As the sun falls and it begins to get dark, Hermione, Ron, Harry and I are running across the wet ground to Hagrid's hut. Hermione knocks on the door and it opens.
"Hagrid!" We all shout. He looks a little surprised in his apron
"Oh, hello. Sorry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain today" He says trying to close the door. I roll my eyes.
"We know about the Philosopher's Stone!" We all shout. The Door reopens and Hagrid sighs letting us into the hut.
"We think Snape's trying to steal it" Harry says to him. Hagrid shakes his head and turns to Harry.
"Snape? Blimey, Harry, you're not still on about him, are you?" He says. Harry nods and I step in to aid my brother.
"Hagrid, we know he's after the Stone. We just don't know why" I tell him.
"Snape is one of the teachers protecting the Stone! He's not about to steal it!" Hagrid says. Ron, Harry and I share a look.
"What?" Ron asks.
"You heard. Right. Come on, now, I'm a bit preoccupied today" Hagrid says trying to usher us out of the hut.
"Wait a minute" Ron asks. "One of the teachers?"
"Of course! There are other things defending the Stone, aren't there? Spells, enchantments" Hermione points out.
"That's right. Waste of bloody time, if you ask me" Hagrid says. I turn to look at Ron, who is being sniffed in the face by Fang. Ron shuffles away and I stop myself laughing. "Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy. Hehe, not a soul knows how. Except for me and Dumbledore. I shouldn't have told you that. I shouldn't have told you that" Suddenly, the cauldron over the fire begins to rattle. Hagrid hurries over and grabs something. He places it on the table and we all crowd around it.
"Uh, Hagrid, what exactly is that?" Harry asks.
"That? It's a ... its um..." Hagrid starts but Ron shoots up next to us.
"I know what that is! But Hagrid, how did you get one?" Ron asks.
"I won it. Off a stranger I met down at a pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid off it, as a matter of fact" Hagrid says. I shake my head at him as the egg rattles and cracks. Pieces fly off as a small dragon emerges. It squeaks and slips on an egg piece.
"Is that...a dragon?" Hermione asks, she steps back slightly and I do the same.
"That's not just a dragon. That's a Norwegian Ridgeback! My brother Charlie works with these in Romania" Ron says looking at the small creature that's toddling about on the table.
"Isn't he beautiful? Oh. Bless him, look. He knows his mummy. Hehe. Hallo, Norbert" Hagrid says emotionally. The dragon squeaks as it looks at Hagrid.
"Norbert?" Harry and I ask. I give Hagrid a strange look as he shrugs.
"Yeah, well, he's got to have a name, doesn't he?" He replies."Don't you, Norbert?" Norbert backs away, hiccups and blows a fireball of fire into Hagrid's beard.
"Ohh! Oooh, ooh, ooh, well...he'll have to be trained up a bit, of course. Who's that?" He is looking at the window. I spin around and see Malfoy run away.
"Malfoy" I say.
"Oh, dear" Hagrid says. We all say our goodbyes and start walking back up to the castle quickly. As we get to a corridor Harry starts speaking.
"Hagrid always wanted a dragon. He told me so the first time we met him" He says.
"It's crazy," I say, rolling my eyes. "And worse, Malfoy knows"
"I don't understand. Is that bad?" Hermione says and we stop as McGonagall appears in her nightgown.
"It's bad" Ron says and gulps.
"Good evening" She says and Malfoy appears smugly beside her. We follow her into the classroom and stand in front of her desk. I keep throwing glares at Malfoy.
"Nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken" She says.
"50?!" Harry exclaims.
"Each. And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all five of you will receive detention" She says pointing her finger at us. I smirk as Malfoy smile vanishes.
"Excuse me, Professor. Perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said..."the five of us" He says stepping forward. Professor McGonagall just nods.
"No, you heard me correctly, Mr. Malfoy. You see, as honorable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will serve detention with your classmates" She says. She dismisses us and we all walk out of the door.
"That went well for you didn't it Malfoy" I say glaring at him with a smile. He rolls his eyes.
"Oh shut it Potterette" He says and storms always. Harry, Ron and Hermione grin at me as we walk back to the common room. The day goes really slow as we trudge through our classes. Let's just say our housemates aren't very pleased that we cost them 200 points but they'll get over it. Filch comes to collect us for detention and leads us along with Malfoy to Hagrids hut.
"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" He says. I look at him in shock and shake my head in disbelief.
"I really wonder why he still has a job" I say.
"You and me both Potterette" Malfoy speaks up from beside me. I shake the weird feeling I get when he agrees with me.
"You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the dark forest. A sorry lot this, Hagrid. Oh, good God, man, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?" Filch says as we reach the hut to find Hagrid sniffling slightly.
"Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony" He tells us.
"Well, that's good, isn't it? He'll be with his own kind" Hermione tries to reassure him.
"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby, after all" Hagrid cries. All of us give each other an awkward look as Filch rolls his eyes.
"Oh, for Gods sake, pull yourself together, man. You're going into the forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you" He says.
"The forest? I thought that was a joke! We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are...werewolves!" Malfoy exclaims as he hears a wolf howl. Filch just smirks.
"There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that" He says. I nudge Draco and smirk.
"Scared of the dark Malfoy?" I tease. He shakes his head even though he looks downright terrified.
"Not at all" He tries to say but looks at the forest surrounding us and gulps.
"Nighty-night" Filch says and walks away.
"Right. Let's go" Hagrid says, he takes his crossbow and Fang follows us. In the forest. We begin walking 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.
"Hagrid, what's that?" Harry asks.
"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. So, it's our job to find the poor beast. Ron, Hermione, you'll come with me" Hagrid tells us.
"Okay" Ron whispers looking even more scared than Malfoy.
"Y/N and Harry, you'll go with Malfoy" He finishes. I roll my eyes.
"You have got to be joking" I say and Malfoy just smiles.
"Okay. Then I get Fang!" He says. Hagrid just laughs.
"Fine. Just so you know, he's a bloody coward" He tells us. I walk in front of Harry and Draco with Fang
"You wait till my father hears about this. This is servant's stuff" Draco complains for the billionth time.
"If I didn't know better, Draco, I'd say you were scared" Harry shoots back.
"Scared, Potter?! Did you hear that? Come on, Fang. Scared" Draco says and powers on ahead of Harry and I.
"He's definitely scared" I say and Harry laughs as we
approach a flat ground with gnarled roots all over. Fang stops, then growls.
"What is it, Fang?" I ask. I kneel down next to him and then follow his gaze. A cloaked figure is crouched over a dead unicorn, drinking its blood. The figure raises its head, silver blood dripping from its mouth. I feel my scar start to burn and fall to my knees as Harry gasps.
"AHHHHHHHHH! AHHH! HELP!" Malfoy screams running away quickly.
"Harry!" I say and stand up. The figure slides over the unicorn and stands. It begins to advance towards Harry and I. He grabs my arm as we back away but trips and brings us both falling down. Suddenly, there is the sound of hoofbeats. A figure leaps over Harry and I and lands near the cloaked figure. It rears, and the cloaked figure retreats, flying away. I let out a sigh or relief and dust myself off.
"Harry and Y/N Potter, you must leave. You are known to many creatures here. The forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you two" The Centaur says as it turns towards us.
"But what was that thing you saved us from?" Harry asks. I roll my eyes at him and smack his shoulder.
"I believe he meant to say thank you for saving our lives" I say. He smiles at the centaur appreciatively.
"It's quite alright, it's 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" He explains.
"But who would choose such a life?" Harry asks.
"Can you think of no one?" He asks. I gasp and look up at him.
"Do you mean to say...that that thing that killed the unicorn...that was drinking its blood...that was Voldemort?" I stammer. The centaur nods slowly.
"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?" He asks.
"The Philosopher's Stone" Harry whispers. Suddenly, a dog barks. We look up and see Hagrid, Hermione, Ron and Draco appear.
"Harry! Y/N!" Hermione shouts running to stand next to us.
"Hello there, Firenze. I see you've met our young Mr and Miss Potter. You all right there, Harry, Y/N?" Hagrid asks. We both nod and smile at Hagrid.
"Y/N and Harry Potter, this is where I leave you. You're safe now. Good luck" He says and runs away. Hagrid begins leading us back to our dorms. I tease Malfoy the whole way back about him screaming like a girl. When we get back Hermione, Ron, Harry and I take a seat in front of the fire. Harry is still stood.
"You mean, You-Know-Who's out there, right now, in the forest?" Ron asks.
"But he's weak. He's living off the unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong" Harry explains and I shake my head.
"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" I say almost whispering the last part.
"But if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to kill you both, do you?" Hermione asks looking between both of us. I look up at Harry and he sighs.
"I think if he'd had the chance, he might have tried to kill us tonight" He tells them.
"And to think, I've been worrying about my Potions final!" Ron says and leans back on his chair.
"Hang on a minute. We're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared? Dumbledore! As long as Dumbledore's around, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore's around, you both can't be touched" Hermione says. Her and Ron head to bed but I stop Harry.
"Harry?" I say. He turns to me and nods.
"I know" He says.
"I don't think Dumbeldore would be able to stop him" I whisper and he smiles sadly.
"Get some rest, we will talk about it tomorrow" He replies.