Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 642 Speaking freely
That afternoon, Hogwarts students from the UK boarded the Hogwarts Express back to London.

And those students from abroad—

Tiera will not show favoritism.

After ascertaining the home addresses, ten Tiera were dispatched to open portals one by one to deliver the foreign students who were willing to go home during Christmas to their doorsteps.

However, not many students, both inside and outside Hogwarts, wanted to go home.

Of course, the number of people is still quite large, totaling more than 530, but it is not much compared to the original 1,000-plus people.

"Harry, tell me more about the Cold Plains." On the Hogwarts Express, Harry, Ron, and Hermione naturally occupied a car, but for some reason, Ron wasn't with his girlfriend, who was in love with him, but instead joined Harry and Hermione's point-deduction trio, which hadn't been seen in a long time.

They also invited Ginny, Neville, and Luna to fill the remaining space in one of the carriages.

“Hermione, didn’t I tell you this this morning?” Harry asked, puzzled.

“Tell me more.” Hermione said, pulling out her notebook and quill pen again. Her expression reminded Harry of the gossipy female reporter from their fourth year.

"I just thought of a few more questions I'd like to ask you," Hermione said, her eyes brimming with curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.

"Then, go ahead and ask," Harry said helplessly.

"What is Lengyuan?" Ginny asked, puzzled.

Harry looked at Ron, seemingly wanting Ron to help explain.

But Ron seemed nervously scanning the train corridor, cautiously searching for something.

“Well, Dreamland is a peculiar place.” Seeing that no one seemed willing to explain, Neville blushed and explained, “According to Tiera, Dreamland is a parallel space composed of people’s subconscious, dreams, and imagination. Well, the physical laws in it are very different from reality. In it, dreams are reality, and illusion is reality. Some people have a chance to fall into Dreamland through gaps in their dreams.”

"Oh, I see," Ginny said, still a little confused.

Neville's explanation was not as detailed or rigorous as Tiera's, and Ginny didn't fully understand it either, so she nodded perfunctorily.

“You mentioned pain and coldness when you described it to me before,” Hermione asked. “Did you experience pain and coldness all at once, or was it a gradual process?”

“I forgot,” Harry said impatiently. “I was freezing to death, I didn’t care about any of that!”

“Okay,” Hermione said sullenly, “What about the smell? Did you detect any smell?”

“No!” Harry said. “I was in a snowfield. What kind of smell could there be on a snowfield?” “Okay,” Hermione said again, somewhat dejectedly, “then—”

“Hermione, if you really want to know so much, why don’t you ask Tyrell?” Harry interrupted suddenly before Hermione could ask her next question.

“He wouldn’t tell me more,” Hermione said awkwardly. “He said that because dreamscapes are parallel spaces created by people’s subconscious, dreams, and imagination, the more you know about dreamscapes, especially a particular scene there, the easier it is to fall into a dreamscape through the gaps in your dreams while you’re sleeping. He said that this is how mature dreamers freely travel between reality and dreams. After entering a dreamscape multiple times, they memorize a particular scene. Once this particular scene is deeply imprinted in their memory, as long as the dreamer falls into a deep sleep, they can immediately appear in the specific scene they remember in the dreamscape.”

“These scenes don’t necessarily arise naturally within the dream world,” Hermione explained. “They can also be artificially created with altars and specific spells.”

“It sounds like you really want to go to the Dreamlands,” Harry countered.

“Of course!” Hermione said. “Aren’t you tempted?”

"What's on your mind?" Harry looked at Hermione, puzzled. "I already told you this morning how dangerous the Coldlands are. There are evil Coldlands inhabitants and Cold Spiders there. If you encounter them..."

“I know, I know,” Hermione said impatiently. “But the Dreamlands aren’t just a place like the Cold Plains. There’s also the largest and most bustling port, Diras-Lin; Uthar City, protected by adorable yet powerful cats; and the desert trading center, Ilanic, and so on. Just like our world, the Dreamlands have dangerous places, but also safe places. And Tierra said that in the Dreamlands, our wizarding power will be greatly enhanced, almost equivalent to that of a seasoned and powerful Dreamer!”

"Then why don't you let Tyra take you?" Harry retorted.

“He…he said,” Hermione said through gritted teeth, “that the Dreamlands are still too dangerous for my abilities. I’ve already improved so much, Harry, you know how much I’ve improved in my Dark Arts Practice class. I can already resist your Imperius Curse, I can already use the Crucifixion Curse to create Dark Magic Marks, I can already—”

“But Tierra isn’t saying enough, is he?” Harry interrupted. “Since Tierra says so, we should abide by it, and you also want to apply to Hogwarts. Hermione, I believe you can definitely get into college. Tierra said he will be teaching a course called ‘Detailed Explanation and Exploration of Dreamland Geography’ at the university, and I’m sure he will take you there.”

“But I don’t want to wait anymore,” Hermione muttered in dissatisfaction.

"Why do you insist on going now?" Harry countered.

“Because I feel very pressed for time right now!” Hermione said. “I have to help Professor Horace Slughorn forge the Philosopher’s Stone, prepare for the NEWTs exams, and also prepare for the entrance exams for the regular magic college!”

“Think about it, Harry, once I can enter the Dreamlands, I can study there while I sleep, which will make things much easier for me!” Hermione said. “Besides, Tyrell said that time flows much slower in the Dreamlands than in the real world. Although it varies in different areas, it’s generally between 2.4 and 7. If I can enter the Dreamlands, my study time will increase significantly!”

Hermione finished speaking in one breath, and then saw Harry staring at her in shock.

The atmosphere inside the train carriage was strange and awkward.

“Hmm,” Ginny spoke up at this moment, “Hermione, you are... um... you are crafting a Philosopher's Stone?”

"Oh no!" Hermione's face changed drastically. Only then did she realize what she had blurted out in her emotional outburst.

(End of this chapter)