It happened that the house was leaking and it was raining all night, and the boat was late and there was a head wind. At present, this sentence can be used to describe Ron.
Not long ago, someone severely taught her a lesson, but she couldn't retaliate when she asked someone for help. Of course, he couldn't take revenge.
And now he finally understood the meaning of the last words he heard that day.
He was bitten by a dragon.
In just one night his hand was swollen to twice its original size, and the wound had turned an ugly green color, evidently from the poison on the dragon's teeth.
"It looks like I can't hold a pen in this hand for a week." Ron said, "I understand what that guy said at the end. This is really the scariest creature I've ever met." He said with lingering fear .
"What to do, Madam Pomfrey will definitely find out." Hermione was a little anxious.
"I firmly believe that the dog bit it, so don't worry." Ron comforted, as if he wasn't the one who was bitten.
"A letter from Malfoy." Harry took out a letter and said seriously.
"What did the letter say?" Ron asked.
"He told us to take the Ridgeback to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday, and someone will come to pick us up." Harry said slowly.
"Midnight!" Ron shouted, and then said: "This is a conspiracy! He wants us to be deducted points, maybe there will be no one there when we go there, and then we will be discovered by Mrs. Norris! Gryffindor points were deducted."
"Ron," Harry said seriously. "We can only trust him now. If he wants to report it carefully, we will probably be punished by now, and we also have a plan, don't we?" Harry also laughed after talking.
"The Invisibility Cloak!" Hermione said excitedly.
"The cloak is enough to cover the two of us and Norbert." Harry nodded.
They've had an anxious few days, with Noble now like a hot potato, and they just feel like they've never looked forward to Saturday so much.
It was a dark, overcast night, and it was a little late when they reached Hagrid's hut, because Peeves was playing tennis against the wall in the hall, and they had to wait until he left.
Hagrid had lots of mice, some brandy, and even a teddy bear for his little dragon. He packed them all in a big crate.
"Goodbye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, "Mum won't forget you!" Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak, and then got under the robes themselves.
The ensuing journey was uneventful.
The steep spiral staircase leading up to the tower seems to be the easiest walk in the world. They did not take off their invisibility cloaks until they came under the cold night sky. How nice to finally be able to breathe freely again. Hermione also did a kind of jig.
"Calm down, Hermione," Harry reminded. "We haven't succeeded yet."
After waiting for about ten minutes, several brooms suddenly fell from the sky.
"He didn't cheat us." Harry made up his mind.
"Are you two friends of Master Draco?" asked one of the tallest of them. Apparently he was leading the way.
"Yeah." Although he didn't want to admit it, Harry nodded.
"Okay, leave it to us now." Then these people tied several ropes to Noble's body, as if weaving a net, so that it could be taken away firmly.
"Happy cooperation." Said the leader.
"Thank you very much." Harry nodded vigorously. Afterwards, these people rode on brooms and flew into the silent night sky.
Harry and Hermione walked down the spiral staircase quietly, finally getting rid of Norbert's heavy burden, their hearts were as light as their hands. With the dragon gone, they finally didn't have to worry about it anymore.
When you are closest to success, the most people fall down. As soon as the two of them stepped into the corridor, they saw Filch's obnoxious face.
"It's over." Harry wondered why Filch could see Hermione and himself, but he touched himself and found that the Invisibility Cloak had been forgotten upstairs.
---
The next morning, when the Gryffindor students passed the huge hourglass recording the House Cup scores, they thought something had gone wrong. How could they suddenly lose a hundred points compared to yesterday? Afterwards, things spread slowly: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, the hero of two Quidditch matches, caused them to lose So many marks, he, and another stupid first grader.
Harry was one of the most popular and admired figures in the school, and now suddenly he became the target of public criticism. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs didn't give him a good look, because everyone had been hoping to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed at him and didn't lower their voices when they said insulting things to him. On the other hand, the Slytherins clapped and whistled and cheered whenever he walked past them. "Thank you, Potter, you've done us a great favor!"
Only Ron was on his side.
"They'll forget all about it in a few weeks. Fred and George have been dropping points since they entered school, and people still like them," said Ron reassuringly.
"But they never drop a hundred points at once, do they?" said Harry.
Ron fell silent.
They now think how wonderful the exam is, so that they can temporarily forget their mistakes. He also asked Wood to resign as a golfer, but he did not agree.
He made up his mind not to meddle in other people's business, he would use learning to numb himself, he tried his best to memorize complex potion formulas, remember those spells and spells, remember the dates of major magic inventions and goblin rebellions, as if Those words and blank eyes can disappear from his mind.
He made up his mind never to meddle in other people's business again, but this principle was soon broken again.
He heard Snape threaten Quirrell again, and this time Snape finally succeeded.
in the library.
"I'm going to stop him," said Harry.
"Harry, I think we should take care of ourselves now." Ron considered his words.
"I think so too." Hermione answered feebly.
"Even if I get fired, I can't let him succeed." Harry clenched his fists.
Hearing Harry's determination, Ron said, "If you die, you'll die. At worst, drop out of school. I'll help you. We're friends."
Hermione bit her lip, as if struggling in her heart, but finally said nothing.
The next morning, Harry and Hermione both got notes at the breakfast table. The two notes are identical: Your confinement begins tonight at eleven o'clock. Look for Mr. Filch in the foyer - Professor McGonagall.
The endless staring and spurning made Harry almost forget that he was going to be punished by confinement. Harry thought that Hermione would complain that it took up her review time, but she didn't. She thought it was all right— If you make a mistake, you should be punished.
At eleven o'clock that night, after saying goodbye to Ron in the common room, the two of them went to Filch's office to receive punishment. Near Filch's office, under the dim light, they also saw a person who would never appear here—Malfoy.
"Come with me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them out. "I think you'll have to think twice about breaking school rules in the future, don't you, huh?"
"Why is he here?" Harry asked loudly. Hermione was also very surprised at the moment, bowed her head and intertwined her fingers, not knowing how to face him.
Filch said in his gloomy voice: "Professor McGonagall is worried about you, so he found a bodyguard for you. It's a strange thing. Even though you were punished, you still have a bodyguard." Filch looked a little unbelievable.
"Actually, I'm not that happy." Malfoy shrugged, "But I have to get my wand back, don't I?" He twirled his own twice. Obviously he also needs to pay some price to get his wand back.
Then they strode across the pitch-black field. Hermione asked Harry in a low voice, "Where are we going?"
Harry muttered softly, "I don't know either."
"Don't guess, we're going to the Forbidden Forest." Malfoy seemed to have heard their conversation, and said lightly.
As night fell, the moonlight was bright and clear, but clouds kept drifting over to cover the moon, plunging them into darkness, and the moist and cold night wind blew past, making several people shudder. Especially Harry and Hermione, they were frightened by the news. The Forbidden Forest is equivalent to a forbidden place among many ordinary students, symbolizing danger and terror.
"It is said that there are werewolves in there." Harry whispered.
"Oh." Malfoy laughed mockingly, "Not only that, maybe we can all meet acromanders, thestrals, unicorns, and centaurs, it just depends on luck." Malfoy added in his heart He said: "Maybe I will meet Voldemort today."
Every time Malfoy uttered a noun, Hermione's face turned pale, and she looked at Malfoy in some confusion, as if trying to find some fear on his face, but found nothing. She couldn't help thinking: "Is he not afraid at all?"
"I have good news for you." He said suddenly.
"Mr. Draco, don't you talk too much?" Filch interrupted him.
"Oh, good." Malfoy fell silent.
Of course Harry and Hermione soon found out what the good news was, when they saw Hagrid striding toward them out of the darkness, Fang following. Harry and Hermione couldn't help but smile when they saw Hagrid with his huge crossbow and his fully loaded quiver slung from his shoulders.
"Oh, are you here to play? Are you still so happy?" Filch seemed to be unhappy. His identity as a squib made his mind twisted, so he said viciously, "There are you in the Forbidden Forest. .” He left such a sentence with some curse color, then carried the lantern and staggered towards the castle, and left here.
"Listen carefully now. What we Ding are going to do tonight is very dangerous. I don't want to put anyone in danger. Come with me here first." Hagrid led them to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and turned on the lights He held it up high, pointing to a path that gradually disappeared into the depths of the black jungle. They looked into the Forbidden Forest, a breeze blowing in their hair.
"Look over there," said Hagrid. "See that shiny thing on the ground? It's silvery white? That's unicorn blood. A unicorn in the Forbidden Forest was wounded by something. It's heavy. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're going to fight to find that poor unicorn and bring it out of its misery."
"Now we have to divide into two groups and search along the bloodstains. As long as you follow Fangya and me, you will not be harmed by the creatures of the Forbidden Forest..." Hagrid said with some pride.
"I'm afraid there are more than the original creatures in the Forbidden Forest." Malfoy's voice came from behind Hagrid.
Hagrid couldn't help but trembled when he heard this voice. He tried his best to ignore Malfoy just now, and the communication with him last time was definitely not pleasant, but he still said in a rough voice: "So we must be more careful, you Just bring your teeth."
After finishing speaking, the black hound behind Hagrid licked his paw, not sure whether he was satisfied with the decision or not.
"By the way, it's a coward, you should be more careful." Although Hagrid had a very bad impression of him, he still reminded.
"You don't need to worry about that." Malfoy said lightly, then turned his head and walked towards the fork on the right.
"Harry, Hermione, let's go this way." Hagrid used his huge body to lead the way for the two of them, almost covering up the already faint moonlight, and it was pitch black around them.
They walked in silence, their eyes fixed on the ground. Now and then a ray of moonlight fell from among the branches above, illuminating a silver-blue stain of blood on the fallen leaves.
Harry could see that Hagrid was looking anxious.
"Could a werewolf kill the unicorn?" Harry asked.
"It won't come so soon," said Hagrid. "It's hard to catch a unicorn, and they're very magical animals. I've never heard of a unicorn being hurt before."
They walked past a mossy tree stump. Harry could hear the gurgling of water; there was clearly a stream somewhere nearby. On the winding path, there are still spots of unicorn blood.
"Are you all right, Hermione?" Hagrid asked in a low voice. "Don't worry, since it's so badly wounded it won't be able to go very far, and we'll soon be—no, get behind that tree!"
There was a slight sound in the distance, a centaur came over, above the waist was a human, with red hair and beard, but below the waist was a brownish-red shiny horse, with a long long trail behind it. red tail.
Hermione and Harry opened their mouths, stunned by the creature before them.
As for Malfoy, there were dense bushes all around him, Yaya only dared to follow him from a distance, not daring to approach him, as if there was something dangerous ahead.
"Obviously I came here to be someone's bodyguard, but now the one being protected is a dog." Malfoy thought to himself, but he didn't dare to relax in his heart. The danger ahead is unpredictable and terrifying. He might be alone today. Face the most powerful dark wizard in the world right now.
The woods were getting denser and denser, and he kept walking through them. He had to carefully bypass some sharp protruding branches so as not to get scratched. As he walked deeper and deeper, suddenly his eyes passed through an old tree. From the tangled branches of the oak tree, you can see a clearing in front of you, and the ground emits a white light.
Seeing this, he couldn't help tensing up, and suddenly, a bush at the edge of the clearing shook. Then, a hooded figure flashed out of the shadows, crawling slowly on the ground like an approaching beast. Harry and Malfoy tightly controlled themselves to remain calm, as for Fang Fang, he was already frightened out of his wits. The cloaked figure approached the unicorn, lowered its head, aimed at the wound on the side of the corpse, and began to drink its blood.
"Who is it?" The black figure seemed to have sensed the presence of people around him. He looked around and found his way, drifting towards where Malfoy was, like a ghost, people couldn't see his walking clearly. route.
"What a terrible perception." Malfoy said coldly.
"Hiss..." The figure slowly came to Malfoy, and made a sound similar to that of a snake, which made people have goosebumps, Yaya had already been paralyzed by fright, trembling non-stop , The face of the person under the cloak is tightly wrapped, making it difficult for people to see the real face.
"My lord father is right, I finally found you, Lord Dark Lord!" Malfoy suddenly showed a frantic look on his face, and his voice was full of joy.
"Oh? Young wizard, let me think whose child you are." Originally, Voldemort was ready to attack, but was dispelled by this sentence. "Platinum blonde hair, well, you are Lucius' child." The black figure under the cloak made a cold and piercing voice, with a bit of surprise in his mood. Voldemort's vision was unaffected by the darkness. "What's your name?" he asked, trying to be as kind as possible, but the emotion didn't match his hoarse voice.
"My name is Draco, Draco Malfoy. My lord, the Dark Lord." Malfoy tried his best to look enthusiastic. He mobilized his facial muscles and showed a fanatical expression to make himself appear pious.
"Oh, it's unbelievable." The Dark Lord under the cloak looked a little surprised, and he continued, "I didn't expect the most loyal Death Eater to be Lucius. It's ironic." Maybe he thought of his subordinate before, Mal Fochai showed his sarcasm with an ugly grin under his cloak.
"You are very good," said Voldemort.
"My father never gave up looking for you!" Malfoy began to discredit his father, "He firmly believes that you will come back one day."
"My Lord Dark Lord, Harry Potter and the others are near here now, we can..."
"Your loyalty is enough to shame most Death Eaters." Voldemort interrupted Malfoy, his voice was a little ethereal, but he could hear that he was satisfied now, "but I have more important things to do now Do it." After saying that, Voldemort sneered, "The lucky savior will let him live a little longer."
"Who invaded our territory?" Suddenly the two of them felt the ground shaking, and the sound of roaring came from a distance. On the other side of the open space, Malfoy saw the flying dust being stirred up. .
"These disgusting centaurs." Voldemort said in disgust. "When I get rid of this ridiculous body, I must teach them a lesson." "You are very good." Voldemort repeated this sentence to Malfoy, and then said nervously: "I look forward to our next time Meet you." Then the black shadow disappeared into the void, and there was no trace of it anymore.
"If possible, it would be best if we never see each other again, but it seems unlikely." Malfoy couldn't help thinking.
The speed of the centaur walking on four legs is naturally very fast. In the blink of an eye, a small group of centaurs rushed to his side and raised their weapons.
"Intruder, tell me your name and purpose." The leading centaur, with platinum-blonde hair, amazingly blue eyes, and the body of a silver-maned horse, asked Malfoy, and held up The spear in his hand.
"Firenzie, wait, it's all a misunderstanding!" Hagrid ran over from behind them, sweating profusely, followed by Hermione, Harry and several other centaurs.
"My God, what happened here?" Hagrid looked to the ground, only to see a long-dead unicorn, its slender legs kept the posture when it fell, unnaturally straightened; Its mane was as white as pearls on the black fallen leaves.
"Is this a student from your school? It looks like he killed a unicorn." The leading centaur spoke in a bad tone. Most groups in the forest maintain friendly contacts, let alone symbolize The pure and noble unicorn is the most popular species.
"No no no,". Hagrid quickly denied, shaking his huge head. "He just split up with us. You see, Fang Fang was assigned to him by me. He just happened to come across its corpse."
The leading centaur thought for a while, then nodded and said: "A first-year student should not be able to kill a unicorn, but he has invaded our territory, and today's sky is also very wrong." The centaur looked up at the stars in the sky, "This is an ominous sign!" it added.
"It's all a misunderstanding," said Hagrid in an exaggerated tone. Although he was dissatisfied with Malfoy's previous behavior, his loyal nature still made him take such an action automatically.
"Let me see." The centaur named Firenze didn't seem to want to talk about this topic anymore, his gaze moved behind Hagrid, saw Harry, and also saw the bright and prominent lightning bolt on his forehead shaped scars.
"Hello, Potter boy," said the centaur in a friendly tone.
"Hello, do you know me?" Harry nodded stiffly, a little afraid of this magical creature.
"Do you know what unicorn blood can be used for?"
"No idea," said Harry, taken aback by the odd question, "we only used his horns and tail hairs in Potions."
"This is because killing a unicorn is an extremely cruel thing," Firenze said. "Only a person who has nothing and wants everything would commit such a heinous crime. The blood of unicorns Can continue your life, even if you are dying, but you have to pay a heavy price for it. You slaughtered a pure, weak and helpless life to save your own life, so from the moment its blood touches your lips From that moment on, what you have will be a half-dead life, a cursed life."
Harry uttered his doubts aloud, "If you're going to be cursed for the rest of your life, it's better to die, isn't it?"
"That's right," Firenze agreed, "unless you're just using it to prolong your life so you can drink something else - something that fully restores your strength and spells - something that makes you immortal Mr Potter, do you know what xc is at school at the moment?"
"The Sorcerer's Stone!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I should have thought of it long ago. Who else but him?" Harry blamed himself and hugged his head. Except for Voldemort, no one would plan to make a comeback and hold on to his life. He would not be afraid of the curse. , because he himself is a curse. "I actually thought that Snape only used the Sorcerer's Stone for the touch of gold." He hammered his head hard, as if blaming himself for his stupidity.
"Guided by the astrology, I can only give you these tips." Firenze said slowly, then paused: "You can go back today, humans are not welcome in the forest now." He issued an order to drive away.
"Okay, it's time for these children to go back." Hagrid didn't seem to understand what was going on, but he also knew that it was time to go back to school. Harry and Hermione followed behind him in a daze, not knowing what to think.
Suddenly, Harry who was walking on the road trembled, as if thinking of something, he turned to Malfoy who had been silent for a long time and asked, "Will you tip off the news?"
Malfoy said with a half-smile, "Who knows."
No one saw Hermione's lip that was about to be bitten.