Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 114 113. Portraits of ancestors and things in the family secret vault

The two brothers joked with each other. If Dudley was able to get along normally with Harry at the beginning because Harry almost destroyed the concrete earth element at 4 Privet Drive a year ago, which undoubtedly made Dudley feel frightened at the time... Well, this doesn't seem to be considered normal getting along.

In short, Dudley and Harry now finally have a normal feeling of cousin relationship. Of course, part of the reason is the change in Harry over the past year, and the other part is the candies and diet potions that Harry sent back.

Perhaps it was also due to the changes in Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's attitudes towards Harry, which greatly influenced Dudley.

Overall, Harry was quite satisfied with this change - at least he didn't need to teach Dudley a lesson like he had taught Draco in the past.

In the corridor, Harry also saw portraits of the Potter ancestors. It wasn't the first time he met them, for Harry had seen many of their faces in the battle with Voldemort last year.

"I'm glad that this house has the breath of life again, son." The portrait of Frémont Potter, Harry's grandfather, looked at him kindly. "It's a pity that I couldn't see you grow up. Your grandmother and I had your father when we were very old, so we could only wait until he got married."

"Not long after James got married, Flemont and I were taken away by dragon pox... We didn't even get to see your birth," said the portrait of Harry's grandmother Euphemia with a look of regret, but then she became relieved. "But it's nice to see you grow up now - do you plan to move back?"

"Yes, Grandma," Harry nodded and said, "I plan to live back here."

"Aha, that's great." An old man wearing ancient clothes beside him said with a smile, "I thought this house would remain dilapidated forever until it collapses... You won't regret coming back, kid."

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"Henry Potter, your great-grandfather," Flemont helped to introduce.

"Yes, I am indeed your great-grandfather, absolutely true." Henry Potter made a joke quite happily. He continued, "Anyway, we are watching in this house, especially the secret vault of the Potter family. Only the direct bloodline of the family can enter there. If you destroy it violently, you will get nothing."

"No one has entered since twelve years ago," Flemont added, "but I don't think you need to expect too much. The most precious thing in the family is actually the invisibility cloak - is it still there?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, "Does it have any secrets?"

"do not know!"

This time, it was Frémont and Henry who answered in unison.

"It has been like that since I inherited it from my father. It is not like other invisibility cloaks that lose their effectiveness over time. It can also defend against some spells. The invisibility effect is amazing." Henry sighed and said, "You don't have to ask other portraits. In fact, your question is a question that every generation of Potter has. Everyone has the same question. No one knows."

Good, this is very Porter.

"Anyway, as long as it can be used, it's fine," Fremont said seriously, "It doesn't matter where it came from, as long as it's useful."

"Okay," Harry sighed.

Most of the Potter ancestors did not seem to have any research interests, or perhaps there were one or two among them who liked to study magic, but there was no progress in the research on invisibility cloaks.

Dumbledore finally got what he wanted. He was no longer a repairman or a porter, but used his magical knowledge seriously and played a more crucial role.

He removed several magic traps that were set up by employees of the Ministry of Magic to prevent some overly crazy wizards from breaking into the Potters' house and destroying something. There were some vicious curses among them that were hidden very deeply. If one was not strong enough or experienced enough, one would definitely miss them and be caught in the trap on the spot.

"Do Aurors also use such powerful curses or hexes?" Harry watched with interest as Dumbledore removed the last trap, which left a deep black hole in the wall. "This can be considered dark magic, right?"

"You have to know, Harry," Dumbledore said, straightening up, "In times of war, especially in that particularly dark moment twelve years ago, many things become less important... At least those people have to survive first."

"I understand," Harry nodded.

The pressure of survival brought by the enemy, the hatred after the death of family members and comrades... In times of war, these are all very common and ordinary things.

"Please, Harry." Dumbledore smiled as he opened the door to the Potter family's underground vault. "I think it would be better for you to go in alone... I will check every part of the house first to make sure everything is safe and there are no hidden dangers."

"Thank you, and thank you for your trouble," Harry said with a slight bow.

"You're welcome, Harry."

Dumbledore did help him a lot, and Harry, just as Dumbledore himself asked, got along with him as a friend in private... It was natural for him to be with anyone.

After watching Dumbledore leave, Harry placed his hand on the doorknob - he could only tell that it was made of some kind of metal, not like iron or copper, and it felt cold to the touch.

Two seconds after Harry placed his hand on it, it suddenly became hot, and then the door opened.

Well, if the whole person and the door sink downwards as a whole it can be considered open, then it is indeed open.

Harry guessed that he had probably passed some kind of verification. If the verification was wrong, the door would open inwards, but that was definitely not the right path. It would probably be full of traps that would eventually kill the intruder.

Only the family heirs who have passed the inspection will sink underground with this door and go to the Potter family's real secret vault - when the sinking trend finally stops, the door will automatically open inward.

call!Hurrah!
Harry pushed the door open completely, and a long corridor appeared in front of him. There were several torches placed on the walls on both sides. As Harry pushed the door open, they lit up one after another from the nearest one, and a blue light could be seen at the end of the corridor.

Even though no one had been here for at least twelve years, Harry did not smell any moldy smell or the smell of air not circulating for a long time in this underground place. The air around him was not only breathable without any abnormality, but even had a fresh scent of pine wood.

Harry began to walk along the corridor. The walls on both sides were not blank, but recorded the history of the Potter family in the form of murals. The wizard in the first mural was standing in front of a table full of bottles and jars. He was wearing strange clothes and a big hat on his head.

Harry guessed that this should be the ancestor who founded the Potter family. According to records, his level of potions was very high.

Subsequent murals were all in a similar style, recording those people who had made great achievements in the family history, that is, the moments of extraordinary achievements in their lives, and some representative pictures.

But for Harry, he had to watch it by guessing...I have to say it was quite interesting.

When Harry walked through the corridor and reached the deepest room, he saw a huge copper plate hanging from the ceiling. The four corners of the copper plate were suspended by four thick chains. In the middle was burning a very beautiful blue-white flame, illuminating the entire room.

According to common sense, when such a huge flame appears in the room, the huge heat it emits will make it impossible for people to get close to it or even enter the room.

But at this moment, Harry had even walked to the copper plate and looked up at the flame, but he still didn't feel any burning sensation, as if the flame was just a pattern. However, when Harry took out a piece of parchment from the dragon skin bag and threw it into the blue-white flame, the parchment was burned clean in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace, not even a speck of ash.

"...Gublai Fairy Fire?" After frowning and thinking carefully for a while, Harry barely found a similar description from the book he had read.

There is not much description of this kind of flame in the book. It is more like a very advanced magic rather than a flame, a spell that creates a magical flame that can burn without fuel and will never go out. Only the top wizards can cast and control it.

It can be said to be a very valuable collection, but at this moment it is used by the ancestors of the Potter family to illuminate the secret room in their own home, which can be regarded as making the best use of it.

On the wall opposite the corridor hung a huge tapestry. Harry walked forward to take a look. It was a tapestry of the family tree of the Potter family.

At the bottom of the tree, Harry couldn't tell what magical animal's hair this blanket was made of. Each name that was swaying slightly on it was embroidered with silver thread mixed with unicorn hair. At the top of the tree, Harry also found his own name.

It is very large, and these names also show that the Potter family has a long history. Following the family tree all the way down, at the root that symbolizes the origin of the family, Harry saw the very first name - Linfred Potter.

There were seven branches extending from Linfred Potter. The first branch started with the name 'Hardwin Potter' embroidered on it, and his wife was Iolanthe Peverell - Harry was at the end of this branch.

Harry also saw many burnt holes in the family tree tapestry, which he guessed meant people who had been disowned or expelled from the family.

...could it be a dud?
Harry had no way of knowing.

The size of this secret vault was about the same as Harry had expected. On the left was a row of stone shelves, and on the right were six rows of bookshelves that were almost as tall as a person, filled with all kinds of books (Harry had decided to save these treasures for last). In addition, there were several large stone platforms with different kinds of strange objects placed on them.

He did not waste too much time in front of the family tree tapestry, but walked towards the stone shelf on the left. Well, it was difficult for Harry to describe this stone shelf. He even suspected that this stone potion table was used by Linfred hundreds of years ago, and a label on the edge of the stone table confirmed Harry's guess.

In addition to this are some potion recipes. Even though the parchment has turned yellow with the passage of time, it is still well preserved under the effect of magic.

Harry picked it up and identified it. It was some of the most popular and famous potion recipes invented by Linfred, such as Bone Growing Spirit and Refresher, which could be regarded as the glorious history of the Potter family. In fact, Harry found that the stone shelf displayed the glorious history of the ancestors of the Potter family.

For example, many Order of Merlin awarded by the Wizengamot are neatly placed in beautiful wooden boxes, with the reasons for obtaining the corresponding Order of Merlin attached.

Well, and then there was a solid gold goblet that had been seized by an ancestor during the goblin rebellion. Harry picked it up and had a look, then discovered the words 'Never Return to Gringotts' engraved on the bottom of the goblin, and there were many other things like that.

Harry: "..."

He somewhat understood why his ancestors chose to build a secret vault at the bottom of the family mansion instead of putting the good things in Gringotts. After all, if many things were seen by goblins, they would indeed cause some...disturbance.

In other words, there are too many things in the Potter family's secret vault that would cause a riot if taken out.

Harry found a sword on the stone table. According to the instructions next to it, it was a replica of the Sword of Gryffindor - forged by goblins who were obsessed with the Sword of Gryffindor, and then stolen by a Potter.

Uh, I'm quite speechless.

There were a lot of these things piled up in small pieces on the stone shelf. Harry lost interest after taking a quick look at them and walked to the other side - a central stone platform. Harry quickly scanned it and suddenly picked up an exquisite glass bottle.

It was about the size of half a palm, and the glass bottle was wrapped with many tight chains. Harry only saw a dried blood stain on the exposed area.

[Broken oath with Blake in 1421]

In the space where the glass bottle is located, there is only this incomplete explanation, without any cause or consequence, which is very mysterious.

In addition, Harry also found some things that looked very dangerous, such as a dagger with blood stains on it. The handle was engraved with the words "For Curse-Breaking Experiments Only". The dark brown stains on the blade seemed to be permanently fixed there, and there was a thick stack of parchment next to it.

Harry flipped through it and found that the contents were all about experiments on how to break the blood curse... and the experiments ultimately failed. The person who was cursed by the blood turned into a bird and flew away without looking back.

Although Harry has heard mostly praises of his parents and the Potter family since entering the wizarding world last year, the ancestors of the Potter family also have a good reputation among their Muggle neighbors.

Most of the children from the Potter family will be sorted into Gryffindor, standing on the opposite side of the Slytherin children who are proud of their pure-blood status and look down on Muggle wizards.

And whenever something happened in the wizarding society in the past, the Potter family would always stand on the side of the majority of the wizarding society and uphold the concept of justice to resist or maintain peace.

No matter how you look at it, this family can be considered a good family, or at least not evil. They do not hate Muggle-born wizards or oppress others, and there have never been any reactionary figures who intend to subvert the magical world.

Even the Muggles who lived in Godric's Hollow had a good opinion of the Potter family and they were very popular neighbors.

But to be honest, Harry felt that many of the things he saw in this secret vault would cause the Ministry of Magic's Aurors to react on the spot if he took them outside.

For example, most of the things placed on the stone table in front of him were either remnants of emergency experiments that were expressly prohibited by the Ministry of Magic, or highly dangerous magic items, or simply blatant dark magic items.

Hmm... Harry suddenly felt that things couldn't be calculated in this way. After all, many things should not have been forbidden many years ago. This was also the heritage of an ancient family.

The expectant Harry Potter finally arrived at the bookshelf he had been waiting for for a long time. These bookshelves were probably cast with corresponding magic to protect the books, so the books were not covered by dust or eaten by insects.

Harry picked up a book at random. On the cover was a monster in a black robe raising its hands in great pain. The face under the hood was as horrible as a dried corpse. It seemed to be being dissected because more than half of its body had been cut apart.

Soul Stitching: Defensive Applications

This is the name of the book. There is no doubt that according to the classification of the Ministry of Magic, this book is a thorough dark magic book. The pages are made of the skin of unknown creatures. Every time a page is turned, a painful groan will be heard in the air.

Harry flipped through it briefly. Although the book was titled Soul Stitching, the content was very crude - the knowledge recorded in it was more like putting a deer and a wolf together and sewing them together directly with needle and thread.

It's full of records of failures, pure garbage.

Harry picked up another book, mainly because of its title - "The Cursed Capacity of the Time-Turner".

(End of this chapter)