piratefiction Chapter 85: The Confinement Mission Deep in the Forbidden Forest
Chapter 85: The Confinement Mission Deep in the Forbidden Forest
Chapter 85: The Confinement Mission Deep in the Forbidden Forest
(This chapter contains a significant amount of expanded and adapted content from the original work; please subscribe with caution.)
After Harry, Harry, and his two companions arrived at the entrance hall, Filch lit a lamp, carried it in his hand, and led them out of the castle gates.
They strode across the dark ground.
Throughout the journey, Filch kept threatening and mocking them.
Harry began to worry about what punishment awaited them, but when he looked ahead, he could only see Filch's lantern and most of his body silhouette illuminated by the lantern; he couldn't see anything beyond that.
He heard Neville sniffling beside him.
Hermione stayed close to Harry, making no sound other than the sound of her footsteps. Harry turned to look at her again, but because it was too dark, he couldn't see her expression.
Harry's anxiety subsided only when he heard Hagrid's shouts in the distance. If they were to be with Hagrid, it wouldn't be so bad.
But before he could be happy for long, Filch told them some bad news.
They were heading to the forbidden forest.
"What!?" Malfoy stopped abruptly, his voice no longer smug but betraying a hint of fear. "Wasn't it said that students weren't allowed in the Forbidden Forest? Especially after that ban a few months ago—they still haven't found that dangerous creature, have they?"
As a staff member of Hogwarts, Filch knew more than the students.
A smug, mocking expression spread across his face: "I hope there really is such a dangerous creature lurking in the Forbidden Forest, so I can collect your remains after dawn."
Immediately afterwards, he was driven away by Hagrid.
Hagrid led the four of them to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Malfoy made a final attempt to protest: "I don't want to go in. This isn't something a student should do. My father is on the school board; he won't allow it..."
But before he could finish speaking, Hagrid rudely interrupted him: "If you'd rather be fired, then you can go back!"
Hagrid was also carrying a lantern, but because he was so tall, the lantern was taller than Harry and the others' heads. Only by looking up through the lantern's light could one see Hagrid's enormous silhouette, which made him appear even more imposing.
So when he spoke with anger, Malfoy could only cower and lower his gaze.
Seeing that Malfoy had quieted down, Hagrid didn't say anything more. He looked at the four people in front of him, and his tone became serious: "Now listen carefully. What we're going to do tonight is a bit dangerous. In order to prevent any of you from getting into trouble, you need to remember this."
He led them to the edge of a paved stone path in the Forbidden Forest, held the lamp high, and pointed to the path that led deep into the forest: "A few weeks ago, I spotted the tracks of a unicorn around this path."
"That poor fellow, for some reason, left its pack and came to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, wandering along both sides of this stone path... Perhaps it's because I once told them that they could seek refuge on this path when they encountered danger..."
"In short, its condition is very bad. Last week, I even found bloodstains on it, the kind of silvery-white blood, which proves that it was injured and that something was chasing it."
"What we need to do tonight is find it and help it get to a safe place."
"What if we encounter the thing that's hunting it first?" Malfoy asked, his voice filled with barely concealed fear.
"Then you run to that stone path. Remember, the stone path is cursed. You will feel extreme fear, but you must overcome it and not run away."
Hagrid continued, "If anyone finds a unicorn, fire green sparks with your wands. If anyone is in danger, fire red sparks with your wands. Got it?"
"Hagrid, should we split up?" Harry asked, because if they stayed together, there would be no need to use wands to send signals.
"Of course we'll split up," Hagrid replied. "We need to search both sides of the stone path at the same time."
"Then I want to go with you!" Malfoy said hastily when he heard that they would have to split up.
Hagrid frowned, then glanced at Neville, who stood silently trembling to the side. Compared to the relatively composed Harry and the quiet Hermione, Neville and Malfoy certainly seemed much more frightened.
"Alright," Hagrid said. "You and Neville are with me, Harry and Hermione, you two are with Tooth. Remember, stay with Tooth, and the creatures of the Forbidden Forest won't harm you. If you encounter any danger, run towards the Stone Path and use your Red Spark ability. We're not far away; I'll be there soon."
After saying that, Hagrid took another lantern from his waist, lit it, and handed it to Harry.
"Understood." Harry nodded, then together with Hermione, they led Tooth into the Forbidden Forest.
He swallowed hard, trying to swallow his nervousness, but clearly, the action had no effect; his heart was still pounding in his chest.
He would occasionally straighten up and peer into the woods to observe Hagrid and his companions' location. At first, he could see the light from the lantern in Hagrid's hand through the gaps in the trees, but as they ventured deeper into the woods, he could only see darkness.
Clearly, as they ventured deeper into the forest, the distance between them was not as close as Hagrid had claimed. The trees in the Forbidden Forest completely swallowed the light from Hagrid's lantern, not even a sliver of it was visible.
Hagrid probably sees it the same way.
"Are you alright, Hermione?" Harry asked in a low voice. "You've been very quiet all evening."
"I'm fine, don't worry. We just need to carefully complete the tasks assigned to us," Hermione replied.
She was clearly not as fine as she claimed; Harry could hear the caution in her voice.
Harry didn't have a better way to comfort her, so he moved closer to Hermione and let her hold onto his robe with one hand. He then tried to raise the lantern as high as possible to better illuminate the surroundings.
They walked past a tree stump covered in moss.
On the side of the tree stump, Harry keenly noticed something different.
"What's that?" He led Hermione closer.
He saw a few drops of silvery-white liquid spilled onto the ground beside the tree stump.
"This must be the unicorn blood Hagrid was talking about!" Hermione said. "We should send out the Green Spark to notify Hagrid."
"No!" Harry stopped Hermione from launching the green spark into the sky. "Hagrid said to find a unicorn before launching the green spark. He's already found unicorn blood, so finding a little more won't make much difference."