【Zhou Jia】self-punisher.

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"Mylord..."

The hoarse voice seemed to come from the old man in the evening. The huge snake body entangled slid across the slightly cracked wooden floor, leaving a path of irregularly shaped oily water stains.If an unintentional passer-by passed by, the only thing heard was a hissing sound.The bright yellow snake eyes reflect the swaying flames in the middle of the kerosene lamp, and the head is raised to watch the mayfly creatures that are about to move in the darkness.

This cabin in the forest has only two rooms, but there are almost no furnishings on display, it looks empty and cold, and even the burning firewood in the fireplace does not add much warmth.The only high-backed chair in the center is covered with a soft blanket, and a man in a hood is sitting in the chair, lost in thought.Even in the occasion where it is absolutely impossible for the second person to appear, he still maintains the high-defense posture when he first appeared, and the magic wand in his hand reflects the cold light under the reflection of the fire.

Thirteen inches of fir, from the inner core of dragon heart tendons.

Without getting a response from the man, the giant snake crouched and lowered its high-spirited head, licking the man's shoe tip with its scarlet letter.The glass-ball-like snake's eyes flickered with light.A golden chain was hooked on the man's right hand, and the round pendant hanging from it swung back and forth like a pendulum.

"Naga."

Hearing the master's call, the giant snake stood up and hung its head in front of the man's knee in fear.It can't understand... what the master wants to do here, wandering in the forest covered with sky and sun every day like visiting an old friend.The unique smell of unicorns can always be smelled here, which makes it very disliked.But it didn't dare to disobey its master's will, and it didn't even have the guts to ask the master's plan.

No one can pry into the master's heart... If you speak rashly, it will be rejected by the master, and even lead to death.

"Bring the ring."

The ring... The Lurker matched the unfamiliar vocabulary with that small sparkling ring.It slid soundlessly across the ground and walked into the dirt under the cracked floor, and took out a tarnished black ring from the jewelry box hidden in the black water.It spat the ring carefully into the space in front of the toe of its master's shoe, then slid terrified into the shadows behind the high-backed chair.

It was the same as it had done countless times before... The master stood up from the chair, and the tip of the wand shone with a dazzling light that frightened him - a thousand times brighter than the fire.A deep mantra murmured from the master's voice as if praying, making the originally pure white luster mixed with the cool dark green color.The ring in the center of the magic vortex suddenly burst into the same violent light, and the reverse impact hit the right hand holding the wand, shaking the wand almost out of his hand in an instant.When the mist cleared, a plume of black smoke rose from the back of the man's rune-carved hand.

The strange atmosphere in the room made Naga squeeze himself even tighter, trying his best not to make any sound.Fortunately, the owner didn't pay much attention to its existence, but looked thoughtfully at the back of his hand which had recovered to its original state.He raised the ring with his wand, looking at the intricate patterns engraved on the surface of the metal ring.

"Time is running out. It has to be the child...it can only be him. Naga, put the ring back in the pool. Keep watch...beware of those nasty insects that haunt the night."

The giant snake returned along the original path with the ring in its mouth. When it slid deep into the soil layer, the light above its head shrank to the same dimness as the stars.It faintly heard the sound of its master chanting a mantra, which made the scales covering it convulse involuntarily and confine it.It buried the ring at the bottom of the black water, and the waves hit by its tail formed circles of rune-like ripples on the water.

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"I hate snakes."

A string of bright little stars twinkled on the dome corresponding to the weather, illuminating the entire empty dining room resplendently.Gilgamesh wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin, and looked at Karna who was filling his mouth with pudding, resting his chin.The latter seemed to have not woken up, his hair was still a little messy, and he was still holding a parchment scroll in his hand, racing against the clock to read the boring knowledge points that had been copied down.

In the entire Gryffindor, perhaps only Karna would take the non-compulsory extracurricular readings assigned by the professor seriously, which is one of the reasons why Rama loves him.In the eyes of most students, Karna, who often chats with animals and elves, is an out-and-out alien - and he is also Muggle-born, which makes him even more unpopular.Hearing his comment, Karna, who was mindful of the unicorn entry, raised his head, "Snake?"

"The important ingredient of the compound decoction is the snake slough of the African tree snake." Gilgamesh read the words on the back of the parchment, and said disdainfully, "That kind of lowly creature is a thief, and will take the property in other people's treasury Steal. Instead of chasing boring suspects all over the world, the useless Ministry of Magic should do something serious and wipe out these nasty things completely, and the crime rate will definitely be reduced by 90.00%."

"I don't hate them." Karna forked another piece of cheesecake—his body, which remained flat no matter how much food he ate, was once described by Gilgamesh as a black hole for dessert.He didn't pay attention to Gilgamesh's expression, and continued, "When I was in a Muggle school, I got lost with my elders once, and a boa constrictor on the side of the road told me how to go back. But some newborn snakes really made me wonder. It's a headache, I once hid my eraser..."

"Wait, what do you mean the snake told you the intersection. Are you talking to the snake?" Gilgamesh looked at him complicatedly.

"Hmm. Probably a natural ability. Since childhood..."

"That's impossible." Gilgamesh interrupted him with a frown, "unlike other animals, this cunning, lowly, lying thing has its own language family - just like the leaky broken Pocket voice, Parseltongue."

"This is so strange." Ozymandis dismissed him disapprovingly. "You hate snakes just because you lost a ruby ​​when you were a child. You are really innocent as your enemy."

"Hmph. You make it sound like you like snakes very much." Gilgamesh turned his face away.

"No, I hate snakes." Ozymandis said bluntly, "I don't like all reptiles."

When the two people on the opposite side were arguing endlessly, Karna saw Arjuna sitting at the Slytherin table through the dark crowd.The boy who was one level lower than him had a stern face, the silver tableware in his hand gleamed white, and the action of cutting the steak was methodical.He cut off a thin slice of meat as if performing precision surgery, and then delivered it to his mouth with a fork—the whole process was silent and precise, and his elegant demeanor seemed to be attending a grand banquet.His gaze only stayed for a few seconds before he was noticed by the other party.The boy with black pupils looked up at him, his lips moved silently, then he turned his head and greeted the passing teacher respectfully.

"Night, up, tower, building, see you."

The tip of the tongue was pressed against the palate, and the lips touched three times, and the gap between them was a breath sound.After Karna repeated the other party's lines, he noticed that the two noisy people suddenly fell into a strange silence.

"what happened?"

"You—" Gilgamesh frowned, "Didn't you realize that you just used Parseltongue?"

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The spiral upward staircase often changes its direction unconsciously, which always frightens the freshmen.Even old students who have lived here for a few years may be tricked if they don't pay attention—for example, Karna at this time.

The boy with Gryffindor's characteristic scarlet inlaid on his collar stood in the corridor, his white hair was disheveled by the oncoming wind.He held down the rustling pages of the book, and looked up into the deep corridor.A hundred meters away is a room similar to a storage room, which is vaguely locked.Dim candles were burning on both sides of the long corridor, probably because of magic, and they remained motionless in the draft that poured in.

There was no one around, and the stairs that God hid in the darkness have not reappeared for a long time.

There is no sign prohibiting students from entering in front of the promenade.With Gryffindor's unique curiosity, the boy took the first step into the corridor.Although it looks unfathomable from a distance, this corridor, which is rarely visited by people, is not so mysterious—it just hangs portraits of many well-known school figures on the walls on both sides.Karna looked over one by one, and his eyes were attracted by the man in the fourth-to-last picture.

Waist-length hair, which is not common in Hogwarts, is not wearing the rigid wizard robes before, but long clothes similar to improved suits.In one hand, he was holding a cane that symbolized the academy—a silver snake of Slytherin hovered on the gemstone at the top, which should be the professor who once served as the dean.But what made him stop was more because of the face of the man in the portrait.The squinting gaze and slightly overlooking angle, the darker complexion and the facial features deeper than ordinary people, are almost indistinguishable from Arjuna.

Indra.Before 1973, he served as Head of Hogwarts Slytherin House and Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.Distinguished consultant of the Ministry of Magic, chairman of the OWL judging committee.Died in a regrettable accident.During his lifetime, he made important contributions to the teaching reform of Hogwarts and the changes of important legal provisions of the Ministry of Magic, and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Is it Arjuna's relationship?

Karna was about to look at the next portrait when he was tapped lightly on the shoulder.Merlin, who taught Potions, was looking at him with bent eyes, and asked gently, "Are you lost?"

"Yes, sir." Karna nodded slightly, "I broke into this place by accident. I'm very sorry if I violated the school rules. I'm willing to accept the punishment."

"You can come and go here freely, don't worry." The Potions professor smiled kindly, "It's just that there are very few students here, which requires a bit of magical fate. It is said that the students who came here last time stepped on a mouse's tail , but I think it's just a clever excuse. If you don't mind you can tell me what happened before you came here?"

"I didn't do anything," Karna replied frankly, "I just thought of a third-year student, and..."

"Did you find the strange similarity between Arjuna and the former head of Slytherin?" Merlin finished the second half of the sentence for him as if he could see everything, "It's not a secret, the head of Slytherin was originally his father, they are very similar in many ways, but their personalities are actually very different, but they are not easy to get along with."

"Indra...I mean the dean, it says he died unexpectedly."

"You don't need to change your words, dear Karna." Merlin raised an index finger, "If he is alive, he won't mind if you call him by his first name. After all, he treats you..."

"The time for the night talk is over." Merlin was interrupted by a cold voice.It was only then that Karna noticed that the locked door behind him was opened, and he could vaguely see that it was filled with all kinds of unclear objects.Axe Rama came out from the inside, and closed the lock with a magic spell, his gaze swept over Karna and then landed on Merlin's face. "Please don't mislead my students here, Professor Merlin."

"Ah, it's really distressing to always be caught in this kind of place." Merlin's smiling face showed no trace of trouble at all.

"Go back, it's almost time for access control." The magic wand of Shakerama flashed light, and the stairs that had disappeared suddenly appeared in front of him.He walked ahead with a stern face, as if he had been offended by someone, his face was full of evil spirits.

"Professor, can I ask you a question?" Karna did not follow, standing at the stairs and asked.Shakerama paused for a moment before turning to look at him.

"This is not the place for classes, Karna."

"What I want to know has nothing to do with book knowledge." The lake-colored eyes seemed to be rippling slightly, "Is it possible for a Gryffindor...to be able to speak Parseltongue?"

-TBC-