Blood boiled more intensely, and even the entire hall echoed with the bubbling sound of boiling liquid.
Even the cries of pain from Tiffany under the bowl couldn't overshadow this rolling sound.
A strange red light suddenly appeared, dyeing the entire hall blood red.
Soon, the blood rising from the bowl gradually condensed into a six-winged shadow.
"Master."
Tom bowed respectfully.
"You've done very well, my faithful servant."
The voice of the shadow was somewhat intermittent, as if the signal wasn't very good.
"However, one final step is needed to open the sealed Gate of Hell..."
"Please, go ahead," Tom said, bowing.
The shadow raised its hand, and a red light shot out, hitting Tom's forehead.
"This is the array you need to draw, Tom," the shadow told him, "After opening the Gate of Hell on the New Continent, you can start collecting the items I need to lift my father's seal."
"Yes, Master," Tom replied.
...
At Hogwarts, in Leme's Alchemy Workshop.
They had prepared extensively for today's summoning ceremony.
Mr. Leme not only contributed precious materials for summoning the Death God, but he also personally drew the array.
Once everything was ready, Mr. Leme nodded to those around him, and at the same time, Dumbledore reached into the bowl, took out some leaves, and scattered them at the center of the array.
"Let's begin," Dumbledore said.
Mr. Leme held the massive book and began chanting the spell required to summon the Death God.
Within the array, light gradually began to shine.
The light grew increasingly dazzling until finally, it exploded in a flash, forcing everyone present to instinctively shield themselves from the strong light.
After a while, the light gradually faded.
"Did it succeed?" Newt asked, looking up.
He looked toward the center of the array but found it empty.
There wasn't even a trace of the chair prepared for the Death God.
Mr. Leme looked down at the book in his hands, carefully comparing the spell to what had just been chanted. He thought there might have been a mistake, but after careful comparison, he found no errors.
"Could something have gone wrong somewhere?" Dumbledore asked Mr. Leme, turning around.
Mr. Leme frowned, glancing at Dumbledore, then at Newt.
Just then, Harry pushed the door open.
"How is it?" he asked, "Did the summoning succeed?"
"Obviously not, Potter," Cassandra said, waving her hand, "We failed—"
"How could this happen?" Harry put on his glasses, "Wasn't this method recorded in ancient texts? Could there be errors in the writing?"
"Perhaps, or maybe we can try other methods," Mr. Leme said, putting down the book, "But judging from the ceremony's reaction earlier, it didn't seem like a failure. We may have summoned something, but it didn't remain in the array."
"Revelio!"
Harry pointed his Magic Wand, the spell's light swept through the small room, but nothing unusual was found.
"Perhaps the method was wrong," Mr. Leme pondered for a moment, then continued, "I have a feeling we've missed a crucial step, leading to the failed summoning... Wait, let me think carefully about how to complete the ceremony..."
"What should we do now?" Dumbledore asked.
"Oh, child," Mr. Leme looked at Dumbledore, addressing him with a term that everyone found hard to accept, "What you all need to do now is leave here and return to your own homes."
Child?!
Harry and Vivi exchanged glances, both silently remarking.
But then again, in front of Mr. Leme, Dumbledore truly was a child.
After all, when Mr. Leme was Dumbledore's age, the Eastern Roman Empire hadn't fallen yet, and Constantinople hadn't been breached by the Urban Cannon.
Since Mr. Leme said so, everyone had no choice but to disperse.
"I'll head back to the Muggle World first," Vivi told Harry, "If there's any news, remember to notify me in time."
"Sometimes I can't find you either, since you have classes," Harry said, spreading his hands.
Vivi suddenly remembered the new gadget she saw in the Muggle World before, and pulled it out of her small bag, handing it to Mr. Leme.
"Mr. Leme," she said, holding the long black phone, "This is a mobile phone, a communication device from the Muggle World that enables real-time contact across distances—look, and its advantage is that it's very portable..."
The mobile phone in Vivi's hand was the well-known Motorola 3200 in later times.
When it comes to models, it might seem unfamiliar, but it had a famous name in China—"the big brother."
This phone was released in 1989, and its strengths and weaknesses were equally obvious.
The obvious strength is its portability—plus, it has a hidden yet obvious feature, which is that it can be used as a brick when no better weapon is available.
Mr. Leme took the phone, examined it up and down, and asked, "How do you use this thing?"
"Like this," Vivi took out her own, telling Mr. Leme, "There's no signal at Hogwarts, but if you use it, you can call my number, and we can achieve real-time messaging through this device..."