This is a peaceful and harmonious village. In a large flat area, many thatched-roof wooden cottages are interlaced, and horses with wooden guns and bows carrying arrows are walking on the intersecting stone paths, looking around vigilantly.
The Horse People Tribe?
Banshan clearly wasn't visiting for the first time. After confirming his location at the tribe's campsite, he changed direction and hurried off, while Ammosta, who had already marked Banshan, did not rush to leave. Instead, he curiously observed the square in the center of the village.
There, several elderly centaur elders were performing divination. They surrounded a blazing fire, occasionally throwing large handfuls of mouse-tail grass and calend Fan into the flames. The originally scarlet fire took on a mysterious green hue when it came into contact with these herbs, and at the same time, an extraordinary magic was being incubated in the void.
Centaurs are renowned in the magical world for divination, and before coming into contact with Druids and the four founders of Hogwarts, Ammosta didn't take this branch of magic seriously.
Because this skill requires a high level of talent, ordinary wizards have no chance of even entering the field. Even Professor Trelawney, who teaches this subject at Hogwarts, is no more than a 'quack' relying on the reputation of their ancestors.
Most importantly, the future you can see is just one of many water lilies scattered on the riverbank of time. The results you predict may be very different from the true future.
But after his trip to Avalon, he had a slight change in his view of this subject.
"Hmm, why not take some time to have the centaurs help with a reading?"
Ammosta was deep in thought.
While Peter was in a daze, he had already sprinted a long distance. Ammosta didn't waste any more time and didn't disturb the centaurs patrolling around the village. He silently jumped out like a ghost.
The area where centaurs live can be considered the depths of the Forbidden Forest. Here, it is deeply dark and oppressive, with towering black trees that give people an indescribable feeling of pressure. In the darkness, there are some powerful magical creatures that are part of the food chain at the top. They have a kind of extrasensory perception that ordinary wizards don't have by nature, and some of them can even faintly sense something when Ammosta, like a wind, passes by in front of them.
But whenever they were about to follow their intuition and track him up, a sudden chilling murderous intent and the oppressive weight of mountains and seas would deter them.
Ten minutes later, Ammosta finally caught up with Banshan.
It flew quickly through the densely wooded area, leaping across trees with its vines entangled around them, making it incredibly agile.
Here, the land had begun to undulate rather than being as flat as a plain, with occasional brown or yellow hills sticking out starkly among the inky forest.
Looking back, the towering main castle of Hogwarts had already turned into a faint black streak in the distance.
Banshan's speed slowed down, and it disguised itself as a common mouse searching for food, lying humbly on the decaying leaves and nibbling on a fallen fruit from the tree.
Ammosta floated in the air, expressionless, his gaze moving away from Banshan and pointing to a rocky mountain half a mile away. Then he looked from a distance to the near distance, fixing his eyes on some decaying tree holes at the roots of tall trees.
Bang!
Suddenly, a crisp detonation appeared in the deep, silent forest, and two guys in underground world-style black robes squeezed out of the impenetrable darkness, appearing in Ammosta's line of sight.
In reality, one person dropped the dead branch door key on the ground and, along with his companion, dragged a Muggle-looking person who had lost vital signs toward the rock mountain.
"Halt—"
When the two people crossed a certain boundary, the forest suddenly came to life. Just as Ammosta's gaze had fallen on the ground, a pack of wolfs sprang out from where he looked. These wolfs looked quite pathetic, most of them wearing very old and tattered robes that were full of holes. Moreover, many of them used their claws as weapons instead of wands.
"Where's the leader?"
The returning werewolf asked hoarsely.
"In the cave, training a fool who doesn't want to welcome the new generation--"
Among the wary wolfs, one was standing on the horizontal branch of a tree, staring at the 'prey' in their hands that was already dead, with bite and chew marks on its body. It grumpily pursed its lips.
"Another Muggle?"
"Wizards are not so easy to catch!"
The returning werewolf said angrily,
"And if wizards keep disappearing, the Ministry of Magic will make a big fuss. They always find a way to figure out who's taking their people."
After a few exchanges, the wary wolfs parted to make a path, and these two eager werewolves didn't waste any more time. They pulled along the Muggle who was eager for eternal life and walked toward the rock mountain.
Banshan hid under the thick decaying leaves, his black, beady eyes showing a hint of joy.
Originally, he had only wanted to try his luck, but little did he know that Grayback, who had threatened the Malfoy family, and his werewolf underlings were still lurking here.
Many years ago, when Peter was still a student at Hogwarts, the four of them had ventured deep into the Forbidden Forest. Their original intention was to explore the centaur tribe, but instead, they discovered that there were werewolves in the deeper parts of the forest during their conversations with several centaurs.
This immediately piqued the interest of James and Sirius, but at the time, they didn't reveal their thoughts, as Remus was also with them. They all knew the reason for Remus' transformation, so later, they found another opportunity and followed the direction indicated by the centaurs to get here.
Due to his fears, Peter seldom expressed his wishes, but as he had predicted, his thoughts were trivial and insufficient to alter James and Sirius's decisions.
This was many years ago, when they first learned the art of Animagi. It was during that time that, if it weren't for today's visit from Lucius Malfoy to Amostar Brown, who informed him of Grayback's and the powerful black witch named Kimbley's feud, he would have almost forgotten this past incident.
These werewolves made Peter feel repulsed, while also making him fear their madness.
Once he confirmed that the werewolves were still there, Peter did not want to linger for a moment. After stepping out of the warning circle, he took off at a sprint, heading towards Hogwarts.
Amostar occasionally looked at Peter as he left, and also kept his eyes on a mountain among the mountain range in the Forbidden Forest, standing out prominently. His indifferent eyes were filled with an unshakable chill.
After a brief hesitation, Amostar did not approach the rock mountain any further, but instead followed Peter.
The return journey was faster than the trip there. By twelve midnight, Banshan had returned to his own 'cozy' little shed.
ps: I'm sorry to everyone, my spirits are not good recently. It's because of writing a book. My regular work has been greatly affected, and my company leader is not satisfied with my mental state. They are already taking measures against me. I will try to adjust my state as soon as possible.
(The end of this chapter)
