Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Crash, crash, the cart suddenly dived into the gravel ahead.

This time, Evan noticed that there was a layer of protective magic on the surface of these carts, allowing them to easily break through the mud and sand.

No wonder he hadn’t felt any vibrations inside before.

“These carts are terrifying. I almost passed out. Just like the passageway we took to get down here, the things the goblins make are always cost-effective, without considering comfort. In their eyes, the most important thing is gold. They are unwilling to spend more money on what they consider useless things,” said Rawya, taking a deep breath of air. “But it’s better now. Last year, when I came here with Mr. Zoser’s excavation team, there was no railway, and we had to slide down through a pipe. This place is at least three thousand feet below the surface. It was an absolute nightmare…”

The high-intensity friction between the skin and the pipes was terrifying just to think about.

“Skin directly rubbing against a metal pipe?”

“Yes, that was the case at first, but then the opposition was so great that the goblins came up with a solution. They filled the sealed narrow pipe with a lot of lubricant. Believe me, it was a nightmare within a nightmare. The body covered in lubricant, rubbing against the pipe. Not to mention the sticky, disgusting feeling. Wizards using the pipe had to cast a Bubble-Head Charm to prevent themselves from accidentally drowning in the lubricant,” Rawya continued, shuddering, obviously recalling some unpleasant memory. “At the beginning of this year, a goblin really choked to death by accident. You know, they are too short, so Gringotts installed these railways here. I heard that they were very reluctant to do this because it would increase a large part of the cost, so they charged for the use of the carts.”

Evan remembered that on the platform just now, those wizards who were dissatisfied with them for cutting in line shouted that they had paid and so on.

So that’s how it was. Goblins were really stingy to the extreme. It was not easy to take advantage of them.

“Yes, but at least they are communicative. As long as gold is not involved, goblins are pretty decent beings. To be honest, they are much better than wizards like Mr. Saeed. You just saw how they have strong prejudices against women just like those stupid Muggles,” said Rawya, wrinkling her nose, as if she remembered something, and did not continue. “Now is not the time to talk about this. Let’s hurry to the Hall of the Gods.”

“Don’t we need to wait for the others?”

“No, Pendulum told me earlier to show you around first and then meet at the obelisk,” said Rawya. “Come on, I bet you’ll be absolutely amazed.”

Under her guidance, Evan left the temporary platform through a tunnel.

This passage seemed to be a crevice in the rock wall. It was dim and dark inside, but there was no need to worry about falling or getting lost.

Because it was so narrow, Evan had to walk almost sticking to the walls on both sides.

As soon as he came out of the tunnel, the view in front of him suddenly became clear.

What appeared in front of Evan was an ancient green stone door with carved patterns on it. There were eight huge circular pillars standing around it, each of which was four hundred feet high. Each pillar was carved with an exquisite pharaoh relief.

The statues wore the pharaohs’ characteristic serpent crowns and depicted a handsome young man. His arms were folded across his chest. Unlike the pharaohs Evan had seen before, who were holding hooks and shackles, the young pharaoh in the statue held a scepter in his left hand, with gems surrounding the top, and a wand in his right hand.

“This is Ramses II!” Rawya whispered. “During his reign, he was a god … at least as powerful as we understand a god to be. Alright, Evan, don’t walk up those stairs or go near that main door. The curses on it haven’t been lifted yet. We’ll go through that side passage.”

She pointed to the right, and Evan saw an entrance in the wall next to the gate.

The wizards had built a ramp there, allowing them to walk through.

Evan glanced up again at the statue of Ramses II on the pillar, wanting to imprint the image of the young pharaoh in his mind.

Then he followed Rawya toward the gap in the wall.

“In addition to the statues of gods, there are also many sculptures of Ramses II in the Ruins of Amun Ra,” Rawya whispered as they walked. “Remember, you must speak softly in front of the statue of Ramses II, and don’t say disrespectful words.”

“Why? Are you afraid he’ll hear us?”

Evan noticed the expression on Rawya’s face and a somewhat absurd idea popped into his mind.

An ancient sorcerer who lived more than three thousand years ago, no matter how powerful he had been in his life, even if he was once a spellcaster comparable to gods, now he had nothing but a commemorative statue, but Rawya seemed afraid that he would hear their words.

“I’m just afraid that he’ll hear!” Rawya said solemnly. “Ramses II may not be dead. Have you forgotten? He’s believed to be the owner of The Golden Book of Amun Ra, which records the secret of eternal life…”

“But Ramses II’s tomb is in the Valley of the Kings, and even his mummy has been found. How could he still be alive?!” said Evan. “The Golden Book of Amun Ra recording eternal life is just a legend.”

“Everyone says so. It’s always better to be careful.” Rawya shook her head disapprovingly.

Evan found that most wizards were very superstitious and believed in some strange customs that had been passed down somehow.

It was like Neville and Ron still believed that amethysts would bring good luck, that bad omens truly existed, and that the tail of a newt could drive away evil spirits. They even swore to Evan that this was common knowledge in the Wizarding World…

He had no way to correct Rawya’s understanding, nor did he intend to say anything disrespectful in front of the statue of Ramses II. Evan and Rawya walked into the Hall of the Gods through the narrow gap. The next second, he found himself entering a hall that was larger than he could have imagined.

Tens of thousands of torches were hung on the walls on both sides, barely illuminating the entire hall.

Evan felt that his eyes were not enough to take it all in. There were statues on both sides of the hall. Although he had known from Rawya that there were many ancient Egyptian gods here, the number he saw still far exceeded his expectations—there were more than two hundred.

Each of them was as tall as the statues of Ramses II seen outside, between four and five hundred feet.

The statues had various poses and expressions, some were animals, and some had animal heads with human bodies.

At the very front of the Hall of the Gods was another statue of Ramses II.

He was larger than the other statues, sitting upright as a king with a solemn and serious expression. His right hand holding the wand was placed across his chest, while his left hand rested on the armrest of the throne. His clothing was inscribed with hieroglyphs and spell runes.

On the ground, patterns and runes made of brown jade were spread throughout the hall.

Occasionally, glimmers of light flashed across them…

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