Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 341 Late-night Help
Jon is indeed very efficient in obtaining the Golden Snitch.
In the whole afternoon, he had obtained nearly seventy golden snitches from the three fire dragons, and he still had five targets left.
According to current estimates, once he visits all the fire dragons that have been discovered, he will be able to capture about two hundred thieves.
This was already a considerable number. After all, the referee team had placed only 500 flying thieves in the forbidden forest. Even if the three people currently competing in the forbidden forest divided them equally, each would only have more than 160.
Just as Jon was about to temporarily end today's mission, find a place to rest and cook dinner, planning to complete the remaining mission objectives tomorrow, an unexpected person came to him at night.
At this time, Jon had eaten and drunk his fill, and Hoss had gone out on his horse to look for food. Just as Jon was about to go into the tent that had been transformed by Transfiguration to rest, he was startled by the sound of footsteps that were not concealed at all.
Jon grasped the wand and retracted his body, which was already halfway into the tent. Then he looked at the figure walking out from the depths of the Forbidden Forest in the moonlight.
This is a man dressed in a black robe and a wide hood on his head, making it difficult to identify his identity at first glance.
Jon narrowed his eyes and spoke in a wary voice.
"So, you are now planning to ignore even the most basic rules of the game and directly send people into the Forbidden Forest to attack me?"
He subconsciously suspected that this was someone sent by Voldemort, or even possibly Voldemort himself.
Even if there is a blood oath as a constraint, this unbreakable oath is not like the Unforgivable Curse which has no magic solution. If Voldemort is really willing to be cruel and willing to bear part of the price, the rules can be violated.
However, the man in black robe quickly responded to Jon's question. He simply took off the hat on his head, revealing a young, handsome and pale face.
This was a boy who was only a few years older than Jon. Jon could clearly feel that he looked familiar.
"I mean no harm."
Cedric, extremely nervous, raised his hands that were not holding the wand. Tonight he ran out again at a huge risk.
But he had no choice, he needed help, and the only one who could help him in the forbidden forest right now was Jon.
Jon was obviously a little surprised by Cedric's face, but he also felt that this boy had no hostility. The tip of the wand in his hand drooped slightly, but his eyes never shifted.
"Who are you?"
"Cedric, Cedric Diggory, a sixth-year student at the Half-Blood Academy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Cedric introduced himself with a somewhat rapid breath.
When Jon heard the name, his guard was slightly lowered. Of course he still remembered this name which had left a deep mark in the original book.
However, Jon did not completely let down his guard.
"Mr. Diggory, if I remember correctly, according to the rules of the Triwizard Tournament, no unrelated personnel from any party are allowed to interfere in the game privately during the competition. So why did you come to me tonight? Do you want to avenge the eldest young master of the Malfoy family in your school?"
Hearing Jon's words, Cedric waved his hands quickly and spoke in a hurried voice.
"No, I don't have such an idea. I came to you to ask for your help. Only you can help me... Help the centaurs in this forbidden forest. They are almost unable to hold on."
Jon's brow furrowed.
"Helping the horsemen?"
"Yes! They are centaurs. They have been persecuted by the British Ministry of Magic. Even this small tribe in the Forbidden Forest is being conquered and driven away by the Aurors. They have been forced into a desperate situation, with only a small number of people still lingering on... I got lost in the Forbidden Forest when I was taking the Care of Magical Creatures class three years ago. I got to know them after being rescued by a centaur. Since then, I have been helping them find a way to survive. They asked me to help contact Dumbledore, but I never had the chance. Even in the carriage where Dumbledore is now, he is always under strict surveillance, and I have no way to avoid others and sneak up on them."
"So I had no choice but to come to the Forbidden Forest to find you, Mr. Green. I've seen the report about you in the Starlight, and of course the Daily Prophet. But I know that the smear campaign against you by the British newspapers is untrue. You are a man of great potential, and you will surely find a way to save those centaurs, right?"
Cedric told him about his situation and the reason why he found Jon, then looked at him with pleading eyes.
Jon was unmoved. He asked coldly:
"How did you find me?"
"I am very familiar with the Forbidden Forest. I have come here countless nights in the past three years. There are many magical animals here who are my friends. They helped me find you."
"How did you get out of that castle?"
"Secret passage. I found a secret passage leading to Hogsmeade behind the mirror deep in the corridor on the fourth floor. I always crawled out from that secret passage and then entered the Forbidden Forest from the direction of Hogsmeade."
"I remember that in order to prevent irrelevant people from entering the Forbidden Forest, this entire area was protected by the referees. Ordinary people can't enter at all, right?"
"It was the centaurs who helped me. They gave me this."
In response to John's questions, Cedric answered them all without any hesitation, holding a stone arrow in his hand.
"With this thing, I can freely enter and exit the Forbidden Forest without alerting the referee of the match."
Jon tapped the wand lightly, and the arrow flew from Cedric's hand and then fell into his own hand. Jon did feel a magic from this object that was different from that of a wizard.
After hearing Cedric's answers and explanations, Jon began to believe what he said. Not only because his answers were reasonable, but also because the name Cedric was worthy of his belief.
Jon lowered the wand in his hand. He looked at the boy who had ventured out of the castle, pondered for a few seconds, and then spoke.
"Tell me all about the centaurs."
Hearing his words, Cedric's face showed obvious joy. He couldn't help but move closer to Jon, then sat cross-legged opposite Jon around the campfire, and told him everything he knew about the centaurs in a fast but clear voice.
"Firenze is the only leader of the centaurs now. They originally had a small tribe of dozens of people in the Forbidden Forest, but now many of them have been killed by the Aurors. There are less than twenty people left, and more than half of them are children and women."
"They didn't want to escape from the Forbidden Forest. Over the years, they have been in the depths of the Forbidden Forest, dealing with the Aurors who came in to completely wipe them out. And Firenze's approach was also correct. Even though the Forbidden Forest is right next to Hogwarts Castle, it is also the place they are most familiar with. On the contrary, some of the centaurs who escaped from the Forbidden Forest were surrounded by Aurors, and were eventually captured or killed."
"At the end of last semester, I learned that the Triwizard Tournament would be held in Hogwarts Castle, and I also knew that Dumbledore and you were coming, so I told Firenze and the others the news. We planned to wait for Dumbledore to come to Hogwarts Castle, find an opportunity to contact him, and ask him to help rescue the centaurs from the Forbidden Forest. But before we could start planning, the arrival of the group of dragons in the Forbidden Forest last week completely blocked Firenze and the others in their exiled camp..."
Jon frowned, and only then did he speak up to interrupt Cedric.
"You said it was those fire dragons that trapped them in the camp?"
Cedric nodded.
"When the fire dragons were sent to the Forbidden Forest, a Norwegian Ridgeback and two Ukrainian Ironbelly were placed not far from them and assigned to their territory. These three fire dragons blocked all the entrances and exits of the camp where Firenze and his team fled. With those three fire dragons there, they had no way to communicate with the outside world or obtain supplies."
Jon took out the crude map of the Forbidden Forest that he and Hoss had drawn this morning when they were looking for the dragons that had been released into the forest.
"Ukrainian Ironbelly and Norwegian Ridgeback..."
While searching on the map according to Cedric's description of the three dragon species, he brought the map to Cedric.
"Is the centaur camp you mentioned in this area?"
After Jon taught him how to identify them, Cedric shook his head.
"It's not on this map. For safety reasons, Firenze and his men placed their camp at the outermost edge of the other side of Hogwarts Castle. That area is very remote."
After hearing his words, Jon put the map away again.
He stared at the campfire in front of him for a while, and finally turned his gaze back to Cedric.
"Mr. Diggory..."
"You can just call me Cedric."
"Okay, Cedric, I'd like to believe you, but you know that the competition I'm participating in now represents not only myself, but also an entire group that is being oppressed."
Jon and Cedric stared at each other.
"So for the sake of insurance, you have to prove it to me in some way."
Cedric answered without hesitation.
"I am willing to accept any form of proof!"
Jon stared at him closely, and a hidden magic seemed to have built a bridge between their gazes.
"Then please relax first and relax your mind."
Cedric felt what Jon was going to do to him, but he had no intention of resisting. He just followed Jon's words and completely let down all his mental guard.
"Are you really Cedric Diggory?" Jon asked quietly.
"right."
"Are all the things you said about the centaurs true? There is not a single bit of falsehood in them?"
"I promise!"
Jon's mastery of telepathy was not very good, and he could only see what the other person was thinking when he let down his guard.
But even if it was just like that, as long as Cedric was willing to cooperate, it would be enough. Unless this boy who was upright and kind in the normal world line had completely surrendered to Voldemort and learned the art of brain occlusion, what he had just said would not be false.
After confirming Cedric's authenticity, Jon did not hesitate and immediately blew a whistle.
Soon, a gust of wind swept in from afar, and Hoss, who was holding a blade of grass in his mouth, appeared in front of Jon and Cedric in the blink of an eye.
Jon directed Cedric to climb onto Hoth's horse.
"You sit in the front and show it the way. We are going to look for those centaurs now."
Cedric straddled Hoss's back, then Jon sat behind him, and finally Jon patted Hoss's belly.
"Run faster, Hoss, follow his command, we are going to rescue people!"
Hoss snored and then disappeared into the night like the wind.
"You were the one who peeked at me in the grass last night?"
Cedric showed Hoss the way while answering Jon's questions.
"It's me. I wasn't ready to look for you yesterday. I wanted to try to lure away those fire dragons by myself, but I failed. Today, during the day, the professor at school almost discovered that I had sneaked out at night."
While they were talking, Hoss suddenly stopped moving forward and stopped at the foot of a small hill.
Looking up from their position, they could just see the huge monster sleeping on the other side of the hill - the Ukrainian Iron Belly!
This is the largest known fire dragon in the world. Jon had never thought that the judging panel would choose this kind of dragon to release into the Forbidden Forest, because their huge size has too great an impact on the ecology . Even if other fire dragons are restless, as long as they are confined to a certain area, the safety of other magical animals can be guaranteed.
But the terrain where the Ukrainian Iron Belly lives will definitely be changed. This kind of dragon can leave a large basin-like pit on the ground as long as it lies on the ground. After the game, even if they are sent away, the changed ecology cannot be restored.
However, as for how difficult it is to deal with, due to its heavy body, the Iron Belly is not agile. If you just want to catch the Golden Snitch around it, then it is even easier than other dragon species.
But Jon and Cedric did not come here to catch the Golden Snitch, but to cross the area where the fire dragon was and open up the way to the centaur camp.
After getting off Hoss's horse, Jon did not look at the Iron Belly to figure out how to attack, but began to observe the surrounding terrain.
