NOVEL NEXT 21.chapter 21
"This is a small bow made by my father. You are a little smaller than me, so I think you can use this better." Katniss found a bow that was smaller than her bow and arrow from somewhere and gave it to Al. She suddenly showed a suspicious expression and asked, "You were like this when I saw you last time. Why, it's been more than a year and you haven't changed at all."
"You could say you're still so short." Al replied calmly. Boys develop later than girls, and Al is two years younger than Katniss, so even though Katniss is no longer tall, Al is still half a head shorter than her. "I grow very slowly, I can't help it."
George burst out laughing.
Katniss also had a smile on her face. She stood with her legs spread apart and her feet one behind the other. She held the bow and arrow in both hands and raised them flat, demonstrating how to fully draw the bow and arrow: "Like this, put your hands here, Pull hard”
Al followed suit in a standard posture and pulled hard
Couldn't pull. The bow was only pulled halfway, and Al's cheeks were already flushed from the exertion.
Katniss has completely focused on her arrow. On a tree more than fifty meters away, there is a bird that cannot be described as a species, but it is quite large. It is jumping leisurely. Katniss points the tip of the arrow towards Aim it: "Aim at your target, draw the bow full, and let go."
With a whoosh, Katniss's arrow hit the bird's body. She had not yet practiced to the point where every arrow could hit the prey's eyes. The little girl happily ran to pick up the prey she shot, and Al's arrow also shot out. With the same hiss, the arrow flew feebly a few meters away and hit the ground in a parabola. If it got closer, it would Hit Al's toe.
George laughed and fell against the tree trunk
The tips of Al's ears turned red, and he pretended to be calm and walked over to pick up the arrow: "Don't laugh at me, George."
"Okay." George smiled obediently, "Al, I think you need to exercise more."
Al: ""
"I'm a mage, I'm ranged, I don't need physical strength." Al muttered unhappily.
"What are you?" Katniss picked up the prey and walked back when she heard Al's muttering.
"Nothing." Al said quickly.
"Come on, stand as I taught you just now, and I'll teach you again." Katniss put the birds and squirrels together with a smile on her face. Today was a bumper harvest, the prey could be exchanged for a lot of money, and there was candy for Prim in his pocket.
Al, who just wanted to give up archery, immediately stood up. Katniss is a perfect marksman and a long-range fighter.
When the bow was opened again, it could only be stretched so far. Katniss stood behind Al, the two of them very close. She held Al's left hand holding the bow with one hand, and held Al's left hand holding the bowstring with the other hand. He Jian's right hand almost held Al in his arms.
George's face suddenly elongated.
You're still so young, you can't be so ambiguous with girls
The short-term crash course did not improve the bow learning. After teaching for a while, Al could only prevent the arrow from hitting his toes. The sun is setting, and Katniss must go back.
She said goodbye to Al George with some reluctance, and before leaving, she asked: "When will you come again?"
Al pursed his lips and nodded vigorously: "I will definitely come again. Take good care of yourself and your family."
The corners of George's mouth began to twitch slightly again. Why is it so much like lovers parting?
After Katniss's back disappeared behind the tree and was no longer visible, Al finally looked away and blinked, his eyes slightly moist.
George saw Al's expression and said in disbelief: "No, do you like her so much?"
"No." Al said with a vicissitudes of life, "You don't understand."
George: ""
They crawled back to the tree hole they came from. This time we needed to climb up first. The inner wall of the tree hole was quite smooth. Al climbed up with great difficulty with the help of George. It was very magical. There was no abnormality in the tree hole from the outside. After climbing up a few meters, Al climbed up. After that, it turned into a narrow horizontal passage.
Maybe they should find a chance to go to Peeta's pigsty to see if the vent can still lead back to Hogwarts, but Al intuitively felt that the entrance was no longer working.
Aldu felt depressed on the way back. He knows Katniss's fate: when she turns sixteen, her sister will be selected as a tribute, and in order to save her twelve-year-old sister, Katniss has to become a tribute in her place to participate in the Hunger Games. Although she and fellow District 12 Peeta pretended to be lovers and won the Hunger Games, her actions were seen as rebellion against the government.
Then came the second Hunger Games. He was injured and on the verge of death and was rescued to District 13, where he became the Mockingjay. Peeta became a weapon used by the capital to torture her, and the rebel president wanted to kill her after squeezing her value.
Katniss wanted to go to the capital to assassinate the president, but saw her sister being bombed to death in front of her eyes.
That is her most cherished sister.
What's more, the thing that killed her sister was co-invented by her best friend Gale.
Katniss must be only eighteen years old. Her life is very similar to Harry's. They were both involuntarily involved in the struggle between two rights, and were forced to face challenges to their lives at a very young age.
In the past, when Al was reading, he only looked at their lives from the perspective of a bystander, but he was suddenly thrown into the world of these people and became friends with them.
Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen are real people, not just names in a book.
If Al knew every step of their future life direction, why didn't he make an effort and find a way to change some things?
At least Al might be able to protect someone they hold dear.
"Al, are you okay?"
Carrying Al out of the secret passage, George asked worriedly while leading him to avoid Filch who might be patrolling.
He said nothing in the secret passage, and now his expression is even more solemn. George couldn't help but worry that he had lost his mind by learning archery.
"Not good." Al looked out the window and found that the sky was no different from when they left. It was as if time had not passed at all. It was the same time as when they left.
But they spent at least one afternoon in the world of The Hunger Games.
Thinking back to the last time he saw Katniss at Peeta's doorstep, for the two little wizards, only a few days had passed, but for Katniss, more than a year had passed. The passage of time on both sides was not equal, and Al couldn't help but feel a little anxious. .
Judging from this, if they only went to school for a few days in the wizarding world, Katniss would have experienced everything
But Al is only eleven years old now, how can he help Katniss?
Al and George passed by the courtyard and saw the little wizards still having a snowball fight. They did not join in, but went back to the dormitory to change their clothes. There was already a lot of dust on their clothes.
Changing back into his school uniform and robes, Al transformed from a Muggle gentleman back into a first-year Hogwarts wizard. He walked out of the Slytherin cellar and was somewhat surprised to find George waiting for him at the door.
Thanks to having sent Al back to his dormitory several times, George was already familiar with Slytherin. Al originally wanted to find Draco, but now he followed George and walked outside Hogwarts Castle.
In order to avoid the courtyard where the little wizards were playing, George took him out from behind a portrait. He didn’t know how he discovered this secret passage, but George didn’t seem to have the intention that it was a secret and should be kept hidden from Al. He took Al all the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid's cabin was nearby, and he could hear Hagrid's loud singing voice coming from the house. The tune was like Romania.
George crouched and secretly ran along the pumpkin patch toward the Forbidden Forest. Al was following behind him and couldn't help but want to laugh.
Hagrid spent almost half his life trying to drive the Weasley twins out of the Forbidden Forest. Now not only Weasley, but also Malfoy is going to the Forbidden Forest.
"What's so fun in the Forbidden Forest?" Al asked. "I heard it's very dangerous. There are werewolves and many magical creatures."
"It is indeed very dangerous. We have only gone a little deeper than in class." George naturally held Al's hand, "Follow me, and I will take you to see interesting things. Don't get lost."
Al followed him quietly, looking at the surrounding scenery curiously as he walked. The trees in the Forbidden Forest are taller and more lush than the trees in the forest in District 12 of The Hunger Games. These trees are not ordinary trees. Each of them is dozens of meters high, and the dappled sunlight barely shines through the gaps between the lush branches and leaves. , Al wasn’t sure if he saw some small shiny thing dancing among the leaves.
The deeper you go into the Forbidden Forest, the cooler the temperature becomes and the worse the light becomes. Al gathered his robe, feeling a little cold. George's hands were very warm, as if he didn't feel the cold at all: "We're almost there."
After struggling to cross two large trees that were almost side by side, Al's eyes suddenly opened up. A blue pool of water is embedded in the middle of the open space like a Kashmir sapphire. The sunlight is no longer blocked, casting sparkling waves on the water. Al again saw the little things he had just seen among the leaves. They were only a palm long. Compared to their finger-sized bodies, the wings on their backs were extremely conspicuous, reflecting diamond-like light under the sunlight.
"What are these?" Al asked almost in a breathy voice, fearing that the louder voice would scare away these beautiful little things.
"These are Devon elves. They are distantly related to Cornish elves, but Devon elves are much cuter than Cornish elves. They are very friendly to wizards." George replied softly, " This kind of elves are very rare, I think apart from Devon County, this is the only one that has them."
"They are beautiful." Al sighed in a low voice. George led him slowly towards the pool. The gathered Devon elves immediately dispersed, but they did not leave. Instead, they gathered around the two little wizards in twos and threes. Al heard a small sound from them, which seemed to be Talking to each other.
George and Al sat on the rocks at the edge of the pool. After a while, elves flew over. They seemed to be very curious about Al. They stopped on Al's shoulders and sat on top of him. As long as Al moved slightly, they would be frightened. They scattered and flew away, then slowly gathered again after a while.
"They are very curious and cannot understand the wizard's words. They are already familiar with me, but this is your first time here." George explained, "So I guess you may feel better after seeing this. .”
"Isn't this your and Fred's secret base? It doesn't matter if you bring me here." Al was indeed in a much better mood and asked with a smile.
George seemed to also become happy: "It doesn't matter, he will understand."