427 Regulus, centaur, altar
The little lion was boringly poking his head into the grass, but he saw a hand appearing out of thin air in front of him. This scene in the dark forbidden forest did not make people feel warm at all. The little lion was frightened. With a whimper, it was so frightened that it immediately turned around and ran away, forgetting the fact that it was a lion.
At this time, another sinister whisper sounded in the shadowy forest, as if a devil was hunting——
"Fresh meat...I haven't had enough food in a long time..."
The little lion was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground. He kicked his four legs as hard as he could, but found that he couldn't run away. When he looked back, he found that both of his hind legs were gone. Being held tightly by a cold hand——
"boom!"
"Ouch!"
Two more voices appeared out of thin air.
Karan took off the invisibility cloak expressionlessly, while Steve pursed his lips and rubbed his red forehead.
"Don't run away, Regulus."
Karan said, "It's us."
The little lion's body froze immediately. It stared dumbly at Karan who suddenly appeared, and Steve who was embarrassed and laughing at the side——
Then, the little lion buried his head deep in the grass and refused to lift it up again.
It's so outrageous and so embarrassing.
Five minutes later, Karan and Steve stood on either side, tugging at the little lion's furry ears, as if they thought it was fun.
At the same time, they kept comforting:
"Okay, Regulus, I just teased you - besides, you didn't even look at it, how could there be a lion in the Forbidden Forest? Who else could be there besides you? When you learned the anima I was always there when Gus played."
Steve's words did not comfort him at all - in addition to being excessive and embarrassing, the little lion also began to feel that he was extra stupid.
Karan fiddled with its ears back and forth twice more. This was a pleasure that neither Barian nor Wolf could experience. It was furry and bouncy - there was no circle around the head of the young male lion. Mane, but looks much cuter than an adult lion.
Karan had a sudden thought: "You think, if the Gryffindor students knew that there was such a little lion in the Forbidden Forest... what would they think? What would they do? I think it's at least right. To them, your current appearance is no less attractive than that of a cat or an owl. After all, the representative animal of Gryffindor is the lion——"
"This is absolutely impossible!" Regulus suddenly changed back to his human form. He lay on the ground and fought hard: "I am a real Slytherin, how could I be a pet for a Gryffindor student?!"
"They don't even think about it!"
Karan took his palm back boredly, and then he pretended to be surprised and said: "Oh? So, you sneaked into the Forbidden Forest alone? I really can't tell. I remember you seemed to have become a Slytherin. The team's seeker? And the next game is against Gryffindor, right? How about it? Do you think you have hope of defeating James and the others? Or can turning into a lion in the Forbidden Forest improve your skills? More skilled? Were you simulating catching the Golden Snitch just now?"
Regulus stared at Karan angrily, he was so angry that he couldn't say anything.
At this moment, Steve's comfort finally worked, and he said in an old-fashioned way: "Be glad that you are from Slytherin House. You don't have to go to class with Karan every day, let alone live in the same dormitory with him. And do you know what’s the scariest part? - There is a second person like him in the dormitory - there are only three people in the entire dormitory!”
Seeing that Steve suddenly started to pour out the bitter water, Regulus's mood became better and better - Karan worked for a while before their moods calmed down again.
Karan's persuasion method was very effective - after a red mark appeared on one person's forehead, the Forbidden Forest finally became quiet again.
Only Steve stared at him in confusion and confusion, his eyes seeming to say - Why have I been taught a lesson again?
Callan gave Steve a hard look - who asked Steve to compare himself with Guspard? How could he be as bad as Guspard?
Then Karan turned to look at Regulus who was about to sneak away, and stretched out his hand to pull him back.
"Why are you running?" he said with a frown, and Regulus was lifted into the air by him using wandless magic: "Are you really the only one coming to the Forbidden Forest?"
"How is this possible?" Regulus lowered his head and sighed faintly: "It's not because of James and Sirius. Who else would call me to the ban room at night besides them? A place like Lin?"
Steve immediately stared at Karan closely - Karan seemed to be able to do this kind of thing.
Karan glanced sideways at Steve, but this time he called him over.
"Only James and Sirius?" Callan then asked: "There is no one else? Aren't there five predators in total?"
Regulus answered honestly: "You mean Remus and Peter? They did not follow us this time because neither of them knows Animagus."
"It's one thing to be inconvenient to move in the Forbidden Forest. According to James, this will also make the two of them easily exposed in front of the centaurs - speaking of which, James is also a little strange. He is not interested in having fun. Not like he usually behaves...well, should I say flamboyant?"
"I think arrogance is more suitable." Karan added with a solemn expression.
Regulus blinked but did not refute.
As soon as he heard [Catman], Karan understood what was going on.
He knew that James and Sirius were always thinking about what happened in the Forbidden Forest before the Christmas holidays - Sybil was successfully sealed by the centaurs under the leadership of Cassandra's prophet - there were not many big scenes like this. See, not to mention that it takes place in a place full of secrets like the Forbidden Forest, which doubles the fun of exploration.
It was also at this time that Karan had a bad intuition in his heart.
He looked back at Steve and asked him, "Did Wolf say where we're going next?"
"Oh...oh!"
Steve suddenly came back to his senses from his dazed state. Under Regulus' curious gaze, he put his ear to the suitcase, and after a few seconds, he pointed in the direction of the thickest woods: "Wolf said It's over there."
Karan looked at the location Steve was pointing at. This direction was vaguely familiar to him.
The bad instinct in him grew deeper.
"Then James and the others..."
Karan turned to look at Regulus again.
This time, before he could finish his words, Regulus nodded quickly and said, "It's also in that direction! What a coincidence!"
"Of course it's a coincidence!"
Karan said angrily: "William actually ran into the Centaur tribe. What on earth did he think? Wasn't it enough to be caught by the [Invisible Monster] when he was young? Do you want to try again in your old age? Or does he want to try the power of the centaurs' bows for himself? Waiting to be rescued by another Isolt Thayer? "
Of course, Karan knew the direction of the centaur tribe. He was also present when Sybil was sealed.
But Callan didn't expect William to actually do this - what was his purpose in coming to Hogwarts?What does it have to do with the horse people?
Regulus and Steve listened to Karan say a series of inexplicable words, and they couldn't figure out why Karan acted so angry.
"William...really went hunting centaurs?" Steve asked in disbelief.
Callan frowned tightly: "The reason why William would rather leave Ilvermorny... must be much more serious than the simple purpose of hunting horsemen..."
This startled Steve. What could be more serious than a horse hunter?
Regulus also gradually became panicked: "Who are you talking about William? Why would he... No, will James and Sirius be in danger?"
"I don't know either." Karan shook his head and said, then looked at the two of them: "Let's go quickly before William causes more trouble."
William and the Centaur—this was something Callan never expected.
He finally managed to secretly deal with the threat of the Acromantula, just in case the centaurs fiercely resisted the wizards of Hogwarts again...
The three of them quickly ran towards the direction of the centaurs tribe. They struggled to shuttle through the dense woods, using their palms to push aside the branches in front of them. At the same time, they had to be careful not to let the centaurs notice their footsteps. .
But unexpectedly, it was quiet along the way. They didn't even encounter a centaur, let alone the roaring and fighting sounds they imagined.
After passing through another yew forest, Steve and Regulus slowly slowed down under Karan's instructions.
Karan gently pushed aside the newly grown twigs on the bush with his palm, and quietly poked his head out to the other side.
Everything was silent as if nothing had happened.
Karan saw the altar in the open space, but there was no centaur around. He didn't know if they moved away or if they encountered something else and left together.
"Look there!"
Regulus suddenly pointed to the marks on the ground and said: "There are hoof prints on the grass - those are the hoof prints of the stag and the paw marks of the big black dog. Before we separated, we specially agreed to use these special footprints as... Signal - James and Sirius must be nearby!"
Regulus was right - in the bright moonlight, both Callan and Steve saw the signals left by James and Sirius, and they seemed to have deliberately stepped on the grass to make it more solid. Regulus was able to detect these signals in time.
"Go and have a look."
After saying this, Karan did not forget to warn: "Be careful, something seems to be wrong."
They could sense something was wrong without Karan reminding them - places like the altar must be guarded, but they had never seen even a centaur.
None.
This is so weird.
Regulus quietly got out of the bushes, Karan helped him keep an eye on the surroundings, Steve was carrying the suitcase, and he followed closely behind the two of them.
"These are indeed the footprints left by James and Sirius' Animagus."
After carefully identifying them, Regulus said to the two of them.
They walked lightly along the footprints left behind, and soon arrived in front of the altar. Then the three of them carefully looked at this rather "simple"-looking altar.
Logically speaking, judging from the original prayer of Magare calling the ancestors for help, this altar should at least have the function of commemorating the ancestors.However, the entire altar is made of unknown black stones, and it is impossible to tell what material it is made of. Even the overall shape looks like it was built haphazardly, as if there is no pattern.
"This altar does not look like it was built according to the movement of the stars, or maybe it was the stars hundreds of years ago..."
Karan guessed in a low voice: "After all, what centaurs care most about is observing the stars... Of course, it may also be because the magic of centaurs is different from that of wizards."
However, except for Karan, the other two people didn't care at all how the altar was built.
Regulus was anxiously circling the altar, still muttering in panic: "It shouldn't be...why did the footprints of James and Sirius disappear as soon as they arrived at the altar? And we clearly agreed in advance that we would wait for each other after finding the centaurs tribe, why did they suddenly disappear?"
Steve put his ear against the gap in the suitcase again. After a few seconds, he also said with some confusion: "Wolf said that William's smell disappeared around the altar... Should we go up and take a look? See... is there a secret passage or something like that under the altar?"
This seemed to be the only way left for the three of them.
Karan took one last look around the clearing, but still no centaurs appeared.
"Then let's go up and have a look,"
Karan raised his steps and said: "You--"
It felt as if I had passed through a layer of mist, and as if I had passed through an invisible door.
The trampling of horse hooves suddenly sounded in Karan's ears again. The sound was deafening, as if there were thousands of centaurs galloping around him.
In the blink of an eye, the scene around Karan suddenly changed completely.
Became...a complete stranger.
The originally dark sky became even darker, and the trees in the Forbidden Forest all inexplicably grew taller, like silent giants standing on the ground.
The original open space was gone, and it was surrounded by tall and towering trees. It was unclear what species they were, but they still brought a strong sense of oppression and made people breathless.
The altar under my feet also changed and became more broken, as if it had been severely stepped on by some giant, and then left alone for an unknown number of years.
It no longer looked like an altar, but rather like a dilapidated ruins.
Karan's eyes swayed violently, and he held his breath to perceive everything around him, and an indescribable meaning emerged in his heart - it was as if he had gone from a living world to another dead silence.
Then, the next second, Regulus and Steve appeared beside Karan out of thin air. They were both standing on the sparse black stones.
"us......."
Steve opened his eyes wide and said in horror:
"What the hell have we come to?"