Mrs Nora shook her head, but her gaze swept over the dusty stone basins atop the pillars, guiding Hermione:
"I don't know either, darling. But I've been thinking, there must be some meaning to the placement of these pillars, and the braziers on top of them, here, right?"
"Could it be setting a fire?" Hermione's eyes lit up, while Mrs Nora smiled without saying a word, simply looking at her encouragingly.
Hermione immediately understood. She aimed at the brazier at the top of the tallest stone pillar and chanted, " Incendio!"
A cluster of vibrant flames burst into flames in the brazier with a "whoosh," and then, something astonishing happened!
Miraculously, as the flames ignited, the stone pillar slowly sank and embedded itself in the ground!
"It sank!" Hermione exclaimed, her face flushed with surprise and a sense of accomplishment.
"Yes." Mrs Nora observed with great interest.
Draco crossed his arms, appearing relatively calm, but his gaze remained fixed on the changing stone pillars.
"Strange," Mrs Nora noticed after a while, "The pillar seems... to have slowly risen back up, to have recovered?"
"Does it really require all three pillars to sink simultaneously?"
Draco said.
"I'll try again!" After all three pillars were restored, Hermione and the others raised their wands one by one, starting with the tallest one:
" Incendio!"
The spell struck its target precisely, and three clusters of flame leaped merrily atop the stone pillar in succession.
Just as the last flame ignited—
The vortex pattern at the center of the stone formation suddenly erupted with a far more intense pale green light than before!
A burst of light shot out from the center like an explosion, rippling outwards like a boulder thrown into a lake, creating clearly visible magical ripples that swiftly swept across every paving stone.
A deep, powerful hum then emanated from the entire ground.
As the emerald green light rippled across every inch of the stone formation, a breathtaking transformation began.
The ground cracked with a low rumble, the soil churned, and four ancient stone pillars, thicker than the central pillar, broke through the earth and slowly rose into the air.
Then, miraculous signs of life began to appear.
Countless dark green vines and supple branches seemed to spring up out of thin air, climbing and twining wildly upwards from the base of the pillar.
The branches intertwined and interwoven at the top of the four pillars, quickly forming a dome-like framework, with layers of lush green leaves spreading out.
In the blink of an eye, a tranquil and magical green pavilion, enveloped in natural foliage, stood before the three of them.
As the pavilion took full shape, the leaves on its roof suddenly trembled, and countless emerald green leaves fell like a rain of stars, swirling and gathering above the vortex in the center of the stone formation.
They pieced themselves together following the ancient magical path. As light and shadow shifted, a hazy yet towering Merlin phantom slowly emerged. The Merlin phantom stood for a few seconds, then its light gently burst forth before dissipating into a sky full of dust.
There was a full three seconds of silence.
The next second, Hermione jumped up and down excitedly.
She was like an explorer who had discovered a new continent, rushing to the center of the stone formation and circling the green pavilion that was still swaying in the wind.
"Madam! Look!" She pointed to the pavilion, then looked up at the surrounding green lights, her voice filled with ecstatic joy.
"This is more than just a key! This is the final ritual of the trial! Merlin truly left behind such a miracle!"
"So 'Fragrant Mallow' really was the key! Your guess was absolutely right! And... this is just too amazing!"
At this point, Hermione was extremely enamored with Mrs Nora.
I had only ever seen Merlin's legend in textbook illustrations before, but I never imagined I would actually see his phantom appear in person! This is a hundred times more vivid than any history of History of Magic textbook!
Mrs Nora was amused by her enthusiasm. "I've lived this long, and this is the first time I've ever seen a complete launch ceremony."
Draco stood to the side, arms crossed, watching the "miracle" unfold before him, a spectacle comparable to Muggle magic show. His heart remained calm, though he even felt a hint of disdain.
So after all that, the so-called Ancient Magic trial was just such a simple trick? Activating a stone, emitting some light, creating a vine-covered pavilion, and projecting a Merlin phantom?
So Merlin was a prankster who loved gardening and landscaping? He managed to fool later wizards with just a few plants and illusions of light and shadow?
At this moment, Professor Nora, having recovered from her shock and relief, turned to the two young people, her face showing both the satisfaction of making a major discovery and a hint of apology for her impending departure:
"Children, thank you so much! Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to witness all of this."
"My hypothesis has been confirmed, but this is only the beginning. There are other similar Merlin Trial sites in the world. I can't delay any longer; I must set off immediately to track down other clues and ruins."
When Hermione heard the words "I have to leave," the excitement on her face faded, replaced by deep reluctance.
"Won't you stay a little longer? Or next time you come to Hogwarts, you must come and find me! I'd like to ask you more about the details of Merlin's manuscript!"
As she spoke, she pulled out her notebook from her pocket, quickly tore off a page, wrote down her contact information, and handed it over.
"This is my address and contact information. Could you please write to me if you make any new discoveries? I really admire you so much!"
Mrs Nora took the note, touched, and put it in her bosom, nodding with a smile, "I will, my good child. Until we meet again!"
Hermione waved goodbye with lingering reluctance as she watched Mrs Nora turn and walk away.
Draco watched this scene and silently complained to himself:
Sometimes these researchers really have a lot of free time...
Why give up a perfectly peaceful life and insist on running around the world looking for some kind of "trial"? It sounds exhausting.
But then I thought, this is what researchers should be like...
After saying goodbye to Mrs Nora, Draco and Hermione set off to return to Hogwarts.
The two thought it would be convenient to stop by Hagrid's Hut to see what the gamekeeper did during his holidays.
Pushing open the door of the hut, the two found Hagrid sitting at the table with a gloomy face, staring blankly at a half-empty plate of Rock Cakes. He was clearly in low spirits.
" Hagrid, what's wrong?" Minmin noticed his change in mood and quickly asked.
" Draco, Hermione, have a seat," Hagrid said happily.
"What happened?" Draco asked.
"Few more," Hagrid muttered, wiping his face with his enormous hand. " The Fantastic Beasts in the Forbidden Forest... their numbers are dropping again. Like the Mooncalf population..."
"In previous years, at least three or four groups could be seen in the forest clearings at this time, but now I've searched everywhere and only found a few scattered ones."
"The same goes for the Bowtruckle; several of the ancient trees they used to inhabit now have bare bark."
"No way? Could it be... could it be Voldemort again? Is he sucking the Unicorn Blood?" Draco joked.