What About the Philosopher's Stone?

The six continued forward. At the end of the passage stood a heavy wooden door, engraved with complex magical runes.

Charlie was just about to step forward and push the door open when he suddenly heard a strange sound from above.

"Flap, flap, flap—"

Everyone looked up and saw countless tiny black dots flying around near the ceiling.

"What are those? Birds?" Harry narrowed his eyes and observed them carefully.

Hermione shook her head. "No, those are keys. Keys with wings."

Sure enough, when they looked closely, the tiny things flying about were all kinds of keys, each with a pair of delicate wings.

"This door's locked tight." Fred tried pushing it, but it did not budge.

George drew his wand. "Alohomora!"

The door still did not react.

"The Unlocking Charm didn't work." George frowned.

Hermione pointed at the swarm of keys in the air.

"Looks like we have to find the right one among all those keys."

"There are so many. How are we supposed to find it?"

Harry noticed several Flying Keys lying in the corner of the room.

"There are brooms over there. We can fly up and grab the key."

"Wait." Charlie raised his wand.

"Why go to all that trouble?"

He lifted his wand and clearly recited the spell:

"Finite Incantatem!"

An invisible magical shockwave spread from the tip of his wand.

In an instant, all the flying keys lost their magical support and fell from the air, scattering across the floor with a clatter.

The entire room fell silent.

Harry's eyes widened.

"What spell was that?"

Hermione was too stunned to speak. She had read so many books, but she had never seen magic like this.

The Weasley Twins exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with disbelief.

"Finite Incantatem?" Fred's voice trembled slightly.

"Isn't that an advanced spell taught only in seventh year?" George swallowed.

They knew that Charlie had taken down a Troll.

But only now did they clearly realize that Charlie's strength was in no way inferior to that of sixth- or seventh-years.

And he was only a first-year.

When they had been first-years, they were still correcting their pronunciation so they would not accidentally summon a wild bull and get crushed to death.

Charlie calmly walked over to the pile of keys and quickly found the one that matched the lock.

"This is the one."

After opening the door and entering the room, Charlie felt somewhat puzzled.

These mechanisms are way too childish. Can they really protect the Philosopher's Stone?

The next mechanism puzzled Charlie even more. It was a huge Wizard Chess board, but everyone quickly cleared it under Ron's direction.

Ron, who had finally played a useful role, looked excited, and even Fred and George praised him, which was rare.

The next mechanism was even easier. Several bottles of Potions and a puzzle sat on the table. The answer to the puzzle was the correct potion. Drinking it would allow them to pass through the flames and enter the next room.

Hermione stepped up and solved the puzzle in less than a minute. The six of them shared the Potions and drank them all, then passed through the flames.

Charlie felt that all these mechanisms were far too simple.

Now that it was known someone had set their sights on the Philosopher's Stone, if you were its owner, what would you do?

A: Keep the Philosopher's Stone on your person and guard it closely.

B: Hide the Philosopher's Stone somewhere no one could find it.

C: Give up resisting and hand it directly to the other party.

D: Destroy the Philosopher's Stone so no one could have it.

Haha, the correct answer was to put the Philosopher's Stone somewhere it could be seen at a glance, then tell everyone never to go there, and set up a few mechanisms that even children could solve.

No, seriously, who are you trying to fool?

Charlie stopped walking, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

These several trials are far too coincidental.

Flying Keys—the Harry was a Quidditch Seeker. Finding things in the air was his specialty.

Wizard Chess—Ron had been playing Wizard Chess since he was young, and his skill was among the best in the entire school.

Potion Puzzle—For a top student like Hermione, solving a logic puzzle was a piece of cake.

Charlie's expression turned strange. The more he thought about it, the more wrong it seemed.

These aren't mechanisms protecting the Philosopher's Stone at all. They're clearly trials tailor-made for Harry!

"Could Dumbledore have designed them on purpose?"

He muttered inwardly, then suddenly thought of an even more serious problem.

I brought people in and cleared all the trials. Could Dumbledore come after me for this?

This is bad. Is it too late to pack up and run away overnight?

The group stepped into the final room.

A huge mirror stood in the very center of the room. Its frame was ornate and exquisite, and its surface shimmered with a faint silver light.

Harry recognized it at a glance.

"The Mirror of Erised!"

Hermione looked at him doubtfully.

Harry explained.

"I haven't had the chance to tell you."

"During the Christmas holidays, Ron and I came across this mirror at school. It can show you the thing you desire most in your heart."

The Weasley Twins immediately turned their gazes toward Ron, their eyes unfriendly.

"We have something this good, and our dear little brother didn't tell us?" Fred narrowed his eyes.

"That's really inconsiderate." George chimed in from the side.

Ron shrank his neck, his face turning slightly red.

"Don't just blame me. You didn't tell me when you had something good, either."

"Oh, this is truly heartbreaking, Ronnie."

"Don't call me that."

As the Weasley brothers bickered, they all walked over to the mirror.

"Is it really that magical?"

Fred leaned toward the mirror first, and his eyes instantly lit up.

"Oh my gosh, I see myself finding the Philosopher's Stone, using it to turn stones into gold, and opening the biggest Joke Shop in the world!"

George unhappily shoved him aside.

"There's no me in your dream? Let me take a look!"

The scene George saw was much the same as Fred's, except that the shop was larger and the business was even more booming.

Hermione stood before the mirror and saw herself achieving perfect marks in every subject, leading Gryffindor to win the House Cup, becoming Head Girl, and creating a new Philosopher's Stone.

Harry still saw his parents. James and Lily were smiling and waving at him.

Ron, meanwhile, saw himself becoming the championship captain of the Quidditch World Cup, holding the Philosopher's Stone in his hand while George and Fred lay at his feet, licking them.

Oh, this was truly delightful.

Hermione realized something was wrong and asked with a frown, "Wait, isn't the Philosopher's Stone supposed to be hidden underneath this?"

Everyone looked at one another.

"Right. Where is the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Could someone have stolen it?"

"Or could it be that the Philosopher's Stone doesn't exist at all?"

While everyone was baffled, Dumbledore, invisible nearby, watched the scene with amusement.

Sometimes, even he admired his own genius.

He had hidden the Philosopher's Stone inside the Mirror of Erised and cast a spell over it. Only someone who truly wanted to obtain the Philosopher's Stone but did not wish to use it could take it.

These little Wizards had all been thinking about what they would use the Philosopher's Stone for—opening shops, making money, and achieving their dreams.

But that was perfectly normal. The Philosopher's Stone could turn stones into gold and create the Elixir of Life.

When faced with endless wealth and eternal life, the desire to keep it for oneself was only human nature.

Even Harry might not have been able to resist the temptation at this point.

Only when Harry faced Voldemort and thought of protecting the Philosopher's Stone rather than using it would he be able to take it from the mirror.

Dumbledore watched the group's puzzled expressions with satisfaction.

A slight change to the plan was no big deal. As long as the final result matched his expectations, everything was fine.

But in the next moment, Charlie stepped in front of the mirror.

In the mirror, Charlie held the Philosopher's Stone and slowly slipped it into his pocket.

Outside the mirror, Charlie felt his pocket grow heavy. He reached inside and touched a smooth stone as warm as jade lying in it.

Dumbledore was stunned. For the first time, he felt that things had gone beyond his expectations.

What was going on? Had my magic failed?

Tomorrow is the grand debut. The rapid updates begin!!