The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 10 The Deathly Volume

The next morning.

Amidst a series of clanging and banging noises, Ino reluctantly opened her eyes. After looking around, she finally found the source of the sound.

Old John was sitting alone outside, constantly banging on something. The rhythmic noises from earlier were coming from his hands.

"Are you awake? Then get up. Don't be like those lazy drunkards who sleep until noon," Old John called from outside.

Ino noticed that the other person seemed to have an inexplicable aversion to laziness, to the point that there was a hint of resentment in their voice.

Although he had some doubts, he didn't hesitate at all. He jumped out of bed, took out a towel and toothbrush from his bag, and began a simple wash.

……

"Old John, is someone fixing shoes so early in the morning?"

Ino squatted to the side, watching the busy old John with some curiosity.

Upon seeing the tools on the ground, he had already determined Old John's profession—a shoemaker.

"Life is better now, and very few people choose to repair shoes anymore," Old John said without looking up.

A while later.

Old John finally finished his work and then sighed, saying:

"Although no one repairs shoes anymore, it's never a bad thing for me to hammer in more nails. Who knows if I'll need them in the future? At least no one will be barefoot in the dead of winter."

Hearing this, Ino nodded in empathy and sighed, "There are always too many people who turn a blind eye to the suffering happening around them, and what's ridiculous is that they fantasize about being a hero and saving people in distant places."

This is not pandering, but rather because he has witnessed too much suffering along the way over the past two years.

As mentioned before, once the story of a place ends, everything will return to normalcy and ordinariness.

And suffering often targets these very places, because the ordinary never creates miracles...

……

After hearing Ino's sigh, old John unusually chose to remain silent.

After a while, he raised his head again, his gaze fixed intently on the sky.

"Ino, you're right! Dreaming of being a hero, only to find that you can't even save the people around you, makes you a huge joke."

At this moment, contrary to his usual behavior, old John did not call him "little guy" but addressed him by his name.

This time, Ino didn't say anything more. He already had a guess that the story of this town might happen to Old John. Even if the other party wasn't the main character, he would still have a great relationship with the main character.

But seeing Old John's somewhat sad expression, he knew that now was not a good time to think about this problem.

"Ahem, old John! My teacher once told me something, and now I'll pass it on to you."

Clearing his throat, he waited for old John to come to his senses before slowly speaking: "He said: Life is like a small ripple, slowly spreading out... Therefore, the norm of life is mostly a kind of regret."

After a brief pause, Ino continued:

"Old John, what I really want to say is that all life has light, like a burning match, faint, warm, and brilliant. And if it can illuminate others before the match goes out, even if only for a moment, then it should not be called a regret."

Time seemed to stand still at that moment; it felt like a long time had passed, yet also like a fleeting instant.

"On the contrary, I've been lectured by you, little rascal, really!" Old John said half-jokingly.

Although he was called "little guy" again, Ino wasn't annoyed at all. He could clearly feel the sadness on the other person's body fading away.

A few minutes later.

Old John tidied up his tools.

"Alright, I have to go to work now! If we're lucky, we'll have a big dinner tonight. If you get bored, you can go for a walk on the hill behind town. It's not dangerous there, and lots of kids go there to pick mushrooms in the spring."

"Okay, I got it!"

Ino nodded and got up to go to her room to get her backpack.

Actually, if he had heard this useful information when he first arrived, he would have been happy for a long time.

But now... the stage has already closed, so why keep expired tickets as collectibles?

……

On the small hill behind the town.

"Flames roar!" "The Arahu Cave opens!" "Restored to its original state!"

Ino carefully chose a secluded spot, making sure he wouldn't be easily discovered, and then began practicing magic by referring to the "Elementary Standard Spells".

As mentioned before, first-year wizards at Hogwarts only need to master 7 spells.

However, in his view, these seven spells were more like prefixes to many profound spells. They were roughly like the 26 letters of the alphabet; mastering them allowed one to freely combine them into words and spell out elegant poetry.

A simple example is the first-year Charms class final exam in the original book, where a pineapple dances across a desk.

This involves the combined application of softening spells, levitation spells, and locking spells.

Similarly, Ino thought of Dumbledore's dashing "Hydra's Way," which might also be a profound application of the Hetfire Charm.

After all, both a faint flame and a raging inferno are essentially summoning fire.

After receiving the owl's letter, he began to contemplate his future. But no matter what, he could never take his studies lightly.

"If you can't roll it to death, then roll it to death..."

With a soft sigh, Ino rubbed her aching wrists, then raised her wand again to begin a new round of practice.

Considering the future plot and for his own safety, he now needs to hide in the sidelines and practice magic quietly while his peers play Quidditch and pranks.

……

Time flies, and a few hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Extreme focus can unconsciously lead one into a state close to flow, in which one is completely unaware of the passage of time.

Until the surrounding light became noticeably dimmer.

"Hey, I never thought I'd experience working myself to the bone..."

After losing focus, a strong feeling of hunger swept over Ino, and it felt like she wanted to pounce on anything she saw and take a bite to taste it.

Without making any unnecessary movements, he quickly took out the dried cheese he carried with him from the package and haphazardly put it into his mouth.

After eating two large pieces of cheese, I was finally able to temporarily suppress my hunger.

After catching her breath, Ino was amazed by the sight before her.

The sunset was magnificent and dazzling.

The afterglow of the setting sun accentuated the clouds on the horizon, making the entire sky look as if it had been painted with red oil paint, a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

Meanwhile, in the small town below the mountain, wisps of smoke rose from the rows of houses, the white smoke drifting slowly into the sky, looking at it as if the clouds were gently falling upon the earth.

Sitting halfway up the mountain, Ino felt as if he were admiring a magnificent painting.

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(End of this chapter)