"Get it away! Get it away!" Draco screamed, terrified and on the verge of a breakdown.
He collapsed onto the ground, frantically waving his hands to reject Harry's approach.
The damp, warm breath moved away, and Harry inexplicably felt relieved, then continued his irritating behavior.
Seeing Draco so frightened, Harry deliberately refused to move it away, instead pinching the young Acromantula and bringing it even closer. "What are you afraid of? It hasn't even grown up yet."
Besides, Acromantula venom was a valuable and rare material.
No matter how valuable it was, it wasn't as valuable as his own life.
Acromantula venom, even from a juvenile, was extremely potent.
Draco had no desire to experience being bitten to death by a spider.
He trembled violently, his eyes going blank, seemingly truly paralyzed by fear.
Harry shrugged helplessly, then spoke casually, "Come to think of it, spiders are social creatures, but I only have one in my hand..."
He waved the little spider in his hand, lost in thought. "Draco, you didn't happen to sit on its siblings and crush them, did you?"
Draco: "???"
Draco: "!!!"
The young heir jumped three feet high.
He frantically patted down his robes, trying to see if any spider corpses were stuck to his backside.
Harry burst out laughing, and Draco finally realized he had been tricked again, his embarrassment turning to fury. "Damn you, Potter! I challenge you to a duel!"
Harry didn't say a word, but raised an eyebrow, looking Draco up and down, his meaning clear as day: "You?"
Draco's face twitched; he sincerely felt this Potter had it out for him. Why did talking to Scarhead always make him so angry?
Draco was utterly baffled.
Rustling sounds came from the grass ahead. Hagrid, who had gone ahead to scout, finally realized the two students were dawdling behind and hadn't followed, so he turned back and anxiously came looking for them.
"Hey! What are you two doing? Hurry up and keep up!" Hagrid called out to Harry and Draco in his gruff voice.
Harry casually pinched the young Acromantula and grabbed Draco by the scruff of his neck. "Coming."
Draco struggled in discontent for a moment, but looking at the dark Forbidden Forest, he quickly settled down.
With his hands in his pockets and concealed by his voluminous wizard's robes, Harry's magic toyed with the poor spider, manipulating it until it foamed at the mouth and saw stars.
...Young wizards were considered the most delicious item on an Acromantula's menu. How could there be Acromantulas in Hogwarts, the place hailed as the safest in the magical world?
It was so hard to guess, wasn't it, Hagrid?
Harry's expression didn't change. Taking advantage of the night and his robes, he discarded the spider's corpse.
Hagrid's expression held not only seriousness but also suppressed anger. As the group walked forward, several patches of silver-white liquid appeared scattered throughout the grass.
Just as he suspected.
Harry's eyes darkened for a moment, and he inconspicuously touched the raised shape beneath his clothes through the fabric.
Quirrell and the parasitic Voldemort on him hadn't given up; they were still hunting unicorns.
This was a perfect opportunity to test the depth of this second-generation Dark Lord, to see who would be the MVP of this round, the Dark Lord or the Magnum.
...Helping with this much counted as Dumbledore doing something good.
Draco lowered his voice, but couldn't hide its tremor. "What is... this?"
Hearing his question, Hagrid answered in a muffled voice, "It's unicorn blood. Looks like another lone unicorn has been attacked."
"Quickly, children, we need to hurry!"
The further they walked, the more silver-white blood they saw, until they passed through the grass and reached the end. A weak unicorn lay prostrate under a withered tree, its beautiful eyes already closed, its breath so faint it was almost imperceptible.
"Woof... woof woof!"
Fang, who had been following behind Hagrid, suddenly bristled, snarling and growling towards a bush on the side, but his tail was tucked tightly between his legs, the dog hiding behind Hagrid.
Hagrid clutched his pink umbrella, its tip pointed towards the direction Fang was barking, and roared ferociously, "Who's there? Come out!"
A figure draped in a black robe drifted out from the bushes.
Harry's hand rested on the Magnum's trigger. Draco drew in a very soft breath and instinctively took two steps back.
But the figure didn't seem to care about them. He walked straight towards the unicorn that was hanging by a thread. Then, under the horrified gaze of Draco and Hagrid, he sliced open the unicorn's neck, knelt down, and greedily began to drink.
Blood that couldn't be swallowed quickly enough trickled from the corners of his mouth onto the ground, and the grass beneath the unicorn was almost a pool of silver-white.
Harry winced slightly, his face full of distress: That was unicorn blood! Valuable! What a waste! Such a waste!
Moreover, unicorns that died unnaturally, their cursed blood was an extremely rare research sample!
Damn it, Parasitic Voldemort, if you can't kill it properly, let me do it!
The unicorn's death seemed to make the entire Forbidden Forest shudder, and the surroundings became eerily silent.
The sound of gulping, heard by the three, seemed as loud and jarring as thunder.
Even Hagrid, as brave as he was, couldn't help but tremble slightly as he clutched his pink umbrella at the terrifying sight before him.
Apart from Harry, who was still lamenting the waste, the shocking scene had paralyzed Hagrid and Draco, leaving them momentarily unsure how to react.
After a moment, the figure in black finally stopped drinking. He let out a long breath as if relieved, then slowly turned his head to look at the three people not far away.
Mainly at Harry.
"Harry Potter..." A hoarse voice rasped. Under the low-hanging hood, a faint, ominous red glow was vaguely visible, radiating obvious malice. "The Boy Who Lived..."
Hagrid nervously reached out, trying to pull Harry behind him, but he grabbed nothing.
Harry kept his hands in his pockets, his green eyes narrowed as he examined Quirrell and the parasitic Voldemort beneath the robe.
His glasses masked the unreadable expression in his eyes.
He let out a cold laugh. "Wrapped up so tight. What? You know you can't be seen?"
"Let me guess. Are you disfigured, or bald?"
"Or a combination of both?"
The atmosphere immediately went dead silent. Hagrid and Draco's pupils dilated in shock. They stared at Harry, who was trash-talking straight to their enemy's face, and their expressions turned asphyxiated.
The robed Quirrell also paused for a moment, cowering slightly, clearly sensing his master's anger.
"Indeed, the Boy Who Lived... You are brave..."
That hissing voice sounded again, but before it could finish its threatening speech, Harry cut off its buildup. "Spit it out if you have something to say. Stop beating around the bush. I'm not your father; I don't have any obligation to listen to your ridiculous nonsense."
Snape, hidden in the shadows, felt his face twitch: This Potter brat really had a sharp tongue.
"..." The other side was silent for another moment, then seemed to laugh in anger. "Good... very good..."
The enraged voice gave an order without warning. "Kill him! Kill the boy!"
"Yes, my Lord." The robed Quirrell, upon hearing the command, raised his wand and pointed it at Harry, casting a jet of green light. "Avada Kedavra."
Snape's pupils contracted from his hiding spot. He grabbed his wand, preparing to rush out, the incantation for a Transfiguration spell on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back, startled by the unexpected turn of events.
Harry, hooking the Magnum, aimed and fired single shots at the green light. The green light collided with several solid bullets and exploded, the cold luster reflecting off the steel barrel.
The Magnum had been fitted with a silencer long ago. Apart from the small explosion when it met the Killing Curse, there was no other overly startling noise.
Quirrell's movement halted. He quickly retreated, eyeing the iron object in Harry's hand warily.
He had seen it clearly. That thing had just intercepted the Killing Curse.
Harry's eyes curved into a smile, but the amusement didn't reach them.
A glint flickered in his eyes as he hooked the Magnum, twirling it in his palm a couple of times. Then, he beckoned to Quirrell.
"Come on. Let me see which one of you is more powerful."
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