Forbidden Forest Cabin

The next few days passed with an unspoken agreement between the two not to mention what had happened that night.

Naturally, Cypher didn't press Iris about her feelings.

The three of them continued to study and practice magic as usual.

Originally, Iris had wanted to incorporate some Muggle knowledge, but Cypher suggested that a basic understanding was enough, and they could delve deeper when their magical abilities hit a bottleneck.

Activating his Corporeal Patronus and surviving a near-death experience had further strengthened Cypher's resolve.

Now, his magical abilities had improved once again.

Luna and Iris had also made slight progress. Luna's improvement was tied to his own, likely due to the elevation of their spirits, while Cypher attributed Iris's progress to the improvement of her condition for the time being.

Several times, Cypher had wanted to ask her what exactly her illness was, but fearing that Iris might be too sensitive, which would be detrimental to her mood, he ultimately decided that if she didn't say, he wouldn't ask.

Time flew by, and the weekend arrived.

Cypher and Luna couldn't keep it a secret any longer, but they concealed some of the truth, not wanting Iris's mood to fluctuate too much.

So, they only told her that they were going to Hogsmeade to bid on a Norman Dragon Blood Grass and were accidentally caught by a professor.

Iris, of course, knew what that meant. She smiled and said that she still needed to work on the magical runes for Legilimency and wouldn't accompany them to play in the Forbidden Forest.

It was early morning, the sky was already bright, and the dew left on the lawn from the previous night reflected the light.

Since they were going to the Forbidden Forest, Wizard Robes would be too cumbersome.

Both of them were dressed in sportswear. Notably, Luna's clothes were designed by Cypher with a modern eye, and paired with Luna's neat ponytail, she looked particularly sunny, energetic, and vibrant.

Along the way, she attracted the envious gazes of many young witches.

After breakfast, the two of them went to the castle gate, where two Aurors in black robes were stationed outside the castle gate.

They had already received notice that the two were going to serve detention at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

But they still scrutinized the note that Cypher produced, written by his own Head of House.

After confirming everything was in order, the Auror gestured for the two of them to leave.

The lockdown only lasted for this week. The Ministry of Magic couldn't deploy so many people to Hogwarts, which was almost impossible to be attacked.

The incident in Hogsmeade happened because no young Wizards were involved. (They didn't know Cypher and Luna's identities because they came through a secret passage.)

Once this weekend was over, these Aurors stationed at Hogwarts would return to their busy jobs.

Leaving the castle gate, Cypher and Luna arrived on the path above the Great Lawn.

The warm light of the morning sun shone on them, and the air was filled with the scent of grass and flowers.

Cypher's suppressed mood of the past few days vanished, and his spirits lifted.

The two of them walked eastward side by side on the gravel path leading to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

This path wasn't easy to walk on.

There were too many dead branches and newly grown twigs.

It was clear that Ogg rarely came to the castle from here.

He probably didn't walk; there were many ways to travel in the Magical World.

If he had something to do at the castle from a place far away from the castle, his first choice would be Instant Transmission, followed by Apparate, and finally a flying broom.

Cypher thought the flying broom was most likely, after all, Ogg definitely couldn't use Instant Transmission, and Hogwarts prohibited Apparate.

Cypher, who was walking in front, cleared the way for Luna.

Ice blades danced around Cypher, cutting out a circular archway.

Finally, the two of them reached the end of the gravel path.

Cypher stopped and looked ahead.

Through the gaps in the various tree trunks, he could vaguely see the corner of a wooden house.

Confirming the direction, Cypher cleared the way again.

Arriving at the door of the cabin, Cypher stopped and adopted a defensive posture.

Seeing this, Luna quickly and silently moved behind Cypher, ready to fight back-to-back with him.

"No, no, Luna."

Cypher was dumbfounded. He had just suddenly noticed several obvious traps in front of the cabin, meant to tell you not to break in easily.

After explaining, Luna stuck out her tongue and gave the right to negotiate to Cypher.

"Crackle Boom"

Cypher thought it was too embarrassing to shout loudly, so he released an Exploding Charm into the air.

The explosion attracted the attention of the cabin's owner.

"Figure out how to get in yourself, or go back quickly. I really don't know what the headmaster is thinking, sending first-year students to help me with work."

The man's rough voice was very straightforward, which relieved Cypher.

He liked dealing with such straightforward men.

What does it mean to have to figure things out on my own once I'm inside?

Cypher was puzzled, but after carefully observing the mechanisms, he suddenly understood and couldn't help but laugh wryly.

The mechanisms Ogg set up didn't have any arrows or anything.

Getting hit would hurt a lot, but wouldn't actually harm you.

It was probably a test to see if he was clever enough, and if his abilities were up to par.

Otherwise, in the Forbidden Forest, Ogg wouldn't be able to look after him every moment.

Cypher concentrated, carefully observing, trying to crack these mechanisms using methods a normal young Wizard would.

Yes, he could bulldoze his way through with powerful magic, but exposing himself directly to strangers like that wasn't a good idea.

Just these mechanical mechanisms? Cypher didn't believe it. He used the techniques Dumbledore had taught him, and his eyes glowed slightly.

As a result, the magical runes left by some crudely applied Spells were clearly visible in his eyes.

"Basic Protego," "Basic Guarding Charm," "Basic Impedimenta"...

They weren't even basic; you could only say they were Spells whose component runes wouldn't collapse on their own.

Of course, they could still stop some unsuspecting young Wizards.

But, for Cypher, dispelling these Spells was easy.

Luna didn't even need to lift a finger.

Cypher walked forward, waving his wand, dealing with various mechanisms and dispelling various hindering Spells with a flick of his wrist.

"Creak—"

Cypher pushed open the dilapidated wooden door, which let out a mournful groan.

The room was rather dim, but fortunately, it wasn't very bright in the dense forest either.

First, Cypher saw a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard, on the thin side, giving off a Western cowboy vibe.

At this moment, he was holding a cup of tea, leaning back in a worn-out wooden chair.

He looked like he was about to bring the cup to his mouth.

Next to him was an old but well-maintained broomstick.

Cypher nodded inwardly, confirming his guess.

Then, he looked resentfully at Ogg; first-years weren't allowed to bring broomsticks.

It had taken them quite a bit of effort to get here.

Across from him, Ogg, who had been worrying, looked at the two who had just entered with surprise.

Even older students shouldn't be able to get through so quickly, or even be unable to break the Spells.

The school sending two new students made him a little disappointed.

He was looking for helpers, not babysitters.

But he hadn't expected these two new students to be stronger than the average older student.

For a moment, it almost broke his composure, which he had developed over years of guarding the Forbidden Forest.

Fortunately, he came to his senses in time. Ogg put down the cup he had been holding all this time.

He got up and walked to the side, took his hat off the wall, and put it on.

Then, he went to a workbench on the side, picked up a bow and arrow from it.

Then, he strode towards the door.

Then, without turning his head, he said to the two of them:

"Come on! Did you want a cup of tea?"

Cypher just watched as Ogg silently packed up and walked out of the room.

He glanced at the clay pot hanging over the brazier in the center of the room, in which unknown fragrant herbs were bubbling.

He looked again at Ogg, who was walking out without stopping, and was silent.

If I said I was thirsty and wanted a drink, you'd pretend not to hear me, right?