Harry Potter : Cael Vale’s journey to Hogwarts

The path ahead was narrow and dark, flanked by towering black pillars etched with glowing runes—none of them ones Cael had seen before. The light from the crystal behind him dimmed, as if encouraging him forward and no longer lighting his back. Only the glow of Lumos led the way now.

As he walked, the air changed—less cold, more tense. Magic thrummed through the ancient walls.

Then the corridor opened into a circular chamber.

At its center stood a single plinth, obsidian like everything else, but smoother—too smooth. Hovering above it was a floating sphere of light, humming like a whisper just out of earshot.

As soon as Cael stepped across the threshold, the doors behind him sealed with a low, echoing boom.

[SYSTEM]: I really hope you don't break this one, Host. That door looked expensive.

He ignored the sarcasm, stepping closer to the floating sphere.

Suddenly, the room changed.

The stone beneath his feet shimmered and became translucent. Images formed under the surface—symbols, shifting letters, faces he didn't recognize. The sphere brightened, and a deep, resonant voice rang out from nowhere and everywhere.

"To continue, wisdom must guide your way.

Answer truth. Speak clarity. Fail… and be forgotten."

"Great," Cael muttered. "Nothing like a cheerful welcome."

The voice spoke again:

"First Riddle:

I speak without a mouth and hear without ears.

I have no body, but I come alive with wind.

What am I?"

Cael frowned. His mind turned over possibilities.

A thing that can speak and hear but has no mouth… no ears… comes alive with wind?

He closed his eyes.

"An echo," he said.

The sphere pulsed gold—correct.

"Second Riddle:

I can only live where there is light, but I die if the light shines on me.

What am I?"

A paradox. Cael tapped the side of his head. The trick was in the phrasing. Lives in light—but dies when light touches it directly.

He whispered, "A shadow."

The light flickered again—gold. Correct.

"Third Riddle:

I turn once, what is out will not get in.

I turn again, what is in will not get out.

What am I?"

That one stumped him.

He began to pace, rubbing his chin.

"A key?" he guessed. "No—too easy. A lock?"

[SYSTEM]: Think about the mechanism. What does that?

He paused. "Wait… a key in a lock. The turning itself. That's the answer."

"A key," he said again—but with certainty.

The chamber vibrated in affirmation.

"Fourth Riddle:

I am not alive, but I grow.

I don't have lungs, but I need air.

I don't have a mouth, and I can drown.

What am I?"

This one took time.

He muttered aloud, "Not alive… but it grows. Needs air. Can drown."

He sat cross-legged on the floor, thinking.

Fire?

Yes.

"It's fire."

Correct again. The sphere pulsed brighter now, its color shifting from gold to a soft white. But it wasn't done.

"Fifth Riddle:

The more you take, the more you leave behind.

What am I?"

Cael smiled. That one was old.

"Footsteps."

"Correct."

The ground began to shift again—but instead of a new riddle, the voice paused.

Then came something different. A longer, cryptic verse.

"I am the first breath of reason,

The last breath before war.

I stand between kings and beggars,

I break, but I do not fall.

I am…?"

Cael's brow furrowed.

This wasn't like the others. This was layered—metaphorical. Poetic.

He began murmuring each line under his breath, trying to break them apart.

"First breath of reason… so maybe something to do with silence? Calmness? But the last breath before war…"

[SYSTEM]: I have a guess, Host. But I'm not giving it away. Want a clue?

He sighed. "Fine. Hit me."

[SYSTEM]: You've heard this word in courtrooms. In ancient law. And on battlefields.

He blinked.

"Peace," he whispered.

"Correct."

The chamber's ceiling vanished—revealing a dome of stars above. The stone floor split open, and stairs unfurled downward in a spiral. The floating sphere dimmed.

A path forward.

Cael stood in silence for a moment, his wandlight dimmed by the glow of the revealed stairwell. The air was colder now, but less hostile—like the castle had accepted him, if only slightly.

[SYSTEM]: You did well. For a mortal.

"Thanks," Cael said. "But I know this was just the second test.and actually I expected some wisdom like Riddles but it was quite easy to be honest "

[SYSTEM]: Oh, yes. You're only getting started.

He glanced down the stairwell, gathering his pouch and wand once more. Every step he took forward now was a step deeper into the past—into a place forgotten by the world.