The thick snow beneath Marina's feet made a "crunching" sound, and before her was clusters of white mist, with the thin sunlight piercing through layers of branches, casting upon the snow.
The towering trees that blocked out the sky in summer were now almost completely bare, with no new buds sprouting yet. So many trees were left with only dry skeletons, while only the pines and cedars remained green.
Once fully entering the woods, Marina turned back to look, only to see a tangle of crisscrossing branches.
After ensuring that Hagrid and the people at the castle couldn't possibly see her, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a palm-sized broom, and with a gentle tap of her magic wand, the broom swelled suddenly.
Marina mounted the broom, lightly kicked off with her feet, and the broom hovered steadily, just skimming the grass tips beneath her shoes.
With a slight exertion of her hand, the broom carried her weaving through the trees at a moderate speed, just enough for her to see every tree passing by.
The Forbidden Forest was very silent, with many animals hibernating, almost no chirping of insects or growling could be heard, only the deep and shallow, varied shapes of footprints in the snow proving that some animals were still active.
Marina felt very relaxed.
She knew what was in the Forbidden Forest—centaurs, unicorns, hippogriffs, and merpeople in the Black Lake, the Sphinx that played games with children in the maze, all of which were registered with the Ministry of Magic.
Even years ago, a Norwegian Ridgeback, somehow emerged, had settled in the Forbidden Forest, with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Fantastic Beasts sending people to document the situation.
At Dumbledore's request, that dragon was not forcibly relocated to a reserve for feeding and management but remained in the Forbidden Forest.
The Ministry of Magic delineated a very strict activity range for it, and if the dragon crossed the boundary and approached Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic would immediately be notified.
And this time she came to find an unregistered 5X-class dangerous creature with the Ministry of Magic—the Acromantula.
Such creatures could grow up to fifteen feet long, naturally cruel, fond of eating humans. As early as thirty years ago, the Ministry of Magic explicitly banned anyone from breeding Acromantulas.
But this terrifying creature was full of treasures, its venom could sell for one hundred Galleons per pint, and Acromantula eggs were Class A non-tradable items, with prices consistently high on the black market.
There was a group of Acromantulas in Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest, which had appeared during the Magic School Tournament.
Of course, Hogwarts' explanation was that these Acromantulas, like the dragon, appeared in the Forbidden Forest for unknown reasons, naturally propagating to the present.
No one questioned the reason provided by Dumbledore.
After all, Hogwarts was only near the Forbidden Forest, not entirely owning it.
This was a vast and ancient forest, existing on this land long before the Magic School, possessing untold secrets.
But Marina knew that the facts didn't exactly align with what Dumbledore said.
During her school years, there were always rumors within Gryffindor College—
"Don't mess with the Gamekeeper. I saw with my own eyes— he went to the depths of the Forbidden Forest, surrounded by a group of Acromantulas!"
"Do you know how terrifying they are? They are bigger than a horse, each leg is like a long spear, and if those monsters found me, they could easily rip me to shreds."
"But they didn't attack the Gamekeeper at all; instead, they surrounded him, listening to him. He even calls their leader 'Baby'!"
"Oh, and the largest Acromantula, it can even talk!"
Back then, Marina thought it was just another school myth, like "having to fight a monster during the Sorting Ceremony", a story made by senior students to scare the freshmen.
After all, Acromantulas were mindless, bloodthirsty creatures, no one could communicate with them, let alone make them refrain from attacking even in the face of food.
But during the Magic School Tournament, she saw those monsters through the Flow Mirror with her own eyes, and Marina suddenly realized those rumors might not be false.
Even...
A slight smile formed at the corners of her mouth.
Even that Gamekeeper became a professor at the school.
Someone expelled in third grade, without even one O.W.L.s certificate, raising man-eating creatures, actually became a professor at the Magic School?
How absurd!
And Dumbledore couldn't possibly not know where those dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest came from.
Even if he didn't know...
Marina adjusted her broom slightly in the air, swerving around thick trunks, avoiding low-hanging branches.
Even if he didn't know, the Ministry of Magic had ways to prove it was he who condoned Rubeus Hagrid's actions.
Just need evidence.
Just need to catch that leader.
Suddenly, she heard something, and Marina turned her ear to listen, slowing down, holding her magic wand, and gradually flew over.
After bypassing a dense thicket of vines, the view opened up.
In a clearing, a dozen or so hippogriffs were basking in the sun, stretching their streamlined bodies, some lowering their heads to seek food in the snow, while others gently flapped their wings.
Hearing the commotion, several of the strongest hippogriffs turned their heads, their amber eyes staring directly at the unwelcome guest.
Marina bowed slightly, turned her broom, and slowly diverted away.
The creatures did not move, merely staring silently at her.
Once Marina retreated behind the trees, confirming that the hippogriffs could no longer see her, she exhaled with relief, adjusted her course, and continued forward.
Acromantulas used to be highly dangerous, social creatures, but now in the cold winter, these behemoths that once lived in rainforests dig a hole into the ground, hiding inside, neither eating nor drinking, shrinking there through the entire winter.
For such enormous spiders, squeezing one or two into each hole was quite enough.
Moreover, judging from the previous tournament experiences, these giant spiders weren't as terrifying as rumored, as even one student could eliminate them all at once.
So to deal with them, she was enough on her own.
The surrounding trees were growing denser, the light dimmer, with occasional birds startled from branches, flapping towards the sky.
In the depths of the woods, sometimes there came rustling sounds, sometimes a squirrel clutching pinecones on the treetop, sometimes a wolf secretly watching her from behind a bush.
Marina ignored them entirely, only occasionally looking down at the road beneath her feet.
In the densely packed Forbidden Forest, a path had been artificially trodden out. Although most footprints were covered, one could still barely discern them upon careful inspection.
Such enormous footprints, who else but that Gamekeeper could have made them.