Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 223 It's Time to Set Off

"The Forbidden Forest! Dumbledore ordered you to hide your weapons in the Forbidden Forest! Take me there, now!"

Umbridge was extremely excited, even a little impatient. Just thinking about the reward she might receive for actually finding Dumbledore's weapon against the Ministry of Magic and handing it over to the Minister made every cell in her body leap with joy.

"Come on, all of you, follow me and see what Dumbledore has prepared!"

"He...they can't go..." Hermione's words immediately dampened Umbridge's spirits. "That was arranged by Dumbledore, and you wouldn't want too many people to know, after all..."

As she spoke, Hermione glanced at the Slytherin students beside her, her eyes darting around, a meaningful look in her eyes. Umbridge, seeing this, calmed down, several thoughts racing through her mind, and she had already figured out the key point.

He picked up his wand again, pulled Harry up from the ground, pointed at Hermione, and said, "Then you two take me there! Now, immediately!"

She shoved Harry hard, making him stumble, and walked out first. Hermione struggled for a moment, but finally managed to break free from Burst's grasp.

She gave him a cold look, then with a flick of her wrist, the wand flew back from Malfoy's hand. She casually slipped it into her pocket, covered it with her clothes, and chased after Harry and Umbridge, closing the office door behind her. But in that instant the door closed, a beam of white light slipped silently through the crack.

"Hurry up, keep up!" Umbridge urged, and Hermione responded and ran over. Without thinking much, she gave Hermione a push from behind after she caught up, and urged the two of them toward the Forbidden Forest with her wand in hand.

Hermione walked in front, with Harry slightly behind. Although he didn't know what Hermione's plan was, he knew that acting like he had no idea where to go would be a mistake. He didn't speak to Hermione, afraid of ruining her plan.

They walked through the corridors and stairs, exited the hall, and headed directly towards Hagrid's hut. Without stopping, they passed the hut and plunged into the Forbidden Forest.

Hermione strode quickly, and Harry wasn't far behind; he already had a vague idea of ​​where Hermione was going. Umbridge, however, was having some difficulty keeping up, especially as they ventured deeper into the woods, the surrounding trees grew more numerous, and the light became increasingly dim, causing him some concern.

"Hasn't it arrived yet? Where is it?" Umbridge asked.

Hermione's voice was somewhat unsteady as she replied, "It still needs to be inside. After all, it's a weapon; we can't let the students find out, can we?"

"Yes, yes..." Umbridge replied casually, thinking Hermione's words made a lot of sense.

They ventured deeper into the woods, where more bushes grew around them. Hermione, leading the way, maintained her pace, rustling the bushes as she walked.

The sound was loud, adding an extra layer of terror to the dimly lit environment.

Suddenly, Harry felt the ground beneath his feet tremble, followed by deafening footsteps. Just as he was stunned, he heard Hermione mutter "Damn it" under her breath. Before he could ask anything, a wooden arrow suddenly shot from his side and embedded itself in the tree next to him.

"Stop! This is not a place for you!"

A voice rang out, and Harry recognized it as Margri's voice. They had met him before when they followed Hagrid back after seeing Grop; he was a centaur who was extremely hostile to wizards.

Umbridge grabbed Harry and held him in front of her, gripping her wand tightly and watching the centaurs warily. Harry, though nervous, felt reassured when he saw Hermione remained calm and didn't struggle too much.

"Who are you!" A dozen centaurs surrounded them, all holding bows and arrows. Magri was at the front, staring intently at Umbridge.

"I am Dolores Umbridge!" Umbridge's voice trembled slightly as she called out, "I am the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic, Headmistress of Hogwarts, and Senior Investigator!"

"The Ministry of Magic?" Magrey hesitated for a moment, and the centaurs beside him stirred.

Perhaps Umbridge had gleaned some information from the centaurs' unusual behavior, for she declared loudly, "That's right! So you all need to be careful! You see, according to the laws of the Department of Magical Creatures Control at the Ministry of Magic, any mongrel like you who attacks a human..."

"What did you call us!" Magri roared angrily. The other centaurs did not hesitate any longer and drew their bows, aiming them at Umbridge.

"What are you doing here! Coming into our woods..."

"Your forest?" Umbridge retorted defiantly. "You're here because the Ministry of Magic allows you to be here, you bunch of fools..."

"Snapped!"

An arrow suddenly shot out, and Umbridge instinctively ducked. The arrow flew right over her head and embedded itself in the tree trunk behind her.

"Whose woods? Whose woods?" Magre shouted, enraged, and drew another arrow, nocking it on his bow. But before he could attack again, Umbridge pointed her wand at him and yelled, "Bind me up now!"

Suddenly, a thick, long rope appeared and tightly bound Magrey's arms, leaving a long section wrapped tightly around his neck.

He struggled fiercely, but couldn't break free at all. The other centaurs panicked and rushed over angrily, grabbing Umbridge before she could react and dragging her away, quickly disappearing into the dense forest.

"Untie him immediately!" Hermione waved her wand, and the ropes binding Magrey vanished. In just a short while, his face turned bright red, and he coughed violently for a while after the ropes were removed before finally getting up from the ground.

"I don't need your help, you're not welcome here!" Magree glared at the two men and shouted.

Hermione wasn't angry at all. Instead, she pointed behind him and said, "Before you say anything even worse, I think you need to look behind you..."

Magrey instinctively turned his head, only to see a huge and ugly face appear behind him. He was immediately terrified and ran away without thinking.

Harry then noticed Gromp, who had appeared out of nowhere, and stared blankly at Hermione, asking, "How did you do that?"

"What?" Hermione, who was patting Groop's big face, turned around in confusion upon hearing this.

"I mean him..." Harry pointed at Gromp, then at the direction Margri had fled, "When did he get here? There wasn't a sound!"

"Silencing Charm," Hermione replied casually, then ignored Harry and whispered a few words to Gropp. She patted his cheek, and Gropp left to Harry's astonishment.

Just like before, there was not a sound.

"Let's go, we should get going." Hermione waved her hand in front of Harry's eyes to bring him back to his senses. "They should be here soon too."

"Them, who? Ron?" Harry was taken aback, and seeing Hermione already walking out, he quickly followed.

“Yes, I helped them out before I left, and they should be inside by now,” Hermione said. “Hurry, it’s still not safe in here.”

Harry felt his brain wasn't quite working properly. Hermione seemed a little unfamiliar to him just now. Although she was as reliable as ever, she was very different from the Hermione of a few years ago.

Following Hermione out, the return journey was faster, and when they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they finally met Ron and the others.

They were all somewhat disheveled, clutching their wands, and strangely, they all seemed excited, even Neville.

"Where are we going next?" Ron asked.

"Where to?" Harry repeated instinctively, then remembered, "Sirius! We have to go save him! He's in the Department of Mysteries!"

"The Department of Mysteries?" Ginny frowned. "Now? How do we get there?"

"Broomsticks! Let's fly over there!" Harry shouted, starting to run. "We have to get broomsticks!"

"But not everyone has a broom..." Hermione grabbed the anxious Harry. Harry was taken aback, looked at Hermione and Neville beside him, and scratched his head angrily.

"Then I'll go by myself..."

"You're going to your death!" Hermione said coldly, tightening her grip on Harry's arm.

"Well..." Harry hadn't finished speaking when Luna said, "We can ride them. Hagrid said they're very good at finding their way around."

Harry looked in the direction Luna was pointing, but saw nothing. He grew annoyed. "There's nothing there, Luna! This isn't the time for jokes!"

"No, they're right there, drawn by the scent of your blood." Luna's voice remained ethereal, yet resolute. "You just can't see them..."

"We can't see them..." Hermione muttered, then realized, "Thestrals? Thestrals! Luna, how many are there?"

"Two," Luna replied.

"But we need six," Ginny interjected.

"It's okay, they're coming..."

Luna pointed again, and in her eyes, there were six or seven tall Thestrals emerging from the woods. Their enormous wings were folded to their sides, and their eyes gleamed in the darkness.

(End of this chapter)