war and peace

After entering November, the weather becomes colder.The mountains around the school are gray and covered with snow and ice, and the lake is as cold and hard as tempered steel.Every morning there is frost on the ground.Hagrid could be seen from an upstairs window, wrapped in a long moleskin coat, rabbit fur gloves, and huge beaver fur boots, defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch.

Quidditch season has begun.Everyone was talking about the upcoming game, and at one point Harry even caught Filch standing outside the pitch, craning his neck to watch the occasional shadow of a ball flying high, with a rather longing look on his face.It made him realize that the right moment he was looking for was a Quidditch match, a time when he could sneak into the Forbidden Forest without being noticed, since almost everyone on the pitch was staring at the sky.

The most recent match was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.Harry is a member of Gryffindor, which means that he has to go to the audience before the game, and then sneak away while everyone is paying attention to the game, and he had better come back before the game is over, otherwise there will be May be discovered by his classmates.

Time is precious - in order to save as much time as possible on the commute, Harry decides to risk using his contraband broomstick.For this reason, he had to hide the broom in a place closer to the stadium, otherwise, not to mention the time to return to the tower, at least the fat lady would know that he had gone back, which was not good.Harry soon discovered that the distance between the owl shack and the field was only a corner plus two floors, and that place was usually not visited by anyone.

Games are scheduled for Saturday.Harry got up early in the morning secretly, and while everyone was sleeping, he first took the broom to the owl hut, and asked Hedwig to watch for him—he had already wrapped the broom, and a bag with a large Together with the hooded robe, it is disguised as a big burden-so that even if someone sees it, they will not be suspicious.As they left, Harry noticed that one of the tallest branches inside was bare, and no owl seemed to want to perch on it.

After he finished this, it was almost time for breakfast.Harry rushed to the Great Hall, where he had to have a good breakfast and chat with everyone, and then the game officially started at eleven, and he had to seize the opportunity.

Sure enough, the dining room was filled with the tantalizing smell of grilling sausages, and everyone chatted happily in anticipation of a good Quidditch game.Harry sat down next to Hermione, who was listening intently to Seamus' prediction about the situation of the game, and he was relieved that she didn't ask where Harry had gone.He forked a grilled sausage and smeared thick tomato sauce on it, listening attentively.The Gryffindor team's Seeker was a modest seventh-year girl, and Harry sincerely hoped that she would escape the vicious ramming of that hunk of Slytherin Quidditch captain Marcus Flint.

By eleven o'clock, it seemed the whole school was in the stands around the Quidditch pitch.Harry noticed that many people were carrying binoculars, though no one was likely to be bored to use them to peer into the Forbidden Forest in the other direction.

Mrs. Hooch was the referee.Harry watched as fifteen broomsticks rose from the ground as the match began, and barring accidents, he was always Seeker at Gryffindor matches.Listening to Lee Jordan's commentary, he had never been so eager to fly on the field in his heart.

"...the Bludger gets pushed aside by Fred or George Weasley, the twins are hard to tell apart - well done by the Gryffindor batsman, Johnson recovering the Quaffle, There's no resistance ahead, she's running like hell--it's like flying--dodging a bludger--goalposts ahead--come on, ok, Angelina--Keeper Blake swoops in-- - missed - Gryffindor scored!"

The cheers of the Gryffindors echoed in the cold sky, mixed with the howls and groans of the Slytherins.

it's time.Harry backed away slowly, well no one noticed him.As soon as he turned around, he saw Hagrid's big man coming towards them, holding a huge telescope.Harry noticed the look on his face, excited, whether it was because of the Quidditch match or because nothing really bothered him lately.Anyway, it's safer for him to see for himself, isn't it?And he felt that it was difficult for him to guarantee that he would not go to Wood or Professor McGonagall to recommend himself to join the team.

So Harry the cat stooped down and made his way through the crowd, wiping the hem of Hagrid's coat.Surrounded by noisy students, the half-giant didn't notice this.He left the crowd, turned down the stairs, ran down a corridor, and up the stairs to the owl shack.He unpacked quickly and pulled on the black hooded robe, which concealed himself and the broom completely.When Harry finally took hold of the broomstick, his heart was not filled with fear of the Forbidden Forest, but with the joy of finally being able to fly.

On the court, the Gryffindor team scored another goal, and the little lions cheered happily.Tom stood at the outermost edge of the auditorium on the highest floor, with a calm expression on his face, which was at odds with the surrounding atmosphere.He casually tore off the golden and red scarf given to him by an excited Gryffindor just now, and turned to look at the gray walls of the castle.A black shadow was sliding down the stone wall at high speed, and it was about to hit the ground; at that moment, the black shadow suddenly turned and flew past the roots of the nearby trees, just rubbing against the ground. The ground is flying.If you didn't know it in advance, it would be hard to imagine that it was a person riding on a broomstick.

This kid probably does have some flying talent.Tom stared at the black dot disappearing into the trees in the distance, and curled his lips slightly.Of course he couldn't see what he wanted to see, but I hope he can find that surprise.

Harry quickly moved away from the human voice. In fact, he almost forgot about the game as soon as he got on the broom. It had been a long time since he enjoyed the pleasure of being like a fish in water. .He flew along the border of the city wall, trying to stay as close to the ground and the wall as possible against the dark background, and even that didn't lessen his joy.It would be worth it, Harry thought, even if they couldn't find anything in the Forbidden Forest.

He slipped through the shadow of the tower, sneaked over the wall and out of the castle, and rode down the path straight to Hagrid's cabin, with the Forbidden Forest behind, still dark and eerie in daylight.Without hesitation, Harry wrapped his wind-blown robes tightly so they wouldn't catch on branches or something, and rushed in.

It was dark inside the forest, with intertwined branches and dense leaves everywhere.The roots on the ground are twisted and tangled, and walking is not necessarily much faster than flying.Harry slowed down, and he circled along the forest path, looking down at the surrounding scenery.

From the sparse birdsong, the surroundings became silent.Careful not to make any noise, Harry, who wasn't too familiar with the Forbidden Forest, flew high every now and then, looking for directions and estimating the time so he could get back before the Quidditch match was over.In the distance Harry saw a few dark brown centaurs, some strange flowers and plants that he couldn't name, and more animals he didn't recognize.Harry managed to avoid detection, but several times the hem of his coat got caught in a Bowtruckle that looked like a branch.

Harry's eyes searched the distance, and suddenly found a silver light.He held his breath and approached cautiously.At a distance of about 500 meters, Harry discovered that it was indeed an adult unicorn.It was gnawing on the grass blades on the ground, its appearance was demure and elegant, and the pale silver mane on its tail hung down long.Harry paused. If memory serves me, unicorns are sensitive to breath, and they don't like boys near them.

Harry circled the unicorn slowly.Not far away, he spotted more unicorns.Looks like a colony, he guessed.No matter how far away, the trees gradually became scarce, exposing the sparkling light of the lake.Harry once thought he was dazzled, how could he see the water in winter?In theory, only a layer of ice can be seen.When he took a long detour to the lake at the other end, he realized that the water was actually warm and slowly emitting steam.

It looks like they're doing fine.Harry watched a few unicorns go to the lake to drink water from a distance, their movements were noble, and they never looked around.Harry got back on his broom, he didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed, things seemed to be going for the worst.But since it was confirmed that the unicorn was fine, it was time for him to go home.Harry identified the direction of the castle, and burrowed into the bushes.

On the way back, he saw a small clearing that looked familiar.There weren't many scenes in the Forbidden Forest that impressed him - Harry immediately recognized that it was Aragog's lair.He shivered subconsciously, intending to move quickly through the place, he was not at all interested in the swarms of spiders.But he immediately noticed the abnormality, the surroundings were quiet, and the shadow of the spider could not be seen!

Harry hovered in the air for a while, finally curiosity overcame reason.He had to go and see why Aragog's clansmen weren't around it. Didn't the long-lived acromantula die early?

Harry knew something was wrong as soon as he hit the ground.There are some animal bones piled up at the entrance of the cave, and they all seem to be the size of a cow.Although Aragog grew very big, he was old and had long since stopped hunting on his own.The food Hagrid brought to it was fresh meat with its fur and skeleton removed. Harry remembered that when he came last time, he didn't see the skeleton.

Harry took another quick look around.There was a dead silence, as if no animal was willing to approach here.He looked at the dark hole and decided to go in and have a look.Harry took out his wand, clutching the handle of the broom tightly with his other hand, intending to fly away if the situation was wrong.

The breath coming from inside was cold and damp, mixed with the smell of rotting leaves.Feeling sick, Harry stood by the hole for a while, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before continuing inside.

This is a hole where the roots of the tree are coiled, with criss-cross thick rhizomes on the top, and the sunken ground below.The hole wasn't very deep, so it didn't take long for Harry to discover the problem: the place had changed owners.He stared at what looked like coiled patterned rope, and finally understood why he didn't see a spider.

It was a snake.From Harry's point of view, it was not small.Even if it is not as big as the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, it can at least be on par with Voldemort's Nagini.Its scales are close to black, and there is a bit of skylight leaking through the gaps, and the color of that part reflects a strange green.Harry stared at it, so shocked it took him a moment to think of running away.

The snake woke up.

It twisted its body slowly, lifting its big triangular head.It was a mutant black mamba—Harry covered his mouth and stopped himself from screaming for the first time.If it wasn't for the wrong type, he really would have thought it was Nagini.It quickly spotted Harry in the corner, and spat out the bright red letter threateningly.

With his back pressed against the slippery cave wall, Harry moved slowly out, hoping the snake wouldn't notice.But this seemed to be an extravagant hope, the snake swam and hissed. "Wake me up and leave like this, without paying any price, young man?"

Harry felt a cold sweat breaking out on his head.The black mamba's attack speed and venom strength are no joke, and if it starts attacking, it's almost impossible to run away... He tried to talk himself out of shaking, and then hissed in the same way: "I didn't mean to offend you ...I'm just passing by..." These were all time-defying words, and Harry only hoped to last until the moment he moved to the entrance of the cave.

The snake paused, and Harry was sure he saw hesitation in its black eyes. "Hey, boy," it asked, "will you speak our language?"

"Yes," Harry admitted hastily, seeing the possibility of the snake letting him off because of that.Swear to Merlin, he didn't want to use any part of his body to test the sharpness of the fangs in front of him.

"Oh, well," Miss Snake——Harry was sure it was a female. Since he was despised by a snake in the reptile house last time, he went to the library to borrow a few books to study how to judge the type of snake, including Gender - nodded very generously: "If that's the case, I'll let it go..." Then it muttered something in a low voice, Harry didn't hear it, but he did hear it. "I'm sorry..." he said, before impatiently asking, "Can I leave now?"

The snake nodded its head, its black eyes still fixed on Harry.Harry took two steps back facing the big snake, and suddenly thought of a question, he couldn't help asking again: "Excuse me, when did you come here? I remember that this is the home of an acromantula ..."

The snake's eyes widened, and Harry could clearly see its vertical golden pupils.Apparently it was interested in the question, because it said, "Oh? You know this? And do you know where else in the Forbidden Forest there are spiders like that? I must say, they are delicious, fat legs, Delicious gravy..." Harry shook his head hastily, resisting the feeling of nausea, and the giant snake watched him exit the cave with a regretful look.

As soon as Harry was in the clearing, he got on his broom and flew into the air, afraid that the snake would back off again, and it didn't look like it would mind replacing the spiders with a human.