Herman was stunned. "You really went to steal eggs?"
George corrected, "It wasn't Fantastic Beasts egg; we went to the Forbidden Forest."
When he said this, his expression carried a sense of composure, as if he were stating something to be proud of.
Herman looked at him. "So you're still poaching, aren't you?"
Fred added, "Poaching involves hunting things that already exist in the Forbidden Forest. What we're looking for isn't in the Forbidden Forest, so it's not poaching."
Herman pressed further. "Things that don't belong in the Forbidden Forest?"
George nodded. "Yes, we just picked up some byproducts of things that weren't in the Forbidden Forest."
Herman, playing along, asked, "What is it?"
George sat up a little straighter, tugging at his wound and baring his teeth, but his smugness remained undiminished. " Vampire ash, and Werewolf teeth."
Fearing Herman wouldn't understand the value, Fred added, "These two items are quite valuable on the black market. Selling them should cover the material costs for this year's experiments, and we won't have to rely on selling those toys to make money."
When Herman heard that "there are Werewolf and Vampire in the Forbidden Forest," he feigned surprise, but inwardly he was completely calm, or rather, utterly despondent.
Sure enough, Hagrid's trip to the Forbidden Forest last night, Quirrell's trip to the Forbidden Forest, were both related to Vampire. That means those things are getting closer and closer to him, that damned Prophecy is still chasing him, and even Hogwarts isn't safe anymore.
Fortunately, it seems the Vampire won't be able to enter the castle yet. Hopefully, Dumbledore will step in and resolve the Vampire problem soon.
But he didn't show his emotions, he just looked at the twins and asked, "So how did you get hurt? Did you encounter Vampire? Did you get into a fight?"
George leaned back against the pillows, trying to keep his body flat so as not to rub against the bandages. "No, we brothers are very clever; we just avoid them."
He paused for a moment, then added, "And we only went in after we saw Professor Quirrell come out of the Forbidden Forest."
Fred picked up the thread. " Professor Quirrell's appearance meant that the situation in the Forbidden Forest was basically resolved and there were no major problems, so we went in. And sure enough, the bigger the storm, the more valuable the fish; we encountered Vampire's corpse after only a few steps."
Herman asked, "How do you know it's Vampire's corpse?"
George replied with an air of "Is that even a question?": "Tch, you wasted Professor Quirrell's class. It's obvious you didn't study properly. Vampire are treasures from head to toe."
Herman silently complained to himself, " Quirrell's class was about the dangers of Vampire, not about how they're a treasure trove of resources."
These two are clearly going off track with their studies. If they had gone to school a few decades earlier, they might have become good friends with Hagrid. They would have turned Dark Magic Defence Class into a Fantastic Beasts breeding class.
Fred coughed and added, "However, Vampire also have wizarding rights, just like Werewolf, so these materials can only be sold on the black market."
Herman watched the two discussing material prices and suddenly remembered that they had mentioned on the train that they wanted to collect Werewolf teeth from the train tracks. They really hadn't forgotten their original intentions. But it seemed they didn't need to go that far; there were enough in the nearby Forbidden Forest.
However, it seemed the two still hadn't mentioned how they got injured. Herman reminded them again, "So how did you get injured?"
George chimed in, "Don't even mention it, we had a blast collecting them. You have no idea how many Vampire- turned-bat corpses there are in the Forbidden Forest. We were like little girls picking mushrooms, collecting them all the way to an open space."
Fred added, "Calling it a clearing wouldn't be accurate; it was a scorched forest, with many trees burned to charcoal, and the ground littered with the corpses of Vampire and Werewolf."
Herman pressed on, "And then? They came back to life?"
George sighed helplessly, "No, even if they come back to life, it's okay. We know how to run."
He paused for a moment, "But there were too many corpses, and we were so excited that we were so focused on pulling teeth from them that we didn't notice the magic still lingering on them."
Fred raised his hand; the bandages had loosened somewhat from the two men's handling, revealing the skin underneath. That skin was as pink and tender as a freshly peeled egg, with an unnatural sheen.
"This is!" Herman's eyes widened. Herman's skin was pink and tender. If someone in the cosmetic surgery industry had this skill, it would definitely be a source of wealth.
" Professor Malin burned those Vampire and Werewolf to death with fire magic," Fred said. "We arrived too early; the magic hadn't completely dissipated before it set us on fire too."
George chimed in, "So we had all our skin magically replaced; the new skin is incredibly delicate, and the friction against fabric feels like sandpaper."
As he spoke, he exaggeratedly gestured and made a "sizzling" sound, as if simulating the effect of sandpaper scraping against skin.
Herman looked at the two brothers' pitiful yet amusing expressions, and then at the new skin on George's arm, so thin that you could almost see the light blue veins underneath. What optimistic brothers! Even with such injuries, they still have so much energy.
Herman pressed on, "Then how did you get back? Did you put out the fire yourselves?"
George sighed, "It's not that easy to put out. We've tried so many spells, but none of them worked. Pouring Aguamenti on it only made the flames leap up even higher, like oil being poured on them. Extinguishing spells didn't work either. We tried all the commonly used spells, but it only grew stronger."
Fred, still shaken, chimed in, "I was trying to help George, and after casting a few spells, the fire seemed to have eyes; it suddenly lunged at me and set me on fire too."
As Herman listened to their descriptions, he felt a sweat creeping down his back. The magical world was truly full of pitfalls; even Hogwarts, known as the beginner's village, had places like the Forbidden Forest.
Seeing that Herman's face was a little pale, George quickly added, "But in the end, everything was alright. Professor Malin arrived. She took out a small bottle, pointed the opening at us, and the flames were drawn from us as if they were alive, disappearing directly into the bottle."
Fred looked down at the patch of new skin on his arm. "But we were all charred, looking worse than the Werewolf corpses we'd ripped teeth out."
Herman pressed further, " Professor Malin brought you to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey treated you?"
George shook his head. "Pretty much. She first gave us several bottles of Potions, and then the charred skin on our bodies peeled off on its own, like molting. But after it peeled off, it felt like a layer of skin had been ripped off, and everything hurt. Then she took us to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey gave us another potion, and our skin slowly grew back."
Herman breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that you're alright."
Then he remembered something else. "And what about your spoils? Those Werewolf teeth and Vampire ashes?"