After Poppy finished eating the food Harry had brought, the group sat down on the grass and began to chat casually.
Poppy lay curled up on the ground, motioning for Harry to lean against her.
The others werenât as fortunate; the four of them could only sit across from Harry, looking on enviously at how the unicorn showed Harry such affection.
âIf I hadnât seen it with my own eyes, Iâd have thought unicorns only warmed up to the purest-hearted young maidens,â Hermione said wistfully. âBut then again, it makes sense since Harry saved Miss Poppyâs life...â
âThatâs not right, Hermione,â Poppy corrected her. âItâs not because Harry saved me; itâs because Harry and I are old friends.â
âOld friends?!â The group exclaimed in unison.
They all knew Harry had grown up in his aunt and uncleâs house with little to no contact with the wizarding world. How could he possibly be old friends with a unicorn?
Harry tilted his head and asked, âDo I really have to explain, Poppy?â
âOf course! Harry and I have known each other for over a hundred years,â Poppy said, flicking Harryâs face lightly with her tail. âTo be precise, itâs been 105 years!â
âOne hundred and five years?!â Hermione quickly did the math. 1992 minus 105â¦
âThatâs impossible! A hundred and five years ago was 1887,â Hermione said, her face full of disbelief. âHarry is only twelve years old, and youâ¦â
âUnicorns live for a very long time,â Poppy said with a cheerful laugh.
âThatâs still impossible unless Harry traveled through time, went back a hundred years, and returned!â Hermione said firmly. âBut thatâs impossible. Time travel only exists in science fiction, not reality!â
âWell, believe what you want,â Poppy said with a knowing smile. It wasnât the first time sheâd been doubted.
âI did visit the Forbidden Forest once before,â Harry said, skirting around the details of a century ago. âThatâs when I met Poppy, and we became friends.â
This explanation satisfied the group. They accepted it as the truth.
âLooks like Miss Poppy has mistaken you for that Harry from a hundred years ago,â Ron said, hugging his knees.
âYou mean that Harry? Oh, I knew him too,â Poppy said brightly.
âWhat?!â
The four gasped in shock. They couldnât believe the unicorn before them actually knew the Harry Potter from a century ago.
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âYes, the Harry Potter from a hundred years ago was quite the figure at this school,â Poppy said with a radiant smile. âTake this Forbidden Forest, for instance. What do you think of it?â
âWhat do we think? Itâs terrifying, of course!â Seamus exclaimed eagerly. âThe forest is full of all sorts of creaturesâwerewolves, trolls, and Iâve even heard there are spiders as big as cars...â
Hearing the phrase âspiders as big as cars,â Ron turned pale. For the first time in his life, he cursed his vivid imagination. Just one sentence, and heâd already conjured a horrifying image of the spiders in his mind.
âExactly,â Poppy said meaningfully, glancing at Harry. âBut, Harry⦠every time he entered the Forbidden Forest, it was like he was coming home.â
âReally?â the four asked in unison.
âOf course,â Poppy said, her voice full of nostalgia. âThings are very different now compared to a hundred years ago. Back then, Hogwarts was surrounded by dangersâdark wizards roamed outside the school gates, and the Forbidden Forest was full of poachers. They even had a Poachersâ Guild, and their black market auctions featured dragons.â
âIt was a perilous time for students. Danger lurked everywhere outside Hogwarts, and stories of students being harmedâor even killedâby dark wizards were far too common...â
âSo what happened to them? Why did they disappear?â Hermione asked, puzzled. âPoaching in the Forbidden Forest must have been highly lucrative. I canât believe such a large organization would simply vanish...â
âTheyâre all dead, of course,â Poppy said, lifting her head with a human-like smile. âThe most feared group of them all, Ashwinder Gang, who even the Ministry of Magic hesitated to provoke, was utterly wiped out by that Harry Potter and his companions. Any dark wizard who dared resist met their end under a curse. After that, the name Ashwinder Gang faded into history.â
âWowâ¦â The four were in awe.
To them, Poppy was a living witness to history. Her words had to be true.
Whatâs more, that Harry Potter shared the same name as their Harry Potter. This naturally made them feel a strong connection to the Harry from a century ago.
âCould you tell us more about that Harry and his friends?â Hermione, ever the scholar, was especially intrigued by this hidden history. She looked at Poppy expectantly, eager for answers.
Poppy shifted into a more comfortable position and began her story.
âYes, Harry had several good friends. There was Gareth Weasley from Gryffindorâ¦â
She glanced at Ron. âYour ancestor, Ron.â
âYes! My great-grandfather!â Ron said proudly, thumping his chest. He was thrilled that his ancestor had been friends with such a great Harry Potter.
âThere was also Amit Thakkar from Ravenclaw, Poppy Sweeting from Hufflepuff,â Poppy continued, âand from Slytherin, Ominis Gaunt and Sebastian Sallow.â
âAdditionally, there were two girls deeply connected to HarryâCassandra Malfoy and Veratia Grindelwald.â
As she said this, Poppy cast a sly glance at Harry but saw no reaction from him.
âGrindelwald?!â Seamus frowned. âThat surname⦠why does it sound so familiar?â
âFrom the Chocolate Frog cards, of course,â Ron said over his shoulder. âThe dark wizard Dumbledore defeated in 1945âhis name was Grindelwald.â
âOh, right,â Seamus said, realization dawning. He then turned to Poppy. âMiss Poppy, was that Grindelwald girl related to the dark wizard Grindelwald?â
âAs far as I know, Veratia Grindelwald was Gellert Grindelwaldâs sister,â Poppy recalled.
âUnbelievable, huh?â Ron said, turning to his friends. âTwo siblings from the same parentsâone who fought dark wizards, and the other who became one. I wonder what that missing Grindelwald sister would think if she knew her brother became a dark wizard...â
âYouâd better not let either Grindelwald hear you say that,â Poppy said sympathetically, glancing at Ron. For some reason, she felt Ron might someday cross paths with Gellert.
Hermione, however, had honed in on something important. She turned to Poppy.
âMiss Poppy, you mentioned a Hufflepuff named Poppy Sweeting earlier. Is your name related to hers?â
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