Hagrid recognized it as the carcass of a unicorn; a long gash had been torn in the fur around its neck, and blood had seeped into the soil along the grass, turning it a dark brown.
Before he could even step forward, a white light Accio from the side and struck the bats directly.
The bat let out a piercing screech, its wings flapped violently a few times, and then it burst into several puffs of black smoke, disappearing among the shadows of the trees.
Professor Malin emerged from behind the tree trunk, her dark blue robe stained with a few withered leaves and dirt. A tear was visible at the edge of her left sleeve, revealing a small section of a silver metal wristband.
She held a slender wand in her hand, its tip still faintly glowing white. Her expression was even more stern than usual. Her gaze swept quickly across the marks on the ground before she looked up at Hagrid: "You've come at the right time. Although there aren't many here, they're everywhere in the forest."
Hagrid strode quickly toward Marlene. He had only taken two steps when a flurry of wings flapped through the canopy above him. Four greyish-black bats swooped down from above, their target his neck and shoulders.
Hagrid didn't dodge; he simply raised his free hand and slapped the two bats at the front. The two bats bounced back as if they had hit a wall, crashing into a tree trunk and turning into black smoke.
Just as the remaining two were about to turn, Hagrid sidestepped them, then reached out and grabbed one bat by the wing, while casually swatting the other away with his umbrella-holding hand.
The bat he was holding struggled desperately, its wings and claws flailing wildly between his fingers, emitting sharp and rapid hisses. Hagrid glanced down, then twisted his wrist, slamming the struggling creature against a nearby tree trunk. The bat let out a muffled groan, then dissipated into a puff of black smoke.
Quirrell emerged from the shadows of the trees on the other side, a few fallen leaves clinging to his blond hair, and the collar of his school uniform was askew, but the wand in his hand still pointed steadily at the ground, its tip still shimmering with a faint blue light.
He glanced at Hagrid, then at the unicorn's remains on the ground, and frowned slightly. "There are more of them than expected, but they probably can't kill the unicorn. There are definitely Werewolf nearby."
Marlene approached, several small silver metal spheres floating in the air around her, their surfaces gleaming with a fine light, nimbly weaving through the gaps in the forest with the movement of her wrist.
One of the balls collided with a swooping bat, exploding in a burst of silver light. The bat turned into black smoke and dissipated. The other ball slid along the ground, leaving a thin, silver trail at the base of the bushes, like an invisible barrier slowly taking shape.
Her movements were precise and composed, each gesture accompanied by the disappearance of a bat, as if she were already accustomed to this rhythm of battle. "These bats are mostly created by low-level Vampire using magic. They're not very strong, but there are too many of them. We clear out one area, and another one pops up."
She paused here, glanced back at Quirrell, and said, "Have you noticed something? These bats attack frequently, but the intensity is always very low; it's more like harassment."
Quirrell was using his wand to block two bats that were trying to approach. Several thin blue beams shot out from the tip of the wand, hitting the core of each bat precisely. His movements were faster than usual, as if he didn't intend to give them any chance to get closer.
He didn't stop what he was doing when he heard this, but his brow twitched slightly. "You mean there are still some that haven't been dealt with?"
Marlene nodded. "I just counted, more than twenty have bumped into me, but apart from the bat cannon fodder, I've hardly seen any Werewolf or high-level Vampire."
As she spoke, she raised her hand, and a small silver ball rose high into the air and exploded, scattering light and dispersing a small group of bats gathered nearby. Hagrid switched the small umbrella in his other hand, already a little out of breath. "Then where are they?"
Marlene's gaze fell on the lingering black smoke from the dissipated bats on the ground, her tone increasingly contemplative. "Are these guys crazy? Vampire are usually discreet; they rarely launch such a high-profile attack."
She tilted her head slightly to look at Quirrell. "You're the Dark Magic Defence Class professor; you should know more about these dark creatures than I do. When did they become so reckless?"
Quirrell didn't answer immediately, his gaze drifting beyond the treetops into the depths of the forest. But a thought settled in his mind: he would only attack at any cost if demanded by a high-ranking Vampire.
" Hagrid, where are those Vampire you kept, the ones Headmaster Dumbledore told you to keep?" Quirrell suddenly asked.
Hagrid paused for a moment, his expression shifting from confusion to realization, then to tension, like a child caught stealing candy.
He opened his mouth to speak, when a low howl came from the shadows of the trees in the distance. The sound was deep and long, as if something had been disturbed in a very far place and was rushing towards him.
Quirrell's gaze fell on Hagrid's face, his tone carrying a hint of certainty. "Those Vampire were taken away by Headmaster Dumbledore last time. I know that no one but you would be interested in them. Professor Kettleburn has no interest in humanoid forms."
Hagrid scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. "I'm not interested either, but can't they turn into giant bats...?"
Quirrell interrupted him, "Go check it out quickly, leave this to us."
Hagrid wanted to say something more, " Headmaster Dumbledore didn't assign me any task--"
Quirrell took a step forward, his tone becoming more serious. "I know, but your cave is the most dangerous place right now. If something really happens over there, no matter how many bats we kill here, it won't be enough time."
Marlene glanced at him too. "Don't hesitate, Hagrid, this attack was a feint from start to finish."
Hagrid opened his mouth, but finally swallowed his words, turned around and started running along the almost invisible path towards the cave.
Marlene watched Hagrid's figure disappear into the depths of the bushes, then turned back, her gaze falling on the ever-surging black waves ahead.
During their conversation, she had secretly set up the alchemical nodes. Now, the silver orbs had spread out into a denser net of light than before. As she raised her wand, the net of light suddenly contracted into a bundle, and then, guided by the tip of her wand, it exploded violently. A series of chain explosions pushed forward from the edge of the forest clearing, with firelight and silver light intertwining, engulfing all the bats gathered around the bushes.
The aftershocks of the explosion caused the ground to tremble slightly, leaves to fall from the treetops, and several bats that tried to flank from behind were blown away by the blast wave.
The remaining bats were noticeably fewer after the explosion, but they were replaced by heavier figures emerging from the depths of the forest.