Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Dalian spoke at length, and Evan listened patiently for a while.

From what Dalian told him, a number of Evan’s earlier doubts and guesses were finally explained.

For example, the statues of the evil god’s creations in the garden had actually been commissioned by Dalian’s father. That explained why they had been placed in the garden inside the castle; Dalian’s father must have been bewitched and controlled by the evil god at that time.

Or perhaps he was no longer himself at all, but a cultist of an evil god masquerading in his place through the use of Polyjuice Potion.

That would explain why he had ordered the statues to be carved and positioned at the very heart of the castle — using them as a means to vent destruction, chaos, and death. That was precisely the sort of thing evil gods and their followers delighted in.

Apocalyptic preaching — the more unhinged, the better!

Only those who worshipped the evil god would be reborn in the new world after the final judgment; everyone else would perish.

Evan knew all too well about this; the Dark wizards of the Raven’s Claw used this tactic.

They used this method to attract followers to join them.

Of course, at this point in time, Raven’s Claw had not yet been formed. Evan blinked; suddenly struck by a thought: the creation of Raven’s Claw might somehow be connected to the Ravenclaw family’s attempt to open the Veil of Death.

“Strange … why do I think that?” Evan tried to ignore it; uneasy with how odd he felt.

But immediately, another thought appeared in his mind.

Evan suddenly remembered that the ghost Marcus had told him it was Dalian who had carved those statues.

Now it seemed that the castle’s old butler, Marcus, probably didn’t know much about this and had not been involved in the Ravenclaw family’s plan to open the Veil of Death; he was just an innocent victim. In fact, Dalian had only drawn the evil god’s creations on paper.

He had done it to warn others of impending danger, in the way a thirteen-year-old would do.

In Evan’s view, Dalian’s actions were undoubtedly foolish and childish, carried out with scarcely any thought at all.

He had wanted his sister and other members of the family to confirm whether they had seen these creations of the evil god, but apart from him, the entire Ravenclaw family had likely already been bewitched and controlled by the evil god, or replaced by his followers.

As for those who remained, like Marcus, they knew nothing of the matter and had no idea what Dalian’s drawings represented.

In their eyes, Dalian’s actions were nothing more than a prank.

No wonder that even a thousand years later, Marcus still held a poor opinion of Dalian. That was probably the only impression the castle’s butler had ever had of him — a disgrace to the Ravenclaw family, a boy fond of mischief, disliked by everyone in the castle.

Evan shook his head; Dalian was incredibly foolish.

He had simply drawn the creations of the evil god and then gone around asking people to confirm them — doing so much was tantamount to alerting the enemy.

It was a miracle he hadn’t been killed; perhaps those who had been bewitched, controlled, or replaced also didn’t truly understand these creations of the evil god, didn’t know what they looked like — judging from Dalian’s father’s reaction, this was highly likely.

He probably thought Dalian’s drawings were excellent — faithful depictions of the monsters lurking in their inner darkness — and that was why he had them carved into statues.

And then —

“Wait, what am I doing?!”

Evan suddenly snapped back to his senses. He realized that his thinking had become unnervingly sharp.

This was very abnormal!

With the suppression of the evil gods’ power gone, Ravenclaw’s Diadem was beginning to regain its full effect.

Evan felt that basically, he had analyzed the whole situation based on a few words from Dalian.

Now, the only thing he didn’t understand was this: why had Lady Ravenclaw chosen Dalian?

She had chosen him and told him many things, including the fact that Evan would return from the future. What was Lady Ravenclaw’s purpose in doing so?

The reason Evan returned to this point in time was obvious. At this moment, outside the castle, the Ravenclaw wizards were conducting a magical ritual, attempting to open the Veil of Death. Evan had to stop them; that was his mission.

More precisely, it was what Lady Ravenclaw wanted him to do.

So why had she chosen to tell Dalian certain things?

Was it so that this boy could help him?

Judging by the situation so far, Dalian’s only advantage was that as a core member of the Ravenclaw family, his status was high enough that he could freely enter and leave the castle, but because he himself had no magic power, the evil god had neither chosen to corrupt him nor been able to control him.

Of course, he might possess other qualities Evan was not yet aware of. That could be why Lady Ravenclaw had chosen him.

Just as Dumbledore had chosen Harry to defeat Voldemort. To many witches and wizards, that decision had seemed utterly incomprehensible. There were countless adult wizards who appeared far better suited to shoulder such a burden — but in truth, they simply did not understand.

And then —

“Stop. I can’t keep thinking like this!” Evan tried his best to rein in his thoughts.

Under the influence of Ravenclaw’s Diadem, his mind had become overwhelmingly busy. Countless details — threads he had once overlooked — were surging up from the depths of his memory. In just a few seconds, he had thought through an enormous amount, and even more ideas were still pouring in.

It was terrifying!

This was precisely why Evan hated using the Diadem. Without Lady Ravenclaw’s level of intellect or the family’s distinctive magical trait of emotional detachment, wearing Ravenclaw’s Diadem at full power was far more likely to drive him mad than to make him smarter.

Evan took a deep breath, trying to control the Diadem’s magic and clear his mind.

“What do I need to do to close that door?” he asked bluntly, interrupting Dalian’s narration.

“You…” Dalian’s eyes widened in surprise, then filled with excitement. “How did you know? I hadn’t even gotten to that part yet! Yes, we must stop Father from opening that door. Inside, there’s no power the family needs, only death and destruction. You must use that magic to stop them.”

“What magic?” Evan pressed. “Where is it?”

“The protective magic left by the Ravenclaw family ancestors. It’s here — right here in this castle.”

As Dalian spoke, he took a music box from inside his robes — the same one Evan had seen him holding before.

He opened the box, and the monotonous melody slowly began to play once more.

“This is…” Evan felt the magic around him shift. The power that had been stable a moment ago suddenly grew restless.

“This was left to me by my aunt. It will reveal magic to us,” said Dalian, raising his right hand.

As he did so, Evan looked up and saw the various colored magic orbs suspended in the air begin to move.

They were changing, their speed increasing.

Within one of the white orbs of magic rushing toward him, Evan glimpsed what looked like something sealed inside.