Spider Shadow Trail

Of course, Adam couldn't reveal everything about Clow Reed and the like.

He simply explained that his parents were indeed ordinary people, but not Muggles, but Squibs. He also said that he only learned that his grandparents weren't ordinary people after receiving his Hogwarts letter. Although he had been misunderstood before, he hadn't found a good opportunity to clarify.

As for the Clow Cards, Adam explained that they were a family heirloom from China. Uther accepted this explanation quickly and readily.

It seems Egypt probably has similar traditions to what Adam made up...

"So, am I the only one in the dorm who comes from a truly ordinary background..."

Bernard was a bit disappointed. Adam consoled him, saying:

"Actually, I'm no different from someone with an ordinary background. I only came into contact with the wizarding world after I turned eleven."

"That's true... but Adam, your bloodline must have something to do with how quickly you adapted to wizarding life, right?"

"This sort of thing probably has to do with Adam's personality. Can bloodlines really influence something like that?"

"Alright, what's more important now is to make us both invisible, right?"

Klon helplessly interrupted the two's exchange about invisibility.

"So, Adam, you chose to clarify now because you have a better method?"

Eugene looked at the wand in Adam's hand.

"You're right..."

Adam held the Wand of Darkness in one hand, and in the other, he pinched a Clow Card between two fingers.

There were no figures or animals on the card's surface, but rather a scene similar to what you'd see in a kaleidoscope, with a gem at the center—the Illusion Card, capable of creating any illusion. When uncontrolled, it usually manifests people's greatest fears.

"Release!"

The tip of the Wand of Darkness touched the card's surface, and a gem detached from the card, floating above the Wand of Darkness. At the same time, the ever-changing kaleidoscope pattern spread out from the Clow Card, enveloping everyone and slowly fading away.

"Alright."

Adam still held the Wand of Darkness, signaling Eugene and Klon to look over:

"When the Illusion Card is in effect, you can see an illusion resembling a gem floating above my wand. When the gem disappears, it means I've dispelled the Illusion Card's magic."

"Okay!"

Once ready, Bernard volunteered to go first, with Klon second, Adam and Uther following behind them, and Eugene bringing up the rear.

"It really does look like a rather primitive forest... There are many magical plants and creatures living here."

Klon touched a Fluxweed plant at his feet:

"Mooncalf dung. It seems we'll encounter some cute animals if we come to the Forbidden Forest at night."

"And the probability of encountering danger will be higher, won't it?"

Uther's gaze scanned the surroundings warily, but there wasn't much tension in his voice.

Even in the sand-filled lands of Egypt, most of the creatures that posed a threat to wizards during the day were enormous and difficult to hide, but it was different at night.

Under the cover of darkness, even animals smaller than the palm of your hand could easily kill a wizard with venom or other means.

"Look! There are tracks ahead!"

Klon's eyes lit up, and he quickened his pace forward.

The group of five reached the place Klon mentioned, and Adam looked somewhat helplessly at Klon crouching on the ground, carefully studying a set of tracks:

"Look! This track is very wide. It must have been left by some kind of huge magical creature—like an Erumpent, or something else."

After hesitating for a moment, Adam reminded him:

"Is it possible that our half-giant groundskeeper could leave similar tracks? And this track leads straight out of the Forbidden Forest, and this place is so close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. How could a huge magical creature be active here?"

"Eh?"

Klon was stunned. He reconstructed Hagrid's size in his mind and compared it to the tracks here... a perfect match.

"Uh, hahaha, I was just guessing."

Continuing into the Forbidden Forest, perhaps because it was afternoon, they didn't find many magical creatures, only a herd of deer. However, the deer spotted them from afar, glanced in their direction, and ran off.

"Should I erase the sounds we're making too?"

Adam conjured a Silence Card from his fingertips. The card depicted a tall woman with her mouth and nose covered by a high collar.

"It's better not to. The noise we're making is protecting us in a way."

Uther stopped him:

"Some very powerful magical creatures have intelligence comparable to humans. This is Hogwarts, after all. If they find us, they might choose to leave on their own."

"Alright."

Adam listened to Uther's advice, but he didn't think these animals would actively avoid humans...

Having not found anything surprising, Bernard couldn't help but say:

"Are we just going to keep walking forward without a goal like this?"

He wanted to explore the Forbidden Forest, but the current situation seemed somewhat different from what he had imagined.

The group stopped at this point, the five of them gathering together.

"Let's take a water break."

Adam conjured five cups, then filled them with plain water.

"Bernard's right, we should at least have a goal."

Klon was a bit tired. He took his water and found a large tree, sitting down on a root that protruded from the ground. He casually looked around, hoping to find some clues to guide them.

Suddenly, Klon's pupils constricted, and he pointed in one direction:

"What's that?!"

The slightly trembling, almost cracking exclamation made Adam and the others immediately look in that direction, but they didn't see anything.

"Look from this angle!"

Adam walked over to Klon, squatted down, and looked in the direction Klon was pointing. Only then did he see the culprit that had caused Klon to lose his composure so much – a spiderweb.

A spiderweb strung between two tree trunks, spanning over ten meters, with the space between the two parallel strands of silk being as wide as a palm.

"What kind of creature spun this web? A spider?"

Uther's expression was a little unpleasant:

"Do your spiders in Britain eat this well?"

If it was just a very large spiderweb, that would be one thing, but the gaps between the strands of silk were as wide as a palm, meaning that prey about the size of a palm wasn't even on this spider's menu.

"I... I don't know either..."

Klon swallowed. Their family's breeding farm obviously wouldn't raise such fierce magical creatures.

Bernard suddenly started moving towards the spiderweb.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

Seeing Bernard's movement, Eugene quickly grabbed him.

"Aren't you guys curious?"

Looking at Bernard's somewhat excited expression, Eugene frowned:

"Aren't you scared?"

"Scared of what? It's just a spider, maybe a little bigger."

Bernard looked at Eugene in confusion, took out his gun, loaded with bullets, and cocked it:

"If you told me bullets couldn't penetrate dragon hide, I'd believe you, but a spider can't be bulletproof, right?"