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Chapter 1078: Four Items
🕑 Added 2024-04-13 00:58:52 +0000 UTCAlong the dirt lane that they had once walked in Ogden’s memory, Evan and Dumbledore walked towards the trees next to the valley.
Different from the newly renovated main road, the dirt lane was still winding, full of potholes and rocks, and the hedgerows on both sides had become taller and denser.
They grew irregularly, filling up everything around them, and even covering the original lane.
Nearly half a hundred years had passed, but there was still not much change here. Time seemed to have stood still in this place.
After passing the dense old trees, Evan once again saw the old house of the Gaunts.
Now, this hovel should be more appropriately called a ruin.
The moss-covered walls still stood, tenaciously supporting the main body of the old house, but they were covered in plants. All the tiles on the roof had fallen off, the exposed rafters had begun to rot, and the doors and windows had disappeared, leaving dark openings.
The sound of insects crawling was heard from inside the house, and dense nettles had taken over the place.
Voldemort had hidden the ring here, and Evan didn't know whether to call it just an unobtrusive good idea or a bold and crazy one.
This dilapidated hovel offered no protection against any intruder.
But likewise, no one would be interested in this ramshackle hovel; it was worthless.
From this perspective, the Gaunt family was definitely the most miserable pure-blood wizarding family in history. However, it held a special significance for him.
"This is it!" said Dumbledore, taking two steps forward and then stopping. "Do you feel anything?"
"What?" said Evan in surprise, looking at the dilapidated house in front of him.
"Magic, this place has experienced magic," said Dumbledore softly, as if there was something like a spell spreading in the air. "Evan, I told you before, feel it with your heart, don't trust your eyes, they’re unreliable."
He slowly turned in place, apparently focusing on something invisible to the eyes.
It was much harder than usual to feel the magic. Evan closed his eyes, and the magic around seemed to distort in the house in front of him.
To use an analogy, it was like light, originally coming in a certain direction but suddenly deviating.
"In the right corner," said Evan slowly, looking for the area of magic change.
"Yes, you’ve felt it too, it's right there, let's go in and have a look!" said Dumbledore, striding forward.
"Professor, what kind of magic is this? Is it the same as the layout in the cave by the seaside?"
Evan still remembered that magic. Only blood could be used to break it and enter it.
"I don't think so, but it should be equally evil," said Dumbledore. "If you want to get that thing, you have to pay a price. Advanced dark magic is always like this. This is also in line with Voldemort's expectations, but I think it shouldn't be too difficult this time. He was only fifteen years old when he got the ring, about the same age as you. He didn't master as much forbidden magic as he did later. Maybe his soul wasn't so corrupted. After all, it was his first Horcrux; he had never killed anyone before."
Evan followed him forward. Did Dumbledore mean that Riddle wasn't that evil back then?
"Hogwarts doesn't have that much evil black magic for him to learn about, although I can confirm that he had read every magic book he could find in the Restricted Section of the library," said Dumbledore, leading Evan into the dark hovel. "But those magic books had been screened, and some truly dangerous things had been isolated."
As soon as they entered, a deeper darkness swallowed them up, and the air became thinner.
With the light at the tip of the wand, all Evan could see was dust, everywhere pitch black and indiscernible.
Thick cobwebs hung from the ceiling, the interior walls of the house had collapsed, and weeds grew between the rocks.
One end of a rafter had fallen, leaning on the ground, while the other end supported the weight of the entire house.
Evan followed Dumbledore carefully as he walked inside, not daring to touch anything.
Everything here gave him a feeling, as if with just a light touch, the house would completely collapse and bury them alive here.
"At the age of fifteen, he obtained that ring, carried it for a short time, and soon realized it was too ostentatious, although he was eager to tell others about his long and noble lineage, he didn't want to attract too much attention, especially mine," Dumbledore's voice echoed ahead of Evan as they entered the room to the right. "Because he couldn't explain to me how he got this invaluable ring. You see, he had almost nothing before coming to Hogwarts. Moreover, that ring is also a Horcrux, his first one. It wasn't wise to carry it around. I believe shortly after Morfin was arrested, he returned here, probably during the Christmas holiday that year, and hid the ring. It must have been like that, so he didn't have enough time to check it."
"Professor, what's the power on that ring?" Evan asked, he had always wanted to figure this out. "Why do you say it can solve the troubles with the vampires, that is, those evil gods ..."
"There are many possibilities. I am more inclined to think that Salazar Slytherin left some kind of magic on it, a type of magic that we do not yet understand but undoubtedly can help us. It's an essential item," said Dumbledore. "Do you remember the wall you saw deep in the Acromantula's lair? There were four Slytherin items carved on it."
"You’ve been there to see it too?"
"No, that place has been destroyed, and I had no way to get in. But not long ago, I saw the same wall in the vampire territory, with the four magic items carved on it," said Dumbledore. "The reason why I believe that the ring will help us is that it seems that only by collecting all four items can we completely unlock the secrets left by Slytherin."
Evan had originally planned to ask where the caduceus was. But Dumbledore probably didn't know either.
If he knew, he would have definitely told him or gone to retrieve it directly, just like he was here looking for the ring now.
It was better to ask Caresius about such matters, that guy must know something.
The two of them trudged forward among the ruins of the hovel, and Dumbledore waved his wand to clear away debris and rubble from the ground.
They came to the corner on the right side of the house, and in front of them was a large black wardrobe. This was probably the only remaining piece of furniture from the Gaunts.
