Chapter 331 Ron's Suggestion
Evan took an ancient slate and surreptitiously recorded the marked route on the map.
Hermione used a quill to jot down some key locations on the map on the parchment, ready to head to the library to consult books on ancient Greek geography.
The room was silent, and Harry and Ron locked eyes.
"Are you two still studying this?" Ron suddenly remarked. "Things are pretty clear already. It's pointless to keep investigating..."
"What do you mean it's pointless? This map shows the location of the temple ruins left by Herpo the Foul. If we find it, we can defeat the monster," Hermione replied. "It's also useful for defeating Voldemort. You know, it was Herpo the Foul who first invented the method to create a Horcrux."
"Learning how to make a Horcrux, I fail to see the purpose of that," Ron waved his hand dismissively, raising his voice. "What we need to understand now is how to destroy the remaining Horcruxes of You-Know-Who, not how they're made and how they work."
"Exactly!" Harry agreed.
As he gazed at the map on the slate, he felt a slight twinge in his scar.
He had only felt this pain before when Voldemort was near or approaching, which made Harry quite uneasy, hoping that something unknown was not about to happen.
If they continued to delve into the secrets left behind by Slytherin, surely terrible things would occur.
Harry shook his head vigorously and banished the thought from his mind.
Although he also desired to take risks and defeat the evil dark wizard, the situation was entirely different now than it was six months ago, and he was content with his current life.
While it was somewhat disillusioning to return to the Dursleys during the summer holidays, he feared nothing when thinking of Sirius, his godfather, accompanying him.
Looking at Evan, Ron, and Hermione, and thinking of Sirius, Lupin, and Hagrid, Harry knew he had never been happier than he was now.
He wished time would stand still, and nothing would change. This fantasy, albeit childish, was truly his greatest dream.
"We can discuss this with Sirius and hear his opinions," Harry suggested, gently rubbing his scar.
"But..." Hermione seemed to want to say something.
"Harry is right. It's beyond our capabilities," Ron said, glancing briefly at Evan before continuing, "Hermione, I know you want to figure out how to make a Horcrux, and so do I. But my father always said that it's dangerous to know everything. That's what the most evil dark wizard would do. Although immortality is tempting, I would never study or use dark magic..."
He said it strangely, as if wanting to express his stance.
Hermione was momentarily stunned and unsure how to respond to Ron.
In her view, the study of magic should be free, based on the spirit of inquiry to the end, and even dark magic should not be an exception.
Of course, she would do it to defeat Voldemort, not to actually create a Horcrux.
Hermione wanted to retort, but Ron was not entirely wrong.
Studying evil dark magic was inherently very dangerous.
"We should hand the clues and the slate over to Dumbledore to deal with it," Ron attempted to downplay, "Otherwise, what are we going to do? We are just four twelve or thirteen-year-old wizards. Even if we know the location of the temple, could we go there, right?"
There was a moment of silence. What he said was also realistic. They couldn't rush to the mountains of Greece to find the remains of the evil dark wizard.
"You're right. I will inform Dumbledore about this," Evan said, raising his head and placing the stones in front of him in his own pouch.
He couldn't tell why, but he felt Ron's demeanor was somewhat peculiar and overly resolute.
He knew that Ron had never shown such an attitude before.
Just as he began to have doubts, Evan calmed himself down and relaxed again.
Viewing it from a different angle, there was really nothing strange about it.
After two consecutive Imperius Curses, Ron must have been very upset with dark magic, and his mental state should be extremely sensitive. In his view, all dark magic should be banned. Not only using it, even researching it was unforgivable.
Evan could understand Ron's thoughts. If he had the same unfortunate experience, he might be even more extreme than him.
Hermione had mentioned this to him before, but Evan had not taken it seriously.
Now, upon reflection, he decided to do as Hermione said and not oppose Ron for the time being.
Considering Ron's growth path and personality, Evan decided to take a gentler approach and more subtle ways to help his insecure and fragile friend.
Moreover, he really couldn't go to ancient Greece to find the remains of Herpo, the Foul. He should just keep that map in mind for now, as it could be useful in the future.
"Well, we have the exams in June," Hermione glanced at Ron for a moment before continuing, "Do you need help creating a study schedule?"
"Come on, Hermione," said Harry, shaking his head hastily. "The exam is still far off. There is more than a month left. We just won the Quidditch Cup, and Evan just cleared all the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest. We should rest."
Ron shook his head hastily and returned to his old self.
"We have to review all the course content in the next month, so there isn't enough time for that," Hermione stated firmly. "I'm not too worried about Evan, but you two don't even remember the history of magic you took in first year. If you don't want to retake the year…"
"Calm down, there's Malfoy, Goyle, and Crabbe," Harry said. "Surely we'll do better than the three of them."
"Let's talk about something happy," Ron then said. "We can go to Hogsmeade next weekend, where we can buy something for Evan."
"It's not a good idea to waste a whole day in Hogsmeade right now," Hermione pulled out a copy of 'Numerology and Grammatica' from her backpack.
If it weren't for the stones, she would have spent the afternoon in the common room with Evan reading the book.
"I feel that at my level, it's a waste of time reciting those spells and nuggets of knowledge in the book. They don't have much effect at all," Ron blinked and said slowly, "Perhaps we can hope for a sudden increase in magic like Evan, so we don't have to worry about exam results."
Everyone looked at Ron in surprise, wondering what he was talking about.
"Don't you understand yet?" Ron's gaze swept over the faces of Harry and Hermione, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Evan. He explained, "Now that we have met the requirements of the Centaurs, we can go with them and retrieve the Key to the Secret Treasure left by Gryffindor..."