A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 205 The So-Called Treasure

Professor Barbling wrote down a long list of words on a piece of paper and handed it to William to translate.

This woman had no intention of teaching him properly at all.

It takes a year just to get started with Ancient Runes. Even the fifth-grade OWLS exam mainly tests vocabulary, and grammar is only covered in the advanced classes.

She is impatient during class and has no interest in teaching outside of class.

She wrote a long list of words, just to discourage people from leaving.

She didn't believe a second-grade wizard could translate it.

Unless the other person is like her, appearing young on the outside but possessing a mature soul.

Babling pulled out eggplant-flavored potato chips from somewhere and happily started eating them.

She seemed to be a drag queen; the long court dress she had just worn had disappeared, replaced by tight jeans.

She asked Hermione if she wanted some, but the girl refused, which disappointed Hermione.

In less than ten minutes, William had translated all five pages she had written.

Ancient runes tend to be a combination of hieroglyphics and Old Germanic languages, with varied and complex word formations, and their meanings are closely related to ancient times.

For example, the abstract characters representing the invisible beast symbolize "0" for this animal's invisibility ability.

In ancient magic script, all spells related to invisibility contain the core word 0.

For example, the unicorn's horn symbolizes "1"; the horn of the horned beast symbolizes "2"; and a three-headed creature like the Neferpitou symbolizes "3"...

The basic vocabulary of ancient magic script is extremely complex, and it took William a long time of hard study to master even a basic understanding.

However, he still cannot understand sentences; knowing only words without understanding grammar is not enough.

Barbling was surprised that William translated the vocabulary so quickly.

She carefully read through everything William had written before re-examining him.

Is he really a genius?

The woman seemed to have discovered something interesting, and she smiled and said, "I can teach you, but you have to promise me one thing, um... not right now."

William laughed. What did it matter if he agreed to one thing or a hundred? Professor Barbling had no memory of it anyway.

Do you think everyone is Dumbledore?

William replied without hesitation, "Okay."

Babling looked smug, stroking the amulet on her collar and smiling slightly. "Don't try anything funny. When I taught Dumbledore the ancient runes, he tried to cheat me, but in the end he had to help me."

William remained silent, but his mind was in turmoil.

Dumbledore is over a hundred years old, and William doesn't believe that the headmaster only learned ancient runes in the last ten years or so. He must have been exposed to them when he was in school.

Is Emotional Barbering... actually an old monster who has lived for hundreds of years?

But she always looks like an eighteen-year-old?

Holy crap, what a treasure of an old lady! William is determined to squeeze every last drop out of her!

Babling cleared her throat, snapped her fingers, and changed into a dark green robe.

This must be what she wore to class, but the color is too old-fashioned; even Professor McGonagall could wear it without any problem.

Her white hair also stood up and was piled into a bun, and her hairstyle was... just like Professor McGonagall's.

However, when the two stand together, Barbling is more than qualified to be Professor McGonagall's granddaughter.

Babling said seriously, "Since I said I would teach you, let's understand one thing first."

Why do we rarely translate ancient magical script into languages ​​we know, but instead painstakingly try to understand its meaning?

William shook his head.

"Have you seen the Slytherin statue?"

William looked up at the corner of the table, where a famous Slytherin statue stood.

"Yes."

"Did you see what he looks like?"

William nodded. He had an old, monkey-like face, a sparse, long beard that almost reached the hem of his stone-carved wizard's robe, and two large, gray feet on the smooth floor of the room.

Do you know why Slytherin is depicted this way?

William shook his head; he really didn't know.

"Because this is a mistranslation, a mistranslation of the image of Slytherin."

The earliest records of Slytherin's appearance are only found in the Slytherin family, but those are all in the form of ancient spellbooks.

Later, Corvinus Gaunt—a direct descendant of Slytherin—translated this part into Latin.

However, he mistakenly translated the ancient rune phrase "Slytherin's face seemed to glow" as "His face looked like a monkey's."

From then on, artists and sculptors began to depict Slytherin as a monkey.

"Wait, I think I've heard the name Kovinus Gaunt before."

William squinted and thought for a moment.

"I remember that Corvinus Gaunt once repaired the Hogwarts plumbing system."

When William was in his first year of high school, he wanted to make a map, so Professor Dumbledore recommended that he look at the structure of Hogwarts Castle.

There is a record of this passage there.

"That's right," Barbling said meaningfully. "Yes, he completely renovated the pipes at Hogwarts, and the renovation was particularly complex."

"Okay, let's not talk about him for now. A simple mistranslation, and what was the result?"

The great Slytherins have since become this grotesque creature.

"I brought up the example of Slytherin," Barbling said, "to illustrate that a single word, a mistranslation, can rewrite history."

The meaning of ancient magical script is often misunderstood and cannot be accurately expressed.

We usually don't translate it; instead, we treat it as our native language and repeatedly try to understand its meaning.

"Young man, this is the first piece of knowledge I've taught you: language can also be excellent at keeping secrets."

And ancient magical runes are like this... a treasure trove!

……

……

Five hours later, William left the office of the ancient runes.

He learned a lot today and decided to go back and digest it properly.

Hermione had never encountered this kind of content before, and it was like listening to gibberish to her. She fell asleep after lunch.

Barbling suggested that Hermione sleep there, but William immediately refused.

These days, girls need to protect themselves when they go out. Professor Babuling doesn't look like a decent person.

William carried the girl on his back and walked toward the Gryffindor common room.

But Hermione woke up when they reached the fourth floor.

The girl, still dazed, leaned against William's back and asked, "Is it over?"

"Um."

"Professor Barbling is acting strangely..."

"So, when you're in third grade, you absolutely must not choose ancient magic script," William said with concern.

Hermione secretly made a face at William, rested her head on his warm shoulder, and asked softly, "Then you'll teach me?"

"OK……"

William carried the girl on his back and continued walking. The setting sun cast long shadows on the two of them.

……

……

(Thanks to "Fengling Shiwu" for the donation)

(End of this chapter)