The Injured Unicorn

Breeze had already familiarized himself with the hidden trail into the Forbidden Forest. He quickly made his way through the tangled vines and stopped only when he heard the gentle sound of running water.

There was a clearing here, one Breeze had discovered a few days ago. It was well hidden.

Since it was close to a water source, there were plenty of fruit-bearing plants and several magical plants. Their seeds had probably been carried here by animals coming to drink.

Breeze took the box out of his pocket.

It was made of wood and had brown grain. Professor Sprout had also explained how to use it.

Breeze set the box on the ground, then lightly tapped the grain with his wand and said softly, "Garden Expand!"

The box trembled slightly. Its sides slowly peeled back, layer by layer, then expanded and unfolded into a garden gate. Beyond the gate was a garden enclosed by a fence, as if a whole new space had been carved out of nowhere. It was truly magical.

This is pretty great. Breeze spotted a wooden chest beside the garden gate. It contained some gardening tools, so he picked them up and got ready to transplant the magical plants and fruit-bearing plants nearby into the garden.

After helping out in the greenhouses for so long, Breeze quickly cleared the area using magic, leaving only a few young seedlings that were still too small to bear fruit. He left them for the animals who would come to eat the fruit in a few years, when spring returned.

He tapped the garden gate with his wand and packed the garden away. After seeing how amazing the little box was, his excitement had worn off, and he returned to his earlier task: searching for Trance Grass.

Following the stream upstream, Breeze occasionally gathered plants that were edible or magical. He was having an unusually lucky day.

"Maybe I'll find Trance Grass today. Everyone has a lucky streak now and then." Breeze chuckled, and the tip of his wand lit up.

After a long time studying, Breeze could now cast some simple spells without speaking.

"Natural Magic Power isn't just a force that enhances things. It should have a deeper effect." Breeze currently used Natural Magic Power in a very crude way. Magic was the embodiment of belief; perhaps he could start trying to combine Natural Magic Power with modern spells and create magic of his own.

That was his next goal.

Holding his wand, Breeze began to draw on the Natural Magic Power within him and slowly intoned, "Lumos..."

"Vmmm!"

The light illuminated the area, its glow rippling across the stream. The shimmering water was reflected on Breeze's face.

The bright light startled the birds in the trees. They quickly chirped and took flight, cautiously settling on the dark treetops to watch the glowing young wizard with their sharp little eyes.

Breeze frowned and slowly dimmed the light until it returned to its original size, just enough to see by.

"Still no good. The most I can do right now is use Natural Magic Power to strengthen a spell, but I can't change its nature. Some powerful wizards can achieve the same level of strength, so there's nothing special about it."

Breeze rubbed his brow. He felt as though he was missing some key insight. The Natural Magic Power inside him was clearly obedient, yet he had never managed to succeed.

"Maybe you're just too obedient." Breeze tossed his wand in his hand. Both his wand and his magic followed his will, carrying out the spells exactly as intended, without any variation. And besides...

"I don't even know how Natural Magic Power could change a spell. I have nothing to use as a reference."

He had reached the end of the water source. It ended in a small pool, with no path leading farther in.

That's far enough, Breeze thought. He looked around for anything useful. After all, he still remembered Cedric saying that he should think about life after graduation. It wasn't unreasonable to bring some renewable resources from the Forbidden Forest to help him make a living.

"By the time I graduate, new magical plants will have grown here."

"Yoo-hoo..."

What was that sound?

A pained cry rang out in the cold wind, like the call of a deer. A faint smell of blood came with it.

Breeze extinguished his Wand-Lighting Charm and walked around a pile of stones. In the moonlight, he saw a puddle and silvery blood. It was Unicorn Blood. The puddle had been left by the creature as it walked through the water to avoid leaving tracks and being found. It was clever.

Unicorns were magical creatures that lived deep in the Forbidden Forest. Wizards revered them as symbols of goodness, and hunting them was forbidden.

But now one was injured?

"No living creature would willingly attack a Unicorn. Its blood, shed against its will, is full of curses!"

Unicorn Blood was magical. It inspired both fear and desire. If a Unicorn willingly gave its blood, it was a miraculous potion that could prolong life. If the blood was taken by force, it was poison that would turn a person into a monster. No one wanted to become one.

"Yoo-hoo!"

Hearing the sorrow in its cries, Breeze tightened his grip on his wand. Anyone who would attack a Unicorn had to be dangerous. He didn't know if the attacker had followed it, but Breeze, who had been close to nature since childhood, couldn't abandon the pure-hearted Unicorn.

He went around a mound of earth and soon spotted the Unicorn, bleeding from its belly. It looked like a large adult.

"Keep quiet," Breeze whispered in warning to the Unicorn. Then he carefully approached it. Seeing how pitiful it looked, he immediately drew his wand. "I've never cast a healing spell on any living creature. If you're willing to try, I can cast one on you."

The Unicorn understood him and weakly nodded.

Breeze immediately cast the spell.

"Vulnera Sanentur!"

A streak of pale blue light poured from his wand and spread over the Unicorn's wound. Silvery blood trickled down as the wound rapidly closed. Natural Magic Power was helping, but it wasn't enough. With a wound this large, Breeze's current skill with spells could only just close it enough to stop the bleeding. The already weakened Unicorn wouldn't be able to regain its strength.

Breeze didn't know any spell that could restore a living creature's vitality.

"Chirp, chirp..." Perhaps knowing it was near death, the Unicorn shook its head at Breeze, then nudged the path beside it, seeming to urge him to leave.

"I'm sorry." Breeze had no way to help. Its injuries were too severe. Even though he had temporarily slowed the loss of its life, he couldn't stop death from coming.

The Unicorn slowly struggled to its feet. It wanted to leave this place and get far from its herd's territory, so the others wouldn't be targeted too.

But it was heading in the direction Breeze had come from...

Breeze froze. He needed to go that way, too, and he didn't know any other route!

Breeze hurried after it, wanting to get the Unicorn to go die somewhere else. But the Unicorn paused for a second, then called out to him a few times before forcing itself to run.

They're coming!

Breeze hurried after the Unicorn. Its wound had closed, so it was no longer bleeding, which was good news. But this still wasn't safe. Breeze could sense something chasing them from behind. It was instinct—and the Unicorn showed no sign of stopping.

There was no path ahead. They were back at the small clearing where Breeze had first stopped.

"This way..."

There was no time! Breeze hurriedly stopped the Unicorn from jumping into the water and led it to a corner instead.

"Concealment Charm!"

"Undetectable Charm!"

After casting the Disillusionment Charm and the Desillusionment Charm on himself and the Unicorn, Breeze warily covered the Unicorn's eyes. He lowered his own head, too.

"Shhhk..."

A cold wind blew past. Something like a snake twisted through the air as it drifted along the stream.

Breeze drew on more Natural Magic Power and cast both spells with all his might. The monster soon drifted away. Howls from wolves in the distance caught its attention, and it sped off in the direction of the howling.

Only when he was sure the monster had gone far away did Breeze undo the spells. He felt a little weak. The monster had been strange, and it had given him chills. When he didn't know what he was dealing with, Breeze wasn't about to take a risk.

The Unicorn slowly collapsed to the ground and let out a soft groan.

"I beg you, wizard who possesses the power of nature..."

The Unicorn was speaking?

Breeze looked at it. Tears ran from its deeply expressive eyes.

"Tell Hogwarts of my death..."

"I can give you my body."

As soon as it had spoken, Breeze felt the Unicorn's life begin to drain away rapidly. Seeing the confusion on Breeze's face, it added, "A Unicorn's death unleashes powerful magic that carries our souls to the place where we began. That's why you can hear me..."

Its life faded away, and the Unicorn's gaze grew dull. Breeze suddenly felt the Natural Magic Power in the air around him begin to wail. It surged and gathered into a mass.

Breeze had a feeling that if he closed his eyes and entered meditation, he would be able to see it all.

He chose to trust his intuition.

When Breeze closed his eyes, just as he had the last time he meditated, he first saw the Natural Magic Power around him drawing close. He seemed to rise into the air, able to see the ball of light inside his own body. It was An Qing's memory. The ball of light was now like a strange, isolated island: it sent Natural Magic Power to Breeze, yet severed its own connection to that power.

Breeze frowned, but what surprised him even more than his own problem was the soul taking shape above the Unicorn.

The Natural Magic Power in the air surrounded the Unicorn's soul, which was just as astonished.

"You really are a wizard favored by nature. But I have no time left. I want to see my homeland one last time..."

As Breeze watched, the magic carried the Unicorn's soul away as a streak of light. It flew into the distance and soon vanished without a trace.

Breeze's consciousness returned to his body. The Unicorn's cold body still lay beside him.

"I can see souls?"

Breeze rubbed his eyes, making sure it hadn't been an illusion.

"Then are you a soul too, An Qing?"

Breeze's heart suddenly grew heavy, and unease crept over him. But there was nothing he could do. Perhaps...

"Only Dark Magic can control souls, and casting any Dark Magic requires the corresponding intent. Darkness is the only path to seeing souls..."

"That was written in the notes Professor Quirrell gave me. Is it true?"

Breeze was wavering. He hadn't taken a close look at Quirrell's notebook these past few weeks. Even in class, he'd simply relied on what he'd already learned to be a good assistant.

Unless he went to Quirrell's office, he had no chance to ask about souls.

"Quirrell hasn't asked for his notebook back. Could I take a look?"

But there was that contract!

"Quirrell isn't up to any good, either. Why jump from one trap into another? I'll end up getting burned by both."

Breeze thought it over rationally. It would be wiser to rely on himself to look for information about souls. The Forbidden Section, for instance, might be able to help him. The notes of the person in the Owlery mentioned souls very little. Faner had said that after that fellow made a soul contract with the Grim Reaper, he went mad before his death and destroyed those records.