Evan was in cold sweat, and felt his blood freezing in his veins!
His heart was beating so violently. The Banshee heralded death, and its sudden appearance under his window meant that he…
He was distraught and took out his wand. Without waiting for him to cast a spell, the Banshee downstairs screamed and fled toward the woods at an amazing speed.
Soon, it disappeared into the thick fog.
Only her red, swollen, scary eyes remained in Evan's mind for a long time.
Affected by the sudden appearance of the evil god in the dream and the predictor of death Banshee crying under the window in the morning, Evan was in a bad mood and couldn't lift his spirits.
Until the time of departure, he had not fully recovered.
After breakfast, Sirius and Evan Apparated to the depths of the woods.
Nearby, they explored the edge of the site of the Centaurs monument. Influenced by the ancient magic in the relics, no one could Apparate in and they could only walk.
Along the way, watching strange scenes in the woods, Evan was careful.
Sirius could not help persuading him to relax. There was no need for him to be so nervous.
"Look at the tiny soft yellow flowers on those low bushes!" He pointed to a strangely shaped plant, trying to divert Evan's attention and let him not think about the messy things. "You haven't seen this plant before. It's a specialty here. It grows only in countries near the Mediterranean. Its scientific name is…"
"Quercus coccifera!" Evan looked up and continued, "I used this plant when I was making high-level interpretative Potions. The market price per kilogram is three Gold galleons, and five Gold Galleons if processed."
The kermes oak looks like a shrub or a small tree.
Its bark is greyish-white with sharp spines, and it's the national flower of Albania.
The rhizome of this flower is an essential material for the manufacture of advanced Potions. It has strong acidity and is difficult to handle. It can only be used in Potions classes above fifth year.
"It seems that you did have a good preview of the Potions textbook in advance. With a student like you, Snivellus will be happy!" Sirius was a little embarrassed.
"He generally ignores me and Hermione now!" said Evan. "While he keeps bullying other Gryffindors, he treats us as if we don't exist."
"Now that I am no longer a professor, I don't have to abide by Hogwarts rules." Sirius said angrily, "If Snivellus dares to bully you again; sooner or later I will find an opportunity to teach him a good lesson."
Evan doubted whether Sirius had ever complied with the school rules.
Moreover, judging from his comprehensive strength, he was far from being Snape's opponent.
Thirteen years of imprisonment in Azkaban had a great impact on him. Up to now, his face has not completely recovered from the original decline.
After talking about Snape, there was a moment of silence between them.
"I know what you're thinking now!" Sirius took a deep breath. "In fact, many people have seen the death-predictor banshees. They have done nothing to hurt others, except for their bad voices. As for the omen of death, I've seen too many, you can't really believe that deceptive trick?!!"
"Of course, I didn't take that banshee to heart!" Evan replied absently. "I'm just thinking about something else…"
Many signs and traces indicated that their trip would not be too smooth.
Losing contact with Dumbledore, Voldemort lurking in the dark, the evil spirit slowly recovering its strength, and the sudden appearance of vampires and the banshee…
In the face of all this, Evan prepared himself for the worst!
......…..
Unexpectedly, nothing happened until they entered the ruins of the Centaurs.
The journey in the woods went very smoothly. After climbing a hillside, the ruins of the city left by the fallen Centaurs 800 years ago appeared in front of them.
Unlike the Centaurs' colony in the Forbidden Forest in Hogwarts, this ancient relic was located between two towering peaks, with clusters of stone buildings arranged one after the other. The narrow entrance to the ruins was a winding alley paved with grass-green pebbles.
The alley continued upwards along the rugged and steep mountain, relying on the terrain as a form of natural defence.
Every few steps upward, there was a solid fortress or the debris of a checkpoint.
It was conceivable that the fallen Centaurs could hide behind these fortifications and use bows and arrows to attack the intruders. Even fierce trolls could hide there.
In the upward direction, it was a huge circular platform, and the terrain was not so steep.
The living environment here was much better than below, with fewer houses and many temples and obsidian statues for decoration.
These statues were all kinds of Centaur figures with different shapes.
No doubt, they were all ancestors of the Centaurs. It seemed that even if they believed in the evil god, the fallen Centaurs still kept their reverence for their ancestors.
At the highest point of the ruins, there was a magnificent Temple.
It was also the only building that remained intact in the entire Centaur ruins. It was made of the hardest obsidian, engraved with exaggerated carvings, and looked exactly the same as the Temple of the Moon in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, but on a much larger scale.
Evan's gaze went up from the entrance to the ruins and eventually locked on the towering terraces on both sides of the Central Temple.
Everything in front of him corresponded to his dreams last night.
However, the remains of the Centaurs in front of him were not the beautiful city that he saw in his dream, shining beautifully with golden light. Time had ruthlessly destroyed everything.
The wizard adventurers, who had recently arrived, had destroyed whatever remained intact for the sake of treasure, leaving only a mess.
The river beside the cobblestone alley had dried up and had been replaced by a grassy river.
The stone huts with beautiful red roofs built by the Centaurs were no longer there. The beautiful wall tiles were scattered all over the place, telling the glory of the past silently.
In order to obtain the gold and gems inlaid on the statues, the intruders destroyed all the statues of the Centaurs, not at all concerned with their artistic value.
As for the central temple, which was also where all adventurers were most concentrated, although no change could be seen from the outside, when Evan and Sirius entered the ruins, they could still vaguely hear the loud noises from time to time inside the Temple.
Needless to say, most intruders did not know the mechanism designed by the Centaurs according to the changes of stars. But they had another way to enter the core area: Destruction!
Regardless of the mechanism, as long as all the gates were destroyed with powerful spells, they would enter the deepest part of the Temple sooner or later.
Although this method was simple and crude, it was really very useful.
The fallen Centaurs who abruptly disappeared did not seem to have left any defensive measures such as curses to protect their sacred Temple.
Not only wizards, but even Muggles could easily break in.
That's why Sirius and Evan didn't stay in the bar waiting for Dumbledore, but decided to come here ahead of him.