Hermione knelt on the ground, breathing heavily.
But her eyes were fixed—unblinking—on the empty patch of ground before her, now covered only with gray ashes.
Her mind was blank.
Her plan had been to use fire to fight the Devil's Snare.
To kill it.
But Lucian…
He had allowed it to live itself to death, in the most brilliant and ecstatic way possible.
Such a solution—pulling the rug out from the very foundation, manipulating the laws of life like a creator—was a dimensional strike that completely overturned the proud worldview she had built from countless books.
After crossing the silent ground covered in Devil's Snare ashes, the group arrived at an ordinary wooden door.
When Hermione opened it with "Alohomora,"
a sharp chorus of jingling sounds burst from within—like tens of thousands of tiny bells ringing at once.
A powerful gust of wind rushed outward.
The four of them squinted instinctively.
When they opened their eyes again, the sight before them left them speechless.
They stood inside a circular chamber with a very high ceiling.
But instead of stone blocks above—
The entire ceiling was filled with a glittering cloud of flying, winged keys.
Thousands upon thousands of them.
They flapped about like a flock of magical birds made of metal and feathers.
The buzzing of wings and the constant jingling of metal clashing together formed a strange, chaotic symphony.
At the far end of the room stood a huge, heavy oak door, tightly locked.
And in the center of the room rested a single, slightly battered flying broomstick.
The solution was obvious.
"We have to find," Hermione murmured while staring up at the dazzling storm of keys, "the one key that opens that door."
Ron groaned.
"Merlin's beard! There must be thousands! How are we supposed to find the right one?"
But while Ron and Hermione were still worrying—
Harry's green eyes suddenly lit up.
A spark of confidence and excitement exploded within them.
His heart began pounding.
When they faced Fluffy, he had been helpless—watching Lucian command the monster to sleep like a god.
Against the Devil's Snare, he had been even worse—nearly suffocated until Lucian's miracle saved them.
All the way here, Harry had felt like dead weight.
The crushing sense of helplessness had nearly destroyed the tiny bit of pride he held as the so-called Chosen One.
But this challenge—
This one was different.
Harry's gaze locked onto the broomstick in the center of the room.
There were no monsters here.
No complex magical riddles.
This test required only eyesight, reflexes, and flying skill.
And flying…
was Harry Potter's greatest talent.
He glanced back at Lucian instinctively, remembering that Lucian could even fly without a broom.
Lucian stood calmly by the doorway with his arms folded, clearly having no intention of interfering.
That was enough.
Without hesitation, Harry mounted the old broomstick.
At that moment, his entire aura changed.
With a strong push of his feet, the broom shot upward smoothly and swiftly.
"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed in admiration.
Harry ignored him completely.
All his focus was on the swirling metal storm of flying keys before him.
Like a swift swallow, he weaved through the chaotic swarm.
Soon his eyes locked onto something unusual.
A small silver key.
It looked old and rusty.
Its wings resembled those of a dragonfly, glowing with faint blue light.
But one wing was damaged, causing it to fly unevenly.
That's the one!
Harry's heart leapt with excitement.
He turned sharply and accelerated toward it.
But just as his fingers were about to grasp the key—
Everything changed.
The moment the keys sensed his intention, the entire swarm erupted.
Thousands of keys instantly transformed into a furious swarm of metal hornets.
They turned and charged at Harry from every direction.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of impacts rang out like heavy rain.
Harry was immediately overwhelmed.
He waved his arms desperately to block the incoming keys, but there were simply too many.
His forehead and arms were quickly scratched with thin cuts.
The broom wobbled under the relentless collisions.
The confidence he had just regained began to crumble again.
Below, Ron and Hermione watched with their hearts in their throats.
At the doorway, Lucian simply shook his head faintly.
His expression seemed to say:
What a foolish approach.
He stopped watching Harry struggle.
Instead, his gaze pierced through the chaotic swarm and locked directly onto the rusted silver key.
A magical object assigned to guard something must have a command imprint at its core…
His heaven-defying comprehension activated once more.
Research Topic: Expand the Edict of All Things, which dominates low-intelligence creatures, into absolute control over enchanted objects.
Solution: Analyze the object's core enchantment imprint and treat it as a "backdoor," overwriting its original command with a superior law of will.
Spell Constructed.
Name: Edict of Object Control.
Lucian raised his right hand toward the massive oak door.
He didn't even look at the key.
In a calm voice—like an emperor summoning his most loyal servant—he gave a single command.
"Open."
The moment the word fell—
Another miracle occurred.
Amid the chaotic swarm attacking Harry, the rusty silver key suddenly trembled violently.
It was as if it had heard an irresistible call from the depths of its soul.
A royal command.
An honor it could not refuse.
Ignoring all other keys, it broke free from the swarm.
Its damaged blue wings beat with newfound strength as it streaked across the room in a straight silver line.
Under Ron and Hermione's stunned gazes—
Clink!
The key flew directly into the lock of the massive oak door.
Click.
A crisp unlocking sound echoed through the chamber.
At that moment, the entire swarm of flying keys froze in midair—as if time itself had been paused.
Harry hovered on the broom, battered and confused.
He had been fighting with everything he had…
And suddenly—
It was over.
On the ground, Ron's mouth hung open yet again.
Hermione, however, stared at Lucian with shining, almost reverent eyes.
She understood now.
Harry had tried to solve the challenge by following the rules.
But Lucian…
was the one who writes and rewrites the rules of the game.
—------------------------------
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