Although both Grimgrip and Helena showed some curiosity toward the tree, neither of them seemed to understand its true importance, and before long their attention shifted to the other undocumented items stored in the vault. Steve, however, had a very different reaction. The little creature was whining and squirming furiously in an attempt to escape the pocket he was trapped in so he could throw himself at the small mountain of glittering gold and silver. Julian had made certain that would be impossible before bringing the greedy little beast along on this trip, because he had already known exactly how a niffler would react to such a sight. The poor thing was obviously distressed by being unable to plunder the enormous hoard of wealth sitting right in front of him, but Julian paid that no mind.
Instead, he focused on the bookshelf along one side of the vault that held only a small number of books. Even under the stasis charm, they looked incredibly old, which meant they had probably already been ancient by the time Rowena Ravenclaw acquired them. 'Maybe one of these can explain some of this,' Julian thought before walking over to the shelf and reaching out for one of the books. It was bound in some kind of animal hide, with thick papyrus pages and severe signs of age.
There was no title on the cover, so Julian opened it carefully and looked at the first page. Dense lines of markings filled it, symbols that he knew were words because of his ability, yet they were completely unfamiliar to him. He could read the writing without issue, but he honestly had no idea what language it was. {For whoever may one day read this work, know that if you stand below the first threshold of power, the contents within may bring about your death. If you wish to avoid that fate, return this work to where you found it until you reach the first threshold.}
That was the very first passage written in the book, and it immediately put Julian on edge because he had no idea what this so-called first threshold of power actually meant. Clearly, the book had been written by an extraordinarily ancient wizard, but he had no way of knowing just how ancient. That made the warning a real problem, since he had no idea whether he actually met the requirement to safely continue reading. Rather than gamble with his life, Julian shut the book and returned it to the shelf before taking hold of another work, this one a collection of treated skins loosely tied together.
It was the most primitive looking book he had ever seen, and when he carefully opened it, he nearly lost control of his expression at what he found. {The road to power is long and full of hardship, and very few among those blessed by the world are ever capable of walking it to its end. My name is Chronos, and I leave this as a record for a future I have seen, one far beyond my own age, when the world is meant to begin healing from the great collapse. May the current of time favor you, ring maker.}
A shiver ran down Julian's spine after reading that passage, because the author had very clearly written the book with the full expectation that Julian himself would one day be the one to read it. 'Forget decades, this person saw a future likely thousands of years after his own era. Was this written by THE Chronos, as in the titan king of time!?' Julian's thoughts were full of horror and a very uncomfortable sort of realization as he stared at the book in his hands. He had no idea how such a thing was even possible, but apparently this Chronos, whoever he truly was, had seen so far into the future that he had written a book specifically meant for Julian.
Helena seemed to notice the change in his expression and drifted over with concern written plainly on her face. "What is written there that has frightened you so badly?" she asked, clearly worried. Julian locked down his emotions with occlumency and took several slow breaths to steady himself. "It was written for me," Julian said seriously, and Helena immediately looked shocked. She could tell he was telling the truth, yet the book itself was undeniably ancient. The implications were obvious, even if she still struggled to accept them.
"How can you be sure?" she asked, as though hoping there was some way to deny such a world-shaking revelation, but Julian simply read the passage aloud to her. That left her eerily silent as she absorbed what it meant. "No one else can know about this," Julian said, and Helena gave a serious nod as Julian stored the book inside Greed. It was obvious that he needed to read it and understand why someone would go to the trouble of writing a book addressed specifically to him thousands of years in advance. Hopefully it was not something absurd like him being destined to save the world, because he had absolutely no desire to shoulder a role like that.