Chapter 419: A chaotic battle

To avoid trouble, Ivan and Sirius decided to use their Animagus forms.

In animal form, they tried to stay away from the mad adventurers, following the path they had in memory, from the remote passage to the depths of the Temple.

This idea proved to be very efficient. In their Animagus form, Ivan and Sirius moved fast, and their smaller size made them less likely to be spotted by others.

Even if they were occasionally spotted, no wizard would be concerned about their presence.

He was just a stray cat and a stray dog - two animals would never take the gold off the adventurers' heads!

It seemed very strange and peculiar; a cat and a dog suddenly appearing in the ancient Temple of the Centaurs, purposely avoiding all intruders and wandering into the Temple.

On second thought, anyone would find something wrong with him.

But under the influence of the vampire curse on gold, no one thought about it at all.

Ivan and Sirius didn't touch the gold or other seemingly suspicious things they saw along the way. They moved on as fast as they could to find the Philosopher's Stone.

In the Temple of the Moon in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, the Philosopher's Stone and the statue of the evil spirit were kept in the magnificent statue at the top of the Temple, protected by special magic.

Obviously this was not the case here. The top of the Temple had been occupied by intruders.

Everything valuable there was taken away, and there was no Philosopher's Stone.

The fallen centaurs had hidden the Philosopher's Stone and the statue of the evil god before they became extinct.

Ivan and Sirius, who had no clues, attempted to explore the deepest part of the Temple.

They explored several chambers that had not yet been discovered, and the huge stone doorway carved with the diagram of phases of the moon, which had not been destroyed.

But there was nothing, the Philosopher's Stone and the statue of the evil god seemed to have disappeared.

"There must be something we haven't noticed. We've been wanding around for over three hours." Sirius placed his wand on the ground, "Guide me!"

The wand spun quickly on the ground, without stopping.

"There is an unknown force in this Temple that prevents all detection spells." Sirius picked up his wand and looked impatient. "Damn it, the magic isn't working. If there was a Niffler here, it could help us find the Philosopher's Stone."

The Niffler is a magical animal that buries itself in the ground. It is fluffy, black and long-snouted.

By nature, they have a predilection for anything that shines and for precious treasures, and they are good at finding them.

Taking advantage of this, the goblins often keep the Nifflers to go into the earth in search of treasure.

"If Hagrid were here, he might have a Niffler with him. I saw he had a whole nest in the Forbidden Forest," Ivan said.

He also tried to use a detection spell that quickly dissipated after the magic left the wand, blocked by strange magical fluctuations in the air.

"This is not the way to go. We've checked everywhere, but we haven't found any secret chambers." Sirius said, "Maybe we can get past..."

"We've looked everywhere?!" Ivan looked at Sirius and said uncertainly, "I know another place..."

He remembered that in the previous illusion, the ancestor of the centaurs, Okegiga took him to the secret passage and they had snuck into the Temple of the Moon from underwater. But they had not yet seen it here.

The Philosopher's Stone might be hidden there, but Ivan wasn't sure.

In the Temple of the Moon, there was only one secret passage that extended deep into the lake, and all the lakes and rivers near the Temple here dried up.

This meant that by following that secret passage down, there was a good chance it would lead them to the Temple underground.

Centaurs were not goblins. They did not hide things underground.

However, these fallen centaurs were not the same as normal centaurs, and their habits were very different.

Maybe they really did hide something underground.

Just as Ivan was about to take Sirius there to take a look, there was a loud bang in the distance.

Boom!!!

Like a violent earthquake, the whole temple shook.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked aloud, tightening his grip on his wand.

After the tremor, there was a scream in the distance, apparently answering his question.

Although it sounded very nervous, it was exceptionally clear.

"I found it! Yes, we've found the centaur treasure!"

Ivan and Sirius looked at each other and hurried to the spot where the voice had sounded.

Although they both didn't know what had been found, the Philosopher's Stone was probably there.

Through an ancient and narrow stone tunnel, Ivan saw a large hole opened by magic in what was originally a wall, with a large number of stones scattered on the ground.

Attracted by the sound, many adventurers came to the spot, and even the wizards and goblins outside the Temple were attracted.

There was an uproar, with curses and threatening words everywhere.

Many people even started dueling, and sparks and lightning flew everywhere.

Still, the number of wizards gathering was increasing, and everyone was desperately squeezing into the entrance of the wall, for fear of being left behind.

Looking at the noisy crowd in front of him, Ivan's sense of unease grew stronger.

This was really strange. If the one who had shouted had found the place where the centaurs hid the treasure, he would not shout like this, but keep it to himself.

Doing this now was as if someone was deliberately luring them to the place.

"Wait, we'd better not go in!" Ivan stopped Sirius, who was ready to go through, and stood at a distance looking behind the hole in the wall.

Behind him, there was a dirt path slowly stretching forward, with no end in sight. There was a smell of decay coming from it, and it looked like a catacomb.

"What are we doing here?" Sirius said strangely, "If the Philosopher's Stone is down below, we must hurry and find it before others..."

"It's too much of a coincidence that this Centaur treasure chamber has appeared now. I'm sure the Philosopher's Stone isn't there," Ivan continued, "I can feel that there are strange magical fluctuations down below. It's vampire magic."

"Vampires?!" Sirius frowned, considering what Ivan said.

In fact, as they spoke, the loud voices coming from behind the walls grew louder and louder, as if many people had actually encountered something.

Faced with this situation, almost everyone's breathing was heavy, they were no longer thinking rationally.

The scene became more and more chaotic, the scope of the battle became wider and wider. Many wizards, who like Ivan and Sirius stood aside to watch were also involved.