Hermione finally just stomped her foot and scolded, " Draco Malfoy! What are you doing! We still have... we still have important business to attend to!" She glanced at Jackdaw.
Jackdaw, quite astutely, cradled his head and turned to the other side, as if studying the moss on the stone wall, muttering, "I didn't see anything. I'm old, my eyesight isn't good..."
The two composed themselves, especially Hermione, who turned her attention back to the now-open stone wall.
At that moment, Hermione's mind suddenly flashed back to that thrilling and incredibly powerful scene from just moments ago.
She thought of the spell Draco had used.
" Draco, that ' Fire Dragon Attack ' you just used, was that magic you created yourself?"
Hermione's tone was full of disbelief; it was definitely not any spell from the books or taught by the Hogwarts professors.
"It's nothing special," Draco said casually.
"I combined modern magic's energy channeling techniques with some energy shaping skills I gleaned from Ancient Magic books, and tried to create this."
Hermione and Jackdaw were once again in shock.
To perfectly fuse two completely different magical systems and create such a powerful new spell is something only a genius could do!
Draco, on the other hand, was only a third-year student, which probably exceeded the category of "genius." Hermione looked at Draco as if he were a living Order of Merlin.
"Incredible... Absolutely incredible... No wonder, no wonder you were chosen..." Jackdaw murmured to himself.
Ignoring their shock, Draco turned to Jackdaw and asked a crucial question, " Richard, how did you know I had Ancient Magic?"
"I can sense a faint energy 'emanating' from you, different from modern magic," Jackdaw explained, pointing to Draco's body.
"This energy is very special. Although it's very faint, I studied it during my lifetime and am very sensitive to these fluctuations."
Draco frowned. "Then, can Ranrok and his men also sense this 'spread'?"
Hermione and Jackdaw's expressions changed upon hearing this.
Hermione immediately thought of the ambush by the three Goblin earlier; they were clearly prepared.
"Very likely! If some of them are sensitive to Ancient Magic, or if they used some kind of detection magic..."
"Don't worry." Draco suddenly smiled confidently. At this moment, the ancient book that he had stored in the pocket with the Extension Charm, which was emitting fluctuations, was transferred to a more hidden System Space.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, her heart finally at ease.
Jackdaw looked at Draco with curiosity and awe, increasingly finding the young Malfoy unfathomable.
"Alright," Draco looked around, his gaze settling on the circular entrance to the secret passage. "The mechanism has been activated. Where is the Chamber of Secrets?"
"Alright, problem solved." Draco looked around, then at the sealed entrance in the stone wall.
"So, Mr. Jackdaw, we've activated the mechanism, and the entrance has appeared. Where is the Chamber of Secrets?"
"There's an ancient teleportation array below. Stepping on it will teleport you to the real cave, "Jackdaw, pointing inside.
The two looked down and, sure enough, the seemingly chaotic and ancient patterns on the ground inside the circular entrance were faintly glowing, forming a complex magic circle pattern.
"Okay." Draco took Hermione's hand, and the two walked towards the teleportation array. Just as they were about to step into the glowing light, Hermione stopped and turned back to ask, "Mr. Jackdaw, aren't you coming with us?"
"I am a ghost, without a physical form, and unable to interact with teleportation arrays that require life or magical energy to activate." Jackdaw shook his head with a wry smile.
"I'll wait for you to come back here, or... if you encounter any danger, I'll try to notify the school."
Hermione suddenly realized, a hint of apology in her eyes. "Oh, I see... I'm sorry, I forgot. Please wait here for us, we'll find out the truth as soon as possible."
"It's alright, go ahead. There's danger inside, so be careful." Jackdaw waved his hand gently.
"Okay, I'm leaving." Draco gripped Hermione's hand, raising his wand in his other hand.
As he infused a wisp of magic, the teleportation array beneath his feet suddenly lit up with a brilliant light, engulfing the two figures.
The light flashed and disappeared in an instant, and the circular entrance returned to darkness, leaving only the faintly glowing magic circle patterns and the ghost outside, cradling its head, waiting silently.
The cave is high, spacious, and deep. The jagged stalactites overhead resemble an inverted forest of swords, intertwining with the rough rock walls to form an eerie dome. The stone walls on both sides extend infinitely into the dark depths.
The stone walls on both sides cast huge, swaying shadows into the distance, illuminated by the torchlight.
Beneath my feet lay a damp, reddish-brown mixture of gravel and mud, which crunched dully underfoot.
Occasionally, a few clumps of purplish-blue Horklump Juice gleam faintly in the shadows.
The two walked forward cautiously, hand in hand.
After rounding a bend, a larger crack appeared in the rock face ahead, allowing more sunlight to stream in.
A gust of wind blew in through the cracks, carrying the scent of decaying leaves and earth from the forest, dispelling the heavy musty smell deep inside the cave.
After turning another bend, the view suddenly opened up before us.
They seemed to have entered a small canyon hidden inside the mountain, a space that was much more open than before.
The stalactites overhead drooped even lower, and water droplets gathered at their tips dripped down from time to time, creating tiny ripples in the puddles below and making a crisp, ticking sound.
Sudden,
A burst of intense wing flapping suddenly erupted!
Hundreds and thousands of black bats suddenly took flight from the countless tiny cracks and holes in the rock wall, like a flowing dark cloud rising up in an instant, rushing past their heads.
The sound of wings flapping through the air echoed in the canyon. Draco and Hermione instinctively looked down, and only after the black whirlwind finally passed and the noisy flapping of wings gradually faded away did they look up again at the road ahead.
At the end of the canyon, a huge, Ancient Magic door covered with ancient patterns is embedded in the rock wall!
The other side of the passageway is suspended in mid-air.
Below them lay a bottomless canyon. Draco and Hermione cautiously approached the edge and looked down.
Beyond the rock face, one can see the undulating canopy of the Forbidden Forest swaying in the wind like ocean waves, layer upon layer stretching into the distance. A light mist rises from the valley floor.
The distant trees were half-hidden in the thin mist, and the wind blew up from the cliff, carrying the crisp, damp air of the forest.
To their right, right against the rock face, was the large door that needed to be opened. The door was carved from a single piece of rough rock, with gilded vine reliefs adorning its edges.
On either side of the door stood three blue magic orb badges, suspended in mid-air and slowly rotating.
"It's a magical mechanism." Hermione carefully observed the arrangement and patterns of the orbs and quickly figured it out.