As Harry was still reliving his recent encounter—ahem, I mean, contemplating the heart-pounding moments, it happened to be the exact time when Maca encountered the Sphinx.
However, Maca's least favorite activity at the moment was riddles...
"What goes up but never comes down? Goes with me wherever I'm bound?" He pondered for a moment and then said, "Is it 'age'?"
The Sphinx remained motionless, keeping its eyes closed, waiting in silence.
"What never tells a lie, reveals the truth through its guise... Is it 'a mirror'?"
"So, the last line, 'as you walk with them, you'll know life's furrows, understand the ages,' should be about growing older, and the mirror showing the wrinkles that time has etched on your face, the signs of years gone by..."
From this perspective, the answer was "wrinkles."
"No... something still doesn't feel right," Maca didn't rush to give the answer but thought carefully for a moment.
Then, as if he had just remembered something, he shook his head.
"Tell me, 'the real deception'?" he mused to himself, "If the answer to the second line is 'mirror,' then the riddle should be 'the false truth,' which makes more sense... In that case, the second line is clearly misleading..."
"'The real deception'... 'real'... 'deception'?" he muttered softly several times, then suddenly realized, "Could it be 'memory'?"
"It should be... for an individual, memory never 'lies' to oneself; it's a 'truth' that 'belongs only to oneself.' But from another perspective, memory is always a 'deception' that 'belongs only to oneself.'"
"Since it's 'memory,' looking at the last line, 'life's furrows' undoubtedly refers to the mistakes and low points in one's life; and 'through the ages' indicates that it's been a long time, and in the end, there's no chance to redeem them..."
"I got it," Maca shouted to the Sphinx, "the answer is 'regret.'"
The Sphinx opened its eyes, stared deeply at Maca, then nodded slightly.
"Dumbledore asked me to prepare a profound challenge, and I came up with one, but I didn't expect anyone to solve it," it said in a deep voice, "but I am amazed by the wizard's wisdom. Young wizard, you have not been misled by appearances and have found the true answer! I believe you deserve the reward here—tell me your 'treasure' clue, and you will receive a fragment of the map for its location!"
It must be said that this was indeed a very generous reward—at least, for a normal contestant, there was no doubt about it.
The Sphinx stood up, and a piece of parchment floated up from under it, gently gliding through the air and into Maca's hands.
As he touched the parchment, some fine ink lines gradually appeared on it, with a conspicuous red dot in the middle—that should be Luna's location.
The Sphinx's classification was "XXXX," but don't think that their combat capabilities were limited to just that level!
You see, they were placed in this category only because all Sphinxes had intelligence close to, or even surpassing, that of wizards, and they wouldn't harm anyone without reason.
Even Maca wouldn't want to fight an angry Sphinx. Setting aside whether he could defeat it, it would still consume a lot of time and energy—an act that was certainly not worth it at the moment.
Maca compared the route he had drawn with the map and carefully examined the three map fragments he already had, finally finding some clues.
"No wonder the map fragments are all square but only eight pieces... These fragments are not just simple jigsaw puzzles; they can actually overlap partially?"
When Maca discovered that a corner of the first map fragment he obtained from the box was identical to a corner of Luna's location fragment, he reached this conclusion.
Unfortunately, the routes he had taken so far didn't match any of the map fragments. This meant he had to continue exploring...
Maca nodded slightly to the Sphinx beside him and walked towards the intersection ahead.
Exploring maps was quite boring, but if interesting little things kept popping up along the way, it wouldn't be that bad. Shortly after Maca turned another corner, a group of creatures with faces resembling house-elves but covered in dirty rags to conceal certain important areas appeared before him, chattering incessantly and noisily, yet strangely alluring.
Especially for children!
Maca quickly realized that these were a small group of "Imps."
They are a highly repugnant bunch, often using a peculiar "giggle" to bewitch children and then luring them away from their guardians before ruthlessly devouring them.
They possess some innate magical talents, though nowhere near as potent as those of house-elves— that's not their forte.
Maca merely waved his wand a few times, unleashing several crimson beams of magic that sent these evil yet cowardly Imps scurrying in all directions.
Of course, he didn't wield his wand in vain, as evidenced by the four small dwarves now lying in a deep unconscious state on the ground.
However, just as Maca was about to step over them and continue forward, a girl suddenly rushed out from around the corner.
"Miss Delacour?" Maca began to say but immediately aimed his wand at her, "No, you're not Delacour. Who are you?"
The girl's expression changed abruptly, and she quickly halted in her tracks.
The moment Maca laid eyes on her, he immediately sensed a peculiar sensation rising within himself. However, it wasn't the kind of attraction associated with Veelas, but something quite similar yet entirely different.
That feeling was like...
"...Is this a Succubus?" Maca furrowed his brow slightly and made a conjecture, "Are you a Succubus?"
"I didn't expect that, besides Dumbledore, someone else could recognize us Succubi..." the girl curiously glanced at Maca a few times and then said, "Young man, although your looks aren't exceptionally handsome, you do have a certain cold charm, don't you?"
"I didn't expect that there were still Succubi in this world," Maca mused, "I thought you had all gone extinct."
"Speaking without manners, are you, young man? Don't you understand politeness?"
"I can be polite if you want..." Maca said, then raised an eyebrow and shot an extremely fine red beam of light from his wand, landing it precisely near the girl's moving foot, "Don't move... I'll ask you a question, and then you can go your way, and I'll go mine, sound fair?"
"Can I ask you a question first?" the girl rolled her eyes and asked in frustration, "Why is my charm not affecting you at all? How did you manage that?"
Maca shook his head, saying, "It's not entirely ineffective, just significantly weakened."
Indeed, the charm of Succubi could arouse the physical desires of men, but if Maca's emotional state remained unaffected, the charm's effectiveness would naturally be greatly diminished.
"As for how I did it... that's a second question, and I don't think I need to answer it." He continued, "Now, it's my turn to ask. What's the principle behind Succubi's shape-shifting ability?"
"Principle?" the girl pondered for a moment, then shrugged, "I don't understand the principle. I can only tell you that what you see of me is just an 'outer shell.'"
Maca quickly realized that her "outer shell" didn't refer to an actual shell, of course.
"So, this is a kind of illusion talent, isn't it?" he murmured to himself.
According to legend, the "Metamorph-Magi talent" that could naturally change their appearance had their bloodline originating from Succubi (female) and Incubi (male)—Maca had read about it in several magical books.
He was quite curious about this talent, but studying it proved to be an insurmountable challenge.
Whether it was the rare Metamorph-Magi talent or the even rarer, almost extinct Succubi and Incubi, they were not easy to find.
But now, he had encountered a genuine Succubus in the Triwizard Maze. Why waste time not getting to the bottom of this?
However, upon further consideration, it was likely that this rumor was a bit distorted—Metamorph-Magi was a talent closely related to Transfiguration, whereas Succubi's shapeshifting talent was clearly a form of illusion magic. There seemed to be no connection between the two.
"Can I go now?" the Succubus, who had taken on the appearance of Fleur Delacour, asked again.
"Of course, please go!" Maca casually pointed in the direction she had come from and passed by her, taking the lead.
The Succubus turned to look at Maca's retreating figure, feeling somewhat unsettled.
Succubi's direct combat abilities were extremely low. Although their magical resistance wasn't low, their physical strength and magical power were both subpar, making them almost defenseless if engaged in a head-on conflict.
However, it was fortunate that individuals like Maca, who were nearly immune to their charms, were rare, so Succubi were consistently ranked high in the XXXXX classification. Even though they were now close to extinction, they still maintained their prestigious status.
"Dumbledore, that old man, is one thing, at least he has both strength and age... But what's the deal with this kid?" She sighed with frustration, "First, he got into trouble due to bad luck, and now he's got me pinned down... How am I supposed to play like this? I quit!"
With that, she simply squatted down right where she stood—a mischievous appearance combined with Fleur's elegant features created an indescribably peculiar sight.
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