The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 127 Storytelling and the Magical World Lacking Entertainment

The castle's basement corridor resembled a winding tunnel, with torches on the walls casting a dim, flickering light.

Walking alone on the way to the Slytherin common room.

At this moment, Ino's mind was constantly thinking about the knowledge points that had just been discussed.

Similarly, he also came up with a way to verify Dumbledore's paper.

Actually, it's not that difficult. Find a prop similar to the Mirror of Erised, then transform into a black swan and see if this mind-peeping prop will be frozen.

If she is frozen, it would prove that the White Witch's ice and snow heritage is unaffected by the Animagus.

Later on, all that's needed is to find the right direction and do some thorough research, and the black swan will completely become a new and amazing creature.

Thinking as you walk.

Soon, Ino arrived at the entrance to the common lounge.

"purely!"

As the command was given, the wall slowly opened to reveal a space just wide enough for one person to pass through.

……

It's 9:30 p.m.

This is the busiest time of day in the common lounges of the four colleges.

Slytherins are no exception; after all, the little snake's arrogance is only directed at outsiders.

In the lounge, Draco sat in a corner, passionately talking about something, surrounded by many young wizards below the third year.

Speaking of this, we have to mention Hogwarts's demographic structure, which is quite interesting. Years 1-3 form one small group, years 4-6 another, and the graduating year 7 forms yet another.

The three groups within the castle rarely interacted. Even those from the same academy didn't have much communication.

It's mainly a generation gap; after all, you can't expect an 11-year-old to have a conversation with a 17-year-old.

at the same time.

Upon seeing Draco, Ino also walked over to him.

Now that you're on the Hogwarts ship, be a happy pirate! School isn't just about studying; there's also youthful fun and games to be had.

Draco's excitement grew even more after seeing Ino sitting quietly beside him as an audience.

He spoke eloquently to the group of young wizards about his exciting past.

After a while, Draco seemed to get tired of talking, so he opened a can of butterbeer and gulped it down.

"Ino, you tell them a story! You haven't told a single story properly since the start of the school year, even though you promised to tell a snake story last year."

After putting down the butterbeer, Draco said with an expectant look on his face.

Upon hearing this, Ino didn't refuse and readily agreed, as making up stories was a piece of cake for him.

"Okay! Then I'll tell you a story about snakes and love!"

Whether it was his imagination or not, Draco felt as if the volume in the entire common room had suddenly dropped by several decibels.

Several young wizards even quietly ran back to their dormitories, and judging from their anxious appearance, they were probably going to call for help.

Unaware of the changes in the guild lounge, Ino was currently racking his brains, trying to come up with a story that fit the background.

A few minutes later.

"About six hundred years ago, in a remote farmhouse in medieval France, lived a young man named Lyon, a half-blood wizard who made his living by herding cattle. One day, his cows went mad and ran into the distant forest..."

"...Deep in the forest, by a pond, Leon found his lost cow. He also saw two beautiful young ladies bathing by the pond. He recognized them as the pure-blooded ladies of the Angus family from the forest castle..."

Ino borrowed the opening from the Eastern mythological love story of the Fairy Couple, but this time the fairy was replaced by a witch from a pure-blood family.

"...In one year, they met, got to know each other, and fell in love! Leon fell completely in love with this girl named Anne, but he didn't know that all of this was being watched by Anne's younger sister, the extremely jealous Anna. Because Anna also liked Leon, she secretly placed a curse on her sister in revenge..."

"That's a vicious blood curse; those cursed will eventually become heartless vipers."

The story begins with the Heavenly Match, followed by a heavily modified version of the Legend of the White Snake, and the cliché of sisters falling in love with the same man and then turning against each other out of hatred.

The story is packed with various elements, but as it progresses, he completely loses his sense of what he's saying, and it's clear that the story has fallen apart.

Since the story was made up on the spot, without an outline or plan, it was bound to collapse sooner or later.

Ino glanced around discreetly, and wow! The common room was already packed with people.

Looking at those focused faces, he realized that Lockhart's success was no accident.

Since no one noticed the collapse, he regained his confidence and continued writing.

"In the end, to avoid harming innocent people, Leon had no choice but to leave his hometown with Anne, who had been transformed into a viper, and go into seclusion on a small island. Their love eventually moved Venus, the goddess of love, who allowed Anne to temporarily break the curse on Valentine's Day each year..."

As Ino finished speaking, a round of applause broke out around him.

Some of the older Slytherin girls, in particular, were completely captivated by the performance.

A pure-blood heiress falls in love with a half-blood wizard. Their love is unrequited, yet they remain steadfastly devoted to each other – isn't this the kind of love they both yearn for?

"Clang!" That was the sound of Galon hitting the table.

Then, a slightly hoarse voice rang out from the crowd:

"You told a great story, I really enjoyed it. I know the rules, so here's your payment!"

Ino looked up and recognized the girl who was speaking. She was Mina Burke, the seventh-year prefect of Slytherin, and also a pure-blood lady of the twenty-eight Burke families.

Before he could say anything, even more currency appeared on the table, with Galleons and Sickles almost covering the entire surface.

"Wait, wait! Listen to me!" Ino reached out to stop this crazy chain reaction.

"This story is free! I promised to tell it last semester, but I only got around to it now, so please take your money back!"

Meanwhile, the little snakes, upon hearing it was free, quickly withdrew their money. It seems many had tipped in a moment of euphoria, and now, having calmed down, were somewhat regretful; after all, not all purebloods are named Malfoy.

By calmly refusing a table full of money, Ino earned the goodwill of countless people, and even some older students showed thoughtful expressions.

As the person involved, he didn't think too much about it. He didn't accept money simply because the story was too melodramatic and was just an impromptu story. He was really embarrassed to accept money.

It's fortunate that the pure-blooded wizards haven't read many good stories, otherwise it would be a miracle if they weren't criticized for such a cliché plot.

However, this also strengthened his belief that Lockhart's success was not accidental. In that era, the magical world lacked entertainment, and anyone with even a little talent could basically take off if they were in that favorable environment.

Meow meow meow, thank you so much for your support!

Xiao Di finally finished coding by 7 o'clock!

(End of this chapter)