We often call people "stupid donkeys," but in this moment, the ones who ruined everything were,
Well, not donkeys.
They were centaurs.
Except for the rare exception named Firenze,
Correction: in this species, Firenze is the only normal one; the rest are the weird ones.
They lived and multiplied inside the Forbidden Forest, yet refused to pay even the slightest "protection fee", and treated this behavior as completely natural, because they believed the forest belonged to them.
Outside of their respect for Dumbledore, one would be hard-pressed to find more redeeming qualities.
And now, this large herd of eccentrics was currently clearing out danger near their hunting grounds.
That danger's name was Tom Riddle.
The worst part was,
They had actually succeeded in driving him off.
This was not good news.
Allen would rather they hadn't found Voldemort at all.
A Voldemort operating at normal intelligence would never pick a fight with a group of centaurs. The moment he sensed them approaching, he fled without hesitation, so fast that Allen had no chance to pursue.
Allen was furious.
Do you know how hard it was for me to assemble a raid party??
And you just come in, aggro the world boss, and reset the fight?!
Do you think he couldn't beat you or something?!
Allen did not forget one important detail,
The supposedly "safest place in the world," Gringotts, was once broken into by Voldemort and Quirrell alone.
Unlike Harry and his group, who had help from an inside mole and a dragon, Voldemort did that dungeon solo.
In fact, the only reason Voldemort was stopped during the Philosopher's Stone incident was because he ran into Dumbledore's personal trap and Hagrid's Cerberus, Fluffy. The other staff obstacles were barely warm-ups.
And as for Fluffy's strength?
Others might not know, but Professor Snape, the school's second strongest wizard, once slipped past Fluffy as casually as delivering a takeaway.
This was why Allen had dared to bring along so many so-called "burdens" to trouble Voldemort,
Because inside the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid may not have Fluffy, but he could summon any number of magical creatures at any time, Rengar, Galio, who knows.
Combat power? Over the roof.
Whether some strange creature got mixed in there was not Allen's concern.
He was simply grinding his teeth in pure annoyance.
If the system allowed "unlocking the Centaur heritage by killing centaurs," Allen might have seriously considered doing it.
This group truly excels at ruining things!!!
Just as Allen sighed and spread out his hands helplessly, a series of approaching hoofbeats echoed through the forest.
Clearly, after driving away the threat, the centaurs were now searching for suspicious individuals,
After all, "eliminate all roots" was certainly not a practice exclusive to any one culture.
"Oh, Hagrid. What are you doing here?" The speaker was a handsome chestnut-colored centaur. A massive wooden bow was slung over his back. It looked so primitive that one might mistake it for firewood ready to be discarded, but the magical pressure radiating from it was so strong that Allen could feel it clearly even from several meters away.
"So it's you, Ronan. And what are you doing?" Hagrid lowered the pink umbrella he had lifted defensively.
(This umbrella wasn't for cosplay, Dumbledore had secretly fused Hagrid's broken wand into it. His actual crossbow was still strapped to his back.)
"We're hunting a dangerous creature. Someone spotted him earlier, but he escaped quickly. To protect the young ones in the herd, eliminating that creature is necessary. So, Hagrid, have you seen him?"
As Ronan spoke, he scAnnied the surroundings intently, as though he could spot Voldemort simply by looking hard enough.
Then he noticed the shocked expressions of nearly every student present.
Because his words confirmed that Allen had been telling the truth.
Their reaction immediately caught Ronan's attention.
Although centaurs rarely cared about outsiders, this attack was near their territory.
Which meant, from their perspective, someone had provoked the herd.
"Hagrid, don't lie to me. The friendship of our kind is not something to be wasted." Ronan's hooves pawed the earth restlessly, he was getting tense.
Allen was surprised.
If he remembered correctly, centaurs were supposed to be master astrologers, it was Firenze who first warned Harry of Voldemort's return.
How was it that now they were boldly preparing to confront the Dark Lord?
The answer arrived almost immediately.
Dozens of centaurs arrived, stirred by the disturbance.
"Oh, I thought you had found the skulking creature. But it seems you've only encountered Hagrid wandering with younglings in the forest so late at night. This is not a good habit." He turned to Hagrid and continued:
"Hagrid, I advise you to leave the forest as soon as possible. The stars are unusually chaotic tonight. Even we can no longer read them. Mars burns bright, and I cannot predict what may occur before dawn."
Allen understood instantly.
The centaurs had lost access to their prophecy skills.
This was like a main character suddenly having their cheat system break.
Of course they were panicking.
Their entire culture revolved around divination.
Now that their foresight failed, the only rational response was to prevent disaster at the source,
By eliminating the unknown threat.
Unfortunately for them, they had chosen to provoke a King Cobra without realizing it,
Just like when the twins once pelted Voldemort with snowballs during Halloween.
This was textbook "we have no idea how close we came to death."
Allen couldn't care less.
If the system didn't allow "unlock Centaur Lineage," then these centaurs were irrelevant.
Let them hop around however they liked.
But whether Allen intended to get involved or not,
Trouble was now approaching him.
The centaurs, in grand traditional fashion, declared that although their divination was unreliable at the moment, they could still not shame their fortune-telling heritage.
So they decided to perform a free divination for each of the "younglings" present.
Allen shifted uncomfortably.
He did not want to be divined.
He still suspected the professor's injury earlier had been partly his fault.
But divination didn't require the target's consent.
Just as Allen worried a centaur might cough up blood and die mid-reading, one of them suddenly froze in shock.
Then, rapid whispers rippled through the herd in a language the students couldn't understand.
Their faces changed, once, twice, several times.
And then,
Under Hagrid's stunned gaze,
The centaurs surrounded Allen.
Allen instinctively gripped his wand.
What now?! I haven't hunted any centaurs. Don't tell me they can read minds and want to fight?!
But just as he prepared to strike first,
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The sound echoed through the clearing.
One by one, starting with the nearest, the centaurs knelt before Allen.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
150+ Advance Chapters Available on Patreon! Patreon.com/Veltoria