Bang!Hoffa gripped Aglaia's pale wrist tightly, his fingers brushing against the bottom of the potion vial. Just as he was about to apply force, he lost his balance and fell from the height, pulling Aglaia down with him.
With a loud, high-pitched scream,
The two of them collided with an oak branch in mid-air, flipping upside down.
Splash!
Aglaia's 35kg body landed on Hoffa, pressing him down.
The impact left Hoffa gasping for breath, his chest tight, struggling to catch his breath for a while.
After exchanging a glance, it was clear that Aglaia, cushioned by her own body, was in better shape. She quickly grabbed her wand and pointed it at her legs.
"Stasis!"
After the curse lifted, she immediately bolted toward the school.
The potion was still in her hand, but Hoffa didn't give up. He quickly turned over and grabbed her leg, pulling her to the ground.
The struggle continued.
Among 11-year-old girls, Aglaia was quite tall, and since girls typically mature earlier than boys, Hoffa, who hadn't fully developed yet, was at a disadvantage in their fight.
However, at that moment…
Clip-clop, clip-clop!
The sound of hooves echoed through the dark Forbidden Forest. Joey, riding the white horse, swiftly emerged from the forest and stopped at his doorstep.
Upon seeing the scene before him, Joey froze.
Hoffa was half-sitting on the ground, holding onto Aglaia's leg, while Aglaia was gripping his thigh, trying to break free from his hold.
If it weren't for the deep animosity evident on their faces, Joey might have thought they were performing some kind of dramatic scene about a tragic parting.
Joey was surprised. "What are you two doing here?"
Upon seeing a staff member, Aglaia instinctively thought of reporting Hoffa.
But then she quickly remembered that Hoffa had been brewing potions in Joey's house. The two of them were probably in cahoots. Maybe it was even Joey who had been encouraging Hoffa to brew potions and had tricked her into giving him the recipe. Various conspiracy theories flashed through her mind.
She immediately hid the potion and adopted a pitiful look.
"Administrator, Bach... he's bullying me!"
Her eyes misted over, making her look like she was about to cry, evoking sympathy.
Hoffa struggled to rise from the ground and rasped, "Joey, stop her, she saw everything."
Aglaia's face changed immediately, and all the pity on her face vanished.
"Hmph! The staff is covering for a student breaking the rules, a nest of snakes and rats. Hogwarts is a garbage school!"
With that, she forcefully broke free and tried to leave.
But Joey showed no intention of stopping her. He shrugged indifferently, then turned to Hoffa and asked, "Hoffa, do you understand the writing of the centaurs?"
Hoffa was desperate, jumping up in frustration. Aglaia had taken the potion, and she was about to report him to Goshack. Yet here Joey was, asking if he understood the centaurs' writing. Was he serious?
"What the hell?"
After swearing in frustration, Hoffa limped after Aglaia.
But something even more surprising happened.
After hearing Joey's words, Aglaia actually stopped, turned around, and looked at Joey in disbelief.
"What did you say? The writing of the centaurs?"
Seeing her pause, Hoffa immediately reached out to grab the potion.
Aglaia simply stepped aside, avoiding his hand. "The centaurs left behind writing?"
Joey nodded, "That's right. I'm looking for someone who understands magical creature languages."
"I understand. Take me there."
Aglaia once again stepped out of Hoffa's reach and spoke.
Hoffa shouted, "What are you talking about?! If you want to see the centaur writings, go ahead, but give me my potion back!"
"Don't touch me!" Aglaia pressed her back against the tree, one hand behind her back and the other pushing Hoffa away.
"You commoner wouldn't understand the true value of prophecies. I'll go see what the centaurs left behind, then I'll go report you to the school!"
With that, she straightened her back and said to Joey, "Lead the way!"
Joey widened his eyes but didn't get angry. Instead, he found it quite amusing.
"Is this your friend, Hoffa?"
"No!"
They both said in unison.
Joey couldn't help but laugh. "Little girl, do you really understand the writing of the centaurs?"
"I understand everything." Aglaia said confidently.
Joey, amused, replied, "You're quite the eager one. Follow me."
With that, he led the way to the stable, and to Hoffa's shock, took out a horse and handed it to Aglaia.
Aglaia mounted the horse with practiced ease, as smooth as Joey himself.
Joey mounted his own horse and said to Hoffa, "Why don't you head back first? I'll try to convince her to give the potion back on the way."
Hoffa glanced at the girl, clearly excited, perched on the horse, and thought that Joey was underestimating things. He didn't understand Aglaia at all. If people like her could communicate normally, the world would be a much better place.
Without a word, Hoffa grabbed his own black horse from the stable. No matter what, he had to get the potion back.
Joey shrugged and turned his horse around.
So, under the sunset glow, the three of them, on three horses, headed down the small path into the Forbidden Forest, without a word exchanged among them. The only sound besides the hooves of the horses breaking branches was the creaking of the trees.
The forest grew denser, and the sunlight above them gradually disappeared.
It wasn't until they could no longer see the path that Hoffa realized they had already veered far off the normal route. This was nothing like the path he took to meet the Thunderbird Taras last time.
They walked deeper and deeper into the forest, the horses slowing as low branches and thorny vines surrounded them.
Aglaia's school uniform was torn by the thorns, but she didn't seem to care, even getting more excited as she stared ahead.
Clearly, she was incredibly curious about the so-called centaur writing.
Hoffa's gaze stayed fixed on the potion vial in her hand, wondering if there was any dark curse that could make this annoying, white-haired crow stay silent forever.
But Joey was oblivious to Hoffa's concern and continued explaining to them while riding.
"This used to be home to a centaur tribe, with seventeen centaurs. Their leader is called Nanlu, whom you've met, Hoffa. But just yesterday, they sent me an arrow-letter."
As he spoke, Joey pulled a short-feathered arrow from his quiver and handed it to Hoffa.
In the fading sunlight, Hoffa could see a line of writing etched into the shaft of the arrow.
Leave the Forbidden Forest, quickly leave this land.
Leave the Forbidden Forest?
Hoffa was confused.
After reading the message, Joey handed the arrow back to Aglaia.
To Hoffa's surprise, she just glanced at it and tossed the arrow aside.
"Don't be ridiculous, the centaurs wouldn't write you a letter in English. These creatures only leave behind one kind of writing."
"Eh?"
Joey looked puzzled.
Finally, after the three of them barely managed to navigate through a protective thicket of thorns, they arrived at a clearing covered with fallen leaves. This had once been a centaur settlement. Hoffa could still see some simple tools scattered on the ground—cooking pots, bowls, and wooden bows and arrows.
At the top of the clearing, the sunset light filtered through the tree branches, casting rays of light in Dühring spots.
In the center of the clearing was a gray stone.
The stone was no different from the regular rocks found in the Scottish Highlands—round with cracks and moss growing on it.
The only difference was that there were many yellow characters carved into its surface, characters that were unlike any human language Hoffa had ever seen.
Joey said, "When I received the message, I came here this afternoon to check it out. There was nothing left, except for this row of writing that I can't understand."
Aglaia wasn't concerned about what Joey had seen. The moment she saw the stone, her bright blue eyes lit up. She quickly tucked the potion vial into her pocket, then dismounted and hurried over to it.
She knelt down on one knee and began to gently feel the surface of the stone.
Hoffa had never seen her with such an expression—a mix of obsession and curiosity.
After touching the stone for a while, Aglaia turned to Joey and said, "There's a lot of information on this stone, but if I had to summarize it, it represents panic, murder, and war! The emotions are so intense, I've never seen anything like it."
Hoffa turned to look at the characters on the stone. He couldn't understand the writing, let alone grasp how a row of symbols could carry such strong emotions.
"It's too vague," Joey frowned and said, "Can you be more specific? What exactly happened?"
"No way," Aglaia shook her head, "Centaurs' writing is different from human writing. It's not a clear carrier of information, more like an ambiguous feeling, almost like musical notes. If you want to know exactly what happened, we'll have to find a centaur and ask."
Find a centaur?
Joey furrowed his brow and looked at the sky. It was getting late. The sun had already dipped halfway, and the sky was ablaze with fiery red clouds.
"Never mind. Take another look. If you can translate it, great. If not, I'll take you both back. We shouldn't stay in the Forbidden Forest too long."
Aglaia continued to study the stone.
Hoffa wasn't interested in the writing on the stone. Most of his focus was on Aglaia, particularly on the potion hidden under her robe.
He needed to get the potion back, and considering Goshack's cold, merciless nature, Hoffa feared he might face more trouble if Aglaia didn't return it.
Seeing Joey pacing around the clearing, occasionally picking up scattered bows and arrows with a furrowed brow, and Aglaia seemingly mesmerized by the stone, as though it held priceless treasures, Hoffa realized this was the perfect opportunity.
An opportunity to get the potion back.
He quietly crept behind Aglaia and activated his invisibility charm.
At that moment, Aglaia was kneeling, occasionally running her fingers over the stone's rough surface, or pressing her ear to it with her eyes closed, as though trying to sense something.
Hoffa didn't want to deal with whatever strange thing Aglaia was playing with. He stood behind her, bent down, and reached for her waist.
Holding his breath, he carefully lifted her robe and slowly extracted his potion from where she had hidden it.
Aglaia didn't react at all.
Relieved to have the potion back, Hoffa was about to destroy it immediately when he noticed something. Among the fallen leaves on the ground, there were several faint footprints. These footprints were barely visible, and if he hadn't crouched down, he would have never noticed them.
The footprints were large, clearly made by an adult, and a little messy.
This puzzled Hoffa.
This was a centaur settlement, so hoofprints wouldn't be unusual. But why were there human footprints? If it were Joey, that didn't make sense either.
Joey was by himself, and both Aglaia and Hoffa were children.
But these footprints clearly belonged to several adults.
Could there be others around here?
Hoffa slowly stood up and followed the footprints for a few steps.
When he reached a spruce tree, he stopped because the footprints split, heading off in different directions.
Hoffa felt uneasy.
Centaurs wouldn't just disappear for no reason. Recklessly following the trail wasn't a good idea. Now that he had the potion, it was time to head back.
As this thought crossed his mind, he was about to step back when a faint hissing sound interrupted his movement.
He looked up and was drawn to a few green fruits hanging on a branch.
The fruits were dark green, almost camouflaged in the dense canopy, but they looked somewhat familiar.
They had sharp protrusions on them, making them look like spiky green balls hanging from the tree branches, gently trembling.
The air was filled with a strange light hissing sound.
Hoffa deactivated his invisibility charm and quietly moved over to Joey's side. He whispered, "Joey, what are those fruits on the tree? Do you recognize them?"
Joey followed Hoffa's finger and glanced up.
But after just one look, Joey shuddered and exclaimed in shock, "Damn, it's a Winged Serpent! Why would there be such creatures in the Forbidden Forest?!"
(End of Chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09