The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 182 seems to connect everything.

Defense Against the Dark Arts office.

Upon suddenly hearing the word "nightmare" and seeing Ino's somewhat serious expression, Lupin couldn't help but smile wryly:

"As I said before, these are all unverified materials and can only be considered a reasonably reliable speculation."

Having wandered the Muggle world for over a decade, Lupin had heard tales of nightmares and Merlin, but no one has yet been able to answer the question of what exactly a nightmare is.

"Actually, there is no unified concept about nightmares in the magical world. Some people simply believe that it is a magical phenomenon, or simply a nightmare; but others firmly believe that nightmares are a kind of spiritual creature, only we cannot see them."

Lu Ping explained as clearly as possible.

As Ino listened to this explanation, an image of a silver-haired girl suddenly popped into her mind, and she also thought of another unseen thing that Luna had mentioned—the harassing fly.

I had initially lost interest in Bogut, but now I'm starting to get quite interested.

For some reason, he kept thinking of that nameless fairy.

It seems the other person really did see something, otherwise they wouldn't have written such apt words—the unseen brings us closer to reality.

Like completing a jigsaw puzzle, everything seems to be slowly coming together.

But now was clearly not the time to think. With that thought, Ino looked up at the other side:

"I'll accept the notebook, thank you! I also appreciate the favor you've done me!"

Upon hearing this, Lupin shook his head somewhat reservedly: "It's not what you think! Or not entirely. But it's good that it's helpful to you. As you've seen, there's really only so much I can do."

Faced with such a subtle expression, Ino couldn't help but chuckle:

"Professor, really, it's not necessary! However, I did gain something today. Also, there are some things I didn't intend to get anything in return for, so let bygones be bygones."

To be honest, although Lu Ping didn't explicitly say it, his intentions were quite obvious.

……

After finishing the business, there didn't seem to be much to chat about, since they weren't familiar with each other.

In the time that follows.

But out of politeness, Ino stayed for as long as possible.

After saying goodbye to Lupin, he left the Defense Against the Dark Arts office.

In the quiet corridor.

At this moment, he was also reviewing the conversation in his mind. One piece of information was very clear: Snape had compromised, and Sirius might soon be exonerated.

Although somewhat surprising, it seemed to make sense.

After all, in the original story, Harry was late twice in total. The first time was on the flying car last year, and the second time was when he was ambushed by Draco on the future train.

Coincidentally, on these two occasions when he was late, only Snape was standing outside the castle waiting for him in the vast Hogwarts.

Love seems to have extended beyond our immediate surroundings.

……

at the same time.

Just as Ino walked toward the Slytherin common room.

In the dormitory, Draco sat silently in a chair, a thoughtful expression on his face.

But instead of textbooks, what lay before him was a familiar-looking single wardrobe.

"Thump!" A sudden impact sound came from inside the cabinet.

The sound not only broke the silence of the dormitory, but also made Draco feel a chill on his neck.

"How did this thing get in here...?"

He now recognized the wardrobe, but was puzzled as to how it had somehow ended up in the dormitory room.

After the afternoon's practice, everyone had become immune to Boggart, but what terrified him was that the thing had appeared out of nowhere in the dormitory.

"Thump! Thump!" As if sensing a new fear, unlike its previous listless state, the single cabinet now began to make violent thumping sounds.

He quietly took a few steps back, then suddenly turned around and ran quickly toward the door! He needed to find the prefects and Professor Snape.

Strangely, the door opened by itself before he even got close, but he couldn't care less about that now; his only thought was to run out and call for help.

"Bang!" A muffled sound.

Draco returned to his dormitory.

"What the hell is going on now?" Ino looked helplessly at the unconscious figure on the ground.

The moment he opened the door and saw someone rushing towards him, he reflexively used the Ironclad Charm.

Seeing Draco lying unconscious on the ground, he could only use the Levitation Charm to place him on the bed.

As for sending her to Madam Pomfrey, there's really no need to make a fuss. She was just knocked unconscious, and given a wizard's constitution, she might even wake up on her own on the way to treatment.

After taking care of everything, Ino leaned back in her chair, exhausted.

To be honest, when he opened the door and saw the dark figure rushing towards him, for a split second, he considered using his "Divine Strike Without a Trace." Looking back now, he felt a little scared; if he had actually cut Draco in two…

Even if he is rescued in time, he will not be able to continue his studies. If he does not want to go to Azkaban, then he will only have one option left: to become a wanderer and escape.

After things quieted down, the old single cabinet started thumping again, and the cause of the problem became clear.

"Foolish Fidelity!"

He was truly at a loss with this rather dim-witted phoenix. The instructions were to put it in the box, but it ended up being delivered directly to the dormitory...

Time passed slowly.

Just as Ino was about to deal with the single wardrobe, Draco woke up groggily on the bed.

When he opened his eyes and found himself still in his dormitory, before he could even feel alarmed, he heard Rang's voice in his ear, which made him relax again.

"One Bogut, and you're this scared?"

Hearing the disappointment in his voice, a hint of confusion flashed in Draco's eyes as he murmured, "I'm not afraid of the Boggarts, but this cabinet suddenly appeared..."

"Sorry, it's my fault!" Ino decisively took responsibility. He suddenly thought of Draco's age and realized that it was only natural to be afraid when faced with strange things.

"It's alright! Just let me know if you need to move anything next time." After hearing the apology, Draco waved his hand dismissively, as if being knocked unconscious was a trivial matter.

Then, he changed the subject, saying in a somewhat serious tone, "But this thing needs to be covered with a cloth and hidden well, so that it won't be discovered."

"I didn't steal it!" Ino reached up and rubbed her temples. "Professor Lupin gave it to me. I thought it was interesting, so I kept it as a pet."

"Keep it as a pet?" Draco asked, suppressing a laugh.

He had seen people keep strange pets, but this was the first time he had seen someone keep a bogger; it was really better to keep a Billywig bug.

But soon, Draco's smile froze on his face. It seemed the Boggart needed to be fed fear, and there were only two people in the dormitory...

Glancing at the other person's stiff expression, Ino stated her plan directly: "I didn't plan to keep this in my dorm. I'll take it out with me later. Its appearance here today was an accident!"

Upon hearing this, Draco relaxed and looked at the single wardrobe next to him again. This time, there was no fear, only curiosity.

"That's right! Ino, this wardrobe can't contain it. Boggart is just a cloud of black smoke. If it doesn't feel fear, it will escape through the tiny holes."

"Black smoke?" Ino's gaze sharpened, because this was already the second version today, which made him curious:

"Who told you that Boggarts are black smoke? According to records, they should just be things that don't exist in physical form."

"My dad told me that once I encountered a Boggart at the manor, and I was terrified. Then he comforted me by saying that it was just a cloud of black smoke. And another time..."

Sitting in his chair, Ino was no longer interested in what Draco was saying.

Lucius, black smoke, Boggart, fear—these are some of the known conditions that are linked together.

He thought of something else, or rather, another iconic magic that had never been recorded.

Sorry everyone, my nephew came over today, and Xiaodi took her out to play, so... there will only be two updates. Sorry... sorry!

(End of this chapter)