HP: Embrace the Darkness

At noon, the sun is high.

The sun penetrates the gaps between the leaves and casts mottled light spots, illuminating the paths in the forest. The fog disperses, revealing the true face of the Forbidden Forest.

At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Harry was wearing an invisibility cloak and staring into the distance.

Not long after, a tall figure emerged from the distance.

Harry's heart beat faster, he pulled out his wand and stared at the figure intently.

The figure got closer and closer, and Harry finally saw his face clearly.

It's Hagrid.

Why did Hermione bring Hagrid here.

Harry was puzzled.

If possible, Hagrid wouldn't want to come. He was reluctant to come out because Hermione couldn't bear it.

Originally, he was still grieving over Aragog's death, but unexpectedly, the little witch directly opened his scar and forced him to take them to the Acromantula's lair.

Seeing that Harry was not waiting beside the Forbidden Forest, the half-blood giant who was unwilling to come over stopped in his tracks.

Hermione was thinking, the sun shone on her face, and she couldn't see the road ahead clearly, so she raised her head and looked at Hagrid who suddenly didn't want to walk to her. She was very puzzled.

"Hagrid? What's wrong with you?"

Hagrid shook his head hesitantly, "Why don't you go? Without Aragog, the Acromantula is no longer under control. I can't take you to their lair. It's too dangerous. What if you..."

He didn't want to go on.

As a giant who understands the characteristics of the Acromantula, he is well aware of the cruelty of the Acromantula.

"But we have to go there." Hermione said firmly. "We need to find the Acromantula's lair to confirm one thing."

Hagrid was silent for a moment, struggling with his thoughts, and then sighed deeply.

"Okay, Hermione, I will take you there, but if the situation gets out of hand, I will take you away immediately, and you must listen to me."

"Okay." Hermione agreed, "Don't worry, Hagrid, we know what to do."

Hagrid nodded, then turned around and walked towards the Forbidden Forest.

Harry waited for him to come over and lifted up the invisibility cloak.

"Nice to meet you, Hagrid."

"Oh, Harry." Hagrid took a big step and hugged Harry, "To be honest, I don't really want to see you at this time. This means that you may be in danger, so don't worry about yourselves."

Hermione gestured to Harry and asked him to hold Hagrid steady while she went to look for Ron, who was late.

Harry nodded calmly and started chatting with Hagrid. Hermione left under his cover and followed the path back to the castle, where she found Ron who was holding a lot of medicine bottles and was in a hurry.

"I found you." Hermione quickly stepped forward, took the medicine bottle from Ron's hand, opened the small cloth bag she was wearing, and stuffed the medicine bottles inside, "Let's go, Harry and Hagrid are waiting. We are.”

Hermione's movements were very smooth. It only took a few seconds from meeting to putting away the medicine bottle, but Ron was stunned.

He looked at his empty hands, and then at the small cloth bag whose size was disproportionate to its capacity.

"Wow, cool."

Hermione pulled Ron over like a little chicken and hurried toward the Forbidden Forest.

"Stop being cool, we have to hurry up. If it's really what I think, maybe not only Harry will be in trouble, but the whole Hogwarts will be in trouble."

"Hey Hermione, I can go on my own."

Ron broke away from Hermione's hand and followed quickly behind her. After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally asked.

"When are you going to tell Harry what's going to happen? Or are you going to tell me first and then I'll tell Harry?"

Hermione looked at Ron like he was an idiot.

Why couldn't she tell two people at the same time? Wouldn’t this save more time and effort?

Seeing the speechlessness in Hermione's eyes, Ron also realized that he had made a stupid mistake.

He couldn't help it, it was the first time he saw Hermione so nervous, and he couldn't help but become nervous too.

Human beings are such creatures. When they are nervous, it is easy for them not to know what they are talking nonsense about.

Ron smiled awkwardly and stopped talking.

Hermione had something on her mind and wasn't in the mood to talk.

The two of them were silent all the way back to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Harry saw Ron and Hermione talking to Hagrid from a distance, pulling Hagrid towards them.

Seeing Ron's empty hands, his expression suddenly turned ugly.

"Didn't you get the potion?"

Hermione raised the small bag and shook it, and answered for Ron: "Don't be nervous, he got it, I have all the potions, let's go in."

"Sorry, Ron, I'm just a little... nervous," Harry explained to Ron.

Ron nodded to show that he understood.

He was also nervous just now and even made a joke.

Hermione was sorting the contents of the small bag, and after confirming that they were correct, she interrupted the two of them from looking at each other affectionately.

"gone."

"Wait, I think-"

Hagrid still wanted to stop it.

Hermione had already expected it, and with one hand and one hand, she pulled Harry and Ron into the Forbidden Forest.

Seeing the three people heading in fearlessly, Hagrid clenched his sandbag-sized fists and had to follow them to lead them.

The hybrid giant is very familiar with the Forbidden Forest and the way to the Acromantula's lair, but...

He looked at the children behind him who were not even up to his shoulders, debating whether to take them around and trick them out.

Although Hermione was paying attention to the surrounding environment, she did not let go of her vigilance towards Hagrid. She immediately noticed that the steps of the hybrid giant became hesitant.

"Hagrid, we have to go to the Acromantula's lair today. If you still don't want to take us there, we can go by ourselves."

That’s even worse!

Hagrid had no choice but to quicken his pace.

The deeper you go into the Forbidden Forest, the darker it gets.

The towering trees block out the sun and the sky, leaving only the narrow gaps between the leaves to see the direct light.

Hagrid thought for a while, and while leading the way, he informed the three of them about the characteristics of the Acromantula.

Hermione knew all this before coming here, but she felt that it would be good for Harry and Ron to know more, so she forced them to listen carefully to Hagrid's popularization, while she herself thought about what the missing clues were.

One of the four people spoke, two listened, and one person was silent and thinking, and soon they came to a valley.

My eyes suddenly opened up.

Hagrid stopped, and Harry and Ron behind him also stopped.

Hermione turned a corner, walked to a nearby tree, squatted down and looked at the dirt on the ground.

"What's wrong?" Harry walked over cautiously and asked Hermione.

Hermione turned sideways and pointed to the mottled soil on the ground, "These are Professor Sprout's footprints."

Harry was confused.

Ron also came over, looking down at the messy soil on the ground with confusion on his face.

"Wait, Hermione, how did you know that this mess is a footprint?"

Hermione picked up the branch from the ground, opened the soil, exposed half of the leaf, and then spread it out with the branch.

"The leaves of Mandrake. The only place where Mandrake can grow is Professor Sprout's greenhouse, and the only place where Mandrake can grow is on the soles of her shoes."