Return Ⅳ

An eerie sense of being watched caused the hairs on the back of Rowan's neck to stand on edge. She did not move nor breathe much less turn her head around to gaze behind her. The unseen presence just as quickly as it had appeared vanished. She lets out a shaking pent-up breath and resists the urge to throw away the elder wand in her hand as far as she could. It would do her no good.

Taking a deep breath, Rowan recalls The Tale of the Three Brothers by Beedle the Bard. "There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too deep to swim across.

However, these brothers were learnt in the magical arts, so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure. And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

So, the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So, Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the eldest brother."

Rowan paused, she had already cheated Death by coming into this world. She fit the criteria of the three Peverell brothers. And much like Antioch Peverell, she too had desired upon her arrival the power to change fate itself. And in doing so, her wish had been granted and sealed her own fate.

Rowand glanced down at the seemingly innocent wand held in her hand, before recalling the ending of Antioch Peverell.

"The first brother traveled for a week or more, and reached a distant village, he sought out a fellow with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand, he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible. That very night, another wizard crept upon the eldest brother. The thief took the wand and used it to kill the first brother. And so, Death took the first brother for his own."

Fate has the ironic habit of repeating itself. The ending was a clear reminder to Rowan. She would not be able to hide away her power for long. And sooner or later, there will be an enemy who will be able to successfully slit her throat and Death will take her for his own.

Time is the most precious of commodities and Rowan is swiftly running out of time. Pulling herself together, she promptly collected herself and briskly moved to close the magical tome shut. "Close for the heir of Slytherin, heir to the greatest of Hogwarts Four," she hissed in clear and firm instruction. The tome glows crimson for a moment, before looking seemingly innocent again.

Eying the treacherous tome, Rowan seriously considers whether a shrinking spell would work on the heavily fortified magical tome or not. Even if the tome is magically resealed again, it was better not to risk it. There was no telling what nasty spell Salazar Slytherin had left behind for the unsuspecting. Her ancestor tended to bear a grudge, (hence the Chamber of Secrets). It was better to remain on the cautious side of things.

With a grimace, Rowan removes her outer robes and shivers at the cold. With a loud grunt, she digs her feet into the ground and pushes and pushes until the magical tome begins to slowly move. The magical tomes moved centimeter by centimeter slowly on top of the scrunched-up still dusty, sand-covered robes. It takes a while, but finally, after gaining a bit of a sweat, the tome finally arrives more or less in the middle of the robes.

A bit flushed, Rowan points her wand at the robes and huffs, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The robes ominously dip under the weight of the magical tome, before rising slowly into the air. With care, she reaches over to grab the lantern to light the way back with one hand. She stifles a sneeze and winces as she trots through the narrow passageway with her precious cargo until she finally emerges into the laboratory.

Normally, Rowan would have placed the magical tome in the bookcase encasing the wall, but she had the feeling that the bookcase would be unable to hold the weight of the tome. She wasn't the type to put all her eggs in one basket, so she wouldn't be putting the tome in the chest either. After a moment of deliberation, she finally settles on placing the magical tome in one of the empty vats that were not used to store the Basilisk parts or any of the other magical creatures' anatomy.

With great attention, Rowan directs her wand to lower the tome slowly and very gently into an empty vat. Once the tome is nearly at the bottom, she gently tugs out her robes from under the tome. The ancient tome falls down the last inch or two with a low thud. Letting out a sigh of relief, she shivers as she tubs back on her robes.

Waving her wand, Rowan casts a protection spell upon the vat, before returning to the reading room. She halts before the mantelpiece and stares that the right side of the mantel. Before finally saying, "Open for the heir of Slytherin, heir to the greatest of Hogwarts Four." The remaining hidden compartment on the right side of the mantelpiece slides open with a soft groan.

Much like with the first hidden compartment, Rowan waits, before casting the summoning charm. "Accio chest," she said concentrating on summoning the ancient chest in question. A small chest bolts out of its cubbyhole. The small wooden chest much like the large wooden chest has a snake lock on the hinge biting its own tail.

Setting the small chest carefully onto the stone floor, Rowan does not touch the chest as before and says, "Open for the heir of Slytherin, heir to the greatest of Hogwarts Four." The snake lock becomes magically animated and releases its tail, before falling harmlessly to the floor.

Standing back, Rowan uses her wand to flick open the wooden chest. The wooden chest flops open harmlessly, but she cautiously waits, before peering at the contents from a distance. The wooden chest appears rather empty at first glance, but she wouldn't put it past Salazar Slytherin to have left her an empty, booby-trapped chest in revenge.

Taking a step closer until Rowan can finally directly peer inside, she sees an innocent glittering silver key. "A key?" She murmured in bewilderment. Now, normally she would be delighted except that Gringotts Banks wasn't created until 1474 several centuries after Salazar Slytherin's death. So, unless he had time traveled which wasn't out of the realm of possibility having met him… This wasn't the key to a vault full of gold.