Chapter 115
Saturday.
Soren summoned Dobby and Winky, asking Dobby to bring them to the Ancestor Land of the Elves in their phantom forms.
According to Dobby, the Ancestor Land of the Elves is actually a type of spatial secret realm, similar to a mirror world, which only the small elves can find. From the moment they are born, the souls of all small elves are imprinted with the mark of the Ancestor Land, so all small elves know its location.
Upon arriving at the legendary Ancestor Land of the Elves, Soren was deeply shocked by the scene before him.
A towering giant tree, so high that its top was unseen, stood in the center, with several small elf villages scattered around its roots.
The small elves in the villages were chattering excitedly at the sight of outsiders. Soren couldn't understand what they were saying; it turned out that small elves had their own language. The wizards had always thought that small elves spoke the human language.
Dobby and Winky could understand them. Perhaps, just like the location of the Ancestor Land, this was a kind of knowledge imprinted in their souls from birth.
These wild small elves looked no different from domesticated ones at first glance, but upon closer inspection, their spirit, temperament, and even their gaze were completely different. The wild small elves showed no reverence towards Soren—perhaps towards all humans—displaying more curiosity than anything else.
Soren did not support the enslavement of other intelligent species, so he harbored no covetous thoughts towards these wild small elves.
He had only one purpose for coming here—the inheritance of Hufflepuff.
He instructed Dobby and Winky to help him investigate, and it wasn't long before they returned.
"Master, I think I've found what you were looking for," Dobby said. Although he no longer exhibited the same level of respect and restraint as before, it was evident that he was taking his task towards Soren more seriously.
"Great! Thank you, Dobby," Soren said. "Can we go there now?"
"Of course, follow me."
Dobby and Winky led the way, while Soren carefully followed behind. Their group passed through countless small elf villages, making their way towards the giant tree in the center.
After walking for over an hour, they finally arrived at the base of the giant tree, where there was a deep tree hole beside one of the roots. Soren, having a master-servant contract with Dobby and Winky, was not afraid of them harming him, and stepped into the tree hole.
Inside the tree hole was like a maze, with dark passages branching out in all directions. However, Dobby and Winky seemed to sense some kind of unseen guidance, allowing them to navigate through every fork in the path without hesitation, proceeding smoothly. Eventually, they arrived in front of an altar.
In front of the altar were three vividly carved stone statues.
The highest statue depicted a figure dressed in a gown made of flower petals, with two pairs of transparent wings resembling those of dragonflies sprouting from its back. It wore a lovely flower crown atop its slightly tousled hair, and no matter how one looked at it, it resembled the current Forest Nymph tribe very much.
The second statue looked the most like a human, except for its pointed ears on either side of its head, which were quite different from those of humans. It was dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, wearing a pointed hat on its head, and held a willow flute to its lips as if playing a melodious forest song. It bore a strong resemblance to the current Dwarf tribe.
The lowest statue depicted a creature with drooping long ears and large eyes. If one were to find any similarities with the small elf tribe, it might only be these three points. However, unlike the small elves, this statue was neatly dressed, with proportionate limbs and handsome features. It held a wine cup in one hand and a broom in the other, grinning as if singing, appearing lively and full of charm.
Dobby pulled Soren to the front of the statue, where he saw a stone tablet inscribed with ancient elven script. The ancient elven script had some overlap with the ancient wizarding language Soren had learned, yet it was not entirely the same. Thus, even with Soren's profound knowledge of ancient magic texts, he still found it quite challenging to decipher, even with Dobby and Winky's help.
The first section explained the secrets of ancient times—how the ancient elven clan created this space to escape the wars between the ancient dragon gods and ancient giants, relocating all their kin here. The three statues represented the ancestors of the Forest Nymphs, Dwarves, and Small Elves.
The second section of text recorded on the stone slab explains that one day, a group of little fairies, gnomes, and nymphs decided to leave and explore the outside world.
The playful gnomes fell in love with Ireland's shamrocks, beer, and music, and chose to settle in Ireland.
The nymphs, who loved singing and being surrounded by vibrant flowers and plants, opted for France and Greece.
The nymph became enamored with human craftsmanship. They enjoyed sneaking into human homes and, unbeknownst to anyone, assisting humans with sewing, craftsmanship, and so on, leading to the emergence of Muggle Nymph tales such as "The Little Fairy and the Old Cobbler."
Their assistance to humans in these "tasks" stemmed from their love of craftsmanship, not for rewards. Therefore, if someone, like the old cobbler in the fairy tale, offered them clothes or anything to wear, they would leave in anger, much like a proud artist who despises the smell of copper.
One day, a certain wizard discovered this trait of the little nymphs, and he lured them in with a large number of handcrafted items, then captured them all in a pre-designed trap.
The captured little nymphs were subjected to one soul-binding spell after another, gradually brainwashing them into becoming human slaves, which is what today's wizards see as domesticated little nymphs.
Of course, this is not the entirety of the little Nymphs. Some managed to escape and rose up in rebellion—some hid in Germany's Black Forest, evolving into boggarts that specifically prey on human children as revenge; some fled to Senegal in Africa, evolving into cloud spirits that steal human food as retaliation; some ran to Far Eastern countries, evolving into tanuki that play pranks on humans. Although most pranks are harmless, in Japan, there have been horror stories mentioning tanuki murdering an old woman and deceiving her husband into drinking soup made from her corpse.
This part of the text features several different handwriting styles, clearly written by different little fairies. One of them is evidently the great Horkey.
He was fortunate to be adopted by the kind Hufflepuff, who treated him as a friend, granting him free thought and allowing him to return to the fairy homeland after Hufflepuff's passing. In gratitude, Hokey left a bloodline descendant at Hogwarts to assist with its daily operations, only returning to the fairy homeland in his old age.
The third section recorded on the slab pertains to the legacy left by Hufflepuff.
Hufflepuff was most skilled in healing and life magic. Before her passing, she sealed her own life force in a magical array somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. Anyone who inherits this power can gain Hufflepuff's ultimate skill—"Creation and Rebirth," a miraculous constitution that allows for rapid self-healing from even the most severe physical injuries, as long as one has not died on the spot.
Somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, perhaps?
Soren was indeed a very astute individual, and after receiving the intelligence boost from the Crown of Wisdom, his comprehension and memory were top-notch.
After analyzing it, he concluded that the so-called life force, as the literal meaning suggests, has the most obvious characteristic of nurturing and reproduction, and the most astonishing and abnormal reproductive rate in the Forbidden Forest is undoubtedly Aragog, the eight-eyed spider that Hagrid once released there.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Soren immediately had Dobby and Winky take him to the Forbidden Forest in his phantom form.