Chapter 153: A Dangerous Situation
"Royle… what, are you scared?" Cyrian suddenly turned his head and squinted at him.
"Don't make me look down on you," he said coldly.
The boy named Royle immediately flushed red with embarrassment. Fortunately, it was dark enough that no one could clearly see his expression, which allowed him to relax slightly.
"I was only making a suggestion," Royle said, forcing himself to sound brave. "Since you all think we should keep searching deeper, then let's keep searching."
With that, he stepped forward first and headed deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
"Good. That's the spirit," Cyrian said with a grin.
Privately, however, he was mocking Royle for being an idiot. Naturally, the others fell in behind him—letting Royle walk at the front and clear the path.
---
"Why haven't we seen Fythorne yet? Did he really come in here?" asked a student named Gluk uncertainly.
By now they had already ventured deep into the forest.
Moonlight barely reached this place. The only sounds were the constant rustling of insects and the uneasy footsteps of the group.
Left with no choice, they lit their wands.
At least one of them had the sense to give a warning.
"Don't make the Lumos too bright," he whispered. "Just enough to see the path. Too much light might attract dark creatures."
Seeing the ground was one thing.
But it hardly helped much.
They were still wandering blindly through the endless forest like a group of headless flies.
By this point, even Cyrian was beginning to feel uneasy.
"Looks like we won't find him tonight," he said, trying to sound calm. "Let's head back. It's getting too late."
"Yeah…"
"Good idea."
"Let's go back."
The others quickly agreed.
The moment he finished speaking, the others immediately agreed in relief. It was obvious that many of them had already wanted to retreat—they had only been forcing themselves to stay out of pride.
"Yeah, let's go."
"Time to head back."
They turned around to leave, only to realize that the path they had taken earlier was now hidden beneath dense shrubs and tangled undergrowth. They could no longer tell which direction led back.
Trying to navigate by the moon was useless. Deep inside the Forbidden Forest, the trees blocked out the sky. Even sunlight rarely penetrated here, let alone moonlight. The vegetation grew so thick that it was almost unnatural.
"This is… troublesome," Cyrian muttered, taking a slow breath.
Even in this situation, he wasn't too panicked. After all, he still had a two-way mirror in his possession.
The other half was with Draco Malfoy. If necessary, he could call for help at any moment.
Of course, the price for that would likely be a severe scolding from the professors.
Better try getting out ourselves first.
Thinking this through, he turned to Gluk.
"You're physically stronger. Climb a tree and see if you can spot the moon. Maybe we can figure out the direction."
Gluk didn't refuse. He quickly climbed upward, scrambling along the trunk until he reached the higher branches. Before long, he disappeared from the others' view.
As he climbed, he muttered complaints under his breath about Cyrian.
Even though Cyrian had gathered them together, he was only a fourth-year student. Why should they all listen to him?
Then again… Cyrian came from one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families.
They themselves were pure-bloods too—but not of such prestigious lineage.
This was the tragedy of the pure-blood ideology.
They could look down arrogantly on Muggle-born and half-blood wizards, calling them Mudbloods. But the moment they encountered someone with a "purer" lineage than their own, they were forced to bow their heads just the same.
Those who used the rules but lacked the strength to truly command them often ended up crushed by those very rules.
Gluk sighed as he climbed to the very top of the tree.
Unfortunately, just as he reached the highest branches, the moon slipped behind a cloud. The forest below was swallowed in darkness.
Then he noticed something in a distant clearing.
A soft glow.
Squinting, he realized it was a unicorn resting peacefully beside a stream.
But behind the unicorn, something else was moving.
A black shape—creeping slowly toward it.
Gluk's heart jumped.
He hadn't joined this expedition willingly—Cyrian had pressured him into it. But at heart, he wasn't cruel. He couldn't bear the thought of the unicorn being killed like this.
"Look out—!"
The warning nearly left his mouth, but he quickly covered it with his hand.
He might want to save the unicorn, but he also valued his own life.
Besides, shouting might not alert the unicorn anyway.
He racked his brain for a spell that might help.
And then one came to mind.
At this distance, even a warning might be enough.
Grinding his teeth, he drew his wand—but instead of aiming at the shadowy figure creeping through the forest, he pointed toward the unicorn.
"Stinging Jinx."
He whispered the incantation under his breath, sweat forming on his forehead.
---
"Good… good… stay right there… don't move…"
Mimiron's excitement was beyond words.
He had only come out to hunt as usual—hoping for a rabbit or perhaps a wild bird. If he managed something larger like a wolf or leopard, that would have been an excellent catch.
But never in his wildest dreams had he expected this.
Right before him stood a unicorn—the very creature Lord Voldemort had been desperately seeking.
How could he not be thrilled?
If he obtained unicorn blood, he would no longer need to linger in this miserable half-alive state. They could begin planning the Dark Lord's resurrection immediately.
Just a little closer…
Once he got near enough, a spell would ensure the unicorn couldn't escape.
Why not simply use the Killing Curse?
Because only the blood of a living unicorn possessed the power to sustain life.
Any other spell might fail to harm it—and worse, frighten it away.
Everything was about to succeed.
Then suddenly—
The unicorn jerked its head upward with a startled cry, stamping the ground in agitation.
The Stinging Jinx hadn't injured it, but it caused sharp pain.
As the unicorn twisted around in alarm, Mimiron's dark form came directly into its field of vision.
Fear flashed in its eyes.
It assumed the pain came from him—and sensing the malice radiating from his body, it immediately bolted deeper into the forest.
Even if Mimiron had mastered Voldemort's flight magic, he wouldn't have been able to match a unicorn's speed.
And the fragment of Voldemort attached to him at the moment didn't even know the incantation for flight.
Rage surged inside him.
He scanned the forest, recalling the faint ripple of magic he had sensed moments earlier.
The unicorn's reaction had not been natural.
Then, across several hundred meters of forest, his gaze met Gluk's high in the tree.
Found you, boy.
Mimiron narrowed his eyes.