A faint moonlight filtered through the tangled branches of the Forbidden Forest, casting a hazy glow on the rotting leaves below.
"I'm starting to regret leaving that crystal ball on the Hufflepuff table." George swallowed hard, pulling a few round objects from his pocket and tossing them to Fred.
Cedric, standing with his back to the forest, winced as he saw the Dungbombs in the twins' hands. The memory of their last, well, suffocating experience together was enough to make him feel unwell. He gritted his teeth and whispered, "Can't we not use those? Did you forget what happened last..."
He trailed off, but Cho, who was standing beside him, immediately noticed something was wrong. "What happened last time?"
"Nothing... nothing at all..."
"This is really not the time to be chatting." George cut them off, his eyes fixed on the shadows. He clutched his wand in his right hand and a Dungbomb in his left.
Fred stood beside him, a bead of cold sweat dripping from his forehead as he whispered, "I'll count to three, then we throw them together, and everyone runs. Don't hesitate for a second."
The forest was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Aside from their own heavy breathing, the only sound was the snapping of twigs and dead leaves, which was getting closer and closer.
Cedric, with his back to the unknown creature, felt the greatest pressure of all. But with Cho right there, he couldn't risk turning around, so he just muttered miserably, "No matter what, next time I'm leaving with my broom..."
"Three... two..." Fred counted down nervously, his voice trembling slightly.
"Wait, don't do it!" Just as he was about to finish the countdown, Adam cut them off, raising his wand to cast a Wand-Lighting Charm.
A soft light illuminated the figure in the distance. It had the form of an elegant white horse, with a long, spiraling horn on its forehead that had a crystalline, translucent quality. Its limbs were slender and graceful, its body sleek, giving it a noble and elegant feel, as if it had stepped right out of a fairy tale.
As if it had heard their commotion, a shadowy figure lying on the unicorn's back poked its head up. It revealed a fluffy little head and let out a curious "meow."
"A unicorn... and Amy!?" Shirley exclaimed, covering her mouth and whispering.
"Meow meow!" Amy stretched, leaped lightly from the unicorn's back, and gave them a lazy greeting.
Adam was the most shocked of all. He picked up Amy, a bewildered look on his face, and held her up for a closer inspection. She was wearing the small, Hufflepuff-colored black-and-yellow sweater that Tina had knitted for her, with a cat pattern on the back.
Yes, this was definitely his cat.
"Meow meow meow?" Amy tilted her little head. Adam stared at her in disbelief and asked, "So you're telling me that last night, when I asked you to go find Cecilia in the Forbidden Forest, you just happened to save a unicorn on your way?"
Held aloft by Adam, Amy confidently nodded, letting out a couple of cheerful meows.
"It's a unicorn... that's incredible..." The others finally reacted, staring in awe at the pure white figure in the hazy moonlight.
Adam put Amy down, looking a bit like he was questioning his own existence, and turned to the unicorn. It was still a little wary, but at Amy's urging meows, it slowly walked forward. Just as Adam was about to reach out to stroke it, the unicorn walked right past him and stopped in front of Shirley, gracefully bowing its head and gently nudging the little witch's shoulder.
"She seems to be in a lot of pain." Shirley stared at the unicorn, raising a hand to gently stroke its face.
"This unicorn has an injured front leg. Shirley, you go ahead and comfort it. I think I still have some Dittany in my pouch." Adam's grumpy voice came from behind them as he gave the unicorn a resentful look, then turned to Amy. She gave a helpless meow, indicating there was nothing she could do.
Adam could only watch the scene with a look of envy, pulling the Dittany from his pouch and applying it to the unicorn's front leg. The area where the Dittany was applied quickly stopped bleeding, and the look of pain in its bright eyes gradually faded, becoming clear and pure once more.
While applying the potion, he also noticed that the female unicorn seemed to have just given birth, as there were still dry traces of amniotic fluid on her body. The unicorn turned and gently nudged Adam with its head, which made him feel a little better.
"Alright, so you do have a conscience. By the way, do you eat herbs? I have some..." Just as Adam was looking down, rummaging through his pouch, he heard a gasp from Shirley in front of him.
He looked up to see the unicorn's crystalline horn glowing faintly. Shirley was lifted into the air along with it, landing gently on the unicorn's back. The unicorn let out a cheerful whinny, turned, and galloped into the depths of the Forbidden Forest, with Amy hopping onto its back.
Adam's motion of holding his pouch froze, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. His little hands trembled as he pointed at the pure white figure disappearing into the distance.
"Hey!? You..."
The others behind him covered their mouths to stifle their laughter and pulled Adam along in the direction the unicorn had gone. The unicorn occasionally stopped, as if it was guiding them.
It wasn't long before they arrived at a hidden tree hollow. Amy meowed a couple of times toward the distance, and a shadow silently vanished into the forest. The unicorn let out a few anxious whinnies and stomped its hoof on the ground, and a faint cry came from inside.
Shirley finally understood what the unicorn meant. She slid off its back and cautiously walked into the tree hollow. To their surprise, she came out holding a baby unicorn with a golden coat. It weakly opened its eyes, letting out a pained cry.
"She said she ran into a Dark wizard while giving birth last night and is asking us to save her baby..." Shirley tugged on Adam's sleeve, but before she could finish, Adam raised a hand to interrupt her.
He turned to the side with a displeased look, his back to the baby unicorn, and said word for word, "No!"
Shirley poked his puffed-out little cheek, saying helplessly, "Just listen to me..."
"I don't want to. Even if Merlin himself came down, I still wouldn't..." Adam tried to pull Shirley away, but suddenly felt a slight weight in his left hand. He looked down to see a crystalline, translucent horn in his palm. The unicorn was trying to appease him by gently nudging his shoulder.
George and Fred's eyes nearly popped out of their heads as they stared at the horn. "A unicorn horn? It just... gave it to him? I remember those are pretty expensive at the apothecary in Diagon Alley."
"This horn is different," Cho added. "That translucent quality is something that only happens after a unicorn has bathed in moonlight for a very long time. A normal horn is snowy white at the base, jet black in the middle, and bright red at the tip. To become like that, it would have to go through at least twenty full moon cycles, and the unicorn would have to offer it voluntarily."
"Otherwise, they'd rather destroy it than give it to anyone." She looked around at the strange gazes being cast her way and asked, "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
"I just didn't realize you knew so much about unicorns," Cedric said admiringly, then turned to Adam and asked quietly, "I'd heard that unicorn blood brings a curse, turning a person into a sort of half-dead state. But Adam touched a lot of it... do you think he might..."
Cho frowned and looked at him. "That's only if a unicorn has been brutally killed, and you have to drink the blood. If simply touching it could bring a curse, wands would be a thing of the past. Wizards would just throw vials of blood at each other. Where did you read that?"
"The Quibbler," Cedric said, scratching his head sheepishly. "My neighbor is the editor, and he occasionally gives some to my dad, so I flip through them sometimes."
George, unable to take it anymore, cleared his throat and changed the subject to someone else. "I'm more curious about why the unicorn chose Shirley instead of Adam, who could actually help it."
"I'm not sure about that either," Cho said, shaking her head. She frowned in thought for a moment before continuing, "Perhaps it's because unicorns are creatures of purity and are more inclined to be close to kind-hearted people, and those..."
"Hmm!?" Adam, who had been busy mixing the potion some distance away, suddenly turned and gave them a cold stare.
They all instantly turned their heads, suddenly becoming very interested in the trees around them.
Only when they saw the baby unicorn drink the faintly glowing potion, curl up on the soft moss, and its breathing become long and steady, did the group's nerves finally relax, and they all let out a collective sigh of relief.
The female unicorn's eyes were filled with gratitude. It gently nudged Adam's shoulder. A new, short, pinkish-white horn on its head glowed faintly in the moonlight, looking particularly odd compared to its otherwise slender body.
As they were about to head back to the castle, Adam suddenly stopped.
"Hold on, we haven't finished our main task for tonight yet."
Cedric felt a bad premonition as he watched Adam pull out a few familiar shovels.