Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 7: Who made me like playing with little boys?
Looking at the elegant and strange lady in front of him, Ian inevitably felt a little nervous.

Although he has the talent to enter hazy environments, he has only met two people in this world.

The lady in front of me is the third one.

This is the world of the dead.

Who knows what this lady’s identity and past are?
"you are?"

Ian quietly prepared himself to run.

In response to Ian's question, the young woman raised her eyebrows slightly.

"That poor girl followed your wanderer friend to look for the ridiculous golden apple. How could there be golden apples in such a hellish place?"

There was a hint of sarcasm in her words.

Wanderer friend?
Ian immediately realized that the person the mysterious young woman was talking about must be another friend of his. This friend was a wandering ghost just like Ariana.

Pandro Natger.

It's a very common name. He is a young man with a passion for adventure. This is probably why the mysterious young woman in front of him called him "Wanderer".

Even in the hazy fantasy, Pandro has been tirelessly exploring this world for many, many years. In his own words, he has lost track of time.

This is a soul that has lived for at least a thousand years, but its face still magically remains at about fifteen years old. Perhaps this is the magic of the illusion. According to Ariana, who is also in this world, when she first met Pandro, Pandro had that young face.

I don’t know if Pandro has ever offended the mysterious young woman in front of him.

Have a friendship?
What kind of friendship?

Ian couldn't suppress his gossipy heart.

He didn't know much about Pandro Natger, and his impression of this friend was that he had the wisdom of an elder and the spirit of a young man.

Sometimes a little silly.

It seems that this is not a character that appeared in the original work. After all, Ian has never heard of this name, either from history or from his understanding of the original work.

I don’t know how obsessed he is.

That's why Pandro Natger stayed in this hazy fantasy world for so many years.

And exploration missions like "Searching for the Golden Apple" do seem like something Pandro would do, and bringing Ariana as a partner is also his style.

Ian remembered that Pandro once pulled his five-year-old self and excitedly said that they were going to find the despicable Herpo, the most notorious dark wizard in the wizarding world.

I?
Five years old?

Fight the mean Hailbo?
Ian still finds this past incident outrageous whenever he thinks about it.

"Is this golden apple the golden apple in the fairy tale that I understand?"

Looking at the elegant young woman in black dress in front of him, Ian tried his best to be humble, and he also tried to use his young age to make an innocent expression.

"What a flashy thing! Do you expect the golden apple tree to bloom in this world?" The lady was still sneering, looking at Ian as if he was a fool.

“I chopped down the last apple tree when I was alive. Not to mention that there are no golden apples in the misty land.” The woman’s tone was firm.

"Are there golden apples in this world?"

Ian was a little stunned.

At this time, the mysterious young woman turned her head, and her beautiful face suddenly approached Ian, and she even took two steps forward. The scent of roses wafted towards him.

Ian stepped back quickly.

Whether in terms of aura or anything else, the mysterious young woman is really oppressive.

"What do you consider a fairy tale? Do wizards count?"

As soon as these words came out.

Ian was left speechless by the other party's question.

Looking at Ian in front of him.

The mysterious young woman suddenly laughed.

"Although you are indeed a fool and as dumb as a pig, you are different." She raised her white finger and pointed to the castle looming in the distant mountains and forests.

"If you want to learn magic, come find me there."

Ian followed the direction of her finger and saw the castle, whose exterior had been eroded by time and looked ancient and eerie. He immediately understood something.

It turns out that this woman is the witch from the castle that Ariana often mentioned!
Sure enough. My impulse to run away is not cowardly! It just comes from the wizard's instinct! Yes! That's it... This must be the natural ability to sense powerful wizards!

“What do I need to give?”

Ian tried to make excuses for himself in his mind, but he was very cautious about the invitation from the mysterious witch. After all, there is no free lunch in the world.

"Ok?"

The witch looked at Ian with a surprised expression, and even took a step and circled around Ian, letting her black robe slide on the mud.

But it is not tainted by any filth.

"It seems that you don't know how special you are..."

The witch sneered.

immediately.

Another fancy face change.

"Of course, you are so young, yet you are able to understand the rules of the wizarding world. This means that you are only temporarily dull, which is not a bad thing in the real world."

The witch paused and looked Ian in the eyes.

"If you really want to follow the principle of equal exchange, then bring my magic mirror back to me."

After she said this, Ian saw a hint of reminiscence in her beautiful eyes, but soon her tone returned to being cold.

That nostalgic look also disappeared without a trace.

"Find my mirror and bring it to me...you will learn the most powerful magic from me."

"Mirror?"

Ian frowned, confused.

The witch did not respond, but just smiled meaningfully.

"Actually, even if you don't have a mirror, you can still come to me to learn." She smiled mysteriously, and it was unclear whether she was deliberately trying to scare Ian.

"Who made me like playing with little boys?"

Slightly evil words.

The witch's words had just fallen.

Ian felt that his time was up. His last sight was of the elegant witch, who was watching him quietly as he slowly became transparent and disappeared.

After losing the sound of the two people's discussion.

The whole town became silent again.

The witch's expression gradually became dejected. She turned around, stepped on the cobblestone path in her high heels, walked into the quiet forest, and returned to her castle.

The castle stood in a clearing in the forest, with vines entwined around high bluestone walls that bore traces of time, and sharp spires piercing the cloudy sky.

The weather here.

It's completely different from the small town.

It was eerie and heavy, but once you pushed open the heavy sliding door and walked in you’d see the magnificent sight of the castle – in the middle of the spacious hall stood a carved marble table, covered with a bright red silk tablecloth and strewn with gold-rimmed tableware, while the roaring fire in the fireplace cast shadows of the exquisite murals on the wall.

The story of the knight and the princess in the painting seemed to be resurrected in the firelight.

The witch walked with graceful steps, and from the moment she entered the castle, everything around her began to work automatically.

The candles lit up one by one, the tablecloth flew from the air and landed on the table automatically, the tableware was neatly placed, all kinds of food floated out of the kitchen, and the food was placed on plates and flew neatly to the dining table.

Among them, there was a little suckling pig roasted to a shiny golden color.

The witch just took a look. She was silent at first, but suddenly she whispered, "I have already seen one stupid pig today. I don't want to see it again."

After saying that, the suckling pig returned to the kitchen from the air, and soon a lamb flew onto the dining table in the same way.

The witch's clothes were also sparkling with invisible magic starlight, becoming extremely neat and clean. She did not eat, but slowly walked into the bedroom.

"Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful woman in the world..."

In the empty room, the witch seemed to be talking to herself, sitting in front of a dressing table that lacked a mirror, muttering in a slightly self-deprecating and complex voice.

(End of this chapter)