Chapter 87: Encountering Danger

Under Allen's lead, the group ventured deeper into the forest; the trees grew exceedingly dense, the path nearly impassable, and soon they faintly heard a chorus of animal cries of anguish, filled with terror and despair.

Hagrid unconsciously quickened his pace, with Allen, Harry, and Hermione following closely behind, while Malfoy, upon hearing those sounds, quietly slowed his steps...

After bursting through a thicket of bushes, they arrived at the edge of a relatively open clearing in the forest, where they finally saw their destination—the injured unicorn.

It was a beautiful creature, possessing a silver-white body, its fur so white it gleamed like pearls, topped with the iconic spiraled horn of silver-white; this beautiful being shimmered within the dim Forbidden Forest, evoking a sense of holiness and warmth.

Yet this unicorn was covered in wounds, writhing and struggling in pain upon the ground, where many traces of silver-white blood lay; on the other side of the clearing, a hooded figure crawling slowly across the ground was closing in on the injured unicorn, while the unicorn desperately tried to distance itself from that figure...

The impact of this scene was too strong; the young wizards had never witnessed such a sight, standing there stunned and at a loss, while Fang tucked his tail between his legs, burying his head in the bushes, daring not to move...

"Thwack!" Hagrid triggered the mechanism of the massive crossbow in his hands, and the bolt flew swiftly toward the dark shadow...

The dark shadow seemed to have sensed it long ago; it instantly increased its speed, rushing to the unicorn's side in a flash, causing the bolt to graze past the shadow and embed itself in a large tree, the tail of the bolt vibrating violently and emitting a "humming" sound.

Hagrid had missed his shot.

"Find somewhere to hide!" Hagrid shouted quickly at the young wizards while beginning to reload the massive crossbow, "Don't come to help me; I can handle that monster!"

Allen noticed that Hagrid still carried that red umbrella at his waist; Hagrid even adjusted the position of the red umbrella, placing it where it was more handy.

Allen wanted to call out a warning to Hagrid, but before the words could leave his mouth, the familiar chill appeared in his heart again; he could only quickly draw his wand, his mind racing to think which spell could help Hagrid...

By this time, the dark shadow had already dragged the injured unicorn behind a large rock; the unicorn kept crying out in anguish, its long legs kicking weakly at the ground...

Hagrid instantly lost his line of fire; holding the massive crossbow in his left hand and the red umbrella in his right, he strode toward that large rock, shouting loudly as he walked, "You beast who poaches unicorns, stand out like a man!"

Allen gripped his wand tightly, pointing it toward the direction of the large rock; he decided that if the dark shadow showed itself again, he would cast the Petrification Spell on it, but the distance was too great, and he lacked confidence in hitting it immediately; Hermione likewise drew her wand, Neville had not yet found his own wand on his person, and Malfoy had already vanished without a trace...

Allen instantly realized something was wrong: where was Harry?

He hurriedly turned his head to look and saw Harry already kneeling on the ground, clutching his head in pain; he rushed over to check on Harry's condition, but Harry was in such agony he could say nothing...

Meanwhile, Hermione beside him suddenly let out a cry of alarm; Allen looked up and witnessed a scene that made his heart stop—the dark shadow had somehow emerged from the other side of the large rock, its chest stained with some of the unicorn's silver-white blood, rapidly approaching them while waving its wand as it drew nearer...

Allen felt his mind go blank; he knew he was too late to cast a spell and could only consider diving to the side to evade the shadow's curse, but Harry was still kneeling on the ground, completely unaware of the impending danger...

Just as Allen was torn between choices, he heard the sound of hooves and the whistle of an arrow cutting through the air.

A vigorous figure charged out from the forest,

rushing toward that dark shadow; during the charge, it continued shooting arrows at the shadow, forcing the shadow to abandon its spellcasting due to the arrows slicing through the air; that vigorous figure soon reached the shadow and engaged it in combat...

Allen was very familiar with this vigorous figure; it was the centaur Firenze.

At this moment, Hagrid also reacted; he emerged from behind the rock, having discarded the massive crossbow in his hand, and used the large red umbrella to fire a beam of red light at the dark shadow...

The dark shadow instantly understood the current situation; abandoning any thought of continuing the fight, its form slid rapidly along the ground and soon disappeared behind a large tree...

Firenze kept shooting arrows at the dark shadow, but none hit, while Hagrid pursued it with bitter hatred...

Firenze, however, remained standing in place.

"Good evening, Firenze, we meet again!" Allen spoke first, "These are my classmates: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom."

"Greetings! I am the centaur Firenze!" Firenze said very politely.

Then he turned his gaze toward Harry: "Are you the boy from the Potter family?"

Harry nodded blankly.

At this moment, the weak cries of the unicorn came from behind the rock, making everyone realize there was still a casualty to attend to.

Thus, they hurriedly ran behind the rock to check on the unicorn's condition.

The unicorn's condition was not good; it was still bleeding continuously, growing weaker by the moment; Allen reviewed every spell he knew in his mind and found that only the Qing Quan Zhou could be used to rinse the wounds.

At this time, Firenze stepped forward once more; he took some medicinal powder from his person and sprinkled it onto the unicorn's wounds, which soon stopped bleeding...

Hermione also cast a Levitation Charm on the unicorn, allowing Firenze to apply the medicine more effectively...

"Do you know what use unicorn blood has?" Firenze suddenly asked after finishing the treatment of the unicorn's wounds.

Harry and Neville wore looks of complete bewilderment...

"I don't know; we only used its horn and tail hair in Potions class," Hermione said after thinking for a moment.

"That is because killing a unicorn is an extremely brutal act," Firenze said. "Only one who has nothing yet desires everything would commit such a heinous crime. Unicorn blood can sustain your life even if you are at death's door, but you must pay a terrible price for it. To save your own life, you slaughter a pure and helpless life; thus, from the moment its blood touches your lips, you will possess only a half-dead life, a cursed life."

Harry gazed at the back of Firenze's head, which shimmered with silver spots in the moonlight. "But who is that desperate wretch?" Harry voiced his doubt loudly, "If one must suffer a curse for a lifetime, would it not be better to die?"

"Indeed," Firenze expressed agreement, "unless you use it merely to delay your death so that you may drink another thing—something that will fully restore your strength and magic—something that grants you immortality. Mr. Potter, do you know what is currently hidden within the school?"

"Can you not guess? Who has waited silently for so many years, longing to rise again? Who clings tightly to life, awaiting the opportunity?"

Harry, Allen, and Hermione exchanged glances; they all understood Firenze's words...