Mysterious Journey

Chapter 464: A Sad Story

Deep into the night, within the warm and cozy Hufflepuff common room, magical fireflies born from the fireplace flames gathered around the semicircular ceiling, softly illuminating the quiet room with only a few girls remaining.

Hannah, Hermione, and Luna sat neatly on the soft sofa next to the fireplace, sharing pumpkin pies they had brought back from the feast, their eyes wide, intently listening as Erina recounted the events that had taken place in the Forbidden Forest that evening.

Of course, as agreed with Dumbledore, this was an abridged version of the story.

Even so, the three little girls were incredibly tense and excited, staring at Erina without blinking, their breaths becoming cautious. The pumpkin pie in Hermione's hand was almost kneaded into a pile of dough crumbs.

"Unicorn blood has the power to prolong life... although drinking it directly brings a curse... but obviously, the cloaked figure who attempted to kill the unicorn didn't care about that... I even doubt if that thing can be considered human..."

"If it's not human, what do you think it is..."

Hannah whispered in fear, her eyes flickering with a hint of excitement, as if listening to a ghost story—both afraid and extraordinarily thrilling, making her want to continue listening.

Erina shrugged.

"Living dead, vampires, Voldemort bats... who knows, the Forbidden Forest hides so many dangerous dark creatures, perhaps only Professor Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, knows what that thing is... But no matter what, it must be a brutal and pitiful existence, after all, it kept eating dirt even while running away..."

"But Professor Quirrell is seriously injured, that monster must be very powerful, right?"

Hermione said with a worried expression, looking around at the girls, whispering.

"Thankfully a professor happened to appear this time, repelling the villain who was trying to hunt the unicorn, otherwise, Erina, you would have been in danger. I don't know how Professor Quirrell is now. His appearance in the hall scared everyone—we almost thought he might..."

"Oh, right, Professor Quirrell, he really is amazing."

Erina blinked, a strange expression appearing on her face, and said softly.

"In my opinion at the time, I thought Professor Quirrell might be left in the Forbidden Forest. I didn't expect him to return to Hogwarts Castle and issue a warning to the professors. Amazing, really amazing..."

Although she didn't see Quirrell's misery with her own eyes, Luna, who always carried a camera, calmly raised her camera amidst the chaos and recorded the scene in the hall with photos.

In that somewhat blurry picture, a dark bloodstain spread from the door along Professor Quirrell's footprints to the staff table. Quirinus Quirrell was clearly in a much worse state than when he escaped from her.

In addition to the terrible wound caused by her spell, the poor wizard had four or five more deep claw marks, and scorch marks from being burned by flames were everywhere. Even through the photo, Erina seemed to smell the slightly nauseating burnt smell. The only intact part of Quirrell's body was his large turban.

As for why Voldemort's ugly face wasn't behind the turban, Erina wasn't particularly surprised—as a wizard with special attainments in surviving, Voldemort obviously had many ways to hide his existence.

To say nothing of deceiving Dumbledore, to move freely in this castle, Voldemort must at least ensure that his existence would not be discovered by other professors or older students. If it was just relying on the physical barrier of the turban, that would be too childish. Transfiguration magic in the magical world is not a completely new thing that has never appeared.

"So, this is the unicorn's thank-you gift to you? It must hurt, right."

Luna curled up on the sofa with her legs crossed, holding the spiral-patterned horn Erina brought back, curiously stroking it up and down. Unlike the unicorn horns she had seen in Diagon Alley, this horn's color was bright, and it seemed to have its own life.

Having been influenced since childhood, Luna had a natural affinity for various magical creatures. After hearing that Erina had successfully rescued two unicorns, the admiration and worship in the girl's eyes almost overflowed.

"Compared to death, this pain probably doesn't feel like anything to it? Although I don't really want this big horn."

Erina sighed helplessly, and then recalled the two ungrateful horned white deer.

"However, according to Professor Dumbledore, the horns shed by unicorns and the horns of dead unicorns are very different. The latter can only be used to make potions and alchemy materials, but the former can be used to make powerful magical items."

"Magical items? Like flying broomsticks?"

Hermione glanced curiously at the horn in Luna's hand, poking it with her finger.

She couldn't imagine what other representative magical items there were in the magical world besides flying broomsticks—after all, most of the items she had seen in the past few days were conventional items that had been magically modified.

"Maybe something more offensive, like a spearhead or a different kind of wand... Mr. Otto might know."

Erina answered casually. Anyway, this area wasn't her forte. She would just give the unicorn horn to Grindelwald later. Even if the first-generation Dark Lord didn't know how to process it, he would definitely be able to find a suitable person.

The problem she was considering more now was how to face Professor Quirrell tomorrow. Should she beat him to death? Beat him to death? Or beat him to death?

The sky gradually began to brighten. The girls, who had been chatting all night, finally began to yawn, their throats feeling dry and sore. They ended their conversation and, exhausted, wished each other good morning before climbing into bed to sleep.

Halloween Eve this year happened to be on a Friday, so it didn't matter much if they chatted a little longer.

Anyway, for Hufflepuff first-years, every Friday was the most wonderful day—except for the flying class in the afternoon, the whole day was free of classes. It didn't matter much if they couldn't get up in the morning...



The next day, early morning.

"Ahhhh!"

"We're going to be late! We're going to be late!"

"It's all your fault! Erina, you're a jinx!"

"You were all listening very enthusiastically, okay!"

Erina and Hermione argued as they ran down the empty corridor, clutching thick textbooks, while Luna Lovegood, still a little sleepy and with messy hair, followed behind them.

Although Hufflepuff first-years had an enviable Friday schedule...

But! Except for Hannah, the other three girls needed to attend classes according to the Gryffindor schedule!

Most importantly...

This morning's class was...

"Sorry, Professor Snape, we overslept."

Hermione Granger pushed open the classroom door, looked at the black-robed wizard with a cold face not far away, and whispered timidly.

"Not too late, after all, the second lesson has just begun..."

Severus Snape raised an eyebrow, glanced at the three little witches wearing Gryffindor robes, and showed a cold expression with a sarcastic smile, saying in his usual slow tone.

"It's only... skipping one class. Truly touching, I thought the three young ladies wouldn't show up today."

"Now, stand at the back of the classroom and watch the other students operate. I will deal with you after class."

The first day after Halloween...

Erina didn't meet Professor Quirrell because she was in detention again...

But fortunately, this time she wasn't alone...

In this world, Hermione and Luna's first detention was accompanied by her...

————

————

Yah~ The second day of dual updates.

If there are no accidents, I should be able to continue to ensure that neither side is left out~

The new book is not published on Qidian, so give up on urging updates.

Hint: Search for (book name) + (Wanben Shenlizhan) in your browser to quickly find it.