Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 252 Something's Wrong

He reached out his hand towards the red fruit, slowly and carefully, until his fingers actually touched the cool fruit of life. Only then did Ike's tense nerves relax.

With a slight exertion of his fingers, the Fruit of Life fell into his hand. The two tenacious leaves suddenly turned yellow, withered, and drifted to the ground. Then, the Tree of Life, which had grown here for countless years, instantly dried up, withered, and curled up. Golden flames ignited from its roots, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a handful of black ash.

The black ash fell to the ground, and a gentle breeze, seemingly from nowhere, scattered it throughout the garden. Like sparks falling into the forest, it burned all the exotic flowers and plants to ashes. Ike stood still, unharmed in the slightest.

Looking at the scorched earth around him, and then at the still plump Fruit of Life in his hand, Ike's fingers unconsciously clenched, the ripples on the fruit constantly spreading. He put it in his pocket, waved his wand lightly, and a soft white light spread out, scattering the black ash all over the ground. Only a clean stone path remained in the garden, for the flames that had inexplicably ignited earlier had burned even the soil clean.

With another wave of the wand, he stomped hard on the stone slab, and a huge golden magic circle suddenly appeared, with countless golden lines standing tall in the air.

"Ding!"

A barely audible sound reached Ike's ears. He looked up and saw a black dot appear in the azure sky, with a golden thread pointing directly at it. Seeing this, Ike waved his wand, and the golden thread instantly converged, striking the black dot in unison.

"Click, click, click..."

As if a piece of glass was about to shatter under the immense pressure, spiderweb-like cracks appeared in the sky and spread rapidly outwards.

Seeing this, Ike smiled, calmly put away his wand, and waved away the golden threads. Then, he watched as the numerous cracks quickly disappeared, returning the room to its original state.

He tossed the Fruit of Life aside and casually placed it on the stone slab. He opened the suitcase he had been carrying, took out a small box, put the Fruit of Life inside, and then casually stuffed it into his pocket.

After taking one last look at the garden, now a wasteland, Ike turned and walked directly down the tower.

Nothing strange happened on the way back; I walked out quite normally. Stepping out of the tower gate, I was no longer greeted by the yellow sand that had stretched before me. Instead, I saw a winding, rushing river, though I couldn't tell if it was the Tigris or the Euphrates.

Turning his head, he saw the Tower of Babel slowly becoming transparent, and soon it disappeared from his sight. Ike waved his hand, casting a spell to conceal himself. Another chair appeared, and he sat down, a notebook and quill pen already in his hands.

"I have found the fruit of life."

"Very good, how does it feel?"

"Only one remains, which has been well preserved. I will present it to you when I see you."

"Then leave it with you for now, and give it to me when we meet."

"Okay, teacher."

After waiting a while and seeing no further writing appear in the notebook, Ike put them all away. He waved his hand to dispel the magic, took out a pocket watch from his pocket, and checked the time; it was a little past four in the afternoon.

After quickly getting a feel for the direction, I headed straight for Baghdad.

The journey back was much faster; by the time he returned to the hotel, the sun hadn't even set. He took a relaxing bath, the box containing the Fruit of Life lying beside him. He glanced at it, but had no desire to open it.

The experience in the Tower of Babel was magical, and indeed bore many traces of ancient magic, especially the place where time stood still, which was beyond Ike's imagination and understanding. The Last Garden was equally impressive, with exotic flowers and the magical Tree of Life complementing each other perfectly, creating a dreamlike atmosphere.

But because of this, Ike felt a sense of unease. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, but he simply felt that this place shouldn't be like this.

Compared to what he saw with his own eyes, Ike trusted his intuition more, and later attempts proved that the place was indeed abnormal. He wouldn't eat fruit obtained from such a place.

So, let's leave it to Old Fu. Old Fu has already permanently lost a fragment of his soul, and even if this fruit is real, it won't make up for his missing soul.

Thinking about it carefully, nothing has actually changed.

The next day, just like in Greece, Ike spent the day sightseeing in the city, and then boarded a plane to Amman that evening. His next stop was Egypt, but there were only a few direct flights from Baghdad to Cairo a week, so he had to transfer in Jordan, which wouldn't take up too much time.

The plane landed in the early hours of the morning. Without even leaving the airport, Ike bought a ticket to Cairo and waited until around 8 a.m. to board the plane before finally getting a short nap. After landing, he went straight to the hotel, checked into his room, and fell asleep immediately, not waking up until late at night.

I didn't go out the next day either, spending the time reading and watching TV in the house until after 9 p.m. before finally going to bed. When I woke up again, the artificially created jet lag was back to normal. Although I was still a little tired, it wasn't a big deal.

When visiting Egypt, the pyramids are a must-see. This time, Ike hired a private guide who led him to the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza, and they even went inside.

You only need to pay for a ticket, which is very convenient.

The tour guide spoke in hushed tones as he walked slowly ahead, with Ike following behind, observing intently. After the tour, Ike gave the guide a substantial tip and then left the scenic area.

I didn't go too far. I randomly found a coffee shop outside the scenic area, ordered a coffee, and then quietly looked at the towering pyramids in the distance.

"It's really cleaned up..." Ike thought to himself.

He hadn't just been looking at the artifacts; he was also carefully sensing any potential magical fluctuations. Although ancient Egyptian magic differed greatly from European magic, they were both applications of magical power and were essentially the same. However, along the way, Ike hadn't detected a single magical fluctuation.

It's not that there aren't any; it's normal that a few security personnel have magical fluctuations. How could there not be wizards guarding this kind of place? Even if they've removed all the magic from the pyramid, it's still necessary.

Moreover, Ike felt that they might not have truly removed all the curses and magic from the pyramids. Just think about the several pyramids Gringotts was still dealing with; the curses of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs and the magic of the high priests were not something that could be easily resolved.

It didn't really matter. Ike wasn't there for those legendary curses and magic; he just felt that coming to Egypt without seeing the pyramids was a waste of time. He was just here for sightseeing.

His real purpose was not this; he came to Cairo simply because it was more convenient to travel from there to the Red Sea.

That is where Moses parted the Sea.

(End of this chapter)