Being a passerby in HP female protagonist fanfiction

Chapter 74 Tracking

One thing is clear to me: I cannot go directly to the Forbidden Forest under any circumstances.

Whether it's for themselves, for Neville, or for Hufflepuff.

I couldn't think of a perfect solution on the spot, so I had to take a gamble and at least not hurt the other Hufflepuff classmates. As for those suspicious points... well, I don't believe it. Even if they find out, what can they do to me? Besides, they might not even find out.

Whenever you want to break the rules, you should consider the possible consequences.

Either you successfully deceive them, or you are noticed by Voldemort or Dumbledore. If you succeed, act as if nothing happened. If you are discovered by Voldemort, join Willow's camp cleanly and neatly. If you are discovered by Dumbledore, say that you had a precognitive dream and join the Order of the Phoenix. If both discover you, place your bets on both sides.

Thinking about it this way... it doesn't seem like such a big deal?

Both lead to a glorious future of defeating Voldemort, so how can it not be considered a good ending?

As for the possibility of me being killed by Voldemort, it shouldn't be that soon that I'll be playing a murder mystery game... How about I take a gamble and see if I can outlast Voldemort in his weakened state?

Hey, I'm fighting Voldemort? Really?

Okay, the result is clear, the process is clear, I'm going to go now.

It's not curfew yet, still a little while away. When did Harry and the others go to the Forbidden Forest? Damn it, I can't remember. Who's so kind as to remember so clearly...? I quickly came up with a plan.

First, take Neville's wand.

Me: "Excuse me, I'll go find Neville now. I also want to see Hermione."

"Uh." The fat monk was a little confused, staring blankly at my rapidly receding figure. "Why were you in such a hurry?"

I estimated the time in my mind.

It's not curfew yet, let's go to the Gryffindor common room and take a gamble, see if we can find Neville...

I couldn't show obvious anxiety. If there were people around, I would walk quickly; if there were no people, I would run. When I got to Madam Fat, I was panting heavily, but there was no need to hide that.

“Hello, Your Excellency.” I tapped the picture frame gently. “I am Claire from Hufflepuff. Have you seen Neville and Hermione go out? I found some of Neville’s things and was worried he might be anxious to come looking for him.”

The fat lady was pleased; she readily obliged Hufflepuff, who clearly respected her, by telling me that the three of them had just left.

"It seems like he was put in solitary confinement..." the fat lady thought for a moment.

“Yes, I understand. Thank you, Madam. I was worried I might be bothering you,” I said, offering a fitting compliment. “However, you are clearly a very kind and patient person. May I ask you for a favor? If you see the Gryffindor prefect, could you tell him I found Neville’s wand?”

“Neville and the others seem to have gone to Mr. Hagrid’s house. It might be difficult without a wand…” I said. “I’m a little hesitant about whether to send him the wand.”

"Oh, of course, no problem." The plump lady readily agreed. She thought the little girl in front of her spoke very nicely and was pleasing to the eye. She even felt a little tempted to sing.

I continued to estimate in my mind that I might be able to make it if I left, so after thanking them, I decisively turned around and ran away.

Thank you, Madam Fat. I'll come to hear you sing again next time.

I walk with a brisk pace, thinking as I go.

Let me remember... what else was there...?

By the way, Professor Sprout told me this morning that she's going to be tending to some herbs in the greenhouse that only bloom at night.

The exact time was actually midnight.

So she estimated that in the greenhouse, I would need to get a professor's consent or knowledge. What if I ran into Filch? It wouldn't be a problem for me, but what if it implicated Hufflepuff?

The icy wind lashed haphazardly across my face... Let's not get into jokes now. I sprinted forward, pulled out my wand, and started flashing it with fluorescent light.

Luckily, I was prepared and always carry two wands with me, otherwise I wouldn't have dared to act recklessly. Having a cheat wand in hand definitely gives me a greater sense of security.

Great! The greenhouse was lit up, and Professor Sprout was inside. I rushed in right on time, looking very anxious.

"What's wrong? Claire, what brings you here?" Professor Sprout asked in surprise. "So late, has something happened?"

“Dean.” I said with a slightly worried expression, “I’m sorry to bother you. It’s like this, I found Neville’s wand from the fat monk. I was going to go to the Gryffindor common room to get it from Neville, but I heard that they went to Mr. Filch’s place for solitary confinement.”

I almost wiped my face, paused appropriately, and hesitated before saying, "I'm worried about them. Neville doesn't have his wand anymore; I wonder if he'll get a severe scolding during his time-out tonight."

"I heard from the fat lady that they just arrived, and I was wondering if I could catch up with them and give the wand to Neville," I said, quite frankly, "but it's getting late, and I'm afraid of accidentally losing points..."

"So I came to ask you, Dean, if I could go see Neville." I said quickly, trying to make my words more credible. Luckily, it was Professor Sprout, who was easier to talk to.

“I see…” Professor Sprout was very understanding, but she also cared about student safety and hesitated.

"Don't worry, Dean, the furthest I'll go is Mr. Hagrid's house. If I can't find it, I'll go back right away." I quickly added, "I know I can return it to Neville tomorrow, but the wand is a very important thing, and I think Neville will be very anxious all day... If possible, it's better to avoid him being anxious for one night."

“After all, spending a day like this must be very uncomfortable…” My voice trailed off as I stared longingly at Professor Sprout.

"Alright then, be careful." Professor Sprout softened; she was very empathetic and understood the feelings I was expressing. She even smiled. "Claire is indeed a good girl."

Damn it, she's so gentle. I actually fooled her. I feel a little ashamed... No, I've always been a good kid, haven't I?

I quickly adjusted my mindset, thanked them, and left the greenhouse with a clear goal in mind—Hagrid's cabin!

If I can catch up with them, that would be best; if not... I made up my mind and gripped my handbag tightly.

Luckily, I'm used to carrying small bottles of potions when I go out. I used spells to protect them in my bag and reduce their weight. I also put the snacks in the same way, but unfortunately, there weren't many. I put three bottles of external injury potion, two bottles of waking potion, and one shrinking potion in the smallest bottle... I prepared them with the minimum dosage just in case. If I wasn't going back to my dorm, I probably wouldn't have put them in my bag.

Thank you for being prepared!

Amen.

This was the first time in my life I had run so fast. Hagrid's cabin was dark and deserted—I missed it.

As I quickly circled Hagrid's house, I mentally prepared my plan: I thought something had happened to Hagrid and the others, that I heard someone calling for help, and that I was worried Neville, who didn't have a wand, might be in danger, so I followed the footprints to find them.

I stomped my feet hard on a patch of ground a few more times. It had been raining a bit these past few days, so the soil was very moist. The messy footprints were very obvious, showing that I had indeed explored the area. Then I ran towards the forbidden forest without stopping.

The advantage of doing this is that I won't cause Hufflepuff to lose points. Hogwarts' point deduction rules are biased towards subjectivity. Under the good premise of wanting to save someone, I won't lose points. The question is why I didn't go to the teacher, or how dare I enter the Forbidden Forest... I can directly say that I was overly worried, or that I was out of my mind, that the situation was urgent and I couldn't wait, or that I didn't know the Forbidden Forest was so dangerous.

Great, I have an excuse. I've already wasted a lot of time, so I rushed in, eager to unleash the spirit I had for the 800-meter run in my middle school entrance exam. At first, there were indeed footprints, but as I went deeper, all traces were quietly covered up.

How do I determine the direction?

I gripped my cheat wand and cast a summoning spell.

"A unicorn hair flew in."

There was no response, so I continued to explore and move forward, casting a flying spell every few dozen meters.

Finally, for the third time, a small tuft of unicorn hair flew in from one direction.

I kept adjusting my direction until I saw the unicorn's silver blood.

Luckily, I saw unicorn fur at the potion shop.

I took a deep breath and walked expressionlessly toward the center of the Forbidden Forest.

------

small theater:

Claire (hands on hips): Now I'll show you the results of my year of magical research!

It was so bright it was almost blinding!