Daphne put the trough down in front of the unicorn, which looked up at her with pain filled eyes. "C'mon," she said, stroking the animal's nose, "I know you wouldn't normally do this, but this is your only chance. Please. Don't die."
The unicorn looked up at her again, and with Daphne and Hermione's help, managed to raise its head and, lowing it back into the trough, started to drink. And as it drank, the animal started to glow silver white.
Hermione flicked another diagnostic charm over the glowing animal, let out a massive smile, and gave Daphne the thumbs up.
Daphne's heart soared. They'd done it.
And it was at exactly that moment when a darkened figure, face hidden by a long black hooded cloak, descended from the sky not a dozen metres from where they sat, slowly clapping.
Terror gripped Daphne's soul. She didn't wait to see what the corpse possessing Dark Lord was going to do. She shielded, leapt for Hermione, grabbed the cloak from her, covered them both in it, grabbed her friend, and stumbled to where she'd just been, moments before a dozen spells splashed at and around where they'd just been standing, only seconds earlier.
Hermione shrieked. Obviously alerted by her friend's cry, Quirrellmort threw more spells in their direction.
Daphne shielded, managing to stop one whole spell before the shield shattered and three different spells hit the cloak, flowing around them and out the other side, but not before one hit Hermione, opening up a huge cut in her shoulder, and causing her to cry out again.
Suddenly, the still glowing unicorn was on its feet and charging.
Voldemort shot up into the air to evade and the unicorn pivoted around, stopping right in front of them.
Without needing to think, Daphne hoisted herself up onto its back, grabbing a still whimpering Hermione with the help of one almighty Accio.
The unicorn bolted away, the girls desperately clinging on as hard as they could, curses and spells raining down around it them.
She sent a series of frantic pulses of magic into her lightning bolt ring. 'LV'.
Dumbledore was still trying to work out was what going on when suddenly a small eruption of magic came from the boy. Not the subtle mystery from before, but a simple flare of determination.
Harry Potter stood up quickly. "My apologies, Headmaster, I need to use the bathroom, if I may be excused." He turned to go. Albus twitched. "No, I think not, Mister Potter. Please sit back down and continue."
Potter ignored him.
Albus sighed and flicked his wrist, causing the large double doors to the classroom to slam shut and bolt themselves.
Harry Potter froze.
Albus got to his feet and walked up the other passageway to the main doors. Reaching them, he turned back to look at the boy, whose facial expression was now so blank that Albus couldn't detect a single emotion on it. It was as though Harry had completely closed himself off from anything and everything in the world.
"Please go back to your seat, Mister Potter." Harry Potter didn't move. "I need to leave."
Albus frowned, still standing between Harry and the room's only exit. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear, Mister Potter. You. May. Not. Leave."
The blank facial expression lasted all of a few more moments before being replaced by a flash-flood of raw, uncontrolled magic, and one simple overriding emotion. Terror.
Ploughing through the forbidden forest on the back of a glowing unicorn, Daphne risked a glance behind her and gave a whimper of her own. The Dark Lord flew around them just like Harry could, just as agile as any broomstick, managing to keep pace despite the many forest obstacles.
The unicorn flowed through the woods like water. Daphne couldn't help thinking that riding bareback at this speed should be far more uncomfortable than it actually was. Time seemed to slow down and moments stretched to eternity. She wasn't sure how long the chase lasted, but it felt like forever. In the darkness of the deep woods, every spell flash felt like a supernova in the back of her eyeballs.
Then, after what seemed an age, they danced around another bush, into a clearing and what Daphne saw ahead made her heart stop. Six centaurs, tall and powerful, stood in a semi-circle, their bows drawn and pointing right at them.
Not seeming to care, their pure-light mount continued straight on, dashed past the taut row of bristling death, and screeched to a stop behind the line. Voldemort zoomed into the clearing, and, without even seeming to hesitate, made a large upwards curve, straight up into the sky, as six arrow heads zipped straight through where his borrowed body had been, only moments earlier.
And then the clearing was silent.
From behind her, Hermione "concrescat sanguinem."
The centaurs all turned to them.
"Umm… hi?"
mumbled,
"Mister Potter, control yourself!" Albus roared through the whirlwind of wild magic pouring off the young sorcerer. Chairs and tables lay smashed all around him. He flicked his wand again, shielding against yet another flying desk.
Harry Potter stood in the middle of an almost completely destroyed classroom. His posture was like a caged animal, eyes white with mindless terror, magic totally out of control, and Albus knew the boy was going into full scale magical meltdown — the pathway to his core had snapped open and his body was desperately trying—and failing—to contain the totality of his magic, every single Merlin being unloaded from his core, all at once.
Albus cursed and tried to shoot a stunner at the boy, which had about as much effect as hitting a steel door with a feather. He transfigured the stone in the floor to form a solid egg around the boy, only for it to be torn through like paper.
The magical build-up was ridiculous. "Albus!" Minerva's voice shouted from the other side of the bolted door. "What's going on!"
"Minerva!" he shouted. "Clear the area! Get all students away! Now!"
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