Harry chased after the Dugbog for a while, and the surroundings grew increasingly strange. The muddy swamp gradually gave way to solid ground again, and a gloomy little wood appeared through the marsh fog.
The little wood was unnaturally quiet and deeply unsettling. Thick layers of dead leaves covered a winding path through the trees like unfortunate lives that had lost all support.
A cold wind suddenly blew from the treetops, making the branches thrash wildly, yet it did not blow downward. The dead leaves on the ground did not stir at all, making the scene all the more eerie.
"Harry Potter..."
A hoarse voice came from deep within the woods, sounding like a hopeless sigh.
"Potter!"
Just as Harry was wondering whether he should climb up and take a look, footsteps sounded behind him.
"Was that you calling me?"
Harry asked the unfamiliar man in black.
"Of course it was me. Who else is here besides us?" the man in black asked, baffled.
"What's your name?" Harry asked.
"Why do you want to know that?" the man asked warily.
"There should at least be something to call you."
"You can call me Wormwood," said the man in black.
"You joined the Death Eaters?"
Wormwood ignored Harry. He pointed his wand, lit with Lumos, toward the strange forest. The path through the woods looked very long.
"Are you going to investigate this place?" Wormwood asked.
"I was thinking about it."
"Then why aren't you moving?"
"Because I don't think acting on our own is a good idea." Harry raised his wand and fired a red spark into the sky, just as he had done in the maze during the Triwizard Tournament. Then he walked onto the dry ground and sat down on a rock.
Wormwood found a rock to sit