"Lynn, we're going..." Before leaving, Edgar said this to Lynn.
Lynn waved him away irritably. "Go, go, go! Go serve your detention! And watch out, the Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest might think you talk too much and wrap you up as a mummy snack!"
Watching Edgar, William, and Ollie leave the dormitory for detention, Lynn found himself bored alone.
He thought for a moment and ran into his trunk to bond with his pets...
Meanwhile, at the Castle gates.
The caretaker, Filch, was holding a dim oil lamp, followed by what could be called a "deluxe" detention squad:
Hufflepuff's Edgar, William, and Ollie; Slytherin's Draco Malfoy; and Gryffindor's "Golden Trio": Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
The team of seven looked quite large in the darkness.
"Keep up, quickly!" Filch urged hoarsely, not forgetting to use his unpleasant tone to intimidate them as he walked.
"What a pity, punishments are too lenient now... Back in the day, students who misbehaved would be hung from the dungeon ceiling and whipped with barbed lashes... I truly miss those times..."
Amidst his rambling, the group arrived at Hagrid's hut, situated on the edge of the Castle grounds.
Hagrid was already there.
"They are all yours, Hagrid. Their task is to follow you and patrol the Forbidden Forest."
As soon as Filch finished speaking, he immediately turned around, limping back into the shadows of the Castle with his lamp.
Hagrid looked at the group of students, each with a different expression, rubbed his huge hands together, and blurted out abruptly, "Norbert's gone... Dumbledore sent him to the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania."
Edgar and the other two were stunned by this. Norbert? Who?
"Isn't that wonderful? It can be with its own kind." Hermione immediately chimed in, trying to comfort the seemingly dejected half-giant.
Edgar nudged Malfoy, who was standing beside him. Here, besides his roommates, the only person he was somewhat familiar with was this "former broom buyer."
"So... you guys were raising a Dragon before? Is that why you were given detention?"
Malfoy snorted through his nose. "Ha! Those idiotic Gryffindors were raising the Dragon! Now I'm dragged into getting punished too! This place is filthy and dangerous..."
His voice wasn't deliberately lowered. Ron, standing nearby, immediately flared up, his red hair practically standing on end. "Shut up, Malfoy! If you hadn't run off like a snitch to tattle to Professor McGonagall, how would we have been discovered, and how would we have gotten this blasted detention?!"
"Who are you calling a snitch, poor Weasley!"
"You are! Coward Malfoy!"
The two immediately started arguing fiercely until Hagrid interrupted them. "Enough! Quiet down! We need to leave!"
The group of people and one dog began to venture deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
The Forbidden Forest at night was even more sinister and terrifying than during the day. Branches looked like the claws and teeth of monsters in the darkness, and rustling and whimpering sounds of unknown creatures occasionally drifted from afar.
Fang tucked his tail between his legs, sticking close to Hagrid's leg, occasionally letting out uneasy whimpers.
They hadn't walked far when Hagrid suddenly stopped, lighting up the ground with his lantern.
There, a sticky liquid, glowing an eerie silver-blue under the moonlight and lamplight, soaked into the fallen leaves and mud.
"That's Unicorn blood..." Hagrid's voice was extremely heavy.
"A few days ago, we found a dead Unicorn, completely drained... Now there's another patch of fresh blood.
Our mission today is to find this poor injured creature, hoping we can save it."
He stood up and began assigning tasks. "So, we need to split into groups now to cover a wider search area. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I will be one group, and the rest of you..."
"Why should we?!" Malfoy's shrill voice interrupted him, his face etched with fear and resistance.
"You want us, a few young Wizards, to follow this useless dog into the depths of the Forbidden Forest?! Are you insane?! I'm going to write to my father and have him fire you! This is murder!"
Malfoy's outburst gave Hagrid a headache. He tried several grouping methods, such as putting Malfoy in his own group or adjusting the personnel, but Malfoy rejected them all with various excuses—disliking Gryffindor, being afraid of Fang, or deeming the route dangerous.
The situation immediately reached a deadlock.
"In that case, let's leave it entirely to luck. That's the fairest way."
Hermione couldn't stand it anymore. She bent down and picked up a few small twigs from the ground, quickly fiddled with them behind her back, and then held them out in her hand.
"Draw lots. Those who draw the long twig go with Hagrid, and those who draw the short twig go with Fang. Is that acceptable, Malfoy?"
Malfoy glared at the seemingly identical twigs, opened his mouth, but ultimately failed to find another reason to object. He reluctantly gave a grunt, conceding the point.
Thus, under the faint lamplight and tense scrutiny, the drawing results were revealed:
Malfoy, Harry, William, Edgar, and Fang were in one group.
Ron, Hermione, and Ollie were with Hagrid.
Malfoy looked at the short twig in his hand, his expression growing even uglier, but since he had tacitly agreed to the rules, he had nothing to say.
"Alright, it's settled! Fang, lead the way!" Hagrid patted Fang's head and then led his group in the opposite direction.
Thus, the "Fang Squad," consisting of four people and one dog, continued deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
Malfoy grumbled incessantly the whole way. "This is work for servants... Filthy and dangerous... If my father knew I was doing this, he'd be furious. He'd definitely have Hagrid fired, and maybe even Dumbledore..."
"You're actually scared, aren't you, Malfoy?" Harry, walking beside him, suddenly said lightly.
Malfoy shut his mouth, not immediately retorting for the first time, merely clutching his wand tightly.
Edgar and William did not participate in their squabble. Both gripped their wands tightly, and William even pulled out a feather.
They dared not gamble on whether this dark forest held danger. Without Lynn's near-bug-level early warning system, they had to be highly vigilant.
The two had secretly agreed that if the situation went wrong, they would immediately use the feather to signal Lynn for reinforcements.
Fang led them along the winding, root-tangled path, stopping and starting. His nose constantly sniffed the ground and the air, and a low, warning whimper continuously rumbled in his throat.
The surrounding trees grew denser, and the light became dimmer, with only the moonlight occasionally filtering through the overlapping branches and leaves, casting fragmented specks of light.
Suddenly, Fang stopped abruptly. He crouched low, staring intently at a small clearing ahead, faintly illuminated by the moonlight.
The group followed his gaze, and the sight before them was destined to become a horrifying memory they would never forget:
A figure wearing a ragged black cloak was hunched over on the ground.
Beneath it lay a Unicorn, and the figure had its head bowed, its face buried against the Unicorn's neck, making continuous sucking sounds.
"Ah—!!!"
Malfoy's scream shattered the deathly silence of the Forbidden Forest.
At the same time, William activated the feather in his hand.
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