Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 804 Encountering a Snake at the Fountain of Good Fortune

The first level encountered in the search for the Fountain of Good Fortune.

Both of them were in a dilemma.

Hermione paced back and forth along the lakeshore, her beautiful brows furrowed as she pondered how to prove to the white serpent that her pain had passed the test, or perhaps quietly assess its magic, considering whether she could fool it with a Confusion or Imperius Curse. However, given its friendly attitude and the magic of the Fountain of Good Fortune, she decided to abandon the plan for the time being.

"Proof of some kind of suffering..."

It might be related to the Heart-Piercing Curse.

It shouldn't just refer to physical pain.

If it involves emotional and psychological distress, it may be related to Dementors.

"What could it be...?"

Hermione paced back and forth a few times, still unable to come up with an answer. Just as she was about to discuss it with Loren, she turned around and stopped in her tracks.

Loren squatted in front of the snow-white serpent, holding the pendant in his left hand and constantly taking things out with his right, trying his luck as he approached the white snake. Sometimes it was potion and alchemy materials, sometimes various food ingredients and seasonings. If the magical materials didn't work, he would put them back. He even wanted to feed the food ingredients and seasonings to the white snake to taste. Just as she looked over, Loren happened to be holding up a dried white mouse and feeding it to her. It was a snack for a certain spectacled owl.

"Hiss..."

Although the white snake's eyes were lifeless and its face was expressionless, Hermione could still see a hint of helplessness in the arc of its tail's movement.

"..."

Hermione suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the white snake.

However, this can be considered an attempt.

Hermione temporarily put aside the various thoughts in her mind and, like Loren, squatted down to take out the various items from the pendant and brought them close to the snow-white serpent to try them out.

The book "Hogwarts: A History of the School".

NEWT Exercises.

A scholar's residence with a feather pen.

Loren glanced at her. "What do these things have to do with pain?"

"What's the connection between chili oil and mustard and pain?"

"These are all seasonings made from magical plants. The raw materials are prohibited from entering the country. The chili oil is a special devil chili, and the wasabi is also a premium wasabi. Just one taste is enough to experience pain."

"?"

Hermione was silent for a few seconds.

I still think the Confusion Curse and the Imperishable Curse are more suitable.

For the next ten minutes or so, the two rummaged through the pendant and found all sorts of materials and everyday items. Regardless of what they were, they waved them in front of the white snake and then put them back in the pendant. The white snake ignored them completely.

Undeterred, Loren continued to try his luck. He reached for the pendant with his right hand and retrieved a red stone. Just as he casually flicked his wrist to put the pendant back, the white snake suddenly moved—

It brought its head closer, flicked its tongue, and began to lick the red stone.

"what?"

Loren held the stone aloft, carefully examining the red stone.

Hermione's eyes widened slightly, revealing a hint of surprise. She had already recognized the stone: "It's a coral stone that the mermaid gave us."

"What does this have to do with pain...?"

Before Loren could finish his question, he showed a thoughtful expression: "That mermaid elder once witnessed his fellow mermaids being poisoned and mutated, dying tragically in the torment of the disease. Moreover, this toxin spread along the ocean currents to the whole world, affecting more and more mermaids. He saw the entire race heading towards extinction and was powerless to stop it, which caused him great pain."

"is that so……"

A hint of realization flickered in Hermione's eyes.

To the white snake, the red coral seemed to be a rare delicacy, attracting it to lick it. Even when Loren reached out to stroke its scales, it did not disturb the snake's movements, as it was immersed in the world of savoring the delicious treat.

Loren held the coral stone in one hand and gently stroked its scales with the other.

There are still many questions that remain unanswered.

What is the specific connection between the red coral and pain? Why was the mermaid elder so certain that he could save the mermaid tribe? How did he know that he would be searching for the Fountain of Good Fortune a few years later? Did Dumbledore know about these connections? ... But now the answers to these questions are no longer important.

Loren and Hermione squatted side by side by the lake, quietly watching the white snake lick the coral.

The white snake moved slowly, the whole process lasting more than ten minutes, like a flock of sheep licking salt crystals on a rock wall in a wild grassland. The white snake was also drawing some kind of substance from the coral stone. Loren tried to observe with his magical vision, but only saw the crystalline red light contained in the coral stone. Halfway through, he remembered the wonderful use of the Soul-Capturing Stone and saw what it was drawing. It was a substance with a dark glow, similar in nature to magic, but also somewhat different.

After licking, the white snake broke free from Loren's grasp, lazily twisted its body, and returned to the lake.

Did you pass the test?

The two were slightly excited and quickly stood up, waiting solemnly.

A few minutes passed, and nothing unusual happened.

Hermione watched the little creature swim leisurely in the water, then turned to Loren, her brow furrowing slightly. "We passed the test, didn't we?"

Loren pondered for a moment: "Strictly speaking, this snake didn't reveal any information related to the trial. It just saw the two wizards approach, swam ashore, hissed twice in front of us, accepted our food, ate and drank its fill, and then went back to rest."

"..."

That makes a lot of sense and is convincing.

The two didn't dwell on it much. They stayed by the lake for a few minutes before heading towards their next destination.

Loren and Hermione moved slowly, clearing a path and exploring as they made their way through the dense undergrowth toward the place where the magic shone.

This oasis is rich in biodiversity, with wild plants and animals growing and multiplying freely.

Along the way, the most common sights were various drought-resistant tree species, including date palms, fig trees, and olive trees that I could name, and many more that I couldn't. Next were low trees and shrubs. Judging from the shape of their branches and leaves, they were all drought-resistant plants. Considering that there is plenty of water here, these must have been tree species from the surrounding desert that fell here a long time ago and took root and sprouted.

There are no signs of human presence.

This is not surprising. Dumbledore last searched for the Fountain of Good Fortune nearly a hundred years ago, and his footprints have been lost to the passage of time and the erosion of sand.

Loren walked along, lost in thought.

The two quickly arrived at the next place where magical light shone.

It was still a clear and transparent lake, with swaying aquatic plants obscuring the bottom. There were no fish, but the shore was covered with the tracks of small animals, suggesting it was a freshwater lake suitable for drinking.

Loren stood by the lake for a few minutes, fiddling with a few pebbles, then kicked one into the lake, creating ripples. They then saw a brocade snake emerge from the water plants.

This time, the rat snake wasn't entirely white; its eyes were still dull and lifeless. Fortunately, it didn't rely much on sight, but rather on the strange senses in its cheek pits to determine direction. It slowly swam up to the two of them, raised half its body, flicked its tongue, and hissed.

"What do you think about feeding it dried white mice?"

Loren was more experienced this time.

Hermione completely ignored his suggestion, half-squatted down to take out her coral stone, brought it close to the serpent, and, unsurprised that it didn't react at all, said to him:

"I think we should try examining each pendant one by one. We don't speak Parsley, and they don't speak human language. Instead of aimless guessing, we should try everything. Speaking of which, did Dumbledore mention the snakes' needs in his letters?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then squat down and try it slowly."

"well……"

"The second test mentioned in The Tales of Beedle the Bard is to present the results of one's labor. I think everything counts as a result of labor, some of which is physical labor, some of which is mental labor. Even the Galleons used as currency were made by goblin craftsmen."

"This snake clearly disagrees with you."

Loren examined the serpent, then squatted down again to fiddle with the pendant, trying out each item one by one.

Before long, the serpent actually started licking it.

What attracted the raccoon snake this time was a clump of dark residue, scraps of unicorn tail hair.

Loren received this tail hair a few years ago when he was a junior student. He was punished with confinement for the incident with the dragon Norbert. One night, he followed Hagrid on a patrol of the Forbidden Forest and happened to interrupt Voldemort's attack on unicorns. Afterwards, he received a gift from the unicorns as a token of their gratitude, which was a tuft of unicorn tail hair given to him by Hagrid.

Loren used these tail hairs to practice alchemy and inscribe rune magic circles. At the time, his skills were still rudimentary, and a few strands were melted away by magic, turning into this pile of debris.

Seeing the serpent engrossed in its delicious meal, Loren twitched his lips. He had only recently begun learning alchemy and had no concept of disposing of waste materials. He had simply picked up this scrap, and he couldn't even remember when he had put it into the pendant.

Later, Loren Morgan became more skilled, and even if he occasionally made a mistake, he would burn the material residue on the spot. Therefore, the amount of residue was not much, and the snake quickly licked it clean. Loren and Hermione waited for a few minutes before saying goodbye and leaving.

The two continued onward, groping their way through the bushes for a while, and soon arrived at the third lake, where they encountered their third serpent.

"This time I remember that in The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the third test was to hand over the wealth of the past."

"Keep it. Although I don't know what the correct answer is, it's definitely not your Galleons or this £20 note."

"How can this not be considered wealth!"

"..."

Hermione crouched down and began repeating the previous actions, trying out each item from the pendant one by one.

In the fable about the Fountain of Good Fortune, the third challenge requires the wealth of the past, and the answer is given by the third witch, Amata. She was abandoned by the man she deeply loved and felt that her inner pain could not be healed. She hoped that the Fountain of Good Fortune could soothe her pain. Faced with this problem, she handed over the memories of her beautiful love.

Loren watched her movements, but this time he didn't try it with her. Instead, he watched from the side and said, "It's lunchtime. Let's eat something first before we try."

"Sounds like a travel picnic?"

"Alchemy preserves it; it tastes just like it came out of the pot..."

"You planned this out before you left, didn't you?"

"Hehe, a trip should look like a trip."

"You prepare lunch first, I'll give it another try."

"Then hurry up."

Loren touched the snake scales, then turned around and began to set up. He took out a picnic blanket to lay it out, but unfortunately, it was too close to the lake, the weeds were too lush, and the soil underfoot was too muddy, making it not a good place to set up a picnic.

The surrounding area is also not very smooth.

Loren simply put away the picnic blanket, waved his wand, and in a few seconds, an exquisitely crafted dining table appeared out of thin air, complete with two carved chairs, and even tableware, porcelain plates, and goblets.

Hermione remained crouched in front of the snake, watching him arrange the dishes, her eyes reflecting the sunlight on the lake: "Loren, you shouldn't..."

"Of course not."

"Can't do what?"

"I won't give up our beautiful memories. Even if we create more wonderful things in the future, the past is irreplaceable, and I firmly believe that." Loren didn't pause for a moment, turning back to smile at her. "I know you think so too."

"..."

Hermione said nothing more.

As he said, they had gotten to know each other's thoughts over time and were very firm in their beliefs; she just couldn't help but ask him for confirmation.

Within minutes, before Hermione had even tried everything in her pendant, she smelled an enticing aroma wafting from the nearby dining table. The aroma was a blend of oil and carbohydrates, mingled with subtle, complex spices, a savory and enticing scent that reminded her of braised beef brisket with potatoes.

"Um?"

Hermione's thoughts were somewhat confused.

How come there's still freshly cooked braised beef brisket?

Then came the aromas of puff pastry onion soup, Basque chicken stew, and creamy ice cream. Despite trying to focus on the snake, the scents in the air seemed to have some kind of pull, causing my hands to slow down as I picked up and put down items, and my mouth to start drooling.

"Stop trying, it's time for lunch."

"There are only a few items left."

Hermione lowered her head, sniffed, and her expression was obscured, though her voice was somewhat muffled.

The girl silently quickened her pace, tried out the last few items, paused before leaving, laid out a few dried white rats for the snake, and quickly got up and ran away:

"You ate it! I saw you!"

"Mmm..."

The gentle sunlight felt warm on my skin, and the temperature was reduced by the greenery and the lake, so it didn't feel scorching. The air was filled with the aroma of food, which reminded me of the time I would lie on the shore of the Black Lake and bask in the sun after my Hogwarts exams, just as leisurely as I was now.

The koi snake turned its head away, seemingly puzzled, but quickly lost interest in them and the dried white rat left by the girl. It lowered its head, coiled its body, and squinted the thin membrane around its eyes, basking in the sun.

Hermione sat down at the table, first taking a bite of the soft, melt-in-your-mouth potato in the stewed beef brisket, then squinting her eyes in satisfaction before asking:

"Have you figured out the answer the third snake needs?"

"It's just a guess."

Loren held a silver metal knife and fork in his hand, chewing on tender beef brisket, and said casually, "The last witch gave me a memory that she cherished but should have given up, and coincidentally, I also have such a memory."

"..."

Hermione glanced at his expression, her eyes darting around, but she didn't ask any further questions.

(End of this chapter)