Together with Kael, the Magic Stone Fragment fell, spinning twice in the air before being caught by a hand.
Kael put away the Magic Stone Fragment and then looked up to survey his surroundings.
Having known he needed to use the Portkey, Kael had imagined many different outcomes, originally thinking he might end up in front of a grand manor or somewhere near a Wizard Village...
After all, those reclusive old wizards favored this approach. Like Newt, who made his home in the remote mountain forests.
But Kael never expected to find himself on a rather bustling Muggle Street...
He looked somewhat surprised at the large restaurant sign in front of him.
Many pedestrians passed by, but they seemed not to notice the suddenly appearing Kael, all walking past him as if he had been there all along.
With the constant honking of cars around him, Kael gazed into the distance.
Ahead to the left, he could vaguely see a towering spire...
"Paris?" Kael furrowed his brows slightly, starting to get a sense of his location.
Having already known that his destination this time wasn't Devon but France, Kael quickly recovered after the brief surprise.
A street is just a street. After all, living over six hundred years, a legendary wizard's thoughts are different. It's not surprising if one makes their home on a zoo's monkey hill.
The most important thing now is to find the person.
Kael pondered for a moment.
The Portkey was probably made by Nicolas Flamel or Dumbledore, so the destination couldn't be wrong. And Nicolas Flamel wouldn't be in one of the shops along the street, so...
"Fidelius Charm?"
Kael found the envelope Dumbledore had previously given him in his pocket, quickly opened it, and pulled out a blank slip of paper.
Though the paper was blank, Kael heard a clear whisper the moment he opened it.
It was a number.
"Number 51!"
...
Then the slip of paper suddenly combusted in thin air, drifting to the ground.
Just as Kael looked up, he saw a delicately crafted wooden door with gilded patterns appear between the restaurant and the record store; light blue walls and spotless windows also appeared.
It looked like an extra house had suddenly expanded, squeezing the things on both sides away.
Kael clicked his tongue; the restaurant's waiters were still leisurely chatting, and the melodious music in the record store continued non-stop, clearly indicating that the people inside were unaware of what had happened.
Kael quickly walked forward, frowning at the newly formed door.
The door had no handle, only a small groove as if something had smashed into it, not resembling a keyhole at all.
Kael drew his wand...
As expected, the Unlocking Charm had no effect.
"Is this a challenge?
But Dumbledore never mentioned anything like this..."
While Kael hesitated about what to do next, the gilded patterns on the door suddenly twisted, intertwining to form a segment of golden script.
"Ahead of you is a swift river.
The Magic Flute's song destroyed the bridge to the other side.
To move forward, you must find four lost branches...
One branch was taken by a knight to the country;
One knocked down a butterfly, picked up by the wife unintentionally;
One witnessed a wedding vow... another flaunted above people's heads...
Go, find them...
Or you can offer your treasure to the Merpeople by the shore, and they will aid your passage."
Squinting at the golden script, Kael's eyes slightly narrowed.
The meaning of the content was easy to grasp.
The bridge likely referred to the door, implying that to open it, you must find four key items... and the lines below were the clues to them.
Kael thoughtfully raised an eyebrow, quickly identifying the crucial parts of each line.
Magic Flute... knight, country... butterfly, wife...
If you rearrange them slightly, you get:
Magic Flute, Country Knight, Madame Butterfly...
These are all names of famous operas, though he couldn't recall the last two, they should be related to operas as well.
"Are the clues in the opera houses?"
Kael didn't move, instead turning his gaze to the last sentence.
The meaning of this statement was also quite clear... you could also proceed by paying, avoiding the search.
But the currency here certainly wasn't referring to Galleons.
Kael noticed that just below this line was the shallow groove, triggering a thought. He took out the Magic Stone Fragment from his pocket.
Both in size and shape, the fragment perfectly matched the groove on the door without thinking — it was undoubtedly the "treasure."
"Nicolas Flamel didn't intend to reclaim the Magic Stone Fragment?"
Kael was somewhat surprised.
If the implication above was true, finding the four opera-related clues would allow him to keep this valuable Magic Stone Fragment.
Either spend time finding clues or get a piece of the Magic Stone... is it really a question?
Kael raised his hand and decisively pressed the fragment into the groove.
The Philosopher's Stone could indeed drive many people crazy, but a shattered Philosopher's Stone is useless.
It's like chopsticks broken into several pieces or individual Lego blocks — utterly a waste, tasteless to eat and a pity to discard.
If it actually served a purpose, it wouldn't have been made into a Portkey.
Oh right, if taken to Diagon Alley and sold, it could fetch quite a few Galleons.
With the allure of the Philosopher's Stone, quite a few Pure-Blood Families would be willing to spend a lot of Galleons to buy it.
Thinking of this, Kael raised his hand somewhat painfully, intending to remove the fragment.
But by then, the fragment was already perfectly embedded into the groove.
...
The door gradually vanished as the room expanded, soon taking up the entire street.
In seemingly just a blink of an eye, the shops transformed into exquisite pillars, and the pedestrians disappeared.
Kael found himself in a grand hall with warm yellow marble underfoot and walls and ceiling of ever-changing azure.
Within could be seen numerous enigmatic golden symbols; it was unclear if they were there to add mystery or had a deeper purpose.
"Aha, Olympe, you lost!"
An unfamiliar voice came from beside him,
"I told you the first one to enter would surely be this child... come on, you owe me two Galleons."