Chapter 185 - 185 Slytherin’s Dusty Past
Chapter 185: Slytherin's Dusty Past
Dracula's mellow voice rang out slowly, as if pulling back a heavy curtain on a stage - the
Saracha Slytherin had always enjoyed traveling around, and there was a reason for that.
When he was very young, as one of the few most talented wizards of his time, he easily surpassed the teacher who had taught him magic in not too long. As his strength grew, so did his ambition.
Unwilling to stay in a corner of the world, Slytherin found a way to get rid of his magic teacher and began to travel around the magic world, trying to find some like-minded friends and learning more advanced and powerful magic.
It was in this way that he met the other three founders of Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor, Roinna Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff.
In addition to these three, he also met a confused young nobleman from that land, Dracula, who had only just discovered that his physique had changed, during his travels to Romania.
Later, together with the other three founders, Slytherin established the oldest wizarding school in all of Europe, the
Hogwarts.
These four founders, together with Dracula at that time, these five existences who possessed almost the best magical talent in the world established a very good friendship, and it was also the most relaxing and cozy time in Slytherin's life.
However, he is still a Slytherin, and possesses all the qualities that Slytherin Academy looks for when selecting talents - shrewdness, selfishness, profit-oriented, ambition, and moo strong ...
Unlike the Ravenclaw who stayed in the library all day and was keen on researching knowledge, or the Hufflepuff who was contented with the status quo and liked to make food and save all kinds of magical creatures, he and the Gryffindor were both characterizations that could not endure loneliness.
But even though they are also both idle masters, Gryffindor, who loves to go on adventures everywhere, still keeps his heart bolted to Hogwarts in the end, and whenever an adventure is over, he will return to Hogwarts and teach his students for a period of time without worrying about them.
Slytherin, on the other hand, was different. He didn't want to waste his life in Hogwarts magic school, teaching students all day long and seeing no room to further improve his strength.
So he said goodbye to the other three founders and embarked on the path of seeking to improve his strength.
Until one day, Slytherin found an ancient wizard's ruins during his travels.
Inside the relic, there was a lot of knowledge left behind by the owner of the relic, and there were all kinds of insights about black magic, which gave him a new perspective on learning magic, and allowed him to find a possible way to further improve his strength. ...
Later, Slytherin learned that it was a relic left behind by the vile Helbo.
Slytherin learned a lot of magical knowledge from the magical insights left behind by Helbo, most of which were about black magic.
He even incorporated some of the magical artifacts left behind by Helpo into his bloodline, giving himself the ability to speak with snakes and hatching a snake monster out of a toad and an egg.
After returning to Hogwarts, Slytherin no longer paid attention to the students' academics, but instead devoted nearly all of his mind and body to the process of researching the black magic left behind by Helpo.
Because of the influence of long time researching black magic, Slytherin's character became more and more paranoid, more and more irritable, and with the other three founders gradually produced a suspicion, and the contradiction between them is also more and more ...
The final outbreak of the conflict was because of the enrollment problem at Hogwarts.
Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff all thought that it was possible to enroll muggle-born young wizards into Hogwarts for study, because these children were magically gifted, and the magical power in their bodies would continue to grow as their grades increased.
If they were not taught to utilize their magic wisely, it was very likely that phenomena such as magic riots would occur, which would have a bad effect on their bodies, and even more serious cases could lead to the emergence of the Mime.
But Slytherin did not share their philosophy.
He believed that the small wizards of Muggle origin were still fundamentally in the Muggle world, they had Muggle families, Muggle friends, Muggle perceptions, and if they were hastily recruited into the wizarding world, it was likely that the existence of Hogwarts would be exposed, and that Muggle organizations dedicated to opposing wizards would be a threat to Hogwarts Castle.
At that time, an unprecedented conflict erupted between several of the founders.
Gryffindor thought that Slytherin was mad with black magic, making him not think about the future of Hogwarts at all; Hufflepuff complained that he had lost his compassion and let the lesser wizards, who could have been a part of the wizarding world, fend for themselves in the Muggle world.
After the big fight with Gryffindor, Slytherin also lost all patience and packed up his things to leave the Hogwarts castle with their countless memories.
He didn't even take away his then most popular student, but entrusted it to Ravenclaw to take care of it for him ... That student later committed a very serious wrongdoing and became the current apparition, Bloodborne Barrow.
However, Slytherin's feelings for Hogwarts remained even after he was gone.
So he left the serpent monster inside the chamber he secretly used for his experiments in the castle, hoping that his offspring would be able to save the day with the help of the great serpent in the event of a muggle invasion.
He himself, on the other hand, entered the Forbidden Forest and built a huge complex, leaving all the magical inheritance left behind by Helpo in the middle of this complex, and set up many snake guards that relied on the operation of magic to protect this space where countless magical knowledge was kept from being violated.
And these snakes were also specially prepared for his offspring.
When one day, if there is really a snake old cavity found this extremely hidden area, then he will be able to inherit all the magical knowledge inside this complex, which contains all the magic learned by the despicable Helbo as well as Slytherin in their lifetime!
However, what Slytherin didn't expect was that none of his descendants were able to find this area, so much so that it completely fell into ruins a thousand years later, becoming a relic in the mouths of Harry, Rolf, and a few other minor wizards, just like when he discovered Helpo's relics at that time.
In fact, Dracula hadn't been much involved in any of those stories of the four Hogwarts founders.
He had gradually come to terms with his transformation from a human to a Blood at that time, and had returned to Romania from Scotland to collect the other Bloods that had appeared under the influence of the plague-like disaster at that time.
Unlike the most common vampires, most of those transformed by the plague were still aware of being human, but were not tolerated by the old-fashioned human society at that time.
In addition, most of these bloods had just been transformed, most of them could not make full use of their own natural ability, and no other bloods could have Dracula's pure bloodline and the same high level of magical talent, so most of them lived in poverty and fled.
For this reason, Dracula returned to Romania and returned to the castle left by his family, gathering all the Bloods in the middle of Dracula's castle.
He referenced the Hogwarts model and placed a large number of protective spells around the castle, which also made that castle a clean slate for vampires and bloods.
After Dracula had pretty much taken care of everything in Romania, he returned to Hogwarts to see a shattered scene - the
Slytherin broke with the other three founders and left Hogwarts; Ravenclaw was devastated by the death of his daughter Helena and eventually fell ill; Gryffindor was a bit disheartened and secluded in Godric's Hollow ...
By the time Dracula returned to Hogwarts, only the Hufflepuffs were still taking in house elves into Hogwarts and trying to get the wizarding school in order.
At that point in time, however, Dracula was still his youthful self, just as handsome, dapper, and graceful as he was when the four of them first met, yet Hufflepuff had turned into an old woman of advanced age.
Since then, Hogwarts created the position of Headmaster and began to choose the best graduates from among the Hogwarts graduates to become Headmasters.
Until now, an apocryphal statue of the first principal is kept in the Hogwarts castle in his honor.
And Dracula also deeply felt the meanness and coldness of time from this, and left Hogwarts with a complicated heart, and was the first to discover the complex left by Slytherin in the Forbidden Forest, from which he found a large amount of knowledge of black magic left by Helpo.
In a sense, the relics left behind by Helpo were the introduction and trigger for all this fragmentation.
And so for the next hundred years or so, Dracula searched the world for signs of the vile Helpo.
He had already learned from the records left behind by Slytherin that Vile Helpo had created a Horcrux, so there was a good chance that he hadn't yet perished as several Hogwarts founders had.
It was also because of the move to find Helpo that Dracula later met the rather famous great wizard of ancient Greece, the invincible Andros.
...
"Despite being addicted to black magic, Salazar is still more principled than Helpo and Voldemort in the end." Dracula sighed and said softly, "He didn't choose to split his soul until his lifespan ran out to create Horcruxes that could make people so-called 'live forever'."
Compared to Voldemort and Helpo, Slytherin was simply more than noble.
Most of all his black magic experiments were really just to enhance himself, and never interfered with other people, let alone using wizards to help him with his dangerous experiments.
If he had any other purpose, it was for the stability of Hogwarts Castle.
Whether it was the serpent monster left in the Chamber of Secrets or the complex of buildings laid out in the Forbidden Forest that relied on the magic system of Hogwarts Castle, a significant portion of the reason was to better guard the castle from intrusion.
Even the black magic experiments, which the other three founders regarded as cruelty, Slytherin's experimental materials were used on animals that were not very intelligent, and rarely did any harm.
In contrast, Voldemort and Helpo's use of murder to make Horcruxes, just to get their own "immortality", is too cruel.
Not only that, but even Voldemort's Horcruxes are interested in the remains of the Slytherin.
Riddle was actually trying to discover where Slytherin left off when he was caught by Rolf using trapping magic in the Forbidden Forest during the last half term.
He had nearly all of Voldemort's memories from his time at school, when young Tom Riddle had found quite a few secrets about their ancestors in the Gunter family's old mansion, so naturally he knew that Slytherin had left behind a complex in the Forbidden Forest, which contained a large amount of knowledge about black magic, and it was simply a treasure that could not be more precious to dark wizards.
Therefore, Riddle wanted to learn where Slytherin's relics were located by luring the snakes in the forbidden forest and communicating with them using the old snake accent.
But what he didn't expect was that the guardian beasts inside Slytherin's ruins were all made of stone and weren't real creatures that would be affected by the trapping magic.
And because of that, it seemed like Riddle was doomed to be a basket case ...
"The four founders are truly all admirable wizards ah ..." Dumbledore nodded slightly and sighed, "Today I really had an eye-opening experience, from the mouths of those who experienced it, I learned about the four founders of Hogwarts a thousand years ago's past events."
"Any thoughts on going in and taking a look around? It's roughly where Saracha left everything." Dracula asked softly.
"With pleasure." Dumbledore said.
...
The next morning, the fog from last night had lifted and the weather was bright and fresh.
The light blue, clear sky was filled with tiny wisps of clouds in white waves, and the water of the Black Lake shimmered in the breeze, sparkling like silver.
The sky where the lake meets the hills seems to still have the remnants of the rose-colored morning sun, and the morning sun fades away like a tide across the sky, leaving only a clear and empty firmament.
Sunlight poured in through the slits in the windows on the Gryffindor tower, shining on the scar on Harry's forehead and on his slightly closed eyes.
Harry awoke from a deep sleep and subconsciously shielded his eyes with one hand, unable to stop his mind from recalling last night's adventure.
Now that he thought about it, last night had been like madness; there wasn't even a single professor in the entire castle, no one he could turn to for help.
And he actually had a brainwave, so easily agreeing to Rolf and Ginny's request for help, following them to a forbidden place that no one had ever discovered before, and fighting a large group of snakes and a fire dragon.
Fortunately, the end result was good, and they managed to find Luna, who had been lost for a whole day, and bring her back to Hogwarts.
Thinking about this, Harry couldn't help but think of Ginny's panicked yet calm expression when she was attacked by the fire dragon, and of the panicked look that filled her eyes when she was worried about her behavior.
"Ginny seems pretty good looking when you think about it like that ..." Harry muttered as he lay back on his bed.
"What ... happened to Ginny?" Just then, Ron, who was on the opposite side of the bed, said in a confused lake.
He didn't seem to be completely awake yet, and only vaguely heard Harry's dripping gurgle, so he casually asked.
But Harry didn't want him to know what he thought of Ginny. This youngest son of the Weasleys was precious to his sister, and it would be hard to explain if the best friend got the wrong idea.
"It's nothing, you go back to sleep Ron." Harry said, "It's Saturday, there's no classes to attend and exams don't officially start until two days later."
"What, it's Saturday?" Ron suddenly jumped out of bed, "Then why are you still lying here Harry, there's a Gryffindor v. Slytherin Quidditch match today!"
"What?!"
Following Ron, Harry jumped out of bed in a flash.
...
By the time Harry arrived at the Quidditch pitch carrying his broom, the game was about to start.
It was the last Quidditch game before the final exams, and as usual in previous years, everyone tended to come over to relax and thus deal with next week's exams in a more positive frame of mind.
But today, the young wizards had little high spirits instead, and the Quidditch pitch's stands looked empty on rare occasions.
It was really the fact that Gryffindor, the defending champion team, had had such an underwhelming record this tournament year, and Harry, last year's best seeker, was in such poor form, that everyone had basically been able to predict a victory for Slytherin.
Upon walking to the locker room, Harry saw that the players here all looked a little listless, and most of them squinted a little when they saw Harry come in and stopped paying too much attention.
Even Wood, the captain of the team, who had always been the most enthusiastic, even fanatical, about winning the game, was the same.
He didn't even come to remind Harry to get up in time this morning, which was undoubtedly something extremely counterintuitive!
Harry could understand their feelings; after all, he himself hadn't even been at the last Quidditch practice before the match last night, and his own performance had been so poor that there was no way to be harsh on these teammates.
The Gryffindor had lost his chances of making the finals this season, and he was supposed to be just as listless as his own teammates, dealing with this game and then going off to prepare for his final exams next week.
But after last night's adventure, a sudden surge of defiance rose in him.
"I'm going out." Harry said to the rest of his teammates as he changed into his red Gryffindor uniform.
Aside from Fred and George nodding slightly, none of his other teammates paid any attention at all to what he was going out to do before the match.
Harry sighed and didn't say much as he mounted his Lightwheel 2000 and flew straight to one of the Hufflepuff stands.
This was where the Hufflepuff Quidditch team used to watch and analyze other teams' games.
"Good morning, Cedric." Harry landed and walked over to the tall, handsome fourth year boy.
He froze slightly at the sight of a pretty little brunette witch with a blue collar sitting in the middle of a crowd of yellow-collared Hufflepuff badgers.
It was Autumn Chang, who Harry had once daydreamed about.
But instead of feeling sour at the sight of Autumn-Chang sitting next to Cedric today, he rarely felt a sense of relief and a kind of emotional relaxation, and was even in the mood to nod his head in greeting to Autumn-Chang.
Autumn-Chang froze for a moment as well, then smiled and narrowed her eyes, nodding similarly to Harry.
"Harry?" Cedric asked curiously when he saw the Gryffindor ball-seeker in front of him, "Shouldn't you be warming up before a match right now? How come you're free to come to us?"
"There isn't much time, Cedric, and I need to make sure of one thing." Harry didn't answer his question and spoke bluntly, "How much higher is your team's current point total than Slytherin's?"
"A total of two hundred and ten points higher." Cedric said, "What's the point of asking?"
He felt a little embarrassed when he said this point difference, as they were basically all obtained from the Gryffindor team.
"I know." Harry said with a thoughtful nod.
"In that case, if we don't let Slytherin get any points this game, doesn't that basically mean that you guys will be able to lock up the victory?"
Across the room, Cedric and Autumn Chang's eyes widened at once.