"That's right," San Bakar admitted.
"The energy in the Repository is too immense; a permanent seal is simply impossible. The seal is already beginning to weaken."
Draco couldn't help but mentally rant: So, it turns out I'm here to do manual labor? I thought completing the trial would allow me to inherit some world-destroying Ancient Magic.
As if by telepathy, Hermione turned her head, seemingly seeing right through his little scheme.
She lowered her voice and said seriously, " Draco, don't overthink it. The importance of this trial far exceeds your imagination."
"Okay, you're right." Draco pouted, still feeling a little disappointed, but he knew Hermione was right.
Then he muttered to himself,
"It's truly terrifying to let bad people obtain this power; it will threaten our happy life together once again."
Upon hearing the words "happy life," Hermione's cheeks instantly flushed a faint blush.
She lowered her head in a fluster and whispered reproachfully, " Draco!... Professor Babbling and the Guardians are watching..."
Fitzgerald's reflection in the mirror revealed a meaningful smile, " Ancient Magic truly did choose you, Draco."
"Faced with such an alluring and unimaginable source of power, your first reaction wasn't to desire possession, but rather to worry about its disruption to your life."
Draco's inner alarm bells rang loudly.
Is this guy testing me? Or is he setting a trap for me?
But that's just how he is, so he's very open and honest.
"That damn emotional energy, while it might make you stronger, will definitely consume you with negative emotions. Only a twisted madman would crave that kind of power. I can already use Ancient Magic, that's enough."
"Well said," Rookwood praised.
"To see through the essence and not be swayed by power—these are precisely the qualities most needed by inheritors of Ancient Magic."
" Draco's always been like that... he doesn't really care about anything," Hermione added gently yet proudly.
"Oh, I don't think he's completely indifferent—at least, he cares about you a lot," Professor Babbling teased.
Hermione's face flushed bright red upon hearing this, and her once clear voice became hesitant and stammering.
"Professor... please, please don't talk nonsense..."
"Alright, enough chit-chat." The guardian Bakar interrupted their conversation, his figure beginning to blur as he seemed to be channeling immense magical power.
"Now, I have opened the door to the final trial, and the path to the core of the Repository has been revealed."
"Let's go, Hermione, we'll leave right away."
Draco wanted to hold hands.
Hermione, her cheeks still flushed from Professor Babbling's words, stubbornly replied to the outstretched hand, "I can walk by myself, I don't need..."
Draco chuckled, completely ignoring her insincerity, and forcefully grasped her hand.
He then pulled her forcefully to his side, saying, "You can't Apparition."
Hermione was taken aback by his sudden action, and forgot the rebuttal that was on the tip of her tongue.
Draco's eyes swept rapidly across the map, finally settling on a marked point at the southeastern end of Hogwarts.
"It's confirmed, the final trial location is there—the deepest part of the Cragcroftshire Coast."
The three of them didn't linger any longer and quickly left Hogwarts.
Once they left the castle's Apparition restrictions, they instantly appeared on the howling Cragcroftshire Coast.
The sight before me was breathtaking: a massive white skeleton was scattered among the black rocks and sand. It was the remains of an unimaginably huge creature, with ribs standing out like arches and a spine winding like a mountain range.
"My God..." Hermione's eyes widened as she quickly examined the structure of the skeleton. "This must be the skeleton of some kind of prehistoric giant whale. Judging from the shape of the skull and the density of the ribs, it must have been at least a hundred meters long when it was alive."
" Hermione, your talent is truly amazing," Professor Babbling praised. "Not only is your Ancient Runes top-notch, but your Magical Creatures is also remarkable. It's truly rare."
Hermione blushed instantly upon being praised by the professor in person, and lowered her head shyly.
"Professor, you flatter me. I just... happened to have read a similar account in ' The Fantastic Beasts Atlas '."
Draco didn't participate in their academic discussion; his gaze quickly locked onto the bottom of the coastal cliff, at the entrance to a huge nest half-hidden by dense black vines and jagged rocks.
Take two steps forward.
The trial barrier kept Hermione and her companion outside.
"The entrance to the trial should be over there," Draco said, pointing to the lair. " Hermione, Professor Babbling, you two wait for me outside the lair. Each trial seems to have special restrictions; only the inheritor can enter alone."
"Be careful, Draco," Hermione warned. Draco nodded and stepped into the dark lair alone.
As soon as I crossed the entrance boundary, a stench hit me.
Immediately afterwards, the ground began to shake violently.
With a deafening roar, a colossal creature burst forth from the shadows.
It was a Graphorn, a giant, four-legged ferocious creature.
Its body was covered with thick, grayish-purple skin, and a row of sharp bone spikes stood menacingly on its shoulders and back. It had two hard, giant horns on its head, and its fleshy whiskers swayed violently as it ran.
Its massive size caused rocks to crumble with every step it took, like a runaway heavy tank charging straight at you.
Draco's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but think to himself: The last trial is to deal with this guy? How am I supposed to handle this? I can't just blast him to death.
Driven by instinct, the incantation was about to slip from his lips.
" Draco, don't attack!" Hermione's voice pierced through the wind and the roars of the beasts, urgently coming from behind her.
Her gaze swept quickly across the remnants of inscriptions belonging to Sen Bakar on the stone wall at the cave entrance, then fixed on the Graphorn's seemingly fierce but actually intimidating and non-lethal charging posture, and in an instant she understood all the logic.
"This isn't a fight! It's a test of mastering power!" Hermione said firmly. "The Guardians said the trial tests 'restraint,' not 'violence'! It doesn't want your defeat, but your 'reverence' for this power!"
Draco's hand, holding the wand, froze in mid-air.
He turned his head to look at the girl outside the nest.
The strong wind whipped her hair into a mess.
"Kneel down!" Hermione shouted. "This is not submission, it is the inheritor's surrender to Ancient Magic. Only in this way will it recognize your right to be its master!"
The force of the charge was already making Draco's cheeks sting. The Graphorn's sharp horns were almost within reach, and he could even smell the scorching breath it was exhaling.
Life and death hang by a thread!