"... If you don't mind, I also want to make a few more friends."
The sudden appearance of this young man named Sokas caught both Ron and Hermione off guard.
After Maka's warning was first conveyed to their ears by Harry, they unconsciously wanted to stay away from this person. And the opponent's slightly leaning towards Slytherin's attitude just made them relax a little.
When the other party's intentions have not yet been revealed, it is the wisest behavior to keep a certain distance and secretly explore.
But they never thought that the other party would step into their circle so suddenly. This couldn't help but make Hermione secretly vigilant, but also couldn't help but feel doubtful.
What on earth does he want to do
"Of course we welcome making friends, but..." Hermione organized her words carefully, "We must stay in the castle. Professor McGonagall just told us."
"Really?" Sokas smiled and said, "Yes, since we are students, we must know how to listen to what the professor says..."
He first affirmed Hermione's words, but in the blink of an eye he began to refute calmly.
“But in certain emergency situations, we must also know how to think, judge, and act on our own—” Sokas said seriously, “Just like now, the situation in the Forbidden Forest requires us to figure out a solution together. "
"'The situation in the Forbidden Forest'?" Hermione looked at him with an incomprehensible look.
"Yes, haven't you noticed yet?" Sokas met Hermione's suspicious and wary gaze without evasion, and said calmly, "There is a worse situation in the Forbidden Forest. Mr. Potter may It’s dangerous!”
"What are you talking about?" Ron frowned, "What happened in the Forbidden Forest? And, weren't you with us? How did you know?"
"You can tell just by looking at it?" Sokas waved to them, and then, as if he knew they would follow him, he turned and walked towards the corner of the corridor where he came from.
Indeed, hearing what he said, it was impossible for the two people who cared about Harry and Hagrid's comfort not to take a look. Even if the other party is lying, you can only keep up with the other party by reminding yourself to be alert at all times.
After Sokas' back disappeared around the corner, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and then took steps at the same time.
In the corridor on the other side of the corner, you can see the outside scene through the window. If you look hard enough to the right, you can indeed see the Forbidden Forest.
Although you can only see part of it, and what you see at a glance is definitely a dense and boring tree crown.
When they turned the corner, they immediately saw Sokas' figure - he didn't go far, he was standing by the window quietly waiting for the arrival of Hermione and Ron.
The two of them glanced at Sokas hesitantly, and then turned their heads to look out the window in a nervous state.
At just the first glance, they discovered that the other party was not lying, because they soon saw something strange on the other side of the Forbidden Forest—a crooked gap appeared in the middle of the originally undulating dark green canopy, and at one end of the gap, Somewhere near the outer circle of the Forbidden Forest, there was a trace of black that was roughly squeezing through the trees and moving forward.
After all, the Forbidden Forest is still some distance away from the castle, and it is difficult to see clearly what the black color is here.
But of course Hermione and Ron knew...
No, I believe everyone can see that that black streak must be some kind of huge creature, so big that even the towering tree crown cannot completely cover it.
"What is that?" Hermione and Ron both whispered in surprise.
"Who knows? But it must not be a good thing..."
Sokas, who was standing aside, shrugged, and then seemed to want to continue saying something, but hesitated for some reason.
"Well..." He thought for a while, then spoke again, "By the way, I have another piece of news that is not very good. Do you want to listen to it?"
"What?"
Hermione and Ron, who were about to turn around and leave, stopped when they heard this. This time, Ron spoke first, but there was a hint of impatience in his tone.
He had never had a good impression of this Sokas, and even putting aside Maka's reminder, he didn't like this new classmate who seemed to have some talent.
In Ron's opinion, this guy is a bit hypocritical no matter how you look at it. If he had to describe it, maybe he would compare this guy named Sokas to "an enhanced version of Malfoy who has learned to act deep."
All in all, it’s just not pleasing to the eye.
"On my way back to the castle, I accidentally saw another person running into the Forbidden Forest -" Sokas said calmly in the anxious gaze of the two people, "Well, he was sorted into your academy. of Helen, Helen Schon.”
"Why didn't you tell me earlier!"
Hermione was really angry this time. She said angrily and then turned around and ran away. Ron quickly stepped up to catch up.
While leaving, he did not forget to turn back and glare at Sokas angrily.
"Hmph - do your best, you two." Sokas chuckled, "... Stupid friendship."
He didn't waste any more time and immediately took steps to follow closely. It can be seen that he is not as weak as ordinary wizards in terms of physical strength, and he was not far away from the flying Hermione and Ron.
…
On the other side, Professor McGonagall and another figure were moving quickly on the lawn, heading towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest on the side of the hunting lodge.
In fact, Hermione's guess was indeed reasonable. It was a very good idea for Professor McGonagall to call Flitwick to accompany her. But this time she guessed wrong.
Running next to Professor McGonagall was not the little Professor Flitwick, but the rather short and chubby Head of Hufflepuff and Professor of Herbology - Pomona Sprout.
Among the professors at Hogwarts, except for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who has never been able to secure his seat, everyone else can be called competent.
Even Trelawny, the divination professor who is not very trusted, and Hagrid, the protection of magical creatures professor who always scares people with dangerous species, are very suitable for their respective positions.
But if someone asks the young wizards who among the various professors has the highest combat ability.
Maybe some people will support Professor Flitwick, maybe some people will think that Snape is probably very strong, and maybe, as the current acting headmaster, Professor McGonagall is definitely not bad either...
However, I am afraid that no one will think of Sprout, the amiable herbal medicine professor who is as kind as a kind fat grandma when considering the level of combat.
But, as the head of Hufflepuff House, is she really only good at taking care of flowers and plants
Well, actually flowers and plants are not simple, not at all! Especially flowers and plants with all kinds of weird and magical powers.
Professor McGonagall, who had been her classmate for two years, knew very well that if she was in an area with lush vegetation, she would make anyone who dared to look down on her suffer.
Not long after, Mag and Sprout rushed into the woods hand in hand. Not long after they stepped into the forest, they felt the ground trembling.
"Something's wrong, this is not something centaurs can make." Professor McGonagall frowned.
"Anyway, let's go take a look first. It should be over there," Professor Sprout's face lost its usual gentleness, and she pointed in a certain direction without hesitation, "I hope Potter is okay... Oh, really not. Willing to think more!”
The two of them ran quickly in the forest, but they were still old after all. The strenuous exercise made the two old wizards look a little hard, and they gasped one after another in their ears.
After running wildly among trees and bushes, they soon found that they were in the right place. The source of the vibration that the two of them noticed at first seemed to be not far ahead.
When they once again pushed through the dense bushes that were half a person tall, and after bypassing a few trees, they suddenly saw a scene of fierce group fighting.
It might not be appropriate to call it a group battle. To be precise, it was a siege!
The centaurs ran back and forth in the forest with agility and familiarity, and the tree trunks with small gaps could not hinder them in the slightest. These creatures, whose upper body resembled a humanoid but whose lower body resembled that of a horse, bent their bows and set arrows. The arrows shot toward the extremely huge beast again and again with a whistling sound that broke through the air.
On the other side, Hagrid was protecting Harry behind him impatiently, his eyes full of anger.
The giant beast that was surrounded by centaurs and was using the tree position to keep shooting was a rare magical creature covered in pitch black—a three-headed giant dog.
It has another name, called "Luwei".
Yes, this is actually Hagrid’s three-headed dog that gets sleepy whenever he listens to music. It was Hagrid who bought it from a Greek wizard in a pub when it was still young.
But creatures like three-headed dogs, no matter how cute they are when they are young, will always make people worry when they grow up - their racial characteristics are determined early on, and they cannot be kept at home as ordinary pets.
Because they eat a lot, grow fast, and have an astonishing average size. I'm afraid only a guy like Hagrid who deeply loves the aesthetics of violence would want to keep such a creature as a pet.
In Maka's first year of school, Hagrid lent this three-headed dog named Luwei to Dumbledore, using it as the first hurdle to protect the Philosopher's Stone.
"They are actually not as scary as people think. As long as they have enough food and a little music, they will be quite satisfied - at least that's the case with Lu Wei!"
Hagrid once said this, but just now, he saw the side of his Lu Wei that he should have had.
In any case, any creature with sharp fangs and sharp claws, no matter how obedient they are trained, is still at risk of suddenly going berserk.
"...Who exactly angered Xiao Luwei?" Hagrid's heart was filled with anger.