When the Forest Grows Deep…

That Grindylow had only been a minor interlude. As they followed the river downstream, they indeed found far more things.

Not only ordinary animals like deer and rabbits—even Mooncalves had been found, two nests of them. Their huge eyes made Adam unable to resist feeling curious about the structure of a Mooncalf’s brain.

But after stroking a Mooncalf’s soft fur a few times, Adam put that somewhat horrifying and cruel question out of his mind.

"Why?!"

The Mooncalf had turned and fled the moment Klon crouched down before it. Unable to help himself, he looked accusingly at Adam, who was surrounded by Mooncalves.

"Do I really look that scary?"

It was obviously a joke. Everyone in the dorm had been fairly good-looking, but that did not stop Klon from feeling wounded inside.

"Uh, maybe Adam fits a Mooncalf’s beauty standards better?"

Although the Mooncalves did not run away the moment Uther crouched down, they would still edge away whenever he reached out his hand, refusing to let him touch them.

Then there was Adam, currently surrounded by Mooncalves rubbing against him from both sides…

"Tch—"

While the slow-witted ones were still envying Adam, the clever Eugene had already wormed his way over and received a Mooncalf hug.

"This place should be pretty safe."

Mooncalves, along with the ordinary animals they had encountered earlier, had little ability to resist fierce carnivores, much less powerful magical creatures. Since they could breed and live here, it meant there were probably no predators nearby.

"Awoo—"

A sudden wail tore through the night sky. Adam and the others hurriedly got to their feet and looked toward the source of the sound.

"Cough, cough, I’m… I’m fine…"

Bernard stood up, clutching his stomach.

"I was curious whether that pink Mooncalf was male or female. I lifted its tail to take a look and got kicked…"

Not far from Bernard, a pink-furred Mooncalf was hopping in place and shrieking at the top of its lungs.

Yeah, it was probably swearing quite viciously.

Adam, who was studying Parseltongue, instinctively memorized that passage of Mooncalf language.

The facts proved that no matter what language one learned, curses were always picked up the fastest.

"You should be glad it wasn’t a Hippogriff. Otherwise, you’d be scattered all over the place by now."

Klon mocked.

"No, if it had been a Hippogriff, I wouldn’t have just gone up and checked it directly…"

Bernard defended himself. He was curious, but not stupid.

"We should go. We’ve stayed here long enough."

Eugene said.

Besides, Bernard probably would not be very welcome here from now on.

After saying goodbye to the Mooncalves, Adam and the others seemed to have used up all their luck at once. They did not encounter any animals again for a long time.

"Look at this!"

Klon’s sharp eyes spotted something on a tree trunk. He reached out, pinched it between his fingers, and held it up before the others. It was several silvery-white hairs.

"This is unicorn hair!"

"How did you even spot that?"

Bernard could not help complaining, though excitement welled up inside him at the same time—those were unicorns!

Although he had just received a pair of chopsticks made from unicorn horn, he had never seen a living unicorn even once.

"I only noticed because the light reflected off it. It looks like unicorns are active nearby, and judging from this sheen… the unicorn hasn’t gone far."

Klon carefully examined the unicorn hair in his hand.

"Unicorns are active during the day. At night, they sleep. This unicorn must have noticed our movements and gotten up to flee. It even brushed against the tree."

"Doesn’t that mean it hasn’t gone far yet?"

Bernard was excited.

"We can try following it!"

"What would be the point of catching up to a unicorn?"

Eugene patted Bernard on the shoulder.

"Unicorns only allow virgins near them. None of us are even women."

"Then we can at least take a look from far away… I’ve never seen a living unicorn before."

Having missed the unicorn, Bernard was somewhat unwilling to let it go.

"Then let’s go take a look. We don’t intend to hurt it. We just want to see it."

Adam was also quite curious about unicorns.

So the five of them followed the traces left by the unicorn.

"Judging by the tracks, the unicorn is just up ahead… Hm?"

Klon suddenly frowned.

"Do you hear something?"

"I think so…"

"It’s hoofbeats."

While Uther was still trying to identify the sound, Eugene had already given the answer. Frowning, he said,

"Did that unicorn find its herd?"

Unicorns were indeed herd animals… but given their temperament, it would have been one thing if they had happened to encounter wizards and attacked them on the way. Wasn’t it a little strange for them to charge straight at an enemy on their own initiative?

The hoofbeats drew closer and closer. Since the other side had come to them, the five simply stood where they were and waited, though each gripped his wand tightly in preparation.

Though they looked holy and beautiful, and were herbivores besides, unicorns were not weak fighters at all. They also lived in herds, so there were practically no magical creatures in nature capable of preying on unicorns.

However, once they saw what was approaching, the five felt surprise mixed with disappointment.

They were not unicorns at all, but a herd of centaurs—more than twenty of them, perhaps? Horses? People?

"Centaurs are human above the waist and horse below it. The hair on their human half is the same color as the fur on their horse half. Like merpeople, they possess intelligence no different from humans, yet willingly classify themselves as beasts. They like to stay close to nature and observe the stars."

Eugene explained to them in a low voice.

"No wonder so many herbivores live in this area. The centaurs are protecting them."

"Are these the poachers you mentioned?"

Each centaur carried a bow and wore a quiver. They formed a circle around the five of them. The leader frowned and looked at his companion beside him.

"All I see is a group of foals who have just learned to walk."

After saying that, the centaur stepped toward the five.

"Human cubs, you’ve crossed the boundary. This is our territory!"

"Your territory? If I remember correctly, the Dark Forest belongs to Hogwarts!"

Although students were forbidden from entering, just like those abandoned rooms that were no longer used, the Dark Forest was still Hogwarts property.

Uther did not yield at all. He raised his head and looked at the centaur, who was half a body taller than him. The advancing centaur showed no intention of stopping, and it looked as though he was about to step on Uther.

One hoof was already raised in the air. If it came down, it could knock Uther over with a kick, yet Uther still did not retreat even half a step.

The lead centaur narrowed his eyes and did not bring the hoof down.

"This is not a place you should be. Go back early."

The hoof landed beside Uther’s body. Amid a burst of hoofbeats, the centaurs left with their leader.

"Whoa! Uther, that was amazing! You didn’t lose to him in terms of presence at all!"

Seeing the centaurs depart, Klon let out a breath of relief. Then he excitedly rushed over and slung an arm around Uther’s shoulders.

"I read in a book that centaurs don’t attack children."

Uther smiled faintly.

"Besides, if he had kept coming forward, I definitely wouldn’t have been the one to regret it."

Though he said that, he had actually been nervous. His palms were still sweaty.

Adam nodded to himself. No matter what preparations Uther had made, Adam’s protective magic could have kept him safe. And even if they had not fought back, that centaur’s fate would not have been pleasant.

After all, wizards generally looked down on magical creatures. If a magical creature actively attacked a wizard, then as long as the wizard survived to report it, that creature could basically say goodbye to this world—let alone when Uther’s father was the Minister of Magic of Egypt…