The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

"...Just don't answer, find a room where you can answer the question..."

The soles of their feet hit the ground, and Professor Babbling's shouts echoed in Loren and Hermione's ears.

The two stood close together, drawing out their wands and alerting their surroundings. It was pitch dark, but the two of them did not light up their wands rashly. They held their breath at the same time and tacitly agreed not to make any sound.

Loren's eyes blinked a few times, and in the dark space, two points of crystal blue light flashed away.

Under the care of the magic vision, there was nothing but a stone sculpture with a dim light in front of it.

"Look on the bright side, at least the teleportation in the pyramid is much easier than the portkey." Loren relaxed and circled the wand a few times, summoning several blue flames.

The flames floated in the air, lingering around the two of them, emitting a soft light like blue satin, which was warm. Instead of using the fluorescent spell, the light of the fluorescent spell would occupy the tip of the wand, and his wand was always ready to deal with emergencies.

Turning around, he saw the little witch standing there a little disappointed. Loren smiled and said, "It seems that Professor Babling has missed her appointment. She failed to protect our safety."

"It's my fault. Bill and Mr. Lock Cylinder were in the front, and Professor Barbling was in the back. That was the safest position..." Hermione's expression was low, and her tone was full of self-blame, "I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't moved. The magic is triggered.”

"Indeed!" Loren nodded, "As punishment, you wash my socks during the summer vacation."

"Who wants to wash your socks? Is this the time to talk about this?"

Even now in the dark pyramid chamber, Hermione couldn't help but be amused, and Loren's humorous jokes greatly relieved her anxiety.

"You're right, go out and wash my socks again." Loren said as he walked around the four walls.

This is a square closed stone chamber, surrounded by walls made of huge stones. There is a rectangular gap on one of the stone walls. It looks like a door, but it is closed by a whole huge stone.

"We'd better not touch that stone sculpture unless necessary, what do you think, Hermione?" Loren walked to the door and checked it carefully, touched and knocked, but found no mechanism to open the door.

Hermione was trying to Apparate, but nothing happened. Like Hogwarts Castle, Apparition was prohibited here.

Loren took a few steps back and looked at the blocked stone door, pondering for a moment: "Do you think I can blow open this door with [Portal Opening]?"

"Why do I feel like you can't wait to blow up the door?" Hermione on the side opened her eyes and put down the wand in her hand, "Let's take a look at the stone sculptures first. I always feel that blowing up the door will cause more trouble."

Together they approached the stone sculpture in the center of the room.

The craftsmanship of the stone carvings was obviously unqualified. A lion statue was carved in a strange shape. Its body resembled a huge lion, with huge paws, a long tail wrapped around its feet, and a raised ball at the tip of the tail, which seemed to be tail hair. group. The strangest thing is that the lion has a woman's head carved into it.

"This seems to be...the mummy of the Sphinx that Bill mentioned?" Hermione looked at it for a long time before matching the stone sculpture in front of her with the picture in the book.

Loren tapped the stone carving lightly with his wand. The wood and stone collided, making a low muffled sound: "The inside of the stone carving is empty."

He touched the stone statue's claws with his hands. They were cold and rough, just like real stone sculptures. But he would not think that this was a stone sculpture. The dim magical light floating on the mummy of the Sphinx indicated that it was a magical creation.

Suddenly, Loren saw the stone statue blinking at him. The strange stone statue's eyes seemed to come alive, spinning around in a circle. The dull and dull light on the surface of the stone sculpture suddenly brightened.

Loren turned his head and looked at Hermione, taking a few steps back in unison.

Click!

Slight cracks spread along the case of the stone sculpture, densely packed like a spider web. When the cracks spread throughout the stone sculpture, the lion's tail slowly lifted up, making a stiff "crack-crack" sound. After lifting about three inches, the tail The ball on top slammed onto the stone platform below.

The stone shell on the surface of the mummy immediately peeled off, revealing its true appearance.

The giant sphinx had the face of a woman, and its body was covered with long white strips of cloth. It stared at the two of them with big almond-shaped eyes, and spoke in a low and hoarse voice:

"Whoever disturbs the sleep of Pharaoh, death will spread its wings and descend on his head."

"Anyone who enters this tomb with an impure heart will be strangled by his neck like a bird."

It raised its strong hind limbs and made a pounce gesture: "If you want to get out of here, you must be able to answer my riddle. If you guess it right once, I will give you a treasure. If you don't guess it right, I will pounce on you." Don’t answer—and be imprisoned here forever.”

Loren blinked: "This is different from what Professor Babling said."

Hermione's heart was beating fiercely. Out of some kind of self-blame for putting Loren in danger, she desperately hoped that she could solve the puzzle and take Loren out of the secret room.

She pursed her lips to calm herself down: "Can we listen to the riddle first?"

The Sphinx stretched out its paws and scratched on the stone floor, making a rustling sound as the stones rubbed against each other, and said:

"First think about who always wears a mask,

His actions are secretive and he lies a lot.

Tell me again who is always waving a cane,

Fooling the servants and being fooled by the servants?

Find what they all have and answer me,

What made them like this? "

Loren rolled his eyes and quickly thought of the answer.

"Mask...cane..." Hermione's mind raced, and the first thing she thought of was the golden mask and golden scepter she bought this morning.

"The actions are clandestine and the lies are endless!" An incredible answer flashed through Hermione's mind, and she cried out in surprise, "You are talking about the high priest!"

The Sphinx winked at Hermione and smiled.

Hermione took its movement as a yes, one clue was the High Priest, then the other...

"It was the Pharaoh who fooled his servants and was fooled by his servants!" Hermione thought this puzzle was incredible. This sphinx was criticizing the king of ancient Egypt.

The Sphinx smiled more kindly.

"They all have something, what makes them like this..." Hermione was confused for a moment, what made the high priest act secretly and tell lies; what made the Pharaoh fool his servants, and was fooled by his servants again .

"It's power." Loren said softly, and the above reminded him of Dumbledore.

The sphinx stood up and walked forward. His huge body seemed to be exceptionally light, and there was no sound as expected when he stepped on the ground. The woman's face came close to Hermione and rubbed her forehead: "That's right. It’s power.”

Hermione smelled the many herbs and spices that had been stuffed into the Sphinx's body during the mummification process. The little witch was stiff. She didn't know how to react now.

"Remember this puzzle..." The words behind it seemed to be stuck in its throat, and it faltered for a while, but in the end it could not be said out. It seemed that it was restricted by some mysterious contract.

A helpless expression appeared on the face of the Sphinx. It looked at the two of them: "Congratulations on your answer to the puzzle correctly. The treasures promised to you are stored in the first tomb for you to pick up. Now, you can leave."

As the words fell, the boulder blocking the door of the stone room suddenly rose and slowly opened.

Loren hesitated for a while, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at the Sphinx mummy: "I have some questions, can you help me answer them?"

Hermione also looked at the Sphinx. What happened today was so strange, the inexplicable teleportation, the incredible puzzles, and the puzzles revealed information about the high priest and the pharaoh... and the treasures in the first tomb, Barb Professor Ling mentioned that currently only the second tomb chamber has been explored in the pyramid.

Sphinx shook his head, turned around and sat back at the starting position: "All questions will have answers, but not now."

After saying that, the active magic light on it fell into dormancy again and became silent.

"Then what answer can you give now?" Loren asked, "Hey, talk, at least tell us how to go after we get out."

The mummy's expression was solemn and peaceful. If its tail hadn't been swinging back and forth behind it, Loren would have really thought it was sleeping.

"..."

Loren took out his wand and turned to look at Hermione: "What do you think I do with an opening spell on this thing?"

Hermione didn't answer, but there was a rumble from the boulder behind the door. They looked back and saw that the boulder was falling slowly and evenly.

The silent Sphinx gave its answer. If you don't leave, you will stay here with it.

"Let's go!" Hermione hurriedly pulled Loren out of the stone room. Although the little witch also had many doubts, she just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Loren was reluctantly pulled away. As soon as they stepped out of the stone room, the boulder accelerated and fell, completely sealing the door in the blink of an eye.

It was pitch dark outside the stone room, but the two were still holding hands, their arms so close together that they could feel each other's body heat. In such an environment, because we can feel each other's presence, our panicked hearts gradually calm down.

Loren felt that his feet were not on a horizontal surface. His right foot seemed to be higher than his left foot, and his center of gravity was slightly to the right. He had to lean slightly to maintain balance.

"[Fluorescence Flashing]"

As Hermione muttered the spell in a low voice, the tip of her wand lit up with a soft white light. She held up the fluorescent spell and looked around. There were carved stones above and below: "It seems that we are back on the slope. We are now Where to go?"

Going down is to go deeper, and going up is the entrance.

Loren looked towards the stone door he had just come out of. The place had been blocked by fallen boulders, which were integrated with the surrounding stone walls. He could not see how many stone chambers like the one just now were hidden on both sides of the endless corridor.

"Let's go up. Let's wait for Professor Babling at the entrance." Loren said.

"Hmm!" Hermione thought the same way. Although she was very interested in ancient magical relics, this unexplored pyramid was obviously beyond their capabilities.

The two began to climb up the slope, not at a very fast pace. They were wary of the teleportation magic that might appear at any time.

Hermione held up the fluorescent spell as she walked: "When we meet Professor Babling, let's take the initiative to withdraw from this project. For things like exploring ruins, it's better to wait until graduation before participating -"

At this time, Loren, who was walking next to her, suddenly asked: "Did you hear anything?"

Hermione stopped and listened. There was a rustling sound coming from behind them, adding a bit of horror to the dark and deserted corridor.

"Something is approaching upwards." She whispered. "It cannot be Babling who teaches them. Whether they are exploring the pyramid or looking for us, they should not go up."

Loren nodded and clenched the wand in his hand: "Try not to fight in the corridor and be careful not to trigger other magic. Let's continue going up and leave the pyramid as soon as possible."

The two of them let go and climbed up, but the voices from behind followed them like a shadow. In the dark and deep ancient pyramid corridor, they continued to add a constant sense of urgency to their hearts.

Although the slope corridor of the pyramid is long, there will always be a time when they reach the end. The slope of the ground gradually becomes flat as they run. As the slope completely disappears, a narrow exit appears in front, and there is a faint light from outside the exit.

Loren and Hermione were secretly happy and jumped out of the exit, but the situation in front of them made them dumbfounded.

The outside is not an exit, but a vast dark room. There is a sarcophagus in the middle of the dark room, countless clay pots are placed in the corners, and the surrounding walls are inlaid with luminous gems. This is the sunlight they mistakenly thought in the corridor.

"This is the tomb!" Loren said.

Just as he was speaking, the voices that had been following them approached from behind. A short-limbed goblin entered the tomb first, followed by Bill, who was dressed in a fashionable style, and Professor Barbling in a close-fitting robe.

"Hermione! Loren! I'm so happy to see you!"

Professor Babling stepped forward to examine the bodies of the two of them carefully. When she found Hermione's forehead which had been rubbed by the sphinx, a trace of doubt flashed in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it, "You're fine, just fine." , if you are harmed, Dumbledore will really fire me, thank you Merlin!"

Loren noticed her fleeting doubts and used his magic vision to probe Hermione's forehead, but did not find any curses or jinxes.

"It turns out it's really you..." Hermione was still a little confused: "But Professor, didn't we go up? Why did we still enter the tomb?"

Bill took over and explained: "The corridor in the pyramid is in the shape of a "Y", and the diagonally downward corridor is also connected to a diagonally upward corridor, leading to the second tomb chamber. "

"So instead of heading toward the exit, we're heading deeper into the pyramid."

When Professor Babling was examining him, Loren stared calmly into Babling's eyes. He noticed that there was another kind of doubt in the professor's eyes after the examination, as if there should be something wrong with him. What’s wrong is normal.

Thinking about it carefully, the process of their acquaintance with Professor Babuling was full of something wrong. What kind of professor would focus on two prospective third-year students, and what kind of professor would invite them as assistants to explore unexplored ancient magical ruins.