The Centaurs' Battle

Centaur are a strange tribe, even stranger than Merpeople.

Their upper bodies are human-shaped, while their lower bodies are similar to those of horses. However, they are not hybrids, but are born this way.

Centaur possess intelligence similar to humans, but they dislike magic and prefer to be close to nature.

Therefore, they never wear clothes, and the tools they use are still weapons such as bows and arrows, greatswords, and spears.

When they have nothing to do, the Centaur will gather in small groups and focus all their attention on interpreting natural phenomena.

For example... looking at the stars.

But Centaur like to beat around the bush, and you can't get a direct answer from them. Their opening line is always something like, "Tonight, XX was very OO."

The moon is indeed very bright tonight; at times like this, you can only see a few stars in the sky.

William and his friends could guess with their toes which one Firenze wanted to talk about.

"Since you saw it, you shouldn't have been in the Forbidden Forest."

Firenze had a good temper; he wasn't angry, but instead looked worriedly at the pool of blood on the ground.

"Did Hagrid bring you here?"

"No, we're just here to pick Hallucinogenic Mushroom," William explained.

"Without Hagrid's protection, you young wizards shouldn't have come to the Forbidden Forest at night," Firenze said angrily. "Now, get back to the castle!"

"We'll be right back," Fred said casually. "Oh, by the way, there's an injured Unicorn. Did you see anything?"

Firenze didn't answer immediately. He stared intently upwards, then sighed, "The innocent always suffer first."

"It has been like this for hundreds of years, and it is still like this now."

"That's right," Cedric said, "So we want to help that Unicorn."

"But Mars is very bright tonight," Firenze finally blurted out the obvious.

Skilled Divination are like that; they always say ambiguous things to keep you guessing.

William shrugged and sighed, "Yes, Mars' apparent magnitude varies greatly due to its small size and high orbital eccentricity, resulting in inconsistent brightness, but overall it still exhibits periodic changes."

"Seriously, Firenze, if you'd like, I could spend a whole semester teaching you basic physics, including universal gravitation."

"And by the way, I'll teach you about the world through the eyes of Muggle."

William didn't believe in astrology at all.

Nicolas's Prophecy is understandable, since magic is not one of the four basic forces and can exhibit some special characteristics.

But what makes your astrology capable of predicting the future?

Is Mars brighter not because it's closer to Earth, but as a sign of destiny?

William felt that believing in astrology was an insult to the education he had received in his previous life.

Firenze shook his head and retorted, "Muggle observations do have their unique aspects."

But can they reveal why the universe exists?

Can they explain why you believe in "universal gravitation"?

Can they explain the origin of all things?

"Can you answer that?" William raised an eyebrow.

"Neither can I," Firenze said calmly. "Humans observe various phenomena and gain various kinds of knowledge, but we Centaur also observe the world and gain various kinds of knowledge."

In essence, there is no difference between them.

"Alright, we won't argue with you about these academic issues," William said seriously. "Firenze, have you seen the Unicorn?"

"Let's take her back now and have Madam Pomfrey treat her. Although she's not a veterinarian, her medical resources are better than yours."

"My people are still searching; tonight, something strange broke into the Forbidden Forest." Firenze finally said something useful.

William and the others listened quietly to Firenze's explanation of what the strange thing was, but in the end he didn't say anything, only gently shaking his head:

"Hurry up and leave, I think Snape has already taken all your Hallucinogenic Mushroom."

"I saw him sneaking around at the end of this path earlier."

"..."

Fred was so angry his nose almost twisted. He roared, "We stole so much dragon dung from Professor Sprout to fertilize the Hallucinogenic Mushroom! How could Professor Snape be so shameless!"

By seizing the initiative at a crucial moment, Professor Snape's reputation among the group plummeted even further.

William wanted to say something else,

Just then, a burst of fire suddenly shot into the sky from afar.

"They are my people!" Firenze took four steps and charged straight over.

William and the others followed and ran towards the light.

When they arrived, the surrounding area was in complete disarray, with countless trees broken.

There were over a hundred Centaur, each carrying a short spear and a giant bow on their back.

Not far from the Centaur, there was a wizard standing before a huge lake, wearing a thick hood that obscured his face.

The clothes were soaked in silver blood, contrasting with the original black robe, layer upon layer, like a traditional Chinese ink painting.

The wizard held a Unicorn in his hand, biting its Unicorn and sucking its blood without restraint.

The Unicorn struggled twice, then died instantly.

After the wizard had eaten his fill, he tossed the Unicorn to the ground, wiped the blood from his face, and said in a hoarse voice, "Ah, that feels good. This magical blood makes me feel so comfortable."

Then he pointed to the corpse on the ground, "I killed it. Who wants to kill me? Come on!"

You've been tracking me for so long, I think we're all getting impatient, aren't we?"

No one spoke.

The blood-robed wizard seemed to grin, then said, "Don't worry, I don't have the ability to kill all the Centaur yet; my strength has only recovered somewhat."

However, I think you filthy beasts deserve a lesson so you won't dare to interfere with my eating again.

How about killing half of them?

"What did you call us?!" shouted a wild-looking black Centaur.

The Centaur around them let out a low growl; the wizard's words had angered them.

The black centaur at the very front suddenly drew his bow to its fullest extent, the bowstring snapped with a loud bang, and he fired an arrow at the wizard.

The other two burly men carrying large bows followed suit. Without needing to consciously hone their aim, they each drew their bows, pulled out arrows, and fired one arrow in one smooth motion.

Three sharp arrows shot through the air in quick succession, their arrowheads all aimed precisely at the wizard's face.

Centaurs may not be as skilled at crafting weapons as Goblin, but they still have their own unique strengths.

Each arrow is engraved with ancient incantations, enough to easily break through magic such as Protego.

But the wizard didn't move an inch; the three feathered arrows remained suspended quietly in the air, maintaining their angled thrusting posture.

The wizard raised his head slightly, and scorching black flames ignited on the three arrows. In an instant, he shot them out with even greater speed.

(Thanks to "Daoyou Qing Liubu You" for the donation (//?//))