I don't know whose idea it was to include class participation in the exam scores—anyway, Harry recently hasn't attended classes, so he only got an A (Acceptable) in Magic Potion.
Other course professors were quite considerate to him, overall giving him a decent grade, with his scores barely maintaining an "O".
Even the most rigid Professor McGonagall gave Harry a good score, after all, he could skillfully transform desks into any shape.
With some holiday time left, Harry dug out the last bit of Sweet Mallow, planning to visit the Merlin Ruins he recently discovered and had never opened before.
This Merlin Ruins is located at Craigmore Coast, and next to it is an abandoned Fire Ash Snake Faction gathering place.
Even after years of erosion, the Muggle-Repelling Charm at the gathering place was still effective, it seemed the surrounding landscape had never been disturbed by Muggles.
On a distant hillside, a few carefree Moonstruck Beasts were nestled into balls on the grass, rolling around without a care.
The Merlin Ruins is a circular stone disk adorned with patterns resembling a fan, with stone blocks shaped like fan blades surrounding the central circular stone. Harry wondered if these fan-shaped stones would rotate if the stone slab were electrically activated.
He stepped into the middle of the stone slab and scattered a handful of Sweet Mallow leaves.
The central stone block emitted a crisp sound, and a green glow diffused from the center to the edges of the circular disk.
Then, the light transformed into green glows like floating fireflies, hovering above the stone disk.
Harry stood at the center of the disk, patiently waiting.
Just as he expected, the glows gradually gathered above the four circular stone slabs surrounding the disk.
"Revelio!"
A blue halo expanded from Harry as the epicenter, spreading in all directions, and circular stone balls appeared in front of him in the training field.
"Are these stone balls meant to be moved to the corresponding positions on the disk?"
Harry murmured, waving his Magic Wand at one of the stone balls.
"Accio!"
However, contrary to his expectations, this stone ball didn't move towards him; instead, it shattered upon the instant of being struck by the spell.
After the stone ball was destroyed, new vines wrapped around the column on which the stone ball was originally placed.
Perhaps shattering the stone balls with a spell?
He had an idea in mind and waved his Magic Wand to shatter each stone ball one by one.
Once he shattered the last stone ball, the glow points gathered in four areas grew tremendously.
At the gathering spots of the glows, the four stone columns holding the disk rose up with a rumbling sound, and verdant branches blossomed abundantly.
From those branches, green glows flew out like swarms of bees, converging in the middle of the stone disk into an elderly figure holding a Magic Wand and dressed in a Magic Robe.
It was Merlin.
Harry stepped forward, and Merlin's apparition raised his Magic Wand, causing the right side to glow brightly.
Not long afterward, the light gradually dispersed, and a door shimmering with a green watery veil appeared in front of Harry.
Harry's heart leaped with joy.
Perhaps... this is Cassandra's Secret Chamber?
He eagerly stepped forward, but suddenly an old and leisurely voice echoed in his mind.
"The door cannot be opened from this side," the voice said.
Harry looked helplessly at Merlin's apparition, circled around, and entered the light curtain from the other side.
Unlike Slytherin's Secret Chamber, Merlin's Secret Chamber did not contain any snake-like items, even though he was an excellent graduate of Slytherin.
Harry raised his Magic Wand and used Fluorescent Flickering to illuminate the surroundings.
To his disappointment, there was no Cassandra here, only an empty room.
"Revelio!"
Guided by the spell, Harry saw a wooden puzzle board placed in front of him, appearing to be some sort of puzzle.
He walked over to examine it closely and found that the puzzle pieces couldn't be removed, only pushed in a certain sequence within the board to ultimately form the correct pattern.
Having experienced so many Merlin's Trial challenges, this kind of trial was still a first for him.
Harry took out his Magic Wand, controlling those images as they moved around within the puzzle board.
It should be said, Merlin didn't intend to overly challenge the younger generation coming to take the trial; at least these few steps weren't excessively difficult.
The wooden puzzle pieces on the board only numbered six small pieces; Harry only needed to contemplate for a moment and completed the puzzle.
"Sphinx." He and another voice said in unison.
"?"
Harry instantly became alert, lowering his body slightly, with his Magic Wand held in front of him, poised for battle at any moment.
A rumble echoed through the Secret Chamber, and before long, a creature with a human head and a lion's body appeared before him.
As a Wizard, Harry of course learned about the Sphinx in class discussions.
Legend has it that the Celestial Queen Hera sent the Sphinx to perch on the cliffs near Thebes, asking passersby a riddle.
The riddle was: What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs at night? The answer to the riddle is "humans".
Morning, noon, and night symbolized human infancy, adulthood, and old age.
The legend says that eventually, a young Greek named Oedipus correctly answered the riddle, leading the Sphinx to leap off a cliff to its death.