Chapter 58: The Mars of Tonight

Hagrid strongly disliked Filch, especially his habit of threatening and intimidating students, let alone when those students were Harry and Silven.

So as soon as Hagrid arrived, he waved his hand impatiently. “Your job is done. From now on, I’m in charge.”

“I’ll come back at dawn to clean up their remains,” Filch spat out, then turned and walked back toward the castle.

As soon as he was gone, Malfoy began complaining, saying he didn’t want to enter the forest at all.

But Hagrid ignored him completely—even mentioning his father, a school governor, made no difference.

“You can go back right now,” Hagrid said. “If you think your father would rather see you expelled, then go pack your bags!”

Malfoy didn’t move. He glared at Hagrid, then lowered his eyes, reluctantly following Hagrid and the black hound into the forest.

“A unicorn has been attacked,” Hagrid said heavily. “This is the second time. I found one dead last Wednesday—we must find it quickly…”

“No, I don’t want to go!” Malfoy started backing out again, his voice trembling with uncontrollable fear. “What if the thing that hurt the unicorn is still out there?”

“As long as you stay with me or Fang, no creature in the Forbidden Forest will harm you,” Hagrid said, then went on to instruct them on what to do next.

Malfoy stared at the dark path behind him, then gave up on turning back, muttering under his breath as he followed.

“Relax. Think of it as camping,” Silven thought for a moment, then offered him some reassurance.

There was no need to fear—even in the Forbidden Forest, Dumbledore wouldn’t let students die, especially not with Harry here.

Maybe the headmaster was even watching from his office right now.

Silven turned his head, his gaze piercing through the swaying tree shadows toward the distant castle.

Where were the headmaster’s windows again?

For a moment, Silven couldn’t find them—but he was certain that several windows near the castle’s highest point still glowed with light.

“Silven, were you even listening to me just now?”

Hagrid’s voice snapped Silven back to attention. He nodded. “Of course. Stay safe. Don’t go off alone. Don’t stray beyond me or Fang. If you’re in danger, shoot a red spark into the sky immediately.”

Hagrid fell silent for a moment… Had he really just said all that?

“Yes, that’s right,” he nodded. “We’ll split into two teams soon…”

“I want Fang!” Malfoy didn’t zone out this time—he blurted it out eagerly.

His expression was resolute, as if he weren’t choosing a hound but a fire dragon.

Silven stared at Malfoy, utterly baffled—what part of his brain had convinced him that staying beside a two-foot-tall hound was safer than beside an eleven-foot-tall half-giant?

Naturally, Hagrid didn’t refuse his request.

When they reached the fork ahead, the group split into two.

Silven, Harry, and Hagrid took one path; Malfoy, Neville, and Fang took the other.

The Forbidden Forest was utterly silent at night—not even insects chirped. The only sound was the rustle of leaves beneath their feet.

A strange scent hung in the air—like dew-drenched grass, or perhaps fallen leaves drifting in a deep pool.

Silven didn’t know why he could distinguish the scent of dew from that of leaves, but that was his first instinct.

“These are all unicorn blood,” Hagrid said, staring at the silver-blue stains on the leaves, his face growing more anxious.

“Could it have been a werewolf?” Harry asked.

“Not so quickly,” Hagrid said. “Unicorns have strong magic. Werewolves can’t easily harm them.”

Hagrid quickened his pace, forcing Harry to break into a run just to keep up. Neither of them noticed that one member of their group was missing.

Silven had been following Hagrid, but when he passed a patch of silver-blue blood, he suddenly stopped and pulled out the Beater’s wand core from his pocket.

The core had long been finished, its split surfaces carved with intricate magical runes.

But now, one of those runes was flickering with a silver-blue glow, mirroring the blood on the ground.

“Wand-core rune—Contract and Protection,” Silven murmured. “The unicorn is calling for help…”

It was an ancient rune, the only one designed to protect the wand core.

According to legend, this rune records every wand core it has ever “seen,” and under specific conditions, it resonates magically with them.

As Garrick Ollivander explained, those conditions occur when a wand is broken, destroyed, or its core is on the verge of dying.

That’s why most broken wands can still function for a while if wrapped in magical tape.

But this core had no wand core inside it.

Only one possibility remained: the unicorn that left this silver-blue blood had once had its tail hair made into a wand core, and that core had been recorded by the rune.

Now, as Silven passed, the rune on the core detected the same magical essence in the unicorn’s blood and triggered a resonance.

Realizing this, Silven immediately laid the core flat in his palm and brought it close to the blood.

Instantly, the rune glowed brighter—and under a subtle magical pull, the core slowly rotated to face a new direction.

Without hesitation, Silven stood and ran.

Ten minutes later, he caught up with Hagrid and Harry, who were speaking with two centaurs.

“Ronan, have you seen a student? He’s lost—I have to go back and find him.”

The centaur tilted his head, staring fixedly at the sky. “The Mars tonight…”

“Silven!” Harry shouted, cutting off their conversation.

“Silven?” Hagrid turned, relief flooding his face. “Thank heavens, where did you go? I’ve been searching…”

“I know where the wounded unicorn is,” Silven gasped, sprinting to his side.

“What?”

“No time to explain…” Silven glanced at the dimming silver-blue glow on the core, took a deep breath, and sprinted in the direction the rune pointed.

“It’s dying—we have to hurry!”

Before he finished speaking, Silven was already far ahead.

“Stop, Silven! Don’t run so fast in the Forbidden Forest—it’s dangerous!” Without thinking, Hagrid bolted after him.

Harry, catching on a moment later, followed close behind.

In the blink of an eye, only the two centaurs remained.

Ronan, the russet-colored centaur, stood frozen, staring blankly in the direction they had vanished. Long moments passed before he slowly opened his mouth, his voice firm and unyielding.

“...very bright.”

(End of Chapter)