Harry Potter and the Sphinx (First Update)

I don't know who suggested it to the professors, but anyway, they added participation marks to the exams—because Harry hadn't been attending class recently, he only got an A (Acceptable) in Potions.

The professors of other courses were quite accommodating to him, giving him a decent grade for participation, and his overall grade was barely maintained at an "O".

Even the most conservative Professor McGonagall gave Harry a good score, after all, he could skillfully transform the desk into any shape.

With some time left in the holiday, Harry dug out the last of his Moonpetal, intending to visit the Merlin's ruins he had recently discovered, which had never been opened before.

This Merlin's ruins is located on the Craigmore Coast, next to an abandoned the Ashwinder Party settlement.

Even after the passage of time, the Muggle Repelling Charm in this settlement has not lost its power, and it seems that the surrounding landscape has never been disturbed by the Muggle.

On the distant hillside, several carefree Mooncalf curled up into balls on the grass, rolling around without a care in the world.

Merlin's ruins is a round stone disc with a pattern that looks a lot like an electric fan. The circular stone in the center is surrounded by fan-blade-like stones. Harry doubted whether these fan-blade-shaped stones would spin if the stone disc were electrified.

He walked to the middle of the stone slab and scattered a handful of Moonpetal leaves.

The original stone in the center of the slab made a crisp sound, and a green light spread from the center to the perimeter of the disc.

Then, the light transformed into tiny Green Light Spot, like fireflies, covering the top of the stone disc.

Harry stood in the center of the disc, waiting patiently.

As he expected, the light gradually converged above the four circular stone slabs around the disc.

"Revelio (The Revealing Charm)!"

A bright blue halo emanated from Harry and spread outwards in all directions. In the training ground directly in front of Harry, round stone spheres appeared before him.

"Do we need to move these stone spheres to their corresponding positions on the disc?"

Harry muttered to himself, flicking his wand toward a stone ball.

"Accio (Accio)!"

However, to his surprise, the stone ball did not move toward him, but instead shattered the moment it was struck by the Charms.

After the stone sphere was destroyed, new vines began to grow and entwine around the pillar where the stone sphere had been placed.

Perhaps it was a spell that shattered the stone ball?

He already had a plan in mind, and swung his wand to shatter the stone spheres one by one.

Just after he shattered the last stone sphere, the Green Light Spot converged and shone brightly in all directions.

Where the light points converged, four stone pillars supporting the disc rose with a rumble, and at the same time, lush green branches burst into full bloom in an instant.

From among the branches, green lights flew out like a dense swarm of bees, converging in the very center of the stone disc to form an aged figure holding a staff and wearing a magic robe.

It's Merlin.

Harry stepped forward, Merlin's phantom raised his staff, a burst of light emanating from his right.

Before long, the light gradually faded, and a door flowing like a green curtain of water appeared in front of Harry.

Harry was secretly delighted.

Could this be... the Chamber of Secrets where Cassandra is?

He eagerly stepped forward, only to suddenly hear an old and leisurely voice in his mind.

"The door cannot be opened from this side," the voice said.

Harry glanced speechlessly at Merlin's phantom, circled around, and stepped into the light curtain from the other side.

Unlike Chamber of Secrets, Merlin's Chamber does not contain any snake-shaped objects, even though he was a distinguished graduate of Slytherin.

Harry raised his wand, its Lumos the surroundings.

To his disappointment, Cassandra was not there; instead, there was an empty room.

"Revelio (The Revealing Charm)!"

Following the Charms, Harry saw a wooden chessboard in front of him, which appeared to be some kind of puzzle.

He went over to examine it closely and discovered that the puzzle pieces could not be removed; they could only be pushed around on the board in a certain order to eventually form the correct pattern.

Having gone through so many Merlin's trials, this was the first time he had ever tried such a trial.

Harry took out his wand and controlled the patterns to move across the chessboard.

It should be said that Merlin did not really want to make things difficult for the juniors who came to participate in the trial; at least these few steps were not too difficult.

The puzzle on the chessboard only had six wooden pieces, and Harry completed it after a little thought.

"Sphinx," he said in unison with a voice.

"?"

Harry instantly became alert. He lowered his body slightly, held his wand in front of him, and assumed a fighting stance.

A rumbling sound echoed in the Chamber of Secrets, and soon a monster with a human head and a lion's body appeared before him.

As a wizard, Harry naturally learned about the legend of the Sphinx in class.

Legend has it that Hera sent the Sphinx to sit on a cliffside road near Thebes and asked passersby a riddle.

The riddle is: What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening? The answer is "human".

Morning, noon, and evening are metaphors for childhood, middle age, and old age, respectively.

Legend has it that the riddle was later solved by the young Greece Oedipus, and the Sphinx subsequently jumped off a cliff to commit suicide.

Harry had heard this story from a traveling scholar from Greece, but the scholar told him that the Sphinx was not a legend, but a real Magical Creatures.

However, the descriptions of the Sphinx differ in each Civilization. In Egypt accounts, the Sphinx is described as a winged monster, usually male.

The legends of that time described three kinds of Sphinx: the Androsphinx with the head of a man and the body of a lion, the Criosphinx with the head of a goat and the body of a lion, and the Hieracosphinx with the head of a hawk and the body of a lion.

The Assyria and Persia described the Sphinx as a winged bull with a human face, a full beard, and a crown.

In Greece mythology, however, the Sphinx became a female evil creature, representing divine punishment.

The word "Sphinx" comes from the Greece "Sphiggein," which means "tight," because the Greece imagined the Sphinx as a monster that strangles people to death.

Of course, the Greece also told Harry that if he couldn't answer the Sphinx's question, the Sphinx would strangle him to death.

He now understood why the Merlin's trials had been so easy, almost like a free pass.

So that's what they were waiting for.

Thinking about this, he felt a little helpless.

Why did Merlin put Sphinx in your secret Chamber of Secrets of the ruins?

Is this a common problem in all Slytherin House? Your headmaster puts Basilisk in, while Merlin puts Sphinx in?

Harry gripped his wand tightly, fully alert and on guard against a sudden attack from the Sphinx in front of him.

"Let's solve a riddle, young wizard," said the Sphinx. "If you can answer it correctly, I will let you out and take the treasure left behind by Merlin."

"What riddle?"

As he spoke, Harry quietly pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

"I am the black son of a white father; I am a bird without wings, yet I can fly in the sky; when I was born, all who touched me wept; once I was born, I will soon disappear into the air."

The Sphinx wore a playful smile.

"Young wizard, please answer—"

Harry paused for a moment.

He then quickly opened his wallet and shouted, "Alfonso!"

Sphinx instinctively looked at the wallet, only to meet a pair of orange eyes.

Its expression froze on its face.

Then, the Sphinx swayed twice and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

It died.

"Well done, Alfonso," Harry said to the Basilisk with satisfaction. "I'll catch you a few Acromantula tonight."

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"Really? Young master?" Alfonso hissed.

"You just wait and see," Harry said with satisfaction. "Of course, don't eat this Sphinx; I'll keep it for later."

Having said that, he opened his wallet and threw the Sphinx inside.

As Harry finished tidying up the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets, he was thinking how convenient it was to have Alfonso; at least he didn't have to use that emerald green spell anymore.

After the Sphinx died, the emerald green light in the Chamber of Secrets reappeared and gathered in front of Harry to form the shape of a treasure chest.

After a while, the light disappeared, and the treasure chest appeared in front of Harry.

Without a word, Harry raised his wand and aimed it at the treasure chest, unleashing a red Charms.

"Stupefy (Stunning Spell)!"

The Charms struck the treasure chest, producing a dull thud.

Seeing that the treasure chest did not react, Harry then flicked his wand at it.

The treasure chest opened with a click, just like Russia nesting dolls, one layer after another, opening one after another with a clattering sound.

Finally, what was revealed to Harry was a letter.

Harry picked up the letter; it was written in delicate handwriting, likely by Anne.

It says on it:

Harry:

It seems you've solved the Sphinx's riddle. Don't worry, it's the guardian of this Chamber of Secrets. Actually, even if you hadn't solved the riddle, it wouldn't have harmed you.

I hope that when you read this letter, it will be your first year back home.

Anne's condition is very bad, Sebastian is almost frantic with worry. I can only send him a message, using the Gaunt family's heirloom Charms to freeze her in time, temporarily sealing her in the cave on the west side of the Forbidden Forest that needs Merlin's trials to open—don't worry, we have already reinforced the cave with magic.

But don't get too excited yet. Anne can only be entrusted to you. I remember Miss Grindelwald seems to have already figured out the right Time Magic and is preparing to travel to the future to see you—she's always been very resourceful.

We hope you can find a way to remove the Dark Arts mark from Anne. We can only rely on you. If you can, please come to the Gaunt family's old house. My portrait will be waiting for you and me to deliver the message.

Before you rescue Anne, I think you should ask the current Hogwarts Headmaster if he has any way to lift the curse of Dark Arts.

Your faithful

Ominis Gaunt

27, ber, 1892

Harry suddenly started sweating profusely.

He opened his wallet and glanced inside at the lifeless Sphinx, then looked up at the letter in his hand.

Ah, this...

Is there any hope for the Sphinx?

He looked at the letter again carefully.

Gaunt Old House?

Why would Ominis hang a portrait of himself in the Gaunt Old House?

He knew about Ominis's relationship with his family; would his father allow his portrait to be painted...?

Well, it's hard to say. After all, Ominis was involved in defeating Runcorn, and the Gaunt family benefited from it. A portrait of such an outstanding family member would definitely be framed in the house.

He planned to go to the Gaunt Old House to see what was going on.

After carefully putting the letter away, Harry couldn't wait to return to Hogwarts.

Amidst the astonished gazes of his classmates, he ran non-stop all the way up to the Seventh Floor, stopping breathlessly in front of the Waterspout Gargoyle.

"Password!" said the Waterspout Gargoyle.

"Get out of my way!" Harry cursed, slapping the Waterspout Gargoyle on the head.

Without a word, the Waterspout Gargoyle jumped aside with a thud, making way for Harry.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry called out urgently, shaking his hand which was still throbbing from the impact.

Even wizards occasionally have to follow basic physical laws—forces are reciprocal; when you hit a stone with force, it's usually not the stone that gets hurt.

He walked up to Dumbledore and plopped down in the chair.

"I think you should drink some honey water first to soothe your throat," Dumbledore said with concern. "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Harry waved his hand, sat down in the chair, and breathed heavily for a while until he felt he had calmed down. Then he said, "Professor, I need to go to Gaunt Old House Gaunt Old House —I remember you found its location before. Could you take me there?"

"Of course, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said with a smile, "But before that, could you satisfy an old man's curiosity?"

Harry looked up, his eyes clearly saying, "Little junior, who are you with, old man?"

Dumbledore wasn't embarrassed; he simply smiled and said, "I need to know what happened."

Harry picked out the important parts and gave Dumbledore a general account of what had happened—after all, he was counting on Dumbledore to lift the Dark Magic Curse.

"I'm powerless to help with the Dark Magic Curse, Harry," Professor Dumbledore sighed. "It's an extremely evil curse, and if I could, I wouldn't have allowed Tom's curse to remain at Hogwarts for so many years."

"Isn't there a better way?" Harry asked, unwilling to give up.

Dumbledore a moment.

"There is a solution, but..."

"Stop keeping me in suspense, Professor," Harry asked impatiently. "Tell me what the method is."

Professor Dumbledore smiled.

"I don't need to tell you that, Harry, you know Tom is a master of Dark Magic Curse."

Harry didn't react immediately; he frowned.

"Tom's a master of Dark Magic Curse? That's related to him being a black... oh!"

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