Simultaneously traversing: the pinnacle of all realms

Chapter 88 Xavier's First Trip to the Forbidden Forest

Xavier sat down opposite Hagrid and opened the enormous food box that was kept warm by magic, instantly filling the small house with its aroma.

Inside were twelve steaming hot egg tarts, with layers of flaky pastry and golden-brown, slightly charred edges, and they were much larger than regular egg tarts—each about the size of a plate.

He baked these egg tarts himself in his kitchen—and without any magic. He kneaded the dough and layered the pastry by hand because he really enjoys the feeling of making things by hand.

Of course, it's fine to do it occasionally, but he wouldn't want to do it every day.

The house-elves watched the whole thing from the sidelines, occasionally helping out by handing him a rolling pin or something, and sometimes whispering, "Mr. Ethan is amazing." Then, as he put the egg tarts into the oven, they all sniffed.

Xavier didn't say anything, but silently picked up the egg tart and handed it to him. Hagrid really needed to vent his grievances.

One, two, three —

One egg tart after another disappeared into Hagrid's enormous hands, the sweet milky aroma mingling with the crispy crunch of the pastry. With each tart gone, his tears lessened. By the eighth, he finally smiled, his voice deep but sincere.

"Thank you, Ethan."

"I have to tell Aragog!"

Hagrid stood up, his massive frame almost touching the ceiling, his eyes swollen like walnuts. "He must be very happy that he is my oldest friend."

Xavier nodded: "I'll go with you."

This time, Hagrid nodded and didn't stop him, but told him to stay close to him and be careful.

Xavier followed him into the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid led Xavier through low bushes and hanging vines, their feet crunching softly on the thick layer of dead leaves.

The deeper you go, the more complex and unknown the environment becomes, and the forest becomes very barren. Normally, the vegetation becomes denser the deeper you go into a forest.

Even during the day, there is very little sunlight in the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid, seeing Xavier's curious expression, lowered his head and warned him sternly, "Ethan, listen to me, I have to tell you, this place is dangerous, and those who are not familiar with it cannot know what they will encounter next."

"If you insist on coming,"

Hagrid knew that many young wizards would come to the Forbidden Forest, but he couldn't stop them all. He pointed somewhat hesitantly to the trail in front of him and suggested, "The safest way is not to stray from the path I usually take."

Xavier nodded repeatedly in agreement, and said that he would never visit the Forbidden Forest without permission.

He silently added to himself: Ron's brothers, the Weasley twins, have almost figured out Hagrid's patrol routes. Almost every young wizard who wants to explore the Forbidden Forest spends some copper nut to buy a Forbidden Forest travel guide from them.

Hagrid kept introducing the residents of the Forbidden Forest along the way, and Xavier could tell that Hagrid really liked the place.

There are many centaurs in the Forbidden Forest, and they consider it their own territory—although Xavier sees them more as dependent on Hogwarts.

There are also unicorns, blast-tailed snails, venomous horned beasts, three-headed dogs, thunderbirds, and horned beasts—many ancient and magical creatures live here, some of which have not even been recorded in history.

Xavier could also sense that, in places unseen by the eye, within a radius of several hundred meters, there were many life forms secretly observing them.

Along the way, we also saw many magical plants. "Ethan, speaking of which, your Dean Professor Sprout sometimes goes to the Forbidden Forest to conduct research."

Hagrid explained with a proud smile.

Xavier thought to himself: If I had the ability, this Dark Forest would be a treasure trove; just look at the collection in Hagrid's cabin.

The giant spider's lair is hidden deep in the Forbidden Forest; it's the home Hagrid found for them.

Spiders emerged from the shadows, their long legs rustling softly on the ground, forming an irregular semicircle around them. The largest, an eight-eyed giant spider, slowly descended; its eight eyes, like a shattered mirror, simultaneously reflected the images of two people.

Xavier observed the spiders; they were so ugly. Only Hagrid could keep them as pets.

His curiosity about these spiders stemmed mainly from the seven-colored poisonous spiders that the Rainbow Deer kept, which possessed intelligence akin to that of a child.

But those little spiders are much prettier than these eight-eyed giant spiders.

Moreover, Xavier carefully sensed that these eight-eyed giant spiders did not seem to be as intelligent as he had imagined, and their emotions were somewhat brutal and bloodthirsty.

Except for the biggest one.

Aragog's eyes held a thoughtful glint, while its smaller offspring instinctively maintained a wary distance.

Xavier remembered that in the original storyline, during their second year, Harry and Ron were almost eaten by the descendants of Aragog, but the flying car saved their lives and disappeared afterward.

As for that car, we might be able to ask Hagrid later if he knows where it is.

Xavier was more interested in the car than the spider.

Hagrid recounted the events of the locked chamber; the basilisk was dead, Moaning Myrtle's case was overturned, and he and the giant spider were finally exonerated.

He spoke haltingly, interrupted several times by his own sobs.

After hearing the story, Aragog showed no emotional reaction to Hagrid being wrongly accused; it didn't care whether Hagrid was wrongly accused or not—that was not a concept it understood.

Its only concern was that the basilisk was dead.

That fear is ingrained in the very bones of all spiders—they all dread the basilisk and regard it as their natural enemy.

Aragok even refused to utter its name—Rupert Hagrid had "asked" Aragok many times about the creature's name, but Aragok never told him, not even daring to make a reference.

After confirming that the basilisk was dead, the entire lair fell silent, as if everyone had breathed a sigh of relief.

Hagrid turned around and revealed Xavier.

Hagrid thought Xavier would be scared, so he had prepared a whole set of introductions and was about to introduce them to Aragog: "This little wizard is a good friend of mine, and he eats his rock bread very well."

But before he could finish speaking, he realized that the spiders showed no intention of moving closer.

All the eight-eyed giant spiders were staring at Xavier.

They were puzzled, as if they had suddenly stumbled upon something that didn't belong in this forest. All the spiders stopped moving in their original positions, their eight legs stuck straight into the dead leaves.

Xavier thought for a moment, then dropped his disguise and stopped trying to suppress his bloodline.

Warm, white jade antlers extended from her hair, her fingertips turned into silvery-white keratin, her hair color faded to frost white, and her pupils began to resemble pale gold.

Aragog stared at Xavier with its eight enormous eyes. The silence lasted only a moment before Hagrid's mouth gaped open.

"Oh, Merlin's beard. I haven't seen you like this in so long."

Then he forgot what he was going to say and started circling Xavier. He even squatted down to take a closer look at Xavier's antlers.

But Xavier felt he was too close, and Hagrid was momentarily blinded by a faint golden halo.

Sunlight filtered through the tree canopy, scattering across his antlers in pale golden dapples. Hagrid followed beside him, glancing at him every now and then, his expression a mixture of pride and curiosity.

Xavier could sense that other creatures deep within the Forbidden Forest were also watching him; their gazes flickered in the shadows before quietly retreating.

"You're probably the most unique magical creature I've ever seen."

Hagrid concluded with a sigh.

Xavier thought for a moment and didn't correct him. Well, for Hagrid, some concepts don't need to be distinguished so clearly.