Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 164, Section 163: The Trial Begins and the Unrest in the Forbidden Forest
If it were daytime, the Forbidden Forest would be alright, at least there would be light to illuminate the surroundings. But after sunset, everything looks completely different. The rows of intertwined tree trunks and branches resemble an impenetrable net, or the lair of some terrifying creature that would devour any ignorant humans who enter it.

Even for graduating seventh graders, breaking school rules to explore the forbidden forest is extremely dangerous, let alone at night.

The ever-changing environment, complex organisms, and even aggressive plants mean that even an insect no bigger than a little finger can be deadly. In short, it is extremely dangerous.

This is why some Gryffindor students see exploring the Forbidden Forest as a meaningful challenge and are willing to pay the price for it—for example, Fred and George, who, as far as Harry knows, have been sent to the infirmary at least two or three times for collecting materials in the Forbidden Forest.

This was when they encountered a difficult medical condition and had to go to the school clinic.

Therefore, it's no wonder that Davis is now making such painful noises.

Some of the more timid apprentices turned pale upon hearing the contents of the trial. Needless to say, they were already having second thoughts—Neville's face was as white as paper.

“Um, mentor, aren’t there any more specific tips?” Penelope couldn’t help but ask. “I mean, is there anything we need to pay attention to?”

Compared to the others, this girl was indeed quite daring; Harry could see the excitement on Penelope's face, full of anticipation for the adventure.

“There are indeed some requirements,” Harry nodded and said, “First, you’d better not stray too far from Mesali the whole time, for your own safety; second, never let your torches go out, as that would mean failure of the trial, so be careful when making them, and at least keep them burning until you reach the centaur tribe.”

"Whatever happens to us?" Hannah Abbott asked. "Isn't it a bit too conspicuous to light a torch in a dark forest—well, I mean the magical creatures, you know what I mean."

“Believe me, by then you’ll want your torches to be strong enough and burn long enough, even more than I do,” Harry chuckled.

“That sounds incredibly difficult,” Katie Bell sighed deeply. “Deliberately traversing most of the Forbidden Forest at night—ha, at least after tonight, I can proudly say that Gryffindor’s courage is within me.”

“Gryffindor’s courage has always been in everyone’s heart. Stop complaining, Katie,” Harry shrugged. “This trial is very, very simple. So simple that you don’t even need to fight or really experience any danger—it’s like drinking water and eating bread.”

If the entire trial were held in Azeroth, it wouldn't even deserve the word "trial"; it would be more like childish toy play.

On the way to their destination, they don't need to kill anyone—or rather, they don't need to kill anything that could threaten their lives. The only thing they consume along the way is their physical strength. As long as they don't intentionally seek death, they won't be in any unexpected danger.

There was even a bodyguard in the group escorting them the whole way!
Although he had never taught apprentices before, Harry knew that his teaching method would be criticized by other mentors in Azeroth—it was too indulgent.

“…Anyway, I’ve said enough.” Shaking his head to bring his wandering thoughts back, Harry said seriously, “One last question—does anyone want to leave now?”

silence.

“If we choose to withdraw now… uh, what will be the consequences?” Zacharias Smith asked cautiously, raising his hand.

“That means his course is over,” Harry said calmly. “A shaman who cannot connect with the next element will remain at that stage forever, and therefore will not need to learn anything more profound, so it will be the same no matter where he is.”

“We will complete the trial, mentor,” Cedric Diggory said immediately, and his words were met with a chorus of agreement.

No one wanted to be kicked out of class by Harry at a time like this, when elemental magic, or rather shamanism, had become a hot topic of discussion in the British wizarding world—even if Harry didn't take away the power they already possessed, simply stopping the teaching of it wouldn't do.

After Harry officially announced the start of the trial, the apprentices busied themselves, quickly recalling and summarizing the knowledge they had learned in the past, trying to create a very durable torch...

Well, okay, the reality is that the most common knowledge these apprentices use is to secretly peek at how others do things, and some are even secretly glancing at Harry's expression, but Harry just pretends not to see it and doesn't care.

Roger Davis was using a cutting spell to chop down a tree. He first cut out a stick that could be held in one hand, and then tied a bunch of dry branches to one end of the stick. But then he worried that the dry branches wouldn't be enough to keep the torch burning until he reached the centaur tribe, so he increased the proportion of dry branches.

In the end, Davis looked like he was carrying a giant hornet's nest, with dense, intertwined, and heavy branches.

In fact, most apprentices operate like Davis, and the torches they make come in all sorts of shapes and sizes—Harry wasn't surprised at all by the wizards' creativity, after all, a junior wizard is a wizard after all.

“No, Ron, we can’t just use dry tree branches as torches. They won’t burn for very long,” Hermione corrected her friend. “In the Muggle world, Muggles would wrap strips of cloth soaked in gasoline around one end of the torch, and that way it would burn for a long time.”

“But we’re not Muggles, and we don’t have what you’re talking about—gasoline,” Cedric shook his head and said. “Most importantly, we’re running out of time. To prevent any accidents, I think we should each prepare a few extra torches.”

This Hufflepuff boy is very steady in his actions.

“Wait, where’s Filch?” Ron suddenly looked around. “He was just here—ah! There he is! He’s already made the torch!”

Even among all of Harry's apprentices, Filch was the most special one.

As the castle caretaker, he didn't get along well with the students, so Filch never interacted with the other apprentices—or rather, he didn't want to get along with those kids who weren't absolutely loyal to Harry. This man only wanted to perfectly complete Harry's trial and have the opportunity to become Harry's disciple, a true disciple, just like that new girl!

Meanwhile, following the direction Ron pointed, the apprentices saw Filch busy on the grass on the other side, with two torches already stuck in his back.

"I know!" Hermione suddenly shouted. "Oh my god! I'm so stupid! We can use the bark of pine or birch!"

"Huh?" Ron opened his mouth wide in bewilderment.

"The bark of these two trees is rich in resin and is very easy to burn. We can stuff it with dry moss or straw, like Filch did, and then mix it with resin. This will make the torches very durable!"

"There's no time to explain anymore, get moving!"

Hermione's words were very persuasive, and under her command, the apprentices sprang into action again, peeling bark, collecting moss or pine needles, or finding tough vines to use as binding materials.

In short, after some effort, the apprentices finally managed to make enough torches within the time Harry requested. They imitated Filch by tying two spare torches to their backs and holding another one in their hands, and stood in a row in front of Harry.

“Very good,” Harry nodded and said, “You all have your own torches now, so let’s set off. I will be waiting for you at the centaur tribe—remember, don’t let the flames go out.”

As he spoke, Harry raised his hand, and a blazing flame suddenly appeared in his palm. As he walked past each of them, the flame ignited all the torches in the apprentices' hands.

"Go forth and begin your trials."

Without saying anything more, Harry simply stood there, watching his apprentices bid him farewell and follow one by one behind the earth elemental Messali into the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

He wasn't lying; he genuinely didn't intend to follow the apprentices around to ensure their safety, but Harry had taken precautions: the fire elementals burning in each torch. He needed to head to the centaur tribe to check if Triton had dealt with the unruly centaurs, and then he could use his Vision spell to observe how the apprentices would perform during their trials.

....................................

Before truly venturing into darkness, darkness is merely a figment of the imagination deep within the mind.

But once you truly delve into the darkness, you'll discover it's everywhere, and only then will you understand the deepest... fear.

Today is not a good day. Although there is no wind, there are many clouds, which even obscure the moon and stars in the sky.

After the moonlight was lost, it was as if the whole world had lost its light. The only thing that could illuminate the surroundings was the light emitted by the torch in their hands, but even the light of the torch had a distance.

Yes, distance.

This was the first time these apprentices had realized that light also has a distance.

Even though they had reached a relatively wide path in the forbidden forest, with no bushes or trees to obstruct their view, they could only see about five steps ahead of them – beyond that, there was only darkness.

Deep and terrifying.

The taciturn earth elemental surged toward its destination as Harry described, at a moderate pace, and the apprentices followed closely behind, not daring to stray even a fraction from its location.

The only saving grace is that after a whole year of training last year, their bodies are strong enough that they still have the strength to keep going and not fall behind—nobody wants to fall behind at a time like this.

"...Have you tried the new spells in English? I don't believe you haven't tried them secretly on your own, so just admit it..."

"...I tried it many times this afternoon, but there was no response at all..."

"...I'm different from you. I felt the best and had a reaction once, but it only made the soil in the flowerpot in front of me move slightly..."

"...Hey, Diggory, are you sure that's not your imagination? I don't think the soil has changed at all..."

"...Yes, I think it has pushed up slightly..."

The apprentices became increasingly animated in their conversation, gradually losing control of themselves and raising their voices to a deafening cacophony in the dark, forbidden forest.

"Hey you guys—can you be quiet?!" Hermione, who was walking at the front of the group, suddenly stopped and turned around to glare at the boys in the group. "Do you think we're not attention-grabbing enough?!"

Hermione's words were very authoritative. Even if they might have a lot of resentment in their hearts, no one would openly have any opinions about her—because she, Ron, and Neville were Harry's friends, which was something everyone at Hogwarts knew.

So even though Hermione and the others now call Harry their mentor, just like they do, no one really thinks that Harry's relationship with them is just that.

“Don’t be angry, Hermione,” Penelope said with a smile. “They’re just too nervous—you know, this kind of environment is really too stressful for us.”

“...Yes, you’re right.” Hermione took a deep breath and forced a smile.

For these young wizards, the Forbidden Forest at night, especially the pitch-black Forbidden Forest, was filled with terror. They could hear many strange noises from time to time, not just the chirping of insects, but also the rustling sound of something crawling and rubbing. The bushes at the edge of the firelight also swayed from time to time, making their thoughts in a state of confusion.

Terry Boot had just thought he was seeing some glittering fireflies and was excitedly about to share this interesting sight with the people around him, but to his surprise, the fireflies suddenly started moving in unison, flashing on and off—they weren't fireflies at all, but rather the eyes of some unknown animal observing the group.

This belated realization left the children speechless with fright, because there had been an immense amount of shimmering green light, so much so that it could be described as dense.

This suppressed fear is the root cause of their instinctive tendency to make conversation and want to hear other people's voices.

“Everyone, please listen to me,” Penelope said earnestly. “Although I am only a prefect of Ravenclaw, given the special circumstances we are in, if you don’t have any compelling reasons to do anything, it would be best if you followed my instructions and acted together—this is the Forbidden Forest, which is dangerous enough even for many adult wizards.”

It even directly or indirectly led to the disappearance of several Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. Penelope didn't say this aloud to avoid adding to the panic; she just thought it to herself.

“Ahem, indeed, Penelope, you’re right.” Roger Davis, one of the older students among the apprentices, coughed and echoed, “Fortunately, we still have torches to light the way. Merlin, I’m not willing to let them go out, no matter what the cost.”

Filch, walking at the back of the group, snorted coldly. To prevent these little brats from causing any accidents that could damage his mentor's reputation, he voluntarily walked at the very back, a position that no one else wanted to be in. However, he would not participate in the conversation of these little brats.

“Wait, did you hear something?” Padma Petit suddenly said, turning her head to try and find the source of the sound. “It sounds like shouting?”

In an instant, everyone seemed to have their throats grabbed, unable to utter a single sound.

They heard the chirping of insects that had been there since they entered the Forbidden Forest, the mixed noises of unknown sources—and the faint but unmistakable shouts.

It sounded like someone was roaring, but it was impossible to make out what they were roaring about.

In an instant, all eyes were on Penelope, and this Ravenclaw prefect certainly lived up to the trust placed in her.

“Ignore those sounds, just pretend you didn’t hear them,” Penelope said, her hand gripping her wand tightly beneath her robes. “Hold onto your torches and hold your wands firmly—whether it’s the spells Professor Flitwick taught you or shamanic magic, if you encounter any unexpected situations, be sure to use your most proficient spells immediately to protect yourselves.”

Penelope's words undoubtedly made the apprentices even more nervous, but these were things that needed to be prepared for in advance, which was better than being caught off guard and helpless when an accident happened.

“We need to hurry,” Luna said, raising her torch. “Morsali is almost gone.”

As if completely unaware of the commotion among the apprentices, Morsali continued along the route Harry had planned for him at a steady pace. By the time the apprentices stopped in their tracks because of the sudden shouts, he had already walked several meters away.

Harry's warning was still fresh in their minds; they had to follow this earth elemental.

With heavy hearts, the apprentices quickly followed in Mesar's footsteps—it was no illusion; the shouts were becoming clearer.

Even occasionally, faint, flickering lights could be seen, which even the dense, interwoven forest of the Forbidden Forest could not completely conceal.

(End of this chapter)