The moment they stepped into the forest, all three of them felt an indescribable shock.
The trees stood as tall as skyscrapers, their canopies blotting out the sky. Only sparse sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of branches and leaves, casting mottled shadows across the ground. Massive vines crawled over the trunks, as thick as giant pythons, some of them even slowly writhing—some kind of plant, yet seemingly alive in their own right. The air was saturated with a dense, almost viscous magical aura. Every breath felt as though they were inhaling the purest essence of magic. Dumbledore sensed that his magic, which had not grown in many years, was faintly beginning to stir. Grindelwald felt it even more clearly—her magical reservoir, nearly dried up after half a century of imprisonment, was now surging wildly, greedily absorbing the energy around her.
"Careful." Ian's voice came from ahead, kept low. "Many things here are more dangerous than you can imagine." The moment he finished speaking, a black shadow suddenly shot out of the nearby bushes!
The shadow was as fast as lightning, lunging straight at Ian, who was walking in front!
Dumbledore's wand rose instantly, but before he could utter a spell, Ian had already moved.
He did not even turn around. He merely raised a hand and gave a light grab.
He caught the black shadow firmly in his hand. It struggled and hissed, baring vicious fangs—it was a snake, but stranger than any snake they had ever seen. Its body was covered in iridescent scales, it had three eyes on its head, and pale green mist seeped from its mouth.
"Forest Toad Snake," Ian said, holding it as casually as one might hold an ordinary water snake. "Highly venomous, fast, but timid. As long as you don't attack it