The Return to Hogwarts

Why is the island of Avalon, which appears in myths and legends and can be considered a place of worship for the ancient Druids, shrouded in such intense and unpleasant death and decay?

What secrets does the Merlin Ruins that Vitia spoke of hold? Could it be that Merlin has 'returned to life'?

As the two rapidly ascended into the sky, the black dot in their vision grew larger and larger. Ten minutes later, Amosta could clearly see the outline of Avalon Island and finally understood why the island was nicknamed 'Apple Island'. From below, the outline of this seemingly enormous island did indeed have a peculiar shape resembling an apple.

Such a massive island, supported by unimaginable forces, floats high in the sky.

Amosta is certain that he will never forget this scene.

In a daze, he recalled the scene years ago when Professor Snape came to the orphanage where he lived and demonstrated magic to him in the dormitory. It was just a simple transfiguration spell that overturned Amost's understanding of the world and shattered his worldview.

Now, Amosta is facing that same feeling again.

"Incredible, how did they manage that?!"

Amostah gazed at the island above from a magical perspective, and he had the illusion that one foot was still in the world of magic, while the other foot had already stepped into the illusory mythology!

Of course, if one were to simply appreciate this marvelous magic from an outsider's perspective, it would undoubtedly amaze and impress Amosta. However, the thought that he himself had an ambiguous relationship with such a magnificent relic weighed heavily on Amosta's heart.

He seemed to sense that an invisible, terrifying hand was dragging him into the mud, trying to devour him. To be more precise, he was already in the mud, but now, the monster lurking in the mud finally stretched out its ferocious giant claws towards him!

hula-

A sudden, intense dizziness struck him, and the world before Amosta's eyes began to shake violently. The powerful magical magnetic field around him was also undergoing some kind of intense change. Instantly, he was forced out of his shadow form by this turbulent change in the magical environment, revealing his original form.

The world has taken a dramatic turn!

The enormous island that was originally above him suddenly shifted to his feet, and when he entered this magical ruin, the boundless lake he was standing on abruptly appeared above his head, transforming into another pure and clear sky.

Gryffindor seemed to have anticipated this change. He merely pursed his lips, said "Interesting," and then firmly gripped the lion's fiery red mane with his left hand, taking the lead as he sped towards the island below.

However, Amosta encountered considerable trouble. The chaotic magical magnetic field and the extremely evil magical power that suddenly became several times stronger around him exerted a significant suppression on him. He fell like a free fall in mid-air, throwing out several spells in succession to stop his fall, but all of them ended in failure as the tip of his staff crackled and sparked!

Ridiculous! Are we going to fall to our deaths here?!

Amostah gritted his teeth, staring at the earth below. Countless wisps of gray smoke rose from the ground, their eyes filled with hatred. He suppressed his fear and suddenly shook his wand again.

Beneath Amosta, the deathly still air was suddenly filled with a fierce wind. The oncoming hurricane gradually weakened the downward momentum. Finally, when Amosta was still ten feet from the ground, he regained control of his body and fell into the mud with a thud.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that Amosta, his head fuzzy, finally stood up from the mud. He glanced at the scene before him, and his movement to raise his wand to wipe away the mud froze.

Amosta has never seen the end of the world, but he believes that if the end times ever come, the world will end up just like what he sees now!

This place used to be a lush forest, but now it's a graveyard for life.

Those once towering trees have all been broken and lie underwater. What remains are just scattered charred logs standing crookedly in the boundless swamp. Before your eyes, countless gray plumes of smoke rise from the skeletons of various fallen magical animals, and in your ears, there are faint, indistinct wails of female ghosts.

Everything before his eyes was obscure and incomprehensible, like the alternation of day and night on a rainy day. An invisible magic of deathly silence and ominousness suppressed Amosta's emotions, causing despair to rise uncontrollably in his heart.

Amidst this horrifying scene, a strange realization dawned on Amosta's mind. He had a vague feeling that the culprit behind this spectacle was probably the legendary magical item that Vitia Kriona wanted to retrieve from Avalon Island.

"With its power, perhaps we can have a peaceful place to live."

Amostah suddenly recalled what Vitia had said to him before. At the time, he had been quite dismissive of it, but now he dared not underestimate it.

"Several generations of druid priests have entered this world many times in an attempt to retrieve it, but all have failed. The divination results indicate that only I can retrieve that item."

Amosta pursed his lips, his gaze lowered, and he murmured softly, feeling inexplicably uneasy, because what was happening to him now probably touched upon the most unknown mysteries of the magical Harry Potter world.

Gryffindor stood on the embankment behind Amostrum, also surveying this distant world shrouded in mist, a world where death mingled with revelry. The easygoing demeanor of Fang Kuo's face, etched with several sword scars, was gone, replaced by solemnity, and his eyes gleamed with anger.

But even someone as powerful as him seemed helpless against this tragic world, and could only sigh softly.

Amosta turned around and stared with a bewildered look at Gryffindor, who had given him an unprecedented shock yet seemed oblivious to him. After a moment, he suddenly raised his wand and swung it down hard at Godric Gryffindor!

Chapter 116 Puzzle

call out--

A withered branch floated up from the water, and as Amosta swung his arm down, the branch suddenly tore through the space filled with the aura of death, heading straight for Godric Gryffindor's feet!

sieve--

The branch pierced through Gryffindor's foot and embedded itself in the mud, but not a drop of blood was left.

"So it really was fake after all?"

Looking at the trembling withered branch and Gryffindor's unchanging expression, Amostella breathed a sigh of relief. Taking the initiative to test Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founding leaders of Hogwarts, was not an easy decision to make; it required great courage.

Amosta stared silently at the illusion that he could not see any flaws in, an illusion that was almost indistinguishable from the real thing, his mind still shrouded in great confusion.

The situation he was in now had no precedent recorded in any magic book, and no one could tell him what was going on. Amosta had no choice but to rely on his own wisdom to deduce it.

"Without a doubt, Godric Gryffindor once descended upon this secret realm in the distant past, and the traces of his existence are recorded in the chaotic timeline of this realm, appearing as a phantom before me—"

Amosta narrowed his eyes, his piercing gaze seeming to see through the secrets left by time. He murmured in a voice only he could hear...

"Then I understand the effect of Gryffindor's sword strike in mid-air earlier. I was present in his path of exploring the secret realm. Those 'clean fissures' were created by Gryffindor a thousand years ago. What a terrifying wizard."

If it were Amosta himself, he might not be unable to make the effect of a spell last for a thousand years. Those spells that involve 'rules' and are integrated with nature and can operate on their own can indeed last for a long time, but that is in the outside world. The magical environment here is so strange that no spell can withstand the erosion of 'death'.

"So, did the Druids' earlier priests also witness the visions of Godric Gryffindor, or was it only me?"

Amosta couldn't answer this question for the time being, but he had a feeling that Vitia and her ancestors had probably never seen the trail of Gryffindor, otherwise they would have gone to Hogwarts for help long ago.

"But why would such a coincidence exist?"

All coincidences in the world are deliberate. Amostella didn't believe that the appearance of the Gryffindor phantom before him the moment he entered this secret realm was merely a coincidence. So, what was the real reason?

Suddenly, Amosta frowned, realizing a possibility.

"I unleashed my magic once on the lake, and after that, Gryffindor appeared. Were they waiting for me?!"

Although I have a general understanding of the Gryffindor situation in front of me, many questions remain.

Why are Gryffindor searching for the Isle of Avalon? Their murmurs—'The pillars found by Rowena, Helga's prophecy'—suggest that the four leaders were probably plotting something of paramount importance a thousand years ago.

Furthermore, Avalon Island, a sacred site of the Druids who revere life, is a scene of apocalypse, yet Vitia calls it 'Merlin's eternal resting place.' The divination results of Vitia's previous priests—all of this seems to be inextricably linked to her.

Just as Amostella was deep in thought, Gryffindor, who was looking around, seemed to have made a discovery. He waved away his Patronus and turned to walk in one direction along the embankment.

Amostella suppressed his many doubts and, not daring to delay, quickly emerged from the mud on the shore and followed closely behind the Gryffindor phantom.

The two walked along the embankment for about two minutes, and then a simple-looking but exquisitely crafted oak boat came into Amosta's view.

At this point, Amosta was absolutely certain that the Sky Isle he was on was indeed the legendary Island of Avalon, because both Muggle and wizarding texts clearly stated that Avalon was surrounded by swamps, forests, and mist, and could only be reached by small boats.

For a legendary wizard like Godric Gryffindor, the pervasive magic of death and decay posed little obstacle. He could have easily ridden the same Patronus that had just swaggered through the misty swamp and headed straight for the center of the island, but he did not.

After entering the island, Gryffindor became taciturn. He stared at the island with a deep gaze, his eyes seemingly brewing some kind of determination.

With a nimble leap, Gryffindor stepped onto the small boat, but the waterline of the oak boat remained unchanged, and even the narrow hull did not wobble at all. However, when Amosta jumped onto the boat, it suddenly sank two feet.

Amosta's eyes flickered, and this phenomenon once again confirmed Amosta's guess: the Gryffindor appearing here was not the real one.

Judging from its size, the small boat seemed to be able to support only one person. Gryffindor stood in the center of the cabin, while Amosta could only crouch half-bent over at the stern. Of course, Gryffindor's current form was even worse than a ghost, so Amosta could simply pass through his body and sit more securely.

Out of caution and respect for Godric Gryffindor himself, Amosta did not choose to do so; he gazed at Gryffindor's retreating figure with reverence in his eyes.

A few months ago, when Amosta was still teaching at Hogwarts, he talked one night with Potter and Granger about his mysterious purple eyes. When he mentioned that he had been thinking about how to fight against wizards like Dumbledore since he was a teenager, the two boys were shocked and incredulous, probably thinking that it was impossible. Amosta, on the other hand, believed that any powerful legend would be surpassed by those who came after.

At this moment, Amostella still believed that this view was correct, but regarding the founding four leaders of Hogwarts, and the mere glimpse of Gryffindor's strength that had just been revealed, Amostella had to admit that he had absolutely no idea how he could possibly rival such powerful wizards.

Sensing someone entering the cabin, the small oak boat automatically swam towards the center of the swamp, moving smoothly without any ripples, as if sailing on ice.

Gradually, Amosta, like Gryffindor, was drawn to the sights in the swamp. He saw many magical creatures lying on the ashen white bones in the mist that hung in the air above the shallow water.

Amosta wasn't a magical creature expert, but he was quite knowledgeable and could vaguely make out that the skeletons were of various kinds, including Cerberus, dragons, unicorns, Pegasus, and imps. Many of these magical creatures were mortal enemies, living peacefully together here long ago, but now, they had all been taken by the evil magic that existed on the island.

Just then, a huge humanoid skeleton gradually emerged from the hazy mist.

The skeleton appears to belong to a giant, but the giants that exist in the magical world are only about twenty feet tall, while this skeleton is about the same height as the newly built six-story dormitory building in the orphanage!

Silently, Amosta, who was examining the skeleton, quietly opened his mouth.

Chapter 117 Island of Death

This time, not only Amostella, but even the Gryffindor, whose expression was as resolute as a rock, showed a certain degree of astonishment, their gazes simultaneously drawn to the enormous skeleton.

Amosta felt as if he had been detached from reality. The small oak boat beneath his feet was not sailing in the swamp, but rather traveling in the river of time. Some strange phenomena from the ancient wizarding era, which were even older than a thousand years ago, were shining through the cracks of time, casting mottled light and shadow. This alone gave Amosta's soul a tremendous shock.

"That world was still intact, a magnificent magical age—" Gryffindor finally spoke again, expressing his感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep feelings).

However, his unconscious murmurs made Amosta frown. What did it mean that the world was still in the complete magical age? Where in the world today is there anything missing?

Amosta suddenly regretted spending most of his time studying spell models in Professor Binns's History of Magic class. If he had listened more attentively, he might have been able to understand the meaning behind Gryffindor's words.

However, this is not necessarily true. The era in which these unknown secrets existed must have far exceeded the magical history revised by modern wizards. Even in the era of the Four Great Wizards, they would probably have been top secrets known only to a very few people.

The eerie wails that sounded like female ghosts all around disappeared, and the world fell into eternal silence. The small boat carrying the two of them sailed into a thicker fog with very low visibility. Amosta could only see what was within ten feet of him.

Gryffindor once again brandished their longsword, slashing through the space before them to dispel the evil aura of death in the air. Amosta didn't know if the Druid priests who first came here had also followed Gryffindor's timeline to reach the center of Avalon Island. If not, Amosta didn't know what price they had to pay to get here step by step.

If Amosta had ventured in alone without any external assistance, it would have taken him several days to reach this place. It's a wonder that Vitia thought so highly of him, believing he could handle the dangers within the ruins.

Just then, many fist-sized, dim yellow lights suddenly appeared in the hazy mist, like lanterns floating in mid-air, swaying slightly.

Amostella suddenly became alert. Since entering the island, he hadn't seen anything that could move except for Gryffindor!

He raised his wand, gazing at the dim, scattered lanterns around him, wondering what they were. Without realizing it, he stood up from his half-squatting position, placing one foot on the gunwale of the smoothly moving oak boat, and leaning half his body out of the mirror-like, still water.