Hagrid was up front bulldozing through the thorns like they owed him money, while Harry (yeah, girl-Harry in this timeline) and Cho floated behind him, little bamboo-copters spinning on their heads. Skirts + brambles = instant wardrobe malfunction, so no way they were walking.
Only Lynn was stuck on the ground with Hagrid, suffering together like real men. Well, sorta. Telekinesis kept the prickly bullshit off him, so he wasn't exactly crying about it. Without Hagrid playing chaperone he'd have just levitated the whole damn way—walking's for suckers.
Ten minutes later they heard running water.
"We're here. Maybe another thirty yards," Hagrid grunted, shoving aside a curtain of vines.
They stepped out of the thick trees and—bam—wide-ass meadow. Knee-high alfalfa everywhere, and chilling in the middle of it? A whole herd of pure-white unicorns just living their best life, grazing like they're in a damn shampoo commercial.
"Holy shit, so many unicorns!" Harry squealed.
She and Cho zipped forward, landing soft in the grass, eyes sparkling like they'd just seen Chris Hemsworth shirtless.
"This is the biggest herd in the Forest—thirty-three head," Hagrid bragged. "One little gold foal was born this year." He pointed at the tiny golden marshmallow prancing around in the center. "They start gold, then one night—poof—wake up white as snow the second they're off mama's milk."
"Raised every single one of these cuties myself. Even played midwife a few times. See that big boy? Pippi, c'mere!"
Hagrid whistled. One absolute unit of a stallion trotted over like a proud linebacker, head high.
"This one I basically bottle-fed. His mom got blasted by poachers' curses while she was pregnant. I took care of her for months. If I hadn't been on patrol the night she foaled and yanked this big idiot out, one of 'em wouldn't've made it."
"Yeah, you little bastard," Hagrid laughed, roughing up Pippi's forelock so hard half his mane came out in clumps. Pippi just leaned in, begging for more like a golden retriever on steroids.
So much for the "only pure maidens may touch" legend. Dude's getting noogied by an bearded giant and loving it.
"Poachers go after the pregnant ones on purpose," Hagrid growled. "Protection charms are weaker then. Dark curses hurt way worse. Sometimes I swear every unicorn left in England's hiding out here. Gotta be over three hundred total, split into twenty or thirty little herds."
Pippi, now high on pets, flicked his tail and sauntered off to stuff his face.
"Go on, girls," Hagrid said, plopping his huge ass down in the grass. "They're friendly as hell. Walk up slow and they'll come to you."
He shot Lynn a sympathetic grin. "Sorry, mate. Grown ones usually hate dudes. Foals are less judgy. If they're in a good mood today you might get a sniff."
"Horny little shits, aren't they?" Lynn smirked, watching the herd practically line up to get stroked by Harry and Cho.
Hagrid snorted. "Unicorns understand every word we say. Smart as whips. Under moonlight they laugh at dark magic—Avada Kedavra barely tickles. And when they charge in a group? Even a dragon's fucked if it can't get airborne. Those horns punch straight through scales."
"So their only weakness is no wings."
"Pretty much. But good luck catching one—broomsticks eat their dust. At night they turn into a silver tidal wave. Only thing faster in the Forest is a Thestral on a mission. Hippogriffs look like turtles compared to these guys."
Lynn flopped onto his back in the soft grass, arms behind his head. He'd barely slept last night, and the sun was warm… next thing he knew something wet and itchy was licking his face.
He cracked an eye. Golden blur.
A baby unicorn was straight-up giving him a tongue bath.
The second he moved, the foal yeeted itself behind Harry and Cho like a startled cat.
"Lynn, did we scrub behind your ears good enough?" Harry called, grinning like a gremlin. Pretty obvious who put the foal up to it.
"Smells like sour milk," Lynn grumbled, wiping his cheek on his sleeve.
"Where'd Hagrid go? He just ditched us?"
"Heard two things fighting nearby, went to break it up. Nothing's dumb enough to start shit with unicorns around, though."
Harry crouched, arms open. The foal trotted right to her and nuzzled like crazy.
"And you called her stinky? Apologize, jerk."
The little gold fluffball peeked out, big eyes judging Lynn hard.
"Nimu? That what you named her?"
"Cho picked it—some lake nymph from legends. Fits, right?"
"Wanna pet her? She's totally into you."
Harry let go, and the foal took two cautious steps, stopped a yard away, then sniffed Lynn's shirt. He reached out slow—fingers brushed her neck—and holy hell, it was like stroking warm silk. The foal melted, flopping down beside him like they were old drinking buddies.
"Jesus, this coat's unfair," Lynn muttered, running his hand down her side. Nimu's eyes half-closed in bliss, tail swishing like a happy dog.
"I'd steal one if I could," Cho sighed, sitting on Nimu's other side.
"We can visit again," Harry said.
"Uh, Forbidden Forest? Werewolves, vampires, poisonous tentacula cats, five-legged shadow monsters… ring a bell?" Cho whispered.
"The Forest is way worse than you think," Hagrid's voice rumbled as he stepped out of the trees—covered head-to-toe in blood.
Nimu squealed and bolted back to her parents.
"Relax, not my blood. Two mountain trolls were throwing hands over mating rights. I slapped some sense into 'em. Blood spray got me good—those idiots are messy."
"Are mountain trolls a type of dragon?" Harry asked. "The books are weirdly vague."
"Nah, I say no. Trolls give live birth, dragons lay eggs. These bastards weigh fifty tons easy. Young ones I can still grab by the tail and spin like a hammer throw. Adults? Gotta kick their knees out just to reach their thick skulls."
Hagrid said all that like he was talking about taking out the trash, not wrestling kaiju bare-handed.
"Anyway, almost noon. Time to head back. And remember—not a word to anyone. Forest is lethal without me. Do NOT pull a Weasley twins. Keeping those two ginger lunatics alive has shaved ten years off my life, I swear."
Harry and Cho traded a traumatized look—train ride flashbacks.
"There's… a lot of Weasleys at this school, huh?" Harry muttered.
"Percy the prefect, the twins, and the littlest one just started this year," Lynn said.
"Bill and Charlie already graduated," Hagrid chuckled. "Charlie's off in Romania playing with dragons—sent me pics last month."
Harry's face fell. "Great. Let's bounce."
"What's wrong?"
"I just hope the rest of the Weasleys don't let their nasty-ass pet rats loose on people's homemade snacks. That little shit ruined the treats Cho's mom sent."
Hagrid blinked, confused. "A rat? Wizards keep weirder pets…"
Harry waved it off. "Long story. Let's go."
Support me by leaving a comment, review and vote
visit my P****on at ilham20