Draco left the History of Magic classroom with great satisfaction. After a long conversation, virtually all the problems that had been bothering him had been resolved.
What he needed to do now was get a statement from his father and maintain a hypocritical attitude towards the Death Eaters.
Hagrid's temporary suspension didn't cause too much of a stir. After discussing the matter for a while, the young wizards lost interest in it. In fact, the discussion about Professor Grubbly-Plank's unicorns was more interesting than Hagrid's situation.
The curious thing was that this peculiar topic only affected Hagrid, as Madame Maxime's situation, which was similar to Hagrid's, didn't cause any undue trouble.
Perhaps it was because Hagrid's position was far from that of the headmistress of a prestigious magical school. But ultimately, wizards found it hard to believe that the elegant and noble Madame Maxime had giant blood. They preferred to believe that she was just a bit taller.
Compared to the problems Hagrid had faced before, this was insignificant. However, it affected him greatly. Hagrid locked himself in his cabin and didn't even meet with Harry and Ron.
But this didn't have much to do with Tom. He was more interested in Professor Grubbly-Plank's class and the unicorns.
When Grubbly-Plank arrived at the meadow outside the castle, she found that the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students were already there, eagerly waiting for her. They had been looking forward to her arrival. Compared to the last class when students arrived late, this time was completely different.
The students' performance demonstrated that her class had been a great success. Even the usually serious Grubbly-Plank couldn't help but show a slight smile. It was a feeling of happiness to see that her hard work was appreciated.
"I believe most of you already know the content of this class, so follow me!" she said, leading the students to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
This time, she had an even bigger surprise in store for them.
The unicorns living in the Forbidden Forest had given birth to foals. In fact, the unicorn foals had been born some time ago, and it was she, Grubbly-Plank, who had assisted the unicorns in giving birth. That's why she had gotten to know the unicorns and brought them out of the Forbidden Forest.
When she found out that she would be the substitute Care of Magical Creatures professor, Grubbly-Plank was excited. After signing the contract with Dumbledore, she went straight to the Forbidden Forest in search of suitable magical creatures for her classes.
She was fortunate to come across the herd of unicorns she had heard about. Moreover, the mother unicorn was in labor at the time. Grubbly-Plank, who knew quite a bit about magical creatures, offered her assistance in giving birth and helped the mother unicorn through the difficult situation.
This gained the trust of the unicorns. Now, with the foals a bit older, she could show the students what a unicorn foal was like, something that few wizards had had the chance to see.
If we say that one in every thousand wizards has seen a unicorn, then one in every hundred thousand wizards has seen a unicorn foal.
The unicorn foals were being guarded extremely cautiously by the herd. Even adult unicorns could be seen while they foraged for food, but the unicorn foals deep within the Forbidden Forest were virtually impossible for wizards to find if they ventured into the area.
Before taking the students to see the unicorns, Grubbly-Plank warned them sternly: "Unicorns are powerful and, at the same time, shy and elusive. So I hope your movements won't be too sudden or abrupt. Also, girls in the front and boys in the back, unicorns don't like to be touched by men."
The boys present: ...
Oh well, when can us boys stand in front of a unicorn? We want to touch a unicorn foal too!
The boys looked on enviously as the girls pushed ahead of them in a disorderly line.
When they spotted the male unicorn at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, there was an excited whisper of joy throughout the group as they admired the beauty of the unicorns.
"Look!" Padma pointed excitedly into the forest behind the unicorn.
Following Padma's indication, everyone saw the unicorns in the woods. Unlike the adult male, the unicorns in the forest were slightly smaller and appeared softer and more feminine; clearly, they were females.
Most surprising of all was that next to the female unicorn, there was a small group of golden fur.
Unlike the whiteness of the adult unicorns, the fur of the unicorn foal was a light gold, as if it were gleaming under the warm winter sun.
In the face of such enthusiastic gazes, the little unicorn hid behind its mother, only showing its tiny, fluffy golden tail, resembling that of a bunny.
"Unicorn foals are extremely sensitive creatures, and bringing them here is already the limit," Professor Grubbly-Plank said somewhat sadly. "But it's also a unique stroke of luck; unicorn foals are extremely rare, and I can't even be sure if Professor Scamander has seen them. You can get closer, but maintain some distance."
Because female and baby unicorns were very sensitive and reserved, Grubbly-Plank couldn't allow them to approach the students as she did with the male unicorns.
Now, the girls split into two groups. One group surrounded the male unicorn to pet it, while the other group got as close as possible to the unicorn foal to observe it.
"Oh, Tom, I remember you can transform into the form of magical creatures if you touch them, right?" Hermione recalled something and approached Tom, whispering timidly, "So... could you, um... try to touch the unicorn foal?"
Hermione had hesitated a lot and didn't dare to directly ask Tom to transform into the form of the unicorn foal. She only gave him a subtle hint so he could find a way to take on the form of the unicorn foal.
The girls couldn't resist the allure of the furry and adorable creatures.
Tom: ...
"You should know that even if it's a unicorn foal, it's still essentially me. So if you want to pet it, you can just pet me, and skip this step!" Tom raised an eyebrow at Hermione.
Hermione's face turned red immediately, feeling her cheeks heat up.
"I-I'm fine, no need!"
However, after hearing Hermione, Tom still headed towards the unicorn foal anyway.