In front of them was a simple, deep corridor.

  This corridor was quite different from those above. The walls were bare; there were no doors and no windows apart from a plain black one set at the very end of the corridor.

  Evan knew that this was the Department of Mysteries.

  In fact, he was eager to go in and visit it.

  He had heard too many rumors about, but in fact very few were true and credible.

  In the market, there was hardly any reliable record of this mysterious department.

  Luna had shown him an article in “The Quibbler” before that stated that Fudge was using the Department of Mysteries to develop terrible poisons, which he secretly fed to anybody who disagreed with him.

  But this was obviously ridiculous. Evan knew that there was actually a collection of all the prophetic glass orbs, handed down magic items, and various unknown magic items that needed to be researched and preserved, such as magic related to time, soul, and death.

  The prototype of the Time-Turner worn by Hermione was kept here. That artifact-like magic item could help the wizard control time.

  “The Department of Mysteries is the most mysterious department of the Ministry of Magic. No one knows what they get up to. The identity and tasks of the staff in this department are top secret.” Sirius said, “The wizards who work in the Department of Mysteries are known as Unspeakables!”


  Evan nodded and carefully observed the plain black door.

  This door should be years old. Like the materials used in the construction of the Temple of the Moon of the Centaurs, it was Obsidian with no trace of magic left on it.

  “One of my ancestors used to work here, I read his diary.” Seeing that Evan was very interested, Sirius continued, “According to his records, long ago, the Ministry of Magic had discovered that there were many kinds of inherent magic. Unlike current magic, their forms of existence are difficult to explain, even more difficult, and perhaps impossible to control.”


  Not surprisingly, these magic should have been inherited from the studies of ancient warlocks.

  They went further on the path of magic and knew more than the current wizards.

  However, as time passed, the once brilliant magical civilization finally vanished.

  There were many theories about the extinction of ancient warlocks.

  Debate had been going on for hundreds of years. The most insane statement that Evan had just heard recently was that the spherical evil god told him that the powerful ancient warlocks collectively fled to a new world because they wanted to avoid the control of evil gods.

  “Behind this black door is a circular room lined up with many doors. The Unspeakables explore and experiment the mysterious forces in various rooms.” Sirius said, “If you’re interested, you can apply to work here after graduation. As long as the best students can’t meet the requirements, it’s possible for them not to recruit new students for several years. But with your strength, there must be no problem.”


  They walked through the corridor and stood outside the black door for a moment.

  “Let’s go, don’t let Dumbledore wait too long!” Sirius seized Evan by the arm and dragged him to the left, where there was an opening leading to a flight of steps.

  “The following is the special courtroom of the Wizengamot. The Portkey to Azkaban is reserved there.” Sirius said as he walked, “If you are convicted, you will be sent directly to Azkaban, you don’t have to spend a few days at sea.”


  They walked for a long time, reached the bottom of the steps, and ran along yet another corridor, which bore a great resemblance to that which led to Snape’s dungeon at Hogwarts, with rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The doors they passed here were heavy wooden ones with iron bolts and keyholes.

  “Courtroom 10, here we are!” Sirius dragged Evan and stopped in front of a grimy dark door with an immense iron lock. He sneered, “I was originally to be tried here, but after a long wait, they told me that my crimes did not need to be tried, and they shove me straight into Azkaban.”


  They pushed the door open and went in. The walls around them were made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches.

  Empty benches rose on either side of them, but ahead, Dumbledore was sitting on a bench with his eyes closed and they wondered what he was thinking.

  As soon as they entered, Dumbledore sensed it and opened his eyes.

  “Here you are!” said Dumbledore calmly. “I am sorry, we have to start from this place, but believe me; the place we’re going to be is scarier and much more horrible than this.”


  He waved to Sirius and Evan to keep up with him.

  They walked to the top of the room, around the huge round stone pillars. Behind the black curtain, there was a small hidden door.

  Dumbledore knocked it with his wand and the locked door opened automatically.

  In the middle of the room was a statue of a Dementor.

  It was about to pull the hood off its head, revealing the horrible mouth in the looming, seemingly to give someone a kiss and suck their soul.

  “Special privileges are required to enter the room.” Dumbledore explained, “Outside is the High Criminal Court of Wizengamot, where almost all the prisoners in Azkaban are tried. They do so precisely because of the statue in front of us. It’s the only Portkey to get us to Azkaban quickly.”


  Dumbledore looked at the Dementor statue carefully for a while, seemingly thinking about something, before turning his light blue eyes to Evan.

  “Do you know what a Portkey means?” he asked with a smile.

  “I know, I read it in books.” Evan hurriedly said.

  “Very well, but this statue is different from the ordinary Portkeys!” said Dumbledore. “It won’t follow us. In fact, there is the same statue in Azkaban. We just touch them lightly, and we can be sent back and forth.”


  “But what’s the principle of this magic?” Evan asked.

  “No one knows, like what you saw in the Department of Mysteries above. There’s still a lot of wonderful magic waiting for us to discover and study.” Dumbledore said, “What we know now is only a small part of it.” He took something out of his arms and handed it to Evan.

  “I went to the Centaurs’ colony last night and saw the records related to that evil god. It’s beyond imagination. It’s not any creature I know, nor does it appear in magic books.” Dumbledore said, “Before you came, I thought about it carefully. Now that you’ve been back to the millennium and met the Four Founders of the school, what they left behind is also related to these evil spirits. Then I think it’s better for you to keep it.”


  Evan was stunned and took over what Dumbledore had handed him.

  Surprisingly, it was the red nameplate left behind in the underground ruins when the huge eyeball monster disappeared, and the image of the terrible nightmare god was painted.