Hagrid led them to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, pointed to a narrow path hidden in the woods, and said to them: "Since you are curious about what is in the forest... then let's go!"
Albert and his companions looked into the woods. All they saw was a dead silent forest. A cold wind blew from the forest, making the four of them shiver all over. They shuddered together.
"Hagrid, don't you want to get ready?" Albert asked. He thought Hagrid would take a weapon. Isn't it sensible to enter the Forbidden Forest unarmed
"Ready?" Hagrid tilted his head, as if thinking about what Albert meant. After a moment, he patted his chest with his palm as big as a palm fan and said confidently: "As long as you are with me, no creature in the Forbidden Forest will hurt you."
Albert gave Hagrid a thumbs up and praised him: "It seems that not everyone can be a game ranger."
"That's natural."
Hagrid walked in front, and Albert and others hurriedly followed.
The forest was dead silent, with thick snow piled on the ground. The short-legged people's movements were greatly hampered, and walking was extremely difficult.
"It's a pity you want to catch rabbits in this environment." Albert pulled his boots out of the snow. He could feel the snow pouring into his boots.
"Catch rabbits?" Hagrid stopped and turned to look at Albert and his group. "Catch what rabbits?"
"Nothing. Last time we came here, we found a hare," George muttered. "We're planning to go fishing at Black Lake soon."
"Hagrid, where are you taking us?" Fred glared at George and changed the subject.
"Take you around and give you an idea of the Forbidden Forest." Hagrid pointed to the snow around them. "It's always been like this here, you know."
"I heard there are giant monsters in the Forbidden Forest." Li Jordan suddenly asked, "Is this true?"
"Forest trolls? They are deep in the forbidden forest. It may take several days to walk there." Hagrid said confidently, "Even if you encounter trolls, don't worry. I can defeat them with my bare hands."
"Are there really giant monsters here?" Albert asked in surprise.
In fact, Albert had no doubt that Hagrid could defeat the troll. After all, he had the blood of a giant and was the kind of person who could walk sideways in the Forbidden Forest.
"There were, and there were quite a few. After Dumbledore took over as headmaster, he decided to drive the trolls away from Hogwarts. He didn't like those stupid guys." Hagrid explained, "Trolls are stupid and dangerous to most students."
"I think the principal knew that some students would go into the woods out of curiosity, so he drove away all the dangerous things nearby to prevent accidents from happening to the students," Fred guessed.
"That makes sense." Several people agreed.
"What I'm more curious about is why there is a road here?" Albert pointed to the fork in the road ahead, "This doesn't look like an animal trail."
"Most of the roads here were opened up by me," Hagrid said proudly. "Of course, some of them were originally animal paths."
For the next period of time, Hagrid took them wandering around in the forest. They didn't encounter any danger and didn't see any magical creatures.
There were no so-called ferocious beasts in the forest, nor any curious and interesting things. There was only the cold and silence of winter.
This reminded Albert of the adventure novels he had read before. Behind every thrilling adventure was often boring traveling day and night.
There is a rare open space in the dense bushes. The sunlight shines through the branches, casting a golden glow on the open space.
Albert's sight fell on an unnatural raised area under an old pine oak. He walked over, pushed aside the snow, and dug out a mushroom from it
No, it doesn't look like a mushroom. This thing should be called a fungus.
"Hagrid, do you think this is edible?" Albert handed the mushroom he found to Hagrid.
"This? What are you doing with this?" Hagrid scratched his head, but nodded and explained, "Yes, it tastes okay, but I don't eat it. It's usually only available in winter, and the number is relatively rare. It's very hard to dig it up."
Don’t eat this stuff
Albert's mouth twitched as he stared at the thing in his hand. He thought it looked a bit like...
"What are you digging this for?" George asked curiously.
"Nothing. I heard that this thing tastes good when roasted." Albert coughed lightly, bent down and dug out another smaller flower from the snow. He used his magic wand to turn a branch into a bag, threw the things he dug into the bag, and stuffed it back into his robe pocket.
"Roasted, delicious?" Hagrid raised an eyebrow. "I haven't tried it."
"Ahem." Albert changed the subject, "Hagrid, are you taking us around the outside of the woods?"
"The Forbidden Forest is very big, we can't go out for fun for several days." The embarrassment on Hagrid's face was hidden under his big beard, and no one else could see it.
After walking for a while, Albert heard the sound of gurgling water in the distance. There was a stream nearby, and it was not frozen yet
Hagrid suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal the people behind him to stop. He stared at the figure not far away and shouted, "Who's there? Come out."
"Hagrid? Why are you here?" The person who spoke was a witch who seemed to know Hagrid.
"Who are you?" Hagrid looked a little embarrassed, obviously forgetting the other person's name.
Albert looked at the visitor curiously. It was a witch with short gray hair and a protruding chin.
"Wilmina Grubbly-Plank," the witch introduced herself. "We have met several times before."
"Oh, hello, Grubbly-Plank." Hagrid patted his head awkwardly. He had met him several times at Professor Kettleburt's place. Grubbly-Plank was also an expert in magical biology, and they would occasionally communicate and exchange experiences with each other.
"Hagrid, what are you doing here?" The witch Grubbly-Plank's eyes fell on the four students behind Hagrid, "They are students from Hogwarts, right?"
"This..." Hagrid was quite embarrassed and didn't know what to say. It was obviously against the rules for him to bring Albert and others into the woods.
"Ahem, ma'am, Hagrid actually brought us here to dig for matsutake mushrooms." Albert took out what he had just dug from his pocket, "and satisfy our curiosity at the same time."
"Matsutake?" Grubbly-Plank's eyes fell on the mushrooms in Albert's hand and he looked at Hagrid suspiciously.
The latter nodded awkwardly, pretending that this was the case.
Grubbly-Plank did not ask further. She was not a professor at Hogwarts, so it was not easy for her to say more on this matter. After chatting with Hagrid for a few words, she said goodbye and left, preparing to visit Professor Kettleburt.
"What is that lady doing here?" George inquired curiously.
"To visit Professor Kettleburt. They are both experts in magical creatures. I have seen her several times at Professor Kettleburt's place." Hagrid scratched his head and said, "I heard that Professor Kettleburt's bird snake eggs have hatched, and he is going to give her a few."
"Speaking of which, you can really make up a lie at will?" Fred looked at Albert unhappily and said, "It seems that I can't believe your lies in the future."
"I call this wit, understand?" Albert emphasized again and again. "Do you know what wit is?"
"Besides, we did dig up some matsutake mushrooms. It is said that this stuff tastes good when grilled over charcoal. It would be great if we could dig up some." Albert had never tasted matsutake mushrooms, and he was a little curious whether grilled matsutake mushrooms were really as delicious as the rumors said.
"Hey, that's not the point. How come that witch is going to visit Professor Kettlebur?" Fred asked curiously. "Does the Care of Magical Biology professor live in the woods?"
"Professor Kettlebur is indeed staying in the forest temporarily." Hagrid coughed dryly and reminded: "But I think we should go back."
"Isn't it said that the Forbidden Forest is very dangerous?" Li Jordan asked back.
"Professor Kettlebur lives on the outskirts of the forest, and the magical creatures he raises need open space to move around." Hagrid coughed lightly and said, "Well, I think we should go back."