The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Rimbaud acted as the translator, saying, "It says the entrance to the underground palace is over there."

Scott nodded and looked in the direction Rimbaud had indicated with his wings.

Over there, countless strangely shaped rocks stand tall, looking like a rocky forest from a distance.

Scott drew his wand.

He first brought the hut to the ground, then removed the reins from the crows.

"Gah!"

The crow flew directly upwards towards the top of the stone forest.

"Let's go take a look."

Helena followed the raven as it floated past.

Scott waved his wand again, causing the Ravenclaw picture frame and the [magic mirror] to float beside him, and then followed.

Once inside the stone forest, the light suddenly became much dimmer.

Scott took out the magic lamp, held it in his hand, and continued walking forward.

Underfoot was snow and ice that never melted, making a crunching sound when you stepped on it.

After walking for about twenty minutes, he saw Helena's back.

Scott quickened his pace to Helena's side, and suddenly the view opened up before him.

Before them was a huge, circular pit, at the bottom of which stood a dilapidated pyramid.

Looking at those ruins, an ancient and desolate atmosphere wafted over me.

Scott looked around and saw a stone staircase leading directly to the bottom of the pit.

The stone steps were long, and most of them were hidden in the shadows.

Helena said, "Let me go down and take a look first."

“It’s alright.” Scott walked towards the stone steps. “Let’s go down together and take a look first.”

He walked around the edge of the giant pit for a few minutes before stepping onto the downward stone steps.

Upon closer inspection, Scott discovered that the stone steps were very simple and narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

Fortunately, Helena doesn't need to take up much space.

As Scott continued downwards, he gradually entered the shadows where the light could not reach directly.

Upon reaching this point, the stone steps below begin to show signs of damage and breakage.

"There seem to be signs of a battle here."

Scott crouched down, holding the magic lamp, and carefully examined the marks on the stone steps.

"But it's been so long that I can't be sure."

He turned to look at Ravenclaw in the painting.

"What do you think, mentor?"

“There are definitely signs of a battle,” Ravenclaw said. “It seems something happened here.”

Helena also said, "Something is definitely not right. The ice palace in the Niflheim Secret Realm is intact, but this place is in terrible disrepair."

"I hope what I'm looking for is still here."

Scott stood up and continued walking downhill.

Upon reaching the bottom of the giant pit, Scott became even more certain of their guess.

"These buildings did not decay due to natural weathering."

He stood on the main road paved with stone slabs, looking at the ruins of buildings and the broken giant statues on both sides of the road.

Only human destruction could have turned this place into this state.

Clearly, a battle took place here, and a very fierce one at that, resulting in severe damage to many things.

Scott didn't linger on the road and continued forward, arriving at the base of the pyramid and looking at the collapsed stone gate at the pyramid's entrance.

Although there was no door to block the light, he could only see complete darkness inside the tower because no light could reach it.

Helena then suggested, "Let me go in first and check to make sure there's no danger before you proceed."

This time, Scott did not refuse.

"Then trouble you."

Helena nodded, floated directly into the gate, and disappeared into the darkness.

Scott didn't stay put and wait. Instead, he went to the other side of the ruins to examine them carefully, hoping to find some clues.

But after searching around, he couldn't find anything with written symbols, which made him somewhat disappointed.

He stood on the ruins, talking to the Ravenclaw in the painting.

"Leaving aside the battles that took place, I don't quite understand the point of them building these structures and statues."

Although the statues were broken and dilapidated, it was still clear that they were not statues of gods, but rather of giants.

These giant statues are much more rugged and ferocious than Ymir, which is consistent with the description of "Jotunheim" in mythology.

Apart from that, it seems to have no significance.

But Scott was skeptical that the Argasy wizards would do something meaningless.

“Perhaps the answer can only be found in that pyramid,” Ravenclaw said.

There were no written symbols inside the ruins that could be used as a reference, and even Ravenclaw could not answer Scott's questions at this point.

Scott turned to look towards the pyramid and saw Helena coming out of the door.

He quickly jumped down from the rubble and went to meet them.

Just then, another translucent white figure floated out from the shadows behind Helena.

“Mother, Scott,” Helena introduced, “this is Mr. Jeffrey.”

Hello.

Mr. Jeffrey greeted them warmly.

He was a middle-aged ghost dressed in ancient wizarding attire, with a curly beard on his chin.

"Hello, Mr. Jeffrey."

Scott performed a wizard's salute.

Mr. Jeffrey observed Scott with direct eye contact.

"Your name? Your age?"

“My name is Scott Trollope, I am 17 years old, sir.”

"I heard from this young lady that you have inherited the ideals of our 'Agast'?"

Scott nodded. "Yes, I have been to the Tower of Gungnir and the Niflheim Mystery and retrieved what you left there."

As he spoke, he showed Mr. Jeffrey the Eye of Odin pendant around his neck and the Ring of Hwagmir on his left index finger.

Do you truly agree with our ideals?

Mr. Jeffrey looked somewhat agitated.

"Are you going to follow the path we once dreamed of?"

"Yes."

Scott nodded again.

“I have found some like-minded partners, and we will work together to unite more wizards and create a new world with only wizards and magic.”

"good very good."

Mr. Jeffrey laughed happily.

"I can tell you're serious!"

At that moment, tears even welled up in his eyes.

"I've been waiting for this moment for far too long."

Scott didn't interrupt, waiting until Mr. Jeffrey had calmed down before asking, "Mr. Jeffrey, may I ask what exactly happened here?"

"here……"

Mr. Jeffrey looked at the vast ruins outside the pyramid with a complicated expression.

"This was once our last refuge."

"A hiding place?" Scott asked, puzzled. "If it's a hiding place..."

He pointed to the Eye of Odin pendant on his chest.

Isn't this a better option?

At least it has mountains and water, where plants can be grown and animals can be raised, which is much better than the barren land of Jotunheim.

"[Odin's Eye]? There isn't just one such alternate dimension."

Mr. Jeffrey smiled.

“We can hide in this secret realm and let these alternate dimensions produce food.”

"Too……"

Scott nodded to indicate that he understood.

Mr. Jeffrey began to recount what happened more than a thousand years ago.

When a traitor appeared in "Agasd," he was one of the young wizards who escaped with the school's research materials.

"...The others fought desperately to stop the pursuers and killed the traitor. The five of us young people escaped from the 'Golden Palace' under the cover of our elders."

“We first went to Niflheim, where we left the heritage stele and appointed a caretaker as planned.”

"Finally, we crossed the ocean again and came to this frozen continent to find Jotunheim."