"Speak. I can assure you we are completely alone here," Snape prompted, his face an emotionless mask.
Rock carefully avoided meeting Snape's eyes, unwilling to risk losing more House points.
"Professor, while I was near the Forbidden Forest, I saw a figure in a black cloak. It was blurry, but it looked like... Professor Quirrell."
Snape's brow furrowed tightly at the words. After Professor McGonagall had left, he had scoured the castle but found no sign of Quirrell.
"Understood. Return to your common room immediately." Snape fixed Rock with a cold stare. "Remember, you are merely a first-year. You ought to recognize your place and your duties, rather than emulating certain others."
Wait... was that his twisted version of showing concern?
Before Rock could dwell on it, Snape billowed his black robes with a sharp wave. "Now. Go."
Rock nodded. "Yes, Professor Snape."
It wasn't until he finally stepped back into his dormitory that Rock let out a long breath. Today had been entirely too damn exciting.
At least the unicorn situation was handled. He had pushed the magical mark to its absolute limit; there was nothing more he could do on his own.
If he really needed a permanent fix, his only play would be calling his grandfather to relocate the entire unicorn herd.
Theo spotted Rock lingering by the door. "Finally! Where have you been? We were just looking for you."
Adam stepped up to take Rock's backpack. "Prefect Penelope came looking for you earlier, too. I covered for you—told her a professor probably held you back."
Just as Rock opened his mouth to reply, Michael and Terry appeared in the doorway.
"Thank God you're back!" Michael threw an arm around Rock's shoulders. "We lost track of you the second we left the Great Hall."
"Yeah," Terry nodded vigorously. "Padma was even waiting for you down in the common room."
"Relax, I'm fine. I just went down to Hagrid's hut," Rock said smoothly. "I happened to be there when all that chaos erupted in the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid made me wait inside for news, and he just escorted me back to the castle."
The moment those words left his mouth, it was like kicking a hornet's nest. They immediately swarmed him, firing off questions.
"Seriously? What did it look like? Some upperclassmen are swearing a dragon showed up in the forest!"
"Was it a real dragon? Was it vicious?"
"Did Headmaster Dumbledore go out there? What kind of spell did he use to take it down?"
"Was it totally wicked? I heard Professor McGonagall went down, too."
"But why would there even be a dragon in the Forbidden Forest?"
"No way, I heard people saying it was just a massive firework."
"Impossible. Did you hear that roar? That was definitely a dragon."
The conversation had instantly derailed into utter chaos.
Theo was absolutely convinced the sound was a dragon, while the others kept yanking at Rock, throwing out wild theories.
Rock just stuck to his story: it was a giant firework. As for the roar? He claimed he was too close to the blast, got startled, and didn't hear it clearly.
They all groaned in disappointment—Theo most of all.
He had genuinely believed a dragon had spawned in the forest. If it had been true, it would've been the rumor of the century.
With the interrogation finally over, Rock announced he was hitting the showers. The trek through the forest had severely drained him.
The guys quickly waved him off to go wash up.
The second Rock left the room, Theo rallied the others into a tight huddle.
"Did you guys see it?" Theo asked in a hushed tone.
"See what?" Terry asked, clearly out of the loop.
The other three couldn't help but roll their eyes.
"His robes," Theo explained patiently. "They were covered in crushed roots and damp mud stains. Rock was definitely inside the Forbidden Forest, or at least right on the edge of it."
Adam and Michael nodded in agreement; they had spotted the evidence too.
"So... Rock is hiding something from us?" Terry punched his palm, finally catching up.
"Is he always like this?" Theo asked Michael, eyeing Terry suspiciously. He seemed a little too slow for a Ravenclaw.
"No, he just gets tunnel vision sometimes," Michael said, waving his hands defensively.
"The professors probably ordered Rock to keep his mouth shut," Adam clarified for Terry.
It took another moment for it to fully click, but Terry eventually smacked his forehead, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
"That's my guess, too. If he could talk about it, he would have told us immediately," Theo agreed.
Michael rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Then we just play along and act like we bought his story."
"Agreed," the others chorused, nodding.
---
Meanwhile, in the washroom, Rock stared down at the crushed plant stems and mud splatters coating his robes. He froze.
He genuinely hadn't noticed the mess while he was at Hagrid's hut.
Which meant Snape—and definitely Theo and the guys—had absolutely seen it.
Rock shook his head. Even the sharpest minds slip up occasionally. For someone who prided himself on the details, he'd made a pretty ridiculous rookie mistake tonight.
"Gotta be more careful from now on," he muttered.
He let the thought drift away, deciding not to dwell on it.
Since Theo and the guys hadn't called him out, they likely figured he was under a gag order anyway.
As for Snape... he should be much more focused on Quirrell right now.
---
Outside Quirrell's office, Snape's boots came to a silent halt.
He raised his wand, his lips moving in a soundless incantation. A brief flash of light flared at the wand's tip before instantly snuffing out.
He stared at Quirrell's heavy oak door, his dark eyes as cold and bottomless as dead water.
---
Back in the dorm, Rock saw Theo and Adam already lying in their beds. Recognizing they were giving him space, he didn't say a word and simply collapsed onto his own mattress.
His gaze drifted toward his backpack. The unicorn's tears...
Could they be used as a catalyst for the Manifestation Potion?
With that final thought, his eyes grew heavy, and he slipped into a deep sleep.
He was well and truly exhausted tonight.
---
Morning broke with bright sunlight. With the holidays well behind them, the relentless snow covering the Scottish Highlands was finally yielding to patches of green.
Spring was just around the corner.
Rock sat up, stretching his stiff muscles. It was rare for him to sleep past his usual internal alarm clock, but the rest felt incredible.
"Morning, Rock!"
Theo, already washed and dressed, greeted him as he walked back into the room.
"Morning. Is it really that late?" Rock asked, slightly bewildered, glancing at the pocket watch resting on his nightstand.
Good lord, it's already past ten.
"Yeah. When you didn't wake up, we just headed out first," Adam chimed in from his chair. "Relax, it's the weekend. Did you forget we don't have classes today?"
Rock smacked his forehead lightly. He really was disoriented. He had gone to Professor McGonagall's office yesterday for his private tutoring.
That was his set Friday schedule.
"I completely blanked."
"Go get washed up. We bumped into Michael and the others on our way back. They said we should grab some food together in the Great Hall, then we'll hit the study room," Theo said, tossing Rock his toiletries.
"Alright, thanks."
Snap. Rock caught them cleanly.