After returning home.
Adrian began tending to the plants on the shelves, while Harry looked at the book he had just brought from Flourish and Blotts.
"I really did see a house-elf," Harry suddenly said. "That elf named Dobby said Hogwarts would be dangerous and kept saying I shouldn't return to Hogwarts."
"I never said I didn't believe you," Adrian glanced at him, then said, "But would you listen to that house-elf?"
Harry shook his head. "He was a strange fellow, but seemed to mean no harm."
"Then that's that—just ignore him." Adrian said.
He hadn't expected Dobby to start bothering Harry this early.
Adrian would need to be somewhat careful to prevent the house-elf from breaking into his plantation.
Although he knew Dobby was probably a good person—well, good elf—he was still someone else's house-elf, after all. It was better to be cautious.
In the following days, Harry didn't encounter the house-elf named "Dobby" again.
Time quickly passed to mid-July.
Deep in the Albanian Dark Forest, the July night carried a bone-chilling cold, with a full moon hanging in the sky, casting patches of silver light.
In a clearing within the dense forest, a deep green tent stood there.
Dense vines covered the tent, blending perfectly with the surroundings.
This was Adrian's tent and the Devil's Snare.
Under the bright moonlight, the Devil's Snare's vines gracefully unfurled, with three wands glimmering faintly at the vine tips.
"Arooooo—"
A howl shattered the forest's tranquility.
Moments later, rustling sounds emerged from nearby bushes.
The sounds grew more distinct, and a massive werewolf burst from the shadows, its fur standing on end, yellow eyes gleaming fiercely in the moonlight, with foul-smelling drool dripping from its mouth.
The Devil's Snare's vines immediately stood alert, all three wands pointing at the approaching monster.
The werewolf seemed to sense human presence, arched its back, sharp claws digging deep into the earth, and let out a low growl from its throat as it rapidly approached the tent.
Just as the tent was about to be torn apart, the Devil's Snare's three wands simultaneously lit up.
"Boom!"
Three spells struck the werewolf's head, neck, and arm respectively.
The werewolf was blown backward by the three Blasting Curses, crashing heavily into a tree.
Its neck was charred black, and its arm twisted into a grotesque angle.
However, its ferocity remained undiminished.
Such injuries weren't much for a werewolf.
The Devil's Snare's vines shot out like serpents, instantly wrapping around the werewolf's limbs and waist, hoisting it high and hanging it from a tree, finally sealing that bloody maw with a vine.
The werewolf could only emit muffled whimpers from deep in its throat.
Having finished this, the Devil's Snare finally relaxed.
It wouldn't do to disturb Adrian.
It would get scolded...
The next morning, Adrian stretched and emerged from the tent.
With the Devil's Snare standing guard, even in the dangerous Albanian Dark Forest, he had slept very peacefully.
He had been searching here for several days but had no leads on Trelawney's prophecy or the mysterious face in the crystal ball.
So he could only wander through the Albanian Dark Forest like an ordinary adventurer, hoping to find some useful information.
At this moment, the Devil's Snare extended a vine to Adrian and patted his shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
Adrian looked in the direction the Devil's Snare indicated.
He saw that last night's fierce werewolf had already returned to human form—a gaunt middle-aged man huddled by the tree roots.
Approaching closer, Adrian found the man's left arm unnaturally twisted, his neck bloody, eyes tightly closed—clearly unconscious.
"You did this?"
Adrian couldn't help but look at the Devil's Snare.
The Devil's Snare handed Adrian a small tuft of black fur.
Adrian took the fur, held it to his nose, sniffed, and declared: "Werewolf!"
The Devil's Snare formed a thumbs-up with its vines in the air.
"Bring our medical kit," Adrian crouched down to examine the man's injuries. "He's not going to make it."
The Devil's Snare's vines immediately darted back to the tent and soon brought over the medical kit.
Adrian rummaged through the medical kit and found some dittany essence and bandages.
He skillfully dripped the dittany essence onto the man's wounds, straightened his arm, and quickly treated the man's injuries.
Just as Adrian finished bandaging the last wound, there was suddenly movement around them.
More than a dozen figures rushed out from all directions, surrounding Adrian.
These people all wore wizard robes—clearly wizards—and some had drawn their wands.
In fact, Adrian had already detected these people, so he kept his wand hidden in his sleeve, ready to cast magic at any moment.
"#￥&*&#￥%!"
The leader pointed his wand at Adrian and shouted loudly.
However, this was Albania, and Adrian couldn't understand Albanian at all.
Adrian raised both hands to indicate he didn't understand and responded in English: "Sorry, I don't understand Albanian. Does anyone speak English?"
At that moment, the man on the ground awakened from unconsciousness and began moaning in pain.
A young man with glasses stepped forward from the crowd and said, "Sir, the man beside you is our companion..."
Seeing that the person before him could communicate, Adrian breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't want to fight a large group of strangers on this beautiful morning.
But... companion?
That meant all the people in front of him were werewolves.
After several minutes of negotiation, Adrian learned the identity of the people before him—they were a werewolf community living nearby.
To escape crowds and discrimination and obtain a peaceful life, a large portion of Albania's werewolves lived in this area.
Adrian's decision not to flee immediately surprised them somewhat.
After all, few wizards were willing to have close contact with werewolves, let alone a group of them.
The glass wearing man said somewhat apologetically, "You can call me Kasa. Thank you for helping my brother. You know, during full moons we become... that way. Usually on full moon nights, we bind ourselves with special silver chains, but last night... the chains came loose somehow."
Kasa looked worriedly at his brother. "The silver chains loosened for some reason."
"It's alright." Adrian shook his head.
In fact, this was a very serious accident—if that werewolf had attacked someone other than Adrian, a tragedy would have already occurred.
But then again, what normal wizard would come to such a place in the dead of night?
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