Bab 83: 83: Rhys' Little Story
Hearing that Rhys was about to tell a story, Daphne perked up immediately. She couldn't help but tease, "Is it one of those stories mentioned in the old letters?"
"Not at all," Rhys said, keeping a straight face. "It's a tale I heard from a little snake yesterday—the snake told me it's a story passed down through its family for generations." Without waiting for Daphne to say anything else, he began his tale.
"Long, long ago, even before Hogwarts was established, in the western wilderness of the British Isles, there was a swamp. In that swamp, there was a small village made up of a few wizarding families..."
Such an ancient story, rarely told even by her father, immediately captured Daphne's attention. She listened intently, savoring the chocolate as she focused on Rhys's words.
~Life in the swamp was difficult, and to make matters worse, there was an evil dragon deep in the swamp.
A group of goblins served the dragon willingly, acting as its minions, causing trouble and committing misdeeds under its banner.
The villagers both hated and feared the dragon and its goblin minions, but they were powerless against them.
As the wizarding families grew in number, the goblins feared that one day they might unite, kill the dragon, and settle accounts with them for their complicity.
So the goblins came up with a sinister plan and suggested it to the dragon—they proposed that the village should offer a person to the dragon each year as a sacrifice.
If they failed to comply, the dragon would fly over the village, drying up their fish ponds with its fiery breath and slaughtering their livestock with its sharp claws.
The goblins believed this would keep the wizard population in check, ensuring they remained under their oppressive control.
But the wizards had their own methods.
They decided to capture passing travelers and offer them as sacrifices to the dragon.
One day, a sturdy young man with red hair passed by the swamp, just as the time for the annual sacrifice approached.
The villagers welcomed him warmly, got him drunk, and locked him in the village chief's cellar. He was destined to become the dragon's lunch, but his eloquence during the feast had impressed the chief's son.
Believing such a person shouldn't meet such a grim fate, the chief's son seized the opportunity while delivering food and freed the red-haired youth.~
Daphney: "Then what!?"
~His actions were discovered, and the angry villagers wrapped him in a cowhide sack and delivered him to the dragon's lair—he would take the place of the red-haired youth as the sacrifice.
The goblins carried him, sack and all, to the dragon. Just as the dragon was about to devour him, a spell hit the dragon's right eye with precision, blinding it. It was the red-haired youth who had been released; he had secretly followed and launched a surprise attack on the unsuspecting dragon.
While the dragon roared and thrashed in pain, the youth cut himself out of the sack and, using a prepared dagger, blinded the dragon's other eye.
The dragon went berserk, turning its entire lair into an inferno, burning all the goblins to a crisp. However, the two youths managed to escape.
After getting out alive, they regrouped and decided to return to the lair to finish off the dragon. After much struggle, they finally killed the blinded dragon in its den.
After slaying the dragon, the two boys did not return to the village. Instead, they set out on further adventures together.~
"The red-haired youth in the story was named Godric Gryffindor, and the village chief's son was Salazar Slytherin."
Rhys finished his story, and Daphne's eyes widened, her mind abuzz with wonder.
"Do what you believe is right, boldly and without hesitation. If Slytherin hadn't released Gryffindor from the cellar that night, he might have spent his entire life in that small village, living in obscurity and, like most ordinary wizards of the Middle Ages, regretting his unremarkable existence for the rest of his days."
Daphne nodded, feeling the clouds of gloom lift from her heart.
A few days later, Daphne's punishment for detention was announced. During breakfast, she, Harry, and Ron each received identical notes instructing them to meet in the entrance hall at eleven o'clock that night, where the caretaker Filch would escort them to their detention location.
Daphne frowned; she was not looking forward to this, but there was no way around it. If you make a mistake and get caught, you have to face the consequences.
At eleven that night, Daphne arrived at the entrance hall, where Filch was already waiting. A few minutes later, Harry and Ron joined her.
As the three young wizards gathered before him, Filch's face twisted into a sinister smile—this was his favorite moment.
No matter their background or family, they all had to bow their heads and accept their punishment before him. Punishing these little ones brought him a deep, soulful pleasure.
Filch lit a lamp and motioned for the three to follow. However, when he brought them to their destination, both Harry and Ron's faces lit up with genuine smiles: Hagrid was in charge of their detention tonight!
This felt like a last-minute reprieve, and the trio's spirits were lifted.
Filch seemed to notice their shift in mood, so he warned them a few more times and even tried to berate Hagrid, but Hagrid quickly retorted, "I'm in charge here."
Filch left sullenly.
Looking at the three small figures standing before him, Hagrid's face showed a hint of guilt.
"Sorry, I got you into this mess," he said, scratching his head awkwardly. They were in this situation because of him, and Hagrid couldn't help but feel remorseful.
However, even though Hagrid was in charge of their detention, Daphne, Harry, and Ron's punishment would not be lessened in the slightest. There was a certain dark humor in this, as Professor McGonagall had specifically chosen Hagrid to enforce the punishment for the trio...
After briefly apologizing, Hagrid began explaining the background of their detention.
Due to being preoccupied with Norberta, Hagrid had neglected his patrols of the Forbidden Forest, and as a result, something terrible had happened: he discovered a dead unicorn in the forest.
A unicorn, such a rare and magical creature, had been hunted and killed by an unknown entity in the Forbidden Forest.
This was a significant incident, and after sending Norberta away, Hagrid couldn't afford to be negligent any longer.
He immediately began searching the Forbidden Forest for the culprit responsible for killing the unicorn. Though he didn't find the culprit, he did discover another unicorn with signs of injury.
Their detention task was to enter the Forbidden Forest, find the injured unicorn, and help it.
This was undoubtedly a challenging detention. The Forbidden Forest was inherently dangerous, and now there was a creature within it preying on unicorns, making the mission even more perilous.
Professor McGonagall's intention was clear: the trio liked wandering around at night, so she was giving them a chance to explore—this time in the Forbidden Forest. She hoped this detention would cure them of their habit of nocturnal wandering.
After explaining the task, Hagrid led the three young kids into the Forbidden Forest.
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