HP Midnight Light

About the Author

Erica Wood (1999-), British biographer, scholar, and member of the European Association for the Study of the History of Magic.After graduating from Ravenclaw College of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 2016, he has been working at the Bathilda Bagshot Research Center for the History of Magic. His main field is the development history of modern pure-blood families.

Ms. Wood's articles and reviews have been widely discussed in the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler, and her book, Blake—The Noble Demise, has been a bestseller since its publication.In addition to research and writing, Ms. Wood also serves as a senior advisor to OWLs. In 2027, Ms. Wood was invited to be a member of the History of Magic Advanced Level Examination Committee under the NEWTs Examination Development Committee.

前言

When I sat in a History of Magic classroom in 1965 and listened to Professor Binns speak in a dull, flat tone about the origins of the history of magic, I had no idea that I would devote myself to this boring subject a few years later.At that time, the name of "Voldemort" had just started, and people regarded this dark wizard who claimed to be the Duke of Darkness as a joke rather than a threat. The public believed that the Ministry of Magic would soon wipe out this group of mobs.It wasn't until three years later, when the power of "Voldemort" sent shudders through the Ministry of Magic, that people belatedly realized that they were wrong.

I used to regret the long-standing neglect of the importance of the history of magic, students scribbling goblin rebellions, the invention of a certain spell, without really thinking about what was behind it.The same thing is happening in Europe, where young people are not even familiar with the name "Gellert Grindelwald". They think that the dark age is over, but they don't know that it will continue to repeat itself.If people read the history books, they will find that whether it is Riddle or Grindelwald, they are not the first dark wizard in history, and they will not be the last.What we forget today is what our ancestors conquered, and what we ignore will be what our descendants fear—such is the cycle of history.

In April 2026, Miss Erica Wood broke into my office with a whimsical request.She wanted my permission to write a biography of a man whose life and death were unknown, and for which she was willing to quit writing Hogwarts: The Beginning and the End.It's an absurd choice for either a history of magic researcher or a biographer.In the face of my question, Erica gave me the answer:

"She's real, not just a name."

The man who caught Miss Wood's attention was Hyacinth Rodwhite, who was born in 1961 and died in 1998.Like the other 55 people, Hyacinth died in the defense of Hogwarts, but unlike them, her name was not clearly recorded.

This is where the mystery ends, and its beginning is far, far away.

I first met Miss White in 1977 as a staff member of the Ministry of Magic.She is a shy but assertive child, unobtrusive and yet special.Even so, I would have laughed it off if I had been told she would be the subject of a biography years later and be known for it.No biography will focus on an unknown person, from ancient times to the present.

In 1993, I reunited with Hyacinth by chance.She was sitting on the sofa playing with the charms on the bracelet, with a strange frivolity and laziness.Although I still insist on calling her "Miss White", if it weren't for the occasional trace of melancholy in her eyebrows, I would never connect Mrs. Parkinson with Miss White more than ten years ago.

Mrs. Parkinson was not thought highly of by people in social circles in the past.She is a legend who turns from a sparrow into a phoenix, and is generally regarded as a shallow, arrogant and self-righteous woman.Mrs. Parkinson is said to be fond of jewellery, fashion and beauty potions, and for this reason she is willing to throw her husband's family fortune into those endless night parties, in order to reap others, true or false. envy and jealousy.

After being separated for many years, I don't know what made her grow into another person. The accidental reunion in 1993 was the last time I heard from her in my life. Then some rumors, both true and false, spread to my ears, but Hyacins herself was never heard from again.I didn't deliberately keep in touch with her. After all, I had only a casual acquaintance with "Miss White" in the past, and only once with "Mrs. Parkinson" later.

In September 2026, Erica asked me to help her apply for special assistance from the Ministry of Magic.She also brought the collected information for me to review.It was only then that I really believed that those rumors were not false, that some things were true, but they were so outrageous that the listeners could not believe them.

Miss Wood gave me a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude at the same time as the sample booklet, which runs through the life of Hyacinth in her story.I don't know whether Hyacinth was in the same state of mind when she closed the book for the last time as she was when she first turned through it many years ago, just as I don't know what it was when she faced the brightly lit banquet at Parkinson Manor later. Laugh at yourself, or accept your fate.

One hundred years of silence, one hundred years of loneliness.There is never just one such story.

The publication of this book coincides with the [-]th anniversary of the end of the second war against Tom Riddle. May they all live happily in another world.

Spencer Barnold

April 2018 at the Bathilda Bagshot Research Center

----------

1975