Chapter 274: Where is Fluffy?
The Forbidden Forest was vast, but finding a dog wasn't easy.
Albert and Hagrid had been walking in the Forbidden Forest for over ten minutes, yet they hadn't come across any clues. To put it plainly, they were just wandering around aimlessly.
"Hagrid, do you have any plan?" Albert felt that Hagrid, being directly involved, was probably too panicked to think clearly, overlooking many things. He spoke up to remind him.
Albert didn't want to spend his time aimlessly wandering the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid. While he felt lucky, relying solely on luck didn't seem very reliable.
"Well..." Hagrid had pulled out several of his long beard hairs in frustration and hadn't calmed down yet, "I don't have time to think about that right now, and I'm not good at coming up with plans. I was thinking of searching the Forbidden Forest to see if we could find any traces Fluffy left behind."
Indeed, no plan, just random searching, relying on luck?
Albert couldn't help but sigh internally, he stopped and looked at Hagrid helplessly, saying, "Searching like this is entirely dependent on luck. If you're lucky, you might find him soon, but if luck isn't on your side, it might take ten days or half a month."
Hagrid fell silent, then said to Albert, "My mind's a mess right now. I know you're smart, so tell me, what should we do?"
"Well..." Albert tentatively asked, "In the past, how did you search for things?"
"Wander around the Forbidden Forest." Hagrid looked a bit embarrassed, "I'm familiar with the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, but... that would take a lot of time, and I'm worried Fluffy might roam around and harm Hogwarts students."
"Worry breeds chaos," Albert sighed, raising two fingers, "There are two methods. First, ask the inhabitants here. You should know the residents of the Forbidden Forest, right?"
"Inhabitants? Residents?" Hagrid looked a bit puzzled, "Are you referring to the Centaurs?"
"Not just Centaurs, other magical creatures too," Albert reminded Hagrid, "A three-headed dog is a dangerous magical creature. Without your feeding, it needs to hunt to fill its stomach. It's definitely a top predator on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, and most animals have specific territories. Of course, if Centaurs can provide useful information, that would be even better."
Hagrid immediately understood. If Fluffy was wandering in the Forbidden Forest but needed to eat, it meant he would be drawn to areas rich in prey.
This was one of Hagrid's initial concerns as well – what if Fluffy attacked students when hungry?
In the winter, there weren't many animals in the Forbidden Forest.
"Let's first search the places nearby where animals gather for Fluffy," Hagrid took the lead, as he was quite familiar with the Forbidden Forest and knew where to find animals during winter.
"The second method is Felix Felicis," Albert responded as Hagrid caught on, walking behind him.
"What's that?" Hagrid hadn't heard of Felix Felicis, his magical knowledge might not be as rich as Albert's.
"It's Liquid Luck, a magical potion that brings good luck when consumed. I have a bit of Felix Felicis left. If we really can't find Fluffy, we can use it to try our luck," Albert casually explained, "Of course, success isn't guaranteed."
Hagrid relaxed a bit, feeling relieved to have a reliable helper. At least, he wasn't alone in worrying about this anymore.
Initially, Hagrid had left food where he used to keep Fluffy and checked it every day. While there were signs of it being chewed, it wasn't necessarily Fluffy's doing.
The two of them walked on the snowy ground for a while longer until Hagrid pointed at some tracks on the ground, saying, "Here's a game trail. Occasionally, deer or other animals pass through here. However, most animals get their water from the nearby river during winter. There are springs there that don't freeze completely."
Arriving at the river, they indeed found traces of animal activity, but still no signs of Fluffy's footprints.
"Let's keep going upstream. The location of the springs is near where the Centaurs usually stay. Let's see if the Centaurs have seen Fluffy. It's hard for things happening in the Forbidden Forest to go unnoticed by the Centaurs," prompted by Albert's suggestion, Hagrid quickly got into action.
While this approach was equally unreliable, Albert couldn't think of a better way.
"Wait a moment, Hagrid, let me try the Summoning Charm," Albert suddenly had an idea. He raised his wand and cast a spell towards the surrounding forest.
"Accio Fluffy."
The Summoning Charm worked on living creatures as well. Albert considered his magical abilities quite strong, so if luck was on his side, maybe the three-headed dog would fly back to them on its own.
That would be the ideal scenario.
Of course, reality was often harsh.
It failed.
But come to think of it, it made sense. A magical creature like Fluffy likely had a strong resistance to magic. Unless Albert used his older wand to cast the spell, there was no hope of success. He just wanted to try and see if he could make something happen. With good luck, maybe it would actually work.
Hagrid looked at Albert casting the spell, then glanced at the surrounding forest, feeling somewhat disappointed.
"Hagrid, do you know the Summoning Charm? Should we try summoning something from Fluffy? Maybe something like a dog collar?" Albert thought for a moment and spoke up, "I mean, if he has it."
"No, you know, Fluffy grew so fast that I didn't get a chance to put a collar on him," Hagrid said a bit embarrassed.
Albert found himself at a loss for words, realizing that a growing three-headed dog did indeed grow quite rapidly.
The two continued walking upstream along the river, entering the territory of the Centaurs.
Before they had gone far, they heard some rustling beside them. Albert immediately aimed his bow in the direction of the sound and called out, "Who's there? Show yourself."
"It's me, Hagrid." A chestnut-red Centaur emerged from the trees, his gaze scanning over Hagrid and then fixing on Albert. He then turned his attention back to Hagrid and said, "You shouldn't have brought a foal here."
"Ronan, have you seen a three-headed dog?" Hagrid asked his Centaur friend expectantly.
The chestnut-red Centaur didn't respond directly. Instead, he looked Albert up and down and asked in a hushed voice, "Have we met before?"
"Yes, last year, at night. Thank you for your help," Albert replied.
"Ronan," Hagrid repeated, his voice carrying a hint of dissatisfaction. Nobody liked being ignored, and Hagrid was no exception.
"I've seen it, Hagrid. A three-headed dog. It's not very friendly and seems hungry. The patrolling Centaurs drove it away with arrows. You might try your luck over there," Ronan pointed in the direction from which Albert and Hagrid had come.
Hagrid looked in the direction Ronan indicated and fell into a momentary silence.
"You're somewhat the masters here. Can you help Hagrid find his little pet? I think you might...!" Albert tried to seek the Centaur's assistance.
Before Albert could finish his sentence, Hagrid pushed him, indicating that it was time to go.
Albert looked at Hagrid with a puzzled expression but quickly fell silent.
"Goodbye, Ronan. Thank you for the information!" Hagrid bid farewell to the Centaur.
"Centaur won't be of much help." Once they were far enough away from Ronan, Hagrid spoke, "Centaurs are like that. Don't expect them to be of much help. Let's go, let's continue looking. I have a feeling that we might find Fluffy today."
A feeling won't get us anywhere, Albert thought sarcastically. He felt that if Hagrid had just told Dumbledore the truth, they might have already found his little pet.
"Oh, by the way, Hagrid. Do Centaurs have a wide territory?" Albert remembered something and asked curiously.
"Yes, their territory is extensive," Hagrid reminded, "When dealing with them, you need to be especially careful. Most Centaurs don't really like wizards."
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(End of this chapter)