Harry felt himself rushing upwards, as if the beam of light had picked him up and was flying him away. He was rising, floating, blinded by the brilliant shade of blue, and then he was abruptly brought to a stop. When he regained his bearings, he found himself standing in a room.
This was a room with seven sides, a perfect septagon, and divided into seven congruent triangles by seven walls of light that met at the center. Harry was standing in one of these triangles, one of the seven sections of this room. The walls of light were translucent, so Harry could easily see the rest of the room, but when he reached over to touch one, he found it solid and unyielding. Each of the seven sections were isolated from each other.
Even though the room had been divided into seven sections, there was still plenty of space. Just in his one-seventh of the room, there was easily enough space to fit 10 or more people.
As for the seven walls of the room, it looked like they were made of stone. But it was difficult to tell because in the center of each wall was what Harry could only describe as a hole of light. It was blue, the same color as the light that had brought Harry up here, and Harry realized this must have been the portal that connected the inheritance platform to this room.
The other six sections were identical to his, and the room was empty except for himself.
'Where am I? I could feel myself traveling upwards – so is this a room that floats in the sky? And why are there seven sections?' Harry frowned.
To these questions, he was completely stumped.
"And where's the inheritance?" Harry muttered.
"Or, I guess I should be asking, where's the test? Wasn't there supposed to be an inheritance test in here?"
Harry didn't see anything here that looked like either the inheritance or the test, and the more he looked around, the more confused he got. He confirmed he couldn't walk through any of the walls of light, and when he touched the blue portal on the outer wall, his hand just slid across it. It was a one-way passage. Once someone came here, they were stuck.
Completely confused at his surroundings, Harry stood there dumbly, and waited for something to happen.
He didn't have to wait very long.
There was movement in one of the other sections of the room, in one of the portals on the opposite side, and Harry spun his head around to look. Out of a portal, a tall, blond man gracefully stepped out. The man wore fine clothing, certainly many times better than Harry's rags, and carried himself with nobility and status. Just based off his extravagant clothing, fancier than anything Harry had ever seen, Harry could tell this was some kind of rich, well-off cultivator. The man took his surroundings in with a glance, and then his vision fell upon Harry.
In that instant, a bad feeling arose in Harry's mind. The man's gaze was as sharp as a dagger. Harry felt exposed, like the man had seen through his cultivation in a glance. A mocking expression appeared on his face, mixed with doubt.
"You?" the man suspiciously asked. "You activated the seventh formation?"
"The seventh formation?" Harry asked blankly.
"Right, Rowena Ravenclaw's seventh formation. You were the one who activated it?"
"How did you know?" Harry grew confused.
"Of course I know about it. Everyone knows," the man scoffed. "Anyways, where did you find it? And how many people are with you?"
"No one's with me," Harry responded. Somehow, the more he talked to this guy, the more confused he was getting.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?"
The mocking expression on the blond man's face grew more pronounced, turning into an outright sneer. It was just a few inches away from outright hostility.
"You don't recognize me? Which rock did you spend your whole life under?"
'Oh great, it's another Lockhart,' Harry groaned. What was with arrogant people and expecting the whole world to know their name? Did this man really expect every random person he met to recognize him?
"And what do you mean, 'how did you get in here'? Do you not even know what's going on?"
Before Harry could respond to that, another person came out of the portal behind Malfoy. For a moment, Harry was reminded of Maynard Hatton.
He was a massive man, well over six feet tall, with bulging muscles that didn't belong on a normal human. He must have weighed twice as much as a fully grown adult, and he just barely fit through the portal. Once Harry laid his eyes on the man, he immediately realized this was a terrifying body cultivator.
"Crabbe," the blond man nodded to the hulking brute.
"Umph," the brute grunted, then fixed his gaze upon Harry.
"Who dat?"
"He should be the person who activated the seventh formation. But, he has no idea what's going on," the blonde said with a demeaning sneer.
The big man, named as Crabbe, just let out another grunt. He flexed his muscles, and his piggish eyes glared at Harry.
"2nd level Qi Absorption Realm," he spoke.
"Right, just at the second level. Nothing to worry about," the blonde man scoffed.
Normally Harry would have retorted something back, but decided to hold his tongue. Since he had no clue what was going on, he hesitated to say something rash.
Since the seven sections of the room were identical, Harry was able to make a few guesses. To enter through one of the portals, Harry felt that these people must have stepped on a similar stone platform to get here. But if that were true... what were the chances?
What was the chance that this blonde guy also stumbled upon one of Rowena Ravenclaw's inheritance platforms, right as Harry himself found one? Harry's platform had been hidden in a remote location, so any other platform was probably similarly hidden. Such a coincidence was so unlikely Harry just couldn't believe it.
Then behind the blonde man, a third person stepped out of the portal. This man was built identically to the second man, in fact, they could have been twins. Both of them took places behind the blonde man, like a pair of bodyguards. He, like Crabbe, fixed his unfriendly stare at Harry.
"Goyle, good to see you."
All the blonde man got back was an unintelligent grunt.
'Those three... I can't sense their cultivation at all!' Harry frowned. They were in the Qi Absorption Realm, of that, he was sure. And they were definitely at the middle-level, perhaps even high-level. He just wasn't able to tell their exact strength.
The blonde man was obviously the leader, so he must have been the strongest. But the two brutes were powerful body cultivators, and Harry could tell at a glance that they had the power to fight above their cultivation level. Their huge muscles, obviously enhanced by some kind of cultivation technique, were a dead giveaway.
'They may even be stronger than me!' Harry thought with a tinge of nervousness. Though he wasn't too worried about defense, at least in terms of offense, these three may have him beat.
Before Harry could think more about it, there was movement in a different section of the room. Harry turned to look – out of a third portal came another young man, dressed in a rich green robe. He had medium-length dark hair, parted along the center of his head, and a long, aristocratic face with a pair of sunken eyes. He looked across the room, and his eyes landed on the blonde man.
"Draco Malfoy," the newcomer nodded towards him. "I expected you'd be here."
"Likewise, Felix Rosier," the blonde man, Draco, responded with a nod of his own. They didn't seem to be friends, so Harry suspected they nodded to each other out of respect. Peers, perhaps?
"And who are you?" Felix addressed Harry.
"I'm James Evans," Harry lied.
"James Evans... Evans...," Felix frowned. "What clan are you from? I haven't heard of any Evans clan. Or are you from a sect, perhaps?"
"I'm not from any clan or sect. I'm a rogue cultivator."
Felix nodded, his face impassive. But Harry could see the corners of his mouth turn up into a low sneer, and a dismissive expression settle onto his features. Obviously, a rogue cultivator was beneath his notice.
Well, at least Felix attempted to be polite. The other man, Draco, made no such attempt.
"A rogue cultivator?" he echoed, before letting out a loud laugh.
"Haha, you really have some dogshit luck to stumble across Rowena Ravenclaw's last formation! But a piece of trash like you has no chance! I suggest you just forget about getting it."
"Thank you for the suggestion," Harry said mildly. "I suggest you go fuck yourself. Or maybe one of your strapping bodyguards can do it for you."
Draco's eyes narrowed, and in an instant, a dangerous and oppressive feeling settled in the room, locking into Harry. It was only due to the walls of light that prevented Malfoy from outright attacking him. But once Malfoy exerted his might, Harry knew – this man was also a ruthless individual.
Felix, on the other hand, looked at Harry with an appreciative expression.
"James, you sure have a big mouth. Or are you just ignorant to who he is?"
"How should I know who he is? Is he very popular or something?" Harry retorted.
To that, Felix looked towards Malfoy with a small smirk.
"Hmph. He's an ignorant countryside bumpkin. See how I'll clean him up during the test," Draco Malfoy spat.
Then there was movement behind both Felix and Draco, and two figures stepped into the room at the same time.
On Malfoy's side came a girl, but this was the ugliest girl Harry had ever seen. Her figure was alright, but her face was scrunched up hideously, like there was something smelly beneath her nose. Speaking of her nose, it didn't quite look like a normal human nose either. If anything, it looked like the snout of a dog.
'Pug-face,' Harry immediately thought. Wisely, he chose to not say that out loud.
"Oh, Draco, aren't you glad I'm here?" the girl let out a high-pitched yell, and ran towards Draco Malfoy with open arms. He slightly recoiled, but hid it well, so that the girl didn't notice. But Harry noted it very clearly.
"Pansy," he said with a touch of unhappiness. "Good to see you."
"I'll definitely be of use!" she squealed. "When the test starts, I'll show you how powerful I am, and then you can take your mind off of those two... those two bints from Green Jade City and White Mourning City!"
"I've told you, it's for the sake of the alliance," Draco said irritably. He sounded as if this conversation had occurred many times in the past – perhaps, many many times.
"So? It doesn't have to be you! They can be paired with Crabbe and Goyle!" Pansy said with a high-pitched cackle, and finally, Harry saw a trace of genuine annoyance in Draco's face.
"Let's discuss it afterwards," he said evenly, before turning away from Pansy.
From Felix's side, another young man stepped out. He had an ordinary appearance, mostly unremarkable, one that Harry wouldn't give a second thought to. Yet, just like the others, Harry couldn't sense his cultivation at all.
"Avery," Felix nodded.
"Felix," the newcomer nodded back, before coolly glancing at the rest of the room.
'Just who are these people?' Harry wondered again. And more worryingly, just how many more people would show up?
As if to answer his question, yet another person came out of the portal behind Draco Malfoy. Harry quickly revised the statement that the Pansy girl was the ugliest girl he had ever seen.
The thing that stepped out looked neither man nor woman, something that didn't quite seem human. If anything, it was a humanoid Magic Beast. It was wide, it was broad, it was tall, it was fat, it was like a monster donning human skin. Its head was bulging, with all the wrong proportions, full of lumps and misshapen facial parts. This creature was larger than even Crabbe and Goyle, standing a full head taller than them.
And the moment Harry laid his eyes on it, the name of a dangerous magical creature appeared in his mind.
"A troll?" Harry inadvertently blurted out.
Over in their section of the room, both Felix Rosier and the man named Avery let out simultaneous stifled snorts, and looked at Harry with a mix of surprise and admiration. As for Malfoy's group, they all looked between Harry and the troll with wide eyes of fear.
And as for the troll...
"Whadda call me?" the troll – which Harry belatedly realized was a woman – roared.
"Ah, excuse me."
"You're dead!" it screamed, and charged straight at Harry. Harry took a step back – but it wasn't necessary, because the woman charged straight into a wall of light -
BOING!
There was an odd sound, like striking rubber, and then the troll-like woman bounced right off the wall and landed in a heap on the floor.
But that wasn't enough to stop her, because she got right back up and charged at Harry again!
"RRRAAARRRRRGGHHHHHH!"
BOING!
This time, she was flung all the way against the far wall, the portal. She smashed into it with a force that would have sent anyone's head ringing – yet she still got up without an issue. She looked like she was ready for round three, until the two brutes behind Malfoy each grabbed an arm and held her in place.
"Calm down, Millie," Crabbe grunted.
"Yeah, calm down," Goyle grunted alongside his companion. With the two of their joint efforts, they managed to hold the raging woman in place.
"ARRAAARRRGGAAAHHHHHHHHH!" she howled, doing her best to free herself from the two men.
"Millicent, that's enough," Draco Malfoy suddenly snapped.
"As strong as you are, you can't pass these walls of light. Depending on what the test is, you might be have a chance to get back at him later. But until then, stop embarrassing yourself."
His words seemed to get through its thick skull, because she stopped struggling and calmed down, at least, slightly.
"Right, I'll kill him during the contest," she spat, while glaring at Harry.
'Wow, I actually found someone with a worse temper than me,' Harry thought, looking away. All he could say was... Draco Malfoy sure kept some interesting company.
Out of the people gathered so far, he couldn't sense the cultivation of a single one. They all seemed to have about the same strength, around the high-level of the Qi Absorption Realm, but he, with his 2nd level cultivation, must have stood out like a sore thumb.
Just as Millicent settled down, another man stepped out of Felix Rosier's portal. He entered the room and immediately took his place next to Avery.
"Avery."
"Yaxley."
The two men nodded at each other. After the brief exchange, both stood silently behind Felix.
'Huh, maybe Felix's group is more affable than Malfoy's. At least, they keep to themselves,' Harry thought.
That thought was forgotten as soon as the next man came out.
Out of Felix's portal stepped an enormous blond man, as if Felix saw Crabbe and Goyle and felt pressured to make a response. He was even larger than Millicent, somehow, with muscles larger than Harry thought possible. Just his biceps were as large as Harry's head. For some reason, an angry expression was on his face, and once he emerged, he immediately started yelling.
"I, the great Rodolfo Rowle, have arrived! OOOOOHHHH YEAH!" he screamed into the room. "Anyone who stands between me and Ravenclaw's inheritance will taste these fists!"
He struck up a weird pose, twisting his body and displaying his bulging biceps for all too see. Felix, Avery, and Yaxley just rolled their eyes and looked away.
'Is he an idiot?' Harry was struck speechless.
The self-proclaimed Rodolfo Rowle glanced across the room. He first looked towards the group of people behind Malfoy, sneering when he spotted the two bodyguards and the troll.
"Crabbe, Goyle, Bulstrode, it's good that you're all here! This time we'll finish our last fight to determine the strongest body cultivator of our generation!"
The three of them didn't say anything back – perhaps they weren't intelligent enough to – so Rowle turned to look at the last person in the room – Harry. Once he did, his face instantly twisted into a vicious smile, like that of a wolf.
"Haha, 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm? Little boy, how did trash like you get into this place?"
Harry was just about to retort something back, but surprisingly, Felix beat him to it.
"Enough," Felix suddenly said, and Rowle shut his mouth.
"What use is there in taunting him? He's just a rogue cultivator, don't stoop to his level. Focus your energy on Malfoy's group."
"Yes, Felix," he muttered dully, then went from glaring at Harry to glaring at the three behind Draco Malfoy.
After that, three more young men came out of Felix's portal. Harry didn't catch any of their names, but the seven of them all seemed to know each other. Felix stood at the head of his group, while the other six stood shoulder to shoulder, in a neat line behind Felix.
Meanwhile, two more people came out of Malfoy's portal. They were both men, on the larger side but not quite as large as Millicent Bulstrode or Rodolfo Rowle. Malfoy called them Flint and Warrington, then they too stepped into line with Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Millicent. Now, Malfoy's group was arranged similarly as Felix's.
Both Draco Malfoy's group and Felix Rosier's group now had seven people present. In both cases, once the seventh person emerged, their portal would disappear. It was replaced by a smooth, stone wall.
'Interesting… so is the limit seven people? The portal behind me is still open, even though no one else will come through. But more importantly… just how did they get here?' Harry wondered.
There was absolutely no way both Malfoy and Rosier stumbled upon a stone platform at the exact same time as Harry did, so there must have been an alternative explanation. Harry just couldn't come up with one.
Though the room was mostly silent, all 14 people would occasionally look at Harry with mocking expressions. And when Harry looked back, he found that he couldn't sense the cultivation level of a single one. The more he looked, the more sure he was of one thing – these people were all in the high-level of the Qi Absorption Realm!
And he... he was only at the 2nd level! The gap between all these people and himself was just too large.
For some reason, everyone else in this room was about the same age. Though Harry couldn't be sure, they all looked to be in their early twenties, anywhere from two to five years older than Harry. Though it did explain the cultivation difference, it was still rare to find so many people this strong at such a young age.
Every once in a while he'd see or hear whispers among the groups, accompanied by sneers and unfriendly smirks directed his way. Obviously, all these people saw was his cultivation. Under these mocking gazes, Harry found himself slowly getting more and more annoyed. He did his best to control himself, but there was only so much that self-control could do.
Right then, there was movement in a fourth portal. Yet another young man came out.. He had dazzling golden-blonde hair, along with strong features. His clothes were finely tailored, and he carried himself proudly, taking in the room's inhabitants with a single glance. Now, four of the seven sectors were occupied.
"Anthony Goldstein," Draco Malfoy recognized the newcomer. "Your clans will be participating too?"
"This is the last chance, so of course we will. I'll admit we can't compare to your clans, but we at least have to try, right?" Anthony said. Though he had a humble tone, refreshing to Harry, Harry could still sense his conviction through his words.
"Hmph, very well. We'll see who wins in the end."
Right afterwards, another man appeared behind Anthony Goldstein. This was a rather chubby boy, bulging out of his clothes, with messy hair and an insolent, yet arrogant, look on his face. Somehow, the moment Harry laid his eyes on him, he felt a strong sense of dislike.
The man looked across the room with an upturned nose. His posture and demeanor was a perfect reflection of his innermost thoughts – that he was better than everyone else gathered here. And when his eyes landed on Harry, the arrogance on his face doubled.
"2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm? Haha, this will be an easy competition! How did trash –"
"Shut up, fatty!" Harry interrupted him. Harry already knew what he was going to say – how did you worm into here, your cultivation is so weak, you should give up, you're trash, or something along those lines. He had already heard it all. Why was it that every group brought an idiot along?
Those in the room whipped their heads towards Harry, staring with wide eyes. And as for the fatty –
"You, what the hell did you say?! Do you know who I am?" he screamed. His face was beet red, and warped in rage.
"You don't know who you are?" Harry asked in mock surprise. "Maybe the Goldstein guy can tell you."
"You – I know who I am! I'm Zacharias Smith, of the Smith Sa –"
"Never heard of you," Harry interrupted him again. "Don't know, don't care."
Right then, yet another person came out of the portal behind Zacharias Smith. He was stout-looking boy with blondish, brown hair that fell to his eyebrows. Once he stepped out, Zacharias Smith ran over and loudly started complaining.
"Ernest! That boy insulted me!" he childishly tattled while pointing at Harry.
"Him?" the man named Ernest glanced at Harry, then back towards Zacharias.
"Who is he?"
"An ignorant rogue cultivator who stumbled on the last inheritance formation," Malfoy sneered.
"A rogue cultivator?" Ernest echoed, then joined Malfoy in sneering at Harry.
"You dared to insult Zacharias?"
"And what if I did?"
"You really don't know who he is? Or who we are?"
"You don't know your name either?"
"Hmph. You think you're funny? You must have lived under a rock to be this ignorant. Don't worry Zacharias, I'll give this kid a thrashing when the competition starts. I'll teach him to respect his betters."
"Haha, you two are really funny. Fatty, do you need this guy to fight all your battles for you?" Harry mocked him.
"Who are you calling fatty?" Zacharias Smith screamed. "I'm not fat!"
Harry just smiled, disinclined to argue further. Obviously, he was dealing with a child here. Just like the others, Harry felt this guy, along with his two companions, were in the high-level of the Qi Absorption Realm. As for how people like this reached such a high cultivation level already, Harry knew it was from being spoiled.
Two more people stepped out of the portal behind Anthony, Zacharias, and Ernest. Those three seemed to recognize the two new arrivals, as they called them by name – Terry Boot and Michael Corner. They joined the others in looking down upon Harry.
Harry was suddenly conscious of just how much empty space was in his sector, and just how badly outnumbered he was.
Seven in Malfoy's group, seven in Rosier's group, and now, there were five in Goldstein's group. Would two more people also come out of Goldstein's portal? And what about the other three, still empty, sections?
'These people... just where the hell are they all coming from? And why are there so many?'
'Hang on... back when I stepped on the platform, that voice said 'seven chances across the empire'. And there are seven portals. So does that mean, there are seven stone platforms, each which leads to a portal here?' Harry wondered. Though that explanation made some sense, it was far from a full explanation.
Seven – that was a special number. Seven portals, seven sections to this odd room, and even a limit of seven people per portal. Unfortunately, Harry was alone.
Then another person came out of Anthony Goldstein's portal, and when Harry saw who it was, his eyes went wide with surprise.