Chapter 336: The Most Painful Punishment
Chapter 336: The Most Painful Punishment
Felix stared at the altar. The massive statue before him crumbled into decay in a matter of moments, breaking into pieces and then being swept away by an invisible wind, leaving nothing behind.
Was it because of the breath he had blown?
It couldn't be, Felix thought. That was too absurd. Herpo the Foul's statue should be similar to the Basilisk corpses he had seen before, preserved in a sealed state for who knows how long, at least a thousand years, no, two thousand?
He thought about it seriously. Herpo the Foul was active during ancient Greece, even before the four founders of Hogwarts. By the time the Four Founders rose to prominence, Herpo had already been out of the public eye for several hundred years.
To them, Herpo was already part of legend—known only for his infamy, never seen in person. Even in their childhood, they might have been scared by their parents using Herpo's evil reputation to discipline them.
Felix smirked at the sudden thought. Legends were once children too, a fact often overlooked. People tended to believe that legends were always legends from the start.
Felix put aside this thought and became serious, focusing intently on the issue of the Horcrux.
Yes, the Horcrux. For him, the only attraction of the Horcrux was the study of the soul. Unfortunately, even though he had the method to create a Horcrux, his knowledge of the soul was minimal.
He hadn't even scratched the surface.
He thought of the book, Revealing Advanced Dark Magic, which contained more than just the Horcrux. Undoubtedly, it was the most evil of all the magic described. The evil stemmed not only from the need to murder but also from the act of splitting the soul.
Making a flawless soul incomplete was a violation of nature, bound to exact a heavy toll. The book explicitly mentioned this, but it didn't specify what the toll would be, and Felix had no way of knowing.
...
Hermione was startled when she first entered. There were not just the two Basilisks blocking the entrance but a whole nest inside. She had to use the Bubble-Head Charm to carefully navigate around the snake corpses without touching them, then she approached the professor, just in time to hear him mention the Horcrux.
She was shocked. Could the professor have discovered the Dark Lord's fourth Horcrux? But then she realized that wasn't right. The professor had mentioned another name—Herpo. She quickly understood the significance of that name.
Herpo the Foul, the famous Dark Wizard from ancient Greece, was one of the sources of many existing dark magic practices. He invented numerous evil curses and dark magic, the most notorious being the Horcrux! Additionally, he was a Parselmouth who discovered the method to hatch a Basilisk.
Could they have stumbled upon Herpo's hidden Horcrux?
Just as she was about to ask, the professor sighed and blew a breath. The statue in front of him crumbled into dust, which vanished even as she approached, as if it had all been an illusion.
"Professor?" Hermione tilted her head, looking at Felix, who had been silent the whole time.
Felix looked at her and said calmly, "Nothing much, just some reflections."
"Did you destroy Herpo's Horcrux?"
"Hmm, it wasn't me. It had already been destroyed long ago. We just discovered the fact."
Hermione blinked, using her limited knowledge of Horcruxes to try to analyze the situation. She glanced at the others. Clemmy and the others had just entered, gaping at the Basilisk corpses blocking their path. She couldn't see Goblin Gonuk, probably hidden behind the Basilisks.
She asked quietly, "Professor, if the Horcrux was destroyed, what about Herpo's main soul?"
Felix's eyes flickered. That was an interesting question. The purpose of a Horcrux was to split the soul, hiding a part in an external object. This way, even if the body was attacked or destroyed, the person wouldn't die because a part of the soul remained in the world, undamaged.
But this scenario assumed that the Wizard died unexpectedly while the Horcrux still existed. What if both the body and the Horcrux were destroyed?
Was it possible that Herpo had invented the method to create a Horcrux and successfully made the first one, but before he could research how to restore his physical form, he died, either by accident or of old age?
This speculation wasn't entirely out of the question. Herpo was revered or despised by later generations precisely because he creatively invented many dark magic practices. Could it be that before him, no one had studied how to restore a physical form to a spirit?
Felix followed this hypothesis to its logical conclusion. Hurbur had survived for countless years due to the existence of a Horcrux, which kept his main soul from perishing. However, he couldn't find a way to resurrect himself. Over the long years, the Horcrux had decayed. What would be Hurbur's fate?
Would he simply cease to exist, or continue to wander some obscure corner of the world, even less fortunate than the most humble of ghosts?
"I don't know", Felix answered Hermione's question, "perhaps it would be a relief to die."
Hermione couldn't immediately grasp this, and wanted to ask more, but she soon realized the key point. Without the Horcrux, the main soul had only three possible fates: to dissipate, to cling to life like Voldemort, or to successfully resurrect.
The first two outcomes were unknown, but the third was highly unlikely because there had been no trace of Hurbur's activities since then—this was strange, because if Hurbur had resurrected using a Horcrux, there would have been no reason for him to remain hidden.
The remaining two possibilities, as the professor had suggested, "Perhaps it would be a relief to die", referred to the outcome of the main soul dissipating. But if not, he would have wandered the world for thousands of years, like Voldemort?
The thought sent a shiver down her spine. The most painful punishment in the world couldn't be worse than that.
"Miss, move aside a bit."
A voice made Hermione jump. She stepped to the side and saw Goblin Gonuk staring at the bas-relief on the side of the altar. She lowered her head and noticed that the goblin was holding a silver knife, trying to pry a gemstone from the bas-relief.
Gonuk successfully removed a ruby, gently blew on it, and wiped it with his sleeve, saying greedily, "An ancient gemstone, I can smell the weight of history. It is more precious than any of my collections, the weight of time!"
Hermione blinked. She thought this was just a rhetorical flourish, similar to Trelawney's or Refidin's words. Still, she asked curiously, "What do you see, Mr. Gonuk? Can I take a look?"
"No! Everything here belongs to me, no, to Gringotts", he said sternly.
Felix smiled, "Hermione Granger, if you like anything, you can take one or two pieces as a memento."
The goblin glared at him, but then Felix pulled out a Gringotts invitation letter and waved it in front of him. The goblin instantly deflated like a punctured balloon.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
Clemmy walked over and said with a smile, "Professor Hup is an expert hired by Gringotts, so naturally, he gets paid. Gonuk realized this, so..." She made a pained gesture, and Hermione giggled.
However, Hermione was only curious and had no intention of keeping anything for herself. She wasn't particularly interested in gemstones, so she circled around to examine the patterns on the altar—depicting Wizards either appraising gemstones, sitting with authority, or writing at their desks. Beside these Wizards were various trinkets: gemstones, wands, vials, and hourglasses.
She wanted to look more closely, but the goblin followed her wherever she went. Eventually, annoyed, she ran down the corridor to look at the Runic Script on the stone slabs with the professor.
Felix was recording the Ancient Magic inscribed on the slabs, while Hermione was more interested in the stories they told. However, after learning that the chamber's owner was Hurbur, she naturally understood that everything was a carefully crafted deception by Hurbur.
But why had he done this?
Hermione tried to understand Hurbur's intentions. She had read many ancient Wizards' magical notes and was familiar with their mindset, yet Hurbur's actions were extremely puzzling.
After much thought, she came up with two possibilities. One was that Hurbur hoped to lure skilled Wizards into the chamber, deceive them, and use the internal magic for some secret purpose, such as a resurrection ritual. Unfortunately, he had waited in vain for a thousand years.
The other possibility was that Hurbur had set up a decoy. He never intended for anyone to leave alive after discovering this place. All the arrangements were for this purpose—
First, he hid the Horcrux under the pyramid, using the pharaoh's tomb to conceal the Horcrux's secret, making it difficult for outsiders to discover. This was the first layer of protection.
The black mist and curses in the corridor were the second layer of protection. If a Wizard who stumbled upon this place was slightly less skilled, they might die in the black mist, which, according to the goblin, was corrosive.
Even if a Wizard managed to break through the black mist, there was a third layer of protection: the allure of the Ancient Magic inscribed on the slabs. They would think they had stumbled upon the legacy of a strict predecessor and, instead of revealing the secret to the outside world, would repeatedly attempt to break the invisible curse alone.
Even if he successfully navigates these challenges, the final obstacle awaiting him is a dozen Basilisks. According to Hermione's guess, no matter how powerful a Wizard might be, it would be impossible to withstand the attacks of a dozen Basilisks simultaneously, right?
"If that's true, then Herpo the Foul is truly terrifying, living up to the name", Hermione muttered under her breath.
"What?" Felix asked.
"Nothing", Hermione quickly shook her head, following the professor's gaze to examine the sequence of Runic Script above.
Felix spoke gently, "I don't have time to guide you right now, but you can try to learn on your own. Do you understand what I mean? Just focus on the core Runic Scripts, and see which one resonates with you the most. It might become your second Ancient Magic."
Hermione nodded and started trying each one with excitement. The first Ancient Magic, she didn't recognize the core Runic Script and gave up...
The second one, symbolizing 'distortion,' she tried to sketch the core and secondary Runic Scripts. The air around her hand seemed to twist slightly, but after several attempts, she still couldn't succeed.
She kept moving to the next one, and when she reached the second-to-last, Hermione's eyes lit up. The core Runic Script—fire—and the secondary Runic Scripts were all familiar to her! She also knew most of the outer Runic Scripts.
This was it. She had a strong premonition.
Hermione carefully sketched the Runic Scripts in the air. With the experience of learning Lumos, she understood the basic process of Ancient Magic—core Runic Scripts represent the magic symbol, secondary Runic Scripts determine the external characteristics and attributes of the magic, and outer Runic Scripts construct and refine the complete spell.
Hermione started by sketching the fire Runic Script, making it switch between the Runic Script symbol and a flame, then reverting it back to the Ancient Runic Script and continuing with the secondary Runic Script.
After a while, Hermione wiped the sweat from her forehead and stopped. She yawned and decided to take a break.
Felix had finished recording the Runic Script sequence on the stone slab. A gentle black lightning flickered between his fingers, but the scene was fleeting. He put away the magic and said to Hermione with satisfaction, "Let's go out; they are waiting for us outside."
They walked out of the pyramid and returned to the tent camp. The goblin was exhausted, slumping in a chair and continuously complaining that his silver knife had a crack. However, no one sympathized with him, "Because you didn't let us help", Clemmy said while mixing herself a small glass of ice water.
She took a big gulp, frowned, then gradually relaxed and let out a long breath.
The others were also relaxed, feeling relieved to have survived such a dangerous place. Faisal and Rahman immediately decided to take a break and go to the Quidditch World Cup.
Felix was also a bit tired. He took off his Basilisk Leather Cloak, took out a silver pocket watch, and gently opened the lid. A Niffler emerged, standing on his palm and chirping at Felix, listing his grievances before turning its back to him.
"It's my fault", Felix said with a smile, his mood instantly improving. He took out a Galleon and lightly touched the Niffler's shoulder. It seemed to catch a whiff of something enticing, slowly turning its head to catch a glimpse of the golden light. Instantly, it snatched the Galleon and stuffed it into its pocket, patting Felix's fingers contentedly.
Hermione's eyes widened as she watched the little creature, "Professor, is this a Niffler?"
"Yes, I keep it as a pet. You can call her Valen", Felix said, touching its pink beak. The Niffler ignored him, looking around curiously.
Hermione took out the temperature-controlled pendant box and waved it in front of the Niffler. Valen looked left and right, then immediately pounced onto Hermione's lap, reaching out with its small hands for the pendant box.
When the Niffler appeared, the goblin Gonuk immediately widened his eyes, clutched the pocket next to him, and shouted in terror, "Take that little demon away, quickly!"
His shrill scream caught the Niffler's attention. It poked its head out of Hermione's lap, its bright black eyes fixed on the goblin Gonuk.
Do you have any treasures?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
