A unicorn seemed to have been attacked. Silvery-white blood covered the trees and shrub leaves on either side of the path.
Hagrid told them that their task tonight was to find it if they could.
Harry, Hermione, and Su Er followed Hagrid, while Fang led Neville and Malfoy down another trail. They split into two groups because there was so much blood spread over such a wide area.
The pitch-black Forbidden Forest was utterly silent. There was not even the chirping of insects.
They encountered a centaur in a forest clearing. It was Su Er's first time meeting one. Yes, it looked just as the books described.
Hagrid asked him about the injured unicorn in the forest, but the centaur merely looked up at the sky, then lowered his head and said,
"Mars is bright tonight."
After that, no matter what Hagrid asked, he seemed capable of saying only that Mars was bright.
Centaurs = riddlers, every last one of them.
In the end, Hagrid seemed rather annoyed. The centaur's riddles were sheer torture for him, so they decided to keep searching on their own.
An incident along the way infuriated Hagrid.
Here was what happened-who knew what Malfoy had been thinking, but he had silently hidden behind Neville, then grabbed him without warning. Terrified, Neville had fired red sparks from his wand.
Fuming, Hagrid rearranged their groups.
Su Er, Hermione, and Malfoy formed one group, with Fang still responsible for leading the way, while Neville and Harry continued following Hagrid. Together, they headed toward the heart of the Forbidden Forest.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, the trees grew extremely dense, and the blood became more plentiful.
"Look..." Hermione suddenly grabbed Su Er's arm.
Not far away, something pure white lay in a clearing, gleaming in the moonlight.