great-warnovel Chapter 78: Score! Score!
Chapter 78: Score! Score!
Chapter 78 Scores! Scores! (Fourth update since release)
"But Godric's Hollow doesn't produce ghosts, does it?" Hermione asked.
The creation of ghosts is mainly influenced by two factors: environment and individual mentality.
In lands shrouded in magic, wizards are very likely to become ghosts after they die. For example, at Hogwarts, even a little girl like Myrtle, who had no particular obsessions, became a ghost in a daze after being killed by the Basilisk. However, ghosts born from environmental influences are generally difficult to leave their land, like echoes from the past that refuse to dissipate, lingering in the same place day after day.
Another scenario involves wizards who die in low-magic regions. Driven by intense resentment or fear of death, they refuse to continue their journey and stubbornly remain in the world of the living.
These kinds of ghosts usually have huge obsessions. Those who are afraid of death often have a strong desire to possess the living, while those who harbor resentment want to take revenge. They are generally not bound by their environment and can come and go freely, but they will disappear after fulfilling their wishes or exhausting their energy.
Although Godric's Hollow was once a famous gathering place for half-wizards, it was not as magically rich as Hogwarts, nor was there any record of wizards turning into ghosts after death.
Although Muggles often spread rumors that the place is haunted, in reality, most of the time it's just that the wizards didn't hide well enough and left clues, and those illogical phenomena were used as stalkers.
The nuclear explosion that year came suddenly again, and most of the wizards who died in it didn't even have time to react, let alone harbor resentment towards the attackers.
Therefore, although decades have passed and the pioneers have often explored the edge of the valley, they have not found any trace of the ghost.
Hermione couldn't help but feel curious when someone suddenly appeared before her, and a descendant of a famous and well-known figure at that.
"Are all little girls these days so rude?" Jimmy Wright flew over with his arms crossed, looking her over curiously.
"Not only are house-elves starting to kill people, but even little girls are becoming fierce and domineering."
"Why don't you tell me first, what's the situation outside? Have the wizards won?"
The ghost got too close, so Hermione slammed her staff down, and a ball of spirit fire ignited from the top, like a long torch.
"Hey! Hey! Okay, okay! Quickly take that fire away!" The ghost hurriedly floated back, and for the first time in decades, he felt fear towards something again.
Hermione said expressionlessly, "The world has been wrecked. Muggles are dropping nuclear bombs everywhere, and Grindelwald and his men are setting fires all over the place. Just like the sky you see here, the whole world is pretty much the same. It's hard for everyone to survive."
"Oh, that's really sad. I thought only this place had become like this," Jimmy Wright said softly. "No wonder no one has come in all these years. I thought the Ministry of Magic had abandoned this valley—"
"A nuclear bomb is a Muggle bomb that turns this place into something like this. It has extremely strong radiation. You can't feel it because you're a ghost, but it's very deadly to the living," Hermione kindly explained to him.
"I was able to stay safe thanks to my unique magic, while that little elf almost died from radiation."
"Alright, you've answered your question. Now it's my turn. Why are you here?" Hermione remained vigilant. Although the ghost in front of her didn't seem aggressive, it might suddenly go berserk.
Mr. Wright hesitated for a moment: "Never mind, who knows how many years it will be before the next person comes in—"
He floated to a row of broken wooden barrels by the wall: "Come on, lend a hand and move these barrels." As a ghost, although he could interfere with matter to a limited extent, he decided to let someone else do this strenuous work.
While maintaining the spirit fire, Hermione waved her other hand, and the Levitation Charm deftly moved the barrel aside, revealing a wooden door disguised as almost the same color as the ground.
"Are all young girls this good these days? You look like you're only in first grade, right?" Ghost was somewhat amazed. Such skillful dual-track spellcasting was something many adults couldn't do back in his day.
"Come with me." He ignored the wooden door and plunged in like a diver.
Hermione cautiously used a lock-picking charm to open the door, then manipulated a starlight to probe the way, confirming there was no danger before descending the stone steps.
It's unclear what the ghost was manipulating, but one by one the candles on the wall lit up, instantly illuminating the hidden room beneath the basement.
The room was small, filled with various exquisite and precious magical instruments, perhaps the true treasure of the Wright family. The most valuable item was a golden snitch in the center of the room, set against an exquisite wooden box and velvet cushions. Jimmy Wright's ghost stood beside it, staring at it.
"This was made by my great-grandfather, and it's the world's first golden snitch," he said softly.
"Perhaps I should have died with the explosion back then, but for his sake, I have never been willing to move forward. I simply cannot let him go." He looked at the golden thief with loving eyes.
Hermione was somewhat shocked: "Can't let go? A golden snitch?"
"I can barely understand your wizards' obsession with Quidditch, but even if he was the world's first Golden Snitch, does that mean you're so attached to him?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, though it was somewhat impolite.
Noticing that the girl's gaze was starting to look at him in a perverted way, Mr. Wright quickly explained, "It's not what you think!"
"He! He has a soul!"
"A soul?" Hermione was taken aback.
Skilled transfiguration can create extremely human-like minds, such as the monsters Professor McGonagall transforms into, or the door knocker in the Ravenclaw common room. His intelligence surpasses that of most wizards, but it is difficult to say for sure whether he has a soul.
Even moving armor and portraits of ancestors, the will that remains within them cannot be called a soul.
And now, she's being told by a ghost that a wizard's creation, a sports toy used in competitions, has developed a soul!?
But before she could even question it, a pale, weak, and incomplete milky-white golden thief carefully flapped its wings and flew out of its body, affectionately nestling beside Wright and fluttering up and down.
"Match! Match! Score! Score!" the Soul Golden Thief shouted in a high-pitched little voice.
"His intelligence is not very sound; although he can understand what people mean, he can't learn to speak." Mr. Wright stroked the Golden Snitch as if he were a father and son.
Hermione couldn't help but take a step closer, but because she forgot to extinguish the spirit fire, the two spirits were so frightened that they hurriedly backed away.
"I'm sorry!" She quickly extinguished the flame. "When did you find out? I mean, he has a soul!"
The idea of inanimate objects giving birth to souls is a research achievement comparable to the most advanced magic such as resurrection, creation from nothing, and immortality. Yet now, it has appeared in the hands of a ghost in the basement of a nuclear explosion ruin.