Salazar's Gift

Moriarty ordered Lockhart, Ingo, and Luke to leave and wait in the hall.

Then he picked up the diary.

"Ding-dong~ Detected that the host has discovered Salazar Slytherin's Diary. Reward: five Exploration Draws."

Moriarty was somewhat surprised. The entire Castle had only provided ten Lottery Draws, while this diary provided five. That made him look forward to its contents.

Moriarty opened the first page, where a line of elegant handwriting lay.

"Open your eyes to see death; close your eyes to see the future."

Moriarty read softly. This was precisely the spell to unseal the Castle.

He turned to the second page, where it read: "Death is Eternal Life."

"Interesting." Moriarty ran a finger across the page. Even after more than nine hundred years, the paper remained soft. Like those words, there was nothing striking about them; they were as plain as a statement of fact, yet their meaning made one's scalp tingle.

"Death has always been a secret Wizards could never fully fathom, while eternal life is the pursuit of a great many Dark Wizards."

Moriarty sat down in the noble's chair, resting his hands on the gold-trimmed down armrests.

"However, in the Middle Ages when Ancestor Salazar lived, there probably was no concept of Dark Wizards. Every Great Mage who reached the Legendary Realm would have explored immortality."

Those two passages stirred Moriarty's ambition. He eagerly turned to the third page, only to see scarlet bloodstains spelling out: "Never trust Goblins!"

He flipped further ahead. The third page, the fourth page... all the way to the last page contained notes on Potions, Spells, and runes. It was as though death and eternal life had never been mentioned again.

Moriarty placed the diary on the desk. Although it contained no further records regarding death or eternal life, it meticulously documented seventeen Potions and thirty-four Spells invented by Salazar Slytherin.

"I think this knowledge will make my school life a little less boring." Moriarty smiled in satisfaction. He took out his checklist and wrote, "First year: successfully brew three Potions and master five Spells."

Having written down his plan, Moriarty noticed a rectangular sandalwood box on the table. Time had not faded it; it was still a vivid gold and red.

That color was uncommon in the Castle. Gold and red were the favorite colors of Salazar's friend and sworn rival, Godric Gryffindor.

Moriarty curiously opened the box. Inside was a large ring of keys, the largest of which was a red key labeled "Chamber of Secrets."

"Luke!" Moriarty shouted. He grabbed the red key and walked out of the bedroom. "Take me to the basement, quickly!"

Luke popped out. "Please follow me, Young Master. The basement is divided into two levels. The first is the vault, which holds the treasures Master obtained from the Goblins. The second stores the supplies Master stockpiled."

Not knowing whether the Chamber of Secrets was on the first or second level, Moriarty decided to begin his search on the first.

As he passed through the hall, Moriarty heard Lockhart questioning Ingo.

"There is something I have pondered for a long time. You know, Ingo, neither you nor the House-elves can leave the Castle. So how have you survived for nine hundred years? I mean, where did you get food?"

"There is a great lake behind the Castle, heh heh." Ingo did not answer directly, merely smiling cruelly.

"Oh, all right." Lockhart gave Ingo a look of disgust, then asked, "And what about the Castle's wealth? Was it really obtained by Salazar from the Goblins? I don't remember any record in History of Magic of Salazar coming into conflict with Goblins."

Ingo glared fiercely at him. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

Moriarty guessed he must have been cursing Salazar, but he did not dare make a sound. Perhaps it had something to do with the Golden Shackles.

"Come with me, Lockhart. We're going to the vault," Moriarty said knowingly. "As long as you're willing to pay, even a Troll will read your new book!"

Lockhart ran over with shining eyes, muttering to himself nonstop along the way. He seemed to be rehearsing a book launch in advance, looking immensely pleased with himself.

"Young Master, we have arrived." Luke opened the vault door with a single finger.

The pitch-black basement was instantly illuminated. Mountains of gold and glittering gems and pearls dazzled Moriarty and Lockhart so badly that they could barely open their eyes.

Luke thought he had hurt Moriarty. He cried, "It is all my fault! I have never been to the vault, so I did not know it was as bright as heaven."

"Aha, this is heaven!" Lockhart covered his eyes. Tears streamed down his face, but he did not care in the slightest, drunkenly breathing in the scent of money.

After waiting a while, Moriarty was finally able to make out the vault's layout.

The entire vault was as large as a football field. Blocks of gold formed its four airtight walls. The ceiling was inlaid with gems, jade, diamonds, and pearls, while countless treasures lay scattered across the floor.

Crystal partitions marked the divisions between different types of treasure. A purple crystal wall separated the mountain of gold from the mountain of silver, while a green crystal wall divided golden vessels from magical materials...

Then there were gold coins issued by various countries in various eras. Yet within this vault, they were the least valuable items, piled in heaps in the corners.

"Wow!" Moriarty marveled. He was not greedy for wealth, but having this fortune would spare him much hardship. "Lockhart, take a few gold bricks as funding to promote your new book."

"Oh~ Young Master..." Lockhart knelt on the floor paved with gold bricks. Tears poured down his face as he opened his mouth and repeatedly shook his head at Moriarty.

Moriarty did not know what he was trying to convey, but those tears were surely tears of joy.

"Luke, let's go to the second level." Moriarty walked out of the vault. Other than money, there was only more money here. Clearly, there was no trace of the Chamber of Secrets.

On the Second Basement Level, it was not as dark as the first. The armor hanging on the walls always reflected a little light.

Moriarty paced around in search of the Chamber of Secrets. Aside from armor, there were also Goblin-forged weapons such as greatswords, iron hammers, spears, shields, and scepters.

"Found it!" Moriarty looked at a Serpent Sculpture and shook his head. "Ancestor Salazar truly was a stubborn old man. The places where he stored all those strange things could never be separated from snakes."

Moriarty inserted the red key into the serpent's mouth. With a crisp click, a hidden door appeared in the wall.

Glancing at the hidden door, which could only fit one person through at a time, Moriarty tightened his grip on his wand and strode inside.

The danger Moriarty had cautiously anticipated did not appear. The hidden door led to a room containing only an ordinary stone altar, upon which sat an egg.

Sensing a faint Magic Power leaking from within the egg, Moriarty gently placed his hand on it. Sure enough, he felt a slight pulse, as though a tiny heart were beating inside.

Moriarty suddenly heard the System's notification:

"The egg in the host's hand is called a Phoenix Egg. As a rare magical creature, the Undying Phoenix contains Fire Elemental Magic. It is a mutant among phoenixes. It does not undergo rebirth, because it cannot be killed in the first place. That is also why it is difficult to hatch."

This was the first time the System had explained so much to Moriarty, making him realize that this egg was far from ordinary.

"Detected that the host has discovered, touched, and possesses a Phoenix Egg. Reward: three Exploration Draws.

Detected that the Phoenix Egg contains dense Fire Elemental Magic. The Elemental Magic Advancement Path is now available to the host. Would the host like to choose?"

Moriarty asked, "Elemental Magic Advancement Path? What benefits are there to choosing it?"

"Because the Harry Potter world lacks a complete Wizard ranking system, the System provides the Elemental Magic Advancement Path.

Elemental Magic can help the host study magic more effectively and complete tasks more quickly.

As long as the host possesses the corresponding magical element, the host can unlock the corresponding Elemental Magic.

The host has currently unlocked two types of Elemental Magic: Fire Element and Water Element."

"Water Element?" Moriarty asked curiously. He had just unlocked Fire Elemental Magic through the Phoenix Egg, so when had Water Elemental Magic been unlocked?

Moriarty had not been exposed to magic for long, but he quickly realized it. "It was when I fought the Dark Wizard! The Ice Magic formation, Ice Snake Dance! I understand now. In terms of magical essence, ice is a transformed form of water, so Ice Magic belongs to Water Elemental Magic."

"If the Slytherin Family's inherited magic all belongs to Water Elemental Magic, what reason do I have not to learn it?" Moriarty said with a smile. Compared with the treasures in the vault, knowledge was true wealth.

"The System does not permit one person to unlock multiple types of Elemental Magic simultaneously, so the host may choose only one type of Elemental Magic to study.

The System recommends that the host choose Water Element. If the host chooses Water Element, due to the host's outstanding performance in the 'Battle Dark Wizard' task, the host will become a level 25 Junior Wizard.

If the host chooses Fire Element, the host can only begin as a level 3 Magic Apprentice."

"Magic Apprentice and Junior Wizard?" Moriarty played with the Phoenix Egg in his hand. "It fills in the level classifications missing from the magical system of the Harry Potter world, reclassifying magic according to Elemental Magic. This is getting more and more interesting. All right, I choose the Water Elemental Magic Advancement Path."

"Unlocking Water Element requires 2,000 points."

Moriarty paid the points, leaving him with only 600. Fortunately, he still had eighteen Exploration Draws.

With a soft "ding-dong," a great deal of information appeared in Moriarty's mind.

The Elemental Magic Advancement Path had ten titles.

Magic Apprentice, Apprentice Wizard, Junior Wizard, Senior Wizard, Magic Scholar, Magic User, Archmage, Grand Archmage, Great Mage, Legendary Great Mage.

After reaching level 99 as a Legendary Great Mage, level 100 awaited him: Become a God!

Moriarty gently shook his head, pulling his thoughts away from those visions. He opened the shop to look at its Water Elemental Magic.

Just Ice Prison Calamity alone cost 5,000 points, while Water Genesis, which could restore vitality to a group, cost even more—10,000 points.

Moriarty set his sights on a passive spell: Tide.

When injured, it could restore a small amount of his vitality every three seconds.

In battle, it could add one layer of Tide to an enemy. After three layers of Tide were applied, the chance of freezing the enemy would greatly increase.

It cost only 800 points. It was not expensive, yet it was practical.

"I'm still 200 points short. Perhaps I should go meet Britain's Wizards."

Moriarty narrowed his eyes, considering how to obtain more points. If he remained in the Castle, the System undoubtedly would not issue any tasks.

At that moment, the Ice Moon Necklace in the System Space suddenly emitted a dazzling white light!

"Ding-dong~ Detected that the host's Water Elemental Magic corresponds with the Ice Moon Necklace. The host has obtained the right to use the Ice Moon Necklace. Reward: one Achievement Draw."