Chapter 488： Another failure

Chapter 488 Another failure

Hagrid and Fang had always been regular visitors to the Forbidden Forest and were very familiar with the forest in front of them. The two of them walked for about ten minutes before finding the place where the unicorn's blood was found.

 “Has solidified.”

Albert picked up a branch, poked the coagulated blood on the ground and said to Hagrid: "It shouldn't be here. What we need to look for should be fresh blood."

Hagrid was a little confused and didn’t understand what he meant, but he still nodded. It was indeed the right thing to bring Albert here.

“Hagrid, is this far from the nest of the Acromantulas?” Albert asked out of caution.

 After all, he does have a grudge against those Acromantulas, and he is not as lucky as Potter, so he should be more careful to avoid being attacked out of nowhere.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe with me here.” Hagrid patted his chest and assured, “Besides, Acromantulas rarely come out to hunt during the day.”

"Hagrid, you seem to believe that those big spiders won't hurt you?" Albert said to Hagrid, looking at Fangs sniffing around.

 “I trust Aragog,” said Hagrid.

“Aragog, is that the Acromantula you raised?” Albert suddenly asked, “How old is it?”

"How old?" Hagrid stopped, looked at Albert who was checking the blood stains, thought for a while and replied: "Probably almost fifty years old!"

 “How long can an Acromantula live?” Albert asked again.

"This... I'm not sure about that." Hagrid shook his head. Although he had raised Acromantulas, his understanding of them was very limited.

"Fifty years, that Acromantula's lifespan should be almost reaching its limit." Albert stopped and looked around, and he found that the two of them had already followed the blood trail.

 It’s really hard to find during the day.

“Perhaps you should wait until the evening to come over, that way it will be easier.” Albert muttered.

"Do you think Aragog is dying?" Hagrid suddenly stopped looking for the unicorn when he heard Albert's words.

"Fifty years is a long life for a spider." Albert looked at the lost Hagrid, kicked his boots and reminded: "But don't worry, Arago He should live for a few more years."

"You won't understand what it feels like, hatching it from an egg and slowly pulling it up." Hagrid said in despair. Albert's words made him realize that Aragog was indeed very powerful. old.

"Hagrid, I know you like those dangerous creatures, but I still have to remind you again that this is the Forbidden Forest, and you should cheer up." Albert reminded.

"I know this is the Forbidden Forest. I have been here countless times when I was the warden of the hunting ground. To be honest, there are no dangerous creatures outside the Forbidden Forest." As if to vent his inner dissatisfaction, Hagrid said to himself He said to himself, "Not to mention werewolves, there are not even forest monsters. The principal prohibits students from entering the Forbidden Forest. In fact, he is more worried about them getting lost in the Forbidden Forest."

"Are you sure?" Albert's mouth trembled slightly, he raised his wand and pointed it in a certain direction. He could feel something there.

"That's the Thestral." Hagrid quickly stopped Albert from using magic. "There are a bunch of Thestrals in the Forbidden Forest. They are responsible for pulling the carriages that the students take when they come to school. You should know what thestrals are, right?" ?”

“Well, it’s the Thestral that can only be seen by those who have seen death.” Albert lowered his wand, but did not completely relax his vigilance.

“Yes, that’s it, the Thestral just doesn’t have a good reputation.” Hagrid asked with a smile, “Do you want to try riding it?”

"May I?"

"sure!"

Hagrid allowed Albert to experience the feeling of riding a thestral.

 The backs of the Night Riders are soft and smooth, so it doesn’t feel uncomfortable to sit on them, and they are gentler than imagined.

 “What do they eat?”

 “Blood and raw meat.” Hagrid scratched his head and didn’t understand why Albert asked this.

“Perhaps, we can really ask them to help find the unicorn. I think there shouldn’t be many injured animals in the forest!” After Albert got off the Thestral, he expressed his opinion to Hagrid.

"This... Even though the Thestral is very smart, I don't know if this method will work." Hagrid thought about it for a while, but still thought this method could be tried.

After all, Thestrals are not human and cannot communicate well. Even though Hagrid tried hard, he still failed.

Albert was not surprised, it was also expected. He only asked Hagrid to try it with the idea of ​​trying it without suffering any losses.

 The two had no choice but to continue looking for the unicorn.

“I heard that the blood of a unicorn turns into a poison some time after it dies. Is it true?” Albert asked a question

"Not sure." Hagrid shook his head. He really didn't know: "Few wizards would brutally kill such a pure life."

"That's because the benefits are not big enough. If a unicorn is worth a thousand Galleons or even more, do you believe that unicorns will soon become endangered animals." Albert couldn't help laughing at himself: "Don't Forgot, there are a lot of dragon livers, dragon blood, dragon skins, dragon meat, dragon claws on the market...these transactions are all legal."

 “Perhaps, you are right.”

Hagrid felt that what Albert said was very reasonable. There were indeed no unicorn internal organs for sale on the market, but unicorn tail hairs and horns, which were extremely expensive.

The unicorn's horn can grow back if it is cut off.

 Otherwise, every unicorn horn kills a unicorn, and these creatures should have become extinct long ago.

　　After wandering in the Forbidden Forest for more than an hour, the two of them and the dog still found nothing. Yaya had lost his original vitality and was panting with his tongue hanging out.

During this period, Albert also tried many methods, but to no avail. Maybe the unicorn was not dead yet, or maybe the unicorn's fur directly resisted the call of the flying curse.

 Many magical creatures with powerful magical powers can do this.

“I really don’t know how big-hearted Dumbledore was to let Potter come into the Forbidden Forest to look for unicorns.” Albert cursed in his heart and continued to follow Hagrid along the blood trail he found.

 They have begun to penetrate deep into the Forbidden Forest.

“It’s close, the blood hasn’t completely solidified yet!” Hagrid rubbed the blood on the tip of his hand and seemed to want to put it in his mouth to taste it, but seemed to think of something and gave up.

As we got deeper and deeper into the forest, the trees became extremely dense and the Book of Beasts became impassable, but the bloodstains around it became more and more obvious.

In the end, they were able to find a unicorn lying in a pool of silver blood.

"It's dead, and it should have been for a while." Albert looked at the sad unicorn in front of him and sighed softly.

Hagrid walked forward quickly and looked at the wounds on the unicorn. They were not scratches or bites, but something that penetrated the abdomen.

"It must be magic. Maybe you are right. There are dark wizards hunting unicorns." Hagrid's face looked ugly.

"Should there be anyone else around?" Albert explained, "I mean, did the dark wizard succeed?"

"Probably not. I didn't find any traces left by other people around me." Hagrid shook his head and said.

"What are you going to do now?" Albert asked again: "Do you bury it directly? Or let Dumbledore come over to check and find out what kind of dark magic killed this unicorn."

 “Bury it!” Hagrid said, clenching his fist.

 “That, Hagrid?”

"What's up?"

Hagrid asked in confusion when he saw the pit made by Albert using magic.

"Can I take the horn?" Albert pointed to the horn on the unicorn's head.

 Most of the unicorn horns on the market are processed, just like dragon claws, and are basically ground into powder and sold in bottles.

 “What do you want this for?”

"The horn of a unicorn has a strong detoxification effect, and it is basically impossible to buy such a complete unicorn on the market." Albert casually found a reason. He couldn't say that this was his mission reward. !

 “Okay, take it if you want it!” Hagrid did not refuse.

 After all, the unicorn is dead.

"Thanks."

 Albert used the cutting spell to carefully cut off the unicorn's horn and put it into his transformed lizard skin bag.

 “I should be the one thanking you.”

 After burying the unicorn, the two set out on their return journey.

Hagrid went back much faster than when he came back. Hagrid went back to the hut first, packed up the crossbow and arrows, and then went to the principal's office alone to report the matter to Dumbledore.

 (End of this chapter)