Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 129 Bloody Mary

The Grangers upgraded almost all their camping gear for this trip, and Wendell is currently organizing and tidying it up.

Loren rummaged through some cushions and cloth bags with great interest. These items, in his eyes, were full of a sense of the times, with a rough industrial style, but they were very interesting.

Loren struggled to lift the enormous flashlight in front of him, then put it down again; he estimated it weighed about three or four pounds.

Wendell boasted, "This flashlight was modified by a friend of mine from military equipment; it's a xenon bulb."

His curiosity was piqued again: "Can you wizards use magic to enhance this flashlight? I mean, like in the legends, turn it into an object with magical powers, like the Sword of Magnus or the medicine chest of Asclepius, the god of medicine..."

Loren thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I've never heard of such magic, but alchemy should be able to do it, making its light carry heat and making the light even more dazzling..."

The two engaged in a lively question-and-answer session.

Wendell, at least, thought the conversation was going very well.

Hermione came out of the study, sat down next to Loren, put her books aside, and helped tidy up.

Loren glanced at it casually, then his expression hardened. A neat row of large characters reading "Analysis of Krav Maga" was displayed on the cover.

This book keeps haunting me.

"Dad, when are we going camping?" Hermione folded up a blanket and handed it to Wendell.

Wendell laughed heartily, "Ha, I'll go tomorrow!"

Dean Forest is an ancient forest located in northeast London, covering more than 6000 acres. It is very vast. It is close to the edge of the city, but as a royal hunting and recreational forest, the past century of industrial revolution did not affect this forest.

It takes about three hours to drive there from Granger's house. To avoid the midday heat, they set off early in the morning while it was still cool.

On a highway in the countryside, a car drove by at a steady speed. The Grangers sat in the front, Wendell was driving, and Monica was in the passenger seat.

Loren and Hermione sat in the back seat. Hermione was wearing a white and green striped t-shirt, the hem of which was tucked into her jeans. Her curly hair was tied into two ponytails. Sitting in the back seat, her eyes sparkled as she gazed at the scenery rushing past the car window.

Loren was dressed exactly the same way. He looked at the Grangers' white and green striped t-shirts in the front row, then at Hermione, and finally at himself. He still didn't quite feel comfortable.

Monica noticed Loren's actions through the rearview mirror and smiled gently: "When the family goes camping, they should wear the same clothes."

She raised her voice slightly: "This has always been how we are in our family, hasn't it, Hermione?"

Hermione looked away from the window and answered loudly, "Yes!"

Full of vitality and life.

"Speaking of which," Wendell recalled the newspaper article, "the government has increased its development efforts in Dean Forest, and now many visitor facilities have been opened on the edge of the forest, allowing us to stay for a few more days."

"Because it's summer, we can venture deeper into the forest. There are ancient stone circles and abandoned well houses nearby, and we can also visit Elizabeth I's hunting lodge." Wendell had done a lot of preparation for this camping trip.

“Elizabeth I,” Hermione said, raising a hand. “I know her. She was the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty, and she reigned during the Golden Age of the Renaissance, the era in which Shakespeare lived.”

Loren wondered if it was just his imagination, but Hermione seemed unusually lively while they were camping.

Upon hearing Shakespeare's name, Monica teased, "One of us has a name related to Shakespeare. Guess who it is?"

Hermione knew, but she didn't answer; her little feet dangled under the seat, indicating that she was in a very good mood.

Wendell continued, "Hermione's name comes from Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale.' Your mother put a lot of effort into coming up with this name."

"I've said it so many times!" Hermione complained, but anyone could tell she really liked the name.

Loren looked at the lush greenery in the open view and enjoyed the warm atmosphere of the Granger family, thinking that he should probably find an opportunity to travel with Grandpa Bates.

"Speaking of Elizabeth I," Wendell recalled a legend, and he asked the two young wizards in the back seat to confirm, "was her sister, Mary I, really a witch?"

"I used to think this was just a ridiculous story, but now that my daughter is a living witch, the story has become somewhat plausible."

"Mary?" Upon hearing this somewhat familiar name, Loren was startled.

Hermione wasn't quite sure what the legend was. "All I know is that she was Elizabeth I's sister."

Bloody Mary isn't a good story; it's usually used to scare people.

Monica glared at her husband, but considering that the two people sitting behind her were genuine wizards who wouldn't be frightened by legends made up by ordinary people, she patiently told the two young wizards the story.

"Mary I grew up during the Reformation, which was also the time of the most intense struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism. The war of faith was bloody," Monica paused, glancing in the rearview mirror at the two children who showed little reaction, clearly unaware of the cruelty of war.

She continued, "Her father was Henry VIII, and her mother was Catherine, a Catholic Spanish princess. Their marriage was a political one, and they were not happy."

Monica glanced at Loren and Hermione again, who were listening with great interest. "Henry VIII cheated on his wife. In order to divorce Catherine, he betrayed Catholicism, broke with the Pope, promoted Protestantism in the country, and persecuted Catholics."

"Mary was falsely accused of being Catherine's illegitimate son and suffered humiliation at court, being treated worse than a servant. In this family environment, Mary developed a paranoid and eccentric personality. She became a die-hard Catholic and deeply hated Protestantism."

"As an adult, she was tried by her father, Henry VIII, for treason because she refused to convert to Protestantism."

Hermione couldn't help but exclaim, "That's her father? How could someone have such a father?"

Wendell said, "Because it was a special era, and the king's power also came from religion."

Monica continued, "After Mary I married King Philip II of Spain and ascended the throne, she restored the Catholic Church and began to massacre Protestants. In five years, more than 300 people were burned at the stake. Some pregnant women gave birth in the flames, and their babies were also burned to a crisp. The people called her Bloody Mary."

"I'll talk about the rest," Wendell said, driving without turning his head, but his tone was very excited.

"Later, she became a ghost. Legend has it that if you call her name three times in front of a mirror, you will see her reflection and she will answer your questions."

Loren's breath hitched; this Mary seemed to be the same Mary he had met before.

"But!" Wendell lowered his voice, "sometimes she would extend claws and fangs from the mirror, tear open people's faces, and gouge out their eyeballs—a punishment that Protestants endured."

Hermione's face tightened as she listened. She braced her feet on the chair in front of her and leaned back as far away from her father as possible.

Monica reached out and slapped Wendell. "Be serious!"

"Ha!" Wendell laughed. "I was planning to tell this scary story on a camping night; the atmosphere would have been much better."

"Are there any other legends?" Loren couldn't help but want to know more.

Wendell said, "If the summoning ritual is not performed correctly, the ghost will howl at the participants, torture and strangle them, steal their bodies or souls, drink their blood, or gouge out their eyes."

"There are two basic elements to summoning Mary: a mirror in a dark room and calling her name a specific number of times. There is also a saying that Bloody Mary only comes on specific days."

Loren subconsciously connected this bloody Mary with the Mary from the vision in the Book of Abraham.

"Back in college, some classmates liked to perform some ghost-summoning rituals. They said that a young woman would go up the stairs in a dark room, holding a mirror in one hand and a candle in the other. When she looked in the mirror, she could see the face of her future husband. If she saw a skeleton, it meant she wouldn't live to get married."

Monica said, "I've played this game."

Wendell glanced at her sideways and complained, "Hey! I didn't know about this."

He then joked, "So you saw my face back then, right?"

Monica paused for a moment, "What I saw was a skeleton; my classmates were playing a prank on me."

Upon hearing this, Wendell's expression turned somewhat grim, and he involuntarily clenched his hands tightly around the steering wheel until his fingers turned white.

Monica's college life was spent amidst these nasty jokes, those damn classmates!

Monica patted his hand with a relieved smile, indicating that she was alright and that Wendell should relax.

"Mom~" Hermione said sweetly, clinging to the back of the chair in front of her, "They would never guess that you have such a good husband."

Wendell grinned. "And what a wonderful daughter."

"Hehe." Hermione chuckled sheepishly.

"So you've heard of the witch Bloody Mary?" Monica asked with a smile.

Hermione replied, "Of course not. If such a witch existed, she would have certainly violated the Law of Secrecy."

That's the atmosphere in the Granger family. Both parents are erudite and avid readers, and they can always tell Hermione a wonderful and interesting story at any time.

Loren's mind was constantly unsettled. He was now certain that the Mary in the mirror in the illusion was closely related to Bloody Mary, even if they weren't the same person.

But this only brought more questions.

Mary I of the Tudor dynasty lived in the 16th century, while the Book of Abraham is from a thousand years ago, or even several thousand years ago. Why are the two connected?

Why is the legend of Mary more widely circulated in Muggle society, but there is no news about it in the wizarding world?

Recalling what Mr. Granger had just said, Bloody Mary only arrives at specific times, which also perfectly matches the timing Flamel had told him: when Mars is bright.

He was now eager to enter the Book of Fantasy and ask Flamel when the next interpretation of the Book of Abraham would be. But he had to suppress this urge for now and wait until he was alone.

As the car drove along the highway, the popular science explanation of a piece of history and legend came to an end.

The four of them set off at 8:00 a.m. and arrived at the outskirts of Dean Forest, the place where tourists enter, at 11:30 a.m.

After passing through the open fields on the road, they drove into another street, which had cafes, restaurants, and hotels.

Loren was a little confused. He thought they would drive all the way into the forest and then set up a tent next to the car to camp. But the facilities here were so complete.

Wendell drove into the hotel parking lot, and hotel staff came up with trolleys to help him load his luggage into the car. He then quietly followed behind them.

Hermione noticed that Loren was unfamiliar with the environment and procedures and was afraid he would get lost, so she took his hand and held Monica's hand with her other hand. The three of them followed behind Wendell.

The lobby is luxurious and exquisite, with magnificent flower-shaped chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. The bright golden light illuminates every corner, the marble floor is smooth, and the oil paintings on the walls are colorful and huge.

After checking in at the front desk and entering the hotel suite, the atmosphere became lively again after the staff arranged our luggage.

The four of them sat on the sofa, and Monica began to cut the fruit on the table.

"This isn't quite what I expected from camping," Loren said absentmindedly.

"Initially, camping involved going directly into the forest, but after a number of disappearances, the government took it seriously and, in order to develop the economy, built a street here." This wasn't Hermione's first time here, and she had the same doubts at first.

Wendell, who had been driving for a while, was a bit tired. He sat on the sofa, rubbed his temples, and said, "Let's rest here for a bit, and then head to the forest this afternoon."

"Then why did we come to a hotel?" Loren asked.

We're leaving this afternoon, so we won't need this room at all.

He looked around and saw that the hotel had a private bathroom, a living room, and a bedroom. These suites in the scenic area didn't look cheap.

"The hotel operates a camping area with services specifically for campers, providing free charcoal, barbecue supplies, and drinks. Most importantly, they regularly check on our safety." Monica cut an apple into quarters and handed one to each of them.

So camping means camping in someone else's designated area and enjoying certain services.

Loren found it very novel, but upon further reflection, he found it reasonable.

In the past, when the economy and social environment were bad, the streets were filled with unemployed people, drug addicts, and gangsters. Serious crimes were common, and the danger was even greater in sparsely populated places like forests.

The situation has only improved in recent years, but who can guarantee safety?

Knowing that there had been disappearances in the forest, the Grangers were certainly not unprepared, and choosing this camping method was the right thing to do.

(End of this chapter)