Chapter 42: The Calamity of the Horned Camel

"By Merlin's beard! It's actually an adult Horned Camel!" Hagrid said in a deep voice.

"The books say Horned Camels live in distant mountains; how could one have come into the Forbidden Forest?" Allen also poked his head out, looking at the majestic Horned Camel and asking in confusion.

"It must have arrived in the Forbidden Forest recently. Look, its eyes are red; that's clearly not normal!" Hagrid stared tightly at the Horned Camel, not daring to relax.

The Horned Camel stood restlessly in a clearing, breathing heavily through its nostrils, its eyes fixed on Hagrid holding the giant crossbow. Its head was slightly lowered, assuming an attack posture; the many horns on its head appeared particularly aggressive in the dim light.

Fang was so frightened he didn't dare make a sound, tucking his tail and hiding in a bush. Allen had to pull hard on the dog leash to drag him along; he instantly realized Fang was unreliable.

"What do we do now?" The standoff had lasted quite a while. Allen asked Hagrid anxiously. Moreover, it was now pitch black; only Hagrid's lantern was glowing in the Forbidden Forest, and the pitch-black surroundings made Allen feel uneasy.

"We must find a way to calm it. We generally do not harm magical creatures. This Horned Camel's state is very strange; I feel there must be a reason for its current rage." Hagrid made a decision.

Allen opened his mouth but said nothing. He felt it would be safer to simply knock this Horned Camel down, but seeing Hagrid's expression, he didn't want to say anything; after all, he wasn't the one going up to calm it.

Hagrid acted immediately; he signaled for Allen to find a place to hide.

He gently placed the giant crossbow in his hands on the ground, then signaled to the Horned Camel that he meant it no threat. Then, staring tightly at it, he slowly approached, calling out as he moved closer: "Hi, boy, I mean no harm; let's talk!"

Allen held Fang, hiding in the bushes. He felt Fang's body trembling. Allen suddenly felt that the turtle shell which had made him the butt of ridicule all day was, in such darkness, so incredibly safe.

He pulled his head as far as possible into the shell, then watched as Hgrad gradually approached the Horned Camel, carefully reaching out to stroke its mane. The Horned Camel actually gradually calmed down.

Hagrid began stroking the Horned Camel's chin; the beast became even more docile. Then Hagrid started touching the long horns on its head. Only then did Allen notice that two of the horns on the Horned Camel's head were broken.

Hagrid's act of stroking the long horn seemed to provoke the Horned Camel. The beast's eyes suddenly turned red again; it roughly butted Hagrid with its head, then instantly took off running.

Hagrid suddenly lost his balance and fell to the ground.

The Horned Camel ran toward Allen's direction, kicking over Hagrid's lantern in the process. The Forbidden Forest instantly lost its light and became pitch black.

Allen watched the one-ton Horned Camel thundering toward him. All the spells he had learned flashed through his mind; he sadly realized none of them would work, so he simply lay flat on the ground, trying to protect himself with his shell.

Fortunately, the Horned Camel's target was not Allen; with a mighty leap, it jumped right over Allen's head.

In the distance, Hagrid saw the Horned Camel charging at Allen and became even more anxious. He drew his red umbrella and fired several beams of red light at the Horned Camel, but none hit.

The Horned Camel simply disappeared into the nearby woods. Allen couldn't help but sigh with relief, but at this moment Fang was terrified, trying desperately to escape. However, since one end of the dog leash was tied to Allen's wrist, he couldn't get away no matter what.

Hagrid ran over nervously to check if Allen was safe.

But at this moment, a sudden change occurred. The Horned Camel returned and, in a rage, charged at Hagrid. Before Hagrid could raise his umbrella, man and beast collided, then rolled onto the ground, kicking up dust everywhere.

Allen wanted to go help Hagrid at this moment, but Fang kept thrashing about, interrupting his spell.

He wanted to untie the rope on his wrist but found it tied tight; he wanted to untie the section on Fang but didn't know where to start.

Suddenly, he thought quickly, held Fang down, and cast a spell on his collar: "Alohomora!"

Fang's collar was opened. Freed, Fang bolted and vanished in a flash.

Allen held his wand, realizing that in this situation, the only thing he could do was summon a few light orbs to help Hagrid with illumination and, incidentally, distract the Horned Camel.

Allen quickly summoned several light orbs, and the duel between man and beast gradually drew to a close; Hagrid actually gained the upper hand.

The Horned Camel was gradually beginning to exhaust itself!

But there had simply been too many accidents today. Just as the Horned Camel seemed about to be subdued, it suddenly burst forth with its last strength, broke free from Hagrid's grip, and quickly fled toward Allen's direction...

Allen quickly threw himself to one side to dodge the Horned Camel, but the arm he raised caught Fang's collar, getting it stuck in the bushes...

At this moment, the fleeing Horned Camel crashed into the bushes. The collar stuck in the bushes got caught on its horn, but this did nothing to slow its escape speed...

Before Allen could come to his senses, he found himself flying as if riding on clouds; immediately after, he felt a tearing pain in his wrist...

He quickly understood what was happening, so he forcefully curled his body up, trying to tuck himself as much as possible into his shell.

Allen was dragged sliding across the ground of the Forbidden Forest. The Horned Camel had expended much stamina and wasn't running particularly fast. Fortunately, Allen's back shell was quite sturdy and smooth; when it hit tree roots and other obstacles, the shell absorbed most of the shock, so surprisingly, Allen remained completely unharmed along the way.

But escaping was out of the question. Allen was dragged along for who knows how long. He gradually adapted to the rhythm of being dragged like this and began to think about how he could get free.

Finally, he painfully drew out his wand and, in a relatively flat area free of other obstacles, cast a Lumos spell on the Horned Camel. The light orb summoned by this Lumos was exceptionally bright and quickly circled around the Horned Camel's head...

The running Horned Camel was indeed disturbed by the light orb. It accidentally crashed into a large tree. As a shower of leaves fell, the strong and raging Horned Camel simply fainted...

And Allen stopped as well...

He struggled to roll over and quickly checked himself. Except for some bruising on his wrist, he was otherwise uninjured.

He painfully untied the rope on his wrist using his hands and teeth, then looked around. All around was the pitch-black Forbidden Forest; only stars twinkled in the sky, but he could not find the glorious spires of Hogwarts Castle anywhere...

Allen knew he had already reached the depths of the Forbidden Forest...

He couldn't help but feel at a loss...

He was a first-year young wizard with basically no self-defense ability, and he didn't know when Hagrid would be able to find him. There were so many dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest; if he encountered just one, he would be done for...

Fear and nervousness naturally rose in his heart...

Suddenly, he noticed faint flashing lights in the distance; he cautiously approached there...

It was a cave. He walked in trembling, only to discover the source of the light was very familiar to him...

It was an ancient rune, meaning:

"Light!"