When Maurise finally stepped out from the comforting embrace of the shadows, the forest had already returned to its usual tranquility. He glanced around and let out a long, heavy breath. Those blasted unicorns had kept him pinned in the dark for nearly half an hour. He had practically suffocated in there.
He really wanted to know which idiot had written Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The book actually had the audacity to claim that unicorns were gentle, utterly harmless creatures. What happened to the ironclad guarantee that a unicorn would never actively attack a wizard and would only flee at the first sign of danger?
Maurise could state with complete certainty that the esteemed author had never experienced the sheer terror of being chased by a gang of five or six furious unicorns.
He hadn't even done anything. He didn't have a single malicious intent... well, alright, maybe he had entertained one slightly unsavory thought. When he first spotted that unicorn corpse, he did experience a fleeting desire to turn it into an undead minion.
But it was just a fleeting thought, really. One of the strictest requirements for a successful undead transmutation ritual was that the subject needed a fierce desire to survive and a willingness to embrace an undead existence. For pure, sacred beings like unicorns, a successful conversion under those specific conditions was basically impossible.
The only viable workaround would be to reanimate a unicorn that had been dead for ages, or better yet, a completely bare skeleton. By that point, the creature's soul would have fully dissipated. Even if it became an undead construct, it would merely be an empty shell, only capable of understanding and executing the most basic commands. It would function just like his early-stage skeletal hounds.
Of course, this theory was purely his own logical deduction. He still needed to conduct far more research to be sure.
Whatever. There was no use dwelling on it now. Maurise rolled his stiff shoulders, cracked his neck, and turned back toward the clearing in the woods.
Upon arriving, he found the herd of unicorns completely gone, and they had taken the corpse with them. The only evidence left behind was a messy patch of hoofprints and a few scattered, silvery hairs. They really did not leave him a single scrap of an opportunity.
Maurise sighed. It was to be expected, he supposed.
He pulled out his magical compass. The needle remained stubbornly locked onto a specific direction, which was highly likely pointing straight toward that same guarded unicorn corpse. Provoking that angry herd a second time was definitely not the most rational idea for a student who valued his life.
Thankfully, Maurise had enchanted the compass with a custom reset function. He merely had to spin the needle counterclockwise once to skip the current target, prompting it to lock onto the next eligible magical signature in the area.
Back to work, then.
By noon, the sun finally decided to peek through the thick canopy, casting a few rare beams of light into the gloom. Maurise had been wandering the Forbidden Forest for the entire morning.
He had crossed paths with two patrolling centaurs at one point, but thanks to a perfectly timed distraction, he managed to bypass them completely undetected.
His harvest so far was rather pathetic. He had only found a half-decayed skeleton resembling a wolf or a large dog by a stream, along with a few Acromantula corpses.
He outright refused to take the giant spiders. Those monstrosities were larger than a grown adult, profoundly ugly, and reeked of highly corrosive acid. He felt disgusted at the thought of shrinking them down and putting them in his backpack. He vastly preferred underage spiders. They were small, manageable, and honestly quite cute in comparison.
Right around then, Maurise realized something incredibly important. He had completely forgotten to pack any food. He might be a wizard, but he still needed to eat. If given the choice right now, he would kill for a nice pastry from the Great Hall.
So, he made an executive decision. He would check out one last location before heading back to the castle.
Following the compass's guidance, Maurise arrived at the base of an unimaginably massive, ancient tree. The trunk was so incredibly thick that ten people holding hands probably could not encircle it.
After double-checking his instrument, he realized the compass wasn't pointing at the tree itself, but rather at the ground directly beneath its roots.
Something buried underground... Could it be a grave?
Maurise was instantly intrigued. In both of his lives, he had never once experienced the thrill of grave robbing.
"Pardon the intrusion," Maurise muttered politely under his breath. He used his Bone-calling to conjure a sturdy shovel crafted entirely from skeleton parts.
With a quick flick of his wand, he cast an enchantment over the tool. The bone shovel immediately sprang to life on its own, efficiently scooping up heaps of dirt and tossing them aside like an eager terrier.
Maurise nodded in deep satisfaction at the impressive speed. He had learned this automatic digging spell from a rather obscure tome. The inventor was a professional tomb raider who made a very lucrative living with it. As a fun piece of trivia, said inventor was currently enjoying an extended, all-inclusive vacation in Azkaban.
Azkaban certified! Truly a mark of quality you can trust.
The treasure beneath the dirt wasn't buried too deep. Before long, the bone shovel struck something hard and unearthed a thick hind leg bone.
It certainly did not look human.
As more dirt was cleared away, the full picture began to reveal itself. Ribs, a spine, another leg bone...
Eventually, he managed to roughly piece together the skeletal remains of a fully grown equine creature. And right there on the skull sat a spiraled horn, still shimmering with a faint, silvery light.
A unicorn!
It was an actual unicorn! And it was a complete, perfectly preserved skeleton with the horn still attached!
Maurise could not help the rush of excitement bubbling up inside him.
He quickly scanned the surrounding area, ensuring no other creatures were lurking in the shadows. Satisfied, he carefully cast a Shrinking Charm, reducing the entire skeleton to the size of a toy before slipping it safely into his backpack.
The bag instantly felt significantly heavier.
Afterward, Maurise cast a Point Me spell to find the correct path back to Hogwarts. He did not forget his manners, either, taking a moment to fill the hole and magically restore the ground to its original, undisturbed state before leaving.
His lucky, wonderful trip into the Forbidden Forest had concluded perfectly with a pristine unicorn skeleton!
Upon returning to his dormitory, Maurise took the miniature skeleton out and placed it gently on the floor, restoring it to its proper size.
Next, he rummaged through his drawers and pulled out a heavy book he had requested from Frick, titled A Detailed Guide to a Hundred Magical Creature Skeletons. He flipped straight to the "Unicorn" chapter and began meticulously adjusting the fine details of the bones based on the anatomical diagrams.
This skeleton was clearly quite old, yet it showed almost zero signs of wear and tear. Finding even a microscopic hairline fracture was nearly impossible. He could only marvel at the sheer magical resilience of a unicorn.
Finally, every single bone was properly aligned, with not a single piece missing. This level of preservation strongly implied that the creature had been intentionally and carefully buried. Perhaps by its own kind, or perhaps by a respectful human.
Regardless of who did it, Maurise honestly did not care.
He immediately began drawing an intricate undead transmutation magic circle right there on his bedroom floor.
"The world of the living has not yet forgotten you, and the peaceful slumber of death shall not be your final chapter."
As his chanting faded into the silent room, the magic circle flared to life. Crimson lines of energy began to flow like liquid mercury, sinking directly into the pale bones.
The unicorn skeleton, which had been lying completely still just moments before, slowly began to rise amidst a chorus of creaking, grinding bone.
At the exact same time, two roaring clusters of ethereal blue fire ignited violently within its hollow eye sockets.
Even more striking was the spiraled horn on its head. The once-silver protrusion had darkened into a deep, abyssal black, with a single wisp of that same ghostly blue flame dancing elegantly along its twisted surface.
'Neigh!'
A spectral, echoing whinny rang out directly within Maurise's mind, carrying a distinct and surprising sense of affection.
The Skeletal Unicorn had been successfully born!