Ch 28 Herpo The Great? Part 1

Sirius stood in awe, his eyes locked on their destination: the tomb of Herpo. The moment he laid eyes on it, he was overcome by a sense of wonder and reverence. The tomb was a sight to behold, emanating an aura of mystery and foreboding that sent shivers down his spine. Nestled amidst the dense forest, it stood as a solitary structure, its existence concealed from prying eyes by the thick foliage, as if it had been an integral part of the landscape since time immemorial.

Constructed from dark, weathered stone, the tomb bore the scars of countless years, a testament to its ancient origins. Its imposing façade rose majestically into the sky. Every inch of its exterior was adorned with intricate carvings, depicting serpents, mythical creatures, and ancient symbols of power and magic, "It feels like a mini-Hogwarts..." Sirius said in an impressed tone.

Celine, however, gazed upon the tomb with a furrowed brow, her confusion evident. "It's not that impressive," she remarked, her tone laced with scepticism. To her, it appeared as a simple, flat single-story structure—a standard tomb, devoid of any extraordinary features. "It looks like a common tomb from that era," she stated matter-of-factly, failing to perceive what he was glimpsing.

Sure, the arch-shaped entrance was impressive and the carvings were intricate but it was nothing she hadn't seen before, definitely not something that she would compare to Hogwarts.

"Let's go check it out," she said before moving towards the entrance.

"Is it really that common?" Sirius mumbled to himself in puzzlement.

'I didn't know that curse breakers saw ancient castles like this all the time,' he thought while looking at the enormous towers and the imposing battlements, the more he looked at the more it seemed like Hogwarts or more like Hogwarts was similar to it considering that Hogwarts was created after Herpo's time according to history.

'Maybe they earned a lot more than I had thought before if they could see discover stuff like this regularly,'

His thoughts were suddenly by Celine's shout, "Sirius, come here," she had already gone all the way to the castle while he was lost in his thought.

"Coming!" Sirius shouted and jogged all the way to the massive doors with an intricate arch on top with something written on the arch in an unknown language. Sirius found Celine arched over a small pedestal in front of the entrance in the middle. She was mumbling to herself as she read something that was written on the pedestal.

Sirius tried to read it but he couldn't even decipher the language it was so he asked her, "What does it say?"

"It's written in an earlier version of Ancient Greek, so even I can barely understand it," Celine replied, her brows furrowed in concentration. "The only words I can make out are 'Enter,' 'Conqueror,' 'Lizard,' 'Serpent,' 'Cat,' and 'Key'..."

"Sooo... What does that mean?" he said while scratching his head with a confused expression.

Celine rolled her eyes at his silly expression but said, "I'm not entirely sure, but I believe it signifies something along the lines of 'The Conqueror or the Champion of the Dragon, Basilisk, and Nundu must use the key on this pedestal to enter...'" She pointed towards a fist-sized groove atop the pedestal and added, "Go on, then."

Sirius looked at her with a confused expression before he remembered, "Ah! Right the Key!" he immediately looked towards his pouch and put his hand inside to take out the ring that they had made using the parts found in the magical creatures, and it was then that he noticed something startling, the bracelet that he wanted to take out was already sitting on his hands as if it had always been there, "What! I don't remember putting that thing on?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"This ring or key or whatever," Sirius said while waving his hand with the bracelet in front of Celine, "I specifically remember putting that inside my pouch... But now I am somehow wearing it..."

"What does it matter how it got there?" Celine said waving her hand unconcernedly, "Maybe you did it unconsciously or something. Right now you just need to put your hand in there and open the entrance..."

"Fine! If you say so..." he said before putting his hand with the bracelet into the groove and it somehow fit into that perfectly as if he was wearing a snug glove and almost instantly he felt some kind of a tingling feeling as he sensed something trying to scan the bracelet before doing the same for his whole body.

Sirius braced himself, his body tense with anticipation, fearing any possible mishap. However, after a few heart-stopping seconds, the scanning ceased. It must have found what it was searching for, for in that very instant, the massive door began to groan and open on its own accord, unleashing a torrent of ancient sand, dust, and forgotten debris.

Beyond the door awaited a wide, elongated hallway with sleek mud-coloured walls. Torches were evenly spaced along the corridor.

Exchanging glances with Celine, Sirius took the lead, casting a Lumos charm to illuminate their path. Their steps echoed in the vast space as they ventured forward.

To their surprise, the torch brackets suddenly sprang to life, igniting with an ethereal flame. Sirius couldn't help but marvel at the enduring magic, "Amazing... the magic still works after all these years," he murmured in awe.

"Let's go," Celine urged Sirius forward with an impatient push. Rolling his eyes, he complied, proceeding down the hallway. After traversing around two hundred meters, the hallway abruptly widened, revealing a breathtakingly expansive open hall. Above, a ceiling adorned with white pearls emitted a radiant light, bathing the room in a warm glow akin to a celestial light bulb.

"Damn..." Celine gasped, her breath catching in her throat, as her gaze fixated on the left side of the room. Five massive chests brimming with gold coins and an assortment of precious jewels captured her attention. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she calculated the immense wealth before her—approximately one million gold coins. Her fascination consumed her, and she examined the riches with an almost possessed fervour.

Sirius only took a few glances at the gold and jewels and then looked away as he wasn't interested in the material wealth much since he knew that there was enough waiting for him in his vault if he was ever granted freedom from the British Ministry.

He was much more interested in the right side of the room where a towering bookshelf occupied a significant portion of the wall. It brimmed with books that, despite their age, appeared remarkably well-preserved. The remaining space housed stands displaying weapons and armour from the medieval era, all enchanted, as he could sense the subtle traces of magic emanating from them.

At the heart of the room, a pedestal akin to the one outside commanded attention. Unlike its empty counterpart, this pedestal bore a small ball filled with silvery fog, reminiscent of the divination orbs used by Professor Trelawney in her classes. Opposite the entrance, another door stood, likely leading deeper into the castle.

Curiosity tugged at Sirius as he approached the bookshelves, eager to delve into the realms of ancient knowledge. However, just as his hand neared a book, Celine's voice halted him in his tracks. "Wait!"

Startled, he withdrew his hand and turned to face her. "What's the matter?"

"It could be dangerous,"

Celine warned, moving to stand beside him. "We don't know what might be cursed. Let's examine everything before touching anything."

Realizing the wisdom in her words, Sirius nodded in agreement, looking to her expectantly.

"Don't stare at me like that, you dolt!" Celine scolded, exasperation lacing her voice. "Remember, I have no magic. You're the one who needs to cast the spells."

"Right, my apologies," Sirius replied sheepishly.

He took a deep breath before he raised his hands and started to cast the standard scanning spells that he knew of one after the other, he cast them over the books and armours and the gold. The spells served as a precautionary measure, indicating if further specific spells were required.

After a while, Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "Everything seems clean," he reported, "But isn't that weird?"

"What do you mean?" Celine asked, curiosity piqued.

"Well, Herpo was supposed to be this dark and evil wizard, right? You'd expect a lot more curses and ghosts and stuff like that..." Sirius trailed off with a shrug.

"Who cares?" Celine said, not being able to hold off her excitement anymore she immediately ran towards the treasure with a shout of exhilaration, "We're rich!!"