345 Chapter 344 The Right Hogwarts (2 in 1)

Even Hagrid was not as familiar with the layout of this Forbidden Forest as the Centaurs were.

Soon Firenze and Jon arrived at a fairly open clearing, which was not guarded by dragons and was a good place to talk as there would be no Aurors or the like in the area during the tournament.

After finding a place to settle, the Centaurs immediately scattered to find food and prepare a makeshift resting place, leaving only Firenze, Jon and Cedric to talk.

Jon pulled out the small wooden tag that Hagrid had given him.

"The Forbidden Forest is now all covered by the magic of the Aurors, Hagrid tried to get in earlier without success as he was spotted, and he had no choice but to ask me to come and make contact with you during the tournament to check on your condition and needs today. Also, Hagrid asked me to find a man called Parson among the Centaur."

Hearing Jon's last words, Firenze did not utter a word and fell silent.

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent for a while, but even without any answer, just from this lack of response, Jon was able to guess the end of Parson.

"I've lost many of my people." Firenze looked up and met Jon's eyes with the only one he had left with, "We have no desire for the outside world, even when the wizards determined the categories of human and magical beast, our ancestors voluntarily distanced themselves from human and disdained the company of wizards."

His voice was soft and quiet, so calm that the tremors in it were not quite discernible.

"But even if we simply lived in this forbidden forest, the Ministry of Magic in Britain was unwilling to leave us alone, slaughtering us wouldn't bring them even a little benefit, yet they did that anyway, and the reason was actually that we had filthy blood in us."

Jon could understand Firenze's feelings.

There are very few Centaur tribes left in the magical world, and the one living in the Forbidden Forest is arguably the largest tribe of Centaur in the whole of Britain, or even in the whole of Europe.

But now an undeserved disaster had befallen them, most of their brethren had been slaughtered, and the rest of them, the old and the sick, had to hide, as two or three random dragons could nearly trap them all to death.

It would be strange if Firenze didn't harbour a grudge against wizards in his heart.

On the side, Cedric also looked guilty, and he certainly should feel guilty, no matter what he thought in his heart, but as a half-blood, and one whose father had a job in the Ministry of Magic, a privileged half-blood who had officially joined Voldemort's camp to enjoy privileges of sorts, everything he enjoyed today was based on the oppression of the others.

But Jon wasn't going to just be muddled by a comment or two from him like that, it was sad what was happening to the Centaurs today, but was it really not their fault at all?

"I sympathise with you and your people, Mr Firenze, but there is a question I would like you to answer." Jon didn't avoid Firenze's striking blue eyes, "Since you were in the situation you are in now, and all of you can think of seeking help from Dumbledore, Hagrid and the others in the first instance, what about at the time when the whole of Hogwarts was in a war against the Dark Lord? And what position did the entire community of Centaur stand in?"

Jon's question made Firenze close his own eyes and made a guilty Cedric look up to listen to his response.

Only after a long time did Firenze respond.

"At the time I tried my best to persuade the rest of the pack to come out of the Forbidden Forest and go to Dumbledore's aid, no matter who won or lost in the end, only Dumbledore and the others would remain our firmest allies. But the others didn't think so, they felt that since the Centaurs aren't considered a human, they shouldn't interfere in disputes between wizards and that no matter who rules this school, the Centaurs can live well in the Forbidden Forest."

Jon wasn't half surprised by his answer, even if the matter had never been brought up by either Dumbledore or Hagrid, if the Centaurs had been involved in that war when Hogwarts castle fell, then in the end Dumbledore would have done his best to take the Centaurs away from the Forbidden Forest, as staying would only have made them extinct.

But today there is not even a single Centaur in the Order of the Phoenix, so it could only be assumed that the Centaurs were in a state of inaction back then.

"With all due respect, Mr Firenze, if the Centaurs had chosen to help Hogwarts back then they might have been in a difficult position too, but they would never have been in this state."

Jon's words were blunt, and they had to be, he couldn't be as foolish as Cedric and feel like it was all his fault and confused by people's trivial remarks.

He is indeed going to help the Centaurs, but this help must not be defined as compensation.

In response, Firenze also showed no desire to talk tough, to lump Voldemort and Dumbledore together and blame all the Centaurs' present misery as every wizard's fault; he took a deep breath and looked at Jon with a bright gaze.

"I have no intention of trying to pin this feud on you guys for incidents that happened so far, I know who the enemy is better than anyone else, a wizard may be a wizard in the eyes of other Centaurs, but I know the difference between the Dark Lord and Dumbledore, and I know exactly who our friends are. So this time I am asking you, Mr Green, please contact Dumbledore and ask for his support in getting these remaining members of my people out of here, the only thing that awaits us if we remain in the Forbidden Forest is extermination."

He lowered his stance, clearly, he stood half a body taller than Jon, but instead, he bent his back and lowered his head, making Jon, who had been standing up straight, appear even taller in general.

It was a request, an uneven and extremely humble request from one side.

The surrounding foals, all huddled together, hugging for warmth, their faces somewhat grimy, looking at their chief with eyes that glowed faintly in the reflected moonlight.

The foals were well protected; even though almost every one of the adult Centaur who had survived had injuries of one kind or another, the vast majority of the foals were only a little dirty without any injuries.

Jon looked up at the brilliant night sky and abruptly said as he looked at them.

"How much did Cedric tell you about this Triwizard Tournament?"

This time, without waiting for Firenze to speak, Cedric answered first.

"I don't know much, Dad never talks to me about it, I just told Firenze that you guys would be coming to Hogwarts Castle for this tournament and that winning or losing would have a big impact on the whole situation."

Jon said seriously.

"So, not so much; yes the win or loss of this tournament will decide the battle between us and the Dark Lord over land and Hogwarts Castle right now. This tournament is a gamble, and as long as we are the ones who win in the end, then we can have complete victory on the main battlefield in France, and retake Hogwarts Castle, as well as completely eliminate the situation of two Hogwarts existing side by side."

Both Cedric and Firenze froze, Firenze had thought before that this tournament, which had been discontinued for so long, must be held again for some key purpose given the current situation, but he had never imagined that the Dark Lord and Dumbledore were actually betting so heavily on this tournament.

The significance of Hogwarts to any ruler of the British wizarding world would be immense, and it could even be said that only by taking control of the castle could one be said to have complete control of the whole of Britain.

And if the only legitimacy of this thousand-year-old school had to be lost, then for Voldemort it would be almost like losing half of Britain, which was much more serious than the so-called loss of France, directly shaking the foundations of his rule.

Jon and Dumbledore understood this, and the reason why Dumbledore had agreed to the bet in the first place without investigating the reason why Voldemort was proposing this tournament was that both sides has their own agenda in mind for the tournament from the start.

Jon would simply be responsible for going all out to finish the tournament, while Dumbledore would be doing the other preparation and investigation.

"So what do you need us to do?" Firenze asked, looking at Jon.

"There is nothing you need to do, it would be best for you to be settled on the edge of the Forbidden Forest near the Hogsmeade section for the time being, I will explain to Professor Dumbledore about your situation after this tournament task, if you want to leave the Forbidden Forest straight away then we can help meet you then and take you to France, which is under our control, going there will mean you are safe."

As soon as Jon finished his sentence, Firenze shook his head, a murky tinge of hatred evident in his gaze.

"The foals may go to France for protection, but the men will go to the front line. We are not afraid of sacrifice, let alone sacrifice for revenge and blood!"

Jon knew the value of these Centaurs, even if they couldn't use any magic, they were all good fighters in their own right, not only did every adult Centaur have superior archery skills, but they are also far superior to the wizards in terms of agility and physique, otherwise, this group of Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest would have died out long ago after facing sieges for so many years.

"I will pass on your thoughts to Professor Dumbledore, but right now the most important thing you need to do is to protect yourselves, I don't think it's a coincidence that those three dragons just happened to block your way out; if it's not a coincidence, then someone has something else in mind for you guys."

Having finished giving his advice to the Centaur, Jon turned his attention back to Cedric.

"Can we talk alone?"

Cedric was a little overwhelmed by the sudden shift in Jon's gaze, but he soon regained his composure and nodded.

Firenze had the good sense to head out to organise his tribe to create this new makeshift camp, and Jon began a private, confidential conversation with this half-blood student.

"You should be well aware of what the actions you are currently doing would represent to that headmaster of yours."

Jon's expression and tone were serious, he wasn't intimidating Cedric about anything, but stating the facts once again.

Cedric, of course, was well aware that although Voldemort now mostly showed his "kindness" to those who supported him, so much that very few people in Britain today would speak of his former practices, Cedric, who tried to know Dumbledore and Jon, must have known the true nature of Voldemort.

"If I'm found out, it won't just be me who dies, my father and my mother, they'll all suffer."

Cedric's voice was trembling slightly, but his expression and eyes were more steadfast than the night wind that kept blowing.

"But there's no way I can lie to myself, I was brought up with an education that lets me know what's right and what's wrong. Maybe I used to be somewhat able to console myself with the illusion that I hadn't suffered much injustice as a half-blood student at Hogwarts, but the words you said that day when you saved that muggle-born girl left me with no way to be at peace with what I have anymore."

Jon looked at him.

"It's been declared to the public within Britain that the dark wizard who infiltrated Hogwarts Castle last year was me?"

"No." Cedric shook his head, "They would never admit that they were fooled by a student like you who hasn't even graduated from school yet, but it's not a secret within the Ministry of Magic that many of the staff know that the person who did that last year and the person who killed the Lestrange's in public this year is the same person. I know this, too, when my father accidentally blurted it out when he was drunk during the summer holidays."

He looked over at Jon, those clear eyes reflecting the moonlight.

"I know I'm not as good as you are, Jon, but I don't want to be a pureblood lackey either. I know that what I'm doing now will put my family in danger, but even less can I force myself to admit that what should be wrong has turned out to be right just because of danger such as this."

Jon had never had any doubts about Cedric's integrity, even the first question he had asked when he had met the boy at the beginning when he had used his Legilimency Spell to inquire him, had been to ascertain if he was really Cedric Diggory because the name itself had the capital to be persuasive.

"Excellence is never going to be the key to what a person contributes, but rather what they have done." Jon intoned, "What you've done tonight has left you with no turning back, Cedric, now you need to make up your mind as to whether you're going to stand with us."

Without hesitation or wavering, Cedric just said calmly.

"I made such a determination when I decided to help Firenze and the others, I am willing to do anything that will change present Britain and bring back freedom and human rights to those who should be equal."

With a smile on his face that would only come when he was facing Hermione and Neville and the others, Jon patted Cedric on the shoulder.

"There's no need to weigh down the mood when it comes to making this decision, the path we're on isn't that rough anymore, at least the scene in front of us isn't dark anymore."

Cedric let out a breath as well, with a light smile on his face.

"Is this considered abandoning the darkness and turning to the light?"

"You've just returned to a Right Hogwarts."

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