"Who the heck's showin' up this early?!" Hermione, Harry, and Ron heard Hagrid's grumbling as they knocked on the door of his hut. The door swung open, and the gamekeeper looked at the friends in surprise.
"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry greeted him cheerfully. "Can we come in?"
"Yeah, o' course..." Hagrid stepped aside to let them in. "Summat happen? Or did yeh ferget summat yesterday?"
Harry and Hermione walked over to the table and sat down, while Ron went over to the window and stood there, as if looking at something outside.
"We're just out for a walk," Harry said. "It's the weekend, and we thought we'd drop by to visit you."
"A walk?" Hagrid glanced out the window again. The Sunday morning wasn't great—cloudy, chilly, with a light drizzle. Not exactly the best weather for a stroll. Snow had melted in many places, leaving puddles and mud everywhere. The mud clung to everything, and the three friends had tracked quite a bit of it into the hut when they came inside.
"Well... come on, make yerselves at home," Hagrid said, still sounding a bit surprised. "Want some tea? Or maybe a bit o' breakfast? I can whip up some eggs real quick." The gamekeeper had already slipped into his role as a genial host, even if the guests were unexpected.
"No, we won't stay for long," Hermione quickly said.
"Ron, what're yeh doin' standin' by the window? Come and sit down at the table with everyone," Hagrid called to him. Ron nearly jumped, like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't.
"I... was just looking at the forest. It's so pretty in spring." Ron looked like a kid caught red-handed. He averted his eyes, hiding his hands behind his back.
Hagrid glanced out the window, puzzled. The view of the forest through the drizzle wasn't exactly picturesque—still bare from winter, with patches of snow and lots of soggy, dead leaves. The whole scene looked pretty bleak and gray.
"Yeah... real pretty," Hagrid muttered, clearly not convinced.
"Hagrid, remember when you told us about dragons?" Hermione grabbed his attention, distracting him from Ron.
Her question caught Hagrid off guard, and he turned his gaze from the window to her, his expression puzzled and a bit confused.
"Oh, yeah, I remember," Hagrid replied, still looking lost.
"Where's the easiest place to find them in Britain? I was thinking of going somewhere to look for them during the holidays. Any ideas?" Hermione stared right at Hagrid, waiting for his answer and holding his focus.
"Well, I don' think tha's a good idea. Dragons, they can be dead dangerous... specially fer kids. Best yeh keep well away from 'em," Hagrid still couldn't quite figure out what was going on.
"Oh! I hadn't thought of that," Hermione agreed easily, exchanging a look with Ron, who had come over to the table.
"You know what, Hagrid? We should probably go," Harry said then. "Thanks for having us," and the three friends quickly headed for the door.
"I don' quite get it..." Hagrid started. "Hold on a sec..."
But the kids had already opened the door and stepped outside.
"It's all good, Hagrid. Ron's right. Why sit indoors when it's so nice outside?" Hermione quickly covered. "Bye."
"See yeh," Hagrid said, still looking confused, watching the three friends walk away from his house, whispering among themselves. The whole thing felt really strange and confusing. He stood in the doorway for another minute, scratching his beard and watching them leave. At some point, Harry turned to him and waved. The gamekeeper waved back and then disappeared behind the door, muttering something to himself.
"He's gone," Hermione said quietly, glancing back at Hagrid's hut. Then, turning to Ron, she asked, "Did you get it?"
"Yeah."
Ron carefully pulled a Silver Lily flower from inside his cloak.
"Great!" Harry praised him. "Now we need to get into the forest without Hagrid noticing."
The friends continued their walk toward the castle, but just before reaching the gates, they veered off toward the forest. They steered clear of Hagrid's hut, choosing instead a path that ran alongside a lake—the very same one they had crossed by boat on their first day at Hogwarts.
"Look, who's that sitting over there?" Ron said quietly, pointing to a bench by the lake.
Sitting alone was Elliot Grimm. Ever since Slytherin had been docked twenty points because of him, Elliot had become an outcast. Failures weren't liked in Slytherin, and there wasn't much friendly support there.
"I actually feel a bit sorry for him," Hermione admitted. "Though I still don't get why he did it."
"It's his own fault," Ron said gruffly. "Shouldn't have been spying on others and ratting them out to the teachers. He got what he deserved, if you ask me."
At that moment, Elliot looked at them. His gaze seemed completely emotionless, empty, and lifeless. He only met their eyes for a second before turning away indifferently and continuing to stare at the lake's surface.
"His stare gives me the creeps," Hermione said, hurrying forward, trying to get away from Elliot as quickly as possible.
Soon the friends entered the forest. The path led them through narrow, winding trails hidden under a layer of withered leaves. The air in the forest was fresh, filled with the scents of wet earth and wild nature. It started drizzling again, and they wrapped their cloaks tighter around themselves and hurried on.
At first, they walked in silence. Visiting the Forbidden Forest was off-limits to students for a reason. It hid many dangers, and they moved cautiously, listening to every rustle, trying to catch any sound. But the forest was pretty quiet, with only the distant babbling of a spring stream, probably flowing into the lake near the castle, and the occasional breeze rustling among the bare branches.
Getting used to the surroundings, the friends started discussing their plans.
"So far, so good," Hermione said. "You two stay back, and I'll approach Starry alone. She knows me and is more likely to accept me than you. You keep watch and if you see anyone, give a signal. Just try not to make too much noise so you don't scare her off."
"Okay," Harry said simply.
"Do you even know how to milk unicorns?" Ron asked. "I don't think it's that easy."
"I read about it in books and looked at illustrations. It's not complicated. You grab like this and pull, then use the other hand," Hermione said, demonstrating how she thought the milking process should go. "Though the books were about regular cows, I don't think there's much difference—I'll figure it out on the spot."
"Did you bring those books with you?" Ron smirked.
"Why?"
"Well, if Starry doesn't like something, you can show her the book. That way she'll know you're doing everything right," Ron laughed along with Harry. Sometimes Hermione relied too much on books, and it amused them. She just snorted and didn't bother to respond to such nonsense.
In the silence, broken only by the sounds of the forest, they kept walking. Finally, pushing through the bushes surrounding the clearing where Starry was usually found, they stopped.
"So, where is she?" Harry asked, looking around.
Ron and Hermione were also glancing around in search of the unicorns. Moving a bit forward, they found numerous tracks leading deeper into the forest. It looked like Starry had gone somewhere. The friends hesitated.
"What should we do?" Ron said uncertainly.
"Let's follow the tracks," Harry suggested and started into the forest.
"But Harry, it's dangerous. We're already deep in the woods..." Ron tried to argue.
"We might not get another chance," Hermione interrupted, shrugging, and followed Harry.
Ron stood for a second, looking around, then ran after his friends. He didn't want to be left alone in the middle of the forest. They followed the unicorn tracks and soon reached another clearing, where they saw the two escapees: a mother and her foal.
"Wait here" Hermione whispered, signaling with her hand. "I'll go alone from here. Ron, give me the flower."
Ron took the flower out from under his cloak and handed it to Hermione. She took the lily and held it out in front of her, slowly approaching Starry, softly saying soothing words. The unicorn watched her warily but didn't try to run away, sniffing at the scent from the lily. The foal pressed close to its mother, nervously eyeing the unexpected visitors.
Hermione slowly approached Starry. She gently stroked her silky mane and whispered kind, soothing words. She offered the unicorn the flower, which she gladly accepted and ate. In that moment, Hermione felt a wave of happiness and gratitude—the same feelings she had during their previous encounter. Taking this as a sign of trust, she carefully moved around Starry and tried to start milking her...
In the book's illustrations and descriptions, the process seemed simple, but reality was more complicated. At first, Starry was calm about Hermione's attempts, but soon her patience ran out. She started turning her head towards Hermione, no longer letting her get near her udder. Hermione tried again and again, but each time Starry moved away, showing more and more displeasure.
Eventually, Hermione lowered her hands, standing there confused and not knowing what to do next. She looked at Harry and Ron, hoping for their support or advice, but they were just as puzzled. It turned out that getting the precious unicorn milk was much harder than she thought.
"Too bad you didn't manage to get the milk," a mocking voice suddenly rang out. "It would've saved me a lot of time—it's a tricky procedure, you know."
Spinning around, Hermione saw a pale-faced man step out from the shadows of the trees where he'd been hiding. He stood with a smirk on his thin lips, twirling his wand. Hermione, Harry, and Ron immediately drew their wands...
"Expelliarmus!" The pale-faced man cast the spell so quickly and easily, it seemed as natural to him as breathing. All three of their wands flew into his hands, and his grin widened. "Don't you know that students aren't allowed in the Forbidden Forest?" he continued cheerfully. He seemed in a good mood and in no hurry, savoring the moment.
The unicorns had run to the far edge of the clearing, watching the scene unfold. Hermione, on shaky legs, slowly backed up closer to her friends, who, despite their fear, stood protectively in front of her.
"Leave her alone!" Ron shouted, his voice trembling.
Raising an eyebrow, the stranger looked at him with interest and said, "I will soon enough, don't worry. Your friend doesn't matter to me; it's my amulet around her neck that I want."
"Yours?" Ron didn't stop, despite the noticeable tremor in his voice. "In your dreams!"
The stranger smirked, finding Ron's naivety amusing, then turned to Hermione:
"You must've figured out by now that this amulet didn't end up with you by accident..."
Hermione, pale as a sheet, frowned, recalling the day in Diagon Alley.
"That's not true..." she whispered, "the amulet winked at me, and I..." Hermione trailed off, realizing how silly her words sounded.
"Winked, ha-ha-ha," the pale-faced man laughed out loud but quickly composed himself and nodded cheerfully.
"Yes, yes... Attraction charms... it winked, ha-ha" he smirked again, shaking his head as if he couldn't believe such a funny joke. "That's why you were so interested in the amulet. And then your silly question to the shop owner, which almost ruined the whole operation!" The smile disappeared from his face. "I even had to buy that utterly useless magnificon to distract him..."
Hermione stood there, stunned, her mouth wide open in surprise, and her eyes showed she realized this stranger was probably telling the truth...
"So, if you don't mind," he continued with a sly grin, "I'll take my amulet and..."
"No!" Harry interrupted. "We won't let you!"
"Oh… Of course, you won't..." the pale-faced man said mockingly, playing with them like a cat with mice. "...you'll resist," he drawled out the words, "which will make our little adventure even more fun."
"How did you get here?" Hermione cried desperately, starting to regain her composure. "No one knew where we were going!"
The stranger laughed, feeling in control, and said condescendingly, "Okay then, why not have a chat... I've been waiting here for you for several days. Ever since I sent you the note with the potion recipe." He enjoyed the sight of the astonished friends, clearly taking pleasure in their reactions.
"So, it was you?!" Hermione couldn't hide her surprise. Her friends also looked at the pale-faced man with disbelief.
He nodded with a smirk. "After your questions to Dumbledore about the League of Light and the Sky Vortex, I realized you had figured out the amulet's purpose," he continued. "That's why I decided I couldn't wait any longer and needed to get it right away. I just had to lure you out of the castle..."
Hermione's mind was racing with questions. "But how did you know about my questions to Dumbledore?"
"You don't think I'm the only one in the League, do you?" he smirked. "We have quite a few sympathizers in various levels of the magical community."
"Dumbledore told you?" Ron said incredulously, staring at the confident wizard with wide eyes.
"Old buddy Albus?" the pale-faced man said cheerfully. "It would be nice if he'd shake off the dust, but no," he finished with a light sigh, "unfortunately not."
"Shake off the dust? What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, bewildered. "And if not Dumbledore, then who? One of the students?"
"If you don't mind, I'll leave those questions unanswered. Some cards are better kept close to the chest, you know."
Her opponent was enjoying the situation. He looked completely sure that nothing could stop him from taking the amulet. His eyes gleamed with self-satisfaction.
"And the potion recipe you sent... is it real?" Harry suddenly asked.
They had doubted the recipe before, but now that they knew who this 'friend' was, the question seemed even more important.
"Real?" the pale-faced man smirked, squinting as if thinking about what to say, "What does 'real' even mean? It's just words on paper, Harry..."
The friends exchanged confused glances, not knowing what to think. Desperation flickered in Hermione's eyes again.
"But it doesn't matter now," he said suddenly. "Yes, the recipe is real. I didn't want to risk you doubting it on the off chance you somehow managed to find the recipe yourself. My goal was to lure you out of the castle, as I said before."
"But I was going to leave for the holidays soon anyway," Hermione said, confused. "Why all this trouble?"
"That's true. But first," the pale-faced man continued, as if explaining simple things to children, "you could have found the recipe earlier and somehow managed to brew it before leaving for the holidays. Unlikely, but still... And second, you might have thought to hide the amulet somewhere in Hogwarts. And unfortunately, I can't get in there. After all, Dumbledore is considered the most powerful wizard of our time for a reason. On the other hand, you could only get unicorn milk here. At least, I don't know of any other place in Britain where you can find it today."
"So, it was all set up?" Hermione said helplessly. "But we might not have come here at all..."
"Yes, at some point I started to doubt whether you would figure out to use Starry. That's what that dim-witted gamekeeper called the unicorn, I believe," the pale-faced man said dismissively, waving a hand toward Hogwarts. "I almost thought I overestimated your intelligence. I would have had to come up with another way to subtly nudge you in this direction. But you managed to figure it out yourself...," he said with a smirk, giving a mock bow as if acknowledging her cleverness. "Just shortly before you arrived, I learned you were on your way here. I barely had time to lure the unicorns and set up the trap."
The pale-faced man paused, surveying the confused friends with satisfaction. Then, with a cruel smirk, he said, "I hope I've answered all your questions. Now, I would like to take what I came for." His voice, friendly just a second ago, turned harsh. "Will you give it to me, or do I need to use magic again?"
"Actually, I have one more question," Hermione said quietly. "Who stopped you last time? Before the Aurors arrived."
"Oh, a very good question. And not even who, but why? I'm still curious why he even cared..." He paused for a moment, recalling that time. "But it doesn't matter. This time, I've made sure he can't show up and interfere. Enough questions! I've already stayed here longer than I planned!"
Harry and Ron stepped in front of Hermione, as if that could help. The pale-faced man smirked and said, "Well, if you won't do it the easy way, we'll do it the hard way. Stupefy!"
Harry and Ron were thrown to opposite sides, leaving Hermione alone with her enemy, without a wand and without any hope of escape. She stood there, head bowed, realizing she couldn't get away this time.
"Accio Amulet!" the wizard exclaimed triumphantly, and the amulet on her chest began to throb wildly, trying to break through her clothes once again. The force of the amulet pulled her forward, causing her to stumble and fall.
Suddenly, there was a roar, the sound of breaking branches, and in the next moment, the pale-faced man was dangling, kicking his legs, in Hagrid's hand. Hagrid had lifted him high off the ground and was shaking him violently.
"What do yeh think yeh're doin'? Huh?" Hagrid bellowed at the stranger. "Attacking kids, are yeh? How about takin' on someone yer own size?!"
Hermione, not believing her eyes, watched as her opponent, like a rag doll, swung back and forth in Hagrid's grip. Hagrid kept shaking him as if trying to shake the soul out of him. But suddenly, the wizard shouted something, there was a pop, and he vanished.
"Darn it, he got away!" Hagrid growled, looking around. "Was he alone?" he asked, turning to Hermione, who was getting to her feet.
She nodded, still in shock from the miraculous rescue and trying to collect herself. Hagrid quickly went over to Harry, helped him up, and brought him back to his senses. Then he did the same for Ron. When all three were on their feet and had picked up their scattered wands, Hagrid frowned at them and asked sternly.
"Now then... what are yeh doin' here?!"
The friends exchanged glances, and Harry stepped forward and said, "Hagrid, we came for unicorn milk. It's really important."
"And here I was thinkin' yeh came for berries and mushrooms," Hagrid thundered sarcastically. "Yeh know yeh broke a serious rule? Yeh can't be out here alone! It's dangerous! Now I have to punish yeh all so yeh never forget to stay out of the forest!" He was clearly angry at them. Hermione had never seen him so frightening.
"Sorry, Hagrid," Harry said apologetically.
"And what's all this nonsense 'bout unicorn milk? Read some potion in a book, did yeh? Might as well go ask a griffin for feathers; he'd rip yer foolish heads off righ' there! Or a basilisk for venom..." Hagrid was getting more worked up.
"But it's a matter of life and death. I'm not exaggerating," Harry interrupted his tirade.
"What d'ya mean, death?" Hagrid still looked angrily at him. "Whose death?"
"Hermione's," said Harry quickly, adding, "but don't ask why, we can't tell you."
Hagrid looked puzzled, scratching his beard again. Hermione sometimes joked that if Hagrid shaved his beard, he'd probably forget how to think. Then he looked at the unicorn, then back at the kids, and said, "Alrigh', if yeh don't want to talk, yeh don't have to. Did yeh get any milk?"
"No, we couldn't," Hermione said nervously.
"Course yeh couldn't! Yeh need a special approach with unicorns, and gettin' milk from 'em is an art. They ain't cows, yeh know!" Hagrid, calming down, replied. "Alrigh', come on, I'll get yeh some milk."
Hermione handed him an empty flask, and he went to Starry, who neighed happily, greeting him.
"If it weren't for Hagrid, we'd be done for," Ron said, rubbing the bump on the back of his head.
"That's for sure," agreed Harry, trying to see how Hagrid was getting the milk, but it was impossible to see from that distance. "He really is a good person, kind. I don't understand why they banned him from doing magic. He wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Yeah," said Hermione, "unless that fly was waving a wand."
Hermione told them how the pale-faced man kicked his legs funnily while Hagrid shook him, while Harry and Ron lay unconscious. Everyone laughed, imagining the scene. In the middle of the laughter, Hagrid returned and handed Hermione the precious milk.
"Here yeh go, take care of it. Yer lucky there's a pregnant unicorn nearby. That's pretty rare."
Hermione carefully wrapped the flask in cloth and hid it under her cloak.
"Now, get yerselves back to the castle!" Hagrid said, no longer angry. It seemed he enjoyed the end of Hermione's story, which he had overheard as he approached, and now he walked like a hero, shoulders squared, proudly looking around.
"How did you find us, Hagrid?" Harry asked. "We didn't tell anyone where we were going."
"Yeh think I'm that dumb?" Hagrid turned to him. "At first, I didn't get why yeh came to me, but then I realized that Ron wasn't just 'lookin' at the forest' by the window. I noticed one of the lily flowers was missin'. And it was clear why yeh needed it. What I didn't know was what yeh planned to do with Starry. I thought yeh just wanted to go up to her and pet her... But it turned out like this..."
"Sorry, Hagrid," Harry apologized for everyone, "But we really needed the milk, and we can't tell you why..."
"Alrigh', alrigh', I get it. Can't tell, then can't tell. Everyone's got their secrets, I s'pose."
Hagrid walked the kids to the edge of the forest, where they said goodbye, and he headed back to his hut while the kids turned toward the castle.
As soon as they were far enough that Hagrid couldn't hear, Hermione blurted out, "It's Elliot, I'm sure of it, he told the pale-faced man about the Sky Vortex!" She had apparently figured this out a while ago but hadn't dared to share her theory in front of Hagrid. Now she urgently needed to tell it to her friends. "He's a member of the Relicium Club, so he knew I was asking about the amulet," she rambled on. "Then, he followed us to the library – he was spying. And he purposely broke the vase to distract Snape from us..."
"WHAT?! WHY?" Harry and Ron shouted simultaneously, staring at her in surprise.
"Apparently, he didn't want me to get caught by Snape or any of the teachers, because then they could find out about the amulet, and he needs it in one piece," Hermione continued, with a meaningful expression on her face. "And remember this morning, he was sitting by the lake!"
"So what?" Harry asked.
"He warned the pale-faced man that we were going there!" Hermione finished triumphantly, laying out her theory.
After a moment of silence, Ron said reproachfully, "And you felt sorry for him... poor Elliot... nobody wants to be friends with him..."
"Yes, I did feel sorry for him! But back then, I didn't know who he really was."
"I think you should talk to McGonagall about him," Harry suggested. "She knows about the League's attack, maybe she can help with Elliot too."
"She knows, but how do I explain why I suspect Elliot? Tell her we went for unicorn milk to make a potion and then got attacked?.."
"W-who attacked you, c-children?"
They suddenly turned and saw Professor Quirrell, fear flickering in his eyes. He must have approached while they were discussing Elliot. The mention of an attack had clearly terrified him. The friends remained silent, not knowing what to say.
"A-and you mentioned s-something about a unicorn? I d-didn't know they were around here..."
"No, you misheard," Hermione quickly replied. "We were talking about… er… a Snowcorn that attacked us last winter. We got really cold, and if it weren't for Hagrid, we probably wouldn't have made it." Her friends nodded in agreement, backing up her story.
"R-r-really? I c-could've sworn I heard 'unicorn'..." Professor Quirrell didn't seem entirely convinced.
The kids shrugged and headed towards the castle, while the professor continued to watch them, lost in his own thoughts.