The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 576 Mysterious Cave

"This is it."

Late at night, two girls stood on the beach, looking at the cave in front of them.

"This place looks...it's really big," Loila said, pursing her lips.

The cave was much larger than she had imagined, and its location was also much more hidden, situated below a cliff—it didn't look like it would be easy to find.

I wonder how Miss Hilo found out —

"This isn't the cave where you woke up, is it?"

"Hmm—no—no." Although she didn't have much of an impression of that cave, Loila was certain that it wasn't the cave in front of her.

After all, I didn't need to be careful of these dangerous rocks when I came out.

Perhaps because of the Halloween activities she had just participated in, Miss Hilo seemed to still be enjoying herself a bit. However, after noticing Loila's gaze, she immediately patted her face and let out a soft sigh.

After that, she reverted to her previous cold and unapproachable demeanor.

Miss Shiloh is such an interesting person —

"Let's begin." Shiloh's serious voice made Loila shudder.

"Okay—okay!"

Following behind Hilo, Loila carefully stepped over the rocks one by one. It was already late October or November, and the seawater was definitely not warm.

If you accidentally step into a hole, it would definitely be very refreshing, right?

Fortunately, with Miss Hilo's help, even Loila, who wasn't good at sports, didn't fall into the water.

As the two entered the cave, the once bright surroundings became pitch black, since there was no moonlight or starlight here.

"Flashing lights." Standing in front, Hilo raised his wand and flicked it, illuminating the surroundings.

Using the light from her wand, Loila was able to see a slightly narrow crevice deep inside the cave.

"It's a very dangerous place once you go in here," Hilo said slowly. "I only did a brief investigation before coming out."

"You need to prepare for battle."

"Okay—okay!" Loila gripped her wand tightly upon hearing this. Miss Shiloh had protected her in the Muggle world, so she would protect Miss Shiloh here as well.

With that thought in mind, the two of them squeezed into the crevice one after the other.

The gap wasn't very long or too narrow; Loila easily followed Miss Shiloh through it—Miss Shiloh seemed to have a bit more difficulty.

Am I still a child at heart?

But before Loila could even feel discouraged, she felt a chill wash over her.

It was as if she had suddenly stumbled into a snow-capped mountain; a bone-chilling cold seeped into Loila's neck, and it wasn't just physical coldness—it was more like a psychological chill.

This is something that can't be hidden by wearing a robe —

What kind of place is this? — Why is it like this? —

Through the light emanating from Heero's wand, Royla saw the almost boundless lake—

The lake was bottomless and unusually dark—there was no doubt—something was wrong.

"This might be some dark wizard's laboratory," Hilo said, bending down slightly and poking at the lake water with his wand. "Whatever you do, don't fall in."

"Hmm—Hmm!" Loila nodded seriously, because she couldn't swim, so even ordinary water was dangerous for her.

"Powerful fluorescent flashing".

Miss Hilo raised her wand and flicked it, sending out a burst of light from the tip that fell from the sky like a flashbang, illuminating not only the surroundings but also the center of the distant lake.

"There's a small island over there?" Loila said, pursing her lips.

In the middle of the dark lake stood a solitary island, and there seemed to be something on it. "Should we go up and take a look?" Loila asked after thinking for a moment.

"To be honest—I think it would be very dangerous to go up there," Shilo said calmly. "But—since we're already here, maybe we can give it a try—"

"But the lake here—"

Seeing that Hilo seemed to be pondering how to cross the lake, Loila pursed her lips, walked to the lakeside, and raised her wand.

"Buzz".

A faint light emanated from the tip of the wand, and then Loila lowered the wand and touched it to the lake.

"Slap—Slap—"

A faint white mist emanated from the tip of Loila's staff, and then, to Hilo's surprise, it quickly spread across the entire lake surface. Wherever the white mist reached, it was immediately frozen, turning the dark lake water into an inky mirror.

"Like this—this should work, right?" Loila said, carefully extending her foot to tap the ice.

After confirming that the ice surface was fine, she boldly took a few steps forward.

"Yes—yes, that's fine." She nodded and looked at Shiloh. "Shall we just walk over like this—?"

"Hmm—" Hilo shook his head helplessly: "I'm also planning to use Transfiguration to create a ship."

"But I don't—I can't row a boat."

"It's not a matter of whether you can row or not," Hilo said, shaking his head. "But it is definitely much more convenient this way."

So the two of them carefully walked on the ice, one after the other.

As she walked, Loila cautiously glanced down at the lake—she wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she had a feeling that there was something beneath the ice.

It's impossible for this lake to be just plain black, right?

Could there be something hidden inside?

The Black Lake at Hogwarts is home to a giant octopus—could something else be hiding here too?

For example, a dragon or something —

But dragons probably can't swim, right?

Not only Loila, but Hilo also cautiously examined the ice beneath her feet. The chill emanating from the deep darkness made her purse her lips involuntarily.

Fortunately, nothing happened until the two reached the small island in the middle of the lake.

The deep mirror is just a mirror; it can only reflect the girl's face.

With her feet firmly planted on solid ground, Loila felt a little relieved. After all, walking on ice required being careful not to slip or fall, and it would be too embarrassing if she actually fell, right?

While Loila breathed a sigh of relief, Shiloh frowned.

"What's that?" She pointed to a quartz platform in the middle of the island and pursed her lips.

"Hmm?" Loila noticed the quartz platform as well.

What is this thing? It looks like a sink in the restroom. Loila examined it closely and found that there was water inside.

Then----

This looks like a magic circle?

Loila pursed her lips in surprise and looked at Miss Shiro: "This is—this is a magic circle?"

"A magic circle?"

Hilo was also taken aback.

"It seems to be some kind of—some kind of magic lock—" Loila said, looking around and tapping lightly with her wand.

Looking at the blue patterns spreading out on it, Loila nodded thoughtfully: "This is indeed a magic circle—"

"And it's an extremely sophisticated magic array—it seems to be storing something very important—but fortunately, it seems like it can be used here—"

"Can you untie it?" Shiloh asked softly.

Upon hearing this, Loila raised her head and pursed her lips: "It should be possible—but it will take a little bit of time?"

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