Hagrid really disliked Filch—especially his habit of constantly threatening and intimidating students. What made it worse was that the ones he was threatening were Harry and Robert.
So when Hagrid walked over, he immediately waved his hand impatiently.
"Your task is done. From now on, I'm in charge."
"I'll be back at dawn to collect their remains," Filch said with a cruel remark, then turned and walked back toward the castle.
As soon as he left, Malfoy started complaining, saying he didn't want to go into the woods at all. But Hagrid completely ignored him. Even when Malfoy brought up his father, the school governor, it was useless.
"You can go back now," Hagrid said. "If you think your father would rather you be expelled, then go back to the castle and pack your bags!"
Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid angrily, then lowered his gaze and reluctantly followed Hagrid and a large black hound into the woods.
"A unicorn has been attacked," Hagrid said grimly. "This is the second time. I found one dead last Wednesday. We need to find it as soon as possible..."
"No, I don't want to go!" Malfoy protested again, his voice full of uncontrollable fear. "What if the thing that hurt the unicorn is still out there?"
"As long as you're with me or Fang, nothing in the Forbidden Forest will hurt you," Hagrid replied, then continued explaining what they needed to do.
Malfoy looked back at the dark path they had come from. After a moment's hesitation, he gave up on the idea of turning back and grumbled as he followed along.
"Relax—just think of it as camping," Robert offered, trying to comfort him.
There really was no need to be afraid, even in the Forbidden Forest. Dumbledore wouldn't possibly send students to their deaths—especially not Harry. Maybe the Headmaster was even watching them right now from his office.
Robert turned his head, his gaze piercing through the rustling tree shadows as he looked toward the distant castle.
Where was the Headmaster's office window again?
He couldn't quite find it, but he was certain that the windows at the highest point of the castle still glowed with light.
"Robert, were you listening to me just now?"
Hagrid's voice snapped him back to attention. Robert nodded.
"Of course. Be careful, don't act alone, don't leave your side or Fang's, and if we encounter danger, we should immediately shoot a red spark into the sky."
Hagrid paused for a moment... Had he said all that in such detail?
"That's right. That's it." He nodded. "Later we'll split into two teams..."
"I want Fang!" Malfoy said quickly and firmly, not missing a beat this time.
His expression was resolute, as if he were choosing to walk beside a fire-breathing dragon instead of a two-foot-tall hound.
Robert stared at Malfoy, genuinely baffled by how his brain worked—thinking that staying beside a hound was somehow safer than being with an eleven-foot-tall half-giant?
Naturally, Hagrid wouldn't refuse his request.
When they reached a fork in the road, the group split into two teams. Robert, Harry, and Hagrid went one way, while Malfoy, Neville, and Fang went the other.
The Forbidden Forest at night was completely silent. Even the insects had stopped chirping. The only sound was the rustling of their footsteps on the fallen leaves.
A strange scent hung in the air—like grass soaked with morning dew, or fallen leaves floating in a deep, dark pool.
Robert didn't know how he could distinguish the scent of dew and leaves so precisely, but that was the first thing that came to mind.
"This is unicorn blood," Hagrid said as he looked at the silver-blue stains scattered on the ground. His expression darkened.
"Could it have been a werewolf?" Harry asked.
"Not likely," Hagrid replied. "Unicorns have strong magic. Werewolves can't hurt them that easily."
Hagrid started walking faster, so fast that Harry had to jog to keep up. Neither of them noticed that someone had fallen behind.
Robert had originally been following close behind, but when he passed a particularly dense patch of silver-blue bloodstains, he stopped suddenly and pulled the Whomping Willow wand from his pocket, his brow furrowed in confusion.
The wand body had long been completed. The separated cross-sections were covered in intricate runes.
But now, one of the runes was glowing with silver-blue light, mirroring the unicorn blood on the ground.
"Wand core rune—Contract and Protection," Robert murmured. "The unicorn is calling for help..."
This was a very ancient rune, and the only one whose function was to protect the wand core.
According to legend, this type of rune could record every wand core it had ever "seen" and would generate magical resonance under specific conditions.
As for when exactly those conditions were met, Garrick Ollivander had explained that it happened when a wand was broken, destroyed, or when its core was on the brink of perishing.
That's also why most wands, even after being broken, could still function for a while if they were wrapped with magical tape.
But this wand had no core at all.
There was only one explanation: the unicorn that had left this blood behind must have had its tail hair turned into a wand core, and that core had been "seen" by the rune.
When Robert passed by, the magic in the unicorn's blood had been captured by the rune, producing a magical resonance.
Once he understood what was happening, Robert placed the wand flat in his hand and held it near the unicorn blood.
Instantly, the rune grew brighter. Under a subtle magical pull, the wand began to shift its direction.
Without hesitation, Robert stood up and ran.
Ten minutes later, he caught up with Hagrid and Harry, who were speaking with two centaurs.
"Ronan, have you seen a student? He's missing—I have to go back and find him," Hagrid said.
The centaur tilted his head to the sky and said, "Tonight's Mars..."
"Hagrid!" Robert shouted, interrupting the conversation.
"Robert?" Hagrid turned around, surprised. "Thank goodness—where did you run off to? I've been looking—"
"I know where the injured unicorn is," Robert said, panting heavily.
"What?"
"No time to explain..." Robert glanced at the silver-blue light fading on the wand. He took a deep breath and sprinted in the direction it pointed.
"It's dying—we have to hurry!"
Before he finished speaking, Robert had already run far ahead.
"Stop, Robert! Don't run so fast in the Forbidden Forest—it's dangerous!" Hagrid called out, immediately chasing after him.
Harry followed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, only the two centaurs remained.
The reddish-brown one named Ronan stood motionless, staring into the darkness after them. After a long silence, as if waking from a trance, he opened his mouth and said slowly, firmly:
"...Very bright."
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