Hogwarts' Underground Palace
This low, circular passageway is winding and leaks in some places.
Guided by the faint light of their wands, the four quickly exited the passage and found themselves in a tall stone tunnel.
Only after arriving here is it on the right path; they still have a long way to go to reach Hogsmeade.
William had never been here before; he had always taken a different route. This was the first time he had come here with his twin brother.
The two men said this place was very mysterious and they wanted to show him and Cedric their sights.
In fact, the moment William arrived, he knew where he was.
This underground space was mentioned in the Hogwarts architecture books recommended by Dumbledore.
William remembered it vividly because of a note left up there: Ravenclaw's daughter Helena, once got lost down there and almost never made it back.
So Gryffindor blocked the secret passage with magic, and people could never find the entrance again.
They never expected to be discovered by the Marauders, who even found the password to crack it.
To be honest, this is more like the underground palace of Hogwarts than a secret passage.
This place really resembles an underground palace, with a main road and countless small rooms and passageways on both sides.
Walking through the towering underground palace, William thought that if they wandered around aimlessly, they might get lost down there.
Fortunately, with the Marauder's Map, the Marauders discovered a path leading directly to Hogsmeade.
The four of them followed the map, venturing deeper and deeper into the underground of Hogwarts Castle. With each step they took, William's heart pounded faster.
The terrain here is very complex, like a huge maze, even more complex than the staircases of Hogwarts Castle.
William strongly suspects that Ravenclaw was involved in the design of this underground palace.
The four walked for about twenty minutes, first going down the marble steps of the west colonnade of the rotunda, then turning back in the opposite direction, passing through a wide passageway, and finally entering the crypt directly beneath the rotunda.
The air here was stifling; William felt he was developing claustrophobia.
As the sound of footsteps echoed, soft ground lights illuminated the low eaves of the cave dwelling.
By the light, they could see the solid form of the forty Doric columns that supported the upper marble floor.
William was able to recognize the structure not because he was particularly learned, but because the building looked very familiar.
William remembered the Parthenon.
The Parthenon, located in the heart of the ancient citadel of the Acropolis of Athens, atop a limestone hill. William had seen photographs; once seen, its architectural style was unforgettable.
The underground palace in front of us is also a magnificent rectangular building in the same style.
Unlike the Parthenon, the buildings in this crypt show no signs of the passage of time; the reliefs are lifelike, and the colonnades are inscribed with intricate Ancient Runes.
William stared intently at the temple, his attention completely absorbed.
"Relax, William." Fred raised an eyebrow smugly. "This building is nothing; there are plenty more over here."
Fred said, quickly swerving to the left and leading the group through the spacious underground space.
The corridor was filled with various statues, and William even saw a model of Hogwarts Castle, exactly the same as the Dumbledore had given William!
This model, however, was made of gold and shone with golden light. It was far more precious than the wooden building that Dumbledore had given him.
Suddenly, William heard the sound of flowing water.
That's a lake!
In the middle of the lake, there is a small island with only one building on it.
The building was about two stories high and made of granite. Under the illumination of the ground lights, all four facets revealed a polished, exquisite finish.
This is a pyramid.
But the problem is that this pyramid—without a spire—has a wooden coffin platform on its smooth platform, with four coffins, each a different color!
"How was it?" George laughed. "Wasn't it amazing?"
Fred gazed at the pyramid with fascination and said, "We were quite startled when we first saw it. Who would have thought there would be something like this deep within Hogwarts Castle?"
Cedric walked to the vicinity of the lake, but an invisible force blocked his way.
"There's a layer of magic around there; we can't get past it," Fred shrugged.
"Whose coffin is that?" Cedric asked.
"Could it be one of the Four Founders?" William speculated.
He always felt that this was the graveyard of the Four Founders; only they could build such a structure in the castle.
"Perhaps they left it for themselves, but there shouldn't be any bodies inside," Cedric analyzed.
"I heard that of the Four Founders, apart from Ms. Hufflepuff, the other three have all left the school."
Looking at the coffins, a gust of cold wind blew by, and all four of them felt a chill.
They left in a hurry, completely unaware that the golden compass placed on the shore of the island had trembled slightly.
The four walked faster and faster, diagonally through the underground palace, and entered another narrow corridor.
These densely packed corridors contain many doors, each with a unique identifier or number.
"Can it be opened?" Cedric asked excitedly.
"Every door is locked..." Fred said.
William aimed his wand at what appeared to be the lock and chanted, "Alohomora!"
But the door didn't budge.
William pulled a knife from his robe; it was a gift from his twin brother.
He inserted the knife into the crack between the door and the wall, slid it from top to bottom, and then pulled it out.
The door was still tightly shut, just like before; moreover, the blade had melted.
George suggested, "How about we find Muggle dynamite next time and blow it up?"
William rolled his eyes. Where were they going to get explosives?
George was somewhat disappointed, which was undoubtedly frustrating for a wizard dedicated to exploring Hogwarts.
"Let's go, let's continue on to Hogsmeade," William said.
They can only feast their eyes on it now; they can't access any other places.
After they left, they walked for a very long time, and the scenery after that wasn't particularly interesting.
Fortunately, the snacks from Honeydukes encouraged them to keep going.
About forty minutes later, the passageway extended upwards.
"We're almost there," George said to William and Cedric, pointing to the seemingly endless corridor.
At that moment, William suddenly stopped.
"Did you hear anything?" he asked.
"What?"
"The sound of movement," William said.
He pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a while; the sound seemed both very far away and very close.
The cave was spacious and deep, and the echoes could be heard from a great distance.
Could there be other people in this underground palace besides them?
(Third update, please vote for this story, dear readers.)