Chapter 41: The Centaur Firenze

"Look, the Unicorn's so thirsty it keeps licking its lips!"

Harry stepped forward with water cupped in a spoon-shaped leaf, but Luo Bin hurried to stop him.

"Harry, Hermione, remember this: if any creature has been injured and lost a lot of blood, you mustn't give it water for twenty-four hours. No matter how thirsty it is!"

"Why?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Losing that much blood reduces blood volume. Giving it water too soon can cause electrolyte imbalances and rupture cell walls. Unicorns are delicate even when they're healthy. This one's so badly hurt it can't stand. If it drinks two big handfuls of water, it might..."

Luo Bin didn't say "die," but Harry and Hermione understood. Shaken, they threw away the leaves in their hands.

"Oh, my goodness, Harry. I've never hated how little I know as much as I do right now!"

"Me too!"

They had come so close. One small mistake on their part could have killed a noble, sacred creature.

Harry pressed his lips together and silently vowed to learn all he could from then on. He moved beside Luo Bin and copied the way he applied medicine to the Unicorn. Hermione joined them.

Ten minutes later, they had treated every wound on the Unicorn's body, large and small. Now the three of them faced a serious question: should they wait by the stream until dawn, or take the Unicorn with them?

While they were still torn, a Centaur burst out of the shadows. He had pale golden hair, jewel-blue eyes, and a muscular upper body. His lower half was that of an Abraxan.

"Luo Bin, you shouldn't have come here!" he said, stamping a hoof in displeasure.

"Firenze, I'm so glad to see you. Could you watch over this Unicorn tonight? A professor will come for it first thing tomorrow morning!"

Luo Bin knew the Centaurs kept to themselves and stayed out of others' affairs. But this was a sacred Unicorn they had rescued. He decided to take his chances.

Firenze looked at the Unicorn, whose breathing was gradually growing steadier. Two days ago, he had read the stars and foreseen that a pure, noble creature would die in the Forbidden Forest tonight. Bound by the rules of his herd, he had told no one of the Prophecy.

He had left the herd and roamed the Forbidden Forest tonight because he still held on to the faintest hope of saving the Unicorn. At Luo Bin's request, he nodded. "All right. Wait—this boy's eyes look very much like someone's!"

"Lily Evans. My mother. Ever since I came to Hogwarts, lots of people have said I have her eyes!"

Firenze took a few steps forward and brushed the hair off the boy's forehead. At the sight of the lightning-shaped scar, his pupils widened. "Potter. Are you Harry Potter?"

"Yes!"

At the answer, Firenze paced in a tight circle three or four times, then threw back his head and called out several times. "Listen," he said urgently, "an unknown creature has been moving through the Forbidden Forest lately. It isn't safe here, especially for you. Ronan and Bane will escort you out."

"Firenze, the three of us know who that creature is. He's—"

"Don't say it! Don't say that person's name. It brings bad luck!"

"Luo Bin, what happened here?"

Ronan burst from the shadows in the distance, his hair, beard, and tail all a vivid red. He stared at the scene before him.

Luo Bin gave him a brief account of what had happened.

"Oh, heavens! How did the three of you dare face that person on your own? It's terrifying. Come with me, quickly!" Ronan said, drawing a sharp breath.

No sooner had he spoken than another Centaur galloped up. His hair, beard, and tail were all black. It was Bane. Like Ronan, his first question was what had happened. Luo Bin explained it all again, and Bane urged them to leave at once.

"I suppose riding would be faster than walking," Hermione said, looking at Ronan's bright red back.

Three pairs of eyes snapped toward her, each burning with anger. If she hadn't been a student, all three Centaurs might have kicked her on the spot.

Hermione edged back a few steps and glanced at Harry and Luo Bin for help.

Luo Bin stepped in front of her. "Firenze, Ronan, Bane, Hermione didn't mean to offend you. She doesn't know the Centaurs' customs!"

"Hmph! If she'd meant it, she'd be lying on the ground howling in pain by now!" Bane said.

"That's enough, Bane. No sense getting angry with a young witch. We have more important things to do," the milder Ronan said once he had calmed down.

"Hmph! She'd better not let me run into her in the Forbidden Forest again!"

On the way back, Hermione and Harry quietly asked why the Centaurs had been so angry. Luo Bin sighed and explained in a low voice.

A Centaur was half human and half horse, with the human half named first. Their minds were closer to those of humans—perhaps even beyond them. Reading the stars to foresee the future came naturally to them. By suggesting they ride, Hermione had treated them like mindless animals and trampled on their dignity.

Once Hermione understood, she jogged ahead and apologized to Ronan and Bane.

Neither accepted her apology. She kept apologizing all the way out of the Forbidden Forest. Even after the Centaurs vanished among the trees, she was still calling after them.

As might be expected, her shouting woke Fang. His barking woke Hagrid, who came to the edge of the Forbidden Forest wrapped in his moleskin coat, his eyes heavy with sleep. "What are you three doing out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Harry recounted the night's dangers in vivid detail: the hooded figure, frightening off Voldemort, saving the Unicorn. It all sounded too absurd to believe, until Luo Bin held up a small vial filled with silvery-white liquid. Only then did Hagrid believe Harry.

"Listen. Tonight, while I was patrolling the Forbidden Forest, I happened upon that person attacking a Unicorn. I frightened him off with my crossbow. You three were fast asleep in your dormitories the whole time. You never left the castle. Have you got that?"

"Hagrid, we had the same idea!"

If the young wizards were the ones to report that Voldemort had attacked a Unicorn, they would have to admit they had openly broken school rules. Whether they would be punished or rewarded was anyone's guess.

"There are still a few hours till dawn. Go back and get some sleep!"

"Okay, Hagrid!"

The three pulled up their hoods and made their way back to the castle under cover of darkness.

Early the next morning, Luo Bin delivered the Moonflower to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey spent the morning preparing a universal antidote. It worked well: by afternoon, the swelling in Ron's hand had begun to subside, and its dung-green color had faded to light green.

That evening, after Madam Pomfrey left, Ron listened as his friends told him about the dangers they had faced the night before. His mouth fell open so wide he could have fit a whole egg inside. Later, he sent Harry and Hermione away and awkwardly apologized to Luo Bin.

"Luo Bin, I'm sorry. The way I treated you before was awful!"

Luo Bin had set aside their differences and risked himself to find the Moonflower. Ron admired him for it.

His parents had taught him to thank people who helped him and to ask for forgiveness as soon as he realized he had done something wrong.

"It's all right. But there's something I want to ask. When we first started school, you seemed fine with me. You'd say hello when we met, and we'd chat sometimes. Did I do something later that made you misunderstand me?"