Chapter 265: Recognition of the centaurs

In the office, Sirius told Ivan how they entered the Centaur colony in the Forbidden Forest and how they gained their recognition.

"Since Remus was a werewolf, I started learning how to be an Animagus with James and Peter. It didn't work as well as it did for you; it took us exactly three years to do it." Sirius said to Ivan, "In our fifth year we learned how to transform. Since then, before the full moon, the three of us went to the Shrieking House in our Animagus forms with Remus, who turned into a werewolf."

"Werewolves don't attack animals?!" asked Ivan, surprised.

"Werewolves are dangerous only to humans and don't attack other animals." Sirius remembered with a smile on his lips, "At first, the four of us were in the Shrieking house, but there was nothing there. It was too boring. Since we were able to transform, we soon left and wandered around the school grounds, in the castle, deep into the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade at night. At the time, we were very excited and planned our adventures for each month, and then proceeded according to plan."

With Sirius' description, a scene appeared in Ivan's mind.

Late at night, four animals ventured through the ancient and mysterious grounds of Hogwarts to dig into the unknown secrets of the school.

From the number of secret passages marked on the Marauder's Map, it was obvious that Sirius had been to many places in that time, almost all of Hogwarts.

"In the second half of fifth year, I remember it was around May; we saved a centaur during one of our adventures. While hunting, he was wounded by a violent Graphorn and was severely injured. We chased the Graphorn away. After thanking us, he invited the four of us to the centaur colony in the depths of the Forbidden Forest."

Although Sirius was underestimating the incident, Ivan knew how great it must have been.

The centaurs had always had little affection for wizards. They would not allow humans to enter the Forbidden Forest, and would never allow them to visit their colonies.

However, the centaurs had extra preferential treatment for human children. Also, the centaur Sirius had rescued must have been particularly injured, so they had the opportunity to take him back to their colony.

Due to his long-term study of potions, Ivan was very familiar with Graphorn.

Powdered Graphorn horns are used in many potions and are an essential material.

But it is immensely expensive due to the difficulty of collecting it.

Ivan was very clear about how difficult it was to defeat a violent Graphorn.

After all, the Graphorn is a huge humpbacked magical animal, with a grayish-purple skin tougher than that of dragons. It has two very long, sharp horns and walks on large, four-toed feet.

In the past, wizards often saw mountain trolls riding Graphorns in an attempt to tame them. However, this was to no avail, and the Graphorn was extremely aggressive, so it was common to see a troll covered in scars from wounds inflicted by Graphorns.

The poor centaur that was rescued by Sirius must have been badly injured. It was better to invite Sirius and his friends to the centaur colony than to ask them to return. Otherwise, the centaur would probably have died halfway there.

"It's a big colony, and the houses inside are different from the regular ones." Sirius had folded his hands and continued, "In the center of the colony, there is a magnificent temple built of cyan rocks. It looks very old, covered in green vines, very spectacular."

"Temple?!" Ivan repeated softly.

Certainly, what Gryffindor left is in that temple.

Unable to explain why, Ivan remembered Professor Trelawney's prophecy: in the dark temple full of taboos, the Dark Lord's magic would mark the chosen person, which helped him return and regain unimaginable power.

The dark temple full of taboos, would it be the one in the colony of the centaurs?

Suddenly, Ivan had the ominous feeling that something big was about to happen.

"To thank us for saving the centaur, they decided to reward us." Sirius noticed nothing unusual about Ivan, he continued. "After some discussion, they told us that there was an item left by the Gryffindor himself in their colony. According to the agreement of his ancestors and Gryffindor, we could enter the temple and try to get the item..."

"Wait a minute, Sirius!" Ivan interrupted hastily. "Didn't you say how to get the centaur recognition?"

"It seems to be related to astrology." Sirius scratched his head and said, embarrassed, "Actually, I don't know what was going on. I remember a couple of very old centaurs looking at the stars for a long time and then saying that the four of us were connected to some destiny and qualified to be recognized by them."

Astrology, omens, destiny?!

The recognition of the centaurs was too vague!

However, Ivan bowed his head and thought it through. Everything seemed to be going well with the methods of the Centaurs.

For a long time, they had persistently observed the orbit of the planets to decipher fate and the illusory future.

Ivan didn't know if they could really see destiny, but when it came to astrology and divination, the Centaurs apparently formed their own distinctive theoretical system.

According to Sirius, Ivan didn't need to do anything to get the centaurs' approval. He only had to go to the centaur colony and ask them to look at the stars in the night sky to see the final result.

It seemed absurd, but it was.

Ivan suddenly remembered the night he was hunting Peter Pettigrew, the Centaur Florence, whom he met in the Forbidden Forest, and what he told him about the signs Mars gave, and the people chosen by fate....

He didn't understand it at the time, and thinking about it, what Florence said mirrored Sirius' experience.

Did that mean that Ivan had already been recognized by the Centaurs?

Ivan carefully remembered what Florence had said at the time. He remembered Florence telling him that the planets would give a clear omen to those who were chosen by fate. The centaur elders were making a clear request and asking him to do something for them.

Sirius saved a centaur at that time, and the planet showed that they were related to this supposed destiny, so that they could enter the temple.

The burning question was, what would the centaurs do to get Ivan to do it?

He argued with Sirius for a while and did not come to a clear answer.

"In general, one had to try to know." Sirius concluded, "After the Quidditch match tomorrow, I can take them to the centaur colony. We can take Harry, Ron and Hermione as well. Let the three of them go and watch as well."