Chapter 43: Centaur and Ruins

Allen hid behind a large stone inside the cave and observed for quite a while, yet found no trace of any creature coming or going...

He cautiously poked his head out to observe the depths of the cave, where a faint light could also be seen...

Just as Allen was lost in his gaze, a strange voice suddenly came from behind him: "If I were you, I wouldn't ignore what's behind me!"

Allen quickly turned to see what was happening, while reaching out to touch his wand...

"Ting!" An arrow, grazing Allen's arm as he reached for his wand, pinned itself into the stone behind him, its fletching still trembling incessantly...

Allen spread his hands and slowly raised them above his head; only then did he, by the light inside the cave, clearly see what the creature behind him looked like...

It was a being with a human upper body, silver-white hair, but a lower body that was a shining silver-white horse, with a long white tail trailing behind...

He was drawing his bow, nocking an arrow, and aiming at Allen...

"Centaur!" Allen, startled, stared at this strange yet beautiful and powerful creature, and the word suddenly popped into his mind.

Seeing Allen cooperate, the centaur relaxed slightly. "Why have you come here, Turtle-person!"

And Allen remembered the words Hagrid had said earlier.

"Hagrid! Hagrid! I know Hagrid!" Allen shouted urgently.

The centaur drew the bowstring taut once more; Allen immediately lowered his voice. "Hagrid brought me to the Forbidden Forest; I am his new assistant!"

The centaur cautiously approached Allen; only then did Allen notice the centaur's well-developed muscles, making him even more afraid to move recklessly.

The centaur found a bundle of vines, tied Allen up, then led him out of the cave, threw him onto a patch of grass outside, and lit a torch.

"What exactly are you? How did you become Hagrid's assistant?" The centaur's voice became less harsh.

"My name is Allen Finis, a first-year student at Hogwarts, sent to help Hagrid with some tasks!" Allen said hurriedly.

"Hogwarts? Hogwarts has started accepting students as strange as you?" The centaur's voice became surprised.

He searched Allen's body and indeed found Allen's wand, and also saw the Gryffindor crest on Allen's clothes.

His expression softened. "Why have you come to the depths of the Forbidden Forest? Hagrid has never come this way either!"

"That Graphorn dragged me here!" Allen indicated the unconscious Graphorn over there with his chin.

The centaur's gaze swept over the shell on Allen's back, which was covered in marks of being dragged...

"Why do you look like this?" He still didn't quite believe Allen's words.

Allen introduced his situation once again.

"My name is Firenze!" The centaur put away his bow and arrow, untied the ropes binding Allen, and even returned his wand to him.

Allen politely expressed his thanks.

At that moment, a red firework suddenly exploded in the distant sky...

"It's Hagrid!" Firenze said, looking at the firework in the sky.

"Hagrid? How did he fire the red spark?" Allen asked in confusion; immediately, he recalled the red light Hagrid had fired with his red umbrella when the Graphorn fled, and suddenly understood something.

He also drew out his wand and fired a red spark into the sky, and immediately, another red spark rose in the distant sky to respond to him.

Then the man and the centaur fell silent.

Finally, Allen, whose curiosity had grown greatly, spoke first: "What is inside that cave? Have you ever gone in?" Allen pointed at the cave and asked cautiously.

"It is an ancient ruin; it is said that your wizards' power comes from these ruins! We have been taught generation after generation not to enter that cave." Firenze looked at the stars in the sky and said softly.

Allen was stunned; he suddenly thought of the history of ancient runes he had seen in "The Origins of Ancient Runes." Could this be the very first ancient rune ruin mentioned in the book?

Excitement suddenly surged in his heart; he took a few steps toward the cave, wanting to go in and look again...

"If it were me, I wouldn't go in to look! Our ancestral teachings should still hold some value!" Firenze continued to gaze at the bright stars in the sky.

Allen suddenly came to his senses and stopped his steps...

At that moment, the faint barking of Fang could be heard from the woods in the distance; Allen immediately fired another red spark.

Fang's barking grew closer, and Allen also heard Hagrid's heavy footsteps...

Finally, Hagrid burst out of the woods; he looked quite disheveled, his expression extremely anxious; he rushed quickly to Allen, grabbed him, and lifted him up.

"Are you not injured?" Hagrid asked anxiously.

Allen once again felt the benefit of the turtle shell; being held so tightly by Hagrid, he could still breathe quite smoothly.

"Nothing, nothing! Firenze took very good care of me!" Allen mumbled in Hagrid's arms.

Hagrid then noticed Firenze standing nearby...

"Good evening, Hagrid! The Mars tonight is very bright!" Firenze said to Hagrid with a smile.

Hagrid suddenly sat down heavily on the grass and began to cry like a big dog. "Thank you, Firenze! I thought something had happened to Allen! I don't even know how to explain this to Professor McGonagall!"

Seeing Hagrid weeping, Allen also stepped forward and comfortingly stroked Hagrid's hair.

Hagrid cried for quite a while before calming down...

"How did you escape from the Graphorn?" Hagrid's voice had become somewhat hoarse from crying.

"It crashed into that tree and fainted!" Allen pointed to the tree the Graphorn had crashed into.

Hagrid, at this moment, had not forgotten his duty; he walked up to the Graphorn and observed it carefully.

"Several of its horns are broken; two of them seem to have been broken for quite some time!" Hagrid stated the results of his observation.

"Have any strange creatures come to the Forbidden Forest recently? Creatures capable of harming a Graphorn are still quite rare." Hagrid asked Firenze.

"Dark forces have invaded the forest!" Firenze said softly.

Hagrid opened his mouth to ask another question, but Firenze had already seen what Hagrid was about to say. "I have not encountered it yet! The planets have not yet told me the answer."

Saying this, Firenze began to prepare to leave: "I should return; you should hurry back as well!"

Allen watched Firenze's figure, seeing him off as he departed.

He turned his head, only to discover that the cave from just now had vanished; he immediately shouted at Firenze: "How did that cave disappear?"

"It appears for a while on the last night of every month!" Firenze disappeared into the depths of the Forbidden Forest; from far away, this sentence drifted back.

"What were you two talking about? What cave?" Hagrid asked in confusion.

"Nothing!" Allen Finis said softly, looking at the place where Firenze had vanished.

"Then let's hurry back too! So much has happened today." Hagrid asked, looking at Allen Finis.

"Good!" Allen Finis suddenly felt his body very tired.