Centaur

"You're here to help my students, right?" a deep voice rumbled. Moriarty and the others saw a tall figure emerge from the nearby woods.

He was a burly man. His face was almost completely hidden by his long, unkempt hair and tangled, thick beard. He wore a brown overcoat and carried two bundles of hay.

"I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Mr. Filch told me about you. Ah, Slytherin, right? Well, well, follow me. Fang, let's go!"

Hagrid seemed a bit aloof as he walked towards another part of the woods. Larpo and Keith were clearly not pleased with Hagrid's attitude and reluctantly followed behind Moriarty.

Along the way, Jericho asked, "Mr. Hagrid, what do we need to do?"

"Good question, I almost forgot to say," Hagrid stopped, releasing his hands. The two bundles of hay fell to the ground. He pointed to the hay and said, "In my left hand is sage, and in my right is marshmallow. You need to collect a large amount of sage and marshmallow in this forest and bring them to me. It's that simple."

"That simple?" Larpo said lightly. "If it's so simple, why don't you collect it yourself?"

Hagrid glanced at him, his gaze quickly moving away with disdain.

"Marshmallow grows underground, and sage isn't easy to pull out. If the demand wasn't so high, I'd have some in stock. But the Centaurs need so much this time, they asked for my help... Oh!"

Hagrid covered his mouth, having let something slip.

The young wizards all laughed. Jericho nodded, "Aha, so the Centaurs are involved in this."

Moriarty picked up a stalk of sage, and a faint fragrance wafted towards him. He said to Hagrid, "Centaurs are skilled at stargazing. To further interpret the results of their observations, they often burn sage and marshmallow. So, the Centaurs must have encountered complex and difficult celestial changes, is that right, Hagrid?"

Hagrid shook his head. "I don't know. Firenze just asked me to find this hay. Let's get moving. Oh, right, we'd best split into two groups."

Jericho, Percy, and the others stood behind Moriarty. Hagrid pursed his lips awkwardly, and Fang stood by his feet.

"Marcus, you're with Mr. Hagrid," Moriarty gave his follower a look. "You help Mr. Hagrid collect the marshmallow, and we'll collect the sage."

Marcus nodded, understanding the signal. After everyone formed their teams, the two groups headed in different directions.

Moriarty heard Marcus say to Hagrid in a slightly unpracticed tone, "Mr. Hagrid, I heard there's a herd of Hippogriffs in the Forbidden Forest. Those big guys are really lovable. I mean, I like them. Yes, I'm planning to take Care of Magical Creatures class next year."

Jericho also heard it and whistled, "Since when did Marcus get interested in magical creatures?"

"I suggest he studies magical creatures, so at least he'll learn something," Moriarty said dismissively, brushing the matter aside.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, they saw clusters of sage. Moriarty tapped the ground with his Slytherin staff, and the stubborn sage flew out of the soil automatically.

Keith said with a grin, "This is really too easy. Professor Dumbledore was right, traveling with Mr. Moriarty is like a picnic."

More and more sage piled up on the ground, forming a mound. Moriarty said, "I think this should be enough."

"No, child, it's not enough," a gentle voice came from the nearby woods, followed by a rustling sound. A Centaur emerged from the shadows.

Jericho and the others drew their wands. The Centaur had spoken, and although his voice was gentle, he held a bow and arrow.

Moriarty took a few steps towards the Centaur and said, "We are Hogwarts students, here with Hagrid to find sage for your divination."

The Centaur's startlingly blue eyes gazed intently at Moriarty. "I know. The stars told me you might come these days, so I've been coming out to look for you. I am Firenze. I mean no harm. It's a pleasure to meet you, Slytherin."

"Did the stars also tell you my name?" Moriarty looked at Firenze.

The Centaur had platinum blonde hair, but from the waist down, he was reddish-brown, with a shiny horse body and a long silver-white tail.

Firenze hesitated, "Um... the stars always tell us many things..."

Then, he changed to a serious tone. "Centaurs have spent centuries uncovering the mysteries of the movements of the stars in the universe. Our research tells us that from the sky above us, we may be able to glimpse the future.

—This is different from the future you imagine. What will I eat tomorrow morning? Will I get extra credit in the day after tomorrow's class? How many 'Outstanding' marks will I get in the final exam? These are not the future; perhaps that is destiny...

And we observe the starry sky, with an objective and fair perspective, recording the important trends of disasters or changes. It may take more than ten years to prove our correctness."

Moriarty understood, and his curiosity grew. He vaguely remembered Firenze being close to Harry Potter, and that Centaurs had also divined Voldemort's initiation of the Second Wizarding War.

But what did this have to do with Moriarty?

Firenze seemed to sense Moriarty's confusion and looked up slightly. "Have you noticed? There's no moon today."

"So what?" Jericho's wand was still in his hand, held even tighter. "No moon? What does that prove! In my opinion, the so-called future and destiny are just pretentious tricks!"

Firenze ignored Jericho; his eyes had been fixed on Moriarty from the beginning.

"One day in December 1987, the moon suddenly disappeared. It didn't even appear at night. We recorded that from that day on, there were occasional moonless nights," Firenze said calmly.

Percy took a breath, as if remembering something, and exclaimed, "December 1987? Charlie told me during the summer holiday that the ghosts were gathering, Peeves was laughing, and the paintings were dancing... What did they call that day? The Great Hogwarts Riot?"

Firenze glanced at Percy. "This is a very obvious sign. Perhaps the Great Hogwarts Riot you mentioned happened on the same day as the moonless night."

"Wait, are you saying that the so-called Great Hogwarts Riot affected the celestial phenomena?" Moriarty was no stranger to the "Great Riot," as he had read The Daily Prophet for the entire year of 1987.

It recorded that the so-called Great Riot was just a group of ghosts, paintings, armor, and stone gargoyles running wild, with no wizards participating.

Moriarty thought it was just another gimmick.

Firenze did not give a definitive answer, merely giving a vague and evasive response. Moriarty strongly suspected he didn't know either.

Moriarty changed his question. "Mr. Firenze, you believe that the Great Hogwarts Riot, the moonless nights, and I are connected, right?"

Meeting Moriarty's bright gaze, Firenze slowly nodded. "Yes, Slytherin. You may not know, but several years ago, we observed the stars and divined that the British wizarding world would face a wizarding war within the next decade or so, and the course of the war would be related to two people."

Moriarty knew he was referring to Harry Potter and Voldemort.

"But—" Firenze continued, "ever since the first moonless night, the celestial phenomena have changed. The orbits, the speeds, the connections between planets and stars... everything has changed. So we are re-divining..."

"So you need a large amount of sage and marshmallow," Moriarty understood.

"That's right," Firenze said, circling Moriarty. "You arrived in September. Slytherin, Slytherin!

That surname destined you for the extraordinary. Our ancestors never had an experience of divining information about the Four Founders or their descendants through astrology or divination, and you are no exception. However, I don't think this is a coincidence."

Suddenly, a wind picked up, chilling everyone. Moriarty's voice sounded particularly resonant in the wind, "I also don't think this is a coincidence!"

Firenze extended a hand. "I'm very pleased you agree with me. Internally, there's some disagreement regarding the new divination. They've forbidden me from revealing it to you in advance."

"Then what is the new divination?" Moriarty extended his hand and they shook lightly.

Hesitation and panic flashed across Firenze's face. After a long moment, he finally said, "It's a state of chaos. Not just war, but change, fear, and something—I don't know what it is, but it seems like opportunity? Or perhaps, choice?"

I did not advance to the second round of recommendations. Thank you all for your support. I will write with more dedication going forward.