Chapter 124: Creatures of the Forbidden Forest
Hearing Hermione's panicked shout, Elian felt a headache building behind his eyes.
Hagrid threw him an apologetic look before quickly turning his attention back to Grawp, busying himself with the giant to avoid the uncomfortable conversation. He couldn't help it, really—sometimes secrets just slipped out before he even realized what he was saying.
Hermione stood in front of Elian, her face pale with worry, her hands trembling slightly. "You're really going to the Giant Mountains with Hagrid?" she demanded. "You actually mean to do this?"
"Are you taking a leave of absence?" Harry asked, stepping closer. He knew Elian was unusual—powerful beyond anything a first-year should be—but he didn't know about the Sling Ring. In his mind, a journey to the Giant Mountains would take weeks, maybe even months.
Ron's face had gone through several shades of emotion before settling on reluctant admiration. "Elian, I have to say... you've got nerve. Didn't you hear what Hagrid said? Grawp is a runt. The real giants are over twenty-five feet tall. Some even bigger."
"It won't take that long," Elian said calmly, looking at Harry. "If things go well, maybe a day or two. A few days at most."
Hermione fell silent.
She was the only one of the three who knew about Elian's portal magic. She'd seen him step through a circle of sparks and emerge miles away in an instant. She knew he wouldn't need weeks of travel like Hagrid had.
But that didn't make it any less terrifying.
The image of seventy or eighty giants, each one massive and brutal, gathered together in their mountain stronghold filled her mind. Her face went even paler.
She'd seen what Elian could do. She'd watched him dismantle Death Eaters like they were children. She'd even privately wondered if his real strength might rival Dumbledore's.
But this was different. This was walking into the heart of a giant colony—creatures that had nearly killed Hagrid and Madame Maxime, creatures who were now allied with Voldemort. One mistake, one moment of carelessness, and those bloodthirsty, brutal giants would crush him like a bug.
Her anger about being pushed into Grawp's hands evaporated, replaced by something colder and far more frightening: genuine fear for Elian's life.
"Why?" she asked quietly. "Why do you have to go there?"
Elian had expected this question. In fact, he'd been preparing for it since the moment Hagrid had let the secret slip.
He couldn't exactly tell them the truth—that a mysterious system in his head had given him a mission to subjugate the giants and make them the first vassals of his order. That would raise far too many questions he wasn't ready to answer.
But he'd prepared a cover story. One that was close enough to the truth to be believable.
"I think the Death Eaters are trying to recruit the giants," Elian said, keeping his voice serious. "I'm going to stop them."
The effect was immediate.
Harry's face went tight with determination. "Then I'm coming too. It's too dangerous for you to go alone."
"If Harry's going, I'm going," Ron declared, puffing out his chest despite the way his voice shook slightly. "I'll protect you both. Don't worry."
His trembling lips rather undermined the confidence of his words.
Hermione said nothing, but her eyes were firm and stubborn. She didn't need to speak—her meaning was crystal clear.
I'm going too. Try and stop me.
"Oh, no, no, no," Hagrid said hastily, waving his massive hands. "Dear Harry, Hermione, Ron—you can't come. This is approved by Professor Dumbledore himself, and I won't take any of you without his permission. It's far too dangerous."
He looked genuinely distressed at the thought of bringing students into the Giant Mountains. The place was complicated, dangerous, filled with creatures that would happily tear apart a wizard and eat them for breakfast.
If it weren't for Dumbledore's approval, Hagrid wouldn't even tell Elian where the giants were located.
But something nagged at Hagrid's mind. When did the Death Eaters start contacting the giants? He'd heard nothing about it, and he'd just returned from there.
Still, he supposed Elian might have his own sources. The boy seemed to know things he shouldn't. And thinking back on his last visit with Madame Maxime, there had been something off about the giants' behavior. More hostile than usual. More organized.
Maybe Elian's right, Hagrid thought. Maybe the Death Eaters were already there, working on them. I should mention this to Dumbledore.
He didn't know that Elian's "intelligence" came from nothing more than knowledge of future events—events that would unfold if Elian didn't intervene.
Harry's face fell. "But Hagrid—"
"Professor Dumbledore said no," Hagrid repeated firmly. "Your main task right now, Harry, is learning Occlumency. That's what matters. You need to keep that connection to You-Know-Who closed. That's the most important thing."
Harry opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. Hagrid was right, and they all knew it. Dumbledore would never approve Harry going to the Giant Mountains, not with Voldemort's soul fragment in his head.
Ron looked simultaneously disappointed and intensely relieved. No giant territory for me, then. Thank Merlin.
Hermione bit her lip, clearly fighting the urge to keep arguing. But she knew it was pointless. Even if Hagrid agreed, Elian wouldn't let her come.
Finally, she stepped closer and gripped Elian's hand tightly. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears.
"Promise me," she whispered. "Promise me you'll come back safely."
"I promise," Elian said quietly.
"Right then," Hagrid said, clearing his throat. "It's getting dark. We should head back to the castle now."
Elian and Hermione nodded.
Hagrid picked up his enormous crossbow and led them back through the undergrowth, retracing their path through the forest. Behind them, Grawp settled back into his nest, already playing with the small collection of toys Hagrid had gathered for him.
The walk back was quiet. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts.
Harry was worrying about Occlumency lessons and what Snape would say at their next session.
Ron was trying very hard not to think about giants at all.
Hermione walked close to Elian, her hand still gripping his tightly, her mind racing through everything that could go wrong in the mountains.
And Elian was calculating. Planning. Preparing for what was to come.
Suddenly, Hagrid stopped.
"Wait," he said sharply.
In one smooth motion, he pulled an arrow from the quiver on his shoulder and nocked it to his bow, drawing the string taut.
The message was clear: something was approaching.
Ron and Harry immediately pressed close together, wands raised. Elian stepped in front of Hermione, his hand moving instinctively toward where his Sling Ring rested beneath his robes.
They could all hear it now—movement through the forest. Not one creature, but many. The sound of hoofbeats, numerous and purposeful.
A group, Elian thought. And they're heading straight for us.
Everyone's expressions grew tense.
"I believe I told you, Hagrid," said a cold, haughty voice from the shadows ahead. "You are not welcome here."
A figure emerged from the darkness between the trees.
From the waist up, he appeared to be a man—bare-chested, powerfully built, with a proud face, high cheekbones, and long black hair that fell past his shoulders. But from the waist down, his body was that of a horse, sleek and brown, muscles rippling beneath a glossy coat.
A centaur.
Like Hagrid, he carried a quiver full of arrows and a longbow slung across his back.
"Hello, Magorian," Hagrid said carefully, his voice wary.
His fingers tightened on his own bow, though he didn't yet draw it fully.
More centaurs emerged from the trees, forming a loose semicircle around the group. Their faces were stern, unfriendly. Several had arrows already nocked to their bowstrings.
Elian counted quickly. Eight. No, nine. All armed. All watching us like we're trespassers.
Which, he supposed, they were.
The Forbidden Forest belonged to many creatures, but the centaurs had always considered it their domain. They tolerated Hagrid because Dumbledore had arranged an understanding years ago, but that tolerance was clearly wearing thin.
"You bring humans deeper into the forest," Magorian said, his voice dripping with disdain. He looked at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Elian as if they were insects that had wandered into his home. "Foals. Children. Do you have no respect for our territory?"
"Now, Magorian, be reasonable," Hagrid began. "I was just showing them—"
"We do not care what you were showing them," another centaur interrupted, this one with a white-blond mane. "The forest speaks to us. The stars have shown us dark times ahead. Humans bring only destruction."
Hermione's hand tightened on Elian's cloak.
Ron looked like he very much wanted to be anywhere else.
Harry stepped forward slightly, his chin raised. "We mean no disrespect. We were just—"
"Silence, boy," Magorian snapped. "We do not speak with children who stumble through our home without understanding. The planets have been read. The omens are clear. War is coming, and humans will be the cause of it."
Elian studied the centaurs carefully. They were tense, agitated. This wasn't just territorial posturing—they were genuinely angry about something.
The war, he realized. They can sense it coming. They've read it in the stars, and they're preparing for what's ahead.
"We're leaving," Elian said calmly, his voice cutting through the rising tension. "We don't want any trouble."
Magorian's eyes fixed on him, sharp and assessing. For a long moment, the centaur said nothing, just stared at Elian with an intensity that made Ron shift uncomfortably.
Then, slowly, Magorian's gaze moved upward—not to Elian's face, but to something beyond him. To the stars themselves, barely visible through the canopy.
His expression changed. Just slightly. A flicker of something that might have been surprise, or perhaps recognition.
"You," Magorian said softly. "The stars speak of you. The one who walks between worlds. The one who carries old magic, magic not born of wands."
Elian said nothing.
"Be wary, young one," Magorian continued. "The path ahead of you is written in fire and blood. The centaurs will not interfere with what must be, but know this—when the time comes, you will stand alone. That is your burden to bear."
With that cryptic warning, Magorian turned and melted back into the shadows. The other centaurs followed, their hoofbeats fading into the darkness until there was only silence.
Hagrid let out a long, shaky breath. "Well," he said. "That could've gone worse."
"What did he mean?" Hermione asked quietly, looking up at Elian. "About you carrying old magic?"
Elian shook his head. "I don't know. Centaurs always speak in riddles."
But that was a lie, and they both knew it.
The walk back to the castle was even quieter than before.
(End of Chapter)
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