The Old Ones of Hogwarts

Chapter 47: Stay Away from Conspiracy Theories!

The path meanders.

The setting sun shone through the treetops, casting dappled light on the bluestone slabs, draping the path leading to Hogwarts in a golden-red veil.

end of the road.

The majestic castle seemed to stand tall on the horizon.

"You cunning brat, how dare you treat that girl like a servant? Do you even know who she is?" Snape seemed to have been watching what was happening behind him the whole time.

Seeing Ian jog up to his side, he, who had originally planned to ignore Ian the whole way, couldn't help but speak up and remind Ian.

"What servant? This is clearly a voluntary help from a good friend!" Ian corrected Snape, raising his voice slightly at the end.

"I think you're courting death!"

Snape couldn't stand it any longer, so he turned and walked towards Aurora, who was seven or eight meters behind, and tried to take the suitcase that belonged to Ian from her hands.

"What are you going to do?"

Unexpectedly, Aurora hid her suitcase behind her back, dodging Snape's outstretched hand. She even looked at Snape with a wary gaze.

"..."

Snape was utterly speechless.

His wrinkled face twitched twice.

The hand that was hanging in the air seemed to be angry, so it suddenly flicked its sleeve and quickly walked back, directly past Ian and heading into the depths of the dense forest without looking back.

"I'll treat you to a special meal made by a house-elf later."

Ian stood still, and after Aurora walked over, he immediately made a solemn promise.

Aurora did not respond.

Walking side by side with Ian.

He was dragging a suitcase along the rough path with one hand.

"I don't know if this thing is edible."

Ian saw a vine by the roadside laden with large fruits. He hesitated for a moment, then ran over, picked one, and carefully took a bite.

Those with an Eastern soul seem to always have a curiosity about good food.

"It's so sweet, would you like to try some?"

Ian handed the uneaten side to Aurora.

"..."

Aurora remained silent.

"It's really sweet."

Ian continued to push the sale.

Looking at Ian's face, which was somewhat distorted, Aurora, who usually had good emotional control, finally couldn't hold back anymore. She sighed and responded helplessly.

"This is called tart berry, and it's the main ingredient in acidifiers."

obviously.

Germanic girls must have had considerable knowledge of herbalism.

"Even a dog wouldn't eat this." Ian was disappointed when his little trick failed, and he threw away the fruit in his hand with great disdain.

"But you ate it, and you even tried to trick me into eating it."

Aurora's tone remained calm as always.

"I wanted to share both joy and sorrow with you, how can that be called deception..."

This time it was Ian's turn to remain silent.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Fortunately, this eerie silence did not last long. The two followed Snape through the narrow path in the dense forest, and suddenly the path opened up into a bright and open space ahead.

A huge lake came into view.

The black lake surface had some ripples, and the afterglow of the setting sun could not penetrate it, making it impossible to see what was hidden in the lake.

Black Lake.

One of the famous attractions at Hogwarts.

In front of it.

The ancient castle stands majestically in the mountains, with countless corner towers and high towers.

"It's so beautiful."

Ian gazed at the scene before him with a mixture of excitement and anticipation.

"It is indeed much more magnificent than the illustrations in the book."

Aurora's gaze lingered on the castle for a long time.

"Hogwarts: A History of the School?"

Ian took his suitcase from the girl. He noticed that her arm was trembling slightly, perhaps from exerting too much force on the way.

"It's 'The Rise and Fall of Hogwarts'."

Aurora put her free hand behind her back.

Just then.

"Wait here. The students on the school bus will be here soon. You two will take the boat to school with them." Snape gave Aurora a deep look.

He glared at Ian again with a warning look.

"Can't you just take us in?"

Ian felt the temperature was dropping, and it might even rain.

"That's the rule."

Snape gave a cold reply, and then his entire body turned into a wisp of gray smoke, which, in Ian's eyes, shot towards Hogwarts Castle like a rocket.

"Ugh, what kind of ridiculous rules are these?"

Ian squatted down by the lake, dipped his hand into the icy water, and stirred it around, somewhat bored.

"The four founders of Hogwarts sailed across the lake to establish it." Aurora also walked to the side of the Black Lake, her heterochromatic eyes staring at the water as if searching for something.

Ian seemed to be deep in thought, and after a moment he suddenly realized, "Maybe the rules were set by Slytherin. He got seasick himself and wanted everyone else to get seasick too."

Upon hearing this...

Aurora tilted her head and looked at the boy who was still stirring the lake water.

"I don't think such a powerful wizard would have such childish and perverse tastes as you." She kept dragging her luggage, and who knows how much forbidden knowledge was inside.

"You don't understand, some men are petty until they die."

Ian suddenly felt his fingers, which were inserted into the lake water, tighten. He quickly pulled his fingers out and saw that a small squid was wrapped around them.

"Giant squid baby."

Aurora sounded somewhat surprised.

"Not a mermaid baby, bad review." Ian flicked his finger, sending the little squid back into the lake. He then took out a tissue to wipe the slime off his hands.

"This lake is inhabited only by the Scottish Loch Ness, and both the cubs and adults have rather ugly appearances. I don't think you'd want to encounter one."

Aurora also reached out her hand, trying to fish out a baby giant squid from the lake, but even after she had her hand in the lake for a long time, no baby giant squid took the bait.

Perhaps out of boredom, she also started paddling in the lake, just like Ian.

"The day we killed that dark wizard together, Dumbledore approved my application to study at university," Aurora suddenly said.

"Hiss~"

Ian gasped, "Didn't you kill him?"

Aurora turned her head to look at him.

"They're all the same."

After a slight hesitation, Aurora unusually added a supplementary explanation to her concise statement, "I just acted before you."

She had clearly noticed Ian's behavior that day as well.

"Let's talk about enrollment. Why did you suddenly bring this up?" Ian observed the dense forest behind him, waiting for the new students to arrive.

"Kraft said that this tactic of giving you hope at the last moment is a trick that Dumbledore often used." Aurora's gaze remained fixed on the splashes of water in the lake.

"You need to be careful, he's better at manipulating people than my grandfather..." Her heterochromatic eyes flickered, clearly indicating the constant fluctuations in her emotions.

"Your idea is a bit too conspiratorial."

"Of course, it's always better to be cautious."

Ian did not deny the danger Dumbledore posed to students of the Dark Arts, but after several encounters, he still held a relatively positive view of his headmaster.

Honestly speaking.

Let's switch roles.

As the most powerful wizard of the 20th century, Ian felt that if he were in the same situation, he might not be able to resist the urge to stop eating beef.

Self-control.

That's actually the reason why Dumbledore is so great.

"Perhaps."

Aurora remained noncommittal.

"They're here."

The girl, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, suddenly spoke.

"What's here?"

Ian had barely finished speaking when...

Behind.

A series of noisy commotions followed.

The half-giant led a group of curious and apprehensive young wizards through the dense forest.