At Hogwarts, the story begins with deconstructing Avada Kedavra.

Chapter 66 Mire and Darkness

As Harry and Ron descended the stairs, Argus Filch, the doorman, was already waiting there with a lantern. Behind him stood Draco Malfoy, his face grim, and two trembling girls, Padma and Parvati Petit.

Hermione Granger also stood at the very edge of the group, arms crossed, deliberately keeping her distance from Harry and Ron.

Ron tried to talk to her, but she just turned her head away indifferently, not even bothering to look at him.

And then there's Draco Malfoy, who's using his father Lucius Malfoy, a school board member, to threaten Filch.

"My dad's on the school board! If he knew I'd been assigned to this lowly manual labor, he'd kick you and your stupid cat out of the castle!"

Although neither Filch nor his cat, Mrs. Lorice, were swayed by Malfoy's threats.

"You little rascals, come with me," Filch said, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. "I think you'd better think twice before breaking the rules again, wouldn't you agree?"

He glanced at them sideways and continued, "Oh, yes—if you ask me, I'd say work and hardship are the best teachers—it's a shame they abolished that old method of punishment—hanging you by the wrists and suspending you from the ceiling for days on end."

I still have those chains in my office. I oil them regularly; you never know when they might come in handy.

"Alright, let's go. Don't even think about running away. If you try, you'll be in even worse shape."

They strode across the dark ground, enduring Filch's incessant chatter. Parvati, remembering the terrifying legends of the Forbidden Forest, kept sniffling, and Padma, bewildered, comforted her.

All the way to the pumpkin patch in front of Hagrid's hut, Filch uttered a few harsh words, such as he would come back at dawn to clean up the remains of the young wizards, and then, holding his oil lamp, turned and swayed as he disappeared into the darkness.

Silence fell.

What should have been the most terrifying punishment at Hogwarts, the young wizards standing here now see this death ground as a stage to prove themselves.

Draco Malfoy wore a black dragon-skin windproof cloak and custom-made leather boots.

He avoided the muddy ground with disgust.

The letter from his father, Lucius, still radiated the lingering warmth of power on his desk.

In his eyes, he had already come to believe that the world was a smooth road for him.

"Potter," Draco drawled, his voice carrying far on the howling wind, "you seem to be in a good mood. What, you think you can hide under Dumbledore's robes forever just because he signed that document?"

Harry Potter stood not far from him, with Ron standing beside him.

The night wind tousled his hair, revealing the lightning bolt scars.

Harry gave a mocking smile upon hearing Draco's provocation.

The image of Dumbledore forcing back Ministry of Magic officials with a single sentence at the top of the Astronomy Tower the night before last gave him unparalleled confidence.

"Better than some people, Malfoy," Harry retorted, his eyes filled with contempt. "The worthless papers your father painstakingly wrote wouldn't even be worthy of shining Dumbledore's shoes. You think the Ministry of Magic can control Hogwarts? Give me a break. You and your father are just clowns."

"How dare you insult my father!" Draco's face darkened, and he instinctively reached for his wand.

"What? Want to have a go at it here?" Ron immediately stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.

After witnessing the grand spectacle of smuggling fire dragons, Ron felt he could now take on even trolls one-on-one.

Amidst this absurd bickering, the Petit twins' mental defenses were on the verge of collapse.

"They're insane—they're all insane—" Padma of Ravenclaw was ashen-faced. She clutched her sister's sleeve tightly, muttering under her breath, "This is the edge of the Forbidden Forest! The History of Magic records that at least three types of XXXXX-level dangerous creatures inhabit this forest. The survival rate isn't even 100% to begin with, and they still have the mind to duel here?!"

Padma was filled with utter regret. If she had chosen to spend the night freezing outside the Ravenclaw Tower instead of going out for a night stroll with Parvati, she would certainly not be standing among this group of irrational lunatics waiting to die.

"Shut up, Padma, don't boost their morale!" Parvati tried to argue back, but her trembling legs completely betrayed her.

As a Gryffindor, Parvati tries to maintain the courage of the House.

Her right hand was in her pajama pocket, clutching the packet of "anti-demon powder" that Lavender had given her, which smelled of dead fish, while her left hand held the glass ball that Lucian had given her.

The glass ball pressed against her palm, which was her only psychological comfort at that moment.

"This is just an adventure—even Potter wasn't afraid, so what are we afraid of!"

Parvati stammered as he tried to encourage himself, but his eyes were already red and he looked like he could cry at any moment.

Hermione stood to the side, watching the scene coldly. Then she shrank half her face into the collar of her cloak, completely cutting herself off from communication with these idiots.

"Shut up, all of you!"

A gruff rebuke interrupted the argument.

Hagrid emerged from the darkness carrying a lantern and leading his hound, Tooth.

Just yesterday, as he sat in the cabin, he thought it would be the perfect night hike.

In his plan, this would not only allow Harry, who was feeling down because of the points deduction, to breathe a sigh of relief, but also take advantage of the terrifying atmosphere of the Forbidden Forest to give Malfoy, that snitching Slytherin viper, a good scare—make that kid walk at the front with the lantern and suffer a bit more.

He even naively wrote a report to Dumbledore, thinking his "killing three birds with one stone" plan was absolutely brilliant.

But now, the situation is completely different.

Just as he stood with Ya Ya at the edge of the woods, facing the darkness, a gust of wind carrying an evil aura swept over them.

Tooth tucked its tail between its legs, huddled half its body behind Hagrid's boots, and let out a terrified whimper, refusing to come any closer to the treeline.

The wind awakened Hagrid's foolish optimism.

He shivered.

That evil, extremely deadly thing seems to have intensified.

And he actually wants to take Harry, whom Dumbledore risked his reputation to save from the Ministry of Magic officials, into this perilous land where unknown death lurks!

If Harry makes even the slightest mistake here tonight—

All of this completely crushed the half-giant's blind confidence.

Hagrid was hunched over, and a lingering gloom and fear appeared on his face, which was covered by messy hair and beard.

"Listen," Hagrid's voice held an unusual timidity, his mind racing with frustration over the unicorn's blood, "there's big trouble in the Forbidden Forest. Something's hurting the unicorn. We have to find the wounded giant tonight, or—find what's hurting it."

He hesitated for a moment, looking at the group of children with different thoughts and even mutual animosity, before making a decision to divide them into groups.

Driven by extreme insecurity, Hagrid instinctively wanted to keep Harry, who was most likely to cause trouble and was also his favorite, by his side to keep an eye on him.

"We'll split into two groups. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, you stay with me. As long as you follow my lantern, nothing will dare come near."

Hagrid then pointed to Draco and the twin sisters.

"Malfoy, Neville, and you two, stick with Tooth. If you run into trouble, immediately fire Red Spark. Don't be reckless, understand?"

Draco let out a loud sneer: "Why should I be paired with this Longbottom who can't even ride a broom properly, and these two idiots who run around in the middle of the night? If I get hurt, my dad will definitely make you pay!"

"Enough, Malfoy!" Hagrid interrupted him rudely, his voice laced with warning. "This is the Forbidden Forest, not your father's office! Let's go!"

Deep in the forbidden forest...

Silence filled the air.

Five people and a dog trudged through the darkness, one step at a time.

Draco walked in front, with his teeth pressed tightly against his legs.

Despite the eerie and terrifying surroundings, Draco continued to use harsh words to mask his inner unease.

"What an utterly ridiculous school," Draco grumbled, pushing aside thorny bushes with his wand. "What kind of glowing beasts are we sending noble pure-blood wizards to this quagmire for? Just wait until my dad kicks that old lunatic out of school—"

"Chief's office, I'm determined to have this damned forest completely cut down and turned into the Malfoy family's private hunting grounds!"

"Can you shut up, Malfoy?" Padma finally snapped, her sanity threatening to crumble under the cold and fear. "According to the History of Magic, the Forbidden Forest is inhabited by three types of dangerous creatures of XXXXX level. Are you trying to lure the Eight-Eyed Spider over here to collect our corpses by speaking so loudly?!"

"The mind of a bookworm," Draco scoffed dismissively. "With me here, even a werewolf would have to make way for me. That's the rule of the Ministry of Magic."

Draco's words came to an abrupt halt.

It wasn't because he didn't want to talk, but because a very strange sound suddenly came from ahead.

"Sizzle—Gurgle—Gurgle—"

It was like some kind of extremely hungry beast greedily sucking up an extremely viscous liquid.

Yaya, who had been sniffing ahead, suddenly let out a mournful whimper, tucked its tail between its legs, and scrambled back, disappearing instantly into the bushes.

"Toothie! You useless, stupid dog!" Draco's voice cracked with fright.

The air suddenly cooled down.

Draco froze on the spot. His expensive dragon-skin boots sank into the mud, and he could no longer take another step forward.

In a clearing ahead, where moonlight peeked through the tree canopy, a pristine white body lay in a pool of blood.

It was a beautiful adult unicorn, its neck cruelly ripped open, silvery blood flowing all over the ground.

On the unicorn's corpse lay a shadowy figure wearing a tattered black cloak.

The shadow was burying its head, sucking blood.

Upon hearing footsteps, the dark figure stopped moving.

It slowly turned its head, with the back half of its hood facing the group of children.

Because of the hood, they couldn't see what kind of face it was.

But even through the fabric, that instinctive fear still struck the hearts of everyone.

This is Voldemort.

A Dark Lord who is extremely enraged by hunger and by the power struggles of Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic.

Draco Malfoy stood there, stunned.

He had always believed that power was the official documents of the Ministry of Magic, the strategic planning in his father's letters, something that could be measured by Galleons and bloodlines.

But at that moment, when that oppressive feeling mixed with the aura of death got stuck in his throat, he broke down.

His prized pure bloodline offered him no protection, and his bills didn't even elicit a scream.

Faced with absolute violence, his so-called political confidence is as fragile as paper.

"I—my father is—" Draco's teeth chattered violently as he tried to invoke the talisman that had once been invincible.

The dark figure let out a hoarse, cold laugh.

No nonsense.

A faint, pale green light shone from the cuff of the dark figure's sleeve.

Killing Curse!

The green light didn't hit Draco directly; it merely grazed his scalp and blasted the tree trunk beside him into dust.

"ah--!!!"

Death brushed past us.

Draco screamed, his legs buckled, and he collapsed onto the muddy, decaying ground. A warm liquid uncontrollably oozed from his trouser leg, the stench of urine mingling with the soil.

The once arrogant young master Malfoy was now like a terrified stray dog, clutching his head tightly with both hands, convulsing desperately in the mud.

"No—don't kill me—no—" he cried out incoherently.

Padma, standing nearby, was completely dumbfounded. Her mind was blank, and she couldn't recall a single spell from the "Guide to the Defense of Dark Creatures." She could only watch helplessly as the dark figure rose from the unicorn's corpse and floated toward them.

Parvati's Gryffindor courage was completely frozen at this moment; her hands were stiff in her pockets, and she had no strength left to even take out the glass marbles.

Neville was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, unable to even cry.

It was in this hopeless dead end.

The bushes in the distance were suddenly and violently knocked aside.

"Let them go! You monster!"

Harry Potter, wand in hand, burst out of the woods. Ron followed closely behind.

They broke away from Hagrid's protection and came over after hearing Tooth's screams and Draco's yells.

When Harry saw Draco sprawled in the mud and the terrifying shadowy figure lying on the unicorn's corpse, the scar on his forehead suddenly erupted with an unprecedented burning pain.

The pain was almost tearing his brain apart.

Harry's heart pounded under the oppressive, suffocating pressure of dark magic. Fear filled the air, but he did not back down.

The nerves, stimulated to the extreme by the excruciating pain from the scar, completely ignited the stress response within his body.

Harry gritted his teeth and, under Ron's horrified gaze, took a step forward. He swung his wand directly, unleashing the most offensive evil spell he currently possessed, launching the first attack against the ominous aura.

The light of the incantation shone brightly in the dark open space.

The dark figure stopped sucking blood and slowly turned around.