The Forbidden Forest and Up To Something

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The next night, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco are being led to Hagrid's hut by Mr. Filch. Filch: "A pity they let the old punishments die. There was a time detention would find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, I miss the screaming." Y/n: "I wouldn't scream." Draco gulps, and Hermione rushes by. Filch: "You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the dark forest." Hagrid appears with a crossbow. He sniffles. Hagrid: "A sorry lot this, Hagrid. Oh, good God, man, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?" Y/n: "Give him a break." Filch: "It's just a dragon." Y/n: *Mockingly* "It's just some magic." Filch glares at her. Hagrid: [sniffs and sighs] "Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony." Hermione: "Well, that's good, isn't it? He'll be with his own kind." Hagrid: "Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania? {Filch rolls his eyes.} What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby, after all." Y/n: "I'm sure they'll accept him as their own. Like birds raising Brood parasites young." Hagrid: "Huh?" Y/n: "Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young." Filch: "Oh, for God's sake, pull yourself together, man. You're going into the forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you." Draco: "The forest? I thought that was a joke! We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are...[a howl sounds]...werewolves!" Filch: "There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that." Draco looks frightened. Filch: "Nighty-night." He leaves to go back into the castle. Hagrid: "Right. Let's go." In the Forbidden Forest, the group walks along a path to a tree. Hagrid stops, bends down and dips his fingers in a silver puddle. He pulls out his fingers and rubs them together. A silver trail smears with his fingers. Harry: "Hagrid, what's that?" Hagrid: "What we're here for. See that? That's unicorn's blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago. Now, this one's been injured bad by something." Harry suddenly sees a large cloaked figure walking through the trees. He looks at Hagrid. Hagrid: "So, it's our job to find the poor beast. Ron, Hermione, you'll come with me." Ron: "Okay." Hagrid: "Y/n can go by herself. I know she goes in here by herself often." Hagrid: "And Harry, you'll go with Malfoy." Draco grimaces, and Harry nods. Draco: "Okay. Then I get Fang!" Hagrid: "Fine. Just so you know, he's a bloody coward." Fang whines. Harry and Draco are walking through a part of the forest, with Fang leading. Draco has the lamp in his hand. Draco: "You wait till my father hears about this. This is servant's stuff." Harry: "If I didn't know better, Draco, I'd say you were scared." Draco: "Scared, Potter?! [He scoffs, but suddenly hears a howl] Did you hear that? Come on, Fang. Scared." Harry and Draco approach a flat ground with gnarled roots all over. Fang stops, then growls. Y/n jumps onto the branch in front of them. Harry: "What is it, Fang?" Y/n sends a flair of sapphire magic into the air. Up ahead is a cloaked figure who is crouching over a dead unicorn, drinking its blood from its wound. The figure raises its head, silver blood dripping from its mouth. Harry gasps and grabs his scar, which is hurting. Draco screams with pure fear and runs away with Fang. Draco: "HELP!!!!!" Harry is left by himself at the mercy of the figure who slides over the unicorn and rises erect. It advances towards Harry, who backs up, but trips. He crawls backward. Y/n drops down in front of Harry. She then creates a sapphire forcefield. Suddenly, there is the sound of hoof beats. A figure leaps over Harry and lands near the cloaked figure. It is a silver centaur called Firenze. It rears, and the cloaked figure retreats, flying away. Firenze: "Y/n Maximoff. Harry Potter, you must leave. You are known to many creatures here. The forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you, Harry." Harry: "But what was that thing you saved me from?" Firenze: "A monstrous creature. It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death. But at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure that the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half-life. A cursed life." Harry: "But who would choose such a life?" Firenze: "Can you think of no one?" Harry: "Do you mean to say...that that thing that killed the unicorn...that was drinking its blood...that was Voldemort?" Firenze: "Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?" Harry: [realizing] "The Philosopher's Stone." Fang suddenly barks and Harry looks up to see Hagrid, Hermione, Ron and Draco appear. Hagrid has his crossbow ready but lowers it when he sees Firenze. Y/n: "I pissed off Voldemort!" Draco: "You sound so happy." Hermione: "Harry!" Hagrid: "Hello there, Firenze. I see you've met our young Mr. Potter. You all right there, Harry?" Harry nods. Firenze: "Harry Potter, this is where I leave you. You're safe now. Good luck." He leaves as the group look at the dead unicorn.

~Later~

Hermione, Y/n, Harry, and Ron are meeting in the common room. Hermione: "You mean You-Know-Who's out there, right now, in the forest?" Harry: "But he's weak. He's living off the unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong! Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself; he wants the Stone for Voldemort. With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again. He'll... he'll come back." Ron: "But, if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to... kill you two, do you?" Harry: "I think if he'd had the chance, he might've tried to kill me tonight." Y/n: "I'd like to watch him try." Ron: [gulps] "And to think I've been worrying about my Potions final." Hermione: "Hang on a minute. [Harry and Ron both glance at her] We're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared? Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore's around, Harry, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore's around, you can't be touched." She gives him a reassuring smile; he nods. Later all the students are rushing out as they finish their exams. Hermione: "I'd always heard Hogwart's end-of-year exams were frightful, but I've found they're rather enjoyable." Y/n: "Yeah, I read the whole time, while my body took the test." Ron: "Speak for yourself. All right there, Harry?" Harry's walking next to the two rubbing his forehead right where the scar is. Harry: "My scar. It keeps burning." Hermione: "It's happened before..." Harry: "Not like this." Ron: "Perhaps you should see the nurse." Harry: "I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming. [A look of realization] Ah... Oh! Of course!" Harry starts walking faster making Hermione and Ron speed up to catch him. Hermione: "What is it?" Y/n: "I get it." Harry: "Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pocket? Why didn't I see it before?" They approach Hagrid's hut and he is playing a flute. Harry: "Hagrid, [Hagrid stops playing] who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like?" Hagrid: "I dunno. I never saw his face. He kept his hood up." Harry: "This stranger though, you and he must have talked." Hagrid: "Well, he- he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him, I said, after Fluffy a dragon's gonna be no problem." Harry: "Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Hagrid: "Well, o' course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do you come across a three-headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told 'im, I said, I said, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm 'im. Take Fluffy, for example, just play him a bit o' music, and he falls straight to sleep.' I shouldn't have told you that. [The Trio runs off] Where are you going? Where are you-?" Harry, Hermione, and Ron run into the Transfiguration classroom to talk to McGonagall. Harry: "We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately!" McGonagall: "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London." Harry: "He's gone! Now! But, this is important! This is about the Philosophers Stone!" McGonagall: [Looking shocked] "How do you know-?" Harry: "Someone's going to try to steal it!" McGonagall: "I don't know how you three found out about the Stone, but I assure you it is perfectly well protected. Now, would you go back to your dormitories, quietly." They leave the classroom talking to each other. Harry: "That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village. It was Snape. Which means, he knows how to get past Fluffy." Y/n walks up with Cedric and Adrian. Y/n: "Then you turn three times to confuse the other keepers and throw when they take the split second to register what's happening." Snape sneaks up behind them. Hermione: "And with Dumbledore gone-" Snape: "Good afternoon. Now, what would four young Gryffindors, a Hufflepuff, and a Slytherin, such as yourselves, be doing inside on a day like this?" Y/n: "Cedric, Adrian, and I are talking about Quidditch." Five out of six of them jump and quickly turn around. Hermione: "Ah, w- w- w... we- we were just-" Snape: "You ought to be careful. People will think you're... up to something." He walks away. Cedric: "We'll get going." Adrian: "I have Quidditch Practice. I'll try that move." Hermione: "Now, what do we do?" Harry: [With a determined look] "We go down the trap door, tonight." 

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