An Irresistible Force

The long, winding stone corridor was silent and twisting, and in addition to the sound of their footsteps, there was the sound of water droplets slowly dripping down the walls. The corridor went downhill, reminding Harry of Gringotts. His heart skipped a beat, and he remembered the legendary dragons guarding the wizard's bank vaults. If they came across a dragon, a full-grown dragon, Norbert, would be tough enough. "Can you hear anything?" Ron whispered.

Harry listened intently. There seemed to be a gentle rustling and tinkling sound in front.

They came to the end of the hallway, and in front of them was a brightly lit room with a high vaulted ceiling. Countless little birds, as dazzling as gems, were flying around the room with their wings flapping. There was a heavy wooden door across the room. ' "You're saying if we crossed the room they would attack us?" Ron asked.

"To know the function of these little things, you have to pass through this open space." Augustus glanced at the densely packed air of unknown creatures with wings.

Harry took a deep breath, shielded his face with his arms, and rushed across the room quickly. He thought there would be sharp mouths and claws tearing at him at any moment, but nothing happened. He came to the door unscathed, pulled the handle, and the door was locked.

Augustus came over with Ron Hermione, Harry then pulled and pushed, but the wooden door wouldn't move, and Hermione tried her Araho hole-opening spell again, to no avail. "What?" Ron asked.

"Don't you notice that these flying birds above your head are the key to opening this door? It's not hard to see that these little things are keys with wings." Augustus looked around the room. a corner, while Ron and Hermione stared up at the swarm of flying keys.

"But there are hundreds of keys on it." Ron looked closely at the clasp of the door.

"We're looking for a large antique key - maybe a silver, shaped like a doorknob." Harry Ron Hermione began to pick up the broom next to him and rushed into the dense group of keys, carefully searching for this key door key.

Augustus opened his exploratory eye and performed a comprehensive scan of the entire key stack, and in a moment he found a large silver key hidden among the keys, with drooping wings, as if it had been caught, shoved roughly into the keyhole.

The silver wand pointed at the key with sky blue feathers, and a mage hand cast it in a direction. The somewhat listless key was instantly grasped by an invisible big hand in the air. After struggling a few times and finding it was useless, the key shrugged. It was pulled and handed to Augustus it was used in this rough way.

The three of Harry got off their broomsticks and gathered beside Augustus.

"It should be this one," Harry asked a little uncertainly.

"You'll find out if you try it." Augustus took the key, shoved it into the keyhole, and twisted it hard—yes, it was it. With a click, the key flew away as soon as the door lock flicked open. It was caught twice in a row, looking haggard.

"Are you ready?" Augustus asked Harry Ron and Hermione, holding the doorknob in his hand. The three of them nodded. So he pushed the door open.

The second room was pitch black and nothing could be seen. But as soon as they stepped in, the house was suddenly brightly lit, illuminating a shocking scene.

They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard with black chess pieces in front of them. Those chess pieces were taller than them and seemed to be carved by throwing black stones or something. At the other end of the room, facing them, were some white chess pieces. Harry, Ron, and Hermione shivered with fright - the tall white pawns had no features on their faces.

"What now?" Harry whispered.

"Isn't that obvious?" said Ron. "We had to play chess to get to the other side of the room."

They saw a door behind the white pawn.

"How?" Hermione asked nervously.

"In my opinion," said Ron, "we have to act as pawns."

"I don't think it's so troublesome, we can just go there." Augustus had a smile in his eyes. These constructive creatures are quite exquisite, but they are only a little deterrent on the surface. Compared with the terrifying mechanical beasts in the mage tower in another world, these chess pieces are still slightly cute.

The silver wand pointed to the mid-air of the room, and a huge dark cloud began to form on the roof. As the cloud slowly expanded, the entire room was covered with dark clouds, and huge hailstones fell from the cloud densely. Falling on the huge chessboard, clusters of ice crystals sputtered out, and the frost grew together on the ground, covering the entire chessboard and chess pieces. In less than a moment, the entire room became a world formed by ice-crystal columns.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione stared at the world of ice and snow dully. They didn't know what to say to express their current mood. In this country of ice, any language seemed too pale.

"Okay, it's easier this way." Ron wiped his eyes hard as if to prove that it wasn't an illusion. Hermione nodded mechanically, not refuting Ron's words for the first time.

"Let's go, I don't know what else is waiting for us." Augustus waved to them, and took the lead to walk over the mirror-like smooth and white ground that had been covered by huge ice blocks, and headed for the exit ahead.

"What do you think will be next?" Harry hurried to follow Augustus.

"We've got through Sprout's trap, it's that devil's web - it must have been Flitwick who enchanted those keys - 174 - Professor McGonagall transformed the pieces to bring them to life - Quirrell's magic is left, and Snape's" Augustus answered Harry's question as he walked. They came to a door again. "Okay?" Harry asked quietly. "Come in." Harry pushed the door open. A disgusting stench hit their nostrils, and they had to pull up their clothes to block their noses. The eyes of the two were also smoked with tears, and through their blurred tearful eyes, they saw a giant monster, even bigger than the one they fought last time, lying motionless on the floor in front of him, unconscious, with his head numb. There was a large bloody lump on it.

"Great, we don't have to fight this troll," Harry whispered. They carefully stepped over the troll's thick legs. "Come on, I'm out of breath."

He opened the next door, and for a moment, the two of them couldn't even see what was waiting for them - but there was nothing scary here, just a table with seven bottles of various shapes lined up on it.

The seven bottles are filled with lusciously colored liquids that seem to hold endless magical powers, and each color reveals a mesmerizing color.