Hogwarts: My Grandmother is the Queen

Chapter 390 The Fourth Trial

Four days after Bakal's letter arrived, Henry received an unsigned and unstamped letter after training at the Duel Club.

The letter was dark green with neat creases, and contained only one sentence: "Tonight at nine o'clock, bring all your tools and wait for me at the third arched entrance on the south side of the outer wall. You will know what to do."

Henry folded the letter and put it in his pocket, then left the training room and walked back down the corridor.

At dinner, he sat with Draco at the Slytherin table by the window. Draco was commenting on Cho Chang's brilliant counter-attack during the afternoon's training session. Henry listened, nodding occasionally, his fork bobbing the food on his plate, not eating much.

Draco noticed, but didn't ask any questions. He simply said briefly at the end of dinner, "If someone needs to watch over something tonight, you know which room I'm staying in."

Henry nodded his thanks, then got up and left the auditorium.

At 9:55 p.m., he stood in front of the third arched entrance on the south side of the castle's outer wall.

On his gloved left hand, the positioning stone emitted a gentle warmth, not intense, but steady, like an invitation.

He crouched down and affixed the first emblem to the seam at the bottom of the stone wall.

The entrance opened, revealing the stone staircase he had walked through a few days earlier.

He slipped in sideways and walked down the passage.

The passage felt longer than the last time he walked through it. He counted his steps and took about forty steps before reaching the bottom. The central stone pillar in the circular space still stood there, its spiral patterns glowing with a ghostly green light as he approached.

But this time, there was something extra on the ground next to the stone pillar.

It was a translucent stone slab, about two feet square, with a smooth, mirror-like surface. The edge of the slab was inlaid with a ring of fine silver patterns, like some kind of ancient conductor circuit.

Henry stopped in front of the stone slab and looked down at it.

His face was reflected on the stone slab, and then the image began to change, transforming from a reflection into a moving image.

It was an aerial view of Hogwarts Castle, from which every tower and courtyard of the castle was clearly visible.

Strands of green light flow along the outline of the castle at the edge of the image, like blood in a vein.

"What you see is the castle's ancient magical network," Bakal's voice came from the shadows behind him.

Henry turned around.

Bakal stood at the entrance to the circular space, his dark green robe almost blending into the darkness, with only the silver embroidery at the collar shimmering in the dim light.

"You've identified nineteen nodes inside and outside the castle," Bakal said. "Seven of them are active, nine are dormant but can be awakened, and three are completely dormant. Your grandmother marked thirty-one on her map, but there are many more beyond those thirty-one. You haven't found them because you haven't looked for their actual locations."

Henry looked at Bakal: "What is the content of the trial?"

"You must traverse the entire network to find the main artery, the ancient magical energy core that extends from 120 feet beneath the castle's foundation and runs through the entire underground of Hogwarts. Follow it to its end."

"Where is the finish line?"

"It won't be found until you know it. Once you set out, it will naturally let you know," Bakal said, gesturing with his chin towards the pillar. "Place your hand on the pillar and let the positioning stone contact the spiral pattern."

Henry walked over and placed his left palm on the surface of the stone pillar.

The moment the positioning stone touched the spiral pattern, a surge of intense heat flowed from the palm into the arm, spread along the shoulder to the chest, and then diffused towards the feet.

The ground beneath his feet began to tremble, and a crack appeared around the edge of the circular space, from which green light shone.

The ground sank about three feet, revealing a downward-sloping tunnel entrance.

The passageway was wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The walls were made of rough rock, and every so often a lamp without a flame was embedded in the wall, with a faint green light inside.

"Main Channel," Bakal's voice came from above. "The timer starts now. The structure of this channel is not fixed; it will change as you move. You need to use the locator stone to sense the direction of energy flow, the beacon to record the path you've taken, and the emblem to mark the nodes you've unlocked. If you get lost in the channel, the beacon will help you rewind. But if you lose the beacon—don't lose it."

After saying this, Bakal disappeared from the entrance of the passage.

The opening above the circular space closed again, leaving only the downward-sloping passageway extending forward under the guidance of the green light.

Henry took a deep breath, took the beacon pendant from his collar, held it in his left hand, and took his first step.

The passageway extends downwards for about two hundred steps, where the slope gradually decreases and turns horizontal.

The rocks on both sides began to change, transforming from rough natural stone walls into regularly cut stones with spiral patterns carved on their surfaces. The patterns contained the same green light spots as those inside the lamps.

He stopped at a fork in the road and touched the ground and the two walls with a positioning stone.

My left hand felt that the channel on the right was hotter, and the energy flow was pointing to the right.

He chose the right-hand passage.

After walking about fifty steps, the passage suddenly widened, leading into an underground hall.

The hall's dome is very high, at least three stories high, with a huge spiral opening in the center. Above the opening, a flowing green light curtain can be seen, like a frozen waterfall.

There were some stones and gravel scattered on the floor of the hall, but these stones were not randomly placed.

The moment Henry touched the ground with the positioning stone, he sensed that beneath the rubble lay energy nodes—not just one, but multiple nodes arranged in a certain pattern, forming a winding path.

He crouched down, touched the edge of the nearest piece of gravel with his gloved hand, moved the gravel aside, and revealed a stone slab engraved with a spiral symbol.

He affixed the first emblem to the stone slab. The symbols on the surface of the slab lit up briefly and then dimmed, but the positioning stone sensed that the energy beneath the slab had been activated.

The warmth spread along the ground beneath the gravel, connecting to the location of the next stone slab.

He found seven stone slabs in the hall, each requiring a token to trigger, and the triggering order had to align with the energy flow detected by the locating stone. If the order was wrong, the previous slab would extinguish, and he would have to start over.

After completing the seventh stone slab, an arched doorway appeared on the stone wall at the end of the hall. A faint green light emanated from the inside of the doorway, as if waiting for him to enter.

He passed through the doorway and entered a narrower corridor.

The corridor floor was covered with a thin layer of water, about ankle-deep, and the water was very cold, but a green halo floated on the surface.

After walking about thirty steps, he noticed decorative reliefs on the stone walls on both sides of the corridor.

The relief depicts figures, with shamans and witches in ancient robes moving stones, laying slabs, and lighting some kind of lamp.

This is the record of the builders who were constructing this passage.

Henry slowed his pace, observing the reliefs as he walked. In the third relief, he saw a figure standing in front of the group, wearing a dark robe different from the other builders, holding a stone slab engraved with a spiral symbol, as if directing the entire project.

The figure's face was not depicted in detail in the relief; the facial area was treated as a smooth depression, as if it had been deliberately erased.

Henry continued walking forward, when the corridor suddenly turned sharply to the left and then sloped downwards for a distance, leading into a larger underground space.

In the center of this space stands a thick stone pillar, about five feet in diameter, its surface densely covered with spiral patterns and symbols, between which flow a bright green light. The floor of the space is a complete circular platform, surrounded by a low stone railing, beyond which lies unfathomable darkness.

There are no boundaries, no walls, only darkness.

He touched the platform ground with the positioning stone, and a strong warmth surged into his body from the ground, exceeding the intensity of any node he had ever sensed before.

This should be one of the core locations of the main vein.

However, there was no obvious exit in the space.

He walked around the edge of the platform, touched the surface of the stone railing with the positioning stone, and found a tiny indentation on the inside of the railing.

Its shape is exactly the same as the second emblem in his hand.

He inserted the second emblem, and a ring of green light lit up the recessed edge. Then, a semi-transparent figure appeared in the air above the platform.

The figure's outline resembled Bakal, but its color was lighter, like a projection made of energy.

"You have reached the first core node of the main vein," the projection said, its voice softer than Bakal's. "You now face your first choice. The energy of ancient magic has two paths: one upwards, into the castle's Floo network to supply daily use; the other downwards, into deeper layers of the earth, into the sealed area."

The projection raised its hand and pointed to one side of the platform at Henry's feet: "Whichever path you choose, walk in that direction."

After making your choice, a path will open. However, be aware that once you choose to go down, you cannot turn back; you must reach the destination. The upward path allows you to return at any time, while the downward path only allows you to move forward.

Henry looked down at the platform beneath his feet. He could feel the heat emanating from the positioning stone inside his glove splitting in two directions.

One went left, and the other went right.

The temperature on the left is slightly lower, like a stream of water with its flow restricted. The temperature on the right is very high, with a pulsating sensation that doesn't diminish.

"I choose down," he said.

The projection nodded slightly and then vanished. A low rumble came from the stone railing on the right side of the platform, and a narrow stone bridge, about three feet wide, emerged from the darkness outside the railing, stretching into the depths of darkness with no visible end.

Henry walked onto the stone bridge.

The stone bridge was very long, with no railings on either side of the bridge, only a thick darkness.

He walked for about ten minutes, and the stone bridge under his feet suddenly widened, merging into a platform area, and the surrounding darkness began to become less pure.

Blurred outlines emerged from the darkness, like furniture, walls, and door frames shrouded in mist.

He stopped in his tracks.

It was a fleeting glimpse of a corridor, with doors on both sides, each bearing a door number. Some doors were half-open, letting in warm yellow light.

He touched the ground with the positioning stone and did not feel any abnormal temperature change.

This wasn't within the area of ​​an ancient magical node, but rather a visual construct. Yet the beacon pendant felt slightly warm against his chest.

It was recording the path, but it also sensed something unrelated to temperature.

He chose to go through a half-open door. Inside was a study, with bookshelves filled with books, a fire burning in the fireplace, and a document lying on the desk with writing on it in some kind of ancient language, which he could understand.

The document contains research notes from an ancient sorcerer who was attempting to split his soul in order to circumvent the limitations of death.

Henry read the document from beginning to end. It didn't mention any specific names or locations, but the descriptions of principles reminded him of the diary.

He left the study and continued walking down the corridor.

The second door led to a reception room, where an old woman sat in a portrait above the fireplace. The old woman's face was blurry, but the outline seemed familiar to him.

The old woman in the portrait looked at him and said in a slow, slightly hoarse voice, "What you inherited does not belong to you alone."

Henry stood before the portrait, silent for a moment, then asked, "What are you saying?"

"Your abilities, what you see. The energies you sense," the old woman said. "None of them existed in your grandmother's generation, nor in your father's. None in your mother's lineage. You are the only one. But being the only one doesn't mean being alone. Sometimes the chain of inheritance breaks for a long time, and then it's reconnected. The longer the break, the more it has to endure when it's reconnected."

The third door led to an empty room. On the floor of the room was a stone slab, just like the ones he had activated before, with spiral symbols engraved on its surface.

He affixed the second emblem to the stone slab, which lit up, and a new door appeared on the wall opposite the room.

He passed through the door and found himself back at the edge of the core platform, but the stone pillar in the center of the platform was different; the symbols on the pillar were denser and the green light was brighter.

He walked back to the center of the platform and touched the stone pillar with the positioning stone. A strong and clear heat surged into his body along his arm, stronger and more complete than ever before.

Bakal's projection reappeared in the air above the platform.

"You've chosen the downward path; you've passed the first test," the projection said. "Now, you need to decide what you want this power for. The answer to that question won't come from me, nor from Rackham, Lukwood, or Fitzgerald. It's an answer you must confirm yourself, the moment you truly see the end."