"...Hermione, I'm really grateful that you are willing to help me find little Demi. However, you must promise to go back an hour before lights out."
"Although I don't look very presentable, I am also a professor now, and I must be responsible for your study and life in school!"
In the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid was holding an old hunting crossbow in his hand, with an arrow pouch sewn from leather on his waist.
In the past, he was forbidden to use any magic spells, so he rarely used magic unless he really needed to.
By now, the Ministry of Magic would definitely not interfere with such nosy matters, but he had long been accustomed to not relying on the wand hidden in the umbrella.
But for Maka, with Hagrid's magical talent, punching first when in doubt is the most suitable way of action for him.
"Hagrid, we all understand." Hermione held her wand and walked behind Hagrid, blocking a few branches in front of her. "Then Harry and I will leave from here. If we find anything, We will send out the signal.”
"Um."
Hearing this, Hagrid couldn't help but look back at the children.
I have to say that the little ones back then have all grown up. If we just talk about magic strength, he, a professor who is actually not very qualified, may not be able to compare with it.
"Be careful."
When the four of them passed a fork in a forest path, Hermione and the other three turned a corner and walked slowly in the other direction. Hagrid, as usual, gradually submerged himself in the darkness of the Forbidden Forest with his hound Fang Ya.
To be honest, in recent times, the vegetation in the Forbidden Forest has become more and more lush, and the dense canopy of the trees completely isolates the afterglow of the sunset from the outside world.
"Fluorescence."
Hermione waved her wand exceptionally skillfully, and a ball of light immediately provided the three of them with ample vision—in a dark and gloomy environment, light can always bring warmth and hope to everyone.
"Hermione, we promised just now that we would help Hagrid find the invisible beast." Ron whispered from the side, "But how exactly should we find it?"
"All I can say is, I'm not sure."
It was really rare for Hermione to say something like this.
Not to mention the entire Hogwarts, at least most of the teachers and students at Hogwarts knew that she could answer almost every question in class. It was no wonder that Snape gave her the title of "Miss Know-It-All".
"ah?"
Harry and Ron were obviously surprised by this because it was so rare.
"I really can't say for sure," Hermione pursed her lips and said angrily, "In "Monsters and Their Origins", the description of invisible beasts is still very detailed, but just because of this..."
Although she seemed to want to complain about something, she quickly choked off those meaningless words and continued what she had said before.
"It is mentioned in the book," she said, "that this magical animal can not only hide its body, but also predict the future to a certain extent in a short period of time - can you understand what this means? This means , if it really wants to escape or hide, everyone... No, I mean, most people will never be able to find it again!"
When Harry heard this, he couldn't help but scratch his messy hair out of habit.
"Then what are we doing? According to you, it's impossible for us to discover it again, right?"
"That's why we need to help Hagrid even more," Hermione said, looking at Harry and Ron seriously. "Hagrid's cherishment of magical creatures, I don't need to say more, right? Think about Buckbeak back then. , it’s the same this time.”
"What's more, according to my guess, Hagrid probably borrowed that invisible beast from somewhere."
Hagrid once bought a dragon egg at the Pig's Head Bar, and it was already a very difficult thing to get. And now, there is a living invisible beast - there may not be many of them in the British wizarding world!
"Well, you're right, we should try our best to help Hagrid find it." Ron nodded, but said distressedly, "But the problem comes back again... How should we find it?"
"Anyway, let's try to find bushes with berries and the like first!" Hermione thought for a moment and said, "No matter what, it always wants to eat, and berries are usually one of the foods they eat most."
While talking in low voices, the three of them did not pause. Soon, they had reached a deeper position in the Forbidden Forest.
But for now, they were still walking along the only path on the ground.
The first half of this path was basically trodden by successive generations of gamekeepers at Hogwarts; and as the dirt path gradually became wider, it was the walking route of the centaurs since ancient times.
More than ten minutes passed, and Hermione and the three of them moved forward, not forgetting to pay attention to everything going on around them. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything unusual except that some small animals seemed to be moving rapidly.
No, rather, even if they heard some noise, it was already too late by the time they went to check.
And when the three of them once again pushed aside some bushes on the dirt path and tried to move forward, a small open space made them subconsciously stop.
"what is that?"
It can be seen that in the darkness ahead, there seems to be the outline of an unknown building. Although the shadowy outline is not very clear in the dark, it is actually easy to see, as if it is a "ruin".
Regarding the building that existed deep in the Forbidden Forest, the three of them all showed an expression of uncertainty.
"I remember Professor Dumbledore always said in the past that students should not enter and leave the Forbidden Forest at will..." Ron muttered in a small voice, "I think we should search again on the same road we just took?"
In fact, sometimes timidity is not a big problem - if you don't approach the unknown at will, even if you may miss opportunities, you will usually gain a corresponding peace.
But who said there were three Gryffindors here
"Who knows what that is?" Harry stretched his neck and looked around, then waved his hand and said, "If you want to know, the fastest way is to go and take a look!"
"Slow down," Hermione saw that Harry wanted to walk straight over, and immediately reached out to grab his clothes, "You must look, but you also have to be cautious-"
As she spoke, she waved the wand in her hand again.
"maximize!"
Before she finished speaking, the ball of light hanging from the tip of the wand suddenly burst out with dazzling light, and then Hermione threw it away with a swing of her arm.
When the light crossed a parabola and fell towards the shadow of the building in the distance, a medium-sized semi-shaped building immediately caught the eyes of the three people.
What kind of ruins are there? It's obviously a new building being built!
However, the attention of Hermione and the other three people was quickly attracted by another thing in the "construction site" - it was a stone pillar without any fancy features, and there were circles of ropes tied at the bottom of the pillar. It was as if something was firmly tied to the stone pillar.
And just around the stone pillar, several elves were dozing off against some piles of stone bricks.
"House elves?" Harry asked strangely, "Why are there house elves here? Where do they come from? The school kitchen?"
Harry was obviously puzzled by this, and Ron was probably the same, but Hermione reacted quickly.
"Those are not 'house' elves," she said seriously, "they are elves who advocate freedom - a group of real elves!"
"What?" Harry asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Of course it wasn't that he couldn't understand what Hermione said, but just understanding it was of no use because he knew nothing about the origins of those elves.
"I mean, they were brought back by Maka from outside," Hermione explained softly, "Do you understand? Wild... No, that's not a good way to say it. It should be said that they are normal people who have lived independently for many years. The 'elf."
Having said this, she waved her hand and asked Harry and the others to stand back.
"You guys stay here, I'll go check on the situation." Hermione still lowered her voice, "They should know me, but they may not know you..."
Of course, the common point is that none of them, including Hermione, can communicate smoothly with those elves.
After leaving these instructions, Hermione raised her legs and continued walking over there. As she gradually approached there, the situation on this 'elf construction site' appeared in her eyes one by one.
Except for a few elves around the stone pillars, there are no other companions here. This is natural, because before the building is completely completed, the elves have to go back to the castle to live at night.
On the small island of Rowena, they had always lived in the basement of the high tower, and had long developed the habit of sleeping indoors.
The few elves in front of Hermione were just here to stay.
When Hermione finally reached the stone pillar, she did not choose to wake up the elf, but carefully took a look at the surrounding situation.
Huh
When she noticed the strange state of the bundle of ropes on the stone pillar, she couldn't help but hesitate secretly in her heart.
Maybe it was because Hermione's original purpose was to find the Invisible Beast, or maybe she was always good at thinking. She just blinked a few times and she quickly realized something.
"Could it be that… "
Hermione guessed silently and thrust her wand towards the location where the stone pillar was bound.
However, she didn't need to test it so cautiously. In the next moment, a gray figure automatically appeared there. Look at that "hairy ape" that's only as tall as a human leg at most. What else could it be if it wasn't an invisible beast
"Why... why is it..."
While Hermione was still dazed, a hint of darkness flashed across her brown eyes without warning.