At the far end of the Pensieve room, an entire wall was like a mirror.
The mirror was magical; instead of reflecting the scene behind Vizette, it showed an abandoned stairwell.
Vizette habitually cast the spell "Ancient Magic: Self-Shaping (Devil's Snare)," and after a brief exploration, he passed through the mirror and entered the abandoned stairwell.
Compared to the still tidy warehouse rooms, this stairwell was clearly not well maintained.
The stone steps leading up were broken in several places, with broken bricks and stones scattered all over the ground, covered with a thick layer of dust, and spider webs hanging from the ceiling.
Vizette looked at the ground and took only two simple steps, kicking up dust.
If he took a few more steps, he would probably create a "misty and ethereal" effect.
He walked up the broken stone steps, and for the sake of privacy, he did not clean the dust in the stairwell.
Before leaving the stairwell, he cast a Reparo to erase the footprints on the ground, trying to keep everything as it was.
Vizette suddenly had an idea: perhaps the guardians who entered the stairwell had similar thoughts, which was why the dust in the stairwell was accumulating more and more.
Outside the stairwell, there was a spiral staircase leading upwards, at the top of which stood a statue with floating flames dancing on it, emitting a bright yellow light.
On either side of the spiral staircase, there were occasionally a few candlesticks, with flickering flames on them.
"The number of candles has not decreased, nor has any wax been produced…" Vizette also developed a strong interest in these candlesticks.
"If few people come here... and the flames never go out, then it must be some kind of magical flame... How interesting!"
"How exactly is the flame kept burning? What kind of magic is used? What are the incantations and hand gestures? Perhaps it's ritual magic? Or is the candlestick a magical artifact..."
In an instant, a multitude of thoughts arose in his mind.
He reached into his pocket to make sure the newly acquired notebook was still there.
With his notebook in hand, returning to the Pensieve room would be relatively easy for him; he could study the magical flames there later.
As Vizette ascended the spiral staircase, he discovered that the statue was indeed unique in design, resembling a human-faced goat with four tails attached to each other.
He gently pushed open the door at the end of the spiral staircase and entered a room that was also covered in dust and cobwebs;
Bookshelves and cabinets of various styles lined the walls, and strangely shaped masks hung on the walls;
The bookshelves were crammed full of books, and several stacks of books on the floor were covered with cobwebs;
On the mahogany bookcase directly opposite, there was a transparent cover containing an upside-down bat specimen;
There were many books here, one of which was stacked crookedly and almost touched the ceiling;
Above the mahogany cabinet was a portrait of a wizard wearing a red pointed hat, nodding his head repeatedly as if he were dozing off.
Vizette slowed his pace and tiptoed away from the painting to avoid the wizard in the painting waking up and causing any trouble.
This must be a room used for storing miscellaneous items; all sorts of things could be seen everywhere along the slightly crowded passageway.
Not only were there rusty armor, dusty porcelain, globes, lamps, and telescopes, but one could even see wooden mechanisms that resembled torture instruments…
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It wasn't until Vizette pushed open another door that he truly understood which area of Hogwarts he was in.
"This is actually the Restricted Section... That room where the Pensieve is kept, it's amazing that I was able to get here!"
A smile crept onto his face; this meant he would have to go out at night more often.
Vizette rarely entered the Restricted Section; the air there was strange, a mixture of various smells.
Some smelled like rust, some like congealed blood, some like moss and earth, and some like burnt eggs…
Compared to the books in the public areas, the books in the restricted area were clearly more restless.
Some cabinets were less like bookshelves and more like cages, with the books inside like gladiators, pounding against the shelves again and again, trying to gain their freedom.
Some books were even more dangerous, requiring chains to secure them firmly to the bookshelf.
Nevertheless, the books did not give up their struggle, and the bookshelf continued to vibrate and make a soft rustling sound.
Magick Moste Evile, The Secrets of Cutting-Edge Black Magic, Powerful Potions, The Untold History of Magic, Secrets in the Shadows: The Rise of the Dark Wizard...
"Develop Yourself, Inscribe Runes on Your Internal Organs," "Empty His Head, Absorb Delicious Pain," "Thus Spoke Merlin Ambrose"...
A large portion of the books in the Restricted Section were closely related to dark magic.
Just like the book "Magick Moste Evile," when Vizette held it in his hands, he could clearly feel a strange sensation.
The cover material appeared to be human skin, unusually cold yet pulsating, like the pulsation of blood flowing through veins...
In the book "Magick Moste Evile", he saw two familiar dark magic spells - the Sectumsempra and the Levicorpus.
Now that he had the book in his hands, Vizette had no reason to put it down.
He suppressed his discomfort and read through the entire book of "Magick Moste Evile" until he was sure that the corresponding book appeared in his mind before putting it back on the bookshelf.
He collected all the books that did not require unlocking the chains and could be accessed and read, arranging them all in his mind, and reaped a great harvest.
Besides books related to dark magic, there were also some books about magical creatures, which broadened Vizette's horizons.
Compared to modern wizards, ancient wizards were clearly more radical in their exploration of the magical world.
They not only observed magical creatures to study magic, but also studied magic directly with magical creatures;
Ancient wizards had a sudden inspiration: to combine themselves with magical creatures in order to quickly gain some kind of magical talent.
This combination could involve performing ritual magic to steal the magical talents of magical creatures;
Or they could combine their powers in a simpler, more direct way, so that their offspring could acquire some kind of magical talent.
Books sharing relevant insights were readily available in the Restricted Section.
In fact, the success rate of this kind of research was not high. Only a few wizards could achieve their goals, while many more wizards lost themselves and thus gave birth to new magical creatures.
Some of these magical creatures were fleeting, leaving behind a mythical story for Muggles, while others, if they could reproduce and survive, became new magical creature species like the Sphinx.
Vizette increasingly understood the significance of the Restricted Section; some books were indeed unsuitable for early reading, as it could easily lead to being influenced by certain ideas and committing some crazy acts…
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