days at Hogwarts

Chapter 129 Bloody Mary

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

Loren planed some things like cushions and cloth bags with great interest. In his eyes, these items are full of sense of the times, and the industrial style is relatively rough, but very interesting.

Loren lifted up the huge flashlight in front of him with difficulty, and put it down again. It is estimated that it weighs about three or four catties.

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

His curiosity broke out again: "Can you wizards use magic to strengthen this flashlight, I mean, just like the legends, let him become a prop with magical effects, such as the sword of Magnus, the god of medicine Asclepius' medicine chest..."

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

The two asked and answered, chatting enthusiastically.

At least Wendell thought it was a hot conversation.

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 froze. "Analysis of Krav Maga" was arranged in a neat row on the cover.

How is this book haunting.

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

Wendell let out a hearty laugh: "Ha, go tomorrow!"

Dean Forest is an ancient forest located in the northeast of London, covering an area of ​​more than 6000 acres, very vast.It is close to the edge of the city, but as a forest farm for hunting and leisure of the royal family, the industrial revolution in the past hundred years has not affected this forest.

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

On the road in the wilderness in the outskirts, a car passed by 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 stripe T-shirt with the hem tucked into the jeans, her curly hair tied into two ponytails. She was sitting in the back seat, looking out the window with bright eyes The view after the flyby.

Loren was dressed in exactly the same outfit. He looked at the white and green striped t-shirts of the Grangers in the front row, then at Hermione, and finally at himself. He was still uncomfortable.

Monica noticed Loren's movements through the rearview mirror, and showed a gentle smile: "A family camps, just wear the same clothes."

She raised her voice slightly. "Our family has always been like this, hasn't it, Hermione?"

Hermione looked away from the window and replied loudly, "Yes!"

Vibrant and alive.

"Speaking of this," Wendell recalled the contents of the newspaper, "the government has stepped up the development of Dean Forest, and now there are many visitor facilities on the edge of the forest, we can stay for 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 has done a lot of preparations for this camping.

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

Loren didn't know if it was his own illusion, but Hermione seemed extra lively when she was out camping.

Hearing Shakespeare's name, Monica laughed and said, "One of us has a name related to Shakespeare, guess who it is?"

Hermione knew, but she didn't answer, a pair of little feet dangling under the seat, showing that she was in a very happy mood.

Wendell continued: "Hermione's name comes from "The Winter's Tale" written by Shakespeare. Your mother spent a lot of time trying to think of this name."

"It's been said so many times!" Hermione grumbled, but anyone could tell she liked the name very much.

Loren looked at the verdant green in the open 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 legend, he asked the two little wizards in the back seat to verify, "Is her sister Mary I really a witch?"

"Before I thought it was just a wild story, but now that my daughter is a living witch, the story has some basis."

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

Hermione didn't quite know what the legend was, "I only know that she is the sister of Queen Elizabeth I."

Bloody Mary is not a good story, generally used to scare people.

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

"Mary I grew up in the era of the Reformation. It was also the era when the struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism was the most intense. The war of faith was bloody." Monica paused, and saw that the two children did not respond through the rearview mirror. The cruelty has no recognition.

She went on to narrate: "Her father is Henry VIII, and her mother is a Spanish princess Catherine who believes in Catholicism. Their marriage is a political marriage, and they are not happy."

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

"Mary was slandered as Catherine's illegitimate child, and was bullied in the court, 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 very much. .”

"As an adult, she was tried for treason by her father, Henry VIII, for refusing 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 to the throne, she resumed her Catholic status and began to massacre Protestants. In five years, more than 5 people were burned to death on the stake. A pregnant lady gave birth to a child in the flames, and the child was burned to charcoal, and the people called her Bloody Mary."

"I'll tell you the rest," Wendell said while driving the car without looking back, but his tone was very excited.

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

Loren's breath was stagnant, and this Mary seemed to be the same Mary he had met before.

"But!" Wendell lowered his voice, "Sometimes she will stretch out her claws and fangs from the mirror, tear people's faces, and goug out people's eyeballs. This is the punishment that Protestants have suffered."

Hermione's face tensed when she heard this, and she put her feet on the armchair in front of her, trying to lean back, away from her father.

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

"Ha!" Wendell said with a smile: "I originally planned to tell this horror story on the night of camping, the atmosphere must be better."

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

Wendell said: "If the summoning ritual is not done correctly, the ghost will scream at the participants, torture, strangle them, steal their body or soul, drink their blood dry, or gouging out their eyeballs."

"There are two basic elements in 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 saying that Bloody Mary will only come on certain days."

Loren subconsciously connected this Bloody Mary with Mary in the illusion of "The Book of Abraham".

"When I was in college, some students liked to play some ghost-calling rituals. They said that young women held a mirror in one hand and a candle in the other in a dark room, and then went up the stairs. When they looked in the mirror, they could see the face of their future husband. , if you see a skeleton, it means that she will not live to get married."

"That's the game I've played," Monica said.

Wendell glanced at her sideways and complained, "Hey! I don't even know about this,"

He then joked again: "So you saw my face at that time, right?"

Monica paused, "What I saw was a skeleton, and it was my classmates who were playing tricks on me."

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

Monica's college life was spent on such nasty jokes, those damned classmates!
Monica patted his hand with a relieved smile, signaling that she was fine and letting Wendell relax.

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

Wendell grinned, "There is such a good daughter."

"Hey." Hermione let out a naive laugh.

"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 secrecy law."

The atmosphere of Granger's house was like this. Both parents were knowledgeable and loved reading. They could always tell Hermione a wonderful and interesting story at any time.

Loren's heart is always restless. Now he is sure that even if the Mary in the mirror in the illusion is not the same person as Bloody Mary, there is a lot to do with it.

But more doubts followed.

Mary I of the Tudor Dynasty was born in the 16th century, and the "Book of Abraham" was 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 said, the Bloody Mary would only come at a certain time, which was also very consistent with the timing that Flamel told him, when Mars was bright.

He couldn't wait now to get into the Book of Fantastics and ask when Flamel's next reading of the Book of Abraham was going to be.But I can only hold back this urge first, and wait until I am alone.

The car is driving on the road, and the popular science of a period of history and legend is over.

The four of them set off at 11:30 in the morning and arrived at the outskirts of Dean Forest, where tourists entered, at [-]:[-].

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

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

Wendell drove the car into the parking lot of the hotel, and the hotel staff pushed the trolley to greet him, 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 his hand and took Monica with the other hand, and the three followed Wendell.

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

Go all the way to the front desk to register, and then enter the hotel suite. After the waiter puts the luggage, the atmosphere becomes lively again.

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

"This is different from the camping I thought." Loren said in a trance.

"In the beginning, camping was directly into the forest, but after many cases of disappearances occurred, the government paid more attention to it. Just to develop the economy, a street was built here." Hermione was not the first time here, she also had a Such doubts.

Wendell drove all the way, and he 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 did we come to the hotel?" Loren asked.

We will leave in the afternoon, and this room will not be used at all.

He looked around, there was a separate bathroom, living room, and bedroom. This kind of hotel in a scenic area, this kind of suite doesn't look cheap.

"The hotel operates a camping area. There are services specially provided for camping here. Consumables such as charcoal fire, barbecue, 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 , handed them one by one.

So camping is camping in someone else's designated area and enjoying some services.

Loren was very novel, but after thinking about it, he found it reasonable.

When the economy was bad and the social environment was bad, the streets were full of unemployed people, drug bugs, and gangsters.There will always be some vicious crimes, and the danger is even greater in sparsely populated places like the forest.

It wasn't until recent years that the situation got better, but who can guarantee such things as safety?

Knowing that there had been a disappearance in the forest, the Grangers would naturally not be unprepared, and it was the right way to choose this camping method.

(End of this chapter)