Another Care of Magical Creatures class was drawing to a close. As though she had realized something, Cornelia the Unicorn nimbly rose to her feet, gently swished her tail, and ambled toward where the students had gathered.
Seeing this, Hagrid judged that class was about to end and immediately called the students over to him.
The students gradually gathered around. Hagrid cleared his throat and said, "You've all done very well!"
"After this class, I think you should've figured out a few tricks for winning these little ones over."
"But remember! Simply knowing how to please them won't be enough to handle the O.W.L. exams. You'll have to use your brains more, too."
Although Hagrid had mentioned the O.W.L. exams, quite a few students were not focused on him at all. Instead, they were watching Cornelia's movements.
Cornelia stood beside Wizet and naturally extended her head toward his palm, signaling for him to groom the mane on her head.
The sight filled many of the girls' eyes with envy.
When they had previously studied Unicorns, they had been allowed to pet them, but only on their bodies.
No matter how they tried, they could not get close to a Unicorn's head the way Wizet could.
Yet Wizet had accomplished it with ease. Moreover, the Unicorn had not only approached him of her own accord, but wore an utterly contented expression as well.
The boys had a different reaction. When they had studied Unicorns, Hagrid had told them that Unicorns were naturally wary of boys.
Because they remembered that point, they were now utterly astonished. How had Wizet become the exception?
Could it be... A guess surfaced in Michael Corner's mind. Is this Unicorn unusual? Does she prefer boys and reject girls?
To test his theory, he tentatively reached out a