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Chapter 440: Department of Mysteries
Chapter 440: Department of Mysteries (Please subscribe, favorite, and vote)
Liam and the other six people stood at the entrance to the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic, but the first obstacle, the 12 doors, had them stumped. In this situation, Harry suggested trying each door one by one, which seemed to be the only viable solution.
"Harry, what does the room you're looking for look like?" Ginny asked.
"It's, well—like a room that glows", Harry said as he walked up to the door directly in front of him. He gripped his wand in his right hand and pushed the door open with his left.
The door opened easily, with no unexpected attacks. After the darkness of the first room, everyone found this square room, lit by many chandeliers hanging from golden chains, to be quite bright. The room was mostly empty except for a table that might be used for record-keeping and a large glass tank in the center filled with dark green liquid.
The tank, more like a transparent glass pool, contained many white objects swimming in the liquid.
"Brains? And they're human brains", Hermione, whose parents were dentists, quickly identified the contents of the tank. "Why are they kept here?"
"Just like scientists study brains outside, wizards likely hope to uncover our secrets through brain research. The only difference is that magic keeps these brains alive, making the research easier. As for why they're here, isn't the brain research department also concentrated in top scientific institutions outside?" Liam explained softly, though everyone in the room heard him.
"Everyone, let's leave this room", Harry said after glancing at the brains, which looked like squishy cauliflowers. "This isn't the right one. Let's try another door."
They quickly returned to the black foyer. Before the door closed, Liam lightly tapped it with his rings, leaving a silverflame mark on it.
The door clicked shut, followed by a loud rumbling sound as the walls began to spin rapidly. This time, a small, blurry silver-white flame appeared amidst the blue. When everything stopped moving, the silver-white Flame mark was still there, indicating they had already tried that door.
"That's a good idea", Harry said, raising his wand and pushing open the door directly in front of him again. The others followed closely behind.
This room was slightly larger than the previous one and also rectangular. In the dim light, they noticed that the center of the room was sunken, forming a massive stone pit about twenty feet deep. The room's perimeter was lined with stone steps that descended in tiers, much like a stadium.
In the center of the pit was a raised Stone Platform, atop which stood an ancient and dilapidated archway, unsupported by any walls. A tattered black curtain or veil hung from the archway, fluttering slightly despite the lack of any breeze in the cold air, as if it had just been touched.
"Is this the intersection between the Main World and the World of Death?" Liam felt a faint, cold aura tinged with the rules of death emanating from the archway as soon as he entered the room. As someone who had been studying various rules recently, this aura was very clear to him. "The other side of the door must be the World of Death, which corresponds to the Emerald Dream", he suddenly recalled from the information he had read.
Legend has it that this door was the first structure built by the Ministry of Magic. More accurately, the Ministry of Magic was constructed with this archway at its core, gradually expanding outward. Initially, this place was where a group of wizards studied the most secretive knowledge of the Magic World in this special environment. Over time, it evolved into the Department of Mysteries. While nominally part of the Ministry of Magic, it operates independently in reality.
Liam strongly suspected that no one was here today because the people from the Department of Mysteries might have seen the events to come through a Prophecy and thus avoided the chaos.
If it weren't for the important task at hand, Liam would have been tempted to sit down and thoroughly study the area. He believed that if he could study the rules of the two conflicting worlds here, his progress would be several times faster than anywhere else.
"Who's there?" Harry suddenly said, jumping down to the next stone bench. But no one answered, and the curtain continued to sway.
Liam immediately dashed forward and pulled him back. "Sirius Black can't be there. Behind that door lies death. This room used to be an Execution Chamber by the Ministry of Magic until they signed a pact with the Dementors. Before the pact, death row inmates were pushed through that door. Once you pass through the curtain, you disappear from our world completely, and no one has ever returned alive."
"But I heard voices inside, calling to me", Harry said, turning to look at the others, but they all indicated they hadn't heard anything.
"Only those closely related to someone who has died can hear those voices, and you're the only one here who fits that description", Liam forcefully turned Harry to face him. He stared into Harry's confused eyes and said, "I know this door is very tempting because you lost your loved ones. But please, think about why we're here."
"Damn it." Harry slapped himself to wake up, remembering that Sirius Black had been captured by Voldemort and might be suffering, facing life-threatening danger, while he was fixated on the door.
"Let's go." Led by Harry, they returned to the black circular room. Liam also imprinted a silver Flame symbol on it.
The walls spun again and then stopped. Harry randomly chose a door and tried to push it, but it didn't budge. Liam touched the door, sending dozens of bright red runes flowing over it, but the runes were repelled by the door's powerful magic. It was then that he realized the door was locked with an extremely complex magical force.
"It's no good, but I don't think this is the right door. In Harry's dream, he can pass through all the doors", Liam said after marking it. The walls spun again and then stopped.
By this time, Harry was feeling somewhat desperate. He repeated the process, but this time, when he pushed the door, his expression suddenly brightened.
"This is it!" Harry exclaimed and rushed in first. The others quickly followed.
"I just hope what's waiting for us isn't too bad", Liam sighed softly, entering the room last.
This room was the brightest they had seen since entering the Ministry of Magic. The air was filled with a constant, busy ticking sound, like thousands of tiny feet walking. Clocks of all kinds hung between bookshelves or were placed on long tables, their faces gleaming. The most striking was a large, crystal dome at the end of the room, shimmering with diamond-like brilliance.
Led by Harry, they quickly navigated the narrow spaces between the tables, passed the crystal dome, and came to the only door at the back.
"I think we've arrived", Harry said, turning to look at the others. He noticed that everyone was nervously pulling out their wands. Liam and Hermione even held strange, golden-glowing glass vials in their left hands.
"Alright, let's go in", Harry wanted to say something, but his mind was a jumble, so he just waved for everyone to proceed.
(End of Chapter)
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