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23.23% The Hagrid's son / Chapter 22: Blood Moon

Chương 22: Blood Moon

"I can't believe I've been punished too!" Draco Malfoy protested as he followed the repellent Gryffindors out of the castle, guided by the equally repellent Filch.

And of all places, they were going to serve their punishment in the Forbidden Forest, where students are NOT supposed to enter under any circumstances.

What kind of twisted logic is this?

"In my time, we used to hang students by their thumbs," recounted the caretaker as he advanced with his new favorite lantern lit to illuminate the path. "Good times. Now everything is too permissive, and look at you, you don't learn your lesson."

Filch's diatribe continued as they moved forward until they reached Hagrid, who was armed with a huge crossbow and had Fang by his side.

"That's all, thanks, Filch," Hagrid nodded.

"Alright," Filch nodded indifferently. "Remind the boy that I'm still waiting for the special polish for the lantern."

Without giving a second glance to the punished students, he turned to head back to the castle and patrol the corridors.

Something told him the twins were planning a prank tonight!

"Did Filch just be kind?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Stop talking nonsense, let's go," Hagrid hurried the group towards the dark trees that seemed to block the moonlight and cast large shadows over them.

"Hagrid, what exactly are we doing here?" Harry asked, looking with little confidence at the large black dog trembling beside him.

"Unicorns!" Hagrid emphasized the key word of the night as he approached a bush and picked what looked like liquid silver from a branch with his fingers. "I found another dead one a few weeks ago. Someone is hunting them and it seems there's another injured one, so we'll have to split up and search."

"Wait, you're saying we have to split up?" Draco paled at the news. "I'll go with the dog!" he demanded, thinking the animal could protect him better than a half-giant armed with an oversized crossbow and bolts the size of his arm.

"Do what you want, but I warn you, he's a coward," Hagrid knew Fang's character; his bark could serve as an alarm. "Hmm, Ron and Hermione, you're with me. Harry, you're with Malfoy."

"I don't want to go with Potter!"

"You can go back to the castle… if you dare," Hagrid gestured with his open hand, indicating the direction they came from, where the castle was no longer visible.

"I'll tolerate it this time," Malfoy made a face as if he had swallowed a fly, but still tried to appear strong despite his fear.

Draco was going to tell his father about the unprofessionalism of Hogwarts' punishments when he returned to the safety of the castle walls!

Harry wasn't very happy to have Draco as a partner either, but he accepted the decision better. He had to wander while Draco held a lantern to light the way and wondered…

Why are they using a lantern when they knew how to cast Lumos? So strange…

He was soon pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of slurping, and following it, Fang, Draco, and Harry saw a hooded figure crouched beside a collapsed white horse.

No, wait, wasn't that the unicorn Hagrid was looking for?

A sudden itch on his forehead made him react, but Draco and Fang ran away scared, leaving him behind. The figure approached Harry as if levitating, while Harry stumbled over the roots as he retreated and fell on his backside.

Was this his end?

The figure seemed pleased, and when it extended a hand, a flock of ravens swooped down from the mist and attacked it mercilessly, pecking, clawing, and feathers flying everywhere.

Harry didn't understand what happened, especially when a pack of white wolves seemed to appear out of nowhere and pounced on the hooded figure. The figure, apparently thinking it was too much, decided to retreat forcefully rather than face the pack of wolves and the flock of ravens.

"Are you alright, Harry?"

"Barnaby!" Harry turned around and felt relieved to see Hagrid's son holding a strange axe over his shoulder, carrying logs in a basket on his back. "What are you doing here?"

Barnaby approached Harry and helped him up while checking that he wasn't injured.

"I thought it was evident by my appearance," he said, pointing to the axe and the basket. "I'm collecting some wood to make a barrel. Actually, that should be my question. Shouldn't you be serving detention?" Seeing that Harry was safe, he looked around. "You're lucky I ran into Firenze on the way and heard Fang."

"Who is Firenze?" Harry asked, puzzled.

Barnaby gestured to his right, where a person… with horse legs? emerged.

"Harry Potter, you shouldn't be here. There are many more creatures than you think in this forest," spoke the centaur as he stopped side by side with Barnaby. "The forest is not safe at the moment, especially for you."

"I… what the hell was that thing?" Harry had many questions now, but that was the most urgent one to answer.

"A monstrous creature," replied Firenze as he watched Barnaby approach the unicorn's body.

"It's a terrible crime to kill a creature like a unicorn," the redhead commented as he moved his hands to close the equine's terror-opened eyes.

"Drinking its blood can bring you back to life even if you're only a breath away from death, but that state can't be considered life anymore," Firenze continued. "For the price of killing something so pure, you only get half a life, a cursed life."

"Who would want a life like that?" Harry asked, not quite understanding it, but sure he wouldn't want something like that.

"Can't you think of anyone?" Firenze asked.

"You mean… that thing was Voldemort?"

"Do you know what's hidden within the walls of Hogwarts?"

"The Philosopher's Stone!" Harry felt everything made sense suddenly, ignoring the grimace Barnaby made when he heard it.

The sound of footsteps approached, and Hagrid arrived with Fang, Draco, Hermione, and Ron.

"Oh, hello, Firenze. I see you've already met Harry," Hagrid greeted, lowering the crossbow. "Everything alright, Harry?"

Harry nodded, and after Firenze's farewell, Hagrid noticed Barnaby's presence next to the dead unicorn.

"Dad, I'll take care of it from here," Barnaby shook his head. "It'd be better if you escorted them safely back to the castle."

"Alright, be careful," Hagrid didn't know if the unicorn's killer was still nearby, but at least he knew Barnaby wouldn't be an easy target for anyone.

Once everyone left and Barnaby was alone, he looked to his side, where some ravens converged to form smoke from which a strange creature emerged silently, bowing its deer-skull head while its tree-like body remained upright.

"It's not your fault," Barnaby spoke, waving his hand as his gaze returned to the dead unicorn. "Make sure it gets a proper burial, I won't let those damned spiders have the slightest chance to feed on it."

The leshen pointed to a specific part of the forest, asking a silent question.

"Yes, the hunt for Acromantulas must come to an end," Barnaby's expression was covered by the shadows of the trees, but even there, his eyes glowed with magical power. "It seems tonight the Forbidden Forest will spill more blood 'for the greater good.'"

He looked up and turned his head to the right to look at a thick tree trunk.

"Don't you agree, Firenze?"

The centaur, who seemed to have left, stepped out slowly, looking at Barnaby and the strange creature that had been helping his people hunt those dark creatures. He nodded solemnly.

That night Mars shone brightly, almost like a blood moon.


next chapter

Chương 23: Hollow mirror

Moving a two-ton, three-headed dog was not something just anyone could do, but knowing its weakness for music changed everything. A simple music spell was enough to knock the beast out and easily pass through the trapdoor.

It's just…

"Who thought it was a good idea to give Fluffy earplugs?" Hermione complained, looking exasperated as she pushed aside her sticky hair, completely covered in dog slobber.

"At least it let us through the trapdoor, it's not that bad," Ron whispered to Harry in the room of flying keys, trying to contain his laughter and earning a murderous look from Hermione that promised pain if anyone ever mentioned this incident in the future.

Harry tried not to laugh and kept his mind focused on stopping Voldemort, but the situation had been unexpected for everyone when they entered the room, and Fluffy pounced on an unsuspecting Hermione to happily lick her.

He suspected Barnaby had something to do with the cerberus' change of attitude towards them, but what also made him a bit sad was that Fluffy seemed injured, as it was limping on one of its legs.

Compared to its large body, the injury seemed minor, but still.

"Fortunately, Hermione remembered the sunlight spell against the Devil's Snare at the last second," Harry thought, averting his gaze. "She was too upset about her hair and couldn't relax at all."

"I can't imagine how much soap she'll need to get rid of all that slobber..." Ron joked.

"One more word and...!"

"Alright, Hermione, I won't say anything else!" Ron waved his hands fearfully as Hermione pointed her wand at him, thinking he was about to get a dose of sunlight to the face at full power. "How do you see it, Harry?"

Hermione and Ron turned to look at Harry, since out of the three, he was the most talented at broomstick flying. Ron could manage, but Hermione…

"I'm not sure, I haven't flown much outside of Flying lessons," Harry said, feeling a bit uneasy, not confident he could catch the key with its half-broken wings.

But the fact that it was damaged meant someone had already been through here, and they were racing against the clock!

He mounted the broom and started his chase, taking a few minutes to move smoothly thanks to his talent. After crashing into the wall no less than seven times, he finally managed to hold the correct key between his trembling fingers, giving his friends a proud smile.

It would have been impressive, if not for the missing two front teeth, a crooked nose, and a black eye on his left side.

"Ouch!"

The sound of bones crunching was heard as Hermione set his nose back in place with a basic spell she knew. As for the rest of the injuries, the school nurse could easily treat them later.

They looked at each other and opened the door, ready to face whatever was on the other side. And behind the door was...

A giant chessboard?

"Are you sure we went down the right trapdoor?" Ron asked, puzzled.

Setting up a large-scale magical board game didn't seem like a great defensive measure for something like the Philosopher's Stone.

"Let's not waste time, Ron, magical chess is your thing!"

"Wait, there are pieces missing!" Ron immediately noticed the problem at a glance.

"Don't worry, there are enough of us to fill in the gaps," Hermione reassured.

Yes, it so happened that there were exactly three gaps on one side of the board, for them to position themselves and start the game.

What luck, huh? (Sarcasm at its finest)

[After a game in which Ron decided to sacrifice his life with the heroism of a lion…]

"Hey!" Ron looked around as confused as he was indignant. "I'm still alive, just injured!"

[Ahem, let's continue, where was I... oh, yes.]

[Due to our hero's condition, Hermione and Harry had to move ahead to prevent a great evil from getting hold of the Philosopher's Stone. Hermione solved the potion puzzle with her keen intellect and discovered there was only one vial per person, either to go back or to advance through the terrible flames of doom, so Harry had to part from his friends again, but not before summoning the courage of a thousand men to look his friend in the eyes and declare his undying love...]

"Where is that damned voice coming from?!" Hermione cast spells wildly in embarrassment, and the mysterious but attractive voice was not heard again.

For some reason, Harry had the feeling this was also Barnaby's doing.

He had no proof, but also no doubts.

Adjusting his mindset, as he had the feeling this time the enemy was really behind the fourth door, he took the potion and crossed the flames with iron determination to meet the last person he expected to see here.

"Professor Quirrell?"

What followed was a monologue where the now not-so-stuttering professor revealed what had happened and forced Harry to stand in front of the mirror once more.

Harry saw his parents again and, urged by Quirrell, thought about the Philosopher's Stone.

His reflection smiled at him and put its hand in its pocket, only to rummage around for a while and materialize a question mark over its head, pulling its hand out to extend it and open it, revealing... nothing.

Harry looked confused at his reflection, which in turn seemed to look at its hand, not understanding why it was empty.

Where did the Philosopher's Stone go?

While Harry and Quirrell carried out a performance before the hidden eyes of Dumbledore, who was lying on a lounger in a corner eating a bag of peppermint humbugs undetectably, in Hagrid's hut...

"It was a good idea to have dinner at home tonight, son," Hagrid happily rubbed his swollen belly with one hand while covering a yawn with the other. "But I think I shouldn't have had a sixth helping; I'm going straight to bed."

"Oh, you know, sometimes it's good to do these things," Barnaby magically cleaned the dishes and put everything away. "Go to sleep peacefully, I'll be looking at the stars for a while tonight."

Nodding sleepily, Hagrid said goodnight. Once Hagrid's snores began to resonate in the cabin, Barnaby gave Fang some chops and went outside with Vulpix in his arms, sitting on the bench next to the vegetable garden.

Sanshi came out of hiding and lay down beside him, shoulder to shoulder, while spitting and handing him a ruby-like stone.

"So much fuss over something like this," Barnaby looked at the Philosopher's Stone in his hands, feeling its contents carefully. "Dumbledore is going to get a big surprise tonight," he laughed.

He put Vulpix on the ground and, holding the stone, made contact with the creature, which began to glow for a few moments until it turned into a larger version, with white fur and nine tails.

Ninetales!

Nodding to confirm there were no anomalies, Barnaby looked at the Philosopher's Stone, which had shrunk a bit after Vulpix's evolution. Holding it in the palm of his hand, he tossed it into the air, and the qilin face on his staff came to life, jumping and opening its mouth to swallow the stone in one gulp.

A continuous flow of power was extracted, and the staff became more perfect, feeding the excess magic back to Barnaby and, by extension of the familiar contract, to Sanshi.

Under the starlight, a group of creatures and a staff underwent a small sublimation before everything returned to normal, the only witness to what had happened being the sound of crickets in the night.


SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
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