The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 116 The Tower in the Forest

The second day in Klin Town.

At the edge of the forest, dappled light and shadow bathed everything in a halo of light and shadow.

Ino looked helplessly at the Grimm brothers, who were eager to try.

Just yesterday, after they rescued the little girl from the mud monster, the mayor hired the three of them for 15 gold coins to solve the strange occurrences in the town.

Having only conducted a preliminary investigation, and not even knowing where the tower was, the Brothers Grimm were about to venture into the forest early this morning.

The forest before me was filled with all sorts of bizarre trees, their branches twisted as if they had endured countless painful struggles. The bark was covered with mottled cracks, as if it had been mercilessly torn apart by time, revealing the hideous wood inside.

There were no birdsong, no insect chirping, not even a breeze; everything around was deathly silent.

Ino gripped his wand, cautiously observing the bizarre forest.

"William, Jacob, are you sure you want to go in now? We haven't even figured out which way to go!"

Upon hearing this, William also pulled a sharp dagger from his boot and said helplessly:

"I know everything you're saying, but we have no choice. It happened 100 years ago. Emily doesn't know, and nobody else knows. We can't ask anyone about it."

Jacob nodded in agreement, clearly indicating that this wasn't the first time the two brothers had encountered such a situation.

Seeing that the two were about to enter the deep forest, Ino took a deep breath: "You two wait here for me, I'm going to the sky to confirm the direction."

Having said that, he suddenly leaped up, instantly transforming into an elegant and mysterious black swan.

The swan's wings are broad and glossy black, reflecting a deep blue glow in the sunlight.

With two powerful flaps of its wings, the black swan broke free from the constraints of gravity and soared several meters into the air before the Brothers Grimm could react.

……

From the sky, Ino looked down over the entire forest.

The area here is larger than he imagined. Without any clues, he can fly as high as possible. The principle of seeing further from a higher position remains unchanged everywhere.

As the spiral continues to ascend, increasing in height, everything around it becomes smaller and smaller.

Finally, a different scene appeared in his field of vision.

To the southwest, a large area of ​​desolation appeared in the bizarre dense forest, like a leaf that had been gnawed through by insects.

Now that we've discovered something unusual, we should definitely take a look.

After finding the right direction, he flapped his wings and flew at full speed, taking about fifteen minutes to reach the airspace above the desolate clearing.

This was a truly desolate area, with no plants growing on the grayish-brown soil.

In the center of the open space stood a dilapidated tower, its spire collapsed but the main body of the tower still standing. With the strange willow tree, three or four meters tall in the distance, as a reference, this slender tower had reached a height of 100 meters.

Ino slowly descended, and as they flew at low altitude, the entire tower came into view.

The dilapidated tower looked as if it had been corroded by sulfuric acid, its surface pitted and uneven.

Its surface was covered with withered vines, making it look like a rotten arm with dried blood vessels running along it.

Everything around exuded an ominous, graveyard-like atmosphere.

Around the tower, twelve enormous coffins were neatly arranged.

These coffins were made of an unknown black material and were engraved with strange patterns.

The layout of these coffins is strikingly similar to the twelve hour markers on a clock, seemingly indicating the regularity of time.

A dilapidated tower, twelve stone coffins.

Viewed from mid-air, it resembles a giant, abandoned clock face. The difference is that this clock only has a dot and markings, lacking hour and minute hands.

Ino didn't linger. After getting a clear view of the entire tower, he quickly increased his altitude and then returned the way he came.

After all, the atmosphere here is rather oppressive.

Just now, while flying at low altitude, he could feel as if there was an invisible eye watching him from the shadows.

……

The edge of the deep forest.

William and Jacob sat on the ground, but William was writing something in a thick notebook.

Jacob, meanwhile, listlessly used his silver dagger to whittle the tree branch.

After a while, as if he had gotten tired of playing, he threw away the branch in his hand.

"Don't you think he's mysterious?"

"Haven't we encountered enough mysteries yet?" William retorted, but he didn't look up, continuing to record something.

"Jacob, do you think he is an evil man?"

"How could that be!" Jacob jumped to his feet. "Ino is a good person and has no ill intentions. I'm certain of that. No one can lie to me."

After a moment, William closed his notebook and then chuckled softly:

"That's settled! Why are you still concerned about his mystique? Everyone has their own secrets. As friends, we should respect them, not pry into them."

Jacob was about to say something when William interrupted him:

"Alright! Our friend is back."

……

at the same time.

A black swan slowly descended from mid-air, and when it was three feet above the ground, it instantly transformed into a boy.

"Found the tower, southwest, but something's strange about that place..."

After completing the Animagus transformation, Ino immediately recounted what she had seen and heard, including her estimation of the distance traveled.

"The missing girls in town should be in the stone coffin. We must reach the tower before dark."

As they spoke, William took out a small nautical compass from his pocket, adjusted the direction, and then walked into the forest first.

……

The three of them wandered through the maze-like forest.

William walked at the front with the compass in his hand, followed by Ino and Jacob.

Whether it was the compass or something else, the journey was surprisingly smooth.

Two hours later.

The towering towers in the distance are already in sight.

"Stop!" William suddenly shouted, then put away his compass and assumed a defensive stance.

The sky suddenly darkened, and hundreds or even thousands of crows had gathered there without anyone noticing.

They hovered in the air, emitting mournful and shrill cries.

"Someone is trying to stop us from getting close to the tower." Jacob raised his silver short sword high.

The pure white blade radiated a dazzling light.

The crows seemed to have encountered a natural enemy. Although they didn't try to swoop down and attack as before, they didn't leave either, but continued to circle in mid-air.

Taking advantage of the brief break, the three of them arrived at the foot of the tower.

Looking at the towering structure, over a hundred meters tall, yet devoid of any stairs, William turned and asked:

"Ino, do you have a way to get us up there? The source of the curse has been found! Now all we need to do is have Jacob plunge the dagger into the witch's heart, and the curse will be broken!"

"As long as you're not afraid of the cold, there's a way!" Ino replied after looking around.

Although he was answering William's questions, he still felt uneasy, as if the trip had gone too smoothly.

It's like a fighting match where your opponent is lying on the ring as soon as you step onto the stage.

Even if the Brothers Grimm are the main characters in the story, this is still not how match-fixing works.

The arrival of this flock of crows was also suspicious.

They weren't so much an obstacle as a hint, a silent message: "Look! You've come to the right place!"

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(End of this chapter)