Chapter 40: Scaring Voldemort Away

"Wow, it's beautiful! Like a dream!"

Harry had never seen plants so strange and beautiful. His admiration was heartfelt.

Hermione seemed much calmer than Harry. "There's a serious problem. The Moonflower grows on that boulder in the middle of the stream. How are we going to pick it?"

"I have a way!"

Luo Bin opened his bag and took out a folding umbrella. Once he opened it and pressed a switch, blades above the canopy spun at high speed. It looked as though it could carry someone through the air.

"Cool! Luo Bin, where did you get that?"

"Oh, a gift from a friend—Draco!"

Luo Bin rose onto his toes and leaned forward, gripping a strip of cloth hanging from the umbrella's edge to steer. He and the umbrella slowly flew out over the stream.

After landing on the boulder, he took out scissors and cut three Moonflowers. He put them in separate Glass Bottles, then gripped the umbrella handle and flew back to the bank.

"Luo Bin, you're amazing!" Hermione rushed forward and thanked him.

"It's nothing. I just came prepared. Now that we've got the Moonflower, let's get out of the Forbidden Forest!"

His words made Harry and Hermione think of the hooded Monster. "Right. We need to leave!"

On the way back, Luo Bin felt vaguely uneasy, as though something was watching him from among the trunks and the shadows beneath the bushes.

Hermione bit her lip, while Harry gripped his Wand. Clearly, they felt it too.

Neigh! Neigh!

Huff! Huff!

A pained whinny came from somewhere in the distance, startling all three of them.

"Hagrid said Half-Centaurs sometimes appear in the Forbidden Forest. Could that sound be..."

"No. Half-Centaurs have deep, rough voices, and they rarely whinny. They usually travel in groups, too," Luo Bin said with a frown.

"Then... what could it be?"

What else could it be?

A Unicorn!

Luo Bin took a few steps forward. The whinny grew weaker, but sounded even more anguished. If he did not think of something soon, that Unicorn might die at Voldemort's hands, just as it had in the original story.

He hurriedly opened his bag and searched for anything he could use.

"Luo Bin, you're not thinking of saving it, are you? Listen, that monster is dangerous. We're only first-years. We can count the spells we know on our fingers. We..."

Hermione had clearly realized that the anguished whinny had something to do with the hooded Monster.

"Unicorns are the purest, kindest creatures in the Forbidden Forest—maybe in the entire Wizarding World. We have to find a way to save it!"

Suddenly, Luo Bin's fingers brushed against something hard and cool. He pulled it out: a clown mask.

A mask... the Bamber Mask?!

That's it!

"Harry, Hermione, listen. I've thought of a way to save the Unicorn, but I'll need your help!"

"Luo Bin, if you're sure that cry came from a sacred Unicorn, I'm willing to take the risk!"

"Me too!" Harry said.

"Good. Come closer, and I'll tell you the plan!"

Meanwhile, a distant clearing was spattered with silvery-white blood. Even a small tree snapped in half bore streaks of it.

Beside the stream, a Unicorn of almost dreamlike grace lay in a pool of blood. Weeds and mud clung to its body, and an ugly hooded Monster hunched over its neck. Even so, it remained sacred and noble.

The hooded Monster pressed a hand like a withered branch against the Unicorn's neck. After a few rasping laughs, he lowered his head and gulped down the silvery-white liquid. As its blood drained away, the Unicorn's cries grew fainter.

Suddenly, a dazzling light flashed beneath the Ancient Oak nearby. The hooded Monster stiffly turned his head. Plop. A drop of silvery-white blood slid from the corner of his mouth, gray and rough as bark, onto the Unicorn's mane.

He let out a rattling laugh, then skimmed over the tips of the grass toward the Ancient Oak.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle. So you were hiding here!"

A deep, aged voice came from the light. The hazy figure wore a wide Wizarding Robe. Long, wavy hair and a beard spilled from beneath a small round hat. Most telling of all, the Wand in his hand had a knot every two or three centimeters.

Albus Dumbledore?!

The hooded Monster circled where he stood. If he rashly started a duel, he might not come out ahead. Besides, he did not want an old acquaintance to see him in this neither-human-nor-ghost state. If they were to fight, it would have to wait until he had the Philosopher's Stone!

"The Unicorn is frail and sacred. Harm it, and you will be cursed forever!"

With that, the "figure" raised his Wand. The hooded Monster gave a few snarling howls, then glided away, his robe trailing behind him.

Hah. He ran fast!

Five minutes later, once they were sure he would not return, the three of them removed their disguises.

"Wow. I can't believe he fell for that so easily!"

Hermione put away her Wand, then stepped forward to help Luo Bin remove the hair and beard they had made from curled-up grass.

"Luo Bin, that was Voldemort, wasn't it? How did you know disguising yourself as Mr. Dumbledore would scare him away?" Harry asked, touching his Lightning Bolt Scar. It burned and ached.

"Yes, that was Voldemort. Unicorn Blood can prolong life, but anyone who harms such a sacred, noble Magical Creature is doomed to bear a terrible curse for the rest of their days. The moment that silvery-white blood touches their lips, they must spend the rest of their life paying for it. No Wizard would want a half-life like that, unless..."

"Unless they only wanted Unicorn Blood to keep them alive until they could get something that would grant eternal life and restore their former strength and Magic!"

Harry's eyes widened in horror. His own guess had frightened him.

"Exactly! Tom Marvolo Riddle attended Hogwarts decades ago. The only person I could think of who could intimidate him and was powerful enough to back it up was Professor Albus Dumbledore. But forget that for now. We need to save the Unicorn!"

Luo Bin put away the Bamber Mask, jumped down from the rock, and ran to the Unicorn.

The Unicorn's half-closed eyes flew wide when it saw Luo Bin. It mustered all its strength to whinny, trying to drive the young Wizard away. Danger could return at any moment.

Luo Bin stroked its mane. "Don't be afraid. The bad man's gone. I'll treat your wounds now!"

Scratches and bite marks covered the Unicorn's body. The worst injury was to its neck: Voldemort had bitten deep enough to tear an artery.

Fortunately, Snape had held nothing back in his lessons, and he had been a harsh teacher. Luo Bin had practiced stitching wounds on Moles more than a hundred times.

He took out his medical kit and tied cords around both sides of the Unicorn's neck to slow the bleeding. After opening the wound and clearing away the pooled blood, he stitched the artery with catgut and cast a protective Magic barrier. Then he stitched up the outer wound.

Huff!

The bleeding had stopped. With a little strength returned, the Unicorn snorted its thanks to the young Wizard.

Luo Bin rubbed its ears and said quietly, "That takes care of the serious wound. The smaller ones just need ointment to prevent infection and help them heal."

As Luo Bin stood, he saw that Hermione and Harry had used folded tree leaves to scoop up plenty of water. Both were staring at the Unicorn's dry mouth. He sighed helplessly. "You two... aren't planning to give it water, are you?"

"Luo Bin, you're so clever. We're all first-years, but you know far more than I do. Looks like I'll have to find a way to persuade a certain professor to give me private lessons next year!" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.