It was not long after that when the punishment was announced for Harry, Neville, Hermione, and Draco, who had lost house points for being out after curfew.
"Entering the Forbidden Forest!?"
In the common room, Malfoy could be heard grumbling as if to say, "This is a joke," throwing out petty lines like, "I'll tell my father about this." Honestly, if he told his parents, wouldn't he just get scolded even more for breaking the rules?
"But I'm glad it sounds like a fun punishment. I mean, getting to legally enter the 'Forbidden Forest,' which we're normally not allowed into, starting from first year."
"Elaina, you really do enjoy life. I'm jealous…"
After all, they say the forest is home to plenty of mysterious magical creatures you would never see inside Hogwarts Castle. And no matter how dangerous some of those creatures might be, there is no way the school would hand out a punishment that actually put students' lives in danger just for a first-year curfew violation. Probably.
According to the letter, a gamekeeper would be accompanying them, so at worst it was likely meant to scare the first-years a bit and teach them a lesson.
Malfoy seemed terrified, but that was exactly the school's intention: scare rule-breakers so they would never do it again. Surely.
Well, I had meant all that to encourage Malfoy, but he still looked sulky, caught between fear and the embarrassment of being punished.
"You can say whatever you like. You're not being punished, so of course you can afford to be so carefree."
"Then shall I take your place?"
"There you go again, all talk… Wait, are you serious?"
To be fair, I had been involved in the whole dragon incident myself, and the fact that I alone had gotten away with it did prick my conscience a little.
Besides, my curiosity tends to outweigh my fear, so I would not mind doing him a favor here and earning some goodwill.
"You owe me one."
"O-Okay. Fine."
Draco Malfoy nodded with a look that clearly said he had no other choice.
"Then let's go."
With that decided, we went straight to negotiate with Professor McGonagall.
＊＊
When the two of us barged into her office together, Professor McGonagall looked slightly puzzled, but she listened to my explanation nonetheless.
"…I see. I understand your position, Miss Celesteria. You are worried about Mr. Malfoy and wish to accompany him."
"Yes, Professor. That day, I did think something seemed off about Draco! But I never imagined it would turn out like that… If this continues, I don't think I could forgive myself for not noticing something was wrong with my friend…!"
Draco, why are you blinking like that?
"There is no need for you to feel responsible, Miss Celesteria. As with the troll incident, you have a tendency to become overly passionate when it comes to your friends."
"But…"
"Still, your kind concern for your friend is very clear to me."
For just a moment, I thought Professor McGonagall's expression softened in response to my heartfelt performance, but she quickly returned to her usual stern demeanor.
"Nevertheless, punishment is punishment. Mr. Malfoy must go to the Forbidden Forest."
Punishment is punishment. Professor McGonagall declared it firmly, glaring at the visibly dejected Malfoy. Too bad, Draco.
Well, I suppose there's nothing else to do, so maybe I should just head back, I was thinking, when—
"Miss Celesteria, this is merely a suggestion…"
Professor McGonagall suddenly turned toward me. Unlike when she glared at Malfoy, her expression now seemed to be testing me, or perhaps expecting something.
"If you truly insist that you are worried about Mr. Malfoy, I will allow you to accompany him as well. What do you say?"
She emphasized that I was free to refuse if I felt it was not worth it, then left the decision entirely to me.
Now then, what should I do?
I glanced sideways at Malfoy, who had been silent, and he looked back at me with pleading eyes. So he really is scared…
"Professor, that will not be a problem. I want to help Draco… no, I want to help this school!"
"I thought you might say that, Miss Celesteria. Albus left me a message earlier, saying as much. And of course, I too believe it is good for students to deepen their friendships."
What? That's kind of scary. Not Professor McGonagall, but Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Oh, and one more thing."
As she was seeing us out, Professor McGonagall added this as an afterthought.
"In recognition of Miss Celesteria's courage and dedication, twenty-five points to Slytherin."
Really, you don't have to hold back. You could give even more points.
＊＊
At the appointed time of eleven o'clock at night, we headed to the school gates, where the caretaker Mr. Filch was waiting. Harry, Neville, and Hermione were already there as well.
The moment they saw me, Harry and the others looked shocked.
"Huh? Why is Elaina here?"
"I couldn't bring myself to abandon poor Draco, you see…"
"No, you don't need to do that."
Harry, I don't remember raising you to be like this.
"All present… follow me."
At Mr. Filch's command, we headed toward Hagrid's hut.
"Good evening, Mr. Filch. How is Mrs. Norris?"
"She's well enough. Since you keep feeding her so much, she's gotten a bit chubby lately. I've been thinking I need to put her on a diet…"
As we chatted about his cat, Hagrid's hut by the edge of the forest came into view. That night, Hagrid was armed with a crossbow and accompanied by a large dog, apparently named Fang.
"I'll take it from here."
"I'll be back by dawn, to collect whatever bits of them are left."
We watched the caretaker's lantern recede back toward the castle, and Hagrid turned to face us.
"Right then, listen carefully. What we're about to do tonight is dangerous."
"I'm not going into the forest after all."
Perhaps losing his nerve at the last moment, Malfoy protested in a trembling voice, stubbornly resisting.
"Going into the forest is work for servants. It's not something students should do. If my father finds out about this—"
"If you want to stay at Hogwarts, you'll go. Make yourself useful. You did something wrong, so you've got to make up for it."
"That's rich, coming from you…"
Even Harry and the others could not bring themselves to defend Malfoy after that final mutter.
＊＊
"A unicorn that has been grievously wounded by someone is in this forest. This is the second time this week. We're going to find the poor thing together."
With Hagrid leading the way, we made our way to the edge of the forest. After walking for a while, the path split into two, and Hagrid suggested that we split up as well.
"Right then, Neville, you're with me. Hermione too. Harry, Malfoy, and Elaina, you'll go with Fang."
Following Hagrid's assignments, I headed deeper into the forest with Harry, Malfoy, and Fang, Hagrid's dog.
I could hardly walk along humming a tune, but it was far more intense than any ordinary test of courage.
"Hey, Elaina, aren't you scared?"
After a while, Harry asked me the question over Malfoy's head as he walked just behind me.
"I'm not scared at all. After all, I've got reliable boys with me."
"…"
Both boys hurriedly jumped in front of me at almost the exact same moment.
"Elaina, I'll go first after all. It's dangerous, so be careful."
"Move it, Potter. A place like this should be taken by someone like me, a descendant of one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight families."
Here we go again.
"You were scared just a moment ago…"
"Trying to play the hero all by yourself, Potter?"
"You're one to talk!"
They were both so competitive. Thinking this might go on for a while, I glanced around, and out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a silvery light. That looked suspicious.
"Shh, both of you. Be quiet!"
When I whispered sharply, they stopped moving and held their breath.
"That is…"
Holding up the lantern and approaching cautiously, we found a large amount of blood at the base of a tree. It must have been injured around here, thrashing about in pain.
"Look…"
Harry stopped Malfoy and me and pointed toward an open space a little way off. There lay the pitiful sight of a unicorn, dead and spilling blood that shone with a pure white light.
I had never seen anything so beautiful and so tragic.
Just as Harry took a step forward, there came the sound of something sliding across the ground.
As the three of us and the dog froze in place, something emerged from the darkness, its head completely covered by a hood. Crawling along the ground like a beast scavenging for prey, it approached the unicorn and began to drink the blood from its wounds.
"Aaaaaah!"
Malfoy and I screamed, and together with Fang, who leapt forward, we fled in a panic. At least, as we ran, I fired off a Leg-Locker Curse, and I heard what sounded like something crashing to the ground, but I had no idea how much time that bought us.
"Draco, did you see that!?"
"No, I didn't see anything! This has to be a bad dream!"
"Are you seriously escaping reality at a time like this!?"
We sprinted at full speed down a dark, uneven path with no proper footing, screaming all the while. Just like with the troll, discretion is the better part of valor. When things truly turn dangerous, running with everything you have is the only answer.
"Even if we run, where are we supposed to go!? We're in the forest!"
"I don't know! For now, shouldn't we just chase after Fang!?"
I said that, but the truth was that our opponent was a dog. Much faster than any human. As for me, I was nothing more than a fragile eleven-year-old girl. As I kept running, Fang disappeared from sight, and the distance between Malfoy and me grew as well.
"D-Draco, please wait a second!"
"Huh? O-Oh…"
Just as my legs were about to give out, I called out to Malfoy. He must have been at his limit too, because he stopped and leaned against a tree, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath.
"Haah… haah… Is Harry okay…?"
There was no reply.
"Huh? Where's Harry?"
I looked around frantically, but there was no sign of him anywhere.
"If you mean Potter… my leg hurts… Potter was frozen stiff, like he'd been stared at by a Gorgon…"
"Wait, then Harry is still in front of that hooded monster…?"
Malfoy nodded, and the two of us shared a look that said, "This is bad."
"F-For now, let's call Hagrid."
I pulled out my wand and fired a red flare into the sky.
"Is the security at this school really okay…?"
"I told you… the Forbidden Forest is dangerous."
By the time our breathing finally started to calm, Hagrid and the others returned with Fang.
"Where's Harry!? You lot, what happened to Harry!"
"He's still where the dead unicorn is!"
When Hagrid heard that, his face twisted in shock, then went pale as he shouted, "Harry! Are you all right!?" and charged into the forest. Relying on Fang's nose, he was clearly heading straight for Harry. Hermione and Neville followed close behind.
"Let's go too."
"Don't be ridiculous! I'm not facing that monster again, not ever…"
"I'm leaving without you, then."
When I followed after Neville, Malfoy hurriedly chased after me.
To cut to the chase, Harry was safe.
It seemed that a centaur living in the Forbidden Forest had somehow driven the creature away. What was supposed to be a small adventure turned into an unexpected horror, and we returned to the Slytherin dormitory utterly exhausted.
"Snape wanted that stone for Voldemort…"
As we parted ways with the Gryffindors, Harry even started saying things that made no sense. Even after getting into bed, an indescribable unease lingered within me.
Voldemort.
The Dark Lord, the most evil wizard of this century, whose name Harry had murmured like a delirious rambling.
Trying not to dwell on it, I finally went to sleep, preparing for the approaching exams.
(End of chapter)
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