A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 147 Practical Lesson (Part 3) - The Key

All the Ravenclaw students laughed.

One of the girls said without hesitation, "Exceptional wisdom is the greatest wealth of mankind."

They quickly arranged themselves in the correct order, and in a dazzling light, the runes disappeared, replaced by a string of elegant, flowing English words that shimmered on the wall: "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."

"That's right! That's it. This wall clearly represents Ravenclaw, and the other three walls..." Percy said excitedly.

"This represents the other three colleges!"

Everyone thought of this.

Guided by this line of thinking, the runes on the other three walls were also deciphered one after another—

"Courage and fearlessness are my best friends." This is a famous quote from Godric Gryffindor.

"Resilient, honest, upright, and loyal." This is how people describe Hufflepuff.

"To be with honor, to be with strength." This is a quote from a famous Slytherin wizard in history.

Four lines of text shone brightly on the four walls, and everyone instinctively held their breath. Sure enough, the writing on the walls disappeared.

In the darkness, only the light emanating from their wands served as a source of illumination, and this not-so-bright light lit up their excited faces.

An ordinary door appeared, as if it had always been there, and the students went inside.

There was only one table inside, and on the table was a manuscript titled "An Important Manuscript".

Jeffrey turned to the first page, which read: "Collect all four keys to get out of here." The rest of the page was blank.

He scoffed. "Do we even need a key? We can just push the door open and get out..." He suddenly stopped, as if choked by saliva. A cold sweat quickly broke out on his face. "I...can we even find the classroom door?"

After exchanging bewildered glances, Percy spoke to the air, "Professor Hyp... are you there, Professor Hyp?"

No response.

"Looks like we need to collect all the keys." Wood scratched his head. "But where are they?"

"Of course, it's the four directions: east, south, west, and north. Remember the runes we saw in the tombstones?" Percy said to Penelope.

"You mean...that story!"

“That’s right,” Percy said loudly, his nose slightly red with excitement. “The inscription on the tombstone records information about this place, but there’s something else, namely one of the keys.”

So the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students took out the parchment they had previously recorded and arranged it as needed.

"I have 3-1 here, does anyone have 3-2?"

"I'm ahead of you in line, I'm number 1-7."

They pasted the parchment onto the wall in order and examined it carefully: "It's obvious that there are groups of ten, and four groups in total."

"The first group introduces the background of the 1842 operation, which is similar to what Professor Hyp said..."

"That's not important," Jeffrey said.

Percy rolled his eyes and continued, "The second group introduced the terrain of this place, which is very simple: east, west, south, and north, plus the safe house in the center."

"The third and fourth groups were the trouble that the Ministry of Magic staff encountered at the time. Oh, although the concealment magic failed, the other protective measures were still in operation. Look here, one of the defenses is a large number of infernals, the little skeletons we encountered..."

"That was truly wicked! Why didn't the Ministry of Magic arrest him back then?"

"Oh, I think it's probably because they haven't had time to establish a Ministry of Magic yet..."

……

"What other defensive measures are there?"

"Groundhogs, magic statues, and devil vines," Percy said, pointing to the words above.

"Very good~ It seems we'll have to deal with something similar," Wood said. "The Infernal corresponds to a small skeleton, so it seems there are similar substitutes elsewhere. But I'd like to ask, what is a Ground Bat?"

"A rather rare magical creature, it looks like a black cloak, glides along the ground, and hunts at night. Some say they are closely related to Dementors, and besides their similar appearance, they are both countered by Patronus Charms," ​​Percy said.

"Is there anyone here who knows the Guardian Charm?" Wood asked.

No one raised their hands.

Percy revealed part of the truth: "That's not part of the exam, Wood. Nobody would waste time learning a powerful spell they don't need."

Penelope recalled, "Dean Flitwick mentioned this spell in class. I tried it a few times, but only some white mist came out. If someone could guide me..."

"But groundbats are quite dangerous creatures, and the professor won't let us deal with them. I guess we'll run into a crow's nest?" Percy speculated, but he was pretty sure it was true.

"Stop the small talk, where shall we begin?" Jeffrey said.

"The tombstone area is the place we're most familiar with, so it will save us time."

"very good."

They stepped out of the safe house, and Percy held his wand flat in his palm, whispering to it, "Show me the way."

The wand spun around and pointed to his right, which was north.

"So if we go in the opposite direction, we'll get back to the tombstones," Percy told everyone.

They returned to the group of tombstones, and the Slytherin and Hufflepuff students pointed at the black stone tombstones, marveling at them.

"Look, the skull bones have all turned into stone," Wood pointed out.

The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students discovered that the small skeletons that had been scattered all over the ground had turned into a pile of broken stones.

"A very clever transformation; we didn't see it at all at the time." One of the wizards picked up a stone and examined it closely.

A Ravenclaw girl said sadly, "I even held it; it looked so cute."

Percy looked at her strangely, then pulled Penelope aside and whispered, "Has she always been like this?"

"She's a huge fan of magical puppets," Penelope explained.

"Alright, everyone split up and search. It shouldn't be too difficult..."

Seven or eight minutes later, a Hufflepuff student found a golden key inside a rock.

"Where did you find it?"

Grover pointed to the broken stones not far away, and Wood's eyes widened. "That's the little skeleton that attacked me. I kept it on purpose! I never imagined the key was hidden in its head."

"Very good, we've completed a quarter of the task. Keep up the good work..." Percy was about to say a few words of encouragement when Slytherin Prefect Jeffrey walked over carrying a box.

"What is this?"

"A treasure map," Jeffrey said.

"How did this thing come to be?" Percy's mind was in a mess. The students gathered around, looking at the blueprints in the box.

The markings were simple: a bottle design was drawn in the southeast corner of the safe house, next to a magic rune symbol representing wealth.

Just then, a muffled thunderous sound came from the sky—

"It seems you're having a great time... but I regret to inform you that this unexpected journey has come to an end for now. Take your belongings and follow the signs out of here."

An arrow appeared beneath their feet.

A dozen minutes later, they returned to the ancient magic script classroom, their faces still showing confusion and bewilderment.

"That's it? We haven't collected all the keys yet?"

From the podium, Felix smiled at them: "get out of class will be over in a few minutes, and to avoid you being late, I have to end this adventure. But don't worry—"

"You'll be there for the rest of the school year. Besides the task of collecting four keys, you'll encounter many strange, simple, and fun little tasks..."

"Like that treasure map?"

“That’s right, Jeffrey,” Felix said. “The assignment for this class is to analyze the runes you encounter and write a paper that is at least a foot long.”

(End of this chapter)