Chapter 459: Stars and Quills
Chapter 459: Stars and Quills
In the forest, only one group could make such a sound—the centaurs.
Centaurs were always proud and looked down on wizards. They especially had no good feelings towards vampires and werewolves, the two dark creatures.
If Lucas and the others were discovered by a group of centaurs, they would surely be killed for invading their territory. Perhaps only the young wolf Maurice might be spared.
The werewolf extended his claws, leaped, and climbed into the treetops to hide.
The vampire had it easier. Thomas transformed into a bat and hung from a branch, blending seamlessly with the dark leaves around him.
Just as they had hidden, two centaurs arrived nearby, parting the grass with their bows to inspect the area.
The grass on the ground was pressed into human-like shapes, and the surrounding area was dotted with bloodstains. The air carried a very distinctive smell, like the aroma of certain meats after they had rotted, similar to the scent of roses or fresh iris.
"Disgusting!" One centaur sniffed and sneezed, then said disdainfully, "That vampire is gone."
The other centaur flicked his deep brown tail and said irritably, "He must have woken up before we arrived. Damn bat!"
"Regardless, he was here at some point", a centaur with white-gold hair said calmly, looking at the bloodstains on the ground. "We need to find him. Forbidden Forest cannot allow vampires to roam freely."
They issued a call, and soon other centaurs trotted over. One with a silver-gray tail and a lithe form stepped forward.
"Magorian!"
The centaurs who had arrived first bowed their heads, making way for him respectfully.
Magorian knelt down, dipped his finger in a bit of blood on the ground, and muttered a spell. His pale blue eyes became somewhat vacant, as if his gaze was focused on some distant, unseen point.
Vampire Thomas's eyes widened immediately. He recognized this as an elder of the centaur tribe, extremely skilled in divination. He dared not stay any longer and silently slid down, flying through the gaps in the leaves towards the distance.
Lucas hesitated but did not immediately flee.
He did not think his movements in the forest could go unnoticed by the centaurs' ears, given his size.
Moreover, the centaurs were looking for an outsider vampire, but Lucas and his family were allowed to live in the Forbidden Forest by Dumbledore. As long as he did not stay with the vampire, he still had room to maneuver.
So, the werewolf only tucked his son into his clothes, gesturing for him to remain silent.
Maurice nodded vigorously, his eyes wide with tension.
"He's gone", the centaur elder said after a moment, standing up. "He will soon leave the Forbidden Forest, and we cannot catch up with him."
"Damn it!" a black-haired centaur roared angrily.
"Calm down, Bane", Magorian said calmly. "At least he hasn't caused any damage."
"He went to the Acromantula colony", the white-gold haired centaur said. "Magorian, perhaps we should warn Hogwarts."
Magorian shook his head. "It's unnecessary. The Acromantulas suffered a severe blow yesterday afternoon, with over ninety percent of them dead or injured."
Another red-haired centaur slowly approached and continued, "So when the vampire intruded, he was mistaken for the culprit. Aragog and its descendants nearly killed the vampire."
"Exactly", Magorian said. "Whatever the vampire intended, he has already failed. There's no need to inform Hogwarts specifically."
"Firenze, you should keep your distance from humans, especially Hogwarts."
Bane, the black-haired centaur, said coldly, "I don't want to be seen as a servant of that school."
Firenze, the white-gold haired centaur, frowned and said, "Our tribe is close to Hogwarts, and we should support each other. Moreover, more and more dark forces are emerging. To protect our tribe, we need to cooperate with Hogwarts."
"What does that have to do with us? Centaurs should be concerned with the prophecies of the stars!" Bane roared. "We have sworn, Firenze, and we must not defy fate!"
"Perhaps the stars are guiding us?"
Firenze said angrily, "I don't believe you haven't seen it. Two years ago, Jupiter tore apart a comet! The fragments of that comet will soon collide with Jupiter continuously! This is a sign of significant changes to come in the world!"
Bane said, "Precisely because of this, we should remain silent and guard our tribe, avoiding unnecessary contact with the outside world, just as our ancestors have for thousands of years!"
He glared, shouting, "Firenze, do you want the centaur tribe to be drawn into a war?"
Firenze said disappointedly, "If waiting alone could lead us smoothly to dawn, why would the gods grant us the ability to interpret the signs of the stars?"
He looked around and then at Bane, "Bane, we are not mere observers of the world, but a part of it! The stars have already shown us the way. If we do nothing, the changing world will leave us behind, and centaurs will become dust in history!"
"I would rather turn to dust than be used by wizards and driven by humans!" Bane snorted coldly, turning to walk deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
The surrounding centaurs watched the two argue silently, including the red-haired centaur who seemed to be the leader, and Magorian, who had just performed the divination. No one spoke.
Only after Bane turned to leave did the red-haired centaur heave a long sigh.
He said to Firenze, "Firenze, your concerns are not without merit, but..."
He looked up at the stars for a long while before continuing, "We centaurs have our pride. Hogwarts... or rather, wizards... do not understand how to respect other races."
His tone was not as harsh as Bane's, but it resonated with most of the centaurs. Some who had initially sided with Firenze now lost their doubt after the red-haired centaur's words.
Firenze frowned. "Ronan, we cannot ignore the changes. You have seen that Hogwarts has changed more in these two years than in the past thousand!"
Ronan said gloomily, "Yes, sometimes when I see those children emerging from the maze, I feel a wave of fear. The young wizards are transforming into warriors, while we centaurs remain stagnant."
Firenze's face brightened, and he said eagerly, "Exactly! So we should—"
Ronan raised his hand to stop him, sighing, "You are too hasty, Firenze. Haste leads to mistakes. We need to observe more patiently and see where the future will lead."
Ronan turned and left, followed by Magorian, and the other centaurs gradually followed.
A gray-brown centaur, passing by Firenze, turned to him and said, "I like you, Firenze, but I hate those wizards. They put those damn spiders in the Forbidden Forest, and now they've brought in dragons! The Forbidden Forest is our home, and wizards have turned it into a mess! I hate them!"
Firenze fell silent.
The wizards probably thought that the place with the dragons was far enough from the centaur tribe. But to the centaurs, who loved to run, the entire Forbidden Forest was their home. They detested the presence of uncontrolled dangers within it.
One by one, the centaurs left, leaving Firenze alone.
He gazed at the few distant stars for a long time, until the sun obscured all their faint light. Then, he left with a heavy heart.
Lucas climbed down from the tree, frowning as he watched the centaurs leave. After a moment of thought, he took out a crumpled piece of parchment and began writing a letter.
Maurice, seeing the name "Dumbledore" at the beginning, asked curiously, "Dad, don't you dislike Dumbledore?"
"Promises must be kept, Maurice", Lucas said solemnly. "Besides, with Dumbledore there, you can be taken to that school, treated, and return safely. Without Dumbledore..."
He trailed off, the tip of his quill pausing for a moment before he continued writing.
...
When a fluffy owl swooped into the headmaster's office, Wade was attending an alchemy class with Professor More.
Pouring tea and setting out pastries, the lesson officially began. Professor More waved his wand, and a flat box flew down from the bookshelf, landing on the table with a thud.
"Open it", Professor More said. "This will be our prop for this semester... at least for the next couple of months."
Wade opened the box and exclaimed, "A quill?"
Professor More smiled. "Wade, you have already created many remarkable alchemical works, but you have rarely dealt with quills. There is a lot to learn from these delicate and fragile things."
He picked up a long, green quill and said, "This is an auto-inking quill. As long as there is ink in the bottle, it can keep writing. Can you guess what spells are used on it?"
Wade observed for a moment and said, "Connection Charm... Refill Charm... I think there's also a Levitation Charm? That would make the ink flow more smoothly."
"Very good."
Professor More gently shook the quill, and it disassembled into a pile of components.
"Your approach of embedding spells together is quite rare. Usually, when we need to apply different spells to an object, we place them on different parts of its structure."
Wade examined closely.
The quill tip, the shaft, the connection points at the top and bottom, and a small wooden ball, each part had a different spell. Together, they combined surprisingly harmoniously.
Then, using the materials Professor More had prepared, Wade constructed the same quill, taking only a couple of minutes.
Professor More nodded in satisfaction.
"The pen shaft and feather can be further subdivided. If we need to, we can add additional spell carriers, like this anti-cheating quill."
He then took out a second quill, which looked ordinary but was more striking to Wade.
"Look, it has anti-interference charms, detection charms, recording charms, and restriction charms. These spells are designed to prevent students from using unfair means to gain an advantage during exams."
"Of course, I know you've already been exposed to it, but I want you to examine it again from the perspective of an alchemist."
"Yes, sir."
Wade took the anti-cheating quill, inspecting, observing, and studying it.
He had used this type of quill in the final exams of the past two years. However, he couldn't disassemble and study the quill during the exams.
Morrie smiled when he saw Wade replicate an almost identical quill in just a few minutes, the wrinkles around his mouth deepening.
At the same time, he noticed Wade smiling mysteriously, but it wasn't the satisfaction of a successful creation; it had a hint of mischief.
Morrie's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said with a smile, "Wade, I didn't ask you to study this so you could cheat during exams."
"Oh, no, I just suddenly thought..."
Wade put down his replica and smiled, "With the communication bean, this quill doesn't play as big a role anymore. So this year, the exam might prohibit carrying communication beans and add a detection spell at the entrance."
"You have a point", Professor More stroked his chin, "I'll pass this suggestion to Dumbledore."
Wade smiled, imagining the scene where some students would wear communication beans, thinking they had a new cheating method, only to be caught by the professor right before entering the exam room.
"Let's move on to the third one..."
Professor More picked up a third quill, a pure black one with slightly rotten feathers on the sides, giving off an ominous aura.
"Try it", Professor More handed it over.
Wade held the quill and lightly drew on the paper. A sharp pain in his arm made him frown, and a fresh red mark appeared on the paper.
He rolled up his sleeve and saw a thin cut on his arm, blood slowly seeping out. But then, the wound quickly healed, as if nothing had happened.
"It's cursed", Professor More said. "An ancient magic that uses the user's blood as ink and causes intense pain. It's a common dark magic tool."
He took the black quill back from Wade and put it in a box, adding, "Props that reveal their issues immediately are the least scary. Wade, the truly dangerous monsters often come wrapped in beautiful disguises, luring people willingly into the abyss."
"I've heard of a wish-granting quill, where what you write becomes reality, but the ink it uses is the writer's luck—very terrifying and highly sought after."
"However, that's just a legend. Today, we're actually learning about this—"
Professor More held up a sky-blue quill, the longest among the quills, with a unique tip.
"This is a quill of quickened writing. It can automatically record information and even embellish it according to the owner's thoughts, making it a favorite among journalists and writers."
He placed the quill in Wade's hand and said, "The automatic writing charm isn't particularly special, but the way it connects to a wizard's thoughts is very creative—this is the focus of today's lesson."
"This is different from giving a homunculus a thought, which is a one-time process. This quill uses the user's current thoughts to continuously influence it."
"Don't underestimate this charm. A few wizards who excel in this can make animals understand their thoughts and force others to act according to their will, making them believe it's their own idea."
Wade's eyebrows twitched, and he asked, "Like the Imperius Curse?"
"Not quite", Professor More said. "The Imperius Curse is more like the way gods or devils in myths deceive and control humans. Some magical items are said to influence the thoughts of everyone in the world."
"That sounds a bit scary", Wade mused, "How do you avoid such influence?"
"Those are just legends, Wade. If a spell could affect billions of people, the cost would be unimaginable."
Professor More smiled, "But once you learn the spell, you'll also learn how to resist it. For now, let's start with the quill."
(End of Chapter)
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