Chapter Text
Things couldn’t have been worse.
Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall’s study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Hermione was trembling. Her heart was exploding in her chest. She could feel the bubbling of a huge panic attack unlike she had ever experienced. Excuses, alibis, and wild cover-up stories chased each other around Hermione’s brain, each more feeble than the last. She could not think of one conceivable excuse. This was it. They were cornered.
How could they have been so stupid as to forget the cloak? There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest Astronomy Tower (which was out-of-bounds except for classes). Add Norbert and the Invisibility Cloak and they might as well be packing their bags already. They were going to be expelled. She’d have to go home to Lavenham and back to regular school. She’d never feel at home again. Would she have to continue the family business? Life filled with cavities and fillings instead of spells and charms? Would they take her wand? Her beautiful wand. It had become like an extension of her body. She was very rarely without her wand. Would they take her books? Hermione couldn’t imagine living without her books. Her books were as much a part of her as her wand. And her friends! Would she be barred from seeing them ever again? Maybe she’d be able to continue to write her friends while she lived her life as a Muggle. That was the only saving grace.
When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville. Hermione couldn’t look. She didn’t want to see the disappointment in either of their eyes.
“Harry!” Neville burst out the moment he saw the other two. “I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag —”
Harry and Hermione shook their heads violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.
“I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the Astronomy Tower. It’s one o’clock in the morning. Explain yourselves.”
It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher’s question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue.
“I think I’ve got a good idea of what’s been going on,” said Professor McGonagall. “It doesn’t take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I’ve already caught him. I suppose you think it’s funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?”
Hermione gasped. No! She looked at Neville. His face crumpled. Hermione’s heart ached for him -- she knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them, and now he thought they had done it all on purpose. All hopes of being able to continue a friendship with Neville from afar vanished. He’d never accept her owls after this.
“I’m disgusted,” said Professor McGonagall. “Four students out of bed in one night! I’ve never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense.” Hermione shrank in her chair as low as humanly possible. “As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions — yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it’s very dangerous — and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor.”
“Fifty?” Harry gasped. Hermione gasped as well. They would lose the lead Harry had won in the last Quidditch match.
“Fifty points each,” said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.
“Professor — please —”
“You can’t —”
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I’ve never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students.”
A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they’d ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup… and any hope Parvati would ever want to talk to Hermione again either. Her life was ruined.
-----
Hermione climbed the stars back to the dormitory slowly. Her feet felt like lead. She kept telling herself, “At least you weren’t expelled,” but the words didn’t make her feel any better. Being expelled would have been horrible, but having to stay to deal with all of the disappointment may be worse. First, there was Professor McGonagall. Hermione’s hero. Her role model. How could she look Professor McGonagall in the eye after this? How could she regain her respect?
Parvati was going to be so angry when she saw the hourglass in the Entrance Hall. Gryffindor was going to lose... and lose miserably, and it was all Hermione’s fault. She was going to have to spend the rest of her time at Hogwarts living with someone who absolutely loathed her.
And, finally, Neville. Poor Neville. Neville was having an even harder time fitting in than Hermione… and now Neville thought she had tricked him and lied to him. She couldn’t imagine how betrayed he felt, especially knowing how brave he had to have been to try to save them. She watched him walk towards the boys dormitory in front of Harry and her heart broke. He just looked so defeated.
Hermione pulled the blankets up over her face and cast the Muffliato charm so her roommates wouldn’t hear her sobs. She couldn’t stop. She couldn’t breath. She couldn’t think. She didn’t sleep for a single second that night.
At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points the next morning thought there’d been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday?
And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points... him and a couple of other stupid first years. Hermione took little solace that most people didn’t know her well enough by name, but she knew that any Gryffindor with half a brain would know exactly who was with Harry Potter in the Astronomy Tower.
Harry did bear the brunt of it, though. From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn’t trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, “Thanks Potter, we owe you one!”
Hermione, at least, was able to walk the halls relatively unnoticed. Nonetheless, she made sure to keep her head down and not draw any attention to herself. During class, she didn’t answer any questions if she could help it - not only so people wouldn’t notice her, but also because the word vomit was so bad. She didn’t trust herself to shut up after saying the answer.
Ron was constantly trying to cheer Hermione and Harry up.
“They’ll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they’ve been here, and people still like them.”
“They’ve never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they?” said Harry miserably.
“Well — no,” Ron admitted.
Hermione was right about Parvati - she was furious and refused to talk to her. Hermione survived the only way she was capable - throwing herself into books.The time she would have spent working with Parvati was spent working with Ron and Harry (mostly since they were the only two who would talk to her).
Hermione and Ron were in the library one afternoon. She was testing him on Astronomy with the aid of a map of Jupiter and its moons. “Ok, Ron, what are the difference between the regular satellites and the irregular satellites of Jupiter?”
“One goes to the loo every day and the other doesn’t? Look, Hermione, this is pointless.”
“It’s not pointless. It’s on the test. Come on, Ron, it’s really quite simple. Regular satellites have regular or circular orbits because they’re closer to Jupiter. Irregular satellites have irregular or more eccentric orbits because they’re further away and not as affected by Jupiter’s gravity.”
“I’m not going to get it no matter how many times you tell me that.”
Hermione sighed. She gloomily remembered Parvati’s advice on trying to figure out how to help others learn. “I know you can get this, Ron. Regular - normal. Irregular - crazy.” She looked at his face. It was completely empty looking. No, that wasn’t it. She changed tactics. “Ok, using your crude loo analogy, when you’re ‘regular,’ everything is moving around correctly in your body, right? When you’re ‘irregular,’ everything is moving around all crazy. It’s not in sync. It’s like your body doesn’t have as much control, just like Jupiter doesn’t have much control over planets that are farther away from it.”
Ron had a nasty habit of sucking on the end of his quill when he was thinking hard. Hermione looked away - it was disgusting.
“Ok, I think I get it.”
“Good. Now, let’s take it a step further. There are two groups of regular moons. What are they?” Hermione couldn’t watch any longer. “Ron, that is utterly revolting. Take that quill out of your mouth right this instant.” Ron started to suck the end of the quill more aggressively to gross Hermione out but, thankfully, Harry appeared and plopped down in between them.
“Guess what I just heard,” he said.
“Harry, we’re studying and you should be too,” Hermione said with a slight hint of annoyance.
“Yeah, I will later. Promise. When I went back to go get your library book, I heard Quirrell in his classroom. He was crying and then said, ‘No, no, not again - please’ and then ‘all right, all right!’ and ran out of the room. I peeked in, but the room was empty... but the other door was open. I’ll bet Snape was in there threatening him again!”
“Snape’s done it, then!” said Ron. “If Quirrell’s told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell —”
“There’s still Fluffy, though,” said Hermione, thoughtfully.
“Maybe Snape’s found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid,” said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. “I bet there’s a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?”
The fire of adventure was kindling again in Ron’s eyes, but Hermione answered before Harry could. It was the most simple answer, and she was kind of angry at herself for not thinking about it before.
“Go to Dumbledore. That’s what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves, we’ll be thrown out for sure.”
“But we’ve got no proof!” said Harry. “Quirrell’s too scared to back us up. Snape’s only got to say he doesn’t know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor — who do you think they’ll believe, him or us? It’s not exactly a secret we hate him. Dumbledore’ll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn’t help us if his life depended on it. He’s too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he’ll think. And don’t forget, we’re not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That’ll take a lot of explaining.”
Hermione’s mind was slightly swayed, but Ron’s definitely wasn’t.
“If we just do a bit of poking around —”
“No,” said Harry flatly, “we’ve done enough poking around.”
He pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to read the names of its moons. Hermione was glad - no more snooping around.
-----
The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Hermione, and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:
Your detention will take place at eleven o’clock tonight.
Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.
Professor M. McGonagall
Hermione felt her heart drop even though she knew the note was coming (and had been dreading it for days). As much as she was worried about losing a night of studying, she deserved it.
At eleven o’clock that night, they said good-bye to Ron in the Common Room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there — and so was Malfoy.
“Follow me,” said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. “I bet you’ll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won’t you, eh?” he said, leering at them. “Oh yes… hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me… It’s just a pity they let the old punishments die out… hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I’ve got the chains still in my office, keep ’em well oiled in case they’re ever needed… Right, off we go, and don’t think of running off, now, it’ll be worse for you if you do.”
They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. He had been completely avoiding Hermione, so she hadn’t had a chance to be able to explain. She felt horrible. All she wanted to do was to grab him in a hug and make him feel better, just like he did for her all those months ago on the Hogwarts Express.
The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Hermione could see the lighted windows of Hagrid’s hut. Then, they heard a distant shout.
“Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started.”
Hermione’s heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn’t be so bad. Harry looked positively relieved, but Filch saw it and said, “I suppose you think you’ll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy — it’s into the forest you’re going, and I’m much mistaken if you’ll all come out in one piece.”
At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.
“The forest?” he repeated, and he didn’t sound quite as cool as usual. “We can’t go in there at night — there’s all sorts of things in there — werewolves, I heard.”
Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry’s robe and made a choking noise. Hermione wanted to, frankly, do the same.
“That’s your problem, isn’t it?” said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. “Should’ve thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn’t you?”
Hagrid came striding towards them out of the dark with Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.
“Abou’ time,” he said. “I bin waitin’ fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?”
“I shouldn’t be too friendly to them, Hagrid,” said Filch coldly. “They’re here to be punished, after all.”
“That’s why yer late, is it?” said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. “Bin lecturin’ them, eh? ’Snot your place ter do that. Yeh’ve done yer bit, I’ll take over from here.”
“I’ll be back at dawn,” said Filch. “For what’s left of them,” he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.
Malfoy turned to Hagrid. “I’m not going in that forest,” he said, and Hermione thought she detected a little panic in his voice which made her feel slightly better… for half a second. Then, the bubble of anxiety rose right back again.
“Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts,” said Hagrid fiercely. “Yeh’ve done wrong an’ now yeh’ve got ter pay fer it.”
“But this is servant stuff, it’s not for students to do. I thought we’d be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he’d —”
“— tell yer that’s how it is at Hogwarts,” Hagrid growled. “Copyin’ lines! What good’s that ter anyone? Yeh’ll do summat useful or yeh’ll get out. If yeh think yer father’d rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an’ pack. Go on!”
Malfoy didn’t move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.
“Right then,” said Hagrid, “now, listen carefully, ’cause it’s dangerous what we’re gonna do tonight, an’ I don’ want no one takin’ risks. Follow me over here a moment.”
He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick, black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.
“Look there,” said Hagrid. “See that stuff shinin’ on the ground? Silvery stuff? That’s unicorn blood. There’s a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We’re gonna try an’ find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery.”
“And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?” said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
“There’s nothin’ that lives in the forest that’ll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang,” said Hagrid. “An’ keep ter the path. Right, now, we’re gonna split inter two parties an’ follow the trail in diff’rent directions. There’s blood all over the place, it must’ve bin staggerin’ around since last night at least.”
“I want Fang,” said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang’s long teeth.
“All right, but I warn yeh, he’s a coward,” said Hagrid. “So me, Harry, an’ Hermione’ll go one way an’ Draco, Neville, an’ Fang’ll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we’ll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an’ practice now — that’s it — an’ if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an’ we’ll all come an’ find yeh — so, be careful — let’s go.”
The forest was black and silent. A little way into it, they reached a fork in the earth path. Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Neville, and Fang took the right. Hermione was relieved to be with Harry and Hagrid, but she wished she could be with Neville. A true Gryffindor would be brave and protect her friends. Hermione felt like a failure as she followed Harry and Hagrid.
They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then, a ray of moonlight broke through the branches above and lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves. Hagrid looked very worried.
“Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?” Harry asked.
“Not fast enough,” said Hagrid. “It’s not easy ter catch a unicorn. They’re powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before.”
They walked past a mossy tree stump and Hermione could hear the sound of running water… but the running water started to sound like a raging river… or was that just her heart beating wildly in her chest? She felt faint and grabbed the nearest tree for support. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path. Hermione had hoped she hadn’t just put her hands in one, but she was too faint to care.
“You all right, Hermione?” Hagrid whispered. “Don’ worry, it can’t’ve gone far if it’s this badly hurt, an’ then we’ll be able ter — GET BEHIND THAT TREE!”
Hagrid seized Harry and Hermione and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. Hermione’s body was like a rag doll, and she hit the ground hard. He pulled out an arrow, fitted it into his crossbow, and raised it, ready to fire. The three of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground.
“I knew it,” he murmured. “There’s summat in here that shouldn’ be.”
“A werewolf?” Harry suggested.
“That wasn’ no werewolf an’ it wasn’ no unicorn, neither,” said Hagrid grimly. “Right, follow me, but careful, now.”
Hermione didn’t want to get up from behind the tree, but she didn’t want to stay there either. She was frantically trying to think of anything she learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts that she could use, but her brain wouldn’t comply. They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.
“Who’s there?” Hagrid called. “Show yerself — I’m armed!”
And into the clearing came — was it a man or a horse? Hermione had to do a double take. To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard... but below that was a horse’s gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione’s jaws dropped. It was a centaur! Just like in Hermione’s textbooks!
“Oh, it’s you, Ronan,” said Hagrid in relief. “How are yeh?”
He walked forward and shook the centaur’s hand.
“Good evening to you, Hagrid,” said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice. “Were you going to shoot me?”
“Can’t be too careful, Ronan,” said Hagrid, patting his crossbow. “There’s summat bad loose in this forest. This is Harry Potter an’ Hermione Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. An’ this is Ronan, you two. He’s a centaur.”
“We’d noticed,” said Hermione faintly, though she wasn’t sure Harry had the slightest idea what the creature was. Thankfully, her voice (and brain) had returned upon the shock of seeing such a mystical beast.
“Good evening,” said Ronan. “Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?”
“Erm —”
“A bit,” said Hermione timidly.
“A bit. Well, that’s something,” Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky. “Mars is bright tonight.”
“Yeah,” said Hagrid, glancing up, too. “Listen, I’m glad we’ve run inter yeh, Ronan, ’cause there’s a unicorn bin hurt — you seen anythin’?”
Ronan didn’t answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, then sighed again.
“Always the innocent are the first victims,” he said. “So it has been for ages past, so it is now.”
“Yeah,” said Hagrid, “but have yeh seen anythin’, Ronan? Anythin’ unusual?”
“Mars is bright tonight,” Ronan repeated while Hagrid watched him impatiently. “Unusually bright.” What did Mars mean? Why did he keep repeating it like that? And then it hit her: Mars was the Roman god of war. War was coming. Hermione gasped, and her heart leapt up into her throat. Ronan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, yet neither Harry or Hagrid heard her. Hermione swore she saw Ronan give a slight shake of his head as if to say, “Don’t tell them.” Hermione certainly wasn’t going to disobey a centaur.
“Yeah, but I was meanin’ anythin’ unusual a bit nearer home,” said Hagrid. “So yeh haven’t noticed anythin’ strange?”
Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, “The forest hides many secrets.”
A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur with black hair and much wilder-looking than Ronan.
“Hullo, Bane,” said Hagrid. “All right?”
“Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?”
“Well enough. Look, I’ve jus’ bin askin’ Ronan, you seen anythin’ odd in here lately? There’s a unicorn bin injured — would yeh know anythin’ about it?”
Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward.
“Mars is bright tonight,” he said simply. They were trying to warn them, and Hagrid wasn’t getting it! Hermione stole a glance at Harry who also clearly had no idea what the centaurs were talking about. She was the only one who understood, but was too afraid to say anything. Ronan watched her closely, and she snapped her eyes straight ahead of her.
“We’ve heard,” said Hagrid grumpily. “Well, if either of you do see anythin’, let me know, won’t yeh? We’ll be off, then.”
Harry and Hermione followed Hagrid out of the clearing, staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view. Ronan seemed to be whispering to Bane, and they both stared straight at her. She wasn’t sure why, exactly, they didn’t want her to tell the others, but she certainly wasn’t going to while they were watching.
“Never,” said Hagrid irritably, “try an’ get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin’ closer’n the moon.”
“Are there many of them in here?” asked Hermione. Her word vomit was starting, but she didn’t want to blurt out that they just did get a straight answer out of a centaur.
“Oh, a fair few… Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they’re good enough about turnin’ up if ever I want a word. They’re deep, mind, centaurs... they know things… jus’ don’ let on much.”
“D’you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?” said Harry.
“Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what’s bin killin’ the unicorns — never heard anythin’ like it before.”
They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder, but Hermione forced herself to stare straight ahead. She was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. They had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid’s arm.
“Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!” Oh no, Neville! She should have been there for him!
“You two wait here!” Hagrid shouted. “Stay on the path. I’ll come back for yeh!”
They heard him crashing through the undergrowth. Hermione and Harry stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn’t hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.
“You don’t think they’ve been hurt, do you?” whispered Hermione. She really didn’t want to hear the answer.
“I don’t care if Malfoy has, but if something’s got Neville… it’s our fault he’s here in the first place.” Hermione fought back tears. If anything had happened to Neville… she wouldn’t let herself finish the thought.
The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. What was going on? Where were the others?
At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid’s return. Malfoy, Neville, and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks. Hermione never wanted to punch someone so much in her life.
“We’ll be lucky ter catch anythin’ now, with the racket you two were makin’. Right, we’re changin’ groups — Neville, you stay with me an’ Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an’ this idiot. I’m sorry,” Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry. “But he’ll have a harder time frightenin’ you, an’ we’ve gotta get this done.”
Hermione was terrified of Harry facing the Forbidden Forest without Hagrid (and dealing with Malfoy), but she was selfishly glad she’d still be with Hagrid and his crossbow. Plus, she’d be able to be there for Neville. He was as white as a ghost and trembling violently.
They watched Harry, Draco, and Fang disappear through the trees. “Alright, let’s go,” said Hagrid. Hermione and Neville had to walk quickly to make up for Hagrid’s long strides. As terrified as she was, Hermione let Neville go first behind Hagrid so he wouldn’t have to be last in their little line with no protection from the rear. She hoped Neville took a little comfort from that at least.
She desperately wanted to talk to him, but didn’t want to make too much noise. Neville tripped over a branch. Hermione helped him up and gave his hand a squeeze that she hoped conveyed all that was unsaid between them. Neville still wouldn’t look at her, though. Her guilt was becoming worse than her fear of the forest and creatures within.
Hagrid suddenly stopped in his tracks and, like a cartoon, Nevile and Hermione walked right into him. Hagrid held up his hand for them to be quiet. They heard a noise to their left. Hagrid steadied his crossbow in the direction of the noise. They waited for what seemed to be hours but could only have been a few seconds. There was another snap of a twig.
“Show yerself — I’m armed!” Hagrid said again but, this time (unlike when they had come upon Ronan), no one stepped out. “I said show yerself!” Hagrid yelled. Nothing. Hermione knew something was going to happen, and that “something” wasn’t going to be good. In one motion, Hermione pulled Neville to the ground and covered him as much as she could. She shut her eyes tight. Hagrid yelled again. Hermione heard the crossbow release and felt a whoosh of air as the arrow flew. There was a strangled cry as the arrow hit something soft. Hagrid went crashing ahead.
Hermione stayed where she was with her eyes shut and holding on to Neville as tightly as she could. She could feel him shaking under her. “It’s going to be ok, Neville. Hagrid’s here. He’ll protect us.”
“I don’t want to die!” he whimpered.
“You’re not going to die, I promise.”
The truth was Hermione had no idea whether they’d live or die. She had read all about the Forbidden Forest in Hogwarts, a History and knew all too well the dangers they faced. This time, lying to Neville was exactly the right thing to do.
They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. They could hear Hagrid crashing about in the forest. Then they heard him scream. Hermione, all of a sudden, couldn’t bear to have the last thing she would ever say to be a lie to Neville, no matter her intentions.
“Neville, this is all my fault and I’m so sorry but I want you to know, if anything, you know, happens to us, we didn’t mean to trick you. We really did have a dragon. Thank you for trying to save us. Thank you for being so brave. Thank you for being my first ever friend.”
Neville opened his eyes wide for a moment to look at Hermione, but quickly shut them as they heard Hagrid yell again. Hermione started to cry. They could hear someone (or something) crashing towards them. This was it.
“You two all right?” came Hagrid’s voice. He was out of breath.
Hermione lifted her head but kept her body shielding Neville. She wanted to make sure it was actually Hagrid before getting up. It was Hagrid, all right. His large body blocked the light of the moon. He had branches sticking out of his beard, but didn’t look hurt.
“No, but we’re alive,” Hermione said, getting up and helping Neville do the same.
“It was a wild thestral,” explained Hagrid as if they knew what he was talking about. “Had to kill it.” Hagrid looked positively devastated.
Hermione didn’t even ask what a thestral was nor did she care at that moment. She allowed herself to take a breath, but it was cut short by another scream in the distance. Something, again, was crashing towards them at a breakneck pace. Hermione dove on top of Neville again. She heard the creak of the crossbow being cocked and loaded.
“Fang!” Hagrid yelled. He lowered the crossbow. “You bloody coward. I almos’ shot ya! What’cha runnin’ fer? An’ where’s Harry an’ Malfoy?”
Draco screamed as he came crashing into the clearing. He came to a stop and doubled over, breathing hard. Hermione searched the trees for Harry to follow, but he never came.
“Where’s Harry?” Hagrid repeated, this time to Malfoy.
“I dunno,” Malfoy gasped for air.
“Ya ruddy jus’ left him?” Hagrid yelled.
“Dead… unicorn… cloak… eating” Malfoy couldn’t get a complete sentence out because he was breathing too hard.
“Ya found the unicorn? Where?”
Draco just pointed unhelpfully behind him before doubling over again to try to catch his breath. Hermione stood up and yanked Malfoy upright without even thinking about what she was doing. “You tell us this instant what happened!” she screamed inches away from his face.
Perhaps it was the shock of Hermione standing up to Draco, but suddenly the boy had enough breath in him to speak more coherently. “We were just walking, and we saw the dead unicorn thing, and then there was this guy, all in black, just… just eating it!”
Hagrid’s face went white, and he charged off in the direction Malfoy had just come from without saying a word.
“What do you mean, eating it?” Hermione croaked out. Her heart was in her throat.
“I dunno, just eating it. He kind of slithered over and just…” Malfoy’s voice dissolved, and he stood transfixed by the memory. And then, as if being shook by Hermione again, he snapped out of it. He looked at Hermione with contempt. “Whatever. I hope whatever it is eats Potter.”
Hermione fought the overwhelming urge to smack Draco across his pale, white face. She forced her brain to switch gears and crouched back down to Neville. “Come on, Neville, we have to save Harry.”
“He’s probably dead,” spat Malfoy. “Serves him right.”
“Shut up, Malfoy!” Neville yelled.
“Wanna make me?”
Hermione knew Neville definitely did not want to make him do anything. She stood back up and stuck her wand in Malfoy’s face. He seemed to shrink back a bit. “You know I know way more spells than you, Malfoy. Don’t. Test. Me. I always get top marks.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neville stand and draw his wand too. She couldn’t have been prouder. “Right then. Now show us where Harry is,” she said, lowering her wand slightly, but not all the way.
Draco shuffled in Hagrid’s wake with Hermione and Neville close behind him. They all had their wands drawn. Every sound in the forest was amplified and terrifying, but Hermione pushed herself to remain as calm as she could be (at least on the outside) for Neville’s sake.
They walked for what seemed like miles. “I swear, if you got us lost, Malfoy,” Hermione started, but was interrupted by the sound of hooves. The centaurs were back! Maybe she could ask them if they had seen Harry.
The three froze in place as the hooves galloped closer and closer. Hermione caught a flash of white in the trees. An elegant centaur flew into the clearing - one she didn’t recognize from their previous encounter. On it’s majestic palomino back was a lump of black - it was Harry!
“Harry! Harry, are you all right?” Hermione yelled as she ran towards them on the path, pushing Draco out of the way. Hagrid crashed through the trees to her left and joined her in her sprint to Harry and the centaur.
“I’m fine,” said Harry. “The unicorn’s dead, Hagrid, it’s in that clearing back there.”
“This is where I leave you,” the centaur murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. “You are safe now.”
Harry slid off his back.
“Good luck, Harry Potter,” said the centaur. “The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times.”
He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest. Hermione grabbed Harry in a huge hug. He was soaking wet and shivering. “Harry, what happened?”
Harry stole a glance at Malfoy. It was clear he didn’t want him to hear. “Firenze saved me,” he said simply, but Hermione knew there was a lot more to the story. “Neville, you alright?” he asked. Neville nodded. He was shivering almost as much as Harry was.
“What, you’re not going to ask about me, Potter?” Malfoy sneared.
“No, I don’t ask about cowards who run like a little baby at the first sign of trouble,” Harry said. That shut Malfoy up fast and he didn’t speak the whole way back to the castle.
-----
Hermione, Harry, and Neville hurried up to the Gryffindor Common Room as soon as they got back. Hermione pretended to head up to her dormitory so Neville wouldn’t suspect anything, but then she sat down in one of the big, comfy chairs to wait for Harry to come back down.
As she waited, she forced herself to calm down and breath. Inhale: Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, and Thebe. Exhale: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Ron just didn’t understand how calming the moons of Jupiter could be.
After a few minutes, Harry and Ron came down the spiral staircase. Ron looked as though he was still half asleep. “Is Neville alright?” she asked.
“Fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.”
“Ok, what happened?” Hermione was at the edge of her seat. Harry was pacing in front of the fireplace.
“Right. So we found the unicorn and it was bleeding from a cut in its side. It was already dead... but then this figure came out. It was wearing a cloak and kind of crawling towards the unicorn… and then it bent down and started to drink the unicorn blood! Draco screamed like a little git and ran away, and the cloaked figure started coming towards me.” Harry stopped pacing and turned to them. “And then my head just exploded. It was like my scar was on fire! The cloaked figure was coming towards me and I couldn’t move.”
“What do you mean your scar hurt you?” Hermione asked.
“Just that - it felt like it was exploding but as soon as the figure was gone, it stopped hurting as bad. Firenze saved me but he shouldn’t have done so… Bane was furious!”
“Why on earth would they care?” Ron asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Centaurs are very proud creatures,” Hermione explained. “They do not like to be ‘used’ or in any way employed by humankind.”
“They need to get over that,” Ron said. Hermione just shook her head. She wasn’t in the mood to give Ron a lesson in Wizard-Centaur relations.
“He was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen… they must show Voldemort’s coming back…Bane thinks Firenze should have let the figure kill me… I suppose that’s what’s ‘written in the stars.’ We left them, and then Firenze told me unicorn blood was used to keep someone alive, but the life would be cursed because it’s so ‘monstrous’ to kill a unicorn. Someone would have to be really desperate to do it… someone who wants to come back to power,” Harry paused and looked at them. “Don’t you get it? Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort... and Voldemort’s waiting in the forest... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich!”
“Stop saying the name!” said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them. Harry wasn’t listening.
“So all I’ve got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone,” Harry went on feverishly, “then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off… Well, I suppose Bane’ll be happy.”
Hermione knew he was probably right, but couldn’t let herself be completely convinced He Who Must Not Be Named was really back. “Harry, everyone says Dumbledore’s the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won’t touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that’s a very imprecise branch of magic.”
The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. Hermione was finally convinced. Voldemort was coming back and he wanted the Philosopher’s Stone.