After bidding farewell to Tonks, Adrian continued his journey toward Bart's location.
He wasn't particularly worried about Tonks's safety—after all, she was a trainee Auror who had endured several grueling years of rigorous magical combat training.
At least within the depths of the Forbidden Forest, no ordinary person or creature could pose a serious threat to her abilities, unless she was truly cursed with misfortune enough to cross paths with Black.
The familiar scents of moss and damp earth filled Adrian's nostrils as he crossed the zigzagging forest paths.
"Master! Bart has been anxiously waiting for your arrival since a long time!"
As soon as Adrian stepped into the moonlit forest clearing, Bart's ecstatic voice echoed from across the glade, carrying joy and relief.
"I took some unexpected time on the road," Adrian replied warmly, quickening his pace as he approached Bart. Following his usual routine, he released restrained waves of his concentrated magical power into the surrounding atmosphere.
The moment Bart's extensive root network detected the familiar, intoxicating essence of the Mutation Factors, his countless branches began to tremble with excitement, swaying like an enthusiastic child witnessing their beloved parents' long-awaited homecoming after months of separation.
[Status: Growing (75%)]
After the Tree of Wisdom transmitted Bart's current developmental information directly into Adrian's consciousness, he nodded with deep satisfaction, and a pleased smile appeared across his face.
At this remarkably accelerated pace of growth, Bart's evolution would inevitably progress into the next transformative stage within few weeks.
"Oh, that's absolutely right, Master! Bart nearly forgot to mention something," Bart's voice had a tone of sudden remembrance, his bark face turning into an expression of happiness. "Bart made a friend some time ago."
Adrian raised a curious eyebrow, his interest genuinely piqued by this surprising revelation. "Who exactly is your mysterious friend?"
"A human, much like Master," Bart's numerous branches swayed with innocent enthusiasm, rustling softly in the gentle night breeze. "He has Dark hair, and is rather small in size, and is a good person."
Hearing this somewhat vague description, Adrian paused thoughtfully for a moment.
Although Bart's physical description of the mysterious visitor wasn't particularly distinctive or detailed, who else could possibly appear wandering through these dangerous depths of the Forbidden Forest during such a time?
The answer seemed increasingly obvious—it was most likely the escaped convict, Sirius Black.
Adrian's eyes thoughtfully surveyed the surroundings, and indeed, he discovered several sets of blurred but distinctly human footprints on forest soil.
"Bart, does your 'friend' happen to look like this person?"
Adrian's voice took on a more serious tone as he retrieved a piece of parchment from his inner robes and held it in front of Bart. The moment Bart's attention focused on the parchment, a portrait of Sirius Black was on its surface.
Bart squinted at Black's portrait, seemingly trying hard to recognize him.
Finally, after nearly half a minute of careful consideration and comparison, Bart suddenly exclaimed with explosive excitement. "Yes! That's definitely him! Bart's friend is exactly that person!"
Adrian's facial expression immediately transformed into something strange and contemplative.
So, Bart's mysterious friend truly was Black—what an absolutely fascinating coincidence this had become.
"When exactly did your friend last pay you a visit?" Adrian inquired with a smile. "I find myself quite eager to meet this intriguing friend of yours as well."
"When?" Bart pondered the question for several seconds, then responded with cheerfulness. "Just a few days ago. Does Master truly wish to meet Bart's friend too? Bart would be absolutely delighted to tell him about Master's interest!"
"Oh, no rush," Adrian waved his hand dismissively, though his mind was already forming complex plans. "We can certainly afford to wait patiently until your friend chooses to appear again."
Meanwhile, deep within the heart of the Forbidden Forest.
Tonks walked on the soft fallen leaves, the tip of her wand glowing with faint light.
Honestly, although she had ventured into the outer edges of the Forbidden Forest several times during her adventurous school days at Hogwarts, this was her very first expedition into such dangerously deeper depths where few had ever dared to step.
She couldn't entirely suppress the thrilling excitement that coursed through her veins.
Of course, she certainly wasn't venturing so recklessly deep into this notorious forest simply to satisfy her insatiable curiosity about its darkest secrets.
No, absolutely not—such frivolous motivations were beneath a professional Auror.
She was purely and professionally searching for the dangerous criminal who was allegedly hiding somewhere within these depths, and she was tracking him down.
Tonks continued to deceive herself with these noble justifications while steadily walking toward the approximate direction from which the haunting, howling had came earlier.
After walking cautiously for approximately five tension-filled minutes through increasingly dense vegetation—
"Awoooooo—"
Another bone-chilling howl pierced the night air, far more powerful and menacing than before.
However, this time the unmistakable source of the terrifying howling was coming almost directly ahead of her current position.
She froze completely in place, her blood turning to ice, as an absolutely massive werewolf stood menacingly not far ahead on the narrow forest path. Under the silver moonlight streaming through the canopy, those golden eyes stared directly at her with intelligence, seeming to peer straight into her very soul.
Moreover, three or four ordinary wolves had emerged from the surrounding shadows to surround their supernatural pack leader, their hackles raised and teeth gleaming wickedly.
"Uh... good evening?" Tonks managed to laugh dryly, though her voice showed her growing nervousness as her wand quietly slid into her suddenly trembling hand. "The weather certainly is quite pleasant tonight, wouldn't you agree?"
She had encountered and successfully dealt with werewolves during her previous training missions and naturally understood their danger and unpredictable ferocity.
However, she believed in her professional abilities to handle a single opponent—just as she had managed successfully in past confrontations.
As long as the werewolf standing in front of her made any clearly aggressive move toward her, she would immediately unleash the powerful defensive magic she had spent years mastering.
However, something completely unexpected and unprecedented occurred.
The werewolf didn't immediately pounce upon her with savage fury as she had anticipated, but instead released what sounded remarkably like a deeply weary human sigh.
"Good evening, miss," The werewolf's mouth moved, but an unmistakably cultured human voice emerged clearly from its throat. "Although I cannot understand why you have chosen to venture into this dangerous place, you should leave immediately for your own safety."
Tonks was momentarily stunned into complete silence. She could clearly observe genuine calmness and rational intelligence flickering within the werewolf's golden eyes—emotions that seemed utterly impossible in such a creature.
This particular werewolf had most certainly consumed Wolfsbane Potion before and showed absolutely no apparent intention of attacking anyone present.
"Who exactly are you?" Tonks asked tentatively, though she refused to lower the protective wand clutched tightly in her grip. "State your complete identity immediately. I am an officially authorized Auror representing the Ministry of Magic."
The werewolf—or rather, Remus nodded his massive head slightly in acknowledgment. "I am genuinely pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Auror. However, you truly should leave this place immediately. I have no desire to cause you any harm."
The moment his polite words concluded, the surrounding pack of ordinary wolves suddenly bared their sharp teeth and pressed forward aggressively, menacing growls rumbling from deep within their throats.
"Alright, I'm leaving right now!"
Tonks began to move slowly backward, maintaining careful distance from the increasingly agitated pack while never turning her back on the potential threat.
She understood instinctively that she shouldn't remain in this precarious situation any longer. Unless absolutely necessary for her mission, she had no desire to face an enraged werewolf in single combat.
Just then, something absolutely astonishing and impossible happened in front of her disbelieving eyes.
Remus suddenly bent over double in apparent agony and began to transform violently under the brilliant silver moonlight writhing uncontrollably.
His thick, coarse fur gradually receded back into his skin, his deadly claws slowly retracted into normal fingernails, and he finally returned to his naturally haggard but unmistakably gentle human appearance.
"What in Merlin's name is happening to me?!"
Remus stared at his perfectly normal human hands in complete disbelief, turning them over repeatedly as if to confirm their reality.
He had simply been concentrating on returning to human form within his conscious mind, and unexpectedly, impossibly, it had actually worked—he had truly transformed back into completely human form during the full moon.
"Worthy of you, Adrian," Remus thought to himself with admiration and gratitude.
Earlier that day, he had consumed the new version of purification potion that Adrian had personally developed and given to him.
Now it seemed this was the miraculous effect of that experimental potion—he could maintain normal human form even during the night of the full moon's peak power.
Moreover, he experienced a strange, unprecedented sensation that as long as he consciously willed it, he could transform back into werewolf form at any moment of his choosing.
Tonks stared at this impossible scene in complete amazement. "You are..."
Recognizing his exposed situation, Remus immediately raised his sleeve to cover his face, hoping desperately to maintain his anonymity.
He had almost forgotten there was another person present as a witness—he absolutely could not risk exposing his true identity to Ministry officials.
Unfortunately, his reaction came far too late.
Tonks slowly lowered her wand and spoke with genuine incredulity in her every word. "Professor Lupin? Is that really you? You're actually a werewolf?"
Remus helplessly lowered his concealing hand, revealing his familiar, haggard face to her recognizing gaze.
He immediately recognized Tonks because he had encountered this particular female Auror in the school corridor earlier that morning.
At the time, he had been in casual conversation with Professor Sprout, and their discussion had naturally turned to former students, including Tonks.
Tonks had always been one of the students Professor Sprout cared about most deeply.
"If you have any desire to avoid being savagely bitten by an uncontrolled werewolf," Remus's previously gentle voice gradually became hoarse and unnaturally deep, "leave this place immediately and never return..."
The moment his warning concluded, his human body began to writhe and convulse violently once again.
His bones produced hair-raising cracking sounds that echoed through the forest, and his face, which had just returned to familiar human form, was once again rapidly covered with thick, coarse wolf fur.
In one terrifying instant, the gentle, beloved professor had transformed back into the fearsome, predatory werewolf of legend.
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