Bandits Passing Through

On the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, watching the Forbidden Forest engulfed in flames, Lester remained silent.

He has already instructed Hafiz to lead his men into Hogwarts. All he needs to do is eliminate all the eyewitnesses, and Lester will still be a good student at Hogwarts!

Moreover, with so many Fantastic Beasts in the Forbidden Forest, if the rescue wasn't timely and a few precious animals were accidentally killed, it can't be blamed on the Auror.

Soon, on their way back to the castle, they encountered a large group of men led by Hafiz.

Hagrid and Filch accompanied them; both of them were guiding Hafiz.

Upon seeing Lester in the distance, Hafiz's eyes flickered, and he announced loudly, "There are four young wizards over there. Let's go see what's going on."

The prisoners disguised as Auror behind them also had strange expressions, but with eager smiles, they quickly surrounded them.

"Hello, classmate, may we ask you about the Forbidden Forest?" Hafiz asked Lester with a smile, showing no airs whatsoever, and crouched down halfway.

Lester pretended not to recognize Hafiz and quickly asked, "Sir, are you Auror?"

"Great! You'd better hurry to the Forbidden Forest to put out the fire, or those damned Centaur will destroy the entire Forbidden Forest."

"For the sake of a ritual, they actually wanted to sacrifice a terrifying monster with the Unicorn Blood. After Malfoy and I discovered it, they even tried to kill us to cover it up."

As he spoke, Lester turned and winked at Malfoy, Malfoy understood immediately. "Yes, sir, I am Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy family, and I can vouch for Lester's words."

"A terrifying blood-sucking monster?" Hafiz's expression turned grave as he glanced furtively at Lester.

Lester nodded imperceptibly, secretly telling Hafiz that there really was a blood-sucking monster here.

Hafiz knew that there really was a blood-sucking monster in the Forbidden Forest, but he guessed it wasn't the cause of the incident; it was just a scapegoat Lester used.

As for those Centaur, it must have been their foolish actions that offended Lester, which is why he harbors such a grudge against them.

Hagrid, standing behind Hafiz, was initially displeased when Hafiz asked Lester, believing that Hafiz's cautious approach was wasting rescue time.

If you're even a second late, some unfortunate Fantastic Beasts might be burned to death in the Forbidden Forest.

But when Hagrid heard that there was a blood-sucking monster in the Forbidden Forest, he froze on the spot. "Lester, are you serious?"

"How could Centaur possibly cooperate with vampires? They are the true protectors of nature!"

Lester nodded seriously and said solemnly, "Hagrid, I didn't say too much in the Forbidden Forest, but now that the Auror are here, we are safe, so I have to tell you the truth!"

"Those Centaur risked becoming enemies of Hogwarts to falsely accuse Malfoy and me of trying to kill Unicorn, simply because we were unlucky enough to stumble upon their ritual, so they wanted to silence us!"

"..."

Hagrid was speechless. He never imagined that the Centaur tribe, which had been so friendly to him before, would secretly worship evil vampire monsters.

On one side was Lester, and on the other were the Centaur. If Hagrid had previously thought there was some misunderstanding, Hagrid was now quite certain that the Centaur were the culprits.

"Alright, we all know!" Hafiz's eyes were full of admiration as he saw Lester easily subdue Hagrid.

"If there were any misunderstandings before, we can discuss them after this matter is resolved. Now, we need to rush to the Forbidden Forest for rescue."

Hafiz said earnestly, "Young man, would you like to come with us to the Forbidden Forest? It would make it easier to identify the evil vampire monster worshipped by the Centaur."

"Of course!" Lester nodded without hesitation.

And so, another Azkaban prisoner infiltrated the firefighting team, and he turned out to be the strongest one in the entire Azkaban.

Upon reaching the outer edge of the Forbidden Forest, Hafiz looked grave, appearing quite troubled as he gazed at the thick smoke billowing into the Forbidden Forest.

"Now everyone, form teams of three and go into the Forbidden Forest to put out the fire."

"If an injured Fantastic Beasts is found, it needs immediate medical attention."

"If Centaur are found to have fallen into darkness, they are permitted to be killed."

Hearing Hafiz's crisp and decisive order, Hagrid opened his mouth, "Sir, isn't the order to kill the Centaur a bit hasty? We can't confirm their relationship with that monster yet. Perhaps we could find a few Centaur and confront them face to face, which might clear up the misunderstanding."

Even now, Hagrid still believes that the Centaur tribe wouldn't be foolish enough to raise monsters.

Hafiz frowned and said coldly, "Auror investigations are not to be interfered with by unimportant personnel!"

"If you don't trust our capabilities, you can solve this problem yourself now."

"Honestly, when you Hogwarts people cause trouble, we Auror can clean up your messes, but please don't point fingers!"

Hafiz's words were blunt, leaving Hagrid blushing.

He had previously thought Hafiz was a kind and easy-going person, so he wanted to say a few words in defense of the Centaur.

Unexpectedly, Hafiz actually rebuked him a few times.

"I'm sorry, sir, Hagrid was just in a hurry," Lester said with an apologetic smile to Hafiz, then immediately pulled Hagrid back before he could speak.

Seeing Lester's smile, Hafiz almost peed his pants. The last time Lester smiled at someone like that, that person's grave was already three meters high with weeds growing on it.

Hagrid, who was being held back by Lester, was very dissatisfied and retorted, "Lester, why are you holding me back? Even if some people in the Centaur tribe have done wrong, there are still many innocent people in their tribe, such as the elderly, women, and children."

Lester: "..."

No wonder Hagrid is Dumbledore's confidant; this Giant is actually quite the saint.

"Hagrid, I know, but those Auror won't listen to you!" Lester said seriously. "They've always been very dissatisfied with Dumbledore's management."

"The fact that they were able to get here so quickly and were willing to help us put out the fire is only because of Malfoy."

"So, don't provoke them, or the other Fantastic Beasts in the Forbidden Forest will suffer even more!"

Hagrid still thought it was inappropriate, but he didn't refute Lester's words.

"Alright," Hagrid said in a deep voice, "Then I must also enter the Forbidden Forest to rescue those poor little darlings."

After saying this, Hagrid found Hafiz and asked to enter the Forbidden Forest.

Hafiz glanced at Lester subtly, and Lester.

Hagrid is now completely focused on the Fantastic Beasts, so he's completely forgotten about finding Dumbledore.

Although Hagrid's involvement in the rescue would certainly cause some inconvenience, Lester believed it would be worthwhile to delay Dumbledore's arrival.