I, Hogwarts Second Time Around

Chapter 580 Merlin's Secret Treasure

Bill woke up.

He entered the small foyer, where everyone was sitting in the living room, intently discussing their plan to reclaim Hogwarts.

The room was decorated in soft colors and beautifully, with a small piece of driftwood collected from the beach burning in the fireplace, emitting a bright light.

The plan to reclaim Hogwarts was simple; the two leaders had discussed it many times before. Theseus Scamander simply added some supplementary information, as well as addressing the most important issue of subsequent defense.

"Are you going to take back Hogwarts?" Bill asked.

"Mm," Hermione replied.

"Is it time for the final battle?" Bill took a deep breath. "The fairies are on the other side."

"Is he awake?" Theseus Scamander asked.

"I noticed some noises coming from that room when I went downstairs."

"Let's go take a look," Theseus Scamander said.

Bill nodded and led the way.

"This way." They climbed the stairs, and Bill passed by his and Fleur's room.

Walk towards the room inside.

Then he reached out and knocked on the door.

After a pause, a weak voice came from inside, "Please come in."

Bill pushed open the door.

The room was clearly enchanted with an infinite stretching spell, and contained three beds, which were probably created through transfiguration.

On the two beds near the door, two demons were still fast asleep.

The fairy had already woken up on the bed next to the window.

Hermione and the others went inside.

They moved very quietly and sat down on the sofa opposite the bed.

"We need to talk," Theseus Scamander said bluntly, then glanced at Hermione, gesturing for her to ask.

"I know," the fairy replied.

Hermione composed herself and asked, "Hello, are you the goblin collector Nagnock? Or do you know where he is?"

"I am Nagnok," the fairy said bluntly. His face was very pale, and his eyes were full of fatigue.

Hermione was somewhat surprised; she hadn't expected that they would actually run into Nagnock by chance.

"Ahem, hello Mr. Nagnock," Hermione said. "I'm very sorry for what happened to the goblins, but the situation is urgent. I wanted to ask if you know anything about the magical weapon, the Blade of Prometheus?"

"You're here for that thing too?" Nagnok's face darkened.

"It seems you know a lot about this," Hermione said. "So you should know what would happen if the Mystic got his hands on that weapon."

"I know very well. Humans," Nagnok said.

"The fairy got into trouble because she possessed this weapon."

"Fairies cause more than just this much trouble," Sirius Black chimed in. "You've taken over far too much stuff."

"Those were discovered and excavated by the fairies; they belong to us," Nagnok retorted. He shifted his position on the bed, wincing in pain.

"What's the point of you saying that?" Sirius scoffed. "But other people don't think so."

"As expected, you wand-wielding people are all the same. Always thinking about stealing the fairies' treasures."

"Someone with a wand?" Harry thought the word sounded strange.

"The right to carry a wand," the fairy whispered, "is something that wizards and fairies have fought over for a long time."

"Fairies can cast spells without wands," said Ginny, who was standing next to Harry.

"That's not the real issue! The wizard refuses to share the secrets of wand magic with other magical creatures, preventing us from expanding our power!"

"Even fairies won't reveal their magic," Ginny retorted. "You won't tell us how to make swords and armor. The fairies' unique methods of forging metal are something wizards have never known—"

"That's not the point." Nagnock chuckled maliciously. "As the Dark Lord grows stronger, your race becomes even more firmly above us! Gringotts is controlled by wizards, goblins are slaughtered—which wand-wielder will protest?"

"Perhaps you've forgotten," Sirius Black sneered, "but should I remind you? A few hours ago, it was us, this group of wand-wielding men, who saved your life!"

"That's because you're trying to extract valuable secrets about fairies from me!" Nagnok retorted bluntly. "What's the fundamental difference between you and the Dark Lord?"

"The difference is that you can still talk to us properly now, instead of me waving my wand to pry open your head, you idiot!" Sirius said viciously.

"Alright, Sirius. Don't provoke him," Hermione quickly interrupted. She looked back at Nagnock, "Sir, I'm not interested in what you've done before. Why don't you talk about the Blade of Prometheus first? I don't think you'd want to see Mystic become even more powerful."

"Yes, I don't want to," the fairy said through gritted teeth.

He paused, then began his narration as if resigned to his fate: "That thing wasn't originally called that. According to information we found in ancient texts, it should be called [Star Blade]."

Hundreds of years ago, fairies discovered this strange weapon in the ruins. It was peculiar; any creature that came into contact with its blade would suddenly burst into flames and burn to death.

We spent decades researching it, and then it was stolen from us.

"Stolen? By a mysterious person?"

"No—" Nagnok shook his head, "It was the most famous wizard among you humans, the archmage Merlin. He renamed [Starblade], saying that he was like Prometheus who stole fire, and that it was time to return the flame to the gods."

"Merlin?" Hermione was taken aback. She was somewhat surprised to see Merlin here, but not strange. She knew that Merlin was the heir, so it was quite reasonable for him to seek out a goblin.

"Wait—if Merlin took the Starblade, then what did Mysterio take?" Harry interjected.

"Who told you which weapon is intact, kid?" Nagnock said.

“I think you should know very well what that weapon is for.” Nagnock looked at Hermione. “So how could it possibly be whole? The ancient wizard broke it. Merlin took the hilt, and the Mystic took the tip.”

"So the Starblade is completely useless right now?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"How would I know?" Nagnock said impatiently. "We haven't tested it. But I can tell you that even the tip of the blade has immense power; it may or may not be useful."

"Do you know where Merlin took the other part of the Starblade?" Harry pressed.

"Heh—" Nagnock stared at Harry as if he were an idiot.

Harry felt a chill run down his spine from that gaze.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed into his mind, and a spot appeared right in front of his mouth, ready to burst out.

"It's Hogwarts!"

"In the past, your Goblin Brotherhood attacked Hogwarts to reclaim that weapon."

"Heh—" Nagnok chuckled coldly.

"Damn you!" Fred yelled from behind Bill. "I really want to beat you up, you idiot."

The Weasley family has a deep-seated blood feud with the goblins.

All the secrets have been revealed.

Initially, the goblins attacked Hogwarts to retrieve the weapon Merlin had taken, but their later battle with Shani changed their objective.

After all, the weapon Merlin stole was ethereal, but Shani was real.

The reward for assassinating an heir is comparable to a broken sword.

Bill and Ginny both looked at each other with hatred.

They are all telling the truth.

How could they easily forget the terrible suffering their ancestor Shani endured before her death?

The fairy used despicable means, threatening Shani with her child to force her to wear the cursed crown of thorns. The moment she put it on, the thorns seemed to come alive, piercing her body and devouring her flesh.

Bill couldn't imagine how his ancestors had escaped the goblins' clutches under such torment.

But that process was absolutely brutal.

"Phew—" Bill took a deep breath. "I'm going out for some fresh air."

He harbored a strong desire to kill the demon before him.

He was afraid he wouldn't be able to stay here any longer.

"Let's go too," Hermione said, standing up.

She knew perfectly well where Merlin had hidden the broken sword.

Of all the people at Hogwarts, only she, Owen, and Victor knew about that place.

Now, she must return to Hogwarts as soon as possible.

Everyone moved quickly.

After confirming the news, they went back to carry out the plan without stopping immediately.

Harry and Hermione also returned to the alchemy workshop.

Theseus Scamander's plan was simple.

First, send a group of wizards through the tunnels to Hogwarts.

Then a large army will be dispatched for a frontal attack.

Once they were locked in a stalemate with the Death Eaters, the wizards suddenly jumped out and launched an attack.

This plan is simple, but has a high success rate.

The Death Eaters never imagined that a wizard from the Order of the Phoenix had already laid an ambush in the castle.

As a decisive battle, Theseus Scamander prepared to draw upon all his remaining forces.

The important thing is not to reclaim Hogwarts, but to face Voldemort's subsequent attack.

Preparations for war take time.

Theseus Scamander decided to launch the attack in the early morning of December 31, 1996.

The ringing of the New Year's bell marks the start of the decisive battle.

The rest of the time was spent making intensive preparations.

Wizards from all over Europe who came to provide support all gathered in Hogsmeade Village.

Ron and Koyatl also rushed back shortly afterward.

Hermione, however, couldn't wait for the anti-Voldemort wizards to attack Hogwarts.

The day after she returned to the Alchemy Workshop, she infiltrated Hogwarts.

Thanks to Harry's Invisibility Cloak, she easily arrived at the library.

Passing through the secret chamber beneath the library, she easily opened the stone door leading to Merlin's Chamber using the "Star Tear" left to her by Owen.

Stepping back into the corridor of the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione felt a strong sense of loss.

Perhaps it was the girl's intuition, but this feeling grew stronger as she got closer to the hall of the secret room.

"What's wrong, child? Why are you here?"

Beneath the towering canopy of trees, the enormous mirror slowly turned around.

Dean Bridged's image appeared in the mirror.

"Professor," Hermione said, trying to calm herself, "I've come to retrieve a magical weapon that Merlin left here."

"A magical weapon?" Bridged frowned slightly. "Child, I don't know what the Archmage Merlin left behind, but only the heir has the key to open the treasure's door."

"Then do you know what the key is?" Hermione asked.

"No—" Dean Bridged shook his head, "but I believe that thing is on Owen."

"This—" Hermione didn't back down, but changed her questioning approach, "Could you show me what 'that lock' looks like? Perhaps I have a solution."

"Hmm—alright." Seeing that Hermione was persistent, Headmistress Bridget did not refuse, intending to make the girl in front of her give up.

As her voice fell.

The huge mirror suddenly rippled like the surface of water.

Immediately afterwards, a small indentation appeared on the surface of the water.

"This is the lock," Dean Bridged's voice still came from the mirror. "To find the key, you must pass a test left by the wizard Merlin."

"you"

Hermione didn't hear what Dean Bridged said next; at that moment, she was completely focused on the dent.

The more I look at it, the more familiar it seems.

Hermione then took out the stone that had helped her open the secret chamber, a treasure given to her by Owen.

【Tears of Stars】

"This—" Dean Bridged stopped abruptly.

Although her face could not be seen at this moment, one could tell from her voice that the dean was definitely full of surprise.

"Child, where did you find this?"

Before Dean Bridged could finish speaking, Hermione embedded a tear into the dent.

The next second, the mirror burst forth with thousands of dark and profound lights.

It was as if a hole had been torn open in the clouds.

A path appeared in the mirror.

Hermione hesitated for a moment, then walked straight in.

Stepping into the mirror, the little witch felt a sudden dizziness as the surrounding scenery quickly blurred and then became clear, finally settling on a strange space she had never seen before.

This place was neither any corner of Hogwarts, nor any secret room or forbidden area she had ever explored.

A faint, indescribable magical aura permeated the air, and the surroundings were enveloped in a soft and mysterious light.

She looked around and found that it was a path paved with countless glittering stars. Every step felt like walking on the Milky Way, with starlight shimmering beneath her feet, guiding her into the unknown depths.

Finally, she arrived at a platform made up of stars.

From afar, she could see a person kneeling on the platform.

The person had long silver hair and was dressed in very old-fashioned court attire.

A sword lay beside him.

He knelt on the ground in a curled-up position.

Hermione cautiously moved forward.

I walked up to the person in front of me.

"Merlin?"

The little witch stared in shock at the kneeling wizard who had a face exactly like Merlin's.

The man held a broken dagger shaped like a candlestick in both hands.

The other end of the dagger was plunged into his own heart.

Suddenly, a gentle and ancient voice resounded in her heart, a voice that seemed to transcend time and space, carrying boundless wisdom and compassion: "Indeed, it was you who came here."

Hermione Granger.

(End of this chapter)