The Return to Hogwarts

"Generally speaking, after the owner of a vault passes away, ownership of the vault first goes to the heir designated in the wizard's will. If the wizard did not leave a will, the vault will be transferred to the descendants of his family. If none of them are descendants, then it belongs to the Ministry of Magic. However, there are some special cases."

"For example?"

"For example, this vault, which has been sealed for a thousand years, belongs to Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts."

"Borgrod said respectfully,"

"The Slytherin family treasury automatically passed to the next Slytherin heir after Salazar Slytherin's death."

His personal vault was under an agreement with Gringotts. Only someone carrying a sigilly symbol would automatically become the owner of that vault upon arriving at Gringotts. Before that, neither we goblins nor the Ministry of Magic had the right to open that vault. So, whatever Salazar Slytherin left in his vault, those things... should still be there, because according to records, no one has ever brought this sigilly symbol to Gringotts in the past thousand years.”

Staring at the badge in his hand, Amosta fell into a long silence.

It must be said that compared to the ways Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff left messages for themselves, Slytherin's method was indeed safe, but it seemed rather unoriginal.

This seems to differ from Salazar Slytherin's own style, who, according to various documents, was a proud and gifted pure-blood wizard who refused to be second to anyone.

But he didn't put much thought into how to leave a revelation for Amosta.

Moreover, of the four founders of Hogwarts, Amosta has met three, but the founder of the house he came from has yet to show himself.

Across a thousand years, Amosta could vaguely sense the legend standing upstream in time rejecting him?

It's likely that this isn't just because he's entirely Muggle-born and doesn't fit Salazar Slytherin's aesthetic standards, or perhaps, in Salazar Slytherin's eyes, he's even inferior to wizards of Muggle origin.

Because the four leaders know they come from beyond the heavens, it's possible that Salazar Slytherin might have had outsiders enter this world hoping to peek into the mysteries of magic.

Chapter 971 Falling into Lava

2024-06-12

Amosta's sudden silence made the goblin Boglerod, who was in charge of Gringotts in England, uneasy.

In fact, fairies are not as faithful to contracts and obligations as most wizards believe. For some wizarding treasuries that have been confirmed to have lost their heirs, fairies have been sharing the wealth with officials of the Ministry of Magic for many years, until the Minister of Magic came to them and said that the matter had been exposed, and the situation improved.

Even those vaults where an agreement is made with the fairies, granting inheritance rights upon possession of a token or fulfillment of certain conditions, will be 'periodically cleaned' if left unattended for too long.

But Bogrod had just frantically reviewed the internal documents and found that Salazar Slytherin's own vault was perfectly safe. This was not because they didn't covet the treasures inside, but because the vault door was protected by Slytherin's own magic, which the goblins couldn't open.

"Mr. Blaine?"

Borgorod nervously wiped the sweat from his wrinkled forehead. He had heard rumors that Amostra Blaine had approached Mr. Barna at Gringotts' Paris headquarters, demanding that the British Gringotts branch provide a list of the wizarding vaults they had illegally opened and seized, as well as a list of the profits split with Ministry of Magic officials.

"Are you going to Salazar Slytherin's personal vault?"

"Oh, of course--"

Amostella snapped back to reality, glancing at the cold sweat on Bougrod's forehead and his evasive eyes, a thought flickering in his mind. He smiled and nodded.

"Then, would you please show me the way?"

“It is my honor, Mr. Blaine!”

Bogrod bowed deeply, secretly relieved. The goblins' fear of Amostra Blaine wasn't just because he was considered by most wizards to be the most powerful wizard of their time, but also because of his good working relationship with Mr. Barna.

Let's go--

Amosta, who followed Borgero to the door, noticed that Amelia hadn't followed. Instead, she was standing by the sofa, watching his back with anticipation in her eyes. When she heard Amosta calling her, her reserved expression immediately brightened with joy.

Compared to when she first met Amelia, she was noticeably more 'lively' now. This was probably because she had unconsciously found support in her heart.

"Gringotts' vault is underground, right?"

Amelia tilted her head and asked curiously,

"How do we get underground? Through the fireplace?"

"Oh--"

Amosta shrugged.

"I haven't been there either, but I've heard that it uses a rather uncomfortable tool."

After fetching a jingling little bag, Bougrod led them through a door embedded in the side wall of the magnificent hall, into a rough stone corridor. Torches burning brightly on the thick stone pillars on both sides provided illumination for the dark, damp space.

Amosta did not have a vault in Gringotts, and this was his first time here as well. His curious gaze swept around, and he saw a track next to the stone platform he was standing on, leading straight into the bottomless darkness.

As soon as Bogrod whistled, a whooshing sound came from the thick darkness, and a 'mine cart' that looked similar to the small cart used to enter the underground world of Knockdown Lane rattled across the tracks and came to a stop beside them.

Bogrod, carrying an oil lamp, was the first to jump onto the cart, squeezing his body to make room for Amosta and Amelia.

Haven't you considered switching to a more comfortable mode of transportation?

As Amosta stepped onto the cart, half-jokingly and half-complainingly, he reached out his hand to Amelia, whose face was already turning pale on the stone platform, and pulled her up as well.

“You know, Mr. Blaine—”

The old vixen smiled shyly.

Fairies don't like to spend gold on things that have no value.

"There are short-term and long-term ways to make money. Forget it, let's go."

Amosta shook his head, gripping the railing with one hand and holding onto Amelia's arm with the other.

Suddenly, the dilapidated little car started moving and got faster and faster.

The icy air whistled past Amosta's ears, drowning out Amelia's short screams and sobs.

The car twisted and turned through the maze-like passageways, sometimes rising and sometimes plunging like a free fall. The powerful centrifugal force when it made sharp turns among the dense stalactites was difficult for even Amosta, whose physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary Muggles and wizards, to resist.

Another precipitous freefall followed, sending chills down Amelia's spine. The speed nearing impact exceeded the limits of her dynamic vision; everything went black, and she could see nothing. The suffocating feeling made her cling tightly to Amosta's arm.

"Oh, that won't do—"

Just then, Amelia heard Amosta beside her say that he sounded just as distressed.

Just as the car beneath them was about to slide down the steep slope to a gentler slope, Amosta's figure suddenly blurred and turned into a phantom in the blink of an eye. Amelia's arms were suddenly empty, and before she could even scream, she found herself also losing her form.

The speeding car, carrying the old demon and two cotton-like phantoms, continued its frantic journey.

“I feel much better now,” Amosta said with a sigh of relief.

Although the intense pressure exerted on her body had disappeared, the fleeting light and shadows before her eyes still made Amelia tense. She was on edge, afraid to make a sound. Moreover, she didn't know how to speak in this state.

They were now very deep beneath Gringotts. The slightly cool air that had first entered the tunnel suddenly became scorching hot. This was not caused by the fire dragon that Amost had seen earlier, which had been driven away by Bogorod with the jingle, but by the geothermal heat surging upwards from the very depths.

The narrow, winding stone path was filled with the smell of sulfurous white smoke, and they were conservatively estimated to be nearly twenty miles underground.

"The fairy's madness astonished me—"

Gazing at the faint, hazy red light emanating from the passage ahead, Amosta's solemn voice entered Borgrod's mind.

"You actually dug out the lava?"

"This wasn't done by a fairy, Mr. Blaine!"

The fairy's constitution is truly perplexing. Even with such incredible speed, the old fairy Bogard still has energy to spare. He said calmly,

“Deep beneath Diagon Alley lies a subterranean cavity connected to the Earth’s core; we’ve simply connected it to the surface. We’re almost there, Mr. Blaine, oh dear!”

They burst out of the narrow passageway, and a colossal underground cavern unfolded before Amosta and Amelia in a magnificent display!

They seemed to be approaching the sun, and everything in sight was crimson. This crimson light came from the bottom of the cave, and the intense heat and dazzling light emitted by the boiling magma underground made Amosta feel breathless!

The car they were in was still sliding uncontrollably toward the lava, and at that speed, it would probably crash into the lava in less than ten seconds!

call--

Just at this critical moment, Amosta suddenly reappeared, his face fierce as he swung his wand. Bogrod, who was desperately trying to brake, felt his body suddenly lighten. A powerful force pulled him from the car speeding towards the center of the earth into the air, and then landed on a protruding platform on a steep rock wall. As soon as he stood firm, a magical barrier covered him, keeping out the unbearable heat!

"what happened?"

As the small cart plunged into the lava with a splash, sending up a few sparks, Amosta, his cheeks flushed red in the firelight, stared sharply at Borgrod.

"I doubt Slytherin's vaults are located in lava, right?"

"Oh--"

The old monster itself was terrified; its dark green skin turned deathly pale. It stared fearfully at the cart disappearing into the lava, and said in a trembling voice,

“Oh, of course not, Mr. Blaine. I think it’s perfectly normal for that vault to be open.”

"Was it set up normally?"

Amosta asked, squinting.

"Yes. But as you know, a thousand years have passed, and the underground magma has risen considerably. Oh, this isn't a place Gringotts goblins often frequent. We...we overlooked it—"

"so?"

Amosta's eye twitched.

"Is that vault really underwater now?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Blaine, I... I think that's exactly the case."

The old witch, Baogrod, said with a mournful face.

Chapter 972 Entering the Magma

2024-06-12

Hundreds of feet above the churning sea of ​​lava, Amosta, Amelia, and the old goblin Bogard stared at the magical barrier, standing on a protruding rock platform on the steep cliff face.