Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

“That depends on what you mean by defeat,” Salazar Slytherin said coldly. He raised the Twin-Serpent Staff high in his hand, and a silver-green radiance enveloped both him and Evan. “If you mean destroy, then I’m afraid no one can do that. Although Herpo’s Dark magic failed a thousand years ago and he never became a true Old God, remaining only a false god, he has nonetheless, in a certain sense, broken free of the constraints of the rules and continued to extend his reach. In his current state, he is immortal and indestructible.”

“Immortal and indestructible!” Evan gazed in awe at the terrifying monster beside the temple.

“No matter how many times his body is destroyed, as long as his soul remains, as long as this space exists, he can return again. Here, he is the ruler,” Slytherin continued. “Destroying this space would be easy enough, but the trouble is that Herpo previously created a Horcrux, safeguarding a portion of his soul. No one knows where his Horcrux is. Over the centuries there have been many theories. Some say it lies within a treasure left behind from the previous age of magic. Herpo the Foul is the only known wizard to have ever entered that treasure. Others say he hid the Horcrux in the world of the dead…”

“But isn’t this the world of the dead?” Evan asked instinctively.

“I’m talking about the Shadow Realm, the final destination of departed souls,” Slytherin said disdainfully. “This place is merely a space created by Herpo, situated between reality and the world of the dead. He hides here, siphoning power from the Shadow Realm, and that ruby is a crystallization of that power… How can you know nothing of this? Did Rowena really not tell you any of it?”

Evan shook his head; this was the first time he had heard of it.

He had always been unclear about the principles behind Herpo’s transformation into an evil god.

“Hmph, you still have a lot to learn. I’ve never understood Godric and Rowena’s criteria for choosing their successors,” Slytherin snorted, extending his left hand, and The Book of Abraham drifted down from mid-air.

The pages froze on a certain spread. The illustration showed a terrifying creature with a massive eyeball, its form difficult to describe. It did not look quite like the “God of Death” before them, yet bore a certain resemblance. Beside it were several lines of description written in ancient runic script.

“So that’s how it is,” Slytherin muttered. He closed The Book of Abraham and tossed it to Evan. “The battle to come is not something you can take part in. Return to your own point in time.”

As he spoke, he pointed his Twin-Serpent Staff at Evan.

Under the powerful magic, the Time-Turner, which had already come to a halt, began to spin once more. The surrounding flow of time grew unstable again, and the silvery-green radiance made Slytherin’s features appear strikingly deep and profound.

Outside the glow, the monster launched his attacks in a frenzy, turning the entire world upside down.

“Wait! I’m here to find the key to your secret treasure!” Evan shouted urgently.

Time passed, and Slytherin’s body almost faded into nothingness.

Just when Evan thought he wouldn’t get a reply, Slytherin’s voice drifted back to him, hollow and distant, “I will divide this fellow into three parts, and leave behind three marks. Return with these three marks, and you will receive my reward. This is the test I leave for you.”

Slytherin’s voice grew increasingly ethereal, and in the blink of an eye, he and the indescribable evil god beside the temple vanished. Evan was once again drawn into a tunnel formed of time itself, hurtling endlessly forward.

As before, the visions within the time tunnel lasted only a few seconds before everything began to blur.

A faint mist enveloped Evan, and the crimson light emitted by the ruby “Eye of Death” finally disappeared. After a short while, the hazy scene refocused into clarity.

Evan raised his wand, cautiously surveying his surroundings. He could make out the towering outline of the great temple.

Was this the correct point in time?

The “Eye of Death” was gone, so this had to be some moment after he destroyed it. But Evan couldn’t find anything to pinpoint the time. He picked up the Time-Turner; all of its hands were frozen, and a crack across the dial stood out starkly.

Even without much magical knowledge, it was clear this thing was probably beyond repair!

Evan observed it for a moment, then futilely shoved the Time-Turner back in.

“Let’s hope this is the right time. Otherwise, I’m really in trouble!”

The situation was much clearer than before, especially after Slytherin’s last words: if Evan returned with the three marks, he would receive his reward — this was the trial Slytherin had set for him.

Those three marks were most likely the red plaques left behind after destroying the evil god’s eye, body, and brain. He carried them with him at all times. Evan took out the three plaques. No matter what, he would first secure the key to Slytherin’s secret treasure; as for what came afterward — such as how to deal with Herpo’s soul — that could be decided later. Slytherin might well have left some contingency in place.

Now that Herpo’s soul had been mentioned, where was Dumbledore?!

He had used the Twin-Serpent Staff and Herpo’s spatial beacon, so he must have come to this place as well, but Evan saw no sign of the headmaster.

Evan didn’t really have high hopes for whether Dumbledore was still alive.

Although he had always told others that Dumbledore had only left and would return, given the headmaster’s condition at the time, the chances of survival were really slim. He was already very old; the curse, the depletion of his magic, the evil god’s attack, and the backlash from using the Twin-Serpent Staff — any one of them could have been fatal.

Evan carried the three plaques and headed towards the top of the temple. A few minutes later, he arrived at the summit of this enormous building.

The fog here was thicker than below. Evan sensed nothing unusual; there were no whispers of the evil god, and Herpo seemed to have truly gone. He made his wand glow to drive away the dense fog around him. At the top of the temple was a platform, with a huge triangular rune inscribed on the stone.

At each of the three apexes of the triangle was a groove, roughly the size of the plaques.

Evan didn’t rush to place the plaques into them. He carefully examined the rune on the ground; it was magic he didn’t recognize, and he wasn’t sure what would happen if activated. Besides this, there were many red crystal fragments scattered on the platform.

They shimmered with a crimson light, and it seemed as if voices were speaking from within them. These were all fragments left after Evan shattered the “Eye of Death.” According to Slytherin, the “Eye of Death” wasn’t actually a real ruby, but a crystallized form of power created by Herpo’s theft of energy from the Shadow Realm — a conglomerate formed from the power of countless departed souls…