cycle

Not discussing the topic of the Draco family with Hermione was a tacit agreement between the two of us without discussing it. We almost immediately started talking about my father's little black cover book, which was different from my thoughts. Hermione felt that what was recorded in it was dangerous - she felt that it was possible to study the theory, but was firmly opposed to actually trying it.

"Ingesting another person's mind—it's an invasion of privacy, very disrespectful," she kept repeating, apprehensive about my eagerness to put it into practice, "and it's magic on the brain, very Maybe messing up other people's brains and even messing up your own? It's too complicated, I admit that it's interesting Alice, but it's only on a theoretical level, and the knowledge involved in this notebook has never been touched by me. Never seen it in a book."

I'm glad I didn't show Hermione the rest of my dad's stuff I stole from the basement, or she'd probably immediately put my dad in the dark wizard category.Compared to spells that can leave irreparable scars (I don't want to tell you how I know, I was able to scrap five desks a summer in my prime until my mom confiscated 'hazardous items' and then stole them the next summer) , this Legilimency mantra seems to me to be extremely gentle, and its defense method is written on the back, but this defense method seems more obscure and difficult.

In some ways, I feel that I think differently from Hermione, and it should be said that I think differently from the mainstream wizarding community. It is difficult for me to understand why spells must be divided into "good" and "bad".In my opinion spells should be divided into "very useful" and "not very useful".In a letter to Hermione I wrote that I think spells are tools, and tools are neutral.Then Hermione explained to me in detail the horrible weapons in the Muggle world that can kill thousands of people in one fell swoop. She used this analogy to try to convince me that the regulation of black magic is necessary, because it is only used in extreme cases. To save lives, most of the time they can only cause harm.

I understood what she was thinking, and I knew I had a more dangerous tendency to think this way, but I couldn't resist the attraction of those old notes, which looked much more fun than textbooks.But I hardly used the spells recorded in those notes in school-except for the last time I used Shenfeng Wuying on Parkinson, and she deserved it.

"Neville! Tallus! Harry - look who it is!"

When we were queuing up to pick up water, we met three boys who looked a little downcast. All three of them had gray faces.Hermione raised her hand in greeting, apparently forgetting what had just happened.I saw Black whistled with a smile (several little witches around were watching him quietly, and boldly gestured directly to the female companion beside him) and pushed Potter towards us.

"Hey, Hermione! And Alice - we were just talking about whether we'd have a chance to see you before the game, mom won't let us run around, especially Neville." Harry held a huge The kettle kept wiping the ashes on his face with one hand, and said hello to us.

"Are you okay? You look like you just had an explosion." Hermione looked at them suspiciously.

"Someone volunteered to help his mother and blew up half of the tent." Blake shrugged his shoulders, not caring that there was still a lot of dust on his curly hair, "then we were kicked out. I was forced to promise not to go near the open flame."

"It's not that exaggerated." Neville explained nervously for Potter, "Harry just made a mistake."

"Yeah, it's like he'll always see the third step Snape wrote on the blackboard as the second step." Black stretched, half-closed his eyes and continued to tear down, "Even your best friend , buddy, I have to admit that you lack the necessary talent for following the rules."

"I heard such words from you. I almost thought you were pretending to be a curling iron that your mother brought all night." Potter muttered.

"Uh, no one was injured, right? Did the Muggles find out? If they are alarmed, they need to notify the Ministry of Magic to deal with it." The work of the past few days made me ask without thinking.

"No, no, dad waved his wand and everything went back to normal - he even thought it was kind of funny." Potter replied to me.

"It's no fun, Harry, it's very dangerous," Hermione corrected him, slightly reproachfully.

"That's why Auntie likes you so much, Hermione." Black said as he received the water. "She always feels that she needs someone to stand on her side."

"Oh, why did you take so long to pick up the water!" I just filled the teapot when I saw a beautiful witch in a Muggle dress but a wizard's robe as a coat walking towards us not far away. Come over, muttering: "I'm really worried that something will happen to you outside."

"Harry and the others are not children anymore." Mr. Potter who followed him said with a smile, "Fiona, you should relax."

"Your son just blew up half the tent, James, Neville's still here! How can we explain to Dumbledore if something happens—"

"Miss Alice!" Mr. Potter gave me a warm smile, of course, half of it was to divert his wife's attention, "We meet again."

"You were discharged from the hospital when I went to visit my mother before, and I haven't had time to congratulate you on your recovery." I greeted him politely.

"Did you like that owl?" Mr. Potter asked me eagerly. "I thought the other one was better, very imposing—"

"Of course girls need cute pets. Vivienne is the most docile relative." Mrs. Potter reached out and shook my hand. Although her eyes were gentle, she obviously looked me up and down, "You are Alice. , I finally saw it today, before I could only listen to Harry at home—”

"Mom!" Potter coughed a few times loudly, "Our water has been filled, we can go back, we are all hungry."

I carried the heavy water bottle and bid farewell to Potter and the others. Mrs. Potter held her son in one arm and Neville in the other, and Mr. Potter and Black were shoulder to shoulder.

"Isn't it normal for mom to be curious! The girl who can let you write a letter of guarantee that we won't receive Hogwarts complaints for a semester-that hairpin really matches her eyes, you and your father's aesthetics are exactly the same, Right James?"

"Honey, it's all been a long time ago..."

I saw Hermione covering her mouth and laughing all the time, so I could only lower my head and keep fiddling with my teapot, and almost turned the water out to wet my skirt.

"Mrs. Potter isn't a bad person," Hermione said to me on the way back. "She's very gentle, but sometimes, um... a little anxious, especially about Harry."

"How did Mrs. Potter know about the hairpin? Well, I don't seem to have told you about the hairpin, just—"

"I know, I gave him the idea of ​​sending it to your mother." Hermione covered her mouth and laughed again, "Of course Mrs. Potter knew about the hairpin. She auctioned off this hairpin for her private collection. Harry begged her for a long time, and she even promised not to violate any school rules for a semester before she agreed."

"I think the possibility of Merlin's resurrection is much greater than the possibility of Potter not violating any school rules for a semester." I felt a little hot when I heard her say this, and made an unnatural joke.

"You should have stopped him," I muttered. "It was inappropriate, and I ended up giving it back to him."

"Although I'm Harry's friend, this is his private matter," Hermione said pointedly. "There are some things I may not agree with or even understand from the bottom of my heart-but I will try my best to convince myself to respect it." .”

Our friendship has remained consistent for many years because we have always insisted on this sentence, and I later told my three children the same sentence, although they did not seem to be old enough to understand it. mean age.Even sometimes my husband and I quarrel over certain things that are difficult to agree on (it is rare for my husband to force me to remark here). I also thought of this sentence before softening my heart and not letting him sleep in the living room or Office of the Ministry of Magic.It is difficult for people to achieve unity of opinion forever—it would be better to say that eternal unity of opinion is terrible. Differences do not mean hysterical confrontation and tearing apart. We need more listening and understanding.

In the extremely warm atmosphere, even if you are not interested in Quidditch, you will feel excited-although from the beginning to the end, I only listened to Ludo Bagman repeating the names of the players in the rhythm of the goblin underground rap, They flew so fast, no wonder those peddlers selling binoculars on small carts at the entrance of the arena decided that if they didn’t use their binoculars, the experience of watching the game would be greatly reduced, after all, they could only watch fuzzy shadows flying around.

There was chaos in the second half of the game. My mother left the spectators and followed the people from the Department of Magic and Sports to try to maintain order. Trying to jump out of the seat onto the pitch, then being held back by his wife with a black face) was horrendous, but the grown-ups didn't seem surprised that violence and chaos are part of the Quidditch World Cup.

The high-pitched emotions did not stop with the end of the World Cup. Many wizards were drunk and sang the national anthem of their countries inarticulately, and some people waved their wands randomly to create some shining flames and patterns. Viktor Krum, the young and legendary Bulgarian Seeker, catches the Snitch despite being badly injured and bleeding.

"I don't feel very good." After sending me back to the tent, my mother frowned slightly and listened to the noise outside which did not weaken at all but became more and more boiling, "Liz, you stay here to rest and don't run around, Mom is going to find a chin Mr. Gehman or Mr. Crouch, they seem to be overexcited...."

I forget how I fell asleep vaguely while waiting for my mother to come back, I just remember hearing a loud bang and being woken up to hear screaming outside - I thought it was another round of celebration, But there was no joy in those voices, only panic and pleading.

I opened the curtain of the tent and saw the scariest scene I had ever seen at that time. Many people were shouting and pushing each other. There was a group of shining things moving slowly in the air, and there were faint and rough laughter coming from that direction. Come.I opened my mouth wide. That "thing" was neither fireworks nor patterns, but four people hanging upside down in the air. I couldn't see who they were, but they had no sense of resistance or even struggle.

Things quickly deteriorated, and everyone fell into chaos in the dark. I heard young children crying loudly, and there were constant apparition explosions coming from various places, making people confused whether it was the explosion or someone. The transfer, there are screams of pain and sharp accusations, and some people are calling out the names of their companions in panic.

A tent was on fire not far away. I forced myself to calm down and think about what I should do. It seemed unsafe to stay in the tent, but my mother told me not to run around—someone was crying, and the crying was very weak. What about the injured?

"Luminescence." I lit the tip of my wand, and carefully groped towards the source of the crying, "Hello, is there anyone? Do you need help?"

I was moving slowly as I was trying to remember which direction I was going through the trees along the way, but it was so difficult that when I dodged for the third time out of a few people who were shoving and swearing, I found myself I can't quite figure out where I am.Those laughter became even crazier, and the person suspended in the air began to rise and fall sharply, as if being thrown by a pair of hands.

"Hello?" I felt my hand holding the wand tremble, and my mind began to spin around the magic spell that could be used to protect myself. "I heard someone crying, do you need help? Do you have a wand?" ? Can you mark your location?"

A faint light finally floated not far away, trembling in the darkness.

"I see, I mean no harm." As I spoke, I extinguished my wand so that my position would not seem too obvious, and my mind uncomfortably twirled the possibility of this being some kind of trap, "Please don't Attack me? I'm here to help, and if you want to do something, I'll disarm your wand immediately."

"No, it won't." A weak female voice came from the light, "My foot is sprained, help me, if you are worried... I can give you my wand."

It is indeed easy to be injured here, the thick tree roots are directly exposed on the ground, and you will trip if you are not careful.I approached the voice carefully, and only after I saw a thin figure prostrate on the ground did I relight the tip of my wand.

"Greengrass?" I saw the girl's tear-stained, pale face that looked like she might pass out at any moment, "Astoria Greengrass? Why are you here? You shouldn't be talking to your parents or Draco together?"

"I, I can't find them." She handed me her wand, and I shook my head, motioning for her to take it herself, "Suddenly, it's all gone, Daddy, a lot of people—I'm scared, and people Fighting each other, I was trying to find a place to hide but—I was going here when I heard Mrs. Malfoy calling Draco, but I fell and it hurt—”

"Don't cry." I wiped her face with my sleeve carelessly, "I'm also a student at Hogwarts, although I'm a Gryffindor, but—"

"I know who you are, you are Professor Snape's daughter, Draco's good friend." She whispered.

"Yes, I don't know how to treat sprains - I will take you to find them, and I want to find my mother, she is one of the heads of the Department of Magical Sports, don't be afraid." I let her hold me Arms stood up, "I think someone drank too much..."

"It's terrible, are those Muggles..." Greenglass' tearful eyes reflected those people who were still in the air like puppets, "I don't understand, although adults Always say..."

"Now is not the time to express your opinion!" She is very thin, but it is not an easy weight for me. I also need to use my free hand to ensure that I can cast spells to protect the two of us at any time. I can't help it He said to her forcefully, "Pick up your wand, I need a little light source, not too strong—yes, it's good that we can see the path under our feet."

I should be gentle with her, Greenglass has never been in good health, she used to be dressed up like a delicate doll and sat among the grown-ups at Malfoy Manor.

"Do you still have an impression of which direction you came from?" I looked in despair at the almost identical forests around me.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember much." She apologized uncomfortably.

"We have to find some kind of sign, otherwise we may not know where we are until dawn." I asked her to carefully climb a tree stump so as not to fall, "I will make a mark here."

Greengrass gave a sudden horrified scream, and I jumped up at the sound, almost casting a jinx into the darkness.

"What's the matter?" I saw her eyes widen, almost fainting, "What—?"

There is no need for her to answer, a gigantic skeleton composed of countless emerald-green star-like things floats in the dark night, and a python slowly spits out from its mouth, like a skeleton's tongue, more like it is lying across everyone. The nightmare that I don't want to recall in my heart, the huge pattern slowly rises, like a flag, and like a cruel declaration.

"That's, that's his mark." Seeming to be nailed to her feet by fear, Greengrass murmured, "He, he..."

"Calm down!" I tried to grab her arm to let her walk with me, but my hands ached and I hated myself for having the strength of a girl.

"Listen to me, Astoria." I had to squat down and hold her face in my hands, "Look into my eyes, Astoria, that's just a sign, it doesn't mean anything, let's find the familiar one first Man, it's too dangerous for us two underage wizards right now - cheer up! Do you want to die in this place?"

"Okay." She nodded indiscriminately, tears rolled down, she wiped her face, "Let's go find, find Draco and the others."

In fact, I was also very scared. I raised my head to look at the skeleton still suspended in the air. I had a feeling that the boa constrictor was churning in my stomach. I didn't know where my mother was yet.She will definitely go to the most dangerous place to protect innocent people, in case the mysterious man is really there - even if he is not there, what should she do if she can't find me when she comes back, and I didn't leave a note for her.

"Go, hold on to me." I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, thankful that Greengrass couldn't see my face in the dark, "I will protect you, you called me sister, do you remember?"