The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 97 Familiar Taste

Ada has never been the type to procrastinate. After returning from Hogsmeade, she plunged headfirst into the library, looking for everything related to Hogsmeade village.

This village composed of pure wizards has a long history. The first people to live here were Hangis.
At that time, the Muggle society was afraid of magic and regarded wizards as devils, so they carried out hunting campaigns for hundreds of years, inhumanely persecuting wizards and those who were closely related to them.

Some wizards are not afraid of the punishment from Muggles and even enjoy it, but many wizards still lose their lives due to the persecution of Muggles.

Hangis came to live in Hogsmeade to live in seclusion and avoid persecution by Muggles. After that, more and more wizards settled here, gradually forming a scale, and eventually became the Hogsmeade village we see today.

The most famous event in Hogsmeade's long history was the Goblin Rebellion of 1612, for which a tavern in the village served as the headquarters.

The Goblin Rebellions were a series of rebellious movements led by goblins to oppose discrimination and prejudice against them by wizards, which were quite common in the 17th and 18th centuries. To this day, there are still many radical goblins who oppose the Ministry of Magic's orders and demand to be treated equally.

Ada searched for a lot of information in the library. Whether it was "Historical Relics of a History of Magic" or "Hogwarts, A History of a School", or other books, Ada did not find any records about the Shrieking Shack. The legend of the shack was more like a legend passed down by word of mouth among the villagers.

Since she couldn't find it in the book, she naturally had to ask others. Ada asked many seniors she met in the library, and even asked Professor Cecil, but still couldn't find the answer.

Since living people didn't work, she looked for the dead. Ada went to find Gryffindor's ghost, Sir Porpington. When Ada found him, Sir Porpington was looking at the portrait of Anne Boleyn kept in the castle.

Lord Porpington, who has been a ghost for hundreds of years, gave Ada a vague answer: the rumors about the Shrieking Shack have not been popular for long, perhaps in the past few decades, or maybe a hundred years.

As a "living" ghost, Ada didn't expect him to be able to tell her the exact date. Apart from his own death anniversary, there were not many things he could remember accurately.

Moreover, such stories passed down by word of mouth will always gradually deviate from the truth in the process of being spread. However, this time range is still very useful. At least Ada doesn't have to look for a needle in a haystack in the library like a headless fly.

During the time Ada was in the library, Hogwarts had already entered December. The damp and cold air tortured the students' bodies and souls every morning, and getting up became an extremely difficult task.

One nice afternoon, Ada decided to leave the library and go out for a walk.

The thick snow made a "crunching, crunching" sound when stepped on. Bathed in the sunshine, Ada strolled to the Black Lake. The towering distant mountains and the wide Black Lake always made Ada linger.

The weather was cold, and there were no couples around the Black Lake. It was a good place for Ada to relax. The snow-covered mountains in the distance looked like white-haired old men watching her. What Ada didn't know was that there was really a white-haired old man watching Ada not far away.

"Drizzt, didn't you bring any books today?" Grover Cecil walked over with his hands behind his back. His face was pale and he looked as if he was sick.

Grover Cecil was always very nice to Ada, but he never called Ada by her nickname, not even the name "Esmeralda". He always called Ada by her last name.

"It's inconvenient to turn pages with gloves on." Ada shook her gloved hands. The gloves were very thick and were sent together with the earmuffs.

"I have disliked the weather in school since I was in school, and I hate it even more when I get older." Professor Cecil stood next to Ada, with a strong disdain in his tone. "Professor, you don't look well, are you feeling unwell?" Ada looked at Cecil and said, his face was as white as a piece of paper, which looked a little scary.

Cecil touched his face and asked with a smile, "Is it scary? When people get old, they will have all kinds of problems. Even if your magic power is strong, you can't resist the erosion of time."

Time can make people grow, but it can also make people age. Time is both a mentor and an enemy.

The topic was a bit heavy, and neither of them spoke for a while. Cecil took out a small flat pot from his robe, opened the lid and took a sip. His whole face wrinkled together, and the thing in the pot should not be very tasty.

"By the way, have you found any news about the Shrieking Shack?" Cecil's face had become much rosier, and he looked more energetic, even having the strength to speak.

Ada didn't know what Cecil drank, but she smelled a familiar smell. The weather was cold and they were outdoors, so Ada thought she must have smelled it wrong.

"I've heard many versions of ghost stories, all kinds of stories. No one should know the rumors about the Screaming Shack better than me now." Ida replied, "But these are just rumors. There is no truth to them."

"Our world is full of all kinds of weird rumors, some are false, and some are half true and half false." Cecil said, "We have to eliminate the false ones from these rumors, and unravel the half-truths to restore the truth of the matter."

It sounded like a detective story, and Ada suddenly had an illusion that she was not by the Black Lake in Hogwarts, but on Baker Street in London.

"This is a very interesting process, more interesting than finding out the truth of the matter."

Ida didn't quite agree with Cecil. She preferred the result rather than the process. If possible, she would rather enjoy the results than to find them herself.

The twins were reliable in other matters, but this kind of thing was too difficult for the two brothers, so Ada could only rely on herself.

"For now, I still prefer the result. The process of searching is always hard." Ada expressed her thoughts. "Like this time, I found nothing except those groundless rumors. If I want to know the truth, I still have to go there and take a look."

Cecil said nothing. He took out his magic wand and pointed it at the Black Lake. A thick black light emanated from the tip of the wand and rushed straight to the lake. The frozen lake surface and snow were blown apart by the spell, and the lake water was as high as two or three stories, but not a drop of the water splashed on the two people on the shore.

Ada did not notice Cecil's face turning pale rapidly. She was shocked by the power of the spell. At the same time, she envied his control over magic and did not know when she would be able to do the same.

"When you can do this, the result will find you on its own." Cecil took another sip from the flask and continued, "Then you will know the joy of the process, because you have lost the process."

After saying this, Cecil slowly left the Black Lake. His pace was slow, and he seemed to have to spend a lot of effort with every step. Cecil's hunched figure made him look more like an old man than an unforgivable black wizard.

Ada looked at his receding back, and the mystery in her heart increased. The contents of the flat pot exuded a familiar smell that reminded her of Snape's dim little room.

(End of this chapter)