Chapter 67: Getting to the Bottom of Avalon

In the following week, many students had their attention attracted by Avalon. They tried various different methods, but no one could successfully enter the Hidden Realm. For a time, the school was full of rumors about how to enter Avalon, and not many people talked about the Chamber of Secrets anymore.

Luo En also ran to the library for the first time. Sometimes he just read some history books about Merlin, wanting to find the record of Merlin's first meeting with the Lady of the Lake; sometimes he would beg Harry to take him to the Restricted Section to explore with the Invisibility Cloak, but the two of them also found nothing in the Restricted Section.

It wasn't until Thursday, after Luo En returned from the Dueling Club, that he said excitedly to Harry: "I have a clue; Tang Tang Nade told me he had seen the method to enter Avalon in an ancient book, but it was written in Ancient Runes, and he couldn't understand it."

"If he couldn't understand it, how could he conclude that it was the method to enter Avalon?" Harry's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Because there are contextual annotations," Luo En said. "That ancient book also cited another ancient book."

"Alright, then what do you mean by the clue?" Harry said helplessly.

"Let's go to the Restricted Section again; as long as we can find similar books, we can ask Professor Haipu to help us interpret them," Luo En said excitedly.

"Your plan is indeed good, but we have to be careful. King Arthur and Merlin were people of the first and second centuries; most of the books recording King Arthur were written in the Middle Ages," Harry recalled Antioch's notebook. "In other words, what we are looking for is a book written in Old English that cites Ancient Runes, and we can say we don't understand a single word of this kind of book."

"Great, Harry, you are really smart," Luo En said. "As long as we can recognize that it is Old English or Ancient Runes, then after finding the book, we can go ask Professor Haipu to interpret it."

"Do you think Professor Haipu will really help us?" Harry felt that Luo En was a bit too optimistic.

"Didn't you say that these elective professors have nothing to do every day? He will be willing," Luo En said while pushing Harry out of the dormitory. "Go, go, go; I can't wait to enter Avalon."

What made Harry surprised was that they really found a few books in the Restricted Section that met the conditions, that is, "written in Old English, citing Ancient Runes."

After Harry used his limited Old English knowledge to exclude those irrelevant books, only one was left. Harry was not sure if the Invisibility Cloak could take the book to deceive the protective magic of the Restricted Section, so they copied the Ancient Runes on the book into their own notebook in a way of copying cats and tigers. Fortunately, there were not many Ancient Runes, and they became more proficient after copying, so it only took two nights for them to finish copying all the sentences.

Fortunately, the Ravenclaw team started training on time this Sunday, so Harry didn't have to be circled on the pitch by Wood, and had time to visit Professor Haipu with Luo En.

Professor Haipu was indeed as Zhang Qiu said, very leisurely. When the two found him, he was sitting in his office with his legs crossed, reading a tear-jerking romance novel.

"Professor Haipu, we encountered some Ancient Runes that were difficult to understand when reading books," Harry said. "Therefore, we specially came to visit you, wanting to ask if you have time to interpret them for us."

"The Ancient Runes used for casting spells are very profound; I don't suggest you study them now," Professor Haipu said while glancing at the sentences they copied. "Oh, these are just recorded texts; I can help you translate them."

"From the drowsy sleep, I suddenly thought of this place, the fairy kingdom in the legend of King Arthur," he read an opening. "Oh, this is a poem."

Harry and Luo En finished listening to this long poem. The poem called Avalon "the destination that human ideals truly seek," and described in detail how beautiful and serene it was, but did not mention the true method to enter Avalon. This made them somewhat frustrated; they felt as if they had copied so many words in vain.

"There are two more sentences here; they shouldn't be words in the poem, they are something else," Professor Haipu's words made them pick up their spirits again.

"When the world is enlightened, the two dragons meet in the holy light, pointing to the road to the canyon. In the cracks of time, the King sleeps."

Since the previous ancient texts had already mentioned Avalon, then what is said here must also be Avalon; the King sleeping refers to King Arthur's sleep.

"When the thirteen stories are connected by a sword, one can reach the cracks of the world," Professor Haipu finished reading these sentences and put down the notebook in his hand. "That's all; if you are exploring the method to enter Avalon, then perhaps I can only give this much help."

"It's already enough, thank you, Professor," Luo En bowed hurriedly, then pulled Harry and left the classroom.

"When the world is enlightened, connect the thirteen stories with a sword," Luo En said while dancing. "Then you can enter the periphery of Avalon; as long as you can find the holy light and the two dragons, you can truly enter Avalon!"

"Are you sure? I always feel something is wrong," Harry had a faint sense of unease; he felt as if things were going too smoothly, and this unclear clue also made him instinctively suspicious.

"I'm sure; next, just figure out what the thirteen stories mean," Luo En continued to run to the library to check information excitedly, while Harry returned to the dormitory with a head full of strange emotions.

"Do you have any results from your investigation?" As soon as he entered the door, Neville asked such a sentence.

"We did find some clues, but I feel strange," Harry said, repeating today's harvest, the riddle of the sword and the story.

"Let me guess," Neville said. "When the world is enlightened refers to around Christmas; the thirteen stories refer to the twelve Knights of the Round Table plus Merlin or Mordred; it requires us to demonstrate their swordsmanship. The meaning of the two dragons is that it requires at least two swordsmen, and then the third mage playing Merlin uses Lumos to illuminate them, and they can successfully reach 'Avalon'."

Harry looked at him in surprise; he didn't expect that just by listening to a few riddles with half-understanding, he could interpret such a decent method.

"How did you reason?" Harry asked. "There are some places I still don't quite understand—"

"No need to understand very clearly, because I am inferring from the results," Neville said. "You see, Avalon has descended into the Heihu for so long; if it is really a magical Hidden Realm, some kind of magical phenomenon, Dumbledore will definitely stop students from entering when he is not sure whether it is safe or not."

It is indeed this truth, Harry thought. Letting the Hidden Realm exist on the Heihu for so long without knowing why is an unstable factor for the school; even if it cannot be eliminated in time, at least it should be blocked.

"So, this so-called hidden realm is just another obstacle course game," Neville said, completely unconcerned. "It's something Deng Buliduo designed to train you, or perhaps this time he intends to train Luo Tang Nade, the Savior's best friend."

This guess made Harry think of the Philosopher's Stone last year; the so-called hero level-breaking was a precious experience, but he really didn't want to play it again.

"Then, Dumbledore definitely doesn't want you to skip class to explore the Hidden Realm; there are Quidditch matches and training on weekends, and you have to do homework," Neville continued. "He can only arrange it during the Christmas holiday."

Harry thought that last year, Dumbledore stayed in school properly until the end of the term before going out once; that trip was to prompt the children that they could start level-breaking. Although his plan had some trouble because it was used by Death Eaters and almost caused a big mistake, Harry could still read Dumbledore's intention from the original plan.

"As for why the Hidden Realm appeared in the Heihu in advance, it is because he wants to divert the students' attention so that they don't cause panic because of discussing the Chamber of Secrets," Neville's tone carried a hint of mockery. "It is impossible to open it when the time has not come."

"I do remember that Dumbledore suggested the three of us try it," Harry said. "So that's why it will need two swordsmen plus one wizard; these are all prepared by him; Professor Fontroy and Professor Haipu are both helping to act."

"So, we still have to be sober and continue to find the attacker hidden in the school," Neville said. "I have a premonition that if we can find the truth of the Chamber of Secrets, we can find the person who impersonated me."

"Then I think we can start from four directions..." Just as Harry and Neville were discussing the four investigation directions proposed by Malfoy, Luo En rushed into the bedroom in a hurry.

"Harry! Neville!" he shouted. "I cracked the prophecy!"

"First is when the world is enlightened; this refers to Christmas. When King Arthur died, it happened to be the time when Christianity began to spread on the island of Britain; the birth of Jesus spread light to the world; this is the so-called 'time when the world is enlightened'," Luo En said happily about his analysis.

Quite good, letting Luo En, who doesn't like reading books, read more books, Harry held back his laughter and listened to his serious analysis.

"Thirteen stories, it refers to Merlin and the twelve Knights of the Round Table, plus the two dragons meeting in the light; I can boldly guess that entering Avalon requires at least three people, that is, two swordsmen and one wizard. And connecting the thirteen stories with a sword refers to the swordsmen demonstrating the swordsmanship of the Knights of the Round Table beside Merlin."

Harry tried to put on a look of sudden realization.

"Exactly, I have learned the swordsmanship of the Knights of the Round Table from Tang Tang Nade, and Neville has also learned a lot," he said proudly. "If you play Merlin, Harry, we can enter Avalon around Christmas!"

"Great," Neville praised first. Harry applauded against his will; he actually didn't fully agree with Dumbledore doing this. ===== CHAPTER 68 =====