Chapter 371: The Guardians of the Forest

Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 371: The Guardians of the Forest

"Centaurs?!" Daphne hurried to Harry's side.

It wasn't just one that had come from the forest, but a large group of armed centaurs. They could see at least a dozen, but many more could be hidden.

"You finally showed up. Were you waiting for us to die before making a move?" Harry asked the first centaur.

The centaur scoffed at his comment.

"We have the duty of protecting the forest… not the reckless humans who venture inside." He then looked over the remains of the vampires.

"But I will admit, I'm impressed. I would never have imagined that some young magic casters would be able to kill so many of these dark creatures."

"You're welcome," Harry said, kneeling to pick up the black dagger.

When the centaur tried to warn him again, Harry stopped him.

"I'm aware it's cursed. I'm not planning on testing it on myself." He conjured a receptacle and placed the dagger inside.

"What kind of curse does it have? It gave me goosebumps..." Daphne said.

"I'll have to study it a bit to find out." He had a feeling this could be the culprit behind all those damaged souls. A powerful curse could definitely do something like that.

Harry turned to the largest centaur.

"I assume your only business was with them. In that case, we will take our leave." He gestured for Daphne to get closer.

"Wait!" the centaur called out. "I'd like to know your name at least."

"Harry, and she's Daphne."

The centaur nodded.

"Mine is Bane, leader of the scouts," he said with pride.

"I could send a scout to escort you out of the forest. It's easy to get lost here, even more so at night. And there's an Acromantula nest not too far from here..."

"I appreciate the offer, but..." Harry wrapped his arm around Daphne and held her tight. "I have a quicker way out."

With a wave of his staff, they both disappeared from the clearing.

"Oh?" Bane stared at the empty space where they had been standing.

"Human magic seems very handy."

"Bane," another centaur called.

"Do we inform Firenze of this? If these dead creatures continue to appear in our forest..."

"If that Dark Lord thinks he can send his monstrosities into our land, we'll have to show him how wrong he is," Bane scoffed.

"What about the two humans? They didn't even give you their second names, so we don't know who they really are." The centaur was obviously displeased.

"I know who the boy was... That was Harry Potter. I have no doubt," Bane said.

"The one from the prophecy?"

Bane nodded.

"Firenze made one last prophecy before everything went dark… the description he gave me matches well with the boy we saw today. Not to mention... you saw how he fought. There can be no mistake."

"That was the boy of the prophecy then..." The other centaur said.

"But is he going to save us all, or destroy everything, like the diviner said?..."

Bane glanced at the starry sky. "Only the gods up there have the answer to that."

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"Tempus," Harry glanced at the numbers.

"It's almost midnight. The ball should be ending by now," Daphne said, looking at him. "What are you going to do?"

"I need to inform the old Headmaster of what happened. And then, I'll have a lengthy conversation with Lestrange."

"Wait… I thought he escaped," Daphne said.

Harry shook his head. "No, I managed to lock him up before he did."

Daphne stood silent for a moment.

"You used that ability, didn't you? The one from the cloak." She only knew the basics of what it could do, but she knew Harry could create pocket spaces to store things.

"I did."

"Isn't he going to die in there?" She assumed there would be no air inside that space, which was why Harry never stored anything alive.

"Technically, he's already dead... but we'll see," Harry replied.

"Would you tell me if you find something important?" she asked. She knew Harry didn't want her to get more involved in the war against Voldemort, but she didn't want to stay on the sidelines.

"If there's something I can do…"

"I know." Harry's face was serious.

"I won't leave you in the dark. I promise. But for tonight, it's best if you go rest."

Daphne nodded.

"Yes… this has been quite the complete date. We ate, we danced, and we even fought some vampires in a dark forest."

"Let's try not to make a habit of that," Harry told her with a smile.

Daphne got closer and kissed him with passion. "I don't think is possible to get bored with you...Goodnight, Harry."

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When He arrived at the Headmaster's office, he had expected to find Dumbledore there, but was surprised to see Snape waiting for him.

"Did you find the source of that dark magic?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry sat down and glanced at him with a grave expression.

"Karkaroff is dead."

"What?!" Snape exclaimed.

Dumbledore sighed.

"Lately… it feels like every time you come to my office, it's either to announce that you want to kill someone, or that someone is dead..."

"You're making it sound like it's my fault..." Harry said.

"Where is he? He told me earlier that someone was following him," Snape said.

"Really?" Harry knew it couldn't have been Rabastan or the vampires, as they would have triggered the wards if they tried to enter.

This meant someone must have lured Karkaroff outside.

"This reminds me... I've captured Rabastan Lestrange," Harry said.

"What?!" This time, it was Dumbledore's turn to exclaim.

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