Witcher at Hogwarts

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As Ethan approached the massive tree, he sensed something distinctly wrong.

Some roots no longer resembled ordinary tree roots; instead, they looked like twisted blood vessels.

They were a dark, sinister red, plunging deep into the soil, and within them pulsed a thick, dark liquid.

Ethan moved closer, observing everything with cautious intensity. Even Gaga, usually oblivious to tension, seemed to feel the unease, her usual confidence replaced by a wary restraint.

The nearer they came to the tree, the more the roots grew—spreading like a tangled, net carpet where ordinary roots should have been.

These blood vessel-like roots seemed to converge in one direction, drawing them forward.

"Gaga feels so bad!"

Gaga whispered to Ethan, her voice unexpectedly shifting into the sound of a little girl's—a helpless tone that added an eerie chill.

It would be like a frightened child asking Ethan for help if he hadn't known that the plea came from the enormous three-meter-high mountain spirit, Gaga, which only added to the unsettling atmosphere.

But Ethan's focus had already shifted. He knew that beings like Gaga were formed purely by nature and were deeply attuned to black magic.

The fact that Gaga felt uncomfortable confirmed that powerful magic lay ahead.

Keeping this to himself to avoid frightening her, Ethan led Gaga toward the end of the bloody roots. They ended abruptly at the colossal trunk of the tree. Its scale was overwhelming up close—the trunk spanned at least twenty meters across.

The tree was wrapped in thick vines, stretching high into the darkness. Its upper reaches were so dense that Ethan couldn't make out the cave's ceiling above. Yet, for all its lushness, the tree felt strangely lifeless, as if drained of vitality.

His witcher pendant vibrated—a clear sign that black magic lingered here. Ethan circled the tree, eventually stopping where the vibration was strongest.

There, he pressed the Eye of Nehaleni to the bark. The bark trembled and faded away, revealing a hollow tree trunk entrance. Inside, the walls were layered with those vein-like roots, forming a bizarre, carpeted pathway.

With his heightened witcher senses, Ethan could hear a faint, rhythmic sound—like breathing—coming from deep within the hollow. Gaga tensed, her towering form shadowing Ethan as they stepped cautiously into the tree's depths.

At the root system's end lay a massive, transparent cocoon surrounded by roots. The cocoon seemed alive, beating like a heart, and Ethan could make out a faint silhouette within its cloudy surface.

Surveying the cave, he realized the cocoon was siphoning the tree's life, stealing its vitality to sustain whatever lay within. Nearby, a worn priest's robe lay discarded, hinting at a grim past.

This robe had clearly been worn for a long time. As Ethan touched it, it crumbled instantly into a cloud of dust.

"This thing is very, very evil," Gaga whispered in his ear.

Ethan's gaze shifted back to the strange cocoon. As he studied it closely, he noticed a stone platform beneath it, etched with a small trap that bore an identical mark to the Ouroboros ring on his hand.

Ethan frowned again. Throughout this entire commission, shadows of the Ouroboros organization—founded by Salazar Slytherin—seemed to linger.

He recalled the canine corpse he'd dissected earlier. Its mutated structure bore eerie traces of Slytherin's experiments in the Chamber of Secrets.

Some aspects even mimicked witcher mutations, as if this creature had been twisted into a weaponized hybrid through dark rituals.

The implication struck Ethan cold: this grotesque canine, warped and mutated, was kin to him in its origins. The discovery felt like a blasphemy.

It was clear now that the Ouroboros cult Slytherin had created hadn't been entirely vanquished by Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Instead, it had slipped underground, continuing its twisted experiments in secret. This monstrous canine was proof.

Ethan looked at the enormous cocoon and carefully aligned the Ouroboros ring with a groove in the stone platform.

The moment the ring made contact, the cocoon stirred, and the thick, vein-like roots began to contract. Then, with a series of sharp cracks, the cocoon shattered.

A rancid liquid poured out, carrying a body to the ground.

Ethan and Gaga recoiled from the stench and thick, smoky fumes as a man emerged, coughing violently, expelling the foul liquid from his lungs.

Ethan observed coldly, noting the man's appearance—Slavic features, towering, with long dark hair and a thick black beard stretching to his chest.

After a prolonged fit, the man stilled and took in his surroundings, his gaze finally resting on Ethan.

At first, the man was tense, his muscles coiled as if preparing for a fight. But his eyes caught the Ouroboros ring on Ethan's finger, and he visibly relaxed.

"You woke me up. Looks like you've seen everything?" he asked in a thick Russian accent.

Ethan nodded, allowing the man to believe he was a fellow member of Ouroboros. The man straightened, pulled a nearby vine, and flicked it into a black robe, which he draped over his shoulders with ease.

The man's presence was formidable—taller than Ethan and with a ruggedly handsome face. Then, he noticed Gaga standing nervously at the back of the cave.

"Why did you bring that clumsy creature in here?" he asked with a sneer, eyeing her disdainfully.

Gaga wilted under his gaze, her shoulders slumping as she looked down at her large feet, twisting her fingers, clearly hurt by his words.