Chapter 404: Secret Heir

"Two years ago, when I was determined to destroy the Philosopher's Stone, I was always looking for the right heir." Flamel's voice came intermittently. "There were very few magicians who met my requirements. I thought it would take a long time, even hundreds of years, so I prepared a lot of Elixir..."

At this point, Flamel stopped talking.

He bowed and looked at Ivan. In the dim candlelight, his dark eyes were extraordinarily bright, and the deep wrinkles on his face dimmed.

"Besides having enough wisdom and talent to inherit that book, the most crucial thing is to have a Philosopher's Stone." Flamel said this, then added in a harsher tone, "A pure Philosopher's Stone without any modifications. This is very important; it is the key to unlock all the secrets and get the treasure!"

"Like the one I have now?" Ivan asked.

"Yes, my dear boy, this one you have." Flamel held his breath and said thoughtfully. "I once got a Philosopher's Stone, but I foolishly used it to gain eternal life and wealth. I thought I'd never get another chance..."

Ivan fiddled with the locket and felt the power of the Philosopher's Stone in it.

From what Flamel said, the true use of the Philosopher's Stone was not to obtain eternal life and wealth, but to obtain the key to the secret of the "Book of Abraham."

Of course, the Philosopher's Stone he obtained from Gryffindor was also the key to unlock the Secret Treasure left by the Four Founders of Hogwarts.

There seemed to be a connection between the two things, or perhaps it was just a coincidence?!

Ivan shook his head, he wasn't sure. The Four Founders, ancient wizards, evil gods, alchemy, the Prophet Abraham, it was all getting more and more complicated.

Only the tip of the iceberg had been unveiled about these secrets inherited from antiquity, and their potential had yet to be fully explored.

However, what he had already seen was so overwhelming that thinking about what he could expect in the future almost took his breath away. All of these things were beyond his imagination.

He couldn't help but think that perhaps from the moment he had returned to Hogwarts a thousand years ago to meet the Four Founders, he had already been involved in all of this.

Following this line of thought, Ivan continued to think.

It stood to reason that, with the strength and wisdom of the Four Founders, even if they were the founders of Hogwarts, they would not worry about a Dark wizard coming after more than a thousand years, let alone leave a secret treasure or a powerful weapon to protect Hogwarts and stop Voldemort.

Since he knew the horror of Voldemort, Ivan had always taken it for granted, but now that he thought about it carefully, would Voldemort really be someone they should worry about?

He thought about it; only Salazar Slytherin, not to mention the other three, could single-handedly suppress the evil god Ivan had seen in the subway ruins.

He was probably the most powerful and evil dark wizard of all time, Herpo the Mad himself who created a new evil god!

The other three founders were certainly similar, if not better than Slytherin.

How could a powerful wizard, who could do that, fear Voldemort, worry about a descendant of Slytherin, and worry that Hogwarts would be destroyed by him?

The series of recent encounters also made Ivan begin to doubt this even more...

The Secret Treasure left by the Four Founders was not used to resist Voldemort, but was found by Voldemort and modified for his ulterior purposes.

The treasure might not be a weapon against Voldemort, but something related exclusively to ancient wizards and evil gods....

Ivan suddenly felt that his back was drenched with cold sweat. If that was the case, it would be terrible. He hoped it was all just his imagination.

Anyway, now he had to continue the search for the remaining Philosopher's Stones, and at the very least, find the half that was taken by the fallen centaurs.

"A few days ago, Albus wrote me a letter saying that you might be the heir I've been looking for." Flamel continued. "I was skeptical, but after seeing you, I can be sure he was right. You fully satisfied my conditions, and are worthy of having the book in my place to continue exploring its mysteries."

"Just because I have the Philosopher's Stone?" Ivan was a little surprised. "So it's not necessarily me. Anyone can have a Philosopher's Stone..."

"The Philosopher's Stone is indeed crucial, but it is not the most important thing, my child," Flamel said with a laugh. "The key is in your qualities. Whether it's me or Albus, we are very pleased with you. Two old men like us don't agree on something easily. We have to be careful in choosing the heir; the power contained in this book is beyond imagination. If you have evil thoughts, it will be a disaster for the entire wizarding world and even the Muggle world."

Flamel took a few steps forward and came to a curtain of dark gold.

He waved his wand gently, and a click sounded behind the curtain. Only then did Ivan realize that, in this humble corner, there was a hidden door. Was "The Book of Abraham" behind it?

At Flamel's suggestion, he followed him inside.

Through the narrow stone door, the narrow ramp built of huge stones continued to climb. Because only a few people entered this way, the stairs were covered with coarse dust.

The air in the tunnel was slightly murky and hard to breathe.

But the thought of seeing "The Book of Abraham," a magical book that existed only in legend, made Ivan too excited and nervous to worry about it.

Inside the walls on both sides of the ramp, there were many strange stone statues.

They were set in niches in hollow walls; all of them were classical opera figures.

Ivan knew that Flamel was the most loyal opera lover, but he didn't understand why he kept so many stone statues of song characters here.

Just when he doubted it, Flamel suddenly stopped on the stairs.

"Here we are, it's here!" he said softly.

Along his gaze, Ivan saw a statue of an old man in a robe, with wide eyes and a terrible look. Behind him, there seemed to be a demon!

He squinted his eyes to get a better look, as he couldn't sense any magic.

But looking at Flamel's expression, it was obviously not simple. Was "The Book of Abraham" hidden in it?!!

"The last time I rebuilt Beauxbatons hundreds of years ago, I left this trail here, like most of the school's secret passages, without magic, so that it wouldn't be suspected." Flamel explained, "But, in fact, this statue of Faust and the Devil is the key to the door."