Chapter 221: An Easy Difficulty Copy
Chapter 221: An Easy Difficulty Copy
Looking at the empty room, Kyle frowned.
Whether as a member of Hufflepuff or the instigator, Kyle felt a responsibility to help Professor Sprout make up for this little mistake.
However, the Devil's Snare was still in the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor, and it would be too time-consuming to move it again. By the time he returned, Quirrell might already be ashes.
So Kyle decided to substitute it with something else.
He opened the box and took out all the Biting Kale inside, placing them neatly under the trapdoor.
There were about thirty of them, just enough to cover the steps that previously held the Devil's Snare.
Having taken two seeds from Professor Sprout's greenhouse before, he could now consider this repayment with interest.
Kyle looked at his handiwork and nodded in satisfaction... Now this was a more appropriate challenge for guarding the Philosopher's Stone; the previous Devil's Snare was too lackadaisical and perfunctory.
Hopefully, when Professor Quirrell came down later, he would share Kyle's appreciation for Biting Kale and also understand their habits and weaknesses, otherwise... he might be in for some bad luck.
As for Harry, Kyle wasn't worried at all. He had a premonition that Harry would definitely be fine.
After doing all this, Kyle got back on his broom and flew down a stone corridor, soon arriving at Professor Flitwick's challenge.
In the brightly lit room, countless winged keys fluttered like little birds under the high, arched ceiling.
There was also a row of old, worn-out flying brooms by the entrance, neither more nor less than three.
"Three brooms... Tch, something's not right with Professor Flitwick." Kyle muttered.
To create some trouble for Professor Quirrell, Kyle didn't rush to pass through but instead took out his wand and whispered to the brooms in the corner, "Accio!"
One after another, the three brooms floated up and flew down the stone corridor behind him.
As for where they would end up, Kyle himself had no idea.
It didn't matter where they went as long as they weren't in this room.
Then Kyle jumped off his broom and quickly walked to the other end of the room.
The keys fluttering in the air didn't react at all, and he reached the door unscathed.
Kyle took out the skeleton key, inserted it into the keyhole and turned it gently... With a click, the lock immediately opened.
It had to be said that this challenge was even more perfunctory than Professor Sprout's Devil's Snare, with no difficulty at all.
Even without the skeleton key, one could easily pass by finding a Bowtruckle in the Forbidden Forest.
However, the next challenge set by Professor McGonagall would be a bit troublesome.
On the once-empty chessboard, black and white chess pieces now stood tall... These pieces were carved from stone, about two meters high, resembling the statues in the castle and exuding an oppressive aura.
Kyle frowned, feeling a bit stumped. His skill in wizard chess was average; it was fine for entertainment, but he wasn't confident about passing this challenge.
Fortunately, he had another idea, albeit a bit rude. He hoped Professor McGonagall wouldn't be angry.
Kyle opened the box and let the giant out.
"I need to get to the other side."
The giant tilted his head, and after a while, he seemed to understand Kyle's intention. He picked up his club and stepped onto the chessboard.
The white chess pieces tried to block him, but they were as fragile as mud in the face of the giant's formidable strength; one blow from the club and they shattered.
The next room also contained a giant, accompanied by a nauseating stench that was even more overpowering than the giant itself! Kyle held his breath and easily deceived the giant with a Disillusionment Charm, hurrying through the room to reach the final challenge.
Here, there was only a table with seven oddly shaped bottles on it.
As Kyle crossed the threshold, purple flames erupted behind him, sealing the entrance... Meanwhile, black flames surged up from the doorway leading forward.
He was trapped in the middle.
Kyle approached the table and picked up the piece of parchment that lay on it.
A simple logical reasoning problem... If a certain resident of Baker Street, London, were here, he would probably know the answer at a glance.
While Kyle didn't have that immediate insight, he didn't need to resort to reasoning. Instead, he simply picked up the smallest bottle.
He uncorked the bottle and eyed the pitch-black liquid within hesitantly, ultimately deciding against drinking it.
The color was just too bizarre, and he couldn't bring himself to take a sip.
Moreover, there was another common trait among Snape's potions... any potion he didn't drink himself tended to taste awful.
Last year, when Mike first drank the Suppress Evil Potion, he commented that even the fertilizer in the greenhouse smelled sweeter than that concoction.
Kyle didn't know if he was exaggerating, but it was better to be cautious.
After all, Snape knew who wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and given his personality, he might well have added some extra 'ingredients' to the correct potion.
Kyle decisively put the bottle back and, wand in hand, approached the black flames ahead.
Soon, his wand began to glow with an orange light.
The light started from the tip and quickly spread, soon turning the wand into a bright orange color.
Kyle flipped his wand and drove it into the ground.
"Finite Incantatem!"
In an instant, both the purple and black flames extinguished, returning the room to its original state.
Kyle breathed a sigh of relief.
Thanks to Dumbledore, he had modified this large-scale magic, which originally required multiple wizards to cast, into a single spell over twenty years ago.
Otherwise, a simple spell like Expelliarmus might not have been effective.
Kyle quickly strode through the doorway and smoothly entered the last room.
Quirinus... or rather, Voldemort hadn't arrived yet, and the room contained only a large mirror.
The Mirror of Erised.
Kyle walked up to it and circled the mirror.
To be honest, he had thought about it for a long time and still didn't know how Dumbledore had hidden the Philosopher's Stone in this mirror.
Kyle guessed that Dumbledore must have used alchemy to disassemble the Mirror of Erised, added the Philosopher's Stone, and then reassembled it.
This was something Kyle couldn't do, but it would be a piece of cake for an alchemy master.
And Dumbledore just happened to be an alchemy master; otherwise, he wouldn't have become close friends with Nicolas Flamel when he was young.
The silverware emitting smoke in his office should be his handiwork, though it was unclear what their purpose was.
...
(End of Chapter)
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