We’re off to see the wizard…
He led us to the very edge of the forest and held up his lamp to light up a small part in the immediate vicinity. He looked for a second before walking into the forest through a narrow, winding dirt track that disappeared into the black trees. A light breeze blew on our cloaks and hair as we peered into the abyss that connected each tree to the other.
"Look here," Hagrid said, his voice seemed like a lighthouse in the dark, pulling us out of our trance like state as we observed the silvery liquid coating the edge of his four digits. "See this silvery stuff on the ground and on my fingers? This is unicorn's blood.
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."
"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" asked Draco. I couldn't help but scream in my mind, 'RED FLAG! RED FLAG!' The guy jinxed it.
"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or fang," he said proudly. I couldn't help but laugh out loud which made everyone but Hagrid jump.
"I'm sorry, that was just such a good joke Hagrid I had to laugh. There are things in this forest that will kill you as easily as strolling in a park. You should know that far better than me. What? Do you think that silly crossbow will save you from Trolls, giants and Acromantulas? Please, there are things out there that will kill all of us in seconds. Not to rain on your parade or anything, but werewolves do exist here, we… are just lucky it isn't a full moon. And don't get me started on fang, might as well have brought out your other dog, maybe then it might have been more useful," I said truthfully while giving him a knowing smile.
Hagrid looked at me with surprise and reproach. I just shrugged; the guy shouldn't dial down the danger here just to calm the nerves of a bunch of kids. Ron, Harry and even Draco looked at me with pale faces as their bodies shook slightly from my words.
As we walk forward Hagrid tried to calm down the trio as best he could, which seemed to work to some extent. We soon arrived at a fork in the trail.
"We will need to split off and search, if you hear or see anythin', yell and we'll come runnin'. Now, Ron and Draco, come with me, Harry and Tom, you go that way," he said as he pointed towards the rightmost path.
Harry and I looked at each other and walked down the indicated path, and before long, Hagrid, Ron and Draco could no longer be seen.
Honestly though, how stupid of an idea is this. Yeah sure, let's split into groups comprised of FIRST YEARS in a fucking deadly ass forest. Now that is what I call a punishment. Harry seemed to be on edge as we walked forward, I asked Drak to alert me when we were close to Voldemort so that I was ready. We walked for another 5 minutes down the narrow track filled with potholes, when I suddenly heard Drak's voice.
[Voldemort is 150 meters ahead, be careful, if you need help, just say the word,] he said confidently. I nodded silently and quietly took out my wand and hid it under the sleeve of my cloak. He would definitely try to attack us, but he wouldn't be expecting a 11–12-year-old to strike back.
What I was curious about was why he always went for physical contact? Even in this confrontation coming up, he rushed towards Harry rather than using his wand.
[because of Voldemort's existence within Quirrell,] answered Drak. It was like a lightbulb suddenly turned on in my head, it seems that due to Voldemort's presence within Quirrell, he is debilitated. Probably due to the magic being syphoned out of him. Voldemort needs to survive some way, like a parasite.
That might explain why Quirrell needs to feed on the unicorn. But wouldn't that mean that I wasn't needed? After all, Harry was protected by Lily's sacrificial spell. He couldn't be touched.
[Your wrong, he can still kill Harry. He is weak and can't use magic on a regular basis, but that does not mean he can't use it at all. If pushed into a corner, he will use it. Probably explains why he spent so much time trying to find Fluffy's weakness instead of simply killing it.]
'Then what are the chances of him using a curse or a spell on Harry?'
[25%. From what I can feel, he will be able to top up on unicorn blood and be able to use magic again, but only for a short amount of time, about a month. I assume he fed on the unicorn to give him enough life force to sustain magical use if need be.]
Harry couldn't disarm Quirrell, after all, he learns the spell next year after Snape's performance. Which means that Harry is theoretically, easy pickings. He's defenceless, and I can't take a chance on his supposed plot armour. It seems that I'll need to attend their fight over the stone after all.