"Good luck to both of you."
Professor Fig looked at the tightly sealed door and sighed.
"I didn't expect things to turn out like this."
"Professor, look!" Ethan tugged anxiously at Professor Fig's sleeve, his voice trembling slightly.
"Lumos." Professor Fig turned around, and the tip of his wand lit up with a soft glow, illuminating the vault's interior.
Inside the vault was a narrow tunnel, surrounded by stone walls. Rows of doorless cabinets reached the ceiling on both sides, leaving just a few square feet of space barely wider than the door itself.
Heaps of Galleons lay scattered carelessly on the ground and in the cabinets, gleaming with golden brilliance. Ethan's eyes shone hungrily as he gazed at the piles of shiny coins, a greedy green glint unmistakable in his eyes.
Professor Fig couldn't help feeling amused and exasperated at Ethan's obvious display of poverty, but chose to pretend he hadn't noticed. He walked to the end of the tunnel, carefully examining the perfectly smooth stone wall that looked as though it had never been cut.
"Ethan, do you sense anything here?" Professor Fig asked without turning around.
"Huh? Oh, right, Professor, let me take a look." Ethan reluctantly stopped his looting spree and approached the stone wall, placing his hand gently against it.
"Hmm, there's nothing unusual about the wall itself... but I get the feeling there's something behind it, something similar to the key from before."
"Aha, I knew it couldn't be that simple. Let me think... perhaps we could try a Revealing Charm. It might give us a clue." Professor Fig extinguished the light from his wand, then waved it in an arc from left to right. "Revelio."
On the smooth stone wall, the faint outline of a large door flickered briefly before vanishing again.
"Didn't work, huh... perhaps you should try it." Professor Fig sighed and turned to Ethan. "Raise your wand, concentrate carefully, and follow my movements—Revelio."
Ethan drew out his wand, copying Professor Fig's movement precisely, and repeated: "Revelio."
As Ethan's spell took effect, a metallic door appeared instantly on the wall, bearing the same intricate symbol they'd seen earlier on the box.
"Hmm... the same symbol as before. If those lights that only you can see are guiding us, then we must be close to uncovering the secret of this vault. Looks like you'll have to lead the way now. Go ahead, Ethan."
Ethan reached out to touch the symbol on the door. The symbol emitted a bright, pale blue glow before fading, and the metal door slowly slid open, revealing a dimly lit hall beyond.
Several metallic pillars supported the ceiling, and the floor was as smooth as the vault wall, reflecting their images clearly.
"Let's go inside. Not like we have any other choice," Professor Fig muttered, stepping through the doorway and raising his wand again with another Lumos.
Ethan followed Professor Fig inside, then turned around only to find the door had vanished completely.
"Great, now there's definitely no turning back," Ethan complained dryly. He raised his wand as well. "Lumos."
Holding their wands aloft, the two explored the vast hall aimlessly. As they approached one of the pillars, Ethan suddenly noticed a blue glow emanating from the floor just ahead.
"Professor, there's something glowing ahead. It's the same kind of light as before... but this time it's coming from the floor," Ethan alerted him.
"Let's check it out."
Ethan led Professor Fig to the glowing spot, discovering the light came from a swirling pattern embedded in the floor. The spiral rotated slowly, emitting a faint blue glow along with tiny strands of shimmering light.
Curious, Ethan knelt and touched the spiral. Immediately, it surged like boiling water, rapidly expanding until it completely surrounded the area where Ethan stood.
Instinctively, Ethan stood up, extinguished his wand's light, and began to wave his wand upward, following the path of the glowing strands. The swirling pattern on the floor responded, its glowing strands flowing upward and into the tip of Ethan's wand until the entire spiral vanished.
Suddenly, they were plunged into absolute darkness, as even Professor Fig's Lumos charm had been extinguished.
"Lumos."
Light returned to their wand tips, revealing that their surroundings had changed again.
The metal pillars had disappeared, leaving only a circular platform about ten meters across beneath their feet. The floor was now even clearer, allowing Ethan to see the reflection of a metal statue kneeling on one knee, gripping a sword beneath them.
"Where are we now?" Professor Fig asked quietly, raising his wand to look around. As he moved his wand, a faint silhouette of the same statue appeared just above its reflection.
"Professor, could you step back a bit?" Ethan gestured for Professor Fig to move aside. "Revelio."
Just as before, the hidden statue fully materialized.
"So, is this the secret of the vault?" Professor Fig kept a cautious distance, illuminating the statue with his wand. It appeared to depict some humanoid figure completely encased in armor. Ethan curiously stepped forward and tapped on the statue.
"Professor, do you think this statue could be animate or something..."
Clang—
The statue rose slowly, gripping its sword tightly, and swung it directly toward Ethan's head.
"Watch out!"
"Protego!"
The heavy sword struck an invisible barrier and bounced off harmlessly. Ethan quickly jumped back, taking advantage of the moment to put distance between himself and the statue.
"Whew, good thing I reacted fast enough," Ethan muttered with relief.
The statue swung its sword at Ethan again. Seeing danger approaching, Ethan swiftly dodged aside, raising his wand to cast another spell at the statue.
"Expelliarmus!"
The sword flew from the statue's hand toward Ethan.
"Arresto Momentum! Descendo!"
Two more spells struck the sword midair, halting its movement and then sending it crashing straight down onto the statue.
Crash—
The statue shattered into pieces upon impact, dissolving into particles of light and vanishing completely.
"That was close." Ethan patted his chest, then turned to Professor Fig proudly. "So, Professor, how was my spellcasting?"
"Nicely done, but next time I advise you to keep your distance from objects whose safety hasn't been confirmed yet," Professor Fig said, still shaken.
With the statue's destruction, a pathway emerged at the front of the platform, leading to a metallic archway at its end.
"An exit, perhaps?" The pair walked down the path toward the archway. As they approached, they noticed another swirling pattern on the floor, identical to the previous one, though this time it didn't glow.
Ethan stepped forward, waving his wand upward as he had done before.
In response, the metallic archway filled with a pale blue shimmering veil, rippling gently like water. Through the veil, they could just make out a luxurious hall with a pedestal at its center, something floating above it.
"Hmm, it seems to be some sort of magical passageway. Let's go—this should be our final destination," Professor Fig said, carefully stepping through the shimmering veil with Ethan close behind.