The Dark Wizard in the Forest

Deep in the Forbidden Forest, Edmund leaned low over the unicorn's back as she flew between towering trees.

From time to time, he communicated with her and gradually understood what had happened.

The unicorn killed half a month ago had been this young unicorn's mother.

After her mother disappeared, the foal had left the unicorn herd every day to search for her, but she had found nothing. Tonight, while searching as usual, she encountered a black-robed man who attacked her and drank her blood.

Edmund knew that man was Quirrell.

He patted the unicorn's head comfortingly and spoke in a gentle voice.

"Stay with me from now on. I will be your family."

The young unicorn rubbed against him affectionately, making her answer clear.

Seeing such a gentle creature lose her mother because of Quirrell made rare anger rise in Edmund's chest.

Originally, this was a matter between Harry and Voldemort.

Now, as far as Edmund was concerned, the debt had been marked under his name as well.

Suddenly, his heart tightened. Instinct drove him to cast a spell.

"Protego!"

The shield flared, then tore apart almost at once. The sickly green curse scraped past its collapsing edge and carved a smoking line through the tree behind him.

The unicorn stopped running at once and stared warily into the trees. Her front hooves pawed the ground, ready to charge at any moment.

Edmund soothed her, then dismounted.

"Lumos Maxima!"

Brilliant light burst from his wand and flooded the surrounding forest until it was almost as bright as day.

This was an ancient-rune variant of the Wand-Lighting Charm. Its power was not on the same level as an ordinary Lumos.

By that light, Edmund easily found the black-robed figure hidden in the darkness.

Without hesitation, he flicked his wand toward the figure.

"Stupefy."

The Stunning Spell shot out.

The black-robed man was not foolish enough to take it lightly. He rolled sideways and dodged.

"You have angered me, boy."

An enraged voice came from beneath the hood. Quirrell had used some kind of magic to make the space under his hat pitch-black, hiding his face completely.

Without any visible motion, he spoke an incantation.

"Serpensortia!"

A giant serpent slithered from his wand. It was several yards long, and its body was as thick as a young tree trunk.

Edmund could not afford to underestimate it. This was his first life-and-death duel with a wizard, and every nerve in his body was drawn tight.

His wand flashed. Two nearby trees stood up, trunks reshaping into bodies while branches and roots became limbs.

In a few heavy strides, the two animated trees reached the serpent and began grappling with it.

Quirrell was startled by the young wizard's Transfiguration ability, but his hand did not slow.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Another curse of the same dreadful green shot toward Edmund.

Edmund did not try to block it directly. With a precise sweep of his wand, layered protective magic twisted the Killing Curse off its line. It struck the ground and blasted open a deep crater.

Quirrell had not expected this boy to be so difficult. For a moment, he hesitated between fleeing and killing him.

"Idiot," Voldemort's dissatisfied voice echoed in Quirrell's mind. "You cannot even deal with a first-year. Give me the body."

Quirrell had no choice but to obey. He only whispered weakly, "Master, please do not break me," before surrendering control.

All at once, Edmund felt the aura of the wizard opposite him change.

It became colder, fouler, and far more sinister.

Edmund immediately layered several Shield Charms over himself and sent the unicorn farther away.

"Boy," a hoarse voice said, rough as chalk scraping across a blackboard, "you have some ability. Pity. You will die here tonight."

The sound raised gooseflesh across Edmund's skin.

Hearing the two different voices, he knew Voldemort had emerged.

Voldemort did not waste time. He launched another Killing Curse.

This one felt completely different from Quirrell's. It carried a suffocating pressure.

Edmund tightened his grip on his wand and poured magic into it with everything he had.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silver-white phoenix burst from the tip of his wand and flew straight toward the incoming curse.

"Kree!"

Facing that terrifying Killing Curse, the phoenix did not dodge. It opened its beak and swallowed the spell whole.

Its body shrank visibly, but its momentum did not fade. It slammed hard into Quirrell's body.

Quirrell was thrown backward, smashing through four or five trees before collapsing like a broken sack.

Edmund did not give him time to recover. While dust still filled the air, he cast another powerful spell.

"Incendio!"

Scorching flames rose where Quirrell had fallen and began burning fiercely.

"Aaaah!"

A shrill scream tore from Quirrell's mouth as the fire caught his robes and seared his body.

"Damn you! I will not let this go!"

Quirrell's body turned into a mass of black smoke, broke through the ring of flames, and fled into the distance.

At the instant he passed through the fire, Edmund heard another scream.

Only then did he truly relax.

Beside him, the giant serpent had already been beaten into a bloody ruin by the two animated trees.

Edmund dropped to the ground and drew several hard breaths.

The exchange had only lasted a few spells, but the danger inside it was not something ordinary people could imagine.

Quirrell and Voldemort were both madmen. They had cast the Killing Curse repeatedly as though it were ordinary magic. Were they not afraid that the negative emotions required for such curses would swallow their reason and leave them as nothing but walking shells driven by murder?

This was a real world. A curse did not work simply because someone spoke its name. Unforgivable Curses left a brutal backlash. Most wizards would need time to steady themselves after casting even one.

Yet Quirrell and Voldemort had fired three in succession.

The young unicorn approached, her pure eyes fixed on Edmund as he sat on the ground. He could actually see worry in them.

As expected of a high magical creature. Her intelligence was no lower than an ordinary human's.

Edmund stood, patted her head, and signaled that he was fine.

Then he looked toward the fire still burning through the trees.

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