Draco hadn't been lucky enough to join last night's trip to the Forbidden Forest, so naturally, he had no clue what had actually happened. But the moment he saw Goyle and Crabbe's grim faces first thing in the morning, he immediately understood—they'd clearly been through hell. To anyone who didn't know, it might've looked like they'd just taken a stroll through Azkaban...
"Draco, what's up with them? Why do they look so dazed?"
Pansy leaned in beside Draco, glancing suspiciously at Goyle and Crabbe, who were picking at their breakfast without much interest. Their troubled expressions made Pansy raise an eyebrow.
They looked like they were carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders—not their usual style at all.
It was obvious that some professor had slapped a gag order on them about last night. The weirder they acted, the more it proved that whatever happened couldn't be talked about.
"Who knows? But I think we'll get our answer soon."
Draco knew them well. He was sure they wouldn't hide anything from him. It was probably just that they hadn't recovered from last night's shock yet and couldn't bring themselves to talk.
Realizing this, Pansy quietly sat down next to Draco.
She also didn't believe those two idiots could keep secrets.
And so, the four of them sat in the common room, wrapped in an odd, silent understanding...
...
Crackle.
The sound of firewood burning in the fireplace. It seemed that during their quiet spell, a House-elf had come by to top it up.
It made Draco wonder—how did the House-elves at Hogwarts, where Apparition and Disapparition were forbidden, always manage to dodge the students yet still meet their needs so perfectly?
Most Hogwarts graduates had never even seen a Hogwarts House-elf. How they pulled that off had always been one of Draco's little mysteries...
As Draco stared into the fireplace and Pansy quietly watched him, Goyle and the others finally made a move.
"Uh... Draco."
Here we go!
The second Goyle spoke, Draco and Pansy exchanged a quick glance and turned their attention to him and Crabbe.
"There are wizards hunting unicorns in the Forbidden Forest."
"Unicorns??"
Pansy's voice was filled with surprise, but Draco just stood there, unmoved—he'd already had a hunch.
Of course, aside from that possibility, there was also the chance that Norberta had been discovered. But if Hagrid was covering for her, the chances were low.
Unless the Chosen One decided to throw the rules out the window and start flipping tables—then things could really go sideways.
But would he?
If he actually did that, Draco might even see him in a different light. But clearly, the so-called Chosen One didn't have the guts. All he could do was stab people in the back.
Yeah... Draco held grudges.
With that thought, Draco turned his attention back to Goyle and the others, curious about what had gone down last night.
"Blood..."
"Blood?"
"The unicorn was killed for its blood."
Pansy tilted her head at Draco, confused, clearly hoping he'd explain. But when Draco heard that, his expression turned strange—a mix of realization and disbelief.
Under the expectant stares of the group, Draco frowned and shared what he knew.
"Unicorn blood isn't some rare magical ingredient. Honestly, no wizard wants to use unicorn blood."
Hearing that, Pansy immediately picked up on the contradiction. If it was useless, then what Goyle had said didn't make sense. And since she wasn't about to question Draco, she naturally turned her glare on Goyle and Crabbe.
"So you two were wrong?"
"No, no, no, boss lady, we wouldn't make stuff up! We weren't the only ones there—Harry Potter and his lot saw it too!"
Seeing Pansy's sharp gaze, Goyle and Crabbe hurriedly waved their hands and tried to explain, grimacing as they glanced at Draco, who seemed deep in thought.
Maybe sensing their looks, Draco suddenly looked up from his musing and stared at Goyle, who was still talking to Pansy.
"You said you saw it?"
"Yeah, the killer was crouched over the unicorn, drinking its blood. We couldn't see his face clearly, but the silver-blue blood at the corner of his mouth... and the sound of him swallowing..."
"Okay! That's enough!"
Pansy hadn't realized just how vivid these two could be. Their disturbingly detailed account made her stomach turn, and she quickly cut them off, afraid she'd have nightmares if she kept listening.
Even Draco, standing nearby, found that his glass of blue lemonade suddenly didn't seem so refreshing anymore...
...
As the group stepped out of the common room and into the corridor, Pansy finally shook off the disturbing images from earlier. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Goyle and Crabbe—what rotten luck to run into something like that.
If she had seen it with her own eyes, she was certain she wouldn't be doing any better. Just thinking about it made her uneasy, and she instinctively edged closer to Draco, trying to draw a bit of comfort from his presence...
Still, despite her fear, her curiosity hadn't lessened one bit.
"If what you said is true, Draco—if unicorn blood has no real value—then why would the killer do something like that?"
"Actually... it's not that it has no value."
"Huh?"
"To be precise, unicorn blood is incredibly valuable. But because it's cursed, no wizard dares to harm a unicorn—let alone kill one and drink its blood."
Curses were probably the most arcane force in the wizarding world. Even the most powerful witches and wizards were wary of crossing that line.
But that wasn't the focus right now. The real question was—what exactly made unicorn blood so valuable?
"Unicorn blood can..."
"It can prolong a wizard's life. It's cursed blood that can pull someone back from death itself!"
The one who cut in was Hermione Granger, standing at the corner and watching them.
Apparently, she had been there when Draco and the others passed by and had caught just enough of the conversation to chime in...
...
[Upto 50 chapters ahead for now]
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