Ginny woke up that very night. Ron, who had been keeping vigil by her side, naturally learned the whole truth. The next morning, he joined the morning run. When he saw Owen, he opened his mouth to apologize, but a gentle smile from the young wizard stopped him before the words could come out.
There is nothing wrong with risking your life for your cherished family. The only mistake is doing so without the corresponding strength.
This conflict was a wake-up call for Ron. He gave up his beloved Wizard's Chess. Now, whenever he had free time, if he wasn't memorizing spells, he was memorizing potion recipes.
What surprised Hermione most was that Ron actually stuck with it. Ten days in a row, rain or shine, and he even seemed to start enjoying it.
With his best friend pulling himself together, Harry was left to investigate the Chamber of Secrets alone. As for how Dumbledore planned to handle the situation, that was none of Owen's business. Lately, after answering questions following dinner, Owen would hang out in Hagrid's hut until dark, then accompany the half-giant into the Forbidden Forest.
Not for gathering herbs or harvesting materials, but because Hagrid had discovered strange footprints in the forest and suspected poachers were trying to sneak in!
This was no small matter. However, without concrete evidence, he couldn't report it to the professors, so Hagrid asked Owen for help.
Fortunately, Owen agreed out of loyalty. He didn't come alone; the Wampus Cat and the white phoenix were with him.
"Say, those footprints Hagrid found... they couldn't be mine, could they?"
"Meow."
"You're right. I fly in. I shouldn't have left footprints. Oh well, let's take a look around. If we don't find anything, we'll go back to sleep."
As soon as he finished speaking, Whitey shot into the sky, and Molly vanished instantly. Owen slowly floated up, drifting leisurely in a specific direction.
The depths of the Forbidden Forest held many secrets. The Acromantulas and centaurs mostly stayed in the outer regions. Occasionally, unicorns would come out for a stroll, though their numbers had dwindled after being hunted by Quirrell and Voldemort last year.
So, poachers coming to the Forbidden Forest were likely after either Acromantulas or unicorns. There were so many Acromantulas that missing a few dozen or even a hundred wouldn't be noticed. Unicorns, on the other hand, were highly valuable. Just a single tail hair was sold by the strand, not to mention other parts.
As for the centaurs... they were also quite valuable, but explaining exactly why might get this story censored.
After flying for less than half an hour, Owen suddenly stopped. He slowly descended from the air, pulling out his small wand. "Gentlemen, surely you don't need me to invite you out?"
The air was remarkably quiet. No one stepped forward.
But Owen smiled. "Stop hiding. The trees you're hiding behind usually have Bowtruckles living in them, but your presence scared them all away. And you're not deaf, are you? Didn't you notice that in your area, even the insects have stopped chirping?"
One, two, three...
Seeing the figures emerge with their faces hidden by hoods, Owen laughed again. "Still care about your faces? That's rare. But there's one more. Did you forget what I just said about scaring the Bowtruckles? Hiding like this is boring."
Sure enough, another one walked out... four poachers in total, all accounted for.
"Is Hogwarts using students to manage the Forbidden Forest now? But I must say, you are very brave."
The voice was raspy and metallic, clearly disguised. Owen wasn't in a hurry. He watched them slowly move to surround him but remained perfectly still. "I'm curious, what are you here to poach? If it's Acromantulas or centaurs, I can pretend I didn't see you..."
"Hehe, little guy, you're too naive. Get him!"
All four raised their wands simultaneously. But they were still too slow. Owen could cast silently. Before they even fully raised their wands, he had already fired off two Petrificus Totalus curses. He strafed backward to the left, taking only a single step before an earthen wall rose beneath his feet, launching him into the air.
The enemy spells missed. Owen's spells missed. But this wasn't a turn-based game where I hit you once and you hit me back. From the moment the first spell flared, the barrage of magic never stopped. Owen cast with both hands simultaneously. His right hand, empty of a wand, fired minor jinxes like the Densaugeo (tooth-growing) hex and Leg-Locker Curse—fast and accurate. His left hand, holding the wand, cast Disarming Charms or used Transfiguration to create advantageous terrain, blocking incoming spells.
With agile movement and imaginative Transfiguration, Owen managed to avoid getting hit by a single spell despite being surrounded by four people.
He had wanted to play a bit longer, but when he saw green sparks forming at the tip of one poacher's wand, he knew playtime was over.
The Killing Curse. He didn't dare try to tank that yet.
"Crucio!"
Killing wasn't necessary, but incapacitating them was. So Owen felt absolutely no burden using Unforgivable Curses.
"ARGH!!!"
This Cruciatus Curse was particularly nasty; it hit one of the men right on the heel. That's the beauty of the Cruciatus Curse—it doesn't need to hit a vital spot. As long as it connects, the pain is never discounted.
"Run!"
Four against one, and one of them got taken down instantly. The poachers finally realized something was wrong. But when they tried to Apparate away, they found the spell worked, but nothing happened.
"Anti-Apparition Jinx? When did..."
"The moment I found you," Owen's voice came from high above. He had already flown up a tree. Meanwhile, another poacher who had gone to help the Cruciatus victim was now lying on the ground, silenced before he could even scream.
He hadn't been hit by magic. Owen had seized the opportunity to close the distance and delivered a full-force right hook to the jaw...
Magical plus physical damage, maxed out!
They couldn't fight anymore. With two men down, the remaining poachers lost their nerve. Without needing to discuss it, they split up to run left and right. But the one running right turned only to stare into a pair of glowing purple cat eyes, instantly falling into an illusion. Meanwhile, Owen flicked his wand, transfiguring a rock into a bear trap that clamped onto the other man's leg.
Just as the trapped poacher prepared to cast a counter-curse, a white streak plummeted from the sky. Whitey landed directly on the man's face. Heavy impact plus acceleration due to gravity... he probably ended up being the most severely injured of the bunch.