Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 345 Astrology
After Jon finished talking with Cedric and was about to take a rest before continuing to catch the Golden Snitch tomorrow, Firenze suddenly approached Jon alone again.
He looked like he had something to say to Jon in private, and had waited until a time when no one was around.
"Regarding what you said about why the Dark Lord suddenly wanted to hold the Triwizard Tournament, I don't know the reason, but there may be one thing that can provide you with some help."
Jon's expression turned serious as he listened to what Firenze was saying.
"Our entire tribe is quite proficient in astrology and divination, and I delved into it particularly deeply when I was young. But I have always just regarded this talent as an interest, and rarely have I really believed in the results of divination. Many human divinations are based on trivial accidents. In fact, in front of the vast universe, these things are as insignificant as ants, not affected by the movement of planets, and not understood by life."
"The day before the Dark Lord captured Hogwarts Castle, I observed the changes in the stars. The stars in Centaurus dimmed, and the sky seemed particularly obscure even though there were no dark clouds covering it. I asked someone to find Hagrid and told him that something big was going to happen. I wanted him to pass the news to Dumbledore, but it was already too late. When I learned all this from the stars, Dumbledore himself probably knew that war was inevitable, and there would definitely be a duel between him and the Dark Lord for the future of Britain."
"It was after that day that the bright stars began to dim, Saturn's rings experienced several disturbances, and Pluto began to change, deviating from its established orbit. From that day on, the star signs became fixed, and at the same time, the Dark Lord completely ruled the entire UK and this castle. But even though the trajectory of fate was shifting, there was one thing that never changed."
As Firenze spoke, he pointed at the starry sky above him and Jon's heads.
"See that star right above us? It's the one facing the observatory at Hogwarts Castle."
Jon narrowed his eyes and followed Firenze's guidance, and saw the bright star at that moment among the starry sky.
"What does that star mean?"
"This star started to shine after the Dark Lord defeated Dumbledore, and before that, it had never appeared."
Jon pondered.
"It represents the Dark Lord's rule over Hogwarts?"
"Who was your astrology professor? Or Sybill Trelawney?"
"Well, Professor Trelawney seems to have fled to Northern Europe. Her failed prophecy hurt many people. Although no one would blame her for it, she felt guilty and was embarrassed to stay with Professor Dumbledore."
"So, you guys have never taken a divination class?"
"Professor Porter occasionally tells us about crystal balls."
Hearing John's answer, Firenze also showed an expression of understanding.
"Normal prophecies and the predictions brought by nature are vague. The purpose of fortune-tellers is to interpret these vague predictions so as to see the influence of the universe and nature on people. Some people who are born with extraordinary talents in interpreting predictions can even see clear predictions of the future with their own eyes. But no matter what, the most straightforward interpretation of these predictions is bound to be wrong divination. This is an indisputable fact from ancient times to the present, and it is also the foundation for learning the knowledge of divination."
"This star, which appeared only after the Dark Lord occupied Hogwarts Castle, definitely does not represent him, but the castle."
Jon couldn't help but blink when he heard Firenze's explanation of the stars.
"Then why did this star shine brighter when the Dark Lord became the headmaster of Hogwarts Castle?"
"It's actually very simple to interpret this kind of astrological phenomenon. We need to use the stars themselves to look at this omen." Firenze said softly, "It is burning itself."
"Burn yourself?"
"Yes, it is trying its best to protect itself from being swallowed by darkness in the night sky, but in fact, such aggression is going on all the time. Until one day, the star turns red, and then it will completely die."
Firenze turned to look at Jon.
"It represents this castle. Although the Dark Lord defeated Dumbledore and claimed to be the headmaster of Hogwarts, the castle has never recognized him. He simply cannot stay in the school for a long time. The school is rejecting him and making it impossible for him to become the real master of Hogwarts!"
Firenze's words suddenly reminded Jon of the fact that Voldemort would only appear in Hogwarts Castle on the two nights when school started and ended.
At other times, even on Christmas dinner night, as the principal, he would not come to the castle to celebrate with the students. This was of course an extremely abnormal thing!
Jon looked up at the starry sky above his head , his eyes fixed on the star that was facing the Hogwarts Castle. He could feel that the seemingly bright starlight was actually fading, and the darkness was ready to move towards it, like a pack of wolves surrounding its prey, chasing it all the time, and trying to tear a piece of flesh from it every minute and every second.
"He occupied the whole of Britain and became the nominal headmaster of Hogwarts, but he has no way to control this castle." Jon murmured to himself, "After we came to Hogwarts, he has been prohibiting any of us from entering the castle privately, and it is also because of this. The castle is not his yet. During the time when he cannot stay in school, he also prohibits others from doing anything to his private land..."
Firenze said seriously.
"He has always wanted to gain complete control of this castle. I don't know what he has done for this, but he has definitely taken some actions. What he wants is to become the true owner of this school. If he has staked the legitimacy of Hogwarts on this Triwizard Tournament, then I think perhaps this tournament has something to do with the ownership of this castle."
Jon thought in silence.
He had never thought of such a thing. Perhaps Dumbledore knew more than he did, so he made some arrangements for the castle when the Triwizard Tournament was going on, but these things were not communicated to John.
Jon knew that it wasn't because Dumbledore didn't trust him, but he didn't want him to take on so many things at such a young age. The Triwizard Tournament alone was enough to worry Jon.
"Thank you, Firenze. What you told me tonight was very useful. I will discuss it with Professor Dumbledore when I return."
After communicating the information about Hogwarts Castle with Jon, Firenze did not disturb him to rest and returned to the centaur camp. Cedric had left the Forbidden Forest and returned to the castle as soon as Jon finished his private conversation with him. He almost got exposed during the day, and he couldn't go back too late tonight, otherwise it would easily arouse other people's suspicion.
The next morning, Jon woke up early and rode on Hoss to leave the centaur camp.
Matters concerning the centaurs and subsequent arrangements would have to wait until he finished this match in the Forbidden Forest, and now it was already the third day since the start of the first event.
At eight o'clock tonight, the time for completing the race begins. The three people currently competing in the Forbidden Forest can choose to end the race at any time, and their results will be counted according to the length of time.
Jon had no intention of competing for the first place in terms of time. According to the score ratio, the more Golden Snitches he caught, the more points he would have an advantage in terms of quantity.
Now that Draco was already eliminated, even if he managed to get out of the Forbidden Forest on the last day, he would still be third in time and could get 20 points.
Of course, he would definitely not choose so late. With the number of golden snitches that Jon has already obtained, according to his plan, as long as he finds another hundred golden snitches, the number will reach 200, which is two-fifths of the total number. It can be basically confirmed that he is the first in terms of quantity.
Based on the time it took him to deal with the fire dragons and get the Golden Snitch, he could definitely get out of the Forbidden Forest before twelve o'clock, thus ensuring that he would not be too far behind in completing the race.
For the rest of the day, Jon and Hoss followed the fire dragon distribution diagram he had drawn in the Forbidden Forest, and went to find those targets that were not flexible enough but were easy to deal with to collect the Golden Snitch.
For example, the two Ukrainian Ironbellies he had found at the entrance of the valley where the centaurs were trapped. It was difficult to knock down this type of huge fire dragon, but it was much easier to catch the Golden Snitch from them than from other dragons.
Jon spent a whole morning collecting all the golden snitches around the two Ukrainian iron bellies. Before entering the Forbidden Forest, Matthew gave each of the four of them a bag with a traceless extension spell cast on it. He put all the collected golden snitches in the bag, which would not affect carrying.
After having something to eat for lunch, he continued to look for other fire dragons in the Forbidden Forest.
During this period, Jon also discovered that the two fire dragons whose golden snitch had been taken away by people, which obviously meant that Diane or Emil had come here in advance.
Even though their methods of seizing the Golden Snitch would definitely not be as convenient as Jon's, they all had their own methods. Jon discovered that a fire dragon that no longer had the Golden Snitch had signs of being hit by the Eye Disease Curse.
Just as the sun was setting, Jon counted the number of golden snitches in his hand and was about to go find the last dragon. Taking the golden snitch beside it would complete the goal of 200, when he met Diane, a warrior of Durmstrang.
"Professor Green!"
Diane was obviously happy when she saw Jon, but she soon became alert again, and the wand in her hand did not relax at all.
"Are you really Professor Green?"
Jon shrugged at her wariness.
“Who else here would imitate me?”
"That bastard Lestrange attacked me once. I can't rule out the possibility that he will come again disguised as Professor Green."
Diane held her wand, keeping a distance between Jon and Jon.
Until she heard Jon say it to her.
"Then let's talk about something that only we know. When we were in Durmstrang Castle, you took me to the headmaster's office. Remember?"
After hearing this, Diane breathed a sigh of relief and put her wand down.
It is possible for Emil to pretend to be Jon, but there is absolutely no chance for him to obtain Jon's memories.
After confirming that Jon was indeed Jon, Diane completely let down her guard, walked closer to Jon, and excitedly told him about her experiences after entering the Forbidden Forest.
"On the first day I entered this forest, I happened to meet an Australian Snitch. The dragon wasn't very aggressive towards people, but it wouldn't let me get close to its territory. I didn't have much experience at first, so I secretly caught some of the Snitches while it was resting. Fortunately, the dragon didn't make things difficult for me even if it found me. After knowing that I wanted those golden balls, it even took the initiative to drive them to my side so that I could catch them more easily."
"But I wasn't so lucky later, especially after I met the Hexidian Black Dragon. It was so violent that it regarded the Golden Snitches as its own treasures. I only got two, and it kept chasing me until I was about to run out of its territory. It still breathed fire at me a few times, almost setting my robe on fire."
Diane's luck was actually pretty good. She didn't encounter any particularly dangerous dragons. The one with the highest attack power was the black dragon from the Hexagonal Islands.
But Jon was actually more interested in her being attacked by Emile.
"When did Lestrange attack you? Did he try to steal the Snitch from you?"
Diane nodded.
"Just this morning , I got 18 Golden Snitches from a Portuguese Longnose Dragon, and then he attacked me from behind. Fortunately, I was always on guard to prevent him from doing this, and his Stunning Spell was blocked by my Shield Spell. Then we fought each other, and some of the spells landed on the Longnose Dragon's face, which angered it. It breathed a lot of fire and tried to grab us all with its claws, so I had to run away from there."
Emile's behavior did not surprise Jon.
Even if Jon hadn't found him on the second day of the competition, intending to strike first and make him realize the gap in strength between the two of them, he would have probably attacked him by now.
