A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

They walked to the left, and every ten or so steps they encountered two or three stone steps, and the terrain became lower. Before they knew it, they had been walking for half an hour and were going deeper and deeper underground.

Finally, the view opened up before us, revealing a square space that ran through both sides.

On one side was the road they had come from, and on the other side—directly in front of them—was a pitch-black cave entrance. The light there was even dimmer than the surrounding area, and it was so quiet that it was as if someone had splashed black ink on it, playing a cruel joke on them.

“That’s the corridor we encountered before. The black thing is actually a still black mist, but as long as you stimulate it—” Kremy said, shooting a golden beam of light into it.

“Oh my God,” Hermione whispered, as a large cloud of black mist began to churn, accompanied by loud crackling sounds.

Felix took out an eagle-shaped magic lamp from his ring. The bronze eagle gently flapped its wings and opened its mouth to release a ball of light, illuminating the courtyard.

"Is this the magic lamp you mentioned?" Clemi asked Hermione quietly from the side. Hermione nodded while observing the surrounding scenery. The four corners of the courtyard were supported by pillars integrated into the stone. The pillars were not decorated, and the exposed surfaces were engraved with continuous grooves from top to bottom.

Felix stood motionless at the entrance of the cave, intently observing it, as if his gaze pierced through the black mist and he was watching an interesting television program.

The fairy Gonuk stood beside him, carefully probing his fingernail into the black mist. After a few seconds, he pulled it out, a wisp of black mist trailing from his fingertip. "It can confuse your senses and has a slight corrosive effect. It's fine for a short time, but in the long run, even breathing will become a major problem."

“We can use the Bubble Head Charm,” Kremy said.

"I don't know how to use it." The fairy muttered, took out a silver mask, put it on his head, and stuck his head into the black mist. "Ha, problem solved."

"Mr. Gonuk... is that silverware you made?"

“Of course, little girl,” Gonuk said proudly. “It’s not just silverware; our people have an extraordinary talent for distinguishing different materials, which is as easy for us as breathing.”

"Even newborns can instinctively distinguish impure metals. We prepare ceremonies for newborns, providing them with gold and silver of different purities to choose from. The most talented fairies will be nurtured from a young age."

“Talent…” Felix’s eyes flickered as he came to his senses. Hearing the goblin Gonuk’s words, he felt a surge of interest. Wizard children also possess various wondrous talents, such as Parsleyan speech or the ability to disguise themselves as Magus, but some talents are not obvious, and some people may never even realize it in their entire lives.

For example, some people are naturally friendly to animals and easily gain their trust. Felix believes that such people are well-suited to learn Vagado's self-transformation, which is different from the Animagus's human transformation technique. It allows them to transform into elephants and cheetahs at will, and the best among them can extend this to other animals.

Felix was confident that he would see this magic at the championship in the new school year.

He also realized that wizards' talents are not limited to this. Some wizards are more proficient in a certain type of magic. For example, Harry is particularly talented in dueling magic, far surpassing his peers. Ancient wizards also showed this characteristic.

In ancient times, ancient wizards tended to choose apprentices who had similar talents to themselves. Those who were very different from themselves, no matter how talented they were, would not be valued.

Felix drew his wand and thrust it forward. The wand made a "whoosh" sound as it sliced ​​through the air, and then spells flew into the black mist. After a while, the black mist gradually dissipated.

"What have you done?" the fairy Gonuk asked in surprise.

“Any magic leaves a trace. I just found the key to setting up the black mist,” Felix said briefly. As the black mist dissipated, everything in the corridor became clear. With the help of the magic lamps in the courtyard, black stone slabs could be seen hanging on the walls on both sides.

Hermione cautiously approached and stood at the entrance, staring in surprise at the nearest stone slab. The pattern on it looked very familiar to her. "Ancient magic? Rune sequence!"

“Yes,” Felix replied softly. “Don’t go in,” he suddenly snapped. He wasn’t speaking to Hermione, who glanced to the side and saw the goblin Gnook already walking ahead.

Chapter 333 The Decaying Horcrux

"Isn't there no danger anymore?"

The fairy Gonuk asked through his mask, surveying the passageway ahead. He took another step forward, and intense sparks flew from the empty air in front of him, striking the fairy and sending him flying like a tattered kite.

Faisal and Rahman went over to check on Gonuk's condition. The middle-aged sorcerer Rahman said, "He's alright. He's wearing protective gear and has just fainted."

"There are hidden traps?" Kremi asked Felix in surprise. "Isn't the curse from the black mist?" She picked up the curse detector and scanned it continuously. Suddenly, the antenna-like thing in her hand exploded, startling her.

"That proves it; the curse definitely exists," she said, her face grim.

“Actually, there are many more,” Felix said. From his perspective, the empty corridor was filled with countless points of light, each representing a curse, floating like plankton.

He turned to Clemi and asked, "In this pyramid... in the parts you explored before, were there any magical items that could store magic?"

Kremy shook her head. "We found quite a few things that still retain magic, such as the golden dagger and the scarab amulet, but it's very weak. Unlike cursed items in the outside world, innocent blood can maintain the effect of the curse."

After a while, the goblin Gnouche woke up and immediately lifted his clothes, then let out a wail. Hermione then noticed that he was wearing a silver bodysuit.

"It's got a hole!" he cried out in anguish. "I don't know if it can be fixed."

……

Felix walked ahead, with the others a dozen steps behind him, watching him poke and tap the air here and there, one curse after another exploding like fireworks.

The sheer number of people following behind sent a chill down the spines of those behind them.

Felix stopped every now and then to examine the stone slabs on both sides. He had originally thought that, given the size of these slabs, there should be at least a dozen ancient spells, but the actual number was less than that. So far, he had only seen three, including a complete black lightning spell.

Many stone slabs contain the self-introduction of the wizard who created this secret chamber, including his travel experiences. He said he was a traveling wizard from Greece who crossed the Aegean Sea and discovered a source of magic in the upper tomb of the pyramids—a four-cone gemstone. He then decided to build a secret chamber to benefit future generations.

“The curses in the corridor are progressively stronger. If you’re not confident, don’t force it. Leave the opportunity for others.” Hermione read the words on the stone tablet. “So that’s how it is!” The others also looked enlightened.

"Was it because the ancient wizards were too strong and we were too weak?" Kremi said dejectedly, realizing that they couldn't even withstand the weakest test.

“Don’t make decisions lightly; perhaps these words are just lies,” Felix said, as he steadily moved forward, a suspicion in his mind becoming increasingly clear.

One fact is, were ancient wizards very powerful? If we look at ancient magic, they were indeed powerful, but in terms of the flexibility of their methods, they were far inferior to those of today.

Most ancient wizards did not apparition. As for other spells, such as warning spells, life magic, and auxiliary magic, they were not as sophisticated as the current system. Those historically renowned ancient wizards, while constantly amplifying their strengths, also exposed their weaknesses.

This is also what Felix deduced from various magical notes: why ancient wizards kept their secrets so tightly guarded.

The road ahead was rugged and dangerous, and Felix had already sent them far back. He himself put on a cloak made of basilisk skin and dragon skin and moved forward little by little, constantly cleaning away the curses.

These curses also contain various powerful and bizarre black magic, which were preserved by the owner of the dark room. Perhaps they were stored on a stone or on a granite ceiling.

However, most of the spells within the stones dissipated over time, leaving only a faint glow and an evil aura. They must have existed independently, not connected to the overall defense.

Felix grew increasingly certain that the master of the dark room was a dark wizard, a powerful one. It was as if Felix had entered a museum of dark magic, finding parallels to many modern forms of black magic.

Finally, he stopped in front of a large bronze door with a bronze door knocker and no other decorations.

The goblin Gnuck called from afar, "Can we come over?" he asked eagerly. In the goblin's view, everything here belonged to Gringotts. They paid money and manpower to eliminate hidden dangers for the Ministries of Magic of various countries, and the compensation was the treasures in the ruins.

The crowd approached and lined up to look at the bronze door. Seeing Felix deep in thought, they dared not disturb him. His performance along the way had already proven his strength and extensive knowledge. They hadn't discovered a single one of those chilling curses.

After a long while, Felix let out a long sigh of relief.

"Have you run into trouble?" Hermione asked softly, her voice amplified in the dark room, as if she were speaking right next to her ear.

"I find it a bit strange; there doesn't seem to be any danger ahead."

This puzzled him greatly. He glanced at the others and said, "You all move aside." Perhaps because his expression was too serious, everyone drew their wands and carefully moved to the side. Felix even summoned the eagle-shaped magic lamp.

Having done all this, he reached out and knocked on the bronze door knocker. The sound echoed, and everyone's hearts jumped. A few seconds later, the door suddenly cracked open, dust swirling down, accompanied by a grating sound. The opening widened, followed by the scraping of something. Felix cautiously backed away as two dark figures crashed down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Bang! Bang!"

Those hiding on either side finally saw the true form of the shadowy figure. "It's the Basilisk!" Hermione screamed. She was absolutely certain; she had fought the Basilisk head-on in her second year.

However, what lay before them were the corpses of two serpent monsters. They had been dead for a long time, and because they had been left in a confined space for so long, their dark green snake skins quickly rotted upon contact with the outside air, releasing a strong stench of decay.

"vomit!"

Several people began to vomit. Felix waved his wand, casting a Bubble Head Charm on them, while he himself was encased in a Humanoid Armor Charm. He strode into the room, his judgment becoming increasingly clear.

The eagle-shaped magic lamp followed behind, its light shining into the interior from behind him, bringing this isolated place back to the real world. In the empty square, a dozen large and small basilisks were coiled up, all of them dead. When Felix stepped over them, the colors on the basilisks, along with the surrounding ring pillars, all lost their color.

Felix walked straight to the very center, where there was a circular altar.

On the altar stood a life-size statue of a middle-aged male wizard with silver-white hair and yellow eyes. He smiled gently, holding a four-cone gem in his hand. A dim light emanated from the gem, which was the source of magic that Felix had been searching for.

A crack split open from the top of the statue's head, running down from between its eyebrows, almost shattering it in two. From this long crack, thick, black blood seeped out, but it had long since dried, forming unsightly stains.

Felix could almost imagine how, over thousands of years, it had been gradually worn down, decayed, and cracked, becoming what it is today.

“It really was you, you despicable Halbo,” Felix said softly, his tone a mixture of admiration and mockery. “So Horcruxes can decay too?”

As if in response to his words, the statue of Herpo—or rather, the Horcrux—began to lose its luster little by little, turning grayish, and with a gentle blow from Felix, it completely fell apart.

Chapter 334 The Most Painful Punishment

Felix stared at the altar. The huge statue, right before his eyes, decayed in a very short time, crumbling into pieces, then being swept away by an invisible wind into fine sand, until nothing was left.

Could it be because of the breath I blew?

"Definitely not," Felix thought. "That's ridiculous. The statue of Herpo should be similar to the basilisk corpses we saw before. It's been sealed for who knows how long, at least a thousand years, no, two thousand years, right?"

He thought about it very seriously. The despicable Helbo was active in ancient Greece, even earlier than the four founders of Hogwarts. Moreover, by the time the four founders rose to power, Helbo had already disappeared for hundreds of years.

To them, Helpo was already part of the legend—they only knew of his infamous reputation, but had never actually seen him. They might even have been frightened by their parents with Helpo's evil reputation when they were children for being disobedient.

Felix grinned, amused by the sudden thought. It was true that legends were once children, but few people made that connection; they preferred to believe that legends were legends from the start.

Felix put the idea aside and became serious, pondering the Horcrux issue very carefully.

That's right, Horcruxes. For him, the only attraction of Horcruxes was their connection to the study of the soul. Unfortunately, even though he had mastered the methods of making Horcruxes, he knew very little about the realm of the soul.

They didn't even touch the fur.

He thought of that book, *The Secrets of Cutting-Edge Black Magic*, which contained more than just Horcruxes, but without a doubt, it was the most evil of them all. The reason for its evil wasn't just the need for murder, but also the splitting of souls.

To render a perfect soul incomplete is an act against nature, and will inevitably come at a terrible price, as clearly stated in the book. As for what that price is, the book does not say, and Felix has no way of knowing.

……

When Hermione entered, she was startled. There were not only the two basilisks blocking the door, but also a whole nest inside. She had to use the Bubble Head Curse to carefully walk around the lying snake corpses to avoid being touched by them. Then she came to the professor and just then heard him mention Horcruxes.

She was startled. Had the professor discovered the mysterious man's fourth Horcrux? But then she realized something was wrong, because a name had been mentioned earlier—Hairbo. She quickly understood the significance of the name Helbo.

The despicable Herpo, a famous black wizard of ancient Greece, is one of the sources of many existing black magic spells. He invented many evil curses and black magic spells, the most famous of which are Horcruxes! In addition, he is also a Parseltongue who discovered the method of hatching basilisks.

Did they accidentally stumble upon the place where Helbo hid the Horcruxes?

Just as she was about to ask a question, the professor sighed and blew a breath. Then the seemingly solid statue in front of him crumbled into dust. Even when she walked over, the dust was gone, as if it had all been her illusion.

“Professor?” Hermione tilted her head, looking at Felix, who had been silent the whole time.

Felix looked at her and said calmly, "It's nothing, just a bit of a feeling."

"You destroyed Helbo's Horcrux?"

"Well, it has nothing to do with me. It was destroyed a long time ago. We just discovered that fact."

Hermione blinked, trying to analyze the situation using her limited knowledge of Horcruxes. She first glanced at the others. Kremy and the other two had just come in and were staring at the basilisk corpse blocking their way. The goblin Gnook... she couldn't see him; he was probably blocked by the basilisk.

So she asked in a low voice, "Professor, if the Horcrux is destroyed, what about Helbo's main soul?"

Felix's eyes darted around. This was indeed an interesting question. The purpose of a Horcrux was to split the soul, hiding a portion inside an object outside the body. This way, even if the body was attacked or destroyed, the person wouldn't die, because a part of the soul remained unharmed in the world.

But this applies to situations where the wizard dies unexpectedly but the Horcruxes remain. What if both of these happen to each other?

Is it possible that Helbo invented the method for making Horcruxes and successfully created the first Horcrux, but before he could research how to restore his physical body, he died in an accident or simply died of old age...?

This speculation is not impossible. The reason why Herpo was admired or hated by later generations is because he creatively invented a lot of black magic. Is it possible that before him, no one had studied how to restore the body of the dead?