Hogwarts Card System.

Chapter 39 Professor Quirrell and Ms. Grey

This day's Defense Against the Dark Arts class teaches how to deal with water ghosts!

This creature is not native to the area; it appeared after the convergence of celestial bodies. It is usually found near water, is blue or green, has toad-like skin, mucus and fins, scales on some parts of its body, and webbed hands and feet with sharp claws.

This thing eats both flesh and humans, including living things and carrion. It is skilled at pouncing and swimming, and has tremendous strength in the water, making it extremely dangerous.

This thing is far more dangerous than Greendillo.

Although the Greendylo lives in water and does attack humans, its main diet consists of small fish and shrimp. The main dangers are being scratched or dragged underwater and drowning.

But water ghosts really do eat people! Their fighting power is also much stronger. And they usually don't just appear one at a time.

"If you... if you encounter a water ghost... you absolutely must be careful not to be pulled into the water. Otherwise, you'll definitely die! Perhaps a water monster banishing spell is a good idea, if you're far enough away..."

Professor Quirrell explained the knowledge to his students in a halting manner.

However, he was really unpopular. Apart from a few students who took notes seriously, the other students were completely absorbed and didn't listen at all.

However, at least some people were listening attentively. Hermione and Ted both keenly caught Professor Quirrell's key phrase, "water monster banishment spell."

Hermione immediately raised her hand.

"Miss Granger."

"Professor, what kind of magic is the 'Water Monster Repelling Spell'?"

"Oh, the water monster banishment spell... that's a banishment spell that's taught in fourth grade, it's very difficult, very difficult..." Professor Quirrell was always perfunctory and had no intention of giving his students any extra help, which was one of the reasons why he was not well-liked.

Other professors are willing to teach extra, but what about Professor Quirrell? He seems to be just there to collect his salary!

Ted raised his hand.

"Mr. Epifani."

"Professor, after the water ghosts came to our world, did they mutate or evolve? Did they create new species by interacting with native aquatic monsters like the Grindelwald?"

Ted's approach was also an experiment, after all, he had previously seen Professor Quirrell's paper on magical creature bloodline hybridization in Hagrid's magazine.

Ted clearly saw a glint in Professor Quirrell's eyes, and even his demeanor shifted slightly.

"Oh, this... this is a very profound question. Perhaps I can discuss it with you after class..."

Professor Quirrell, unusually, kept his students behind after class and discussed with Ted for about ten minutes about magical creatures, their innate abilities, and the inheritance of bloodlines.

To be honest, although Professor Quirrell was being secretive, he seemed to have done a lot of research in this area!

If he hadn't been conducting any crossbreeding experiments in secret, Ted would have roasted and eaten the Cerberus!

Hermione was very unhappy about being kept in school this time: Why couldn't I listen in too?

Ted had no choice but to explain to her: Professor Quirrell, after all, shouldn't be discussing topics like bloodline hybridization with a lady, right?

After this breakthrough, Professor Quirrell seemed to appreciate Ted more than just a good student; he saw him as someone who could offer guidance and engage in discussions in his area of ​​expertise.

Well, if Professor Quirrell didn't have a face on the back of his head, Ted would really suggest he go to the Muggle world to study genetics.

……

Night had fallen, and Ted lay in bed, his consciousness gradually sinking into deeper darkness. As countless chaotic thoughts subsided, a more solid feeling emerged in his heart...

He's been trying to meditate these past couple of days!

The inspiration mainly came from a psychology book I brought to school.

"The Secret of the Golden Flower" is a book by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung.

When studying psychology, Jung is an indispensable figure.

After his falling out with Floyd, he was plunged into self-doubt.

Later, under the guidance of a German scholar well-versed in Sinology, he read and studied ancient Eastern writings.

This book is his research into the profound "collective unconscious".

The so-called "golden flower" is actually the Taoist "Taiyi Golden Flower," which is the golden elixir.

The Eastern books Jung initially studied were Lü Dongbin's *Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi* and the *I Ching*...

In Jung's understanding, the secret of the golden flower is the secret of the human mind, the secret of a person's true inner life.

In the conclusion of his commentary, Jung stated, "My aim is to build a bridge for psychological understanding between East and West..."

Putting aside Jung's understanding of Eastern alchemy and the concept of life, this book did give Ted an idea.

That's meditation!

India has meditation and yoga, while China has Chan meditation and seated meditation... The purpose of all these is to enter a special mental state and experience the existence of consciousness itself.

Spiritual practitioners progress by developing their inner selves, strengthening their beliefs, and refining their minds.

I feel that meditation is of great help to me.

In his past life, he had seen and heard a lot of related materials and videos, especially some sleep aids... He didn't know if they were effective.

And so, I'm trying it out now.

After a few days, the results were quite good. The feeling of consciousness gradually deepening, then detaching from the body and spreading outwards, or exploring inwards, was quite wonderful.

There are many different explanations for this, such as internal vision, brain vision, and mental vision.

As a mind mage, Ted is able to keenly perceive the differences and guide the mind and spirit to pursue the right path.

Today's attempt went exceptionally smoothly.

His consciousness had penetrated the dormitory walls and even spread through the corridor, reaching all the way to the common room.

He sensed one presence here—no! Two.

"Who's there?" Mrs. Grey asked softly in front of the Ravenclaw bust, as she reminisced about her mother.

Ted's consciousness attempted to communicate with her: "Ms. Grey?"

"Is that you? Ted Epifani? What kind of magic are you using to communicate with me? Where are you?" Even though Ms. Grey was already a ghost, she was still startled by Ted's elusive appearance.

Ted: "Wait a moment, I'll be right there."

Ted, dressed in his pajamas, entered the common room, holding a glowing wand.

The only light here now comes from the stars and moons decorating the walls and ceiling, making it feel like being in a meadow in the wild.

"Good evening, Ms. Grey," Ted greeted her.

Ms. Gray nodded. "Hello."

Actually, this wasn't the first time the two had met. She would always listen nearby when Ted played the piano, and Ted would always notice her.

Ms. Green was curious about Ted's words to her from afar. "What kind of magic did you use to speak to me?"

Ted explained, "I was doing some spiritual exploration, and I did it unintentionally just now."

Ms. Gray's expression turned serious: "Exploring the spiritual realm is no small matter. I think you should study for a few more years before attempting it."

"You're right," Ted replied. If it weren't for his profession as a psychic, Ted wouldn't have touched anything that involved mind manipulation before fifth grade; it would have been too dangerous.

"Madam, you are here..." he changed the subject.

"Ghosts are always so free, I..." Ms. Gray hesitated for a moment, the perfunctory words on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't say them.

She knew a little about the boy in front of her, especially about his piano playing. It was like meeting an old friend she had never met before.

She suddenly didn't want to lie to him anymore; perhaps it was because she had kept so many things bottled up inside for too long.

"I'm here to pay my respects to Mrs. Ravenclaw..." she said.

Seeing that Ted didn't speak or ask any further questions, she reached out to touch the statue, but her hand could only pass through it.

"She, I mean Mrs. Ravenclaw, she is my mother. My name is not Grey..." As soon as she said this, Mrs. Grey seemed to relax.

"My name is Helena, Helena Ravenclaw."

Ted nodded, waved his wand, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

"I guessed it."

"You guessed it?!" Gray, oh, Ms. Helena exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes. You can't be Lady Jane Grey, that poor lady died at the age of 16, less than five hundred years ago. But you were already here before the nearly headless Nick came to the castle..."

Everyone in the castle thought that Lady Grey was Jane Grey, the English Queen who was deposed nine days after her ascension to the throne and beheaded the following year by Mary Tudor, known as "Bloody Mary".

But Jane Grey was secretly executed in the Tower of London at the age of 16. That was less than five hundred years ago.

So the ghostly woman before us is not Jane Grey. She is Helena Ravenclaw.

"You..." Helena wanted to say something, but didn't.

She remembered the handsome, eloquent boy from over forty years ago. He had lied to her back then!

But she felt that the little boy in front of her was different from the boy who had lied to her.

Ted and Helena talked for a long time. Before they knew it, Helena began to recount her past foolishness and expressed her long-standing regret. She also spoke of the endless loneliness of wandering within the castle, a despair with no end in sight…

Ghosts are not a good way to preserve consciousness; rather, they are the wandering of souls who dare not or are unwilling to continue. And Helena has been wandering for nearly a thousand years.

It wasn't until dawn was almost breaking that Helena realized she had taken up far too much of the other person's time. The other person needed to sleep.

Ted smiled and said, "Don't worry about me. I can enter a deep sleep. It should only take about an hour."

He said goodbye and slowly walked upstairs. Suddenly, he stopped and said to Helena, who was about to walk through the wall, "By the way, Helena. Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but I sensed that besides you, there was another presence in the lounge..."

"There's another one?" she murmured.

"Yes." Ted pointed to the bust of Mrs. Ravenclaw. "Maybe there's something hidden in it, or maybe it's just my imagination."

(End of this chapter)