Several burly Werewolf emerged from the shadows of the trees, their bodies covered in coarse, grayish-brown fur, sharp teeth protruding from their mouths, their forelimbs hanging unnaturally in front of them, their claws sinking into the mud with each step, leaving deep claw marks.
Their movements were heavier than those of bats, yet they continued to advance steadily amidst the aftershocks of the explosion, as if their skin and flesh were thick enough to withstand the impact.
Marlene frowned even more as she watched the approaching figures, her tone turning colder than before. "Something's not right. The number of people coming is still off."
She glanced back at Quirrell, "And the sudden appearance of Werewolf at this time seems more like an attempt to stall us."
Quirrell's wand continued to fire several blue beams, repelling a few bats that tried to approach. His gaze swept quickly over the Werewolf that were closing in, and then he looked in the direction where Hagrid had disappeared.
The Werewolf were all wounded to varying degrees, clearly indicating that Marlene's explosion had caused them damage, and Professor Malin still seemed as powerful as ever.
Quirrell was silent for a moment before speaking, "Can you handle this alone?"
Marlene didn't answer, but instead demonstrated her strength with her actions. She casually raised her wand, and a silver-white beam of light spread across the ground, forming a row of semi-transparent barriers three feet in front of her. Several Werewolf stopped in front of the barriers, baring their teeth and tentatively tapping the surface of the barriers with their front paws, producing a dull thud.
Quirrell glanced at her. "Be careful, retreat if necessary. I'll go check on Hagrid." He turned and quickly chased after Hagrid, the hem of his school uniform flashing past the edge of the bushes before disappearing into the shadows.
Marlene stood alone at the edge of the clearing. The silver orb of light spread out around her again, sealing the gaps in the bushes on both sides. She gripped her wand tightly again, looking at the baring Werewolf ahead. The light at the tip of her wand was even more concentrated than before.
Werewolf moved first, crouching low to the ground as it charged forward. Its front paws slammed into the barrier, causing it to dent slightly before bouncing back and knocking the Werewolf back two steps. But it quickly got back up, clearly indicating that such damage was insignificant to the Werewolf.
Greyback, standing behind the Werewolf, howled at the sky, and all the Werewolf immediately charged forward again in high spirits.
Marlene watched as the Werewolf lunged at her again, but she didn't retreat. She slightly adjusted the angle of her wand, and suddenly all the silver orbs dimmed. Then, beams of black light shot from Marlene's wand, striking the Werewolf precisely and causing a huge explosion. Immediately afterward, as Marlene waved her wand again, flames ignited in the forest.
Flames spread along the ground, licking the edges of the Werewolf ' paws and fur, swirling in the shadows of the forest, setting several of the leading Werewolf ablaze. Amid the Werewolf ' screams, Professor Malin, her face grim, her robes fluttering in the flames, stood before the pack, separated by the raging inferno.
Hagrid was panting heavily when he reached the vicinity of the cave.
Running itself wasn't a problem, but there were always bats blocking his way, and a few crazed wolves would jump out of the bushes and bite his boots, forcing him to stop and kick them away, which wasted a lot of time.
The cave, which had been well hidden by vines, was now mostly exposed. The vines looked as if they had been haphazardly cut with a knife, with only a few sparse branches drooping at the edge of the cave entrance, revealing the dark stone wall behind them.
Hagrid pushed aside the last few drooping vines and went inside, where the sight before him made him freeze in place.
Several corpses were scattered on the path leading deeper into the cave, lying haphazardly.
Some were completely shriveled, their skin clinging tightly to their bones, curled up into a dark gray outline.
Hagrid took a few steps closer and recognized several sizable Werewolf mixed in with them, as well as the remains of several large Vampire, far larger than ordinary bats, their wings half-spread and completely dull.
The soil around the corpses was rummaged through, the air thick with the stench of blood and the burnt smell of ashes. Claw marks crisscrossed the ground, their varying depths suggesting a battle far more intense than the one he had encountered on his way out.
Hagrid crouched down and touched the claw tip of a Werewolf's body. The corpse was hard as a board, like a piece of dead wood that had been burned and then cooled. A small piece of grayish-brown debris fell off when his knuckles touched it.
He muttered to himself, "What a pity, it would have been better if he were alive," then stood up and strode quickly through the scattered corpses into the cave.
The cave was much more chaotic than when I last visited. The rubble at the entrance had been kicked to both sides of the cave walls, and the edges had fresh scratches, as if something had been forcibly dragged.
Several deep claw marks remain on the cave wall, some penetrating half an inch into the stone surface with rough edges, as if left by something struggling and scraping hard.
As Hagrid bent over and squeezed inside, he heard the soft clanging of chains and a few low snoring sounds, which were more urgent than usual, as if they had been frightened by something.
He quickly walked a few steps inside, and the light gradually dimmed, with only the sunlight filtering through the crack overhead illuminating a small area.
The first thing you see are a few little Vampire huddled together against the edge of the wall, their bodies trembling slightly.
Hagrid counted them one by one, one, two, three, four... He pointed to each one with his finger, and only felt relieved after confirming that none of them were missing.
But he soon frowned again, because the Vampire looked much better and had all turned into human form; not one of them remained in bat form.
He squatted down and watched for a while, then sighed, "They've all turned back into human form... Bats are so cute, they're not so good-looking as humans."
He shook his head, stood up, and continued walking deeper into the area.
In the Gori, he still sits in the deepest corner of the cave, leaning against the stone wall, but his posture is completely different from usual.
He didn't close his eyes to rest, but stared straight at the direction of the cave entrance, his eyes glowing with a faint red light.
As Hagrid approached, Gori looked up at him, a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth as if she wanted to laugh but suppressed it before it could fully form. Her voice was hoarse and deep. "Hi, Hagrid, good afternoon."
Hagrid glanced at the Gori, which seemed to be playing on a tangent, and tightened his grip on the umbrella. "What happened?"
There was a long silence in the Gori, so long that Hagrid thought he wasn't going to answer. Then he raised his hand, opened his shirt, and a hole appeared, as if pierced by a sharp blade, but strangely, not a drop of blood flowed out.
Then the Gori begins slowly, the voice even lower than before. "Someone betrayed me."