"Come on, let's head back."
Hagrid slung his crossbow over his shoulder and motioned for Harry to follow.
"It's getting late. You've got classes tomorrow. If I remember correctly, your first lesson is Potions with Professor Snape. You wouldn't want to be late for his class, would you?"
Even Hagrid was well aware of Snape's formidable reputation at Hogwarts.
"Alright."
Harry followed Hagrid out of the Forbidden Forest.
Before long, they encountered a centaur.
Harry noticed that he was remarkably handsome. His long platinum-blond hair reminded him of Draco Malfoy's, while his silver equine body gave him the appearance of the prince from a fairy tale.
"Hagrid."
The centaur hurried toward them.
"What about the unicorn? Is she alright? And the Dark Wizard?"
"Don't worry, Firenze."
Hagrid gave Harry's shoulder a reassuring pat.
"Miss Poppy is safe. Harry managed to save her, and the Dark Wizard fled. Though... she's still injured."
"Thank goodness..."
Firenze let out a sigh of relief.
He turned to Harry and offered him a warm smile.
"Harry, is it? Thank you. Thank you for saving Miss Poppy."
"I only did what I had to do."
Harry answered modestly.
"You're the Potter boy, aren't you?"
Firenze's sapphire-blue eyes sparkled as he asked.
Before Harry could reply, another voice echoed through the forest.
"What exactly have you told him?"
Bane came galloping toward them, visibly furious.
"Remember, Firenze! We swore never to defy the will of the heavens! Haven't the movements of the planets already revealed what is destined to happen?"
"I'm sure Firenze acted with the best of intentions."
Ronan scraped a hoof against the ground as he spoke in his usual melancholy tone.
Bane rounded on him angrily.
"Good intentions?! What does any of this have to do with us? Centaurs concern themselves only with the prophecies written in the stars! We don't need to run after lost humans in our forest like donkeys!"
Firenze reared onto his hind legs.
"Miss Poppy was injured! She has always been kind to us! And that Dark Wizard dared to attack her!"
His voice rang with righteous anger.
"Answer me, Bane! When you were just a foal and surrounded by Acromantulas... who was it that saved your life?"
His mane billowed as his anger intensified.
"So this is what you call following the secrets of the stars?"
His voice became even firmer.
"I will stand against him! I won't allow him to hurt Miss Poppy again! Bane, centaurs are not an ungrateful race! If necessary... I will stand with the humans!"
Without waiting for a response, Firenze turned away and gestured for Hagrid and Harry to follow him.
As they walked, Harry asked,
"Why was Bane so angry?"
Firenze didn't answer immediately.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"Harry... would you tell me exactly what happened?"
Harry omitted the part about casting the Cruciatus Curse, as well as his conversation with Poppy. He recounted only everything that had happened beforehand.
When he finished, Firenze came to a halt.
Hagrid and Harry stopped as well.
"Do you know what unicorn blood can be used for?" the centaur asked.
"No."
Harry shook his head.
Firenze spoke with great solemnity.
"To wound or kill a unicorn is one of the cruelest acts imaginable. Only someone who has lost everything yet still desires the entire world would commit such an atrocity."
He continued,
"Unicorn blood can sustain life, even for someone on the brink of death. But the price is terrible. By taking the life of a pure and defenseless creature to preserve your own, you condemn your soul. From the moment that blood touches your lips, your life becomes nothing more than a shadow of what it once was... a cursed existence."
Harry fell silent for a few moments.
Then he answered,
"If I had to live under a curse for the rest of my life... I'd rather die."
Firenze nodded slowly.
"I agree."
Then he added,
"Unless you're merely buying time... waiting to obtain something else."
Harry looked up.
"Something capable of fully restoring your strength and your magic."
Firenze held Harry's gaze.
"Something capable of granting immortality."
He paused briefly.
"Mr. Potter... do you know what is being hidden within this castle at this very moment?"
The answer came to Harry almost instantly.
His eyes widened.
"The Philosopher's Stone!"
His heart began pounding.
"Then... the person trying to steal it is..."
The truth suddenly felt within reach.
Everyone said that man had died.
That he had been defeated when Harry was only one year old.
But...
Could such a powerful Dark Wizard truly have died so easily?
Firenze's words made Harry's breathing quicken.
Now everything fit together.
There was only one possible explanation.
Voldemort was still alive.
Waiting patiently for the chance to return.
"I see you've understood."
A faint smile crossed Firenze's face.
"There is someone who has waited all these years, desperately clinging to life, waiting for the right moment to rise again."
The centaur regarded Harry approvingly.
That boy...
Perhaps he has a talent for Divination.
"That's impossible!"
Hagrid interrupted.
"The Philosopher's Stone will never be stolen! Professor Dumbledore is protecting it himself! As long as he's at Hogwarts, You-Know-Who will never get his hands on it!"
Firenze didn't argue.
He merely gave Hagrid a complicated look.
Then he lowered his head and spoke softly to Harry.
"The stars revealed this prophecy to me. Trust the centaurs' readings of the heavens. We are rarely wrong."
"This time you are!"
Hagrid muttered, clearly offended by the suggestion that Dumbledore could fail.
Before long, they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"Then this is where we part."
Firenze inclined his head respectfully.
Hagrid waved.
"Take care. And... thank you for the warning. I think I'd better have a word with Professor Dumbledore."
Then he glanced up at the darkening sky.
"Come on, Harry. Looks like it's going to rain. We'd better get back to the castle."
The moment they crossed through Hogwarts' gates, a clap of spring thunder rolled across the heavens.
A beautiful white unicorn ran silently through the trees of the Forbidden Forest.
Graceful and swift, she looked like a spirit born of the forest itself.
Rain began to fall in a gentle, steady curtain, slipping through the darkness of the night and filtering between the branches until it soaked her gleaming white coat.
She reached the bank of a stream and lay down beneath an ancient evergreen pine, seeking shelter from the rain.
A cool breeze swept through the forest, carrying with it the sound of rainfall.
In the distance, the cries of woodland creatures made the forest feel even lonelier.
Suddenly...
A soft silver-white light enveloped the unicorn.
Seconds later, a beautiful young witch wearing Hufflepuff robes stood where the unicorn had been.
It was Poppy Sweeting.
Her short hair rested gently upon her shoulders.
And yet...
Her body was completely translucent.
Like that of a ghost.
Poppy slowly slid down until she was sitting against the trunk of the pine tree.
She buried her face in her hands and quietly began to cry.
Silvery ghostly tears slipped between her fingers and fell silently onto the dark earth.
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