Norbert flapped his wings vigorously, folding his limbs before plunging to the ground. Evan stood triumphantly on Norbert's back, casting a concerned glance at Hagrid before raising his wand, scanning for the enemy.
"Hagrid, where's the enemy?" Evan looked around and asked, puzzled.
"Just... just now, it seemed to have flown away..." Hagrid, with tears still on his face, stuttered, pointing towards the dense woods to the right.
Flown away?
Evan recalled feeling some resistance while landing on Norbert.
It seemed a pity to Evan. From the impact, it appeared that Quirrell had likely managed to cast a defensive spell, reducing the chance of an immediate fatality.
So Quirrell might still be alive?
"Conflagration!" With that in mind, Evan tensed up and unleashed a series of fiery spells towards the area Hagrid had indicated.
Red flames soared into the sky, spreading in all directions...
Even so, Evan felt insecure. He commanded Norbert to continuously blast dragon breath in that direction, the more powerful, the better, to ensure that no one could survive from there...
Facing Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, Evan dared not take any chances. It was best to go all out...
Norbert, delighted, unleashed its full power. It loved nothing more than breathing fire, and with several bursts of dragon breath, swathes of underbrush were consumed by roaring flames...
Hagrid stood by, dumbfounded, speechless at the spectacle before him...
"Is this a bit much?" Evan mused, reflecting in the firelight, wondering if the blaze was too large. What if it couldn't be extinguished?
Setting fire to the Forbidden Forest, would he end up in Azkaban? Dumbledore should be able to handle it, right?
With that thought, Evan felt a surge of irritation and gave Norbert a kick. His meticulous sneak attack plan to take out Quirrell was ruined by Norbert's dragon roar.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed the fiery finish...
Norbert whimpered, feeling wronged. It had finally gotten the chance to fly and roar, so what was the big deal?
Evan ignored Norbert and, after gesturing to it to stay alert, jumped down from its back and hurried over to Hagrid.
Fang, too, had sprinted to Hagrid upon landing, licking his face with a crimson tongue, leaving Hagrid's face covered in slobber.
"Hagrid, are you alright? I've sent Harry to notify the professors. They'll be here soon," Evan said, leaning in to examine Hagrid's wounds on his waist and thigh.
Although the injuries looked ghastly and seemed to emit a dark aura, Evan sighed in relief; none were fatal. Unfortunately, he didn't know any healing spells to treat Hagrid.
"Don't worry about me; I'll be fine. Go check on Cecilia; she took an Avada Kedavra for me..." Hagrid urged Evan, pushing him to see if there was any hope for the unicorn.
"Cecilia?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"That's the name I just gave her. If it weren't for Cecilia, I'd probably be dead," Hagrid said, choking up as he wiped away tears with his dusty hands.
Once sure that Hagrid was not in grave danger, Evan nodded and walked over to the dying unicorn.
Approaching Cecilia, Evan was struck by the unicorn's enchanting presence.
Bathed in the light of the fire, Cecilia resembled a mythical pegasus, emitting a faint white glow. Her unique spiral horn stood proudly on her forehead. However, long narrow wounds on her abdomen and hind legs oozed blue blood...
But Evan knew the true fatal blow was Quirrell's Avada Kedavra... Even with the unicorn's vast life force, it was reaching its limit.
Cecilia's bright blue eyes dimmed, expressing sorrow and pain...
Evan gently stroked her mane, feeling the silky texture, knowing that all he could do now was provide comfort.
The effects of the Avada Kedavra were irreversible, one of the reasons it was listed among the Unforgivable Curses. Even someone as powerful as Dumbledore was helpless against it.
As Evan soothed her, Cecilia gradually closed her eyes and her life force ebbed away. Evan sighed, adhering to his principle of not wasting, and collected some of the flowing blood into a vial from his pocket.
After securing the cork, Evan gazed at the dreamlike blue liquid in the vial and spoke to the deceased unicorn.
"Your foe probably won't last much longer... Rest in peace..."
After speaking, Evan thought he perceived a change in Cecilia's body, though he couldn't pinpoint any specific difference.
However, Evan's words weren't just a consolation. With Quirrell's identity exposed, even if he managed to survive the flames, he'd likely be drained of life by Voldemort due to his severe injuries.
Standing up, Evan pocketed the vial of unicorn blood. He thought he heard a system notification but didn't have time to check it before spotting a tabby cat sprinting from the distant woods at a speed surpassing any human's full run.
Evan even wondered if he was mistaken. How could a cat run so fast?
Norbert, on high alert, bared its fangs and growled at the tabby, hesitant to attack.
The presence of the cat was far more intimidating than Evan, who merely cleaned up after it.
"Norbert, stop, that's not an enemy!" Evan quickly called Norbert off, recognizing the Animagus form of Professor McGonagall.
He wasn't sure how McGonagall had managed to increase her speed after transforming, as his impression from the original series was that an Animagus should not differ much from an ordinary cat.
Sure enough, the tabby transformed back into Professor McGonagall upon reaching Hagrid.
"Aguamenti!" McGonagall arrived and immediately noticed the spreading fire. With a wave of her wand, a massive volume of water was summoned from the distance, forming a serpent-like stream in mid-air that swept towards the fire to the right.
The flames spread widely, but the water serpent's force was more concentrated and, without guidance, the fire was soon extinguished...
Still, a large area had been scorched to the ground, likely taking decades to return to its original state...