Silver Spear Trial
Bang!
The wooden door behind them closed, and the four of them stood at the entrance of a narrow passage. They were surrounded by gray stone walls, and in the dim light, the torches on the stone walls crackled and sparked, making the passage look eerily dark.
The passageway was quiet, yet filled with a strange atmosphere.
Daphne, being the boldest, walked in front; Meredith followed closely behind, while Astoria lagged behind the two. Skylar, being the strongest, walked at the very back, responsible for bringing up the rear and looking after everyone.
As I walked, the air became increasingly humid, and then a thick fog appeared in my vision.
Daphne whispered, "Lumos!" A milky white halo was released from the tip of her wand. The brightness of the flash was like moonlight, bright but not dazzling, much brighter than a normal Lumos. Even so, the visibility still could not break through three feet.
Just as Meredith was about to cast Fire-Making Spell, Skylar stopped her, saying, "Mei, it's very unwise to recklessly unleash fire when facing an unknown situation. Think about it, what if there's a pile of gunpowder in front of us? Wouldn't that blow us all up?"
Daphne had a sudden inspiration and exclaimed, "Use the wind! The wind can dispel the fog!" Then she gave a troubled look, "But I haven't learned the Wind-Spinning Vortex Curse yet... and I doubt I have enough magic power to dispel the entire fog..."
Skylar shook his head. "I do know the Wind-Spinning Vortex Curse, but there's an easier way to deal with this situation— Avis!" A soft popping sound came from the end of Skylar's wand, and a little sparrow materialized, chirping and flapping its wings happily.
"Engorgement Charm!" The little sparrow suddenly grew to be larger than a golden eagle, with a wingspan of 10 feet. It flew into the mist, its flapping wings creating a gust of air that, while only dispelling a small area of mist, revealed the path ahead.
The three girls were speechless with shock. The Bird Conjuring Spell could be used like this?
Daphne was about to step forward when Skylar stopped her. "Wait," he said, "The fog may have lifted, but how do you know there wasn't something else in it?"
This time, the three girls looked confused. What did Skylar mean by that? The road ahead was clearly visible, but there was nothing in sight.
Meredith was the first to react; she pointed her wand forward and shouted, "Revelio!"
Then came Astoria's exclamation, "What is this?"
Ahead stood a tall, silver-white animal, resembling a small bear, standing on two legs and stretching out its abnormally long arms toward them.
Meredith asked uncertainly, "Is this Hidebehind?"
Skylar nodded. "That's right. The Hidebehind is Demiguise of the Demiguise and the Ghoul. Not only can it become invisible like the Demiguise, but it can also contort its body shape, making it extremely adept at hiding and ambushing. This creature likes to hunt humanoid creatures, including us wizards. Everyone must be careful."
Skylar was somewhat surprised. This was only medium difficulty, yet a four-star Hidebehind had appeared, and it had even created a fog to conceal its presence. If he hadn't followed, something terrible might have happened. Truly, it lives up to its name, Silver Spear.
The Hidebehind was incredibly agile, dodging all the spells cast by Daphne and Meredith. When it couldn't dodge them, it could contort its body, similar to the Contortionist Yoga commonly seen among India Muggle, to deftly avoid attacks.
Daphne cast a Sticky Charm, covering the terrain around the Hidebehind with a layer of viscous paste. The Hidebehind accidentally stepped into the paste and froze. Meredith seized the opportunity and used Transfiguration on the paste that was sticking to it. Four arms suddenly emerged from the paste and tightly grabbed the Hidebehind's limbs.
"Now!" Meredith and Daphne shouted in unison.
Astoria raised her wand and shouted, "Stupefy!" A beam of light shot from the wand, striking the Hidebehind squarely in the head and stunning it.
"Well done!" Skylar praised sincerely. The two girls cooperated perfectly, creating a perfect opportunity for Astoria to attack. Astoria's spellcasting technique was excellent in both accuracy and speed.
Continuing forward, they came to a circular room with two exits in front, and a statue of a dragon in the center of the room.
In the wizarding world, "dragon" is just a general term. Under this term, there are actually various sub-dragons. In his previous life, Skylar only knew of two types: the Bipedal Winged Dragon that was killed by the madman Sir Cadogan from Gryffindor, and the Firedrake that appeared in the Fantastic Beasts movies.
The creature appearing in this room is the Feathered Serpent, a species of dragon that Skylar learned about from ancient texts in this life.
The Feathered Serpent and the Occamy look very similar and are among the most beautiful creatures in this magical world: it has a deep blue, serpentine body and a pair of wings that are as colorful as the rainbow.
The Feathered Serpent statue is estimated to be almost 15 feet long. Its eyes, set with two bright red rubies, seem to Winky as it looks down on the group.
"What do we do now?" Daphne frowned. "Should we get through it? What if it comes back to life?"
"Probably not," Skylar wasn't too sure either. To be honest, if a medium-difficulty level required defeating a Feathered Serpent, he couldn't even imagine a hellish level. "I think it's more likely that we need to discover the secrets on the Feathered Serpent statue to proceed; otherwise, we'll be attacked."
"That makes sense. It's only a test of medium difficulty; there's no reason it should be so hard. Let me try—" Meredith raised her wand, "Aparecium!"
"Aparecium" and "Revelio" are not the same spell. "Revelio" is used to find invisible or Transfiguration objects, while "Aparecium" is used to reveal hidden writing. Other similar spells include "Homenum Revelio" to find invisible people and "Trace Revealing Charm" to find recently disappeared magical traces.
Sure enough, the Feathered Serpent statue emitted an orange-yellow halo, and an Ancient Runic Magic Symbols slowly emerged on its wings— Skylar recognized it as Eihwaz, meaning yew tree, which in the wizarding world represents "defense" and "protection." In wizarding legends, the Feathered Serpent corresponds to the Three-headed Dog, guarding the gates of Heaven and Hell respectively. Of course, in this magical world, there are no Heaven or Hell, so Heaven and Hell generally represent two symbolic meanings: fortune and disaster.
After Skylar explained Eihwaz's meaning, Astoria tilted her head and said, "Could it be that we need to use this ancient rune as a guide to find the correct exit? One of these exits is dangerous, while the other leads safely to the next level?"
Should we use the Ancient Runic Magic Symbols to cast a spell?
Skylar had also studied how to use ancient Ancient Runes —after witnessing it firsthand in the Secret Passage on the fifth floor of Hogwarts, he had many ideas in mind. There are also some records of this in the Ravenclaw tradition.
However, the ancient Ancient Runes are vast and complex, with Germanic, Northern Europe, and Celtic systems existing even in the Muggle world alone. In the wizarding world, as far as Skylar knows, there are at least twenty different systems, each with complex interrelationships. Therefore, his research on using the ancient Ancient Runes has not progressed much so far.
Skylar didn't want to give up on this test, but now that the time was up, he had no choice but to give it a try.
He took out the Diadem of Wisdom from his robes and put it on, then fully activated the Magic Eye. Instantly, the Diadem of Wisdom and the Supreme Robe both emitted a faint, seven-colored light.
Skylar used his wand to draw the complete Eihwaz rune in mid-air, stroke by stroke. Suddenly, a warmth emanated from the Thestral Wand in his hand, and the wand seemed to come alive, vibrating on its own. Skylar's pupils suddenly turned like a pool of azure water, rippling with waves.
The Feathered Serpent statue seemed to come alive, stiffly twisting its body and emitting a long cry that sounded like both Phoenix and a sea serpent.
The Ancient Runic Magic Symbols that appeared on its body suddenly transformed into a beam of fire, shooting into the left exit of the two exits.
"Go!" Before Skylar could say anything more, the group rushed towards the left exit at top speed!
Daphne entered first, followed by Meredith, then Astoria, and finally Skylar. Just as Skylar stepped into the exit, the Feathered Serpent statue came to life. It lunged at Skylar, but crashed into a transparent barrier at the exit's edge. Upon impact, the barrier emitted a dazzling blue light, radiating ripples of light from the point of impact.
After realizing that the Feathered Serpent statue could not be accessed through the exit, the group breathed a sigh of relief.
"Skylar, did you just successfully cast a spell in the ancient Ancient Runes?" Meredith couldn't help but ask. Ancient runes magic had been lost for centuries, and everyone present knew very well what it meant if it was truly reproduced in Skylar's hands.
Skylar shrugged, neither confirming nor denying, "Probably! But it's at most a rudimentary form of spellcasting; it still needs more refinement..."
"That's incredible!" Daphne exclaimed. "Even so, that's a terrifying achievement. It's said that ancient sorcerers could cast spells in ancient Ancient Runes, ancient Egypt sorcerers could part the Red Sea, and ancient Babylonian sorcerers built floating Sky City..."
Skylar shook his head. "To be honest, even today, there may not be many people who understand the Ancient Runes, but there are certainly quite a few. So why has the ancient magic system been lost?"
Meredith hesitated for a moment before saying, "Could it be that some condition needs to be met first..." She thought of the strange appearance that Skylar's pupils had shown earlier, "Like activating a special ability hidden in one's bloodline, such as Parseltongue, a Prophet, or Metamorphmagus..."
"Yes," Skylar said earnestly, "Although I can't be sure, that's what I think too."
The group fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts, pondering various possibilities.
Losing interest in conversation, the group quietly continued on their way. This time, they encountered a large number of Ghoul, at least thirty at a glance.
Newt Scamander's * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them * is merely an introductory textbook suitable for third-grade wizards. Its content remains at a basic level, omitting many obscure and rare creatures. Furthermore, the included creatures are limited to common examples and do not encompass all types of the species. For instance, while the book mentions sea serpents, it does not mention the Selma, a variant of the sea serpent.
Although this book mentions Ghoul and lists them as two-star dangerous animals, this does not mean that one can be careless when encountering Ghoul. In Lockhart's "Voyages with Vampires," a highly dangerous and aggressive Ghoul species is described—the Chameleon Ghoul.
Unlike the gradually degenerating Ghoul, the Chameleon Ghoul have regained the cannibalistic nature of their ancestors Ogre, and have developed a craving for human flesh. They have also regained the cunning nature of the Ogre, Transfiguration themselves into everyday objects to avoid detection. Then, they suddenly attack when someone approaches.
Although the number of the Chameleon Ghoul in front of them was enormous, they had now revealed their true forms, so Skylar had nothing to worry about and let the three girls deal with them.
"Incendio!" After three semesters of diligent practice, Daphne's magic and spellcasting skills were stronger than those of her classmates. She unleashed a large expanse of orange-red flames, like a wall of fire standing in front of them, radiating astonishing heat.
Meredith used Transfiguration, and more than thirty flaming arms emerged from the center of the wall of fire, rushing towards the Ghoul and grabbing at them.
Astoria took out several bottles of Blue Flame Potion and threw them one by one into the blind spots and gaps untouched by the flames, leaving the Ghoul with nowhere to escape. If any Ghoul tried to force their way through the flames, Astoria would use Impediment Jinx to slow them down. As long as she could hold them off for a while, the Ghoul would be devoured by the flames until nothing was left.
In just a short while, more than thirty Chameleon Ghoul were wiped out.
This time, Skylar was very satisfied with their performance. The three of them did not fight individually and randomly cast spells at the enemy. Instead, they cooperated seamlessly, first using fire to compress the enemy's movement space, then one of them was responsible for precise attacks, and the other was responsible for covering up blind spots and gaps. The Chameleon Ghoul were not unintelligent, but even with their adaptability and speed, they could not break through such a tactical attack.
Don't be fooled by how easily they eliminate Ghoul; it's because of their well-planned tactics and flawless execution. Getting close to Ghoul is no joke. Ghoul's teeth, nails, and blood are all highly poisonous, and once you're exposed, it's very difficult to treat. Lockhart's *Wandering with Voyages with Vampires * includes examples of extracting slow-acting venom from Ghoul.