Several hundred feet above the churning, restless sea of magma, Bryan, Amelia, and the old goblin Bogrod stood on a narrow protruding rocky platform extending from the steep cliff. They stared out at the hellish landscape in front of them, the barrier Bryan had conjured being the only thing standing between them and certain death.
With her back pressed against the scorching rock wall behind her, Amelia gazed at the boiling lava pool far below in a daze for quite a while. The hypnotic, churning motion of the molten rock, the way it glowed and throbbed like a living thing, held her captivated. It took several moments before she finally snapped back to reality, shaking off the stupor.
Realizing something, she quickly turned her head to look toward Bryan, expecting to see disappointment or frustration across his face. But to her surprise, she found no such expression of defeat on his face.
Bryan was also observing the magma pool below with intense concentration. He narrowed his eyes against the bright glare, his sharp gaze seemingly trying to pierce through the physical obstruction of the glowing lava to somehow explore and perceive what might lay hidden beneath its burning surface.
Unfortunately, magma—this primal creation of nature infused with extraordinary elemental power made the magical force within the entire cave space chaotically turbulent beyond measure.
The magical interference was so severe it completely prevented Bryan from successfully sensing what might be concealed below, no matter how he focused his abilities.
"Do you have any way to confirm whether the vault below is still intact?"
After a moment of fruitless concentration, Bryan finally abandoned the futile attempt with a small exhale. His gaze shifted away from the magma and fell instead upon the nervous Bogrod.
Bryan's question made Bogrod even more panicked than he'd already been. He could tell with certainty that Bryan Watson cared deeply what was in Salazar Slytherin's vault.
Of course he did—what wizard with any sense of history or ambition could possibly refuse the personal legacy of the great Slytherin? One of the four founders of Hogwarts, one of the most powerful wizards who had ever lived?
Whether one considered Bryan Watson's tremendously high status among the general wizarding people, or his significant standing and influence in the eyes of the goblin leadership at Gringotts' highest levels, he possessed more than enough power and connections to utterly ruin Bogrod's career and possibly his life.
Moreover, the uncomfortable truth was that allowing Slytherin's priceless vault to sink unnoticed into magma was primarily the goblins' responsibility in the first place. They should have been monitoring all vaults, especially one so historically significant. This was a disastrous failure of their duties.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Watson, I... we don't have..."
The goblin bent so low in his apology that his bowed head nearly touched his own feet. He trembled, awaiting whatever punishment or rage might come.
Upon hearing this admission of complete helplessness, Bryan showed no sign of anger or disappointment. Instead, he simply stood there quietly, staring with intense focus at the family crest resting in his palm.
The crest still emanated a faint, pleasant coolness against his skin despite the heat surrounding them. He fell into deep, contemplative thought.
Would Salazar Slytherin really make such a basic careless error? Would a wizard of his power and meticulous nature allow his personal vault to simply sink into magma and be destroyed by geological forces he could easily have predicted?
It seemed inconsistent with everything history recorded about the man.
Before Bryan's eye appeared a vivid memory from deep beneath Hogwarts—that mysterious chamber hidden within the Chamber of Secrets, that vast cave-like space with the imposing statue of young Slytherin standing guard before the door that had remained impossible to open to this very day.
Salazar Slytherin had been a proud, unyielding, and brilliantly talented wizard by all historical accounts. Every record agreed on this.
Arrogant, certainly but not foolish. Haughty and superior in demeanor, undoubtedly yet not truly evil.
The Hogwarts Four founders had united for a singular purpose: resisting the ancient progenitor of all Dark wizards, a threat that might bring catastrophic harm to the entire world.
This was such a monumentally important matter, such a grave responsibility, that all Four legendary founders had to join forces to respond to Merlin's mysterious arrangements laid down in even more ancient history, plans within plans stretching back centuries.
Would Salazar Slytherin, carrying such weighty responsibility, really be so careless and short-sighted about something as important as his personal vault?
The answer, Bryan concluded, was absolutely not.
Bryan found himself more inclined to believe an alternative explanation: that Slytherin hadn't failed to consider the minor geological troubles his vault would inevitably face a thousand years in the future—he simply hadn't bothered taking conventional preventative measures, because the vault he'd left behind had been specifically designed and enchanted so that it would not be damaged by mere magma at all.
"Approximately where is Slytherin's vault located, exactly? Can you at least tell me that?"
Amid the deep, continuous rumbling roar of the magma lake below, Bryan's surprisingly calm voice somehow reached Bogrod's ears clearly despite the ambient noise. The question caused the numerous wrinkles creasing the goblin's forehead to suddenly smooth out in shock and new understanding.
"You're planning to actually go down into the magma yourself, Bryan?!"
Amelia's voice rang out with alarm before Bogrod could respond.
The awe-inspiring natural creation before them—this window into the Earth's molten heart had given Amelia's soul a tremendous shock, filled her with awe. The mythic, almost biblical grandeur of this place pressed down upon her consciousness, oppressing her senses, making it genuinely difficult to draw full breaths even within the barrier.
But upon hearing Bryan's question to Bogrod, she immediately awakened from her stupor. She whirled to face him with wide, frightened eyes, her expression was deeply anxious and concerned.
"I believe that vault hasn't been destroyed by the magma, Amelia. I believe it's still intact down there."
Bryan offered no detailed explanation for his conviction, no more reasoning. He merely stated this conclusion calmly.
"Actually, we're almost directly above it right now. The vault is located at the very top of this particular track system," Bogrod explained nervously, his voice trembling slightly as he pointed down with one finger toward the glowing magma.
"There are some other vaults belonging to the most ancient pure-blood families scattered throughout this region, but they've all been officially abandoned for centuries. The vault you're seeking…well, assuming it still physically exists at all, that vault has seven serpents carved into its door.
They guard the groove in the center, which is precisely where your key must go. This particular vault doesn't require a goblin to perform the unlocking ritual like most others do; you only need to place the correct key in the mechanism."
Bogrod still stared at Bryan with bewilderment clearly written across his face, seemingly unable to fully understand or accept the utterly mad idea.
"But Mr. Watson, you want to actually go down into molten magma... I know you're extraordinarily powerful, far beyond most wizards, your reputation speaks to that—but in magma, this seems beyond the limits of what any wizard can endure!
Water alone, even magically conjured water, can't extinguish subterranean lava that hot! The heat will vaporize any water instantly! You'll be incinerated!"
"Beyond the limits of any wizard, you say?"
Bryan smiled faintly and shook his head. This wouldn't be his first time descending into magma, after all.
Beneath Azkaban, in the depths below that terrible prison, he had done precisely this once before. Though admittedly at that time there had been a pre-existing magical passage left behind by Herpo the Foul, that made the journey considerably less dangerous.
But since Herpo had managed to leave a stable passage through magma that had remained structurally undamaged and perfectly functional for well over a thousand years, though Bryan honestly couldn't yet match the achievements of such a 'mythical wizard,' couldn't replicate that level of permanent enchantment, briefly descending into magma himself with temporary protections wasn't too impossibly great a challenge.
"You two wait here safely for me. Stay within the barrier. I'm going to go down and take a look—"
Gripping the cool Slytherin family crest tightly in his right hand, Bryan gazed down coldly at the magma lake far below. The molten surface was dazzlingly bright, bright as if staring at the surface of the sun itself. His purple pupils reflected golden in the intense firelight
Amelia opened her mouth, clearly wanting to dissuade him further, to argue against this insane plan. But after Bryan turned his head and gave her a reassuring smile, her hand that had unconsciously risen to clutch at his arm slowly loosened, falling back to her side.
She bit her lip anxiously but said nothing more.
Before descending, Bryan paused. He looked up and carefully surveyed the vast, seemingly boundless cave surrounding them, taking in the full scope of the enormous space. The vigorous eagerness burning in his eyes restrained itself somewhat as cold calculation took over. He needed to think tactically about this.
He couldn't afford to be too unrestrained in his magical expenditure down there, couldn't unleash his full power carelessly.
If he accidentally triggered some catastrophic chain reaction that caused the massive magma lake below to aggressively erupt, to send molten rock shooting up through Gringotts' tunnels, forget the bank's vaults—half of the Diagon Alley on the surface would be destroyed!
Whoosh—
The instant he stepped out through the protective magical barrier Bryan had erected, surging waves of intense heat rushed toward him.
Bryan's gray hair was immediately caught and swept by the scorching hot wind rising from below, and took on a yellowish-orange tinge in the reflected glow of the magma.
BOOM!
Above the magma lake with its continuous deep rumbling, like the breathing of some massive sleeping beast, a tremendous thunderclap suddenly erupted from seemingly nowhere.
The sound was deafening even in this vast space.
The already dangerously agitated magical force permeating this place, unstable from the chaotic elemental energies—now fell into complete frenzy at Bryan's deliberate gathering of power.
Throughout the enormous underground space tinted crimson by reflected light, many clearly visible scarlet hurricanes of pure magical energy suddenly manifested from nothing, appearing in the air.
These swirling scarlet hurricanes, as if drawn by some force surged madly toward Bryan's position. He had already jumped from the platform and was now floating two hundred feet above the surface of the magma lake!
The endless streams of scarlet hurricanes converging rapidly on Bryan from all directions completely blurred Amelia and Bogrod's vision of him. They had to squint against the dazzling light.
Through the overwhelming glare they could only barely make out Bryan's silhouetted figure, now completely enveloped and obscured by an ever-growing crimson sphere of condensed magical light. The color and intensity of that sphere was growing increasingly vivid and bright with each passing second, fed by the gathering power!
Ding—
Accompanied by a single crisp, clear sound that reverberated through the underground magma lake, the crimson-tinted cave was suddenly flooded with golden light.
The instantly blazing, overwhelmingly intense rays of golden radiance forced Amelia to squeeze her eyes tightly shut in reflexive self-defense, throwing one arm across her face. Yet even that wasn't enough, that bright light couldn't be blocked even with closed eyelids and raised arm!
With her eyes blurred, Amelia still perceived a slowly descending great sun, a massive sphere of golden fire radiating such heavy, oppressive pressure that it made her knees want to buckle!
Like witnessing a deity descending from the heavens!
Illuminated by the golden radiance pouring from his body, Bryan's gray hair and purple pupils both now appeared gleaming gold. His face had taken on an indescribable quality of dignity and power, as he slowly descended with perfect control toward the magma below.
The almost tangible golden brilliance around him, the moment it touched the surface of the magma, caused the magma lake to emit hissing sounds and produce a large cloud of white smoke.
He continued descending steadily!
Protective golden flames wreathed Bryan's body completely, flowing over him like liquid light. All magma that made direct contact with this golden fire was instantly vaporized into nothing but smoke and superheated gas, never even touching his skin or clothes.
Witnessing this absolutely heart-stopping, Amelia and Bogrod standing far above on their relatively safe platform were so shocked that they couldn't manage to utter a single word!
Everything in Bryan's sight was crimson and gold. Under the constant washing and erosion of the magma all around him, even the rock walls visible through the molten stone revealed a scorching, glowing metallic red color.
The crushing heat and the immense physical pressure of the dense magma weighing down on him from above caused Bryan's magical power to pour out of him like a flood. He could feel his reserves depleting rapidly. He maintained his composure, descending as quickly as he dared while maintaining the protective sphere.
After Bryan had descended another hundred feet or so deeper into the magma, the magma surrounding his protective sphere had also taken on a golden color. Through his blurred, disrupted magical sensing, Bryan discovered that there were indeed, exactly as Bogrod had described, some abandoned vaults scattered through this region.
At the very bottom of this cluster, however, there was a still-closed stone door standing intact.
Just as he'd thought!
Though his physical eyes could no longer see anything clearly through the glowing magma, Bryan could still clearly sense through pure magical perception the complex, unimaginably intricate network of magical runes and powerful protective wards distributed across that door's surface in patterns.
The enchantments were still active, still functioning after a millennium! This proved conclusively that the protective magic on the door hadn't failed despite the passage of ages—Salazar Slytherin's own personal vault still existed intact, exactly where it had been placed.
The tremendous consumption of magical power, the constant drain of maintaining his protection, left Bryan unable to carefully study the door's enchantments in detail, though they also possessed extraordinary value in their own right.
He controlled his body with effort, moving with great difficulty through the viscous, resistant magma. It was like trying to swim through partially-set concrete. He relied entirely on his magical vision rather than sight to carefully locate the specific groove designed for embedding the crest.
Click!
The instant he finally pressed the goblin-silver crest into the circular groove at the door's center, a crisp, satisfying sound of something locking into place rang clearly in his ears even amid the rumbling 'thunder' of the surrounding magma.
Immediately after, Bryan clearly 'saw' through his magical senses the magical runes covering the door's surface suddenly activate and illuminate in sequence.
As the stored magic flowed smoothly along the predetermined nodes and pathways carved into the stone, following channels laid down a thousand years ago, Bryan heard a series of heavy mechanical sounds from behind the ancient stone door. But—
After a brief wait, the door still hadn't opened.
Bryan's brow furrowed slightly in confusion and concern. In an instant, many possible explanations and solutions flashed rapidly through his mind. Finally, his lips moved slightly to produce a hissing sound—
"~~Open~~."
The word emerged in Parseltongue.
Whoosh!
The tightly closed eyes of the seven serpents carved into the door, which had been sleeping peacefully for a millennium, suddenly snapped open. Their emerald eyes, gleaming like precious gems, blazed with awakened awareness. Those eyes poured forth beams of almost tangible green light that shot out into the space immediately beyond the door, cutting through the magma.
In the cylindrical space occupied by that green light, something impossible happened: the magma rapidly receded as if repelled by an invisible force, pushed back and away. The stone platform positioned in front of the door, which had been completely immersed in molten rock for who knew how long, became cool within few moments.
Bryan had just controlled himself to land on the platform when the ancient stone door, unopened for a millennium, swung open with a resounding boom!
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