Volume 4: The Sea and the Ship Heading North Chapter 171 The Purpose of Going to Sea
Jon never expected to meet the ghost of Hogwarts here. He looked at Nick with some surprise, while Neville asked hesitantly at this time.
"But... Nick, I remember that ghosts can't just go anywhere randomly, right? My dad told me that ghosts are formed because wizards still have strong nostalgia for the world of the living when they die. Even if they stay in the world of the living as the dead, they can only walk in places where they left traces when they were alive. Why can you come out randomly?"
Nick seemed to be very impressed by Neville's erudition, but there was a hint of sadness on his face when he answered this question.
"This is indeed the case for most ghosts, like Drake and his companions on this ghost ship. They are confined to this sea most of the time. But the ghosts chosen by Hogwarts, especially the resident ghosts, are different."
Captain Jack seemed to be jumping up and down angrily at what Nick said, but that didn't stop him from continuing to speak.
"For the ghosts of Hogwarts, no matter what we were like before, the castle with powerful magic is our final destination. This represents its recognition of us, and also represents our willingness to let go of other pasts and only keep the trace left in Hogwarts Castle."
"But then the castle changed." Nick's voice was so sad. "The Sorting Hat became an ordinary tattered hat, Peeves disappeared from this world forever, and the portraits that lived for this castle became dead things. We became a group of lonely ghosts, but because of this, we became completely independent ghosts."
"Everyone was disappointed and sad. Barrow left with other ghosts who were willing to follow him, saying that they were going to find a way to redeem Hogwarts. Ms. Grey went to a forest alone. She kept muttering that she had done something wrong again. We all thought that she was a little mentally abnormal. The fat monk and I didn't know where to go, so we wandered around Europe together. In the process, we met many other ghosts and experienced many interesting things. Until Dumbledore found us, he asked us to help him do something, so I separated from the fat monk and came to this ship."
Jon and the others could hear the sadness in Nick's tone.
Hogwarts Castle means more to these ghosts than to anyone else. Just as he said, they who left the castle are now just a group of wandering ghosts.
But Nick obviously knew that now was not the time to vent his emotions, and soon his voice became light.
"Aha, there must be more than just the three of you students in Hogwarts now, right? Hurry up and call the others out. Today is Halloween, a holiday for ghosts. With Drake and the others here, we can celebrate together! Don't worry, even though Drake looks so fierce, they were all good pirates when they were alive. It's just that they didn't have much brains in most cases."
Captain Jack obviously heard Nick's "insults". He threw Nick to the ground with an angry look on his face and pulled his head off his neck, as if to demonstrate who the brainless person was.
The parrot, which had already jumped onto Captain Jack's head, was also screaming.
"How dare you insult Captain Jack! Captain Jack will show everyone who is really brainless!"
Gabrielle happily floated over the heads of the two fighting ghosts. This was the first time she saw her "kind", and they were such an interesting group of ghosts.
Jon and the other two looked at each other and smiled at each other. Then George went to the cabin and called out all the students who were hiding there, and continued the Halloween dinner that had just been interrupted.
These pirate ghosts are just as Nick said, they really look like a group of good ghosts, although they do seem to be missing a thread in their brains.
It was the first time for many students at Hogwarts to see such a large number of ghosts, not to mention that the Hogwarts under their feet had overlapped with another ghost ship.
The sailors who followed Captain Jack took various musical instruments from their ghost ship.
They didn't need to eat food. The delicacies of living people had no temptation to them at all. They stood on the edge of the deck, played music on the accordion.
Even in terms of artistic taste, ghosts' appreciation of music is different from that of ordinary people, but these sailor ghosts at sea are obviously an exception. They played the sea songs they sang when they were pirates.
The students were able to resonate with them through the music, which made the dinner more and more lively.
The party lasted until midnight, and the students, already tired from playing, began to return to the cabin to rest.
After sending Nick to Hogwarts, Captain Jack and his men drove their ship away.
Nick said his final goodbyes to them.
"Don't dream about gold and silver, Drake, and don't think about robbing or scaring those Muggles. There is a ghost office in the Ministry of Magic. They will definitely come to trouble you when they find out the problem."
"Captain Jack doesn't talk to cowards!" screamed the parrot.
Then Captain Jack took their ghosts and left without looking back.
The ghost ship and Hogwarts began to separate and sail away in another direction.
Nick looked at the ship from afar and waved his hand at it. It was not known whether Captain Jack had decided from the beginning to show off his force for deterrence or whether it was in response to Nick's farewell, but the ghost ship's cannon made a loud "boom" and then transparent shells exploded in the sky.
The white mist that originally surrounded the Hogwarts began to dissipate, but even though it was so late, Jon still didn't feel sleepy at all.
He turned to look at Nick, took a deep breath, and planned to ask him all the questions he had just been waiting for the party to be over.
But before he could say anything, Nick spoke first.
"You should be the one Dumbledore arranged to lead these children here, right?" He looked at Jon with some surprise on his face, "But to be honest, you don't look like the oldest among these children."
Jon shrugged.
"Age is not a criterion for selection in most cases, is it?"
"That's true. Dumbledore never considers age when judging people." Nick's tone became serious. "In that case, Dumbledore should have told you what the core purpose of our voyage is, right?"
Jon's face became extremely calm. Of course, he had never forgotten what Dumbledore said to him before he left.
"To...find the answer to why the Dark Lord became like this!"
