Dark Shadow in the Forbidden Forest (Part 2)

Harry and Draco's bickering ultimately ended without a winner. Carrying a lantern and leading his Big Black Dog, Fang, Hagrid stepped out of the cabin.

He smiled gently and nodded at Harry, then gave the Two little wizards present a warning.

"Recently, something has been harming Unicorns in the Forbidden Forest. We're going into the Forbidden Forest today mainly to investigate exactly what has been hurting them."

"It's very dangerous, so you must be careful."

Harry had been a little nervous, but the moment he remembered Draco Malfoy was beside him, he immediately hid his anxiety. No matter what, he couldn't let Malfoy laugh at him.

Draco, on the other hand, couldn't hold back. "Something that hurts Unicorns?!"

"That's far too dangerous! I want to go back. My Dad would never agree to let me go."

Hagrid snorted without any politeness. "This detention was decided by Headmaster Dumbledore, and Professor Snape agreed to it too. You can have your Dad discuss it with them."

Draco gritted his teeth and shut his mouth. His father was most wary of Dumbledore right now, while Professor Snape was his father's partner.

Since both of them had agreed to this detention... that meant he had no room to maneuver at all.

As she listened to Hagrid, Lin Yue's brain rapidly began analyzing the situation.

Something capable of harming Unicorns. Unicorns possessed powerful magical abilities; even ordinary adult wizards could not contend with one alone. In other words, whatever was currently in the Forbidden Forest was very powerful.

Slowly and mechanically, she turned her head toward the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid's next words surfaced in Lin Yue's mind.

This detention had been decided by Headmaster Dumbledore. In other words, the person who wanted Harry Potter to enter the Forbidden Forest to see something was Headmaster Dumbledore.

Lin Yue reached a conclusion without the slightest emotional fluctuation: that also meant Harry Potter definitely would not come to harm.

After all, Headmaster Dumbledore could not possibly intend to hurt Harry Potter. As for what he wanted Harry Potter to see in the Forbidden Forest, it was likely the thing harming the Unicorns.

In just over ten seconds, Lin Yue's brain had already pieced together nearly the entire truth. Hagrid, Harry, and Draco had also finished preparing, and with Hagrid leading the way, they headed into the Forbidden Forest.

Lin Yue and Hermione followed behind them beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Hermione pressed her lips together, and feeling Lin Yue's warmth beside her, she couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

"Lin Yue... what do you think the thing hurting the Unicorns in the Forbidden Forest could be?"

Lin Yue did not sense Hermione's nervousness at all. In an even tone, she simply stated the facts. "I don't know what is harming the Unicorns."

"But if it can harm Unicorns, that proves it is very powerful—and very evil."

Hermione shuddered violently. Clearly, she agreed with Lin Yue. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Hermione reached out and drew her wand.

Beside her, Lin Yue's wand was already in her right hand, ready at any moment to deal with any unexpected situation.

Everything was peaceful at first as they moved around the outer edges of the Forbidden Forest. But as they continued deeper in, the path they had been following split into two smaller trails.

Hagrid looked at Harry with some difficulty. "Harry, we may have to split up."

"What?!" Before Harry could speak, Draco shouted in disbelief, "The two of us are going through the Forbidden Forest alone?!"

Hearing this guy shout beside him irritated Harry. He turned to Draco and sneered, "What's wrong? Are you scared, Malfoy?"

"Who's scared?!" Draco forced himself to glare viciously at Harry. "You're the scared one, Potter!"

The corner of Harry's mouth twitched. He turned to Hagrid. "No problem. We'll search faster if we split up."

Hagrid nodded and handed one of his lanterns to Harry. "If anything happens, fire a red spark into the sky."

"Okay." Harry took Hagrid's lantern and agreed.

Draco glanced down at the imposing Fang and quickly said, "We want Fang to come with us."

Hagrid handed Fang's leash to Draco. "All right, but I have to remind you, he's quite the coward."

After giving them a few more instructions, Hagrid headed down the trail on the left, while Harry and Draco led Fang down the trail on the right.

Lin Yue and Hermione followed them beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Lin Yue's lifeless eyes swept across everything around them. Though they held no trace of expression, they missed no clue whatsoever.

As they continued deeper, Lin Yue sharply spotted faint traces of running and fighting on the ground.

She suddenly raised her head. Before she could say anything, Draco let out a panicked scream. He threw down Fang's leash, turned around, and ran without looking back.

The reason for his flight was in the clearing ahead of Harry.

Expressionlessly, Lin Yue looked at the black shadow lying on the ground in the distance. Before it lay a small pool of silvery-white blood, along with a Unicorn that was either dead or alive.

Draco's cry had clearly drawn its attention. The black shadow abruptly raised its head and came face-to-face with Harry.

Holding his breath, Harry drew his wand and fired a red spark into the sky.

The black shadow lunged at him swiftly. Beneath the Invisibility Cloak, both Lin Yue and Hermione raised their wands at the same time.

Petrificus Totalus!

Stupefy!

The two spells struck the black shadow one after the other, making it pause where it stood.

Hermione's voice trembled beneath the Invisibility Cloak as she called out to Harry, "Harry, run!"

Hearing Hermione's trembling cry beside him, Harry pinched his palm hard and forced himself to move again. The next moment, he raised his wand at the black shadow without hesitation.

Run? How could he run? Hermione was here, and Lin Yue was here. He could never do something like abandoning his friends and fleeing.

Petrificus Totalus!

Harry copied Hermione and cast a Petrifying Charm at the black shadow, but the effect was not obvious. The black shadow had clearly been angered as well. Drawing its own wand, it directly deflected Harry's Petrifying Charm.

Then it actually skipped past him and charged straight toward Hermione and Lin Yue. Their chanting and shouts had just exposed their position.

Watching the dark figure rush at them, Lin Yue did not need to think. She reached out, threw back the Invisibility Cloak, and slipped out, firmly shielding Hermione behind her, just as she had when they encountered the Troll.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

Her wand drew a circle through the air as the emotionless incantation rang out. Fallen leaves throughout the area rose from the ground, spinning rapidly in midair and tightly enclosing Lin Yue, Hermione, and Harry in the center.

The edges of the swiftly moving leaves were as sharp as blades. The movements of Lin Yue's wand changed rapidly, and the fallen leaves gathered into a long dragon that charged at the dark figure.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Spells continually shot from the dark figure's wand, breaking apart the dragon formed from fallen leaves again and again. Yet the next instant, more leaves would immediately rush in to fill the gaps.

The dark figure roared furiously. Quite a few leaves had already broken through his defenses, leaving countless blade-like cuts across his body.

Seemingly thoroughly enraged, the dark figure fired spells even more rapidly. Hermione and Harry could only see flashes of red mixed with green before their eyes, so blinding that they could not keep them open.

As the stalemate dragged on, Lin Yue's face rapidly turned pale.

Her mind swiftly analyzed the situation under pressure. She had already recognized the spells the dark figure was using: red was the Cruciatus Curse, and green was the Killing Curse.

If this continued, her magic power would eventually run dry. When that happened, none of the three of them would likely escape disaster.

Take one Cruciatus Curse, then drive back the dark figure. Lin Yue arrived at the best choice.

Without hesitation, she sprinted forward, rushing straight out of the range enclosed by the fallen leaves and colliding head-on with a streak of red light flying toward her without dodging.

The red light struck Lin Yue's body. Pain—excruciating pain, pain that seeped into her bones and pierced her heart.

Lin Yue's face remained expressionless, though her feet staggered involuntarily.

The dark figure gave a mocking laugh. In the end, she was just a little wizard. She could not keep her composure, and her magic power was insufficient. Now that she had been hit by a Cruciatus Curse, how could she possibly fight?

She could only collapse to the ground and howl in agony! Thinking this, the dark figure completely let down his guard.

Unfortunately for him, Lin Yue had long known he would think that way. Or rather, this moment of carelessness was exactly what she had been waiting for.

Steadying herself, Lin Yue raised her wand toward the sky. Her voice was unusually hoarse, yet still calm.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

Four dragons of fallen leaves surged up from the ground around the dark figure, viciously crashing toward him.

Seeing that Lin Yue could still stand, and could even cast such a wide-range spell, the dark figure's eyes filled with disbelief.

The four dragons of fallen leaves charged fiercely at him. There was no way to block them. If even one of those four leaf dragons struck him head-on, he would certainly die.

With an unwilling roar, the dark figure's body turned to mist, becoming a cloud of black mist that shot into the air before attempting to dive back down toward the ground.

Whoosh—a sound tore through the air as an arrow landed in front of the black mist. Clearly, the Centaur arranged by Headmaster Dumbledore had arrived.

The black mist paused for a second, then immediately turned and fled without hesitation.

Lin Yue stood where she was, her face deathly pale. Although she had only been hit once, the pain throughout her body was still surging back.

She lowered her wand. With a bang, all the fallen leaves lost their support and fluttered down to the ground.

With the leaves no longer blocking her view, Hermione immediately spotted Lin Yue. She rushed over, pulled her beneath the Invisibility Cloak, and looked at her with concern.

"Lin Yue, how are you? You're not hurt, are you?"

Lin Yue spoke hoarsely. "I'm not hurt..." There was not a single wound on her body, so she was telling the truth.

"What happened to your voice?" Hearing Lin Yue say she was not hurt, Hermione relaxed slightly, but she still could not help worrying at the abnormal hoarseness in her voice.

The Forbidden Forest was simply too dark, so she could not see Lin Yue's pale face at all. Otherwise, she would probably have screamed and dragged her straight to the Medical Wing.

"It's fine. It'll get better after a while," Lin Yue answered in an even tone.

Once the pain passed, her voice would naturally recover as well.

"Alright." Hermione pressed her lips together and said nothing more. The Centaur and Hagrid had both arrived.

While Hagrid and the Centaur questioned him about what had happened, Harry casually made up an account of the situation. Yet his gaze kept darting toward where Lin Yue and Hermione were. He was truly worried about how the two of them were doing.

Fearing that Harry had been frightened, the Centaur had Harry climb onto his back, then hurried with Hagrid to escort him out of the Forbidden Forest.

Lin Yue and Hermione, meanwhile, slowly made their way out of the Forbidden Forest beneath the Invisibility Cloak.

Her legs were weak and her steps unsteady. Lin Yue had never felt her body so powerless before. Though she was weak and in pain, her expression did not change in the slightest; calmness and composure filled her face.

By the time they finally left the Forbidden Forest, Lin Yue could no longer restrain her breathing from becoming heavy.

Fortunately, Hermione did not hear it because of the wind around them.

"Hermione, go back first. Let Harry know we're safe."

Lin Yue spoke in a hoarse yet calm voice. Amid waves of splitting headache, fragmented thoughts kept surfacing in her mind, telling her to make Hermione leave first.

"I'll take you back to Ravenclaw Tower." Hermione shook her head. She did not want to leave Lin Yue here alone.

"The professors won't catch me," Lin Yue said hoarsely and calmly. "Go back first. Let Harry and Ron know we're safe."

Hermione glanced toward Hogwarts Castle, then lowered her eyes. Indeed... if she did not go back for so long, and Harry returned and told Ron what had happened, they might think something had happened to her and Lin Yue.

Then if they went looking for the professors... Harry would probably end up in detention again, and she and Lin Yue would lose points too.

"Alright, then I'll go tell Harry and the others first. Be careful, and get back to the dormitory soon."

"Alright," Lin Yue agreed in an even tone.

Hermione hurried away beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Lin Yue stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, reaching out to brace herself against a nearby tree.

Her face was deathly pale, sweat pouring down like rain. Staggering on unsteady feet, Lin Yue clung to the tree and slowly inched her way toward Hogwarts Castle.

Even for someone who had grown accustomed to pain, the agony of the Cruciatus Curse was far too "advanced" for her.

Still, it was fortunate that she had become used to pain. Otherwise, the instant the Cruciatus Curse struck her, she would have collapsed without the slightest ability to resist.

Step by step, she dragged herself into Hogwarts Castle, then supported herself against the wall as she slowly climbed the stairs. Along the way, even the stairs seemed to slow their movement, as though afraid that moving too quickly would shake this weakened child off her feet.

After answering the door knocker's question in a hoarse voice, Lin Yue entered the Common Room and slowly climbed the final flight of stairs. She opened the Dormitory door, made it to her bed, and collapsed onto it without even having time to take off her shoes and socks.