Hagrid had hardly been a model student during his years at Hogwarts.
If he had been, Tom Riddle would never have found it so easy to frame him, nearly getting him sent to Azkaban in the process.
While at school, Hagrid had kept an Acromantula hidden in a cupboard, raised a werewolf cub under his bed—and no, it was not Lupin—and regularly snuck into the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls.
Back then, apart from Dumbledore, who had been the Transfiguration professor, there had hardly been a teacher at Hogwarts who was particularly fond of him.
“Leo, how exactly do yeh know all that?” Hagrid lowered his voice as he asked.
“Secret.” Leo raised an eyebrow.
“So that means we can stay and wander around for a while, right?” Harry asked with a grin.
“All right.” Hagrid pursed his lips.
“With Leo here, I suppose the Forbidden Forest isn’t all that dangerous for the rest of yeh.” “Yeah, you don’t even know what happened earlier.
Leo killed a troll today—” It did not take long before the four students and Hagrid were chatting comfortably as they wandered deeper into the forest together.
Clip-clop.
Clip-clop.
A faint sound came from the bushes somewhere ahead.
“Did you hear that?” Harry pointed nervously but curiously toward the source of the noise.
“Those sound like hooves.” “Could it be a unicorn?” Hermione asked eagerly.
“Unicorns usually stay inside their own territory and don’t come out much,” Hagrid explained with a smile.
“Yeh don’t often see them this close ter the edge of the forest.
But yeh might get lucky and see a Hippogriff or a Thestral.
They come through here every now and then.” The creature that emerged, however, was neither a Hippogriff nor a Thestral.
It was a strikingly handsome centaur.
Long, shining platinum-blond hair spilled down his back like a waterfall.
His clear blue eyes resembled pale sapphires, and his face was sharply defined and handsome.
Below the waist, his body became that of a horse with a silver mane, giving him an ancient, almost mystical presence.
“Firenze?
What are yeh doing here?” Hagrid asked in surprise.
“Hagrid.” Firenze inclined his upper body slightly in greeting.
Then he looked toward the children.
“A pleasure to meet you, Boy Who Lived, descendant of the Knights of the Round Table, Empress of the New World…
and King of Venus.” Leo stared at him.
“What kind of titles are those?” By process of elimination, King of Venus was presumably supposed to refer to him.
Modern astrology tended to associate Venus with love and beauty, but many older cultures had also connected the planet closely with warfare.
In ancient East Asian astrology, Venus—known as the Great White Star—was considered an omen of war and weapons.
The Maya timed military campaigns and the sacrifice of prisoners according to the cycles of Venus, while in Mesopotamia the planet was associated with Ishtar, a goddess of both love and war.
‘Well…
if nothing else, I suppose the warlike part fits me,’ Leo thought.
“Hagrid, I came for His Highness.” Firenze nodded respectfully toward Leo.
“The High Priest wishes to see you.” “The High Priest?” Hagrid looked thoroughly confused.
“What does he want with Leo?” Hagrid had spent years around the Forbidden Forest, but even he had never had much direct contact with the centaurs’ High Priest.
“The stars gave the High Priest guidance concerning him.
I do not know the details myself,” Firenze replied respectfully.
“He only said that His Highness would understand once he arrived.” “Can I come with him?” Hagrid asked seriously.
“All of you may come.” Firenze nodded.
“Leo, do yeh want ter go?” Hagrid asked.
“Centaurs are a very old and mysterious magical race.
They’re especially skilled at reading the stars and using them ter predict the future.
Firenze’s a good centaur.
I don’t think he means yeh any harm.” “Sure.” Leo did not seem particularly concerned.
“Your Highness, can you ride a horse?” Firenze asked.
“Of course.” Leo nodded.
He had loved riding horses when he was younger, though once he discovered the existence of magical creatures, ordinary horses had quickly lost their appeal.
If he was going to have a mount, he wanted something much more exciting.
Then he looked at Firenze’s body and hesitated.
“But…
riding a centaur seems a little awkward.” Leo briefly imagined what the posture would look like.
Would he have to sit on Firenze’s back with both arms wrapped around his waist?
‘No.
Absolutely not.
That would look ridiculous.’ “Then we can simply walk,” Firenze said.
He took the lead, and the others followed him deeper into the forest.
After some time, they reached the centaur settlement.
There were no houses.
The centaurs lived in tents, and compared with Hogwarts, the entire place looked extremely primitive.
“Your living conditions are pretty rough,” Leo commented as he looked around.
“This seems unnecessarily uncomfortable.
Couldn’t you hire someone to build a few proper stables?” “We are accustomed to living this way,” Firenze replied.
“Mr.
Firenze,” Harry said quietly, “your people don’t seem very happy to see us.” “I apologize, Harry.
This is the heart of the centaur settlement, and humans have not entered this place in a very long time.” Firenze cast a warning look toward several of his fellow centaurs before turning back to Harry apologetically.
“Some among my people are extremely wary of outsiders.
I am sorry.” “I’m fine with it…” Harry muttered.
“But Leo doesn’t exactly have the best temper.” Harry had barely finished speaking when the sound of pounding hooves came from behind them.
A furious centaur’s voice followed immediately.
“Firenze!
What are you doing?
You brought humans into our territory!” “Damn it, Bane, shut your mouth!” Firenze said urgently.
“What?
Am I wrong?” Bane demanded furiously.
“You dare bring humans here now.
What comes next?
Are you going to let humans ride you as well?
Have you forgotten that you are a centaur, not some stupid mule?” Ron leaned toward Harry.
“Harry, you don’t happen to have Seer or Druid blood, do you?” “Come on, forget it…” Leo stepped in, actually trying to calm Firenze down.
“Your kinsman clearly doesn’t have much of a brain.
Why bother arguing with him?” Bane’s attention snapped toward Leo.
“What did you say?” “I said—” Leo burst into unrestrained laughter, sprang into the air, and whipped one leg across Bane’s face.
The kick launched the centaur clean off his hooves.
Bane flew through the air and slammed hard into the trunk of a nearby tree, scattering dirt, dead leaves, and broken twigs around him.
“Damn you!
What are you doing to Bane?” The surrounding centaurs immediately closed in, but none of them actually dared attack Leo.
They merely stamped their hooves anxiously, crowding around at a wary distance.
“This is centaur territory.” Bane limped back into view.
Blood stained his wild, disheveled mane.
“You’re not bad.” Leo gave him a cold smile.
“You took one of my kicks and still managed to get back up.” Then his expression turned openly contemptuous.
“Shame you’ve got neither manners nor much of a brain.” “No one is permitted to trample on the dignity of the centaurs!” Bane’s eyes were bloodshot.
His chest heaved violently with anger as he glared at Leo.
“Did I say anything wrong?” Leo shot back dismissively.
“Your territory?
This is the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts!
You were allowed to live here, and suddenly that makes the whole place yours?
What are you, centaurs or—” “Cough!
Cough!” Hermione hurriedly clamped both hands over Leo’s mouth.
“You absolutely cannot finish that sentence.”