To be honest, Avada was a little nervous. Ever since he had mastered the Near Yet Far Spell, he hadn't used those sneaking methods under the Disillusionment Charm anymore, so he was a bit out of practice.
That was fine, though. It actually made him look more like a complete novice experiencing the Disillusionment Charm for the first time—ensuring his disguise was flawless…
At night, the Forbidden Forest felt quiet and eerie. Wildly overgrown weeds and branches took on a feral look under the moonlight, and the entire forest seemed like a massive beast lying in wait, ready to devour anyone who strayed too close. The only sounds were the shrill cries of owls and the distant, low growls drifting from deep within the forest, warning of the dangers hidden in the dark.
In this atmosphere, combined with what he was about to do, even Avada couldn't help but feel tense. He stepped forward carefully, doing his best not to disturb the bushes or dead branches while suppressing his breathing. Only when his hand touched the bundle beneath his clothes did he feel a little more at ease.
"Look."
Quirrell's voice was lowered until it was just loud enough for Avada to hear. "That's the unicorn."
Avada turned to where Quirrell was pointing. In a small clearing where the trees grew sparse, a silver-white creature lay quietly on the ground. It was as beautiful as a horse, its entire body glowing with a pearlescent sheen. Its mane shone brilliantly under the moonlight, and a straight horn rose from its forehead as it elegantly grazed on some kind of herb growing from the earth.
"Use the Imperius Curse on it. Make it come over," Quirrell ordered.
"It's too far… I'm afraid—"
"We can't get any closer. If we do, it'll become alert. The master said you can do it."
"…"
Avada's breathing quickened, and the hand holding his wand trembled slightly. After a long moment, he finally steadied himself and roughly aimed at the unicorn's body. In a faint, shaky voice, he whispered the incantation:
"Imperio."
As usual, an invisible thread extended from Avada's wand and slipped into the unicorn's mind. Instantly, he felt that every movement of the creature was under his control.
Come over… come over…
The unicorn stood up with a dazed look in its eyes and staggered toward the two of them, stopping only when it was a few meters away.
"Very good."
Voldemort's voice emerged directly from the back of Quirrell's head. "You know what to do, Quirrell."
"Yes, my master."
Quirrell stepped forward. From his wand extended a ghostly blue blade, which he swung fiercely at the unicorn's neck. It was blocked by a sudden flash of silver light. However, the blue blade seemed to possess a special property—under its pressure, the silver glow began to tremble ominously, as if it would shatter at any moment…
Nearby, Avada clenched the bundle tightly while watching the two opposing magics, narrowing his eyes.
He couldn't quite understand the principle behind the silver light just yet, but that ghostly blue blade… was it a variant of the Killing Curse?
No—rather than a variant, it seemed more like a weakened form. The Killing Curse could instantly collapse a creature's life structure and cause immediate death. This blade could also directly damage life force, but it couldn't kill instantly the way the Killing Curse could.
Bang!
At last, under the pressure of the blue blade, the silver light gave way, shattering into countless particles. Quirrell immediately withdrew the blade and switched to an ordinary cutting spell, plunging it viciously into the unicorn's neck. Silver blood sprayed out in an instant.
The beautiful creature let out a piercing scream. The overwhelming pain broke it free from the Imperius Curse—but it was too late. Its limbs thrashed desperately as it tried to muster the strength to flee, only to be tightly bound by Quirrell, unable to move…
"Now," Voldemort commanded softly.
While restraining the unicorn, Quirrell lowered his head and began to drink deeply from the gushing wound. As he did, the unicorn's struggles grew weaker and weaker…
"That's enough."
Voldemort's voice sounded noticeably stronger now, no longer as soft and faint as before. "Well done, Ken. If you hadn't been here, Quirrell would have had to struggle with it for quite some time and make a considerable commotion to finish the job… He can't cast two spells at once on his own."
"That will be all for today. I need some time to digest this power… We can return."
"Wait, Professor."
Avada hurriedly spoke up. "I'd also like to collect some unicorn blood to take back for research. This is an unprecedented material—there's a chance it could be used to brew extremely powerful potions…"
"Do as you please. That beast is nearly dead anyway… Quirrell, leave him a Disillusionment Charm."
"…Yes, my master."
As the familiar chill wrapped around him once more, Avada watched Quirrell's figure disappear completely into the dense forest. He immediately crouched down and opened the bundle he had been touching for so long.
Inside were two bottles—one empty, the other filled with a silver-white potion.
He first used the empty bottle to collect some of the blood. Then, without hesitation, he poured half of the potion onto the unicorn's wound and forced the other half into its mouth. Drawing his wand, he softly chanted a spell toward the horrifying gash…
Soon, under the combined effects of the potion and the spell, the bleeding slowed and the wound began to close. The dullness in the unicorn's eyes also seemed to regain a hint of vitality.
"Great… it worked…"
Watching the unicorn's condition gradually stabilize, Avada finally let out a heavy sigh of relief. All those weeks had not been in vain—constantly pestering Hagrid to let him observe unicorns up close, obtaining bits of unicorn horn and hair, and searching the library specifically for books on unicorn care. It had taken him weeks to brew this unicorn-specific healing potion.
During that time, he'd been snubbed plenty by the unicorns—they were an aloof bunch, only showing a bit of friendliness toward Hagrid.
And thankfully, when Quirrell had cut the unicorn's neck, he'd used an ordinary cutting spell rather than that ghostly blue Dark Magic—probably out of concern for contaminating the blood. If it had been that spell, Avada would have been completely helpless.
"Neigh…"
The unicorn, lying on its side, let out a weak whinny—but at least it could make a sound now.
"You'll live, but you lost quite a lot of blood. Even with my potion, you'll be weak for a while… Can you stand?"
Avada carefully used the Levitation Charm to lighten the unicorn's weight, helping it unsteadily to its feet. Its four legs wobbled, but it still managed to turn toward Avada and lower its head slightly.
Was that a gesture of thanks?
It probably didn't know that the one who'd cast the Imperius Curse on it earlier had been him, right?
"Go back. Tell your companions to stay away from here—stay away from Hogwarts. That thing will come again…"
Sensing that the unicorn's condition had improved, Avada murmured softly into its ear while gradually reducing the strength of the Levitation Charm until it was completely lifted. Once he was sure the unicorn could stand on its own and slowly walk away, he finally relaxed.
"Not bad. At least I saved it—and I even got a free bottle of unicorn blood… I can take a bit of this blood, mix it with some soil, and give it to Hagrid, saying I found it in the Forbidden Forest. That should make him more vigilant. Hopefully, it'll slow Voldemort's recovery as much as possible."
"But how am I supposed to explain sneaking into the Forbidden Forest…"
"Forget it. It's nothing new. Worst case, I'll help him take care of Norbert."
Avada put away his wand. Just as he was about to head back under the Disillusionment Charm Quirrell had left behind, he suddenly heard the sound of something cutting through the air—
"Hoo! Hoo!"
A large brown owl swooped past a few meters above his head, released its talons, and dropped a letter that fluttered down unsteadily to Avada's feet.
"This owl looks familiar… wait, isn't this the one I used to deliver a package to Dumbledore earlier today?!"
"Dumbledore replied already? And he didn't even change owls?"
Avada quickly picked up the letter. After confirming there were no strange tricks inside, he opened it and read the contents by moonlight.
(End of Chapter)