Hogwarts Advanced Guide

Chapter 327 The residents of Gaunt's old house are really amazing!

Hera discovered the valley that Dumbledore said, and it was presented in front of him at a glance.Nestled between two steep hillsides was a village which Hera could easily make out as Little Hangleton, with the church and cemetery clearly visible.

On the hillside opposite the valley, there is a very grand mansion surrounded by a large green grassland.That was the Riddle Mansion, and Hera came here quite often.

To be honest, Hera found it hard to believe that Gaunt's old house was so close to Little Hangleton. He had passed by it several times, but he never stopped to observe it carefully.

Because the downhill road was too steep, Hera started to trot involuntarily. He took a big step. He walked forward along the path, and the path turned to the right. When he turned the corner, Hera stopped and looked around carefully.

Apparently, Gaunt's old house was hidden by magic, with the Muggle Repelling Charm cast on it, and a series of other less troublesome concealment spells.

The country road turned into a narrow dirt road lined with taller and thicker hedges than those Hera had just passed.The dirt road was winding, potholed, and full of rocks. It went down as steeply as the path just now, and seemed to lead to a small piece of dark woods below.

Although the sky was clear and cloudless, the old trees overhead cast cool, dark, dense shadows.Hera slowly took out his wand, and he had already walked to the bush along the dirt road. He held the wand and dabbled in the air. After a few seconds, a half-hidden house appeared in front of Hera's eyes among the tangled bushes.

No doubt it was an odd decision to choose this place for a house, or rather an odd decision to have those big trees growing next to the house, blocking all the light and the valley below.

Hera put down her wand, but did not put it back in her pocket, but held it carefully in her hand. He was in no hurry to enter Gaunt's old house, and God knew what dangers there might be.He didn't think Gaunt's old house had not even a little defensive charm.

You know, there are even defensive magic lines in Black's old house, even though they have lost their magic power over time.But Hera did not dare to take it lightly.

Hera looked carefully at the house, and walked all the way around it, and made these discoveries: the walls were covered with moss, many of the roof tiles were missing, and here and there the rafters were exposed.Nettles grew thickly all around the house, tall up to the windows, which were very small and packed with a thick layer of old grime.There was also a dead snake nailed to the door—only white bones remained, and it swayed from side to side in the breeze, looking very pitiful.

Anyone who comes here can tell that no one has lived here for a long time.

Hera gently pushed open the dilapidated wooden door, creaking, thick dust wrapped in a strange smell, Hera subconsciously covered her mouth and nose with her cuff to prevent herself from spitting it out.

As soon as he stepped into Gaunt's old house, the hairs all over Hera's body trembled subconsciously. He could keenly perceive that there must be some kind of magic here, but he couldn't say this feeling. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't recall it.

He moved his steps slowly, and it didn't take him long to turn around the house. There seemed to be three small rooms in this house. The large room in the middle was used as the kitchen and living room, and there were two doors leading to other rooms.The gloomy living room contained a dilapidated living room and a dirty armchair that didn't show its original colour.

"It's really weird." Hera murmured softly. He looked at the layout of the room and stopped in the living room to look around the death curse. He always felt that there seemed to be something wrong with the room here. There should be another room, and there should be another one.
"There is another person."

"Who's where!"

A voice sounded, and Hera instantly turned her head to look in the direction of the voice, and at the same time the wand was already aimed there.

"That's scary, come on, can you put down your little stick?" hissed a black snake, hanging from the ceiling with a big hole where it seemed to live.

Hera didn't dare to take it lightly, he also whispered in a hissing voice: "Why are you here?"

"Aha, me? Of course I'm here, this is my home." The black snake tried hard to put the snake's head in front of Hera, but it failed. The ceiling seemed to be unable to bear the force of its shaking, and another large piece fell, and it also hit the ground.

"Oh, it really hurts, boy, are you tired from coming here?" The black snake tried hard to crawl out of the sundries, which was not difficult. Gaunt's old house was a wooden house, and its beams had long been rotten. "Can you help me? Something seems to be holding my tail down."

Hera waved her wand lightly, and the thing that was pressing on the black snake flew to a corner beside her.

"Tell me, who else has been here?" Hera held the wand tightly. He was about two or three steps away from the black snake. This might not be a safe distance, but he had already retreated to the edge of the room.

"Who else has been here, I have to think about it." The black snake rubbed against a tapestry, as if it was very dissatisfied with the dust on its body, which greatly affected its image, "Oh! No, a piece of wood was stuck in my tail, and such a big piece of wood actually entered my body!"

Hera looked along the head of the black snake, and it took a long time to see a sawdust about the size of a toothpick tightening the black snake's body.This is obviously not dangerous, but the black snake was muttering in a fuss, and it looked extremely angry.

Then it made a request that left Hera speechless.

"Hey, human wizard, can you help me suck out that wooden thorn?" Black Snake still seemed a little shy.

"Impossible." Hera replied coldly, not to mention how weird it is to suck the tail of a poisonous snake, just because its origin and the position of the enemy and the enemy are not clear, Hera would never let herself take such a big risk.

"You're such a bad boy, suck it out for me, okay? It hurts!" Black Snake coquettishly hissed, even though its voice only sounded creepy.

"Can't you do it yourself? I think you can easily touch your tail with your head." Hera said indifferently, while clenching the wand slightly firmly, ready to raise it and cast a curse at it at any time - if the black snake attacked him with shame, he could launch a counterattack at the first moment.

The black snake shook its head, its small snake face showed a humanized expression, it was distressed!Damn it, it's actually distressed!
"No, I have fangs, and I will hurt myself." As it said, it bared its teeth to show Hera. They were really two sharp fangs. Hera had no doubt that the five-centimeter fangs would give a fierce blow back to anyone who dared to attack it.

Hera ignored the black snake, and he slowly walked towards the other side of the room—that is, the door, "Do you know anything? About this house."

"Aha, you're right. I've spent several winters here, and every time autumn approaches, I'll come back here." The black snake boasted and talked endlessly, as if it was such a novelty to meet someone who could communicate with it.

This is definitely a novelty. Hera estimates that there are probably only three people left in the entire wizarding world who can communicate with snakes, namely himself, Voldemort and Harry.

God!What kind of strange way of classification is this? He was actually classified into the same category as Voldemort and Harry, which made him subconsciously feel a little uneasy.

"Well, to make a long story short, what's your name?" Hera had already reached the door, behind him was the dilapidated door, and he could escape from here whenever he wanted.

The black snake shook its tail and made a crackling sound, "Name? Oh, of course I have a name. What's my name? I must have a name." There was a thoughtful look on the black snake's face, which made Hera feel even more weird. It seemed to have no novelty about communicating with wizards. Could it be that it was left behind by the Gaunt family?Used to prevent others from entering their mansion?

"I remembered!" Black Snake's voice became joyful, but it didn't make people feel warm, "My name is Tom, and I was picked up by someone."

"Tom?" Hera repeated the name in a low voice. Hearing this name, the first thing he thought of was old Tom from the Leaky Cauldron—ah, it was Voldemort.Voldemort's original name was Tom Riddle, but what does this snake have to do with Voldemort?

Voldemort would not give a snake the same name as himself, and he already had a snake beside him-Nagini.

Black Snake started rambling about memories again, but this time Hera listened carefully, and even used a spell to transform a chair out, and he opened the door to let fresh air into the room.

"When I was very young, it was only a few tens of centimeters long. I still remember that it was a warm summer. A little girl—a very poor little girl. She was cooking in the kitchen. She had a father who bullied her and a brother who was crazy. Those two damn men nailed my lover to the door."

Hera turned her head and looked at the corner of the mouth of the snake bone nailed to the door twitched slightly.If he remembered correctly, and if the black snake hadn't lied, it should refer to Merope, Marvolo, and Morfin. They were all members of the Gaunt family, but they had been dead for about 50 years.

"That little girl was always talking to me secretly, letting me hide carefully in her closet, I remember like this, and then she would often chat with me, 'Oh, Tom, I really like you so much, if only I could be your wife.' Something like that, oh my god, how stupid she is, I'm a snake!"

"I don't deny that I like her very much. She is a distressing little girl, but I can't respond to her. I can only pretend that I don't understand what she is saying. After all, she is alone! What will other snakes think of me if they find out?"

Can this damn black snake's mind be normal?
Voldemort's life experience is obviously not a secret. The members of the Order of the Phoenix are basically clear about it. His mother Merope is obviously in love with the Muggle Tom Riddle of the nearby Little Hangleton. What does it have to do with this black snake?
"I'm notoriously handsome around here. In early summer, there are always a bunch of female snakes surrounding my territory. They are greedy for my body. It's obvious." Black Snake showed a reminiscing expression, and it seems that this is not the case now.

Hera looked up and down the black snake, and only then did he realize that the poisonous snake in front of him was very similar to his Animagus transformation, as if it was also a black mamba snake.

Black mambas are cannibals.

So, he said softly, "Maybe they just want to have a good meal before mating, after all, it's physical work."

"Don't interrupt me!" the black snake said violently, and at the same time it seemed to have forgotten the 'huge' wooden slag stuck in its tail.Hera raised his eyebrows, motioning for Black Snake to continue.

"Where did I just say that? Oh, yes, I'm the most popular snake in the neighborhood. When it's mating season, there are always a lot of little female snakes wandering around my territory. I can't understand what they are thinking - greedy my body."

"Yeah, they want to feast on your body." Hera still couldn't help complaining, this black snake or Tom is really too narcissistic.

"I said, don't interrupt me!" Tom was so angry that he even straightened up from the floor so that he was almost at eye level with the sitting Hera, hissing out his forked tongue.

"Okay, you continue, but I have to make a correction. You just mentioned Merope, that little girl." Hera said calmly. After a short exchange, he hardly doubted the black snake in front of him. It was just a chatterbox. The Gaunt family would only choose it to guard the mansion unless they were crazy.

"Oh, is her name Merope? I actually forgot her name." Tom sighed, and it fell limply to the ground, looking very listless. This is a very common state in Hogwarts—commonly known as broken love.

"Okay, the memories are almost there, it's time to talk about something serious, you have been here for so many years, have you seen any strange people?" Hera stood up and said coldly, with his back to the sun, which made Tom a little surprised.

"Human, can you change the direction? I don't like the sun. Your appearance makes my eyes hurt." The black snake swung its tail in front of the eyes, using it to block the dazzling sunlight.

"Answer my question." Hera took a big step to the side and left the door.

"It's so much better, really, believe me, who wants to see the sun if they can?"

(End of this chapter)