Aurelius: "..."
He shook his head almost at once.
"No, I can't just leave. I have to take him back. Don't make this difficult for me; I sneaked him out without my uncles knowing."
Hearing this, Dylan just shrugged. "Suit yourself."
Then, he walked over to Luna's side.
Luna had snapped out of her trance and was no longer having a staring contest with the unicorn.
"I never thought on my last day before leaving school, I'd get to see a live unicorn."
Dylan smiled. "You'll probably get more chances to see him from now on."
Luna's eyes lit up. "Really? They have such a pure feeling about them. I like them."
Dylan nodded. "You like him? Perfect. I need to collect some of his blood. Want some, too?"
Luna paused. "Huh? What?"
_?
Aurelius jumped up in outrage.
"What are you doing? Are you going to cut him? How could you! I won't let you force him!"
Dylan just curled his lip and walked straight up to the unicorn.
"Hello?"
The unicorn blinked its big eyes, staring at Dylan with a look of complex resignation.
But faced with Dylan's raised eyebrow and twisted smile, it eventually averted its head and lifted a hoof, offering it to Dylan.
Aurelius was dumbfounded, seeing the unicorn looking both ready to die and yet so willingly cooperative.
"This, this, this..."
"Stop with the 'this, this, this.' Don't you think you're being awfully chatty?"
Aurelius: "..."
Dylan waved a hand and pulled out a water cup.
The unicorn's peripheral vision caught sight of the oversized cup, its eyes widening in alarm, and it tried to pull its hoof back.
But before it could even twitch, it felt its hoof being held firmly by Dylan.
"It's been a while since we've seen each other, don't you think you should make up for what you owe me?"
As he spoke, Dylan lightly tapped the unicorn's hoof with a finger.
A small spot of blood appeared, and then blood began to sizzle out.
Aurelius's jaw dropped.
The unicorn tried to yank its leg back, but Dylan held it tight, preventing any movement.
"Ang! Ang! Ang!"
The unicorn cried out in distress.
Aurelius finally snapped back to reality and quickly translated, "He says if you draw that much blood at once, you'll bleed him to death! He's just recovered from an injury and isn't even fully healed yet!"
Dylan glanced sideways at Aurelius. "I know what I'm doing."
Aurelius: ...
You know what you're doing?
He looked at the large water cup Dylan had placed against the unicorn's wound, and his mouth twitched.
You've got a lot of nerve!
The unicorn felt its blood flowing out in a steady stream. Seeing Dylan's earnest expression, it knew there was no escaping and just gave up.
It extended its front leg, its hindquarters now settled on the ground.
Dylan didn't actually drain the unicorn dry, and he didn't fill the entire cup. He only drew about a third, which would be enough for him for a while.
"Hmm, not bad."
Dylan gently swished the cup in his hand, the blood inside sloshing around.
Oh, if only he wasn't so kind and considerate! Otherwise, he would have filled this entire bottle to the brim!
When Dylan finally let it go, the unicorn tried to stand up at once. But as soon as it moved, its vision went dark.
It silently sank back down to the ground.
Meanwhile, Luna was watching the interaction between Dylan and the unicorn, blinking her eyes. She was curious but didn't interrupt Dylan's actions.
After safely putting away the half-filled cup of unicorn blood, Dylan turned his attention to Aurelius.
"It seems you can communicate with unicorns?"
Hearing this, Aurelius dropped his astonished expression and proudly lifted his head.
"Of course! I'm a centaur! I'm fluent in many magical creature languages! Even my uncles aren't as good as I am at this!"
Dylan's eyes lit up slightly at this and he stared at Aurelius for a while.
Aurelius had been ready for some praise from Dylan. But instead of praise, he opened his eyes to find Dylan staring at him with a gaze that made him very uncomfortable.
It was the same look he often saw on the faces of predators in the Forbidden Forest.
What's going on?!
Aurelius watched Dylan warily. "What are you going to do? I'm telling you, you're not going to bleed me! I am a proud centaur, and you shouldn't think you can make me bow to your human tyranny!"
The unicorn: "..."
The slightly recovered unicorn rolled its eyes.
Dylan withdrew his gaze and let out a light laugh. "I was only looking at you. You're so quick to get flustered. Why are you so wary? It's not like I'm going to kill you, skin you, butcher you, and then devour your soul, is it?"
Aurelius: "Д)!"
"Don't tell me you actually want to do that!"
Even Luna looked over. "If you do it, it's best to skin him whole. It's more valuable that way. I read it in a book."
Aurelius: "!!!"
He looked at Luna, the girl with the big hair who seemed so nice, with a sense of betrayal.
Oh, no!
These two are in cahoots!
Dylan chuckled. "Alright, Luna, stop scaring him. I'm really not going to do anything to you, Aurelius."
But Aurelius didn't believe him. He kept a wary eye on Dylan and took two steps back.
Dylan didn't mind.
Even if he were to do something like that to him, it wouldn't be now.
He turned his attention back to the unicorn.
"It's been a long time, I've missed you. But since you have to go back to the centaur herd with him, you should go get some rest. I'll come see you when school starts again."
The unicorn, which had just managed to stand up, stumbled again.
Don't see me. I'd rather never see you again!
With wobbly steps, it walked back to Aurelius.
Aurelius, ever the loyal friend, shielded the unicorn behind him and glared at Dylan.
Dylan shrugged.
"I have a lot of questions to ask, but I'm not that curious. So let's save it for when school starts. I want to go back to bed now."
Dylan waved his hand at them and turned to Luna.
"Do you want to keep wandering? Or shall we go back together?"
Luna blinked. "If you're tired, we should go back. I know I won't find what I was looking for today anyway, but I'm very happy I got to see a unicorn."
Dylan nodded.
The two made their way back to Hogwarts.
Dylan climbed into bed and fell into a deep sleep, no longer thinking about anything else.
The next day, bright and early, an owl flew to the window of Dylan's dorm.
Dylan let it in and saw that it had a letter for him.
He raised an eyebrow.
After feeding the owl some bacon strips and sending it on its way, he opened the letter and read it.
Then, he pursed his lips.
Wait? He has to go to this too?
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the letter into his bag.
…
The whistle of the train sounded a long, low note, the heavy vibration spreading through the air.
The Hogwarts Express slowly began to move.
The wheels clattered against the tracks with a rhythmic "chug-a-chug, chug-a-chug."
The landscape outside the window began to recede.
Luna looked across at Dylan.
He was wearing a custom-made suit from a tailor's shop.
The black velvet fabric had a subtle sheen, and its high quality made him look even more distinguished.
Dylan was looking down, fussing with his tie, his fingers fumbling with the silk.
After a few tries, he still couldn't get it right.
Luna saw this and leaned forward, reaching out to help him adjust it.
"Oh, thank you."
Luna's movement was a little sudden, and he was taken aback before offering his thanks.
As Luna moved closer, her fair face was right in front of him. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed in concentration, and her beautiful, elegant eyes were cast downwards.
Her lips were a plump, rosy colour. Dylan's breathing hitched for a moment, and his gaze lingered on her face.
He instinctively raised a hand and gently brushed a stray strand of her pale blonde hair away from her cheek, revealing her delicate, adorable ear.
The sunlight coming through the window fell on Luna's earlobe, making the small, soft cartilage appear translucent and glow with a faint light.
"Why are you so dressed up? Isn't it a holiday now...?" Luna gently pushed Dylan's hand away and looked up at him, asking.
Dylan lowered his arm with a hint of regret, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I'm going to a hearing, a Wizengamot meeting, to be precise."
"They're going to decide if Sirius Black is innocent or not, and they also have to decide whether to issue a warrant for Peter Pettigrew's arrest."
"For Sirius Black? That sounds like it has a good chance of succeeding," Luna nodded.
"Oh? Why do you say that?" Dylan looked at her with interest, wanting to hear her reasoning.
Luna smiled faintly. "I heard Cedric and the others talking about it. Apparently, they overheard the professors discussing it."
"It's quite obvious, really. Sirius Black was sent to prison during Minister Fudge's predecessor's term. He was put straight into Azkaban without a proper trial or investigation."
"Since Fudge took office, many of his actions haven't been approved by the British wizards; he's received a lot of criticism."
"If he wants to get re-elected, he has to show some results, and exonerating Black is a great opportunity. It will not only undermine the previous Minister's influence but also target his former rival, Barty Crouch."
"Furthermore, Black is the sole heir to the ancient pure-blood Black family."
"If he can clear Sirius Black's name, he'll be bringing the pure-blood families to his side."
"In short, Fudge will definitely push for this, and the pure-blood families, with their tangled web of alliances, will also have a part to play..."
Dylan blinked, a little surprised that Luna had thought about it in such detail.
"Cedric knew about this too? Does that mean you all know what Sirius was doing at school?"
Luna gave a slight smile. "In just one day, the whole school was buzzing with rumours about Sirius Black."
Dylan shrugged.
He didn't have to guess that it was probably Harry and his friends' doing.
But it didn't matter.
With the support of the Hogwarts rumour mill, Fudge would surely know what to do.
It was impressive that Luna could analyze things to this extent just by hearing Cedric and the others.
But her thoughts were a little too simple.
The pure-blood families are not a united front. If it weren't for Dumbledore working behind the scenes, some of those families would probably be trying to step on the Blacks. After all, with the decline of the Black family, there would be a vacuum of influence for other families to fight over.
What's more, Sirius Black wasn't a pure-blood supremacist. In many people's eyes, he was a traitor to his family, just like the Weasleys.
On his own, he'd be helpless.
If not for the Phoenix, or rather, the Dumbledore faction fighting for him behind the scenes, it's uncertain whether he'd be cleared of all charges.
But no matter what, Luna wouldn't be the next Minister of Magic, so it didn't really matter.
The sun began to slant towards the southwest.
The sunlight streamed through the train window, casting a long, bright patch on the floor.
The Hogwarts Express slowly came to a halt.
With a final clatter, it came to a complete stop.
They had arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Dylan said goodbye to Luna, got up, walked through the carriages, and entered the platform.
Parents were everywhere, waiting to pick up their children.
He wove through the crowd, his gaze quickly locking onto a figure standing by the bathroom door.
It was a tall, thin old man with a long white beard, wearing a dark wizard's robe. His nose was crooked, as if it had been broken twice.
It was none other than old Dumbledore.
Dumbledore had clearly been waiting for Dylan for a while. Seeing him approach, he nodded slightly.
Since Dylan had never been to the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore needed to lead the way.
The two were heading to the Wizengamot meeting together. The morning's letter was from Dumbledore himself. Old Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Dylan was to attend as a key witness.
Dylan followed Dumbledore into the public toilets and stared at the toilet in front of him, utterly bewildered.
"Professor Dumbledore, are you saying that this thing is the entrance to the Ministry of Magic? Are you sure?"
He stared at the toilet bowl, his voice full of disbelief.
He simply couldn't comprehend why wizards' transportation was so… unique.
For Merlin's sake!
Transportation is transportation, and sanitation is sanitation.
Even if you can sit on both, they're not the same thing!
The path to the Ministry can be down to earth, but it shouldn't be down the drain!
"Well... the Ministry has made some changes," Dumbledore seemed a little embarrassed. After a pause, he continued, "You just need to rub the edge of the toilet seat."