Chapter 338 The Temple And The Vision In The Sky
Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked in silence, and the atmosphere was slightly tense.
Hermione seemed determined to ignore Ron, walking to the left of Harry.
Ron walked to her right and wanted to apologize several times, but never did.
Harry was in the midst of a "battle". He tried to find some topics of conversation but was unsuccessful. He tried to seek help from Evan. However, the black cat Evan had transformed into was not near them, and he had no idea where it was.
The sky gradually darkened, and ten minutes later, they arrived at Hagrid's cabin.
Hagrid had not returned from the Great Hall yet, and only Fang's barking could be heard from inside.
"Where are Sirius and Evan?" Harry looked around, lowered his voice, and asked, "I didn't see them."
"I don't know!" Ron muttered, turning his head and looking at Hermione.
Just as the three were puzzled, a huge black dog emerged from the shadow of the grass. Next to Sirius, there was the black cat Evan had transformed into.
Without saying a word, Sirius gestured with his paw toward the Forbidden Forest.
They all headed towards the dark forest. They had been here before to fight Acromantulas. This time they were going to the colony of the Centaurs.
Harry waited until the castle was completely concealed by the dense leaves and removed the invisibility cloak.
"Sirius..."
"We'd better hurry, no one should discover that you four left the castle at night," said Sirius as he returned to human form and guided them.
Having been there once before, they were relatively familiar with the path.
But as the sun set, the Forbidden Forest looked even gloomier, its darkness and stillness overwhelming, and everyone's spirits were very tense.
"When I went to the Forbidden Forest to capture dark creatures for the exam, I notified the Centaurs. They know we are coming today," said Sirius. "Perhaps they will come out to meet us..."
His voice had barely faded when a sharp arrow hit the ground in front of him.
It was a Centaur, giving them a "warm" welcome.
"Be careful!" Sirius shouted.
Even without his warning, everyone stopped, drew their wands, and aimed forward.
"Humans..." Just as everyone was on guard, an arrogant voice echoed, and a tall Centaur emerged from the shadows.
Unsurprisingly, it was Sirius's old rival, Magorian.
"Good evening, Magorian!" Sirius pointed to Evan beside him and continued, "You should know that this boy eliminated the Acromantulas."
"The stars have told us. Respected human warrior, you have earned the friendship and recognition of the Centaurs, and the elder awaits you in the colony!" Magorian bowed slightly to Evan to show respect.
Like human wizards, Centaurs also respect the strong.
The request made by the elder Centaur was to weaken the power of the Acromantulas. They thought Evan and the others would kill some Acromantulas, just a few young ones.
They were secretly observing to see if the courage of the four met the requirements.
No one thought Evan could actually eliminate the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest practically on his own.
This was simply too incredible; not even the most powerful Centaur could do it.
The strong are respected, and in dealing with Evan, Magorian was not as arrogant as before.
But as he turned his head to look at Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, he was still angry, as if he wanted to charge and fight them.
On the way back, Magorian and Sirius were just as they were before, arguing with each other. If they had not taken into account the presence of Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they might have fought right then and there.
As they approached the colony, more and more Centaurs joined their ranks.
The lines grew longer and longer, surrounded by the sound of Centaurs' hooves hitting the ground. Evan spotted Ronan and Bane. They seemed unchanged since the last time they met, but this time they didn't pretend not to recognize them; instead, they nodded slightly.
Among them was Firenze, with his sapphire eyes.
He greeted everyone warmly, approached Evan, and started talking to him about recent events in the Forbidden Forest, as well as some planetary omens.
"Mars has been especially bright lately, and the energy it emits is particularly unstable," Firenze said softly, "Evan, this is not a good omen. Perhaps..."
Magorian growled loudly and turned towards Firenze with a warning look.
Perhaps because he was in front of Evan, he said nothing.
Evan remembered that when they last met, Magorian once said that everyone knew their fate and Harry's fate, and that this destiny was doomed to remain unchanged. He asked Firenze not to reveal to them what the Centaurs foresaw, as it was something very shameful.
But this time he did not explicitly oppose it, which was truly strange.
Evan did not think that by solving the Acromantula problem and gaining the Centaurs' recognition, he would have the right to know the secrets they held from the stars in the sky.
This was not a matter of friendship and recognition, but an exclusive matter based on race.
The Centaurs would not impart any of their knowledge to humans, or they would be expelled from the Herd forever and become outcasts.
Or worse, they could be directly killed.
This was also the main reason why after Firenze accepted Dumbledore's request to become the Divination Professor at Hogwarts two years later, he could no longer approach the Forbidden Forest.
But now it was clear that Firenze wanted to talk to him.
This was too unusual, and Evan never thought he would have more access than Dumbledore.
"Do you know what that means?" Firenze said softly, his sapphire eyes shining, "It means war. War is about to begin."
"I know, you had mentioned it to me before. I came back and read the books, up there..." Evan said.
"No, you don't know!" Firenze took a step forward and then stopped to look at Evan. "The signs of the planets have changed. The ancient Evil is about to return. Even the Centaurs are not immune to this war!"
Evan looked at him skeptically and then was surprised to see the scene in front of him.
Unconsciously, they had arrived at the Centaurs' colony.
In front of him, the thick foliage gradually became sparse, revealing the bright stars in the night sky.
This was a very spacious area, a large number of cabins in a dark gray color, delicate and elegant, were arranged in a coherent line, quite elegant.
In the center of the colony, there was an extraordinarily magnificent Temple built on a hill. It was made of pure obsidian, with strange and exaggerated patterns and figures on its wall of broken stone, reflecting the vicissitudes of history and the uniqueness of the Centaurs' style.
The most striking thing was not this temple, but the bloody moon just above it!