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The young Gryffindor in the portrait clearly had no idea how mischievous little wizards could be.
"You spied on others bathing since you were young, and then you say that women influence your sword-drawing speed? Tsk tsk, I didn't expect the ancestor of Gryffindor to be such a shameless wizard!"
"Gryffindor House has the highest birth rate among Hogwarts houses for a reason!" Ian's expression of sudden realization caused the Gryffindor portrait to lose its composure.
"What are you looking at those statistics for!? Are you that bored!?" The young Gryffindor pointed a trembling finger at the little wizards outside the frame.
"Sometimes, I do get a bit bored."
Ian nodded honestly.
"..."
The Gryffindor portrait was left speechless.
After a long while.
He sighed heavily, "If you can find my treasure trove by your own ability and come before me, I will publicly acknowledge you as Gryffindor's recognized descendant."
"This is a trial, only given to a select few..." The Gryffindor portrait's expression was somewhat helpless. "I was supposed to come to you in your third year."
Not to mention.
Just the word "treasure trove" made Ian's eyes light up.
"As long as I can find that by my own means, does it matter what method I use?" Ian knew that the adventurous Gryffindor must have left behind more than just a sword that grows stronger with each battle.
"Yes, I must remind you that you are the seventh wizard to reach the threshold and the only non-Gryffindor student. The six challengers before you have all failed."
"There are three trials in the place where I am located. Simply mastering powerful magic is not enough; on the path of the trials, you will also need extraordinary swordsmanship. I believe I have left some books on swordsmanship in the Hogwarts library, but over the years, few wizards have chosen to study them."
"For today's young wizards, they would rather create a magical firearm for themselves than learn swordsmanship... I admit that this is a better form of close defense, but it clearly won't work in the trials I left behind. If you really have some free time, you might as well use it to practice swordsmanship."
The Gryffindor portrait opened its mouth to remind him. "Of course, if you feel you have no talent for swordsmanship, you can also find a partner who excels in it."
"The friendship of partners is also a form of strength for you, but correspondingly, you will need to share some of your gains." The Gryffindor's voice was very loud and powerful. "You have enough time to weigh whether to take on the challenge alone or team up with your partner. After all, finding the place where I am located will also require considerable effort."
He spoke with confidence. "In fact, the little wizard who found my location the fastest spent two and a half years doing so. If the challengers do not complete the trials before graduation, it will be counted as a failure."
This was undoubtedly a level of difficulty that was hard to believe.
It could take two years just to find the place.
How big could Hogwarts be?
"Are my predecessors as challengers really that incompetent?" Ian exclaimed in surprise as he ran toward the pile of materials he had used to create the 'Book of Parselmouth' last night.
There were still some materials left.
He decided to recycle them.
"The last challenger was named Albus Dumbledore; he didn't even make it to the third trial." The Gryffindor portrait smiled and reminded him.
To be fair.
It was clearly very correct that his original self did not record that secret transaction on him. After all, with his big mouth, he probably couldn't keep any secrets.
"Our headmaster? He didn't tell me that Hogwarts had such trials!" Ian gasped. It seemed that the trials of Gryffindor were indeed somewhat terrifying.
After all, Dumbledore was the most talented wizard of modern times, without exception.
"That's because those who fail the trials do not remember that they ever participated in them... Little wizards cannot resist that kind of magic. Dumbledore was far less powerful during his student years than he is now." The Gryffindor portrait revealed a rule from the ancient founders' trials to Ian.
"Do the other founders have similar trials?" Ian retrieved some materials from the leftovers of last night and pulled out a bone from Tom's distant relatives to tinker with.
"I don't know."
The Gryffindor's response was quite straightforward. "I am just a portrait; I am not Hogwarts itself. However, I think the other three founders probably aren't as enthusiastic about it as I am."
"If you have time to dig up my grave, you might see my quirky legacy." He was indeed bold, knowing that Ian liked to dig up graves and even seemed to look forward to giving such advice.
"Where is your grave?"
Ian's curiosity was piqued.
"That's something you'll have to find out for yourself. Some say I still live in the Black Lake; that's clearly not something a mere portrait should know. I only remember that I was obsessed with giving tomb raiders an interesting surprise." The Gryffindor portrait grinned mischievously, continuing to encourage Ian to search for his grave.
However.
"I think I should first find the treasure trove you mentioned." Ian began to stir the contents in a large bowl, clearly more attracted to the treasures in the treasure trove than to the bones of Gryffindor.
These were all figures from a thousand years ago.
Who knows if there are any bones left for him to study?
"What are you doing?"
The Gryffindor portrait curiously leaned closer to the frame.
"You said I could use any method to find where your treasure is, right?"
Ian removed the toad nerve that had jumped onto his face. After hesitating for a moment, he ran toward the door. "Wait for me, oh, I'll show you my big treasure in a moment."
As he spoke, under the increasingly curious gaze of Gryffindor, Ian left the Room of Requirement through the door and quickly returned with a small bowl.
"You are indeed still here."
He was slightly out of breath.
"Of course I'm here. Don't be fooled by the fact that I'm just a portrait; my curiosity is as strong as my real self." The Gryffindor portrait's gaze fell on the bowl in Ian's hand.
"Yes, yes, I know. I have a friend who is quite similar to you in that regard." Ian sighed in relief as he poured the contents of the bowl into the one he had just vigorously stirred.
He carefully began to mix again.
"You want to refine a potion to find my location?" The Gryffindor portrait, just as Ian had expected, couldn't contain its curiosity and asked eagerly.
"And what about the big treasure you said you would show me?"
In some aspects, he and Pandora shared similar traits; if their curiosity wasn't satisfied, they would feel uncomfortable. This was likely a nature shared by every adventurer.
"I not only brew potions; my alchemy skills are quite impressive as well. I've also researched your kind of portraits, so..." Ian had the Room of Requirement conjure a ladder.
He leaned the ladder against the wall and climbed up to the portrait high above.
"I also know some techniques of painters, not that I'm particularly outstanding, but it should be enough." Looking at the ever-curious Gryffindor portrait, Ian beamed with a bright smile and began to paint with a brush made from bone. His drawing skills made it difficult for Gryffindor to discern what he was creating.
Thus.
Gryffindor leaned in closer to where Ian was painting.
"Are you drawing an animal?"
He tried to make out the new shapes appearing in the portrait.
"I'm drawing a dog."
Ian nodded.
In fact, his drawing skills had improved significantly, and the final product was somewhat recognizable, though the appearance of the hellhound looked rather ugly.
This actually fits quite well with what Ian wanted to depict.
"You want it to smell my scent and then use the connection between portraits to find my location? That is indeed a very clever method."
Gryffindor suddenly understood.
(To Be Continued…)