A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 691 Contact Barrier
Charles stood before the invisible magical barrier, where a rainbow of light intertwined with the barrier, illuminating the entire hall in a dreamlike manner.

Cracking it is no easy task.

He waved his wand in his right hand from time to time, the tip of which was filled with colorful starlight; in his left hand he held a communication notebook, while on the other side, the experts of Farbatton Castle were strategizing.

This is a confrontation that spans a thousand years.

On the other side of the communication notebook, experts have deduced the manufacturing date from the characteristics and style of the barrier, which is not far from the founding time of Hogwarts.

Analysis complete, discussion over, next step is cracking.

The moment the 460mm wand touched the barrier, countless aurora-like streaks of light burst forth in the surrounding air. Emerald-colored patterns extended outward from the point where the wand touched the barrier, and azure starlight shone through the gaps. The transparent background gradually turned into the color of violet.

"Wow, so beautiful!"

Harry and Ron sighed.

Hermione stood on the left, leaning slightly forward to take notes on how Charles and the experts were operating.

The tip of Charles' wand suddenly vibrated violently, making a sound that seemed to be speaking, but Harry and the others couldn't understand it.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

"Click..."

A very faint yet incredibly clear crisp sound reached everyone's ears.

The barrier had now turned violet, with countless colors converging, like an eternal galaxy.

As the cracking sounds increased, the starlight shattered one after another, and the cracks revealed eerie patterns.

Suddenly, everyone heard a sound coming from behind the crack, like someone singing.

The singing was somber, it evoked a deep sadness in the listener, as if a Dementor had appeared.

In the end, there was no deafening roar, no dazzling light; the barrier transformed into a rain of light, quickly darkened, and disappeared.

“You…shouldn’t…have…come…here…”

A faint voice rang out, its direction indiscernible.

The trio of Harry and Mewtwo couldn't understand what the voice was saying, so they raised their wands and looked around warily.

Charles waved to disperse the stale air behind him with the fresh air he had left, and carefully examined the dilapidated hall.

The voice was neither male nor female, but one thing was certain: it was not English, but old Norman French.

For a long period after the Norman conquest in the 11th century, English nobles spoke Norman French, which in turn influenced wizards.

“Who are you?” Charles asked in the same language.

When he was in third grade, he used a 15th-century spell but mispronounced it in the 20th century, causing him to get stuck on the floor. He was only able to be rescued with great difficulty.

Charles then took advantage of his talent for language learning and studied various ancient languages.

The voice didn't answer who it was, but instead said, "Leave... This is a forbidden place... If you step into this place... only destruction awaits..."

It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because once he did, Charles got all worked up.

He walked forward without hesitation, and the expected voices of dissuasion did not sound again, as if the voices from before had never appeared.

Harry asked from behind Charles, "Charles, what did that sound mean?"

He, Hermione, and Ron had never learned a foreign language from nearly ten centuries ago.

Charles recounted the conversation that had just taken place.

Hermione immediately stopped beside a broken pillar and said worriedly, "Charles, I think we shouldn't go any further. We can report this to Professor Dumbledore."

Ron nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes."

"What if there are basilisk-like monsters here too?"

One of them reads a lot, and the other heard a lot of stories since childhood. They both worried that there might be something scary here, like a secret room.

The battles outside were proof to them that a powerful force was going to destroy a monster and then seal off this place, not even allowing ghosts to get close.

Charles replied, "We'll see."

After he finished speaking, he waved his wand, and the Shanghai dolls began to enter the passageways and rooms around the hall to conduct preliminary reconnaissance.

The reconnaissance quickly yielded results, with the living quarters being the first area discovered. There were many rooms resembling dormitories, with stone beds and tables and chairs of varying sizes; some rooms even contained items like metal jewelry.

What interested Charles most was the deepest part of the area.

This area resembles a workshop district, with places like carpentry and blacksmith shops. Raw materials and tools are scattered all over the ground, and many tools, such as hammers, have lost their wooden parts.

Charles studied the tools carefully for a long time and quickly drew a conclusion from their size.

“These are all tools of fairies,” he said, frowning. “I’m afraid there are fairies here crafting magical items.”

"Fairies have always treasured their skills. Now, if a fairy is making something in front of a human, it will be regarded as the most serious betrayal."

Harry, remembering the craters in the walls of the passageway outside, asked in surprise, "You mean, there are goblins here who are revealing their secrets, so other goblins are attacking them?"

Charles said, "I'm afraid it's not that simple. I suspect there's a deeper secret hidden here."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly looked at Harry, which sent chills down Harry's spine.

“Harry,” Charles said, “why don’t you take some time to talk to Gripen and see if he knows anything?”

Harry immediately shook his head like a rattle-drum, his glasses almost flying off.

“I don’t want to,” he said firmly. “I don’t want to go back to Azkaban. It’s not a place fit for human beings.”

In Azkaban, even food delivery is a painful experience; nobody would go there for no reason.

Charles said softly, "This time it's not like you're going inside. Just chat on the beach outside."

Harry continued to shake his head, saying, "That won't work."

It's not that he's never been to the beach; it's wet and cold, and not fun at all.

Charles had no choice but to resort to his trump card: "I'll give you pocket money."

“Okay,” Harry agreed immediately, “but you’ll have to figure out a way to get me there and bring me back.”

Charles said, "I'll give you the door key and a special sum of money to buy some snacks and fruit to bring to the pull tab."

"Oh, right, I have a secret weapon for you later."

Harry's curiosity about the "secret weapon" outweighed his fear of the Dementors, and he asked with a smile, "Could you give me the secret weapon first?"

Behind them, Hermione and Ron exchanged a glance and shrugged simultaneously.

The group continued walking forward. There was a row of rooms against the wall ahead. Except for the middle room, whose door was tightly closed, the dozen or so surrounding rooms showed signs of damage.

"Huh?" Harry made a very important new discovery, "There's a room number on that room!"

The group walked over and saw an ordinary wooden door with only one nail remaining on a brass sign.

“Charles,” Hermione said, looking at Charles in surprise after spelling out the letters above, “your name is here.”

Charles shrugged and said, "'Charles' comes from the Latin name 'Carolus' of Charlemagne, the Frankish king. It's a very common name in France."

"Although the name was brought to England in 1066, it was rarely used by the English before the reigns of Charles I and Charles II in the 17th century."

"I believe that the owner, or rather the creator, of this place was a French nobleman or descendant who came to England with William the Conqueror in the 11th century, just like the Malfoy family."

Harry was listening to the history at first, but by the end his face fell, and he said, "Could this be related to Malfoy?"

Charles shrugged and said, "Just ask Malfoy."

Just then, the voice from before said, "Don't insult this place with that surname!"

Charles looked at the door and asked, "Aren't you going to come out and talk to us?"

The voice simply sighed and then disappeared.

Everyone has a feeling that the answer to all of this lies behind this door.

Charles sensed magic on the doorway, so he tapped the door hard with his wand in preparation to break the spell.

Surprisingly, it was this little bit of force that pushed the door open.

Charles didn't go in immediately, but instead examined the doorway to avoid being locked inside.

"Is it that funny?" He quickly came to the conclusion, "Who came up with the idea of ​​not being wary of someone named Charles?"

(End of this chapter)