The Silent Bookstore Manager at Hogwarts

The hunting habits of the Devil's Web meant that if Ron continued to struggle, he would most likely end up in the school infirmary, and Gryffindor would lose a lot of points. Therefore, Hermione had to seriously and quickly begin to explain the Devil's Web's behavior.

However, Ron was completely unable to control his struggles. He was having some mental issues, and the tighter the Devil's Web tightened, the less he could control his struggling movements.

So Harry lit his wand, and the glow from the Glowing Charm made the Devil's Web retreat somewhat, but the light wasn't bright enough for the Devil's Web to abandon its prey.

So Harry took out the bitter black salt, snapped his fingers, and rubbed it together to create a tiny spark.

"Wait, Harry!!" Hermione also took out her wand. She thought of the spell that could dispel the Devil's Web, but Hermione was obviously not as fast as Harry. He lit a bitter black salt pellet.

The sudden increase in light loosened the Devil's Web a little more, but it wasn't enough, so Harry simply gripped his wand.

"Blazing Flames!"

The flames that erupted completely dispersed the Devil's Web. Ron screamed as he landed surrounded by flames, but to his own surprise, there were no burn marks on his body. It was as if Harry had instantly dispelled the flames after the Devil's Web was dispersed.

"Harry..." Hermione stared blankly at Harry. She had never imagined that Harry had mastered the Flame Bear so skillfully. She only remembered that Harry used to practice releasing flames by hatching dragon eggs, but now he could use the Flame Bear so casually and easily. Harry's progress was remarkable.

"Alright, enough with the sentimentality, let's move on now."

Harry had a sense of déjà vu; he felt as if what he was doing wasn't beyond someone's expectations, or rather...

"Just as I thought! Did you guys figure it out?"

The trio stepped through the next door, and their field of vision was filled with winged keys that looked like little elves fluttering in the air. Harry almost instantly found the slightly different key among the pile of identical keys.

"Um...we found the key that opens this door and got our hands on it, but they all flew so high..."

Ron saw the flying broomstick floating in mid-air, and he suddenly looked at Harry.

"Speaking of which... Harry, you can definitely do it, right? The youngest and most talented Seeker of this century..."

Harry nodded, but he had a better way than riding a flying broomstick: he took out his wand.

"Retreat the enemy three feet!"

The spell struck the correct key precisely, causing it to fall slowly to the ground. However, as Harry cast the spell, all the fake keys still floating in the air aimed at him and flew towards him like arrows.

"Summon the key!"

Harry waved his wand, and the key that had fallen to the ground was in his hand even faster than the fake keys that had been poked at him.

"Let's hurry, these keys didn't just fly here!"

Harry immediately shoved the key into the keyhole after getting it. He was too lazy to slowly progress through the game. In this race against time, he had no intention of touching the real key while being bothered by a bunch of fake keys.

Hermione and Ron reacted almost immediately and followed Harry, using the heavy wooden door as a shield. The sound of the fake key piercing the door made Hermione and Ron's hair stand on end; they didn't want to experience what it would feel like to actually be stabbed by that thing.

"But where is this place?"

The third room was incredibly gloomy. Many stone statues stood before them, their arrangement seemingly following a peculiar pattern...

Harry narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, he understood: these statues were chess pieces, and the black and white chessboard beneath them almost explained the conditions for clearing this room.

"What on earth is Headmaster Dumbledore thinking...?"

Rather than the room guarding the Philosopher's Stone, this looks more like a large-scale obstacle course amusement park. Apart from Lu Wei, who genuinely wants to stop the intruders, the others seem to be testing them. Moreover, the designers almost guessed that the intruders wouldn't be very strong, so these levels don't have strict requirements on strength. Instead, they're more like a special kind of 'final exam'.

"First plants, then flight lessons, and what's this time?"

Harry muttered to himself in a low voice, and he could sense that these rooms contained puzzles left behind by a certain professor.

The room was then illuminated by the firelight, and they saw rows of standing stone statues. These were wizard chess pieces, with the white pieces standing silently in front of the door, as if guarding it.

"Wait, the door is over there, let's go straight there..." Hermione clearly still didn't understand what this room was for, so she walked straight to the soldiers in the first row. The soldiers unsurprisingly drew their gleaming blades, and Harry realized that these statues might be some kind of alchemical creation.

"Harry, Hermione... This is Wizarding Chess, and Black is missing a piece; it looks like we're the ones who need to fill it."

Ron quickly recognized what it was, so Harry stood in the elephant's position, Hermione became the carriage or castle, and Ron rode the unridden horse and became the knight.

"According to the rules... they will go first, and then it will be our turn."

Ron licked his lips, gripping the reins of the stone horse with intense tension. He was finally going to be of some use, a thought that even Ron himself didn't realize he had.

Sure enough, the enemy soldiers began to move.

"Ron, what do you think about us considering an easier strategy...?"

Harry spoke, glancing at the statues. He had learned to deal with living creatures, and he was unsure how to fight these statues. However, that didn't mean he was helpless.

"What's an even simpler way to play?"

Ron asked in confusion, directing the battle as he did so. The conditions given in this game seemed exceptionally lenient, and Ron had an absurdly long time to think.

"The simplest way is for me to just blow the enemy king into the sky."

To Ron and Hermione's horrified dismay, Harry pulled out some bitter black salt from his bag and began assembling explosives.

"Wait, what are you going to do?!"

Hermione's mouth was agape. Watching Harry's practiced movements, she even began to wonder what Harry had done before.

"Making explosives, huh? Who said artillery isn't allowed in a battle between two armies?"

Harry spoke up quite naturally, saying that this method might not be needed, but Harry couldn't afford not to prepare.