I joined the group chat as Aizen in the Ninja World

Book artist: Damn, show me you’re hungry!

Hatchet Girl: Me too... I'll try making Mapo Tofu later!

Skirt-lifting maniac: Sure enough, An Ran-san did it on purpose! He made the little wizard anxiously starve outside while he enjoyed himself. What a mean person!

Angel of the Hidden Rain Village: This is a characteristic of my dear. But this shouldn't be considered malicious, it's their own fault.

While everyone in the group was talking, Gerald had already finished the rice and vegetables in his bowl, picked up the napkin on the table and wiped his mouth. He pushed open the door and walked out of his dormitory.

The moment they appeared in the corridor, Hermione and the others were delighted and quickly put on their invisibility cloaks. They followed Gerald's back and headed towards the Forbidden Forest.

Fortunately, it was daytime and the view was not obstructed. Even in the Forbidden Forest, the sunlight could dispel most of the darkness.

Following Gerard through several winding paths, Hermione and the others stopped in front of a large tree with a black trunk. Gerard disappeared from their sight.

"Where are the people? Where did they go?" Ron looked around in surprise.

"He was clearly in front of us just now, how come he suddenly disappeared?" Harry also had a dazed look on his face.

"It must be that the branches are blocking our view. We're too far away." Hermione scratched her hair in frustration and looked around. "What should we do now?"

"Take the left path?" Ron suggested, "Maybe he took the left path."

"But what if he went to the right?" Harry asked. "Wouldn't he be getting further away in that case?"

"So in this situation, we have no way of determining which path Professor Ziklein took. No matter which path we choose, we might make a mistake." Hermione sighed deeply and said, "So our best option now is to go back directly to Hogwarts!"

"Give up just like that?" Ron was a little unwilling.

"This is the Forbidden Forest!" Hermione warned loudly, "If we go too deep, who knows what will happen!"

Ouch.

Just as she finished speaking, several wolf howls sounded in unison from the dense forest in the distance.

"Now, there's a very important question." Harry turned his head and looked behind them, then slowly said, "Do you remember where we came from?"

422 Fire Lizard

Ten minutes later, in the southeastern area of the Forbidden Forest.

"Damn it, we seem to be back to where we started!" Harry looked at the lawn beside him and said in frustration, "I put that branch there five minutes ago!"

"Hey, Hermione." Ron looked at the brown-haired girl and complained, "You're the one leading the way. You should have found the right direction."

"How about you lead the way and tell me how to find the direction?" Hermione looked at him sideways and retorted.

Ron suddenly shut up and fell silent.

If he really knew how to find the direction, he would not let Hermione be the vanguard, but would have volunteered to stand in front.

"If you ask me, this is all your fault." Hermione took a deep breath and said, "If you hadn't doubted the professor, things wouldn't have developed to this point!"

"What's wrong with doubting the professor?" Ron raised his head and retorted, "Remember Quirrell? He's also a professor! Who of us would have thought that the cowardly fellow was actually You-Know-Who's lackey?"

"Quirrel is just an exception!" Hermione's favorability towards Gerald was almost at its peak, and she defended him without hesitation: "This doesn't mean that all professors will be like Quirrell. Besides, Professor Ziklein doesn't have to be Quirrell!"

"Of course, he certainly doesn't have to. With his abilities and ambitions, how could Quirrell possibly compare to him! His goal is to be the successor of Slytherin and the fourth Dark Lord in the history of the wizarding world!"

"Ron, you really shouldn't talk like that." Even Harry Potter shook his head when he heard Ron's firm tone. "We only have preliminary suspicions now, and we haven't found any evidence."

"Okay, yes." Ron took a step back and nodded, "We will find evidence and let everyone see the truth."

"Before that, we have to find our way back!" Hermione reminded.

"Hey, over there!" Ron pointed to the collapsed lawn on the side with his right hand and said, "Look, there are obvious signs of someone walking there! It's Professor Ziklein, he's nearby!"

"It seems so, Ron, you have a very good eye." Harry also looked delighted.

To the naked eye, it certainly looked like someone had passed through there, forcing a path through the lush grass. However, the area was blocked by several large, bare trees, so they hadn't noticed it before.

"You still want to continue?" Hermione hesitated. "Perhaps, that wasn't a mark left by Professor Ziklein?"

On the one hand, she was also very curious about why Gerald came to the Forbidden Forest. On the other hand, she felt that such a dangerous place was not suitable for young wizards like them to stay for long.

"Why, are you scared?" Ron raised an eyebrow at her and said, "I thought all Gryffindors were adventurous. It seems I was overthinking it."

"Who's afraid? I just think that your rash actions will bring disaster upon yourself!" Hermione retorted angrily.

"Hermione, I'm afraid it's going to be hard for us to find our way back now." Harry pulled Hermione's sleeve and whispered, "Why don't we just follow that trail and see what happens? With the protection of the invisibility cloak, even if it's not Professor Ziklaine, it shouldn't be a big problem."

"Okay, but don't do anything rash," Hermione warned.

Reaching a consensus again, the trio donned their invisibility cloaks and advanced along the path in the lawn. Half an hour later, a huge black cave appeared before them.

"Professor Ziklein, is he in there?" Ron frowned and looked at his little friend.

"Maybe not. I have a bad feeling." Hermione took a breath and said, "We should leave here quickly. We really should leave here."

"Look over there, those scales are snake scales?" Harry pointed to the patterned scales next to the cave and said, "Could it be that Professor Ziklain keeps the basilisk here?"

"It must be, we've discovered the truth!" Ron was quite excited and shouted, "Professor Ziklein is indeed the heir. This guy is not..."

Roar!

Before he could finish his words, a deafening roar suddenly rang out in the cave.

Boom, boom.

Like an armored vehicle moving, the ground trembled. A terrifying beast with a massive body and ferocious appearance suddenly leaped out of the cave.

Its appearance closely resembled that of a lizard, except that it was at least several hundred times larger. Its cheeks were covered in sharp bone spurs, and its body was covered in strange black and red scales.

It was obvious that the scales Harry had seen earlier belonged to this giant lizard, not some so-called basilisk.

"Oh my God." Ron exclaimed in disbelief the moment he saw the lizard. "What is this? What on earth is this?"

"Fire Lizard!" Hermione stared blankly at the ferocious beast in front of her, took a breath and said, "Run, run!"

"Run?" Harry was stunned for a moment, then said, "We're clearly wearing invisibility cloaks..."

Before he could finish his words, a tongue of fire suddenly passed by him. The terrifying heat instantly ignited the trees behind them, and flames shot up into the sky.

Without any hesitation, Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately took off their invisibility cloaks, stretched out their legs and ran towards the depths of the jungle.

"Why does that big guy know where we are?" Harry asked, panting, hiding behind a huge rock.

Hermione glanced back and explained in a low voice, "Fire Lizards have very poor eyesight, very poor! They can't even see things two meters away, but at the same time, their sense of smell is extremely sensitive. Even prey buried dozens of meters underground can be accurately discovered by them! And the invisibility cloak only blocks sight, but it can't block our scent!"

"Hermione is really worthy of her name. She knows so much." Harry exclaimed.

"I've also seen its description in a book on magic array materials. Its heart is an extremely valuable material for constructing magic arrays." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and said, "But it's also a magical beast as dangerous as a dragon or a basilisk. To defeat it head-on, you'll need at least ten Aurors!"

"Oh, damn!" Harry grumbled, scratching his hair. "This is terrible. We're being targeted by a monster like this."

"Fortunately, we are safe for now." Hermione shook her head and suddenly realized something. "Hey, where's Ron?"

"Ron?" Harry was also stunned and looked around. "I remember he was next to me just now."

"Oh no!" Hermione stood up, her sight just in time to see Ron stumbling towards them. Behind him, the large lizard with black and red scales was quietly following in its prey mode.

423 How can I be sure that I am not the heir?

At this moment, Ron had not yet noticed that there was a stalker behind him. He only wanted to reunite with his friends as soon as possible.

The moment Hermione was reflected in his pupils, the red-haired boy showed an expression of tears of joy. "Hey, come and help me! I think my ligament is torn!"

"Behind you!" Harry also discovered Ron and the giant lizard behind him at this time, and shouted in horror: "Ron, it's right behind you! Quick, run!"

what?

Hearing Harry's cry, Ron turned around in a daze. What caught his eye was a terrifying, hideous face. "Oh, my God!" he cried out, and, not caring about his damaged ligaments, he ran desperately towards where Harry and Hermione were.

Ow.

Seeing its prey had spotted it, the Fire Lizard roared in anger, opened its mouth and lunged towards Ron.

"Petrification!" At the critical moment, Hermione immediately took out her wand and cast a petrification spell at the fire lizard's eyes.

Having read information about the Fire Lizard, she knew full well that the scales of this giant lizard possessed exceptional resistance to magic. Its eyes were its only weakness, though vulnerable.

boom.

The spell hit the Fire Lizard's cornea, and the stiffness of being petrified made it temporarily stop.

Ron, who had been running wildly forward, finally managed to save his life and lay on the back of the rock, gasping for breath. He really thought he was going to die, and he could even smell the stench of the giant lizard when it opened its mouth.

"Be careful, it's coming again!" Harry Potter warned loudly.

Although the fire lizard's cornea was petrified, this damage was not a problem for it. It did not rely on vision to hunt prey, so even if one eye could not see, it would not have any effect.

"Get out of the way, Harry!" Hermione yelled, pulling Ron up from the ground and rolling to the left.

Boom.

The huge body of the Fire Lizard directly smashed the rock where they were hiding, and stone chips flew everywhere.

"Damn, it's coming towards you!" Following Harry's warning, Hermione also noticed that the big lizard was running towards her on its four thick legs.

But it was too late to run away, and even if she could, she couldn't escape Ron.

"Petrify!" In a hurry, Harry Potter also took out his wand and cast a petrification spell on the fire lizard. However, because the big lizard was facing away from him, the spell had no effect on the lizard's scales.

"Damn it, damn it!"

Harry Potter's eyes showed anxiety. He didn't want to see his friends die so tragically in front of him. He immediately cast every spell he knew, but it still failed to stop the other party's speed.

"No!" Ron's eyes showed panic and his heart was full of regret.

He shouldn't have suggested following Professor Ziklein, shouldn't have doubted the professor, and shouldn't have instigated his men to come to the Forbidden Forest. It was really dangerous here, so dangerous that it could be fatal!

The Fire Lizard's mouth opened, and Ron could even see the red flesh hanging from its teeth. And he was about to suffer the same fate.

"Found it! Looks like I'm lucky." A rather calm voice suddenly rang out from the bushes beside them. At the same time, a streak of dark blue light shot out, instantly striking the giant lizard in the waist.

Click.

The entire body of the Fire Lizard seemed to be covered with a layer of plaster, and its movements were frozen in an instant.

"Is this a petrification spell?" Hermione was stunned and looked at the blue-haired boy who walked out of the bushes.

He held a dark green wand in his hand and wore black wizard robes. A gentle and gentle smile graced his handsome face as he slowly walked towards them.

"Professor Zeklein!" Harry Potter swallowed, feeling relieved for having survived.

"It's you guys." Gerald smiled and glanced at the young wizards in front of him. "I remember this afternoon wasn't a day off, right? What are you doing here?"

"I, we are here..." The relief on Harry Potter's face disappeared instantly, and turned into deep fear.

I'm screwed! How am I supposed to explain this? Not only did I skip class, but I also followed the professor to the Forbidden Forest! If this gets investigated, I'll definitely be expelled!

"I'm sorry, Professor Ziklein." Hermione took over and said softly, "We misunderstood you, and I have let you down." As she spoke, her eyes began to turn red.

Her conscience prevented her from lying in front of Jellal. He obviously thought so highly of her, but she did something irreversible at the instigation of these friends.

"Misunderstanding?" Gerard blinked and pretended to be ignorant. "I'm curious, what kind of misunderstanding is it?"

"I, we thought you would be the heir to the Chamber of Secrets!" Ron simply laid his cards on the table and went all out.

"The heir to the Chamber of Secrets?" Gerald chuckled softly and said, "Slytherin's heir to the Chamber of Secrets? How interesting."

"I'm sorry, Professor Ziklein." Ron lowered his head and confessed, "We shouldn't have doubted you."

"No, there's nothing wrong with doubt." Jellal shook his head and turned to where the Fire Lizard was. "Everyone can doubt, whether it's me or anyone else. But after doubting, how to act is the key issue."

Under the astonished and dazed gazes of Hermione, Ron and Harry, a ball of black flame surged in Gerard's hand.

"Oh my god, what kind of magic is that?"

"Black fire? Why is fire black?"

Ron and Harry had dazed expressions and didn't even care what Gerald said at this moment.

"If you recklessly follow the suspect, you will only step into danger." Jellal raised his palm covered with black fire and stroked the body of the fire lizard. In an instant, the huge lizard was burned to ashes.

No, it wasn't completely burned to ashes. At least, its crystal clear heart was perfectly preserved.

grunt.

Hermione and the others stared blankly at this scene. The incredibly dangerous magical creature, said to require over a dozen Aurors to capture, was reduced to usable magical materials in the blink of an eye.

"Also, what makes you so sure I'm not the heir?" Jellal looked at them and asked with a smile.