Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 326 Attempts to Crack Core Privileges

The air in the laboratory seemed to freeze, leaving only the faint hum of the magic crystal and the almost inaudible breathing of the two people. All preliminary exploration had been completed; no new dangers or immediate traps had been found, nor were there any signs of self-renewal.

Now, their attention was completely focused on the logbook tightly wrapped in snakeskin in the center of the huge experimental table and the scroll next to it, which was also sealed by an access lock.

Professor Castor took a half step forward, his grey eyes fixed on his target, his wand slightly raised. "Go, Karen. Focus, I'll be watching." His voice was deep and steady, echoing softly in the empty stone chamber.

Karen took a deep breath of the cold, stale air and walked step by step toward the experimental table. His "Eye of Truth" was operating at full power, and his sonar perception was also activated. Karen used all the detection methods he currently possessed. Sure enough, this time the feeling was different. The closer he got, the clearer the sense of rejection and scrutiny originating from the level of bloodline and soul became. It was as if what he saw was no longer a simple snakeskin wrapping, but a complex cocoon of light composed of countless extremely fine, interwoven, and shimmering ancient magical runes and bloodline runes. They flowed slowly like living things, forming a perfect and exclusive defensive system.

He stopped at the front of the stage, not reaching out rashly. Instead, he slowly extended his wand, attempting to extend an extremely faint wisp of detection magic, mimicking the frequency he had developed over this period, and began to try to decipher it little by little.

Buzz————

Almost the instant the magic touched the outer layer of the cocoon of light, the already dim scales on the snakeskin suddenly glowed, and the internal magic flow accelerated instantly, emitting a low, ancient warning sound, as if composed of the hissing of countless venomous snakes. A powerful repulsive force abruptly repelled Karen's probing magic, even causing his fingers holding the wand to go slightly numb.

"A very strong automatic defense mechanism, something we didn't discover on the last exploration. It seems your research is paying off, Karen," Castor's voice came from behind, calmly analyzing. "It's not aggressive, but extremely xenophobic. Continue trying, but slower and more cautiously. Think carefully about your research over this period, Karen. Slowly try to mimic the key. Don't rush."

Karen nodded and put away his wand. He closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and tried to get himself into the best mental state.

In his mind, the magical fluctuations of Harry's Parseltongue, the rhythmic frequency of the runes flashing at the entrance to the rock wall, and his understanding of the Slytherin magic system that he had been studying during this period began to rapidly combine and simulate.

Then he reached out again, this time without a wand, but instead gathered his highly concentrated willpower and the simulated composite magical energy at his fingertips. His fingertips emitted a faint silver-blue glow, flickering and vibrating in a complex rhythm, emitting a subtle hissing sound, like a snake rubbing its scales.

His fingertips slowly approached the light-filled cocoon of the authority lock.

The closer you get, the greater the resistance. That cold, scrutinizing feeling returns, like a mechanical consciousness, indifferently scanning...

Analyzing the "key" he simulated.

Hiss—Crack—

The light on the surface of the snakeskin wrapping began to become unstable, the frequency of alternating between light and dark increased, and the hissing sound inside also became somewhat chaotic, as if it was really "considering" this dubious "key".

A glimmer of hope rose in Karen's heart. She did her best to maintain the stability and precision of her magic output, trying to integrate that trace of the will to "open" and "accept" more clearly into it.

However, just before his fingertips touched the snakeskin, a whoosh!

The light from the access lock suddenly became blinding, and then Karen felt as if another wave of magic swept over her. The cold scrutiny instantly transformed into undisguised rejection and contempt! A repulsive force far stronger than before suddenly erupted, like an invisible hammer, slamming into Karen's chest!

"Ugh!" Karen groaned, staggering back several steps uncontrollably before being steadied by a firm, strong hand pressing down on her shoulder.

It was Professor Castor. He had approached without anyone noticing, supporting Karen with one hand while his wand in the other hand remained steadily pointed forward. A semi-transparent magical shield instantly appeared in front of the two of them, blocking most of the aftershocks of the repulsive force.

The light from the access lock ahead quickly dimmed, returning to its initial state, and the hissing sound completely disappeared, as if all the intense reactions just moments before had been an illusion. Only the cold, unchanging rejection remained.

"It failed." Karen gasped for breath, his chest still tight. He looked at the now-calm package, shook his head, and spoke with a hint of frustration, but mostly with calm analysis. "It detected the traces of imitation. Although it's better than the last time when there was no reaction at all, which means the direction might be correct, this lock 'needs' more than just the right sound and frequency. It probably needs something more fundamental, something that cannot be imitated—the bloodline or soul fluctuations of Slytherin. My imitation is far from sufficient."

Castor withdrew his hand from Karen's support, his gaze still sharply fixed on the access lock, and nodded: "As expected."

Salazar Slytherin wouldn't leave such an easy loophole. However, I didn't expect the access lock's defense mechanism to be just a simple bounce, nothing more. Your attempt has provided valuable data proving that its defense mechanism reacts to approximate frequencies, rather than being completely inactive. That in itself is valuable.” He paused, looking at Karen, “Then, let's stick with your previous backup plan.”

"Yes, Professor," Karen replied decisively without any hesitation. He never engaged in pointless arguments.

He carefully retrieved from his dragon-skin pouch a specially made isolation box for these access-locked documents—a square box made of mithril and some kind of black wood, its surface engraved with countless intricate magical runes. Opening the lid revealed a soft, dark velvet lining inside, with multiple embedded solidification spells radiating a powerful field of isolation and stability.

He raised his wand again, this time not to break the spell, but to move it. He manipulated magic, as if using the softest, most invisible hand to gently wrap the snakeskin-wrapped journal and the scroll beside it.

The faint light of the access lock flickered back on, seemingly resisting the incoming movement slightly. However, perhaps because Karen's actions were purely movement rather than a forced breakthrough, or perhaps because the isolation field emitted by the isolation box itself was effective, the repulsive force did not erupt violently again.

The log and the roll drum floated smoothly up and then slowly and precisely fell into the velvet groove inside the isolation box.

Close the lid.

With a soft click, the mithril clasp on the edge of the box lid automatically locked. Immediately afterwards, all the magical runes engraved on the box lit up in turn, flowing for a moment as if coming to life, before finally disappearing completely. An invisible yet extremely powerful barrier was fully formed, completely isolating the inside of the box from the outside.

Only at this moment did Karen truly breathe a sigh of relief. The core item had been safely retrieved.

"One last check, then we're ready to leave," Castor ordered, his gaze sweeping across the entire laboratory once more.

Karen nodded, his "Eye of Truth" scanning the space one last time to confirm that their actions hadn't activated any hidden traps or alarm spells, nor had it missed any other obviously important items. He paid particular attention to the dark groove where the dark algae had reacted, recording its location and texture with his camera.

"Everything is normal, Professor. No other mechanisms have been triggered."

"Very good. We've explored almost everything we could this time, but it's a pity we still haven't discovered the power supply system for this lab. Slytherin hid it very well. Never mind, let's go."

Without lingering any longer, the two quickly turned around, passed through the slightly cool energy membrane, and plunged back into the cold, dark lake water.

Karen turned around, mimicking the specific frequency once more, watching the magical archway on the rock wall slowly disappear, the runes vanishing, sealing Salazar Slytherin's secret once more deep at the bottom of the lake, awaiting his next visit.