Weilan and the others emerged from the treehouse to see Hagrid standing guard outside, his eyes swollen like two Dragon eggs.
"Weilan!"
As soon as he stepped out, Hagrid hugged him tightly, making him feel like his ribs were about to snap.
"Oh, thank Merlin! I thought for sure this time you... Oh, thank Merlin, you came out safe again!"
"After you gave me that amulet to ward off Inferi, I kept wondering how you would escape from such a large number of Inferi."
"Oh, thank Merlin, you're all right, otherwise I would have blamed myself for the rest of my life..."
Hagrid was both crying and laughing, tears and snot smeared all over his face.
"Hagrid, don't be like this!" Madam Lupin quickly pulled Weilan out of his embrace. "Weilan needs a complete rest right now!"
"Yes, he needs rest... Sorry, I got too emotional."
Hagrid sniffled and returned the scale amulet to Weilan:
"Oh, right, here's this back. It worked really well; many Inferi actively avoided me when I went out."
Weilan took the amulet, put it in his pocket, and gently patted his somewhat muddled head.
Then, outside the ruins of the treehouse, the ground covered in wreckage came into his view.
The tragic House-elves, who had turned into Inferi after death, were now just piles of ash.
"By the way, Professor Dumbledore."
Everything else could wait until he caught his breath, but this one thing, he had to tell Dumbledore immediately:
"Those magic powders are used to create Inferi."
As he spoke, he felt Madam Lupin's hand, resting on his shoulder, tremble slightly.
"Therefore, cremation must be arranged immediately."
"The bodies of those who died from ingesting the magic powder must be cremated."
"I will arrange for someone to investigate this matter very soon," Professor Dumbledore asked him calmly. "Anything else?"
The tattered backpack was still on Weilan's shoulder; not long ago, Weilan had just put the Invisibility Cloak into it.
Inside, there was also a bottle of Night Vision Potion and a bottle of... memories.
"I might need to borrow your Pensieve, Professor Dumbledore."
"Alright." Professor Dumbledore nodded, then arranged for Hagrid, Madam Lupin, and Carson to take him away.
They walked out of the Forbidden Forest.
Weilan saw Hermione and Ron standing anxiously in front of Hagrid's hut, looking in their direction.
As soon as they saw Weilan emerge, they immediately ran towards him.
"We heard you ran into big trouble in there..."
Ron looked at Weilan's mud-covered body in shock.
"Very big trouble."
Weilan was tired: "Let me rest first; I'll tell all of you everything that happened."
Madam Lupin led Weilan towards the hospital wing.
Carson went to find more Aurors.
Once these Aurors arrived at Hogwarts, Hagrid would continue to guide them.
In the Hogwarts hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey carefully treated his scrapes and cuts.
She made Weilan drink a warm yellow, sweet-tasting potion and told him that it would prevent muscle soreness in a body that had been overexerted.
Under her meticulous care, Weilan placed all his important belongings from his backpack and pockets into the bottom drawer of the bedside table.
He discarded his dirty, tattered school robes, changed into clean hospital clothes, lay down on the comfortable bed, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
...
When he woke again, the view outside the window had changed from dusk to night.
Weilan didn't know what time it was.
His mouth was so dry it felt like it was on fire, so he got out of bed, wanting to find some water to drink.
He saw Madam Pomfrey dozing in a chair. Beside Madam Pomfrey, a young Auror was also resting with his eyes closed.
He was Auror William; he looked like he had only graduated from Hogwarts a few years ago, with brown curly hair and an oval face, still retaining the innocence of a student.
Weilan had seen him on the night the body was discovered.
At the hospital wing entrance, there was a tap that provided drinking water. Weilan didn't want to disturb them, so he took a cup himself to get some water.
"Ah—ha—"
William woke up and stretched with a big yawn.
"Huh? You're awake?"
William's words also woke Madam Pomfrey.
"What's wrong?" Madam Pomfrey asked Weilan with concern. "Hungry? Thirsty? Need to use the restroom?"
"I'm getting some water."
Weilan pointed to the cup in his hand.
"Then you're thirsty! Get back to bed quickly; you're very weak right now, and drinking cold raw water will give you a stomachache!"
Madam Pomfrey firmly sent him back to bed and poured him a steaming cup of juice.
"Professor Dumbledore said he would search the underground of that treehouse with the Aurors."
Weilan took a sip of juice and asked:
"What were the results of your search?"
"To be honest, that place is so large and empty, there's nothing much to find."
William shrugged and pouted:
"Professor Dumbledore did find a research notebook, which is quite valuable—he said he would study this notebook with you after Madam Pomfrey allows you to be discharged."
"Besides that, we found two passages in that underground space. One leads to the treehouse ruins, which is the passage we used to enter."
"The other leads to the other end of the Forbidden Forest. That Veela probably escaped through this passage. The Dementors also followed her."
"Other than that... Mr. Carson said he hopes to ask you for a statement tomorrow."
Weilan nodded in agreement.
He finished the juice and went back to bed to sleep.
He didn't wake up until the next morning, when Madam Pomfrey had prepared him a nutritious breakfast with eggs, milk, and vegetables.
Carson arrived just as Weilan finished breakfast.
William followed behind him with paper and pen, assisting Carson in recording his conversation with Weilan.
They obtained Madam Pomfrey's consent and Weilan's permission for Weilan to recount everything he had experienced in the Forbidden Forest, especially the part where he single-handedly dealt with Olena.
Weilan impartially and objectively recounted all the information Olena and Ailiudaila had told him.
When he spoke about being blocked by Ailiudaila, he heard William gasp.
When he spoke about realizing Ailiudaila was not an enemy, he heard William let out a long breath from his lungs.
When he spoke about Ailiudaila's Crucio taking effect and revealing his location, he saw William's face turn pale again.
When he spoke about using the canary cream to escape danger and survive, he saw the color return to William's face.
"That's truly brilliant, so clever!"
William slapped his thigh, praising Weilan:
"I'm only a few grades older than the Weasley twins; I used to buy prank items from them often!"
"Merlin's wig! Why didn't I ever think that those prank items could be used for such a great purpose!"
