At this moment, the dormitory was silent.
Li Jordan has realized that the situation is not good. Fred and George are most likely missing, otherwise they would not have returned to the dormitory to sleep at night.
"I'll go to the common room and ask if anyone has seen them," he said immediately, and took action.
Albert looked around the dormitory, suppressed the sleepiness between his brows, stuffed a large piece of chocolate into his mouth, went to the bathroom to wash his face, and patted his cheeks in front of the mirror to make himself completely awake.
Li Jordan had returned, his face was not very good, obviously nothing good was going on. When he saw Albert coming back, he immediately went to meet him, "They are not in the common room."
"Are they going into the Forbidden Forest to look for the so-called secret treasure?" Albert asked after washing his face and regaining his clarity of mind, "Did you find any new secrets on the treasure map?"
"This..." Li Jordan hesitated.
"If Fred and George go into the woods, things will be a little bad." Albert's expression froze, and he found that there was new movement on his task panel.
Mysterious disappearance.
Two of your good friends did not return to the dormitory before curfew. They are suspected to be missing. As your roommate and friend, you should try your best to find them.
Reward: 1000 experience.
"Come with me, we'll talk about this while we walk." Albert grabbed George's used wizard hat and strode towards the common room.
"You mean, they went into the forest?" Lee Jordan also realized that the situation was not good. If Fred and George went into the forest and they hadn't come back yet, the situation would be very bad. The forbidden forest was very dangerous at night.
There were not many students lingering in the common room. A couple was whispering to each other, paying no attention to their surroundings. The students doing their holiday homework were concentrating all their attention on the parchment and did not notice Albert and Lee Jordan leaving the common room.
"I'm not sure if they went into the woods." Albert looked at Li Jordan and asked, "Tell me, did you get anything from the treasure map?"
"Yes, they found some changes on the treasure map." Li Jordan hesitated and continued, "They found that you seemed to be unaware of it, so they asked me to keep it a secret and said they would not tell you for the time being."
"Go on," said Albert.
"Fred and George believe the map should be real. As you know, they have been into the woods." Lee Jordan followed behind Albert and told him what he knew.
"I really don't know. Why didn't they tell me?" Albert stopped and looked at Li Jordan unhappily.
"Fred said that if you knew, you would definitely stop them from taking risks in the woods," Lee Jordan explained with a sigh.
"That's inevitable. The outskirts of the forest are not dangerous, but that doesn't mean it's not dangerous to go deep into the forest." Albert raised his wand and cast an Disillusionment Spell on himself and Lee Jordan.
"Are we going into the woods?" Li Jordan seemed to have guessed Albert's thoughts and was shocked by his boldness. He suggested hesitantly, "I think we'd better go find Professor McGonagall."
"No, let's go find Hagrid. We need Hagrid's help." Albert rejected Lee Jordan's proposal without hesitation.
"But we can't get out. The castle gate is closed and we can't open it." Li Jordan reminded.
"I know where the secret passage out of the castle is." Albert added, "Fred told me when we went out for a night walk last time."
"But... why don't we go find Professor McGonagall?" Li Jordan still didn't understand. In his opinion, they should go find Professor McGonagall now.
"Hagrid knows the Forbidden Forest better than anyone else. With his help, we can enter and exit the Forbidden Forest safely." Albert took Lee Jordan to take a shortcut. "Don't make a big deal out of this, otherwise Fred and George will be in big trouble. What's more, we can't be sure whether they have entered the forest."
"We really can't be sure of that," Lee Jordan muttered. "Maybe they're still in school."
"It's easy to confirm this, hush." Albert made a hush gesture, and there were footsteps coming towards this side not far away. He immediately extinguished the light on the wand and hid with Lee Jordan.
"Strange, I clearly heard someone talking." Filch walked over here, holding an oil lamp in his hand and looking into the dark corridor. Not finding anyone, he turned and walked away.
After hearing the footsteps fade away, Albert and Li Jordan came out from the corner and came to a vase at the corner of the third floor.
"Is this the secret passage leading out of the castle?"
"Turn left, turn right."
Albert stepped forward and tapped the vase twice with his wand.
The vase began to make a slight grinding sound.
Li Qiaodan was surprised to find a black spot in a landscape painting hanging on the wall next to him. The black spot gradually enlarged and soon a door was seen.
"Leave."
Albert stepped forward, grabbed the door handle, and pushed it gently. The original photo frame was opened, revealing the entrance hidden behind it.
"So secretive," Lee Jordan muttered.
"Don't tell anyone else."
"Know."
A few minutes later, the two finally walked out of the secret passage, and Li Jordan was surprised to find himself on the mountain road leading to the dock.
"Knock on this raised stone three times?" Albert pointed at the raised stone and said, "The password to open the entrance is: Open quickly."
"Damn it, those two guys must know a lot of secret passages and they didn't even tell me." Li Qiaodan complained in a low voice.
"Follow me." Albert walked towards Hagrid's hut.
"How do you plan to confirm whether Fred and George are in the Forbidden Forest?" Lee Jordan couldn't help asking.
This is very important, he doesn't want to rush into the forbidden forest rashly.
"Use owls. Owls have tracking abilities. We can use owls to determine whether Fred and George are in the Forbidden Forest." Albert explained.
Albert didn't have tracking magic, but the owl had that ability. Through the owl, Albert could determine whether the two guys were in the woods.
"It can actually be done this way." Li Jordan was shocked by Albert's bizarre idea, but it seemed to be a good idea, so he quickly quickened his pace and followed Albert.
The two finally arrived at Hagrid's hut. There was no light inside. Perhaps Hagrid was already asleep, but their approach immediately aroused the vigilance of the hound Fang.
"Hagrid, Hagrid, we need your help." Albert raised his fist and knocked hard on Hagrid's wooden door.
A series of bangs were heard in the night, and only the barking of dogs could be heard in Hagrid's hut, but Hagrid did not get up to open the door.
Something is wrong.
"Will he..." Lee Jordan originally wanted to ask if Hagrid was asleep, but then he thought it was not right. If Hagrid was really asleep, Albert would not have reacted to such a big noise.
Albert pointed his wand at the lock and muttered, "Alaho."
The lock was opened and Albert pushed the door open. The light from the tip of his wand flashed through Hagrid's hut. As expected, there was no one inside. He might have gone out for something.
"Isn't it inappropriate for us to break in?" Li Jordan followed Albert into the house a little uneasily.
Yaya couldn't see them and was circling around the two of them, sniffing the air.
"Of course it's not good." Albert removed the Disillusionment Spell on his body and squatted down to comfort Yaya to prevent it from getting too excited.
"Then you still..." Before Li Qiaodan finished his words, he heard the fluttering sound of wings outside the house. He quickly turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound, and found that Sheila flew into the house and landed on the wooden table.
Albert's owl always appears when his owner needs to send a letter.
"Give it to George." Albert put down Hagrid's quill, handed his handkerchief to the owl, and reminded him: "Remember to give it to George himself."
Sheila grabbed her handkerchief and spread her wings, heading out in the direction of the forbidden forest.
Seeing the direction the owl was flying, the expressions of the two men suddenly darkened. If Fred and George were in the castle, the owl would fly towards the castle, but now it was flying towards the woods, which meant that the two of them had really entered the woods.
"What should we do now? Go back to see Professor McGonagall?" Li Jordan asked after taking a deep breath.
"Yes, go back to find Professor McGonagall." Albert nodded.
Li Jordan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard this. He was really afraid that Albert would say he wanted to go into the woods to look for someone. To be honest, he didn't have the courage to go into the woods at this time. The forest at night really looked gloomy and scary.
"Where did they come into the woods from?" Albert asked.
"You wouldn't..." Li Qiaodan suddenly had a bad feeling.
"I'm going into the woods, you go back to find Professor McGonagall. Don't worry, I can guarantee my own safety, and you need to go back because someone must let Professor McGonagall know about this." Albert looked at Li Jordan and explained, "This matter is also very important."
"But!"
"If I can't find them within two hours, I will come back by myself. Don't worry, I have ways to ensure my safety. You know, I never do anything without confidence." Albert raised his hand and patted Li Jordan's shoulder. "Besides, do you think I would joke about my own life?"
"But how are you going to find them?" Li Jordan asked puzzledly.
"Of course, it depends on the tooth."
Li Jordan looked at the hound, then at the wizard hat that Albert had just held, and then he suddenly realized. He had been wondering why Albert was holding a wizard hat, and it turned out to be for this!
"Come with me."
Lee Jordan took Albert to the entrance where Fred and George had entered the Forbidden Forest without telling Hagrid.
Albert handed Fred's hat to Yaya and whispered, "Yaya, help me find Fred and I'll buy you something delicious someday."
Yaya sniffed left and right, then walked along the narrow path towards the forbidden forest.
"Remember, go find Professor McGonagall first. If possible, it's best to call Hagrid as well." Albert reminded again.
"Actually, you really don't need to take the risk." Li Qiaodan hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's too dangerous to go in at this time."
"I can protect myself." Albert took out his pocket watch, checked the time and said to Li Jordan, "It's twelve o'clock now. If I don't find anyone, I will be back in two hours."
"You should know how to get back to the castle. Knock on that raised stone three times. The password is to open the hole quickly." Albert reminded again: "If Professor McGonagall asks, you can say that Fred and George did not return to the dormitory. They may have gone into the woods."
"Got it." Li Jordan nodded helplessly to show that he understood. In fact, he couldn't understand why Albert wanted to go into the woods
There was a reason why Albert insisted on going into the woods.
After confirming through the owl that Fred and George were in the Forbidden Forest, Albert found that a new task had appeared on his task panel:
Rescue operation.
The Weasley brothers entered the Forbidden Forest for some reason and have not returned yet. As a Gryffindor student, roommate and good friend, you can't just leave them alone. You go into the forest, find the Weasley brothers, and bring them out of the Forbidden Forest safely.
Rewards: 2000 experience points, 2 skill points, George Weasley's favorability +10, Fred Weasley's favorability +10.
This mission may mean that finding the twins is not too difficult, but the difficult part should be getting them out of the Forbidden Forest.
Albert naturally had his own methods, he could Apparate, and he had enough experience to upgrade his skills. If necessary, he could ensure that he could Apparate to the edge of the Forbidden Forest at any time.
The most important thing is the Protection of All that he had just learned from Professor Broad not long ago. With this defensive magic combined with Apparition, he would be invincible.
However, if possible, Albert did not want to reveal that he could Apparate. That was the last line of defense, so he needed someone to come to the rescue. Professor McGonagall or other professors could serve as the first line of defense.
Just as Albert followed Yaya into the dark forbidden forest, Lee Jordan had already returned to the castle as fast as he could.
And Albert's owl, carrying his handkerchief, spread its wings and flew deep into the forbidden forest.
For owls, night is their active time, and the owls at Hogwarts often forage in the Forbidden Forest.
Albert had told Sheila to give the handkerchief to George, and the owl immediately locked onto George's position and found the target at an extremely fast speed.
As Albert expected, Fred and George were not in a good situation. They were surrounded by a group of eight-eyed giant spiders.
Sheila did not descend. She felt threatened by the situation below, and the handkerchief that the owl had caught was thrown down and landed right on George's head.
"What is this?" Fred reached out to grab the handkerchief, but it was empty. Fortunately, George was quick to grab the handkerchief back.
There were some words written on the handkerchief, and George read them out with the help of the light from the magic wand: "Shoot red sparks into the sky. If you have any problems, you can ask the centaurs for help. They will take you out of the forest."
"Albert's owl." George looked up and saw Sheila, and said excitedly: "We are saved."
"Centaurs? Where can I find centaurs!" Fred couldn't help shivering as he looked at the densely packed giant spiders below.
The two's luck was really bad. They searched for Gryffindor's secret treasure according to the treasure map, but as you can imagine, they got lost.
Later, they somehow encountered a giant eight-eyed spider and were almost eaten. Fortunately, George used the barrier spell in time and they escaped.
Somehow, more and more spiders were chasing them, and Fred happened to come across an old guardian tree on the road when he remembered.
Thanks to the fact that I listened carefully in class, and Albert used the guardian tree to make a protective bracelet.
The two men ran to the guardian tree and luckily escaped.
However, this is not the end of the story.
The number of the eight-eyed giant spiders increased, surrounding the guardian tree. Some of them even tried to cross the guardian tree to attack them.
In the end, the two had no choice but to climb a tree, which angered the hunchback living on the guardian tree, leaving them with multiple scratches.
"Hurry, another big spider is coming." George screamed.
“There are so many obstacles.”
The two of them pointed their wands at the eight-eyed giant spider that was trying to approach the guardian tree, and hit it with two spells, which knocked the giant spider away.
"Thanks for learning the barrier spell from Albert." George muttered.
"Shoot red sparks into the sky." Fred raised his wand and shot red sparks into the sky.
At the beginning, they were surrounded by a group of big spiders. They both almost went crazy. The dense swarm of spiders was really visually impactful. They got so nervous that they forgot about it.
"Don't do that." George quickly stopped Fred.
"Why?"
"What if Albert comes here alone and runs into these giant spiders?" George looked at the army of spiders below, his face full of worry.
"I think Albert will ask other professors for help. Given his personality, it's unlikely that he would venture into the Forbidden Forest alone." Based on Fred's understanding of Albert, the probability of that guy entering the Forbidden Forest alone was not high.