Chapter 804: Encountering a Snake at the Fountain of Good Luck

The first level encountered in the search for the Fountain of Good Luck.

Both of them were a little embarrassed.

Hermione paced back and forth along the lakeshore, frowning her beautiful eyebrows, thinking about how to prove to the snow-white serpent that pain passed the test, or quietly evaluating its magic, thinking about whether it could be fooled by the Confusion Curse or the Imperius Curse. However, considering its friendly attitude and the magic of the Fountain of Good Luck, she temporarily gave up this plan.

"Prove some kind of pain..."

It may be related to the Cruciatus Curse.

It should not only refer to physical pain.

If it involves emotional and psychological pain, it may be related to Dementors.

"What exactly is it..."

Hermione paced back and forth for a few circles, but still couldn't come up with an answer. Just as she was about to discuss it with Loren, she turned her head and stopped where she was.

Loren squatted in front of the snow-white rag snake, holding the pendant on his chest with his left hand, and kept taking things out with his right hand, trying his luck to get in front of the white snake. Sometimes it was potions and alchemy materials, sometimes it was various ingredients and seasonings. He put the magic materials back if they didn't react, and wanted to feed the ingredients and seasonings to the white snake to taste them. When she looked over, Loren happened to hold a white mouse dry and feed it to her. It was a snack for a certain spectacled owl.

"Hiss..."

Although the white snake had dull eyes and its face couldn't make any expression, Hermione still saw some helplessness from the arc of its tail swinging.

"..."

Hermione suddenly felt a little sympathetic to the white snake.

But this was also a way to try.

Hermione temporarily put aside all the thoughts in her mind and began to squat down like Loren to take out various things from the pendant and try them in front of the snow-white rag snake.

Book "Hogwarts: A History of the School".

N.E.W.T. Exercises.

Wenrenju Feather Pen.

Loren glanced at her: "What is the connection between these things and pain?"

"What is the connection between chili oil and mustard and pain?"

"These are all seasonings made from magical plants. The raw materials are prohibited from entering the country. The chili oil is specially made devil spicy, and the mustard is also top-grade mustard. It can feel the pain just by tasting it."

"?"

Hermione was silent for a few seconds.

I still think that the Confusion Curse and the Imperius Curse are more appropriate.

In the next ten minutes, the two of them found all kinds of materials and daily utensils from the pendant, and no matter what they were, they shook them in front of the white snake and put them back in the pendant. The white snake never paid attention to them.

Loren was not discouraged. He tried his luck on his own. He wiped the pendant with his right hand and took out a red stone. Just as he was about to take back the pendant, the white snake suddenly moved--

It moved close to the head, spit out the snake tongue, and began to lick the red stone.

"Huh?"

Loren kept holding the stone in the air and carefully observed the red stone.

Hermione's eyes widened slightly, revealing a bit of surprise. She had already recognized the stone: "It's the coral stone given to us by the mermaids."

"What does this have to do with pain..."

Loren's question was not finished yet, and he showed a thoughtful expression: "The mermaid elder had witnessed his compatriots being poisoned and deformed, and died tragically in the torture of illness, and this toxin spread along the ocean currents to the whole world, and more and more mermaids were affected. He saw that the entire tribe was heading towards extinction, and he was powerless, so he felt pain."

"Is that so..."

Hermione's eyes also showed a bit of realization.

To the white snake, this red coral stone seemed to be a rare delicacy, attracting it to lick it. Even Loren's hand reaching out to touch the scales did not disturb its movements, and it was immersed in the world of tasting delicious food.

Loren held the coral stone in one hand and fiddled with its scales with the other hand, with gentle movements.

In fact, there are still many questions that have not been answered.

What is the specific connection between red coral stone and pain, why is the mermaid elder sure that he can save the mermaid tribe, how does he know that I will find the Fountain of Good Luck in a few years, whether Dumbledore knows these connections... but now the answers to these questions are no longer important.

Loren and Hermione squatted side by side by the lake, quietly watching the white snake lick the coral stone.

The white snake moved slowly, and the whole process lasted for more than ten minutes, like a flock of sheep in the wilderness licking the salt crystals on the rock wall. The white snake also absorbed some substances from the coral stone. Loren tried to observe with magic vision, but only saw the crystal red light hidden in the coral stone. Halfway through, he remembered the magical use of the Soul Stone, and then he saw what it absorbed. It was a substance with a dark glow, similar in nature to magic, but somewhat different.

After the licking, the white snake broke free from Loren's hand, twisted its body lazily, and returned to the lake.

Did you pass the test?

The two were a little excited, and they stood up quickly and waited seriously.

After a few minutes, nothing strange happened.

Hermione stared at the little creature, watching it swimming leisurely in the water, then turned to look at Loren, frowning slightly: "Did we pass the test?"

Loren pondered for a moment: "Strictly speaking, this snake did not reveal any information related to the test. It just saw two wizards approaching, swam ashore to us, hissed twice, accepted the feeding, ate and drank enough, and then went back to rest."

"..."

It makes sense and is convincing.

The two did not hesitate much. They stayed by the lake for a few minutes and then set off for the next destination.

Through the lush bushes, Loren and Hermione walked slowly, exploring as they made their way.

This oasis is rich in species, with wild animals and plants growing and reproducing freely.

Along the way, the most common species seen are various drought-resistant tree species, including date palms, fig trees and olive trees that can be named, and more that cannot be named. The next are low trees and shrubs. Judging from the shape of their branches and leaves, they are all drought-resistant plants. Considering that there is sufficient water here, it should be that the trees from the surrounding deserts fell here a long time ago and took root and sprouted.

There are no signs of human involvement.

This is not surprising. The last time Dumbledore looked for the Fountain of Good Luck was nearly a hundred years ago. The footprints and traces of the past have disappeared in the erosion of time and wind and sand.

Loren thought as he walked.

The two soon came to the next place where the magic light shone.

It was still a clear and transparent lake, with swaying water plants and unclear bottom. There were no fish swimming, but the shore was covered with footprints of small animals. It looked like a freshwater lake that could be drunk.

Loren stood by the lake and watched for a few minutes, shaking his toes to fiddle with a few stones, and kicked into the lake, immediately causing a few ripples. Then they saw a rat snake swimming out of the water grass branches.

This time the rat snake was not completely white, but its eyes were still dull and lifeless. Fortunately, they basically did not rely on vision, but judged the direction based on the strange perception in the cheek pits. They swam slowly in front of the two people, raised half of their bodies, spit out snake tongues, and made a hissing sound.

"I will feed it with dried white rats directly, what do you think?"

Loren had experience this time.

Hermione ignored his suggestion, half-knelt down to take out her coral stone, and approached the elaphant. She was not surprised to find that it had no reaction at all, and said to him:

"I think we should empty the pendant and try one by one. We don't know Parseltongue, and they don't know human language. It's better to try them all than to guess aimlessly. Speaking of this, did Dumbledore's letter mention the needs of these snakes?"

"Not at all."

"Then squat down and try slowly."

"Ah..."

"The second test in "The Tales of Beedle the Poet" mentioned that the results of labor are given. I think everything is a result of labor. Some are physical labor, some are mental labor, and even the gold galleons used as currency are cast by goblin craftsmen."

"This snake obviously disagrees with your opinion."

Loren looked at the elaphant, squatted down again to play with the pendant, and began to try one by one.

It didn't take long before the elaphant began to lick.

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What attracted the elaphant this time was a black residue, the waste of unicorn tail hair.

This tail hair was obtained a few years ago, when Loren was still a junior student. He was punished for confinement because of the fire dragon Norbert. He followed Hagrid to patrol the forbidden forest at night and happened to interrupt Voldemort's killing of unicorns. Afterwards, he received a thank-you gift from the unicorns, a unicorn tail hair handed over by Hagrid.

These tail hairs were used by Loren to practice alchemy and carve rune arrays. At that time, his skills were rusty, and several strands of them were melted by magic and turned into this residue.

Looking at the elaphant immersed in the delicious food, Loren pulled the corner of his mouth. At that time, he had just come into contact with alchemy not long ago and had no concept of dealing with waste materials. This residue was collected casually. He couldn't even remember when he stuffed it into the pendant.

Later, Loren Morgan was skilled. Even if he made mistakes occasionally, the material residue would be burned on the spot, so the residue was not much. The elaphus licked it clean quickly. Loren and Hermione waited for a few minutes and said goodbye to it.

The two continued to move forward, groping in the bushes for a while, and soon came to the third lake and met the third elaphus.

"This time I remember that in the Tales of Beedle the Poet, the third test is to hand over the wealth of the past."

"Put it away. Although I don't know what the correct answer is, it is definitely not your gold galleons, or this 20-pound note."

"How can this not be considered wealth!"

"..."

Hermione squatted down and began to repeat the previous actions, trying one by one with the items in the pendant.

In the fable about the Fountain of Good Luck, the third level requires past wealth, and the answer is given by the third witch Amata. She was abandoned by the man she loved deeply and felt that the pain in her heart could not be healed. She hoped that the Fountain of Good Luck could soothe her pain. Faced with this difficult problem, she handed over the memories of her beautiful love.

Loren watched her movements, but this time he didn't try with her. Instead, he watched from the side: "It's time for lunch. Let's eat something first and then try."

"Sounds like a travel picnic?"

"Alchemy preservation, the taste is just out of the pot..."

"You planned it before you left."

"Hehe, a trip should look like a trip."

"Prepare lunch first, I'll try again."

"Then hurry up."

Loren touched the snake scales, turned around and started to set up, took out a picnic blanket and prepared to spread it flat, but it was too close to the lake, the weeds were too lush, and the soil underfoot was too muddy, it was really not a good place to set up a picnic.

The rest of the surrounding area was not very flat either.

Loren simply put away the picnic blanket and waved his wand. In a few seconds, an exquisitely crafted dining table appeared out of thin air, with two carved chairs, and even tableware, porcelain plates and goblets.

Hermione still squatted in front of the elaphe, looking up at his figure placing dishes, the sunlight on the lake reflected in her eyes: "Loren, you shouldn't..."

"Of course not."

"What won't?"

"Won't give up our good memories. Even if we will create more beautiful things in the future, the past time can't be abandoned. I deeply believe this." Loren did not pause at all, and did not forget to turn back and smile at her, "I know you think so too."

"..."

Hermione didn't say anything more.

As he said, they understood each other's thoughts after a long time together, and they were also very firm in their hearts. They just couldn't help but confirm with him.

A few minutes later, before Hermione tried all the things in the pendant, she smelled a tempting aroma from the dining table not far away. The oil and carbohydrates were intertwined and mixed with the smell of complex spices. The salty and fragrant smell was like the smell of stewed potatoes with beef brisket.

"Hmm?"

Hermione's thoughts were a little confused.

How come there is freshly stewed beef brisket?

Then the smell of puff pastry onion soup, Basque chicken, and cream ice cream entered her nose. Although she tried to focus on the elaphrodite, the fragrance in the air seemed to have some kind of traction. The speed of taking and putting things in her hands began to slow down, and her mouth began to secrete saliva.

"Don't try it, it's time for lunch."

"There are only a few things left."

Hermione lowered her head and sniffed. The expression on her face could not be seen clearly, but her voice was a little vague.

The girl silently increased her speed, tried the last few items, and paused before leaving. She put out a few dried white rats for the elaphrodite, and quickly got up and ran away:

"You stole it! I saw it!"

"Mmm..."

The soft sunlight shone on her body. The temperature was reduced by the green plants and the lake, and it didn't feel hot. The heat of food lingered in the air, which reminded people of the time when they lay on the shore of the Black Lake to bask in the sun after the Hogwarts exams, and they were as leisurely as now.

The elaphus snake beside turned its head away, seeming a little puzzled, but soon lost interest in them, nor in the dried white rat left by the girl. It lowered its head and curled up, squinting the outer membrane of its eyes, also basking in the sun.

Hermione came to sit down next to the dining table, first tasted the soft and sandy potatoes in the stewed beef brisket, squinted her eyes with satisfaction, and then asked:

"Have you thought of the answer the third snake needs?"

"Just a guess."

Loren held a silver metal knife and fork in his hand, biting the soft beef brisket in his mouth, and said casually: "The last witch gave her a memory that she cherished very much but should give up. It happens that I also have such a memory."

"..."

Hermione quietly looked at his expression, her eyes moving, but did not ask any more questions.