[Note: Read up to Chapter - 183 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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"Aris, if you'd been a bit kinder to Professor Snape, you might've dodged this whole Forbidden Forest business and just been stuck copying lines or something daft like that..."
The following evening, after the last class, Aris and his lot got their punishment as expected.
Along with the famous trio, Malfoy was dragged in too—and Hagrid, of course. Naturally, Aris was included as well.
This time, thanks to Snape's stubborn insistence, Dumbledore could only 'helplessly' hand down the harshest penalty—just like in the original tale—sending them into the Forbidden Forest to investigate the mysterious deaths of unicorns.
For most students, this sort of punishment was utterly terrifying.
Hermione, however, was busy sighing and analysing the situation, as she usually did.
Not everyone saw it her way.
"Copying essays as punishment?" Ronald blurted out.
"You seriously reckon copying an essay's worse than patrolling the Forbidden Forest? Blimey, I think this is... pretty decent actually—just treat it like a stroll to help the food settle after dinner. Anyway, it's been ages since we've been in the Forbidden Forest!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed, but after a moment's thought she didn't argue back. Truth be told, with Aris tagging along, going into the Forbidden Forest felt no more dangerous than popping down the local for supper.
With Iris, the dark red dragon, about, the entire place might as well be under their thumb.
"A stroll after a meal?" Malfoy finally cracked, his voice tight with nerves. "You lot actually think coming into the Forbidden Forest this late is like a bleedin' walk after dinner???"
"What else?" Harry, Ronald, and Hermione replied in unison.
"You… you're all barking mad!" Malfoy gawked at them, eyes wide. "This is the Forbidden Forest! Even across the wizarding world it's infamous…"
"Some wizards even use the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts to frighten unruly kids—sayin' if they don't behave, they'll be chucked in here. You know... there are rumours of werewolves knocking about!"
"Aren't you the least bit scared???"
"Werewolves?" Ronald scratched his head, then let out a scoff. "That's meant to be scary? You've seen a dragon and you're still quaking? Pathetic!"
"W-who's seen a dragon…" Malfoy's face stiffened awkwardly.
"Don't play dumb. You must've seen the lot from outside the window yesterday!" Ronald pouted, then added with a smirk, "Though I'm shocked you didn't go running to Professor Snape with it."
"If you'd grassed us up about the little red dragon, you might've wriggled out of this punishment."
"Shut it!" Malfoy suddenly snapped, his voice cracking with fury. "How could I ever betray Master Aris? I've got me limits, you know!!!"
He shot a nervous glance at Aris, terrified the boy might be angry with him after Ronald's jibes.
Luckily, Aris didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by the chatter between the others. He just strolled about, glancing here and there, as if he really had come out for a post-dinner walk to settle his stomach.
More than once, he even stopped to peer at a nest of odd magical beasts by the roadside, eyeing them with genuine curiosity. Not a shred of nerves on him.
That's when Malfoy realised something was off.
It looked like… aside from him, no one else was the least bit nervous.
What in Merlin's name was going on?
Was it because of Hagrid? Or maybe because of that massive mutt, Fang, plodding along behind them?
"This is dead weird…" Ronald muttered as he nudged Harry with his shoulder. "Why's Malfoy acting like this all of a sudden?"
"It's like he's turned into Goyle or Crabbe…" Harry smirked, then added, "Aris's little lapdog, maybe?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I meant!" Ronald nodded quickly. "Don't you think it's odd?"
"He even called Aris… Master?"
"I don't see the issue," Hermione cut in firmly.
"Aris is the young master of the Shafiq family, after all—and the Shafiqs are held in high regard among pure-blood wizards. Surely you lot know that?"
"How could I possibly…?" Ronald started to retort, but after a pause he frowned and asked instead, "So Malfoy's acting all spineless 'cause he's scared of Aris?"
"Obviously. That's the only explanation." Hermione nodded with certainty.
"Blimey!" Ronald suddenly looked at Aris as if seeing him afresh, watching the boy lazily wave his wand and summon a cluster of glowing magical creatures.
"Aris is brilliant! He's even managed to put Malfoy in his place."
"He's tamed an entire centaur tribe, Ron," Hermione muttered, curling her lip. "Handling Malfoy's hardly an achievement…"
Hermione could only shake her head helplessly at Ron's daftness.
On the other side, seeing that no one was paying him much mind, Malfoy edged closer to Hagrid, lowering his voice nervously.
"Hagrid… how much further are we going? We're already deep in the Forbidden Forest, aren't we? If we keep heading on, we'll probably run into werewolves. Maybe we ought to turn back now, yeah?"
"Don't fret, you'll be fine!" Hagrid gave Malfoy a quick glance, shrugged like it was nothing, and then suddenly clapped his massive hands together, the sound echoing through the trees and drawing everyone's attention.
"Right then, gather round and listen up!"
Harry and the others hurried a few steps closer, eyes fixed on Hagrid.
Aris turned his head too, but his gaze looked a little distant, scattered—like his thoughts were elsewhere.
Hagrid cleared his throat, his voice dropping into a serious rumble.
"I reckon you all know why we're here tonight, yeah?"
Harry and Ron both nodded.
"Of late, a unicorn's been attacked in the Forbidden Forest. This is deadly serious!" Hagrid's expression hardened, his words heavy. "Unicorns are sacred—pure as they come—and they don't harm a soul!"
"Only the foulest sort would ever want to harm such a gentle creature!"
"I reckon there's some outsider nosing about in the Forbidden Forest—and a nasty piece of work at that. The Centaur tribe's already picked up on a few signs. More than a dozen of them might even join us later!"
As he spoke, Hagrid couldn't help sneaking a glance at Aris.
Aris finally snapped out of his daze, muttering under his breath, "So… Firenze's picked something up again? With his ability, yeah… seems likely."
Still, a nagging thought tugged at him. 'Was old Voldy really drinking unicorn blood just to keep himself alive?'
If that were the case, he should've started last term, not waited until now.
The more Aris thought on it, the clearer it became. Voldemort had been quiet as a mouse last term, causing no bother in the Forbidden Forest. Back then, he'd had enough life in him already—so why the unicorn blood now?
'No… it's not just to stay alive. The real reason must be to claw his strength back.'
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Drop Power Stonessssssssss!
[Note: Read up to Chapter - 183 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]