Bringing a magical creature into the Muggle world was indeed a criminal offense.
Especially a unicorn — one of the most extraordinary magical creatures. Doing so would almost certainly earn you a swift admission to Azkaban, complete with private tutoring sessions from the silver-ranked experts: the Dementors.
What? You're asking about the gold-ranked tutor?
That would obviously be Voldemort, who had given Mr. Potter a very personal one-on-one lesson at the end of last term.
If it had been something smaller like a Niffler, it might have been manageable. Nifflers looked like large rats and were easy to hide — though they did have one harmless little flaw: an irresistible urge to steal gold bars from docks.
But a unicorn? That was far too conspicuous.
"Of course, you were attacked by Voldemort not long ago," Harry said worriedly. "Remember what Professor Hooch said? It's not the thief you fear, but the one who keeps thinking about you. Voldemort has you in his sights now. I wouldn't be surprised if he sneaks into the Forbidden Forest again to attack you. After all, he already escaped from the dungeons once…"
Pabi thought about it. Harry made a good point.
If Voldemort targeted her again and Harry wasn't there to help, she might not escape a second time…
That Voldemort… really wasn't a decent person at all.
Oh well, it's not my fault. Who could have guessed that despicable coward would ambush me from the shadows? I'm over a hundred years old!* she thought.
With that reasoning, Pabi decided it was probably best to go with Harry.
"But I can't just follow you around outside, can I?" Pabi asked anxiously. "If the Ministry catches me, you'll be dragged before the Wizengamot. Trading or smuggling a unicorn is a serious crime."
"I have an Undetectable Extension Charm on my trunk," Harry said, patting his suitcase. "I trust you won't eat all my books."
"Ah! You—!" Pabi grabbed Harry's clothes with her teeth and shook him playfully. "Harry~ Harry~ What do you take me for!"
"However…"
Pabi tilted her head, and the horn on her forehead suddenly vanished.
"I can hide it."
"Cool," Harry said in delight, reaching out to stroke the top of her head. "Hey, it really is gone. How did you do that?"
"I'm not telling," Pabi replied lightly.
"Fine," Harry said, opening the trunk. "Why don't you jump in first?"
"No one's watching, right?" Pabi asked, stretching her neck to look behind Harry.
Once she confirmed the coast was clear, Pabi leaped gracefully into the trunk.
"Give me a lamp!" she called from inside.
Harry waved his wand, conjured a bright lantern, and placed it inside the trunk.
"Let's go," Harry said. "I'll get you out of here…"
He closed the trunk and slipped back toward Hogwarts Castle.
Ever since he had left, Neville had been searching for his toad. Thankfully, all the Gryffindors had pitched in, conducting a thorough sweep of the castle. They eventually found the toad tucked away in a corner of the girls' bathroom.
Notices had been handed out to every student, warning them not to use magic during the holidays.
"I've always hoped they'd forget to give us these," Fred and George said in unison, looking genuinely disappointed.
Surprisingly, Hermione agreed with them for once.
"I think so too. Not practicing spells for a long time at home leads to rustiness," she said, slipping the notice under her plate. "I think we should talk to the Headmaster about this…"
"It's Ministry regulation, Hermione," George said.
"Then we should bring it up with the Minister of Magic," Hermione replied.
"I doubt those old fossils at the Ministry would listen to you, Miss Know-It-All," Fred said with a grin. "I think you have a better chance of becoming Minister yourself than getting them to listen to your suggestions."
Hermione rolled her eyes. These twins just loved teasing.
*Me?*
*Minister of Magic?*
*Don't be ridiculous.*
*I'm just a Muggle-born witch. Those pure-blood supremacists would never allow a Muggle-born to become Minister.*
After breakfast in the Great Hall, the Hogwarts students began their journey home.
Hagrid was once again escorting students onto the boats waiting on the lake. As Harry passed him, Hagrid handed him a bag of berries he had picked from the Forbidden Forest.
"Thanks, Hagrid," Harry said happily.
"Share them with your friends," Hagrid said with a broad smile. "If you want some rock cakes or stoat sandwiches…"
"No thanks, Hagrid. We brought lunch," Ron said quickly.
He was genuinely terrified of Hagrid's rock cakes and the absolute nightmare that was stoat sandwiches.
No one knew why the half-giant loved making such dark culinary creations.
"Remember to write to me, Harry," Hagrid called, waving at them. "And the rest of you too!"
"We will," Ron replied, waving back.
Once aboard the Hogwarts Express, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found an empty compartment.
Neville and Seamus had already been picked up by their parents, so they weren't on the train.
The train was called the "Express," but its speed was… well…
The last time it had been upgraded was when Septimus Malfoy generously funded improvements to the railway system.
"Time really flies," Ron sighed. "You know, this feels so unreal, but also incredibly relaxing — Merlin."
"You do realize, Ron," Hermione kindly reminded him, "that Professor Snape and Professor Binns assigned us summer homework. Eleven inches of parchment! I have no idea how I'm going to write it…"
"It's only eleven inches," Ron said nonchalantly. "Just write bigger, increase the spacing between lines and words, and you can meet the length with the fewest possible words."
"Oh, thank you, Ronald," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "You don't think Professor Snape is stupid enough to fall for your little tricks, do you?"
"Snape might not be, but Binns definitely is," Ron said with a cheeky grin. "I bet Professor Binns won't even grade them when he collects them — he can't even touch the parchment!"
The joke was so grim that Hermione laughed with a touch of sadness.
"I think—"
Before Ron could finish, there was a knock on the compartment door.
"Come in," Hermione said.
The door slid open to reveal a Hufflepuff boy.
"Oh, Cedric," Harry greeted him.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione," Cedric said with a bright smile. He wasn't shy at all as he looked at the trio. "May I sit here?"
"Of course," they all replied.
Cedric sat down next to Harry and turned to him. "Actually, Harry, I wanted to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" Harry opened a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, picked out a brown one, and offered the bag to Cedric.
Cedric took a bright red one, examined it, and said, "I… um, I heard you started a dueling club in Gryffindor? Is that true?"
"Yes," Harry said, popping the bean into his mouth.
Chocolate flavor. Delicious.
"Oh, I see." Cedric ate his bean and immediately made a pained face, his handsome features turning bright red.
Ron lowered his head, snickering with barely concealed glee.
Hermione elbowed him, telling him not to be so obvious.
"Chili pepper," Cedric said, sucking in air.
Harry passed him an unopened bottle of cola from the table. Cedric took it, popped the top, and gulped down several mouthfuls to wash away the burning sensation.
"Okay, I have to admit — Muggle drinks are pretty magical. Look at these bubbles!" Cedric exclaimed. Then he continued, "Anyway, I wanted to ask if Hufflepuff students could join your dueling club as well."
"No problem," Harry replied without hesitation. "But one condition: don't let the professors know. The dueling club involves practicing some harmless little dark spells."
When Hermione heard "harmless little dark spells," her eyes widened dramatically.
*Merlin's beard! You're actually planning to teach those in the dueling room?!*
Poor Cedric hadn't yet realized what Harry meant and simply smiled happily.
"Thank you, Harry. Thank you so much," he said. "I can't believe you agreed. A lot of people didn't think you'd accept students from other houses."
Harry smiled.
"We're all Hogwarts students, Ced — may I call you that?"
"Of course, Harry," Cedric said, even happier. "I think practicing some harmless little dark spells for dueling practice isn't a big deal. After all, how can we defend ourselves properly if we don't understand them? Besides, we need useful spells to fight the bad wizards out there."
"Exactly," Harry said with a smile. "As you said, the purpose of our dueling club is to help students understand the dangers of the world."
"Great. Thanks again, Harry," Cedric stood up. "I should go. They're waiting for me to report back."
"Alright. See you, Ced," Harry said, nodding with a smile.
Ron and Hermione also said goodbye. The cheerful Hufflepuff boy waved to each of them and left the compartment.
The moment Cedric closed the door, Hermione couldn't hold back any longer.
"Merlin's beard! Harry, are you really going to teach us those… those kinds of spells?"
"Why are you so worked up, Hermione?" Harry asked, looking at her strangely.
"Am I worked up?" Hermione slapped her thigh. "No, Harry, I still need to correct you. Don't let certain families influence your thinking…"
*Certain families?*
Harry knew she was referring to the Gaunt family.
"You're overthinking it, Hermione. They really are just harmless little dark spells," Harry said with a smile. "Don't let your imagination run wild."
"Oh? Oh!" Hermione paused, then finally understood what Harry meant.
"So they're *harmless* little dark spells. I thought you meant…" Hermione trailed off, gesturing vaguely with her fingers, too afraid to say the actual curse names out loud. "…you know."
"The Imperius Curse?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
Hermione shot him a glare. "Did you really have to say it out loud, Potter?"
"It's part of my teaching plan," Harry told her. "The Imperius Curse… is what we'll be learning in the next stage."
Hermione froze. The liquorice wand in her hand dropped to the floor with a clatter.
"Wait, what did you just say?" she asked, unable to believe her ears.
"The Imperius Curse is our next learning goal," Ron repeated casually. "If I heard correctly."
Eh, studying is studying. What difference does it make?
Ron had already accepted it. Following Harry's pace was always the right choice — after all, even the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and the Dark Lord himself couldn't beat him, right?
"Won't the Ministry arrest us if we learn this spell?" Hermione asked desperately. "Merlin, if anyone finds out, we could be expelled…"
"As long as we don't get caught, it's fine," Harry said, crossing his legs. "This spell is special, Hermione. You should know that being hit by it multiple times builds resistance. I'm not trying to make you master the curse itself. I want to train your willpower so you can resist it."
See? That's the art of wording things properly.
After hearing Harry's explanation, Hermione found the idea of learning the spell much more acceptable.
"Alright, if that's the case, I suppose we should try practicing it," Hermione said. "After all, dark wizards won't play fair with us. Right, Ron?"
"Right," Ron nodded firmly.
As the train approached the platform, Harry and the others changed back into their Muggle clothes.
Finally, the Hogwarts Express slowly pulled into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Disembarking was slow. It took a long time for the long queue to exit the station.
A wizened old guard stood at the barrier, only allowing two or three people through at a time so they wouldn't all pour out of the solid wall at once and attract Muggle attention.
"You absolutely must come visit us this summer, Harry," Ron invited him. "You don't know how much my mum has been talking about you…"
"Alright, no problem."
Harry patted Ron's arm. That had already been part of his summer plans.
"Once I finish what I need to do, I'll come stay with your family."
As they exited the platform, Harry spotted Mrs. Weasley waiting with her daughter Ginny to pick up Ron, the twins, and Percy.
Harry expressed his sincere thanks for her Christmas gifts and once again confirmed he would visit the Burrow during the summer.
As he stepped out of the station, Harry took a deep breath.
Hmm…
Next stop — the Leaky Cauldron?
No. I should head to Knockturn Alley first to stock up. If I'm going to practice harmless little dark spells, I'll need a spare wand.
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