As they walked, Hermione couldn't help but speak:
"The atmosphere here is so oppressive, cold and stifling, completely different from the vault outside Gringotts. What secrets does this ancient Repository hold?"
Draco, wand ablaze, swept it across the surrounding stone pillars:
"Don't rush, just keep walking, and you'll see."
After walking a few steps, Hermione suddenly stopped and pointed in surprise at something not far ahead. "Look, what's that?"
Draco and Professor Babbling immediately looked in the direction she pointed, and saw a strange magical power continuously emerging from the cracks in the rocks in the center of the open space.
It was a blue-white energy flow, with tiny bubbles churning inside. Wisps of white, smoke-like energy spiraled upwards and then slowly fell back into a cycle.
Draco instinctively wanted to go forward and check.
But Hermione reacted quickly, grabbing his wrist and shaking her head nervously at Draco: "Don't go over there. This magic looks too strange. What if there's danger?"
Professor Babbling quickly chimed in to dissuade him, " Draco, Hermione is right. Let's observe from the sidelines first. Approaching rashly could trigger an unknown magical trap."
"It's alright!" Draco gently pulled his hand away from hers, his eyes fixed on the magic, and said with absolute certainty.
"I can feel this magic resonating with the Ancient Magic within me; it's not malicious."
Without further hesitation, he walked slowly to the center of the blue-white energy. The moment his body touched the energy flow, the magic around him resonated instantly.
Ancient magical runes slowly climbed up his ankle, and the next second, the surrounding environment suddenly changed drastically.
The originally hard stone floor had turned into a crystal-clear ice surface, and the cold air continued to spread upwards from the soles of the shoes.
Draco looked down at his feet, his pupils contracting slightly, and said in a deep voice, "There seems to be someone underground."
Hermione and Professor Babbling quickly moved closer, looking down at the ice surface to examine it carefully, but it was pitch black underneath and they couldn't see anything. Both of them looked puzzled.
There's nothing there. Are you sure you're not mistaken?
Hermione asked, but Draco didn't argue. He simply pointed at the ice and said in a deep voice, " Specialis Revelio!"
A white magical light instantly enveloped the ice surface, and a stone sculpture clad in heavy armor clearly appeared on the ground.
The stone-carved swordsman, clad in armor, knelt on one knee, his hands gripping a long sword tightly, the tip of which was deeply embedded in the ground.
"Oh my god, there really is a statue!" Hermione covered her mouth and couldn't help but exclaim softly.
Professor Babbling also leaned closer to examine the statue with astonishment. "It's amazing! This is a statue of Keepers of Ancient Magic, which was actually frozen in Repository."
Draco reached out and gently touched the exposed armor of the stone sculpture, feeling the cold, hard texture on his fingers.
But no mechanism was triggered. He withdrew his hand, looked around the empty Repository, and frowned, saying, "There's nothing else here except this statue."
Sudden--
"Wait!" Hermione exclaimed, her expression suddenly changing as she stared at her reflection beneath the ice.
"The reflection beneath the ice... seems to be moving! It's not our shadow, it's the statue's shadow, and its position doesn't match the actual statue!"
Professor Babbling also looked down and examined it closely.
Sure enough, she discovered that the shadow of the statue beneath the ice was crooked and completely misaligned with the statue's posture. She suddenly realized:
Based on my years of experience adventuring in ancient ruins, this should be a type of Ancient Magic mechanism.
"We need to make sure the statue's shadow and the statue itself correspond perfectly before we can trigger the mechanism."
"This swordsman is clearly a guardian of this place. If we activate him, will he turn around and attack us?" Draco stared warily at the stone sculpture.
"Your guess is not without merit; it is indeed a potential problem." Professor Babbling nodded in agreement, then said helplessly.
"We're trapped here now, and it seems there's no other way out except to activate the statue."
After a moment's hesitation, Draco turned to Hermione and Professor Babbling: "Then you two stay away and find a safe place to hide. I'll trigger the mechanism."
"No, that's too dangerous! If the statue really attacks you, you won't be able to handle it alone!" Hermione worriedly, tugging at his sleeve, not wanting him to take the risk alone.
"It's alright, don't you know what I'm capable of?"
Draco patted her hand, but Hermione still said with some concern, "If anything goes wrong, get out of the way!"
Professor Babbling also hesitated, but seeing Draco's calm expression and looking around at the Repository where there was no way to go, she hesitated.
In the end, she nodded gently:
"Be careful in everything you do. If there is any danger, retreat immediately. We are ready to support you at any time."
Seeing that the two had finally agreed, he raised his flaming wand and slowly moved around the stone sculpture.
His gaze was fixed on the shadow beneath the ice.
Then, little by little, he adjusted his position, guiding the crooked shadow to slowly align with the stone sculpture.
The flickering light of the flames danced on the ice, the shadow slowly returning to its place. With each step he took, he was extremely cautious, his entire body tense, constantly on guard against any unexpected situation.
Not long after, the moment the statue's shadow completely overlapped with its body, the ice surface suddenly emitted a dazzling blue light.
The entire stone sculpture began to tremble slightly, and the heavy armor made a "crackling" sound.
The stone swordsman, who had been kneeling, slowly stood up.
"It moved!" Hermione's heart leaped into her throat as she stared nervously at the statue, fearing it might attack.
Professor Babbling also looked grave, pulling Hermione back a few steps, ready to cast a spell to deal with any unexpected situations.
Draco took half a step back, pointing his wand directly at the statue.
His eyes were sharp, his muscles tense, and he was highly alert to the swordsman's every move.
The stone warrior who stood up was as tall as two Professor Babbling. His heavy stone armor gleamed with a cold, hard luster, and his posture of holding the sword in reverse was majestic and awe-inspiring.
It slowly pulled the longsword that was stuck in the ground, the blade rubbing against the ice with a piercing "crunch" sound. The moment the longsword was completely off the ground, it slammed heavily into the ice again.
A muffled thud shook the entire Repository, the deep sound echoing repeatedly between the stone pillars.
As soon as the sound subsided, several beams of blue light suddenly descended from the dome of the Repository, and the first one, an identical stone warrior holding a sword, crashed to the ground.
Then came the second statue, the third statue...
In just a moment,
Six stone warrior statues descended in unison, forming a circle around the leader in the center, who was holding a sword with his hand reversed.
At the same time, the blue-white energy flow surging from the ground suddenly increased dramatically, and the white smoke-like energy spiraled upwards wildly.
Energy rapidly intertwined around the three, forming an impenetrable, ground-hugging semi-circular barrier.
The barrier completely trapped them, with magic flowing on the walls, cutting off all escape routes.
Draco's eyes darkened, and he pulled Hermione back hastily. "It seems they have no good intentions. We won't get out of this barrier until we deal with these statues."