Parseltongue

Guided by the Tracking Charm, Xiwen and Newt arrived deep in the forest.

Here lies a crystal-clear lake nestled quietly among the towering trees.

Xiwen frowned; the inexplicable sense of familiarity with this forest grew stronger.

"There's a hill in front of the lake; that's probably where the vipers live," Newt's words interrupted Xiwen's thoughts.

He looked up at the hills in front of the lake, and the sense of familiarity faded.

'Could it be my imagination?' Xiwen wondered to himself.

Upon arriving at this place, Aurelius became increasingly nervous. He kept taking deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves.

"Don't worry, Nagini will be fine," Aberforth patted him on the shoulder, reassuring him.

Led by Newt, the group climbed a hill ahead, where a huge cave entrance was visible on its side. In the dim light shining through the entrance, they could occasionally see numerous pale brown, chain-like oval vipers crawling through the cave, the rustling sound of their bodies scraping against the ground sending chills down their spines.

"Be careful, vipers are highly venomous. Don't get bitten," Newt turned to warn everyone present cautiously.

"I'll go in and scout ahead first," Xiwen said, floating to the front of the group after hearing Newt's warning. "At least I won't get bitten by the snake."

Newt thought for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Alright, then we'll wait for you at the cave entrance," he said.

So, taking advantage of his Soul Body, Xiwen was the first to float into the cave entrance.

At this moment, Aurelius could no longer contain his nervousness. A layer of black, fluffy mist suddenly enveloped his body, carrying him to Xiwen's side.

"I won't be harmed by the snakes either, we can go together," Aurelius said.

"Okay," Xiwen nodded.

After the two drifted into the cave together, they discovered that the cave was poorly lit and difficult to see.

Silently, Xiwen extended his hand, and a weakened version of the Light of Nirvalon lit up his palm.

Then, a bright white light illuminated the entire cave in an instant.

After illuminating the dim cave, Xiwen looked down at the ground and suddenly discovered hundreds upon hundreds of vipers of different sizes! They were densely intertwined, their forked tongues hissing and rubbing together, sending chills down one's spine.

Upon witnessing this scene, Xiwen shuddered violently, feeling utterly terrified...

As for Aurelius, although he was also somewhat pale, his obsession with finding Nagini ultimately prevailed.

And so, the Obscurus black smoke carried Aurelius back and forth through the crowded cave, searching for a viper that resembled Nagini's Maledictus.

Because snakes are not attracted to light, they cannot even sense light, and naturally have no reaction to the light shining in the cave.

Furthermore, although their eyes could clearly see the heat radiation, neither Aurelius in his Obscurus state nor Xiwen in his Soul Body form had any body temperature. Therefore, while Aurelius searched around, the snakes did not make any attacking moves.

Of course, even if they were attacked, it wouldn't cause them any harm.

"Can you recognize Nagini's viper form?" Xiwen floated to Aurelius's side and asked curiously.

Aurelius nodded, then shook his head somewhat blankly.

"I don't know," he said softly. "I've searched here many times, but I haven't found her anywhere."

"I don't know if ten years have changed her appearance, or if I've simply forgotten what she looks like..."

"Try to look on the bright side. Maybe Nagini's Blood Curse hasn't fully erupted yet?" Xiwen comforted her. "If the Blood Curse hadn't erupted, maybe she wouldn't even be here?"

"I know, I know," Aurelius shook his head and sighed. "It's just that the disappointment was too great. This time I really thought I was going to find her."

The two returned empty-handed, leaving the cave teeming with vipers and heading back to the entrance, where Newt and his companions were still waiting.

"Well, have you found Nagini yet?" Aberforth asked anxiously as soon as the two of them floated out.

Aurelius withdrew the Obscurus black mist back into his body and gently landed on the ground.

Then, he silently shook his head at Aberforth.

Aberforth opened his mouth, but the blessing he was about to utter turned into a deep word of comfort.

"It's alright, what endeavor doesn't have setbacks?" he told everyone. "This is only the first time we've searched, don't be discouraged, cheer up!"

Aurelius managed a weak smile, but the disappointment in his eyes was palpable.

As everyone gradually lost hope, Newt looked at the cave, which had returned to its dim light, and said softly, "If only we could communicate with these snakes, perhaps they would know something."

Dumbledore had been comforting Aurelius, but upon hearing Newt's words, he suddenly froze in place.

"Wait, Newt. What did you just say?" Dumbledore looked at Newt seriously and asked him.

"Um...maybe these snakes know something?" Newt looked at the serious-looking Dumbledore and said, somewhat at a loss.

"No, not that sentence." Dumbledore frowned, as if some clue was about to emerge, but he couldn't quite recall it. "What was the other sentence you just said?"

"The other thing..." Newt thought for a moment, then said, "It would be great if we could communicate with these snakes."

"Yes, that's it!" Dumbledore's brow suddenly relaxed, and he smiled. "How could I have forgotten about him?"

As he finished speaking with a relieved expression, his expression became much more relaxed.

"Albus, what nonsense are you spouting?" Aberforth looked at Dumbledore with displeasure, rebuking him for still being so unserious at a time like this.

Not only was Aberforth puzzled, but the others present, including Xiwen, also didn't understand who this "he" Dumbledore was referring to was.

However, Dumbledore did not immediately answer everyone's questions.

He chuckled lightly, then turned to Xiwen and said, "Doctor Strange, could you open a portal to Hogwarts and bring Xiwen here?"

'What use is it to come to me...?' Hearing Dumbledore's words, Xiwen was even more puzzled, wondering what purpose his coming to him could serve.

However, trusting Dumbledore, Xiwen opened the Dimensional Gate and sent the Young Wizard Xiwen to the forests of Albania.

"Professor, is there something you need?" The Young Wizard Xiwen, asked, feigning ignorance of what had just happened.

"Xiwen, how is your relationship with Tom going now?" Dumbledore suddenly asked.

"Huh? Riddle?" Xiwen was stunned, and said blankly. "He should be... not bad."

Xiwen was completely baffled by Dumbledore's thoughts. How could his mind jump to such extremes... And weren't they supposed to be talking about Nagini? Why were they bringing up Riddle?

"It's good that we have a good relationship," Dumbledore said enigmatically. "Newt's words reminded me of something. Maybe we really can communicate with those snakes!"

"When I went to the orphanage to pick Tom up for school, he told me that he could speak Parseltongue!"