For the half hour, he bed the area in a fan-shaped pattern, using both trag aion spells. The results were discing—no signs, no clues, nothing to indicate the werewolf’s movements. Uerred, he Apparated back to the crossing and turned his attention upstream. Apparition was a skill Alex had spent months mastering under Professor Flitwick’s guidahough advanced for a student, it gave him a crucial edge, allowing him to explore the Forbidden Forest alone while maintaining an escape pn for emergencies.

  Barely a kilometer upstream, Alex stumbled upon something unusual. In a small clearing, the signs were unmistakable: a struggle had occurred. A wild deer y gutted on the forest floor, its lifeless body a grim testament to the predator’s savagery. Deep cw marks marred its ned torso—distinct, jagged wounds that matched the werewolf tracks Alex had seen earlier.

  The carcass was close to the river, just teers from the water’s edge. There, faint traces of the werewolf’s st lingered—weak, but enough to firm its presence. "So, it sstream before ing ashore," Alex cluded, croug beside the remains. "That expins why there were no sighe crossing."

  Judging by the state of decay, the deer had been killed within the past day. Yet the werewolf had attacked a Hippogriff two days earlier. Alex pieced together the timelihe creature had rested here, hunted for food, and moved on. Enced, he realized the werewolf couldn’t be far.

  Alex wasn’t just chasing the werewolf to ehe safety of the Forbidden Forest’s outskirts. He also saw this as an opportunity to study the creature. Werewolves, with their erratic behavior and unique biology, fasated him. Adding their traits to his research would be invaluable.

  Still, caution aramount. Werewolves were uable, and the closer he got, the more dangerous the hunt became. As Alex surveyed the area, his sharp eyes caught something unusual—a broken arrow lodged in the deer’s fnk. Carefully pulling it free, he exami. "This isn’t a modern arrow," Alex noted, running his fingers along the crude shaft. "Handcrafted. And this… this isn’t human-sized. Too bulky. Could it belong to a taur?"

  The possibility raised Alex’s guard. taurs, the reclusive inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest, were notoriously wary of humans. Hagrid often spoke fondly of them, but his stories also revealed their hostility towards wizards. While cssified as se beings by the Ministry, taurs bristled at such bels, finding the cept of human governansulting. "If taurs were hunting the deer… could they have entered the werewolf too? If so, maybe they killed it."

  This revetion plicated matters. Dealing with a werewolf was ohing, but crossing paths with territorial taurs could escate into airely different problem. After weighing his options, Alex made his decision. "I’ll follow the trail for now. If the taurs got to the werewolf, I’ll back off immediately. o start trouble."

  The trail seemed to folloath filled with twists and turns, but it was clear it was heading in a fixed dire, as if something unseen ulling it forward. Although Alex couldn’t figure out why the werewolf had suddenly ged its behavior, he could feel an unusual sense ency. Without hesitation, he quied his pace. After another hour of trag, the gap between them was noticeably shrinking.

  Alex could now clearly see the werewolf’s footprints—deep aic, switg between bipedal and quadrupedal movement. The patter raw and untamed, uhe trolled movements of a lythrope-ied human. This creature seemed more primal, more wolf than man. But as the sun dipped below the horizon, Alex realized he wouldn’t make it back to Hogwarts before dark. Deg it was safer to inform someone, he activated his uniulet a a quick message to Hagrid, assuring him he was fine and would be staying out for the night.

  With that settled, he pressed forward at full speed. Strange clues began appearing as he advanced—additional footprints not far from the werewolf’s trail. A closer iion firmed his suspi: these were hoofprints. And not just one or two. Multiple sets. "taurs," Alex muttered under his breath, his brow furrowing. The hoofprints led ahead of the werewolf tracks, but what uzzling was the werewolf’s behavior—it was chasing the taurs.

  taurs were powerful creatures, skilled in bat and magic. They weren’t the type to flee from a werewolf, especially not in groups. A thought crept into Alex’s mind, irrational yet persistent, ;Why would this werewolf be so bold? Was it being pelled or driven by something more dangerous?’Pushing aside his doubts, Alex sped up. The footprints told their story clearly now, and he no longer needed magic to track them. His pursuit turned into a full-on sprint.

  Soon, something ued caught Alex’s eye. Neolf tracks appeared, merging with the inal trail. He stopped abruptly, examining the se where the trails intersected. Switg to non-log mode on his trag spell, Alex uncovered fresh details. The new set of tracks came from the depths of the woods, cutting in to join the lone werewolf. From the footprints, he estimated there were four additional werewolves, all moving like wolves rather than humans.

  And then he saw it—human footprints, rge and clearly belonging to a tall man. "Who’s this?" Alex murmured, croug to ihem closer. "A leader? A panion? Or maybe another victim?"

  The more he thought about it, the more plicated the situation seemed. If these werewolves were under someone’s and, it could mean there was an anized group involved. That would be a serious problem. His hand subsciously hovered over his wand.

  Adding to the mystery, faint traces of blood energy lingered along the werewolves’ path—strong a. "Did they have a fight before this? Or were they hunting something?" Alex wondered aloud, weighing his options. He was torn. tinuing the chase without knowing more felt reckless. If there were more werewolves than he’d ated for, he could easily find himself overwhelmed.

  Deg it was better to iigate the source of the werewolves, Alex buried a loulet at the interse for ter use. He could Apparate back to this spot if hen, with his deade, he set off in the dire the werewolves had e from. Activating the all-terrain and speed-enhang charms on his phase shoes, Alex darted through the forest with practiced ease. He leapt over rocks and trees, sing the ground for clues while keeping his movements as silent as possible.

  After c two or three kilometers, the blood energy in the air thied, a sure sign he was closing in on something signifit. He slowed down, cautious of running headlong into danger. With a flick of his wand, he jured a flock of ravens ahem ahead to scout.

  Through the shared vision of the ravens, Alex finally spotted something. He froze, staring at the se through their eyes. A clearing stretched out ahead, the grass stained deep red. In the ter y a broken, bloodied figure. Splintered wood was scattered around it, remnants of what seemed to have been a wooden box. The sight was grisly, the kind of age that sent a shiver dowhe bravest spine.