Chapter 81: Forbidden Forest

“As for Mrs. Crouch,” Weilan's eyes darted around, “we’ll tell a little white lie—that the Forbidden Forest has paths in all directions, and we lost track of Mr. Crouch.”

They settled the matter and then returned to the common room to report Mr. Crouch’s abnormal behavior to Dumbledore and the Aurors.

Mr. Crouch’s footprints entering the Forbidden Forest were still fresh on the clean, flat snow. They were strong evidence confirming Weilan’s statement.

Dumbledore and the Aurors reacted very quickly.

Within about twenty minutes of two letters being sent, Professor McGonagall came to them and asked them to go to the Principal’s office.

Dumbledore’s Principal’s office was crowded with many people this time.

Not only Weilan, Hermione, and Ron, but also Carson and Mrs. Lupin as Aurors, and Hagrid as the gamekeeper.

“Hagrid found Mr. Crouch’s footprints entering the Forbidden Forest. According to Weilan’s eyewitness account, Mr. Crouch entered the dangerous depths of the Forbidden Forest alone.”

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his eyes sharp: “But Mr. Crouch did not notify anyone of this matter in advance. We have reason to suspect that Mr. Crouch is being controlled, or has some unspeakable secret.”

“Mr. Carson, Mrs. Lupin.”

Dumbledore looked at the two of them: “I hope you can use ‘ensuring Mr. Crouch’s safety’ as a reason to enter the Forbidden Forest under Hagrid’s leadership, search for Mr. Crouch, and force any suspicious individuals out of the Forbidden Forest.”

“Also, Weilan, I hope you can go too.”

Dumbledore watched Weilan with a meaningful gaze: “Bader’s death is extremely similar to the serial murders from some time ago. And according to the Aurors’ previous investigation, there might be a Veela behind the murders.”

Dumbledore did not voice the rest of his words.

But Weilan knew what Dumbledore meant—he was the only man who could be immune to Veela charm magic.

Especially against that special Veela with a “goddess’s blessing.”

“I will go with them to the Forbidden Forest,” Weilan said.

“Then Ron and I…” Hermione eagerly wanted to do something.

“If you want to help, stay with me.”

Dumbledore stood up and put on the silver-gray cloak from the hanger: “We are responsible for setting up some trap magic at the edge of the Forbidden Forest to sense any intelligent creatures entering or leaving the Forbidden Forest. When they drive suspicious individuals out of the Forbidden Forest, we will ambush them outside the Forbidden Forest and capture them.”

“At the same time, if they encounter danger, we can also provide support immediately.”

Ron and Hermione accepted Dumbledore’s arrangement.

“Remember,” Dumbledore admonished the two Aurors, “your goal is not to chase the enemy to a dead end, but to force them out of the Forbidden Forest. As long as you can drive them out, I will definitely be able to ambush them outside.”

After Dumbledore finished speaking, he led the group out of the office.

As they walked out of the passage guarded by the gargoyle, Dumbledore leaned down and asked Weilan if the three children needed any extra preparations.

“Yes, Professor Dumbledore,” Weilan replied.

“Then we will meet at Hagrid’s hut in thirty minutes.”

Dumbledore and the others walked away, leaving the members of the Costa Detective Agency to rush towards Gryffindor Tower.

Weilan looked back at Dumbledore’s receding tall figure and couldn't help but sigh that Dumbledore was indeed not a foolish character.

Weilan remembered that this move was called “leaving a gap when besieging an army, and not pursuing cornered foes.”

Then, at the moment the enemy thought they were about to escape to safety, they would launch a surprise attack to capture the opponent at the least cost.

In the common room, Weilan hastily stuffed the Invisibility Cloak into his schoolbag. Hermione said that Weilan's trip was very risky, so she gave Weilan a portion of all three Potions.

Thunderbrew and Eldorus Potion were poured by Hermione separately into two medium-sized bottles, plus two small bottles of Night Vision Potion, which Hermione picked up and stuffed into Weilan's schoolbag.

“Oh, how is this canary cream still in my pocket!”

Ron took out a crumbly custard biscuit from his pocket.

His two older brothers had given him this biscuit! But Ron knew it was a canary cream meant for pranks, so he had kept it in his pocket without eating it.

“Why don’t you give it to me?” Weilan held out his hand to him. “I think this kind of transforming biscuit will be very useful in some situations.”

Ron handed the biscuit to Weilan in confusion and watched him put it in his pocket.

Everything was ready.

Soon after, when they met at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, ready to begin their exploration, many students passing by the Beauxbatons carriages cast curious glances their way.

Most of them knew Weilan and had heard of the Costa Detective Agency he founded, but apart from Weilan’s feat of bravely rescuing Fleur, they were not clear about what real abilities this detective agency possessed.

They discussed the strength of the Costa Detective Agency that Weilan founded, and how this time Dumbledore himself was leading them into the Forbidden Forest for exploration.

Weilan, who was doing a final check of his equipment, had no mind to pay attention to the students watching from a distance. He confirmed the wand and canary cream in his pocket, the Invisibility Cloak in his backpack, and the three Potions Hermione had procured.

“Hmm? How is this coin still in my pocket?”

Weilan confusedly took out the Merlin coin.

He remembered that some time ago, he had developed the habit of carrying the coin with him so he could ponder runes whenever he had nothing to do.

“Then I’ll take it with me; it won’t get in the way anyway.”

With their schoolbags on their backs, they followed Hagrid’s lead, tracing Mr. Crouch’s footsteps, and walked into the Forbidden Forest.

In the outer reaches of the Forbidden Forest, the light was still bright, and from time to time, small animals would step on dry branches and leaves, making rustling sounds.

Ahead in the snowy ground appeared a small, unfrozen river, its gurgling water flowing under a stone arch bridge. Crossing this river, tall evergreen trees blocked out the sky, and in the deep and dark shadows, a few beast roars startled the birds.

“Further ahead is the deep part of the Forbidden Forest,” Hagrid said to Dumbledore. “We will part ways here.”

“Good.”

Dumbledore clapped his hands softly, drawing everyone’s attention to himself: “Before we part, I think we must establish some simple signal communication.”

“When those inside encounter danger and need help—if it’s still light, use your wand to release black smoke; if it’s already dark, use your wand to release red fireworks.”

“However, when those outside use black smoke or red fireworks to signal, it means the situation has changed, and those deep inside the Forbidden Forest need to come out as quickly as possible.”

“Do you all understand?”

“Understood,” everyone replied in unison.

Hagrid led the two Aurors and Weilan further on.

The narrow path began to fork, but Mr. Crouch’s footprints showed no hesitation or wavering. He quickly decided which direction to take at each fork in the road.

Hagrid observed the footprints on the ground, and a hint of unease gradually appeared on his face.

He was the one most familiar with the Forbidden Forest.

“Mr. Crouch, if he keeps going this way, he will reach… that place.”

“What place?” Carson asked him.

“The graveyard.”

“The graveyard?” Mrs. Lupin turned her head in surprise. “Whose graveyard?”

“The House-elves’ graveyard,” Hagrid told them. “At the beginning of the school year, almost all of Hogwarts’s House-elves died due to a poisoning incident.”

“I buried them deep in the Forbidden Forest, according to Dumbledore’s wishes.”