Pomona's favorite Devil's Snare had not been there from the beginning. She had found it in an underground cavern that seemed to be the tomb of some ancient witch. A secret passage behind a mirror at Hogwarts led there.
Sirius and James had fought Death Eaters there. It seemed that because they had destroyed that passage, the Chamber of Secrets behind the mirror no longer shifted. When Harry needed a place to train Dumbledore's Army, he had not used it.
There was a kind of fire lily from South Africa in that tomb. Unlike other plants, it did not fear flames. On the contrary, it loved forest fires. After the fire reduced everything to ash, it emerged from beneath the ground, the only vivid color amid the ashes.
Historically, Troyes had once been Tricasses, the capital of Gaul under Roman imperial rule. In the third century AD, the Roman emperor Alexander Severus had been occupied fighting the Persians and Germanic peoples, but was unfortunately killed in battle. The army raised Thrax to the throne. After returning to Rome, he had been occupied with political struggles. In AD 258, Postumus, commander of the Gaul garrison, broke away from Rome and proclaimed himself "Emperor of Gaul," with territory including present-day Britain, Spain, and part of the Germanic regions.
In 268, Postumus was killed by his soldiers, and Gaul fractured. It was not until the Roman emperor Aurelian retook Gaul that the Gallic Empire fell.
During this period, Troyes served as the capital. Around the fifth century, the Huns attacked it. Its defender was a bishop named Lupus. After Attila's death, it quickly came under the jurisdiction of the Count of Champagne, who built many churches and almshouses there and established major fairs. The famous Champagne Fairs rotated annually among Provins, Lagny, Bar-sur-Aube,