Just as Harry thought he was about to witness the birth of several centaurs capable of using magic, things changed.
After an especially violent shudder, the two centaurs who had been twitching continuously as their hair changed began to lose the silvery-white coloring that had already appeared. They returned to their previous appearance.
The silver light on the statue had vanished as well.
"Ah, another failure." The older centaur sighed and shook his head. "It's been fifteen years since a new Moonlight Silver Steed appeared. Why is this happening? Could that prophecy really be destined to fall upon our generation?"
Harry was too far away to hear the older centaur. But when he saw the centaurs' coloring change back, he knew they must have failed.
Although he did not know the reason, seeing that Firenze was the only silver centaur in the entire herd, he imagined the chances of this transformation succeeding were probably very low to begin with. He gave it no further thought, turned his Firebolt around, and flew toward the Castle.
On the flight back, Harry was still puzzling over why looking at that statue had given him a sense of familiarity.
By the time Harry returned to the Castle, curfew had already passed.
At this hour, students could move around their Dormitories and Common Rooms, but if a Prefect, the Head of the Student Council, or a patrolling professor caught them anywhere else, they would be penalized with a deduction of points.
Harry had remained invisible the entire time, so he was not worried in the slightest. And whether through good luck or not, he encountered no one along the way except the Fat Friar, who floated past along a nearby corridor, humming a tune.
This Hufflepuff ghost always looked ridiculously happy. Who knew what he