The flying broom incident has come to an end.
Morris's summer vacation became leisurely again.
The Quidditch World Cup will be held in mid-to-late August, and he plans to go and join in the fun.
So, what should we do next?
One night in early August, Ship in a Bottle.
Morris was setting up Gate of Two Realms in his room, which would be the entrance to the Gap World.
The last exploration made no substantial progress and was delayed for a long time due to various reasons.
"That should be about right."
Morris wiped the sweat from his brow, looked at the teleportation magic circle that had nearly doubled in size, and nodded in satisfaction.
This is the limit of what he can optimize.
If he still can't find anything new in the Gap World, it can only mean that that place is not within his current capabilities.
Morris stood before the magic circle, checked it one last time, then walked to the center, lay down, and closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, Morris was already standing on that gray and white wasteland.
Although the teleportation array was located in the Ship in a Bottle, he still returned to " Hogwarts " in the Gap World.
Looking at the familiar outline of the castle beside him, Morris seemed lost in thought.
He is no longer the magic novice he once was.
He could now sense that the default landing point of the teleportation array was here.
Sometimes the position may be slightly off, but not by much.
Morris chose to set off in the same direction as last time.
Hopefully, this time I'll gain something from it...
After walking for a long time, the strange sign reappeared.
The sign remained unchanged; the words were the same as before—"Here I was" and "Me too."
The latter was what he left behind last time.
This means you're heading in the right direction.
But this time, the teleportation array still had plenty of energy.
Morris didn't linger long and continued on his way.
I silently counted the time in my mind, and it had been almost two more hours since then.
The surrounding scenery remained the same, but the white fog began to thicken, resembling the smog of a heavily polluted industrial city.
Morris slowed down and tried to use Energy Gathering.
Successfully, a Gap Energy Crystal appeared in his palm.
If this efficiency continues, there will be no need to worry about running out of energy crystals in the future.
Just then, a black shadow suddenly appeared in the distance.
There's something there!
Morris was startled. He put the energy crystal he had just condensed into his pocket and quickly moved closer.
This is a new discovery.
The shadow became clearer and clearer.
It's a human!
The other person was more than half a head taller than Morris, wearing a simple gray-black robe, standing there with his back to him, motionless, like a statue.
Morris stopped about ten paces away from the other person and tentatively greeted him, "Hello?"
There was no response.
Could it be a dead person?
Morris walked around to the front of the other person and finally saw the face clearly.
He was a very old man.
His skin was dry and withered, his face was gaunt, and his eyes were tightly closed.
Hello, sir?
Morris asked again, reaching out to touch the other person's shoulder.
Just when he thought there would be no reaction, those tightly closed eyes suddenly opened.
Morris was startled. "Still alive?"
That's obviously nonsense.
The man's eyes slowly cleared, as if he were waking up from a long nightmare.
He stared intently at Morris and asked in a strange accent, "Who are you?"
Morris thought for a moment and gave a reasonably appropriate answer, "An adventurer, just call me Morris. And who are you?"
"A guard." The man's face remained expressionless, his speech still slow. "Living people are forbidden here. Go back now, adventurer."
Um?
Morris raised an eyebrow. "You're not alive?"
The man slowly began to nod.
"You can call me Death," he said.
Morris stared at the other person for a few seconds.
He believed the man who called himself Death was trying to fool him.
The man offered no further explanation, only repeating, "Leave now, adventurer. Go back to where you came from."
Morris didn't move. "What if I don't go back?"
The man was silent for a moment before speaking, "It's alright, as long as you don't go any further and don't cross this line, I won't stop you."
He stiffly raised his hand, pointing into the depths of the fog. "Ahead lies the world of the dead."
Morris looked in the direction he was pointing.
The fog was so thick that nothing could be seen except a vast expanse of grayish-white.
"What if I keep going forward?" Morris asked curiously.
"I will die," the man replied calmly.
Okay, that's pretty scary.
Morris muttered something to himself, then asked, "Are you really Death? Can you answer a few questions for me? Just to satisfy my curiosity."
The man's expression remained unchanged. "Okay."
"He's quite easy to talk to," Morris thought.
So he immediately asked the question that concerned him most at that moment.
What is your real name?
... Scrape.
This name sounds fake.
Why are you here?
"Guard this place."
"Guard? Guard what?"
No comment.
How long have you been here?
No comment.
Who assigned you the task?
No comment.
What is your gender?
Scrape remained silent and stood there quietly.
After that, no matter what Morris asked, he didn't respond.
Morris was speechless for a moment.
Judging from this, it seems we won't get any useful information.
This guy is really strange.
He stroked his chin, beginning to consider whether to continue walking forward.
That's the place Scrape said would "kill" us.
But the question is, how credible is this statement?
Morris's curiosity was growing.
He knew, of course, that curiosity might kill the cat, but he wasn't a cat; he was a wizard.
He would definitely be unwilling to turn back just like that.
So Morris walked straight past Scrape and strode forward.
He wanted to see how he would die.
step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Suddenly, Scrape appeared in front of him, blocking his way.
Morris stopped in his tracks.
The opponent's movements were incredibly fast, and he sensed a powerful magical aura, clearly indicating that the opponent was using some kind of teleportation magic.
"It's not too late to leave now," Scrape said seriously, already holding a wand in his hand, looking ready to act at any moment.
Morris did not want conflict.
"Okay," he said, slowly backing away.
He has other ways to get past the other party; there's no need to use force.
Scrape also put away his wand.
At that moment, Morris was certain of one thing: this man was a wizard.
Moreover, judging from that spell just now, the opponent's skill level is not low, it could even be said to be quite high.
Retreating to a safe distance, Morris turned and left, simultaneously extending his Mental Power towards his opponent.
Perhaps we can sense some information, just like we can probe the Animagus.
However, it was this tentative move that caused the situation to become tense.