When Ron and Hermione's feet touched the ground, they were surprised to find the surface below was soft.
However, before they could examine their surroundings carefully...
Hermione suddenly felt something coiling around her ankle, moving upward.
And it was getting tighter.
"What is this!?" Ron shouted in panic.
"Incendio!"
A familiar voice came from nearby.
Harry was watching them from a corner, a flame shooting from his wand toward Hermione and Ron's feet.
Ron looked down and, by the firelight, finally realized that what was wrapping around his feet were vines.
These vines, under Harry's fire spell, quickly retreated like frightened snakes.
Hermione and Ron seized the opportunity to run to Harry's side.
"It's Devil's Snare," Hermione said, looking at the vines receding like a tide. "Although it looks different from the one Professor Westeros grows."
"Yes," Harry nodded, then said to them: "But didn't I tell you to go inform the professors?"
"Did you think we would slink away and leave you?" Ron puffed out his chest.
Harry was touched, but this also meant they wouldn't have the professors' help.
And looking at the ceiling, Harry saw that the hole was quite far up. Without tools, it would be difficult to get back.
"Lumos."
With Harry's incantation, a beam of light emanated from the tip of his wand.
Now they could see their surroundings clearly; they were in a damp and dark corridor.
"Those vines were probably prepared by Professor Sprout," Harry said as he proceeded along the corridor. "The professors must have each set up their own obstacles. I wonder what mechanism Professor Westeros designed. Hopefully, it will keep intruders out."
After walking for a while, they came to a spacious room with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of winged keys floating above.
Ron looked up at the keys and couldn't help asking: "Do we need to find the correct key among so many?"
Hermione shook her head, raising her hand to direct Ron's attention to the door opposite.
The lock had a large hole in it—it appeared to have been destroyed by some kind of magic.
So, they didn't need a key to pass through this obstacle.
Passing through that door, they came to another dark room.
When they entered, the room suddenly lit up, revealing a giant chessboard with black and white pieces taller than themselves.
However, the pieces were in ruins, and there was a huge crack in the center of the board.
Like the previous challenge, it was obvious that someone had already destroyed this place.
Behind the white pieces, the three found another door.
Before entering, Harry solemnly said to Hermione and Ron: "Whoever came in before us must be very powerful; these obstacles haven't been effective."
"Perhaps tomorrow's Daily Prophet will report that three Hogwarts students were killed," Ron said uneasily.
Hermione hit him hard on the back, "Shut up, Ron! We..."
Her scolding was cut short.
When they opened the next door, seven green figures suddenly darted out from the corner, surrounding the three with their sharp teeth.
"Chomping Cabbages!" Harry exclaimed with delight. The only person at Hogwarts who kept such creatures was Adrian.
The seven Chomping Cabbages bared their teeth at Harry.
Harry quickly took out Guru from his pocket.
Guru jumped to the ground, standing in front of Harry, rolling back and forth before the seven Chomping Cabbages, seemingly communicating.
A moment later, those fierce-looking cabbages actually slowly backed away.
"Did you encounter anyone else before us?" Harry crouched in front of one of the Chomping Cabbages and asked.
"Well, I forgot you can't talk..."
In fact, these seven Chomping Cabbages had encountered Voldemort earlier.
However, being sensitive to danger, they had immediately sensed Voldemort's powerful aura and hidden in the corners.
Useless fellows...
In the next room, there was only a table with seven different potions and a piece of parchment.
As they approached the table, black and purple flames suddenly rose before and behind them.
The parchment contained a simple logic puzzle, which the clever Hermione solved immediately.
Hermione pointed to the smallest bottle and said: "That's the correct answer."
However, when Harry picked up the bottle, he found there was only a little left at the bottom.
"It seems only one of us can drink this potion," Ron said.
Harry shook his head, put the bottle down, and placed his small bag on the table.
He rummaged inside for a moment, then took out a bottle of orange-yellow potion.
"This is a fire-resistance potion," Harry explained. "Once we drink it, we can pass through the flames."
Hermione took the fire-resistance potion from Harry's hand, saying somewhat distrustfully: "I've never heard of such a potion."
"It's Professor Westeros's invention," Harry explained. "He made it himself. The raw materials seem to be some kind of red mushroom and something called magma paste—quickly, let's drink it and try, one mouthful each."
After Harry finished speaking, Hermione felt reassured, opened the cap, and drank a third of it.
Then Harry and Ron followed.
After the three drank the fire-resistance potion, they suddenly felt warm all over.
"Let's go."
After Harry spoke, he was the first to charge into the black flames.
Hermione and Ron followed closely.
The three passed through the flames unharmed, and what met their eyes was a giant mirror.
"This should be the last room. Oh, that must be the Mirror of Erised."
Harry looked around but didn't see any other doors leading to another challenge, nor did he see anyone else.
As the three slowly approached the Mirror of Erised...
"Good evening..." a hoarse voice came from behind the Mirror of Erised.
Harry stopped abruptly, the hair on his body standing on end.
The voice was like nails scratching a blackboard, making the skin on the back of his neck break out in goosebumps. "Who's there!?" Harry pointed his wand at the back of the mirror and said loudly.
A figure wrapped in a black robe slowly emerged from behind the mirror, instantly causing the three to catch their breath.
The person had Quirrell's face, but it was covered with dense cracks, as if it might shatter at any moment.
Moreover, when looking at that face, Harry's scar on his forehead suddenly began to throb painfully.
He suddenly realized the true identity of the person before him.
He wasn't Quirrell, but rather...
"Voldemort..."
Harry said softly.
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