No Sneaking Away Now

Aaron, carrying a lantern, led Draco and Hermione through the woods.

Fang and Abei stood on either side of the team, the two pets maintaining a certain distance and not intruding on each other.

"Hopefully that Unicorn won't wander onto this road, or we'll be in big trouble." Aaron looked at the scattered silver Scabbers on the road, his expression slightly grim. "However, things might not go as planned."

"It looks badly injured, and it's running at top speed even in such a severely wounded state," Draco analyzed. "Could it really be Werewolf?"

"No, Hagrid is just kidding you."

Werewolf are certainly faster than Unicorn. I have paid some attention to this forest, but I have never heard of any Unicorn being injured or even killed.

Therefore, be prepared, that Unicorn is probably in Elphias Doge.

If we happen to be lucky enough to encounter a creature that harms it, then... that's when our physical strength will be tested.

Hermione and Draco both glanced down at their shoes to make sure they wouldn't run away unharmed.

"Aaron, I..." Hermione glanced at Draco beside her, paused awkwardly for a few seconds, then took a deep breath, "I apologize to you."

I'm so sorry about what happened last night; I shouldn't have done that.

Aaron nodded and continued walking forward, carrying the lantern.

"At least say something!" Hermione said, feeling wronged. She would rather be scolded than have Aaron treat her like this.

It was too bland; Jian Yi treated her like a stranger.

What do you want me to say?

You knew you shouldn't have done it, but you did it anyway.

Do you know how much effort I put into hiding Abei's identity?

I carried it with me every day, completely covered from head to toe. Even the professors and Dumbledore couldn't spot a flaw, but you exposed it in just one night.

"I'm sorry." Hermione bowed her head sincerely in apology, her voice filled with grievance, and her eyes slightly red.

Aaron sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead. "Alright, alright, I forgive you, okay?"

"Really?" Hermione burst into tears of joy, and the tears she had been holding back finally overflowed, streaming down her face.

She felt much lighter, and the heavy feeling of being penalized vanished.

"Aaron, are you really going to forgive her like this?" Draco asked, puzzled. "Isn't that being too soft-hearted?"

"To forgive mistakes, without blaming or punishing them, is true understanding."

But that doesn't mean I'll forget about it. Do you understand?

"I think I understand." Draco nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. "Granger, did you understand?"

"Of course I understood," Hermione chuckled.

She understood the reasoning very well; it was one thing to accept it, but letting it go was another.

However, this result was within her expectations. Understanding is the prerequisite for repairing the relationship, which is much better than treating people coldly.

The group continued their journey through the pitch-black, dense forest.

Fang the scent, Ya Ya somehow ended up at the front of the group. The increasing amount of blood on the ground added to the gloom in the hearts of the three, making them even more nervous.

"Roar!"

Abei suddenly let out a low growl, and the entire dragon became alert, its eyes constantly looking around.

"What's wrong with it?" Draco asked.

Aaron picked up Abei, pressed the lantern down, and whispered a reminder: "Be careful, everyone, crouch down."

There was an evil aura emanating from us, and it was right around us.

"Gollum!"

Hermione swallowed hard. "You mean, he's around us?"

Are you sure there's no mistake?

"No, my Abei has a very keen sense of darkness."

At the same time, Fang stopped and stared straight ahead with a low growl.

Thick vines were intertwined on the ground, and a large patch of silvery-white bloodstain was particularly conspicuous under the moonlight. In addition, there were obvious drag marks in front of it.

It's easy to see that the poor Unicorn struggled violently, but the result didn't seem to be good.

There was a low-lying clearing in front of the vines, and strange sounds came from the clearing, like something being sucked, which made the group's scalps tingle.

"It's just ahead, should we go take a look?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Are you crazy?" Draco said in a low voice, his voice tense. "Let's take a detour, or just turn around and pretend we didn't see anything."

"Send the signal!"

"Here?"

Aaron, calm down, you must calm down.

We're here to put people in solitary confinement; there's no need to risk our lives. We absolutely mustn't act impulsively.

"But there's a Unicorn inside whose fate is unknown!"

If they die, that's fine, we'll turn around and run. But what if they survive?

"If it's still alive, and we just leave quietly like this, then it will really have no choice but to wait for death in Despair." Aaron said, taking out his Wand, a ball of green light flashing on it.

"But this is very dangerous, not just ordinary danger."

I never imagined we'd encounter something like this at Hogwarts.

"I know, you guys run as far away as possible first, I'll stay here and give signals."

If he's too far away, he might not be a threat at all; he could easily take the Unicorn and leave.

"General, once you see the fire start to rise, you must retreat without hesitation."

"We can't leave you here alone," Hermione said seriously.

"Your awareness is good, but you'll only be a burden if you stay."

Besides, and to say something you might not like to hear, you might not be as fast as me.

Draco and Hermione exchanged a glance, nodded, and prepared to quietly back away, trying not to make a sound.

However, after taking only a few steps back, Fang suddenly sneezed and let out a deep, thunderous bark.

The two men froze instantly, and Aaron stared in astonishment at the Neapolitan Mastiff.

It may not have sneezed on purpose, but at that moment no one was questioning whether it was intentional or not.

All they knew was that a quiet retreat was no longer an option.

The bark attracted the attention of the creatures in the clearing, and the chilling sucking sound suddenly stopped, replaced by a rustling sliding sound.

A black figure wearing a hood slowly crawled out of the open space, gradually approaching the three like Ghost.

"Run!" Aaron roared, and a green flame shot into the sky, followed by a red spark.

Two sparks appeared simultaneously in the sky above the Forbidden Forest, which meant that the Unicorn had been discovered, as well as the creature that had harmed it.

"But..."

"No buts." Hermione was interrupted by Aaron before she could finish speaking. "Running away now is the wisest decision."

Before the words were even finished, Fang was the first to take off with her four short legs, bursting with extraordinary speed and running wildly.

Draco followed closely behind, then snarled and ran away.

Aaron didn't hesitate. He put in all his strength. What was the point of all that consistent training? Wasn't it for today?

But he stopped after running only a few steps, turned to look at Hermione who was motionless, and said, "Hurry up and run, what are you waiting for?"

"My legs are weak," Hermione said, on the verge of tears.

She wanted to escape this gloomy and terrifying place as soon as possible, but after the black-robed figure with silver blood on his lips appeared, her body became unresponsive, and her legs felt as heavy as lead.

She had seen many Ghost, but the fear this black-robed figure instilled in her was far beyond anything she had ever Ghost.

Aaron:...

"A generous gift of crabs! Your legs are just at the right time to go weak."

"I don't want to either!" Hermione said, choking back tears. "Why don't you run first and don't worry about me?"

"Don't cry. I can't leave you here alone, a girl, no matter what."

"Two unlucky nights in a row, this is really something." Aaron said, taking a few steps forward and looking directly at the black-robed man standing in front of him, his mind filled with speculation.

At this stage, there is probably only one person at Hogwarts who needs to drink Unicorn Blood to survive, and it seems that the Dark Lord is indeed at the end of his rope.

Even with his opponent in this state, he wasn't confident he could defeat him and could only adapt to the situation.

"As expected, I'm still too weak. If I were strong enough, I wouldn't have to place my hopes on others," Aaron murmured, his desire for power reaching its peak.

"Expelliarmus!"

A dazzling red light flashed and struck the hooded figure.

However, the effect was not obvious. The other party simply took two steps back and continued to move forward as if nothing had happened.

"I knew it would be like this." Aaron smiled bitterly, his right hand holding the Wand trembling slightly. Then he roared, "Expelliarmus."

The man in black robes was dismissive and didn't even bother to dodge, but just as the red light was about to strike, he seemed to sense some danger and his body leaned back in a very strange way, narrowly avoiding the curse.

The curse struck a birch tree, leaving cracks that spread from the center outwards, making it extremely fragile, as if it could be topped over with the slightest push.

"Severing Charm!" An extremely hoarse voice came from the man in the black robe.

"Unfortunately, it missed."

"Even if you hit it, it won't matter." The man in black robes sneered. "You're too weak. The power of the spell you release poses no threat to me."

"I know," Aaron said dismissively. "A person who can hunt Unicorn wouldn't be defeated by such a curse. I just wanted to buy myself some time to escape."

It seems like it failed, but that's okay.