In the original story, Firenze was the centaur who took over Professor Trelawney's Divination classes in the fifth year. His own herd had branded him an outcast and driven him away for helping human wizards.
Seeing this, Gerald immediately put away the Basilisk and Nagini. The Beast-Taming Ring's light flashed across his fingertips, and the two enormous snakes vanished into thin air.
He even recalled Lightning the Thunderbird into the Beast-Taming Ring.
The little fellow had been sitting on his shoulder just moments ago, tilting his head cutely at the centaurs, completely unaware that he, too, would be classified as a dangerous magical creature.
Gerald really did not want any conflict with the Centaur Tribe.
Although he was not afraid of an actual fight, it was still better to avoid making enemies whenever possible.
Who knew whether the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest had contact with centaurs elsewhere?
If he offended them and failed to kill them all, there would be endless trouble down the road.
He did not want to have to watch out for arrows from hiding every time he entered the Forbidden Forest.
"What you just saw was all a kind of illusion magic. Think about it. I'm a young wizard walking through the Forbidden Forest alone. What if I run into some powerful magical creature? So I cast a few illusions on myself to make it look as though there's a huge snake following me. There's actually nothing there. It's all just to scare things off."
Gerald explained with utter sincerity on his face.
"Magic to scare things off?" A younger centaur tilted his head, lowering his bow slightly.
"Exactly, magic to scare things off. Think about it. Even you were startled. Magical creatures that aren't as clever as you would surely run even faster after