Chapter 871 The Watcher and Her Majesty the Queen

"Sorry, I don't understand what you are talking about..."

The almost headless Nick was stunned for half a second, and then said in a somewhat reserved and gentle voice.

"My dear, but I think you have the wrong person - or are you going to the party?"

"There are more than 300 ghosts from all over the country and more than 100 Gryffindor students here. If nothing else happens, several formal professors will come after hearing the news. This is a rare sight. The grand occasion——"

Elena looked at the scene inside the door with interest.

The underground classroom was crowded with hundreds of milky-white, translucent figures, most of whom were wandering around the central dance floor, dancing to the siren's sad and melodious singing. The Gryffindor students were carrying jack-o'-lanterns and walking curiously and carefully around the venue. The orange candle flames blessed by magic lingered around them to dispel the chill.

Elena tapped her fingers on her lips and asked softly in a cute tone.

"What if, I mean if - this respected gentleman, if they found another name on the cake, or someone suddenly told a boring Muggle history in the middle of the venue at this time. The party is over. Finally, after they return to their respective social circles, how far will those absurd jokes eventually spread?"

"This is my 500th death anniversary party. Don't you think this prank is a bit too much?"

The almost headless Nick's expression gradually turned cold, and he said coldly with a hint of sullenness.

"If you want to learn that special transformation magic, you don't need to use this method to coerce me. After this banquet is over, I will directly tell Mr. Dumbledore the corresponding content, and he will teach you personally - —”

"Magic? Grow taller? Oh, no, no, no... you misunderstood."

Elena let out a playful breath, watching her breath form a mist in front of her.

"I have just turned twelve, why should I worry about these distant things... What's more, there are too many transfiguration masters in Hogwarts now. Once we have a general direction, it is only a matter of time to derive derivative magic. .How could it be possible that such a grand performance was organized with great difficulty for the sake of a technique that will be developed sooner or later?"

"...Then what do you want?" Nick frowned.

"Well, let me think—"

Elena blinked thoughtfully and said slowly.

"First of all, can you squat down or sit down a little? It's very tiring to keep talking with your head raised. Also, if you have to ask me what the purpose of doing this is, or what I want..."

She glanced at the ghost sitting on the chair next to her and smiled.

"I want you—Mr. Cromwell."

"Oh, Merlin! Again, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know the Thomas Cromwell you're talking about, or the Earl of Isaacs - Merlin, this is ridiculous. !”

The almost headless Nick laughed angrily and waved his hands angrily, his head shaking on his neck.

"Today is my 500th anniversary party. Everyone here knows who I am. You can do whatever you want..."

"Yes, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington died on October 31, 1492 - everyone knows that you maintained the same posture as you did at the last moment of your death, but there is something that has puzzled me for a long time."

Elena asked quite sincerely as her eyes looked back and forth on Nick.

"Wheel ruffles, tight tops, breeches...did these costumes originally exist in the period of Henry VII? I thought this was a style that only became popular in Elizabeth I after Henry VIII strengthened the aristocracy. As As a nobleman who lived in the early Tudor dynasty, you must have been an eye-catching new trendsetter during your lifetime?"

"Ghosts can change their clothes by themselves, I just appreciate it more..." Nearly Headless Nick said in a stiff tone.

"But only in the future, not after his death - after losing his body, the ghost cannot understand the details of the cloth on the body. As far as I know, unworn clothes should not work, or you can become a try try?"

Elena took out her wand, summoned a set of Hanfu in mid-air, and glanced at Nick casually.

Before arriving at the death anniversary party today, she had done enough homework.

Ghosts can be roughly divided into two components - body and clothing.

The former mostly depends on their state before turning into a ghost state, while the latter comes from their obsession.

The clearer the ghost's thinking, the easier it is for him to control and adjust his daily appearance, but this is limited to loading the corresponding fragments from memory, rather than inserting new elements, at least this is the information Elena obtained.

According to Nearly Headless Nick's "official death anniversary", in 1492, Henry VIII had just been born.

This is like Nie Xiaoqian appearing in front of Ning Caichen wearing a cheongsam. Although strictly speaking, the contrast is not that exaggerated, but under rigorous research, it will still show some strange incongruity.

"Of course, you could say that these clothes became popular in Henry VII's time..."

Elena glanced at the silent Nick, waved her hand to disperse the illusion, and continued.

"During the Tudor Dynasty, there were three ways to execute sinners: hanging, burning, and beheading, which corresponded to civilians, heretics, and nobles respectively. I carefully checked the documents from my father's side. In 1492, Britain was still under Rome Given the jurisdiction of the Holy See, even if you are executed as a noble, don’t you think this date is too inappropriate?”

"If the king wants to execute someone, does he have to choose the day deliberately?"

Nick, who was almost headless, took a deep breath, his voice a little hoarse.

"Halloween, Christmas, Easter...who would issue and execute execution orders at these times? The festive decorations and arrangements everywhere will not make people forget these special days, let alone-"

Elena took out a black cross from her chest and stroked it gently, winking slyly.

"As the only day of the year when wizards can freely mingle in the Muggle world, it is a brave decision to execute wizards at this time. What is even more surprising is that from imprisonment, to sentencing, to execution, it took a total of In less than a day, the efficiency is astonishingly high—aren’t the participants afraid of losing their heads by executing a nobleman so hastily?”

"There are always exceptions to everything..." Nearly Headless Nick said painfully.

"Maybe, but what I want to say more at this time is another sentence——"

Elena shrugged noncommittally, raised her fingers, and looked at Nick meaningfully.

"Edmond Rocca once said: Wherever a mortal walks, there will be traces."

"If you were indeed active before 1492, you will be able to find physical traces of 'Sir Nicholas' presence everywhere - things that will not be forgotten, will not be edited, will not be confused by stimulation, will not Just like the traces of misleading witnesses. It is evidence of the existence of facts, and physical evidence will not be falsified or disappear completely."

"Through some wonderful and insignificant channels, I discovered that your traces in the magical world don't seem to be that reliable."

Elena's eyes flickered and she explained a few words vaguely.

As the Fairy Queen of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, she can easily mobilize and read all Gringotts' information - those internal accounts are relatively trustworthy information, and they are also one of the few pure lands that wizards have not been able to set foot in before.

Few wizards can live a normal life in magical, non-magical society without touching the banking system.

"Of course, this can only deduce that the identity of 'Sir Nicholas' is doubtful, but it cannot determine who you are."

Elena said, and the little hair on her head swayed from side to side with great pride.

"Well, actually, it's all thanks to the tip you gave me, Mr. Nick."

"Me?" Nick frowned even more tightly, "I don't remember when I said these nonsense——"

"At last year's opening party, the Gryffindor table was long." Elena said, her eyes flickering.

"After the sorting, when Harry, Hermione and other freshmen started to eat, you once said, 'I haven't eaten for almost four hundred years' - I believe in Granger's memory, you said It’s four instead of five.”

"Four hundred and ninety-nine years, almost more than four hundred years...Miss Kaslana."

Nick's expression gradually relaxed, he looked at Elena curiously, and softly pointed out the loopholes in her words.

"Yes, but this gives me a very important hint-"

Elena nodded quickly, took out a heavy book from her chest, and spread it on her knees.

"This made me realize why I couldn't find any trace of you during the reign of Henry VII. It was because the initial time anchor point was chosen wrong - using four hundred years as the basis for tracing back, then the time should cover 1492 -1592 period. And once I move my gaze to the period between Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, a certain name is too conspicuous."

She began to turn the pages of the book quickly, explaining softly and slowly.

Finally, she stopped.

"Thomas Cromwell," Elena put up the book and said in a low voice, "Henry VIII's first minister of state, he was sentenced to death by beheading by Henry VIII in 1540. He endured nearly half an hour of dull death. Death after being tortured with an ax——"

Elena's performance did not get the response she expected.

"So? It's just a coincidence."

Nearly Headless Nick said calmly, "In our time, such unfortunate things happened occasionally. Not all executioners were very skilled. Except for this unlucky Mr. Cromwell, there were many similar situations. .”

"Oh, then there may be too many coincidences between you and Mr. Cromwell..."

Elena flipped the book, pushed it in front of the almost headless Nick, and read softly.

"During his tenure, Thomas Cromwell assisted Henry VIII in completing the transformation of modern British society, and his most important achievements were: presiding over and drafting a series of laws such as the "Act of Supremacy", which allowed Britain to separate from the Holy See and become a It established a monarchy with independent sovereignty; promoted the legal circulation of the "English Bible" in Britain, promoted the birth of Protestantism, and disbanded monasteries on a large scale to fill the treasury; and, the most talked about among folk tales... "

Elena glanced at the ghost beside her and raised her eyebrows slightly.

"He successfully helped Henry VIII bring down the Duke of Norfolk and Queen Anne Boleyn, and sentenced Anne for adultery, incest, treason, counterfeiting, attempted murder of the royal family... Oh, and witches, these crimes ·Boleyn's capital crime - beheading with a long sword. And the most interesting thing is - she is actually a witch."

"If I remember correctly," Elena mused thoughtfully, "her portrait hangs in Hogwarts Castle, it should be right outside the auditorium, oh, there is also one on the corner of the third or fourth floor - Of course, she is the queen after all.”

As she spoke, Elena waved her wand in the air, reflecting several scenes from her memory.

(Click on the picture to expand—→)

"Sir Nicholas, look at it. Does it look exactly like the picture in the book?"

"...What does this mean?" Nick sighed softly.

"Only magic can defeat magic - maybe this is not entirely accurate, but facing the powerful Witch Queen, the wisest thing to do is obviously to turn to another wizard. In addition, the name Thomas Cromwell , the Sorting Hat happens to still have a little bit of an impression - it’s rare to see students with the characteristics of three houses at the same time..."

Elena said, taking out another book from her chest.

"The Ghosts of Hogwarts", which she borrowed from the Hogwarts library not long ago.

"In 1492, Sir Nicholas met Lady Grieve in the Royal Park. She was convinced that he could help her correct her crooked teeth, but Nicholas's attempt backfired and caused her to grow fangs."

"In his early years, Cromwell took orders from Anne Boleyn. She believed that he would help consolidate his power and push the Reformation in a more drastic direction. However, Cromwell betrayed Anne and set up a trap for her. A lot of charges were laid.”

Elena pointed to the words on the two books, compared them one after another and read softly.

"Nicholas screamed all night in prison... Cromwell kept writing to Henry VIII while in prison... The priest came to the cell to comfort him... The old nobles expected to force Cromwell to submit... cut Forty-five strokes... The execution went on for a long time... Do you think these stories are exciting and coincidental enough?"

"...Really, there are too many loopholes -"

Nick, who was almost headless, shook his head and looked at Elena, his expression no longer as frivolous and easy-going as before.

"So, there is still an unsolved problem in the end. Even if I am 'Cromwell', then why should I remain anonymous and even go to great lengths to invent a non-existent character? This makes no sense. "

"It's very simple. In order to completely bury that past -"

Elena smiled slightly, closed the two books, and said softly.

"From the fourteenth century to the end of the fifteenth century, wizards and Muggles fought a secret war for nearly two centuries. And if this war ended not with a truce, but with wizards interfering in the internal affairs of the non-magical world, It would be completely different if we completely expelled the influence of the Holy See from all over the world and then unilaterally concealed it..."

"This means that wizards can achieve their goals by controlling non-magical power - a Pandora's box."

"In that war that lasted for two centuries, the final winner was...the magic world. This is the long-term confidence of some ancient pure-blood families. However, as the most important hub, you chose to leave the future to Muggles. …”

In Hogwarts, the four houses each have their own unique character.

As the resident ghosts of each college, they are equivalent to the microcosms of each college - over the long years, there have been more than a thousand ghosts who graduated from Hogwarts, but only four of them are qualified to become house ghosts in the castle. symbol.

True Gryffindor corresponds to true courage.

There is no doubt that Thomas Cromwell, who single-handedly shouldered all the infamy, ended the war, and started a new era, can be said to be the wizard who perfectly interpreted courage and hope in the magical world over the past thousand years.

"That was...many years ago. Miss Kaslana, you are the smartest witch I have ever met."

After a long silence, Nick, who was almost headless, let out a long sigh.

"Then you should know the importance of having this show end perfectly... We cannot control the future. If wizards are allowed to dominate humans, we may never see the prosperous age outside now. The war is over, this is At that time, all the top wizards made a unanimous decision: we will become watchers and work together to bury the ambition of magic."

"Then, I'm sorry..."

Elena shook her finger and said softly.

"The war has begun again. This is a continuation of the previous war. Hogwarts is coating the outline of magic with the brilliance of science to prove that magic can be achieved by everyone - a new era should begin. .”

"That is your future..." Nearly Headless Nick said calmly.

"That's right. But—"

Elena nodded quite seriously and blinked slyly.

"As you can see, I just celebrated my twelfth birthday last month. As a pioneer who single-handedly promoted the modern British political and social structure, industrial and commercial innovation, legal system, and religious reform...are you really not worried? , in this final relay process, did I let down the people who sacrificed along the way because of my lack of experience?”

"Think it over, Sir Nicholas——"

Elena raised her face and showed a smile as pure as an angel.

"Before the banquet ends tonight, but it's better to hurry up, Gringotts' press conference on the inventory of 'Thomas Cromwell's estate, the will commission, and the distribution of manuscripts to dozens of mainstream media, there are many things waiting for you. I'll deal with it."

"G-Gringotts?" Nick, who was almost headless, was slightly startled.

"Oh, I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself."

Elena stood up and said lightly while walking towards the underground classroom.

"After you decide, you can also call me - Her Majesty the Queen. The Fairy Queen in charge of magic finance."

————

————

Great! Super big chapter!