Chapter 67 - Riddle Challenge

"But... if each room represents a professor that means the next room must be... Snape's," Adam whispered, almost scared of speaking his thoughts aloud.

A shudder ran through the group at the mention of Snape being the next layer of defense. The thought of facing whatever the Potions Master had "brewed" for an intruder almost made them double down back the way they came.

Amongst the four of them, Thomas and Adam were the ones with the best chances of finishing whatever Snape had put as a defense, but even then, neither one of the boys thought that this would be a walk in the park.

After calming his nerves a little, Thomas took a deep breath, before he addressed their shared fear. "Yes, it's highly likely that the next room is indeed Snape's creation. But let's be fair, I don't think Snape would put something time-consuming if he's here to steal the stone as Harry thinks he is. Since that would only slow him down."

Suddenly, a disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making all four boys scrunch up their faces and pull their robes up over their noses. The stench was putrid, a sickening combination of sweat and grime that seemed to linger in the air. With their eyes watering, the boys cautiously approached the source of the foul odor.

And the second they stepped into the next chamber, there, sprawled on the cold stone floor before them, lay a troll. But this troll was unlike any they had encountered before. It was larger, more menacing, and unconscious with a sizable bloody lump on its head. The sight sent a shiver down their spines.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered, his voice barely audible above the heavy silence that enveloped the room. While he hadn't fought to say the smaller troll that was wreaking havoc in the toilet, Harry could still remember how Thomas, James, Adam, and Michael did all work bringing the brute down by force alone. He pulled open the next door, and neither one of them dared to look at what came next, but when James bite the bullet, there was nothing very frightening in there, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

"You were right Adam… It's Snape's," James said, not feeling particularly confident in his skills of getting past this room. "What do we have to do?"

They stepped over the threshold and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards, trapping the boys inside the room with their only way out most likely being to complete whatever c challenge Snape had put as a defense.

Harry's gaze shifted to his friends, and seeing that compared to him, Thomas, Adam, and James didn't seem all that bothered by their lack of escape from this room.

"Stay calm, Harry," Thomas spoke up, seeing the worried look on Harry's face. "We've faced obstacles before, and we've overcome them. There must be a way to leave the room or to move forward."

At the same time, Adam's eyes scanned the room, searching for any clues or hidden mechanisms that could hold the key to their escape. Thought, the flickering light from the flames cast dancing shadows across the walls, creating an eerie ambiance didn't exactly help him.

"Guys, look for anything out of the ordinary," Adam suggested. "There must be a hidden mechanism or something."

As the four of them look around the room, James stumble across a roll of paper and shouted for his friends to gather around him. The urgency in James's voice caught everyone's attention, and they quickly gathered around him.

In his hand, he held a roll of parchment, its edges slightly singed by the nearby flames. They all were excited as they eagerly awaited to hear or read what was on the parchment

Unrolling the parchment carefully, the boys found it to be some sort of dilemma that they had to solve :

Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,

Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,

One among us seven will let you move ahead,

Another will transport the drinker back instead,

Two among our number hold only nettle wine,

Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.

Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,

To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:

First, however slyly the poison tries to hide

You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;

Second, different are those who stand at either end,

But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;

Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,

Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;

Fourth, the second left and the second on the right

Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.

Thomas massaged his temples, trying to decipher the riddle. And while he was sure that there were more than enough clues given to them to solve this riddle, for the love of God, he couldn't seem to find them at least not as easily as he had hoped to.

Thankfully, he wasn't alone here, as Adam furrowed his brow as he too tried to make sense of the enigmatic verses. He analyzed each line, searching for patterns and connections that could lead them to the right answers. His eyes darted back and forth, reading each and every line five or six times before going to the next one and then repeating the whole thing once more.

Harry stared dumbfounded at the paper, unable to think of anything. The words seemed to swim before his eyes, creating a whirlwind of confusion within his thoughts. He felt a sense of helplessness, realizing that solving this riddle would require more than just his intuition.

Meanwhile, James let out a frustrated curse. "Bloody puzzle! Why does everything have to be so complicated?"

The room remained cloaked in silence, save for the crackling of the flames that encircled them. Then after what seemed to be an eternity, Thomas punched his fist understanding the riddle.

"Okay, let's break it down," Thomas began. "The first two lines suggest that we have two options ahead of us: danger and safety. And it mentions that two bottles will help us regardless of our choice."

He continued, more confident than before as he decoded the riddle piece by piece. "The next two lines talk about specific bottles. One allows us to move forward, while another sends us back. This implies that one bottle will provide a way through the black fire, and another will offer an escape from the purple flames and back to the chess room."

James, Adam, and Harry's eyes lit up as they too started to connect the dots. "Now, let's focus on what I think are the clues for the bottles. The first clue tells us that the poison can be found on the left side of the nettle wine. This suggests that the poison bottles are located on the left side of the table."

"Moving on to the second clue," he continued. "It states that those at the ends are different, but neither is our friend if we want to move forward. This means that the bottles at both ends of the table are not the ones we should choose."

As the pieces fell into place, Thomas's deductions grew more plausible to his friends. "The third clue points out that all the bottles are of different sizes. This rules out the possibility of a normal-sized bottle being the solution."

"And finally, the fourth clue," Thomas concluded with a smile on his face. "The second bottle from the left and the second bottle from the right are twins in taste but appear different at first sight."

And with an even larger grin on his face, Thomas turned to his friends. "All in all, I believe the solution lies in the smallest bottle. It is the one that will enable us to pass through the black fire safely."

Harry, who had been silently listening to Thomas's deductions, felt that he wasted his time in the past couple of months compared to his friends. "So, if we choose the smallest bottle, we should be able to traverse the black fire, but ain't the bottle a little too small for more than one person to pass?"

Thomas's grin faltered slightly as Harry raised a valid point. He had been so focused on deciphering the riddle and finding the solution that he hadn't considered the fact that the answer was the smallest bottle. And look at how small it was, he doubt more than one person would be able to bypass the black fire unharmed.

"Harry, you're right," Thomas admitted with a sigh. "In theory, only one person would be able to go through the fire using the smallest bottle. It seems that Snape intended that only one person would be able to move onwards."

No one said anything for a few seconds until Adam choose one of the chairs and sit on it. "I have to admit, guys, I'm not so keen on finding out what the other professors have created as defenses. I think I'll stay behind. I can keep watch and wait for you to return."

James, on the other hand, crossed his arms. "As much as I'd love to push forward and prove myself, I know I'm not the most skilled when it comes to most things. Honestly, I'm probably only slightly smarter than Ron when it comes to this stuff. I'd be more of a liability than anything at this point."

Hearing his friend's choices, Thomas knew that he or Harry were the ones that will have to push onwards and get the stone or safeguard it. As for Harry, despite his own doubts and fears, had shown tremendous courage and resourcefulness throughout their journey so far, impressing Thomas a little, considering that compared to him and his friends, who he occasionally spares and runs around the castle from time to time to keep them in shape, hadn't be trained a single day in life. However before he could say anything to Harry, he heard his friend's voice.

"Thomas, I think you should go forward. Amongst the four of us, you're the most qualified to find the Philosopher's Stone. Let's be honest here. You are the most experienced one, the smartest one, and definitely, the one who can keep the stone safe."

He would lie if Harry's words didn't take him by surprise. Even though he hadn't told anyone this, Thomas had always admired Harry's unwavering bravery and selflessness, but to think that Harry view him in such a way made Thomas shocked, to say the least. Before he could protest, an unexpected voice echoed in his mind.

[Thomas, if you are willing to take the risk and reveal the true extent of your power, you too can traverse the flames unharmed.] Bahamut's voice resonated within him.

Thomas's eyes widened in astonishment since he had forgotten that his mentor could have had a way for him to pass through the flames without having to drink whatever potion was in the small bottle. But was it worth revealing the existence of his sacred gear to Harry? Well, they were already far too involved in this to go back, not to mention that his senses were screaming that the closer they were getting to the stone the more intense his senses were screaming at him that something dangerous was waiting for them.

With a deep breath, Thomas looked at Harry and decided to show his friend, his sacred gear. "Harry, there is something I need to show you, something I've kept hidden from Hermione, you, and Ron. But only if you truly believe in me and trust me."

Harry had always trusted Thomas as a friend, but this request was strange and frankly way too sudden, but ever since they met Thomas had been a good friend, even when Harry knew he didn't deserve his friendship.

"I may not fully understand what you're about to reveal, but I trust you."

As soon as he heard his friend's words, Thomas extended his arm, and a gauntlet made of black scales emerged on his skin. Harry gasped in astonishment, as he stared in shock at Thomas' sacred gear.

But Thomas didn't stop there.

Driven by an overwhelming surge of power, his body underwent a profound transformation. His skin took on a faint iridescent sheen, and scales began to emerge, spreading across his limbs and torso. Wings, powerful and majestic, unfurled from his back, casting an imposing shadow across the room.

Harry's initial shock quickly morphed into awe and some horror. He knew that Thomas was strong, but, this surpassed anything he could have imagined.

"Thomas..." Harry barely uttered. "You're... you're a dragon?"

"No." Thomas shook his head in response. "This is my sacred gear, a tool made by God for us humans to have a fighting chance against all of the other biblical factions. I'll explain to you later. "Briefly telling Harry what he was, was enough for now, so Thomas turned towards his two roommates. " Be ready for anything. God knows what Harry and I could face in the next chamber."

James, who had been observing the transformation with a nonchalant expression, smirked at Thomas and spoke up in his usual laid-back manner. "Well, mate. Don't forget to bring me a souvenir or two, yeah?"

Thomas chuckled, appreciating James's light-hearted. "Sure thing, mate. I'll see what I can do."

Meanwhile, Adam, approached Thomas and Harry before he placed a hand on each of their shoulders and spoke earnestly, "Take care, both of you. We'll be right here, waiting for you."

Thomas nodded at Adam's words. "Thank you, Adam. We'll do our best to return unharmed. See you soon."

With that, Thomas and Harry braced themselves for what lay ahead. Harry, trusting his friend's judgment, took the small bottle containing the potion and raised it to his lips. He swallowed its contents in one swift gulp, feeling a surge of warmth spreading through his body before both he and Thomas walk through the black flames.

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