The six continued forward, and at the end of the passage appeared a heavy wooden door, carved with complex magical runes.
Charlie was about to push the door open when he suddenly heard strange sounds from above.
"Flap, flap, flap—"
Everyone looked up and saw dense black specks flying near the ceiling.
"What are those? Birds?" Harry squinted, observing carefully.
Hermione shook her head: "No, those are keys. Keys with wings."
Indeed, upon closer inspection, those flying little things were all sorts of keys, each with a pair of delicate wings.
"This door is locked tight." Fred tried to push the door, but it didn't budge.
George pulled out his wand: "Alohomora!"
The door still didn't react.
"Alohomora is useless." George frowned.
Hermione pointed to the swarm of keys in the sky:
"It seems we need to find the correct one among those keys."
"There are so many, how do we find it?"
Harry noticed several flying brooms in the corner of the room:
"There are brooms over there, we can fly up and catch the keys."
"Wait." Charlie raised his wand.
"Why go to such trouble?"
He raised his wand and clearly chanted the Spell:
"Finite Incantatem!"
An invisible wave of magic spread from the tip of his wand.
Instantly, all the flying keys lost their magical support and fell from the sky, clattering to the floor.
The entire room fell silent.
Harry's eyes widened.
"What Spell is that?"
Hermione was also too shocked to speak; she had read so many books and had never seen such magic.
The Weasley Twins exchanged glances, their eyes filled with disbelief.
"Finite Incantatem?" Fred's voice trembled slightly.
"Isn't that an advanced Spell only learned in seventh year?" George swallowed.
Although they knew Charlie had defeated a Troll.
But it was then that they clearly realized Charlie's strength was no less than that of a sixth or seventh-year student.
He was only in first year.
When they were in first year, they were still correcting their pronunciation, so as not to mispronounce a Spell and summon a wild ox to crush themselves.
Charlie calmly walked to the pile of keys and quickly found the one that matched the door lock.
"This is it."
Opening the door and entering the room, Charlie felt a little puzzled.
These mechanisms were too childish; could they really protect the Philosopher's Stone?
The subsequent mechanism made Charlie even more confused: a huge wizard chess board. Under Ron's command, they quickly passed the challenge.
Ron, who had played a crucial role, was excited, and Fred and George even praised him, which was rare.
The next mechanism was even easier: several Potions and a riddle were on a table. The answer to the riddle was the correct Potion, and drinking it would allow them to pass through flames into the next room.
Hermione solved the riddle in less than a minute, and the six of them shared the Potion, drinking it all before passing through the flames.
Charlie felt these mechanisms were overly simple.
It is now known that the Philosopher's Stone is being targeted by someone. As the holder of the Philosopher's Stone, what would you do?
A: Keep the Philosopher's Stone on your person, guarding it closely.
B: Hide the Philosopher's Stone somewhere no one can find it.
C: Give up resistance and hand it directly to the other party.
D: Destroy the Philosopher's Stone, so no one can have it.
Haha, the correct answer is to place the Philosopher's Stone in a conspicuous spot, then tell everyone not to go near it, and set up a few mechanisms that even children can solve.
No, this is ridiculous.
Charlie stopped, a thought suddenly flashing through his mind.
These few checkpoints were too coincidental.
Flying keys—Harry is a Quidditch Seeker; finding things in the air is his specialty.
wizard chess—Ron has played wizard chess since he was a child, and his chess skills are considered top-notch in the entire school.
Potion riddle—For a straight-A student like Hermione, solving a logic problem is a piece of cake.
Charlie's expression was strange; the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off.
This was not a mechanism to protect the Philosopher's Stone at all; it was clearly a tailor-made test for Harry!
"Could Dumbledore have designed this on purpose?"
He muttered to himself, suddenly thinking of an even more serious problem.
I led people to clear all the checkpoints; Dumbledore wouldn't come after me, would he?
Oh no, is it still not too late for me to pack up and run away tonight?
The few of them stepped into the final room.
In the center of the room stood a huge mirror, its frame ornate and exquisite, and its surface glowing with a faint silver light.
Harry recognized it at once.
"The Mirror of Erised!"
Hermione looked at him in confusion.
Harry explained.
"I haven't had a chance to tell you yet."
"During the Christmas holiday, Ron and I encountered this mirror at school. It shows you your deepest desire."
The Weasley Twins immediately turned their gaze to Ron, their eyes unfriendly.
"Our dear brother didn't tell us about such a good thing?" Fred narrowed his eyes.
"That's not fair at all." George chimed in.
Ron shrank his neck, his face slightly flushed.
"Don't just talk about me; you didn't tell me when you had good things either."
"Oh, that's truly heartbreaking, little Ronnie."
"Don't call me that."
As the Weasley Brothers bickered, they all walked to the mirror.
"Is it really that magical?"
Fred was the first to lean close to the mirror, his eyes instantly lighting up:
"Oh my goodness, I see myself finding the Philosopher's Stone, using it to turn lead into gold, and opening the world's largest prank shop!"
George pushed him away impatiently.
"I'm not in your dream? Let me see too!"
The scene George saw was largely similar to Fred's, except the shop was bigger and the business more booming.
Hermione stood before the mirror and saw herself achieving perfect scores in all subjects, leading Gryffindor to win the House Cup, becoming Head Girl, and creating a new Philosopher's Stone.
Harry still saw his parents, James and Lily, smiling and waving at him.
Ron, on the other hand, saw himself as the champion captain of the Quidditch World Cup, holding the Philosopher's Stone in his hand, with George and Fred kneeling at his feet, licking them.
Oh, that was truly delightful.
Hermione then reacted, frowning as she asked: "Wait, didn't they say the Philosopher's Stone was hidden down here?"
Everyone looked at each other.
"Yeah, where is the Philosopher's Stone?"
"Could it have been stolen?"
"Or was there no Philosopher's Stone at all?"
Just as everyone was puzzled, Dumbledore, who was invisible nearby, watched the scene with a chuckle.
He sometimes admired his own genius ideas.
Hiding the Philosopher's Stone in the Mirror of Erised, and simultaneously casting a Spell, so that only those who truly wanted the Philosopher's Stone, but did not wish to use it for personal gain, could obtain it.
These Young Wizard all thought about what they would do with the Philosopher's Stone—opening shops, making money, fulfilling dreams.
However, this was normal; the Philosopher's Stone could both turn lead into gold and create the Elixir of Life.
When faced with endless wealth and eternal life, the desire to possess it is human nature.
Even Harry at this moment might not be able to resist the temptation.
Only when Harry faced Lord Voldemort, and thought of protecting the Philosopher's Stone rather than using it, would he be able to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone from the mirror.
Dumbledore watched everyone's bewildered expressions with satisfaction.
A slight change in the plan was harmless, as long as the final outcome met his expectations.
But the next moment, Charlie stood before the mirror.
The Charlie in the mirror took the Philosopher's Stone and slowly put it into his pocket.
The Charlie outside the mirror felt his pocket grow heavy, reached in, and felt a warm, jade-like stone lying in his pocket.
Dumbledore was stunned; for the first time, he felt things were beyond his expectation.
What's going on? Has my magic failed?
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"