The Return to Hogwarts

The fairy behind the counter showed Amelia exceptional respect because of Amosta. He leaned over the high counter and said politely, almost obsequiously,

"If you are unable to come in person to handle the matter, you can entrust a wizard you trust to carry your token, and Gringotts will handle it for you."

"Token of Love--"

Amelia, who had been listening intently to Amosta and Old Nott's conversation, paused, biting her lip in a dilemma.

“Generally speaking, wizards use their wands as tokens of their faith,” Amosta gently reminded him.

"Oh!"

Amelia snapped out of her daze and immediately pulled her wand from her sleeve, handing it to the fairy.

"This lady is—"

Standing to the side, unsure of what to do, old Nott realized that Amosta Blaine hadn't come alone; he had brought a beautiful young girl with him—this was extremely valuable intelligence!

Old Nott's heart skipped a beat. He was certain that the Dark Lord would be interested in this. Dumbledore was just an old man who could hardly wield his wand anymore. Amosta Blaine was indeed terrifying, but with the Dark Lord's trust and protection, Blaine was nothing to be afraid of!

A glint of shrewdness flashed in old Nott's fearful eyes. He feigned normal curiosity and asked cautiously.

"Oh, you're asking about Amelia?"

Amosta pretended not to notice anything, and smiled gently.

“Amelia is a talent I discovered when I was in New York. She was working as an Auror at the time, but she was very talented in alchemy. She gave me many constructive suggestions for improving the learning machine, so I invited her to come back to London with me to work in the workshop on the research and development of the next generation of learning machines.”

"Ah, I see—"

Old Nott nodded politely to Amelia, but a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

He also assumed that the beautiful girl and Amosta had a close relationship, that they were lovers, but if that were the case, then her value to the Dark Lord would be greatly reduced.

"This is your reply, Mr. Nott—"

Having been cursed by Old Nott and turned into an old hag by thousands, he finally finished keeping his tally and handed over a roll of parchment from behind the cabinet.

"Well then, I wish you all the best."

Old Nott stuffed the parchment into his pocket, wiped the sweat from his temples, bowed to Amosta, and finally, under Amosta's deep gaze, his disheveled figure quickly disappeared into the Gringotts hall.

Who is this wizard?

Amelia, who had been listening to their conversation, couldn't help but ask.

"Among the Twenty-Eight Sacred Clans, the current patriarch of the Nott family has a son who is my student, and he himself is a..."

Amostella raised a finger, blocking the eavesdropping of several wizards in the next line who were straining their ears, as well as the goblins behind the counter.

"A registered Death Eater."

"Death Eaters?" Amelia was startled.

Amosta nodded slightly.

"Fourteen years ago, when Voldemort fell from power, not all of his followers were imprisoned. A considerable number, possessing considerable power and status, escaped trial using lies and gold, and have remained at large ever since. However, recently, after Voldemort regained his powers, these lucky escapees returned to his side to continue following him. But they had no choice—"

As Amusta spoke, he led Amelia to a seat at the very front of the hall. An old goblin, seeing them approach, had already risen from his seat and gone around to wait behind the counter.

"Welcome, Mr. Blaine. I am Baogrod. How may I help you?"

"That's how it is—"

Amostella shut out the surrounding sounds again, pondering as she fumbled for something in her bosom, and said...

"I've acquired something that I suspect might be the key to the vault of some ancient, long-lost family. I wonder if you could authenticate it for me—"

As he spoke, Amostella pulled out the Slytherin sigilly he had obtained from the basilisk's belly.

Chapter 970 Salazars: Slytherin's Treasury

2024-06-11

The heavy mithril emblem features the Slytherin family crest in gold, but the most central serpentine 'S' is adorned with pure emeralds. Additionally, the sides of the crest are engraved with goblin-style patterns.

The moment the old goblin saw the emblem, his eyes widened; he had clearly noticed something that Amost had not recognized.

"Without a doubt, without a doubt--"

Bogrod accepted the tribal emblem from Amosta with both hands. His long, slender fingers first traced the patterns on the side, his solemn gaze falling upon them through his reading glasses. A low murmur of astonishment filled his voice.

"This item is clearly from the hand of a fairy, very ancient and historically significant. If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Blaine, the fairy clan to which these patterns belonged has long since vanished into the annals of history. Moreover, this badge clearly belongs to... Oh, where did you obtain this, Mr. Blaine?"

"This question shouldn't be among those that require a response?"

Amosta asked calmly,

"So, is this what I think it is?"

“I’m very sorry, Mr. Blaine, I can’t answer you immediately—”

Bougrod's eyes flickered, and after a moment's hesitation, he bowed slightly to Amosta.

"The history of this object is older than I imagined. I need to consult some materials, which will take some time."

"It doesn't matter,"

Amosta raised his hand, indicating that he didn't mind.

"I can wait here, but please do it as soon as possible. Also, I don't want too many people to see it."

"Of course, I will keep it a secret for you."

After saying this, the elderly goblin had a young goblin lead Amosta and Amelia to the reception room to rest, while he himself strode nimbly into the area that was not open to the public.

Amostella didn't touch the sherry the fairies offered. Instead, she looked with interest at the introductions of the past leaders of the Gringotts branch in England hanging on the wall of the reception room. Turning her head, she saw Amelia sitting on the sofa with a restrained expression, and smiled slightly.

"The emblem on that badge is the Slytherin family sigil."

"The Slytherin family?"

A surge of excitement at being trusted welled up within Amelia, and she asked, her eyes wide.

"Is he Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts?"

That's right--

Amosta nodded slightly.

"You may have heard about the famous Chamber of Secrets incident at Hogwarts a couple of years ago?"

"You captured a basilisk in that secret chamber, said to have been left behind by Salazar Slytherin himself!"

Amelia said quickly,

"I've read reports that this is a Hogwarts school legend, that Slytherin left that Chamber of Secrets to... well, to purge the school of Muggle-blooded wizards?"

"In fact, the truth is somewhat different, but that's another story,"

Amosta did not elaborate.

“At the time, I handed the basilisk over to the Ministry of Magic, but they couldn’t deal with it, so I handed it over to Newt Scamander. When I went to New York this time, Newt told me that he found this badge while treating the basilisk’s bad teeth and thought I might need it.”

The story of Salazar Slytherin leaving a family crest in the fang of his 'pet', which eventually fell into the hands of Amostall Blaine a thousand years later, is truly legendary!

Of course, this matter is unlikely to be so simple, but Amelia had no intention of prying into all of Amosta's secrets, and was already satisfied after hearing what she had heard.

In fact, the waiting time was not as long as Amosta had imagined. Half an hour later, Bougerd walked into the reception room with Amosta's badge and a dusty booklet.

"How is the result?"

Amosta's tone subtly revealed anticipation.

"Is this badge the key to the Slytherin family's vault?"

Under the watchful eyes of Amosta and Amelia, the old goblin, Borgrod, slowly shook his head.

"I regret to inform you, Mr. Blaine, that according to records, Salazar Slytherin exhausted the Slytherin family's wealth a thousand years ago. The vault used to support Hogwarts' operations was recovered by us goblins and given to other wizards. As for this badge—"

Bogrod floated the large booklet he was holding to Amosta's front. Protected by magic, the well-preserved booklet flipped through several pages with a rustling sound, and finally, a pattern identical to the badge came into Amosta's view.

"So to say?"

Amosta's gaze sharpened.

"You guessed right, this badge is indeed the key to an ancient vault."

Bogrod nodded solemnly.

"It's not the Slytherin family's treasury, Mr. Blaine, but Salazar Slytherin's own treasury!"

Salazar Slytherin's own vault

Even Amosta's heart skipped a beat when he heard these words.

"So--"

Amosta's expression turned solemn.

"Am I, who possesses this sigilly, qualified to open Salazar Slytherin's own vault?"

Bogrod nodded, then stood on tiptoe and pointed with a long finger to a series of patterns below the coat of arms on the booklet. These patterns were in the same style as the patterns on the side outline of the coat of arms, but the specific designs were different.

“Look, Mr. Blaine—”

Bogrod's fingertips traced the patterns.