Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil

Chapter 114 Is there something wrong with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?

Hagrid and Puni followed the deep drag marks on the ground, searching deeper into the Forbidden Forest. Their steps were heavy and hurried, each one carrying an undisguised anxiety. Even the air in the forest seemed to be infected by their urgency. The fallen leaves under their feet were crushed, and the dry branches crunched on the soles of their shoes. The originally subtle sounds were amplified infinitely in this deadly forest, echoing in every corner.

Tooth still had its tail between its legs, its body taut and straight, pressed close to Hagrid's feet, following him step by step. Its fur stood on end, and its body trembled uncontrollably. Every now and then, it would raise its head and let out a low whimper into the dim forest, its eyes filled with fear and unease.

The deep, silent forest, along with the eerie atmosphere in the air, instilled extreme fear in Hagrid's large dog, who had been with him for years.

The two remained silent the entire way, their minds preoccupied, with only one thought in their minds: to find Buckbeak and the other hippogriffs as soon as possible and confirm their safety.

The further they walked, the more blurred the tracks became on the ground, and the stronger Hagrid's anxiety became. He quickened his pace involuntarily, and in the end, he was almost jogging. The heavy fallen leaves were kicked up and splashed, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Just as they hurried around a broken tree blocking their path, its thick trunk clearly snapped in half by a strong wind, with dry bark and broken branches still clinging to it, a slight rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes beside them. It sounded like something was moving inside, the branches and leaves rubbing against each other, making a soft, rustling noise. The sound wasn't loud, but it seemed particularly abrupt in the otherwise silent forest, like a thin needle piercing the stillness and immediately alerting Hagrid and Puni.

Hagrid stopped abruptly, turned around sharply, shielded Puni behind him with one hand, his body taut, his eyes warily fixed on the swaying bushes, and his breathing instantly softened.

Puni immediately focused his mind and used his light to lock onto the direction of the bushes.

Immediately afterwards, a tall and imposing figure slowly stepped out from the shadows of the bushes, moving so lightly that it made no sound, appearing before the two of them like a ghost.

It was a centaur, carrying an ancient-looking bow and arrow on its back, with several sharpened arrows in its quiver. Its upper body was that of a human, while its lower body was that of a horse covered in bronze-colored fur. Its limbs were strong and powerful, and it stood steadily on the fallen leaves.

"Oh! Ronan? What are you doing here?" Hagrid's tense body relaxed instantly after seeing the centaur's face, and a relieved smile appeared on his face. He quickly lowered his hands that were raised to his sides.

The man before me, Ronan, had an exceptionally serious expression, his brows bearing the composure and profundity characteristic of centaurs. He raised his deep eyes to gaze at the sky above the forest, as if staring at invisible stars, seemingly indifferent to everything around him. Even though it was daytime and sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves onto him, it could not dispel the aloofness emanating from him. Instead, it gave the impression of being in the night, enveloped in tranquility and mystery.

"Hagrid".

Ronan slowly withdrew his gaze, landing on Hagrid and Puni. His voice was deep and slow, with the hoarse tone characteristic of centaurs. His pace was even, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority. "You two are rushing through the forest in such a hurry, looking flustered, as if some fierce demon is chasing you. What happened?"

"Ronan, you've finally shown up!" Hagrid stepped forward as if grasping at a straw. "Something's happened! Buckbeak and the others' habitat has been attacked! Unidentified intruders have entered the Forbidden Forest, and I suspect—I suspect they've kidnapped Buckbeak and several other hippogriffs! Have you seen anything unusual while you've been around this area?"

Ronan slowly shook his head and said gently, "You don't need to worry, they weren't captured. Not long ago, they were attacked by the giant eight-eyed spiders. A few were injured, but the rest were unharmed. After the attack, they left their habitat and went to a safer place in the forest."

Hearing this, Hagrid finally breathed a sigh of relief, his tense shoulders relaxed instantly, and most of the anxiety on his face faded, leaving only heartache: "Thank goodness, thank goodness they're alright! But where are they now? I have to go see them right away. Those poor creatures must be badly injured. I need to go back and prepare some potions to treat their wounds."

Ronan did not respond to Hagrid's question. He neither told Hagrid where the hippogriffs were nor said anything more about them. He simply tilted his head, and a look of understanding flashed in his eyes, which the centaurs considered to be able to see through fate and the trajectories of the stars. This look was then replaced by solemnity. He was silent for a moment before speaking heavily, with an indescribable sadness in his voice: "The forest is weeping."

These words stunned both Hagrid and Puni. The heartache on Hagrid's face froze instantly, and Puni also frowned.

Ronan continued, "The chaos isn't just happening in the hippogriff's habitat. We centaurs have observed anomalies in the celestial trajectories, and the convergence of two trajectories will soon occur. The forces of darkness are beginning to stir, and too many unusual movements have already taken place in the Forbidden Forest."

"What's going on?" Puni couldn't help but ask first. He could vaguely sense that things were far more complicated than they had imagined. It was not just a simple matter of the hippopotamus being attacked. It seemed that a much bigger crisis was brewing in the Forbidden Forest.

Ronan's gaze slowly shifted from the distant woods to Puni and Hagrid, his eyes serious. "They're eight-eyed giant spiders. Recently, their activity has become unusually frequent, and their aggression has increased significantly. They're no longer as docile as before, confined to their traditional hunting grounds. They've begun to expand into other areas of the Forbidden Forest, wantonly encroaching on the territories of other magical creatures, attacking unsuspecting animals. Even our centaur patrols have clashed with them multiple times while patrolling the forest; several centaurs have even been bitten."

"What? That's impossible!" Hagrid immediately retorted, his face filled with disbelief. He shook his head repeatedly, a mixture of agitation and stubbornness in his expression. "Aragok would never allow them to do that! That eight-eyed giant spider was raised by me. When it was a cub, I fed it every day and cared for it as it grew. It promised me that it would keep its offspring in the deepest part of the Forbidden Forest, ensuring they wouldn't harm anyone, provoke conflict, or encroach on the territory of other creatures!"

"Hagrid." Ronan looked at the agitated Hagrid, a hint of pity barely perceptible, but more so an undisguised grimness. "What you're talking about are promises from long ago. Aragog may still remember your kindness and have always kept its promise to you, but it is now old and frail, and simply cannot control the hunger and instincts of all its offspring."

His gaze drifted into the depths of the dense forest: "In recent years, the population of giant eight-eyed spiders has grown increasingly large, their numbers have surged, and the prey deep within the Forbidden Forest can no longer satisfy their hunger. Hunger is always the most terrifying thing; it can tear apart all constraints, causing even the most docile creatures to bare their sharp fangs and do things against their nature."

As soon as Ronan finished speaking, Puni thought of the scene he had seen at the hippocampus habitat: the footprints that were deeply embedded in the mud and exceptionally heavy, and the drag mark that stretched deep into the dense forest.

Could it be that those marks weren't left by humans, but by a giant eight-eyed spider?

But he immediately dismissed the idea; the neat footprints at the scene couldn't possibly be spider footprints.

Therefore, there must be a third party present at the scene, and this person is very likely to be connected to the attack on the hippogriff and the unusual behavior of the eight-eyed spider.

Just as Hagrid was about to argue, insisting that Aragog would restrain its offspring, Puni quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm: "Hagrid, calm down. Ronan is right. Aragog may still consider you a friend and remember its promise to you, but it is getting old, and its colony is so large. It can't possibly command every single eight-eyed spider, let alone completely restrain the instincts of all the spiders."

Puni's gaze shifted to the clearing: "If their numbers are so great that food is scarce, in order to survive, they might very well actively attack large animals like hippogriffs. Look at those feathers that have been forcibly torn off, and the trampled marks on the bushes; that brutal method is exactly the same as the hunting habits of spiders."

Hagrid opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found himself unable to utter a single word. His face was filled with pain and struggle, his brows furrowed, and his eyes filled with disbelief and resentment. He could not accept that the eight-eyed giant spider he had personally raised and regarded as his "little darling" had now become a threat to the peace of the Forbidden Forest and an attack on other magical creatures. This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to him.

Puni stopped trying to persuade Hagrid. Instead, he slowly turned around, turned his gaze to Ronan, and asked the most crucial question with a serious expression: "Ronan, I want to ask you, besides Hagrid and me, and those who regularly enter the Forbidden Forest to maintain order, have you centaurs recently observed any other intruders? Especially—those who can leave human footprints and move around suspiciously."

Upon hearing this, Ronan slowly lowered his head and fell into deep thought. His forehead, which was covered with star-patterned lines, furrowed, and a thoughtful look flashed in his deep eyes. His aura became more and more steady. The wind blew through the forest, and the leaves rustled. For a moment, only the occasional low whimpering of his teeth could be heard.

After a moment, Ronan slowly raised his head, letting the light fall on Penny and Hagrid, and calmly asked, "Aren't you and Headmaster Dumbledore considered trespassers, as you say? Both of you have been frequently entering and leaving the Forbidden Forest recently."

Puni paused for a moment, then shook his head and explained helplessly, "Uh—I'm not talking about 'us,' nor do I include Headmaster Dumbledore. I'm talking about strangers other than me, Hagrid, and Headmaster Dumbledore—those who entered the Forbidden Forest without a valid reason."

"Strangers—" Ronan repeated the three words in a low voice, "The forest never welcomes outsiders. Their intrusion only disrupts the forest's balance and tranquility. However, recently, a Hogwarts professor has indeed entered the edge of the Forbidden Forest several times, each time ostensibly to study the local magical ecology and record the habits of magical creatures," staying for a period of time before leaving."

Ronan's vision cleared a bit, and he slowly announced the name: "It's your school's new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—Professor Oren Cass."

"Professor Cass?" Hagrid looked a little confused when he heard the name and repeated it.

His thoughts were still preoccupied with the giant eight-eyed spider, and he didn't react for a moment. After a while, he slowly came to his senses and said in a low voice, "Oh, right, there is such a professor. He did come to the Forbidden Forest a few times and greeted me, saying that he wanted to collect some herbs unique to the Forbidden Forest and observe the living habits of the Bowtruckles. He seemed very kind and spoke very gently, not like someone who would cause trouble."

Unlike Hagrid's bewilderment, Puni frowned. A Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, instead of preparing and teaching at the school, was frequently appearing on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and near the site of the Hippogriff attack? This was far too much of a coincidence.

His doubts grew heavier. The human footprints left at the scene, while not directly proving that they were left by Professor Cass, would have been easy for a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to subdue a few hippogriffs. Moreover, his reasoning, though seemingly reasonable, always felt somewhat far-fetched and too deliberate.

"Hagrid, we can't delay any longer." Puni turned sharply to Hagrid. "Let's not rush to find Aragog; now is not the time. If those giant spiders are truly becoming extremely aggressive due to hunger, going to them now would be like walking into a trap—too dangerous!"

Hagrid looked at Puni's extremely serious expression, then turned to look at Ronan's solemn gaze. His stubbornness gradually dissipated, and he finally sobered up a bit from his blind trust in Aragog. He slowly lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, and realized that what was happening in the Forbidden Forest was far more complicated and dangerous than he had imagined. It was not as simple as the eight-eyed spiders being hungry.

"You're right, Penny." Hagrid slowly raised his head, the pain on his face gradually replaced by determination. He clenched his fist and said heavily, "Let's go, we'll go find Headmaster Dumbledore now. We must tell him everything that happened in the Forbidden Forest, and Professor Cass's strange behavior, so he can figure out a solution."

Puni nodded, then turned to Ronan and said slowly, "Thank you, respected Forest Guardian. Thank you for telling us this important information. Please be extra careful when you patrol the forest. Also, please convey my regards to Xinglun. I am very grateful for his help in the Forbidden Forest last time."

Ronan nodded, his deep eyes once again fixed on Puni, mysterious and serious: "Watch your step, little pony. I saw your figure appear in this forest in the trajectory of the stars. Aries and Sagittarius are traveling together; darkness is about to fall. You must be fully prepared to face whatever is to come."

After saying this, Ronan said no more. With a flash, he nimbly slipped into the bushes beside him and disappeared instantly into the dense foliage, leaving only a slight rustling sound that quickly dissipated into the silence of the forest. Only Hagrid and Puni remained standing quietly, along with Tooth, who kept his head down and pressed against the ground like a stone, not daring to move easily. The atmosphere was still somewhat heavy and uncertain.

"Aries and Sagittarius?" Puni stopped in his tracks, his brows furrowed, repeatedly muttering Ronan's parting words. He didn't know what this prophetic statement meant, who Aries and Sagittarius represented, or what was about to happen. All sorts of questions swirled in his mind, leaving him unable to shake them off.

Hagrid, standing beside him, had no time to ponder these obscure words. The solemnity on his face did not lessen at all; instead, it was tinged with barely concealed anxiety. Although he had learned from Ronan that Buckbeak and the others were not in immediate danger and had left the attacked habitat, he could not put his mind at ease. He was always worried that the injured hippogriffs would encounter new troubles, and even if there was only a slight possibility, he could not wait in peace.

Without further delay, the two hurried back along the path they had come from, their steps quick and silent the entire way. The only sounds were the crunching of fallen leaves underfoot and Hagrid's slightly heavy breathing. After about half an hour, they finally reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Standing there, they could clearly see the majestic gates and thick stone walls of Hogwarts Castle. Sunlight shone on the castle's spires, reflecting a faint golden glow, creating a stark contrast with the eerie and deep Forbidden Forest behind them.

Hagrid stopped and turned to Penny, saying solemnly, "Let's part ways here. Listen to me, Penny, this time you may need to return to the castle immediately, find Headmaster Dumbledore, and tell him everything that happened in the Forbidden Forest. I must go back to find Buckbeak and the others; I'm so worried about them. The thought of them possibly being injured or trapped makes me restless."

As he spoke, Hagrid slowly crouched down, his massive body leaning forward, his gaze level with Puni's. His wrinkled eyes were already overflowing with worry. He cared too much about those hippogriffs, especially Buckbeak. In his heart, those magical creatures were like his family, and he could not let them fall into danger.

"No, Hagrid, you absolutely cannot go back alone!" Penny immediately stepped forward, grabbing Hagrid's rough, thick sleeves with both hands. "If those giant spiders are really as Ronan said, becoming extremely aggressive due to hunger, going back alone now would be courting danger! We should go see Headmaster Dumbledore together to discuss a plan before making any decisions. Even if you rush to find them now, you might not be able to—Ronan already said they've left their original habitat and their whereabouts are unknown. Even if you manage to find them, without healing potions, you won't be able to help the injured hippogriffs, and you might even put yourself in danger, which would be a net loss."

"Puni, let me finish." Hagrid abruptly straightened up, turning to face Puni. His massive face, etched with worry and stubbornness, grew heavy. "But Buckbeak is different. It's like my child. I've watched it grow from a cub. I can't just stand by and do nothing about it potentially being in danger. If it's seriously injured, trapped somewhere, or being chased by those crazed spiders, my conscience won't allow it to remain idle!"

Hagrid's voice trembled slightly as he shook his head vigorously. "I know every path in the Forbidden Forest. I know which places are dangerous and which can be avoided. I can protect myself and find them. You don't need to worry about me."

"But you—" Puni wanted to continue persuading, but Hagrid interrupted him before he could finish speaking.

"No buts!" Hagrid said resolutely, patting his chest with his massive hand, making a deep, resounding thud. "You go and tell Headmaster Dumbledore everything—the strange activity in the Forbidden Forest, the unusual behavior of the eight-eyed spider, and what happened to Professor Cass. As for me, I must do what I must do—I am the guardian of the Forbidden Forest, and protecting every magical creature here is my responsibility. I cannot back down."

Looking at the unwavering determination in Hagrid's eyes, and the deep concern and persistence in them, Puni knew that any further persuasion would be futile. At this moment, Hagrid's loyalty and love for his friend had completely overwhelmed all reason. His mind was made up; he would go back to find Buckbeak no matter what.

"Fine." Puni didn't care anymore.

"Good boy, thank you—I promise you, I will be careful and won't put myself in a desperate situation. Go quickly and tell Headmaster Dumbledore what happened."

Having said that, Hagrid did not hesitate any longer, turned around and walked into the increasingly eerie and secluded Forbidden Forest, his figure gradually disappearing among the dense branches and leaves.

Puni stood there, looking in the direction Hagrid had left, shook his head, and turned to run towards Hogwarts Castle. He had to inform Headmaster Dumbledore of everything that had happened in the Forbidden Forest as quickly as possible.

Puni ran wildly, across the lawn in front of the castle, through the foyer, without daring to stop, towards the granite staircase. Soon, he reached the headmaster's office door and shouted the command to the stone monster at the entrance: "Candy today too!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the stone monster slowly jumped to the side. The stone wall behind him made a slight rumbling sound and slowly cracked open, revealing a spiral stone staircase in front of him. Without hesitation, Puni rushed into the spiral staircase and ran up the stairs quickly. A moment later, he pushed open the door to the principal's office.

At that moment, Professor Dumbledore was standing beside the perch of the phoenix Fawkes, holding a glittering, colorful candy in his hand, gently trying to feed it to Fawkes.

Fox turned his head away with a helpless expression, tilting his head to the side, clearly having no interest in the candy and refusing Dumbledore's offer to feed him.

Inside the principal's office, various uniquely shaped silver instruments were displayed, emitting soft clicking and humming sounds that intertwined to create a soothing rhythm.