Chapter 28 Fifth Year: Worse
The forest was quiet, far quieter than it had been all year. Still Merlin glanced around him, through the dark green shadows, checking for anyone watching.
Hidden in the little grove of trees he approached were several large stones. To the untrained eye they were nothing but some large grey stones tossed about in the middle of a forest. However if you looked closely you could see the marks of chisels on the edges.
For all their apparently random presence these stones hid a very important secret.
Merlin pressed his palm to one of the boulders his lips moving in the silent spell. He stepped back as the stone rolled to one side revealing a stone stair way which dropped down into a pit dark hole in the ground.
Merlin ducked inside and the boulder rolled back over his head, plunging him into utter darkness. "Fire burn." Merlin whispered and a small flame coiled to life on his palm. The fire cast a myriad of flickering shadows over the walls as Merlin descended the stair case carefully.
Even in the old days this had been well guarded and the protections had only expanded since then. Merlin descended slowly until he felt something start to sting at his skin. He reached into his pocket with his free hand and drew out a ring of old keys. Wrought iron, the keys were dusted with rust, their weight a constant reminder.
Merlin ran his fingers over them gently and picked one from the bunch, holding it aloft. The tingling died down and Merlin continued on his way down and along a corridor. Three more times he stopped, each time holding a different key aloft and allowing the magic to recognise the spell and deactivate.
Finally he arrived.
The room wasn't large or impressive, it did however contain a cage made of the finest steel and shielded with magic. Through the bars you could make out gold, jewels, amulets and wooden chests. A heavy layer of dust covered most of them, making the air taste thick and stale. Few people were ever permitted down here, nowadays only Merlin ever trod the steep winding staircase.
The vaults of Camelot.
These vaults contained the most important and powerful magical artefacts that had ever been created. Even Merlin didn't know the full extent of the artefacts which lay within the crowded cage.
He circled around the cage to the door. The last key on the ring opened the door without resistance and Merlin stepped inside. He looked around, some of the objects were familiar, others he had never carefully examined. He had little desire to peruse now, he had come here in search of a single item, one which he knew should be here. After all Merlin had watched Arthur place it here himself.
Merlin picked his way carefully through the mess to the very back corner where a pedestal stood, empty.
Merlin stood and stared at the empty wooden pedestal for what felt like hours. The flame on his palm seemed to cast an ominous light over the vacant display.
It wasn't possible.
There was only one entrance to the crumbling vaults and no one was even supposed to know it existed. After all, Hogwarts didn't extend out this far over Camelot. The vaults shouldn't have been included in any map of the school.
In addition there was only one set of keys and Merlin had just used those to get down here. They never left his possession.
Merlin sat on a nearby trunk, his eyes still focused on the empty pedestal. He had known that Voldemort was powerful, and clever, but this...Merlin had underestimated the Dark wizard.
Slowly Merlin got to his feet, suddenly feeling very old and weary.
Lord Voldemort had the Cup of Life.
We never found out what happened to the Cup of Life in canon. I always figured either Merlin hid it somewhere, or it stayed in Camelot. For the purpose of this story, this was more convenient.
This will be the last chapter for a while. I have absolutely nothing written beyond this point. Everything is going to diverge wildly from canon after this chapter and while I have a general overview of where things are going I don't actually have a detailed plot laid out yet. That isn't even taking into account the availability of wifi.
Hopefully this answers a few questions...though I suspect it will raise a few more.