw Neville cowering behind Harry, shaking like a leaf as her brother looked into the forest, the light of the moon reflected in his glasses and making his expression unreadable.

Hagrid, who had his huge crossbow over the shoulder, gave it a good pat as he reassured her, "I know that forest like the back of my hand. But it is still a dangerous place, so don't go and get yourselves lost. Follow me from here."

Hagrid led the four students to the edge of the forest, followed by his large dog, Fang. The half-giant crouched at the start of a path, although he still towered over all of them, and rubbed a silvery liquid on the ground between his fingers as he said, "See this? This is Unicorn's blood."

Huffing from the effort, Hagrid rose from the ground and said, "This is why we are here. A Unicorn has been badly hurt by something, and we are going to find it and help it. Second one I've found, I hope we won't have to put this one out of its misery."

Malfoy immediately asked what was on everyone's mind: "What if whatever attacked those Unicorns attacked us?"

Hagrid merely waved him off, however, "There's nothing in this forest that would hurt you if you were either with me or Fang. Now, we'll split into two groups. It must have wandered all over the place since it was injured."

Malfoy pointed at the massive Fang and said, "I want to be with the dog!"

Hagrid scoffed, "Fine, but Fang's a bloody coward. Draco, Harry, you go with Fang on the left. Cassia and Neville, with me."

Cassia could see on her brother's face that he was not particularly happy being paired up with Malfoy, but glancing over at Neville, he probably realized that it was better for him than Neville.

Rubbing his hands together, Hagrid muttered, "You've learned the Firespark Charm I trust? If anyone finds the Unicorn, fire up green sparks. If you find yourself in trouble, fire up red sparks."

Everyone nodded, but Hagrid still asked them to show him smaller versions. Neville did struggle a little, but even he managed to do it in the end, and so they separated into two groups.

After a time, once Harry and Draco had gotten out of sight, Neville asked Hagrid, "Could it be a werewolf? That killed the Unicorn, I mean."

Hagrid remained silent for a moment before answering, "Unicorns are too fast for werewolves to catch. Too fast for most things to catch. Must have been something even faster, or something that could sneak up on it."

Cassia was suddenly reminded of a particular beast as she asked, "Could a Kitsune have done it?"

Oblivious to what she was hinting at, Hagrid replied absentmindedly, "If it had a few tails, probably. They can get pretty territorial too.

Hagrid finally seemed to catch on to what she was hinting at, but he suddenly pressed himself against a tree, readying his crossbow as he said, "Hide behind me!"

Scared at the sudden instruction, Cassia and Neville did as they were told, and although confused at first, they soon started hearing the sound of someone walking. Peeking from behind the large tree they were hiding with, they spotted a cloaked figure moving eerily through the forest.

The cloak and the mist made it hard to see who it could be, but just from looking at them, Cassia felt a spark of fear lit up within her. Fortunately, the figure disappeared as fast as it appeared.

"I knew it; there's something unnatural in this forest. It doesn't belong here."

Cassia looked up at Hagrid and asked, "What could it be?"

Hagrid's grip on his crossbow tightened as he replied, "They had a wand, so probably a human. But no human would stoop so low as to kill Unicorns. They are probably the master of the beast who did this."

The image of a particular blond boy surfaced within Cassia's mind as she looked at Neville, but she noticed that his face had become unnaturally pale. He was scared half to death by the encounter.

That night, Cassia realized that the Forbidden Forest was not as barren as they had been led to believe; however, only a few minutes after seeing the hooded figure, they spotted someone else approaching them.

It was a half-man, half-horse, also known as a Centaur.

It, or he, had the upper part of a red-haired human and the lower body of a chestnut-colored horse. The Centaur looked deeply at Hagrid and asked in a strangely sorrowful voice, "Were you going to shoot me, Hagrid?"

Hagrid lowered his crossbow, shaking his head. "Sorry, can't be too safe these nights. There is something strange wandering the woods tonight—something that has been hunting Unicorns. Have you seen anything, Ronan?"

The Centaur, whom Cassia now knew was called Ronan, did not answer the question. Instead, he looked up at the sky and said, "The child of the stars has arrived. Meddling in his affairs is dangerous."

Although not sure whether it was safe for her to ask, Cassia picked up her courage and asked, "Who is this child of the stars?"

Ronan did not answer and simply started walking away, still staring at the sky. Hagrid warned her, "Never try to get a straight answer out of a Centaur. They're not interested in anything closer than the moon."

Cassia pursed her lips when Neville suddenly exclaimed, "Hagrid, look! Red sparks!"

Both Cassia and Hagrid looked over, and indeed, red sparks had appeared in the forest, quickly illuminating the surroundings.

Hagrid had already started running when he said, "You two wait here!"

Neville looked racked with indecision, but Cassia felt different.

All twins shared a special bond, and that was especially the case for magical ones. And at the moment, Cassia was feeling very, very wrong. As if something terrible was about to happen. She barely even realized it when she already found herself running after Hagrid in the direction of the red sparks.

Hagrid was a good deal faster than her, Cassia realized, as she lost sight of him, probably because of his large size. Still, not too long could have passed between the time she arrived and when he did, yet the scene she was met with was scary to behold.

In the middle of the trees was a silvery figure of a horse—a peculiar horse with a horn on top of its head. Even as it lay down on the ground, blood pouring down onto the ground from its neck, it still looked holy.

But surrounding it were Harry and Malfoy, both sprawled over the ground and doing their best to crawl away.

What truly worried Cassia, however, was Hagrid, forced on his knees as the hooded figure from earlier held him by the neck.

"Flipendo!"

Suddenly, a red light crashed into the hooded figure's back, sending it flying and releasing Hagrid. A splash of red gushed out as the half-giant fell to the ground.

It wasn't Cassia who had cast that spell, but Harry, who had managed to get back on his feet. Cassia cautiously held her wand, pointing it at the figure, her heart up in her throat.

Cassia didn't know who this figure was, but she wasn't about to let it hurt her, her brother, or her friends. Even Malfoy.

But then Cassia suddenly found the figure to have disappeared and heard a painful scream. Whipping her head around, she found the figure right where Harry had been a moment before, while Harry was sent flying into a tree. He did not get back up either.

Then, as the figure turned to look at her, Cassia realized this wasn't a fight she could take part in. This wasn't a story where courage would be enough to stand up to her foe.

"Petri-"

Cassia tried to cast the full body bind curse at the figure, but she barely got to start the incantation that the hooded figure was suddenly in front of her, its fist burrowing itself into her gut.

Cassia almost fell unconscious right there and then, but she managed to anchor herself as she stumbled backward, her wand still pointed at the figure. She found herself unable to speak.

But as the figure was once again upon her, its clawed hand going for her face this time, a large figure appeared between the two, forcing it back. Cassia only had the time to recognize it as the back of a Centaur, before the world turned black.