No matter what, Loki was a huge problem.
He had come to Midgard for a reason, not on a whim.
Before long, some place in Midgard might be dragged into the God of Mischief's schemes all over again.
After hanging up, Harry let out a sigh. After letting Gwen take care of things down below, he fused the wand and the flying cloak into his body. Then he pushed open the door, deliberately influenced the chaos source power, and used the concept of "door" to send himself back to the wizarding world!
In the multiverse world, he'd burned far too much energy lately. He really didn't want to jump straight into something that screamed trouble.
Going to the wizarding world for a while was obviously the best choice!
Right—what had he been doing in the wizarding world again?
Seemed like he was heading into the Forbidden Forest to train Hermione's combat ability, raising her into the wizarding world's Sorcerer Supreme!
…
He pushed open the door and stepped out. The world around him turned like an ink painting soaked by water—its vibrant colors draining away, fading rapidly, bleaching before his eyes.
As a series of indescribable images flashed past, a familiar cold wind carrying a faint stench rushed into Harry's nose.
Under the night sky, inside the Forbidden Forest, countless trees swayed slightly in the chill wind. Leaves and branches rubbed together, making a soft rustling sound.
In the blink of an eye, Harry was back in the wizarding world again!
"Ah!" A girl's startled cry rang out beside him, and then he felt someone grab his sleeve.
Hermione clutched his cuff tightly, her fingers turning pale. She scanned the surroundings in fear, full of unease.
Just now, she had stepped on a spider the size of an adult hand, and it had scared her half to death.
Harry patted Miss Otter's shoulder and soothed her. "Don't worry. I'm here. We won't run into any danger."
Miss Otter relaxed a lot, but she still shrank in close and didn't dare let go of Harry's sleeve.
After looking around, she couldn't help asking Hagrid, "Hagrid… is the Forbidden Forest always this terrifying?"
In the daytime, you could see the Forbidden Forest even from the upper levels of the castle.
But back then it was completely different from now. Under the sun, beams of light pierced through gaps in the branches, forming beautiful shafts of light.
Honestly, at that time the forest even had a kind of dreamy beauty.
But now, it was swallowed by darkness beneath the night.
A thick fog had risen at some point, and the Forbidden Forest seemed devoured by mist and night, leaving them able to see only a short distance around the lantern's light.
Where the lantern illuminated, twisted branches and jagged leaves overlapped and writhed in shadow, as if they were terrifying monsters hidden in the dark.
And with the occasional faint scuttling noises—sometimes near, sometimes far—Hermione's scalp prickled. It felt like she was standing inside a horror film.
Hagrid chopped aside the branches blocking the path with a sharp cleaver. Hearing Hermione's question, he turned and explained,
"No. Usually the Forbidden Forest isn't this gloomy. You can even see moonlight. Watching the forest at night with the magical creatures is actually a rare kind of enjoyment.
But today's different. Don't know why the fog rolled in, and it's overcast too, so it's dark as hell.
Still, it's a good chance, isn't it? Perfect for training you—making you braver.
Don't worry. I've brought third-years in here plenty of times these past weeks. We won't run into danger!"
Suddenly…
Dense footsteps came from every direction. Figures flickered in and out between the branches.
A moment later, a powerfully built centaur stepped out of the brush and looked at them.
Ron saw the centaur and immediately blurted out, "Whoa, that's so cool!"
But the centaur didn't give him the slightest attention. He only glanced at him once before turning his gaze to Hagrid, speaking in a deep voice:
"Hagrid, what are you doing in the forest this late? And you brought three young wizards. You know the forest has been dangerous lately."
Hagrid pointed at Harry, pride on his face.
"Firenze, this kid's Harry Potter. You know—he beat Quirrell. He can protect himself. And we're only wandering around the edge, we won't run into anything too serious."
Firenze shifted his body, studying Harry with curiosity. Then he dipped the front of his torso slightly in a courteous bow.
"Hello, Harry Potter. I've heard of you. I'm also a Quidditch fan of yours!"
Harry copied Firenze's gesture and bowed slightly in return. "Hello, Firenze. Nice to meet you."
Firenze was genuinely happy to meet him. He even asked Harry to sign his name on his huge chest muscles, and only then did he leave, satisfied.
Before going, Firenze said kindly to them,
"Alright, Hagrid. With Harry here, you shouldn't run into anything too big. We'll be going then. If anything dangerous happens, contact us. We'll come immediately."
After saying goodbye to Firenze, they continued forward. At last, in a narrow gap between two massive boulders, they found a smaller acromantula nest.
Hagrid pulled aside the webs at the entrance and pointed into the nest.
"These acromantulas are my friend's children. Use them to practice your spells."
"Huh?" Even Harry was startled. "Wait—Hagrid, you're friends with an acromantula?"
Hagrid nodded, his thick beard trembling as he spoke.
"Nearly all the acromantulas in the forest are Aragog's descendants.
Back when I was a student, I secretly raised him as a magical creature. He's my best friend. Later I released him into the forest. Decades passed, and he had loads of offspring.
Now, acromantulas are one of the most overrun magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest."
Harry's mouth twitched a little. "If these are your friend's children, we're still going to use them for practice? We're practicing spells— even if it's not Dark magic, it can still get magical creatures killed."
Hagrid waved it off like it was nothing. "Don't worry. Acromantulas don't think about having kids the way humans do. He won't mind."
"Okay… fine."
Not long after, cracking explosions started popping nearby.
Under Harry's guidance, Hermione and Ron began practicing.
Hermione really did have excellent magical talent. At first she was terrified of the acromantulas, but with Harry coaching her, she quickly adjusted and became able to cast and fight smoothly.
"Reducto!"
With Miss Otter's sharp shout, a scarlet beam of magic struck the last acromantula.
Boom!
The acromantula exploded on the spot. Chunks of flesh and unknown sticky fluid splattered everywhere.
Faced with the bloody sight, Hermione had already adapted. She practically skipped over to Harry, her face full of anticipation.
"Harry, how did I do?"
Harry praised her sincerely. "Really good. Your casting speed is already at an upper-year level. The spell's power is limited by your smaller magic reserve, but compared to kids your age, you're already very strong."
Being praised by Harry made Hermione even happier, her eyes curving into crescents.
Completely opposite to Hermione's excitement, Ron kept trying, shouting over and over:
"Reducto!"
"Reducto!"
"Reducto!"
But no matter how much he yelled, not a single beam came out of his wand tip.
Ron's face crumpled like he was about to cry. He asked Harry with miserable frustration,
"Harry, why can't I use Reducto like you two?"
Harry didn't know how to comfort his friend. He could only pat Ron's shoulder.
"No, Ron. This isn't your fault!"
The gap between people can be bigger than the gap between a person and a dog.
After dealing with the acromantula nest, Hagrid led them deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid walked in front holding a lantern, lighting the path ahead.
Suddenly, he stopped and crouched down, his hand brushing over the trunk of a fallen tree.
At the same time, Harry noticed something. In the lantern's glow, branches and grass reflected faint traces of silvery light.
And in the air, he sensed a special magical fluctuation.
It carried a subtle, nasty curse—and also an extremely strong vitality.
From those signs, Harry already knew exactly what the silver liquid was.
It was unicorn blood.
Unicorn blood held powerful magic, able to extend life and cure sickness.
But unicorns were special magical creatures. If the blood wasn't given willingly—if someone forcibly took it—then that blood would become tainted and fallen, turning ominous and cursed.
Drink it, and the drinker's soul would suffer severe damage, trapping them in a state of half-life torment—neither truly alive nor properly dead.
Ron saw the blood too and asked curiously, "Hagrid, what is that?"
"Unicorn blood. Someone's been harming unicorns lately—that's why Firenze said the forest's been dangerous.
A few weeks ago we found a unicorn dead, and now it looks like another one's badly hurt!
Come on. We need to follow the blood trail and find the poor thing."
They followed the trail deeper and deeper, pushing through tangled vines and stepping over uneven roots, until they finally reached a more open area.
From far away, they saw a fallen white shape on the ground—it was a unicorn.
But what shocked them was a figure in a black cloak, hunched at the unicorn's neck, sucking down the silver-white glowing blood.
Maybe it sensed Harry and the others arriving. The figure slowly lifted its head. The upper half of its face was hidden beneath the hood's shadow, but in the lantern light they could see a pair of crimson eyes.
As for the lower half—silver blood dripped from a gaping mouth. In the dim light, it looked horrifying.
They had stumbled onto the scene of an unknown wizard illegally hunting a unicorn.
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