Hunter and Prey

The Forbidden Forest at night was terrifyingly quiet.

The wind blew gently, causing the leaves in the woods to rustle, which only made the silence feel more profound.

There were no bird calls or insect chirps in the entire forest, nothing like the Forbidden Forest the students described—a place filled with dangerous creatures and the howling of werewolves at midnight.

On the edge of the Forbidden Forest, there was a narrow path that gradually disappeared into the black, dense woods, but Harley did not choose to take it.

She deactivated her invisibility, dressed in lightweight, tight-fitting clothes, grabbed a protrusion on a large tree, and climbed up rapidly.

Following that, Harley utilized the abilities granted to her as an Assassin, moving swiftly and silently through the forest by relying on the vines and interlocking branches between the trees.

Harley's goal was to find a Unicorn. However, she knew that the probability of her succeeding this time was not high.

As an Assassin, how could she expect to complete a mission without collecting preliminary information?

But Harley was very patient; if she didn't succeed this time, she would wait for the next. After all, she could afford to wait.

Harley leaped continuously, heading toward the depths of the Forbidden Forest. She wanted to find the lake first.

There were never any traces of Fantastic Beasts from the Forbidden Forest coming to drink at the Black Lake; at most, only ordinary animals went there.

Therefore, the herd of Unicorns that needed to drink must all be drinking around the lake inside the Forbidden Forest. Using the lake as a base would make it more effective to search for the Unicorn herd.

Fortunately, when she had visited Hagrid previously, Harley had managed to extract the general location of the lake in the Forbidden Forest, which saved her quite a bit of time.

Halfway there, Harley stopped abruptly, slid down against the tree trunk, and landed steadily on the ground.

Harley looked at a patch of silvery-blue, glowing blood on the ground at her feet.

The spirituality within the blood had almost completely faded, but it was clear that it originated from a magical creature of no small strength.

Is it a Unicorn? Harley muttered to herself. She had asked Snape about it during a small lecture and learned that Unicorn blood was a shimmering silvery-blue.

Harley changed her plan. She took a small shovel and a hollow crystal ball from her bag, scooped up some of the congealed blood, and placed it into the crystal ball.

Afterward, she added several materials into the crystal ball, using this as a medium to cast a curse.

This curse pointed toward the Unicorn that had shed the blood, but it only served to guide Harley to the Unicorn's location.

The liquid in the crystal ball quickly condensed into a small sphere and clung tightly to the inner wall of the crystal ball.

Harley looked in that direction and, without hesitation, sprinted according to the guidance.

Inside the crystal ball, the direction of the liquid sphere kept changing, as if that Unicorn were constantly moving.

This made Harley become increasingly vigilant.

According to the textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Unicorns lived in herds, and at night, except for the Unicorn on guard duty, the others were all resting.

But now it, or rather they, were moving frantically.

Considering that it was unlikely for Unicorns to be hunting because they wanted a midnight snack—after all, their diet was herbivorous—it could only mean that someone or some other creature was hunting the Unicorns.

Unicorns themselves contained powerful magic and were definitely not weak. Therefore, whatever could hunt a Unicorn could not be weak either.

This set off alarm bells in Harley's mind, and she slung the bag on her back to her side to ensure she could quickly retrieve any necessities from it.

Several small knives and her wand also slid from her sleeves into Harley's hands.

Although, due to limited conditions, Harley hadn't managed to get high-quality daggers and had only swiped a few table knives during meals.

However, after being sharpened, coated with various essential oils and floral waters, and paired with ritual enchantments, these table knives were sharp enough to cut through iron like mud and carried curses.

At the same time, Harley disappeared into the air again, no longer moving rapidly via the branches, but slowly sneaking through the shadows.

Finally, the liquid sphere in the crystal ball stopped changing direction and pointed straight in one direction.

A thought flashed through Harley's mind: The hunter has succeeded.

Even so, she did not become impatient. There was more than one Unicorn in the Forbidden Forest, and Harley did not believe that the unknown hunter could slaughter the entire Unicorn herd.

More importantly, as a former Assassin, Harley had sufficient patience.

However, Harley did not sneak for long. After a mere five-minute journey, Harley saw a snow-white corpse in a clearing in the woods.

It was the corpse of a Unicorn. The Unicorn's slender legs remained in the position it had fallen, stretched out unnaturally.

The white mane was spread over the fallen leaves, and the moonlight shone on it, reflecting a bright silver glow.

However, this Unicorn's corpse was missing its head.

Where the head should have been, a figure wrapped in a black cloak was hunched over the throat, gulping down blood.

Upon seeing that figure, Harley's spirituality gave a warning.

That is a demigod-level powerhouse! Harley's eyes widened instantly, and she became even more cautious in hiding her aura.

No! Harley thought rapidly, This is not a complete demigod; he has definitely been severely wounded.

If he were at his peak, my spirituality wouldn't just be giving a common warning; it would be screaming frantically.

Right, Unicorn blood has a strong curse, but drinking it can extend one's life.

He is severely wounded, so he needs the Unicorn's blood to restore his vitality...

Harley scanned the surrounding environment continuously and discovered the Unicorn's severed head on the grass not far away.

"The wound is a clean cut; it seems it was killed instantly by an unknown magic." Harley recalled the knowledge she had learned during this period.

"It wasn't a Severing Charm. The books record that a Severing Charm would struggle to harm a powerful magical creature like a Unicorn."

"It must be some kind of unknown Dark Magic. If he has discovered me, I need to be on guard."

"Then again, maybe a demigod could cut a Unicorn? Even if he is severely wounded, his former status remains..."

As Harley continued to gather information on the enemy, a cold, hoarse voice filled with madness rang out: "Fool, you are being watched! There is someone to your left!"

The figure immediately stopped drinking blood, stood up, and looked toward Harley's position.

Harley's muscles tensed instantly, but she chose not to flee immediately.

Judging by the voice and the tone of the speech, there were two people on the other side, one of whom was a heavily wounded demigod.

By now, the opponent had reacted and focused his attention on Harley.

Although Harley was confident she could escape at the first opportunity, it would come at a significant cost.

It would be better to utilize the boost in intelligence provided by the Instigator to find a way to divert the enemy's attention, thereby leaving with minimal cost.

Thinking of this, Harley reached into her crossbody bag and pulled out a mask. This mask had been popped out of a wizard cracker during Christmas.

Harley put on the mask, which only covered the upper half of her face, then stepped out from the shadows and gave an elegant bow:

"Good evening, Mr. Hunter!"

(Thanks to Ke Shan Zuo Lan Xue Hua Bei for the tip!)

(Thanks to Book Friend 20200930072138374 for the tip!)

(Thanks to Shao Nian You Yu Gu Ren Gui for the tip!)