Allen once heard a joke.
Someone was walking through a marketplace and bumped into a fortune-teller under a bridge. The fortune-teller insisted the man had an extraordinary aura and had to read his fortune. But the moment he took the man's hand, instead of the usual "Your life is good, but beware of a calamity~", the fortune-teller suddenly knelt down with a thud, shouting:
"My emperor, long live! Long live! Long, long live!!"
Allen had always thought this was just one of those internet stories, until it happened to him.
These centaurs, usually arrogant and stubborn, roaming the Forbidden Forest with pride… a group that sometimes wouldn't even listen to Hagrid, now they were kneeling right in front of him.
This… this has to be a joke. Right? Right!?
Right now, priority number one was to get them to stand up.
Because they were currently blocking the entire way.
What? Take advantage of the moment, stand tall, let "kingly aura" erupt, subdue them, gain a legion of loyal followers, walk freely across the Forbidden Forest, and officially unlock
"Dragon-King Protagonist Mode"?
Sure, Allen wanted to.
But he absolutely did not dare.
Because this forest had a landlord.
In more…terminology, this land is under the surname Dumbledore.
Try stealing his territory and he'd personally send you to go meet Merlin.
So, after a swift evaluation, Allen immediately activated Ghostwalk, slipping between the centaurs with zero collision, and escaped on the spot.
"Hagrid! Something's off, I'm leaving first!"
He shouted as he passed Hagrid and didn't even wait for a response before disappearing into the trees.
As for everyone else's safety?
Voldemort wasn't a fool.
What, was he going to square-up and 1v10 a bunch of students for fun?
Nope.
Naturally, there would be someone to handle the aftermath, and by tradition, all blame would fall neatly on Hagrid.
Centaurs don't touch young centaur foals.
Which means… guess who's left?
Yep.
Hagrid.
And as soon as Allen got away, a thunderous wave of hoofbeats rolled across the forest floor. Dozens, no, nearly the entire adult centaur tribe, gathered in force.
From within them stepped an elderly centaur, hair and beard pale with age, but treated with unmistakable reverence. Whether chief or elder, his status was absolute.
"Hagrid, I know you. I know what you've done for this forest. Even when you were a student, I saw you." His voice was steady, weathered. "For years, we centaurs have considered you a friend. A neighbor. A guardian. Is that correct?"
Hagrid scratched his head awkwardly. Emotional talk, his weakness.
"Aye… Aye, that's true. I've had many dangerous run-ins here. Was thanks to yer tribe that I made it out more than once. I've always been grateful for that."
"Good." The old centaur nodded. "Then, as friends… tell me about that young human who just left. This is very important to us."
"Very, important, huh?" Hagrid's deep voice slowed, thoughts starting to blur. "Oh, that lad, he's a Hogwarts student, third year, name is, …"
Then suddenly, Hagrid jolted, his half-giant blood shrugging off the mental charm.
His umbrella-wand was raised instantly, because using charm-magic like that unprovoked?
Not friendly.
Not at all.
But instead of escalating, the elderly centaur… simply shook his head in disappointment.
Then turned.
Without another word, the entire centaur host withdrew, leaving only drifting dust hanging in the moonlight.
And before Hagrid could shout after them, the elder's voice echoed faintly:
"Hagrid, fetch Dumbledore. It seems… we require a discussion."
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
Meanwhile,
Allen, who had Ghost walked out at record speed, was still recovering from psychological trauma.
If they had knelt in private… maybe things would've been fine. Maybe I would've gone with them.
But kneelingin front of everyone!?
What part of me looks like a cult leader!?
Now that his brain had cooled down, he realized running away had been the best choice.
A tribe that had survived this long in the Forbidden Forest couldn't be a pack of idiots.
At least one or two of them had to be cunning.
And if the tribe's leadership had stepped in,
The amount of trouble that would follow?
Too big. Absolutely too big.
As he wandered while thinking, he finally noticed the surroundings.
Huh?
Why does this place look so familiar?
Tiny spiders on the ground answered his question.
Oh.
Oh no.
He recognized this place.
The Spider Nest.
Where a certain young wizard dug up his first pot of gold.
Allen kicked a rock in annoyance.
Great.
Escaped the centaurs only to run right into the spiders.
What was this, a Forbidden Forest criminal networking tour?
Wait.
Allen suddenly froze.
Voldemort had been wandering the forest today.
Hagrid was being held up by the centaurs.
Which meant,
No one was watching the Spider Nest.
Heh.
Heh heh heh…
This night?
This night suddenly got interesting.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
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