Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1625: The Empty Vault

In the blink of an eye, the boiling magma grew more intense.

It began to surge like waves, slamming against the rocks and splashing outward, seemingly poised to erupt at any moment.

It was as if some monstrous creature hidden beneath was about to break free.

The dragon roared and circled low overhead, sending waves of restless agitation through its magical link with Evan.

It wanted to flee, but Evan restrained it, and it began to resist the Imperius Curse.

Evan increased his magical power, forcing the dragon back under control, but that was only what could be seen on the surface. The invisible surges of magic around them were even more terrifying.

“This magic.” Harry paused, bewildered.

“Keep going, Harry!” Evan shouted. Raising his wand, he conjured a magical barrier that enveloped them in protection.

The splattering magma was blocked by the shield. Harry glanced at Evan, then began reciting the inscription on the door once more.

It was a guiding spell, requiring no exceptional strength from the caster. As long as Harry could recite the Parseltongue inscription on the vault door, the power of the inscription would activate the magic resident there, unlocking the vault.

Evan could sense that as Harry began hissing in Parseltongue, the surrounding magic began to converge towards Slytherin’s locket at the center of the door. The locket was gathering and attracting magic, as it had done so many times before. The vast magic floating in the molten lava began to converge under its pull, converging on the locket, where it was then transformed and channeled as energy towards the Parseltongue inscriptions on either end.

Infused with energy, the Parseltongue inscriptions on the door glowed golden.

This was the color of energy; the golden radiance of the inscriptions on the door was the color of the magic originally dissolved in the lava.

The light grew increasingly brighter. When the infused energy reached its peak, the door would open. This was precisely why Salazar Slytherin had built the vault there. The depth underground provided natural protection from intruders through molten defenses, and at the same time, it ensured a near-limitless source of magic to power the opening of this extraordinary gate.

As the spell progressed, more and more of the inscriptions were covered in golden light, until the glow spread across the entire door.

Infused with powerful magical energy, the dark gold slowly flowed upward, eventually merging into the emeralds that formed the Slytherin family crest.

Like the incantations on the door, the emeralds illuminated, emitting a faint green glow.

One, two, three…

In a flash, the entire Slytherin crest was filled with magical energy, and the capital S seemed to come alive.

It loomed like a serpent, gazing down imperiously at Harry as he recited the spell, as if ready to strike at any moment. However, this worrying scene did not occur. Almost as soon as the magic filled the crest, the great door gave a resounding click and split open from the center, where the wand-shaped indentation lay, revealing a dark opening beyond.

The next second, the trembling stopped.

Everything returned to calm. They had opened the Slytherin family vault.

After a thousand years sealed away, this ancient vault was once again opened.

By the glow of the molten lava, a circular chamber could be vaguely seen inside.

Inside, there were no piles of gold, silver, and jewels like in other vaults. Instead, shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling.

“We’ve opened it! Salazar Slytherin’s vault!” said Hermione excitedly, gripping Evan’s hand tightly. “It’s unbelievable.”   

“Yeah, but this is happening right before our eyes. Let’s go in and see what Salazar Slytherin left behind,” said Evan.

“Wait, Evan!” Hermione quickly stopped him. “Are you sure there’s no other magic in there?”

“Is it safe?” Harry asked, still reeling from the magic that had just opened the vault door.

“Well … hard to say. Wizards usually don’t trust goblins completely, so they often cast their own protective enchantments on their vaults to keep things from being stolen. Like the Lestrange vault — everything inside it was covered in deadly enchantments. But I don’t think Slytherin would have used anything like that,” said Evan, peering cautiously inside. “Besides, I can’t sense any traces of magic. There shouldn’t be any other spells. In fact, it looks like there’s … nothing here at all.”

The shelves were bare, or perhaps there had been something there, but a thousand years had long since reduced whatever it was to dust.

It was truly depressing. They had gone to so much trouble to open Salazar Slytherin’s vault, but there was no treasure inside.

No legendary magical items, no ancient spellbooks, no powerful potions, not even gold or silver. Nothing.

“Shrewd Slytherin, from fen! He only trusted wizards of the purest blood. No Mudblood would gain anything from him!” Evan murmured softly, quoting the Sorting Hat’s song, as he led Harry, Hermione, and Elaine inside. “Careful, see if you can find anything.”

Evan gazed at the empty vault. Could it be that Slytherin had anticipated his opening?

So, he had moved everything away long ago, simply because Evan wasn’t a pureblood?

It sounded absurd, but considering Salazar Slytherin’s character, it wasn’t impossible.

Or perhaps one of Slytherin’s descendants had already opened the vault and taken everything within.

Given the span of a thousand years, that possibility was quite likely too.

“There’s nothing here,” said Elaine jokingly. “Looks like my ancestor didn’t intend to leave me anything.”

“Perhaps that’s the main reason why the goblins never showed much interest in this place,” said Evan. “Though the result is regrettable, we…”

“Evan, Harry, come over and look at this!” Hermione suddenly called out, stopping at a wall.

Had she found something? The wall she was facing was directly beneath the Slytherin family crest.

Evan and the others hurried over; and there, in an unremarkable corner of the wall, was a small silver snake etched into the stone.

Another Chamber of Secrets!

Salazar Slytherin really loved creating Chambers of Secrets. The silver snake on the wall was exactly the same as the entrance to the school’s Chamber of Secrets.

“Open!” Harry stepped forward and hissed in Parseltongue at the silver snake.

The snake seemed to understand his words and swam forward.

The next second, the wall shook and slid apart to either side, revealing an opening and a staircase spiraling downward.

“Alright, alright, it’s another Chamber of Secrets. Pay close attention and tell us if you see anything unusual.” said Evan as he walked in first. “Cunning Salazar Slytherin, huh… seems he liked to play little tricks on us, hiding secrets everywhere. What a nuisance!”

Translating_Wizard

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