What had Neville, that hardheaded boy, been attacked by? Even he couldn't say for sure.
All he knew was that night, he'd been sneaking around the Forbidden Forest, following the method he'd found in a book to look for Unicorn tracks and droppings. Then, out of nowhere, something attacked him from behind, and he tumbled down a small slope. After that, he remembered nothing.
He truly had no idea who—or what—had attacked him. It could have been a magical creature, some kind of monster, or something else entirely.
And he hadn't told the professors he'd actually gone looking for a Unicorn. He'd only said he wanted to find his toad. After all, it really had been missing for several days, and he suspected it might have wandered into the Forbidden Forest. Worried about it, he'd gone to look for it.
Whether his toad was truly missing or had simply found somewhere to hibernate was a matter of opinion.
At any rate, his excuse was perfectly reasonable. Even the professors couldn't say anything, despite knowing there was more to the story.
After that, he spent several days lying in the Hospital Wing. Along the way, he even got to know some pretty second- and third-year girls who had to come in every day for a dose of Calming Draught.
In the end, just as Annie had said, he got away with it. When he was discharged, all he had to show for it was a reprimand and a few pages of lines.
As for whether Neville would keep trying to find a way into the Forbidden Forest to get Unicorn Blood, that remained to be seen.
The Quidditch match was coming up soon, and the students had found something new to talk about. The fuss over Gryffindor suddenly losing two hundred