From the Sword of Gryffindor to wizarding currency, the Goblin's creations all possess the characteristic of being impossible to replicate.
Such technological barriers mean that even if they could be completely cracked, it would be impossible to manufacture the same thing.
To Harry's astonishment, Vincent tossed the Golden Egg high into the air, where it instantly disintegrated into hundreds of pieces of varying sizes.
They all floated in mid-air, one layer upon another, like a three-dimensional structural diagram.
The sound-producing device was smaller than a fingernail, and its surface gleamed with the unique luster of silver and iron.
Vincent pinched it between his thumb and forefinger, and Hermione beside him couldn't help but marvel at its exquisite craftsmanship.
Her Alchemy were far beyond the beginner level. Although she was still some distance from ordinary Alchemists, her knowledge was in no way inferior to theirs.
Since their defeat, Goblin have been forbidden from using wands. Wizards can use magic to shape objects, while fairies can only be forged by hand.
The surface of the sound-producing device appears smooth as a mirror, but it is actually covered with densely engraved text.
It looks more like a pattern, but it has magical effects, just Magical Runes.
"Hold this for me." Vincent handed the device to Hermione, then took Nicolas Flamel's manuscript from the Flamel Ring.
Harry glanced at it curiously, but he couldn't understand the meaning of the unknown characters, let alone the few geometric patterns that were visible.
What are those things on top of you?
Vincent flipped through the pages carefully without turning his head. "Some commonly used alchemical formulas summarized by my teacher."
Harry couldn't help but take a deep breath.
This is the manuscript that countless Alchemists flock to; it's definitely not something a mediocre student like him could understand.
Vincent had been flipping through about ten pages, suddenly stopped. "Found it."
Hermione also curiously came over, staring intently at the strange patterns on it.
It's the script of Goblin. It would be abnormal if Nicolas Flamel has lived for over six hundred years, hadn't studied it.
Every Alchemists has a unique codebook, so like Harry, she couldn't understand the unknown text underneath that looked like annotations.
"Strange..." Vincent looked up at the voice-emitting device in Hermione's hand with a puzzled expression.
According to Nicolas Flamel's research, the Goblin's superb forging skills, like Alchemy, actually pursue the balance of all things.
Refining – Medium – Reaction – Carrier
All four elements are indispensable, but the sound-generating device in front of him is incomplete, lacking the second medium.
Goblin would obviously not make such a major mistake, so the device must have been deliberately made to be defective.
Because it lacks a medium, the sound it emits is incomplete, like the intermittent static emitted when a radio signal is poor.
In layman's terms, the sound emitted by the device is encrypted, and the way to crack it is to find the code, that is, the missing medium, and let it act as a "code filter," similar to Muggle Morse code requires specific frequencies for parsing.
Vincent's face lit up with excitement once again, and Hermione and Harry could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The process of finding the medium is long and tedious, but since it is a clue to the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament, it should not be too difficult.
Common media include air, flame, wood, metal, water, soil, and glass, and can be classified as gases, solids, and liquids.
After trying them one by one, the sound-producing device clearly reacted to the liquid and stopped emitting terrifying screams like a hellish concert; the tone and volume were reduced significantly.
The sound remained the same even after several liquids were replaced.
Vincent frowned as he stared at the cup in his hand.
The sound-generating device was completely submerged in the milk, and it is possible that the liquid obstructed the sound transmission.
"Does it require a specific liquid?"
He retrieved the sound-emitting device from the milk and, before it could revert to its original screaming sound, used his magic to wrap it tightly.
Hermione, who had been listening intently with her eyes closed, opened them. "Put it back first, I think I've heard something."
Vincent put the sound-emitting device back into the milk, and the sound, which had become muffled due to the liquid, rang out again.
Hermione closed her eyes and listened intently.
Sure enough, the entire sound was rhythmic.
She raised her index finger and swayed it back and forth with the sound.
Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide. "It's a song!"
"A song?" Vincent looked surprised.
Seeing her confident expression, he and Harry also tried to close their eyes and listen quietly.
It's not exactly melodious or pleasant to listen to, but it does have a fixed melody.
The missing medium is a liquid, and any kind of liquid.
However, a new question arises: what exactly is this song trying to tell them?
Harry leaned closer to the cup, his eyes fixed on the sound-generating device submerged in the milk. "Do you think the song itself might also be encrypted?"
"Very likely." His guess was confirmed by Vincent and Hermione.
Since sound needs a medium to be recognized as a song, it should also require a medium to clearly hear what is being sung.
After excluding gases, what remains can only be either solids or liquids.
Vincent raised his hand, and the sound-emitting device flew away from the cup and hovered in mid-air. "Ready?"
Hermione and Harry took a deep breath and then nodded emphatically at him.
Compared to solids, the transmission medium is more likely to be a liquid.
"Aguamenti— "
The tip of the Alder Wand sprayed out a large amount of water, which was bound into a giant sphere by Vincent's magic, covering the sound-emitting device and the heads of the three people.
The muffled sound became clear; it was a particularly peculiar choral song:
"Find us, where our voices echo."
We cannot sing on the ground.
When you search, please think carefully:
We stole your most beloved treasure.
You only have one hour.
We must find and reclaim what we took.
After an hour, all hope was lost.
It has vanished completely and will never reappear.
After listening to the entire story once, Vincent controlled the water sphere to move upwards, freeing their heads from its coverage.
After catching their breath, the three of them looked at each other in silence.
The song reveals a total of four clues, which are:
"Find us, where our voices resound, for we cannot sing on the ground." The first sentence reveals the location of the Second Task.
"As you search, please think carefully: we have stolen your most beloved treasure." The second sentence reveals that the mission is to reclaim your "most beloved treasure."
"You have only one hour to find and retrieve the items we took," the third sentence reveals that the mission has a one-hour time limit.
"After an hour, all hope vanished; it was completely gone, never to return." This last sentence reveals the dire consequences of the mission's failure.
Summarizing the four clues, we can conclude that the Second Task is not on land, but underwater, where the song is heard. The four Champion need to find their "most beloved treasure" within an hour, or they will lose it forever.