The heavy goblin silver badge appeared in his hand boring the Slytherin family crest cast in pure gold that had resisted tarnishing over the centuries. At its very center, forming the heart of the design, the serpentine 'S' with its elegantly snaking body was meticulously inlaid with emerald of exceptional quality.
Additionally, around the crest's edges in a careful border, intricate goblin-style patterns were engraved with masterful meticulousness, the kind of work that belonged to ancient craftsmanship and now lost to time.
The moment he saw this particular crest, the elderly goblin Bogrod's eyes widened behind his spectacles, his pupils were dilating with shock. He had clearly recognized something significant that Bryan, despite his wide knowledge, had not fully understood.
"Without a doubt, without a doubt—this is authentic—"
Bogrod took the crest from Bryan with both hands, handling it with reverence. His twisted fingers first ran carefully over the patterns engraved around the edges, tracing them as if reading braille script.
His solemn gaze fell upon those ancient markings through his reading glasses as he muttered in barely contained shock, his voice trembling slightly,
"This object was clearly crafted by goblin hands, yes—I can see the distinctive techniques. Very ancient work... with a long, distinguished history. If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Watson, the specific goblin clan to which these particular patterns belonged, whose signature style this represents, has long since vanished completely into the river of history.
Moreover, this badge clearly belongs to— Oh, where exactly did you obtain this remarkable artifact, Mr. Watson?"
"That question shouldn't fall within the scope of what must be answered, should it?"
Bryan asked calmly. "I'm not obligated to reveal my sources. Well? Is it what I think it is? What I came here to verify?"
"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Watson, I cannot answer you immediately with certainty—"
Bogrod's eyes flickered with internal debate. After a moment's hesitation, weighing his options, he bowed slightly to Bryan with respect. "This object's history is far more ancient than I had initially imagined when you first showed it to me. I must consult some very old records, archived materials from our deepest vaults, which will take some significant time to locate and verify."
"That's fine, I understand the need for thoroughness," Bryan raised his hand gracefully, indicating he didn't mind the delay. "I can wait here patiently. But please be as quick as you practically can, and I'd prefer not too many people to see this particular item or know about this inquiry. Discretion would be appreciated."
"Of course, absolute discretion. I shall keep this matter completely confidential for you, Mr. Watson. You have my word."
With that solemn promise, the elderly goblin gestured, and a young goblin clerk appeared to lead Bryan and Amelia to a private reception room to rest comfortably while they waited.
Meanwhile, Bogrod himself, clutching the badge carefully, strode briskly into a restricted area not open to the public.
Bryan didn't touch the fine sherry the attentive goblins had brought on a silver tray, instead began examining with genuine interest the portraits of past directors of Gringotts' British branch hanging on the reception room walls in frames. Each portrait showed a stern-faced goblin.
Turning his head, he noticed Amelia's somewhat restrained expression as she sat primly on the leather sofa, clearly uncertain how to behave in such a situation. He smiled slightly, deciding to ease her tension. "The pattern on that badge is the Slytherin family crest, one of the most famous symbols in British magical history."
"The Slytherin family?"
A surge of excitement at being trusted with this information rose warmly in Amelia's heart. She widened her eyes with fascination and asked eagerly, "You mean Salazar Slytherin... one of Hogwarts' four founders? One of the most legendary wizards who ever lived?"
"Exactly—"
Bryan nodded slightly, pleased she made the connection so quickly. "You may have heard about the Chamber of Secrets incident at Hogwarts two years ago that caused quite a significant stir in the British magical community?"
"You caught a basilisk in that chamber, supposedly left behind by Salazar Slytherin himself over a thousand years ago!"
Amelia said quickly, her words tumbling out with enthusiasm. "I read about it in the papers—it made news even in America! It's a Hogwarts legend that people still used to debate. Slytherin supposedly left that chamber to... um, purge the school of Muggle-born students? Though that always seemed extreme..."
"In fact, the truth differs somewhat from the popular legend and media reports," Bryan said carefully, though he didn't elaborate on the specifics.
"But that's another story, a longer conversation. What matters now is this: at the time, I handed that basilisk over to the Ministry of Magic for official handling, but they couldn't properly deal with such a dangerous creature. No one had the expertise. So, they gave the basilisk to Newt Scamander."
Bryan paused, making sure Amelia was following.
"When I went to New York on business, Newt told me that while treating the basilisk's multiple bad fangs from centuries of poor dental care, apparently even magical snakes suffer from such things—he discovered this badge in the creature's mouth. He thought I might have use for it."
Salazar Slytherin had left a family crest hidden in his 'pet's' venomous fangs, and after a full thousand years of waiting it had fallen into Bryan Watson's hands—now that sounded truly legendary!
Like something from a storybook.
Of course, Amelia's sharp mind recognized that the matter was surely not quite that simple, that there were undoubtedly other things Bryan wasn't sharing. But she had absolutely no desire to pry into all of Bryan's secrets uninvited. Having heard this much, being trusted with even this information, she was already quite satisfied and felt honored.
In fact, the wait wasn't nearly as long as Bryan had pessimistically imagined. Barely half an hour later, Bogrod returned to the reception room carrying Bryan's badge with great care and a dust-covered tome that looked ancient.
"What's the result?"
Bryan's tone held a hint of genuine anticipation, his posture straightening. "Is this badge the key to the Slytherin family vault?"
Under the attentive, curious eyes of both Bryan and Amelia, who leaned forward with interest, old goblin Bogrod slowly shook his head with what looked like disappointment.
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Watson. According to our most ancient records, the Slytherin family vault, the main family holdings—a thousand years ago, Salazar Slytherin had already exhausted the significant wealth in that family vault to support Hogwarts' operations during its founding years.
Building a castle of that size, maintaining the enchantments, acquiring books and supplies, it nearly bankrupted the family coffers. That vault was subsequently reclaimed by us goblins and given to other wizards to use. It's been reassigned multiple times over the centuries. As for this badge—"
Bogrod made the ancient tome in his hands float in front of Bryan with a gesture. Under careful magical protection that kept the fragile pages from crumbling, the remarkably well-preserved book flipped through several pages with a soft rustle, until finally, an illustration identical to the badge appeared before Bryan's eyes.
"So then?"
Bryan's gaze sharpened with interest, leaning forward. "What does this mean?"
"You guessed correctly in your suspicions, this badge is indeed the key to an ancient vault sealed for centuries," Bogrod nodded solemnly, his expression grave. "Not the Slytherin family vault as you initially thought, Mr. Watson, but Salazar Slytherin's personal vault!!"
Salazar Slytherin's personal vault.
Even Bryan's heart lurched violently upon hearing these words, his pulse quickening. A thousand-year-old vault belonging to one of history's greatest wizards, unopened all this time.
"Then—"
Bryan's expression grew intensely solemn. "As the current holder of this family crest, am I qualified to open Salazar Slytherin's personal vault? Do I have the right?"
Bogrod nodded slowly. Standing on tiptoe to better reach, he extended one bony finger to point at a series of intricate patterns positioned below the crest image in the ancient book.
These patterns were in the same distinctive style as those engraved on the crest's edges, but the specific designs were not identical, there were subtle variations that carried meaning.
"You see, Mr. Watson—"
Bogrod's fingertip traced carefully over those patterns, following their flow.
"Generally speaking, after the owner of a vault passes away, ownership of the vault first goes to the heir specifically designated in the wizard's official will, if one exists.
If the wizard left no will, then the vault is automatically transferred to direct descendants of his family line—children, grandchildren, and so forth. If there are no living descendants at all, then ownership defaults to the Ministry of Magic, who may claim the contents. But there are also some special cases, uncommon arrangements that deviate from this standard practice."
"Such as?" Bryan prompted.
"Such as this very vault, sealed for a full thousand years, belonging to one of Hogwarts' four legendary founders—Salazar Slytherin's private vault," Bogrod said with deep respect obvious in his tone.
"The Slytherin family vault was automatically passed to the next heir of the Slytherin family after Salazar Slytherin himself passed away—that followed normal inheritance procedures.
However, his personal vault was bound by a very specific, unusual agreement with Gringotts: only someone bearing this exact token who comes to Gringotts and presents it would automatically become the rightful owner of that vault.
Before that moment, neither we goblins nor the Ministry of Magic have any right to open that vault or claim its contents. So, whatever Salazar Slytherin left in his vault for safekeeping, those things should... still be there, completely untouched, because according to our records, in the entire thousand years since his death, no one has ever come to Gringotts bearing this crest. You are the first, Mr. Watson."
Gazing at the badge resting in his palm, feeling its weight and significance, Bryan fell into a long, contemplative silence.
It must be said that compared to the creative and personally meaningful ways Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff had left him information and guidance, Slytherin's method was indeed secure and practical, but distinctly lacked originality or personal touch.
It was almost... cold.
This seemed somewhat inconsistent with what Bryan knew of Salazar Slytherin's own character and style from historical accounts.
In various ancient documents and preserved records, his House's founder was consistently described as a proud and exceptionally gifted 'pure-blood' wizard who refused to be subordinate to anyone, who valued clever solutions and ambitious plans. He was said to be a wizard of exceptional vision and creativity.
Yet in the way he had chosen to leave guidance for Bryan, he hadn't put much apparent thought or creativity into it. Just a simple vault with a token, it was functional but impersonal.
Moreover, so far Bryan had met three of Hogwarts' four founders in various magical forms. Yet only the founder of his own house, the one whose values Bryan had been sorted under, had been conspicuously reluctant to show himself directly, to speak with/to him.
Across the vast thousand-year span of time, across the immense gulf separating their eras, Bryan could faintly sense that the legendary figure standing in the distant upstream of time felt... rejection toward him?
Or at least reservation, caution, distrust.
Perhaps this wasn't merely because he was of completely Muggle origin and didn't meet Salazar Slytherin's famously stringent aesthetic standards for proper wizards. Or rather, in Salazar Slytherin's eyes, Bryan probably couldn't even compare favorably to ordinary Muggle-born wizards.
He might be viewed as something worse, something other.
Because the Four Founders all probably surely knew the truth that Bryan had came from beyond this world, from another dimension or reality. It wouldn't be surprising at all if Salazar Slytherin harbored suspicious thoughts, even hostile ones, about an otherworldly being entering his world and attempting to peer into its magical secrets.
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