He arrived at the open area outside Hogwarts.
He used " Apparition " and appeared in the woods near Rookwood Castle in the next second.
The sight before him made Draco's heart tighten: the ancient Rookwood Castle was now shrouded in dark clouds, and large numbers of dark wizards and Goblin rebels had gathered on and around the walls.
They were armed and patrolled closely, clearly taking the Ancient Magic hidden within the castle very seriously.
"A direct assault would only alert the enemy and could even trigger a chaotic melee, giving them an opening," Draco thought to himself.
He quickly pulled out a broom, straddled it, and chanted:
" Disillusionment Charm!"
A streak of light flashed by, and his body gradually became transparent, eventually merging with the surrounding air.
He soared into the air on his broom, silently skimming over the city wall. Rebel soldiers and black wizards passed by in the passageway, but no one noticed the invisible figure flying overhead.
Using the Disillusionment Charm to conceal his presence, Draco easily infiltrated the castle and Depulso towards the depths of the main castle.
Draco stopped outside the main castle gates because he heard familiar arguing coming from inside.
That was Victor Rookwood's voice, tinged with anger and resentment:
"If I had known your plan was to dig up the ground beneath my ancestral home... if I had known it would turn out like this, I would have..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ranrok interrupted him, "If you hadn't failed to catch that Young Malfoy, I wouldn't have resorted to such extreme measures! It was your incompetence that started this!"
Draco pressed his ear tightly against the crack in the door to eavesdrop.
"Your Goblin minions are a bunch of idiots too! Weren't they the ones who defended San Bakar Tower? And yet, Young Malfoy still managed to break in so easily! They couldn't even stop a child!" Victor retorted.
"Fool?" Ranrok's voice was full of sarcasm.
"Get this straight, San Bakar Tower is a fortress built by our warriors tirelessly, day and night."
"With your worthless character who didn't even inherit the Ancient Magic bloodline of your ancestors, you probably can't even decipher the runes of the Tower Gate."
"The fact that a Malfoy brat could infiltrate your ranks proves that your wizarding intelligence and spies are utterly useless!"
Victor, his sore spot struck, suddenly raised his voice, his tone filled with threat. " Ranrok, get your facts straight! My alliance with you is to give your Goblin race a chance to climb the social ladder, not for you to bark at me!"
Even through the door, Draco could imagine the sinister look in his eyes. "The fact that the Young Malfoy broke into San Bakar Tower is a disgrace to your men!"
"So what if I don't have Ancient Magic constitution?"
"I am a descendant of the Guardians! Without me, you would never have even touched the edge of Ancient Magic in your entire life! Your brute force is a joke in the face of true sealing!"
Ranrok sneered:
"It is precisely because you are a descendant of the guardians, and who knows when you might come in handy, that you are alive."
Don't forget our promise.
"I can share the power of Ancient Magic with you, but only if you can lead me to the true core of this legacy."
"Of course I haven't forgotten our agreement, Ranrok." Victor snorted coldly, staring directly at him. "You'd better remember it too—"
"Without my Rookwood bloodline and my connections in the Wizarding World, you'd be stuck digging for stones your whole life."
"My value in life goes far beyond what you think. As for the power of Ancient Magic... it's too early to say who will ultimately possess it."
After saying that, Victor turned around abruptly, his footsteps fading into the distance, clearly angered and leaving in a huff.
Ranrok remained silent in the room for a moment, seemingly suppressing his anger, before turning and leaving.
The footsteps went in another direction.
It seems these two are only bound by mutual interests; internally, they've long since fallen apart. Draco thought to himself.
After running out of gossip, Draco began tackling the trials, but he couldn't open the inner castle gates despite several attempts at using the lock-picking spell.
So he put away his wand, abandoning his plan to use some powerful destructive spells. Firstly, the violent explosion would inevitably attract the Goblin rebels and dark wizards outside.
Secondly, he believed that Ranrok and Victor must have already tried to overcome this obvious obstacle.
If they couldn't open it even with powerful destruction spells, then it means that the door itself might not be "destructible".
Clearly, this door can only be opened with a specific "key," and conventional methods will not work.
"No wonder those guys dug in from underground like rats," Draco thought to himself.
He then began searching the walls around the door.
He raised his wand and chanted, " Specialis Revelio!"
Pale blue ripples swept across the wall, revealing the outlines of three gem-encrusted badges hidden within the relief decoration.
They emitted faint magical fluctuations, just like the opening mechanism in the San Bakar Tower. Draco's wand aimed precisely, and three beams of light struck the three badges in succession.
"Click--Boom."
With a dull creak of gears meshing, the black iron gate slowly slid open to the sides, revealing a deep passage behind it.
Draco stepped in.
What came into view was the devastation of the castle's basement: collapsed walls and ruins piled up like mountains, and cold sunlight poured down from the huge gap in the ceiling.
The edges of the gap were jagged, clearly indicating that it had been forcibly dug through by Ranrok's men using brutal methods.
Draco didn't linger. He turned and explored the passage to the left. The deeper he went, the stronger the eerie red light became, staining the surrounding stone walls as if they were soaked in blood.
Arriving at the source of the red light,
A huge spherical object was suspended in mid-air, its interior glowing with an unsettling red light.
Draco recognized that the light was exactly the same color as the strange armor Ranrok was wearing.
"A container for Ancient Magic?" Draco's heart sank.
"But it looks empty; the core power inside has probably been taken by Ranrok and his group."
With this weighty discovery in mind, Draco did not linger but continued deeper, entering a narrow passage.
He cast " Specialis Revelio " again, and a hidden Wellspring of Magic appeared in the corner of the wall. He stepped forward and gently covered the soft light with his palm to interact with it.
Instantly, the magical fluctuations in the air intensified, and a phantom image materialized above the gushing spring.
Professor Rookwood is depicted in the portrait.
"Trialist, you've arrived!" the Rookwood portrait spoke, but seeing Draco's grave expression, his tone turned serious. "What have you discovered?"
"Professor, the situation is bad. Ranrok and his group have smashed open a spherical Ancient Magic container, and it seems they've already taken and used the power inside."
"Oh no!" Rookwood's expression changed.
"This means they've learned how to extract and use the power of Ancient Magic! These lunatics..."
"Now that our power has been stolen, is there any point in this trial? Is it too late for us?"
"Of course it's meaningful!" Rookwood nodded emphatically. "The purpose of the trial is not just to grant you power, but more importantly, to make you truly understand the meaning and cost of power."
Draco pondered for a moment, "So, the trial was meant to teach me that I must never abuse Ancient Magic like Ranrok did, or it will only bring destruction."
"Exactly!" Rookwood exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Power itself is neither good nor evil; it is the people who wield it who are righteous and evil. If you, like Ranrok, are consumed by greed, Ancient Magic will become a weapon of destruction."
He then turned to the main point. "So you must complete the trial—prove to the ancient will that you can wield power, rather than be wielded by it. Go now!"
"What should I do?" Draco asked.