0608 Winter

Words : 1246 Updated : Mar 26th, 2026

Chapter 607 of "Harry Potter: The Golden Viper" starts the action: 0608 Winter "Is it possible, Professor Binns—" Bryan twitched the corners of his mouth, and his... Find out what happens!

0608 Winter "Is it possible, Professor Binns—" Bryan twitched the corners of his mouth, and his lips curled into a wry smile as he spoke. "I am the Bryan Watson who arrested the dark witch Cliodna at the 422nd Quidditch World Cup final in August 1994." Professor Binns' heavily wrinkled ghostly face trembled, the translucent skin quivered like ripples on a still pond. He continued to stare at Bryan, his pale, eyes wide with both surprise and confusion, as if trying to connect the young man standing before him with the historical figure, he remembered from the records of wizarding history. Bryan knew the reason for his bewilderment. Some magical history journal had probably recorded his duel with Cliodna this past summer and compiled it into historical documents, commemorating it as a landmark event in the wizarding world. Only in this case would Professor Binns, who often struggled to remember the names of his own students, recall Bryan's name with such clarity. For Professor Binns, the people who appeared in history books were basically buried six feet under, their lives and deeds were reduced to mere words on a page, lifeless and still! "Alright, I am Zlanite, Professor Binns—" Bryan sighed heavily and the air escaped his lungs in a slow dejected exhale. He basically had no hope of getting any key information from the absentminded Professor Binns at this point. "I came here to consult you about the contents of this thesis, um, it's about the Deathly Hallows. Do you have any impressions of it?" Bryan asked, trying to steer the conversation back on track. "I told you, Beedle—" Professor Binns began, staring blankly at the patterns on the parchment in Bryan's hands, but his eyes skimmed over the faded ink without really seeing it. Suddenly, he looked up sharply at Bryan and his face contorted into a scowl as he scolded him in an angry, raspy tone, "The study of history should be down-to-earth, based on credible and reliable historical documents, not the hearsay of some ridiculous rumors and tales! Mixing them together like a fiction writer creating a fantastical story will only serve to mislead others. That kind of historical revisionism can have serious consequences!" "Uh——" Bryan was stunned into silence for several long seconds, his mind spun as he tried to process Professor Binns' sudden outburst and realized that this ghost professor's thoughts had once again jumped off track, speeding into completely another topic. "But there are many cases that prove the Deathly Hallows really exist, professor—" Bryan pressed on, his eyebrows twitching with frustration. He drew out his wand from his robes with a flourish. The tip of Bryan's wand swept through the musty, gloomy air, trailing wisps of silvery magic. A small black stone, no larger than his thumb, materialized in the space before Professor Binns, hovering and spinning in midair. A crack ran down the center of the stone, splitting the strange symbol carved into its surface in two. "For example, take the Resurrection Stone. It is clearly recorded in the records of Hogwarts' history that the great Salazar Slytherin himself once owned it," Professor Binns seemed captivated by the sight of the black stone floating and spinning hypnotically before him as his pale eyes tracked its movements in silence. The seconds ticked by, stretching into long minutes, the only sound the soft whisper of the stone slicing through the air and Bryan's own breathing. If it weren't for the amazement that never disappeared from that old face, Bryan almost thought Professor Binns' mind had completely crashed. Then, as suddenly as he had fallen still and silent, Professor Binns sprang 'back to life', his eyes narrowed as he glared at Bryan with renewed irritation in his raspy voice. "Salazar did indeed have a gold ring set with this similar black stone, but never in all my years of studying the founders did I once read him refer to this as the Resurrection Stone!" Professor Binns shook his head in disapproval. "Paynes, it's pointless to obsess over these mythical objects and tall tales. They can't help you become a great wizard or witch! I sincerely hope you can refocus your thesis on reliable, documented history. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to have someone remove it from my office. I'm afraid my office can no longer serve as a repository for baseless mythological stories!" 'A gold ring.' Bryan, who had his name changed three times in just a few minutes, latched onto the one useful scrap of information buried in Binns' rant - confirmation that Salazar Slytherin had indeed possessed the Resurrection Stone and worn it as a ring. He also immediately realized that Paynes was the writer of this thesis. Gusts of cold wind, carrying snowflakes and the crisp scent of impending winter, swirled through the open temple door. They caught strands of Cliodna's hair setting the long hairs dancing around her face. Only the faint crease between her eyebrows revealed the depth of her concern. "Our most profound apologies, Lady Cliodna," Horn said solemnly with regret. "Now that the snows have come, securing supplies has become increasingly difficult within the forest. We centaur have managed to lay aside sufficient food reserves to last our own people through the long cold months, and of course we would gladly share with you and yours! But Alas I'm afraid we still won't be able to ensure that your followers living in the secret land can fully spend the winter." "We should be the ones apologizing, Elder Horn. This is the trouble we have brought to you—" Cliodna bowed slightly. "It was my lack of consideration, Elder Horn. I will find a way to solve the food problem as soon as possible." "But what do you plan to do?" There was worry in Elder Horn's voice. He looked at Cliodna with kind eyes that he never had when communicating with Bryan and Dumbledore. "Your followers can't go into the forest to gather food. They can't be exposed to the sight of wizards. You can only buy food from the wizarding world, but this requires wizard currency. I think you probably don't have a lot of gold galleons—" "We still have some Muggle currency—" Cliodna said after thinking for a while, "I can use that money to go to the Muggle world to buy some. You know, we don't pursue enjoyment. We just need to simply fill our stomachs." Horn fell silent. There were hundreds of Druid followers living in the secret land. If it was only 'some Muggle currency', it was obviously not enough to support them until next spring and summer. "You are serving the castle now, Cliodna. As far as I know, wizards will give salary, those..." Cliodna's shoulders drooped as she shook her head once more. "Alas, I have already spent the galleons I earned on potion ingredients. The ingredients for brewing Polyjuice are not cheap." Horn nodded slowly, rolling this information around in his mind. Then his face lit up. "Potion ingredients?" Horn blinked and perked up a bit. "Oh, I remember. Indeed, many wizards used to go deep into the forest to collect some plants... If you can teach us what is valuable to wizards, we can help collect them. Then you can take them to exchange for currency or food among the wizards!" ******************************* For More /FicFrenzy

0608 Winter

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