"... This is... a painting?"
When the huge picture frame gradually stood out on the wall, infinite hope suddenly arose in Harry and Ron's hearts. Seriously, they were so thirsty and hungry that they were almost driven crazy.
After the painting was fully formed, they saw what was depicted on the canvas.
Speaking of which, at first glance, there's really nothing special about it—the wooden door frame, the lush greenery, and the slightly gloomy sky outside the doorway. The door frame is covered with fresh and tender ivy, which looks like a lively scene.
Ron subconsciously reached out and touched it, then gently pushed the edge of the frame, only to find that there was no reaction at all.
"Is this a hint?" he asked strangely, "Also, how did it appear? I don't remember what mechanism I encountered just now."
"I think we'll have the answer if we wait a little longer." Harry shook his head and pointed to the canvas.
Ron's eyes followed the place he pointed to - it was a forest painted in the painting, and between the lush trees, there was a black spot that was slowly getting bigger.
No, it was not a black spot, but a figure in the painting, coming toward them from far and near.
At first they couldn't see clearly from a distance, but when the figure walked in, they realized that it was a beautiful girl with a peaceful appearance.
The girl was wearing a simple blue dress with vertical stripes, her hands were implicitly folded in front of her belly, and she was holding a small leather-bound notebook in her hands. Her reddish blond hair is slightly curled, hanging naturally on her shoulders like waves.
"Excuse me... who are you?" Harry asked hesitantly.
But the girl in the painting just looked at him and Ron with soft eyes, as if she had no intention of speaking. The gaze was so gentle that it made the two little boys blush at the same time.
"Uh... I mean, are you here to tell us how to get out of here?" Seeing that she didn't speak, Harry had to bite the bullet and continue, "To be honest, our stomachs are almost starving..."
After hearing this, the girl in the painting curled her lips slightly, as if she was amused by what he said. She shook her head slightly, then turned around and walked back without saying a word.
Harry and Ron were immediately anxious, but before they could speak again, with a soft "squeak", the picture frame automatically opened from one side like a door leaf.
There are many such rooms in Hogwarts Castle, even their Gryffindor common room. Harry and Ron were not much surprised when they saw this, they just quickly looked at the doorway that was gradually revealed behind the picture frame.
It was a deep and dark passage, about the same size as the painting, and even an adult could walk in it without difficulty. Harry and Ron looked at each other, then walked toward the tunnel one after the other.
Walking in this long tunnel, the sound of footsteps pounded in my ears, but other than that, there was not much other movement. There was no danger or obstacle. It didn't seem like another problem that Maka had left for them.
It is worth mentioning that this tunnel seemed to go straight forward. After walking for about ten minutes, there was not even a corner. At least, neither Harry nor Ron felt the slightest change.
It stands to reason that after walking for so long, the distance from one end of the castle to the other is definitely covered. Could it be that they are really no longer in Hogwarts
The two of them continued to walk forward, probably because it was pitch dark in front and back, and even the wand's glowing spell couldn't shine. Their uneasiness made their pace faster and faster.
But what they didn't know was that it was thanks to this unconscious speeding up of their pace that they had accidentally escaped a fatal disaster.
Ron, who was walking behind, didn't notice that for a moment, everything behind him was distorted in some incomprehensible way.
…
That's right, that moment of distortion happened when Greenwald took out something.
This was not the first time Maka had seen this thing... No, he had never actually seen it in person, but its appearance was firmly in Maka's mind.
This is a silver-white floor-to-ceiling round mirror.
The natural frame and base have no seams, and the smoke-like mirror surface is gray, as if nothing can be illuminated.
The frame and base are engraved with delicate patterns, and familiar yet unfamiliar regular runes are sparsely arranged on the perfectly round frame, flashing with a thrilling light.
Macca was convinced that this was the mysterious round mirror he saw in the murals of Haierbo's tomb, and it was a source that could cause heinous evil.
"Grindelwald, what do you want to do! You want to turn Hogwarts into a waste—"
He couldn't finish his words, because at this moment, the mirror activated!
The circle of runes on the mirror frame suddenly burst out with a mesmerizing purple-black light. The chaotic and misty mirror surface flowed like a whirlpool, and a mysterious wave of obscure and mysterious waves spread out in an instant.
This wave of fluctuations was accompanied by strange distortions, encompassing the entire Hogwarts Castle, including the large mountains surrounding the castle. Immediately afterwards, even Maka didn't have time to react, and she felt that the space touched by the fluctuation suddenly shook, shrinking toward it as if the entire space was being dragged into the mirror.
Just this contraction of less than half a second made Maka's eyes widen immediately - he could see that his soul had been dragged out of the body and torn into the unknown mirror, as if there was something there. A huge suction force was pulling hard on his soul.
If he hadn't spent a lot of effort studying soul magic, this alone would have completely destroyed him.
After Maka used magic to force his soul back into his body, he had to let out a long breath. If he had reacted slower just now and allowed his soul to leave the body completely, he would never be able to go back.
No wonder the tomb murals depict it as so terrifying, it can even turn an entire ancient city into a dead city. This kind of mysterious power that only targets the soul is really too terrifying.
Seeing that the mist-like mirror was still flowing endlessly, Voldemort's soul was still struggling to resist, but Grindelwald's body had already collapsed on the ground.
Maka knew that the old guy had no intention of resisting at all, and his purpose seemed to be to enter the mirror.
If you want to die, you can die somewhere else, but you have to go all the way to Hogwarts. After he interfered with it like this, the fun was going to be great.
Maka didn't even want to look back, he was afraid that he would see the scene that looked like the mural. To this day, he still clearly remembers that the torrent of souls that meandered in the mural like a long river, forcibly turning the entire large colorful painting into the main colors of black, gray and white.
At this moment, although Maka felt infinitely uneasy, he still did not panic. But he saw him raising the staff in his hand. Regardless of his own safety, he first gathered an icy blue power of law and shot it towards Voldemort.
Voldemort must die now, and his soul fragments must not be captured by this weird mirror, otherwise it will most likely lead to another huge disaster.
Voldemort, who was desperately resisting the suction pulling his soul, was simply unable to resist this dazzling beam of rule power. In just an instant, his body of black flames, like fireflies in the wind, was immediately engulfed by the blue and white light.
In an inaudible wail, the remnant of Voldemort was quickly pulled toward the mirror by an invisible force. But he didn't expect Maka to move faster than that!
With just a wave of his hand, an inconspicuous empty potion bottle intercepted Voldemort's soul fragment halfway. The ghost-like remnant soul crashed into the bottle. As the bottle's body flashed, it failed to come out from the bottom of the bottle.
But the terrible thing is that the suction force emitted by this floor-standing round mirror is too strong, and a large number of fine cracks have appeared on the bottle body, as if it will turn into a pile of slag at any time.
It was late, then it was fast, just watch Maka wave with quick eyes and hands. At the moment when the bottle containing the fragments of Voldemort's soul flew towards him, he grabbed the bottle in time, strengthened the magic spell on the bottle, and ran towards the gate not far away.
Who knows if this round mirror will trigger a second contraction, he must hurry up.
Maka, who has the "swift" ability turned on, is absolutely extraordinary in terms of running speed. Hundreds of feet passed in an instant. He quickly opened the door to Hogwarts and immediately stretched out the bottle containing Voldemort's remnant soul and the door key together with the door key.
Following a burst of space distortion, the other source of disaster was finally sent away. But almost in the next second, the entire space shrank for the second time, and the momentum was even more fierce than the first time!
Maka's soul was knocked out of her body again. Most of her soul had no protection from the body and was completely unable to resist the violent pulling force. It's not that difficult to bring back the soul that was knocked out of the body.
After a while, he managed to put his soul back into his body, but if it happened again, he had no confidence that he would be able to withstand it.
Maka, who finally had the strength to look back, turned around and glanced. The souls in the sky did not exceed his expectations. While they were filled with resentment, a deep sense of powerlessness also surged into his heart.
He stretched out his staff again, and another ray of rule power suddenly shot out, rapidly impacting towards the mysterious floor-to-ceiling circular mirror.
The invincible power of the first-level rules in the past finally made an exception this time. But when the icy blue beam of light fell on the mirror body, it was only barely covered with a thin layer of frost, and it completely dissipated in the blink of an eye.