Chapter 3004 The ghost in the distance (9)

In the interrogation room of the Ministry of Magic, there is a chair that Igor Karkaroff once sat on. It is covered with various sharp thorns.

Pomona was thinking as she walked up the stairs that this kind of chair was once very popular in the Inquisition. It was called the Spanish chair.

When Pomona came to the top of the building, she looked in from the door and saw Albus Dumbledore standing alone, with the Book of Acceptance and the Pen of Admission in front of him. When she came Coincidentally, the pen of admission floated again, as if it was about to write a name on the book.

 “Principal,” Pomona said at the door.

 “Come in.” Dumbledore said calmly, “Come and take a look.”

Pomona walked to Dumbledore's side. When she walked around his tall back, she saw the Pen of Admission hovering and the Book of Acceptance slowly closing, seemingly unwilling to record the name with the Pen of Acceptance. on top.

 “What do you think ink is?” asked Dumbledore.

 “What ink?” Pomona asked.

"Ovining birds always come out to fly when it rains. Unlike other birds, they will return to their nests to take shelter when it rains." Dumbledore said slowly, "And the color of this ink is so similar to the memory in the pensieve. .”

Pomona began to think quickly.

If Ben Cooper's memory had been drained and used as "ink", then he might indeed forget what happened.

 But with so many memories, why should we take that one away?

"Are you thinking about Ben Cooper's memory?" Dumbledore said without looking back.

"Yes, Principal." Pomona said. "If it is really related to the memory that created the Dementor, then it should take away his happiest or most painful memories."

"He has been trying to recall what happened that night, and even wanted to use the time turner. He has suffered a lot for this." Dumbledore sighed. "The most severe punishment is not the body, but the one that goes deep into the soul, mind, and body." of will.”

"What about desire?" Pomona asked. "Do you know the pain of not getting what you want? And if you want people to believe that these invisible pains are greater than the scenes of flesh and blood, or the pain caused by hunger and disease. Pain, do you know what to do?”

 Dumbledore said nothing.

“Muggles don’t believe in souls, nor in ghosts, even though Ben Cube said he saw one.”

 “Then you don’t believe what I said?” Dumbledore asked.

“Of course I believe you,” Pomona said. “But I don’t think everyone understands.”

 “I don’t need everyone to understand.” Dumbledore smiled and said, “Let’s go.”

“You asked me to climb such a high building just to see this?” Pomona asked.

"You say you understand that pain inflicted upon the soul is more painful than pain upon the body," said Dumbledore.

Pomona was so angry that the Pen of Acceptance seemed to have given up writing its name on the Book of Admission and returned to its original position.

 “Whose name do you think it is intended to be written on?” asked Dumbledore.

 “How should I know?” said Pomona.

 “You may take a wild guess,” said Dumbledore.

 She was silent for a while.

 “Neville Longbottom.”

"His grandma asked me to send you a message to thank you for visiting Frank and Alice at Christmas. They went to the hospital the day after we went there. They spend Christmas together every year," Dumbledore said. But unfortunately Neville seems to be a squib."

“He is not yet 11 years old. As long as he shows talent before the age of 11, he can be recorded. There have been similar examples before.” Pomona said.

“He is suffering too, a different kind of suffering than Harry.” Dumbledore said. “Do you know what kind of fairy tale would suit him?”

 “Is he another ugly duckling?” Pomona asked.

"I hope you will think carefully, Professor, let's go down now." Dumbledore said with a smile.

 Then they left the tower that the students had never been near.

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Some gallows are equipped with a trap door. Gravity and the person's own weight will break the neck, causing the victim to die instantly. Prior to this, the method of hanging was to put a noose around the prisoner's neck and suspend him in the air. The prisoner would shake and struggle and suffocate to death after ten or twenty minutes.

Hanging is characterized by being cheap, simple, and fast. The ax is used by nobles to carry out executions. However, Nick, who was almost headless, suffered no less than hanging.

The French prefer to use swords. They feel that swords are not as dull as axes and are crisper and sharper.

Pomona couldn't help but think of the way Neville held up the Sword of Gryffindor and destroyed Nagini. Instead of turning into ashes like an ordinary snake, she formed a snake behind Neville. A huge "shadow".

 She took out a ticket from a circus that performed in New York in 1929. On it was a snake woman, or a woman who transformed from a human into a snake.

 She is neither an Animagus nor a werewolf, but a type of blood orc. But the spectators didn't care about the pain she was going through, and they didn't want to save her.

Nietzsche said that snakes bite us and take pleasure in it. They can imagine the pain of others to achieve the purpose of making themselves happy. High-level happiness is that others are happy and they are happy too, but unfortunately this quality is rare, even philosophy Experts doubt its existence.

 In addition to curiosity, some people also hope to feel lucky by watching other people's misfortunes.

Confucius once said: In ancient times, scholars were for themselves, but today’s scholars are for others.

 This sentence is easy to understand as people in the past studied for themselves, while people nowadays study for others. Just like "for oneself" where there are people who are self-interested and "if people don't do it for themselves, heaven and earth will be destroyed", "for oneself" is for oneself.

The "wei" here means "cultivation". "If a person does not do it for himself, he will be destroyed by heaven and earth." If a person does not pay attention to cultivation and self-cultivation, it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the world. To be a human being is to cater to others to gain praise, which is somewhat similar. Kong Rong, he allowed that pear to bring him more benefits than not letting him.

The starting point of "cultivating oneself to calm others" is self-improvement, while peace of mind focuses on relationships with others and personal social responsibilities. This is a key point of traditional Confucian philosophy, such as "cultivating oneself, harmonizing the family, and governing the country and the world". It starts with self-cultivation. From the perspective of group-self relations, it affirms personal social responsibility and helps to suppress and avoid self-centered value orientation.

 If a person is not hiding in seclusion in the mountains and old forests, he is probably in the same society as others. He is a member of society, and society is also composed of many people like him. Without individuals, how can there be a group?

If "all things are one", it is inevitable for individuals to communicate with each other. Many people do not like people who are high up. Of course, they may not want to communicate with the "bottom". His high head is looking upward.

A passerby reminded him that there was a pit under his feet, but he didn't listen. As a result, he fell into the pit with a squeak and was covered in mud. When he got up, he angrily cursed whoever dug the pit, and then wanted to punish the onlookers.

They saw his embarrassment, and he also wanted to take out his anger on others, just like the kicking cat effect. After he vents, it will be the turn of the people around him to be dissatisfied. They can resolve it themselves, or they can kick other "cats". In the final analysis, it is just someone who does not listen to other people's warnings and walks without looking at the road.

A butterfly flapping its wings can cause a storm. Wang Shouren also did the work of suppressing bandits. When he was ordered to suppress bandits, could he integrate knowledge and action as he proposed the theory?

 In fact, before the Inquisition, the only way the church allowed to punish heretics was to excommunicate them, which obviously could not deter those stubborn heretics.

Of course, studying alchemy would involve many taboos, but Philip II did not let alchemists study how to make themselves immortal like other rulers did.

The witch in fairy tales can only cast a curse and turn the prince into a frog. It takes true love's kiss to lift the curse, but the warlock is different.

 About 1545, the Spanish discovered silver mines in the Americas. However, the silver ore contained many impurities after being mined, resulting in low yield and low purity.

Around 1555, Bartolome de Medina, a Seville native, developed a method of refining silver by mixing mercury based on German technology. This was not only a technological innovation, but also impressed many people. To make a fortune, a New World immigrant originally owed thousands of pesos, but because of this technology, he suddenly became a millionaire. Silver production in the Americas has quadrupled, supplying more than 80% of the world's silver and 70% of its gold needs.

In 1476, Botticelli's muse Simonetta died, but because of the marriage relationship she formed, there was no contact, so in 1478, Lorenzo de' Medici and Lorenzo de' Medici Qi encountered an assassination attempt.

Montrita's family mined iron ore to make armor, and the Medici paid the Pope gold coins to buy the armor. If they could produce and sell the armor themselves and make the armor thinner, they could make more sets of armor and earn more. Profits were made.

 This all happened before the discovery of the New World and the Italian War after Giuliano's assassination. Italians like to use mercenaries, and even Sforza, the Archduke of Milan, was a mercenary.

The Spanish also solved the problem of military strength in this way. After Charles V abdicated, Philip II did not alienate his relationship with the Habsburgs because Germany was also a source of troops for Spain. Even the Duke of Alva preferred German soldiers.

 When everyone starts doing business around Spain, no one will fight for the little bit given by the Pope. In a sense, the Spaniards promoted peace in Italy.

When Spain declares bankruptcy, even if the sheep of Castile are still producing wool, Italy's textile industry and other industries will not be able to continue to flourish.

 As the wool textile industry declined in the Iberian Peninsula, some silk textile industries began to emerge in coastal cities.

 In the early days, large sailing ships from Manila would bring silk from Asia, bringing huge profits. However, after Zhang Juzheng’s political reform, these silks caused serious damage to the silk industry of the Iberian Peninsula.

 It’s not because it’s too expensive, but because it’s too cheap. Because of the Papal Meridian, the Portuguese would follow the African continent, around the Cape of Good Hope, and then east to India. The Spanish would transport it from Manila to Mexico, and then from Mexico to Spain. Even after being transported such a long distance, the price of silk was only one-tenth that of Spanish silk.

This is due to Spanish inflation, skyrocketing prices, high worker wages and high taxes, and also because of insufficient manpower.

 The original labor law was promulgated by Edward III in 1349. It was not to protect workers, but to protect factory owners. After the number of workers decreased, factory owners who found workers to work had to accept the conditions set by the workers. This law was enacted for the sake of "reasonable prices" and "labor day limits."

In other words, a large population is beneficial to factory owners, and they can have a choice. The situation in Spain is different. In Spain, the king even issued a law saying that being a worker will not affect their future status as a noble. No one wants to do that job and would rather go to church to beg.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty was implementing a maritime ban. If you wanted to establish trade relations with the Ming Dynasty, you must have a tributary relationship. At that time, there was a place called Malacca. When Zheng He's fleet passed by, it became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Because it was located in the middle of the Strait of Malacca, it was occupied by the Portuguese. occupied.

There was a Portuguese who pretended to be an envoy from Manchuria and had a **** relationship. Unexpectedly, they met a real Manchu envoy and asked the Ming Dynasty to help them restore their country.

Pomona thought that scene was interesting, so she laughed.

Those eunuchs have implemented the idea of ​​"people who do not work for oneself will be punished by heaven and earth" to the extreme. I wonder which scholar-bureaucrat dares to explain to you "factory officials" what "for oneself" means?

 “Why are you laughing?” Severus asked with a smile.

“Funny thing.” Pomona said with a smile. “How about we watch a movie after dinner?”

 He shook his head, looking very reluctant.

 She really couldn't understand why he didn't like that movie, even though it was a good box office hit.

“Or, go somewhere else?” Pomona said.

 He took a cup, filled it with clear water, and then left the kitchen while drinking water.

Pomona followed. She wanted to see if the movie poster was still on the wall.

After all, she was not Sirius and could use the Permanent Pasting Charm, and she felt that even if she used it, Severus wouldn't be able to handle it. At worst, he would have to hide the poster, or use an invisibility spell. Out of sight.

 (End of this chapter)