The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

The Grangers went out this time and updated almost all the camping items, and Wendell was sorting them out.

Loren was digging around with some things like cushions and bags with great interest. In his eyes, these items were full of the sense of the times. The industrial style was rough, but very interesting.

Loren struggled to lift the huge flashlight in front of him and put it down again. It probably weighed three or four kilograms.

Wendell showed off: "This flashlight was modified by a friend of mine from military equipment, a xenon lamp."

His curiosity arose again: "Can you wizards use magic to strengthen this flashlight? I mean, just like the legend, turn it into a magical prop, such as the Sword of Magnus, the God of Medicine." Asclepius's medicine chest..."

Loren thought for a moment and shook his head, "At least I haven't heard of this kind of magic, but alchemy should be able to do it, making its light warm and making the light more dazzling..."

The two asked and answered questions and had a lively conversation.

At least Wendell thought the conversation was lively.

Hermione came out of the study, sat down next to Loren, put the book aside, and helped organize things.

Loren rolled his eyes inadvertently, and then his expression condensed. A neat row of large characters "Analysis of Krav Maga" was arranged on the cover.

Why does this book linger?

"Dad, when are we going camping?" Hermione folded a blanket and handed it to Wendell.

Wendell laughed heartily: "Ha, let's go tomorrow!"

The Forest of Dean is an ancient forest located in northeast London, covering an area of ​​more than 6,000 acres and is very vast. It is close to the edge of the city, but as a forest farm for royal hunting and recreation, the industrial revolution of the past hundred years has not affected this forest.

It takes about three hours to drive from Granger's home. In order to avoid the high temperature at noon, they took advantage of the coolness of the morning and set out early in the morning.

On the road in the wilderness, a car drove past at a constant speed. The Grangers sat in the front seat, Wendell drove, and Monica sat in the passenger seat.

Loren and Hermione were sitting in the back seat. Hermione was wearing a white and green striped T-shirt, with the hem tucked into jeans, and her curly hair tied into two ponytails. She was sitting in the back seat, looking out the car window with bright eyes. A flyby view.

Loren was wearing exactly the same outfit. He looked at the white and green striped T-shirts of Mr. and Mrs. Granger in the front row, then at Hermione, and finally at himself. He still didn't feel comfortable with it.

Monica noticed Loren's movements through the rearview mirror and smiled tenderly: "When camping as a family, you have to wear the same clothes."

She raised her voice slightly: "This has always been like this in our family, right, Hermione?"

Hermione moved her eyes away from the window and replied loudly, "Yes!"

Full of energy and vitality.

"Speaking of this," Wendell recalled what was in the newspaper, "the government has increased its efforts to develop the Dean Forest. Now there are many visitor facilities at the edge of the forest, so we can stay a few more days."

"Because it's summer, we can go deeper into the forest. There are ancient stone circles and abandoned well houses nearby, and we can also visit Elizabeth I's hunting lodge." Wendell had done a lot of preparations for this camping trip.

"Elizabeth I," Hermione raised a hand, "I know that she was the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. She ruled during the golden age of the Renaissance. Shakespeare was a person of that era."

Loren didn't know if it was his imagination, but Hermione seemed to be particularly lively when she was out camping.

Hearing Shakespeare's name, Monica joked: "There is someone among us whose name is related to Shakespeare. Guess who it is?"

Hermione knew, but she didn't answer. Her little feet swayed under the seat, indicating that she was in a very happy mood.

Wendell continued: "Hermione's name comes from Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale". Your mother spent a lot of time thinking of this name."

"I've said it so many times!" Hermione complained, but anyone could tell that she liked the name very much.

Loren looked at the greenery in the open field of view, enjoying the warm atmosphere of the Granger family, thinking that maybe he should also find a chance to travel with Grandpa Bates.

"Speaking of Elizabeth I," Wendell recalled a legendary story, and he asked the two little wizards in the back seat for confirmation, "Is her sister Mary I really a witch?"

"I used to think it was just a tall tale, but now that my daughter is a living witch, it has some validity."

"Mary?" Loren was shocked when he heard this somewhat familiar name.

Hermione wasn't sure what the legend was, "I only know that she is the sister of Elizabeth I."

Bloody Mary is not a good story and is usually used to scare people.

Monica glared at her husband, but considering that the two real wizards sitting behind them would not be frightened by the legends made up by ordinary people, she still patiently told the two young wizards about the history.

"Mary I grew up in the era of the Reformation, which was also the era of the most intense struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism. The war of faith was bloody." Monica paused and saw two children through the rearview mirror who had no reaction, obviously to the war. There is no recognition of cruelty.

She continued: "Her father was Henry VIII and her mother was a Catholic Spanish princess Catherine. Their marriage was a political marriage and they were not happy."

Monica glanced at Loren and Hermione again, and they listened with interest, "Henry VIII cheated. In order to divorce Catherine, he betrayed Catholicism, broke with the Pope, promoted Protestantism in the country, and persecuted Catholics. "

"Mary was slandered as Catherine's illegitimate child and was humiliated in the court. She was even worse than a servant. In such a family environment, Mary developed a paranoid and eccentric character. She became a die-hard Catholic and hated Protestantism. .”

"As an adult, she was tried for treason by her father, Henry VIII, because she refused to convert to Protestantism."

Hermione couldn't help but said: "That's her father? How could there be such a father?"

Wendell said: "Because it was a special era, the king's power also came from religion."

Monica continued: "Mary I married King Philip II of Spain. After ascending the throne, she restored her Catholic status and began to massacre Protestants. In five years, more than 300 people were burned on the stake. A pregnant lady gave birth to a child in the flames, and the child was burned to char. People called her Bloody Mary."

"I'll tell you the rest," Wendel drove the car without looking back, but his tone was very exciting.

"Later, she turned into a ghost. According to legend, if you call her name three times in front of the mirror, you can see her shadow in the mirror, and she will answer your questions."

Loren's breath froze. This Mary seemed to be the Mary he had met before.

"But!" Wendell lowered his voice, "Sometimes she will stretch out her claws and fangs from the mirror, tear off people's skin, and gouge out their eyeballs. This is a punishment that Protestants have endured."

Hermione's little face tightened upon hearing this, and she put her feet on the chair in front of her and tried to lean back, away from her father.

Monica reached out and patted Wendell, "Be serious!"

"Ha!" Wendell laughed: "I originally planned to tell this scary story on the camping night, the atmosphere must be better."

"Are there any other legends?" Loren couldn't help but want to know more.

"If the summoning ritual is done incorrectly, the ghost will scream at the participants, torture and strangle them, steal their body or soul, drink their blood, or gouge out their eyeballs," Wendell said.

"There are two basic elements to summoning Mary, one is a mirror in a dark room, and the other is calling her name an exact number of times. There is also a theory that Bloody Mary only comes on certain days."

Loren subconsciously connected this bloody Mary with the Mary in the fantasy world of "The Book of Abraham".

"When I was in college, some classmates liked to play some ghost-calling rituals. They said that a young woman would hold a mirror in one hand and a candle in the other in a dark room, and then go up the stairs. When they looked in the mirror, they could see the face of their future husband. , if what she sees is a skeleton, it means she will not live to get married.”

Monica said, "I've played this game before."

Wendell turned his head to look at her and complained: "Hey! I don't even know about this,"

He then joked: "So you saw my face then, right?"

Monica paused, "What I saw was a skeleton. My classmates were playing tricks on me."

Wendell's face turned a little ugly when he heard this, and his hands holding the steering wheel couldn't help but squeeze tightly, and his fingers turned white.

Monica spent her college career in this kind of bad joke, those damn classmates!

Monica patted his hand with a relieved smile, indicating that she was okay and asked Wendell to relax.

"Mom~" Hermione comforted her softly while holding the backrest in front of her, "They must have never imagined that you would have such a good husband."

Wendell grinned, "And such a good daughter."

"Hehe." Hermione laughed innocently.

"So have you heard of the witch Bloody Mary?" Monica asked with a smile.

Hermione replied: "Of course not. If there is such a witch, then she must have violated the Statute of Secrecy."

The atmosphere in the Granger family is like this. Both parents are knowledgeable and love reading. They can always tell Hermione a wonderful and interesting story at any time.

Loren's heart couldn't calm down. He was now sure that the Mary in the mirror in the illusion and Bloody Mary were closely related, even if they were not the same person.

But then came more doubts.

Mary I of the Tudor Dynasty was from the 16th century, and the Book of Abraham was written thousands of years ago, or even thousands of years ago. Why are the two connected?

Why is the legend about Mary spread more widely in Muggle society, but there is no news in the wizarding world?

Recalling what Mr. Granger just told, Bloody Mary will only come at a specific time, which is also very consistent with the timing Flamel told him originally, when Mars is bright.

He was now eager to get into the Book of Fantasy and ask Flamel when the next reading of the Book of Abraham would be. But I can only resist this impulse first and wait until I am alone.

As the car drove on the road, a period of science popularization of history and legends ended.

The four of them set off at eight in the morning and arrived at the outskirts of Dean Forest, where tourists enter, at half past eleven.

After passing through the wilderness on the road, they drove into a street with cafes, restaurants, and hotels.

Loren was a little confused. He thought they would drive all the way into the forest and then set up a tent next to the car. As a result, the facilities here are so complete.

Wendell drove the car into the hotel parking lot, and the hotel staff came up to him with a cart, loaded the luggage into the car, and followed them silently.

Seeing that Loren was not familiar with the environment and procedures here, Hermione was afraid that he would get lost, so she took the initiative to hold his hand, holding Monica with the other hand, and the three of them followed Wendell.

The luxurious and exquisite lobby has gorgeous flower-like chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. Bright golden lights illuminate every place, the marble floor is smooth, and the oil paintings hanging on the walls are colorful and huge.

After checking in at the front desk and entering the hotel suite, the atmosphere became lively again after the waiter placed the luggage.

The four of them sat on the sofa, and Monica began to cut the fruit on the table.

"This is not what I thought camping was like," Loren said in a dazed tone.

"At first, we went directly into the forest to camp, but after many disappearances, the government started to pay attention to it and just wanted to develop the economy, so they built a street here." This was not Hermione's first time here. She also had it at the beginning. Such doubts.

Wendell drove all the way and was a little troubled. He sat on the sofa, rubbed his eyebrows and said, "Let's take a rest here and head to the forest this afternoon."

"Then why do we come to the hotel?" Loren asked.

We are leaving in the afternoon and this room will not be used at all.

He looked around and saw that there were private bathrooms, living rooms, and bedrooms. For a hotel in a scenic spot, this kind of suite didn't look cheap.

"The hotel operates a camping area. There are services specifically provided for camping. Consumables such as charcoal fires, barbecues, and drinks are provided free of charge. The most important thing is that they will regularly confirm our safety." Monica cut the apple into four pieces , handing them one petal each.

So camping means camping in someone else’s designated area and enjoying some services.

Loren was very novel, but after thinking about it, it made sense.

In the past, when the economy was not good and the social environment was not good, the streets were filled with unemployed people, drug addicts, and gang members. There will always be some vicious crimes, but in a sparsely populated place like the forest, the danger is even greater.

It was only in recent years that the situation became better, but who can guarantee safety?

Knowing that there had been disappearances in the forest, the Grangers would not be unprepared, so they chose this camping method.