Leading to the depths of the ground is a tunnel that changes from narrow to wide. Maka and the other five people were all in a state of invisibility, flying under the top wall of the corridor.
In order to prevent the corners of their clothes from swaying due to the air current, everyone quietly wrapped their outer robes around their bodies.
At the beginning, they could still see the four tracks in the middle of the corridor extending side by side downwards.
But as we continue to go deeper, the corridor gradually turns into a wide cave—the traces of artificial excavation seem to be slowly disappearing.
Soon, the four tracks spread out, each extending a completely different arc.
This is a natural underground cave, and judging from what can be seen with the naked eye, the depth of this cave is by no means ordinary.
In this cave, there are strange stalagmites, stone pillars and stalactites everywhere. The track stretched between the rugged rocks, slowly spiraling deeper.
On the stone wall of the cave, there are densely packed metal doors inlaid on top of each other, with the doors getting larger as they go down. People can't help but want to see how spectacular the door at the bottom will be.
"Yes, it's right here! The place Snape saw with Legilimency should be at the bottom of this cave!"
Lupine accelerated from the middle of the flight formation and leaned next to Maka.
"Really? How deep is it down here?"
Because the cave is not straight, it is impossible to see what is underneath at a glance.
"I don't know, Snape just said, it's very bright down there!"
"Very bright?"
Maka nodded, and then greeted everyone to speed up and dive.
At first, everyone only felt the colder they went down, and the icy cold wind cut their cheeks like a knife, making it difficult to open their eyes. But after flying past a certain depth, the surrounding temperature began to gradually rise. stand up.
When Maka walked around a stone pillar platform again and fell straight down on the magic book, he finally understood what the "very bright" just meant.
It's really bright, and dazzlingly bright!
Under this cave is a magma lake without even a place to stay. The tumbling magma emitted an orange-white light and bubbles of various sizes emerged.
Occasionally, you can see a few salamanders popping up inside, spitting out a small string of sparks as their tongues stretch out.
The further you go down, the more you can feel the heat in the air rising sharply; although there is still some distance from the bottom, a pungent smell of sulfur is already filling your mouth and nose.
"Stop first! Be careful, the fire prevention spell can't let us swim in the lava!" Maka turned around and shouted.
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head and examined it carefully.
In fact, there is no treasury on the way, and of course, the track has already reached the end.
The surrounding cave walls go vertically downward and are immersed in magma. One can't help but feel that this is a stone crucible filled with syrup.
"It seems... there's nothing here?" Tonks on the side also looked down, but didn't find anything.
"Well...it's all lava down here, and the magic power is too manic. It doesn't seem to make sense just to look here." Maka frowned and took out the staff again, "Lupine and I will go down to check first. You guys are here. Be alert and remember to pay attention from above.”
After that, he and Lu Ping looked at each other and then descended at the same time.
As it continued to approach downwards, the astonishing temperature of the magma even caused a burning sensation on the exposed skin, as if it would spontaneously combust in the next second.
If this continues, I'm afraid even the magma lake will be inaccessible.
As a last resort, Maka had no choice but to wave her staff. The regular runes on the surface of the stone inlaid on the top of the staff suddenly lit up, and the surrounding temperature immediately dropped.
"This is really good. It can be cool in summer, right?" Lu Ping joked.
“It’s such a luxury to use this place to cool off—”
Before Maka could finish speaking, he suddenly grabbed Lupine's clothes and then suddenly pulled him up more than 10 feet.
Almost at the same time, a giant hand of lava stretched out extremely abruptly from the lava lake. It almost passed under Lupine's feet and melted the broomstick left behind by Lupine.
"It seems we don't have to look for it ourselves."
Maka stared at the cave that suddenly appeared on the rock wall on one side of the magma lake. She casually took out another broom from her waist and stuffed it into Lupine's hand.
After Lu Ping sat back on the broomstick, Maka released the hand that had been holding his clothes tightly and shook it gently.
"You go up first and watch the battle with everyone. If the other party has help, I will trouble you."
Lupine paused but did not move.
"How about I stay..." he asked.
Maka immediately interrupted Lupine. He didn't even look away from the hole, but just reached out and pushed Lupine.
"The guy who just did it is not easy, you can't deal with it." He said without looking back, "Hurry up and stay away from here."
Lupine hesitated again, but finally raised the broom handle and climbed up.
Someone hiding in the cave seemed to have noticed Luping's movements. The magma lake below surged again, and then several groups of lava suddenly flew up and shot straight in the direction of Luping.
Maka immediately waved the staff, and just a burst of cold air passed by. The temperature of the red lava suddenly dropped, and it cooled into black stone balls in the blink of an eye.
"Shattered to pieces!"
Without Maka having to take action, Mrs. Weasley, who had been paying attention below, saw the right moment and released a few crushing spells, blasting the several head-sized stone balls into pieces.
Of course, Maka is not the kind of person who only knows how to fight back. While the opponent was controlling the lava ball, the magic text on his staff suddenly flashed, and he also controlled a large piece of magma, which rushed into the cave like a wave. Go in.
Just when the magma was about to rush into the cave, the stone wall suddenly shook, and then surged out in a very timely manner, closing the cave again.
The lava waves slammed against the closed stone walls, splashing several feet high. When sparks flew, a ball of hot golden-red light exploded.
This tentative confrontation was undoubtedly just the beginning for both sides, but the mere probing was so powerful that Lu Ping and others who were watching the battle above couldn't help but feel frightened.
"Since you have such strength, why don't you come out and show your face?" Maka stood on the magic book and shouted loudly, "You should at least let me know who you are fighting, right? This is a duel. What about etiquette!”
"What? Isn't it Voldemort?" After hearing Maka's shouting, Lupine and others couldn't help but be surprised.
After another period of silence, the originally sealed cave suddenly exploded. Along with the rumbling sound, a stone bridge stretched out of thin air on the vertical rock wall.
Then, a middle-aged man with luxurious clothes and a handsome face slowly walked out and stood gently at the end of the stone bridge.
When Maka saw the other party's appearance, he was first confused for a moment, and then his eyes suddenly widened with an expression of astonishment.
"…Monsieur... Blois?"
"Huh?" The other party stared at Maka's face for a moment, then pondered slightly, "Have we met?"
"Mr. Blois, I am Willie's classmate, Maca McClain." Maca pointed to her nose, "Do you remember? At the end of the second grade, I went to live in your house for a while. !”
"McLean..."
Mr. Blois thought for a while, and nodded reservedly as if he had recalled something.
"Well, you've grown up."
Just as Maka remembered, Willy's father had not changed much from before. Although he looks very handsome, he always looks stern, which makes people feel a little indifferent.
"Mr. Blois, you... why are you here?"
Now was not the time for small talk. Although he had speculated that Willy was most likely here, when Willy's father unexpectedly appeared first, he felt a bad feeling in his heart.
It was originally expected to be very bad, but now it may become even worse.
"Of course I have my reasons." Mr. Blois said calmly.
Seeing that the other party didn't seem to want to say more, Maka couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
"Mr. Blois, I just want to know, do you... have anything to do with Voldemort?" He frowned and asked doubtfully, "What conditions did Voldemort give to get your help?"
Mr. Blois didn't answer anything. He just shook his head expressionlessly.
Tricky! Very tricky!
Maka's biggest headache is going against someone she knows, especially when the other person is Willie's father. He had already made up his mind to trust Willy, but now it seemed that even Willy's father had sided with Voldemort.
He really wanted to ask for clarification immediately, so as not to have to start a confused fight later, and maybe after the fight, he would find out that it was a misunderstanding.
And, more importantly—
"Well, Mr. Blois, please at least answer my question—"
Maka paused and took a deep breath. The smell of warm sulfur spread between his mouth and nose. I don't know whether it was because of the high temperature here or because of his uneasy mood, but there was a sudden heat in his chest.
"Willie...is she okay?" Maka asked seriously.
As if he felt the pure and sincere concern in Maka's tone, Mr. Blois' serious and tense expression relaxed slightly, and there was a hint of inexplicable meaning in his eyes when he looked at Maka.
During the time when Maca was a guest at Chateau Blois, although he didn't have many opportunities to interact with his daughter's classmate, the few times they had dinner together still left some impression on him.
So far, my daughter has only brought home one classmate—and that classmate is the young man named "Maka McClain" in front of her.