Capítulo 75: Chapter 74: Adventure in the Forbidden Forest
Everyone was frightened!
Delayed here for too long, ending up alerting Professor McGonagall.
"Okay! It's so arrogant to go out in the middle of the night and make a lot of noise!"
Professor McGonagall glanced at the four from Gryffindor and the three from Slytherin. Well, they were still collectively committing crimes.
"Each person will be deducted 20 points! Imprisoned for a month!"
The following day, students gathered at the auditorium door, shocked to find that Gryffindor was 80 points behind, and Slytherin trailed by 60 points on the house score hourglass. It caused a stir among the student body.
Ted had invested more than half a year into this, collaborating closely with Professor Snape to deduct points across various classes. If deducting 100 points was achievable, could 80 points be subtracted in a single night? It had to be attributed to his efforts!
Students from both houses stared at those penalized with perplexed expressions. Ted pondered, "Is there any chance for Gryffindor in the House Cup? Impossible, utterly impossible, and Dumbledore is stating the truth!"
What concerned Ted even more was that none of the professors assigned tasks to the students, so Professor McGonagall leaving the responsibility of disciplinary action to Filch.
The only ideas Filch could muster involved cleaning toilets and wiping trophies. However, for Harley, Malfoy, and their cohorts, who were considered habitual offenders, Filch displayed particular malice by assigning them to help patrol the Forbidden Forest.
Alright~ There was no escaping it after all! Welcome to the Forbidden Forest! Even during ordinary times, it was already perilous. The forest harbored man-eating eight-eyed spiders, unfriendly centaurs, and an array of dangerous dark creatures and magical animals. Strolling through the woods at night was quite an intimidating prospect.
Malfoy almost refrained from writing a letter to his father upon learning that he had to spend two hours roaming the Forbidden Forest at night for half a month. Harley's laughter at his predicament amused her, but the fear lingered.
The next night, Filch, with his ugly face sporting a flower-like smile, led a group of seven people to Hagrid. "Don't make it too easy for them," he advised.
Hagrid, not particularly fond of Filch, retorted, "I know what to do; I don't need you to teach me." Those who had studied at Hogwarts found it challenging to form a favorable opinion of Filch. He was truly annoying.
Observing Filch walk away with the lantern, Hagrid looked at the seven youngsters in front of him and felt a headache. While the Forbidden Forest was his domain, it posed a real danger to the young wizards.
Considering there were seven of them, how could he adequately care for their safety? Well, he admitted to not being adept at looking after people.
Left with no alternative, Hagrid couldn't fake the confinement; that would violate school rules. Consequently, he divided the seven into two groups, one with himself and Fang.
"You three join me," he instructed the Malfoys. "Harley, the four of you form a group with Fang. Although Fang is timid, he's very familiar with the Forbidden Forest. If you follow him, the creatures there won't bother you."
"Oh, by the way, if you encounter something, set off green fireworks. Have you learned this? If you face danger, set off red fireworks."
And so, the groups split into two, each equipped with torches, lanterns, and magic wands, venturing into the forest.
The so-called inspection of the Forbidden Forest was naturally just for show, to scare the children.
Could they really be allowed to go deep into the Forbidden Forest? Fang just led the way around the usual paths.
After walking for a few minutes, Harley called softly: "Ted? Ted? Are you there?"
Even though Ted had firmly resolved not to set foot in the Forbidden Forest this year, circumstances had changed.
Confronting Voldemort meant certain death for them. Were they relying on the protagonist's aura?
A covert attack under the cover of darkness still presented an opportunity to stall the assault.
Now that Voldemort's ethereal state, Ted could only pin his hopes on Quirrell and the Philosopher's Stone. He dared not make a spectacle, fearing it would alert Dumbledore and jeopardize the resurrection plan.
With determination, Ted clenched his teeth and borrowed Harley's invisibility cloak. He adorned it, and walking into the Forbidden Forest with his friends.
Frankly, he felt more nervous than his already fearful companions. While they were scared of the dark and potential wild creatures, Ted harbored concerns about encountering Voldemort.
"I'm here. Don't make a sound, just pretend I'm not here. Follow Fang and don't run around. The Forbidden Forest is very dangerous. You must be ready to fight at any time, just like when we were dueling..." Ted agreed in a low voice, and then no more noise.
Even his friends were clueless about each other's locations. As he spoke earlier, his voice was floating here and there unpredictably—now in front, then behind, suddenly on the left, and just as abruptly on the right.
At this time, because he was already in a state of war readiness, Ted employed phantom sound for his speech. Typically, he enveloped himself with a silence spell, guaranteeing that the sounds of footsteps and breathing remained unheard.
He went further by applying a magic potion to eliminate any odor, ensuring his mental cards were always on standby.
The Forbidden Forest was enveloped in profound darkness at night, with towering trees so high that even the moonlight, although it shone brightly, fractured upon passing through the layers of branches. Though it was only mid-May, in August or September, with the foliage thick and lush, it would likely be pitch dark.
Contrary to its appearance, the forest was far from silent. Various insects chirped not far away, and from a more distant location, strange and indistinguishable sounds occasionally echoed. The wind intermittently swept through the branches and leaves, causing them to rustle, while the grass and trees produced faint rustling sounds.
Malfoy followed Hagrid, and his calves were straining. He just wanted to hide behind Hagrid and hug Hagrid's thigh tightly. Any past contempt had completely vanished.
Nevertheless, Hagrid remained three steps ahead of them. Despite slowing down, catching up was a challenging task for the group. As fear lingered, they pursued him, feeling a constant presence behind them, as though shadows and trees concealed something ominous. Ten minutes in, beads of sweat formed on their foreheads.
The Forbidden Forest, it seemed, harbored a plethora of peculiarities. A strange vine flower, as tall as two people, blossomed in the middle of the night, emitting a faint blue light. A large beetle produced an eerie sound reminiscent of an erhu.
Seated on a branch, an unidentified bird, disturbed by Malfoy and the others, let out a ghostly scream before soaring into the sky. The four of them promptly sat down on the ground in fright.
To make matter worse, they encountered a nocturnal wanderer—a peculiar creature standing about one and a half meters tall, covered in dark red camouflage scales. It remained virtually invisible in the dark depths of the Forbidden Forest, and the revelation of each other's presence occurred when they were merely three steps apart.
At first glance, the creature appeared akin to a slender velociraptor, featuring a substantial head with a bird-like beak of modest size and a neck embellished with a fleshy crown that unfurled like a dark red antenna pot when agitated.
It possesses wings, somewhat undersized in proportion, and a lengthy tail. Its legs are reminiscent of an ostrich but covered with dense scales. The creature's notable feature lies in its sharp, four-forked fingers adorning substantial claws.
"Ah~~" Malfoy screamed, almost like a dolphin.
Crabbe and Goyle turned around and ran away in panic. Fortunately, tree roots on the ground impeded the hasty escape of the two, causing them to stumble and be restrained by Hagrid. This providential intervention prevented them from getting lost in the perilous expanse of the Forbidden Forest during the night.
"Don't be nervous, it's safe...can you stop screaming?" Hagrid, who was as courageous as a fighter, was horrified by Malfoy's horror movie heroine scream.
He finally calmed down the three little wizards and kept them behind him like old hens.
"This is a big strange bird. It's not dangerous. Look~" He reached out to touch the big strange bird and was pecked hard. However, Hagrid didn't feel any pain at all and just thought it was the other person playing tricks on him. Haha. Laughed.
Malfoy rolled his eyes in disbelief, questioning the creature's safety. "Is it still safe? I think it wants to eat people! Look at this mouth, these claws, this body shape? Is it safe? Moreover, it has no scales and no hair. It looks like a mix of fire dragons and ostriches. Why is it called a big strange bird?" Malfoy, in his fear, contemplated a career change to complaining.
However, despite its intimidating appearance, the big strange bird proved to be not excessively dangerous. Yet, its inquisitive nature still posed a certain level of threat to the young wizard. Hagrid, experienced with underage fire dragons, deemed it safe in comparison.
…
Malfoy's encounter with a big strange bird added a twist to Harley and the others' night. Despite Fang's knowledge of the way and his familiarity with the Forbidden Forest, he led them on a lengthy detour, steering clear of many peculiarities. However, they still stumbled upon something they never seen before.
As Ron grew weary and decided to rest against a large rock, an unexpected development unfolded. The supposedly inert rock came to life, and a peculiar head emerged! The head had an odd, translucent quality, reminiscent of jade, adorned with peculiar bumps and lines.
The creature had a mouth resembling a chrysanthemum, two pairs of large golden eyes with scattered black pupils, and several rugged fleshy tentacles on its head that could extend! It was a massive snail with a shell nearly two meters high.
The creature remained retracted into its shell, perfectly still, and cunningly mimicking the appearance of a large rock. Even Fang, with his acute senses, failed to detect the slumbering monster.
Ron said "Oh my God" and almost jumped up the tree.
Harley and Neville pulled out their wands immediately.
Fortunately, Ted stopped it in time: "Don't move! It's safe!"
If Malfoy were here, you would find that these words are a bit familiar~
Ted's voice came floating: "This should be the giant land snail, a magical animal that does no harm to humans. The only harm may be that it crawls into your vegetable garden and destroys the vegetables. But it usually doesn't go where humans live."
"This is the first magical animal from another world that appeared in this world after the stars converged. I have only seen pictures in books before, but this is the first time I have seen it in real life."
"I heard that the mucus secreted by this thing when crawling can make the road very smooth. It is a good magic building material..."
Jerry felt a sense of camaraderie when he learned that the colossal snail was a magical creature from another world, possibly a fellow villager!
Despite its initial eerie appearance, the enormous snail proved to be quite gentle. It gazed at everyone with its four large golden eyes before retreating into its shell, assuming a motionless state.
Interestingly, the snail's shell adopted a clever disguise, resembling a large stone through natural camouflage.
The first night of patrolling the Forbidden Forest left Ted quite exhausted. He walked for two hours, maintaining a constant state of vigilance throughout.
Fortunately, under Fang's guidance, they encountered several magical creatures but faced no imminent danger on the first night. However, contemplating the remaining half-month ahead, Ted couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.
(End of this chapter)
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