Latest Report

Friday morning, Harry stood once more in the cavity at the eighth site and pushed the tip of the detector into the recess on the back of the pillar for the third time.

The instant the pulse surged in, he sensed a subtle change taking place inside the pillar: its structure was already different from when he had touched it the first two times. The information carried by the pulse was clearer than before, as though someone had adjusted the transmission parameters and amplified the signal.

He received the next segment of the sequence. This time, the symbols remained in his perception longer than they ever had before.

After that segment had finished transmitting, he withdrew the detector, returned to the main chamber, and carefully drew the newly received sequence of symbols onto the Parchment Hermione had prepared.

The arrangement and density of that set of symbols matched the previous two segments, neatly filling the position between the second and third sections.

Hermione let out a soft breath after finishing the record.

"Only the final segment remains."

Harry leaned against the edge of the Stone Platform for a while, processing the impressions those symbols had left in his perception.

"During the third contact, the pillar reacted differently from the first two. The transmission was clearer, and the signal was stronger. I could feel it adjusting itself, becoming more coordinated with my contact, like some device learning to adapt to its operator. It may be recording the magical signature produced each time I touch it."

"I think once the fourth contact is complete," Hermione said, "it may remember you."

Harry looked up at Hermione.

"Then the fourth contact may also be the last."

Ron leaned halfway out from the passage entrance, his breath rapidly dispersing in the cold air.

"If we