CHAPTER FIFTEEN - The Forbidden Forest

A note for their detention was delivered the next morning to Attuoria, Harry, Hermione and Neville. They were to meet Filch at the entrance hall at eleven o'clock at night.

It was rather ironic. They got detention for being out of bed late at night, and their detention requires them to be out late at night. The detention must be something that will make them never want to leave the dorm at night again. Attuoria was familiar with this. The detention was going to act on fears.

And luckily for her, she had none. So whatever the detention was about, Attuoria figured it was going to be a breeze.

That night, they headed down to the entrance hall after saying bye to Ron. Lucky Ron. Although being bitten by a Norwegian Ridgeback was nowhere near fun, it did save him from joining the four of them at detention.

Malfoy was there as well. Filch led them out onto the dark school grounds while rambling about punishments. They arrived at Hagrid's hut, and Filch handed the kids over to him.

"It's into the Forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece." Filch said maliciously. He bid a nasty goodbye and left.

Malfoy began complaining about how the forest was forbidden and students weren't allowed to go in there because it's dangerous and filled with monsters and werewolves. Neville was on the verge of crying. Harry and Hermione just looked a little shocked.

Attuoria was kind of excited. Their fears fueled her excitement. She'd never been in a forest before. She knew Eylense had been to the Forbidden Forest a few dozen times, and he'd said that this forest was inhabited by more large creatures than small creatures. And if what Malfoy said was true, then they were sure to encounter lots of interesting creatures in there. Who knows, maybe she'll be able to make friends with some of those creatures the same way she did with Eylense and Norbert the dragon.

Hagrid led them to the edge of the forest and pointed to a puddle of silvery liquid on the ground. "Look there, see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

They split up into two groups. Malfoy and Neville went with Hagrid's large black dog, Fang. Attuoria, Harry and Hermione went with Hagrid.

They were told to send up green sparks if they found the unicorn, and send up red ones if they're in trouble. As they went split ways down the forest, Attuoria doubted that Malfoy and Neville were going to do very well. After skimming through both of their minds, and then Fang's, Attuoria noticed that all three of them were extremely cowardly, skittish and quite dramatic. And that wasn't a good mix for a trip into the dark forest.

Attuoria walked along the forest path behind Hagrid, Harry and Hermione. While her friends asked questions about the unicorn, she simply observed her surroundings, eying the mossy tree-stump as they walked past, and reaching her hand through the dim rays of moonlight to observe it glow white.

So this is the place that humans often associate fear with? Attuoria thought to herself, recalling all the nightmares she had created that involved a human being lost in a deep, dark forest. How could they find the forest scary? It's beautiful.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when Hagrid suddenly yelled, "GET BEHIND THAT TREE!" He roughly grabbed onto the three children as if they were just pups, pulling them away from the path and behind a large, thick tree.

Hagrid pulled out his crossbow and loaded it with an arrow. They all held their breath, listening to the sound of something slithering across crisp, dead leaves. But Attuoria wasn't paying attention to that sound. In the distance behind some messy brambles, she spotted a silver glisten. It looked like a soft reflection of the moonlight, yet Attuoria was sure it wasn't just a trick of light.

As Hagrid led them off deeper into the forest, Attuoria kept her eyes on the silver glimmer. It seemed to follow her, moving between thickets and large trees. She wanted to move towards it, to see what was behind the messy growth of branches.

"Who's there?" Hagrid called, catching Attuoria's attention. "Show yerself - I'm armed!"

Into the clearing ahead came a centaur. The top half of this creature was a man, with red hair and a beard. The bottom half was that of a large chestnut horse, with a long auburn tail.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid, unaware of how shocked Harry and Hermione were at the sight of this creature. "How are yeh?"

Attuoria stared at the creature curiously. It was larger than the average human, even slightly larger than the half-giant Hagrid.

"Good evening to you, Hagrid," said Ronan. There was something entrancing about his voice. It was deep and sorrowful, almost as if he was speaking in a dream. Attuoria had an odd feeling this creature often dwelled in imaginative thought.

"Were you going to shoot me?" The centaur asked.

"Can't be too careful, Ronan. There's summat bad loose in this forest." Hagrid turned to the kids. "This is Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, an' Attuoria Knight, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan. He's a centaur."

"We've noticed," said Hermione, her eyes still wide like the tree trunks in this forest.

Ronan acknowledged the students. "Mars is bright tonight." He said pensively, staring up at the sky.

Attuoria tilted her head up. Centaurs were naturally talented in astronomy, she remembered. They were also good at divination and healing magic. It was easy to get lost in the future and the stars, wondering about all the possibilities in the world, and Attuoria guessed that may be the reason Ronan's voice sounded so far away and dreamy.

Not soon after they parted ways with the centaur, red sparks appeared in the sky.

"Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!" said Hermione.

"You guys wait here! Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!" Hagrid yelled, rushing away through the undergrowth and disappearing.

Harry, Hermione and Attuoria were left standing in the cool, quiet atmosphere of the forest. The sound from every gust of wind, every cracking twig, and every rustling leaf was amplified.

While Harry and Hermione discussed the possible conditions of Neville and Malfoy, Attuoria tuned out and once again observed her surroundings. She remembered the silver glisten that she spotted earlier. Was it still following her?

Scanning through the rows of undergrowth and trees, she finally spotted that same sparkle of silver behind a dense bush not too far from her. By now, Attuoria was certain that it was a creature. It wasn't showing any signs of hostility, so she decided to slowly creep towards it.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked, noticing Attuoria's movements.

"Hagrid told us to stay here," said Hermione. "Don't go anywhere!"

"It's no big deal," Attuoria waved them off. "I'm just gonna look behind that bush."

Harry and Hermione exchanged frowns but didn't protest any further.

Attuoria moved towards the bush as lightly as her footsteps would allow. The silver gleam didn't shift. The leaves crunching underneath her shoes eased to a stop once she saw what was behind that bush.

It was a unicorn. A silver unicorn. It was small, about the size of a wooden barrel, and had a stubby little silver knob in place of it's horn. It gazed up at her with an almost sorrowful look, it's black eyes glistening with glass-like qualities. It was calling for help.

Attuoria entered the mind of the unicorn, hoping she would be able to figure out why it was following her.

"Mom… dying…" the unicorn's thoughts echoed.

Mom dying? That must be the injured unicorn that Hagrid is searching for, thought Attuoria. She pushed a thought into the unicorn's mind: "Where is she?"

The unicorn's eyes lit up.

"Climb onto my back. I'll bring you."

"Me? I'm too heavy." Attuoria replied, noticing that the young unicorn was only up to her chin.

"But… my mom…"

Attuoria searched her mind for a possible option. Were there any charms that could make her lighter?

Right, the feather-light charm! Attuoria pulled out her wand and quickly muttered the incantation whilst pointing to herself.

She felt the effects immediately. The force of the ground against her shoes was almost gone, she felt as if she was floating.

"Okay, we're good," Attuoria sent a message to the unicorn. She clambered onto its back.

"You're so light!" thought the unicorn.

"I tried."

Before Attuoria could even react to what was happening, the unicorn took off with unworldly speed. She felt like she was travelling through light. They were moving so fast that the wind sliced at her skin, and she had to shut her eyes from the blur of light.

But it didn't last long. Within less than five seconds, the unicorn stopped. Attuoria's head was spinning as she stepped off of the creature. It nudged its head against her back, pushing her over to a clearing in the distance. She peered over the bushes at the wide ditch ahead.

There it was, a large unicorn lying motionless in a pool of its silver blood. This unicorn was white, so white in fact that it shone as bright as the moon itself.

"What happened to her?" Attuoria asked the small unicorn next to her.

"Something hit her. I saw something black before I ran away. I thought she escaped, too." The unicorn thought, gazing at its dead mother.

The two of them stood there silently.

"I think she's dead," Attuoria finally admitted, gently resting her hand on the small unicorn's back as a sign of reassurance.

"I think so, too." The unicorn's tone of thought was sad, and it lowered its head.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault." The silver creature took a step forward towards the clearing, but Attuoria held her arm out in front of it and stopped it from moving any further. It whinnied quietly. "I want to be with my mother."

"You don't know what's out there. The killer might still be near," Attuoria explained, pulling out her wand again.

"Homenum Revelio." Attuoria whispered, pointing her wand in the general direction of the dead unicorn. She watched as the light green marker only she could see began scanning the area. It went further and further away until Attuoria was sure there was no one around for it to land on, but then it flashed slightly and then stopped.

There was someone. And whoever it was, they were coming towards the dead unicorn.

Maybe it's just Hagrid? Or Malfoy? Attuoria tried to reason with herself, but then she realised that they wouldn't be travelling alone, and that the red spark came from the other direction in the forest.

Could the spell have landed on a centaur by accident? No, the spell doesn't work on magical creatures, Attuoria thought. So whoever this is, it's got to be human. But humans don't live in the Forbidden Forest, do they?

"Someone's coming," Attuoria telepathically messaged the unicorn.

"Who?"

"I don't know, but you better go. Will you be alright on your own?"

"Yes. Will I see you again?"

"Maybe," Attuoria lied, knowing the answer was no. She was going to return to the dream dimension once this school year was over.

Whether or not Tom Riddle sent her the message was still a mystery, and she wasn't sure she was ever going to find out the truth. With more than five billion humans living in the mortal realm of planet earth, Tom Riddle could be anyone, anywhere.

"I'll remember you. Thanks for trying to help me." The unicorn gave her what looked like a smile, briefly bowed and then disappeared with a small flash of silver light.

Attuoria was once again left alone in the eerie silence of the forest.

So there's someone coming towards the unicorn, and it's probably not Hagrid. What should I do next? She asked herself. She looked around. She really was alone. Alone and vulnerable to whoever was coming towards the unicorn. I'd better return to Hagrid's hut, then. If Malfoy and Neville really are hurt, then that's where they'll most likely be. Then I can tell them where to find the unicorn.

She turned away from the gruesome scene, and realised she was deep in the forest, in the middle of nowhere. Attuoria was completely lost with no sense of direction. If the unicorn had moved slightly slower, she would've been able to retrace her steps. But the unicorn moved unbelievably fast and everything had been a blur, so Attuoria had absolutely no idea where they even came from.

Attuoria gazed at her surroundings. This part of the forest was just like any other part, full of bushes and thick, tall trees - Trees! Attuoria was still under the feather-light charm, which meant she should be able to climb the trees easily. If she could get to the top of a tree, then she'd be able to figure out where to go.

She turned to face the tree right next to her. There weren't many branches she could hold onto, but the trunk was uneven enough that she could step onto parts of it and grip onto bits of the bark. She quickly climbed up the tree, which was absolutely effortless because every step she took, she gently floated upwards.

Standing on the highest branch of the tree, she was able to look over the entire forest with the moon shining above her head. She spotted the towers of Hogwarts on one side of the forest, and Hagrid's hut was slightly to the right of the castle.

Knowing where to go, Attuoria started to hop and glide from branch to branch like a sugar glider would. The feeling of being as light as a feather was amazing.

Thankfully for her, she was already at the last tree when the charm wore off. As her body weight came back, she lost her balance on the branch she was standing on and fell down through the many other sharp branches that cut at her skin. Her body landed with a thump into a thick bush.

Attuoria noticed a stinging pain all over her body, but ignored it. She fumbled her way out of the bush, her hair filled with leaves and sticks. Hagrid's hut was in the clearing, and there was a light at the door. Someone was there!

She sprinted towards the hut, the dirt ground hitting the soles of her shoes. With her arms stretched out towards the person standing in front of the hut, she yelled "Hagrid! Have you seen Hagrid -"

And then she stopped. With that gnarly hair and crooked face, it was none other than Filch himself.

"Well, well, well," he sneered, holding his lantern up, casting an orange light across his face that made his nasty complexion look even worse. "Trying to skip detention? Breaking the rules again? Let's see what Professor McGonagall thinks about this."

Attuoria sighed. She should've checked before yelling out. Filch was right. Hagrid had told her to stay put, but she disobeyed his instructions and left on her own.

As she headed back up to the castle behind Filch, she knew she deserved this. Getting caught was the only way for her to remember to stop breaking the rules.