Novel Full Chapter 237: Vault No. 1
Chapter 237: Vault No. 1
Evan didn’t know what the unpleasant scene Sirius talked about would be, but it seemed a little strange to see the wind blowing through the seams in the surrounding rocks.
This was tens of thousands of feet deep underground, and it was reasonable to say that there should be no wind. Moreover, these winds were not the kind of cloudy gusts that would blow from the depths of the cave, but with a little warmth, like a warm midday wind.
In a place where there should be no wind, there was a strong wind with high temperature. Was there a legendary magic item underneath?! But then would it be too big?
At the edge of the stairs, Griphook clapped his hands, and a small cart rushed out from a dark, hidden gap in the rock wall. He signalled everyone to climb up.
Everyone climbed up in order, crammed together; nervously looking ahead, wondering what was awaiting them.
Griphook snapped his fingers and the cart started moving again. This time, it was not as fast as the 1st one.
As it slowly turned over the corner and rushed out of the cave, Evan felt a stronger warm wind blowing from below.
He hurriedly looked out, and in the endless darkness, he noticed that he was floating in the air.
In front of them, all the rocks disappeared, and a huge, bottomless hole suddenly appeared, and gusts of wind whistled up from below.
The hole was deep and straight down, as if extending to the earth’s core.
Everyone grabbed the edge of the cart tightly and looked out carefully.
If they accidentally fell from there, they would definitely shatter into pieces, and even their corpses would not be found.
Below the cart, a narrow track extended forward at a weird angle.
The old wooden brackets that were supported upwards on the rough rock walls were their only reliance. The rusty track routes were intricate, extending from the seams in the rock wall, not at the end, sometimes intertwined, and quickly separated.
Evan looked back and saw where they had just come out, and in the blink of an eye they were in a small seam, not different from the seams that were all over the rock.
He tried to memorize the route, but found it impossible to do.
The route of the track was too complicated, and the seams on the rock wall looked exactly the same.
Even if someone was to break in, find a treasure from the depths of the underground; if he didn’t remember the road, it would be impossible for him to get out of it.
Evan was sure that what awaited an intruder going through the wrong seam should not be pleasing to encounter.
The track zigzagged downward, and as everyone approached the deepest part of the vault, the wind blowing from below became hotter and hotter, quickly turning into an ascending heat wave.
The whistling sound was getting stronger and stronger, as if there were countless dragons firing up below.
Evan looked out again and saw a round, red-glowing object right below them, like a gate to the depths of hell.
He blinked for a few seconds before he realized what it was…
It was the magma deep in the earth’s crust!!!
Underneath them was a seemingly endless sea of magma, whistling and breathing, creaking and shining red all around them.
The temperature of the magma was amazing, and even the surrounding rocks were roasted red.
A few seconds later, the cart slowly stopped on an irregular island in the center of the red-black magma.
Everyone walked down, everyone was sweating, and their faces were red. They never thought that they would feel such a temperature in cold winter.
In fact, no one ever imagined that the deepest underground part of Gringotts would be such a scene, in sharp contrast to the prosperity above Diagon Alley.
Sirius was right. These goblins were simply mad. They have been digging down to the depths of the earth’s crust. If something happened there, the lava would break out, and not only Diagon Alley, but even the entirety of London would be engulfed by flames.
On the island there were dozens of stone sculptures, all kinds of shapes, which seemed to be the entrance to the vaults.
Evan felt a bit strange, because the shape of these statues looked familiar, and he must have seen them somewhere before.
He looked carefully for a moment, and then it hit him that the statues were all emblems of ancient pure-blood wizards. Many of these wizard families were prominent in the history of magic thousands of years ago, but most of them are now extinct, remaining only in history books.
“These are the earliest vaults built at the time of Gringotts’ founding. There are a hundred of them, all owned by the strongest Wizards of their time or by the most powerful pure-blood wizard families.” Griphook explained, “As centuries passed, many wizard families have disappeared into the stream of history, and they haven’t been here for many years.”
The island carved with emblems looked like a graveyard of pure blood wizards.
These significant statues not only testify to the glory of the past of the pure-blood wizard families, but also tell endless loneliness in silence. No matter how powerful and illustrious they were, they no longer existed, and the treasures preserved in the Gringotts will remain here forever.
Regardless of all that, the ancient wizard family emblems show that this should absolutely be the holy land for magic historians and heraldry enthusiasts.
Evan carefully observed and compared with the wizard’s emblems in his mind.
After watching it for a while, he found that it was exactly the same as Griphook said. There were big numbers on the statues, all within one hundred. Below the statues were gates of various shapes, which should be the vaults of these pure-blood wizards.
On the magma not far away, there were several irregularly shaped islands.
Just like here, on some islands were also placed statues of varying sizes and shapes. Among them, Evan saw the Slytherin family’s emblem at a glance because it was too conspicuous. The huge statue inlaid with many emeralds was glowing softly green, forming a capital letter S.
It was located on a small island in the center of the lava, it was abnormally elevated.
Evan saw that the number above the S letter was the number one, which meant it was the first vault of Gringotts.
Underneath the statue was a black door with exquisite patterns. He didn’t know what metal it was made of. It looked very complicated.
Because it was too far away, Evan didn’t see it clearly.
The patterns on the gate seemed to be the same as the invisible lines on Slytherin’s Locket in his arm that he couldn’t understand. They seemed to be a whole…
Evan shook his head and wondered what that meant. Was it a special word left by the Slytherins?
He was going to go back and check out the relevant books. If it didn’t work, he could also ask the vampire girl named Elaine.
Next to the Slytherin’s vault, Evan also saw the sky-blue coat of arms of the Ravenclaw family, similar to the Ravenclaw House’s emblem, but somewhat different, not a giant raven waving its wings in the sky, but an eagle-shaped sculpture standing with an unknown plant in its mouth, wearing a crown symbolizing wisdom on its head.
At the center of the crown, a brilliant diamond sparkled, echoing a thick nebula at the top of the statue.
No one knew how many gems had been used on this seemingly ordinary stone statue.
The huge diamond in the center of the crown alone should be extremely valuable, and the family treasures hidden in it could be imagined how precious.
Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw family had no descendants, and whatever was inside, those things should basically belong to the goblins now.
Evan felt curious and looked around again.
For some unknown reason, he didn’t see the signs of the Gryffindor and the Hufflepuff families. They didn’t seem to have set up a vault here.