The Injured Unicorn

Breeze had already figured out the hidden path into the Forbidden Forest; he quickly passed through the tangled vines and only stopped when he heard the soft, trickling sound of water.

There was a clearing here that Breeze had discovered a few days ago, and it was very well hidden.

Because it was near a water source, there were many fruit-bearing plants here, as well as a few magical plants, likely grown from seeds brought by animals coming to drink.

Breeze took the box out of his pocket.

The box was made of wood with brown grain, and Professor Sprout had previously told Breeze how to use it.

Breeze placed the box on the ground, then gently tapped the grain on the box with his wand and whispered, "Garden Expand!"

Accompanied by a slight tremor, the box slowly peeled open layer by layer, then expanded and unfolded to form a garden gate. Inside the gate was a garden enclosed by railings, as if a space had been carved out of thin air—it was truly magical.

This is really nice. Breeze saw a wooden crate next to the garden gate containing some farm tools, so he picked them up and prepared to transplant the surrounding magical plants and fruit bushes into the garden.

Having helped in the greenhouses for so long, Breeze quickly used magic to sweep the area clean, leaving only the young seedlings that couldn't bear fruit yet for the animals that would come to eat when spring returned in a few years.

He tapped the garden gate with his wand to close it up. After witnessing the magic of the small box, the initial excitement faded, and Breeze continued his previous task: searching for Trance Grass.

Following the stream upward, Breeze occasionally collected some edible or magical plants; his luck was exceptionally good today.

"I have a good chance of finding Trance Grass today; everyone has moments when their luck just explodes." Breeze chuckled, and the tip of his wand lit up.

Through long-term study, Breeze was already able to cast some simple spells non-verbally.

"Natural magic isn't just a supplementary force; it should have a deeper level of transformation." Breeze's current way of using natural magic was very crude, and since magic was the embodiment of belief, perhaps he could start trying to combine natural magic with modern spells to create his own unique magic.

This was also Breeze's next goal.

Breeze held his wand, began to mobilize the natural magic within his body, and slowly chanted, "Lumos..."

"Hum!"

The light illuminated the area, reflecting shimmering ripples on the stream, and the rippling water patterns were cast upon Breeze's face.

The bright light startled the birds in the trees; they quickly flew up, chirping, and cautiously landed on the dark treetops, observing Breeze, the glowing little wizard, with their clever eyes.

Breeze frowned and slowly retracted the light, letting it return to its original size, just enough to barely light the way.

"Still not working. At most, I can use natural magic to enhance the intensity of a spell, but I can't change its essence. But even some powerful wizards can achieve this level of intensity; it's nothing special."

Breeze rubbed his brow. He always felt he was missing a catalyst. The natural magic in his body was clearly very obedient, yet he had never succeeded.

"Perhaps it's because you are all too obedient." Breeze tossed his wand in his hand. Whether it was the wand or the magic, both followed Breeze's will, strictly performing according to the spell's own direction without much variation, and besides...

"I don't even know how natural magic could change a spell; there's absolutely no reference material."

He reached the end of the water source, a small marsh where there was no path to go any deeper.

Let's stop here, Breeze thought, looking around to see if there was anything of value. After all, he still kept in mind what Cedric had said about considering his livelihood after graduation; it wouldn't be excessive to bring back some renewable resources from the Forbidden Forest to help settle down.

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

"Yew-yew..."

What was that sound?

A painful cry came through the cold wind, sounding like a deer, accompanied by a faint scent of blood.

Breeze extinguished his Lumos spell and bypassed a pile of stones. Under the moonlight, he saw a puddle of water and silver bloodstains. This was unicorn blood, and the water was from the creature walking through the marsh to avoid leaving tracks while fleeing—it was very clever.

Unicorns were magical creatures that lived deep in the Forbidden Forest, revered by wizards as symbols of beauty, and their hunting was strictly prohibited.

And now, it was injured?

"No living soul would be willing to strike at a unicorn; its unwilling blood is filled with curses!"

Unicorn blood was miraculous; it was both feared and coveted. If a unicorn voluntarily offered its blood, it was a divine medicine for longevity, but if it was forced out, it became a poison that turned people into monsters. No one wanted to become a monster.

"Yew-yew!"

Listening to the sorrow in the sound, Breeze tightened his grip on his wand. Whoever dared to strike a unicorn must be very dangerous. Breeze wasn't sure if the killer was still pursuing it, but having been close to nature since he was a child, Breeze couldn't just abandon a pure and kind unicorn.

Bypassing a mound of dirt, Breeze soon saw the unicorn bleeding from its abdomen; it looked like a full-grown adult.

"Be quiet," Breeze whispered a warning to the unicorn, then carefully walked to its side. Looking at the unicorn's pitiful appearance, he immediately took out his wand and said, "I have never cast a healing spell on any living creature, but if you decide to try, I can cast it on you."

The unicorn understood Breeze's words and nodded weakly.

Breeze immediately cast the spell.

"Vulnera Sanentur!"

A beam of ghostly blue light surged from the tip of his wand and spread over the unicorn's wound. The silver blood slowed, and the wound began to heal rapidly. The natural magic was working, but it wasn't enough. With his current spellcasting ability, he could barely stitch the wound and stop the bleeding, but the already weakened unicorn could hardly recover its vitality.

Breeze didn't have a single spell that could replenish a living creature's life force.

"Chirp, chirp..." Perhaps knowing it was nearing the end, the unicorn shook its head at Breeze and nudged a small path to the side, seemingly urging Breeze to leave.

"I'm sorry." Breeze had no choice; it was too severely injured. Even if he temporarily slowed the fading of its life, he couldn't reverse the arrival of death.

The unicorn slowly propped itself up; it wanted to leave this place, to get far away from its herd's territory so they wouldn't be targeted as well.

And the direction it was leaving in was exactly the direction Breeze had come from...

Breeze froze for a moment; he had to go that way too, and he didn't know any other paths!

Breeze hurriedly chased after it, wanting to get the unicorn to go in a different direction to die, but the unicorn paused for a second, then let out a few cries at Breeze and forced its body to run quickly.

It's coming!

Breeze hurried to keep up with the Unicorn. Fortunately, the creature's wound had begun to knit together and was no longer bleeding, but they were still in danger. Breeze could sense something pursuing them from behind—it was an instinct, and the Unicorn showed no signs of stopping either.

There was no path ahead; they had reached the small clearing where Breeze had first arrived.

"This way..."

There was no time! Breeze hastily pressed down on the Unicorn, which had been preparing to leap into the water, and pulled it into a corner instead.

"Disillusionment Charm!"

"Desillusionment Charm!"

After casting the Disillusionment Charm and the Desillusionment Charm on both himself and the Unicorn, Breeze vigilantly covered the creature's eyes and lowered his own head.

"Hiss-shhh..."

A cold gust of wind blew past, and a creature resembling a snake twisted its body as it drifted along the stream.

Breeze increased the flow of his natural magic, pouring his full effort into maintaining the two spells. The monster soon drifted away, its attention caught by the sound of howling wolves in the distance, and it sped off toward the noise.

Only when he was certain the monster had truly departed did Breeze release the spells. His face looked pale and weak; the creature had been bizarre, leaving Breeze with a bone-chilling sense of dread. He had no intention of risking an encounter when he didn't understand the danger.

The Unicorn slowly collapsed to the ground, letting out a soft whinny.

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

The Unicorn was speaking?

Breeze looked at the Unicorn, and tears welled up in its deeply human-like eyes.

"Tell Hogwarts of my death..."

"I can grant you my body."

No sooner had it spoken than Breeze felt the Unicorn's life force beginning to drain away rapidly. Seeing the confused expression on Breeze's face, it added one last thing: "The death of a Unicorn releases powerful magic that guides our souls back to the place of our origin. That is why you can hear me..."

The vitality faded, and the light in the Unicorn's eyes vanished. Suddenly, Breeze felt the natural magic in the surrounding air begin to wail, surging and gathering into a mass in a state of agitation.

Breeze had a premonition: if he closed his eyes and meditated, he would be able to see it all.

He chose to trust his intuition.

As Breeze closed his eyes, it was just like his previous meditation. First, he saw the surrounding natural magic drawing close to him. Then, he felt as if he were flying into mid-air, where he could see a cluster of light within his own body—the memories of An Qing. At this moment, the light cluster resembled a strange, isolated island, simultaneously channeling natural magic to Breeze while severing its own connection to that same magic.

Breeze frowned, but what surprised him even more than his own condition was the soul coalescing above the Unicorn.

The natural magic in the air wrapped around the soul of the Unicorn, which also appeared surprised.

"You truly are a wizard favored by nature. But I have no time left; I must look upon my homeland one last time..."

Under Breeze's gaze, the magic carried the Unicorn's soul, transforming it into a streak of light that flew toward the distance and vanished without a trace.

Breeze's consciousness returned to his body, the cold carcass of the Unicorn still lying beside him.

"I can see souls?"

Breeze rubbed his eyes, confirming it wasn't an illusion.

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

Breeze's mood suddenly turned heavy, and a sense of unease washed over him. Yet, there was nothing he could do. Perhaps...

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

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

Breeze felt shaken. He hadn't looked closely at Quirrell's notes in weeks, and even in class, he had simply used his own knowledge to act as a helpful assistant.

Unless he went to Quirrell's office, he had no opportunity to ask about the nature of souls.

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

But that contract!

"Quirrell doesn't have good intentions either. Why should I jump from one pit into another and end up covered in danger from both?"

Breeze thought rationally and decided it would be more prudent to rely on his own research regarding souls. The Forbidden Section, for instance, should be able to provide him with answers. The notes from that person in the Owlery rarely mentioned souls; according to Faner, after that fellow signed a soul contract with the God of Death, he had gone mad and destroyed all records of that part of his research before he died.