“Your music box is really impressive! My mechanical music box only plays for a few minutes and then stops, if it weren’t for…”
Ron saw the exquisite triangular projector Chen Yu had placed on the ground and mistook it for a music box. Just as he was about to say something, Chen Yu interrupted him.
“Now is not the time to discuss music boxes. Snape might already be close to getting the Philosopher's Stone. We should hurry and get through here.”
After Chen Yu finished speaking, he walked to the trapdoor and opened it.
Below the trapdoor was pitch black, with no light and no visible footholds.
Chen Yu released Hermione’s arm, took out his wand, and cast “Lumos.” Light emanated from his wand, but he still couldn't see the bottom.
It was completely dark below, and he didn't know what dangerous things were lurking in the darkness.
Fortunately, Chen Yu knew.
Chen Yu turned and climbed into the hole, then said to Harry and the others, “I can go down and scout ahead. After all, I can fly. If there’s no movement after I go down, you immediately go find a professor to rescue me.”
Currently, only Harry knew that Chen Yu could fly.
Harry removed his invisibility cloak and said, “Then I’ll leave everything to you.”
Chen Yu finished speaking, let go, and slowly flew down. He felt like he had flown about seventeen or eighteen meters before he felt himself step on something soft.
This must be Devil’s Snare.
Devil’s Snare was not afraid of faint light. After only a moment, several vines wrapped around his ankles.
Chen Yu quickly increased the magical output of his wand.
In an instant, a dazzling light cut through the darkness. Countless Devil’s Snare around them, like rats seeing light, all shrank back into the darkness.
Chen Yu immediately shouted upwards, “It’s safe down here! You can jump straight down, and I’ll catch you with a Levitation Charm!”
The three trusted Chen Yu. Hearing his shout, they lined up and jumped down one by one, like dumplings dropping into a pot.
Chen Yu saw three dark figures descending from above and immediately caught them with a Levitation Charm.
Once the three landed safely, hearing the rustling sounds around them, they still felt a little scared.
“What are those rustling sounds in the dark? They feel really creepy.”
“It’s Devil’s Snare.”
Hearing that it was Devil’s Snare in the dark, Hermione became a little bolder.
“This must be the guard set up by Professor Sprout. Devil’s Snare likes cold and damp places, hates sunlight, and is afraid of fire.”
When it came to knowledge she knew, Hermione no longer felt so scared.
She even cast Lumos, holding her wand and watching with interest as the Devil’s Snare vines retracted further into the depths.
“Let’s go this way.”
Harry pointed to a stone corridor.
This was the only path available, so they didn't need Harry to tell them which way to go.
The four walked along the corridor, with only the wands in their hands as the sole source of light.
Aside from their footsteps, the only sound was the dripping of water.
After walking for a long time, they heard rustling and clanging sounds coming from ahead.
“Can you hear the commotion ahead?”
Ron whispered nervously, “Could it be ghosts?”
“What’s there to be afraid of ghosts? We chat and laugh with The Bloody Baron and those other ghosts all the time, okay?”
Chen Yu rolled his eyes at Ron. Ghosts were everywhere in Hogwarts Castle. It was perfectly normal for them to appear in places other than common rooms and classrooms. It was nothing to be surprised by, okay?
Ron scratched his head, indicating that Chen Yu was right.
“Then what’s that sound ahead? It can’t be bells, can it?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find out when we get there. Everyone be careful. It’s probably another guard set up by a professor.”
The four reached the end of the corridor.
It was a brightly lit room with a wooden door on the opposite side.
Chen Yu saw hundreds of thousands of small, jewel-like, dazzling birds flying around the room.
Ron asked, “If we cross this room, will they attack us?”
“Possibly,” Harry said. “But we don’t have any other choice…”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione gripped their wands and immediately rushed to the other side of the room.
They had expected these jewel-like birds to attack them with their sharp claws and beaks, but all four passed through the room unharmed.
Looking at the wooden door, Harry and Ron pulled and tugged, and Hermione’s Alohomora was also useless.
Seeing the three of them somewhat disheartened, Chen Yu reminded them from the side, “Perhaps these strange birds in the room are the key to opening this door.”
Hermione’s eyes lit up: “Right, these birds must not be just for decoration.”
Harry also noticed the problem: “I see it! They’re not birds at all; they’re winged keys!”
Harry began to look around and suddenly discovered several flying brooms in the corner.
Ron and Hermione were still looking up at the large flock of flying keys.
Just as Harry went to get the flying brooms, he immediately pointed his wand at the flock of winged keys and cast the spell: “Petrificus Totalus!”
However, the winged keys seemed unaffected and continued to fly in the air.
Chen Yu saw that it wasn't that these winged keys were unaffected, but that Hermione's spell wasn't strong enough.
The instant Hermione cast the spell, Chen Yu saw several winged keys visibly pause for a moment, then quickly shook off the spell's effect.
It seemed that to pass the challenge set by Professor Flitwick, the challengers needed to honestly ride the flying brooms and catch the correct key.
Riding a flying broom to catch winged keys sounds like a challenge tailor-made for Harry, the Seeker.
Fortunately, this was a challenge Dumbledore set up for Harry's trial. Otherwise, with Professor Flitwick's skill as a spell master, adding an auto-targeting function to these flying keys shouldn't be a small problem. Then, the intruders wouldn't be catching keys, but facing a magical version of “a volley of arrows.”
At that point, as soon as the intruder pushed the door, it would be a direct “volley of arrows” to the face. With regular spells ineffective against them, how would the challenger evade?
They would just have to face it head-on.
Hermione’s sudden spell surprised Harry and Ron, so he shrugged and said, “I thought these winged keys would be affected by the spell. It seems like with the wooden door, spells are useless.”
“Since spells don’t work, let’s quickly get on the flying brooms and catch these winged keys!”
Harry took four flying brooms and handed them to Chen Yu, Hermione, and Ron, then took the lead and rushed over to catch what he thought was the key to the wooden door.
Hermione and Ron did the same, while Chen Yu somewhat slacked off on the side.
After all, piloting a flying broom was not his strong suit. This challenge should be left to the three youngsters.
Harry immediately caught a silver key that looked like a handle and inserted it into the wooden door, but it wasn't the right one.
Ron and Hermione had the same experience.
After the other three caught four or five keys, Chen Yu finally caught one.
The four continuously caught winged keys and tried to open the wooden door.
After multiple attempts, Chen Yu finally heard a click from the wooden door.
The lock on the wooden door was open.
The four quickly entered the next challenge.