Taking in the scene before her, Professor McGonagall's lips pressed into a thin line, fury blazing in her eyes. She hadn't expected whoever attacked Hagrid to be reckless enough to set fire to the Forbidden Forest.
If she'd arrived much later, there would have been no stopping the blaze.
But anger aside, Professor McGonagall's first priority was checking on Hagrid's condition. After confirming his injuries weren't life-threatening, she sighed with relief and waved her wand to draw the dark energy from his wounds, then cast several healing spells to stop the bleeding.
"This is all I can do for now. You'll still need to spend some time with Madam Pomfrey." Professor McGonagall's voice was brisk but concerned.
"Thank you... I think I'll be fine... But can you please look at Cecilia? Maybe she can still be saved..." Tears still streaked Hagrid's face as he spoke, voice thick with emotion.
"Cecilia? Who is that?" McGonagall asked, confused.
"That's what Hagrid named the unicorn. It took the Killing Curse to protect him." Adrian had been watching quietly, but seeing Hagrid's exhaustion, he stepped forward to explain.
"It's dead, Hagrid." McGonagall noticed the motionless unicorn and shook her head sadly. "Nothing survives Avada Kedavra."
"I killed her..." Hagrid collapsed entirely, covering his face as sobs wracked his massive frame.
Realizing she wouldn't get straight answers from Hagrid in this state, McGonagall turned her attention to Adrian, who seemed relatively calm despite everything.
"Adrian! What in Merlin's name happened here? How did Hagrid get injured?" Her voice was sharp with authority. A dead unicorn and Hagrid cursed in the Forbidden Forest, the situation was obviously serious.
Adrian didn't hesitate to explain. He told her about finding the injured Fang outside Hagrid's hut, guessing that Hagrid had been attacked in the forest, and how Harry and the others had gone for help while he'd taken Norbert to investigate.
"I saw a black-robed wizard about to attack Hagrid, so I used Norbert for a surprise attack, with dragon fire and a diving strike. We managed to drive him off."
Professor McGonagall's expression remained stern, but Adrian could see a flicker of approval. Despite the chaos, his quick thinking and use of the dragon's natural abilities had been smart.
After finishing his account, Adrian pointed toward the charred clearing to their right.
"Professor McGonagall, the black-robed wizard that Norbert hit landed in those bushes. I think he was badly injured, but he should still be alive."
"Are you certain?" McGonagall frowned. According to Adrian's description, the attacker had been hit by a diving dragon and then swallowed up in flames. No normal person could survive that.
"Well, you can see there's no body there. I doubt he burned to ash that quickly." Adrian shrugged, genuinely disappointed that his follow-up attack hadn't finished the job.
Professor McGonagall was about to nod grimly when something occurred to her.
"Wait. Who set this fire?"
"That would be me," Adrian said matter-of-factly, then quickly explained that extreme caution was necessary when facing a dark wizard who could cast Avada Kedavra.
Professor McGonagall stared at the smoldering remains of what had once been perfect forest, her eye twitching slightly.
Was this boy overly cautious, or just a pyromaniac?
She couldn't bring herself to scold him though. The fact that the black-robed wizard had used the Killing Curse and still managed to escape the inferno proved just how dangerous he was.
"Professor, I think he's seriously injured. He probably hasn't gotten far. If we pursue him now, we might still catch him." Adrian's voice carried urgency.
There was no point waiting for Quirrell and Voldemort to recover from their injuries. Strike while they're weak, that was basic strategy.
"Absolutely not. Your safety is the priority now. Investigation and pursuit will wait until Professor Dumbledore arrives." Professor McGonagall shook her head firmly. Chasing an unknown enemy into the Forbidden Forest was extremely dangerous.
She wasn't worried about her own safety, but she feared that if she left, the black-robed wizard might return to hurt Adrian and Hagrid.
Adrian sighed. He knew that with Voldemort's abilities, no matter how badly injured, the Dark Lord would find some hidden place to recover long before Dumbledore could track him down.
"There's another matter I need to address, Adrian!" McGonagall's gaze shifted to Norbert, who was lounging lazily on the forest floor. "Where exactly did this dragon come from? When I heard Hermione say you were riding a dragon to save Hagrid, I thought she'd gone mad! Hogwarts doesn't keep dragons, and raising one without Ministry approval is completely illegal!"
Her words were cutting, leaving no room for excuses. She wasn't the only one who'd heard that dragon's roar. If the Ministry investigated, whoever was keeping the dragon would be shipped off to Azkaban.
Hagrid had recovered enough to follow the conversation. Watching Adrian remain silent under McGonagall's questioning, he gritted his teeth and opened his mouth:
"Actually, this dragon is—"
"Something Professor Dumbledore asked Hagrid to raise!" Adrian quickly interrupted.
He figured Dumbledore had let Quirrell run loose for months, the headmaster could take responsibility for this too. Otherwise, McGonagall might actually try to send Hagrid to prison.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall's tone softened considerably, though she still looked skeptical.
"Indeed it was me, Minerva."
Dumbledore's voice drifted from deeper in the forest as the headmaster himself appeared, his silver beard gleaming in the firelight. His purple robes swept the ground as he approached with measured steps.
Adrian felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment at being caught in such an obvious lie. Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't expose him, instead, the headmaster seemed prepared to support the deception.
"How could you have Hagrid do such a thing? What if the Ministry comes to inspect? What would we tell them?" Professor McGonagall's frown deepened.
"I'll explain the specifics later. For now, I want to understand exactly what happened here." Dumbledore's blue eyes settled on Hagrid with gentle concern.
Having gotten back some of his composure, Hagrid began recounting the night's events in halting sentences...