It had been bright and sunny all afternoon, but by nightfall, dark clouds had rolled in, obscuring most of the moon.
Through the heavy cloud cover, you could only make out the faint outline of the moon. The stars had gone into hiding, and the usually brilliant Milky Way was a blur, its splendor completely masked by the overcast sky.
The night wind rustled the treetops, accompanied by the occasional scuttling sound of birds and beasts moving through the undergrowth.
In the dark, the Forbidden Forest possessed a chilling kind of magic—like a deep, gaping abyss that warned away any would-be explorers.
Lynn had transformed into a daddy kangaroo. Three little heads were popping out of his pouch. Thanks to the incredible elasticity of the Fourth-Dimensional Pocket, even with Neville, Harrie, and Cho all sticking their heads out at once, they weren't crowded in the slightest.
It looked a little comical having three heads sticking out of a stomach, but with the Invisibility Cloak draped over them, Lynn's figure had completely vanished into thin air.
He was gone—completely. No footsteps, no shadow. He was just floating.
Telekinesis held Lynn's body aloft, giving him the power to soar freely through the sky. He was fast, too. If he went full throttle, even a broomstick might struggle to keep up. Lynn's telekinesis wasn't great for explosive power, but for sustained output, it was incredibly strong and stable.
"Flying above the trees... can you actually see anything down there, Lynn?"
Harrie reached out and poked Lynn's stomach. "Whoa, Lynn, you actually have abs!"
"I'm very disciplined, you know. I go for a morning run for an hour every day."
Lynn lightly tapped Harrie on the head. "But now isn't the time to focus on that."
"Is that guy really going to show up tonight?"
Neville kept his eyes glued to the forest below, trying to peer through the gaps in the leaves to see what was happening on the ground.
"He definitely will," Harrie nodded seriously. "He failed last night and Nimue's mom got away. My gut tells me there's a huge chance he'll strike again. I trust my intuition."
"I don't know the reason, but to attack a unicorn... this guy must be facing something life-threatening. After all, unicorn blood carries a terrible curse if it's taken against the creature's will."
"Maybe he's dying?" Cho chimed in from the side. "The most well-known power of unicorns is that their blood can extend life. That's why poachers target them. For someone on the brink of death, the chance to keep living—even if it means being cursed—is enough to drive them mad."
"Quirrell has looked really terrible lately. I have a feeling it might be him," Neville whispered.
"He's here."
Lynn, who had been drifting quietly in mid-air, suddenly stopped. The three kids immediately shut their mouths and craned their necks to look down.
The view before them suddenly shifted. Lynn blinked from the sky directly into the forest. A streak of silver light was dashing rapidly through the trees.
It was a beautiful silver-white mare. Her single horn glowed with a milky radiance in the darkness. Nearby, several other silver shapes were running, attempting to cover her retreat. But as a mass of black mist rolled in, the companions trying to protect her were forced back, whinnying in distress.
The unicorns caught in the mist bucked and jumped, their horns bursting with blinding light. But the black mist clung to them like a parasite, blinding them. The intense irritation and pain sent the herd into a panic.
The unicorn at the very front was now isolated. Behind her, the rolling black mist turned into a tidal wave, surging forward, threatening to swallow her whole.
The high-speed sprint caused the unicorn's barely healed wounds to tear open again. Silver blood splattered across the dark forest floor, leaving a glowing trail of spots.
But the black mist behind her was too fast. After driving away the interfering herd, it took only a few seconds for the mist to catch up to her.
Lynn teleported in short bursts to keep pace. The rapid scene changes made the three kids peeking out of the pouch a little dizzy. The benefit of teleporting, however, was the silence—no wind noise. The black mist chasing the unicorn had no idea there was a tail secretly following it.
"What do we do now? How do we stop this guy?"
Harrie asked urgently, "Think of something, Lynn! Can you pour the Draught of Living Death into his mouth?"
"If you can't get close, just fly above him and dump it. Pretend it's rain! He definitely won't notice."
"We can do that, but we have to make him stop first."
"See that mist?" Lynn motioned for Harrie to look closer. "That mist form is almost intangible. Tree trunks, branches, bushes—they all pass right through it. A potion might not work on someone in that state."
"We have to wait for him to stop."
"But—"
The chase ahead suddenly ended. A sharp gleam, like liquid mercury, flashed by. A deep, gruesome gash appeared on the unicorn's flank. With a mournful cry, the already injured creature was thrown dozens of yards, crashing heavily into a patch of low bushes.
The black mist slowed down and coalesced into a blurry human shape, drifting leisurely toward its prey.
The shadowy figure seemed cautious, keeping its guard up against the unicorn that appeared to have lost all ability to move. Just as it got close, a blinding beam of white light burst from the dying unicorn's horn. The shadowy figure dodged rapidly, narrowly escaping the desperate counterattack filled with rage and despair.
He was a seasoned hunter; he knew exactly how prey struggled in their final moments.
A silver blade materialized from thin air again. Now, they could see it clearly—it was a blade formed of something resembling mercury, taking shape in the void.
A faint, raspy whispering echoed through the dark woods, enough to make one's skin crawl.
"He's going to kill the unicorn mom! Lynn—"
"I know."
"Neville, take the Invisibility Cloak. Do you remember the spell lines I taught you?"
"Yep!" Neville nodded vigorously. "I remember them clearly."
"I'll buy you some time. Here's the cloak."
"Harrie, you and Cho stay in the pocket."
As Lynn pulled Neville out, he gently pushed the two girls' heads back down. "I'll see if I can find an opening to use the potion. This guy plans to kill the unicorn first and then take the blood. We can't let him succeed."
"But we also need to teach him a lesson!"
Neville, now under the Invisibility Cloak, finished changing into his "Ultimate Move" belt inside the Fourth-Dimensional Pocket. The gold and red bodysuit might have looked incredibly embarrassing to an adult, but at that "chunibyo" age, the suit was super cool—flashy, eye-catching, looking a bit like an Iron Man suit.
Lynn put a mask on his face, covering even his eyes. His x-ray vision allowed him to ignore the obstruction completely. To be honest, he really didn't want to reveal his identity.
A black cloak covered his entire body. Floating slightly off the ground, Lynn looked a bit like a Dementor, the hem of his cloak swaying gently like a ghost.
Just as the mercury-like blade slashed viciously toward the despairing unicorn—the creature, lying helpless on the ground, vanished in an instant.
If it weren't for the pool of silver blood proving it had just been there, one might have thought they were hallucinating.
The mercury blade sliced deeply into the earth, splashing up silver mud. This sudden disappearance of the prey put the shadowy figure on high alert instantly.
"Who's there?!"
The figure scanned the area. Then, he saw it—under the sparse moonlight, a black-robed monster floating in mid-air, gripping a long scythe dripping with silver blood beads.
The scythe-wielding monstrosity didn't speak. It just moved slowly through the air, like the Grim Reaper patrolling his territory.
The pitch-black mask suddenly turned toward the shadowy figure. There were no facial features, just a deep, dark void that made the figure pause for a second.
He watched as the Reaper raised the strange scythe high, and an unintelligible, raspy voice rippled through the dark Forbidden Forest.
The Forbidden Forest had always been off-limits at Hogwarts. No one knew exactly how many secrets were hidden in these mysterious, dark woods. People had spotted werewolves and vampires here, and some had seen countless crimson ghosts. Beneath the soil of this forest lay the bodies of thousands of wizards.
The great massacre from a century ago had stained every corner of the forest red. Every year, new legends of monsters circulated among the Hogwarts students, adding fresh layers of fear to the forest's reputation.
The legend of the Forest Reaper had been circulating for decades. Many Hogwarts students believed it wholeheartedly—a senior student who had erased his own name added so much mystery to the forest, and through word of mouth, parts of his image had morphed into this legend of the Reaper.
Fifty years ago, not too long after that student vanished, these stories were particularly popular at Hogwarts. Almost every student knew a version of it.
And now, the legend of the Forest Reaper had its first eyewitness.
The moment the Reaper raised his scythe, a chaotic power—enough to make one's scalp tingle—surged up from behind him.
No, not darkness, but Chaos—a color indescribably dark, like countless colors violently mixed together in a blender.
Neville, holding a Mandrake leaf in his mouth to distort his voice into that raspy whisper, was the speaker behind the scenes. Wearing the Invisibility Cloak, he floated behind Lynn, playing the role of the terrifying spirit attached to the Reaper.
As he recited the long incantation perfectly, the "Ultimate Move" activated!
As the Reaper's scythe swung down, a pillar of dark red light erupted with spectacular visual and sound effects. In that split second, a mercury shield sprang up. The shadowy figure was visibly terrified by this massive display of chaotic power.
He had never heard of, nor seen, such chaotic magic. At least among wizards, no such spell existed.
With no time to think, and daring not to expose himself or waste more power, the shadowy figure grabbed the bloody soil and leaves where the unicorn had lain the moment his mercury shield went up. The rolling black smoke split into a dozen streams and fled without looking back.
Once the figure was gone, Lynn let out a sigh of relief.
"Good thing that scared him off."
The mercury shield had vanished. The "Dragon Slave" attack had looked incredibly destructive, but in reality... the thing didn't have the city-destroying power seen in the anime Slayers. It was basically a child-rearing toy—as long as the special effects looked impressive, that was enough. It wasn't meant to actually destroy anything.
Even if the card said "Matter-Obliterating Black Hole Punch," the fist wasn't actually going to kill anyone.
"That was so cool!"
Neville lowered his voice, his whole body trembling with excitement. "That move just now was so cool!"
"What was cool?"
Harrie poked her little head out. "Did I miss something?"
"The belt!"
Neville's face was flushed red with excitement. "That move was awesome! The Dragon Slave! Hiyah!"
He struck a pose. "It was a world-destroying strike!"
"Where's the world-destroying part...?"
Harrie climbed halfway out, hooking her arm around Lynn's neck and hoisting herself up to sit in the crook of his arm. "It's just a small pit."
She pointed at the bare patch of bushes ahead. "It just blew some leaves away."
"But it was really cool just now!" Neville explained frantically, then deactivated his transformation and handed the belt to Harrie. "Harrie, you try it and you'll see. I'm not lying."
"Alright, alright."
Lynn waved his hand to calm them down, then let go of Harrie and helped Cho out of the pocket. "Are you guys forgetting something?"
"Is Nimue's mom okay?"
Compared to Harrie, Cho was a bit more level-headed.
"She shouldn't die."
Several figures flickered and vanished from the spot. A second later, they appeared in a grassy clearing. A herd of unicorns was gathered there, and upon seeing the group, they immediately grew wary.
"I sent her here just a moment ago," Lynn said calmly. The unicorns could understand him. "A dark wizard tried to kill her. I teleported her here."
"We've met before. Hagrid brought us here."
Understanding Lynn, the unicorns dropped their guard and parted ways, revealing their companion lying on the ground, heavily injured.
A small golden unicorn was kneeling on the ground, letting out low, mournful whimpers as it licked the wounds on its mother's body.
"I'll go get Hagrid. He'll have medicine to treat you."
Lynn crouched down and stroked the mother unicorn's long neck. "Don't worry. That guy shouldn't risk coming back here tonight. He got your blood, and we scared him off."
"Wait here a moment."
Lynn stood up and walked over to Harrie and the others. "I'll send you back to the castle first. It'll be hard to explain if we're all caught. I'll take the rap for night wandering alone; otherwise, Gryffindor will lose triple the points, and Ravenclaw will get dragged down too."
"Don't worry, she can hold on. Unicorns have stronger vitality than you think. She's just lost a lot of blood, and they have high resistance to dark magic, especially under moonlight. We'll come back and visit her tomorrow during the day."
Lynn looked toward the castle. One by one, Harrie, Neville, and Cho vanished. Lynn deposited them right at the entrance of the Room of Requirement. It wasn't curfew yet, so there were still students coming and going near the entrance.
The next moment, Lynn appeared at the door of Hagrid's hut and knocked.
Inside, a massive longbow taller than a man sat on Hagrid's table, with a quiver full of arrows as thick as arms. He had been prepared for tonight, but he hadn't expected the dark figure's methods to be so stealthy.
"Hagrid, a unicorn is badly hurt. You have healing supplies here, right?"
"Lynn... how did... you went into the forest?" Hagrid stood up suddenly, his expression tense. "It's night! The forest is dangerous! Very dangerous!!"
"I can fly."
Lynn floated a few feet into the air. Hagrid stared at him, dumbfounded.
"I'll confess my mistake to Professor McGonagall later. But right now, we have something urgent to do."
"Right!"
Hagrid didn't hesitate. He grabbed the bow and arrows and a large bundle, then charged out the door. He sprinted through the forest, smashing through saplings as thick as bowls without slowing down for even a second.