Andy walked up to an iron door and threw the Wand-lighting charm's light orb through the small window.
The room was illuminated by the light orb instantly.
'It's really a cell...'
Andy was a little surprised. 'If it's just a cell, why is it locked up?'
He pointed his wand at the lock on the iron door, and with a light "click," the iron door opened.
Andy opened the iron door and walked in.
It was a very ordinary prison cell with nothing on the walls except a few chains.
After looking around the room, Andy walked out of the cell with a dispirited look on his face and locked the door behind him.
Walking down the corridor to the end, Andy finally found a different room – the one at the end of the corridor.
Creak –
Opening the iron door, Andy threw the light orb of the wand-lighting charm in.
'It is a laboratory!'
As the room was illuminated, Andy also got a good look at the furnishings and layout.
The room was very large, at least 200 square meters.
Some of the contents had been removed, but some had been left behind.
In the middle of the room were five rectangular metal beds, with some shackles on them. Based on the placement of the shackles, one could infer their intended use for securing a person's limbs and neck.
At the far end of the room was a rectangular wooden table, but there was nothing on it.
Andy guessed that Ekrizdis would have brewed potions, kept notes, or performed other magical experiments on that wooden table.
The room walls had all kinds of cabinets, but inside them, there was nothing except some empty containers.
'Is that all?' Andy frowned slightly.
If this was all in the basement, why did the Ministry seal it off instead of using it?
'Have I overlooked something?' Andy walked around the room a few times but still came up empty-handed.
Azkaban had been a prison for witches and wizards for hundreds of years, and when the Ministry had converted the place, they must have taken everything that could be moved.
But they had sealed off the basement!
'This means that there must be secrets in the basement.'
'They couldn't be moved and also couldn't be destroyed. The Ministry sealed the basement later to hide these secrets.'
'Is it a secret room?'
Andy carefully examined the cupboards around the room.
If there was a secret room, it would most likely be behind one of the cupboards.
"Appare Vestigium!"
Andy recited the incantation and twirled his wand.
A pale golden glow of magic spilled out, and a jumbled mess of footprints appeared on the floor.
Amongst these chaotic footprints, some were in an orderly fashion heading towards the right side of the room and then disappearing behind the cabinet on the right.
Andy went to the cabinet on the right side of the room and carefully examined it with his wand.
'Thanks, Ministry of Magic!'
Because the Ministry of Magic had already explored this place, the original defensive magic had long been thoroughly destroyed by them—there was indeed a secret room behind the cabinet, but it was very easy to open.
'Open!'
Andy pointed his wand lightly, and the cabinet suddenly began to move towards the sides, and the masonry on the wall seemed to come to life, spreading piece by piece towards the sides.
When everything calmed down, a passage more than three meters high appeared in the wall in front of Andy.
Andy threw the light orb of the Wand-lighting charm into the opening.
At the end of the passage was a secret room.
Unlike the laboratory outside, the secret room was empty and contained nothing, but the walls and ceiling were covered in murals.
'Murals?'
Andy suddenly realised that the reason the Ministry of Magic had sealed this place off might be because of these murals.
"Who's there?"
"Turn off your light, or we'll eat you!"
"Did you hear that? It's you!"
The light ball from the wand-lighting charm suddenly brought the murals to life.
The 'people' on the murals had obviously not seen the light for a long time. Andy saw the 'people' on the murals covering their eyes one after the other and scolding Andy.
Andy audibly exhaled in relief.
If it's just a mural, then there's nothing to be afraid of.
Andy was about to explore the murals and seize the chance to engage in a meaningful conversation with the 'people' depicted in them, hoping to uncover the secret of Ekrizdis.
But when Andy reached the end of the passage and was about to enter the secret room, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
Andy immediately stopped in his tracks!
If someone who has been in the dark for years suddenly encounters the stimulation of bright light, they will indeed experience what is happening in front of him.
The same goes for the people in the paintings!
Magic paintings move, and the 'people' in them can even go from one painting to another. They have thoughts, hobbies, and normal sleeping and waking times.
If you disturb the 'people' in the paintings while they are sleeping with the glow of a wand-lighting charm during a nighttime tour in Hogwarts, they will scold you.
But that's just the appearance!
From a certain point of view, these paintings are a two-dimensional world created by wizards—to the people in the paintings, the place they live in is no different from the real world.
If a painting contains the sun, lights, or flames, the people in the painting can feel the light.
But it is morning, not night.
Therefore, logically, the people in the murals should be performing their daily tasks when it's morning... They shouldn't be afraid of the glare.
Andy stood at the entrance and had a closer look at the murals in the secret chamber.
After all, they were left behind by the Dark Wizard, so the style of the murals looked a little cruel—Ekrizdis had drawn pictures of his experiments.
But even so, there was light in the murals!
Many of the murals had torches, oil lamps, and the like, and even in the wild at dusk, the sun and moon looked bright.
Therefore, the wand-lighting charm's glowing orb shouldn't blind them.
Seeing that Andy had stopped at the entrance, the figures in the murals spoke again.
"We haven't seen anyone for a long time. Who are you?"
"Have you become invisible? Come over here and say hello, buddy, we're dying of boredom."
"Show yourself; I can tell you some secrets."
"Yes, come in and chat with us! We know lots of secrets; we may tell you."
Since Andy had used the disillusionment charm, the 'people' in the murals could only see the light from the wand-lighting charm and could not see who had come in.
Andy had already become alert.
At first, the 'people' in these murals had tried to pretend that they were normal. But now... their intention of luring Andy in was obvious.
"If you had kept quiet from the beginning, it might have worked better," Andy said indifferently.
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