As Ryan admired the serene beauty of the Forbidden Forest, a sudden, sharp neigh broke the silence. The leading unicorn had sensed something.
With that sound, all the unicorns turned their heads in his direction.
Ryan swallowed nervously. He knew that even a werewolf wouldn't stand a chance against an adult unicorn in a one-on-one fight, let alone a small herd of five or six. Even a dragon might hesitate before confronting them.
Running was not an option. In the dense woods, no human could outrun these agile, mystical creatures. Instead, Ryan decided to step out and face them directly. After all, unicorns were known to be creatures of purity and goodness; they weren't prone to harming the innocent.
With this in mind, he carefully pushed aside the branches and stepped into the clearing, locking eyes with the unicorns.
A tense silence settled over the scene. Time lost its meaning for Ryan—seconds felt like minutes, or perhaps even hours. Then, finally, the lead unicorn shifted its gaze away, and the rest of the herd visibly relaxed, though they remained wary.
Ryan let out a quiet sigh of relief and decided to sit down on the grass, simply observing them. It was a rare opportunity, even for wizards, to encounter unicorns in the wild.
As the unicorns nuzzled each other, Ryan noticed something—one of them had an injured right leg. A dark mist surrounded the wound, and silvery blood dripped steadily onto the ground.
Concerned, Ryan stood up and slowly approached, careful not to startle them. As expected, the unicorns reacted with mild alarm, their eyes filled with caution.
Stopping a few meters away, Ryan spoke in a calm, gentle voice. "I see that one of you is injured. The wound seems to have been caused by dark magic, which makes it difficult to heal. I believe I have something that can help."
Unicorns were known to be intelligent creatures, and Ryan hoped they would understand his intent.
For several long seconds, there was no response. Then, the lead unicorn let out a soft, approving whinny. While it accepted his goodwill, it made it clear that he wasn't allowed to come any closer.
Ryan had anticipated this. Unicorns were known to trust women more than men—though, personally, he never quite understood why that mattered when they weren't even the same species.
Since he couldn't approach, Ryan carefully placed a lantern grass plant on the ground, along with several sun crystals resting on its leaves.
Through his studies in herbology and traditional medicine, Ryan had discovered that the sun crystals, produced by sunlight sunflowers, contained both light and life energy. This combination was perfect for dispelling and neutralizing dark magic.
After setting everything down, Ryan backed away by several steps and raised his hands to show he meant no harm.
The unicorns, sensitive to magical energies, seemed to recognize the healing properties of the items. The lead unicorn picked up the lantern grass and placed it gently over the wounded unicorn's leg. Then, it nudged the sun crystals toward the injured one's mouth.
The wounded unicorn extended its tongue, licking up the crystals and swallowing them. Almost immediately, a silvery-white glow, reminiscent of moonlight, spread across its body.
As the glow intensified, black mist began seeping from the wound. The dark energy struggled to return, as if trying to re-infect the wound, but the lantern grass absorbed it, converting it into light within its glowing bulb.
Ryan watched in fascination. Unlike ordinary plants, lantern grass didn't follow conventional biological rules. Instead of photosynthesizing light to produce oxygen, it absorbed darkness and emitted light—something that defied both science and magic.
Once the last trace of dark energy had dissipated, a soft silver light pulsed over the unicorn's wound. In an instant, it was fully healed.
The lead unicorn turned to Ryan and neighed gratefully before leading the herd back into the forest.
As they disappeared into the trees, Ryan observed something interesting—their silvery glow faded as they moved deeper into the shadows. When they reached areas untouched by moonlight, their glow vanished entirely.
It seemed the unicorns had used moonlight to amplify their internal magic, helping them resist the lingering dark power from the wound.
Piecing together the situation, Ryan quickly realized what had likely happened.
Voldemort and Quirrell must have been out hunting unicorns again. However, since Voldemort's current state wasn't at its worst, they might not have fully drained a unicorn's blood—perhaps to avoid drawing Dumbledore's attention.
Another possibility was that their attack had drawn the attention of the unicorn herd, forcing them to retreat before they could finish. The wounded unicorn had then been taken to safety by its companions for healing.
After confirming that the herd was gone, Ryan noticed something glimmering on the ground where they had stood.
Unicorn tail hairs—seven or eight of them.
These were extremely valuable, worth at least ten Galleons each. There was no way Ryan was leaving them behind.
Carefully, he gathered the silvery strands and tucked them into his robe pocket. Today's trip had turned out to be far more rewarding than he'd expected.
Now, the best course of action was to return to his dormitory and get some rest.
However, just as he turned to leave, he heard something.
Heavy footsteps. A large creature was approaching.
Ryan barely had time to react before a white blur darted past the trees ahead.
His heart pounded. Was it the unicorns again? Or another magical beast? The Forbidden Forest was vast, and even Hagrid wasn't sure of all the creatures lurking within.
Unsure whether the newcomer was friend or foe, Ryan quickly took cover behind a large rock, drawing his wand. At the same time, he set up a defensive formation—two pots of lantern grass, two pots of dragon grass, and two pots of machine gun peas.
He kept his eyes locked on the darkness, nerves taut.
Then, unexpectedly, a soft chuckle echoed from the forest.
Ryan nearly gave the command to attack, but he restrained himself at the last second. Firing blindly without knowing the target's intentions was a poor strategy. Worse, it would reveal his position and level of preparedness.
The tension in the air thickened. Just as Ryan considered slipping away, the voice spoke again—this time, in English.
"Hey, little guy, don't be so tense. I won't hurt you
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