The Ancient Wizards of Hogwarts

Halloween in 1992 was a special day because it was Saturday and there were no classes.

"Ash, Hermione!"

After lunch, Harley and Cassandra came to the Room of Requirement excitedly. Harley's tone was very excited, "Sir Nick just invited us to attend his death anniversary party. Do you want to come with us?"

"Death anniversary party?" Hermione tilted her head.

Harley explained patiently:

"Tonight, Sir Nick died on Halloween in 1492, so today's Halloween is the 500th anniversary of his death."

It makes sense to celebrate birthdays during life and death anniversaries after death.

Hermione's eyes brightened slightly and she asked enthusiastically:

"I don't think many living people have ever been to a party like this? I bet it was amazing!"

Ash looked at the excited girl and smiled dumbly:

"It is indeed wonderful, but I suggest you not to participate."

"Eh?" The three little ones looked at Ash at the same time.

Harley asked softly:

"Is there any danger?"

"Of course there is no danger, but it is difficult for ordinary people to accept."

Ash explained softly, giving an example by the way, "Ghosts are dead people. Although they can stay in the world, they cannot live freely like living people. For example, they cannot eat or smell anything. And can’t touch anything.”

"The most important thing is that they who have died once will not die again."

"Perhaps during the period just after they died, they would be glad that they had become ghosts and could continue to 'live'. But as time goes by, the boring life will gradually become overwhelming and their spirits will It will also gradually collapse in the process.”

"Many things that are unacceptable to living people may have long been accustomed to them. At a death anniversary party held by such a group of ghosts, their attitude towards having fun is completely different from ordinary people. For example, kicking their own heads like balls, and For example, pulling out bloody intestines to decorate the venue, or placing rotting corpses covered with maggots and smelling bad on the dining table..."

"Well--"

"Stop talking!"

Harry's originally excited smile of anticipation disappeared and was replaced by unspeakable horror. Hermione even hurriedly stretched out her white hands to try to block Ash's mouth and stop him from continuing to speak.

"Is it that exaggerated?" Cassandra asked softly.

Ash spread his hands and looked helpless:

"I'm not trying to scare you. The scene will only be more exaggerated than what I said. After all, it's hard for a living person to imagine how perverted a dead person is."

Harley cried sadly:

"But I have promised Sir Nick that I will definitely attend..."

Cassandra and Hermione's faces were full of sympathy. Fortunately, they didn't receive the invitation, let alone agree rashly.

Harry looked at their sympathetic looks, suddenly held Hermione's hand, and asked with some anticipation:

"Hermione, can you go with me?"

"Ah ha ha……"

Hermione's expression stiffened, and she didn't dare to look into Harry's eyes.

Sympathy is sympathy, but she really can't do it if she is asked to attend such a dinner!

Just hearing Ash's description made her want to vomit. If she really saw the scene, she would be so sick that she couldn't eat for a whole month!

Harry had already seen the answer from Hermione's attitude. He was disappointed and looked at Cassandra longingly:

"Cassandra, can you come with me?"

"I……"

Cassandra's eyes were also wandering and she answered the question nonsensically, "Have you seen the pumpkins Hagrid prepared for Halloween? They are big enough to accommodate two or three people sitting in them. Dumbledore also booked a skeleton dance troupe to entertain. I Guess we really shouldn’t miss it!”

"Ash."

Harley, who suffered successive betrayals, was heartbroken and looked at Ash pitifully, "Will you accompany me?"

Ash's expression seemed a little helpless, but his voice was as gentle as ever:

"Of course, I can't let you go alone, can I?"

Ash was certainly not interested in the party, but if he remembered correctly, the Headless Hunter was also attending the death anniversary party.

And he happened to have some personal matters with one of the members, so he didn't mind accompanying Harley.

"Woo~" Harry shed tears of emotion, while Hermione and Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief while feeling guilty.

"Ghost."

Ash gently stroked the girl's long hair, softly soothing the girl's wounded heart, and sighed in his heart.

For wizards, death is not the end, but the beginning of another journey.

When a wizard actually faces death, they usually have two options.

Either face death bravely, regard death as a new beginning, and keep going.

Either they avoid death out of fear, leave their mark on the world as a ghost, and continue to be active in the world.

In the former option, no one knows what the afterlife is like.

Although many wizards speculate that there should be an underworld, no one has seen it with their own eyes. After all, dead people will not come back to reality to tell you what the afterlife is like.

As for the latter choice, there are few ghosts who do not regret it.

They are afraid of death, so they choose to escape and become ghosts lingering in the world.

But ghosts belong to the type that is neither living nor dead, neither here nor there.

This alternative form of 'immortality' is instead an eternal curse - it is no exaggeration to say that no ghost does not regret it.

The death that living people fear is the relief that ghosts long for.

The so-called death anniversary party is actually just ghosts enjoying themselves in misery.

Ash has always looked down on ghosts. He knows very well what the price of becoming a ghost is, so he puts his hope in the Phoenix who can be reborn from the ashes. Voldemort also looked down upon ghosts, so he chose to extend his life in the form of 'horcruxes'.

And Voldemort is indeed a talent. Voldemort did not invent Horcruxes, but he is the only wizard who can split his soul into more than two parts and create more than one Horcrux.

Although Ash and Voldemort made different choices, their goals were the same, hoping to gain immortality.

And in a sense, their attempts were imperfect.

Although it cannot be said to be a failure, it cannot be said to be very successful.

In a sense, Ash and Voldemort are actually the same kind of people, and they both paid some price for 'immortality'.

Even in terms of the number of lives on his hands, Ash was far ahead of Voldemort.

However, the 'sacrifice' made by Ash is meaningful, and every wizard who dies at his hands will contribute to his 'evolution'. ,

But Voldemort was different. For the wizards who died at his hands, the only real significance was the few human lives involved in making Horcruxes.

In Ash's view, Voldemort's actions were a complete waste of resources and he did not understand what it means to make the best use of resources. It is no wonder that he ended up in failure.

All I can say is that this Dark Lord is so inferior!

——

Wow!

It was pouring rain outside the window, and the sky was covered with dark clouds, covering the sky like a dark curtain.

When Harley passed by the auditorium, she could see that it was bright inside, decorated with lights and candlelight, unaffected by the bad weather. The students happily gathered around the long table with gold plates, waiting for the dinner that was about to begin.

Hermione and Cassandra waved goodbye to Harry, but Harry could only watch all this helplessly.

A gentle voice sounded in her ears:

"Miss Potter, won't you go in?"

Harley was a little flattered and replied softly:

"Professor Lupin, I'm waiting for Ash. We are going to attend Sir Nick's death anniversary party."

"Oh~"

Lupine frowned and made a tut-tutting sound, "I have to remind you, Miss Potter, that the death anniversary party may not be as interesting as you think. I attended one once when I was a student, and it was terrible..."

"I know."

Harley had a hopeless expression on her face, "Ash told me this, but I've already promised Sir Nick, so I can't break my promise, right?"

Lupine looked at Harley with an inexplicable trance, as if he saw a familiar figure in her body, and said softly:

"Miss Potter, the same is true for your father. He never breaks his promise."

Harley frowned slightly and said softly:

"Professor Lupin, you can call me Harley."

Lu Ping was stunned and didn't understand why Harley was repelled by her surname, and asked in surprise:

"Harry, how much do you know about your father?"

"Hmm~"

Harley thought for two seconds and replied in a low voice, "A bully who does all the bad things is probably like this."

Lu Ping didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and didn't know what to say, and his tone was a little helpless:

"James will be very disappointed if he knows that he has such an opinion in your mind."

Harley asked: "Am I wrong?"

Lu Ping explained softly:

"I can't say it's wrong, but it's too one-sided."

"How should I put it? Although your father has some minor problems, he is indeed a very good person."

"Harry, can I know why you have such an impression of your father?"

"In other words, who told you?"

Harley hesitated for two seconds and spoke softly:

"Professor Snape."

There was a flash of understanding in Lupine's eyes. It wouldn't be surprising at all if it was Snape.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to help correct Harley's stereotype, he heard Harley continue:

"Professor Snape hates my father. It can even be said to be hatred."

"My aunt and uncle don't like him either. They can't help but curse him secretly."

"In Mr. Filch's office, he has so many punishment records for violating school rules and bullying classmates that he can't even count them! The most common ones were being caught hanging out at night, which is not a big deal. But he also often uses evil methods on his classmates. The curse was not because they had any conflicts, just because he thought it was fun to do so, and the student who was cast the curse didn’t even know him!”

After a pause, Harley added:

"Professor Lupin, I saw your name in there."

Lu Ping was silent for a few seconds, smiled bitterly and laughed at himself:

"Well, it looks like I'm a little one-sided."

After all, Harley is only twelve years old. As a student, the only way for her to know her parents is through Hogwarts.

And James did not leave a very good reputation in school, almost all of which was bad reputation. He was a complete campus bully during his school days, which even Lupine could not defend.

He really wanted to tell Harry that James actually had many advantages.

But before Lupine could speak, Harry suddenly asked:

"Professor Lupin, can you tell me what your impression is of my mother?"

"Lily..."

Lupine's eyes looked a little nostalgic, and he said softly, "She is very gentle."

Harley didn't seem surprised at all, she said softly:

"That's the impression everyone has of their mother."

"Even though most of them have a very bad impression of my father, their impressions of my mother are surprisingly consistent. Professor Snape hates my father, but even so, he has always taken great care of me. I know this must be It’s because of my mother.”

"Although my aunt and uncle would secretly curse my father, they have always been very kind to me. This is also because of my mother."

"Whether people like him or don't like him, their evaluation of mom is always the same."

"She was a very gentle person."

"But, Professor Lupin."

Harry continued: "Before you, I have never heard a good word about my father from anyone. Who do you think I should believe?"

Lu Ping was silent for a long time and then slowly spoke:

"Everything happens..."

Harley's tone was very calm and she asked:

"Everything has two sides, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a bully, right?"

"Cassandra is my friend, and Mr. Lucius is also very kind to me. He is as considerate as he would his own daughter."

"But this does not prevent Mr. Lucius from being a pure-blood supremacy. He has always discriminated against Muggle wizards. We didn't even dare to let him know that Hermione was our friend. Cassandra had to warn Goyle and Crabbe. They were asked to keep the matter secret as Hermione's parents are Muggles."

"Ash told me that no matter how bad a person is, he always has a good side."

"Even if my father is a bully, if he is still alive, he will definitely be very kind to me, better than my aunt and uncle, and better than Professor Snape. And he is kind to his friends, to you and Sirius Black, and to the children." Peter Dwarf is very good, otherwise you wouldn't make mistakes with him, Sirius wouldn't bully other students with him, and your name wouldn't be on the record."

"So you will definitely tell me good things about my father and tell me that he has a good side, and I believe this is true. Because from Professor Lupin's perspective, my father is indeed a very good person. There is no conflict with Professor Snape hating him."

"..."

Lu Ping was silent for a long time. He watched the girl unable to speak for a long time.

Because he suddenly discovered that this girl who was only twelve years old was much more mature than he thought.

Lupine did not try to correct Harley's influence on her father, but asked with emotion:

"Is this what Ash taught you?"

"Um."

Harley's cheeks turned slightly red and she stuck out her tongue in embarrassment, "Actually, I still can't understand many of the truths, but I know that what he told me must be right."

As he was talking, a shout suddenly came from the distance:

"Harley."

"Ash!" Harley waved excitedly.

Ash walked up to Harley and said hello to the haggard and pale man:

"Good evening, Professor Lupin."

"Good evening, Mr. Black."

Lupine responded softly, looking a little dazed.

Potter and Black, they had always been best friends, it was like fate.