Chapter 210: A Startling Similarity

"Pumpkin juice is better," Harry said, seemingly casual. "I find Butterbeer has a bitter aftertaste."

"It's just a substitute," Alina sighed. "Why isn't there any cola?"

"So, you grew up in Muggle society too?" Luo En asked with some curiosity.

"More or less, I grew up in an orphanage," Alina said. "It might look like I have some understanding of the Muggle world, but I only know about the bottom-tier affairs."

"Bottom-tier?" Luo En paused noticeably. "I thought you were a young lady from some noble family."

"Yes, the Kaslana family, with their generations of white hair," she said with a wry smile. "But that only exists in Tang Tang Nade's stories; in reality, no such family exists."

"It doesn't exist?" Zhang Qiu said, looking slightly suspicious. "Because my Master also spoke of this: the Apocalypse representing the Bishop, the Schariac representing the Saint, and the Kaslana representing the Knight."

"It's the Schicksal Organization, right?" Alina was visibly excited for a moment.

"Yes, exactly. I originally thought it was just something like a bedtime story, but later I discovered that not a single novel or storybook mentioned these," Zhang Qiu mused. "But if Tang Tang Nade also told this story, and the plot is startlingly similar..."

"That suggests it might be true," Harry said. "Perhaps the Schicksal Organization really did exist; it was some kind of ancient secret, and your Master and Tang Tang Nade just happened to stumble upon it."

Harry thought even deeper: if the Schicksal Organization had truly existed but all traces of it had been erased, perhaps it had once been an organization that resisted the Grim Reaper.

"But this makes no sense," Luo En said. "I mean, it's too strange. I find it hard to imagine what your Master, Zhang Qiu, and Tang Tang Nade could have in common."

"It's hard to say. It's said that when my Master was young, he was as prone to madness as Tang Tang Nade," Zhang Qiu adjusted her sitting posture. "It seems that ever since he picked up my Junior Master on a rainy day, he has become much more restrained."

"Your Junior Master, uh, as I understand it, your Junior Master and your Master studied under the same teacher at different times, right?" Harry said. "That's how I understand the concept of 'Junior Master'."

"That's not it... It's just that one day he picked up a vagrant and discovered he was a genius," Zhang Qiu said. "He felt that having someone so smart as a disciple was too much pressure, so he accepted him as a disciple on behalf of his own teacher and called him Junior Brother. That's how the story goes."

"What a coincidence, I was also picked up by Tang Tang Nade," Alina said, blinking her eyes. "After my first year ended, I wanted to go back to the orphanage to take a look, but it had already been demolished. It was raining that day too, and I couldn't understand why the place where I had been a writer for so many years was gone."

"Then I met Tang Tang Nade. He allowed me to live in his vacant apartment and encouraged me to study hard and treat the Wizarding World as my own home." Alina's tone was moved, and she recited softly: "No matter where you wish to go, Ilvermorny is always by the moon; no matter where you are, Ilvermorny is still your home."

"This is too strange; my Master has also recited the same poem," Zhang Qiu's brow furrowed deeper. "But he didn't say Ilvermorny; he said Irithyll."

"Is there such a possibility?" Harry said. "Could they have simultaneously investigated some ancient secret, something unknown to the world, which led them to say so many similar things?"

"But what similarities do they have?" Luo En almost racked his brain. "Tang Tang Nade and Master Xuanjun are almost entirely people from two different eras."

"Divination, they both seem to be very good at Divination," Harry reminded him. "Do you remember in our second year? He knew almost everything that was about to happen."

"Then it must be fate," Zhang Qiu's expression relaxed a little. "Perhaps they both discovered some unknown secrets in the river of fate because they studied Divination. Judging from those manifestations, perhaps it was a lost civilization."

"It's too mysterious; I can't even imagine it myself," Alina said. "So the Kaslana family might have really existed, and it's very likely they were once the pillars of a lost civilization."

"And this civilization..." Harry looked around and whispered, "Perhaps it disappeared because it opposed the gods."

"This," Luo En took a deep breath, "are we sure we want to discuss such a stimulating topic at this age?"

"What else? Become an adult, lose your dreams, and then rot away in the Wizarding World?" Alina said with contempt.

"I always feel like you're implying something," Harry deliberately scratched his head, showing a curious expression.

"Hermione is always stopping me, but I really don't want to endure it anymore," she said. "The ancient Delacour family, proudly entrenched in the Wizarding World, sneers at everything related to Muggles."

"Take this for example," she lifted her skirt to reveal the garter on her stocking. "Fleur even specifically taught me the 'Invisible Garter Charm' this afternoon. That tone was truly disgusting, as if she were so skilled."

"It's true that magic has enriched our lives, but it's pretentious to solve everything with magic," Zhang Qiu commented objectively. "Of course, I think the Wizarding World also needs some reform. My Junior Master is proposing to use industrialized alchemical products to replace some magic."

"For example, alchemical stockings—they can be long, short, thick, or thin; it's all just within the scope of Transfiguration," she continued. "When you can adjust the denier of your stockings as you please, those stupid ancient spells can all be thrown into the trash heap."

"Oh, girls' topics," Luo En stood up. "Let's go, Harry, let's go get some air."

"Do you think Tang Tang Nade, like Master Xuanjun, learned about a lost civilization through Divination?" As soon as they got outside, Luo En couldn't help but ask.

"I'm just guessing. If you're interested in this, perhaps you could go study Divination?" Harry was clearly not interested in such things, or more accurately, he was somewhat wary and dared not explore the realm that might touch the Grim Reaper too much. For ordinary people, this would be a wonderful adventure, but for the descendants of Peverell, this was a lesson their ancestors paid for with their bloodline.

"Alright, let's talk about business," Luo En sighed. "Alina seems a bit strange, but I have no feelings for her."

"When you say she's strange, do you mean she might have fallen for you?" Harry asked. "It's not an illusion?"

"Perhaps, then it's simple," Luo En bit his lip and looked at the pitch-black forest in the distance. "But I feel like I like Hermione."

"It's not entirely unexpected," Harry didn't feel surprised.

"Eve is also very good, but I feel she is the same as Alina," Luo En's expression was very painful. "I can't find the vocabulary to describe it. What kind of feeling is it? It's that, of course, they are also very beautiful, but, there's no spark."

Harry suddenly realized what feeling Luo En was missing: sincerity. Eve was because Harry hoped she and Luo En would get along well, and perhaps she herself treated this as some kind of political marriage; Alina, without a doubt, had an eighty percent chance of being requested by Tang Tang Nade to deliberately seduce Luo En so that he would shift his attention away from Hermione.

Only Hermione was truly treating Luo En as a friend while interacting with him.

"You're right," Harry said softly. "Don't care about other people's opinions. If you like her, you should boldly invite her."

"Yes, I also regret it a bit, but," Luo En said, "Hermione was so anxious to solve the problem of a partner for the ball, I really wanted to help her."

"You and Zhang Qiu have finally started dating; I couldn't watch you invite Alina," Luo En said. "But if no one invited Alina, how could Hermione have the mood to attend the ball?"

"If I had known, I wouldn't have promised them," Harry also sighed. "The problem still lies with Fleur. We should have let Fleur and Alina solve it themselves, and you could have just generously said you were inviting Hermione; that way, you could have rejected Krum."

"But Cedric is clearly looking forward to dancing with Fleur, and as you heard, Alina dancing the male steps or whatever—she just wants to disgust Fleur as much as possible under Hermione's restraint," Luo En said distressingly. "In any case, I missed it. The Yule Ball of the Triwizard Tournament in the fourth year—because I missed it, I will remember this ball forever."

"If the mysterious Kaslana family really exists," Harry said, "then things are simple. You can just treat it as a political marriage between the British and French Wizarding Worlds and continue dating Alina in a lukewarm way."

"That's probably Renata's true thought as well," Harry sighed. "She doesn't like Krum at all, but for the sake of the Headmaster's interests, she's also biting the bullet and dating him."

"You say, what is love actually about?" Luo En sighed along with him. "I feel like something is crawling on me, or maybe it's me crawling myself."

"Don't use such abstract terms. Isn't Alina quite beautiful?" Harry comforted him. "Just like Cedric said, as long as you can leave behind a beautiful memory, that's enough."

"Hey, what's going on with you two?" Just as they were talking, Cedric happened to walk out. He was holding a goblet, and his face was flushed. "The beautiful partners are chatting hotly inside, and two big guys are sighing outside?"

"I heard a startling thing, and I have to talk about it properly," Cedric also leaned against the railing, his body full of the smell of alcohol. "Fleur might really be throwing the match." ===== CHAPTER 211 =====