Hagrid's cabin was on the edge of the Forbidden Forest and could be seen from the windows of Vaux and Bill's bedroom. The whole cabin seemed to have grown itself out of a mess of wood, looking so ramshackle yet quite solid.
They were led by the caretaker of Hogwarts, Argus Filch, a man who always wore a long, dirty brown coat and was bald with long, messy hair. It looks haggard, but those eyes that are deep in their sockets always flash with that kind of fierce light that makes people shudder. When walking in front with a lantern in hand, the rickety figure looked particularly scary.
Filch had been talking bitterly and maliciously all the way about the various and pleasing punishments when Armando Dippet was the headmaster, but now they have been abolished by Dumbledore.
"The last student who smashed those portraits should have been whipped in the dungeon by now." He grinned, occasionally turning sullenly back at the two freshmen following him, his black eyes turning to At the corners of his eyes, most of the whites of his eyes were exposed, and he looked like a wraith about to get angry, "Those calls are so wonderful at night, my favorite lullaby."
Vaux wrinkled his nose, he decided, he hated this administrator.
After handing Aurora and Vox to Hagrid, Filch left a sarcastic remark as usual. Hagrid was the same as when he first met, and his thick, dark gray-black hair made him look a bit like a lion. He handed the leather chain with Fang to Vox's hand, and the big black dog followed him obediently, but he didn't care about holding his Vox, and instead looked at the man in the forbidden forest with a flat expression. Aurora leaned in, sticking out her rough tongue and licking her fingers.
"Oh, hi hello." Aurora crouched down and greeted Fang, reaching out and touching its head. Fang seems to be very happy, rubbing against Aurora's sleeve and wagging his tail happily.
"It looks like Fangya likes you very much." Hagrid smiled and put □□ on his shoulders and reached out to pick up the lantern beside him, "Come on, follow me and don't run around. In fact, patrolling the Forbidden Forest isn't that scary. "
After walking a few steps, Hagrid suddenly asked again, "By the way, what did you do to be punished here?"
"Awful flying lesson." Vox sighed, the lantern light in his hand couldn't shine very far in the foggy forest after the rain. The light in the Forbidden Forest is very dim even in the daytime, and now only the horse lantern is the only light source, but unfortunately all the light is illuminated by the vast and dense fog in front of it.
Aurora summed it up briefly: "We had an accident in flight class, not only broke the portraits in the hallway, but also knocked over Professor Snape's potion." "Um..." Hagrid scratched his head. , "That's really serious."
The further you go inside, the thicker the fog becomes. Layers of tree shadows and darkness curled up outside the dim light range, entangled in the white mist, turbid and silent. The fog in the Forbidden Forest is not the same as the usual British fog after rain, not the iconic light green, but a strange gray-blue. That kind of color seems to flow in the thin and invisible mist, and sometimes the eyes will feel that there are ghosts hidden there.
The temperature in the forest was surprisingly low. The third time Walkers stepped on the dirt pit, his sneakers were already soaked in muddy water, and every step he took felt like stepping in the water. It was Aurora, who was too lazy to change clothes after class, who found it cheap. Rain boots and raincoats protected her very well.
The trees here are difficult to distinguish in such a dim environment. Some of them are as tall and sturdy as typical temperate deciduous hardwoods, and their surfaces are covered with deep and shallow lines. Some are short and thin, and the branches that grow out are curved and thorny, and they are hooked on the hem of the robe if you are not careful.
Perhaps the environment was too secluded and strange, and Aurora felt that it would be better to find a topic, lest she keep looking at the movement around her, and her scalp would go numb at the slightest disturbance. So she took the initiative to ask: "No one usually comes to this forest, right?"
"Students will come here except for those who need to take a class on the protection of magical creatures in the senior year. At other times, they will only come here when the professors need some materials here." Compared with Aurora and the others, Hagrid seemed much more comfortable, and even had In the mood to blow one or two short whistles to disperse the gloomy atmosphere here, "Although this place is listed as a forbidden forest, I assure you that you will never find a place richer and more charming than this place."
"Have you been here for many years?"
"It's been a long time. When I came here, there was no such person as the mysterious man in the wizarding world." After speaking, he was silent for a while and sighed, "It was a long, long time ago."
The radiant mist is getting thicker and thicker, and it falls into the sight, but it dissolves for a while of clarity and brightness. Aurora looked at the open forest in front of her, and a slightly luminous white figure gradually separated from the thick fog, like the shape of a horse.
The trees changed again, and their thick roots were no longer hidden under the mud, but began to crawl densely like cobwebs all over the surface.
"What's that?" Vox subconsciously touched the wand hidden in his sleeve, even if he didn't know much magic now, but his instincts as a wizard were well trained.
"That's a unicorn." Hagrid reached out and stopped in front of Vox, "You're lucky, they can't be seen all the time." "
Immediately afterwards, more and more white and beautiful figures around them peeled out of the mist, showing their true appearance. Their manes are straight and dense, gentle like a moonlight horse in the dark forest, tall, snow-white coat, and eyes are brilliant golden yellow.
Hagrid counted the number of unicorns and said in surprise, "So many? It's really unusual. Are they looking for something? "
"Have you never seen so many unicorns before?" Vaux asked incredulously. Hagrid shook his head honestly: "Never, although they are social animals, they are generally family-based. I have never seen such a large area of gathering. "
As he spoke, a unicorn that was obviously the size of a cub broke free from the protection of his parents, ran happily towards Aurora, lowered his head and rubbed her face affectionately with his head, slipped her rain hat off, and spread out her long light blonde hair. Juvenile unicorns are pure gold all over and slowly change color to the snow-white color of adult bodies around the age of two. Aurora was taken aback by its actions, and was itched by the sweeping touch of the little beast's hair on her face that had not yet become completely hard, and couldn't help but laugh: "It's very itchy." "
A few more little beasts ran out and neighed briskly around Aurora, their hooves kicking happily on the ground full of ruined leaves, their long, silky and smooth tails flicking around excitedly, as if they had seen something that made them very happy.
After Vaux woke up from the shock, he tried to go to La Aurora, but was squeezed out by the unicorns: "What's wrong with them?" "
"They seem to like this little girl." Hagrid said, with a sense of uncertainty, "Unicorns are very friendly to humans, they are the kindest magical animals." "Are there any other magical beasts here?" Aurora asked curiously while stroking the unicorn's mane.
Perhaps Aurora's surprise unicorn welcome intrigued Hagrid, who looked in the direction they had just come from, then lowered his head to the two children and said, "Of course, come, take you to see the others." "
In this way, two children and a half-blood giant walked in the Forbidden Forest, heading deeper and deeper. The unicorns followed not far away, only the little beasts liked to stick to Aurora, rubbing her palms with their heads from time to time.
The deeper the Forbidden Forest, the thicker the trees, most of which parasitize a creature of more than ten centimeters. Their bodies are very thin, stiff but soft, with brown, pimpled legs and arms, and two branch-like fingers on each hand. They are covered in dark brown colors that closely resemble tree bark, and only the two tender green leaves on the top of their heads will be healthy or wither with the change of mood. The two eyes embedded in the bark-like face sparkled, and they raised their fingers in protest whenever someone approached the tree they were in.
Hagrid explained in a low voice, "This is the Goshuluo pot, and they like turtles and fairy eggs as food. Although it seems to be less aggressive and gentle and friendly, trust me, you won't like the way it gets annoyed. "
"But I think they look very small and weak." Aurora said, slowly approaching those pair of shining brown eyes, and the other person also looked at her curiously.
"Don't get so close!"
As soon as Hagrid finished speaking, the closest tree guard to Aurora jumped on her head, her slender curved fingers hooking her blonde hair as a rope, and slid all the way to Aurora's rain hat, revealing only a pair of eyes and the turquoise leaves on top of her head.
"Oh my God." Hagrid tried to reach for it, "Come down little one, she's not one of those trees you're trying to protect." "
Goshu Luo straightened his upper body and shook his strangely long and powerful fingers threateningly, avoiding Hagrid's hand, hiding Aurora's long thick hair like a curtain.
"It looks like it doesn't want to come down." Vaux raised the lantern and approached the little guy curiously, wanting to see better, but he felt a flower in front of him, followed by a hot pain on his face, "Ouch! What is it? "
"What's wrong with you?" Aurora turned to look at him and saw that he had an extra red mark on his face that looked like something had scratched him. She tilted her head back as best she could, not seeing the little thing at all, "Where did it go?" "
"It hurts, this little thing is so fierce." Vaux covered his face and grinned in pain, "You quickly get it off, it's hidden in your rain hat." "
"What?!" Aurora was startled, and quickly took off her raincoat and shook vigorously. The little one jumped out of the rain hat and scurried back above Aurora's head with a few strokes along her arm, looking like Aurora had brought a moving tree bud hairpin.
"It has no ill will towards you, don't worry. It just loves to be with you. Hagrid said, "It's strange, you seem to have a good deal with these magical beasts." Which college are you from? "
"Hufflepuff." Aurora exposed the academy badge on the front of her raincoat, and the small tree buds above her head shook the leaves as she turned her head. Hagrid's eyes widened in surprise, as if he couldn't understand, then he narrowed his eyes in retrospection and then mumbled, "It should be, it should be." The last person with this talent was also in Hufflepuff. I have to admit that this academy and Fantastic Beasts always have some strange connections that cannot be said. "
"Who was the last person?" Aurora remembered that the Sorting Hat had said the same thing, so she subconsciously asked.
"Newt Scamander, a Hufflepuff student decades ago, is a famous figure in the magical beasts world." Hagrid said, continuing to move his huge body slowly, "Actually, I think he wrote one of your textbooks, if your current list is the same as ours." "
"Because of his influence, many wizards chose to work in magical beasts research and conservation after graduation. But almost all of them end in failure. This thing depends on the person, you know, talent is really important, second only to your effort. "
"It is said that when he was still in Hogwarts, he showed an extraordinary talent for being able to easily get close to magical beasts." Hagrid turned to look at the little leaf on top of Aurora's head that shook twice with joy from time to time, "You are very similar to his talents, no wonder the Sorting Hat will sort you to Hufflepuff." "
"This way." Aurora nodded thoughtfully, and Goshu Luo Guo nodded with her.
Further on, the forest became open, and a faint smoky blue glow emanated from the leaves of some unknown plants on the ground. The mist has dissipated here, and occasionally glowing flying insects like fireflies fly past them. Huge rotting tree trunks lie everywhere, and lush and thick moss crawls all over them.
"What are these?" Aurora looked at several scrawny black winged animals in front of her and asked a little nervously.
They are like skeletons made of skeletons and smooth black skin, and they can't see a single accumulation of fat and muscle, except for the skeleton and the epidermis. Their wings are wide and powerful, similar to the wing membrane wings of bats, but their heads are very similar to dragons, their huge eyes are strangely silvery-white, there are no pupils, and their slender tails drag on the ground.
Somehow, the creature's eyes reminded Aurora of the owner of that wand shop, Mr. Ollivander.
"What what?" Vaux looked around blankly, "What do you see?" "
"Can't you see?" Aurora stared incredulously at the creature in front of her, leaning closer in Vox's direction, "They're right here, they look strange." Resemble... The skeleton is the same... Has wings. "
"But I didn't see anything." Vaux's eyes widened, still unable to see anything. At this time, Hagrid was just about to say something, but was preempted by a deep voice from the dark forest on his side:
"It is the night sword, and only those who have seen death can see it."
The voice was so iconic that Aurora didn't even have to react to know who it was. Every syllable spoken by the other party is as pleasant and mellow as if it has been carefully carved, with habitual coldness and slight drag, and when it falls into the ear, it is reminiscent of the texture of ice cubes thrown into red wine.
"Professor Snape." She said, then turned her head. The tall young man in black robe stood on the other side of the clearing, his posture was tall, and the whole person was almost one with the darkness here, only his face was terribly pale, and there was a light cyan under his dark eyes, as if it was caused by staying up late. He lifted his chin slightly, his gaze looking down, past the two children and Hagrid, and then at the top of Aurora's head, the swaying emerald green.
Hagrid looked at the few rare plants in the other party's hand and nodded clearly: "It's so late, are you here to find potion materials?" "
"After all the potions I had prepared were destroyed?" Snape's tone dragged on longer, still expressionless, his gaze withdrawing from the top of Aurora's head without a trace, "That's right. "
Vaux was a little embarrassed not to start, and changed the lantern to hold it in both hands.
"Ah, that was indeed a disaster." Hagrid scratched his head. Snape snorted coldly and turned to get ready to find the last of the material. At this time, Aurora suddenly asked, "Are you still missing from finding anything?" I think we can help you. I'm really sorry about the afternoon. "
Of course, it would be great if you could make up the deducted points by the way. Aurora doesn't think she has the kind of top skills that can help the academy turn over before the snow, so all she has asked of herself is to just not be deducted points. Unfortunately, this minimum bottom line seems to be difficult to achieve.
Snape looked back at her, rather distrustful. Aurora ignored the uncomfortable look in his eyes and continued, "I just want to do it, Professor. You know, I'm so sleepy when it's so cold here, and Vaux's shoes are full of mud, and my raincoat isn't cold at all. So, can you give us a chance? "
The way the little girl calmly talked about their miserable situation made people feel a little laughed. Snape raised his eyebrows and agreed with Aurora. He had seen so many students cringe or cry breathlessly to intercede with him, that Snape would later get bored at the sight of the other person curled up in the corner of his neck or his eyes foggy.
He can simulate a thousand wording templates for students begging for mercy, so it is quite ruthless to refuse.
There are very few unhurried ones like this.
"What are you looking for?" Aurora ran a few steps to keep up with Snape, who didn't slow down at all, and Vaux and Hagrid looked at each other in surprise and followed. Vaux didn't dare to use a lantern to shine on his shoes, he felt that the scene was a little unbearable.
"Holly's resin." Snape said in a dry, academic tone.
"Is there any special feature of that kind of tree?" Aurora asked, "Otherwise, there are so many trees here, it will be very difficult to find." "
"You can also regret it." Snape said this with an angry certainty, just as he had decided from the outset that Aurora was a student who only wanted to please the teacher and escape punishment.
Aurora was not annoyed either, she turned her head and asked Hagrid seriously, "Do you know?"
"Actually, it's the tree where the little guy was just now." Hagrid pointed to the tree guard that was lying on Aurora's head.
"That's easy."
Snape sneered after hearing this, and there was a particularly gloomy wind.
Once again, when she came to the place where she had just seen the tree guard, Aurora raised the lantern in her hand to shine on the surface of the tree trunk, and a few disturbed little things quickly climbed up the tree trunk. She turned sideways to make way for Snape: "Professor, where is the resin you're looking for in the tree?"
"In the nests of these tree guards." Snape didn't move, looking down at the little girl from the corner of his eyes. Light blonde long hair, bright yellow raincoat and rain boots, looks like a yellow egg tart. He wanted to see what this little egg tart could do to get those resins from the Hushu Luoguo's nest, which would become ferocious once stimulated.
It was a combination of the secretions of the sapling pot and the seeds of the holly tree. It was crystal clear and looked very similar to turpentine.
"Maybe we should find some turtles or fairy eggs." Hagrid hesitated and suggested.
Aurora crouched down, and sure enough, she saw a pitch-black hole at the bottom of the thick tree trunk. She tried it and found that her hand could just reach in and there was still some room for movement.
"Aurora, you can't reach in like that." Vox saw that she rolled up her sleeves to reveal her slender white arms and was about to reach in, and hurriedly grabbed her, "Hagrid is right, we have to find some of them. food to lure them away."
"No problem, right?" Aurora raised her chin towards the little thing on her shoulder, and the other party slid in along her arm and disappeared. Immediately afterwards, Aurora stretched his hand in and touched it, and many tree guards poured out like a tide, and many jumped on Aurora's arm.
Snape was stunned for a moment, then he reached out and grabbed her hat a little sullenly, and lifted her up: "It seems that the service in the school hospital has made you linger, so you plan to go in again? I think you should have already I heard, it's stupid of you to provoke them like this!"
The last tree guard who ran out of the hole jumped up, hooked Aurora's swaying pale blond hair all the way up, jumped on top of her head, and slammed the holly resin in her two thin claws at Snape. He threw it out, looking super fierce.
Hagrid was stunned for a while, then let out a dull laugh.
"I think, Professor, you have found what you were looking for." Aurora adjusted her hat, patted the dirt on her body, caught the little guy and put it on her shoulders, then picked up the golden yellow crystal that fell on the ground and handed it to her. In front of the potions professor with an extremely ugly face.
It was as bright as the eyes of a unicorn, with many holly seeds condensed in it.
There was also an extraordinarily gorgeous white flower that was unexpectedly frozen in it forever. At the moment, it was lying in the little girl's white and tender palm, blooming recklessly towards the young man in front of her.