The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 118: To trust people or books, that is the question

Lady Mary's funeral was over, but Ada did not return to Hogwarts immediately. She wanted to stay here to relax and ease her mood.

So before going to the cemetery, Ada sent an owl back to Hogwarts with her leave application. Professor McGonagall's reply came in the evening. She approved Ada's leave application and would go to the orphanage on Saturday afternoon to pick Ada up and take her back to school.

Professor McGonagall comforted Ada a few words in the letter, but she gave more instructions. She did not allow Ada to leave Little Whinging, and it was best not to go too far away from the orphanage. She must report any problems immediately and was not allowed to act on her own.

After turning off the lights at night, Ada lay on the bed with her eyes open. She had been tossing and turning for a long time, but she was not sleepy at all. Ada jumped out of the bed, put on her coat and left the room.

The children were all resting, and only Ada's footsteps could be heard in the corridor. With the help of the lights in the corridor, Ada came to the first floor. Ada walked to the hallway with her wand. Usually the door of the building was locked at night, and Ada needed to use the unlocking spell to open the door before she could go out.

In the wizarding world, door locks are used to protect against good people but not bad people. The unlocking spell is recorded in the Standard Elementary Spells, and even first-year wizards can learn it. Unless your door lock is the same as the one in Gringotts' underground warehouse, it will not be able to stop even first-year wizards. If a wizard does not even know the unlocking spell, Ada sincerely recommends that he go back to school and pay tuition fees.

Of course, you can also choose a secret keeper, cast a Fidelius Charm on your house, or carve a few magic circles like Hogwarts to protect your house.

Standing in the hallway, Ada discovered that the door was not locked tonight but was ajar. Pushing the door a little further, Ada walked into the yard through the gap.

On this moonless night, Ada was not the only one in the yard. Ms. Valente was also there. She was wearing the same outfit as Ada—a coat over her pajamas. She was sitting on the bench where Lady Mary had sat before, with a half-full bottle of gin at her feet. Her hair was disheveled, and she looked completely different from her daytime appearance.

Ms. Valente took a cigarette from the cigarette holder and put it in her mouth. The flint of the silver lighter made a slight sound when it rubbed against each other. A small flame jumped up from her fingertips. It was as if an orange-red flower bloomed on her mouth, illuminating the cold and loneliness of the May night.

Ms. Valente, who was smoking, drinking, and almost had her hair permed, released her vulnerability to the fullest on this night, like a child who couldn't find her way home.

Blue smoke slowly rose, and Ms. Valente, shrouded in the smoke, actually brought Ada a different kind of beauty, a slightly decadent beauty.

Ada didn't want to disturb Ms. Valente, and she probably didn't want to be seen like this. However, not only did Ada see her, she also saw Ada who had just walked out.

Ms. Valente frantically tried to put out the cigarette in her hand, but Ada waved her hand to indicate that she didn't mind.

"You can't sleep either?" Ms. Valente said, clearing her throat.

Ada came over and sat on Ms. Valente's right hand. Although Ada had said that she didn't mind her smoking, Ms. Valente still moved the cigarette to her left hand and moved her position slightly, trying to stay away from Ada.

"Do you miss Lady Mary too?" Ida asked.

“Yes, Madam Mary was such a kind person, why did she have to suffer from illness in the end. If God wanted to take her away, why couldn’t he choose a less painful way?” Ms. Valente sighed, picked up the gin at her feet, and took a big gulp.

Ada didn't know how to comfort the depressed Ms. Valente. Mrs. Mary passed away, and Ada was the one who should be comforted. Why was the situation reversed now?
"This world is inherently unfair. Some children are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, while others can only live in orphanages," Ada said. "Some people live in luxury every day, while others live in dire straits."

"Yes, this world is unfair." Ms. Valente repeated, "When I close my eyes, all I see is the shadow of Madam Mary. Seeing her is like seeing my future self. Will I be so painful when I die? Will the children I once took care of come back to see me?" Ms. Valente, who is also the head of an orphanage and has no children, began to doubt her life and whether the career she had been pursuing before was meaningful. Ms. Valente covered her face in pain to prevent Ada from seeing her expression.

"Mrs. Mary saved my life and illuminated me during the darkest time of my life. She gave me the courage to look forward to the light even in the dark." Ada comforted her, "You are doing the same thing as her now, giving these unfortunate children hope and lighting their future path."

It was Lady Mary who saved Ada from almost freezing to death; it was she who counselled Ada after she was abandoned; and it was she who gave Ada the initial warmth when she first came into this world.

Ada was comforting Ms. Valente, but wasn't she also comforting herself?
"I should go to bed. Tomorrow... I have a charity donation to discuss tomorrow!" Ms. Valente seemed to have regained her former vitality. She continued, "I'm sorry. I should have been the one to comfort you."

"It's okay, ma'am." Ada replied with a smile, "There are still many people waiting to comfort me!" Ada also has Fred and George, the Weasleys, and Professor McGonagall. Perhaps in the future there will be more people who care about her.

After Ms. Valente left, Ada used the Vanishing Charm to clean up the cigarette butts and empty bottles on the ground, and sat quietly in the yard until the east gradually brightened.

The next day, Ms. Valente showed no trace of the decadence she had the night before. She was still the shrewd and capable head of the orphanage. She easily handled the charitable donations, which would be implemented in a few days.

But Ada was far from the sensible image she had that night. She had been wandering around the town these days, looking around here and there. She was a core member of the street scoundrel gang, the only thing missing was a bag and a box of Huazi. This was probably the worst time Huazi had been bullied.

It was Friday afternoon, the weather was sultry and there were few pedestrians on the street. In a small playground not far from Privet Drive, Ada was swinging on the swing alone with an expressionless face. There was one thing that Ada couldn't figure out, and she was feeling a little irritable.

The twins at school flipped through Ada's "Modern Black Magic Progress" out of boredom. It didn't matter that they found the record about Grover Cecil in it, so the twins sent the booklet to Ada.

Ada had no right to reveal Cecil's affairs, so she never told the brothers the story of Grover Cecil, nor did she make a fuss about the mention of Cecil in the book.

Of course, this was her previous opinion. After reading "The Progress of Modern Black Magic", Ada's mouth was so wide that she could fit an egg in it.

The book records Grover Cecil's family, origin, and experience in the Ministry of Magic, which are exactly the same as what he said at the beginning. However, starting from the reason for leaving the Ministry of Magic, the content of the book is completely different from what he said.
In Cecil's story, he left the Ministry of Magic and devoted himself to studying dark magic because his mother and sister were killed by dark wizards. He was then bewitched by the power of dark magic and eventually made a big mistake.

However, according to the records in "The Progress of Modern Black Magic", Cecil was the dark wizard who killed someone else's mother and sister, and the poor man who lost his mother and sister was called Joyce.

In order to conduct some experiments in black magic, Cecil has harmed other people's lives more than once. If Dumbledore had not arrived in time, none of the Aurors who went to capture him might have survived.

Although Cecil hurt many people, few people knew about the evil things he did. Everyone only knew that he was a dark wizard caught by Dumbledore himself, because after him, Britain had an unprecedented dark wizard leader - Voldemort.

Compared to the horror of Voldemort, Grover Cecil is nothing.

While Cecil was serving his sentence in Azkaban, his family was killed by Joyce, who was also obsessed with the dark arts. He used the dark arts to destroy other people's families, and others used the same method to make him lose their loved ones.

There were two different versions of the same thing. Ada couldn't tell which one was true or false. If the story Cecil told was false, then why did he lie to her?
Thanks to the book friend Memory_浅 for the reward
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(End of this chapter)