Without turning around, Luna sensed Victor's arrival and said softly, "Hogni hasn't had much energy lately. It often says it wants to go back to the bottom of the lake to sleep."
Victor looked up at the clear sky and then down at the snow-covered ground. He smiled and replied, "Although Hogni doesn't need to bask in the sun to keep warm like a regular snake, it is still a snake, so it's not strange for it to want to hibernate."
"Every day I come here, Hogni talks about those two words," Luna's silver eyes faintly glowed blue. "It has forgotten many things, but it remembers its promise to its master."
"Ahhh…" Victor sighed helplessly and then shook his head in regret, saying, "To be honest, I want to find the clues quickly too, but the records about Salazar Slytherin are only fragments. It's like looking for a black cat in a dark room to find a clue in these trivial and possibly false historical records."
"I can help you drive away those bothersome creatures buzzing in your ear," Luna suddenly said something strange, then turned around, her gray pupils staring into Victor's eyes. "Dor and lyn are Celtic words, meaning soil and lake."
"How did you know that?" Victor's eyes lit up, but then he was immediately a little confused. He had been looking for a long time, even going to the biggest library in London, but he couldn't find the true meaning of those two words.
"The Diadem holds some memories of the Celts, and you also ignored the passage of time," Luna slowly explained. "Hogwarts was built around 990 AD. Soil and lake, when combined, probably refer to the peat bogs in eastern Ireland, Slytherin's hometown, and also the ancient homeland of the Celts."
Victor instantly realized his mistake after Luna's words. He slapped his head in regret and said, "Oh! Why didn't I think of that!"
He realized that he had been in a huge misconception before!
Because Hogwarts was built on a certain highland in Scotland, and since Scotland, Ireland, and England were all part of the United Kingdom, they all spoke the same language. Therefore, Victor subconsciously thought that dor and lyn were ancient English words. But now that he thought about it, a thousand years later, the development of civilization had undergone tremendous changes. Who said that Salazar Slytherin a thousand years ago had to speak English?!
A thousand years ago in Europe, tribes and nations were intertwined, and there were constant conflicts between different ethnic groups and civilizations, but their cultures and languages would merge. Therefore, he absolutely could not investigate the two words Hogni said from a modern perspective, because there was a huge time difference between their eras.
"Thank you, Luna!" Victor said happily, hugging the girl. "You've solved a huge problem for me."
"Are you going to Ireland for the Christmas holidays? I want to go with you," Luna said with a smile, grabbing Victor's sleeve with both hands. "My dad said there are Moon Frogs there!"
"Okay, no problem!" Victor immediately agreed without any hesitation, even though he felt a little speechless about Luna's search for Moon Frogs.
"Also, I want you to teach me a spell."
"What spell?" Victor asked, puzzled.
Luna didn't answer right away. Instead, she stood on her tiptoes and whispered the name of a spell into Victor's ear…
The next day, Christmas Eve.
After attending the Hogwarts dinner, the Fairy Tail members gathered at the Fairy's Abode for a barbecue. Everyone was having a great time, but Victor couldn't understand why these young witches and wizards, born into the wizarding world, had never even eaten an oyster. He thought the British were big fans of them?!
It wasn't until late at night that everyone was stuffed from the various delicious grilled foods. It was at this moment that Victor decided to take the opportunity to announce a decision he and Dumbledore had made after a recent discussion.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Victor clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, and then he sat on the high bar counter and said, "Now that you're all full, I'll take this opportunity to tell you something important!
"Is it good news or bad news?" Fred asked, raising his hand.
"Master~ Please don't give us any homework for the Christmas holidays…" Zoe pleaded. The new members of the guild hadn't had a moment of peace since the beginning of the term. They only had two days off a month, and with the Hogwarts classes, their study time was close to twelve hours a day, which was even more insane than capitalists squeezing their workers.
"I'm not giving you any homework!" Victor replied, rolling his eyes. He wasn't the kind of person who would break other people's umbrellas just because he got drenched in the rain. "What I want to say is that I've been thinking for a while, and I've decided to hold a large-scale Wizarding Tournament at the end of the school year."
A great tournament? What was that?! Hearing this unfamiliar term, everyone looked at each other, seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.
"A Wizarding Tournament, to put it simply, is you, on behalf of the Fairy Tail Guild, challenging the entire student body of Hogwarts to a wizarding duel. Your opponents will be the students of all of Hogwarts."
Victor briefly explained, but his words made everyone feel as if a bolt of lightning had struck them out of a clear sky.
"What?!?" Hermione was the first to exclaim. "Victor, you must be joking?! Us dueling the entire student body of Hogwarts? How is that even possible!"
Hearing their vice-master speak, the others also nodded in agreement. What kind of joke was this? Their guild only had seventeen people in total, and their overwhelmingly powerful Guild Master would definitely not participate, which meant that sixteen of them would have to duel nearly 800 students from all of Hogwarts.
Even though they had been practicing magic circles, they were still beginners. How could they possibly defeat so many people?!
Not to mention that eight hundred people could drown them with just a few spittle, and a single spell from each of them would be enough to blow them to smithereens, not to mention that a few of the sixteen were girls who had only just started school a half-month ago.
Victor saw the incredulous expressions on his members' faces and immediately said, "Don't react so much yet. I'm not asking sixteen of you to fight eight hundred at once. I'll definitely set some rules to ensure fairness."
"Master, can I apply not to participate?" Zoe asked, raising her hand tentatively.
"No!" Victor shook his head expressionlessly, and then began to explain the reason for holding the tournament. "The main purpose of this Wizarding Tournament is to show the strength of our guild! Since the guild was founded, we've been keeping a low profile in school. After a while, the other students will forget that there's a Fairy Tail Guild in Hogwarts.
"Magic is meant to be used. So, in order to win this tournament, you all need to train hard for the next six months. If anyone holds the guild back during the tournament, I'll personally drag you back from your home during the summer holidays for special training!"
"Noooo!" When they heard Victor's words, the whole Fairy's Abode was filled with complaints. He wasn't just breaking their umbrellas, he was throwing them directly into the eye of a Category 5 hurricane to endure the torrential rain and gale-force winds!
"Master, will the school even agree to you holding this tournament?" It was at this moment that Justin sounded the first dying trumpet.
"Yeah, yeah! Master, Hogwarts has never held a large-scale wizarding duel tournament before. If the school doesn't agree, you can't just force it!" Zoe also echoed, refusing to give up.
But it was obvious that since Victor dared to say this, he must have discussed it with Dumbledore. So he slowly said, "I've already discussed the matter of the Wizarding Tournament with Professor Dumbledore and the four Heads of House. After my persistent threats… ahem… After my persistent efforts, they all agreed to hold the tournament at the end of the school year."
Although that's what he said on the surface, in reality, Victor's so-called discussion was basically a threat. He told Dumbledore that even if they didn't agree, he would hold it anyway, and he would make it a big deal. He would turn this Wizarding Tournament into a second Triwizard Tournament!
He would make it an event that was even grander than the Quidditch World Cup for the entire wizarding world!
He would also attach a generous prize of Galleons to the tournament!
He didn't believe that any young wizard or witch in Hogwarts wouldn't be tempted by the lure of Galleons and honor!
And so, Dumbledore and the dear Heads of House, in order to not be in a passive position, had no choice but to accept Victor's suggestion. By today, the application to hold the tournament should have been submitted to the Ministry of Magic.
As an aside, Snape was the only one of the four Heads of House who didn't vote against it. Because last school year, Slytherin's house points had fallen to a historic low, making Snape's Slytherin pride run amok. But this year, because of the school reforms, the House Cup was canceled, and he had been unable to redeem himself.
So when he heard Victor's idea of holding a Wizarding Tournament, he didn't hesitate to agree.
When Victor saw Snape's expression at the time, he felt that Snape seemed to have a lot of confidence in his students… no! He felt that Snape had a lot of confidence in leading the Slytherin House to victory!
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