Daimon waved his wand again, but the flames did not die down.
He frowned and channeled his magic and Fire Demon Qi once more, finally causing the flames to slowly disperse.
The Fire Demon Qi infused with Fiendfyre was indeed much stronger than before, but it had also become uncontrollable.
Hermione peeked out from behind the bushes.
Seeing the carcass of the giant spider, her mouth hung open, and she was speechless for a long time.
“You…
you used fire?
Non-verbal casting?” “I’m a natural with fire.” Daimon cast Lumos and walked over to the Acromantula’s carcass.
Hermione quickly followed.
She was smart enough not to ask.
“What a terrifying creature.
It’s a good thing you tricked George and Fred into leaving, or they might have met with disaster.” Hermione looked over the Acromantula’s carcass, her face full of lingering fear.
“Now you know why I dare enter the Forbidden Forest.
My flames can protect me from harm,” Daimon said, crouching down.
Hermione looked thoughtful.
Recalling her first meeting with Daimon, she suddenly realized.
“No wonder Dumbledore personally guided you when you enrolled.
It must have been because of your talent for fire magic, right?” Daimon nodded but did not speak.
He pulled a small vial from his pocket, which had been cast with an Undetectable Extension Charm, and placed it under the Acromantula’s fangs, carefully collecting the venom.
“With this, I can complete my bet with the twins.” Daimon carefully stowed away the vial of venom.
If he accidentally got any on himself, it would be bad news.
“It’s a pity the venom of just one spider is so little, otherwise you’d make a fortune, Daimon.” Hermione actually felt a bit regretful.
She had read in books that Acromantulas were extremely dangerous, making venom extraction almost impossible to do safely.
Furthermore, after they died, the venom would quickly dry up and lose its efficacy, meaning it had to be extracted immediately after death.
Because of this, Acromantula venom was extremely expensive on the market, fetching up to one hundred Gold Galleons a pint.
“It’s fine.
If we get the chance, we can pay a few more visits to the Forbidden Forest.
We still have seven years at Hogwarts, there’s plenty of time,” Daimon said calmly.
Hermione looked around at the eerie surroundings and shook her head like a rattle.
“I don’t ever want to come back here a second time.” “In that case, let’s head back.” “I’d love nothing more.” Daimon stood up and was about to leave when he suddenly froze.
A familiar aura wafted from deep within the Forbidden Forest, like an invisible thread gently tugging at a certain chord inside him.
A Talisman!
And it was the Horse Talisman, which he valued highly, right inside the Forbidden Forest.
“Let’s go,” Daimon said, stepping deeper into the dense woods.
“Where are we going?” Hermione caught up, her tone anxious.
“Weren’t we supposed to head back?” Daimon didn’t answer.
After dozens of paces, the surrounding trees thinned out, and the moonlight spilled down once more, illuminating a forest clearing.
Hermione suddenly let out a gasp of surprise.
Daimon turned his head and saw Hermione clutching her mouth, her eyes wide as saucers.
Standing in the center of the clearing was a horse.
No, not an ordinary horse—it was pure white all over, its mane gleaming silver in the moonlight, with a spiraled horn on its forehead that was as white as its body.
A unicorn.
It was lowering its head to nibble on a patch of glowing silver moss.
Hearing the noise, it raised its head, its beautiful eyes gazing calmly at the two of them.
Hermione stood petrified, her voice faltering.
“I…
I’ve seen illustrations of unicorns in books, but I never expected to actually see one…” Daimon’s gaze also landed on the unicorn.
To be precise, his eyes were locked onto it.
The divine power of the Horse Talisman was attached to this unicorn.
Does a unicorn count as the Horse of the Chinese Zodiac?
Daimon didn’t know, but he knew his senses weren’t wrong.
He quietly stepped forward, but the unicorn was extremely vigilant, immediately backing away several steps.
That was how unicorns were; they avoided contact with humans as much as possible and preferred females over males.
Of course, if Hermione weren’t around, Daimon could easily catch this unicorn using the Rabbit Talisman.
Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from behind them.
“Don’t move.” A deep voice drifted from the shadows of the trees.
Daimon and Hermione turned around at the same time.
Two figures emerged from the darkness.
No, they weren’t human—human from the waist up, horse from the waist down.
Centaurs.
The one leading the way had blond hair and blue eyes, with fair skin.
He looked more handsome than most of the students at Hogwarts.
The centaur behind him was less pleasant to look at.
He had pitch-black hair, a build a size larger than the handsome centaur, and a grim expression.
His eyes, like two black stones, glared intently at Daimon.
“Bane, calm down,” the handsome centaur said, raising a hand to stop his companion.
“They are only students.” “Students?” Bane’s voice was raspy, carrying undisguised hostility.
“Students entering the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night?
Firenze, when did you become so careless?” Firenze ignored him and looked at Daimon and Hermione.
“This is no place for you.
Go back.” “We’re sorry, we were just passing through,” Hermione defended.
“We saw this unicorn and wanted to get a closer look.” “Lies!” Bane barked.
“Do not think we do not know the schemes of humans.
You want to harm the unicorn as well, don’t you?
This is not the first time we have discovered this.” “Enough, Bane.
They are just young wizards who have just entered school.
They cannot harm the unicorn.
We have someone else to watch out for,” Firenze defended them.
“Go,” he said, stepping aside to clear a path.
“Leave quickly!” Bane did not move, however.
He pawed the ground with his front hooves, gritting his teeth.
“Humans, if you dare set foot deep into the Forbidden Forest again—” “Bane!” Firenze’s tone sharpened.
Bane glared fiercely at Daimon and Hermione, finally yielding the path.
Daimon said no more and turned to walk out of the Forbidden Forest.
With Hermione present and several centaurs showing up, now was indeed not a good time to retrieve the Talisman.
If they made too much noise, it would alert the school’s professors.
Hermione followed closely behind him, her steps hurried.
The two traversed the dense woods and crossed the stream, the moonlight at the edge of the Forbidden Forest growing brighter and brighter.
The moment they stepped out of the Forbidden Forest, Hermione let out a deep breath, like a stranded fish finally returning to the water.
“Finally, we’re out!” She brushed the dead leaves off her robes and muttered, “I swear, I’m never going into the Forbidden Forest with you again.” “I think it was well worth the trip,” Daimon disagreed.
“An Acromantula, a unicorn, and centaurs.
We met so many magical creatures in a single night.
This is more useful than ten Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, isn’t it?” Daimon tilted his head, looking closely at Hermione.
“Fine, fine!
You always make sense.
But I’ve accompanied you in breaking school rules once; I will absolutely not do it a second time, Daimon,” Hermione said very seriously.
“Who knows?
Maybe next time I’ll be the one accompanying you in breaking school rules.” Daimon’s lips twitched as he began to wonder if he should bring Hermione along whenever he looked for Talismans in the future.
From the Rabbit Talisman and the Rat Talisman to today’s Horse Talisman, the divine power of the Talismans always appeared when Hermione was present.
Could this be the protagonist’s aura?
Daimon didn’t know, but he felt it was worth a shot.
“Don’t be so smug.
I really mean what I say.” Hermione’s voice drifted far into the starlit sky.
The two of them returned to the castle’s side door, crept through the corridors, avoided Filch’s patrol route, and finally made it back to the Gryffindor common room.
The fire in the fireplace had almost burnt out, with only a few dull red embers clinging to life in the ashes.
“Well, goodnight, Daimon.” “Goodnight.”