"Ready?!" Hermione repeated, raising her eyebrows.
In front of them, there was a huge black stone door. The stone gate was carved with the pattern of changes in the moon phases. The black moon formed a circle around the entire stone gate, changing from the top full moon to the waning crescent.
Time was marked on the inner side, with a period of one month, corresponding respectively to the New moon, the Waxing Crescent, the First Quarter, the Waxing Gibbous, the Full moon, the Waning Gibbous, the Third Quarter, and finally Waxing Crescent, and the New Moon again. The outer side of the moon phases diagram was densely covered with words, and there were many bizarre patterns that showed various signs and warnings that were predicted by the different positions of the moon.
Excluding those that represented the illusory signs of astrology, Evan had to admire the Centaurs' meticulousness in observing and recording planetary changes.
In Astronomy and Astrology, the Centaurs achieved far more than what humans did.
Magorian went over and touched the full moon on the door, and the black stone gate rose slowly upward.
Because it was too heavy, the stone door made a squeaking sound.
Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione held their breath and looked nervously into the door.
Their right hands gripped their wands tightly, and they dared not relax their vigilance, as if there were many monsters behind the door ready to rush out at any time.
But nothing happened. There was a small circular space inside the door.
"Let's go in!" Magorian said loudly, taking the lead in.
They did not move. They all turned their heads and looked doubtfully at Sirius.
"Go in, it's an escalator, just like in Dumbledore's office." Sirius signalled that there was no danger. "The item left by Gryffindor is kept at the top of the temple, and it will take us up there."
Everyone went in, and they all huddled together and looked around excitedly. Like the platform at the bottom of the escalator, the interior was also a circular space, with black paint on the top and planetary motions carved on the surrounding walls.
Magorian touched another planet on the wall. A loud noise came out from beneath his feet, and the platform began to rise slowly, and then picked up speed.
"It's incredible. How did the Centaurs do that?" Hermione asked in amazement. "Is it magic?"
"It should not be magic. I don't feel any traces of magic."
Evan was also very doubtful. The obsidian platform under his feet was obviously very heavy. To make it rise to such a high place, it needed a very powerful magic.
He knew that the Centaurs were not that proficient in magic.
They had unique research in astrological prophecy and healing magic, but little progress had been made in other fields.
Unless there were powerful wizards or other powerful races to help them design these mechanisms, it was hard for the Centaurs to do this with their own magical abilities.
"It's not magic. The Centaurs use the lake's water to move this escalator."
Sirius signaled to everyone not to get close to the fast-retreating wall, explaining, "You must have seen the huge lake outside. In fact, the temple was built entirely on water. Ancient Centaurs designed various mechanisms to use the lake water below to help them accomplish all kinds of things."
It was indeed a very clever mechanism, and they were all amazed.
It was hard to imagine that the path they had just passed through used to be occupied by the lake.
Magorian did not speak. He stood aside and looked at them coldly, listening to everyone's praise. His face was still haughty to the extreme.
The platform slowly ascended, and after about ten minutes, the ramp disappeared.
As they finally arrived at the destination, Evan felt the gentle evening breeze.
He stepped off the platform, took in a breath of fresh air, and felt his vision suddenly broadened.
At this very moment, they were in a vast sea of stars.
The night sky and the obsidian beneath their feet merged into one, and the sky and the earth felt as they were merged with them surrounded by the shining stars.
To them, everything became particularly clear and extraordinarily surreal.
Evan had never felt that way before. The distant stars were now very close to them, because they were too clear and illusive, as if they were right beside them. It felt like that if they were to raise their hands, they could touch the stars in the sky.
Evan was shocked by the wonders of the sky and deeply immersed in it.
He thought he had come to the void world of stars. Maybe here was the Outer Space!
With countless stars emanating weak energy, Evan felt that his magic became uneasy.
His magic was acting erratically and out of control, as it also wanted to go up and reach the stars. Evan was shocked and rushed to control the magic in his body, but the stars in front of him distracted him from thinking about anything else, and he was lost in them.
The magic acted up faster and faster, breaking away from the rhythm that Evan was familiar with.
Evan, stunned, stared at the stars, until he saw the dark red moon just above his head. Only then did he suddenly wake up from his daze.
He suddenly realized that he was standing on an open platform at the highest point of the temple.
As he regained consciousness, the motion of his magic ceased, and Evan felt as if he had just fallen into some kind of hallucination, a deep hallucination magic constructed by the platform at the top of the temple and the stars in the sky.
This magic was not harmful, but the sober Evan felt his magic had increased slightly, which was simply too incredible.
After absorbing the powerful power contained in Slytherin's Locket, the speed of Evan's magic had reached a terrifying level.
Dumbledore even predicted that his magic would not increase significantly in the next few years.
But after just over a month, Evan's magic began to grow again through the subtle feeling of being immersed in the Star Sea, which was beyond belief.
He turned his head and saw Sirius and Magorian smiling at him.
Next to him, Harry and Ron were stretching out their hands as if they were really going to touch the stars in the sky.
Hermione also looked at a galaxy not far away, completely lost in it.
Evan could clearly feel that the magic of the three of them was also going strangely out of control, just like a young wizard who was aware of his powers for the first time.
But they hadn't recovered yet, and he didn't know how long they would be lost in the illusion.
Noticing Evan's clear eyes, Magorian nodded; seemingly satisfied that he could recover in such a short time.
He waved his hand and motioned Evan to follow him.
Evan looked at Sirius, who told him to go with Magorian. Black would stay here and wait for Harry, Ron and Hermione.