Several badly weathered runes were carved into the stone wall, each only a fingernail's depth. Without feeling them by hand, they were practically imperceptible.
At the sight of these runes, Gerald already had a few suspicions.
Their lettering was identical to the handwriting in Braid Green's alchemy notes, which he had seen in the Green Family's vault at Gringotts.
He immediately took the notebook out of his Object-Storing Talisman. Consulting its contents, he activated seven runes in sequence with his wand, each growing a shade brighter from its grayish white as he activated it.
When the final rune lit up, a low rumble came from deep within the stone wall. A thin crack opened down the middle of the cliff face and rapidly widened, becoming a stone doorway twice a person's height and one person's width in an instant.
A faint silver glow shimmered along the doorframe's edges-the spatial folding magic unique to ancient alchemy.
From outside, this stretch of cliff looked like ordinary stone, but once opened, it revealed an entirely different space within.
Gerald did not know whether taking out his wand to activate the runes counted as misuse of magic, but he could no longer worry about that.
Gerald summoned several fireballs to hover around him, then stepped inside.
Beyond the door was a flight of stone steps leading downward. The steps were narrow, only wide enough for one person, and magic lamps were set into the stone walls on either side every few paces.
The moment he entered the passage, the magic lamps actually lit up on their own. Their ghostly blue light extended downward, step by step, instantly illuminating the entire passage.
At the end of the passage stood a heavy iron door, with an inscription in ancient runes carved into its lintel.
Gerald's grasp