Nine Lives and Bad Luck

26:

Time had passed quickly after he healed, although speculation still ran rampent as he deflected trying to avoid the treatment that came with being a natural animagus. But now he, Neville, Parvati, Hermione, and Lavender were all gathered in the Forbidden Forest. The area they were in was fairly safe, but they all, excepting Harry who was not in a human form, still made sure they were alert and kept their wands drawn.

       Lavender led the way as she was the most skilled with the fairy light spell that let her create orbs to hover high above their heads to cast light without getting in their eyes. Neville was not even a half step behind giving the directions on where they were going with Parvati on her other side, holding the map and marking little notes they could call up later about the surroundings, in case they wanted any of it later. All of them could tell Neville would make sure the dittany patch made it on the list- it was his third time visiting as the first time he did not have the proper tools and the next was only to get a sample and he had rarely stopped talking about the patch once since it had been found- not even Hermione could match his enthusiasm.

     This time he claimed he needed a clipping to start his own and Harry was fairly certain the other just liked tending to the wild patch, he wasn't complaining as he also liked visiting the forest, it was somewhat freeing to be out of the stone walls of the castle, and not much beat the comfort of forestry, likely both due to his animagus forms and his frequenting often isolated areas. Besides, Neville even now that he had gotten used to them was still a little reserved, especially when it came to his passions, so seeing him this excited was nice.

        He made the agreed noise to get them to stop and be quiet- he may have figured out how to transform his vocal cords, but it was still uncomfortable. He had heard something out of place. And there it was again, a panicked scream, the sound of which was familiar but not the tone, "Hurry and get back to the entrance, if you hear a roar, lead a teacher here." His form changed to the bat as he needed that speed and stealth that it offered and fluttered toward the unicorn's increasingly desperate movements.

        Blood was thick in the air when he got his first glance of the horse like animal and he changed again, bracing the unicorn against his side, careful to keep his quills from bristling into it despite his tension and the adrenaline coasting through him- with a wing on the other side. It shrieked in horror and he roared as loudly as he could. Help would be on its way. Hopefully they would be wise enough to not get caught leading the teacher- he trusted Parvati to ensure they wouldn't, for as much as she loved to gossip, or maybe because of it, she was surprisingly stealthy. 

      He could see a human like figure just outside the clearing, likely what had injured the unicorn and tracked it here, but it didn't appear it was bold enough to come any closer.  The unicorn was still shrieking as it desperately struggled to escape, but he didn't think it would last for much longer. He took the risk and turned away from the humanoid form- it was familiar, he knew it was, he just couldn't remember from where with the stench of what had to be some wild garlic cloves upwind from him paired with the scent of decaying flesh effectively masking smells- and began the trek back making sure he kept pressure on his captive's still leaking wound. The creature that had attacked it didn't follow.

Faintly he could hear a commotion going on by the forest's edge- Parvati and the others had succeeded it seemed- and he carefully released the unicorn, his wings blocking any paths but the one towards the teachers. With a twist he left the unicorn cantering unsteadily towards his makeshift backup and shot into the air as a bat. Hopefully they hadn't gotten caught and he would meet them somewhere along the tunnel.

"Asp! You're a mess!" Lavender hissed at him the moment she saw him approaching rushing to pull him into a hug regardless of having returned to being a manticore. "What on earth happened, we were worried!"