Wolf Attack

Lynn looked in the direction Cedric was pointing.

The Whomping Willow, usually extremely violent and constantly flailing its branches, was eerily still tonight, as if dead.

Beneath the Whomping Willow lay a figure on the ground, struggling constantly.

Without another word, Cedric ran over. Lynn tried to stop him but failed, and could only follow helplessly behind him.

Only when they drew close did they see that they recognized the figure lying on the ground in extreme pain.

It was Ian Campbell, the Ravenclaw first-year wizard.

Cedric's habit of being overly kind kicked in. He crouched in front of Ian and asked anxiously.

"You look like you need help. Is there anything we can do?"

But the young wizard on the ground did not appreciate it. His pale face looked exceptionally twisted, and two canine teeth flickered in and out of view between his lips.

"I don't need it! Go! Get out of here!"

Lynn had already sensed that something was wrong. He looked at the round moon glowing softly overhead and recalled all the strange things about Ian since he had first seen him. His expression immediately turned dreadful!

He suddenly grabbed Cedric's arm and shouted urgently, "Go! We have to get away from him right now! Back to the castle!"

However, it was already too late!

An astonishing transformation took place before their eyes!

With a terrifying roar, Ian's head lengthened, and so did his body. His shoulders hunched, fur sprouted across his face and hands, and his fingers curved into sharp claws!

They watched a werewolf complete his transformation right in front of them!

Cedric seemed frozen with terror as Lynn dragged him unconsciously toward Hogwarts Castle.

But as they passed the Whomping Willow, the ground suddenly vanished beneath their feet, and both of them fell through it.

Lynn felt utterly unlucky.

Only now did he remember that the original story had mentioned a secret passage beneath the Whomping Willow by the Black Lake, leading to Hogsmeade.

That passage had originally been built for the werewolf wizard Remus Lupin, allowing him to go to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade every full moon to transform without harming anyone else.

Now that Hogwarts had another young werewolf wizard, it was only natural that the professors had decided to reopen the passage.

But it had dragged Lynn and Cedric into disaster.

The usually active Whomping Willow had suddenly fallen silent. Clearly, Ian had already opened the passage, but his transformation had begun before he could enter it.

Then Lynn and Cedric had walked straight into the trap and fallen in.

"We can't go back up now." Cedric had calmed down by then.

"If we can't go back to the castle, we'll follow the passage. Hurry! If he catches up with us, we're finished!" Lynn spoke rapidly. He had no intention of being bitten by a werewolf; that would ruin his entire life as a wizard.

The two of them sprinted through the passage, but when they had nearly reached its midpoint, Lynn suddenly stopped Cedric.

"What is it?" Cedric asked, panting heavily.

Lynn said nothing and listened intently for a while.

"He didn't follow us."

"Yeah, why didn't he come after us?" Cedric also realized something was wrong.

"How much do you know about werewolves?" Lynn asked.

Cedric came from a proper pure-blood family. He had read far more magical-world educational books while growing up than a young wizard like Lynn, who had come into it halfway through.

"They can't control their transformations. They transform every full moon without fail. After transforming, they usually lose their minds and retain only the instinct to attack other humans. If there are no other people nearby, they'll injure themselves until the full moon is over."

"So we should be the only two people near him, right? Why didn't he chase after us?" The more Lynn thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Cedric was still young, and by then he had no idea what to do either.

"So what do we do now? Should we go back and take a look?"

"No!"

Lynn immediately rejected Cedric's suggestion. Going back now was far too risky.

"Let's wait here for half an hour first. If we hear anything, we'll keep running. If we don't, then we'll go back and have a look."

Lynn had not made that decision because he was brave. Just moments ago, the system that had been silent in his mind for so long had suddenly issued him a mission:

Series side quest unlocked!

Quest 1: Speak with the werewolf Ian Campbell.

Reward: Constitution attribute unlocked, Constitution +1

Whatever else it meant, the system's mission revealed one crucial piece of information: there was something unusual about the werewolf named Ian.

He was different from other werewolves.

Lynn paced anxiously through the passage.

To be honest, the wise choice at this point would have been to play it safe.

The safest plan would have been to leave through this passage, run to Hogsmeade, and then return to Hogwarts from Hogsmeade.

But Lynn also wanted that Constitution attribute.

Although his System Panel did not even have a Constitution attribute, he had a feeling that if he missed this opportunity, he would probably never get another chance to unlock it.

Half an hour passed quickly, yet no sounds ever came from the entrance of the passage.

Lynn had already made up his mind completely. He decided to take a risk.

He looked at Cedric and said solemnly.

"You stay here. I'll go check the entrance first. If it's safe, I'll call for you to come over."

At Lynn's words, Cedric's face immediately flushed red, and he glared at him angrily.

"Lynn! You don't think of me as a friend!"

Lynn had not expected such a strong reaction. He was taking the risk to gain something for himself; there was no reason for Cedric to accompany him into danger.

Lynn rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"What I mean is, we can't both take the risk. If something happens, wouldn't that be throwing both our lives away?"

"Then I should be the one to check things out first. I'm older than you, and if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have run into this danger at all!"

After saying that, Cedric ignored Lynn and headed toward the passage entrance on his own.

Lynn could do nothing about his stubbornness and could only hurry after him.

As they neared the entrance, both of them gradually softened their footsteps.

The exit was directly above them, but there was not a sound outside.

Lynn suddenly pressed Cedric's head down and whispered, "Don't move yet. I'll see whether he's outside."

Cedric glared at him from below, but he knew this was not the time to speak and did not resist.

Lynn poked his head out from the passage entrance and quickly swept his gaze around.

The next moment, he met a pair of emerald-green eyes.

Lynn's heart jolted at first, but he quickly relaxed.

There was no madness or savagery in those eyes, only a cold calm as still as dead water.

Under the gentle moonlight, a juvenile werewolf with pure white fur sat quietly against the Whomping Willow.

He seemed to blend into the surrounding night, so natural, unique, peaceful, and—lonely!

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