"The ring? You mean the ring Rowena gave me before she died?" Gryffindor recalled. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if that ring was buried with me, after all, this consciousness of mine was injected into the Sorting Hat just before I died."
"By the way, what are you looking for this for?"
"This was my mother's wish. The ring she gave you and the ring you gave her were made into a pair. She didn't want these two rings, which symbolized your secret love, to be separated, so she asked me to find both of them before she disappeared," Helena said slowly.
"Then I think you can look for it in my tomb. That's the most likely place."
"So then, where is your tomb?!" At this moment, Victor, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interjected. For some unknown reason, there was no information at all about the deaths of the four Hogwarts founders. They didn't even know how they died or where they were buried.
"Because I was an Animagus of an octopus, I have always had a connection with the creatures in the great lake next to Hogwarts," Gryffindor said. "If I were to follow my wishes when I was alive, I would have buried myself in the great lake, to be guarded by the merpeople."
"An octopus Animagus? Wait, no, you were a giant squid Animagus, right?" Victor scratched his head. "That's a bit of a problem. It's been so long, do those merpeople still remember this?"
"That, I wouldn't know…" The tip of the Sorting Hat swayed from side to side.
"All right then, I guess I'll just have to go and ask the merpeople tomorrow," Victor shrugged. Since there was only one direction to go, he might as well take the direct approach.
After discussing the ring, Victor immediately began a new round of questioning. There were a few questions that had been bothering him since the beginning, making him feel like a cat was scratching at his heart.
"Gryffindor, I've actually been very curious about what you are. Are you a Horcrux, or are you like Rowena Ravenclaw, where you sealed a part of your fragmented soul in the Sorting Hat?"
"I am certainly not a Horcrux. I would never do something so evil!" Gryffindor said with a bit of an agitated tone. "Although I don't know Rowena's situation, I am in fact just a consciousness that holds most of my original memories. I can't feel emotions, and I can't think like a person!"
"Then why was the ring you gave to Rowena Ravenclaw able to awaken you?"
"That just means you're extremely lucky!" Gryffindor replied. "The Sorting Hat gathered the consciousness of all four of us. But in order to ensure fairness in the sorting process, the consciousness I injected into it before my death had been dormant. It can only be awakened by using the alchemical runes on the sword. And those alchemical runes on the sword were actually carved onto two gems. The one on the hilt was for attack, and the one on the guard was for defense. I gave the defensive gem to Rowena. Since the alchemical runes on the sword were incomplete, I remained dormant."
"I see, that makes sense!" Victor nodded, finally solving the doubts in his heart. "Now that I've asked my questions, I won't disturb your family reunion."
"I'll go to the Black Lake tomorrow morning after my class to check things out. Honestly, an underwater tomb shouldn't be too hard to find." With that, he was about to use magic to leave.
However, just before he vanished, he left a message. "Oh, and just ignore the old bee. He won't mind if you two chat here all night!"
With that, he finally disappeared, leaving Dumbledore to mutter to himself, "This is my office, isn't it?"
And so, after a thousand years, a family was suddenly reunited in a very special way. At the same time, the dawn of the new Hogwarts term was also about to arrive.
The next day, Ravenclaw's first class of the new term was Herbology. The Herbology classroom was behind Hogwarts Castle, where there were greenhouses and gardens. Three of the greenhouses were usually used for students' classes.
Among these three greenhouses, the plants in Greenhouse Three were the most interesting, but also the most dangerous. They grew dangerous plants like Venomous Tentacula and Mandrakes. If a young wizard who didn't know Herbology were to touch these plants, they wouldn't die, but they would be bedridden in the hospital wing for a month or two.
Today's class was in Greenhouse Three. Victor walked at the front, leading the young Ravenclaws, and arrived there early. Because of the school system reforms and also to promote student interaction, Hogwarts no longer forced two houses to attend classes together. So, today's Herbology class was for both Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
"Good morning, students!" Professor Sprout walked into the classroom with her wand and a trowel.
Pomona Sprout: Head of Hufflepuff House, Herbology professor, a short, plump witch with a mane of flyaway gray hair. She was an extremely optimistic and compassionate person. She usually wore a thick, patched hat, and because she loved to be in the greenhouses with her plants, you could always see her covered in dirt. She had also been working with Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and others for a long time.
"Good morning, Professor Sprout!" the students greeted her as usual.
"Welcome, second-year students, to Greenhouse Three. Let's begin our lesson." Professor Sprout's teaching style was very efficient. She rolled up her sleeves and then moved a plant from behind her to the table in front. "Today, I'll be introducing you to Mandrakes. Can anyone tell me about the properties of a Mandrake?"
As soon as she finished speaking, a young Ravenclaw was the first to raise her hand. However, her finger could only reach a little higher than the head of the student next to her.
"Miss Scarlia!" Professor Sprout looked at the small, black-haired girl.
"A Mandrake, also known as the scream root, can be extremely dangerous. After pulling its root from the soil, it will instantly let out a fatal scream. However, the cry of a young Mandrake is not fatal. It can only make the person who hears it faint for a few hours, which is why earplugs are usually needed when harvesting Mandrakes.
"Mandrakes have the ability to restore those who have been petrified, and its leaves are one of the key ingredients for becoming an Animagus," Surrey Scarlia said in a soft, childish voice. Her voice sounded like a child's, but in fact, she was the same age as the other second-year Ravenclaws.
After hearing Surrey's answer, Professor Sprout smiled happily, immediately nodded at her, and said in admiration, "Oh! What a detailed and precise answer. Ten points to Ravenclaw."
"Professor, there are no house points anymore," a voice suddenly reminded her.
"Oh! Sorry, I'm used to it," Professor Sprout patted her head. "Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Dreyar!"
"All right, let's continue!"
"The content of our lesson today is to re-pot Mandrakes." With that, Professor Sprout took out a pair of earplugs and began to warn them carefully. "I believe everyone should have received the earmuffs I just handed out. Even though our Mandrakes are still young seedlings, and their cries aren't fatal for now, you must wear them tightly! Just like this!"
She put on her earmuffs and pressed them in firmly. A moment later, after confirming that all the young wizards had their earmuffs on, Professor Sprout began to demonstrate how to re-pot the Mandrakes.
She grabbed the stems and leaves of the Mandrake in front of her firmly and began to say, "Students, watch carefully. Grab it firmly like this, and then pull it out of the pot with force." With a plop, the young Mandrake was pulled out of the pot, and the entire Greenhouse Three was filled with an ear-splitting cry, like that of a baby.
EEEEEHHH! EEEEEEHHH!
The sound was like a demonic spell, and even through the thick earmuffs, it was difficult to block it from drilling into your mind. The young Ravenclaws and Slytherins instinctively pressed their earmuffs down and frowned. But Professor Sprout was obviously used to this kind of situation.
She calmly placed the Mandrake in her hand into another empty pot and continued, "After pulling the Mandrake out, quickly place it into another pot, and then cover it with soil to keep it warm. Remember to add the soil quickly. Mandrakes are very sensitive to the cold, and if you're too slow, it will quickly freeze to death. Also, when you add the soil, do not press it down too tightly. That will also cause the Mandrake's root to be unable to breathe and die!"
With that, she suddenly covered the re-potted Mandrake with loose soil. Gradually, the ear-piercing cries also began to fade.
"Just like this, when it's completely covered with soil, it won't cry anymore. Does everyone understand? Now, you all have a Mandrake in front of you. Everyone, do what I just did. Begin!" Professor Sprout scanned the young wizards in the greenhouse.
To be honest, this was a very simple task. If they couldn't even pull out a plant and bury it, they might as well find a block of tofu to run into and kill themselves.
At this moment, Victor was looking at the Mandrake in front of him. To be honest, this was the first time he had ever seen one. This was because last year's Herbology classes were all theoretical and were held in a normal classroom.
Although he often wandered around the school, considering the issue of knowledge absorption, he usually didn't create more than two Thought Projections for classes, and they were all focused on Transfiguration and Charms.
So this resulted in him never having been to Greenhouse Three or having taken an upper-level Herbology class. And due to the large temperature difference in the Forbidden Forest, Mandrakes didn't grow there either.
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