days at Hogwarts

Chapter 735 Traces
Myrtle was away, so Loren and the others entered the secret room through the hole in the bathroom.

This is a renovated passage with winding copper metal water pipes. The moss and mud inside have been removed, so there is no need to endure the pungent and disgusting smell. The other water pipe branches connected to this passage have been blocked, and the journey to the tunnel below is smooth and clean. Loren feels that this riding experience is much better than before.

Hagrid had some objections to this, but since he wasn't stuck in the middle of the pipe, he didn't mind the discomfort.

As magic power poured into the wand, several clusters of bright blue flames immediately bloomed, floating in the air, jumping and burning, releasing a warm and steady light.

The scene below the pipe was slightly different from what I remembered, but overall there was no change: a dark stone tunnel with soft, damp ground formed by mud and sand. Subtle footsteps echoed in the tunnel, and occasionally there was a crisp clicking sound, which was caused by stepping on the skeleton of a mouse or some other animal.

After passing a flat stone fork, Harry turned his head and looked at the walls around him, feeling a little emotional.

"Harry, do you remember that there was originally a snake skin placed here?"

Harry turned around and saw Ron standing beside him, looking around curiously with an excited expression on his face. "We dragged Lockhart down with us and followed Crabbe and the others, but we were almost frightened by this snake slough..."

"..."

The two adventurers began to recall the details of the past, and some memories also emerged in Hermione's mind. She turned to look at someone next to her, with a gleam in her eyes.

Someone had known about the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk for a long time, but conspired with the principal, making them live in fear for half a semester.

Loren avoided her gaze, but soon remembered something, opened his eyes wide and glared back confidently: "What are you looking at? This matter has been settled. What else do you want?"

Hermione didn't argue, she looked him up and down, her eyes flicking over certain parts.

"..."

This woman has no manners.

Loren was silent for a moment, then turned and walked deeper into the tunnel.

After passing the fork and turning a corner, there was a stone wall with snake carvings not far ahead. Two poisonous snakes were entangled with each other, and their eyes were inlaid with shiny emeralds. The magic on it had been lifted, and the stone wall did not block the door. It was open several feet wide, so you could enter without speaking Parseltongue.

The layout of the secret room is like a magnificent palace. It is pitch black inside, with only the gems inlaid on the stone walls emitting a dim green light. Blue flames flow in and illuminate the entire room. The room is wide and has a high dome. The upright stone pillars guard both sides of the archway, protecting the statues in the deepest part of the secret room.

The old and frail Salazar Slytherin stared quietly ahead, his face distorted and deformed by black magic, and his figure was thin, but his eyes were bright, even arrogant, but he was not looking at the person who broke into the Chamber of Secrets. His arrogant expression seemed to be looking through the barriers of reality, into the distant and unknowable void.

Influenced by the strange magic, Loren knew the next steps in his mind and turned to look at Harry who was a little dazed.

Harry looked up at the statue, then retracted his gaze to the flat ground at the feet of the statue, took out the Mirror of Erised from the storage scales, and lifted the black curtain covering it. A faint light flashed on the smooth mirror surface, which was slightly dazzling, reflecting all the scenes in the dim chamber.

Harry saw himself in the mirror with a dazed look on his face. Under the lenses were a pair of green eyes and the scar on his forehead was exactly the same, only it was reversed.

He watched silently for a while, and took out all the items he had collected today from the scales. The pottery jar from Gaunt's old house was covered with dust, the notes on the production of the Horcrux were written in neat handwriting, and Crouch's flesh and blood mud was dark brown and sticky...

Loren and others were standing not far behind Harry. They could see Harry's back and his reflection in the mirror, but their figures were not reflected in the mirror. This did not conform to the laws of optics, but no one was surprised.

When Loren saw the same objects appear in the mirror, he couldn't help but frown.

The mirror image of Harry seemed to turn pale. These items clearly did not have any magic power, but the mirror image seemed to have absorbed some more secret substance from them, and subtle changes had occurred that were difficult to detect. …

Far away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, on top of Mount Greylock, Massachusetts.

There were four figures standing around the emerald green snake tree, two of them were middle-aged men and the other two were elderly.

Newt Scamander stretched out his hand that was scratched by the Bowtruckle and plucked a leaf from the snake tree. The emerald green juice flowed along the old man's wrinkled face and seeped into his wound.

Newt felt a pure life force spreading throughout his body, not only healing the cut on his hand, but also alleviating some of the symptoms of aging. He held his breath unconsciously. The effect was outstanding, and there was no curse. This plant juice was even more peculiar than unicorn blood.

"Don't think about it. The snake tree won't prolong your life." Gilbert Fontana seemed to know what he was thinking and shook his head. "It can only relieve physical discomfort, make your rusty joints more lubricated, and make your aging blood vessels more elastic. That's all."

“It’s already very precious.”

Newt looked at the crown of the snake tree. Summer was the season when branches and leaves grew lushly. This tree, like the other trees around it, had lush green branches and leaves. But this tree was once a wand made by Slytherin himself. It should not be the same as an ordinary tree. It should be more lush and its vitality should be more vigorous.

He couldn't help but murmur under his breath: "What on earth has Voldemort done to it?"

Dumbledore had the same doubts. He was walking slowly around the tree trunk, his deep blue eyes looking particularly deep in the night. He had carefully inspected the roots and crown of the tree and found nothing wrong. He had even explored the land carefully and found nothing unusual.

He was certain that the snakewood had not been made into a living Horcrux.

"I have always had doubts about Horcruxes."

Gilbert Fontana looked at the two old men. "The Ilvermorny Library also has a collection of the book 'Secrets of Advanced Dark Magic'. I have carefully read the chapter on making Horcruxes. To be honest, the content is very different from what I imagined. The split soul is placed on different objects. Relying on the mysterious connection between souls, the wizard can still stay in the world after death. This form is more painful than death... But why can Voldemort reverse the soul and the body to complete the resurrection? There is no content about this in the chapter on Horcruxes."

"Hmm... Severus may be able to give you the answer to this question." Dumbledore didn't even turn his head, still looking at the snake tree.

Snape's expression was calm, and he was only thinking about how to get some snake tree materials. There was no ripple in his eyes: "Voldemort followed the footsteps of Hercule and Slytherin, dug out the resurrection magic ritual from the ruins of history, and improved it and used it on himself."

"Can you give me more details?"

"The God of Death is not a real god. He has no independent consciousness, and cannot think or judge. There is a boundary between life and death. This boundary is not a barrier in the conventional sense, but more like..." Snape paused, as if thinking about how to word it, "like some kind of positional relationship. The various traces in the world are threads. When they are intertwined, unique nodes can be identified. By following the nodes and using potions to construct an empty body to match the soul, we can... bring the dead back to life."

Gilbert couldn't help showing an approving expression: "Mr. Snape, is he interested in being a professor at Ilvermorny?"

"No."

"Not limited to Potions, other subjects are also acceptable."

"No."

"..."

Dumbledore looked up, the starry sky shining through the canopy of the snakewood, and repeated softly: "Traces are threads, intertwined and entangled to determine the location."

(End of this chapter)