Centaur

The Forbidden Forest was dark and silent, with moonlight pouring down from the branches above, like shattered crystals scattering silvery fragments across the fallen leaves.

Not long after he left, Kyle suddenly realized that the surroundings looked somewhat familiar.

Not far away, a group of Mooncalf stared wide-eyed at them curiously through the bushes.

At that moment, Hagrid suddenly spoke up, "Besides the Unicorn cubs, there are far fewer Mooncalf here."

Kyle was panicking inside, but outwardly remained calm as he asked, "Are we looking for them today too?"

"No, that's not necessary." Hagrid shook his head and said, "Because the other Mooncalf here don't seem to be acting strangely, I think they probably went to the woodlands to the south, where there's a larger Mooncalf population."

"I see... that's good."

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief and followed Hagrid deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

Before leaving, however, he took out a large handful of Dittany leaves and threw them nearby, as an extra meal for the Mooncalf.

Hagrid also saw Kyle's actions, but he was preoccupied with the stolen Unicorn cub, so he didn't pay much attention and assumed that the Dittany were all grown by Kyle himself.

The further they walked, the more anxious Hagrid became.

Kyle looked at him and thought for a moment before saying, "Could it be that some other animal stole the Unicorn cub?"

"Impossible," Hagrid said. "Unicorn are extremely protective of their young, and these animals possess powerful magic. Without cunning and trickery, even Dragon couldn't easily approach and take away their cubs."

They walked through a woodland covered with moss and mushrooms and came to a winding stream.

"Awooo..." Fang suddenly howled.

In the silent Forbidden Forest, this sharp bark sounded particularly jarring.

"Fang, have you discovered something?"

Hagrid rushed over, simultaneously drawing an arrow and loading it into his crossbow, ready to fire at any moment.

Fang sat there and patted a branch next to her with her front paws. A small piece of black cloth, about the size of a palm, was hanging on it.

"Well done, Fang! Well done!"

Hagrid took the scraps of cloth, rubbed them gently in his hands, and then smelled them.

"Rough texture... and this peculiar smell," Hagrid murmured. "I know, outsiders must have been in the Forbidden Forest."

"Isn't this just an ordinary piece of cloth?" Kyle asked.

"No," Hagrid said definitively. "The material of this cloth is a special kind of rattan. It's rough and clothes made from it are very uncomfortable. Its only advantage is that it's tough and durable."

Therefore, only Auror who need to perform long-term missions abroad, and those who raise dragons, would wear it.

This piece of cloth was the first clue they found.

Hagrid wanted Fang to find the person by scent, but Fang just circled around and returned to where he started.

Hagrid looked somewhat disappointed.

The two continued walking along the stream, carefully searching for something in the vicinity.

Suddenly, a dark figure flashed past from the side.

"Who's there!" Hagrid raised his giant crossbow and stood in front of Kyle, shouting, "Come out, I see you!"

"Clatter..."

Accompanied by the sound of hooves, a half-human, half-horse creature entered the clearing.

The upper body is human, with red hair and a beard, but the lower body is a brownish-red horse with a long red tail trailing behind.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan." Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief and said, "How are you?"

He stepped forward and shook hands with the centaur.

"Good evening, Hagrid." Ronan's voice was low and sorrowful. "You want to shoot me with an arrow?"

"Just in case, Ronan." Hagrid patted his quiver. "There's also a young wizard with us this time, and I need to protect him."

Oh, by the way, this is Kyle Chopper, a student at Hogwarts.

Then he said to Kyle, "This is Ronan, a centaur."

Upon seeing that it was a male centaur, Kyle's interest instantly waned considerably, but out of politeness, he still nodded and said, "Hello."

Ronan gave Kyle a careful look, then placed his arm on his shoulder, bent his front leg slightly, and said, "Good evening, it's nice to meet you."

Kyle was a little puzzled; he had a feeling that something was off about this centaur, that the man was behaving too formally.

Centaurs are proud. Under normal circumstances, when facing strangers, they would at most nod, instead of bowing and bending their knees like they did just now.

That's a privilege usually reserved for Dumbledore.

"Ronan, it's good to meet you here." Hagrid put away his giant crossbow and said, "A Unicorn cub has been stolen. Did you see anything?"

Ronan didn't answer immediately; he stared intently at the sky.

"Don't worry," he said. "Mars is perfectly normal tonight."

"Yes, just like any other time." Hagrid raised his head dismissively and continued, "But did you see anything, Ronan? Did you see anything unusual, or any strangers?"

"You're acting a bit strange," Ronan said, puzzled.

"I'm perfectly fine!" Hagrid said impatiently. "I mean, have you seen anything unusual?"

"Come with me." Ronan glanced at them, then turned and walked into a grove of low bushes.

Hagrid and Kyle quickly followed.

They walked through the bushes and stopped in front of a large, thick tree. There, Ronan disappeared.

"This is really strange, he actually led the way for us." Hagrid looked around and whispered, "These centaurs know a lot of things, but they always keep their mouths shut. I always thought they weren't interested in anything except things around the moon."

Suddenly, Fang darted out and lay down under the tree, howling incessantly.

"You've discovered it so quickly?"

Hagrid and Kyle quickly followed.

Where the Fang was, a piece of the tree trunk was missing, looking like a piece of bread that had been bitten, with very obvious signs of corrosion along the edges.

Hagrid leaned closer, stroking his chin, and said, "This must be some kind of evil Dark Magic."

Kyle couldn't see the gap because of his height, so he circled around it.

This tree is really big, with a diameter of about five meters. Even in the Forbidden Forest, trees of this size are very rare.

Compared to it, the surrounding plants looked malnourished, small and short. Kyle didn't even need to walk over; a quick glance was enough to see them all.