Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil.

The blazing flames swept across, engulfing all the spider eggs and webs on the walls and ceiling, instantly burning them to ashes. The acrid smell of the burning flames filled the cave, making people grimace.

The flames roared and illuminated every corner of the cave. The small spiders that had been hiding in the gaps of the spider webs and had not yet managed to escape were burned to death. The remaining adult spiders were terrified and fled into the depths of the cave, no longer daring to linger.

“Look here.” Dumbledore slowly raised his finger and pointed to a hidden opening in the cave ceiling. The opening was small, but large enough for spiders to enter and exit. He said thoughtfully, “These spiders must have come in through this opening. It connects to the ground of the Forbidden Forest.”

Puni looked in the direction Dumbledore pointed and indeed saw the hidden opening. He nodded.

Although it is unknown how many years this cave has been eroded by time, thankfully, the magical mechanisms here are still functioning properly and have not failed due to the passage of time.

After passing through this area filled with spider nests, the cave ahead becomes increasingly intricate, resembling a giant maze. The winding passages crisscross, with each fork in the road leading in a different direction, making it dizzying to look around, and one could easily go the wrong way if not careful.

What's even more troublesome is that every fork in the road is swarming with spiders, which occupy both sides of the passage and watch the intruders with predatory eyes.

But Puni had already mastered how to deal with them. Whenever he encountered a group of spiders, he would use fire magic to drive them away or burn them to death. Under the threat of the flames, the spiders could only flee in a sorry state, probably secretly vowing never to come to this place to die again in their next life.

Along the way, Puni dealt with the spider attacks while collecting spider venom whenever he could. Before he knew it, the bottles in his backpack were all full.

After a difficult trek and some cleaning, he finally arrived at a spacious cave with Dumbledore, carrying a bag full of venom.

Directly in front of the cave is the bridge that rose from the lake earlier. The gaps in the bridge are not yet fully closed. Obviously, once the last mechanism is triggered, the bridge can be opened and one can reach the other side.

Puni strode forward, his eyes searching the cave walls, and soon found the last metal rune hidden behind the stone.

He raised his wand, and a beam of magic shot out, striking the rune precisely. The rune instantly lit up with a golden light.

As the runes were activated, the entire bridge began to creak and groan. The originally scattered bridge slabs slowly converged towards the center, piecing together to form a solid and flat whole without any gaps.

Standing at one end of the bridge, Puni looked up and could see the Trial Hall on the other side.

The hall was spacious and magnificent, with smooth stone slabs paving the floor. Several stone knight statues stood solemnly on both sides of the hall, their tall figures and dignified expressions seemingly guarding some important item in the center of the hall.

Each stone statue is clad in armor, gripping a long sword tightly in its hand. The sword's blade is sharp and gleams with a cold light. They exude an aura of inviolable majesty, inspiring awe in all who behold them.

Puni took a deep breath, suppressing his nervousness and anticipation, and stepped onto the bridge alone.

The bridge was sturdy and stable. He walked forward step by step, his footsteps echoing in the empty cave.

The moment he stepped into the trial hall, a gust of wind suddenly swept past his ear, moving with lightning speed. Puni dodged to the side, and with a loud crash, a huge hammer slammed heavily onto the ground, instantly creating a dent in the stone slab and sending fragments of stone flying.

Puni broke out in a cold sweat and quickly took a few steps back. Looking up, he saw a knight statue that had come to life, holding a huge mace in its hand, slowly raising it in preparation for another attack.

"What the hell is this?!"

Looking at these stone guardians wielding weapons, Puni couldn't help but think of the ghost Richard. He had heard people say that Richard's head was probably cut off by these stone guardians wielding longswords.

Puni frowned, but Dumbledore didn't seem surprised and calmed down as well.

He knew very well that the larger the enemy, the more difficult it was to control with conventional magic.

These knight statues before him were tall and incredibly strong. Coupled with their chaotic and unpredictable attack methods, they posed the greatest threat to a wizard like him who was skilled in ranged spellcasting but had weak defenses. They were the bane of fragile mages.

I tried using levitation and knockback spells to control the statue, but I found that these spells were ineffective, like stones sinking into the sea.

Puni wasted no more time and immediately adjusted his tactics, waving his wand rapidly and loudly chanting the spell "Obstacles."

An invisible magical barrier instantly formed in front of the stone statues. Although it could not completely stop the statues from moving forward, it could effectively slow down their movement speed, giving the user valuable reaction time.

Taking advantage of the moment when the statues slowed down, Puni pushed off with his feet, quickly increasing the distance between himself and the statues, always maintaining a safe casting range.

As he moved nimbly, he continuously waved his wand, unleashing a series of offensive spells that landed precisely on the stone statues, gradually eroding their power.

His goal was clear: first, to knock the weapon from the statue's hand, and then use that heavy weapon to smash the statue itself.

It sounds simple, but in practice it requires a high degree of concentration and agile footwork.

Puni kept a close eye on the statues' movements, circling them constantly to avoid their swinging hammers and swords while still launching continuous attacks.

He couldn't help but recall what Professor Flitwick had once taught him: "In battle, you must be agile and keep up with your spellcasting rhythm. Pay close attention to the enemy's attack movements at all times, observe your surroundings, avoid all obstacles, and never trip over something because of panic. Even the slightest negligence can be fatal."

Professor Flitwick's teachings became Puni's guiding principle at this moment.

While keeping the teachings in mind, he constantly observed the attack patterns of the stone statues and gradually figured out their moves. Every swing of the hammer and every chop had a fixed rhythm and angle, without any unnecessary feints.

Once the pattern was figured out, the threat level of the stone statue instantly decreased by more than half, and Puni was able to deal with it with greater ease.

After several rounds, Puni seized the moment when the statue was swinging its sword and fired a precise blasting spell, which hit the statue's sword-wielding arm.

With a loud clang, the longsword fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Puni seized the opportunity to step forward, waved his wand, used the Levitation Charm to pick up the longsword on the ground, and smashed it hard into the chest of the stone statue.

The stone statue crashed to the ground, instantly shattering into countless pieces, leaving only a wisp of ancient magical essence suspended in mid-air.

The remaining stone statues were also defeated one after another by Puni's skillful handling, turning into magical essence, and the entire trial hall returned to peace.

"Magic essence?"

Just as the last stone statue shattered, the giant statue at the end of the hall suddenly began to slowly melt. The melting stones gradually gathered together and eventually formed an ancient stone archway.

Dumbledore stepped forward, raised his hand, and released a spell into the stone archway, energizing it.

As magic was infused, the stone archway slowly opened, revealing a long corridor. The walls on both sides of the corridor were inlaid with faint fluorescent stones, illuminating the path ahead.

"Go, child, this is yours."

Puni turned around, but Old Deng still didn't move. Then he walked along the corridor and soon arrived at another closed door.

The gate was thick and sturdy, with intricate runes engraved on its surface. In the center was a raised circular rune, which was the mechanism to open the gate.

Puni reached out and gently touched the central rune. The rune instantly lit up with a faint light, but the door remained motionless, showing no sign of opening.

"This is... a training ground?"

Puni frowned.

Just as he was filled with doubt, he suddenly felt a damp, cool sensation under his feet.

He looked down and saw that a large amount of lake water was gushing out from the crevices of the surrounding rock walls. The lake water flowed slowly down the rock walls and rose rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, reaching his ankles in the blink of an eye.

Puni no longer cared about studying the door that couldn't be opened. He turned around and ran back to the corridor he had come from, wanting to leave the area that was being submerged by the lake.

But at this moment, the lake water was rising faster and faster, and had already reached his calves. His steps were hindered by the lake water, and it was very difficult for him to run. Obviously, it was too late to turn back now.

Just as the lake water was about to reach his knees, a small whirlpool suddenly rose from beneath Puni's feet. The whirlpool spun rapidly, gradually expanding until it formed a transparent film that enveloped his entire body, isolating him from the lake water outside.

Puni raised his hand and touched the thin film. He could easily pass through it. The film felt warm and smooth, like the effect of the Bubble Head Spell, but it was softer and more stable.

Just then, Puni vaguely sensed a flash of light behind him. He turned around in a daze and saw that the door that had been motionless just moments before had turned into a semi-transparent phantom. The doorway that had been closed was now completely unobstructed.

Behind the gate was a sloping stone staircase leading upwards. The staircase was smooth and flat. Puni walked up the staircase step by step, and after about several dozen steps, he finally arrived at a spacious circular hall.

The hall was empty, the floor was smooth and pure black, and several metal picture frames hung on the walls, neatly arranged, with a thin layer of dust on their surfaces, indicating that they had been hanging there for a long time.

Just as he was wondering, one of the metal picture frames suddenly lit up, the dust gradually dissipated, and a familiar scene appeared in the frame.

That was actually his study!

The study was fully furnished. In the portrait he had seen at home, one of his elders, Lestrange, was sitting lazily in a carved chair, arms crossed, laughing and watching him with great interest.

Following this, the other six metal picture frames also lit up one after another, the dust receded, and different scenes gradually emerged. Two of the picture frames also depicted study scenes, but the books and furniture were slightly different. One picture frame showed an unnamed corner of a room with an old cabinet and several antique items on it. The other picture frame showed a landscape painting with continuous mountain ranges and clear lakes, a very beautiful scene.

At that moment, a gentle voice came from another picture frame depicting a study scene, slowly saying, "Congratulations, young trial participant, you have successfully found this secret room on the map. I am..."

"Alright, alright, Professor Percival, stop wasting your breath."

Lestrange's voice rang out again, interrupting the gentle one.

Chapter 107 The Chamber of Secrets of Lestrange

"So this is?" Puni frowned.

“Oh ho ho ho, this is the treasure trove I left for my descendants, but now you are the only child left in the family,” Lestrange laughed.

"A treasure vault?" Puni raised an eyebrow.

Dumbledore also came over: "Before your elders passed away, they told me about this place. This is Lestrange's treasure vault, and it has nothing to do with Black. They wouldn't covet the treasures here."

“Go on, everything is behind the door,” Lestrange said.

A door opened.

Dumbledore and Penny stepped into the room where the items were stored. As soon as they stood at the door, they both froze on the spot, staring in disbelief at the scene before them.

This was an exceptionally large room, as spacious as the Great Hall at Hogwarts, but it was chaotic and disorganized, with all sorts of items piled up haphazardly, almost filling the entire room.

The densely packed books, yellowed scrolls, and various unknown magical objects were piled up into towering hills, each one teetering on the verge of collapse, as if a gentle touch would cause them to bury the two of them.

Several exquisitely carved wooden boxes were carelessly discarded in a corner. Some of the lids were open, revealing the odds and ends inside, while others were tightly closed, their surfaces covered with a thick layer of dust, clearly having been forgotten for a long time.

At the innermost part of the room, several strangely shaped suits of armor stood silently, their surfaces covered in rust, their helmets askew, as if silently telling the story of the vicissitudes of time, exuding a somewhat eerie aura.

On a table not far away, a bundle of wands of varying lengths was carelessly tossed into a worn-out top hat. The wand cores at the tips of the wands shimmered faintly, yet they were treated so casually, as if they were not magical artifacts but merely a pile of ordinary wooden sticks, utterly worthless.

Dumbledore's gaze was instantly drawn to the mountains of books. He slowly walked forward, his eyes filled with appreciation and regret, and his eyes trembled slightly involuntarily.

He had a lifelong passion for books, especially ancient magical texts. He had never seen anyone store books so carelessly. Such a disorderly and uncaring way of storing books was truly rare.

Unlike Dumbledore, Penny's attention remained focused on the carelessly discarded wooden crates throughout.

These wooden boxes are exquisitely crafted, with neatly carved gear-shaped decorations on the surface. Tiny magic crystals are inlaid on the gears, shimmering with a faint light. Even covered in dust, their exquisite craftsmanship cannot be concealed, and they look very valuable at first glance.

Puni secretly hoped that these exquisite wooden boxes might contain precious magical treasures or lost magical artifacts.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his anticipation, grasped the lid of one of the wooden crates with both hands, and slowly pushed open the heavy lid with a little force.

The lid rubbed against the box, making a heavy sound. As the lid slowly opened, Puni's eyes eagerly swept over the items inside. But when he saw what was inside, the anticipation on his face vanished instantly, replaced by deep disappointment.

The box contained neither the precious treasures he had expected nor any mysterious magical items; only a few pieces of clothing piled haphazardly together, wrinkled and covered in dust.

Most of these clothes are very ordinary, with rough fabrics. Only the top two pieces are relatively well-made, decorated with simple patterns, and look a little more luxurious. The rest are old styles from over a hundred years ago, with outdated designs and colors that have become dull and lost their original luster due to the erosion of time.

Puni shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself that these clothes were probably only worth buying by theater troupes that needed vintage costumes; they had no other use.

Undeterred, he went to several other wooden crates and opened the lids one by one to check them, but the results were still disappointing.

These boxes were filled with all sorts of useless junk: tattered books with torn covers and blurry writing, yellowed and fragile papers, rusty and unusable metal tools, and even several bottles of poorly sealed, illegible potions. The dates on the bottles indicated that these potions had expired a full hundred years ago, had long lost their original magical power, and might even be poisonous.

Puni stood there, pursing his lips.

Is this what they call Lestrange's treasure vault?

What kind of trash are they?

He had originally had high hopes for this secret storage room.

This place doesn't resemble a meticulously maintained collection room at all; rather, it's more like a forgotten storage room or an abandoned room filled with useless trash, with nothing worth taking away.