Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 306 The Remnants in the Secret Chamber

Chapter 306 The Remnants in the Secret Chamber

After confirming that it was basically safe, the pace of the exploration quickened slightly, but each step was still taken with awe and caution. The master and apprentice began to systematically examine the laboratory that had been silent for thousands of years, trying to decipher every clue left by its owner.

The layout of the laboratory gradually became clear in Karen's mind. At the center was the enormous black stone workbench, undoubtedly the core of the entire space. Its surface, covered with intricate flow channels and sturdy clamps, silently testified to the complex operations that had been performed. Under the "Eye of Truth," the dried, dark stains on the workbench revealed extremely faint, mixed traces of magical remnants, like the embers of a brutal mixture of various powerful life forces and magic that had then annihilated. Their specific origin was difficult to discern, but they strongly suggested that a large number of high-intensity, even dangerous, experiments had been conducted here.

One wall of the lab bench was carved into multiple layers of heavy shelves, neatly stacked with dozens of sealed crystal bottles. Karen carefully brushed away the thin layer of dust that had accumulated on the bottles, using the stable light from the crystals on the wall to see what was inside, and carefully examined the labels on the bottles, written in a mixture of ancient runes and Latin, the handwriting slightly messy but still clear.

However, for Castor and Karen, these were basic skills they were quite familiar with, and they did not hinder their exploration in the slightest.

"Horned Beast Bile, triple-concentrated and magically stabilized — marked as highly corrosive, for dragon alloy etching only."

"Bird and snake molting powder, note that it has a strong affinity for space-extending magic materials and can be used as a base for the Seamless Extension Spell."

""

"Pure unicorn tail hair—wait, that label has been slashed off. Insufficient activity, strongly rejects foreign applications, trash," Mr. Salazar certainly knows how to be blunt.

"Dragon's blood, of many kinds, this is—from the Hungarian tree bee? It's been preserved almost perfectly, and after a thousand years, its magical activity has hardly been lost."

"What is this? The vocal cords of a ethereal siren? The label states that its resonance phenomenon must be observed in a completely silent magical environment."

"Thestral feathers—and—this is the complete vocal sac of the Silent Bird? These things are almost extinct now—"

"And these too—the prophetic eyeball of the Divining Bird, the paralyzing venom gland of the Venomous Leopard (already inertized), and the crystallized tears of the Phoenix—"

With each label he read, Karen's heart raced. These materials were all precious, ancient, and extremely difficult-to-process parts of magical creatures; some were even thought to be extinct. Slytherin had not only collected them but had also clearly conducted in-depth research into their deeper properties, especially the inherited power contained in their blood, the innate magic carried by specific organs, and the operation of their magical cores, making detailed and even demanding application notes. Many bottles also bore small labels recording the magical lunar phase when the blood was drawn and the specific incantations used to process the organs, demonstrating an almost obsessive level of research precision.

In another corner of the laboratory was a sunken observation pool, about a meter deep, dry inside, with incredibly smooth walls. It seemed to have originally been covered by some kind of transparent, extremely strong magical barrier, but now only some remnants of a shimmering metal frame structure remained. At the bottom of the pool, one could vaguely see some dark, intricate engravings inlaid with some kind of dark red material, forming part of a chilling magic circle, which seemed to have been used to observe or even restrain the reactions of some powerful living creature.

Several unfinished or seemingly abandoned experimental apparatuses were scattered around the edge of the room. One resembled a large, sophisticated distillation apparatus used to separate and purify blood essence, but several of the connected crystal tubes had unnatural breaks with smooth cuts; another was a complex support frame covered with sharp metal probes and powerful clamps, with a small, unidentifiable, seemingly torn black bone-like object stuck on it, and dark splatter marks on the surrounding table surface.

However, what attracted Karen's attention most was a distinctly different item placed at one end of the lab table. It was a heavy notebook wrapped in thick black leather with a dark green, scaly texture, and next to it were several scrolls of the same material.

Karen's breath hitched slightly. The texture, color, and faint, ancient aura emanating from the leather were strikingly similar to the shed skin of that thousand-year-old serpent monster. They looked like they had been used frequently; the leather surface showed obvious signs of wear and the oily sheen of fingers rubbing against it, yet it was remarkably well-preserved, as if it had been subjected to a powerful protective magic. Of course, it could also be due to the special nature of its material, which made it less susceptible to the erosion of time.

"This could very well be Slytherin's experimental log—" Cullen said, almost holding her breath. Knowledge—that was the most valuable legacy Slytherin might have left behind, far more precious than any gold or silver.

Professor Castor approached, his gaze falling on the leather items. "It seems Lord Slytherin has a habit of documenting his research. That's a good thing." He didn't rush to touch them, but instead used his wand to conduct several more precise probes. "No curses or curses are attached. But—" He narrowed his eyes slightly, "these items themselves seem to be under some kind of—extremely sophisticated authentication magic. Not a trap, but more like a bloodline or soul-level access lock."

Karen immediately focused his mind and carefully observed with his "Eye of Truth." Sure enough, on the leather surface of the thick journal and scroll, he saw an extremely faint magical aura, almost blending into the surrounding magic. They formed a complex, dormant sequence of runes, whose frequency of fluctuation—shared a deep homology with the Parseltongue frequency he had sensed when he opened the entrance, yet was more complex and restrained.

"Similar to the authentication method at the entrance, but more sophisticated," Karen concluded. "It might require specific Parsley commands imbued with a unique will to open safely, otherwise it might trigger some kind of self-destruct or permanent blocking mechanism." He felt a pang of regret; the treasure was right in front of him, yet it seemed to be separated by an invisible wall.

Karen initially surmised that true Parseltongue might not just be a language, but a resonance of blood and soul, capable of naturally perceiving the "key" information required by these locks—something he, a user relying on imitation and frequency analysis, could never truly possess. He exchanged a few words with Professor Castor, deciding to first use magic to record the rune sequences and fluctuation characteristics of these authentication spells as meticulously as possible, perhaps searching for ways to crack or circumvent them after leaving this place. Besides, if all else failed, they still had Harry, the true Parseltongue, as a backup plan.

"As expected." Castor appeared calm. "Important knowledge is naturally not something that can be easily obtained. Check the other things first."

They began trying to open other possible storage locations in the lab. The workbench had several drawers, and Karen tried several common opening spells on them, but to no avail. He hesitated for a moment, then began to replicate the rhythm he used to open the entrance, trying to produce a few hissing sounds.

To their surprise, one of the drawers gleamed and, with a soft click, popped open a crack. Karen and Castor exchanged a glance and carefully used their wands to pull it open completely.

Inside were not any earth-shattering treasures, but rather some scattered parchment notebooks filled with tiny handwriting, a few crystal pestles and mortars used for grinding materials, and several empty crystal bottles. The handwriting in the notebooks was similar to that on the labels, mostly consisting of scattered experimental data, conjectures about material ratios, and numerous records of failures.

They then successfully opened an inconspicuous specimen cabinet on the wall using a similar method. Inside were more similar black leather diaries and scrolls, but none of them had that special certified magical aura on their surfaces; they seemed to be just ordinary copies of research records or drafts.

"It seems the most important core research findings are all in those containers that require specific permissions to open," Castor concluded, pointing with his wand to the snakeskin journal and the several special scrolls. "The rest—" He glanced at the scattered notes and ordinary materials in the open drawers and cabinets, "while valuable, are probably just scraps or records from the process. However, these are also quite useful; I'll take them with me later."

Karen picked up a parchment from the drawer. On it, in a calm and sharp handwriting, was a structural diagram of a complex underwater magical plant. Next to it were notes on its magical properties and that it could be used to stabilize violent magical conflicts, but that the extract mixed with the secretions of the snake-bird glands would produce a highly toxic substance.

He also noticed some scattered sketches with disturbing drawings: diagrams of attempts to graft magical creature organs or limbs, chaotic charts depicting the magical reactions after the forced fusion of blood from different creatures, and so on.

There were even some vague experimental ideas about introducing specific biological bloodline characteristics into wizards or Muggles, with cold, hard conclusions of failure such as "severe rejection reaction" and "sudden drop in soul stability" written next to them.

“Even the scraps contain incredible, even—disturbing—knowledge,” Karen remarked, carefully placing the parchment back in its place. “Slytherin’s research direction seems very clear and extreme: exploring the deep characteristics, bloodline powers, and innate magical origins of magical creatures, especially those dangerous, powerful, or rare species, and attempting to forcibly extract, fuse, and apply their power, materials, and even essence to magical practice.” He thought of the crossed-out unicorn label and the note “alien application”; these newly discovered fragments further confirmed the radical and dangerous nature of Slytherin’s research style.

Castor nodded slightly, more interested in the unfinished devices and the magical structure of the entire laboratory. He was examining the way the glowing crystals were embedded in the walls and the almost invisible, fine magical wires beneath the crystal jars. "It's not just biological research. The maintenance of this space itself, the near-permanent preservation of these specimens, even the magic circle at the bottom of that dried-up observation pool—all demonstrate extremely high levels of alchemy and ancient runes. In this respect, Salazar Slytherin was undoubtedly a polymath."

He walked to the abandoned distillation apparatus and ran his finger along the cross-section of the broken crystal tube. Beneath the dust, the cut was unusually smooth. "The damage to these devices doesn't look like natural aging; it's more like—the result of an experimental mishap or a sudden interruption of research."

The brief exploration and recording process came to an end. They carefully copied all the information they could access using magic:

Several experimental sketches in a drawer, labels on numerous specimen bottles, the contents and appearance of uncertified logs and scrolls, and even the complex rune sequences and magic flow patterns on the access locks, all meticulously documented by Karen using the "Eye of Truth" and her mental power. Karen paid particular attention to the magic array patterns at the bottom of the observation pool and the details on the discarded equipment. They recorded the layout of every part of the laboratory and the characteristics of most items as thoroughly as possible, creating almost a complete inventory of the space and its contents.

"We should leave," Professor Castor finally said, glancing at the snakeskin logbook still lying quietly on the lab table. "The discoveries here have been astonishing enough, and dangerous enough. Since the core knowledge is so well protected, forcing it is unwise. We've found the location, learned the method, and recorded a wealth of peripheral information. Next time, we can come back with more thorough preparation. Staying too long is not a good thing."

Although Karen was unwilling and eager for that core knowledge, she also knew that the professor was right.

He took one last look around the laboratory, a place brimming with mystery, knowledge, and danger, imprinting every detail of it deeply into his mind.

"Yes, teacher."