About five minutes later, Adrian emerged from the cave's depths, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the sparse forest light. The transition from the cave's heat to the Forbidden Forest's chill sent a shiver down his spine, while the relatively fresh air felt like a blessing after breathing the toxic atmosphere inside.
As a person who valued every resource and wasted nothing, Adrian had made efficient use of the Acromantula corpses that littered the cave floor. Though their bodies had been severely damaged in the battle, he had carefully extracted enough venom from the eight-eyed giant spiders to fill an entire basin.
Beside the venom container sat a bulging sack of spider legs that Torch had enthusiastically helped pack.
Adrian's mind couldn't help but calculate the devastation. The Acromantula colony had numbered in the hundreds before Torch's rampage, now perhaps a few dozen survivors remained, scattered and leaderless in the forest's darker depths.
His thoughts turned inevitably to Hagrid. Hagrid's heart would be shattered when he learned of Aragog's fate. In consideration of this inevitable grief, Adrian had deliberately preserved one intact Acromantula corpse. At least Hagrid would have something to bury.
Despite the long separation, Torch still obeyed Adrian's commands without question.
It seemed the dragon hadn't forgotten its former babysitter.
On the forest path, Adrian walked ahead while Torch leisurely followed behind, its massive body pushing aside the trees along the roadside, occasionally nudging him with its head.
"I've told you many times, Torch," Adrian said earnestly to the dragon behind him, "you're not small anymore, so stop headbutting me—"
His gentle reprimand died in his throat as something caught his attention.
To their left, in a clearing where oak trees formed a rough circle, an impossible garden had bloomed. Flowers of every conceivable color carpeted the forest floor rebelling against the late autumn season.
Among them grew mushrooms of equally impossible beauty.
The scene was breathtakingly beautiful and totally off beam. These species had no business existing in the Scottish Highlands, let alone thriving in the twilight of the Forbidden Forest during late November.
"This is..." Adrian breathed, his mind immediately recognizing.
These were identical to the ones Fleur Delacour had conjured during her confrontation with Torch.
'Could Fleur be somewhere nearby? But what possible reason could a Beauxbatons champion have for venturing into this dangerous forest?'
With this question in mind, Adrian changed direction.
Following the path where the flowers and mushrooms extended, he saw they formed a straight line stretching deep into the Forbidden Forest.
Just then, Torch behind him let out a low growl, a flash of wariness passing through its enormous dragon eyes.
It clawed at the ground uneasily, as if sensing some kind of danger.
"What's wrong?" Adrian turned back, gently patting Torch's head.
Torch's vigilance didn't diminish in the slightest. Deep rumbles rolled in its throat, and it even spat out a few sparks.
Adrian knew that a clever creature like Torch wouldn't act this way without good reason.
Something was definitely wrong here.
So...
"Eldra," Adrian called softly upon the Tree of Wisdom.
[Sir,] came the familiar mental voice. [There is a curse emanating from the path ahead. I strongly advise against further approach.]
Adrian's eyes narrowed as he processed this information. The Tree of Wisdom's advice was sound. He had no interest in meddling with curses, so he immediately decided to turn around and leave.
At that moment, Torch suddenly went mad and lunged forward from behind him.
"ROOOOOAAARRR—"
A stream of fire erupted from its mouth, sweeping toward the flowers and grass ahead.
In an instant, the flowers and mushrooms were reduced to charred remains.
'Well,' Adrian thought with wry amusement, 'that certainly eliminates any concern about the curse.'
Torch continued his rampage for several more minutes, stomping and clawing at the earth until he was certain that every trace of the magical plants had been eradicated.
Adrian had no idea what grudge Torch held against these flowers and mushrooms to provoke such an extreme reaction.
Torch exhaled a puff of hot air (probably having run out of fire), then walked back contentedly, nuzzling Adrian's arm with its head.
"It appears you've had quite enough excitement for one day," Adrian observed, conjuring a length of rope from thin air.
"This is just a precautionary measure, my friend," Adrian explained as he carefully looped the rope around Torch's neck. "To prevent any further unauthorized adventures. You've already created enough complications for one day."
Torch tore at the rope with its claws and teeth for a while, but the rope remained completely undamaged.
Eventually, recognizing the futility of resistance, Torch subsided into resigned acceptance, allowing Adrian to lead him forward with only occasional tugs of protest.
"Excellent," Adrian said approvingly. "Now we can proceed without further incidents."
They had taken perhaps a dozen steps when the rope in Adrian's hand suddenly grew stretched, jerking him to an abrupt halt. The magical binding thrummed with tension as several tons of dragon strained against its length.
"Torch?" Adrian turned to look. "What's captured your attention now?"
What he saw made him pause in surprise.
Torch stood frozen in a hunting crouch. His golden eyes had locked onto something in the distance with focus, while deep growls rumbled continuously in his throat. The dragon's wings were partially spread, creating an intimidating silhouette against the forest setting.
Following the line of Torch's gaze, Adrian caught a brief glimpse of movement—a flash of blue going between the distant trees.
"Interesting..." Adrian murmured, his mind immediately making connections.
Torch had obviously spotted the same figure, and his reaction was violent. He gathered his powerful hips beneath him and launched himself toward sky, his massive wings beating furiously as he sought to close the distance to his target.
The magical rope had other plans.
"CRASH!"
The binding reached its maximum extension. Torch found himself yanked backward with tremendous force, his forward momentum converted instantly into a devastating impact with the forest floor.
Trees shook from the collision, and a small crater formed where several hundred pounds of dragon had met the earth.
"I should have mentioned earlier," Adrian said mildly, watching Torch shake leaves and debris from his head, "the rope has a limited range. Attempting to exceed that range results in... uncomfortable consequences."
Torch whined pitifully, his earlier aggression tempered by the painful lesson in magical physics. However, his eyes remained focused on the distant trees where the blue figure had vanished, and his breathing remained rapid with hunting instincts.
Adrian's suspicions turned into near-certainty. The cursed flowers, the blue-robed figure, Torch's violent reaction—all evidence pointed to a single conclusion.
'Fleur Delacour,' he thought. 'But what possible reason could bring a Beauxbatons student into the Forbidden Forest?'
The answer to this question could probably only come from the person herself.
Adrian raised his wand in a semicircular motion, its tip beginning to glow with pale blue light. He whispered.
"Impedimenta! Protean Extension!"
A vine of magical energy erupted from his wand tip like a living thing. The binding spell moved with impossible speed, covering hundreds of meters in the span of a heartbeat while navigating obstacles that would have stopped any physical projectile.
The magical lasso found its target with accuracy, wrapping around Fleur's waist just as she became aware of the pursuit. Her startled cry echoed through the forest as the spell activated its retrieval function, dragging her back through the bushes with irresistible force.
"Ah—" Fleur's voice had tones of surprise and indignation as she found herself yanked through the forest like a fish on a line.
The journey was undoubtedly uncomfortable—branches caught at her robes, exposed roots tried to trip her, and the improper nature of being magically dragged through a forest was hardly befitting a Triwizard champion. By the time the spell deposited her tersely at Adrian's feet, her elegant appearance had suffered noticeably.
When Fleur regained her composure and struggled to her feet, the transformation was striking. Her normally blue robes were now decked with fallen leaves, torn in several places by grasping branches, and stained with forest dirt. Her silver-blonde hair, usually arranged in a perfect way, hung in disheveled strands around her face.
Despite her disheveled appearance, her Veela heritage remained unmistakable. Even windblown and dirt-stained, she had an otherworldly beauty that made the forest shadows seem to brighten in her presence.
"Miss Delacour," Adrian said formally, inclining his head with courtesy, though his eyes held an unmistakable hint of interrogation. "I find myself curious about your presence here. Unless I'm mistaken, the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits to students—particularly those from visiting schools."
Fleur did not immediately respond to his question. Instead, her attention became fixed upon Torch with the intensity of someone confronting their worst nightmare. Her face, already pale from exertion and fear, drained of what little color remained as she observed Torch.
As for Torch—it was already baring its teeth, deep growls rolling in its throat, looking as if it was about to charge.
"Remain still," Adrian ordered, giving the magical rope a sharp tug that immediately tightened around the dragon's neck.
The effect was instant. Torch's aggressive posture melted into reluctant submission, and he settled back onto his thighs with obvious reluctance. However, his eyes never left Fleur, and the warning rumbles continued at a lower volume.
Only when it became clear that the dragon was securely restrained did Fleur allow herself to breathe normally again. Her shoulders sagged with relief, though she remained visibly tense and ready to flee at the first sign of new aggression.
Adrian had already begun piecing together the probable sequence of events.
"You encountered this dragon previously, didn't you?" He asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.
Fleur's sigh carried exhaustion and embarrassment.
"I was merely taking a walk through the Forbidden Forest," She began in her accented English. "I wished to... explore, perhaps find some interesting varieties for my personal studies."
She gestured at her damaged robes, where several scorch marks were now visible alongside the tears and stains. The cloth had been singed in a pattern consistent with exposure to dragonfire, though she had clearly escaped before suffering serious burns.
"Suddenly, without warning, this dragon appeared and immediately began attacking me with fire," She continued, her voice gaining strength as she warmed to her tale. "I was forced to run for my life, using every evasion spell I knew to avoid being incinerated. The chase continued for what felt like hours—I lost all sense of time and direction."
Her expression grew sheepish as she reached the conclusion of her explanation. "Eventually, I managed to outrun it, but by then... I had become completely lost. I have been wandering these woods for hours, trying to find my way back to the castle."
The admission clearly cost her considerable pride. As a Triwizard champion and a student of the prestigious Beauxbatons Academy, being lost in a forest was hardly the kind of competence expected of someone of her status.
Adrian listened to this explanation with growing astonishment.
So, Torch's escape from his magical restraints hadn't been due to desire for freedom. Instead, he had broken free specifically to pursue Fleur through the Forbidden Forest.
But why would Torch want to chase her?
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