Chapter 44: Harvest

When the two people and one dog were preparing to start their journey home, the unconscious unicorn-beast also woke from its stupor; the awakened beast became lucid and gentle, no longer displaying the ferocity it had shown at first meeting.

Hagrid decided to take the injured unicorn-beast to rest near his hut for a while. So he tied a vine rope around it and led it back, the unicorn-beast obediently cooperating with Hagrid.

Finally, Hagrid decided to let Allen ride the unicorn-beast out of the Forbidden Forest.

No one knew how long they trekked, but Allen finally saw the spires of Hogwarts.

They soon returned to Hagrid's hut; Hagrid tied the unicorn-beast to the door of his hut, then escorted Allen to the main gate of the castle.

Only when Allen passed the castle clock tower did he realize it was already past two in the morning.

"Goodbye! Hagrid! I'm heading back! Tonight was unforgettable!" Allen politely bid farewell to Hagrid.

"Wait!" Hagrid called out to Allen with a face full of conflict and unease; he was not good at hiding his thoughts, and Allen felt he had been conflicted the entire way.

Hagrid's face turned red, stammering for a long time without saying anything.

"I'll keep your secret!" Allen winked at him and pointed cheerfully at the red umbrella on his waist.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Hagrid, whose thoughts had been exposed, clearly relaxed. "It's truly wonderful for Harry to have a friend like you!"

"Haha, no thanks needed. We just went into the Forbidden Forest today to subdue a runaway unicorn-beast, then came back; nothing else happened, right?" Allen winked at Hagrid again.

"But... because of my mistake, you almost lost your life!" Hagrid became guilty and uneasy again, rubbing his large hands vigorously.

"I'm fine now, aren't I? It's all in the past!" Allen comforted Hagrid.

Then Allen remembered he had exposed his improved Lumos spell in front of Hagrid, so he quickly said to Hagrid: "Do you remember my Lumos spell? That's my little secret; please keep it for me!"

"Okay! I definitely won't tell anyone!" Hagrid nodded vigorously like a big dog.

"Now we both share a little secret, so don't feel too guilty; go back and rest quickly! You worked the hardest today; I didn't walk much the whole time." Allen continued to comfort Hagrid.

After Allen finally calmed Hagrid down and prepared to return to the castle, Hagrid suddenly pulled something out of his wide coat pocket and stuffed it into Allen's arms...

"These are the two horns broken when the unicorn-beast crashed into that tree; these are your spoils of war." Hagrid also winked at Allen.

Allen looked at the two horns, each as long as his own arm, with a troubled expression, his face full of hesitation: "No need, really; keeping them here would be inconvenient!"

"Unicorn-beast horns are precious magical materials; they can sell for many Jin Jin Jialong!" Hagrid gave Allen a look that said, "You know what I mean."

Allen immediately felt less tired, his mind full of Jin Jin Jialong; he hugged the horns in his arms tightly and quickly said to Hagrid: "Okay, okay! I will make good use of them!"

Then, clutching the horns, he dashed off like a streak of smoke...

When Allen lay on his four-poster bed, he felt everything that happened today was so unreal; he felt extremely exhausted, and soon fell asleep...

By the time Allen woke up, he found it was already noon.

The first thing he did upon waking was to check the unicorn-beast horns he had placed in his trunk early that morning, then stared at those beautiful horns and chuckled foolishly...

His turtle shell was gone; today's random drop was a pair of animal ears he didn't recognize...

He recalled yesterday's experience and suddenly somewhat understood why Harry and Ron had been so excited after encountering the three-headed dog before.

Because now, recalling yesterday's experience, he actually felt it was a very thrilling adventure, especially encountering the ruins of ancient runes, which gave him the feeling of discovering a martial arts manual left by an unparalleled master.

But those ruins were clearly beyond what someone at his stage could explore; he should wait until he became stronger before investigating! Allen thought regretfully in his heart.

Finally, his stomach growling wildly pulled him back to reality; Allen quickly locked his trunk, put on his clothes, and went to the Great Hall to eat...

Allen still remembered he needed to find Professor Quirrell for private instruction that evening; in the afternoon, he previewed the Petrification Spell and the Leg-Locker Curse he was to learn, then arrived on time for the appointment that night.

Professor Quirrell's office was still filled with a heavy smell of potions.

This time, Professor Quirrell's ambitious personality did not appear; Professor Quirrell fluently taught Allen for two hours, not stuttering once.

This made Allen feel even more awe toward Professor Quirrell:

First, because Professor Quirrell truly had substance, explaining the Petrification Spell in a way that was profound yet easy to understand, and even mentioning several effective little techniques not found in textbooks;

Second, Allen believed that this time it was Professor Quirrell's talented and spirited personality that dominated his body, which strengthened his conviction in his judgment of Professor Quirrell's multiple personalities. His awe toward Professor Quirrell now was more akin to the awe one feels toward a mental patient, after all, in his previous life, multiple personality disorder had been described as too sinister.

Thinking this, Allen felt sorrow for himself; coming to this world, he had started associating with mental patients, but to strengthen his own power, he would just have to endure it.

Fortunately, Professor Quirrell was very powerful; several problems that had troubled him for a long time were solved under his instruction, and Allen felt he would soon master these two combat spells.

Just as Allen thought this one-on-one instruction was about to end, Professor Quirrell casually asked about Allen's experience in the Forbidden Forest yesterday.

Allen immediately entered acting mode, recounting yesterday's events in the Forbidden Forest with eight parts truth and two parts falsehood, strictly adhering to the agreement made with Hagrid at two in the morning, not saying a single word that shouldn't be said.

Professor Quirrell seemed somewhat disappointed, but did not doubt the truthfulness of what Allen said, then let Allen leave.

After that, Allen's days passed very simply yet fulfilling; he attended classes on time with friends every day, and during spare time went to the library to study ancient runes; during this period, he even tried to find Professor Babbling, who taught ancient runes, requesting her permission to attend the third-year young wizards' ancient runes class to learn ancient runes.

But Professor Babuling was clearly not as easy to talk to as Professor Quirrell; she believed it was inappropriate for a first-year student to study ancient runes, as it would bring danger to himself, so she refused Allen, only telling him to choose her class when he reached third year.

Allen settled for less, taking out some ancient runes whose meaning even Professor Quirrell did not know to ask Professor Babuling for guidance, but Professor Babuling didn't even look at them and refused outright, also admonishing him not to aim too high.

This left Allen quite helpless.

Maybe if he changed to a different ancient runes professor, he could get guidance! Allen muttered bitterly in his heart at last.