The Bard at Hogwarts

The Scottish Highlands in June.

A warmer and shorter summer has begun.

Although these hot days are long, they burn like flags and disappear in the blazing flames.

And at night, the short and humid moonlit night is like a dream that suddenly changes, stirring up layers of brilliance.

…

The last day before leaving school for summer vacation.

Hogwarts at dusk, under the reflection of the sunset in the sky, is still magnificent.

The top floor of the astronomy tower.

Ino sat in front of a simple drawing board, concentrating on drawing something.

After slowly approaching, you can see that the canvas is a colorful Hogwarts Castle.

Next to the drawing board, there is a spider as big as a washbasin. Although the spider is very big, the long light blue hairs cover the horror of the arthropod insect, and it looks a bit cute at first glance.

Probably, it can be mistaken for a large cloth doll at first glance.

With the last touch of color, Ino gently put down the brush in his hand.

Unconsciously, the second school year has ended, and at this last moment, he always wants to leave something behind, or just wants to prove that he has existed.

"Why do you feel a little sad?"

A cold female voice sounded in the silent tower.

"This is not sadness, this is the melancholy of parting."

Ino sighed lightly, stood up and walked to the edge of the tower, reaching out to touch the weathered marble wall.

"You are still young, you will understand in the future! From now on, some people will never be able to return to this castle in their entire lives, let alone return to the dormitory that has accompanied them for seven years."

Feeling the movement at his feet, Ino turned his head and saw the blue eight-eyed giant spider hanging in the air with spider silk, and said helplessly:

"Lina, I told you not to spit silk randomly, it will be troublesome if you are discovered."

"What's the matter, and they are all afraid of you." The cold voice sounded again.

Hanging in the air, the eight-eyed giant spider the size of a washbasin actually spoke against common sense.

You should know that a talking acromantic spider is undoubtedly an adult spider, just like Aragog in the original story, a behemoth with a diameter of nearly five meters.

Perhaps, miracles are called miracles because they cannot be explained.

For Lina, it is this blue acromantic spider that can speak.

Although he was a little surprised when she spoke for the first time, he was no longer surprised after that, after all, the shelter itself is a miracle.

However, Ino still corrected the wrong understanding:

"Lina, that is not fear, that is a kind of respect."

…

Beside the tower, the last sunset in the sky disappeared.

Hogwarts was gradually shrouded in darkness, and Ino looked down at the castle not far away.

Everything that happened during this period flashed before his eyes like a slide show.

Since the entire sky of the Quidditch field was covered with flames four months ago, the attitudes of other young wizards have also changed quietly.

It was not as exaggerated as Lina said, but there was a gap between them. It was probably like a student meeting a professor. Although not afraid, every word and action was full of awe.

What made this awe even higher was the Daily Prophet and Colin's photo.

Whenever he thought of that newspaper, Ino always had a feeling that the tree wanted to be quiet but the wind did not stop.

On the first page of the newspaper headline, there was a wizard holding a wand pointing to the sky, and the background was a flame that covered the sky.

Colin probably knew photography, both the angle and the sense of light were just right, and then it was soaked in the developing solution.

The whole photo, except for the lack of sound, everything else was like a short video with a filter.

Perhaps the Daily Prophet also invested money, and with such a perfect picture, a detailed article came into being.

From the beginning of escaping from the orphanage, two years of wandering, eating and sleeping in the wind and rain, sleeping in the bridge hole by the Thames, and setting up a stall in front of the Muggle primary school to make a living by fortune-telling.

Later, he entered Hogwarts, froze Lockhart in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, conjured a 40-foot-long giant snake in the Quidditch training ground, got full marks in all subjects in the first year, and was finally registered as the eighth recorded Animagus in this century.

All kinds of things, no matter how big or small, directly revealed his experience.

But the wording in the article was appropriate, the style was tactful, and politeness and respect were revealed between the lines.

This turned all his dissatisfaction into helplessness, because the Daily Prophet really knew the limits.

Everything that should be said was said, and what should not be said, such as his selling gold coins in Gringotts, buying a house in Hogsmeade, and even the address of the house, was not mentioned in the article.

Moreover, the whole article was full of praise words, inspiring, motivated, and never admitting defeat despite a rough life. A tragic and perfect image was created.

The sales of the Daily Prophet were improved, but for a period of time since then, Ino could always meet little wizards holding newspapers in the castle.

Nothing else, just autographs! And they all wanted to sign below the flame photo on the front page.

Just as he was thinking and recalling, Lina's cold voice sounded again on the tower:

"I feel the vibration, someone is coming up! I'll go back to the box first."

A blue light flashed in the air. Lina broke the spider silk and landed accurately in the suitcase.

At the same time, at the moment Lina entered, a figure appeared at the top entrance of the astronomical tower.

"Good evening! Professor Dumbledore. I didn't expect you to be in the Astronomy Tower at this time. Are you here to observe the stars and do divination?"

Ino greeted and made a small joke.

"Good evening! Although I like divination very much, I actually know nothing about it."

Dumbledore walked slowly into the tower and saw the set up easel. "Great oil painting! This reminds me of a friend who also loves painting."

"Hahaha, thank you for your compliment. I have only started to develop an interest in painting during this period."

Ino walked to the easel and skillfully untied the canvas on it: "If you like it, it will be given to you. After all, you have helped me a lot, but I don't have a decent gift in return."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but think of the box that was extended without a trace. You know, this box still plays an important role now.

If it weren't for Dumbledore's help to cast the extension spell to expand the capacity, it would be useless to say that it only relied on the twice the space of the box itself.

"Then I'll take it. Few people give me paintings. They always think I like books." Dumbledore reached out to take the scroll, his eyes inadvertently sweeping to the suitcase beside him.

"Ino! Do you need me to help you expand it a little more? You know, it's not big enough for some 'big friends' to live in now."

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you." Ino smiled bitterly and rubbed his eyebrows.

He had tried his best to avoid opening the box where there were portraits, but he still couldn't hide it from Dumbledore.

"This is normal. When you become the headmaster of Hogwarts one day, you will find that there are too many secrets in the castle, but I can't tell you now."

Dumbledore smiled a little proudly, like a child showing off his toys.