The Ancient Wizards of Hogwarts

As we enter November, the temperatures in the Scottish Highlands plummet.

This is also in line with the definition of Halloween in Scotland - legend has it that the Celts living in Ireland, Scotland and other places believe that October 31st is the official end of summer, which is also the beginning of the new year and the beginning of the harsh winter.

"Harry, it's time for us to go to class."

In the Slytherin common room, Hermione stood beside Harry's bed, trying desperately to wake up the girl who was lying in bed, but with little success.

Harry curled up in the warm quilt, clutched the quilt tightly with both hands, and whispered:

"Let me sleep a little longer~ Okay Hermione, just ten minutes..."

"It will be time for class in ten more minutes." Hermione wrinkled her face in distress.

Because Hermione moved to Slytherin last night, the three little ones were extremely excited and chatted until very late before going to bed.

Coupled with the sudden drop in temperature in autumn, only one of the three children was staying in bed - Hermione actually woke up at seven o'clock, but she also wanted to sleep for another half an hour before getting up. Anyway, the first period Class is at nine o'clock.

But what she didn't expect was that as soon as she closed and opened her eyes, it was already 8:45 when she woke up.

"Hermione, let me do it."

Cassandra, who had finished washing, returned to the lounge and happened to see this scene. She snorted and walked to the bed, reaching her palm from the back of Harley's head into Harley's back - she specifically did not use heat. Washing with water, the surface temperature of the palms that have just been soaked in cold water is infinitely close to zero!

"Ahhhhh!!!"

Harley screamed and squirmed like a snake, trying to escape Cassandra's cold clutches. But it had no effect until she jumped out of bed anxiously.

"Cassandra, why are you doing this to me?"

Harley looked at the blond girl with tearful eyes, her eyes full of resentment.

"Get up quickly!"

Cassandra showed no mercy at all and said with a straight face:

"Today is Potions class this morning, and Professor Snape is notoriously strict. If we are late, we will definitely get points deducted! And Hermione just moved here last night. What do you think if we are late for class today? What will others say about her?”

"Ah, I, I will change clothes right now..."

Harry hurriedly put on her clothes and Hermione put a scarf on her.

After getting dressed, Harry and Hermione ran to the bathroom together. Cassandra had already prepared hot water for them to wash up. When they returned to the common room after washing up, Cassandra was already waiting for them holding their textbooks.

The three of them each took a piece of toast from the plates on the table, and then hurriedly ran towards the Potions classroom.

However, when Harry opened the classroom door with a piece of bread in his mouth, Professor Snape was already waiting for them on the podium.

Professor Snape looked at the three people at the door and frowned:

"Miss Granger, I hope you can give me an explanation!"

"Professor, it's my fault."

Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry stepped in front of her and took all the responsibility, saying shamefully:

"I got up a little late. Hermione and Cassandra were late because they were waiting for me."

"You should be lucky that you still have one minute to go to class."

Professor Snape changed the topic and said calmly:

"Now, sit back in your seats."

Harley was a little lucky, and Cassandra also breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Hermione was doubting life. The hourly bell had already rang before they entered the classroom. Was it because the time in the clock tower was incorrect?

Before Hermione could think about it carefully, Harry took her hand and sat down in the Slytherin row, not caring about the weird looks from the Gryffindors. In Harry's opinion, since Gryffindor students don't cherish Hermione, there is no need for her to take care of Gryffindor's face!

The more Harry thought about it, the angrier he became. Gryffindor kept saying that Slytherins were all bad people.

However, school has been going on for so long, and Harry feels that all the people he has met are good people. At least the first-year students are very friendly, and the senior students on the Quidditch team have never bullied Harry and Cassandra because they are newcomers. they.

On the contrary, the Gryffindor students were not only late for class on the first day of class, but even ostracized Hermione because she was friends with them. Is this what a good person should do?

The young girl's view of good and evil is not so three-dimensional yet, but she can still clearly distinguish who is good to her and who is bad!

Professor Snape saw all this with extremely complicated eyes.

Harry had come to him last night and asked him to let Hermione live in Slytherin.

Although Snape agreed to Harry's request, he was delayed by other things at the time and had no chance to think about it carefully.

But looking back now, isn't Harry to Hermione what Lily was to him back then?

The difference is that Harry is a Slytherin and Lily is a Gryffindor.

The same thing is that both Hermione and he were the targets of bullying by Gryffindor students.

Both Harley and Lily have been working hard to protect them.

For his sake, Lily was constantly being asked by Gryffindor students why she still wanted to be friends with Snape.

And Harry will definitely offend Gryffindor students for Hermione, and even Slytherin will talk about it.

This situation is exactly the same as Lily's back then...

No, Harley will never experience what Lily has experienced, and he will never let it happen!

Snape clenched his fists and looked extremely gloomy.

Gryffindor! Damn Gryffindor!

——

For most students, Potions class is torture.

Whether it's the boring and dangerous potion preparation process, or Professor Snape, who is as gloomy and scary as an old bat. Therefore, the moment Snape announced that get out of class was over, almost all the students rushed out of the classroom immediately.

Only Harry hesitated to stay. Hermione and Cassandra originally wanted to leave, but they stayed in the classroom with Harry.

Professor Snape waited for everyone else to leave the classroom before asking in a calm tone:

"Miss Harley, do you have any questions?"

Harry took out a bottle of green potion from his cloak pocket and handed it to him, whispering:

"Professor, this is for you. I think you should use this."

"Uplifting Potion? Where did you get it from Ash?"

Snape's eyes moved slightly and he asked subconsciously, but he soon guessed the answer.

"Yes."

Harry nodded slightly and explained in a low voice: "Ash told me that the preparation of these potions was thanks to Professor Snape's selfless help."

Snape's eyes twitched, selfless help?

Isn't that selfless?

In order to concoct these potions, Ash almost depleted his reserve of ingredients. That was material worth thousands of gold galleons, and he didn't confiscate a penny. It was all a disaster!

Snape's lips moved, but no sound came out.

After a long silence, he uttered one word in a hoarse voice:

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Professor Snape."

Harry smiled sweetly, waved goodbye to Snape, and left the classroom with Hermione and Cassandra.

Snape sat on the chair, looking at the bottle of uplifting potion in his hand, with extremely complicated emotions.

Harry undoubtedly had good intentions in giving him the potion, but she still didn't think carefully enough.

As the Potions Master, couldn't Snape make his own uplifting potions?

The answer is of course no.

Even if Ash had used up all the materials he had accumulated last time, he would still have enough Galleons to buy new ones. And in fact, he always has more than ten bottles of invigorating potions on hand in case of emergencies.

But there is something special about the three-headed dog being used by Dumbledore to protect the Philosopher's Stone.

The claws and teeth of this magical creature are naturally equipped with a counter-curse similar to 'incurable', which causes the injuries of creatures injured by it not only to be unable to be cured, but also to become more and more serious as time goes by, until they die.

Even for Snape, it would take a certain amount of time to study the corresponding breaking spell. And before the counter-curse is lifted, no matter how much uplifting potion you drink, it will not help the injury.

Snape hesitated for a long time, and finally pulled out the cork and drank the potion inside.

——

Eighth floor, principal's office.

As soon as Ash came in, Phineas Black, who had been taking a nap, immediately became energetic and asked excitedly:

"Ash, you are..."

"No." Ash interrupted him without leaving any mercy.

The old male and female principals on the wall looked at Ash curiously. Most of them had heard of Ash's 'legend' and had a great impression of the student who once saved Hogwarts.

They also heard about the relationship between Ash and Phineas. A small part of them were gloating about their misfortune, but the greater part showed pity.

Although Phineas is the only Slytherin among the previous headmasters of Hogwarts, he is not the only pure-blood family. On the contrary, the vast majority of past principals are purebloods.

After all, for a long time in ancient times, the wizarding world has been ruled by pure-blood wizards.

As for what happened to the Black family, they were inevitably a little sad.

Although only the Black family's bloodline is almost cut off now, how much better can the situation of other pure-blood families be?

The head of the Malfoy family is Lucius Malfoy. He doesn't even have a son, but only a daughter, Cassandra.

There are only two direct members of the Crouch family left. Crouch Jr. is a lifelong guest of the Azkaban Hotel, while Crouch Sr. once served as the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and was even confident of running for the Ministry of Magic. Minister, but he was demoted because of his son's involvement and has since left the center of power.

The Longbottom family is not much better. Although the only remaining direct bloodline, Neville Longbottom, is a male, he has been living in the hospital for treatment since he was a child because his parents were tortured by the 'Crushing Heart'. He cannot even maintain his memory. For a long time, he is almost half a fool, and no one can ensure that he can continue to be a normal descendant.

The remaining members of the family, such as the Abbott family, are even more miserable. They were unable to maintain the pure blood of the family as early as the 1930s. Today's direct member of the family, Hannah Abbott, is only a mixed-blood wizard.

It can be said that most of the pure-blood families among the twenty-eight holy clans are in this situation now. Either the descendants are almost cut off and the family is on the verge of extinction, or they have to give up their insistence on pure blood, and even the direct heir of the family is only a mixed blood.

The only exception is the Weasley family - this family has always been regarded as a pure-blood traitor and is the only family among the twenty-eight holy families that does not have to worry about dying out within decades.

For example, there are three direct bloodlines of the previous generation of the Weasley family, and Arthur Weasley is one of them. There are seven more descendants of Arthur Weasley, and all seven of them are pure-blood wizards!

The pure-blood family is declining, but the Weasley family, which is regarded as pure-blood traitors, is still vigorous. This is definitely a joke from hell.

There was no one in the office, Dumbledore was probably still sleeping at the moment.

Ash did not disturb him and sat down at the desk under the gaze of many portraits.

Besides the portraits of the principals, there was another creature staring at Ash in this office.

Its feathers are as red as flames, but its tail feathers are dazzling gold, and its long beak and claws are also shining with gold. At this time, it was standing on the gilded perch, watching Ash quietly.

That was Dumbledore's phoenix, or phoenix.

The phoenix in the West and the phoenix in the East are similar but not the same, but they have always been considered the same creature because of translation.

Ash tried to smile and waved at it.

However, Phoenix Fox ignored this and lowered his head to preen his feathers with his beak.

This definitely made Ash look stupid.

Ash pulled back his hand expressionlessly.

There is no doubt that this phoenix is ​​a male.

But this is normal. Phoenix Fox's English name is not fox, but Fawkes. This is an extremely masculine name.

Ash also once owned a phoenix, a female phoenix. It's a pity that when Ash 'died', she happened to have too much blood drawn and was forced to die early. To find her, you must first find Dicko.

Of course, even if he finds Dico, he may not be able to find her. After all, Ash is not sure whether she will wait for him after her rebirth...

While he was thinking, the sound of the door opening and dull footsteps came from behind Ash.

He turned around just in time to see Dumbledore opening the door and coming out of the bedroom.

"Oh, Mr. Black."

Dumbledore's expression was a little surprised, and he laughed at himself: "I'm sorry, people get a little sleepy when they get old. Can you wait for me for a moment? I think I need to wash up first. After all, I don't want you to leave me with a shabby look. impression."

Ash said politely:

"Of course. In fact, I just arrived not long ago."

More than ten minutes later, Dumbledore returned to his office. The bushy-bearded old man complained to Ash:

"You know what? The most unbearable thing for me is that there is no independent bathroom in the principal's office!"

"that is!"

"They haven't considered the feelings of us old people!"

"I dare say this is definitely the biggest design flaw of Hogwarts!"

The old people in the portraits on the wall complained in agreement, obviously disgusted by this.

Ash thought for a moment and suggested:

"Actually, you can renovate one yourself. The office area is quite large."

"forget it."

Dumbledore sighed and said helplessly: "I don't want to damage the structure here."

He sat behind his desk and asked with a smile:

"So, Mr. Black, what brings you to see me?"

Ash nodded slightly and said:

"I have a question. Of course, you can choose not to answer it if you feel embarrassed."

Dumbledore smiled and said:

"As long as I know, I will never hide it."

Hearing this, Ash asked directly:

"I want to know if the thing guarded by the three-headed dog in the right corridor on the fourth floor is the Philosopher's Stone?"

The smile on Dumbledore's face suddenly faded.

"Before answering this question."

Dumbledore put away his smile and asked seriously:

"Mr. Black, I would like to know where you learned about this?"

"Guess." Ash said calmly.

"How did you guess that?" Dumbledore's cheek twitched slightly, but fortunately it was not easy to see because of his thick beard.

Ash said casually:

"Mainly because of Hagrid."

"Harry told me that on her birthday, Hagrid took her to Gringotts."

"Harry took some galleons from his own vault, while Hagrid took a dirty little package from vault 713. Later that day, vault 713 was stolen."

After a pause, Ash continued: "This is what I saw in a magazine and newspaper during the first week of school."

Dumbledore's expression was a little helpless, and he asked:

"That's when Miss Potter told you?"

"Yes."

Ash nodded lightly and said: "Although we talked about this matter by chance at the time, I became suspicious of it. After all, Gringotts' defense is almost impregnable. Only one incident has happened in more than a hundred years. There were two thefts, and the victims of the last theft were myself and Professor Figo.”

"The last time Gringotts was stolen, it was because Lanlock wanted to steal clues about ancient magic. And if the same thing happened this time, it's hard for me not to suspect that it was for a similar reason. After all, a man who could successfully break into Gringotts A dark wizard who steals a treasury and escapes unscathed, his target cannot be those gold Galleons."

Dumbledore asked in confusion:

"But how do you know it's the Philosopher's Stone?"

Ash shrugged and said:

"Once Harley and Cassandra accidentally entered the corridor on the fourth floor and almost died. Harley and Cassandra went to Hagrid the next day to ask for details. Although Hagrid did not directly mention the 'Philosopher's Stone', Revealing Nico Flamel’s name.”

"If you want to hide something, I really can't guess what it is. But if it's Nico Flamel, and the thing is only the size of a fist, I can't think of the second possibility except the Sorcerer's Stone."

After hearing this, Dumbledore couldn't help but dumbfounded, and said helplessly:

"You guessed it right, the three-headed dog guards the Magic Stone."

Ash kindly reminded:

"To be honest, Hagrid is a good guy, but he is not suitable for keeping secrets."

Dumbledore sighed:

"I know that too, but he's really a good guy."

Hagrid's big mouth never lasted a day or two. How could Dumbledore not know this after having been with him for decades?

But apart from Hagrid, he couldn't trust anyone else with this matter.

Dumbledore suddenly changed the subject, stared at Ash sharply, and asked:

"Mr. Black, do you want the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Yes." Ash still admitted frankly.

"..."

Ash admitted so simply that Dumbledore didn't know what to say for a moment. He was silent for a long time before asking:

"Can I know the reason?"

Ash thought for a moment and asked:

"Has Professor McGonagall told you about my latest research results?"

"No."

Dumbledore poured a cup of tea for Ash and himself, "You can explain briefly."

After a pause, he reminded again: "It doesn't have to be too complicated. If it's too complicated, I might not be able to figure it out quickly."

"To put it simply, I think the biggest difference between wizards and other magical creatures is that the magic power of both parties operates in different ways, and I call this different operating mode the magic circuit."

"When a wizard transforms into an animal, if he cannot retain his own magic circuit, he will only turn into an ordinary animal. And because he has no magic power and no magic circuit to run magic, he cannot transform back into a human on his own."

"The Animagus can still retain its magic circuits when turning into an animal. Therefore, even if it turns into an animal, the wizard can still cast magic to turn himself back into a human."

"I think the reason why wizards fail to transform into magical creatures is because of the difference in magic circuits. If you want to successfully transform, you must not only change your appearance, but also transform your own magic circuits into the magic circuits corresponding to the magical creatures!"

Dumbledore took a sip of tea and frowned:

"That sounds very difficult."

Ash nodded gently and said solemnly:

"Yes, it is very difficult. If you want to transform into a complete magical creature, not only does the transformation require absolute accuracy without any deviation, but the wizard who casts the spell must also possess extremely large magic power, otherwise he will not be able to support the transformation process at all. huge consumption.”

"This may have been very easy in ancient times when magic was abundant, but in modern times when the concentration of magic is getting lower and lower, the difficulty of successfully casting magic has almost increased exponentially. In fact, I don't even think anyone can succeed."

"However, my purpose is not to transform wizards into magical creatures, but to transform magical creatures into humans."

Dumbledore immediately understood and asked:

"Those werewolves?"

"right."

Ash nodded slightly and reminded: "I should have told you about this last time."

Dumbledore sighed:

"I just didn't expect you to still persist."

After he finished speaking, he asked again:

"So you think you can use the huge magic power of the magic stone itself to complete the transformation?"

Ash solemnly said:

"That's right."

"I speculate that the magic circuit of a werewolf in 'werewolf form' may be the same as that of a wizard, so transforming a werewolf into a wizard does not require changing the magic circuit. What's more, werewolves themselves have the ability to transform into humans. The werewolves in the Forbidden Forest are very It may be that the transformation cannot be completed due to the lack of magic circuit."

"In other words, it is not more difficult to transform a 'werewolf' into a human than a wizard to transform into an Animagus. But since this is a transformation spell on other people, the difficulty will be slightly higher, and the requirements for magic power are It will also be higher.”

"Although it will be difficult for me to succeed alone, with the help of the Philosopher's Stone, I think this experiment is feasible!"

Dumbledore put down his tea cup, thought for a long time, and then slowly said:

"Mr. Black, I can't promise you this."

Ash looked a little disappointed, but inside he wasn't surprised.

After all, Dumbledore was not a fool, and it was impossible to believe his words easily. As the saying goes, you know the person but not the heart. Who knows if he really wants to turn the werewolf into a human, or if he just wants to run away with the magic stone?

However, what he didn't expect was that after Dumbledore finished speaking, he suddenly changed the subject:

"After all, the Philosopher's Stone is Nico's property. Although I keep this item for him, I cannot decide for him the ownership of the Philosopher's Stone. So I will write him a letter and ask for his opinion. If he agrees to borrow it Here you go, I guess I have no objection.”

Ash's expression was a bit stunned, part of it was fake, but part of it was real.