The Heir of Slytherin, Salazar Slytherin

When that weathered voice echoed in the Chamber of Secrets.

Alarm bells rang in Lucien's mind.

The Heir of Slytherin!

Was it because the magic was being prepared to be used that the magic triggered the arrangement within the Chamber of Secrets?

Is this Slytherin's backup plan to protect its successor?

Lucien made a decision in an instant, and with a sudden burst of force, he thrust the Sword of Gryffindor hard into the diary.

At the same time, with a flick of his right hand, Thunderbolt Arrow wrapped in purple and blue electric arcs shot towards Tom at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Plans can't keep up with changes, let's take down the Heir of Slytherin first!

Huff--

The black smoke on Tom's body suddenly turned into eerie green flames, which collided head-on with the lightning arrow just as they were about to attack Lucien.

Thunder and fire collided, and a violent explosion rang out!

Tom is prepared to endure the pain of his Horcrux being attacked.

But the deepest, most soul-crushing pain did not arrive as expected.

In addition, Tom also felt that the power that was fighting against the green fire had suddenly decreased!

The light from the magical collision dissipated, and Tom looked closely.

Lucien has disappeared!

The silver sword he was about to use to pierce the diary has also vanished!

Tom was filled with the joy of surviving the ordeal, and a smile unconsciously crept onto his lips.

"Ancestor, you have ultimately protected your descendants and punished those Mudblood who dared to lay a hand on their heir!"

Tom turned to look at the statue on the wall of the Chamber of Secrets.

The statue was almost as tall as the room, with an old, monkey-like face and a sparse, long beard that dragged on the ground.

Salazar Slytherin.

One of the four Founders of Hogwarts, he established Slytherin House, a legend of that era, and wielded powerful Dark Magic...

Salazar left behind Chamber of Secrets with the Basilisk, awaiting the arrival of a successor.

He himself was an ancestor of the Gaunt family; Tom's mother had the surname "Gaunt," so Tom also had Salazar Slytherin blood.

Fifty years ago, Tom found the Chamber of Secrets and entered it to receive the Slytherin legacy.

From bloodline, talent, knowledge, personality and many other aspects, Tom believed himself to be the most suitable successor to Slytherin!

Although Tom didn't hear that voice when he came here back then.

But it doesn't matter. Perhaps it's because of the massive burst of magic, or perhaps it's because Tom is in grave danger, that the magical techniques left behind by Slytherin have been triggered!

Overjoyed, Tom reached out and picked up the dragon blood that had fallen to the ground. He checked the remaining amount and, confirming that there was still enough, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Approaching the unaffected cauldron, Tom prepared to complete the final step in perfecting the potion.

"Clatter--"

The small vial containing dragon's blood fell again, and bright red blood trickled out.

Tom stared incredulously at his translucent palm, which was fading and disappearing at an alarming rate!

"No..."

As soon as he uttered a single word, Tom's entire soul suddenly faded away.

A pale red light emanated from his chest, like a crimson meteor Slytherin Statue.

Tom reached out to grasp at the last vestiges of life, but it was too late.

Before his eyes faded, Tom's gaze fell on the Slytherin Statue, filled with confusion.

Tom's soul completely dissipated, leaving only a wisp of black mist, which was slowly drawn back into the diary.

The next second, a pale blue orb of light emerged from Lockhart's forehead, who had already collapsed to the ground, and flew into the eye of the Slytherin Statue.

A light flashed before Lucien's eyes.

In an instant, all I saw was white, an empty white.

Suddenly appearing in an unfamiliar space, Lucien's first reaction was to cast layers of protective spells on himself.

Protego, Impedimenta, lightning-fast armor...

Lucien had just finished doing all this when he was about to summon Liuguang to teleport him away from this place.

"Pat pat--"

Applause suddenly erupted behind Lucien.

"Great reaction, good alertness..."

A faint voice followed immediately after the applause.

However, Lucien's figure flashed, and the moment the applause rang out, he had already activated Apparition.

After appearing in another location, Lucien frowned slightly.

I can use Apparition myself without any problem, but why didn't Liuguang appear?

There wasn't even a response?

Lucien stared at his original spot, but there was nothing there. Yet the sound he'd just heard was unmistakable...

The vortex in his pupils expanded rapidly, turning his dark green eyes pure black, as he maximized the power of his Eye of Magic Sight, striving to capture the traces of that unknown person.

"Interesting eyes, but not enough..."

The sound came from behind again. Without hesitation, Lucien unleashed a blinding burst of lightning from the tip of his staff, which then expanded wildly outwards from his own center.

However, Lucien did not perceive any physical impact from the attack!

The opponent dodged too quickly?

This strange space...

Is it Slytherin's magic?

Suddenly, an absurd thought flashed through Lucien's mind.

Driving his magic, Lucien gathered his lightning, allowing it to swirl around him, and slowly spoke:

Salazar Slytherin?

Lucien's voice echoed throughout the space.

"Finally, we've found a decent successor again..."

After an unknown amount of time, the voice rang out again, but it sounded very aged, exactly the same as the one Lucien had heard in the Chamber of Secrets.

A gradually solidifying figure appeared before Lucien.

The figure nodded slightly to Lucien, as if sizing up the young man.

"Hmm, Ravenclaw's..."

But when the figure's gaze fell upon the Sword of Gryffindor in Lucien's hand, the voice paused.

"Which college are you from?"

A pure white space.

The figure that appeared before Lucien gradually became clearer.

A middle-aged man with silver hair and green eyes, extremely tall, wearing a gorgeous and elaborate black robe, looked Lucien up and down with great interest.

His eyes were quite peculiar, with vertical pupils resembling those of a snake, gleaming with an eerie light.

Lucien was also observing the person in front of him; he looked quite different from the Slytherin statue.

Legend has it that Slytherin, due to their excessive involvement in Dark Magic, suffered physical distortions, resulting in ugly faces resembling those of an old monkey...

Is this what Slytherin looked like when she was relatively young?

Thump--

A slight sound echoed in Lucien's mind, causing him to frown.

The "Intellect Barrier" has been shaken.

This is an Ancient Magic I found in Nicolas's library. It involves condensing one's knowledge and magical power into a barrier to protect the mind from the effects of magic targeting memories or the soul, such as the Obliviate or Legilimency.

Its effect is similar to Occlumency, but the characteristics of the Intellect Barrier are more suitable for Lucien.

At the time, Lucien also used the branches and leaves of the Whomping Willow as materials to perfect the construction of the Intellect Barrier.

The "attack" on his Intellect Barrier heightened Lucien's vigilance.

Legilimency?

Slytherin was a master of Legilimency, and the Sorting Hat's ability to detect a young wizard's traits was given to him by him.

"What strange knowledge have you, a wizard, learned?"

Suddenly, the silver-haired middle-aged man spoke again, his weathered voice utterly incongruous with his appearance.

"Mass and energy are not two independent concepts, but rather two different manifestations of the same entity, as explained by the mass-energy equivalence equation..."

Upon hearing this, Lucien's eyes widened slightly. He had indeed achieved "miraculous results" by using a vast amount of Muggle knowledge to construct the Intellect Barrier.

A key characteristic of Intellect Barrier is that the more unfamiliar and difficult the knowledge contained within is to an intruder, the better the barrier's protective effect.

Although intruders could force their way in, it would require several times the magic power and time, which would be enough for Lucien to detect and respond.

Few wizards truly understand Muggle knowledge. Even those wizards who are friendly or even curious about Muggle are unlikely to actively learn about the various aspects of the Muggle world.

The middle-aged man's gaze was fixed on the academy badge on Lucien's chest. Two orbs of light, one red and one blue, had appeared in his hand without his noticing. He gently rubbed the blue orb together and said thoughtfully:

"That's Muggle knowledge? You're quite like Rowena, always eager to learn anything."

Lucien believed that the "Rowena" mentioned by the other party referred to Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of his own house and one of the four Founders of Hogwarts.

The familiarity in the tone when mentioning Rowena made the identity of the person before him almost certain.

A bigger question arose in Lucien's mind: why didn't Slytherin go to save Tom, but instead pulled him into this space, and what was this talk about an heir?

"As you've already guessed, I am Salazar Slytherin."

"As for what's going on outside, don't worry, it's been resolved. Your name is Lucien Grafton, a second-year student at Ravenclaw?"

Did his Legilimency break through the Intellect Barrier?

The thought flashed through Lucien's mind.

No, the Intellect Barrier didn't provide any feedback. Or is Salazar's Legilimency simply too high? After all, he was a legendary wizard from a thousand years ago...

Seeing Lucien's slightly changed expression, Salazar's lips curled into a smile.

"Don't worry, it's not about checking your memories, it's about this guy named Gilderoy Lockhart."

Salazar weighed the blue orb in his hand.

Lockhart's memories?

Lucien's gaze was drawn to the blue orb of light, and he suddenly understood.

After a moment of silence, Lucien carefully considered his words and said:

"Slytherin Head of House, actually I have some things to do. Could I wait until I finish those before..."

But Salazar his hand dismissively.

"It's alright, this is a consciousness space, and the flow of time here is different from the outside world."

Consciousness Space?

Lucien was astonished. His senses felt so real, and his magic seemed perfectly normal, yet it wasn't the real world...

So that's why there was no response when I called out to Liuguang before?

Thinking of conducting a simple experiment first, Lucien had an idea.

The Sword of Gryffindor in his hand suddenly disappeared, but it wasn't put into the Undetectable Extension Charm Container by Lucien.

Lucien had only "wanted" it to disappear.

Seeing Lucien's actions, Salazar nodded slightly, his tone filled with satisfaction:

"Very quick-witted."

"Slytherin Head of House, ah, what a nostalgic title."

"So, how about accepting my legacy? Someone like you, Ravenclaw, must be very eager for knowledge. There's no reason for you to refuse, is there?"

Lucien felt that Salazar's attitude seemed to have softened a bit after the Sword of Gryffindor disappeared.

Inheriting the legacy of Slytherin...

To be honest, Lucien was extremely tempted by this. Salazar was a legendary wizard from a thousand years ago, and the legacy and knowledge he left behind were absolutely priceless!

"I'd love to learn from you, but may I ask first what your criteria are for choosing a successor?"

Lucien decided to ask the question that had been bothering him.

Tom had opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago and could still control the Basilisk, not to mention his own outstanding talent, his ambition for power and authority, and the Gaunt family bloodline inherited from Salazar himself...

By all accounts, Tom seems to be the most likely successor to Slytherin.

But why myself?

"Talent."

Salazar said matter-of-factly, her pair of emerald green vertical eyes flashing with an almost arrogant confidence.

"My legacy is certainly not something that ordinary people can touch."

Salazar's answer and gaze did not surprise Lucien at all. It was no surprise that he was the founder of Slytherin; such qualities were simply inherited from him.

Unfortunately, most of the Slytherin students did not possess the strength and talent to match their arrogance.

"Secondly, the purity and integrity of the soul; the soul is of paramount importance."

Sure enough, there are other standards.

soul...

Lucien instantly grasped the key: the integrity of the soul. Perhaps Tom fifty years ago could have met Salazar's requirements, before he created the Horcrux.

But that's absolutely not going to happen now. Voldemort created multiple Horcrux, and his soul, torn apart several times, can hardly be considered whole!

Moreover, what was present was only a fragment of the soul, which was far from meeting Slytherin's requirements.

"Lucien, your talent is superior. I was awakened when you unleashed your magic. Talent can be manifested not only through Magic Circuit, but also within magic itself. Hmm, you'll understand once you receive my inheritance."

Salazar finished speaking and sighed softly.

"Horcrux, in the end, are a misguided path."

Salazar was extremely skilled in Dark Magic, so he could naturally see through the essence of the diary.

The creation of Horcrux is too evil, and the act of splitting the soul is unacceptable to dark wizards; they would rather die than lose their souls.

Salazar suddenly tossed the pale red orb from his fingertip into his mouth and began to chew it like candy.

Lucien raised an eyebrow; it seemed that the red orb of light was emanating a life force?

"Next."

After Salazar finished speaking, he tossed the pale blue orb of light to Lucien.

"It contains Gilderoy Lockhart's memories and his insights into the Obliviate; that young man's study of the Obliviate was quite ingenious."

Salazar's positive assessment of Lockhart's Obliviate only fueled Lucien's curiosity.

I had been looking for an opportunity to learn this skill from Lockhart, and now it's convenient for me.

Snap--

Salazar snapped his fingers, and the scene instantly changed.

"Before accepting the inheritance, take a test first, let me see what your foundation is like."