By now, the match on the pitch had grown intensely fierce.
High in the air, Harry agilely dodged a Bludger, with Slytherin's Seeker, Terrence Higgs, shadowing his every move.
Although Gryffindor was leading by twenty points, their captain and Keeper, Oliver Wood, had just been knocked out cold by a Bludger hit by Slytherin's Marcus Flint. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Right at this critical moment, Harry Potter's broomstick suddenly began acting strangely. It started "rolling over and over, with him only just managing to hold on," while making sudden, violent jerks.
The broom bucked and spun wildly, seemingly hellbent on bucking its rider off. Harry had to wrap his arms and knees around the handle and cling to it for dear life just to keep from falling out of the sky.
"That broom looks like it's being controlled," Rosier said suddenly. "I've heard of this kind of thing before. Whoever is controlling it must be in the stadium; they can't be too far away."
As she spoke, she pulled a pair of binoculars from her robes and began scanning the crowd.
At that exact same moment, Hermione was doing the exact same thing over in the Gryffindor stands.
"Oh, Merlin! It's Professor Snape! He's muttering a jinx!" Rosier turned to Julien in shock. The massive revelation caused her brain to short-circuit, and she was entirely unsure of what to do.
"Is that so?" To Rosier's surprise, Julien didn't seem the least bit worried for his cousin. He simply drawled, "Why don't you look at the row behind Snape?"
Rosier raised her binoculars again. "Good heavens! Professor Quirrell! He's muttering an incantation too!"
"So, who do you think is actually casting the dark magic?"
"It has to be Quirrell... Oh, wait, maybe..." Rosier suddenly remembered Snape's attitude toward Harry Potter, and for a moment, she wasn't so sure anymore.
Julien glanced at her. A trace of confusion had finally appeared in the eyes of this usually haughty and aloof Slytherin girl.
"Wait, shouldn't we do something?" she asked.
"Maybe," he replied softly. "But don't forget, Professor McGonagall and many of the other teachers are here too. They won't just sit back and watch a student get hurt."
Rosier paused, nodded, then seemingly thought of something else and shook her head. "No, wait. Why did you tell me to look behind Professor Snape just now? You seem to know something."
"Hmm~ no need to dwell on unimportant details," Julien shrugged. "Maybe I just have a talent for Divination."
Just as Rosier was about to ask another question, a sudden commotion erupted in the staff stands across the pitch for some unknown reason. Almost immediately, Harry's broom returned to normal.
Having remounted his broom, Harry suddenly went into a steep dive, plummeting toward the ground like a shooting star. Julien knew exactly what was happening: he had spotted the Golden Snitch. The Slytherin Seeker immediately shot after him.
It looked as though both of them were going to smash straight into the ground! The entire stadium gasped! Higgs, clearly unwilling to attempt such a dangerous maneuver, pulled his broom up first.
Harry Potter, however, waited until the very last second to pull out of the dive with a terrifying Wronski Feint. Although he tumbled off his broom onto the grass, he ultimately spat the Golden Snitch out of his mouth.
"Gryffindor wins!" Lee Jordan's roar nearly blew the roof off the stands.
The Gryffindor students jumped up and down in wild celebration, while the Slytherin side fell into a deathly silence. Only Marcus Flint was still badgering the referee, Madam Hooch, arguing that Potter had caught the Snitch with his mouth, not his hand, so it shouldn't count.
Rosier stood up and brushed the snow from her robes. "I have to go back," she said. "The atmosphere in the common room is going to be pretty unbearable after a Slytherin loss."
"Be careful," Julien nodded.
She turned and took a few steps, then looked back. "By the way—if you find any clues about those ruins, you can tell me. I think... our goals might be the same." Her words carried a hidden depth.
Julien watched her disappear into the crowd, his hand gripping the heavy, ancient book tightly. The cold wind ruffled his dark hair. In the distance, Harry was being hoisted high into the air by his teammates, their laughter piercing the clouds.
---
That night in the library, Julien closed the notebook he had borrowed from Rosier, his fingertips still retaining the faint, cool texture of the parchment. Outside the window, the night surrounding Ravenclaw Tower was as thick as ink. Only the stars above the dome glittered like diamonds, silently looking down upon the thousand-year-old castle.
A profound, indescribable shock churned in his chest. So that's how it is.
The Scandinavian Mountains within the Arctic Circle, the Dinaric Alps in Albania on the Balkan Peninsula, and Hogwarts in the Scottish Highlands were regions in Europe known for "anomalous magical fluctuations."
And what maintained the balance of these three nodes were three "Source Steles"—stone tablets containing stellar magic, discovered by the first generation of wizards.
One of them had been found by Grindelwald and given to the Rosier family for safekeeping. The second had been found by Dumbledore and entrusted to the ice tribes of Northern Europe. And the third... had been hidden in the deepest, most secret heart of Hogwarts all along. Julien now knew exactly where it was: inside the Mirror of Erised.
What shocked him even more was a theory mentioned in the book: when the three tablets were brought together, they would open a "Stargate" leading to an unknown dimension. The power it unleashed might be enough to reshape the world—or perhaps tear it apart completely. Whether it would bring fortune or disaster was entirely unpredictable.
There was another truth buried by time: the Black family had also participated in the construction of Hogwarts, and for a very long time, had served as the castle's stewards.
The first Steward was named Pyxis. Interestingly, records showed that all Four Founders of Hogwarts had referred to him as the "Guardian" on various occasions.
"Could the Black family really be... the Guardians?" Julien murmured to himself. His grandfather, Alphard, had never mentioned any of this. It was likely he hadn't known such an earth-shattering secret was buried within their family's bloodline either.
He had to get back to his dormitory immediately. It was late; if he didn't leave now, he was bound to be caught by that elusive caretaker, Filch.
To avoid the main staircases, he chose a little-known spiral path leading toward the abandoned Astronomy Tower in the west wing. The path was damp and freezing cold. The torches on the walls flickered, stretching his shadow out long and thin, like a lonely ghost.
Just as he was about to pass through an archway, a sharp, piercing cackle suddenly echoed ahead of him.
"Hehehe! Let's see who isn't sleeping in the middle of the night and is playing hide-and-seek!"
A semi-transparent ghost wearing a bell-covered hat materialized out of thin air and hovered right in front of Julien. It was none other than Hogwarts' infamous poltergeist—Peeves. He was clutching a soaked roll of parchment, clearly having just snatched it from some unlucky student's homework.
Julien's heart tightened, and he instinctively took a step back. Bad luck. Why did I have to run into him? This guy was a massive headache; even the professors couldn't really control him.
Julien was just trying to think of a spell to drive Peeves away when he noticed something strange.
Upon seeing him, Peeves didn't throw an ink bottle at him or come screaming at him like he normally would. Instead, those small eyes—which usually gleamed with a mischievous light—were now locked onto Julien, filled with a rare, heavy solemnity.
"Black..." Peeves' voice suddenly dropped. It was no longer a shrill giggle, but a hoarse rasp carrying an ancient echo. "Caelum Julien Black. You smell of 'her.'"
Julien froze. "Her? Who?"
"Pyxis!" Peeves suddenly straightened up, his tone filled with absolute awe. "Pyxis Black, the first to arrive at Hogwarts! Only she could order me around! And only her bloodline can awaken the sleeping key!"
Julien's heart began to hammer wildly. Pyxis?!
"What are you talking about?" Julien demanded, trying his best to stay calm, though his voice sounded slightly dry.
"Stop playing dumb, little Black!" Peeves drifted closer, almost right up in Julien's face. "I know who you are. You should already know what's hidden inside that mirror. It's right there! But no one except you can take it out! Because your blood is the only key that can open it!"
Peeves lowered his voice even further, his tone taking on an almost warning edge. "You are not just the keys; you are the Guardians. When the three become one, the Stargate will open. Blessing or curse, it all depends on your single thought. Remember, little one, don't let those vultures hiding in the shadows catch the scent, otherwise... hehehehe!"
With that, Peeves let out a bizarre, cackling laugh, as if completely forgetting everything he had just said. His form turned into a wisp of blue smoke, and he vanished instantly at the end of the corridor.