Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 325 Discovery in the Dark

The laboratory's interior light source still primarily comes from the magic crystals embedded in the walls and ceiling, as well as the jars emitting bioluminescence, providing a stable but not very bright cool light that casts a hazy glow over the vast space.

"Let's do a thorough check first, make sure no guests have visited since we left, or that this laboratory has some kind of self-renewal mechanism." Castor's voice echoed through the empty stone chamber. His sharp gaze swept across every corner, the tip of his wand glowing with the subtle light characteristic of probing magic.

Karen immediately sprang into action, his "Eye of Truth" acting like the most sophisticated radar, meticulously scanning the entire space.

From the enormous experimental table to the specimen jar shelves along the wall, from the intricate magic circles carved on the floor to the unidentified metal chains hanging from the ceiling—the flow of magic was smooth and ancient, without any trace of recent disturbance or intrusion by external magic.

"Safe, Professor." A few minutes later, Karen concluded, "Exactly the same as when we left."

Castor nodded, withdrawing his detection magic. "Very good. Well then, let's begin. We have plenty of time this time. Pay attention to the conjecture your friend mentioned." He was referring to Fabian's speculation that dark algae might have special effects in dark environments, something Karen had also mentioned in his previous conversation with Nico.

Without further delay, the two immediately began a systematic and meticulous investigation. They divided the work: Castor focused on examining the large, complex experimental devices and magic array patterns, trying to understand their principles and functions; while Karen, relying on her "Eye of Truth" and keen observation of details, focused on searching for potentially overlooked corners, hidden compartments, or clues that might be related to the characteristics of the dark algae.

Karen first went to the edge of the huge observation pools. The water was still crystal clear, and the fine sand and pebbles on the bottom remained unchanged. He crouched down and carefully examined the inlet and outlet channels on the pool walls, discovering that the inner walls of those channels seemed to be engraved with extremely fine spiral patterns that aligned with the direction of water flow. This reminded him of the spiral blade structure of dark algae.

"Professor, look at this," Karen called out.

Castor walked over and bent down to examine it. "A very ingenious design for guiding and energizing the water," he commented after observing for a moment. "These patterns allow the water to maintain a specific rotation and magical carrying state. It seems Slytherins are very good at using fluids to transfer and stabilize energy." But he found no evidence directly related to the dark algae.

Next, Karen examined the fixed silver instruments, clamps, and graduated grooves on the lab bench, and even cleaned some corners of the bench that had accumulated dust for thousands of years, hoping to find some residual dark algae powder or other clues, but to no avail.

Time passed slowly as they examined the specimen jar area. The strange biological tissues they had seen last time were still quietly suspended in the liquid. Various oddly shaped gold and silver tools were placed on the tool wall, cold and silent, along with several auxiliary small worktables.

Karen couldn't help but feel discouraged. Could Fabian's guess be wrong?

He reluctantly turned his gaze to the dark corners and edges of the laboratory. The light from the magic crystal was mainly concentrated in the central area of ​​the laboratory, while the areas along the walls, especially behind the tall shelves and in some recessed niches, were unusually dark, or even pitch black.

A thought struck him, and he walked toward the darkest corner. There, he found a sunken recording table, its surface empty and covered in a thick layer of dust. He activated his "Eye of Truth," straining to penetrate the darkness and observe the interior of the sunken area.

Suddenly, he noticed something striking: on the dusty stone tabletop, there seemed to be some very, very shallow, almost flat, worn-down marks from the passage of time. The lines of these marks—he immediately took out the small crystal bottle Fabien had given him from his waterproof bag and poured out a leaf of dark algae.

He brought the dark algae leaf close to the incisions, carefully using magic to activate it.

Suddenly, the dark algae emitted a deep, almost purplish-blue, faint glow in the absolute darkness! And in that instant when the glow appeared, Karen clearly "saw" an extremely faint, almost imperceptible flow of energy flashing past within the ancient carvings on the stone platforms! As if it had been briefly activated by this specific glow and the dark environment!

"Teacher! Over here!" Karen's voice was tinged with excitement.

Castor immediately approached; his eyes seemed to possess some form of night vision, or perhaps some other detection ability. He stared at the glowing dark algae and the markings beneath it.

"A remnant of a dark light sensing array?" Castor murmured, his fingers tracing the engravings. "Very ancient, and extremely well-designed and concealed. It only produces a faint energy response when illuminated by this specific wavelength of cold light in complete darkness. This is very likely a—record reading point, or some kind of control interface. Slytherin might have placed some confidential information or operations here."

This discovery greatly encouraged Karen. They continued searching other dark corners. On the bottom shelf of a wall-mounted rack filled with discarded stone, Karen made another discovery.

It was an unassuming, dusty obsidian box, almost blending into the shadows. He dragged it out and blew away the dust. The box wasn't locked, but it was tightly closed. He forced it open and found it lined with black velvet, on which remained some long-deactivated, grayish-white powdery substance, emitting a faint, cold trace of magic.

On the inner lid of the box were engraved several extremely fine ancient runes. Castor leaned closer to examine them closely.

"Night vision, intuition, darkness affinity"—Casto slowly uttered, "This sounds like the residue of a potion or alchemical powder that enhances perception in dark environments. It seems Slytherin not only utilized darkness but also prepared corresponding auxiliary methods." He carefully took a small amount of the powder residue and placed it in a sample bag. "I can take it back and have Nico analyze its composition."

While these findings are still fragmented, they strongly confirm Fabian's conjecture—that dark algae are indeed closely linked to certain specific functions of the Slytherin Laboratory, especially those related to dark environments. Slytherin not only utilized the potion-making properties of dark algae, but also likely its ability to glow in the dark and enhance magical activity, using it as part of some kind of magical device, for reading encrypted messages, or even for crafting drugs that enhance dark perception.

The laboratory held far more secrets than they had initially discovered. Each exploration lifted a corner of its veil of mystery. Karen and Castor exchanged a glance, both seeing the focus and anticipation in each other's eyes. They continued their work, searching even more meticulously, leaving no stone unturned in the darkness. Time seemed to slow down; in the silent abyss at the bottom of the lake, only the figures of the master and apprentice exploring and the faint sounds they made could be heard.