The young unicorn had recently lost its family. The adult unicorn had been missing for several weeks now. Every day, the young unicorn wandered through the Forbidden Forest in search, perhaps for a long time still, before it could accept that its mother would never return.
It was truly a pitiful situation. Just tonight, while the young unicorn was aimlessly roaming near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, it fell victim to an attack.
A dark figure pursued it with magical assaults. Eventually, after a heavy blow that caused severe blood loss, the young unicorn collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
The young unicorn could feel its blood being drained by the attacker, and with it, its life force fading away.
It seemed someone else had arrived. One of them—likely a child—screamed and ran away.
The shadowy figure who had just attacked and fed on the unicorn's blood finally departed from its side.
But that didn't stop the dying process. Its consciousness began to blur, and the young unicorn felt its end approaching.
Suddenly, an intruder cast a dark magic spell on the unicorn. Though it was a dark-type spell, it carried an intense life force. It felt like swallowing a scalding dumpling whole, and the unicorn's body jolted upright.
The young unicorn now felt a surge of radiant energy building up uncontrollably inside it, desperately needing an outlet.
Who was the target? Of course, not the one who had just revived it—then it must be the shadowy figure who had attacked and fed on its blood.
A thick beam of sacred light shot from the unicorn's back, striking the black figure hard and flinging him far away—right into a centaur. That centaur had originally rushed over to rescue Harry Potter. But just as he leapt forward, the unicorn—who was supposed to be dead—suddenly unleashed a powerful move. The sacred light attack was so fast that even the centaur couldn't dodge it.
The black figure was first hit by the unicorn's "Judgment of Light" and then slammed by the centaur's "Savage Charge." The combination was unbearable. Without any hesitation, the dark figure flew straight upward to escape.
Regulus Black hadn't expected this. He thought the unicorn had already died, but it turned out it was only on the brink of death.
That made things rather awkward—using Monster Resurrection on a creature at death's door… no one could have foreseen such an outcome.
The dark magic, imbued with life energy, swept through the unicorn's body and sparked a moment of revival. It activated the unicorn's hidden life potential. With proper recovery, the unicorn would heal fully and, more importantly, it wouldn't become a puppet of a necromancer.
This was an outcome Regulus Black had never anticipated—doing something good with originally bad intent.
Since the dark figure had already fled, Regulus Black decided to withdraw as well. There was no need to interact too much with Harry Potter—just like how Snape was now hiding nearby, avoiding contact. The two didn't need to meet.
The centaur Firenze stood protectively in front of Harry Potter, watching as the dark figure fled.
Both of them were focused on the black shadow and didn't notice that the unicorn had already left the scene.
Firenze had the upper body of a man and the lower body of a horse, with messy medium-length hair and a shaggy beard—all the features of a typical centaur. The centaurs that appeared afterward looked just the same, only dirtier.
"Harry Potter! You must leave the Forbidden Forest. Many creatures here know who you are. The forest at night is not safe—you're especially in danger here."
"What was that thing that attacked me? Why did the unicorn come back to life? And why was it drinking the unicorn's blood?"
Harry Potter, now curious, asked the centaur who had clearly been protecting him.
"Just a monster. Killing a unicorn is an unforgivable crime. Drinking its blood can save your life—even bring back someone who's dying. But there's a terrible price to pay. Because the unicorn is a pure creature, the moment its blood touches your lips, you're cursed to live a half-life… a cursed existence. Who would want to live like that?"
Firenze slowly explained part of the truth, eventually guiding Harry's thoughts toward the bigger picture.
"Can't you guess who it was?"
"You mean… the monster who killed the unicorn and drank its blood… was Voldemort?"
The "problem child" Potter finally pieced it together.
"Do you know what secret is currently hidden inside the school?"
Firenze continued to lead him.
"The Philosopher's Stone!"
"Hello there, Firenze. Looks like you've already met young Potter. Are you alright, Harry?"
Hagrid arrived at the scene with Ron, Draco, and the large black dog, Fang.
"Harry Potter, this is where we part ways. You're safe now—good luck to you!"
What needed to be said had already been made clear. Firenze had done his part. What came next would be Harry Potter's decision.
Regulus Black was wandering through the Forbidden Forest, and not far behind him followed a young unicorn.
He stopped and turned around. The young unicorn immediately struck a pose pretending to graze.
"I'm eating grass—I'm not following you!"
Regulus Black rubbed his temples. Ever since he found a few spots of unicorn blood and collected it in a silver flask, this young unicorn had been sticking to him—curiously watching how its blood was being stored in the little container.
As they walked together to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Regulus decided it was time to make things clear.
"I'm glad you didn't die. That was your luck—and my surprise. But I hope you'll continue your life here in the forest, instead of following me around. I've got a lot to deal with at Hogwarts, so this ends here. Don't play dumb. Go back."
Looking into the unicorn's eyes, he could clearly sense its emotions. This little thing was seriously about to pretend not to understand—ridiculous.
Even if Regulus Black had no bottom line, he still wouldn't harm a living young unicorn. If it had been dead, that would've been a different story—it could be used as potion ingredients, dissected, harvested without concern. But now that it had survived, the situation was different. A living unicorn had no material value, but it had something greater—meaning. The meaning of life.
From the unicorn's eyes, Regulus saw sadness again. To hell with this—I'm not your babysitter.
He turned around and walked straight out of the forest without looking back, heading toward Hogwarts. Behind him, the unicorn obediently stayed where it was.
"Hagrid! That's the unicorn I saw earlier. It was dead before—and then it came back to life."
Hagrid and the others emerged from the forest. Harry immediately recognized the young unicorn at the forest's edge.
Scorn! That's what everyone could read from the unicorn's eyes. Then, it turned toward the direction of Hogwarts with a contemplative expression. A unicorn with such expressive eyes and face completely shattered the worldview of the three boys.
Even Hagrid was amazed. "This unicorn is turning into a spirit creature!"
None of the four noticed Regulus Black's presence. The spell "Shadow Vanish" was a commonly used incantation these days. For those proficient, it was as natural as speaking, so it wasn't surprising they didn't notice anything. But the unicorn's eyes weren't so easily deceived—it kept watching until Regulus passed through the gates of Hogwarts. Only then did the young unicorn reluctantly leave the forest's edge.
Snape was the last one to return to Hogwarts. He had been quietly trailing Hagrid and the others. Although he hadn't seen Regulus Black directly, the presence of the unicorn was enough to make him suspect his involvement.
He couldn't help but wonder how well Regulus had managed to collect the unicorn's blood.
Thinking all the way back to his chambers, Snape finally returned to his dungeon. The familiar scent of potions in his office allowed him to relax his nerves. He'd seen that shadow too—it was indeed Voldemort. It could only be him.
What he hadn't expected was that Regulus Black had managed to revive the unicorn. That burst of holy light must've made Voldemort suffer quite a bit.
At that thought, a trace of satisfaction surfaced in Snape's heart.
Lily… your son had a brush with danger tonight but came through unharmed. I'll keep protecting him—always.
Just then, someone entered and placed a small silver flask on the desk.
"Where's that medicinal tea you gave me last time? Pour me a big cup—I really need something to calm my nerves."
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