Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 469 The Other Side of the Curtain
They followed the corridor to the doorway at the end, and after opening the black door, the scene Harry had envisioned, just like in his dream, did not appear.

There are no shelves displaying crystal balls here, only a large circular room and twelve almost identical black doors.

Just after they entered, the entrance door was suddenly slammed shut, followed by a rumbling sound, and the circular wall began to spin—the doors blurred into a blur.

After they became completely confused, the doors stopped turning, and they could no longer tell which door was the one they had come from.

“I guess this is so they don’t let us leave freely…” Hermione said, “They’re treating us like intruders…”

“It’s alright, I wrote to Edward,” Cohen said. “And if you’re going out, use this door—”

As he spoke, Cohen pointed to the door behind them.

The reason is simple: the Chimera Beast didn't come in; it was still outside the door—and Cohen could see its three souls through the door.

“Maybe we should try them one by one,” Harry said. “Sirius is definitely behind one of those doors—but not the exit.”

“If we’re going to go through a particular door, it’s best to make a mark first,” Hermione said cautiously. “It might start turning again after we get back here.”

They picked a door and drew a shiny "X" on it with a spell.

Then, Harry couldn't wait to pull them inside.

The first room was a slightly well-lit place, with several lamps hanging from the ceiling by golden chains, but the brightness was not high, making it seem even darker than outside.

Besides the chandeliers, there are some other "light-emitting objects" here.

Many glowing brains swam in the water tank on the long table, making the dark green liquid look particularly eerie.

“Ah, my favorite brain,” Cohen said. “Now I know where the person who gave me that little brain as a pet stole it from.”

“Let’s leave here…” Harry said somewhat uneasily, “and find another room.”

Cohen originally intended to take them all with him, but Hermione felt that doing so was too dangerous, both for Cohen himself and for the wizarding world.

“One day everyone will like brains,” Cohen said, shaking his head.

After leaving the brain-stimulating room, the circular room started spinning again, and they chose another door.

However, the door was locked tightly, and even with Alahoko's arm wide open, it couldn't be opened.

"Could this be it?" Ron asked nervously.

“No,” Cohen said, frowning. “This is the room where the Department of Mysteries studies ‘love’.”

"You know?" Hermione asked in surprise.

“Because there’s someone behind the door,” Cohen said. “A living person, not Sirius Black, and not Voldemort.”

[Soul Strength: 50]

It's shaped like a person, and someone is locked inside.

“Let’s go,” Cohen said. “We have important business to attend to. I’ll ask about this room later…”

The person locked up inside is definitely not an ordinary wizard, so why is he being held in the Department of Mysteries?
After they came out, the room started spinning, and the order of the doors was scrambled again, but thankfully there were markings, so it wasn't that important to them.

Harry pushed open another door next to him, and Hermione quickly drew a mark on that door as well.

The situation behind this door is completely different from the brain-training room.

The room was larger and more crowded—because it was filled with tiered stone benches.

It is rectangular with a depression in the middle, like a huge stone pit.

In the center of the stone pit was an archway that seemed out of place with its surroundings, with a tattered black curtain hanging above it.

There were no candles here; the only light source was the magic wands in their hands.

Cohen was somewhat surprised that he didn't see the scene he had predicted. Because if it didn't happen now, it meant it would happen very soon.

"Who's there?" Harry suddenly looked toward the archway.

“Harry, what did you hear?” Hermione grabbed Harry, who seemed to be heading toward the strange archway.

“There’s a voice behind the curtain,” Harry said.

“Wrong.” Cohen looked at the archway with interest. “Those voices are not human, but the resentment and anger left behind by the dead, along with a large group of wronged souls. I feel there should be another world behind this door.”

The gateway to the world of anime and manga; passing through it allows you to be reborn in another world.

That's how Cohen came to be.

“We should go,” Hermione said, pulling Harry along. “Harry, don’t go near there—”

"But what was that?" Harry asked, puzzled. "I really heard a human voice, Sirius?"

Harry took a step closer.

“Harry, there’s nothing behind the curtain,” Hermione said, trembling. “Let’s go.”

“This archway is an execution rack,” Cohen said. “If you go through it, you die.”

This room is an execution chamber.

Upon hearing Cohen's blunt explanation, Harry shuddered and immediately stepped back, as if trying to get away from something.

“The death penalty has been abolished for a long time, otherwise this place wouldn’t have been moved to the Department of Mysteries,” Cohen said. “No one usually comes here.”

After leaving the room, Hermione also marked the door.

Love, death, thought...

The Department of Mysteries is indeed researching things that touch upon the very foundations of magic's logic.

With the three marked doors, they were getting closer and closer to making the right choice.

After pushing open the next door, Harry suddenly exclaimed:

"That's it!"

The room is filled with all kinds of clocks, from grandfather clocks to travel clocks, ticking incessantly. At the far end of the room is a huge, bell-shaped crystal dome.

“This way,” Harry said, hurrying them to the end of the path. “There’s a door at the back—the room I dreamt about is inside—”

"There are time converters here!" Cohen's gaze was drawn to the large number of time converters hanging on the wall.

“Cohen, if you steal this, I’m sure Mr. Norton will be furious,” Hermione said sternly to Cohen. “Time is not a toy; messing with it can be very dangerous.”

"Alright, alright."

I don't have anything I need to go back to make up for.

Finally, they bypassed the enclosure, where a bird egg was undergoing a cycle of "hatching - growing - aging - shrinking - turning back into a bird egg".

Harry was right, there really is a door behind this.

They went inside and saw the rows of shelves filled with prophecy orbs that Harry had mentioned.

"Where is the place you're looking for?" Cohen asked.

“Ninety-seventh row,” Harry said nervously. “Sirius is right there.”

(End of this chapter)