The days at Hogwarts

It raised its strong hind legs and made a pounce gesture: "If you want to get out of here, you must be able to answer my riddle. If you guess it right once, I will give you a treasure. If you don't guess it right, I will pounce on you. If you don't answer, you will be imprisoned here forever."

Loren blinked. "That's not quite what Professor Babel said."

Hermione's heart was beating wildly. Out of some sense of self-blame for putting Loren in danger, she desperately hoped that she could solve the puzzle and get Loren out of the secret room.

She pursed her lips to calm herself down: "Can we listen to the riddle first?"

The Sphinx stretched out its claws and scratched the stone floor, making a rustling sound, and muttered:

"First think about who always wears a mask,

His actions were secretive and he told lies all the time.

Tell me again who always waves his cane,

Fool the servants and be fooled by them?

Find what they all have, and answer me,

What made them like this?"

Loren's eyes rolled and he soon figured out the answer.

"Mask...cane..." Hermione's mind raced, and the first thing she thought of was the golden mask and golden scepter she bought this morning.

"Secretive actions and endless lies!" An incredible answer flashed through Hermione's mind, and she cried out in surprise, "You are talking about the high priest!"

The Sphinx winked at Hermione and smiled.

Hermione took its movement as a confirmation, one clue was the High Priest, then another...

"Fooled his servants and was fooled by his servants. It was the Pharaoh!" Hermione thought this puzzle was incredible. This Sphinx was criticizing the king of ancient Egypt.

The Sphinx smiled more kindly.

"What makes them like this..." Hermione was puzzled for a moment. What made the high priest act secretly and tell lies? What made the Pharaoh fool his servants and then be fooled by them?

"It's power." Loren said softly. All the above reminded him of Dumbledore.

The Sphinx stood up and walked forward. Its huge body seemed to be exceptionally light, and its footsteps made no sound as expected. The woman's face moved closer to Hermione and rubbed her forehead. "Yes, it's power."

Hermione smelled the scent of many kinds of herbs and spices, which were stuffed into the Sphinx during the mummification process. The little witch was stiff all over, and she didn't know how to react now.

"Remember this puzzle..." The following words seemed to be stuck in its throat. It hesitated for a while but ultimately could not utter them, as if some mysterious contract restricted it.

The Sphinx showed a helpless expression on its face. It looked at the two people and said, "Congratulations on answering the riddle correctly. The treasure I promised to give you is stored in the first tomb chamber. You can take it yourself. Now, you can leave."

As the words fell, the huge rock blocking the entrance of the stone chamber rose up with a loud bang and slowly opened.

Loren hesitated for a while and did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at the Sphinx mummy and said, "I have some questions. Can you help me solve them?"

Hermione also looked at the Sphinx. Today's events were too strange, the inexplicable teleportation, the incredible puzzles, and the information about the high priest and the pharaoh revealed in the puzzles... and the treasures in the first tomb chamber. Professor Babel mentioned that currently only the second tomb chamber has been explored in the pyramid.

Sphinx shook his head and turned back to sit in his original position: "All questions will have answers, but not now."

After saying this, the active magical light on its body fell into dormancy again and became silent.

"So what answer can you give now?" Loren asked, "Hey, speak up, at least tell us how to get out after we get out."

The mummy's expression was solemn and peaceful. If it weren't for its tail swinging back and forth behind it, Loren would have really thought it was in hibernation.

"..."

Loren took out his wand and turned to look at Hermione: "How about I cast an opening spell on this thing?"

Hermione didn't answer, but there was a rumbling sound from the boulder behind the door. They looked back and found that the boulder was descending slowly and steadily.

The silent Sphinx gave its answer and said that it would stay here with it unless it left.

"Let's go!" Hermione hurriedly pulled Loren out of the stone chamber. Although the little witch also had many doubts, she just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Loren was dragged away unwillingly. As soon as they stepped out of the stone chamber, the boulder fell down at an accelerated speed and completely closed the door in the blink of an eye.

It was pitch black outside the stone chamber, but the two of them were still holding hands, their arms tightly pressed together, feeling each other's body temperature. In such an environment, because they could feel each other's presence, their flustered hearts gradually calmed down.

Loren felt that the surface under his feet was not horizontal. His right foot seemed to be higher than his left foot, and his center of gravity was slightly shifted to the right. He had to lean slightly to maintain his balance.

"[Fluorescence Flashing]"

As Hermione chanted a spell in a low voice, the tip of her wand lit up with a soft white light. She raised the fluorescent charm to shine left and right, and saw carved stones above, below, and on both sides. "It seems that we are back to the ramp corridor. Where should we go now?"

Going down means going deeper, and going up means the entrance.

Loren looked at the stone door he had just come out of. It had been blocked by fallen boulders and merged with the surrounding stone walls. There was no telling how many stone chambers like the one he had just come out of were hidden on both sides of the endless corridor.

"Let's go up and wait for Professor Babel at the entrance," Loren said.

"Hmm!" Hermione thought so too. Although she was very interested in ancient magical relics, this unexplored pyramid was obviously beyond their capabilities.

The two began to climb up the sloped corridor. The speed was not fast. They were vigilant and guarded against the teleportation magic that might appear at any time.

Hermione walked while casting a fluorescent spell: "Once we see Professor Babel, we will voluntarily withdraw from this project. It's better to wait until we graduate before participating in exploring the ruins."

At this time, Loren, who was walking beside her, suddenly asked: "Did you hear any sound?"

Hermione stopped and listened. A rustling sound came from behind them, adding a bit of creepiness to the dark and deserted corridor.

"Something is approaching upwards." She whispered, "It can't be Professor Babel and the others. Whether they are exploring the pyramid or looking for us, they shouldn't go up."

Loren nodded and clenched the wand in his hand: "Try not to fight in the corridor and be careful not to trigger other magic. Let's continue to go up and leave the pyramid as soon as possible."

The two men climbed up quickly, but the voice from behind followed them like a shadow, adding a constant sense of urgency to their hearts in the dark and deep corridor of the ancient pyramid.

Although the pyramid's sloping corridor is long, it will eventually come to an end. The slope of the ground gradually becomes flat as they run. As the slope disappears completely, a narrow exit appears in front of them, and light can be seen faintly from outside the exit.

Loren and Hermione were secretly delighted and jumped out of the exit, but they were dumbfounded by the situation before them.

Outside was not an exit, but a vast dark room. In the middle of the room was a sarcophagus, in the corners were countless pottery jars, and the surrounding walls were inlaid with glowing gems, which they had mistakenly thought were sunlight in the corridor.

"This is the tomb!" said Loren.

Even as he was speaking, the sound that had been following them from behind approached. A short-limbed goblin entered the tomb first, followed by Bill, who was dressed fashionably, and Professor Babel, who was wearing a tight-fitting robe.

"Hermione! Loren! I'm so glad to see you!"

Professor Babel stepped forward and carefully examined the two people's bodies. When she found that Hermione's forehead had been rubbed by the Sphinx, a trace of doubt flashed in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it and said, "I'm glad you're okay. If you were hurt, Dumbledore would really have to fire me. Thank Merlin!"

Loren noticed her fleeting doubt and used his magical vision to probe Hermione's forehead, but did not detect any curse or hex.

"So it's really you..." Hermione was still a little confused: "But Professor, aren't we going up? Why are we entering the tomb?"

Bill took over and explained: "The corridor inside the pyramid is in the shape of a "Y". The corridor that slopes downward is connected to another corridor that slopes upward, leading to this second tomb chamber."

"So instead of heading toward the exit, we're heading deeper into the pyramid."

While Professor Babel was examining him, Loren stared into Babel's eyes calmly. He noticed that the professor showed another kind of doubt in her eyes after the examination, as if there should be something wrong with him to be normal.

Thinking about it carefully, the process of their meeting Professor Babel was full of inconsistencies. What kind of professor would focus on two prospective third-year students, and what kind of professor would invite them as assistants to explore the ancient magical relics that have not yet been explored.

Chapter 272 Bathsilda's Secret

"Since you have come out safely, let's get down to business!" the fairy lock core shouted in a shrill voice.

Professor Babel acted as if she didn't hear the goblin's shouting. She gently ruffled their hair and said, "If you want to leave here, I can send you out now."

Loren's heart moved. Judging from Professor Barbling's strange behavior just now, he thought that the professor had some plan against them, but now it seems that this is not the case.

"Babeling!" Suo Xin pointed his finger at her angrily, "This is different from what we agreed on!"

"It's just escorting them out of the pyramid. It won't take much time. I will try my best to help you explore the ruins later." Professor Babel curled her lips impatiently.

Loren and Hermione were in a state of hesitation. They looked into each other's eyes and reached a consensus in their glances.

"No need, Professor." Loren shook his head. "The previous teleportation was just an accident. Let's leave together after completing this exploration."

Babel touched their hair again, with an apologetic look in her eyes.

The fairy lock core hummed twice, very satisfied with their sensible behavior.

At this moment, Bill's voice suddenly came from the corner of the tomb: "Come here, I found something!"

When everyone heard his voice, they gathered around to check.

There are countless old clay pots of the same style piled up in the corners. They are slightly bulging in the middle and their diameters gradually decrease downwards, similar to the shape of ordinary vases. Due to the long time, the surface is slightly dull earthy yellow, and the firing process is simple and rough. The lids of the pots are carved into four styles: baboon head, jackal head, human head and falcon head.

Hermione smelled a stench of old earth from the pottery jars, and in addition, there was a faint smell of spices and herbs, exactly the same smell as the Sphinx mummy.

The eagerness in the fairy's eyes was not concealed. "That's it. The people from the Alchemy Research Center were stopped by these pottery jars. The old wizards looked up information from ancient books. These jars contain the lungs, stomach, liver and intestines of the mummies. If we find these four organs and put them back into the sarcophagus, we can open the passage to the first tomb chamber."

Professor Babling curled her lips: "This is why they are willing to let you Gringotts come in to explore first, oh no, let's explore the way."

Hermione was puzzled: "What's so difficult about this? Just open the lid and take a look, and you'll know."

"These pots are under a strict curse." Bill held up his wand and carefully examined the pots under the light of the fluorescent spell, explaining, "If you touch the wrong pot, your real name will appear on the pot and turn into dust along with the pot."

As a curse breaker at Gringotts, he had come into contact with this pottery curse more than once.

Loren looked at the pottery jars. All of them were covered with a layer of golden light mixed with black gas. He could not tell the difference from the magic level. "Is there any way to avoid the curse? Can I just break the pottery jars or use the levitation spell to select them?"

"No, the pottery jars are very sensitive. Any spell can destroy them directly. If the pottery jars containing the mummy's organs are broken, it may trigger other curses." Bill looked at Professor Babeling beside him, "Professor, do you have any solution?"

Professor Babel thought for a moment, then used her magic wand to draw a detective rune in the air. The rune turned into a glowing ribbon, circling around the piled pottery jars, and finally returned to her, turning into tiny rays of light at her fingertips.

Professor Babel shook her head: "No, we can't detect it."

"Think of a solution quickly! I didn't invite you here to fail!" The fairy lock core was scratching his head anxiously. A mountain of gold was just behind the door, but the door was blocked by these cursed pottery jars.

Hermione looked around and said weakly: "I, I have an idea."

Everyone turned their eyes to her, and Loren noticed that Professor Babel did not seem surprised.

"What idea? Tell me!" the fairy urged excitedly.

Hermione pointed to a clay pot that seemed different to her: "You can tell it by smell. I smell that several of the clay pots have the same scent of spices and medicinal herbs as mummies."

The goblin was stunned for a moment, then moved forward with joy and kept sniffing, making a sharp inhalation sound. The goblin race has a much larger nose than humans, and as a group of craftsmen, they are much more sensitive to smells than humans.

After sniffing for a while, Suo Xin stopped and looked at Hermione with a questioning look: "No, there is only the smell of soil. I don't smell the spices and herbs you mentioned."

Professor Babel was not surprised and just said calmly, "Let Hermione try."

The fairy lock core seemed unconvinced: "Our fairy sense of smell is dozens of times more sensitive than yours!"

Professor Babel ignored him and gave Hermione an encouraging look to go ahead and do it.

Loren moved forward calmly, ready to throw the universal countering spell at Hermione at any time.

Hermione took a few steps forward, wrinkling her delicate little nose slightly, and guided by the smell, she first came to a clay pot with a baboon head lid, which was the one she pointed to before: "This one has a smell on it."

The fairy lock core didn't believe it, so he leaned over to smell it again, then turned around with a look of surprise on his face: "It still smells like mud to me."

Professor Babel did not suspect anything and walked straight forward to take out the jar that Hermione pointed to.

The pottery jar was intact and no one's name appeared on it.

The fairy lock core touched his nose and for the first time doubted his racial talent.

Could it be that the tribe elders were wrong? Was it actually the case that humans had a stronger sense of smell than fairies?

Bill and Loren came forward and sniffed, then shook their heads: "We only smell the smell of soil."

"Don't worry about them," Professor Babel looked at the little witch, "Hermione, keep looking."

"Good professor."

Next, Hermione pointed out three clay jars in succession and took them all out. The goblin, Loren, and Bill each held one, with a jackal head lid, a human head lid, and a falcon head lid respectively.

After getting through the pottery jar curse safely, everyone present had their own thoughts. The goblin was doubting his own race's sense of smell, Bill wanted to get off work early, Hermione was puzzled by the smell that only she could smell, and Loren was always keeping an eye on Professor Babel...

Professor Babel looked a little dazed.

"The next step is to put these jars into the coffin. Don't worry, I checked it when I just came in, and there's no problem with the sarcophagus." Bill said with a smile. He held the pottery jar in his hand, lifted his dragon-skin boots, and stepped on the lid of the sarcophagus.

The sarcophagus was opened with the rough friction sound of the stone lid moving.

Fortunately, the mummy in the coffin was not scary. His whole body was carefully wrapped and sewn with gray-yellow shroud strips, leaving no part exposed. Even his head was wrapped tightly.

According to Bill's arrangement, they pushed open the lid of the sarcophagus and placed the four jars into the coffin in the order of lungs, stomach, liver, and intestines.

Just after the last jar was put in, the sarcophagus began to vibrate and several people quickly stepped back.

Under some mysterious traction, the lid of the sarcophagus returned to its original position by itself and vibrated along with the sarcophagus. During this violent vibration, the two seemed to merge into one and slowly turned into a hollow stone.

Then, the outer layer of the stone began to fall off piece by piece, and the size of the stone became smaller and smaller...

Gradually, Loren and others realized that something was wrong. According to the volume estimation, the stone skin should have fallen off to touch the hole in the middle, revealing the mummy and the four pottery jars, but the stone skin was still falling off at a uniform speed, as if this was a complete, solid stone, not a hollow sarcophagus.