Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1680: Towers and Statues

Guided by the ghost, Evan ventured deeper into the castle.

Marcus explained its history to Evan as they walked. Continuing the exterior’s decorative style, Ravenclaw Castle’s interior structure and decoration were remarkably complex and luxurious.

Unlike Hogwarts Castle, with its relatively clear and straightforward layout, where one could see the central staircase connecting corridors on every floor the moment one entered the entrance hall, Ravenclaw Castle was like a maze, with numerous doors, passageways, and staircases leading to unknown destinations.

Corridors stretched outward in every direction, disappearing into deep, impenetrable darkness.

The castle was incredibly quiet, as though the very air was steeped in mystery. Although many actual decorative items were long gone, under the influence of magic, visions of the past rose one after another before Evan’s eyes, recreating the castle’s former splendor.

If it were not for the faint blue magical glow that occasionally rippled across these apparitions, they would have seemed indistinguishable from real objects.

If there was anything Evan still had doubts about in this whole matter, it was the magic that could make ghosts and objects reappear.

There was no question that Ravenclaw’s Diadem had activated the magic, but Evan did not understand the principles behind it.

To him, the spell was astonishing. Calling it an illusion did not quite fit; at the very least, the ghosts themselves were tangible. They could act of their own will. And most importantly, magic on this scale required an immense amount of power. Where, then, did that energy come from?

It certainly was not the Diadem’s power. Ravenclaw’s Diadem did not possess magic of that magnitude.

Evan puzzled over this as he walked, and the ghosts themselves seemed no clearer on the matter. It was only once he entered the depths of Ravenclaw Castle that he sensed the ambient magic grow more active. A powerful force was drawing him toward the center of the castle; that was the true source of the magic.

Ravenclaw’s Diadem had merely triggered it; the spell itself was anchored to something at the center of the castle.

“Wait, Marcus — this way…” Evan paused, sensing something, and pointed down a corridor. “What’s over there?”

“That’s the central tower, my lord. The library is there!” said Marcus. “Please come this way. That corridor doesn’t lead directly to the central tower. There’s a secret passage on the second floor of the banquet hall; otherwise, we would have to detour all the way around through the western tower.”

“Can’t we just go straight through?” Evan asked. He found the castle’s design exceedingly odd.

It really was strange; there were clearly simpler, more direct passages available, yet they had chosen to build such a complex, roundabout way.

The key point, in Evan’s opinion, was that building it this way served no practical purpose at all.

“Yes, apart from a few secret passages, only five towers connect to the central tower. From here, it would take us a very long detour to reach it,” Marcus explained. “The original designer placed magic in the castle, shaping its internal structure in the form of magical runes. Many passages are strictly restricted by magic, and every newcomer gets lost. However, if you stay here long enough, you’ll get used to it…”

“Hmm, what kind of magic did the Ravenclaw family’s ancestors lay down here?”

“It was a powerful defensive spell, said to be able to resist invaders. I don’t know exactly what kind of magic it is, because it is meant to be used only when the Ravenclaw family faces a true crisis,” said Marcus. “In fact, as far as I know, no one has ever used this magic. That may well be nothing more than a rumor. As you have seen yourself, when the family truly fell into danger, this so-called magic accomplished nothing. The power of Death is not something that mortal magic can withstand.”

“Hmm…” Evan nodded casually.   

He did not think the spell was as simple as Marcus made it sound.

Leaving aside whether it was truly a defensive enchantment, the fact that it could recreate so many ghosts and past scenes was already quite remarkable.

Evan found himself even more intrigued by the central tower. Beyond the library, what other secrets might it be hiding?

Guided by the ghost, Evan ascended the white marble staircase to the second floor of the banquet hall.

The side walls of the entire floor had been replaced by openwork arched windows, offering a view of the inner garden of the castle.

The garden lay between the castle’s outer walls and the main tower. Dead grass covered the ground, among which stood countless statues of strange and varied shapes.

Evan stopped again, gazing at the cloud-piercing central tower, his gaze quickly shifting to the statues scattered throughout the garden.

Their forms were all those of grotesque creatures — things whose shapes defied easy description…

Near a pavilion stood a humanoid statue resembling the mythical creature Medusa. The woman’s hair was made up of countless writhing serpents. Her body was twisted and contorted; it was impossible to tell whether this distortion was intentional or the result of centuries of erosion. She possessed eight arms, and below the waist her body tapered into a serpent’s tail.

Evan had never seen such a bizarre creature before. It looked like the failed result of some Dark magical experiment.

Although he had never seen it before, looking at the statue, Evan felt a strange sense of familiarity.

The likeness was not exact, but he almost immediately thought of the creations of the evil god he had seen in the Centaur Temple before. Back then, those monsters had appeared only as relief carvings upon the walls. The statues before him, however, were far more three-dimensional — more vivid, more real.

Were these statues creations of the evil god?

If so, things seemed to be getting increasingly interesting.

“That’s the Central Tower, my lord, the Pinnacle of the Stars. It looks magnificent, doesn’t it?” Marcus, assuming Evan was looking at the Central Tower, introduced it with pride. “It stands more than a thousand feet tall. It is the tallest structure I know of. You can’t imagine the view from the top overlooking the entire territory, especially climbing to the very top — it’s like being among the stars…”

“Hmm, it’s quite impressive,” Evan nodded, offering insincere praise. For someone accustomed to the towering structures of the Muggle world, the height of the tower was not particularly astonishing. Still, considering that it had been built a thousand years ago — or perhaps even earlier — it truly was a miraculous achievement for its time.

But Evan was not awed by the tower’s height — and of course, he had no intention of contradicting Marcus.

As a ghost from a thousand years ago, much of Marcus’s understanding and worldview remained firmly rooted in the Middle Ages. Talking to him about the modern world would probably frighten him.

Just like Professor Binns, Hogwarts’ teacher of the History of Magic, who was utterly incapable of accepting anything modern.

Anything or news unrelated to the subject he taught seemed to startle him.

After listening to the ghost lavish a few more words of praise on the central tower, Evan finally asked the question that truly concerned him:

“Who built those strange statues in the garden below?”

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