The day of detention was fast approaching.
"Draco, are you there?" Hermione asked quietly, taking a deep breath.
They were standing in front of Hagrid's hut. It was dark, crows circled the trees, and the Forbidden Forest was shrouded in shadow, exuding an ominous aura.
Draco, cloaked in invisibility, remained silent, only subtly squeezing her hand.
Ah, he is here. Hermione breathed a small sigh of relief.
Ahead of them, Neville Longbottom was telling Harry with a long face, "I heard from my grandmother that there are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest..."
Werewolves? Those only exist in third year. Draco rolled his eyes, suddenly wanting to lean in and tell the trembling, round-faced boy a hellish joke: There are no werewolves in the Forbidden Forest, only the Dark Lord... that is all.
Hagrid said gruffly to the trembling Longbottom, "As long as you are with me or Fang, nothing in the Forbidden Forest can harm you."
"Hagrid, I can team up with Harry, we are not scared; you team up with Neville, he is terrified right now, you have to take good care of him..." Hermione said quickly.
"Really?" Hagrid looked her over with concern. "You are a little girl, so..."
"This has nothing to do with men and women! You have to take care of the students who are not adapting well to the Forbidden Forest, do you not?" Hermione said matter-of-factly, but her hands were unconsciously behind her back.
The invisible boy playfully tapped her palm, making it slightly itchy. The ticklishness made her temporarily forget about worrying about whether there were werewolves in the Forbidden Forest.
"All right, you take Fang with you..." Hagrid said. "See that glittering thing on the ground? Silvery white? That is unicorn blood... We must try to find that poor unicorn and relieve its suffering."
Detention had begun.
They split into two groups to search for the injured unicorn. Fang seemed to have caught a whiff of something and kept circling around Hermione.
"Oh, Harry, stop it! I am scared of this big dog!" Hermione stopped it, feigning fear as she complained.
She was not afraid of dogs, but she was worried that Fang would expose Draco, which would make things much more complicated.
"Fang, come here." Harry is a kind and understanding boy.
He quickly called to the fierce-looking dog, and led the way with Fang, while Hermione pretended not to like dogs and kept a distance behind.
When people are in a vast forest, it is easy to lose their sense of space and time.
After walking for a while, amidst the soft rustling of fallen leaves and withered branches underfoot, Hermione suddenly felt a surge of tension. She still could not believe that detention was really going to be done deep in the Forbidden Forest, just as Draco had predicted.
Saying you are "not afraid" and actually not being afraid when you are actually in the situation are two completely different things.
This is the Forbidden Forest, a dark and terrifying place in the hearts of countless students! Hermione has seen more than once the respect, even fear, that upperclassmen have when they talk about the Forbidden Forest.
How could there be such a frivolous detention service? This tranquil darkness harbours countless dangers, enough to terrify any first-year student!
Who knows, Quirrell might suddenly leap out from the shadow of some tree!
Hermione was a little scared. She maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far from Harry and Fang. To an uninformed person, she would seem a little isolated.
This was originally intended to hide Draco, but the visual emptiness and lack of people gradually filled her with terrifying thoughts, making her feel uneasy; although the boy had promised to stay by her side, he was too quiet at the moment.
As she walked, every now and then, a ray of moonlight would shine through the branches above, illuminating a silvery-blue bloodstain on a fallen leaf. She gradually felt as if she were in a vast, desolate dream, and even began to doubt whether he was still by her side.
Finally, Hermione's face turned pale. She looked around, her voice trembling, "Draco?"
"I am here." His voice came from the void, calming her uneasy nerves.
"Why would anyone want to hurt a unicorn..." She saw another spot of bright silver blood, her voice trembling, "It is too cruel."
It was cruel. But for the Dark Lord, nothing was more important than his life, Draco thought.
"Do you want to hold my hand?" he asked softly after a pause.
She seemed a little scared.
"Hmm." Hermione's voice was barely audible, but the invisible boy clearly heard it. Through a layer of cool, slippery fabric, a hand firmly grasped hers.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked softly, his voice coming from beside her.
"Much better," she whispered, taking the invisible hand and continuing to walk forward.
The Forbidden Forest was dark, empty, and silent. A cough could carry far and wide, echoing far and wide. People walked carefully through the forest, trying not to make any noise lest they disturb the unknown, deadly beasts lurking within.
Hermione gradually felt tired, and her legs began to ache. She did not complain, but gritted her teeth and kept walking, unwilling to lose to anyone.
However, perhaps someone should tell her that if physical fatigue is not relieved, it may lead to some negative effects.
For example, when walking past a moss-covered tree stump, Hermione's legs buckled and she almost slipped, but Draco caught her.
"You little rascal, watch out." He whispered in her ear, a breath of air brushing against her earlobe, making that spot feel faintly warm.
She could not see Draco, but she could sense his body from the marks of his support. They were very close, close enough that she could smell a faint, refreshing scent.
In fact, she was completely held in the arms of an invisible boy, which would be quite bizarre if seen by any other person or animal in the Forbidden Forest.
Just imagine! A girl is teetering in mid-air, tilted at an angle that defies all human biomechanics, yet she does not fall to the ground.
The invisible boy gently helped her up, steadied her, and said, "Are you tired? Let me take you with me."
"All right," she said softly, feeling her fear lessen.
With Draco around, she felt much safer. He always seemed so confident, never taking anything to heart, easily resolving problems or offering her advice...
"Are you all right, Hermione?" Harry asked, turning around when he heard her.
"It is all right, let us keep going," Hermione said. She gradually heard the sound of flowing water; there seemed to be a stream nearby. Her hand was being guided by the unseen hand, which walked ahead of her, preventing her from slipping or tripping again.
With his help, she hurried to catch up with Harry and Fang, heading towards the centre of the Forbidden Forest. The trees had become so dense that the path was almost impassable.
The silver bloodstains on the ground grew denser, and Hermione's grip tightened.
Draco knew that the Dark Lord and Quirrell could appear at any moment.
He gently squeezed Hermione's hand and whispered in her ear, "Prepare your wand, at any moment." Hermione nodded, her expression a mixture of alertness and panic, like a cat under a freezing spell. Her hand gripped the wand in her pocket, ready to draw it at any moment.
At this point, Harry, still oblivious to Hermione and the invisible companion, was completely focused on what lay ahead. He stopped, blocked Hermione's path, and whispered, "Look."
Through the tangled branches of the oak tree, Hermione saw the unicorn whose life was coming to an end.
Beautiful, yet tragic. That was her first impression.
Its fur was as white as pearls, and it lay gracefully on the dark leaves, on the verge of death. The silvery-white liquid on the ground was mottled, and the dripping sounds from its wounds were like the cold, merciless countdown to the end of its life.
It tilted its head, looking towards the bushes where Hermione was hiding, its eyes pure and gentle, innocent and sorrowful. For some reason, its sorrowful gaze reminded Hermione of the boy beside her.
Suddenly, a hooded figure emerged from the shadows of the bushes on the other side. The figure crawled slowly on the ground, neither human nor beast. It crouched down in front of the unicorn, lowered its head, aimed at the unicorn's wound, and began to drink its blood.
As if it had spotted something dirty, Fang fled in a flash—just as Hagrid had said, it was a complete coward.
The figure seemed to hear the rustling of the branches and slowly raised its head—at the same moment, Draco saw Potter fall to the ground, clutching his scar.
"Now!" Draco snapped, his voice sharp.
"Petrificus Totalus!" "Incarcerus Animus!"
Two beams of fire struck the hooded figure one after the other.
The figure remained motionless.
The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, bathing the earth in its bright light. In the moonlight, Quirrell lay motionless, like a lifeless stone.
"Stay here and do not move! Wait for Hagrid and the others to come!" Draco said to Hermione, releasing red sparks into the sky.
Hermione belatedly collapsed to the ground, "Draco, I am scared..."
"Dobby," he said to the air, "to protect Harry Potter and Hermione invisibly until they are safe."
"Yes, little master," Dobby's voice came from the air.
"Who is Dobby?" Hermione's face was as white as a ghost from Hogwarts. She had no idea that there were other people with them.
"It is a powerful little elf. It will protect you. There is nothing to worry about. Go check on Potter." With that, he remained cloaked in invisibility and tiptoed over to Quirrell to observe him.
Draco had never seen such an ugly back of the head. The Dark Lord's hideous face was as white as chalk, his long, thin nostrils looked like snakes, and his once bright red eyes had lost their light. He glared fiercely in Harry's direction, his expression frozen on Quirrell's back of the head.
It seems he made the right bet.
While the Dark Lord's soul can indeed leave living beings, if Quirrell is petrified, he becomes a stone.
If the Dark Lord's soul is imprisoned in the stone, how can he escape?
He looked around, but did not linger. Instead, he hurried back to the bushes to check on Potter.
Hermione was already crouching down beside the unconscious Potter with a grim expression. Her little face was furrowed, her thick eyelashes fluttered anxiously, and she looked very worried.
"Hermione," Draco's head appeared out of nowhere beside Hermione, startling her, "I am sure that is Quirrell. He has an ugly face on the back of his head, I suggest you do not go over there, it is disgusting." He drawled and made a funny face.
Hermione frowned, glanced at Quirrell in the distance, and shuddered. "Fine, I will not go. At least not until the professors arrive," she said.
Just then, hurried footsteps, the sound of hooves, and Hagrid's loud voice came from the bushes.
"Hermione, pull yourself together. Hold onto your wand, do not let go. I have to leave, do not tell them I was here," Draco said, unable to resist touching her hair, but then quickly pulled his hand back as if startled.
Hermione nodded blankly, completely unaware of what he had done. She was still reeling from the sudden event, shivering in the cool night breeze.
After a soft rustling sound of fabric, the boy vanished from the spot. Hermione quickly cast a Warming Charm on her clothes, and the invisible boy disappeared into the vast darkness of the Forbidden Forest, as if he had never been there at all.
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