From the moment dinner began, Malfoy's already pale face had turned white as a sheet. He started muttering to himself, reassuring himself that the school would never let its students come to any harm.
When Zhang Xiao heard that, he silently glanced at Cedric. Without enough luck, the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets would probably have claimed at least three lives, plus a cat.
In his previous life, he had read plenty of novels that portrayed Hogwarts as a powerful magical construct, with the headmaster able to control the entire school and even monitor every corner.
Their main piece of evidence was Hogwarts' motto: "Never tickle a sleeping dragon."
But if the headmaster really could monitor every corner of the castle, how could he have failed to spot the basilisk?
In reality, that motto came from Salazar Slytherin.
His father had brought a dragon back from India and usually kept it asleep in Hogwarts' dungeons with a powerful sleeping spell.
But as a child, Slytherin had been goaded by the Muggle children of Hogsmeade into taking them down to the dungeons and waking the sleeping dragon.
The consequences had been devastating. All his Muggle friends had died, and his own mother had died in the dragon's jaws. Slytherin had watched his mother wail and scream in its mouth.
That was why he had made "Never tickle a sleeping dragon" the school motto: to warn his students not to meddle with things beyond their control, and to warn dark wizards who sought to destroy Hogwarts that it was a sleeping dragon they should never try to provoke!
At eleven that night, Zhang Xiao and Malfoy said goodbye to their first-year friends, then went upstairs together to the Entrance Hall. Filch was already waiting there.
Harry, Ron, and Neville also approached from the direction of Gryffindor Tower, looking grim.
Malfoy gave a cold snort and turned his face aside, speaking in his distinctive drawl:
"I thought you'd wet yourselves and were hiding in the common room, too scared to come."
Ron snorted and shot back:
"Malfoy, I heard you wrote twenty letters to your daddy, begging him to keep you out of the Forbidden Forest. Shame Headmaster Dumbledore wouldn't listen to your all-powerful father."
Malfoy's face flushed crimson. He was about to say something else when Filch shouted:
"Shut up, you rule-breaking little brats! It's a real shame they did away with the old punishments.
"Hanging you from the ceiling by your wrists, leaving you dangling for days on end.
"I still have the chains in my office. I oil them regularly. You never know when they might come in handy. Right, let's go, and don't even think about running away. If you do, you'll be in even worse trouble."
They strode across the dark grounds, Neville sniffling constantly. Harry and Ron's breathing began to quicken too.
Malfoy said nothing, but Zhang Xiao could hear what sounded like his teeth chattering nonstop.
The moon shone brightly, but clouds kept drifting across it, plunging them into darkness. Soon, they spotted a light a short distance away. It was Hagrid's Hut.
Then a gruff shout came from the distance:
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I'm ready to set off."
Harry and Ron's breathing suddenly paused. They couldn't help laughing as they cried excitedly:
"Hagrid! It's Hagrid!"
Perhaps Filch couldn't stand the sight of their delight.
"You probably think you're going to have a lovely time with that idiot, don't you?" Filch said. (Note 1)
"Who do you think that great oaf can protect in the Forbidden Forest, boy?
"Think again, boy-you lot are going into the Forbidden Forest!"
In the flickering lamplight, a vicious smile spread across Filch's face. Watching these wizards suffer, or even die, seemed to give him immense pleasure.
"Shut up, Filch! What gives you the right to call Hagrid an idiot? The fact that you can't do magic?"
Zhang Xiao shot him a glance and asked coldly. Harry and Ron glared at him too.
Filch was a Squib, and yes, he was pitiable, but the young wizards weren't the ones who had made him a Squib. That deep-seated hatred and jealousy had made the caretaker utterly ugly.
He could have chosen a different life, using his position to become a middleman trading goods between ordinary society and magical society. He could have lived comfortably and securely.
Many Squibs made that choice. To take the simplest example, how much would those sporting superstars forced into unhappy retirement by their ankles and knees be willing to pay for a bottle of Skele-Gro?
So if he chose to remain in the wizarding world as Hogwarts' caretaker, yet hated the young wizards and did everything he could to make their lives miserable, what was he if not twisted?
Filch's shriveled old face contorted. He stopped speaking, muttering curses under his breath instead. He even abandoned his duties, walking away with his lantern without looking back before he had delivered them to their destination.
Ron and Harry discreetly gave Zhang Xiao a thumbs-up.
Zhang Xiao waved them off, paying no more attention to the disgusting old Squib. He raised his wand, sent a shower of sparks into the sky, and shouted:
"Hagrid, we're over here!"
Heavy footsteps drew closer and closer as Hagrid strode toward them out of the darkness, Fang following behind. Hagrid carried his enormous crossbow, with a full quiver slung over his shoulder.
For all its intimidating bulk, Hagrid's enormous frame gave them a profound sense of safety at that moment.
"It's about time," he said. "I've been waiting half an hour. Hello, Zhang, Harry, Ron."
He looked around and asked in confusion:
"Where's Filch? Wasn't he supposed to bring you over?"
Ron jumped in:
"Filch just called you an idiot, and Zhang told him off and sent him packing!"
Hagrid let out a snort from his great shaggy head that sounded like a tractor engine starting up:
"He's not worth it. That nasty old cripple's been bullying me since I was at school. He even asked me in secret why a monster like me, who wasn't even human, could attend Hogwarts when he couldn't."
The young wizards froze for a moment. They hadn't expected Filch to dare say things like that behind people's backs.
Harry and Ron were furious. They went over and hugged Hagrid, hoping to comfort their big, good-hearted friend.
Hagrid waved it off.
"It's all in the past. Life has to go on! Apart from Filch, I've met plenty of good people, and Dumbledore trusts me. That's enough!
"Come on, we're short on time!"
They followed Hagrid to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He stopped, his voice turning serious:
"Listen, kids. The Forbidden Forest hasn't been peaceful lately. We're only going around the very edge this time, but we could still run into danger.
"I don't know why Professor Dumbledore has sent you into the Forbidden Forest, but he must have his reasons."
Malfoy asked shakily:
"What's... what's happened in the Forbidden Forest?"
Hagrid glanced at him. Seeing Zhang Xiao nod as well, he finally answered in his gruff voice:
"An uninvited guest turned up here recently. It's been hunting unicorns, and some unicorns have already gone missing.
"So our job is to find tracks or unicorns. Either will do."
Zhang Xiao pinched the bridge of his nose. There was one thing he hadn't mentioned: ever since that morning, he had felt a vague premonition.
Something big might happen tonight!
Before you continue