Chapter 144: The Unopenable Heritage
"Nothing, nothing, still nothing," he muttered. Ethan hovered in the air, illuminating the wall with his wand as he scanned it inch by inch.
After inspecting the entire wall of the Chamber, his throat was dry from speaking Parseltongue. He still found nothing.
"Could it be on the pillars?" He'd finished with the walls. Aside from the statue that had housed the Basilisk, the only things left in the room were the pillars carved with serpents.
However, even after examining every pillar, he found nothing.
"I don't know if Voldemort took it, or if Salazar simply didn't leave a legacy." Ethan landed in defeat.
Scars from the battle still marred the ground. Several floor tiles cracked by the Basilisk's tail had not been repaired.
Ethan returned to the torch-lit entrance. He took out the freshly harvested gall and eye of the snake, examining them carefully under the firelight.
Having studied under Snape for over a year, he had learned a great deal. He cast a series of spells to determine if these two organs possessed the properties he required.
"This eye is completely useless. The power to kill or petrify with a single glance has vanished entirely." He set the eye aside.
Through magical analysis, he determined that the Basilisk's unique ability was intrinsically linked to its bloodline and ocular structure. Consequently, merely imitating its structure would probably produce an alchemical item with effects similar to the Full Body-Bind Curse.
He picked up the gallbladder once more and repeated the spell sequence.
"It seems to possess some detoxifying properties, though they're only effective against the Basilisk's own venom." Despite the analysis, uncertainty lingered.
"I'll head to the Forbidden Forest this weekend to catch a few rabbits for testing. I should prepare several other poisons as well to verify my conclusion."
He pulled on dragon-hide gloves, extracted the gallbladder, and sliced open the outer membrane. He carefully transferred the bile into reagent bottles one by one, then placed the remaining outer skin into a jar to preserve it as a specimen.
He treated the snake eye the same way. Since it was organic tissue, preserving it as a specimen was the safest option, as he didn't plan to study it right away.
Those jars Snape kept in the Potions classroom must have been prepared just like this.
*I'll find Snape tomorrow to get some specimen-preserving solution.* He thought it over. Simply analyzing the bloodline had taken hours. He was getting sleepy and planned to wrap up before heading back to the dormitory.
*Wait, is anything hidden inside the passage where the Basilisk emerged?* Halfway through a yawn, he suddenly realized he'd checked everywhere except the statue where the Basilisk had been hidden.
*Hiss, hiss.* Facing the statue, he hissed a few phrases in Parseltongue, watching the Salazar statue's mouth open wider and wider.
When the hole opened in the motionless statue, Ethan lit his wand and flew into the pitch-black opening, heading deeper.
Ethan flew slowly, noting that the passage was wide enough for two Basilisks. As he searched for secrets, he kept hissing "open" in Parseltongue.
The cave ran deeper than Ethan had expected. Scattered bones lay about, so ancient that any rotting smell had long since faded.
Flying slowly to the end, he found shed Basilisk skins and relatively fresh bones, presumably the remains of prey from the creature's last awakening.
The lower section of the wall showed traces of the Basilisk's passage.
Ethan continued hissing in Parseltongue.
To his surprise, it worked!
On the wall directly opposite the passage, a small section of stone slid inward, revealing a small compartment.
Inside lay an exquisite green wooden box.
*There really is an inheritance! I almost missed this relic from a great wizard a thousand years ago.* Ethan savored the thrill of the find.
Presumably, Voldemort had left this inheritance untouched because he never expected it to be hidden in the Basilisk's lair.
*If the Basilisk hadn't been killed by Dumbledore, I probably wouldn't have thought to search this lair either, right?* Wearing dragon-hide gloves, Ethan held the wooden box and counted himself lucky.
The box wasn't particularly large, roughly twenty-five centimeters long, twenty centimeters wide, and twenty centimeters high, but it was surprisingly heavy.
The box itself was carved with intricate patterns. The lid featured the iconic serpent of Slytherin.
But how could he open it? Ethan examined the box, his concern growing. It was carved from an unknown material and showed no visible seams.
He picked up the wooden box and held it to his ear, shaking it gently. A faint rattle confirmed something was inside; it wasn't solid all the way through.
He hissed at the box, but nothing happened.
First, he cast several spells to detect hidden hexes. Once he confirmed it was safe, he tried other methods.
"Alohomora!" Ethan tried the Unlocking Charm, but to no avail.
He hesitated, but finally decided to try more destructive methods, casting "Portaberto" and "Open Sesame."
However, these spells all failed. The wooden box remained undamaged, but still refused to open.
He left the cave and stood beneath the torch at the entrance. Examining the box more carefully in the firelight, he considered other methods.
He suddenly remembered legends from his past life about blood binding.
Ethan steeled himself, bit his finger, and squeezed out a drop of blood, letting it fall onto the S-shaped serpent.
*Wait, blood recognition?* Apparently, it required blood from a descendant of Salazar. Even though the blood had been absorbed, the wooden box remained closed. Staring at the result, Ethan was at a loss.
Although he had found a possible method to open the box, pulling it off wouldn't be easy.
He knew a descendant of Salazar was at the school, but obtaining her blood would be a challenge.
"In any case, the inheritance is in my hands now, and I know how to open it. All that's left is to follow through. There's always a way." Ethan was so sleepy he could barely think straight.
He put everything away, restored the Chamber to its original state, and flew upward along the pipe.
With a hiss, the sink slid aside, revealing the exit, and Ethan flew out.
"Damn!" Ethan was too sleepy. He hadn't thought about Myrtle on the way back and didn't remember the obstacle until he reached the entrance.
"Who's there?" a voice called from a stall. Immediately, a translucent head poked out from behind the partition.
The entrance hissed shut. Ethan quickly sealed the Chamber.
"It's me. Don't tell anyone." He was afraid Myrtle would blab, but he figured hiding his identity would only cause more problems. He delivered the message without showing his face, then left immediately.
"That was careless," Ethan muttered, lying in bed. "God knows if rumors about the Heir of Slytherin returning will start going around tomorrow."
Apparently, Myrtle hadn't told anyone. At least no rumors about the Heir surfaced the next day.
But Ethan couldn't be sure she wouldn't mention it to Dumbledore, so he decided to get ahead of it. He went straight to the Headmaster's office and explained everything.
"Indeed, Myrtle visited me this morning," Dumbledore said. "A boy opened the Chamber last night while invisible. She couldn't see who."
"It was me. I got some Basilisk materials from Professor Snape last night and went down to study them."
"You seem to be making a habit of wandering the castle at night, Ethan."
"Well, some things aren't really suitable for studying in the dormitory. I had to find somewhere in the castle at night," Ethan said, spreading his hands.
Dumbledore said earnestly, "Don't study too much of what Tom taught you. Dark Magic warps the mind."
"I'll be careful." Ethan gave a perfunctory nod, feigning serious agreement.
With his bloodline protecting him, he had nothing to fear. Still, it was best to keep quiet about his gains.
Ethan still had classes to attend, so after offering a brief explanation for his behavior the previous night, he took his leave.
"What's wrong with you today? You seemed a bit distracted in class," Draco asked after Herbology as they walked toward the Transfiguration classroom, sensing something was weighing on Ethan's mind.
"Nothing. Just some things I haven't figured out yet." Ethan shook his head.
He had spent the entire day pondering how to approach Nancy with a reasonable excuse to obtain a blood sample for opening the inheritance box.
Suddenly, he turned to look at Draco and smiled.
"Hmm? You figured it out?" Draco stared at him, surprised.
"I have!" Ethan grinned.
Getting Nancy Riddle's blood wouldn't be easy, but Draco was right there beside him.
According to what Draco had said earlier, his family had intermarried with Slytherin's descendants. A Malfoy could arguably count as a descendant of Salazar.
Though he wasn't a Parselmouth, he had some affinity for snakes. It was worth a try. Perhaps it would even open?
Getting Draco's blood would be much simpler than tracking down a stranger's.
That bright smile filled Draco with foreboding. Last year, every time he'd seen that smile, he, Goyle, and the others had ended up in trouble.
Draco left Transfiguration feeling on edge, but nothing happened. Just as he started to think he'd been wrong, disaster struck.
As he headed back to the dungeons, something tripped him. He lost his balance and fell down the stairs, smashing his nose against the stone steps. Blood began pouring from it.
Draco scrambled to his feet, clutching his nose. His first instinct was to look for Ethan.
"Not you?" Draco realized the person behind him wasn't Ethan, who he'd suspected had tripped him. It was Goyle and Crabbe. They wouldn't trip him on purpose.
"Huh? Me?" Ethan looked surprised, though the expression seemed slightly exaggerated.
"Goyle, Crabbe, take Draco to the Hospital Wing first. I have something else to do, so I'll meet you there." Seeing the blood dripping steadily from Draco's hand, Ethan quickly sent them on their way.
Seeing that Draco didn't seem seriously injured, the other Slytherins drifted away one by one. Ethan pretended to leave, then doubled back to his original spot.
He cast a spell, gathering the blood mixed with dust from the ground into a small vial. After casting Scourgify to clean the area, he headed toward the Hospital Wing.
By the time he arrived, Draco had already come out of the Hospital Wing, with only a few dried smears of blood on his face.
Ethan pointed to his cheek. "You should wash your face before you go. There's blood on it."
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4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 142
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