The Forbidden Forest outside Hogwarts is home to more than just magical plants; it's teeming with magical beasts and animals. There are so many varieties inside that probably no wizard knows the exact number. Pure unicorns, towering trolls, and warlike centaurs all inhabit this boundless forest.
A thousand years ago, Rey had transformed into a giant black dragon and scorched most of the Forbidden Forest with his breath. But a millennium has passed, and there isn't a trace of those burns left today. The trees are incredibly lush and tall, blocking out the sunlight even during the day in the denser areas.
Turner, the Auror who was supposed to be at Hogwarts specifically to solve the vampire issue, spent his whole day inside the Forbidden Forest. And what he was doing was incredibly simple: he was picking up eggs. Yes, literally picking up eggs. Maybe it was preparation for Easter, maybe... who knows.
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The next day, on their way to class, Rey and Agnes noticed a lot of colorful, fist-sized eggs appearing in corners all over the castle. They were piled in groups of two, three, or five. The eggs were various colors, and some were so pretty they were hard to look away from.
The students noticed them and discussed them excitedly. Since tomorrow was Easter, everyone just accepted it as normal. But knowing Turner had been collecting eggs in the forest the night before, Rey seriously suspected that Turner's collection was mixed in with these.
"Easter!" "If only it could really bring people back to life, that would be great."
Rey sighed internally and entered the classroom with his classmates. Since he couldn't use magic right now, he had no chance to practice any spells. Rey was basically a Squib; aside from Potions and Herbology, his studies felt meaningless. For someone who can't use magic to sit through magic classes at Hogwarts is practically torture.
Suffering through the boredom, Rey listened to Professor McGonagall teach Transfiguration, though his mind had long since wandered off. He had learned this curriculum a thousand years ago. Relearning it now didn't seem to have much point.
Rey held his wand in front of his eyes and asked himself helplessly, "What on earth do I have to do to use magic again?". No one could answer that. Even Dumbledore said Rey had to find the method himself.
Bang... Bang...!
Just as Rey was agonizing over his puzzle, a loud banging sound came from the classroom door. The quiet room had been filled only with McGonagall's voice, so the sudden knocking grabbed everyone's attention immediately.
Someone knocking during class usually meant a professor with urgent business.
"Come in!"
McGonagall invited them in, but the wooden door just kept banging, and no one pushed it open. As the noise continued, McGonagall called out again. Not only did no one enter, but the knocking became more rapid and urgent.
This was abnormal, and everyone started to feel uneasy. A buzz of whispering filled the classroom, and two students in the back row couldn't sit still and got up to open the door. McGonagall raised her hand to stop them, then strode to the door herself.
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With a wave of her wand, the heavy wooden doors swung open. All the students were curious and looked toward the hallway.
But the moment the door opened, the girls in the classroom screamed in terror. Rey stood up, instinctively gripping his wand tight.
The thing knocking wasn't a human at all—it was a Komodo dragon, about three meters long.
It had wrinkly, dark brown skin with veins popping out, and a forked tongue flicking in and out of its mouth. Its body was covered in slime, as if it had just hatched from an egg. However, to grow this big immediately after hatching meant someone had used dark magic to accelerate its growth. This magic speeds up development but burns through their life force in a very short time.
The urgent knocking earlier had clearly been this Komodo dragon ramming the door with its head.
Now that the door was open, the ferocious lizard immediately scrambled forward on all fours, lunging at them. Professor McGonagall was stunned for a split second, but as the lizard pounced, she waved her wand just in time, creating a wall of air to slow its momentum.
Simultaneously, she flicked her wand again, causing the three-meter-long lizard to shrink and deform. In moments, it transformed into a large glass bottle. With a casual flick, the bottle flew into the wall and shattered on impact.
Seeing McGonagall dispatch the ferocious Komodo dragon so easily, the students were filled with awe. Transfiguration wasn't just for show; it was a powerful weapon. McGonagall had neutralized the danger while giving the students a vivid practical demonstration.
However, although the lizard here was dealt with, screams from girls began echoing from other parts of the castle.
Girls, especially the first-years, hadn't learned enough magic to fight yet. The Komodo dragon was hideous, massive, and ferocious; screaming was a perfectly normal reaction. Those screams were like coordinates for danger—wherever there was a scream, there was a threat.
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Fear is contagious.
With screams rising throughout the castle, the students in the Transfiguration classroom looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"Quiet, everyone!"
McGonagall spoke up to calm them down, then continued, "I'm going out to check. Do not open the classroom door until you hear my voice."
With screams everywhere, Hogwarts seemed to be in chaos. As the Deputy Headmistress, she had to go see how bad the situation was.
With a flick of her wand, the heavy wooden door slammed shut. Before leaving, McGonagall placed a simple command spell on the door: it would only open with the consent of the students inside.
The professor was their anchor. With the anchor gone, panic began to spread again, and close friends huddled together in groups of two or three to embolden each other.
Rey and Agnes exchanged a look; they already had a guess.
Dangerous animals couldn't usually get into Hogwarts. If giant lizards had attacked from the outside, they would have been spotted. That left only one conclusion: the colorful eggs placed all over the castle. These lizards must have hatched from those eggs. And the person who planted them was undoubtedly Turner.
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Bang... Bang... Bang!
Just as everyone waited in panicked suspense, the knocking on the wooden door started again.
In an instant, every eye in the room was glued to the door. The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and everyone's hearts were in their throats.
"Students inside, please open the door. It is Professor Cabor Doric."
The students had expected another Komodo dragon, but instead, they heard the voice of Cabor Doric.