Ji Tang Huo Ran sat up, tore off the page of information about the Horcrux, folded it and put it in his pocket, and walked to the fireplace.

It's still Dumbledore's office. In the absence of its owner, Phoenix Fawkes lazily sat on the shelf and snoozed, his flaming tail feathers dragging long. Ji Tang walked out around it, but it didn't raise its eyes.

She held on to the handle of the ladder and hurried downstairs.

Ji Tang bumped into Malfoy outside the Slytherin common room, talking to a kind-faced professor with a beer belly. Ji Tang quickly realized that that person was Slughorn. She had only seen him once, in that potions class for boils. Since then, Xu Jing has never taken her to Potions class.

"You're always out there and keep me focused. Tang Tang, I can't help but look at you instead of those dangerous potions. When he said this, he touched the top of her head, and his face was pleasant.

If Ji Tang wanted to enter the lounge, he would have to pass through them.

But as she got closer, she heard a familiar name from Slughorn's mouth.

"Oh, I almost lost track of time...... I'll talk about it next time, I've asked Riddle to meet. "You know, his potions skills far outweigh those of the average student, pestering me with strange questions, and sometimes I have to look it up first. ”

Malfoy smiled knowingly, "Yes, it does. After saying that, he sent the professor away and shouted the order to clear the customs.

Ji Tang looked at the slowly opening stone door, paused, and turned his head to keep up with Slughorn's pace.

Slughorn's office, the future Snape's, was located in the basement of the school. At this point, there were neither shelves along the walls nor glass jars floating with all sorts of disgusting things. Slughorn, who was happy to enjoy, placed comfortable benches, mahogany desks, and beautifully bound books.

A roaring fire burned in the fireplace, scorching the room and welcoming you through the door.

Xu Jing stood by the fireplace, staring sideways at the fire. The red light jumped on his handsome face, flickering and flickering, and the slight glint of love in his eyes made people a little afraid. Slughorn stood in the doorway for a moment before picking up his usual smile and greeting him.

"Professor."

Slughorn walked behind the table and sat down, untied his scarf, and said, "It's a little hot, isn't it?" Riddle. ”

Xu Jing extinguished the hot coals, and the room suddenly became cold.

"Oh...... That was not what I meant. Slughorn tied his scarf back on, and after a moment said, "All right, that's it." Leave the goddamn fireplace alone and talk about your confusion, sir. ”

Xu Jing took a step closer to Slughorn, leaned forward, and asked in a low voice, "Professor, perhaps...... Have you ever heard of Horcruxes? ”

Slughorn shuddered when he heard the word, and his fingertips trembled for a long time before he said, "It's too cold." It's too cold. Why don't you rekindle the fire in the fireplace? With that, he lowered his head, pretended to rummage through a drawer, pulled out a few letters back and forth, and put them back.

Ji Tang took advantage of this time to come in and tugged Xu Jing's robe hard.

However,

Nothing. Nothing in hand.

She just touched the void.

Time, memory, and him slipped through her fingers.

She looked up in amazement, hugged his waist, and shouted, "Look at me! I am here! "I couldn't wrap my hands around anything, they parted and closed, and they only hugged a handful of air. Watch him pass through his body, step by step towards Slughorn, step by step towards ...... Abyss-

Five years ago.

Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station.

He boarded the train to Hogwarts alone, staring coldly at the new students and their parents. He kept his eyes on the platform outside the window, secretly expecting a figure. However, until the train started, the man still did not show up.

He was left alone in 1937.

From then on, he realized that sooner or later he would lose her, at any possible moment.

He needed to wait, long, patiently, and with all his might, until she was actually born, and grew up—

Ji Tang had a dream.

Many years later, the warm sunlight shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the slightly aged hardwood floors until they fill the spacious room. A pair of children were lying on the windowsill drawing, their two little heads intimately attached to each other, biting their ears and muttering. The loquat trees planted in the early years of the yard have grown very tall and are like a canopy; There are two rows of jagged notches on the trunk, the lowest reaching the knee and the highest reaching the waist.

She lay in his arms on his lap, her eyes half-closed, languid like a cat. He flipped through the newspaper quietly, a fine sweat broke out on the tip of his nose, and his black-rimmed glasses slipped down quietly. She squinted, looked up slightly, stretched out her white index finger, and pushed the frame for him. He glanced at his child, covered with newspaper, and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey!" She buried her face in his sweater and took a deep breath, greedily obsessed with the woody and gentle aroma of his body.

But the aroma grew heavier, heavier, darker and darker—as if walking in a tunnel with no end in sight, always thinking that there would be a ray of light ahead, and fearing to step into the abyss. Walking on thin ice, every step is like a mermaid dancing on the tip of a knife, and her feet are as painful and heavy as lead.

Xu Jing ...... Xu Jing! ”

She suddenly opened her eyes and stared at the curtain above her in a daze.

An owl was knocking on her window, "knock knock", "knock knock". She got up from bed, put on her pajamas, walked barefoot to the window, opened it, and took the letter from the owl's talons.

"Happy eleventh birthday, dear! Love your Aunt Blake forever. PS: Regulus made a cake for you and is looking forward to your arrival. So is Siris. ”

Ji Tang sighed and put the letter in the drawer at the head of the bed. There was already a thick stack of letters, all sent by Aunt Black. In the deepest part is an empty box. She couldn't help but open it again, like opening the most secret memory in her heart.

There was originally supposed to be a family crest of the Oslanch family here, which she gave to Xu Jing.

The fireplace was permanently closed, and she never got in again. Only this vanished family emblem can prove that the qiē that happened was not a dream she imagined. He really existed, and they really met.

She replied to Aunt Blake: "Thank you Regulus for me, I'll go." ”-

The Black family, like the Oslanch family, is an ancient family that reveres pureblood. The son of Aunt Black, the two "Blake", Siris was a year younger than her, and Regulus was three years younger.

Mr. Black was a stern gentleman, who was extremely harsh and old-fashioned in his discipline of his son, but he was surprisingly kind to her.

"Orion wants a daughter so badly." Aunt said with a smile.

She smiled and didn't speak.

Aunt Black leaned over and stroked her long hair, and said softly, "The owls of Hogwarts should be on their way, dear, and you'll be going to school soon." Which college do you want to go to? ”

Regulus shouted from the side, "Slytherin, of course! Right, cousin? ”

"What's so good about Slytherin?" Siris said proudly, "If you want to go, go to Gryffindor!" ”

"Mom, my brother said he's going to Gryffindor again!" Regulus staggered to sue.

Aunt Black laughed, "Don't listen to his nonsense, 'Black' never made it to Gryffindor." She turned to Ji Tang and said, "It's the same with 'Oslanch'. I'd rather go to Ravenclaw than Gryffindor. ”

Ji Tang really didn't know the bottom in his heart. However, it must have been a rumor that an ancient pure-blood would not enter Gryffindor, as she had a living example standing in front of her eyes - the first ancient pure-blood to enter Gryffindor, Sirius "Sirius" Black, who was removed from the family.

In the past two years, she has tried her best to inquire about Xu Jing's whereabouts. It is only known that after graduating from Hogwarts Full Honors, he worked briefly at the Borgin Burke store in Tumbledown Alley, and then disappeared without a trace.

But he must have been keeping a close eye on Hogwarts and Dumbledore. She's sure of that.

When she arrives at Hogwarts, she's one step closer to him-

Just as her aunt had predicted, the Hogwarts owl flew to Black's house the day after her birthday.

In September, she said goodbye to her aunt's family and stood on platform 9 and 3/4 where the same person had stood thirty-two years earlier.

The red train carries her to a new unknown. On the way, she saw the village of Hogsmeade, where they were walking hand in hand, floating on the horizon, and the pointed blue roof of Count Honey's candy store could be faintly seen.

"You may think I'm not pretty,

But don't judge people by their appearance,

If you can find a hat smarter than mine,

I can eat myself.

You can make your bowler hat jet black and shiny,

Make your high-capped caps smooth and crisp,

I'm a Hogwarts test hat,

Naturally, they are taller than your hats. ”

Hearing this, the freshmen couldn't help but laugh, and the auditorium burst into laughter. The senior students, who had already heard the callouse in their ears, also applauded the venue. Ji Tang saw "another Malfoy" in the first row of Slytherin, with pale blonde hair and arrogant faces, making the "Malfoys" extremely conspicuous on any occasion.

She knew his name, Lucius Malfoy. Mr. Touqing, who used to be a classmate of Xu Jing, married a girl named Shanni and gave birth to a child who was older than her. Seeing Lucius's face, she always had a sense of unreality in a trance.

"Any thought hidden in your mind,

can't hide from the golden eyes of the magic hat,

Put it on and try it, and I'll tell you,

Which college should you be assigned to? ”

The freshmen tensed up and sat down stiffly, putting on their sorting hats.

"Gryffindor!" "Ravenclaw! "Hufflepuff! ”…… The Sorting Hat always gives the name of their house very quickly. The applause and cheers came one after another, and the enthusiasm of the seniors infected the new students, making everyone settle down and relax and welcome the new journey of life with a smile.

"The last one." The Sorting Hat shouted, "Don de Oslanch." ”

Ji Tang walked over and put it on the top of his head.

The Slytherins were ready to hug her, looking at her with friendly and expectant eyes.

"Oh, not like a Slytherin at all, brave, passionate, aggressive. All the benefits of Gryffindor. "It's been twenty years since the last time I saw someone from the Oslanch family," said the Sorting Hat in a voice that only she could hear...... No, thirty years later, I remember it very clearly, ambitious, very cold. But you are not at all like your father. ”

"What about you, sweet girl, where do you want to send yourself? Slytherin, or Gryffindor? ”