The Hidden East Tower

Brie touched a brick next to the portrait; it was covered in a fine layer of moss, caused by the humid air outside seeping through the cracks, but beyond that, Brie sensed magic.

Due to his special talent—the power of nature—Brie was very clear about the issue here.

"Knock, knock..."

The wand on Brie's wrist popped into his hand, and he tapped it gently.

With the knocking sound, the portrait slowly opened, revealing a hidden passage leading upward.

Walking past the moss-covered walls and stairs, he soon saw light; the first things Brie felt were a cool breeze and silence.

This was a tower on the east side, where the sunset could not reach.

"Rustle..."

Brie saw the swaying green branches above his head and said with interest, "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you. Are you greeting me?"

Outside the tower was a small platform with a lush, verdant tree clinging tightly to the stone; there were stone benches and chairs beneath it. The tower was small and inconspicuous at Hogwarts, yet it offered an unobstructed view of the school's beautiful landscape.

When looking at this spot from outside Hogwarts, one could not see the tree or the tower; clearly, a powerful Muggle-Repelling Charm had been cast, making it visible only from up close.

Brie had emerged from a small passage beneath the tower, and as he looked up, he saw a pointed room atop the small structure that appeared to have been abandoned for a long time.

Circling the stone stairs on the platform, Brie arrived at the wooden door and knocked, receiving, as expected, no response.

"Alohomora!"

"Clang!" The wooden door swung open.

"Empty, cough, cough, well, full of dust."

It was evident that no one had been here for a long time, or perhaps no one had discovered it, but now it belonged to Brie as his secret base.

"Scourgify!"

"Fresh air!"

After casting over a dozen spells, the pointed room finally became habitable. The four walls seemed to be inlaid with bronze, and the floor was made of a precious stone imbued with magic, though Brie didn't understand it well, guessing it was likely fireproof.

The room was spacious, like a small classroom, with large windows on all sides that were currently unobstructed, allowing the wind to blow through freely.

"There's even an attic here."

Looking at the stone door nearby, Brie spotted a winding stone staircase. He followed it up, casting cleaning spells as he went, and soon found a small, locked door.

"Clatter." Before Brie could even use the Gate of Opening, the lock gave way under the strain.

After several more cleaning spells, Brie finally stepped inside.

Because an Undetectable Extension Charm had been cast here, the space was expanded and no smaller than the room below.

The walls were also inlaid with bronze, and the room was divided into two sections: the west side resembled a large office area, while the back was a bedroom of standard size. It wasn't empty; the office was filled with bookshelves and books, along with a solid wood desk and chair against the wall, upon which sat a Bronze Snake Lamp.

"Oh, someone has come. In all these years, you are the first to discover this place, child."

"You're alive?" A Bronze Snake Lamp—this was normal at Hogwarts, as many facilities were sentient.

"I wouldn't say that, but I suppose one could. It doesn't matter. Don't worry, Hogwarts won't harm a young wizard; even if I am not part of Hogwarts, I must abide by that rule."

Not a product of Hogwarts?

"An alchemical item. I mean, that fellow was an alchemy master, and I am a little trinket he made to help him light the room and clean. But I was lucky; he liked cleanliness, so I survived until now, while his other alchemical products were sold off or destroyed as defective..."

"Don't ask why, because that fellow spent his whole life pursuing the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. He was destitute and arrogant. His profound alchemical knowledge drove him mad until his death. He was so poor he couldn't even afford a grave, and he even sold his soul to Death—nothing was left... You might find me long-winded, but you must hear it to the end."

"Mm." Brie agreed casually while surveying his surroundings.

"Stop looking, they're all that fellow's books." The Bronze Snake said indignantly, "Back then, he almost sold me for an alchemy book, but luckily he made a new one to sell instead!"

"Come here, child. As long as you sign an equal contract with me, I will give you all the books here!"

An equal contract? Brie was confused. He scratched his head, squinted, and asked innocently, "Why not a master-servant contract?"

"You want to be my master? Good child, knowledge is indeed priceless..." The Bronze Snake shed hot tears of oil, and Brie's smile turned fake.

"You should straighten out your wick."

Brie bypassed the Bronze Snake Lamp and leaned in to look; well, the sleeping area was also completely empty.

"Don't look. After that fellow died, everything of value here was claimed by creditors due to the contract magic. Aside from me and these books, it's completely clean."

The Bronze Snake slowly crawled off the lamp and, using lamp oil on the solid wood desk, drew a strange magic circle. Brie found it familiar; it was a mark of a contract he had seen in a miscellaneous journal at a second-hand bookstore. The aura of this formation was the same: fair, without lies.

"I just want to live. The magic crystal that fellow left behind is running out of power. I need you to replenish it for me. He said the first person to enter would help me; he never lied to me, even when he wavered about selling me!"

Brie tentatively placed his hand near the desk, and after confirming there was no danger, said, "I can inject magic directly into you, as long as you can guarantee there is no danger. Of course, you must also let me read these books."

Brie curiously poked the bronze snake and smiled, "I don't need servants."

"My name is Breeze Storm Order, if that can be of any help to you." These books are all mine now.

The Bronze Snake froze, its bright yellow pupils staring blankly at Brie's sincere eyes, then it lowered its head and whispered, "I have no name, but I have given myself one—Faner... Of course, this is Hogwarts. I swear by my wick that I will guarantee your safety in the East Corner Tower, forever, as long as I am alive."

The contract on the desk took effect, quickly binding itself to Brie and Faner. Brie immediately felt that Faner could no longer harm him. Brie then placed his finger on the bronze lamp and asked, "Do I inject the magic directly?"

"Oh, wait, you must know that a young wizard's magic is unstable."

It crawled back onto the bronze lamp, nervous, and said, "A wizard's magic is relatively constant. What is consumed when casting spells is not magic, but mental energy, which represents the scale of the magic you can exert... So, to inject magic into the bronze lamp, you need a specific spell. You must learn it quickly, because due to the awakening and the contract, I don't have much lamp oil left to sustain myself."

"Oh, I thought you were going to absorb my magic directly." Breeze actually wanted to try feeding his internal natural magic to the lamp oil to see what would happen; he had always felt that the natural magic did not belong to him, but rather came from An Qing's memories, and it might very well possess him.

"Come, learn with me: Undying Flame."

"This spell is very simple, but it requires a person with a very firm heart to use it, as well as some talent. I hope you have it, otherwise, it will be quite troublesome."

"Undying Flame!" Breeze pointed his wand at Faner's forehead. The surrounding light was sucked in, and the entire room quickly plunged into darkness. Finally, even the darkness was absorbed, and a light soon appeared—the Bronze Snake Lamp had ignited.

The surroundings slowly returned to their original appearance, as if the light and darkness from outside were filling the space back in.

"You have great talent. Perhaps you can fulfill that fellow's wish and create a Philosopher's Stone. No, no, you had better not... it will only make you poor."

Philosopher's Stone... it sounded so familiar, but it didn't matter; that wasn't the focus for today.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

"?"

Breeze looked on, bewildered, as Faner flicked its tongue, lamp oil spilling from its mouth and vanishing into the air as sparks.

Faner said lightheartedly, "Hiss, hiss, hiss, it has been a long time since I could flick my tongue so freely."

Breeze smiled without speaking, instead taking out his diary and looking at what was written on it—Meditation.

This was the true purpose of Breeze coming here; the Bronze Snake Faner and the East Tower were merely unexpected gains.

"What are you looking at?"

Faner crawled to Breeze's hand, looked at the words in the diary, and said, "Oh, ancient magic. It had already died out during that person's era. Perhaps some remnants still circulate, but they are certainly not in the hands of wizards. My own wick was made from a green snake that understood a bit of ancient magic. I didn't have wisdom back then, and I was caught by that detestable fellow. Otherwise, after all these years, I would surely have dominated a region... instead of being trapped in this tower, saving lamp oil just to survive."

"I just want to try meditating." Breeze tapped the little snake's suddenly dejected head.

"Oh, stop joking, little Breeze. These magics are things you cannot touch. Hahaha, what a whimsical young brat." In an instant, Faner regained its vitality, laughing and rolling on the table, continuously spraying sparks of lamp oil.

Breeze looked at Faner and tried to use the natural magic within his body that he had always kept hidden.

But the moment a wisp of intimate, ancient magic appeared at the tip of Breeze's wand, Faner immediately fell silent. It gulped down some lamp oil, stared straight at Breeze, and said, "You aren't some ancient pure-blooded magical creature transformed, are you?"

Even the Faner of the past had not mastered such pure, ancient power. Aside from magical creatures so ancient they had already vanished, Faner could not think of anyone capable of wielding such ancient magic, yet it seemed somewhat different.

"Something is wrong. This doesn't feel like what I experienced back then. Ancient magic is always free; it would never stay in one place forever. But this is obediently staying inside your body, and it is so intimate with you." Following the trail of magic, Faner probed toward Breeze, clicking its tongue and saying, "You are a monster. I have never seen a wizard like you."

"A monster..."

Breeze quickly withdrew his magic and looked at Faner, asking, "Can I trust you?"

Hearing Breeze's words, Faner said unhappily, "Of course. We have already sworn an oath; I will protect you."