Are Unicorns Friendly? Pt 1

  Ludo cleared his throat and raised both hands, asking for silence once more.

  “Right. As I was saying… while the champions prepare and the rules are explained to them, let me explain them to you,” Ludo said as he returned to his commentator’s spot.

  “The second task is simple. It will test their intelligence and their ability to improvise in front of dangerous creatures. But this is not about fighting. It is about understanding them. Facing them without harming them. They must remove the keys the creatures carry and open the chest they guard. Every injury, no matter how small, will deduct points from their final score. And to make sure no one gets clever… we have a special guest who will ensure the creatures do not suffer even a scratch. Please welcome Mr. Newt Scamander,” Ludo announced.

  As the crowd reacted in surprise at the famous name, an elderly man with a kind smile stepped into the box, earning greetings and applause from admirers of his books.

  He sat beside Ludo, giving him a small nod.

  “Mr. Scamander has come from abroad to see the tournament, returning to his alma mater. How does it feel?” Ludo asked him.

  “Oh, it is truly wonderful to return after so many years. I am also quite happy to have been invited to care for the magical creatures, and I am grateful to Mr. Black for allowing a protected area to be established within the Forbidden Forest for defenseless animals without a home,” he said sincerely. “And I must apologize a little for the trouble caused. I did not expect them to escape along with…”

  “Ahem,” Ludo interrupted quickly, as the confused audience began whispering.

  “There is no problem, Mr. Scamander. The Headmaster has already taken care of it. So there is no problem,” he repeated hurriedly, staring at Newt with emphasis.

  The elderly man simply nodded calmly.

  …

  Meanwhile, the first to step out would be Fleur, who was now slightly more nervous, since she had no idea what she was about to face. Hermione stood beside her, trying to reassure her.

  “It is fine. I am sure they will choose something at a similar level to a unicorn. There will be no issue. You heard the rules; it is not about fighting the creature, it is about taking the key and opening the chest. If you are lucky, your charm might distract any animal for a moment,” Hermione said seriously.

  “Well, that is what I get for being overconfident about the unicorn. They obviously do not attack women and are usually quite friendly. So…” Fleur let out a sigh of self-reproach.

  “Not all of them are. But yes, I should have prepared a contingency plan for something like this,” Hermione admitted with a serious expression. “Still, it does not matter now. What matters is winning. And staying focused, with your eyes on the goal.”

  “Is it not more important to come out safe and without a scratch?” Fleur asked her.

  “That as well,” Hermione replied, as if it ranked slightly lower than the rest.

  “Now everyone, welcome Fleur Delacour!” Ludo shouted after speaking to the crowd for a while longer.

  Fleur stepped forward, somewhat nervous, while Hermione encouraged her from behind.

  She entered the coliseum, looking around with a bright smile, waving at the fans still chanting her name. She took a steadying breath and murmured a few words of encouragement to herself.

  Her gaze shifted toward the center of the arena, where a golden chest waited, locked with a large padlock.

  “So then… let our great friend enter… DESTROYER!” Ludo shouted dramatically.

  At that name, Fleur turned pale at once. The crowd, however, leaned forward with excitement, eyes fixed on the opposite gate.

  Clack. Clack. Clack.

  Then, to everyone’s surprise, a unicorn stepped in calmly, moving at an unhurried pace. Its silver-white mane shimmered with every movement, like the softest hair imaginable. It swayed gently. Its tail, carrying the same flowing brilliance, moved from side to side as its hooves struck the ground, lifting small clouds of dust. Yet even the dust seemed unwilling to stain such perfection.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Its horn, white and faintly glowing, was slightly longer than usual, almost sharper. But taken as a whole, it did not inspire fear. It only demanded recognition; a holy creature, divine, serene, beautiful.

  The only thing that seemed to disturb that perfection were the scars along one side of its body, near the stomach. Marks that looked like wounds left by dark magic. And yet the animal carried them like medals.

  Upon hearing the name and seeing the creature, the crowd could not help but laugh.

  “Hahaha. It seems our first champion is truly lucky and this will be over quickly. Let me remind you that if it had been a man, it might have been slightly more difficult. But well, luck is a virtue too,” Ludo said with the same teasing tone, watching the animal. Unicorns were known to be gentle and to allow only women to approach them.

  Meanwhile, Fleur released a relieved breath when she realized her opponent was another unicorn. She turned toward Hermione with a bright smile.

  “Hermione, it is a unicorn!” she said happily.

  But Hermione’s face was completely frozen. Pale. The moment she recognized who stood in the arena, she shook her head toward Fleur with urgency.

  “Be careful!” Hermione shouted.

  Fleur turned back around, confused.

  And she noticed the animal was already in front of her, charging. Its horn glowed intensely, aimed straight at her shoulder.

  Fleur moved her wand by reflex, creating a protective shield. But the instant the horn touched it, the shield shattered with ease.

  Fleur turned pale as she saw the edge of the horn about to pierce her. Even the crowd in the stands fell into complete, horrified silence.

  But the unicorn stopped before harming her.

  It lifted its head slightly, fixing those black eyes on her. Then it let out a breath. The exhale turned into a violent mist that struck the ground, kicking up dirt around them, before the creature calmly turned and trotted back to position itself directly over the golden chest.

  Everyone remained in absolute silence at the animal’s composure, while Fleur stood pale, frozen for a second longer than she would have liked to admit.

  “I think… that… this…” Ludo did not know how to react. He was just as stunned. “What was that?” he said, confused. One moment everyone had been laughing, and the next the unicorn had moved with lethal speed, nearly impaling her, only to stop and return to guarding the golden chest.

  “Haha, I believe we have a rather proud little friend there,” Newt said, helping Ludo recover. “It is essentially saying that if she wants the chest, she will have to face her and prove she deserves the prize. By the way, something many may not know about unicorns is that not many carry their mane in that manner. Only those who do are matriarchs of their herds. And they can only become so by earning the respect of every unicorn in their territory, by defeating them. They are gentle creatures, yes. But that does not mean they do not know how to defend themselves.”

  “I see,” Ludo said, nodding at the new information. “Then that only means one thing.”

  The murmur of the crowd began to rise again.

  “It seems it will not be so easy to be accepted. What will you do now, Miss Delacour?” Ludo said, as the audience began to grow excited once more, abandoning the initial mockery they had felt at the sight of a unicorn.

  Now they understood.

  Not many of them would have reacted as quickly as Fleur had. And even if they had, the horn had already proven powerful enough to shatter a shield with ease.

  Meanwhile, Fleur kept her eyes on the unicorn. One hand rested on her shoulder, which had not been wounded… yet her clothing bore a small hole that proved it had been far closer than anyone would have liked to admit.

  Of course, she recovered quickly.

  Her expression hardened as she looked at the unicorn, who observed her proudly from atop the golden chest.

  As if inviting her to fight.

  A faint smile curved Fleur’s lips, as though she accepted the challenge. An almost elegant tension seemed to resonate through the entire coliseum, forcing more than one spectator to remain unable to look away from the two of them.

  Fleur tightened her grip on her wand, ready.

  Destroyer struck the ground twice with her hoof.

  And then, suddenly, just as before, she launched herself straight toward Fleur. A brilliant white arrow, pure, moving at astonishing speed.

  Fleur flicked her wand and the ground rose, forming a solid wall of earth.

  She was preparing another spell when the wall split down the center, as if cut from within. A glowing horn pierced through first, aimed directly at her.

  Fleur’s eyes widened and she leapt aside, avoiding it by mere inches. The unicorn halted abruptly and, with a powerful kick of her hind legs, the shockwave forced Fleur to raise another hurried shield. Even so, she was pushed backward along with it.

  Destroyer ran in a clean circle, turning again to charge with her horn.

  Fleur, who had fallen to the ground, rose quickly. From her wand burst bright sparks that exploded in a powerful flash, blinding for a second as she dodged once more.

  It was meant to prevent the animal from seeing which direction she leapt, so it could not track her.

  Unfortunately, the unicorn was not so easily deceived.

  She turned her head mid-charge, following Fleur’s exact movement.

  Then Fleur’s arm was grazed by the edge of the horn, leaving a deep cut. Blood spilled instantly.

  Destroyer stopped and looked at Fleur with a faint glimmer of something that almost resembled mockery in her eyes. An intelligence uncomfortably clear. Then she calmly walked back toward the golden chest.

  Fleur held her arm in surprise and pain, while the crowd immediately grew anxious for her.

  But then she noticed something strange.

  The pain vanished almost instantly.

  She looked at her bloodied arm… but the wound was gone.

  As if it had only been temporary.

  Only the blood and the torn fabric remained.

  “Well… it seems our friend is rather special,” Newt said, his eyes widening slightly in surprise as he studied the unicorn.

  Fleur lifted her gaze once more toward the creature.

  And the unicorn was staring straight at her.