"Bang—"
At the exit of the pitch-black tunnel, two brown figures rolled out one after the other.
Regret, in short, is just...
...wait, how many times has he felt regret today?
Without the sense of security at the back, and the risk of falling into a trap at the front, Ron, not wanting to be the guinea pig, decisively chose the middle position in the formation. As the tunnel, originally only passable by one person, grew narrower, the three of them ended up squatting down, inching forward bit by bit.
In fact, when Ron saw that long downhill section at one end of the tunnel, he already had a bad premonition.
So very soon, that premonition came true.
Fred, who was leading, suddenly stopped for some reason, and George, behind Ron, was evidently moving a bit too fast. With a slight bump, the two at the front instantly turned into a rolling gourd, tumbling swiftly towards the exit—
"...Are you guys okay?"
Seeing the two groaning on the ground, George, realizing he had caused trouble, scratched his head helplessly.
"I can't feel my legs anymore."
Fred said expressionlessly, then, under the horrified gaze of the other two, he tossed Ron off and sprang up like a carp, "Just kidding." With that, he pulled out his magic wand from his pocket, "Lumos—"
The whitish light illuminated the dark space. Looking up at the pitch-black dome, Fred raised his head and voiced the question on everyone's mind:
"...Where is this?"
"...Where is it?"
"...Where?"
Hearing this, Ron, who was sore all over but otherwise unscathed, propped himself up and scanned the dim surroundings. It seemed they were in an exceptionally vast space, where even a voice would echo—
"I don't know, this map... Okay, I really can't understand it."
By the light of the charm, George carefully examined the "treasure map" in his hand for a long time, then shook his head helplessly—he had to admit Ron was right, it did look rather abstract.
"Where did you get this thing?"
Also coming over to peer at the lines on the map in George's hand for a while, Ron finally remembered the very important question he'd been forgetting to ask.
"From the ground at Gringotts—"
"You stole—"
"How can picking up something dropped on the ground be called stealing?"
Fred hurriedly interrupted Ron. He wasn't lying; yesterday their whole family had been at Gringotts with Bill for a visit, and they had indeed found the map on the ground. They just hadn't returned it to the owner yet, nor did they actually plan to look for the owner.
"Shall we have a look around?"
After a moment of silence, George took out his magic wand; the same white light lit up. He and Fred exchanged glances, then nodded at each other before turning and heading cautiously in different directions with their magic wands raised.
"Wait for me,"
Seeing the two split up, Ron hurriedly took out his own magic wand, but why did it feel different from usual? The boy looked down, seeing his white waxwood wand broken into two pieces, with a faded unicorn hair protruding from the break. His head suddenly felt dizzy—
Oh no, I'm in for it.
"What happened?"
Noticing the sudden silence from Ron's direction, George looked back in confusion—then he saw the boy holding the broken wand. "Uh..." Realizing he was the culprit, George rubbed his nose helplessly.
"Just stick with me for now—your wand... We'll ask Dad to get you a new one later; the Prophet Daily prize money hasn't been spent yet."
Fred sighed. No wonder he still felt a dull ache in his back; now the reason seemed pretty clear.
Hearing Fred say they'd handle it, the look of distress on Ron's face vanished instantly. He took the tape George handed over and wrapped his broken wand back together—good, he'd wanted a new wand for a while now, and if someone else was taking the blame, the break was actually a blessing.
Right now, their family wasn't short of money.
"Lumos."
The tip of the white waxwood wand sparked, flickered, and then glowed with an unsteady white light.
The three quickly circled this space, regrouped after passing each other, and gathered once more at the exit of the narrow tunnel they had just emerged from—
"Nothing at all?"
Fred's tone was somewhat bewildered. He snatched the map from George and examined it, pointing to the large square at the center, "If you look at this shape, it should be right here... could it be this isn't a treasure map?" The boy flipped the parchment over and over.
"..."
Sitting squatting beside them, Ron had no strength to retort anymore, even though he always knew these two were pretty unreliable...
"Clang—"
In the silence, a crisp mechanical sound was distant but still clearly audible.
"...Someone's coming?"
Ron's gaze swiftly turned towards the tunnel they had come from; the sound indeed seemed to be coming from that direction.
"Someone's coming."
The tone turned affirmative. Listening to the footsteps growing closer, the three exchanged glances, instantly grasping each other's intentions, and without hesitation darted behind a nearby column. The room was filled with many large columns, which they had noticed earlier, but otherwise, it was empty.
"..."
Just as Ron and the other two hid themselves, a short figure emerged from the tunnel. And the moment they saw the figure, they understood why the passage was so narrow—it was clearly not made for humans.
Dressed in a brown suit, the goblin bent down to brush the dust off his trousers, then, under the watchful eyes of Ron and the others, he walked slowly to the wall. Nobody knew what he did, but the next moment, countless red lights flared on the walls, red flames leaping in the wall sconces, lighting up the whole space brightly.
Then the goblin moved to the center of the area and tapped the smooth floor with his hand—
The next moment, a crimson magic circle suddenly lit up beneath him. With a sound like air being drawn, two tall figures in black robes appeared before the goblin.
"Good day, gentlemen."
The goblin named Groo bowed slightly to the figures in front of him.