In all the books in the world of magic, centaurs were excellent stargazers (second only to the Flober Caterpillar). Their bodies were fit and beautiful, and their whereabouts were mysterious. They were arrogant and reclusive, and they still retained the nobility of the mythical era in their blood. Although the mythical era was rarely mentioned, and even the centaurs rarely talked about the past, but all the foals had once looked up under the starlight and heard the name of that name from their elders.
He was a sage, a wise man, and a hero who lived in seclusion in the cave of Pilewen. He taught Ison, Hercules, Orpheus … His list of disciples was the list of ancient Greek heroes. He was Charon, the immortal centaur. Until Hercules shot Charon in the throat with an arrow soaked in the poisonous blood of a hydra. At the same time, Prometheus, the thief of fire who brought civilization to the human world, was having his heart eaten by an eagle on Mount Caucasus.
You can ask me for immortality, wise centaur.
Ah, of course I can, high and mighty Zeus. I can ask you for immortality, and then those who walk in ignorance and confusion will revere you forever, and they will suffer the sin of blasphemy forever.
You!
I will stay on the cliff as a substitute for the thief of fire, and let the snake poison invade my heart and lungs, and let the eagle eat my liver, day after day, until I meet my old friend Charon.
Harry was not a foal, but he knew the story, so he knew what Sariel was asking of him, and he agreed.
After walking for a while, more centaurs followed them, but when they saw that there were two wizards in addition to "that person", they just followed them from a distance. They accompanied them into the depths of the Black Forest and drove away some unknown peepers. It was not until they were about to enter the territory of Thestrus Nigra that they stopped and, together with Sariel, lined up in a line and bowed in respect.
In Gryffindor's eyes, this scene was quite strange.
But Harry did not say anything. He just stroked Thestrus Nigra's thin neck until it calmed down and lowered half of its wings, so that Harry could climb on its back.
Snape had dealt with Thestrus Nigra several times, and Gryffindor was no stranger to this creature. They each found a suitable Thestrus Nigra.
Harry waited for them to sit down, then patted Thestrus Nigra's ribs under its wings and whispered, "Take us across the river."
Although the conversation between the two had almost stopped after the argument in the morning, Snape had been paying close attention to Harry's situation. He found that since Sariel's words, which seemed to be a prophecy, Harry had been silent. He even suspected that this silence was in line with Thestrus Nigra's temperament, and this kid could climb on Thestrus Nigra so easily. After all, no matter which version of "Amazing Animals Where Are," it was clearly stated that Thestrus Nigra was a type of pegasus. They could run and fly, but they would never wade in water.
However, Harry comforted himself by sitting on the back of this creature, which was closely related to death, and waiting quietly.
Thestrus Nigra chirped happily as it flew through the Black Forest. The Hogwarts on its back were solemn and mysterious, and the singing of the phoenix echoed from afar. Harry looked back from afar and remembered the last time he rode on Thestrus Nigra's back. It was during a rainy night. At that time, the rain of nothingness had just invaded his body, and the wind was echoing in his blood …
Thestrus Nigra skimmed over the Black Lake, and huge ripples spread out. Harry hugged its neck tightly, and his heart was beating like a drum. The other two also felt the strangeness of the long slide, and they also bent down to hug Thestrus Nigra tightly.
Thestrus Nigra spread its bat-like wings and floated on the Black Lake like a withered leaf. But gradually, the three of them found that the withered leaf had been submerged by the water. But how was that possible? Didn't they drown in the lake? The three of them subconsciously held their breaths and sank to the bottom of the lake with Thestrus Nigra. Water plants and fish swam around them, but they soon found that their clothes were dry, and there was no liquid in their mouths and noses.
The transparent lake water rose, and the silver-white river water sank. When the three of them came to their senses again, Thestrus Nigra was already running on a strange river. At first, they thought that it was a frozen river, but when Thestrus Nigra ran, it splashed water under its hooves. Then they realized that it was a bright, moonlit river, and this bright river was the only source of light in this place. It illuminated the scorched riverbank and the hideous dead trees on the bank. In the darkness where the light could not reach, they heard the cries of angry ghosts.
This was the River Styx. Thestrus Nigra was the mount of Charon, the God of the River Styx.
They could only send Harry and the others to the edge of death. As the river water became thinner and thinner, the white fog became thicker and thicker. In the end, Thestrus Nigra was running in the thick fog. After flapping its wings a few times, it landed on an island full of reefs.
The three of them slid down from Thestrus Nigra.
Harry raised his head and stroked Thestrus Nigra's ugly face. He put his forehead against Thestrus Nigra's and read the same message from its dark eyes. It was a cry for help.
Snape looked at him from the side.
Gryffindor climbed up a reef and looked into the distance. He found that it was an endless body of water, but he was sure that this was not the Black Lake. He returned to his companions and said with an uncertain expression, "I never knew that Thestrus Nigra could … cross the river."
Harry did not reply. Instead, he ran to the edge of the water. After looking around for a while, he turned back to Gryffindor and said, "We have to call them out."
"Mermaids?" Gryffindor still remembered why he was here. "But we have never established diplomatic relations with the mermaids. I may not be able to call out these mysterious creatures."
Harry shook his head and said, "You can try." They will come out.
Gryffindor turned back to look at Thestrus Nigra, who was walking peacefully. He nodded and walked to Harry's side. He knelt on one knee in the sand, cleared his throat and hummed a mermaid song that he had learned from an ancient book. The water was flat, but the song traveled far.
Harry stood quietly at the side and looked at the calm water.
Gryffindor sang a verse and changed to another one. But he did not know much, so he could only play a few tunes in a loop. Fortunately, before he felt embarrassed, ripples appeared on the water. The ripples gradually expanded, and there was a sound coming from under the water.
Gryffindor took out his wand and put it into the water. The sound was magnified several times and became much clearer. He listened for a while and was surprised. "They are asking, what is the answer to the question? But they are not asking at all! "
Harry paused for a moment and said, "42. Tell them the answer is 42."
Snape and Gryffindor were speechless.
After Gryffindor answered truthfully, a mermaid with a ferocious face and snake-like hair appeared from the whirlpool. Its protruding green eyes looked at everyone quietly. Then it looked at Harry and opened its mouth to let out a shrill cry.
Gryffindor translated, "It said to take you there. Which way is over there? "
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and nodded at the mermaid.
Over there was the end of death, the place where time stopped, where the real Avalon Island was. But he could not tell Gryffindor this, so Harry was faced with another problem. Gryffindor was excitedly asking Snape for information and took out a bunch of Parotid Grass from his pocket.
"Erm, Mr. Gryffindor …" Harry scratched his head, feeling the pressure of burning bridges again.
Gryffindor could guess what Harry was going to say just by looking at his face. But Gryffindor was not one to give up easily, and he loved adventure even more. "Hey, Gryffindor, I promise I won't ask any questions!" he said sincerely. "I just want to see what's going on over there, and I won't tell anyone what I saw and heard today!"
Harry was about to say something when he was stared at by Gryffindor's blue eyes, but Snape interrupted before Harry could say anything, and his tone was quite stern. "That's a must. And, Mr. Gryffindor, I need a promise from you: what you saw and heard today can only be kept in your memory. You can't share it orally, in writing, or even in dreams, and you can't let it live in the story through hints and metaphors. I need this promise from you. "
Gryffindor had probably not been told anything in such a stern tone since he was 15 years old. He immediately straightened his face and assumed the posture of the headmaster of Hogwarts. "Then, I need a reason."
Snape had already prepared a reason. "In order for the Hogwarts to survive until this kid comes to save them."
It was a bit of a roundabout sentence. Gryffindor thought for a while before he asked, "How do you prove …" Before he could finish his question, Gryffindor realized that Roland was cunning: he would not risk the Hogwarts.
Perhaps the Hogwarts were more important to Gryffindor's sense of responsibility than Snape's words about the safety of the world and the survival of the universe.
Gryffindor still wanted to struggle. "Can't you let me take a look?"
Snape said coldly, "The more you see, the more secrets you have to keep."
Thus, the great Gryffindor backed down.
The mermaid guide patiently waited for them to finish their argument. When Snape and Harry had taken the Parotid Grass, he patted his tail and signaled them to follow.
Harry had once discussed with Hermione, Ron and the others in their spare time why the mermaids in the Black Lake were so ugly. Even if they turned into girls, no prince would fall in love with them. Ron, who had grown up in the world of magic, guessed that the mermaids had offended a powerful black wizard a long time ago, so they were cursed. Hermione, who had a certain degree of trust in science, thought that environmental pollution and nuclear radiation were the main reasons.
Now, Harry could come up with a third conjecture: magic pollution.
The mermaid guide did not bring a map. She just swam in front of them casually. Harry felt some kind of magic wave from time to time, which proved that they were not moving in a simple body of water. At the same time, the mermaid guide in front of them was also changing. Her dark fishtail gradually became a beautiful bright blue, her dark skin became a translucent silver, and her cemented hair spread out into ocean blue waves … When she turned around and announced that they had arrived at their destination with a straight face, Harry had no doubt that any prince in the world would fall in love with her.
The mermaid sent Snape and Harry to the beach and left while patting her tail. The two sat down to catch their breath. While waiting for their cheeks to recover, they observed the island. It was completely different from the pile of rocks he had come from. This place was like a paradise island. Clear seawater lapped against the fine sand. Not far away, there was a lush forest. It was neither a coconut tree nor a banana tree. Instead, it was some kind of strange broad-leaved tree. Between the leaves, there were huge white single-petal flowers.
Snape habitually took out the sample bottle …
Harry felt that it was better to stop the Potions Professor for a while. The two of them walked towards the forest together. When they got closer, they could see that there was a path leading to the inner part of the forest, and someone was coming out from it.
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