"Yes, she escaped… Perhaps it's not my place to say, but I think… it's a good thing she got away."
Professor Sprout sighed deeply as she spoke.
"What happened?" Wade asked.
"The Ministry of Magic wanted to execute that girl, and they didn't want to easily let go of the other children who were rescued with her."
Professor Sprout couldn't help but feel angry recalling the argument she overheard on the boat a few days prior. She said,
"They planned to imprison those children. I heard someone say they wouldn't be released until they were adults and confirmed to be no longer dangerous."
"But how are they supposed to survive when they're finally released into society then? —Nobody cares! Nobody thinks about this at all!"
She finished angrily, her nostrils flaring. After taking a deep breath, she continued,
"After that girl escaped, the Ministry of Magic suddenly realized—anger and hatred can breed even more powerful dark creatures. They feared retaliation from the Obscurus, so they suddenly changed their tune and said they could consider treating those children more leniently."
She spoke mockingly, her expression almost mirroring Professor Snape's.
Wade asked, "But there's still debate about how to handle it?"
"Yes," Professor Sprout said. "Dumbledore hopes to send the magical children among them to Hogwarts, but… alas… it was met with opposition from most of the school board."
"Actually, I can understand their point of view… And some of the children are quite old already. Even if they entered the school, they would graduate quickly, and it's highly unlikely they'd pass the Wizarding Level Examinations."
"Later, both sides compromised. Children over eleven years old cannot be specially admitted to the school, but the Ministry of Magic has specifically approved a fund for them to take introductory magic correspondence courses. This way, after graduating, they'll have mastered some simple magic and can at least figure out how to support themselves."
"Correspondence courses?" Wade asked, confused. "I thought Hogwarts was the only magic school in all of Britain!"
Professor Sprout smiled indulgently. "Of course, Hogwarts is the only one in Britain, but some Wizards set up magic correspondence classes in their own yards, recruiting a few clumsy students and teaching them simple household magic—which are mostly just tricks, really."
"But with the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore working together, they should be able to find a reliable teacher for those children."
"Once they're all settled, perhaps next week, Dumbledore should be back at school."
Wade had intended to ask about the non-magical children, but seeing that students for the next class were already entering the greenhouse, he thanked Professor Sprout and bid her farewell.
Outside the door, Wade met up with Michael.
"We still have over an hour until A History of Magic!" Michael said. "Want to go play a match in the maze?"
"Sure."
Wade also felt a bit stifled lately and thought some relaxation would be good.
The two made a turn and headed towards the maze.
Ron and Harry, who had just left the castle, also spotted the two turning in the distance.
Harry immediately said sympathetically, "Whoever goes to the maze today is in for a bad time."
"Hmm… yeah…" Ron said distractedly, looking in that direction.
…
Wade wasn't, as Harry had guessed, bullying younger students with enlarged insects in the maze.
Most of the students who could be found playing in the maze during regular class hours were lower-grade students with fewer classes. They scattered as soon as they saw Wade, afraid of being caught if they ran too slowly.
"Hahaha… Wade, they're treating you like the plague… hahaha…"
Seeing this, Michael laughed loudly, doubling over with mirth. Wade awkwardly rubbed his nose.
"I wasn't even planning on bullying them with insects today…" Wade said helplessly.
"Alright, next group can come in!"
Hagrid happened to be on duty in the maze today. He roared as he opened the maze entrance, but he didn't see the usual eager Young Wizards rushing in.
Hagrid curiously leaned over the hedge wall to look out and saw only Wade and Michael standing outside.
"Where did everyone go?" Hagrid asked, puzzled. "Why are there only two of you left?"
"Ahem!" Michael cleared his throat, stopped laughing, and said seriously, "They all went to class."
"Alright…" Hagrid grumbled disappointedly. "Looks like there's no one else. Do you two want to come in?"
"Uh…" Michael hesitated before saying, "Let's go, since we're already here…"
Wade took the lead, and Michael quickly followed. "Just so we're clear, Wade, we're just running the course, no competing, okay?"
"What's the point of just running the course?" Wade said. "Since there's no one else, I'll show you something new."
"What is it?"
Michael asked curiously, but Wade just smiled mysteriously and didn't answer.
Behind them, at the entrance, vines extended and closed, weaving together to seal the gap in the wall as if it had never been there.
Behind the wall, Hagrid, sitting on a stone, put down his pink umbrella and picked up the ball of yarn and a large handful of unknown animal fur from beside his feet.
"What are you doing, Hagrid?" Michael asked him.
"Oh, I'm going to knit a belt from Chimera mane. My old one is almost broken."
As Hagrid wound the yarn and fur together with his thick fingers, he asked, "Do you want one? I can make you one too."
Michael looked at the belt, which was thicker than his arm, and quickly waved his hands, saying, "No, no, thank you. I couldn't wear that."
Wade greeted Hagrid and then said, "Professor Hagrid, we're going to Zone V."
"Zone V? Oh, alright."
Hagrid tapped the wall with his pink umbrella, and an arched entrance opened up in the shrubbery.
"Go on, be careful," Hagrid said.
"Got it, thanks."
Wade waved and walked inside.
"Zone V?" Michael asked, walking beside him. "What is this place? I've never heard of it."
"It's normal you haven't heard of it, because it's a newly opened area."
Wade led the way. Michael looked back at the entrance, which had already closed, and then at the increasingly high walls on either side, feeling an unusual silence all around.
It wasn't usually like this—
Entering the maze, every step could be a trap or a challenge.
Not only were there traps set by the school professors, but every student who had passed through there before could have left a trick for those who came after them.
So, even repeatedly entering the maze along the same path, you could still encounter new "surprises" each time. That was the interesting part of the Hogwarts maze.
As Michael recalled his cautious steps through the maze in the past, and compared it to the current silence, he felt a strange unease.
He couldn't help but want to say something.
"The walls here are really high—even taller than Professor Hagrid!" Michael looked up at the tall green shrubbery walls and asked, "Why are they built so high? Is there a secret building hidden inside?"
"Not a secret building, but some creatures," Wade stopped and said. "Look, here they come."
Michael was startled, and then he saw a dark green Troll dragging a long wooden club, lumbering out from the end of the passage.
He spun his head around, only to see a Werewolf silently appearing from behind him. It looked at the two of them and let out a low growl.
A low chuckle sounded overhead. Michael looked up and saw two figures squatting on the shrubbery walls on either side… they looked human, but their eyes glowed red, and sharp fangs protruded from their mouths.
Michael: "..."
…
Half an hour later, Wade looked at Michael, who was sitting on a natural chair formed by tree roots and even picking pine nuts to eat, and couldn't help but feel a little impressed by him.
Just moments ago, this guy had turned pale with fright when the monsters suddenly appeared, but after seeing the Vampire girl on the wall, he'd blurted out:
"You must be cold, wearing so little, right? And you're wearing a skirt; it's easy to expose yourself standing on the wall!"
The Vampire girl burst out laughing, and the tense atmosphere created by the other monsters vanished.
They exchanged glances, then looked at Wade. The Werewolf asked innocently, "He's not running, should we still chase him?"
"Be flexible, everyone. If a student is scared stiff on the ground, are you just going to let them go?" Wade said helplessly. "Feigned attacks, surround and attack reinforcements—haven't I taught you this?"
"Oh—"
The Werewolf suddenly understood. With a rustle of its claws, it actually pulled out a small notebook from its belly and meticulously wrote it down.
The Troll tilted its head. Seeing that there wouldn't be a fight for now, it dragged its club again and lumbered off with heavy steps.
The handsome, chestnut-haired Vampire bowed and said, "Please summon us whenever you need us."
After speaking, he jumped to the other side of the wall, and the other Vampires disappeared as well.
Michael looked wistfully in the direction the female Vampire had disappeared, then suddenly let out a heavy sigh.
"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen… It's a shame she's not human… not even a Vampire…"
"If it were a real Vampire, would you still pursue it?" Wade asked.
Michael said indignantly, "Love isn't limited by race!" He paused, then added dejectedly, "But I can't accept that it's a Magic Golem."
Wade retorted, "There's a reason Padma broke up with you."
Michael thought of Padma and began to sigh again.
Last time, Wade had seen them sitting together peacefully, laughing and chatting, and thought they had reconciled. Who knew they had actually broken up for good?
Padma couldn't stand Michael being gentle with every girl and often chatting and laughing with pretty girls. They had argued several times.
Michael understood Padma's anger, but he just couldn't change his ways.
After reverting from lovers to ordinary friends, their relationship became slightly more harmonious—
After all, Michael had always been very good to Padma.
But he was also very good to other girls, which made Padma, as his girlfriend, feel annoyed and uneasy. But as a friend, Padma could learn to turn a blind eye.
The relationship between the two was an area Wade had never ventured into. He rarely interfered, and at this moment, he merely brought it up before changing the subject to Michael's performance just now—
"Seriously, weren't you scared just now?" Wade asked in confusion. "Or was there some flaw in the Magic Golem I made that you saw right through?"
"Not at all," Michael said. "Real Trolls might not even inspire that kind of fear, because… you know, Trolls are stupid, but Magic Golems aren't."
"So you were because…"
"Because I didn't forget that you were the one who brought me in."
Michael said casually, "You wouldn't bring me here just to get killed, would you? And there's no way the school professors wouldn't notice so many monsters sneaking into Hogwarts."
"Once you figure that out, and then remember the creatures like Red Caps that appeared in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the conclusion is obvious: are these another batch of Magic Golems?"
Wade was speechless.
It sounds easy, but when facing a life-or-death crisis, how many people can still think calmly?
As they spoke, the two finally passed through the long passage and reached the true Zone V.
It looked as if they had arrived deep within the Forbidden Forest. Giant trees intertwined, their roots forming a dense canopy, allowing hardly any sunlight to reach the ground, making it damp and chilly.
There were also some withered trees nearby, their branches gnarled and claw-like, resembling monstrous creatures extending slender fingers, ready to devour someone.
Despite this chilling atmosphere, Michael adapted well. After a quick look around, he even picked some pinecones and shelled out the pine nuts, which wasn't difficult for two people with magic.
He even had time to eat and comment—
"The atmosphere is good, but the place is a bit small. It would be even better if it could extend further into the Forbidden Forest."
"That's unlikely," Wade said, sitting on another tree trunk. "Building the maze already led to protests from some Forbidden Forest creatures and Dumbledore. If we were to extend it further, they would definitely be very angry."
"Besides, beyond a certain range, the school's magic wouldn't be able to protect all the students."
"That's a bit of a shame," Michael said. "In such a small place, everyone will quickly figure out the truth about these Magic Golems."
Not far from them, several Trolls were huddled together miserably, making a bonfire and pretending to warm themselves, their massive bodies looking quite cramped.
Werewolves occasionally ran around, their lean figures often flashing by.
Only the Vampire was well-hidden and hadn't shown itself.
"Zone V is only temporary," Wade said. "Professor Dumbledore has invited Mr. Scamander to help, and during the holidays, they will cast a spell to move Zone V into the underground maze. Then it will be integrated, and it won't look much different from the Forbidden Forest."
Michael's jaw dropped in surprise. "Can something like that really be done? Moving an entire space?"
Wade paused, also surprised. "You're surprised by this? Isn't time magic even more astonishing?"
The two looked at each other for a moment, deciding to give up on changing each other's perceptions.
Wade asked, "Want to try fighting a Werewolf?"
"Sure!" Michael grabbed his Wand and happily bounced up from his tree root seat.
Wade clapped his hands, and a Werewolf slowly stepped out from among the trees.
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