HP: Azkaban's Outstanding Graduate

Only the woman in the cloak remained still, looking up at the dark figure, her expression unreadable. Whether a moment or some time passed, the dark figure vanished.

Just moments before they were about to approach, the wind suddenly stopped, and the trees ceased to sway.

Instead, a familiar voice spoke:

"Can anyone tell me... what happened here?"

Along with the sound appeared the figure of Sagres, dressed in a black robe.

Chapter 36 The Mystical Centaur

Two hours ago, Sagres waited for a long time at the edge of the Forbidden Forest without seeing anyone. Just when he thought that the other party had encountered some accident, a magical fluctuation suddenly came from the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

He stood up from the rock, frowned as he looked towards the Forbidden Forest, then transformed into a huge black shadow and flew swiftly towards the source of the explosion.

A few minutes later, Sagles saw the group in an open area.

"Can anyone tell me what happened here?"

He landed on the ground, looked at the dead unicorn not far away, and asked with narrowed eyes.

Good evening, Sagres...

"professor?"

"Professor Greengrass?"

"Oh! Thank goodness..."

"finally……"

Sagres frowned, trying to glean some useful information from the cacophony of voices, but he quickly gave up.

"Quiet!"

A spell of "Silence" was cast instantly, and everyone immediately shut their mouths.

Sagrass pointed at the nightingale, "Welis, you tell us."

Only then did everyone realize that they knew each other.

“Alright, Sagres…” Nightingale smiled. “I accepted the commission. I was indeed supposed to meet you at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but while waiting for you, I discovered something unusual. Hmm, perhaps a dark wizard? I’m not sure. Then I secretly followed him and rescued your students from his clutches…”

At this point, she pointed to Hagrid, "And of course, this big guy..."

Sagrais nodded, then turned to Harry's trio and Malfoy, thinking to himself: These little wizards are really a handful. It's one thing to sneak out of the castle at night, but they even dare to sneak out of the Forbidden Forest at night?

He had already decided in his heart that he would deduct points from the four of them severely and put them in solitary confinement for a whole month! No, three months! He would make them report to their dean every day after class!

However, he still needs to ask clearly before doing so.

“So you four—” he pointed to the four young wizards, “can anyone tell me why you’re here?”

He said with a stern face and no expression, "If you can't give me a reasonable explanation, then you may have to spend all your free time in solitary confinement."

He glanced at the four students who were gesturing excitedly and wanting to speak, and finally pointed at Hermione with his finger, "Miss Granger, you speak!"

“Uh, Professor, we’re not breaking any rules this time…” Hermione found herself finally able to speak and quickly explained, “This is detention, Professor McGonagall sent us here.”

Sagres raised an eyebrow: So the price of breaking one rule is breaking another?

He was somewhat speechless, muttered a few complaints to himself, and then stopped dwelling on the issue.

Hermione continued, "We were assigned to search for the wounded unicorn with Hagrid, and here we encountered the killer of the unicorn. It tried to attack us, and Hagrid told us to run, but for some reason Harry couldn't move..."

“You can speak slowly, Miss Granger.” Sagrais cast a “Cheerful” spell on her, and Hermione immediately calmed down visibly.

She realized she had been a little too excited, looked up at Nightingale, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Then this lady appeared, um, she saved us."

Sagres narrowed his eyes, a multitude of thoughts racing through his mind, but in the end he said nothing, and continued turning to Hagrid, "Hagrid—"

“Professor, Hermione is right…” Hagrid was also a little excited. “That thing is attacking unicorns and drinking their blood. I found one dead last Wednesday, and this is the second one.”

After hearing Hagrid's words, he felt he was one step closer to the truth, but in order to avoid missing any crucial information, he continued to ask questions.

"Hagrid, you know a lot about the Forbidden Forest, what do you think it is?"

“I don’t know, Professor, but I feel like it wasn’t human, but more like some kind of animal…”

"animal?"

“I don’t know, maybe it’s a vampire?” he said uncertainly. “It was wearing a cloak, we couldn’t see it clearly…”

Sagres nodded without speaking, then looked at the centaur.

"Do you have anything to say?"

"Ah, if you ask me, Mars is very bright tonight..." the centaur blurted out out of the blue.

Sagras glanced at him, thinking that these centaurs were indeed as mysterious as the rumors suggested. This was a common trait among prophets; they certainly knew something, but since he had chosen to protect himself, he couldn't press them for answers.

He stepped toward the corpse and bent down to examine the unicorn's shattered throat closely.

The "silence" had been lifted, but the young wizards had nothing to say at this point.

“I don’t think it’s a vampire!” Nightingale suddenly spoke up: “‘Holy Light Exorcism’ couldn’t harm it, so it definitely isn’t a dark creature…”

“I think I understand…” Sagres said without turning his head.

"Alas, the innocent are always the first to suffer," the centaur said sadly. "It was like this three hundred years ago, and it is like this again three hundred years later."

Sagres detested the riddle-maker's behavior. He felt that it was fine for centaurs to keep secrets, but why did they have to show up at crucial moments to make their presence known?

It felt like a reminder to everyone: Come ask me! I know a secret!

"Leon, you know what that is, right?"

Sure enough, Hagrid immediately asked upon hearing this, "Tell us, Leon."

“I’m sorry, Hagrid, this is the guidance of the stars, a secret belonging to the forest, so I cannot tell you…” Leon said ethereally, gazing at the sky.

“But didn’t you see the unicorn?” Hagrid pointed incredulously at the corpse not far away. “It’s dead, killed by something lurking in the forest, and you’re still keeping the killer’s secret.”

“I’m so sorry, Hagrid…” Leon apologized again. “We swore an oath that we would never defy the will of Heaven and never reveal the omens shown by the stars.”

"Why can't you take your eyes off those distant stars?" Harry couldn't help but ask. "You'd rather look at those ethereal stars than at the innocent dead lying before you?"

He clearly didn't understand why the centaurs were keeping their mouths shut.

“Alright.” Sagrais interrupted their conversation, saying calmly, “Centaurs are skilled in astrology and herbalism, and can predict the future and interpret celestial phenomena. But rather than getting involved, they prefer to observe the world as bystanders.”

He gestured to stop Hagrid from speaking further, and then told everyone, "I know you are all eager to know the truth, but we can't expect others to risk retaliation to help us."

The centaurs cast grateful glances at him, but Sagrais ignored them.

Chapter 37 The Cursed One

"Actually, piecing together the truth isn't difficult, if you knew what the unicorn's blood is used for..."

He dipped his finger in the silvery-white blood, his deep eyes fixed on the viscous liquid at his fingertip.

“But the book doesn’t mention what their blood is used for. We only used their tail hair and horns in Potions class.” Hermione said, looking somewhat confused.

“This is to protect them—” the nightingale said at the opportune moment, “The blood of a unicorn can heal the deepest wounds, prolong life, even for those on the verge of death…”

"But the moment your lips touch your blood, the curse will climb your veins like a poisonous vine—first pain, then decay, and finally evil spirits gnawing at your viscera and madness devouring your mind, until your soul is riddled with holes."

“Yes…” Sagres nodded, “Not many people know this, and even fewer would do it.”

"Who could it be? Who would do such a thing?" Harry asked, puzzled. "I mean, if we're going to suffer such a curse, it's better to be dead than alive, isn't it?"

“That’s right!” Leon the Centaur couldn’t help but agree with Harry.

Sagrais stood up and suddenly asked the young wizard a question: "Harry, you said that when that person got close to you, the scar on your forehead suddenly started to hurt?"

"Yes, Professor, although I've experienced pain before, it's never been this severe."

"Isn't the answer obvious?" He gave a strange smile, but it vanished in an instant.

"What did you say, Professor?"

“I said the answer is obvious, Harry. Who has been waiting silently all these years, yearning to make a comeback? And who is clinging to life, preparing to fight back?”

Harry felt as if a giant hand had suddenly clenched his fist. Sagrais's words echoed in Harry's mind, and with each breath, the voice became clearer.

In a daze, Hagrid's rough and deep voice rang out again: "There are rumors that he is dead? That's just the delusion of a coward! Such a soul deserves to hover on the edge of life and death, and will never find true peace."

“You mean… Voldemort?” Harry asked incredulously.

A chill ran through everyone's skin.

Voldemort?

That once all-powerful Dark Lord? Is he hiding in the Forbidden Forest right now?

They just bumped into each other?

Yes, Harry suddenly understood. The scar was Voldemort's doing, which was why it suddenly hurt when the other person got close.

Is this the truth? The truth the centaurs are unwilling to tell? Are they afraid of Voldemort's revenge?

“But everyone says that the person is most afraid of Dumbledore… and this place is so close to Hogwarts, he shouldn’t be here…” Hermione couldn’t help but say, “It doesn’t make sense, he should be far away, not hiding in a place so close to Dumbledore.”

“Maybe it’s because he wants something from the school!” Ron suddenly said, his words reminding Harry and Hermione.

"You mean—magic..." The three of them suddenly realized.

"Whoosh!"

An arrow suddenly pierced through the treetops and flew rapidly toward the group.

"A hurricane is raging!"

Sagras casually unleashed a spell, and a fierce hurricane instantly enveloped them, deflecting the arrows aimed at them.

A moment later, the hurricane dissipated, and the group looked around in surprise and uncertainty, only to find a group of centaurs slowly emerging from behind the bushes, holding bows and arrows and staring at them menacingly.

"Poachers!"

"They killed a unicorn!"