novelhk Chapter 291 Sharing Hogwarts Memories with Family
Chapter 291 Sharing Hogwarts Memories with Family
Chapter 291 Sharing Hogwarts Memories with Family
Over the next few days, Karen intentionally reduced the time spent on purely theoretical study. After all, he had already digested most of the basic theories, and the deeper mysteries required the key of practice to unlock. He devoted more energy to muscle memory practice in rune carving, while also making more time to spend with his family.
On a sunny afternoon, he sat on the living room carpet, Lily nestled beside him, listening to him describe the wondrous sights of the Black Lake at Hogwarts. "—And the bottom of the lake isn't black at all," Karen described in gentle, imaginative language, adding a touch of fairytale flair, "There are many small, glowing pebbles scattered across the lakebed, like paths paved with stars. And a kind of silvery fish, with shimmering scales, swims by in groups, like a meteor shower falling on the water."
Lily's eyes widened, completely captivated. "What else? What else?"
"There's another very large but docile animal called the giant squid," Karen continued, describing it. "Its tentacles are soft and change color. When the weather is nice, it floats to the shallow waters near the shore and lazily sunbathes. Students sometimes see it, and it's said that it has even rescued students who fell into the lake."
And also, the aquatic plants in the lake aren't just green; they also have pale blue and silver hues, dancing gently with the current, as if they're always putting on a silent concert. Occasionally, you can even see pearl oysters; as they open and close, the pearls inside emit a soft, moon-like light—"
Lily was completely absorbed in this fairytale-like scene, her little face filled with longing. "It's so beautiful—I really want to go to Hogwarts!"
Then Lily shook Karen's arm, her eyes sparkling with excitement: "Karen, Karen!"
"Tell me again the story of your college playing Quidditch! The one with that really good Seeker with the blond hair!" She remembered Karen mentioning Quidditch.
Karen had recounted several highlights from the Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff match last semester from his memory, but words have their limitations. Looking at his sister's longing eyes, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Just hearing about it from me might not be as exciting as it sounds," Karen said with a smile. "Would you like to experience it for yourself?"
"Experience?" Lily tilted her head, not understanding.
Karen stood up, reached into the depths of his pocket, and took out the alchemical item he hadn't used for some time—the memory builder Professor Castor had given him in his first year.
"What is this?" Lily curiously leaned closer, wanting to touch the delicate silver-white gadget.
"Be careful, this is a magical artifact called a memory builder." Karen dodged her hand and carefully placed it on the coffee table in the living room. "It can extract a memory from my brain and display it like a movie, and—well, it's more real than a movie, like you're actually standing there watching it."
"Really?" Lily jumped up excitedly. "Can I really see you flying? Can I see the broom?"
""
"In a way, yes, but it wasn't me flying; it was you who saw what I saw." Karen nodded, turning to her parents who were also drawn in. "Dad, Mom, want to watch together? It's a Quidditch match between our house and Hufflepuff last semester. It's safe; there's no danger."
David and Emily exchanged a glance, both showing great interest. "This must be the sports competition related to that invention you developed before! We'll have to see it." David said, sitting down on the sofa with Emily. Lily immediately squeezed between them, urging impatiently, "Hurry up, brother!"
Karen took a deep breath, gently pressing her fingertips against the cool core crystal of the memory constructor. She closed her eyes, concentrated, and tried to recall and fix a memory from that game: the dazzling passing and receiving between the two chasers, the whistling of the ball cutting through the air, and Cedric and Ravenclaw's close pursuit of the seeker.
The tense moment of chasing that golden light.
As a wisp of memory was slowly injected, the memory construct emitted an almost imperceptible low hum and began to vibrate very slightly, adjusting its angle. Then, a hazy light screen was projected from it, quickly expanding in the center of the living room, becoming clear and stable.
"Wow!" Lily exclaimed, instinctively reaching out to touch the light screen.
The screen displayed a high vantage point on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, a location specifically chosen by Cullen for the Quidditch recording system. Lily and her friends could see the vast blue sky...
Below them lay a lush green pitch, in the distance towering golden goalposts, beneath them a slightly weathered wooden grandstand, and all around them, though blurry, were the vibrant, boisterous figures of the crowd. The wind whistled in their ears, and the shouts of the spectators and the passionate yet indistinct voice of the commentator instantly enveloped them, creating an incredibly immersive and realistic experience.
"Merlin—" Emily instinctively covered her mouth, deeply shocked by the unimaginable magical effect, as if she had stepped into another world.
David leaned forward involuntarily, adjusting his glasses: "This perspective—this is simply—a perfect immersive experience! The stereoscopic effect and surround sound are just like being there! The principle behind it—" He marveled, completely captivated by this technological marvel.
At that moment, the viewpoint on the screen rotated rapidly and smoothly, precisely locking onto a small red ball flying at high speed through the air—a Quaffle. A Hufflepuff Chaser in a team uniform held it steadily, attempting to skillfully bypass the Ravenclaw defenders. He then made an extremely realistic feint, shifting his body to one side in mid-air, and forcefully hurled the ball towards the goal!
"Watch out!" Lily couldn't help but shout, almost dodging as if the ball was flying straight at her face.
The Quaffle traced a sharp, abrupt zigzag trajectory in the air, defying all the laws of physics, easily bypassing the Ravenclaw goalkeeper who was trying to make a save, and precisely passing through the middle goal circle!
"This—this is impossible!" David blurted out, his eyes behind his glasses filled with confusion and disbelief. "No rotation, no warning, what about air resistance? What about conservation of momentum? —Oh, right," he paused, then shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh, "it's magic. I always unconsciously try to apply our own set of rules—it's so hard to get used to." Although he gave up on explaining it scientifically, his eyes remained fixed on the vanished Quake, filled with pure curiosity. "Was this thing—also enchanted?" he guessed, turning to Karen.
"I don't know exactly how it works, Dad," Karen replied while maintaining a steady output of magic, "but its flight path never follows the laws of physics. Maybe it's cursed, forever flying towards the goal circle?"
The scene then shifts to the Seekers' ultimate showdown. Cedric and his opponent are almost shoulder to shoulder, their brooms performing a variety of heart-stopping maneuvers in the air: sharp vertical turns, high-speed dives, and near-ground-hugging ascents, all in pursuit of that fleeting, elusive golden light.
"The way they're holding the brooms like that—the wind resistance at high speed—" David instinctively started analyzing again, but quickly stopped, shaking his head with a smile that mixed with helplessness and amazement. "Okay, magic—magic must have solved everything. But this looks—it's really too exciting!"
Lily didn't care about wind resistance or physics; she was completely absorbed. Her little fists were clenched in front of her chest, her eyes glued to the screen, constantly cheering for Cedric, whom she thought was even cooler: "Faster! Faster! Blonde brother! He's on your right! Oh no! So close! What a pity!"
When Cedric finally made a beautiful, clean dive and reached out to catch the golden light, and cheers erupted from the stands announcing Hufflepuff's victory, Lily jumped up from the sofa excitedly, clapping her hands: "Yay! He caught it! That's amazing! He's so great!" Karen watched Lily's actions with a bit of helplessness. Didn't this little one realize that her brother was Ravenclaw, not Hufflepuff?
The scene on the light screen gradually dimmed and shrank, eventually disappearing into the memory constructor. The memory constructor stopped trembling and returned to its quiet state, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion. A brief silence fell over the living room, as if everyone was still immersed in the exciting match, before it was broken by Lily's enthusiastic applause and cheers.
"That was amazing, brother! This is a million times better than hearing you tell it a hundred times!" Lily's face was flushed, and she jumped up and down excitedly, unable to contain herself. "I want to play Quidditch too! I want to be a Seeker!"
"First," Karen said with a smile as she put away the memory builder, feeling a little tired but in a good mood, "you have to be able to sit steadily on the broom without falling off."
"This was truly—an incredible experience." Emily finally came to her senses, her voice filled with amazement. "It was so real, like actually going to Hogwarts and sitting in the best seats watching a game. Magic is—incredibly convenient in this respect."
"It's truly amazing," David nodded in agreement, but his engineer's instincts kicked in again, and he started thinking about efficiency. "However—this kind of memory film, can it only be played by you alone? Can it be copied? If it can't be copied and distributed on a large scale, it seems a bit—well—not very efficient? What's the cost of this thing?"
“This is certainly not a common alchemical tool, Dad,” Karen explained, “and there’s a more powerful Pensieve, though that’s even rarer than this.”
Seeing how much his family enjoyed it, Cullen decided to share another memory. He picked up the Constructor. "Let me show you something else that Hogwarts looks like on a normal day. It's not as exciting, but it's still beautiful." This time, he chose a peaceful memory of looking out of the window of Ravenclaw Tower at the castle and the lake on a weekend morning.
The light screen lit up again, presenting a peaceful scene: the rising sun gilded the spire of Hogwarts Castle, and the Black Lake, like a huge, smooth sapphire mirror, reflected the castle and the sky.
The distant Forbidden Forest mountains appeared hazy and mysterious in the morning mist. Small students, dressed in robes of different colors, moved slowly across the grass like colorful specks, heading towards the castle. Occasionally, an owl flapped its wings and flew past the window. The whole scene was serene and magnificent, filled with the unique poetry of a magical world.
"Oh, how beautiful—" Emily exclaimed softly, the scene bringing her more peace and longing than the intense competition.
"The size of this castle—it's truly enormous," David commented, focusing more on the architectural structure.
Lily pointed to the moving dots and asked, "Are those all students? Are you in there, brother?"
This tranquil scene served as a perfect ending to the previous excitement, giving the family a more direct and positive impression of daily life at Hogwarts.
That evening, the family sat together for tea and conversation, the atmosphere still relaxed and pleasant. Karen shared some anecdotes from Fabian's time in Romania and Ernesto's account of the castle's tranquil daily life.
"Although your world is full of magic and wondrous creatures that we can't understand," Emily said with a smile, her gaze gently sweeping over her husband, son, and daughter, "seeing you, Karen, get along so well with your friends, finding joy and connection in different places, truly puts my mind at ease. Whether it's the forests of Romania, Hogwarts Castle, or our home in Plymouth, the warmth of friendship and family is equally precious."
"Yes." Karen looked into her mother's gentle gaze, a warm feeling welling up inside her.