Adrian looked at the excited beech tree before him, and did not know what to say. He had certainly anticipated that the beech tree might undergo so transformation after being exposed to his magic, but this extraordinary scene still exceeded even his wildest imagination.
"Eldra," He thought silently.
Almost imdiately, information from the Tree of Wisdom began to surface in his mind.
[Species: Beech Tree]
[Level: 2]
[Trait: Leader]
[Status: Growing (0%)]
Adrian's brow furrowed as he processed this information, his eyes narrowing with concentration.
'Leader?' The trait description was particularly intriguing.
When he pressed the Tree of Wisdom for more detailed information, probing deeper into the aning behind this trait, he received only a vague response.
[He is a leader among trees.]
Adrian sighed inwardly, his shoulders sagging slightly with disappointnt. It seed that even the Tree of Wisdom couldn't provide more specific information about this developnt.
The only thing he could determine with any certainty was that the tree standing before him had sohow gained autonomous consciousness. T
"What in rlin's na is this thing!?" After a long mont of stunned silence, during which his face had cycled through expressions of disbelief, wonder, and growing excitent, Hagrid grabbed Adrian's arm with a grip that could have cracked stone. His eyes were wide with amazent as he stared at the impossible sight in front of them. "Did you do this? Is this your magic at work?"
Adrian nodded calmly. If nothing unexpected had occurred during the tree's ti in his care, then this remarkable transformation had indeed originated from the influence of his unique magical abilities.
"This is absolutely amazing!" Hagrid's voice bood through the clearing as he began to circle the massive trunk with the excitent of an explorer who had just discovered a new continent.
"I've never seen anything like this in all my years!" He reached out with one of his massive hands to touch the beech tree's bark. "What species is it exactly?"
"Honestly, I'm not totally sure either," Adrian answered with complete truthfulness. "This is uncharted territory for all of us."
At this mont, the beech tree began to shake its massive body with increasing urgency, causing several golden leaves to break free from their branches and drift down like nature's confetti.
"Master!" The tree's voice had a tone of urgency. "I need your power!!"
Adrian's lips curved into a knowing smile—he understood exactly what the beech tree needed at this crucial mont.
He stepped forward slowly and placed his palm against the rough bark. As magic flowed out, the beech tree closed its eyes peacefully, looking thoroughly content.
Yes, what the tree craved was precisely Adrian's unique magical energy. After experiencing the nourishnt of Adrian's magic during its ti in his care, it had never been able to forget that intoxicating feeling.
After several minutes of this magical feeding, Adrian slowly withdrew his hand. The beech tree opened its eyes and actually smacked its lips with obvious contentnt, like a well-fed child after a particularly satisfying al.
[Status: Growing (5%)]
After checking the beech tree's updated status through his connection with the Tree of Wisdom, Adrian couldn't help but feel sowhat amazed.
Truly worthy of being a "prodigy" of the plant kingdom—just absorbing so of his magic and the Mutation Factor could increase the growth progress by such a substantial amount.
"How do you feel now?" Adrian asked softly.
The beech tree's face radiated a satisfied smile. "Wonderful!" it exclaid with joy. "I feel more alive than I ever have before!"
To demonstrate its newborn vitality, the tree began to experint with moving its branches. Several branch tips actually danced and swayed as flexibly as human arms.
Hagrid watched this display with his mouth hanging open in amazent, his eyes tracking every movent.
Even Ronan, who had maintained his stoic composure throughout most of the encounter, now showed a rare expression of surprise. His eyes widened slightly, and his tail swished with unconscious agitation as he processed what he was witnessing.
In fact, the centaur had only sensed sothing unusual in this area through his star-reading, but he had never co to investigate personally before today. This tree's extraordinary appearance and behavior were not within his expectations.
"Do you have a na, young one?" Ronan stepped forward and asked in the slow tone that was traditional among centaurs.
"A na?" The beech tree's bark wrinkled in what could only be described as a thoughtful frown. Then its gaze turned to Adrian with obvious expectation.
As the tree's master and the one responsible for its transformation, Adrian naturally had both the obligation and the right to give him a na.
However, this was indeed a significant problem—Adrian had to admit to himself that he really wasn't particularly good at naming things.
"Then let's call you..." He lowered his head in deep thought for a mont, his mind cycling through various possibilities. Classical nas, botanical terms, ancient words—nothing seed quite right. Finally, almost hesitantly, he said, "Bart?"
"Oh, Bart!" The newly nad tree practically vibrated with excitent, its wrinkled face showing pure joy. "Bart! I am Bart!"
Seeing this enthusiastic response, Adrian couldn't help but breathe a deep sigh of relief. It was genuinely good that Bart liked the na, even if it wasn't particularly inspired.
Sotis the simplest choices were the most aningful.
However, at that very instant, Adrian suddenly felt a strange and powerful magic wash over him. It seed as if invisible threads had suddenly connected him and Bart together.
This feeling was very familiar—he had experienced such a connection with Ray before.
This was a contract of naming. From this mont forward, Bart had officially beco one of Adrian's.
"Co and et your new friend," Adrian said with a slight smile as Devil's Snare vines began to erge from beneath his robes, their dark green vines moving with obvious excitent and curiosity.
The Devil's Snare had always been sowhat social in its own aggressive way, and the prospect of a new companion seed to delight it imnsely.
The plant began to wander around Bart's massive trunk with enthusiasm, its vines reaching out to touch and explore this new addition to their unusual family. Bart also seed genuinely pleased by the attention, his branches were swaying gently in what could only be interpreted as a welcoming gesture.
While the Devil's Snare and Bart were getting acquainted, Hagrid walked to Adrian's side and asked in a whisper, "You nad it 'Bart'? Does this na have any particular aning?"
Hearing this question, Adrian shook his head with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Not really, no. Nothing profound or magical about it."
The truth was that Bart had been the na of a puppy he had kept as a child. The na had simply felt right in the mont.
The sky gradually darkened, Ronan returned to the centaur tribe, and Adrian and Hagrid also set off on the road back to Hogwarts.
"In the end, we still didn't find any trace of Black," Hagrid sighed as they walked. "But getting to know Bart certainly wasn't a complete waste of ti. This has been one of the most remarkable days I've had in years."
Adrian nodded in total agreent—Hagrid was absolutely right.
But for Adrian personally, whether they found Black or not had always been secondary. The search for the escaped prisoner wasn't particularly urgent for him anyway.
Bart's miraculous appearance and transformation made him feel that this trip to the Forbidden Forest had been incredibly worthwhile.
Unfortunately, even though Bart had gained remarkable self-awareness and consciousness, it still refused to leave the Forbidden Forest. In its own words, once it left the magical boundaries of the forest, it would fall into a deep, potentially permanent sleep.
Adrian didn't force the issue, understanding that so magical creatures were bound to specific locations by forces beyond their control.
What was sowhat troubleso, however, was that for Bart's continued growth and developnt, Adrian would need to make regular trips to the Forbidden Forest to feed the tree so of his magical energy and Mutation factor.
As they were chatting about the day's events and making plans for future visits, a familiar figure suddenly appeared at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Adrian and Hagrid exchanged quick glances of recognition and imdiately walked over.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Hagrid called out, waving his massive hand from a distance. "What brings you to the forest at this hour?"
Dumbledore's eyes flickered slightly, and his pursed lips relaxed sowhat upon seeing them.
"Ah, Hagrid, Adrian," his voice was gentle but had an underlying briefness that was unusual for the typically longwinded headmaster. "I'm waiting for soone. An appointnt that I'm not particularly looking forward to."
At this mont, Adrian's noticed that the headmaster's left hand, partially concealed behind his back, was unconsciously rubbing the Elder Wand.
Obviously, whatever eting he was anticipating had put him in a absolutely bad mood. The greatest wizard of their age, worried and tense?
"Is there anything we can help with?" Hagrid asked in his characteristically gruff but caring manner.
"No," Dumbledore shook his head with finality, though his expression showed appreciation for the offer. "It's not necessary, Hagrid. By the way, what have you two been doing in the forest today?"
"Patrolling the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid explained briefly. "You know how it is—with Black potentially lurking sowhere in the forest, Adrian and I were worried about the safety of the students and creatures. So, we ca to check on things, make sure everything was secure. Oh, and we had help from the centaurs today, which was quite remarkable."
"I'm genuinely glad you were able to co out before full darkness fell," Dumbledore nodded with obvious relief, his concerned gaze scanning the deepening shadows of the forest. "I strongly advise you to stay away from this area now—they're about to arrive."
"They?" Hagrid's confusion was clear in his voice and expression. "Who's arriving?"
At this mont, Ray, who had been soaring silently in the sky, suddenly let out a sharp, piercing cry.
Adrian imdiately tensed. As Ray's master, he naturally understood that this call was a warning of approaching danger.
While Ray's warning call still echoed through the forest, the moonlight above the Forbidden Forest suddenly began to dim. It was as if the very light was being absorbed by so malicious force.
Adrian felt a bone-chilling cold begin to creep up his spine. This wasn't the natural coolness of approaching night, but sothing much more sinister and unnatural.
Adrian was unfortunately very familiar with this particular feeling—Dentors.
Looking up toward the darkening sky, Adrian saw exactly what he had feared. A large mass of dark, hooded figures was flying rapidly toward the upper reaches of the Forbidden Forest.
Seeing this horrifying scene, Hagrid instinctively shrank back, his massive body sohow seeming smaller and more vulnerable. His experience in Azkaban was still painfully vivid in his mory.
Although he had escaped the worst of their influence thanks to Adrian's protective charm during his imprisonnt, he still had a deep fear of these creatures.
"They're going to conduct a thorough search of the Forbidden Forest," Dumbledore's voice had a rare tone of coldness. "It's a very good thing indeed that you both ca out early. Their thods are... indiscriminate."
Hagrid couldn't help but feel secretly relieved.
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