Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures Chapter 273

In the dark, Evan saw the bright windows on Hagrid's hut. 

Instead of approaching, they went in another direction, slowly advancing in the breeze along a narrow, twisting path that gradually faded into the depths of the dark forest. 

Besides Ron, Evan, Harry, and Hermione all had experienced entering the Forbidden Forest late at night. 

But those experiences were very bad. 

Harry and Hermione were once penalized in the first year. 

They went into the Forbidden Forest late at night with Hagrid and Malfoy in search of the unicorn that Voldemort had injured. Harry even met Voldemort himself at the time.

Evan chased Peter Pettigrew into the Forbidden Forest a month ago. 

In addition to dealing with Peter, he also fought the horrible Acromantulas. In the end, he burned the Lair of their leader Aragog and hundreds of them along with it. These monsters must now hate him to death.

The Acromantulas have a high degree of intelligence and a great sense of revenge. If they knew that Evan had entered the Forbidden Forest again, they would surely flock in to fight him.

Fortunately, they did not go to the Acromantulas' territory. 

With Sirius leading the way, they went deeper along the twisting path. 

There was silence in the dark Forbidden Forest. Under the faint light of their wands, everyone walked silently, close together, the mood became more and more depressed, and their voices became lower and lower. Nobody knew what would be waiting for them. 

Every time they moved forward, they would reach a crossroad. 

It could be seen that Sirius was very familiar with the area. He did not hesitate much before taking the right path. 

Soon, Evan saw a swift, meandering stream at the end of the road. They went upstream and walked for over an hour, getting farther and farther from the castle.

The five of them had entered the core of the Forbidden Forest. On both sides of the stream were tall and unchanging trees, and the ground was covered with thick moss and unknown plants as if they had been untouched and never stepped on for centuries. From time to time, they could see magical creatures coming to drink.

Behind a dark green rock, Evan found a rare Moke. 

It was about ten inches long and had silver-green skin. 

It was shrunken in the corner motionless, looking like a rock itself. 

When Evan was just approaching, it quickly got out and fled to the distance. 

If it weren't because of important things waiting for him, Evan would try to catch this lizard. Moke skin is highly prized to wizards in the making of purses and money-bags. A Moke-skin purse will shrink at the approach of a stranger, making it virtually impossible for the stranger to find. Moke-skin wallets and money bags are therefore very difficult for thieves to snatch.

Paired with the use of the Undetectable Extension Charm, it definitely becomes extremely valuable equipment to any wizard.

Evan felt it was a pity, and they walked forward for a while, and then took a short break near a riverbank full of round stones. 

“We will be there soon. This is the territory of the Centaurs.” Sirius carefully inspected the surroundings. “I had been hiding in the Forbidden Forest, looking for food, when I fled the Dementors and the Ministry of Magic last summer. But I rarely get around here. The Centaurs do not want humans to approach. “

“I saw in the book that the Centaurs are very disgusted with wizards!” Hermione looked around nervously, and said worriedly, “What if they attacked us?” 

“I don't think that's going to happen. Although the Centaurs are not very friendly to humans, they don't usually take the initiative to attack.” Sirius explained, “They just don't want to talk to us, but if you want to talk and communicate with them, they're willing to do that, and tell you about the fate they see in the sky, the warnings and so on.”

"Evan and I have recorded all the trajectories of this semester constellation, hoping to use it.” Hermione said still not assured. “In addition, I have studied their lifestyle and customs.” 

"Centaurs are very smart. When you're in contact with them, just remember one point, think of them as creatures of equal status with you, and that should be enough!” 

“Don't worry, Hermione, they are not as terrible as they are portrayed in the books!” Harry said, breathing a little heavier than usual. "Evan and I have met a Centaur named Firenze, and he's willing to help people."

“I have to say that the guy is an exception in the Centaurs' colony.” Sirius smiled and said, “But he is trustworthy. I have known him for a long time. When we were students, James, Remus, Peter and I often ventured into the Forbidden Forest. He was still a little pony back then, and we met at that time.” 

“I heard from Firenze, he seems to miss the wizards' items, the food and all sorts of interesting stories you brought him.” 

“He is very interested in the human world, and things that seem mundane to us are very novel to him.” Sirius recalled, “But that's just him; the other Centaurs are still very stubborn, and they do not easily make contact with humans. Compared to them, the Merpeople living in the lake in front of the gate are much more enlightened. They actively communicate with us and exchange the contents of the lake for things made by wizards.

“Merpeople?!” 

“Yes, James once met them when he fell into the lake. It was an unforgettable experience. I remember they exchanged a lot of things with the four of us, some of them high-level magic stuff, and they seemed to want to tell us something. “Sirius frowned and went on.”I don't know  their language and Remus learned a little. He said the Merpeople let us into the water, for there was something underneath. Unfortunately, we didn't do that at last. “

Hearing Sirius, Evan kept silent. 

It was so strange, why did the Merpeople want Sirius to go under the water, what was there underneath?! 

Ever since he knew that Gryffindor's Secret Treasure Key was in the Centaurs' colony, he rethought the tips left by the Four Founders. 

According to the same way of reasoning, it was not difficult to think that the mermaids might also have a treasure key in hand. 

He just didn't know who had left it, and if it was split like Gryffindor's.

Evan sighed. It seemed that after getting the key fragment of the Centaurs, he had to learn the Merpeople's language and try to communicate with them. 

"There are Merpeople living in the lake in front of the castle?!" Harry said in amazement. "I never knew that. I thought there were only giant squids." 

“Hogwarts has a lot of secrets waiting to be explored. The four of us discovered a lot, but certainly not all of them!” Sirius looked at Harry and said cheerfully, “The rest of the secrets will be dug up by you guys.”

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T/N: Hey there, Translating_Wizard here! I hope you like the story so far and are happy with the releases, I just posted chapter 387 in Patreon! If you're interested in supporting me and reading more chapters, feel free to join us there ^^

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