"Forbidden Forest"

"Forbidden Forest"

After the meeting in the headmaster's office, nothing particularly interesting happened in Stephen's life for a couple of days. He was just a little busy helping the unicorns. Occasionally, he would go out with the twins to scare some first-years. This time, they found inspiration in a Muggle movie called Child's Play, featuring a possessed doll. The only reason the twins were able to watch it was that one of their Muggle-born classmates had recorded it. A bit unethical, but wizards didn't really care.

By the way, the Ministry attacked Magitech, claiming they couldn't allow Muggle influence to infiltrate the wizarding world through their Magicphones, as several pure-bloods had protested against it. Naturally, Magitech ignored them.

From time to time, students could be seen running in terror from a scarred doll wielding a knife (a fake one, of course). Other times, a student (also fake) was seen lying on the ground, being "stabbed" by the same doll, which occasionally led Professor McGonagall to punish the group.

One day, as Stephen was lounging in the common room, his alarm went off, signaling that one of the unicorns was under attack. Without hesitation, he rushed to its rescue.

When he arrived, he witnessed something interesting.

"So this is the day of Harry's encounter," he muttered, standing atop a tree, watching as Harry froze while Voldemort approached.

"Should I capture him?" Stephen wondered as he observed the weak Voldemort possessing the equally weak Quirrell. "No, if he escapes, Dumbledore's trap to deceive him would be useless. He'd just try to steal the stone again. Sorry, Harry, I owe you one," he thought, weighing the pros and cons of intervening. Besides, Voldemort had to see the stone being destroyed so that Stephen could feel more at ease, knowing he wouldn't be targeted just for carrying the Flamel name.

He then watched as a centaur rescued Harry and Hagrid arrived.

"I think it'd be best to put it out of its misery," Hagrid said, looking at the unicorn. Wounds inflicted by dark magic were incredibly difficult to heal and, in cases like this, impossible.

"No. It's fine, leave it to me," Stephen suddenly said, beginning to descend slowly as he levitated.

"Stephen, what are you doing here? The forest is forbidden to students," Hagrid said upon seeing him.

"Ah, yes, but I see… one, two… four students here with you in the Forbidden Forest, right? Do you really think taking students here as punishment makes sense? Not that I care—Dumbledore knows I'm helping the unicorns," Stephen replied, crouching down to examine the unicorn's condition.

"Luckily, I placed the suspension and paralysis spell, but time is running out," Stephen noted as he began using Elven spells to purify and remove the corrupted parts. Then, he pulled out a vial containing a rare liquid.

"What's that, Stephen?" Hermione asked, curious.

"Phoenix tears. Fawkes kindly donated them when I asked for some to help the unicorns," Stephen replied, letting a few drops fall onto the wounds before sealing them with a spell. Everyone watched in astonishment as the unicorn healed rapidly, leaving only a scar.

"You're lucky, buddy. If you'd been wounded in a more critical spot, I wouldn't have wanted to waste these tears. You'll feel a bit dizzy until you regain your blood, but you'll be fine," Stephen reassured the unicorn, which remained conscious but still lying down. Magical beasts were incredibly resilient.

"What will happen to him? Do you need help taking him back to his family?" Hagrid asked, happy that the creature was safe, given his well-known love for all the forest's beasts.

"No, his family is already here," Stephen said, pointing to a large unicorn that approached them slowly and imposingly, eyeing the group with distrust—except for Stephen.

"It's okay, Sunset. They helped the little one, they're friends," Stephen told the approaching unicorn. Sunset was the name Stephen had given the herd leader when they became friends.

"That's Sunset, the leader of the unicorns. I wouldn't recommend making him angry—his horn is not just for show. Even I struggled to beat him," Stephen remarked, recalling how Sunset had challenged him upon their first meeting, mistaking him for a threat. Stephen had barely managed to win, mostly because he hadn't wanted to harm him.

"Wow, it's the first time I've seen a giant unicorn… Well, any unicorn, actually," Ron said, cautiously approaching Sunset, who took a step back in disdain.

"Haha, unicorns don't like men," Stephen teased.

"Then why can you approach them?" Ron retorted.

"Well, if you can beat him one-on-one, I don't think he'd look down on you. What do you say—want to give it a try?"

— I-I'll pass —Ron said cowardly.

—And you two? —Stephen asked, looking at Harry and Draco, who quickly shook their heads in refusal.

—Hermione, since you're a girl, do you want to give it a try? —Stephen asked the interested Hermione.

—S-sure —she said bravely, slowly approaching the unicorn, who lowered its head so she could pet it.

Hermione happily stroked the unicorn, earning an envious look from the three boys, whom she ignored.

—Alright. The young unicorn has recovered enough to walk. Let's let Sunset take him back to his herd so he can replenish his blood —Stephen said, signaling that they could leave.

—Hagrid, I think you should inform Dumbledore about the attack —Stephen said as he walked away.

—You're right, I have to tell Dumbledore. Alright, kids, let's head back to the castle. Your detention is over —Hagrid said, leading them back. Everyone ran after him since, being so large, his fast walking quickly put him ahead.

On the way, Stephen spotted Ronan, the centaur who had helped Harry, and immediately levitated away toward the castle. Stephen hated anyone who could see the future or make prophecies. He feared someone might make one about him and tie his fate. That's why he also avoided Sybill Trelawney whenever possible. Although he remained vigilant in case she ever uttered a prophecy, ready to strike her before she could finish. It was the only way he knew to prevent a prophecy: making sure it never came to completion.

When Stephen arrived at his dormitory, he saw everyone playing peacefully. It was one of the rare occasions when the twins didn't go exploring and instead stayed to play video games. Yes, Magitech had created consoles—albeit retro ones—and young wizards had quickly embraced them.

Just as he was about to go to bed, he received a call from his grandmother.

—Hello, Grandma, what's wrong? Calling so late? —Stephen asked quickly, knowing that at this hour, his grandmother was usually asleep.

—Don't play dumb, boy! You have until Christmas! —Perenelle yelled furiously before hanging up.

His roommates, who had heard Perenelle's shouting, immediately turned to look at him.

—Boss, I think you've been cursed.

—Yeah, boss, now you've got until Christmas to pass the message to someone else, or you'll die —the twins said, pretending to be scared.

—Alright, I'll send it to you two. If you don't share it within seven days, you'll go bald —Stephen replied, unaware of the chaos he had just unleashed on the students' lives.

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