An Encounter with a Dark Wizard in the Forbidden Forest—What Now?

"He asked me to deliver fifteen Mandrakes to him every month. Roasting one Mandrake gave him a good night's sleep, and eating one did too. All things considered, I gave him a whole month of beautiful sleep," Kane said smugly.

"Mandrakes can do that?" Ron stared at the ceiling. Sure enough, there were still plenty of things in this world he didn't know. Maybe he should sneak a piece to try during the next class?

Kane had already sat down and was listening to Harry talk about the afternoon's flying lesson and what happened during dinner. In short, Neville had gotten carried away on his broomstick and been sent to the infirmary.

Then Malfoy and Bole Anrera from Slytherin had snatched up Neville's Remembrall, which he had dropped where he fell. They had tried to pull some British-style bullying, only for Harry to bravely shut them down.

But Harry had then been called to Professor McGonagall's office. He had expected a stern reprimand, only to find that it had turned into a blessing in disguise—Harry had become Gryffindor's new Quidditch Seeker.

Then, during dinner, Malfoy had formally thrown down the gauntlet, challenging them to a wizard's duel in the trophy room at midnight.

"I get it. This is our plan for tonight, right?" Kane had slept soundly all afternoon after eating a Mandrake and had been wondering what to do if he couldn't sleep that night. Talk about a pillow arriving just as he got sleepy.

Harry and Ron nodded. "That's right. They've got Malfoy, Anrera, and Malfoy's two lackeys. But the three of us should be enough to handle those four pieces of trash, right?"

"Don't worry, brother. We've got this." After saying that, Kane suddenly remembered something.

He had forgotten about today's main quest. His original plan had been to ask Hagrid where those spiders in the Forbidden Forest mainly lived.

But because of the Mandrakes, he had gone to the headmaster's office before he could ask. Then he had spent the entire afternoon demonstrating the Mandrakes' Eternal Realm application for Dumbledore.

He had wasted a whole afternoon. If he hurried to the Forbidden Forest now, perhaps he could still try his luck. As for returning to the dormitory?

They were going out for a nighttime brawl anyway. At worst, they could just stay outside the castle for a while.

Harry and Ron noticed Kane's changing expression. They exchanged a glance, then asked in unison, "What are you planning now?"

Kane smiled at them. What wonderful brothers. Having two people to mess around with him was such a beautiful thing.

Half an hour later, Ron swallowed as he looked at the Forbidden Forest ahead, where not even the faintest bit of light could be seen.

Of course, he wasn't scared of the Forbidden Forest itself. As a purebred, competition-grade Gryffindor, he feared nothing. Forget the Forbidden Forest—even if someone told him to die, he wouldn't so much as blink.

It was just that his two older brothers had once told him there were lots of spiders in the Forbidden Forest.

And Kane had come here specifically to find those spiders.

Emmm... maybe he should come up with a lame excuse? But that clearly wasn't something a Gryffindor should do.

Kane took out his wand and cast Lumos. Thanks to his specially made wand, and the fact that his magical essence was actually his own shadow, Lumos could drive away the darkness and keep Charlie far away from him.

The three of them swaggered into the Forbidden Forest. As for the magical creatures inside?

"Honestly, they're all worthless rabble." Kane could say that with complete confidence. No one understood better than him how to survive in the wild and defeat beasts attacking from every direction.

As the sky gradually darkened, the vegetation overhead in the Forbidden Forest grew denser, blocking out even the slightest starlight. Only the Lumos spells of the three boys gave them a necessary sense of security.

Harry and Ron chatted, joked, and roughhoused behind him. After walking for so long and seeing nothing but trees and grass, they clearly felt that the Forbidden Forest was nothing special and not dangerous at all.

But Kane didn't see it that way. Should such a vast forest really be this quiet? Quiet enough that not even insects could be heard?

Even in the absurdly desolate Eternal Realm, prey or wild beasts would occasionally pop out. Yet the Forbidden Forest in the real world had fallen silent to this extent. If nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected was about to happen.

Harry and Ron still knew nothing about that. Of course, Kane didn't tell them. He didn't think his two friends had better nerves than he did, and telling them might cause some kind of trouble.

So, from the moment he noticed it, he began leading them in two circles, quietly looping around from the direction they had entered the Forbidden Forest to the direction of the exit.

If he was lucky enough, he might even get Harry, Ron, and the presence hidden in the dark out of the Forbidden Forest before any of them realized his true intentions.

But clearly, luck had never been his strong suit.

He suddenly stopped, extinguished Lumos, grabbed Harry with his left hand and Ron with his right, and left only an extremely faint shadowy glow in his pocket to keep Charlie's kisses away.

"What is it?" Harry noticed Kane's unusual behavior and quickly calmed down, asking in a low voice.

"Shh."

Kane shushed them, telling Harry and Ron not to speak, then called upon his external eyes. "Maxwell, what is that?"

"What I see isn't much different from what you see. But judging from the magical fluctuations, it's a strange dark wizard. And clearly, he's already noticed you," Maxwell said with a shrug as he appeared before Kane and pointed at the bushes behind him.

That was enough information for Kane. The fact that the dark wizard had discovered them but still hadn't chosen to attack said a great deal. In a battle royale, if you ran into someone and they didn't shoot, there was an eighty percent chance they weren't confident of winning and didn't want to expose themselves.

In that case, as long as neither side crossed the other, they should be able to avoid the dark wizard perfectly. Of course, for the remaining ninety-two percent chance of getting out safely, they had to keep a backup plan ready.

"Don't talk. Follow me." Kane held Harry's hand, Harry held Ron's, and the three of them slowly moved in a line around the dark wizard's position.

At the same time, Kane frantically used the Summoning Charm and his own shadow to create Eternal Bees one after another.

The bees were small and highly maneuverable, and most importantly, they could fly. If any spells came flying at them from behind, the bees could serve as decoys and block them.

Kane led Harry and Ron toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest, step by step. As long as they could keep calm...

Bzzzz!

An unsettling buzz rang out, and green light illuminated the tree before Kane and the others.

"That's Avada Kedavra." Ron stared stiffly at the green light his parents had taught him to stay far away from.

"What do we do?" Harry asked as he reached for his wand.

"What do we do? Run!" Kane no longer lowered his voice. He spun around and flicked his wand, instantly summoning an astonishing number of killer bees, which buzzed toward the dark wizard hidden in the shadows.

After doing all that, he didn't hesitate. He dragged Harry and Ron away at top speed.