Chapter 402: Hourglass
Chapter 402: Hourglass
Felix looked around but didn't see Mad-Eye Moody anywhere.
Indeed, this environment wasn't suitable for him. Moody might turn all the young wizards in his sight into their respective house animals if a firecracker suddenly exploded next to him.
Hmm... Felix imagined the scene: Gryffindor, Slytherins, Badgerkits, and Eaglets flailing around in the Great Hall, while the House-elves arrived with baskets to collect them one by one...
"Haha, interesting!"
"Are you talking about that dog? It is quite amusing..."
Snape's eyes gleamed with malice. Felix followed his gaze and saw a big black dog that had sneaked in at some point. The dog had stolen a piece of meat from the table and was now lying in a corner, eyeing Harry.
When the dog noticed their gazes, it waved a paw in a very human-like manner, with meat juice dripping from its mouth.
"He's quite good at being a dog. I didn't know Azkaban had such training..." Snape said slowly.
...
The celebration continued well into the evening, even skipping dinner. The Great Hall buzzed with people coming and going, keeping the House-elves in the kitchen busy.
At the entrance to the Gryffindor common room:
Harry yawned as he returned. Violet, a friend of the Fat Lady, asked him with great interest, "I heard you got a fire dragon's egg?"
As she spoke, her eyes never left Harry, who was carrying a shiny golden egg under his arm.
"Yeah... Gibberish", Harry said, giving the password.
"It's not gibberish!" Violet said indignantly.
"He means the password... The password is gibberish", the Fat Lady said, pushing her friend out of the frame and turning to reveal the entrance to the common room.
Inside, there were only a few people. Harry wandered around the dormitory, which was still empty. He placed the golden egg on his bed and lay down on the pillow, lost in thought. The events of the afternoon seemed to replay in his mind. He had been very worried earlier but tried not to show it. Now that it was over, he didn't think the fire dragon was such a big deal.
He remembered what Hagrid had said and pulled out the Hungarian Tree Hornet's Magic Lamp from his robe pocket, gently pressing it. The little fire dragon began to flap its wings and emit a soft glow.
It was indeed a bit cute... Hagrid had a point...
He picked up the hourglass from the bedside table and played with it. It was something he had traded with Professor Hep's Niffler Warren and had left it on the table with a stack of Rune Cards. Crookshanks had come in earlier and scattered both the cards and the hourglass. He had only gathered the cards at the time, and it wasn't until he stepped on something that night that he realized the hourglass had fallen to the floor.
He had been worried it might be broken when he dug it out from the floor, but to his surprise, the hourglass was very sturdy and undamaged.
At that moment, Hermione poked her head in from the doorway. "Harry, are you there?"
"Yeah—"
"Let's study the golden egg."
Harry sat up abruptly and went to the common room.
"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked casually, her eyes fixed on the golden egg.
"He hasn't come back yet. He's probably with the younger students... You know, he's been under a lot of pressure lately", Harry said, not wanting to admit that Ron was still boasting.
They gathered together, hesitating whether to open the egg.
In the Great Hall, Roger Davies had opened the golden egg in front of everyone to see what was inside. The heavy golden egg turned out to be empty, and a terrifying, shrill scream erupted from within, even more horrifying than the Ghost band's saw performance or Moaning Myrtle's hysterical screeches. His heart nearly stopped.
After that, Jordan Lee and the twins, who had been very interested in the golden egg, refused to touch it. Harry had entrusted it to the big black dog and secretly gave him two sausages. It was then that—
"Is this yours?" a ethereal voice asked.
Harry turned around to see Luna. A series of variously shaped magic lamps floated around her, dancing in the air, and a small fire dragon perched on her messy hair.
"Oh, uh... Yes", he stammered.
Sirius extended a paw to Harry, who reluctantly shook it twice. "You see... he can shake hands, oh, I mean... it."
"Many people believe black dogs are omens of disaster, and some have even written books about them..." Luna said softly, her gaze noting how others were keeping their distance. "But I don't think so. He is a loyal friend."
"Uh, thanks", Harry said.
He wasn't sure if Luna had noticed anything, but she just greeted them and left as suddenly as she had appeared.
...
Finally, Hermione reached out, her fingernail tracing the barely visible groove around the middle of the golden egg and prying it open.
A shrill, agonized scream immediately echoed through the common room, startling Ron, who had just entered. He sat down on the steps by the door, prompting the Fat Lady to urge him from outside.
Hermione forcefully closed the golden egg. "No good..." she said, disappointed. "It seems everyone's golden egg is the same."
"What did you expect?" Ron, having overheard the latter part of her statement, approached and sat in an empty chair.
"I read in a book that in past Triwizard Tournaments, champions sometimes received different clues based on their rankings", Hermione explained, her face pale and clearly shaken by the sound.
It really was a terrible scream...
Ron shrugged and tapped the golden egg. "If we cast a spell on it... like, Skele, Skele..."
"Skele-Gro."
"Right, that's it", Ron said confidently.
"That spell is used to analyze potion ingredients", Hermione said irritably, then thought for a moment. "But it's not impossible. This approach... we could try using an alchemical analysis method."
"Do any of us know how to do that?" Ron asked, and then he and Harry both looked expectantly at Hermione.
"I don't know it either", Hermione admitted, spreading her hands. "But I know Professor Hep does. I can learn it."
"Is it that complicated?"
"Not really. We have three months, and if we solve the riddle within a month, we'll have plenty of time to prepare", Hermione said confidently. "Plus, it's a useful skill. Alchemy and Runic Script are closely related, and you guys can benefit from it too."
Harry's mouth felt bitter. Just keeping up with the increasingly difficult Rune Club activities was a challenge. The only good news was that the Rune Club never assigned homework. He glanced at Ron, whose expression mirrored his own.
"Let's leave the golden egg to you, Hermione", Ron said with a sense of authority.
Hermione's stern gaze fell on him, and he quickly changed the subject, looking around. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Hey, Harry, how did you get that out?"
Harry was taken aback, realizing Ron was referring to the hourglass. In the heat of the moment, he had grabbed it without thinking.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, finding it somewhat familiar.
"It's the hourglass I traded with Warren, remember?" Harry explained.
"You did mention it, but I didn't really..." Hermione snatched the hourglass from Ron and stared at it thoughtfully. "I've definitely seen something like this before..."
"Is it an antique?" Ron asked, clearly interested. "Have you read about these?" His last question revealed his true thoughts, and he eagerly added, "How much do you think it's worth?"
Hermione played with the hourglass for a long time, occasionally holding it up to the Hungarian Tree Hornet's Magic Lamp in the common room, making curious sounds.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances but knew it was best not to interrupt her when she was in this intense research mode.
"I remember!" Hermione suddenly said, her eyes gleaming. "I know where I've seen this hourglass. Not in a book, I was mistaken... it's in Egypt!"
"Egypt?" they both asked simultaneously.
"Exactly, Egypt. Oh!" She laughed like a mischievous fox. "No wonder Professor Hep is teaching Warren. It has a history."
"Come on, Hermione, what is it? Stop being mysterious", Ron urged.
"This hourglass belonged to a greedy Goblin of Gringotts, no", Hermione took a deep breath and whispered, "it belonged to an ancient Greek Dark Wizard, Vile Herpo!"
(End of Chapter)
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