Chapter 536: The Swamp Ruins and the Megalithic Temples

At the top of the endless swamp, Buckbeak flew forward for more than ten minutes.

The fog around him grew thicker and thicker, and there was a great area of darkness in which nothing clear could be seen; even the sun was shadowed.

In the terrible fog, the eyes completely lost their function, for all they could see was a hazy white, everywhere.

Ivan could no longer see anything, he could only hear Buckbeak flapping his wings.

Whoop, whoop, whoop....

He moved his wings slower and slower, and didn't seem to move anymore.

The three of them floated in the air, surrounded by a seemingly endless fog coming from everywhere.

Ivan had a bad feeling that grew stronger and stronger, as if at their stop, some monster was following them, about to swoop down at any moment!

"Do you feel it? There's something wrong with this place," Caresius said.

There was a tinge of surprise in his voice, and something seemed to be happening.

Soon, Ivan also felt subtle magic spreading around him, and it was the source of his earlier sensations.

It was a very strange magic, unlike any magic Ivan was familiar with.

It had a repelling and restricting effect on other magical powers and was suppressing the power in Ivan's body.

"Lumos!" he shouted, and the tip of his wand began to glow.

Ivan straightened his arm and raised the wand. The light grew stronger and stronger, penetrating through the thick fog around him....

In the dim light, he saw giant dome-shaped plants.

Each of these exotic plants stood quietly hundreds of feet high in the fog.

They were like umbrellas covering a large swampy area, like mushrooms that had been magnified countless times.

The strange magic came from these plants, and seemed to absorb and swallow all other magic from the surrounding air.

Obviously, they did not grow so large naturally, but acquired that size under the catalysis of some mysterious magic.

Perhaps, it was the magic that permeated the lost ruins, and they had obvious repelling and engulfing effects on other forces.

Hagrid had said that the Manticore's lair was in the vicinity.

"This is the place Hagrid told me about," Ivan said to Caresius. "Be careful!"

"This place makes me uncomfortable. Fighting in the thick fog, the Manticore would have the advantage over us," Caresius said. He immediately raised his wand and read a spell.

The next second, with them at the center, a hurricane suddenly erupted, blowing away all the thick fog around.

Ivan was amazed at the force displayed by Caresius. The magic was simple, but he himself would not have been able to do it on this scale, not without the Philosopher's Stone.

Therefore, this cunning vampire must have been holding back in the last battle.

Caresius was truly a dangerous man to be wary of at all times.

Although he was now Ivan's ally, he was also Voldemort's ally. For his interests, this guy seemed to be willing to sell anything, to anyone.

Just thinking about the matter was too exhausting, as the idea of being sold was not exactly that pleasant. Therefore, Ivan turned his focus back to the current situation.

As the wind blew, the fog became lighter and weaker. About a minute later, all the fog dissipated and Ivan finally saw the scene around him.

They were flying over a dry lake, which had taken on an irregular shape extending outward. The ground inside was dark and lightless, as if it had been corroded by something and had lost all its vitality.

Unlike the lively Hinkypunk I had seen before, here there was not a single blade of grass. There were only these large, disproportionate, dome-shaped plants scattered around, with their strange reddish-brown canopies.

In front of them was a gigantic triangular stone building. Its main body had sunk and overturned into the black mud, leaving only what appeared to be a small part exposed.

The exposed part alone was already as large as the Moon Temple of the Centaurs, which showed the enormous size of the building.

The white stone walls had been eroded and could tell the glory of the past.

Unlike the ruins of the fallen centaurs Ivan had seen before, there were no exaggerated statues, stone carvings or murals in them.

Instead, there are complex magical lines and simple, low-key decorations without losing the atmosphere.

"Amazing, it's a relic left over from the ancient period of the sorcerers!" Caresius stared at the building carefully for a long moment before saying with surprise, "I never expected there to be anything like this near Hogwarts."

"Well, do you want to go in and have a look?"

"I'm not interested. You'd better stay away from this place," Caresius said quietly.

"You know the Megalithic Temples of Malta? They are also relics left by an ancient sorcerer. Throughout history, dozens of powerful sorcerers went there and wanted to explore the secrets of the ruins. But in the end they all died inside and no one came out alive. Since a few centuries ago, that place was classified as a forbidden zone, and no one was allowed to go near it."

Ivan knew about it, and had read all about it in a book.

Malta, known as the Heart of the Mediterranean, is very old in history.

The Megalithic Temples that Caresius was talking about, also known as the Stone Age Temples of Malta, are a collection of buildings left over from the Stone Age.

Their history is even older than that of the pyramids of Egypt, they are the largest Stone Age temples in Europe and are also very famous among Muggles.

Currently, eight ruins of the Giant Stone Temples have been discovered, seven of which have been destroyed.

In the long history, the protective magic that the ancient wizards left in them gradually lost its effect.

The original intention behind the construction of the seven megalithic temples is unclear. After losing the protection of magic, they have corroded and eroded into ordinary buildings.

Thus, they have become one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world. People who have been there often marvel at the incredible miracle and stare in awe at the magnificent buildings stacked with countless pieces of tens of tons of megaliths, wondering how the ancients did it with primitive tools.

Wizards who know their history know that these buildings are the remains of ancient sorcerers.

Especially the one that is well preserved, the magic and powerful charms inside were amazing.

Until now, their hidden secrets have not been deciphered.

Speculations about the interior of the Megalithic Temples have never ceased, and many magic books have been written on the subject.

But as Caresius just said, all the magicians who dared to enter the remaining one have died, and no one knew what was inside.

Perhaps it was a powerful curse or attack magic, or a dangerous monster. Anything was possible.

The power of the ancient sorcerers completely escapes the understanding of today's magicians and cannot be deduced from existing magical theories.

Like the megalithic temples, since these ruins before him had also been left by ancient sorcerers, they had to be treated with care.

"I will give you a piece of advice, Ivan. Don't touch forces you don't know at all, or you'll get into trouble you can't imagine," Caresius said.

Looking at him, for once he seemed to be very afraid of the power of the ancient sorcerers.