"When I was a foal, Mr. Albus Dumbledore was already teaching magic in the castle. Yes, I was curious about the wizarding world, and I once broke into the confines of the castle, and it caused panic among some of the students, who attacked me, and it was Mr. Dumbledore who stopped it all and sent me back to the Horde. He's one of the few wizards in the human race who can treat magical creatures as equals—"

Elder Centaur approached Amosta and spoke to him in a friendly tone.

What the old centaur was talking about about Dumbledore for, Amosta knew very well.

He nodded at the centaur elder and smiled apologetically,

"I'm sorry to meet you in this way, Elder, but I think that what I'm going to talk to you about must be kept strictly confidential."

"You can call me Horn, Mr. Brian--"

Centaur Elder Horn said. Hearing Amosta's words, its cloudy pupils flashed a little, "What confusion can I answer for you?" ”

Amosta looked left and right, and there was not a single chair in the empty hall, not even the gods to be sacrificed. So, under Horn's wary gaze, Amosta took out his wand and waved it at the clearing, and two futons, one large and one small, appeared in the gloomy air.

"Let's sit down and say—"

Amosta made an inviting gesture to Horn, and he himself walked over first, sitting cross-legged on the futon.

When Horn also bent his knees down, Amosta pointed to the drawing on the dome,

"Before the formal conversation begins, Horn, I hope to learn a little bit about these murals, you just told me that this is the scene on Avalon--"

Horn already regretted it a little, it had just said 'Avalon' out of a completely unsuspecting knee-jerk reaction, but now, it couldn't swallow what it said.

"Yes, Mr. Blaine--"

Horn had inhabited the temple for nearly half the world, and the frescoes on the dome of the temple could remember every detail even when its eyes were closed, and it said in a deep voice,

"It's not surprising that you're interested in Avalon, after all, Avalon has become a legend in wizarding and Muggle cultures, and humans aren't even sure if it's real, but we centaurs know it's real, and our ancestors used to live there."

"Really—"

To Horn's surprise, Amosta didn't show a particularly surprised expression, but asked lightly,

"I thought you migrated to Avalon after Hogwarts was built, and in wizarding and Muggle mythology, it appeared a thousand years ago, which means that you lived here longer than Hogwarts, so why did you move here, and why didn't your ancestors continue to live there?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Blaine—"

Horn was silent again for a moment before shaking his head and saying in a deep voice,

"The centaurs have lost their records of this history, and for more than a thousand years, the forest has not always been peaceful, and we have also experienced many wars, and many records have been lost to the flames of war."

It was not so simple to lie in front of Amosta, however, Amosta did not expose Horn's lies, but nodded thoughtfully,

"Indeed. Thousands of years, how many historical truths have been eliminated in the long river of time, so what else do you know about this mythical island? ”

"Very limited, Mr. Brian—"

Seeing that Amosta Blaine did not exhaustively investigate, Horn secretly breathed a sigh of relief,

"All I know is that Avalon is a paradise, and when it still exists in this world, there are many lives living on the island, where there is no race, no war and discrimination, no hunger and exploitation, where amazing creatures, humans and nature live in harmony and explore the mysteries of nature together-"

Even if it was a lie, Horn still had a faint yearning in his eyes when he talked about this.

In today's wizarding world, magical creatures are imprisoned, slaughtered, and raised by wizards, and if life on Avalon Island is really so good compared to now, it is no wonder that Horn has a new life.

"I see—"

Amosta nodded, his face hidden in the shadow cast by a beam, Horn couldn't see Amosta Bryne's expression, but the young and powerful wizard's next careless words made the blood rush through the veins of his old body,

"You are still nostalgic for your ancestors' days on Avalon, which is why you have compassion for the Druids who are also the remnants of Avalon, and are willing to shelter them?"

The sudden fright made Horn almost jump off the mat, but Brian, who sat still, restrained him from the thunderous majesty that his emaciated body exuded in the eyes of the centaurs, unable to move.

"The centaurs and Hogwarts have been neighbors for thousands of years, and I thought that with our relationship, the centaurs would have informed us of such a major decision—"

Amosta's calm tone made Horn shiver,

"Or are all wizards in the eyes of the centaurs a greedy and despicable bunch of people who like to kill their own kind with their own magic?"

This was what Bane had said to Loya in the secret realm earlier—Horn immediately realized.

"How are you -- you have been."

Horn asked with difficulty, a pang of fear in its heart, and then realized that it was no longer important to dwell on this issue, the most important thing was to appease Amosta Blaine's anger and save the druids in the secret realm!

"They are not dangerous, Mr. Blaine, the practice of druids focuses on the heart, and only humans with pure hearts and good hearts can become druids, and they have the same philosophy as the centaurs, living with nature-"

"What do you think of Vitia Cleona?" Amosta interrupted Horn's explanation, his tone still calm,

"What do you think of her lurking in the castle?"

Horn glared at Amosta Blaine with an incredible look in his eyes!

The old centaur could not have imagined that the keeper of the castle was already aware of the current rituals of the druids, and that Vitia Cleona had been lurking in their castle.

"Do you think Vitia Cleona's actions at the Wizard's Quidditch World Cup final were also a good act?"

A coldness flashed in Amosta's eyes,

"Horn, tell me, how much do you know about Cleona's purpose lurking in the castle?"

Horn opened his mouth, silent for a moment, but eventually, it said dejectedly,

"Miss Cleona told us that she entered the castle for the future of the Druids, and she said it was very important, but she couldn't tell us that it would bring war to the centaur tribe."

"By the time she found you, the war had already spread here--"

Amosta said coldly,

"You don't know what she's doing to enter the castle, and maybe the centaurs are simply sheltering the homeless Druids, but have you ever considered that this might pose an unnecessary danger to the castle's young wizards?"

(End of chapter)