Hero Saves the Beauty

During lunch, Snape wasn't in the Great Hall, and even Dumbledore had disappeared.

At the Gryffindor table, Seamus was waving a chicken leg like a wand, telling everyone how Charles had saved him and Neville earlier.

"Nice work!"

"Not bad!"

The Weasley twins kept piling chicken legs and steaks onto Charles's plate as they spoke.

Fred said, "So you're this capable. This afternoon, when we... research the Bag of Holding, we'll be at ease."

George added, "Maybe we can... delve deeper into our research."

Charles looked at the twins, confused, feeling like they were talking about something else entirely.

After lunch, as Charles and the twins were about to leave the castle, they ran into Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Weasleys," Professor McGonagall's expression was stern, "Please come to my office with me. I need you to explain why the fire in the common room fireplace can freeze water."

Fred and George immediately cowered.

Professor McGonagall then asked Charles, "Where are you two heading?"

Charles and the twins already had an excuse ready: "Professor Sprout approved me planting some Moonpetal Flowers in an open area near the Greenhouse. I asked the Weasley twins to help me weed."

He had given Professor Sprout a marked map before lunch. All the herbs were correct, so the professor had pointed out a spot on the map for him.

Professor McGonagall didn't doubt it; Professor Sprout had mentioned this to her during lunch, even jokingly suggesting Charles should transfer houses.

So, Charles had to leave the castle alone and head toward the Greenhouse.

The spot Professor Sprout had given him was quite nice. Not far away was a stream flowing from the Forbidden Forest. The stream wound around the back of the castle and eventually flowed into the Great Lake.

Charles looked at the stream and thought for a long time. Perhaps if he followed the water a little way into the Forbidden Forest, it would be fine. At worst, he could just turn back.

Once the thought appeared, he couldn't stop it. His curiosity about the Forbidden Forest quickly took over.

He glanced around. No one was there, so he took out his wand and walked along the stream toward the Forbidden Forest.

It was autumn now, with many fallen leaves on the ground, and some small plants were starting to wither.

The surrounding trees were very tall, with tangled roots crisscrossing the ground, covered in moss.

Occasionally, a bird with spots would fly past in the woods. It made no sound; it must have been a Dementor.

Now and then, large, decaying trees would fall in the forest, covered in either bright or plain mushrooms.

Around these mushrooms were several dead mice. Puffapods, looking like furballs, were fulfilling their role as scavengers.

Charles simply noted the appearance of the mushrooms from a distance. He wouldn't touch them until he was sure they were safe.

In the distance of the woods, black shadows would occasionally appear; those were the Thestrals kept by Hogwarts.

Sometimes, white figures would appear; they were likely unicorns.

Charles walked a long way without realizing it, reaching the source of the stream, a small lake about half the size of a soccer field.

Suddenly, a girl's scream echoed from not far away!

Charles blinked, wondering if other students were here too.

He hurried over, and the scene before him shocked him.

Beside a patch of blueberries, a centaur girl was confronting five Acromantulas about the same size as her with her bow and arrows, but the spiders had already surrounded her.

Just as the white spiderwebs were about to touch the centaur girl's body, a powerful force pulled her into the air, lifting her out of the encirclement and landing her by the lake.

Seeing their dinner fly away, the Acromantulas turned sharply and saw Charles, who could also be dinner. They charged towards the lake.

Charles's mouth twitched. Now he knew where the old man bought his groceries.

He aimed his wand at the fastest and largest Acromantula, casting an Accio Charm, followed by a Projectile Charm, smashing the second fastest one to the ground, incidentally knocking over the third.

Then, he cast a combination of a Levitation Charm and a Stupefy Charm on the fourth Acromantula, slamming it hard into the ground with a sound like a bursting water bladder.

At this moment, the fifth Acromantula charged from another direction. Charles turned and cast an Accio Charm at the quiver on the centaur girl's waist, pulling out all ten or so arrows. Then he threw them with a Projectile Charm.

The sharp arrowheads pierced the Acromantula's exoskeleton. Its head looked like it had grown a crown, and it died on the spot.

Of the first three Acromantulas, the second was crushed to death by its companion. The third had already gotten up but was immediately caught by an Accio Charm and then thrown into a distant tree.

The largest Acromantula was a bit dazed from being smashed earlier. When it came to its senses, it continued charging at Charles.

The next moment, the sound of cracking exoskeletons and grinding flesh echoed.

A group of centaurs armed with bows and arrows rushed over as soon as they heard the girl's scream. When they burst out of the woods, they saw a young human using magic to throw a large rock, killing the last Acromantula.

The centaurs circled the area. There were no living Acromantulas left. On the scene, one was crushed by a boulder, the second had its head and front crushed by a large object, the third was impaled by a branch and hung on a tree, the fourth's abdomen was like a ripped-open sack, and the fifth had its head full of arrows.

Charles put away his wand and observed the centaurs examining the scene.

The centaurs were human from the navel up, with slightly dark skin, and horse from the navel down. Their coats and hair were the same color, varying from centaur to centaur. They carried large bows and quivers on their backs.

All the centaurs were naked, including the girl.

Charles was quite experienced and didn't lose his composure, nor did he react excessively, making them think he wasn't particularly bothered by it.

The centaur girl walked up to Charles, her voice still trembling slightly, and said, "Thank you for saving my life. Otherwise, I would have been eaten by the Acromantulas."

Charles thought that he had played the hero saving the damsel today, and said with a smile, "You're welcome, this was destiny's guidance."

He saw that the young centaur girl looked about his age, her skin not as dark as adult centaurs', and her face showed promise of becoming a great beauty.

"My name is Twilight, what's yours?"

"My name is Charles Smith."

Not long after Charles and she exchanged names, the adult centaurs arrived.

Twilight stepped forward and said to the centaur uncle leading them, "Uncle Ronan, I was almost killed by an Acromantula just now, and it was this Charles Smith who saved me!"

Ronan walked up to Charles, bowed slightly to him, and said, "Thank you very much for saving Twilight, brave foal."

Charles replied politely, "This was the stars' guidance."

Ronan found his words pleasant to hear and his attitude improved further. He asked again, "Brave foal, have you been to the Forbidden Forest before?"

Charles shook his head and said, "I am a first-year student at Hogwarts. The stars have guided me here for the first time."

Ronan invited Charles to visit their tribe, wanting to thank him properly.

Charles was quite curious about the centaur tribe and happily accepted.

However, what Ronan and the others did next confused him a bit.

The centaurs cut off all eight legs from the Acromantula's corpse and then threw them all into the lake.