“What’s that red globe?” asked Hermione.

  “There is no doubt that it is the magic item left by Gryffindor.” Sirius replied, “That’s the Secret Treasure Key you’ve been talking about.”


  “How is that possible?!” Ron opened his eyes wide and said incredulously, “That place is nearly a thousand feet from the ground. How can we get up there?”


  Carried by the evening wind, a thick dark cloud approached slowly from the distance.

  A few seconds later, the platform at the top of the temple was completely immersed in darkness, and the light of the stars was blocked by clouds, even the moon could not be seen.

  In the darkness, only the soft red light above the Temple and the exceptionally bright Mars in the distant night sky could shed some light, bringing a ray of light to the world.

  No one spoke; the atmosphere was tense and depressing.

  Harry’s heart was beating so hard. Looking at the red light, he suddenly thought of the monsters hidden in the Temple.

  He seemed to hear their voices; they were calling for flesh and blood…


  When the dark cloud drifted by and the stars came back, everyone was secretly relieved.

  “Gryffindor left the item this high…” Harry tried to calm his mood and stretched out his hand before he continued. “If I use a broomstick, I can fly up. There should be no problem.”


  “The premise is that the Centaurs allow us to do this.” Hermione was still looking at Evan’s location. “This is the Centaurs’ colony, not Hogwarts.”


  “If I don’t use a broomstick, how can I get up there?” Harry asked. “Or maybe, on the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, he can fly there…”


  “All of this is out of question.”


  Sirius pointed to the red glow in the clouds, explaining, “No flying magic or flying creatures are allowed above this Temple. There are only two ways to get there. Either it could be transmitted through the Final Test left by Gryffindor, or climb up the stairs below.”


  Looking at the huge dim silhouette of the statue in the distance, Harry snarled.

  Climbing up the exposed stairs to the clouds sounded absolutely horrifying. It couldn’t be done at all.

  Indeed, the only way to get the item was to pass the Final Test.

  ………………………………………….. ……………………….

  Evan slowly followed Magorian forward. Under the starlight, he felt as if he had come to a fairytale world. Before that, he had never seen anything more beautiful than here.

  Everything was like a dream. Under the numerous shining stars, the light from the torch in Magorian’s hand paled in comparison, becoming insignificant.

  Weak magic slipped by, and Evan was keen to catch the traces of magic. He focused and found that the energy emitted by the stars was being absorbed by the magic array carved on the platform of the Temple, and all converged to the central position through a complex pattern.

  In front of Evan, there was a huge statue silhouette, soaring into the clouds.

  Following the faint magic, Evan noticed that all of them converged into a red glowing entity at the top.

  No doubt, that was the key to Gryffindor’s Secret Treasure.

  There, he felt an unprecedented power of magic.

  Evan suddenly stopped. This power was too strong, and beyond anything he had ever imagined. He had only felt comparable magic from Dumbledore.

  This was the Key to Gryffindor’s Treasure, the Power of Legendary Magic Items!

  Moving forward with excitement, the dim statue in the night became clearer and clearer. Evan thought that was originally part of the Temple, but it was not the case…


  That was a statue of a Centaur warrior, whose tall body extended all the way to the clouds.

  He had a bow and an arrow in his hand, and there were many weird ornaments on his body that looked like planets. He looked very strange.

  Strange as it was, the statue was barely understandable.

  The Centaurs valued the predictions from the stars. Perhaps they wanted to exaggerate the significance of the planets revolving around their kind by putting this statue in this spot.

  What Evan could not accept was that the statue split in the middle, and seemed to be naturally weathered and cracked.

  But the cracks were not smooth, and there seemed to be something else hidden inside, just about to crawl out of the Centaur’s body.

  There were other monsters in the body of the Centaur. Would he see those horrible monsters below?!

  It was so frightening that Evan did not look at the Key to Gryffindor’s Treasure, which glowed red at the top of the statue, but kept looking at the crack.

  There, he dimly saw a huge purple tentacle…


  “What is that?” Evan couldn’t help asking, feeling more and more uneasy.

  “A thousand years ago, it used to be the most sacred Temple of the Centaurs, enshrining the spirits of the wisest elders and the most powerful warriors in the colony.”


  As if answering Evan’s question, an old voice sounded slowly, “Centuries ago, this place became an evil place for worshiping an evil god. The ancestors of the Centaurs and countless stars were acquired by the evil god. It claimed to be the God of the Forest and spoke to us in the void.”


  A very old Centaur came slowly out of the darkness beneath the statue, with a long beard that could be dragged to the ground and deep wrinkles on his face.

  “Now, this statue is just a stone without a soul, and it has no significance.”


  He walked over to Evan with the help of Magorian and said softly, “That evil god defiled the most sacred place for the Centaurs. Although it and its followers were finally defeated by our ancestors, we couldn’t destroy its statue by all means. We could only morph its shape…”


  Hearing this, Evan knew why he had always felt that the statue looked so strange.

  It turned out that they had rebuilt a statue of a Centaur outside the evil god’s, but the essence remained unchanged.

  “Human, you defeated the Acromantulas and gained the recognition and friendship of the Centaurs.” The elder slowly said, “According to the ancient agreement, you can try to face the ultimate challenge of the Founder of the castle. If you pass, you can take away what he left behind.”


  Evan nodded. He knew about it long ago.

  “Unlike humans, the Centaurs have their own unique principles and methods.”


  The elder turned hardly and looked at the red halo above. “This magical item with powerful magic is actually not complete. It had been destroyed by the demon’s followers and they took away a part of it. If you are the chosen one shown in the stars, we will send the strongest warriors to help you regain that part…”


  Evan had a bitter smile on his lips and he didn’t know how to answer him.

  He should thank him for his help, but he could not be happy at the thought of facing the evil god.

  As Sirius said, it was all the trouble of the Centaurs themselves.

  Now because of Gryffindor’s Secret Treasure Key, it was completely passed on to him.

  What was the use of a few strong Centaurs compared to a very dangerous and unknown evil god?!

  But Evan had no way to refuse. To get the Key, he had to meet the challenge.

  Perhaps this was the ultimate challenge that Gryffindor himself had left behind, not this illusory challenge!