The term had three weeks since it had started after Christmas. A busy time it was for fifth, sixth and seventh years and the busier it became the closer they got to Summer. Christmas was always a reprieve from revision and study.
Felix was on his way to the Great Hall for his breakfast before another hectic day when in his hurry he stumbled on Ariana. "Oh, hey I've not seen you since…" Ariana tried to forcefully rush by him.
Surprised out of his wits at the sudden change he run after her. "Wait, please. What's up? What did I do to upset you?"
"I thought you were different! But you are just like my father and Cillian!" Her reply made even less sense to him.
"Wait, what? What'd did I do? I don't understand….I honestly am lost here…" He felt anxiety rush over him followed by sorrow at having no idea what he had done to upset her so much that she no longer wanted to be friends with him.
"You mean you don't know about the Vault of Forbidden Magic? How can you have a key to it and not know anything about one of the Darkest places in this Earth?" She spat at him.
"Key? Key!" Felix searched for his robes unable to find the ornate key they could not find what it was used for.
She shoved something metal in his hand and tried to leave again. "You dropped it when leaving the Joymother Mansion. You…"
"Wait! I really don't know what it is! I found it whilst searching Azrail's past and we have been completely unable to find what it unlocks. I've no idea what this Vault of Forbidden Magic is…no one we've asked knows what this key is."
"Follow me…" she lead them outside and far away from the castle's walls where no one could sneak up on them with ease, near the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.
"You are serious you know nothing about it?" She seemed less than trusting of him.
Felix nodded. "Gwölb vo der verbotene Magie or Vault of Forbidden Magic. It was created some one thousand years ago by Dark witches and Wizards who wanted to hide dangerous and illegal items or Black Magic. No one knows where it's actually located and opening a vault in it is by invite only by one already a Vault-owner. A lot of your ancestors were rejected on the grounds of utter insanity and instability, but I guess Azrail managed to gain access somehow…" she told him in a whisper.
"Not Azrail, Cillian, and your father invited him I wager", Felix told her looking her in the eyes. "I'm guessing the corridor where it happened was in there?" She nodded back. "Azrail "inherited" it when he murdered father, and I very much doubt he knows what it even is, how can I gain access to it?"
"The key is a key in more than one way. It is a portkey, hold it, recite its name as I told it to you, and you'll be transported to the Vault's entrance. A ghast will come to take you to your vault. Whatever you do, do NOT be tempted to gain unauthorized access in any of the other vaults that do not belong to the key you have in your possession, the vault's servants will kill you, regardless of who you are and to protect the other owners they might also kill the person who invited you in…on a second thought….just kidding! The Vault's servants are bound to it, they can't go anywhere else though, leave that place and you are free."
"Ghasts not ghosts?"
"A ghast is a ghost forcibly bound to an animate or inanimate object by means of Black Magic and Necromancy. I do not know what black magic lies behind their existence but to be touched by one of them is to be touched by the Veil itself, you die instantly."
"What if I want to add or remove something from it?"
"You'll need a quiet room or place you won't be disturbed in, portkey into the vault from in there and any items you want removed from the vault will be portkeyed there. Just tap anything with the key in your vault in the Vault and it'll be transported into that room or place you got in from. Anything you want to add have in your pockets or hold it when portkeying in."
"Okay, thanks", Felix made to leave, but Ariana held his elbow.
"I'm sorry for…you know. I should have known better after all these years of you acting nothing like my father or yours…I just wish someone would destroy the damned thing. Watch it in there, nothing in that accursed place is good or safe, watch your back."
"It's okay, we all have our moments. Would fiendfyre destroy it?"
"Probably, it's a building underground somewhere in the Earth, but I do not know what protective wards are placed around it."
"What about your father's vault? I destroy the building it burns along with it"
"Burn baby burn", Felix nodded with a cackle and left for the Great Hall. He almost run to it, making sure the key was in his backpack this time, not trusting his pockets anymore.
He stormed inside the Great Hall and found Emerick eating at the Ravenclaw table next to Socrates. "Find the others, tell them to come to the HQ after classes, I have a lead for that key that may help us with that dirt we've been looking for", he told Emerick in one panting breath.
"Honestly? That key has been a dead-end for months", Emerick set down his fork looking at Felix and Socrates.
"Hogwarts surprises", Felix replied making Emerick snort at the word play.
"Okay, I'll let the others know, you sure you'll be okay today? I mean timewise."
"Yeah, I'll be fine, and tomorrow we have our first real training with the Students of Hogwarts before tutoring with Professor Jordan and studying and I have to give Natalie instructions for the Quidditch practice as I won't be able to attend…or Nate."
"You know I've been meaning to tell you you're slacking a tad you should get busier!" Emerick teased him.
"Right", Felix laughed. "Okay have to eat breakfast and we have classes to go to", Felix ate in haste before leaving.
Muggle Studies was a boring class for students with one or more muggle parents, for Felix it was a funny one as he would make fun of the wizarding world's explanations and reasonings behind Muggle inventions like electricity and mobile phones with Emerick and the Blake brothers. It was also an elective subject offered from year three on that was easy to get good grades in, unlike arithmancy or alchemy offered in their seventh year.
After Muggle Studies the day went by with Transfiguration, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures and finally after lunch Felix entered their HQ to find his friends and Professor Jordan already there chitchatting amongst themselves.
"So? What is the lead you uncovered about the key?" Ethel asked him impatiently.
Felix told them of the conversation he had with Ariana.
"A Vault that no one else knows of, not even Ministries, where rich, dark wizards and witches keep their black secrets…what a lovely concept", Professor Jordan rubbed his nose's ridges.
"So, unless someone has an objection…" Felix retrieved the ornate golden key from his backpack. "Here goes nothing, Gwölb vo dr vrbotene Magie", he felt the familiar tag as he was portkeyed away.
He felt solid ground beneath his feet and looking around he saw a high-ceiling, grey granite, vault-arched chamber with torches burning blue flames. It felt cold and unwelcoming. The chamber was empty, and void of any furniture and with only one doorless exit.
A hollow blue-glowing suit of armour floated his way appearing out of a wall standing in front of him. "Key or Death."
Felix showed it the key. "Follow me, touch nothing." The ghast turned and floated towards the sole exit. For twenty or so minutes they walked through blue-flamed corridors with gated vaults, up flights of stairs, down flights of stairs until finally the ghast stood to the right of one of the gated vaults numbered three thousand five hundred and eight.
"Your vault", the ghast announced floating there and the door opened slowly with a creaking sound of metal grinding on metal.
"Fucking creepy…" Felix entered the vault breathing the stale air feeling chills travel down his spine. The first thing he noticed was how much smaller it was in comparison to the Gringotts's vault. The second thing he noticed was the lack of wealth and items made of gold. The room was mostly empty except for a few items here and there and a wooden low-lying table in one of the dark corners of the room.
"A destroyed locket? By Merlin's hairy arse! This is Slytherin's locket, used to be one of Riddle's horcruxes…and this isn't a normal time turner…no this is what he used to bind the four founders' lineages together and create my bloodline and me…fuck my family!" He searched around discarding items or not even touching some of them when they were obviously cursed or containing black magic until coming by the low-lying table he kneeled down and saw a wooden chest, simple one without any engravings or furnishings. He dragged it out with some effort.
"This thing is heavy!" He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and blowing away the dust he searched for a lock or padlock. There were none so he just opened the lid to a void interior. "Empty? It is far too heavy to be empty…maybe it has a fake bottom or something, no time to investigate now", he closed the lid and tapped at it with the key and the chest vanished.
"Why didn't dad place the Shadeglass and Book of Leaves in here? Azrail would have never found this place…then again he did have the key I guess", Felix wondered to himself as he finished searching around finding nothing else of importance, no documents or books.
"Nothing…nothing unless you're planning to take over the world", Felix exited the vault holding the key in one hand and the orb in the other and a wide, nasty grin in his lips.
"You may leave", the ghast told him. "Press the letters on the key."
"Sure, I was wondering if you could look after this orb for me, catch!" Felix thrust the orb at it and the moment it had left his hand he pressed in on the letters on the key.
The instant next he stood back in their classroom HQ in Hogwarts,
They were all gathered around the seemingly empty wooden chest.
"This chest is empty", Uriel stated rubbing his chin.
"I smell deception", Socrates was observing it top to bottom.
"I feel ignored", Felix teased them chuckling.
"I wonder what else is hidden in a thousand years' worth of vaults", Claudia stated.
"Dark arts artefacts, spell books containing unknown spells and curses, treasure!" Ethel exclaimed like a little kid in a candy shop rubbing her hands together with a mischievous grin.
"Yeahhhhh….about that…" they turned their heads to him grinning with an even more intense mischievous grin than Ethel's.
"And what beautiful mayhem have you unleashed this time, my pupil?" Professor Jordan could not contain his bemused smile.
"Spill", Claudia ordered him with her hands in her hips.
"Remember that orb-thingy the Headmistress had given me before the Governors' Ball? I kinda "forgot" to give it back at her to ascertain what spell it possessed and if I could learn it. So, I told a ghast to catch it and threw it at it."
"Aren't ghasts ghosts forcefully possessing animate or inanimate objects?" Emerick asked.
"Yup", Felix nodded playfully. "A hollow suit of armour in this particular case."
"Boom…" Uriel snorted.
"Excessively so…everyone's going to see this in the Daily Seer. Now, to this enigma…" Professor Jordan turned his attention back to the chest.
"It's empty…" Uriel said again somewhat disappointed.
"It sure is…" Emerick agreed.
"Are you familiar with the Hellenic Munda…Muggle called Archimedes?" Socrates asked them obviously excited at knowing something they didn't.
"Inventor of the lever", Claudia told them in reply.
"And the first one to determine the…oh!" Emerick's eyes bulged out as he realized what Socrates was trying to hint at.
"It's a lot heavier than it should be for an empty chest.
"Revelio", Uriel opened the lid casting the spell on the chest' interior.
"Reparifarge", Felix cast at it.
"Finite Incantatem", Claudia cast.
They kept firing everything they could think at it that would reveal hidden items inside it with nothing working. The chest remained empty.
"Vault of Forbidden Magic…a chest left unlocked and seemingly empty…how forbidden is forbidden? Felix, can you please give me your hand?" Professor Jordan told him stretching his hand over the open chest.
Felix gave him his hand. Professor Jordan took in his and turned it palm-down over the chest before pressing its wand on one of his fingertips. Felix felt a sharp momentary pain and a few drops of blood fell on the chest's interior.
"Speak the name your father gave you out loud", Professor Jordan told him letting go of his hand.
"Dreogan Gaunt", Felix said loud and clear.
A moment later Claudia gasped as the drops of blood started to change shape and colour becoming parchments and books, a whole trunk load of them materialized before their very eyes.
"Holy crap!" Uriel exclaimed.
"Bah! Blood magic, just when we think that some of the darkest forms of the Dark Arts have vanished….nope", Professor Jordan cried in disgust.
"Should have thought of that one, considering father used much the same branch of black magic to lock his personal study in the Manor…"