Hogwarts Raven (Harry Potter)

The actual ride lived up to the hype, a violently rattling, brain-jarring, borderline berserk experience.

Cramped and narrow.

Utterly primitive.

Not only was there zero suspension, but the shrieking screeches it made while running along the tracks were incredibly irritating, like nails on a chalkboard. Ian didn't get carsick, but this noise made him want to file a formal complaint with time itself.

As the mine cart weaved through the labyrinthine tunnels, a chill surrounded Ian from all directions, a stark contrast to the warmth and brightness of Diagon Alley above.

"Careful, sir. Stay quiet. We're entering the dragon watch zone."

Just then, the cart began to slow. The goblin guide lowered his voice and warned Ian with utmost seriousness.

No sooner had he said that, then the massive forms of several dragons began to come into view.

They were coiled up inside magically reinforced caverns, lazily shifting their enormous bodies. Occasionally, one would let out a deep, thunderous growl that reverberated through the vast underground chamber. Though bound by powerful magic, their mere presence exuded a fearsome pressure that could fill even the bravest hearts with awe and dread.

At the very least, when the dragons roared, the mustached goblin visibly flinched with tension.

"You're remarkably calm."

It watched Ian calmly pull out a camera and start snapping pictures of the three Western dragons, speaking with genuine admiration. Even adult wizards rarely dared to face such creatures so casually.

"I raise one at home. A bit on the bony side, but it's definitely bigger then this one." Ian casually fired off a dozen more shots. He knew Hagrid would absolutely love a mixed-blood dragon like that.

"…Er."

The goblin couldn't quite understand how "bony" and "enormous" worked in the same sentence, but chose to remain silent as it focused on navigating the cart deeper into the vault levels.

The speed of the cart picked up again, comparable to a high-speed train.

Even so, Ian was buffeted by cold wind for what felt like an eternity. Vault after vault whizzed past. Eventually, the mustachioed goblin took him into a rarely visited section.

On both sides of the tunnel, the vaults disappeared entirely, replaced by an extremely narrow and endlessly descending passageway.

Ian remained ready to bolt at any moment, hand on the trigger to let the black Phoenix Apparate him out if necessary.

His guard was fully up. But… nothing unexpected occurred.

The cart carrying Ian and his goblin guide eventually came to a slow halt. Around them was a silence deeper and more solemn than anything Ian had ever known. The cave's walls, aged and damp, looked as though they'd been abandoned by time itself. In the dim light, countless ancient runes flickered faintly into view, etched in a language so old and mysterious that it exuded both reverence and warning.

"Looks kind of like… that magic text I can't read."

Ian tried to make sense of it. These runes weren't just decorative, they were Gringotts' most powerful magical defenses. Just like the mustached goblin had mentioned earlier, they could sense and eliminate any unauthorized intruder.

And yet, to Ian and his semi-enslaved goblin companion, those deadly runes didn't react at all. It was as if they didn't exist.

The mustached goblin's expression grew complicated.

"So it's true… of course it's true… what else could it be…"

It muttered softly, as if confirming something it had long suspected.

Contracts passed down through bloodlines, that was the key.

That was why the chicken-head goblin had gone looking for him first.

"So I open it from here, huh…"

Ian couldn't read the defense runes on the wall, but he could understand the alchemical array on the vault's bronze door. There was no need to ask further.

And so, Ian raised his wand and pointed it at the bronze door.

There was no spell incantation. Only pure magic power.

He pressed the wand against the metal, and directly channeled his magic into the vault door.

This truly was the best form of verification. After all, just as there are no two identical crows in the world, there absolutely couldn't be two wizards with the exact same magic power.

And then,

His magic power flowed out like a winding Western dragon, swiftly tracing along the patterns on the vault door. The carvings on the door seemed to be activated by the current, lighting up section by section with a soft, mysterious glow. The light wove itself across the cavern, forming intricate designs, each containing ancient and formidable magical power.

As the light spread, the door began to emit a low rumble, as though the entire space were trembling in anticipation of this moment. The mustached goblin had to brace himself against the wall just to stay upright.

Finally,

With a thunderous roar that shook the chamber, the bronze door slowly opened.

Ian's suspicions were fully confirmed.

"Please, go ahead. We goblins have no right to step into your treasure vault." The mustached goblin had already dropped to his knees, bowing his head to Ian with a voice full of reverence.

"Treasure vault? Now that's a name that sounds satisfying!"

Ian held his breath and looked inside the vault, and was surprised to see a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Who knew how many years it had been lit, but it cast a warm, natural light that illuminated the entire vault with exceptional clarity.

"No printing press?!"

Stepping inside, Ian's expression turned incredulous. Not only had he failed to find the treasure he had hoped for, he didn't find even a single gold galleon.

No,

Not even a single copper knut.

The young wizard searched the vault top to bottom, completely unwilling to give up,

but he couldn't find anything that could remotely be considered valuable.

What was in there, was a heap of seemingly worthless, broken objects.

"This is what they call a treasure vault? I've changed! I've definitely changed! I've become stingy!!"

Ian hadn't expected "Medivh" to be such a cheapskate, toward his own descendants, no less.

Look at this, this vault that was big enough to be an international airport, and aside from a pile of broken junk with perhaps some precious metal content, there wasn't even a single shining gemstone to be seen.

No wonder they needed such a massive light fixture, otherwise, anyone would think this place was just a junkyard.

Under the bright lights, the vault was filled with dull and lifeless weapons and armor.

There were also objects placed on high shelves, like a badly weathered trident, some faded necklaces, rings, and even a shield embedded entirely with gray, dim stones.

They might have once been magical items, but now, they were all broken.

Ian even suspected someone had smeared Oreos on them, because he could see some kind of golden, unknown substance stuck to many of the weapons and armor. That might've been the shiniest thing in the entire room.

Beneath the "sunlight",

The gentle shimmer in the air came from those unknown liquids. They looked like they had never aged, or perhaps time had passed over them without effect.

"At first, I thought it was the shine of gold galleons…"

Ian sighed and sat down on a stone pedestal inside the vault, glancing around at the hundreds, maybe thousands, of worn-out items scattered everywhere.

"This spear seems... somewhat intact. Though the grip's covered in Oreos too."

Ian pulled on a pair of dragon-skin gloves and lifted a long spear from one of the high racks.

Just as he'd said,

This spear, made of mysterious metal with a faint luster, had a wooden grip at the base. Even that was smeared with some golden grime. But thankfully, it didn't transfer onto his gloves.

"There's magic text on this?"

It wasn't until the spear was in hand that Ian noticed: There was a faint line of magic runes etched into the shaft, weathered and partially rusted. They were Runes, a script Ian was quite familiar with.

"Whisper to me, and I shall end your enemies." Ian translated the runes aloud.

In the next instant, the line of magic text on the metal spear began to glow faintly, as if awakening, but then, like a short-circuit, it flickered out again.

It was simply too damaged.

(End of Chapter)

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