The Cursed Man

"Actually, piecing together the truth isn't difficult, if you know what unicorn blood does..."

He dipped a finger into the silvery-white blood, his deep eyes fixed on the viscous liquid clinging to his fingertip.

"But the books never mentioned what their blood could do. In Potions, we only used their tail hair and horns." Hermione spoke, looking rather confused.

"That was to protect them," Nightingale said at the right moment. "Unicorn blood can heal the deepest wounds and prolong life, even for someone on the brink of death..."

"But the instant your lips touch the blood, a curse will crawl through your veins like poisonous ivy—first comes pain, then decay, and finally evil spirits gnaw at your organs while madness devours your mind, until your soul is riddled with holes."

"Yes..." Sagreles nodded. "Not many people know that, and even fewer would actually do it."

"Who could it be? Who would do something like that?" Harry asked in confusion. "I mean, if you have to endure a curse like that, wouldn't death be better than living?"

"Exactly!" Leon the Centaur couldn't help agreeing with Harry.

Sagreles rose to his feet and suddenly asked the young wizard, "Harry, you said your scar started hurting when that person came near you?"

"Yes, Professor. It's hurt before, but never this badly."

"Then isn't the answer obvious?" A strange smile appeared on his face, only to vanish in an instant.

"What do you mean, Professor?"

"I mean the answer is already clear, Harry. Who has waited in silence all these years, longing to rise again? And who has clung desperately to life, preparing to make a comeback?"

Harry's heart felt as though a giant hand had suddenly clenched around it. Sagreles's words echoed through his mind, growing clearer with every breath.

In a daze, Hagrid's rough, low voice rang out again. "Rumors say he's dead? That's nothing but the fantasies of cowards! A soul like that can only wander at the edge of life and death, never finding true rest."

"You mean... Voldemort?" Harry asked, hardly able to believe it.

A chill swept over everyone's skin.

Voldemort?

The Dark Lord who had once commanded the winds and clouds? He was hiding in the Forbidden Forest right now?

They had just come face-to-face with him?

Yes, Harry suddenly understood. The scar—Voldemort had left it on him. That was why it had suddenly hurt when Voldemort came close.

Was that the truth? The truth the Centaurs refused to tell them? Were they afraid of Voldemort's revenge?

"But everyone says that man fears Dumbledore more than anything... and this place is so close to Hogwarts. He shouldn't be here..." Hermione couldn't help saying. "It doesn't make sense. He should've fled far away, not hidden somewhere so close to Dumbledore."

"Maybe it's because he wants something in the school!" Ron suddenly said, and his words reminded Harry and Hermione.

"You mean—the magic..." The three of them suddenly understood.

Whoosh!

An arrow suddenly shot through the treetops, flying swiftly toward them.

Hurricane Rampage!

Sagreles casually cast a spell. A biting hurricane instantly surrounded them and knocked aside the arrow aimed at them.

A moment later, the hurricane dispersed. Everyone looked around uneasily and saw a group of Centaurs slowly emerge from behind the bushes, bows in hand, glaring at them menacingly.

"Poachers!"

"They killed a Unicorn!"

"Leon? Why are you with them?"

"Why did you bring them into the forest? Hagrid, didn't we have an agreement? No one but you was allowed!"

The Centaurs accused them all at once, even pinning the murder of the Unicorn on them.

The young wizards grew agitated at the sight, while Sagreles wore an expression that said, "Just as I thought," watching the Centaurs around him with a half-smile.

"It wasn't us. Voldemort did it..." Harry argued.

"Volde... Leon, what did you tell them?" one Centaur angrily demanded of Leon. "We all swore an oath. Have you forgotten?"

"I didn't tell them anything, Bane. They figured it out themselves."

"Lies! You liar!"

"He isn't lying..." Ron shouted. "Isn't it obvious? We don't need the stars to tell us that."

The Centaur named Bane was immediately enraged by those words. Furiously, he drew his bow and aimed the arrowhead at Ron.

"Don't say another word, Mr. Weasley..." Sagreles said calmly. "They're just a group of arrogant, pitiful fools. They only believe what they see. They trust no one else."

The instant he finished speaking, the arrow flew toward him.

Clearly enraged, Sagreles curled his lip in disdain. With a single Return to Sender, the arrow shot back toward the Centaur even faster.

Bane hurriedly dodged, but the arrow still cut his cheek. The other Centaurs immediately drew their bows and aimed at the group.

"Leon, perhaps you should tell them why we're here now!" Nightingale also drew her wand and said coldly.

But Leon behind her said nothing. Instead, he silently retreated to his fellow Centaurs.

"I knew this assignment would be trouble!" Sagreles's black robes billowed as he muttered irritably to himself. "But that's fine. Handling trouble is what I'm best at..."

"Hagrid, take the human wizards and get out of the forest! They aren't welcome here!"

"What is wrong with you, Bane? We're only investigating whoever killed the Unicorn..." Hagrid said loudly, his massive body blocking the others as he refused to take even a single step back.

Whoosh— The arrow shot mercilessly at Hagrid. The young wizards could hardly believe it, because Hagrid had said before that nothing in the Forbidden Forest would hurt him.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just begun to raise their wands when Sagreles pressed down on their wrists.

"Don't move."

He didn't use his wand. He merely raised a hand and pointed, and the arrow burst into flames midair, turning to ash in an instant.

Sagreles looked at the Centaurs, and at last a chill entered his calm gaze.

"I say... haven't you gotten one thing wrong?" He frowned as he swept his gaze over the Centaurs, his voice so calm it sounded almost hollow. "Since when did Centaurs become the masters of the Forbidden Forest?"

The moment he finished speaking, every tree in the forest began to sway without wind, their leaves rustling.

Thick green vines rapidly spread across the ground, twisting and writhing like snakes. They swiftly climbed around the Centaurs' ankles, then abruptly tightened.

After a burst of startled cries and chaos, the forest fell silent again.

Sagreles waved a hand, and more than twenty Centaurs bound up like dumplings in vines appeared, hanging upside down.