The campfire's embers gradually died out in the night wind.
A low tremor filled the air, like hoofbeats, but the rhythm was chaotic and accompanied by the scrape of metal. It was the sound of centaurs moving across the ground.
First one appeared. Then more centaurs emerged from the forest. They came in all shapes and sizes, some dark-skinned, some light brown, all carrying the same weapons.
"Motherfucker?"
Ian Prince held his breath. The Disillusionment Charm had blended him almost perfectly into his surroundings, but the shock in his heart was impossible to calm. His gaze locked onto the centaurs—or rather, onto the weapons in their hands.
The sleek metal receivers, the familiar curved magazines, the rough but practical wooden stocks—what else could they be but the famously affordable and reliable AK47?
"AK-47?!" Ian nearly cried out, his mind instantly thrown into chaos. "Merlin's fattest underpants! What the hell is this supposed to be?"
Had he fallen into another even more absurdly wrong timeline?
Centaurs carrying assault rifles?!
Did I get thrown into some ridiculous Parallel Universe again?
He roared inwardly.
The centaurs at Hogwarts are still chanting ancient prophecies in the Astronomy Tower, while the centaurs here are playing with automatic weapons?! Does the Ministry of Magic know about this?!
For a moment, Ian felt that either he or the world had gone mad. The impact of the sight before him was almost no less than discovering that history had been altered in the previous timeline.
Although they were models from decades ago, these creatures, who should have been carrying bows, arrows, and spears and radiating an ancient, mysterious air, now each held a modern weapon of war. The sense of dissonance was so powerful it made him dizzy. Just as Ian was about to wonder whether he had