Chapter 48: The Forbidden Forest
Soon, it's the weekend.
At nine o'clock in the evening, after sending off the Weasley twins and Cedric. Calvin's office was standing four first-year students - Harry, Ron, Neville, and Draco.
"Follow me." Calvin said, lighting a lamp and leading them out, "I think you're going to have to think twice about breaking the school rules in the future, aren't you?"
They strode through the pitch-black field. Neville sniffled. Harry didn't know what punishment they would receive. But he was confident that Calvin wouldn't bother them too much.
The moonlight was bright, but clouds kept drifting over and obscuring the moon, plunging them into darkness. Harry could see the lighted windows in Hagrid's cabin. Then they heard a shout in the distance.
"Is that you, Calvin? Hurry up, I'm leaving. ”
Harry's heart rejoiced: if they were going to work with Hagrid, so much the better. He showed this excitement on his face.
Yet Calvin said, "Don't let the excitement get you away, Harry. You are here to be punished. ”
Draco gave a mocking look to himself, Potter always had that, without a city.
"And you, Draco, curb your arrogance a bit. Don't get lost in the Forbidden Forest for a while. ”
Hearing this, Ron couldn't help but snort, and Draco stopped abruptly.
"Forbidden Forest?" He continued, his voice far less calm than usual, "We can't go in in the middle of the night - there's everything in there - I've heard werewolves." ”
Neville clutched Harry's sleeve and let out a choked sob.
"Do you want to go back, Neville?" Calvin looked at Neville shivering and asked, "I said you didn't use it. ”
Neville let go of Harry and shook his head.
"Well, follow me and Hagrid, nothing will happen in the Forbidden Forest." Calvin comforted the four little wizards, "Trust me, I'll bring you out whole." ”
Hagrid strode towards them from the darkness, Tooth and Tooth following. Hagrid carried his massive stone bow and a well-stocked quiver on his shoulder.
"It's almost time," he said, "and I've been waiting for half an hour." How's it going, Calvin?"
"Sorry, I'm late for a few more students." Calvin explained.
"What are you going to do tonight, Hagrid?" Ron eagerly asked, could there be a better confinement than this to venture out with Calvin and Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest?
"Don't get too excited, Ron," said Hagrid, "listen carefully, what we are going to do tonight is very dangerous, and I don't want to put anyone in danger. Come with me first. ”
He led them to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, held the lamp aloft in the air, and pointed to a path that gradually disappeared into the depths of the black forest. They looked into the Forbidden Forest, and a dark wind blew their hair.
"Look over there," said Hagrid, "do you see that shining thing on the ground?" Silvery white? That's the blood of a unicorn. One of the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest was injured by something, and it was badly injured. This is the second time in a week. Last Wednesday I found one dead. We're going to try to find that poor unicorn and free it from its misery. ”
"What if the thing that hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Malfoy asked, his voice trembling with irrepressible fear.
"Don't worry, Draco," Calvin pressed Harry and Draco's shoulders, "Hagrid and I will protect you." ”
"I'm taking Ron and this little fat man, what's your name?" Hagrid asked Neville, who had a bloodless face.
"Neville, Neville Longbottom." There was a slight cry in his voice.
"Don't cry, you'll follow me later."
"Then you two will come with me." Calvin looked at Harry and Draco with a smile.
The two looked at each other with hatred and said in unison, "Don't!" ”
"Oh, this can't be done, you don't have the right to refuse my grouping, if something dangerous happens in the Forbidden Forest for a while, I will punish you severely." Calvin maliciously asked the two to shake hands.
"Think about what I said to you, Harry, Draco."
The two snorted, barely clasped their hands together, and then quickly parted and wiped their clothes together.
"Let's go!" Hagrid shouted in a thick voice. "If anyone finds a unicorn, they shoot a green spark, understand? If anyone is in trouble, fire a red spark and we'll all come to you. Alright, everyone be careful. ”
The Forbidden Forest was dark and silent. They walked a little further inside and came to a fork in the road, with Ron, Neville, and Hagrid on the left, and Draco, Harry, and Calvin on the right.
They walked silently, their eyes fixed on the ground. Every now and then, a ray of moonlight spilled down from between the branches above, illuminating a silvery-blue trail of blood on the fallen leaves.
Harry could see that Calvin was angry.
"Could it be that the werewolf killed the unicorn?" Harry asked.
"It's unlikely," Calvin said, "it's not easy to catch a unicorn, they're an animal with a lot of magic." ”
They walked past a mossy tree stump. Harry could hear the murmuring of water, and it was clear that there was a stream somewhere nearby. On the winding path, there are still speckled unicorn blood stains.
Calvin bent down to observe the bloodstains, judging the time and severity of the unicorn's injuries.
"It's badly wounded, it's impossible to go very far, we'll find it soon."
They continued to weave their way through the dense, pitch-black woods. Harry always looked nervously. He had a very uncomfortable feeling, as if someone was watching them. He was glad to have Calvin by his side, which gave him peace of mind.
"Professor, who could have hurt the unicorn?" Draco asked suddenly.
"You really want to know?" Calvin glanced at him.
"Yes Professor, I might come up with something good."
"Forget it, you don't want to know."
They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the trees became so dense that the path was almost impassable. The blood on the ground was getting denser and denser. There was a lot of blood splattered on the roots of a tree, and it seemed that the poor animal had writhed and struggled in pain nearby. Calvin could see through the tangled branches of an ancient oak tree that there was a clearing ahead.
"Stop!" Calvin whispered, holding out his hands to stop Harry and Draco behind him.
A white thing glittered on the ground. Little by little, they moved closer to it.
It was a unicorn, a dying unicorn. It was beautiful, even though it was dying, its slender legs were bent unnaturally, and it seemed that it had gone through a struggle. Silky silky hairs sprinkled on fallen leaves like scattered pearls.