Forbidden Forest

After eating, Sean and Blaise got up and prepared to leave the Great Hall.

As Sean was leaving the Great Hall, he happened to pass by Malfoy, who had been boasting loudly. The instant Sean approached, Malfoy's voice abruptly cut off. It was obvious that Malfoy was nervous. After all, docking fifty points from Slytherin was a perfectly valid reason for a Pureblood Duel.

If possible, Sean naturally did not want to miss such a good opportunity for a duel. But the Malfoy family probably could not bear to see Malfoy beaten senseless by him again. To avoid driving the Malfoy family mad, Sean painfully gave up this opportunity. After only a brief pause, he walked past Malfoy and left the Great Hall.

Recently, with exams drawing near, seats in the library had become increasingly scarce. Fortunately, Blaise's third-year girlfriend could always find seats for them, so Sean had benefited a little from Blaise's good fortune.

There was not much overlap between third-year and first-year classes, so Blaise rarely spent time with his girlfriend during the day. They each had their own lessons.

Sitting in the library, Sean handed Blaise his notes for every subject and told him to copy them down to take back for revision. This guy had spent more than half the school year dating. Never mind whether he could pass if he went into the exams unprepared—without Sean's notes and help, now that he was sitting in the library revising, Blaise did not even know where to begin. When the exams came, he would only be able to rely on luck.

"Ah..." Blaise put down his book, looking as though he was questioning his entire life. He muttered, "What should I do, Sean? I think I'm definitely going to fail."

"If you have time to complain, you might as well look over your notes and books a few more times."

Hearing Sean's words, Blaise slumped around for a while longer before getting up and returning to his reading.

That evening, at dinner, Blaise was taken away by his girlfriend, while Sean shook his head helplessly and returned to the Great Hall with his books for dinner.

As Sean was eating a pie, Malfoy's fear-filled voice rang out from nearby.

"They're crazy, completely crazy! They actually want me to serve detention in the Forbidden Forest at eleven tonight. Dumbledore is an old madman, Professor McGonagall is mad, Filch is mad—they're all mad, all of them!"

"Draco, maybe you'll only be doing something outside the Forbidden Forest. You probably won't have to go inside. If you stay outside, there shouldn't be any danger."

"That's right, that's right. If it's only the outer edge, lots of people have sneaked in before. Nothing happened."

Goyle and Crabbe's reassurance finally calmed Malfoy down a little.

Listening to Malfoy's words, Sean knew that tonight was the time to act.

He could not enter the Forbidden Forest too early, nor could he enter too late. If he went in too early, he might encounter the two-faced monster Quirrell possessed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named alone. Sean's extremely rudimentary Disillusionment Charm would never fool him. But if he entered too late, the Unicorn's corpse might be taken away by the Centaur for burial, which would also be troublesome.

Only by following Harry and the others—not too early, not too late—could he find an opportunity to obtain the Unicorn's blood while ensuring his safety. He did not need much. A single drop would be enough.

After dinner, Sean returned to his room, made a few preparations, and lay on his bed waiting for the time to come.

At ten thirty, Sean took Kulkan with him, changed into a tracksuit and trainers, cast the Disillusionment Charm, and slipped out of the Common Room. The moment he emerged from the dungeons, he saw Malfoy walking ahead. Keeping far behind them, Sean watched Malfoy meet up with Harry and the others. Under Filch's threats, they left the castle, arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and came to Hagrid.

"The Forbidden Forest! We're really going into the Forbidden Forest? You're insane! You're all insane! I heard there are Werewolves in there. We'll be torn apart by Werewolves if we go in!"

"Then you only have yourself to blame, don't you?" Filch looked at Malfoy with glee. He had never had any fondness for Pureblood Nobles with magical abilities. "Why didn't you think about the Werewolves in the Forbidden Forest when you were causing trouble?"

"I'll tell my father! My father is a Hogwarts governor. He won't allow you to take me into the Forbidden Forest! I absolutely won't go in!"

At that moment, Hagrid arrived late. He happened to hear what Malfoy had just said. Hagrid did not have the slightest favorable impression of the Malfoy family, so he immediately barked at Malfoy, "Even if Lucius came here, it wouldn't matter. Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts, and Dumbledore has the final say!

If you still want to remain at Hogwarts, then you have to go in with me!"

The situation was stronger than him. Malfoy was not truly stupid; after calming down, he knew that he would not face any real danger. Besides, once they entered the Forbidden Forest, he would need Hagrid to protect him. He could not afford to offend him now.

Filch left the edge of the Forbidden Forest with a smug grin, while Hagrid led Harry, Malfoy, and the others into the forest.

Sean followed them from a distance, keeping a certain gap between them. Although Hagrid's hunting dog Fang was quite cowardly, his sense of smell was incredibly sharp. If Sean got too close, there was no guarantee he would not be discovered.

Even while keeping his distance, Sean sprayed the odor-eliminating potion he had brought over himself, reducing the risk of being detected.

As they went deeper into the Forbidden Forest, Sean finally spotted some traces of silvery gleam on the ground ahead. They were all Unicorn blood. Unfortunately, it looked as though it had been there for some time. What Sean needed was fresh blood taken from the Unicorn's body, so he had to continue deeper with Hagrid and the others.

Before long, Hagrid and the others split into two groups. Later, Hagrid's group encountered a Centaur. Sean continued trailing behind them from afar.

Afterward, they switched groups again. Harry and Malfoy ended up together, and at last, following Malfoy's scream, Sean saw from a distance a dead Unicorn—and the cloaked two-faced monster Quirrell sprawled over it, drinking its blood!

Quirrell saw Harry and clearly intended to take the chance to attack him. Because of his scar, Harry lost the ability to resist, while Malfoy and Fang turned and ran for their lives.

Just as Quirrell was about to touch Harry, a Centaur charged out of the forest and drove Quirrell away.

At that moment, Sean reached out and released Kulkan. Without saying a word, he merely had Kulkan move forward through the grass to draw the Unicorn's blood. If Sean went over himself, he would inevitably be discovered by the Centaur. Only Kulkan could do it without anyone noticing!

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