[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
---------------------------------------
Hagrid was obviously trying to get something from the centaur named Ronan, but the centaur answered vaguely. When asked again, he merely said that Mars was very bright tonight, which made Hagrid seem quite unhappy.
Then another black centaur named Bane appeared, who was taller. But, just like Ronan, he spoke vaguely.
"Don't ask. The only thing is that Mars is very bright tonight."
Hagrid and Harry felt powerless, so they simply ignored them and walked toward the forest on two separate paths.
Before they split, Hagrid reminded Harry and Draco once again: "Never leave the path, and immediately set off the fireworks if you spot anything."
Harry and Draco walked one after the other down the path through the forest.
It was called a path, but to Harry, it felt like he was being trampled by the giant Hagrid, who paced back and forth.
Draco seemed heartless at first. Apparently, the first creature he encountered when entering the forest was a relatively peaceful, centaur-like animal, which made him feel quite inflated. Seeing Harry carefully scanning his surroundings, Draco made some sarcastic remarks.
But then an owl suddenly jumped out from the forest, startling him so much that he screamed. This led to Harry cruelly ridiculing him.
"You're a mama's boy, aren't you? We see owls delivering letters and parcels every day, and yet you're afraid of one? Are you a wizard or not?" Harry's teasing skills were at their peak.
Draco was momentarily speechless. A wizard really frightened by an owl? If word of this spread, half of Hogwarts would laugh their heads off. Though Slytherin wasn't known for its bravery, Draco still felt embarrassed and behaved much better after that.
If a snake were to appear and scare him, Draco felt like he wouldn't have the face to live it down. A Slytherin frightened by a snake.
After walking a bit further, Harry suddenly slapped his forehead.
He remembered why something felt wrong with what Hagrid had just said.
Hagrid had told them that as long as they stayed with him or Fang the Dog in the Forbidden Forest, no creature would harm them, and Harry believed that. Though Hagrid didn't always think before speaking, was a chatterbox, and sometimes a bit silly, he never lied or boasted.
But Hagrid had said before that the thing that hurt the unicorn probably came from outside the forest, and before that, the unicorn had never been harmed by any creature within the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid or Big Dog Fang might guarantee that they wouldn't be harmed by things in the Forbidden Forest, but could the same be said about this thing from outside the Forbidden Forest?
After thinking about it several times, Harry didn't voice his thought aloud. He felt that once he said it, Draco would probably turn and run away. Slytherin was never known for its courage.
The two walked along the forest path for about half an hour. The further they ventured, the denser the bushes became, and the path was almost impassable. However, what made Harry and Draco both uneasy and excited was that the unicorn's blood trail became thicker along the way.
A little further ahead, the roots of a tree were splattered with white-silver blood, as if the unicorn had twisted and struggled there.
Harry noticed that there seemed to be an open space ahead, but it was obscured by the bushes in front of them.
Pushing the bushes aside, Harry and Draco saw a white, glowing object lying not far away. It was a unicorn, or rather, the corpse of a unicorn.
Harry had read in books long ago that unicorns were very beautiful creatures, but he never imagined that when he saw one for the first time, he would witness such a combination of beauty and misery.
The unicorn lay there, its long legs in the same position they were when it fell, stretched unnaturally. It made the creature appear very stiff.
Its mane, spread across the earth and fallen leaves, was as white as pearls and seemed to glow in the dark night.
Harry and Draco were about to step forward when they heard rustling in the bushes ahead. Harry and Draco stood still, stunned, as the bushes parted to reveal a hooded figure.
It seemed to float just above the ground, weightless, gliding smoothly toward the unicorn's side. It then lowered its head and leaned over a wound on the unicorn's side. It seemed to be sucking blood.
Harry, Draco and the dog were so terrified by the scene that they stood frozen.
"Shit!" Harry reacted first. Having played many games and watched many horror films, he was more resilient in this situation. He quickly raised the magical firework Hagrid had given him and pulled it hard. A red-purple firework shot up into the sky, illuminating the large area they were in.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Draco's screams were even more pitiful than when Harry had punched him earlier. However, unlike Harry, who knew how to set off fireworks, Draco turned and prepared to escape.
It wasn't clear whether it was the monster or Draco's scream that startled Fang, but Fang turned and ran before Draco.
The dog's leash that was hanging around its neck suddenly brushed against Draco's leg. Draco, who had been turning, lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thud. The dog's leash slipped from his hand. When he looked up again, he could only see Fang, huge but as shy as a mouse, running quickly and disappearing into the deep bushes.
"Shit!" Draco, who had never uttered such dirty words before, couldn't help but imitate Harry at that moment.
The hooded figure raised its head. It was dark under the hood, and its features could not be seen, but it clearly noticed Harry and Draco, who were struggling to get back up.
Harry wanted to turn and run, but he realized his feet weren't quite obeying him.
When the figure lifted its head, the unicorn's white-silver blood dripped from beneath the hood and smeared across its chest. That look inexplicably made Harry feel terrified. Then the creature rose and floated lightly toward Harry and Draco.
Its posture was completely different from that of a human or any other animal, it was strange and terrifying.
Suddenly, Harry felt a sharp pain in his forehead, or more precisely, a sharp pain in the scar on his forehead.
The sharp pain instantly brought Harry back to his senses. He raised his hand, waved his wand, and cast a powerful spell.
A red magical light shot from the tip of his wand at high speed. In that tense moment, Harry performed the spell with remarkable ease, which made him feel incredibly lucky.
But the next moment, the red light hit the monster directly, having no effect. The monster's body didn't even flinch for a moment.
"Incredible magical resistance!"
Harry made an immediate judgment, but that judgment didn't help him in that moment. He only knew three combat spells, a disarming charm, a stunning spell, and a low-level protective charm.
The Disarming Charm was quite useful against wizards with wands, but Harry didn't know if the creature in front of him was a wizard, at least he hadn't seen a wand. With the Stunning Spell proving ineffective, Harry was momentarily lost.
Just as Harry was dazed by his failed magic, he heard the sound of hooves rushing behind him, followed by something flying over his head.
You have to understand that Harry was standing at the time. Though not very tall, he was about 5'3". Plus, there was Draco, who had fallen and hadn't gotten up yet behind him, and this creature really leapt from a distance and flew right over his head!
That's what Harry thought when he recalled the incident later. In that moment, all he saw was a silver figure standing between him and the monster.
It was a centaur, unlike the others had encountered before.
The monster halted when it saw the centaur, but it seemed unwilling to retreat. From under its black cloak, a dark red blade of light shot out, aiming directly at the centaur in front of it.
However, the silver centaur was unexpectedly agile. He shifted slightly to the side, and the red blade grazed him. Instead, Harry, who was behind him, was shocked. Though the wave-like blade passed more than 30 centimeters from him, he still felt a rush of fear and broke into a cold sweat.
The centaur dodged the dark red wave and raised his front hooves, suddenly stepping down with force.
With a loud crash, the leaves on the ground in front of the centaur seemed to be lifted by some force, forming a massive crescent-shaped ripple in the air. The monster was struck by the ripple, and the blast sent it flying more than ten meters, but it barely stopped in mid-air. It was clear that this blow caused no harm to the creature.
A slight movement came from the distance, and the monster seemed to hesitate for a moment before suddenly turning and disappearing into the dark bushes.
"Are you alright?" the centaur turned and asked Harry, who was still dazed, extending his hand as if to help Draco up.
Harry wasn't paralyzed by fear, he was simply stunned.
The silver centaur in front of him raised his front hooves and then lowered them, clearly creating a powerful shockwave. What was that? A magical attack?
The book stated that centaurs were human-like creatures, not demonic humanoid creatures, because, according to the book, centaurs couldn't use magic.
Harry was very familiar with two types of humanoid creatures: house-elves and goblins. Additionally, there were elves, trolls, mermaids, and others, all of whom could wield magic.
Harry had confirmed that the centaurs he had read about in books were human-like creatures who couldn't use magic, but what had this silver centaur just done?
Harry was stunned, and so was Draco, though Draco was truly frightened.
Seeing that neither of them responded, the centaur had to ask again, "Are you alright?"
Harry finally answered, nodding repeatedly, rubbing his forehead, which eased the pain, and said, "I'm fine, I'm fine."
As Harry rubbed his forehead, his bangs brushed against his skin.
The centaur's eyes narrowed slightly. He had a pair of strikingly beautiful blue eyes, like sapphires, but in that moment, those eyes were filled with surprise. "Are you the son of the Potter family?"
—————————
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and wish to support me, you can visit my P-@-t-r-3-0-n, where you can read 50+ extra chapters ahead!
Thank you so much for your support. It means the world! 💙😊
P-@-T -r-3-0-n [.] com / DylanBriak