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Even so, Firenze's words were like talking to a brick wall. His two centaur companions simply did not care in the slightest.
Seeing that Firenze remained "stubbornly obstinate" and still insisted on helping other creatures, the two of them said nothing more. They merely turned around and strode away, disappearing into the depths of the forest.
"I'm sorry. I hope this won't make you start hating us. Deep down, Bane and Ronan are not bad people."
Firenze apologized sincerely.
Dudley merely shook his head lightly and kept his focus on the unicorn's wound. His hands did not stop for even an instant as he adjusted one potion after another.
"I know what centaurs are like."
Out of respect for Firenze, Dudley had no intention of taking anything out on them.
"Hang in there a little longer, my friend. This is going to hurt a bit."
Dudley spoke softly to the unicorn.
Then he carefully let the freshly prepared potion drip onto the wound.
It was like pouring cold water into boiling oil. The reaction was immediate and violent. The unicorn's wound began to corrode as if sulfuric acid had been poured over it.
But in exchange, the black mist wrapped around it began to dissipate at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The process, however, was far from pleasant.
The pain made the unicorn start struggling uncontrollably.
Left with no choice, Dudley stretched out both hands, placed them on the unicorn's body, and pressed down lightly.
It calmed down at once.
It did not take long for the black mist around the wound to disappear completely, and the unicorn gradually stopped struggling as well. But in the place where the wound had been, there was now a huge hole that looked frighteningly ugly.
But it only looked terrible.
In practice, it was still only a flesh wound.
For wizards, as long as you did not die, were not cursed, and had not suffered irreversible damage caused by magic, then everything counted as little more than a superficial injury. If your hand got chopped off, a few properly applied potions would be enough, and before long it would grow back.
Of course, before long was a bit of an exaggeration. It would still take some time.
Dudley took out two more potions.
He made the unicorn drink one.
Essence of Murtlap, internal-use version.
The other he carefully poured onto the wound.
Essence of Murtlap, external-use version.
The damaged area began producing new tissue at a visible speed, then came the scabbing, the recovery, and then, little by little, new skin formed in its place.
The effect was excellent.
The only difference was that, unlike the rest of its body, which had a thin layer of pale fur, the newly formed skin was completely smooth.
Potions truly were something incredible.
The effect was immediate.
At that moment, the unicorn gently rubbed its head against Dudley and licked the palm of his hand. If it were not for the fact that Dudley had nearly torn out its mane before, the relationship between the two of them might actually have been pretty good.
After all, no magical creature could resist the food he prepared.
Dudley gave it a little of the feed he had made himself. Once he saw that the unicorn seemed far more spirited, he lightly slapped its hindquarters, signaling it to try standing up and walking a bit.
Although it was still somewhat shaky, overall it was no longer in any real danger.
No, physically it no longer had any major problems...
It was just that, taken as a whole, its appearance had become a little difficult to describe.
Yes, this was about its appearance.
How to put it?
Before, it had only been missing a patch of fur near its mane, and overall it had still been a handsome unicorn.
Now, because of the treatment, a large part of its belly was bald too.
Anyone who knew the circumstances would understand it was the result of the wound.
Anyone who did not would assume it had patchy alopecia.
It looked pretty bad.
But considering that it had managed to survive, nitpicking over its appearance was completely unnecessary. And besides, fur was something that would grow back in time.
Once he saw that the unicorn's condition was stable, Firenze bade Dudley farewell and returned to his own group.
Dudley first collected some of the silver blood scattered on the ground. Unicorn blood had healing properties and could also prolong life. In Muggle legends, it was even said to be capable of bringing someone back from the dead.
Resurrecting someone, of course, it could not do.
Not even phoenix tears had that effect.
Moreover, because it had not been offered willingly, unicorn blood, although capable of prolonging life, also carried a curse. Whoever drank it would end up living like one of the walking dead.
Even so, that blood was still excellent for brewing cursed potions, and the effect was quite powerful.
After that, Dudley examined the bald unicorn's body once more for any lingering problems. Once he confirmed that everything was fine, he led it back together with the little dragon to the herd it belonged to.
The unicorn herd lived deeper inside the Forbidden Forest, and naturally the danger level in that region was quite high. Adult wizards without sufficient skill would completely avoid venturing there at night.
But the combination of Dudley, a unicorn, and a dragon could already be considered a top predator even inside the Forbidden Forest. So there was no problem at all, and they soon managed to return it safely.
Dudley instructed the little dragon to stay as much as possible in an area not too far from the unicorn herd. After all, it still had not fully become an adult. Remaining close to the unicorns would be relatively safe.
Once everything had been settled with the little dragon, Dudley left the forest.
To be honest, it wasn't just the dragon he wanted to ride.
He also wanted to ride a unicorn.
Unfortunately, unicorns had even less carrying capacity than the little dragon.
So that idea was doomed from the start.
Unless he managed to reduce his own weight.
After returning to Hogwarts Castle, Dudley began mentally reviewing that battle.
Drawing lessons from every fight, analyzing problems and flaws, and continuously improving oneself was also an important part of a wizard's life.
As for the identity of the cloaked man, Dudley had known it for a long time.
Although, from the moment a tail had grown out of his backside, he had stopped treating the memories of the books from his old world as absolute truth, some pieces of information were still extremely useful.
Something lurking around the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night and drinking unicorn blood.
Taking all of that into account, there was only one possible answer.
It could only be Professor Quirrell possessed by that noseless bastard.
That direct confrontation also allowed Dudley to get an initial sense of the other man's strength.
The most instinctive impression was simple:
He was strong. Very strong.
Even as nothing more than a fragmented soul occupying another body, he still possessed frightening power. He was nowhere near as pathetic as Dudley had imagined.
The mere fact that he was capable of leaving an adult unicorn on the verge of death already placed him far above an ordinary adult wizard.
Unicorns, like phoenixes, were classified as XXXX creatures. Both belonged to the category of beings that were extremely powerful but not particularly aggressive toward wizards. However, when a unicorn entered a rage, its true strength was not far behind that of legendary creatures rated at the highest danger level, such as chimeras and manticores.
After all, that horn was no mere ornament. Even dragons avoided facing it head-on.
At the same time, the encounter also made Dudley realize his own limitations.
His long-range attack options were still too few.
And that needed to improve.
He needed to find some kind of ranged attack.
Or, if that was not possible, at least broaden his methods of fighting.
The very first thing Dudley thought of was firearms.
In theory, if a flashlight could work, then firearms ought to work too.
'How about getting a Magnum?'
That thing had a pretty respectable amount of firepower. Dudley had always liked it when he played Resident Evil.
Ding!
While he was thinking about that, a sound that had vanished for a very long time echoed in his ears once again.
It was the system notification.
"Achievement Mission: First confrontation with Voldemort, obtained..."
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