Dragon and alchemy

The first thing John did after returning was make himself another string of amulets.

Thank goodness he had come prepared this time, or that sneaky bastard Quirrell really would have gotten him.

Saturday.

John obtained more materials from Hagrid. This time, he had a new idea.

"The unicorn horn has already started changing."

John frowned at the foul-smelling horn.

The unicorn had been killed before its horn was sawed off, so the curse on the horn was substantial.

He had originally wanted to make an amulet out of it, but that clearly wasn't going to work.

After grinding the horn into powder, John discovered that the curse within it was extremely potent. Perhaps he could use it to make a Dark Magic Artifact.

On his way back, John also stopped by Hagrid's Hut.

Hagrid was sobbing uncontrollably. His Norbert would be sent away tonight.

When John arrived and saw that Norbert had grown several times larger, he agreed that this was a very sensible decision.

If they waited much longer, Norbert would probably grow as big as the hut.

"John, here's the dragon blood I promised you. I hope you'll treat it well."

Knowing it would remind him of Norbert, Hagrid handed John a bottle of dragon blood.

"I promise." John took it. The dragon blood was still a little warm.

Presumably, that was a characteristic of dragon blood. Still, Hagrid had actually brought himself to fill a palm-sized bottle.

Judging by how lively Norbert looked, losing that bottle of blood hadn't been much trouble for him.

After parting with Hagrid, John conducted tests in the Room of Requirement.

By combining dragon blood with Blast-Ended Skrewt material, he successfully inscribed his first rune.

Running his fingers over the successfully enchanted amulet, John felt excitement stirring within him.

After so many days of fear and anxiety, his efforts had finally paid off.

As for sending Norbert away that evening, he wouldn't be taking part. He had already made an agreement with Malfoy, after all, and he wasn't going to invite trouble.

Gryffindor woke the next morning to find that their points hourglass had lost a hundred and fifty points. They had been hoping to beat Slytherin, and the discovery left them utterly stunned.

After asking around, they learned that their Chosen One, Harry Potter, along with Hermione and Neville, had been caught wandering the school at night.

In an instant, the three went from saviors and heroes to the least welcome people in their house.

Mr. Malfoy, on the other hand, received completely different treatment despite costing his own house twenty points. His spectacular one-for-three trade had successfully crushed Gryffindor's chances of a comeback.

"Harry Potter, our hero. Slytherin will thank you for your help."

Malfoy led the mockery. Harry gripped his pen in fury, itching to punch that smug little face.

John thought it was best not to rub things in quite so blatantly. Although Hermione and Neville had also lost points, fame was showing its full effect now.

Harry alone drew most of the hatred. All John could say was that fame was a double-edged sword: along with its benefits came expectations.

Clearly, Harry hadn't lived up to Gryffindor's expectations.

They could only bury themselves in their studies, hoping schoolwork would help them forget their misery.

"Damn Snape! He's always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong!"

Quirrell looked grim. Snape had threatened him yet again.

That former Death Eater had become an obnoxious nuisance. Now his master was weakening again, and they would have to make another trip into the Forbidden Forest.

John was approached once more.

Quietly hiding his amulet beneath his sleeve, John put on a conflicted expression, as though debating whether to continue learning from Quirrell.

Seeing him still hesitate, Quirrell grew impatient.

"Perhaps he'll only become a true Death Eater once he's actually killed an innocent creature."

Quirrell placed John under the Imperius Curse, intending to make him kill the unicorn this time.

He led John toward the Forbidden Forest.

Quirrell didn't notice the glint that flashed through John's eyes. John glanced discreetly toward one side of the corridor and made a gesture.

A bird and a dog hidden in the corridor departed in different directions.

You want to control me? Let's see how many lives you have!

John wasn't someone who would let others do whatever they wanted with him. Even if he couldn't kill Voldemort, he could still make life difficult for him.

A unicorn's life ought to be enough to get the professors' attention. The only question was whether Quirrell would meet an early end.

A cold light flickered in John's eyes. A faint smile rose to his lips, then vanished in an instant.

The Forbidden Forest.

Poor Harry, Hermione, and Neville were being punished. The three youngsters had to patrol the Forbidden Forest.

Malfoy, so full of himself earlier, had now gone pale too. He certainly didn't want to die in the Forbidden Forest.

Besides, that giant of a man was bound to bear a grudge. It was Malfoy's report that had cost him his dragon.

He even suspected Hagrid would seize this opportunity to toss him to a werewolf as a snack.

In fact, he wasn't wrong. Hagrid had no patience for the boy who had reported him.

"Going in there is servants' work, not something students should do!" Malfoy protested loudly.

"That's how things work at Hogwarts," Hagrid snapped. "You have to do something useful, or you get out!"

Then Hagrid turned to the other three youngsters, who were just as nervous, and said quietly, "The Forbidden Forest is very dangerous, so be careful. John's feeling unwell today. Otherwise, perhaps having your friend along would've helped you feel less nervous."

"John's sick?" Hermione was deeply concerned about her friend.

Hagrid thought for a moment. "I don't know either. Maybe he got hurt in an alchemy explosion."

Despite his words, his eyes shifted toward Fang.

Fang ran over, chewing dog food that someone seemed to have just given him.

Hagrid led the four into the Forbidden Forest to patrol. At its edge, they discovered unicorn blood.

"This is the third one."

Another dead unicorn had been discovered the previous week, leaving Hagrid heavyhearted.

To make searching easier, they split into two teams.

Malfoy remained convinced that Hagrid wanted to hurt him and refused to stay with him. Left with no choice, Hagrid had Malfoy and Neville accompany Fang.

With their spirits already so heavy, Hagrid's group had only walked a short distance when they spotted someone sending up red sparks for help.

When they arrived, they discovered that the odious Malfoy had played a prank on Neville, making him send up the distress signal.

At the end of his patience, Hagrid had Harry swap places with Neville. It wasn't fair to Harry, but at least Neville wouldn't be tormented anymore.

Harry was nervous. The Forbidden Forest at night was filled with all sorts of dangers.

John arrived in the Forbidden Forest, where Quirrell pulled on a cloak to conceal himself.

They pursued a unicorn. The ethereal creature came under relentless attack.

"John, kill it!"

John raised his hand and cast a spell. A streak of white light shot out, missed, and struck the ground in front of the unicorn, kicking up dust and allowing it to flee swiftly.

"Damn it, you idiot!" Quirrell couldn't help swearing.

This was already the fourth time. Apart from John's first, ineffectual Stunning Spell, which had struck the unicorn and startled it, every subsequent attack had failed.

If he hadn't known that John was under his Imperius Curse, he would genuinely have thought the boy was deliberately causing trouble.

John was, in fact, doing exactly that. Seeing how exhausted the unicorn had become, he grew increasingly anxious.

Did Basil fail to deliver the letters, or do the professors not believe me?

John's heart sank. This was a terrible outcome.

He had sent Basil and Tom to deliver letters to several professors, hoping to finish off that menace Quirrell in one fell swoop.

But the letters seemed to have disappeared without a trace. As he watched the unicorn draw ever closer, his inner struggle intensified.

Do I really have to kill the unicorn?

After Quirrell knocked the unicorn down again, blood streamed from its body.

Quirrell's breathing grew hurried. "Take your chance!"

At those words, John stepped forward and pointed his wand at the unicorn.

He saw an almost human sorrow in its eyes and pressed his lips together.

Beside him, Quirrell kept urging him on. "Hurry up! Kill it with the spell you know best!"

His body was far too weak. If he didn't drink unicorn blood soon, he would die. Voldemort had been draining his life force all along.

If he hadn't been trying to drag this little Death Eater down with him, he would have killed the unicorn long ago.

John seemed to make up his mind. Flames erupted from his wand.

"Fiendfyre!"

The flames burst forth as though out of control, igniting the surrounding vegetation and relentlessly devouring everything nearby.

"Idiot!"

Quirrell hadn't expected John to be stupid enough to use Fiendfyre. Furious, he blasted John away, then rushed toward the unicorn.

The Fiendfyre had set everything alight except the unicorn.

Quirrell still needed the unicorn to stay alive. With no time to worry about anything else, he reached it and bent to drink its blood.

Just then, a beam of red light flew toward him. He reacted swiftly and dodged.

The professors had arrived.