Saphira Black and the Philosopher's Stone

Thirty-Eight~ Pain And Panic

--Saphira's POV--

    Malfoy, Fang, and I had been walking for about an hour, following traces of unicorn blood, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path was almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. To me, the blood seemed to be getting thicker.

    I wondered if Harry and Hermione were all right. Then again, they were with Hagrid. Of course they'd be okay.

    Me, on the other hand...

    I could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

    "Look-" I murmured, holding out my arm to stop Malfoy.

    Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. We inched closer.

    It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. I had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

    I had just taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made me freeze where I stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered... then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Malfoy, Fang, and I just stood there, transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood."

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

    Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted- so did Fang. Hagrid was right about fang being a coward. The hooded creature raised its head and looked right at me- unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward me- I couldn't move, I was frozen, I was too scared...

    Then a pain I'd never felt before pierced the back of my neck; it was as though my scar were on fire. Half blinded, I staggered backward.. I heard hooves behind me, galloping, and something jumped right over me, charging at the advancing figure.

    The pain was so bad I fell to my knees, my hands gripping my neck tightly, wishing for the pain to end. It took a minute or two to pass. When I looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur (I'd read about them in books) was standing over me, and he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.

    "Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling me to my feet.

    "Yes- thank you- what was that?"

    The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, liek pale sapphires. He looked carefully at me, and his eyes lingered on my throat.

    "You are the Black girl," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. Can you ride? It will be a much quicker journey.

     "My name isFirenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so I could calmber onto his back.

    "How do you know my name?" I asked as he walked out of the clearing.

    "You were mentioned many times in the stars. You arequite popular... in fact, you seem to be more popular than the Potter boy..."

    "What was that thing you saved me from?"

    "Saphira Black, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

    "Yes!" I said, remembering having read about it. Yes, I sound like a nerd, but believe me, I'm not. "The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You will have only a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

    "You are knowledgeable."

    "But who'd be that desperate?" I wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, isn't death better?"

    "It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else- something that will bring you back to full strength and power- something that will mean you can never die. Ms. Black, do you know what's hidden inside the school this very moment?"

    "The Philosopher's Stone! Of course- the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who-"

    "Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

    Over the rustling of the trees, I seemed to hear once more what Hagrid had told Harry and I on the day we'd met: "Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."

    "Do you mean," I whispered, "that that was Vol-"

    "Saphira! Saphira, are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?"

    Harry was running toward us down the path, Hermione right next to him and Hagrid puffing along behind them.

    "I'm fine," I said. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."

    "This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."

    I slid off his back.

    "Good luck, Saphira Black," said Firenze. He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest.

    Ron had fallen asleep in the common room, waiting for us to return. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when I smacked him on the head to wake him up. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as I told him, Harry, and Hermione about what had happened in the forest.

    I couldn't sit down. I paced back and forth in front of the fire. I was still trembling.

    "Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort... and Voldemort's waiting in the forest... all this time we thought Snape just wanted to be rich... but he's doing all this for Voldemort, just for Voldemort..."

    "Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed, terrified.

    "So all we've got to wait for now is for Snape to steal the Stone," Harry said feverishly, "then Voldemort'll be able to come finish me off... well, Snape and the Dursleys'll be happy."

    We went to bed, exhausted. I shivered when I thought about the figure.

    Could that really be Voldemort?