Chapter 333: Gryffindor's Secret Chamber
Chapter 333: Gryffindor's Secret Chamber
"It seems we've come to the right place!" Albert muttered as he gazed at the object on the ground.
"What do you mean?" Lee Jordan didn't understand Albert's murmured words at first.
"You idiot!" George rolled his eyes at Lee Jordan and explained, "Can't you think about where we are and what kind of statue this is? So, there's a high possibility that Gryffindor's secret treasure is hidden here."
"Gryffindor's treasure is here?" Fred understood, but as he looked around, he couldn't see any signs of treasure! The giant's lair was just a cave, and there was nothing noticeable about it.
"Now what?" George turned and asked, "Are we going to search the whole place? This area looks disgusting."
Albert took out the treasure map and, after confirming that there were no other changes to the pointer, narrowed his eyes to survey the surroundings. He then instructed Fred, George, and Lee Jordan to use spells to clean the walls.
"You think there's a secret passage here, and the entrance is hidden?" Fred took the treasure map from Albert and carefully examined it before voicing his guess.
George and Lee Jordan both recalled the hidden passages in Hogwarts Castle.
"Should we dig some more? Maybe we can find the remaining parts." Lee Jordan suggested, "I feel like there must be another use for this thing; it can't just be here as a decoration!"
"Let's dig it out first!" Albert didn't object, "You can clean up the cave while you're at it."
After saying that, Albert turned and left.
"Where are you going?"
The three of them were stunned for a moment, then hurriedly asked when they saw Albert walking out.
"It's nothing. I'm just going to kill those two giants to eliminate the threat they pose to our lives." Albert nonchalantly explained, as if he were swatting two mosquitoes.
The trio was astonished for a moment, not expecting Albert to say something like that.
Giants were indeed dangerous creatures. Although they had seemingly defeated the two forest giants easily, it didn't mean much. Giants could still pose a threat to the lives of the four underage wizards.
"I'll help you!"
George mumbled something and quickly chased after Albert. He couldn't stand the harsh environment of the lair any longer.
Fred and Lee Jordan's faces darkened as they began cleaning the trash in the lair, feeling annoyed that they hadn't reacted quickly enough.
"Is it really okay to kill them?" George murmured.
"Giants eat people." Albert glanced at George and replied calmly, "If I had Dumbledore's level of power, I wouldn't mind leaving them be. But we don't, do we?"
"How do you plan to kill them?" George didn't dwell on the matter either. Giants were indeed dangerous, and without Albert's help, he, Fred, and Lee Jordan might not be able to handle even one forest giant.
The intimidation they felt when the giant charged at them was enough to startle them. Moreover, the giant's skin had some resistance to magic, and the three of them might have ended up as the giant's meal, clubbed to death by its wooden club, if not for Albert's intervention.
"That's simple. Do you want to watch?" Albert countered.
"I think I can take it!" George mumbled.
"Suit yourself."
Albert waved his wand, and the nearby branches instantly transformed into steel spikes, extending towards the giants and piercing their heads. It felt like using a fruit knife to cut through a watermelon, and with ease, both giants were impaled and pinned to the ground.
"Just like that, they're dead!" George exclaimed in disbelief.
"That's right, they're dead now. What did you expect?" Albert used magic to dig a large pit for the two giants and buried them.
In truth, killing the giants was mainly out of consideration for their own safety, as this place might hold Gryffindor's secret treasure, and they didn't want any potential threats lingering while they explored.
"It feels a bit cruel!" George sighed.
"Hmm?" Albert shrugged nonchalantly, "You wouldn't feel it was cruel if you were the one being eaten."
Compassion was a luxury afforded only to the victorious.
"Well, you're not wrong about that."
After Albert dealt with the giants, he cast several alert spells outside the nest and returned to the cave, only to find that Fred and Lee Jordan's progress was still painfully slow.
However, they had managed to excavate part of the statue, and after Albert restored it with a repair charm, it resembled a lion with an eagle's head, lying prone.
"It looks a bit like the monster statue at the entrance to the Headmaster's office. I think the entrance should be right here," Lee Jordan muttered.
"But...how do we get inside?" Fred was also at a loss for ideas. As far as he knew, the stone monster statue at the Headmaster's entrance could speak, and perhaps a special password was needed to gain entry.
But with the statue destroyed, how could they possibly open the entrance?
"Come to think of it, who destroyed the statue in the first place?"
"Probably the giants. Maybe the statue asked them for a password, and they bashed it with their club," Albert speculated, thinking this was a likely possibility. The giants probably didn't understand what the statue was, mistaking it for an enemy or some other reason to destroy it.
"Now what?"
None of the four had a good solution.
"Why don't we try a more forceful method!"
"You want to blow up the entrance?"
They surveyed their surroundings and, after a moment of hesitation, agreed to this approach.
"Alohomora!" Albert aimed his wand at the wall and cast the spell.
Instead of blowing a hole in the wall as expected, the spell bounced off the surface, ricocheting back and exploding behind them. Fortunately, Albert ducked in time to avoid the blast.
"The magic actually bounced back!"
The quartet was shocked, and they simultaneously arrived at an answer:
The treasure must be here! "Wait, we're getting a reaction here!" Fred yelled, stopping Albert just as he was about to cast an explosion spell at the wall. He pointed to the treasure map in his hand.
"What?"
"It's a password!"
"What password?"
"Brave and fearless!"
"That's truly Gryffindor's style!" Albert exclaimed, then muttered, "I remember the Sorting Hat's song about Gryffindor: 'For those who are brave and true, we teach until their dying day.'"
"You actually remembered that?" Fred teased.
"Enough chatter, try it already, I can't wait!" George urged.
Albert stepped forward, raised his wand, tapped the wall, and spoke the password. To their delight, the entrance opened.
"We did it!"
Fred and the others cheered excitedly, ready to venture in, but Albert held them back.
"Wait..."
"For what? Aren't we going in to find Gryffindor's treasure?"
"Of course we're going in, but first, we need some fresh air. Do you want to suffocate in there?" Albert tossed a light ball into the passage, which was longer than expected, and they couldn't be sure if there were any traps inside.
If Ravenclaw's knowledge vault was a treasure of wisdom, then what Gryffindor left behind was surely an adventure.
The adventure for Albert and his friends had only just begun! (End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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