Chapter 237 Vault Number One
Evan did not know which unpleasant scene Sirius was referring to, but it seemed rather odd to see the wind blowing through the cracks in the surrounding rocks.
They were tens of thousands of feet underground, and it was reasonable to assume that there should be no wind. Furthermore, these winds were not the murky kind that would blow from the depths of a cave, but rather had a hint of warmth, like a warm midday breeze.
In a place where there should be no wind, there was a strong wind with high temperature. Was there some legendary magical object below? But would it be too grand?
At the edge of the stairs, Griphook clapped, and a small cart shot out from a dark, hidden crevice in the rock wall. He gestured for everyone to climb aboard.
They all ascended in order, tightly packed, nervously gazing ahead, wondering what awaited them.
Griphook snapped his fingers, and the cart started moving again. This time, it wasn't as fast as the first.
As they slowly rounded the corner and shot out of the cave, Evan felt a stronger warm wind blowing from below.
He quickly glanced around and, in the endless darkness, realized they were floating in the air.
Ahead of them, all the rocks vanished, and a massive bottomless pit suddenly appeared, with gusts of wind whistling from below.
The pit was deep and straight down, as if it extended to the core of the Earth.
They all gripped the edge of the cart tightly and peered outward cautiously.
If they accidentally fell from there, they would surely be shattered into pieces and not even find their corpses.
Below the cart, a narrow track extended forward at a peculiar angle.
The ancient wooden brackets clinging to the rough rock walls were their only support. The rusty tracks of the rail were intricate, stretching from the fissures in the rock wall, sometimes intersecting and quickly diverging.
Evan looked back and saw where they had just emerged from, and in the blink of an eye, they were in a small crevice, no different from the cracks that were everywhere in the rock.
He tried to memorize the route but found it impossible to do so.
The path of the rail was too complex, and the cracks in the rock wall all looked exactly the same.
Even if someone managed to enter, finding a treasure from the depths underground; if they did not remember the way, it would be impossible for them to get out.
Evan was certain that what awaited an intruder who passed through the wrong crevice would not be pleasant.
The track zigzagged downward, and as everyone approached the deepest part of the vault, the wind blowing from below became hotter and hotter, quickly turning into a rising heatwave.
The whistling grew louder, as if there were countless fiery dragons beneath.
Evan looked again and saw a round, shiny object in red just below them, like a door to the depths of hell.
It took him a few seconds before he realized what it was...
It was the magma in the deepest part of the Earth's crust!
Below them stretched an apparently endless sea of magma, hissing and breathing, crackling and glowing red around them.
The temperature of the magma was astounding, and even the surrounding rocks were reddish from the heat.
A few moments later, the cart gradually stopped on an irregular island in the center of the red-black magma.
Everyone alighted, all sweating and with flushed faces. They never thought they would feel such heat in the midst of a cold winter.
Indeed, no one imagined that the deepest part of Gringotts' underground would be such a striking scene, starkly contrasting with the prosperity above Diagon Alley.
Sirius was right. These goblins were completely mad. They had been digging deep into the earth's crust. If anything were to happen there, lava would spew forth, and not just Diagon Alley, but even all of London would be engulfed in flames.
On the island, there were dozens of stone sculptures, in all possible forms, which seemed to be the entrance to the vaults.
Evan felt a bit strange because the shape of these statues seemed familiar to him, and he must have seen them somewhere before.
He gazed intently for a moment, then realized that the statues were emblems of ancient pure-blood wizards. Many of these wizarding families were prominent in magical history thousands of years ago, but most of them were now extinct, existing only in history books.
"These are the first vaults built during the founding of Gringotts. There are one hundred of them, all owned by the strongest wizards of their time or the most powerful pure-blood wizarding families," explained Griphook. "As centuries passed, many wizarding families disappeared into the river of history, and they have not been here for many years."
The island carved with emblems resembled a graveyard of pure-blood wizards.
These significant statues not only testify to the glory of the past of pure-blood wizarding families but also tell of an endless, solitary silence. No matter how powerful and illustrious they were, they no longer exist, and the treasures preserved in Gringotts will remain here forever.
Nevertheless, the emblems of the ancient wizarding families indicate that this should absolutely be a holy land for magic historians and heraldry enthusiasts.
Evan observed carefully and compared the wizarding emblems in his mind.
After scrutinizing for a while, he discovered that Griphook was exactly right. There were large numbers on the statues, all within one hundred. Beneath the statues were doors of various shapes, which should be the vaults of these pure-blood wizards.
In the lava, not far away, were several islands of irregular shapes.
Just like here, on some islands, statues of various sizes and shapes were also placed. Among them, Evan caught sight of the Slytherin family emblem at a glance because it was too striking. The huge statue embedded with many emeralds softly glowed green, forming a capital letter S.
It was located on a small island in the center of the lava, abnormally elevated.
Evan saw that the number above the letter S was the number one, meaning it was the first Gringotts vault.
Under the statue was a black door with intricate patterns. He did not know what metal it was made of. It looked very complex.
As it was too far away, Evan could not see it clearly.
The patterns on the door seemed similar to the invisible lines on the Slytherin locket on his arm that he could not understand. They seemed to form a set...
Evan shook his head and wondered what that meant. Was it a special word left by the Slytherins?
He was going to go back and consult relevant books. If that didn't work, he could also ask the vampire girl named Elaine.
Next to the Slytherin's vault, Evan also saw the sky-blue coat of arms of the Ravenclaw family, similar to the emblem of Ravenclaw House but somewhat different, not a giant raven flapping its wings in the sky, but a sculpture shaped like an eagle holding in its beak an unknown plant, with a crown symbolizing wisdom on its head.
In the center of the crown, a shining diamond glittered, echoing a dense nebula at the top of the statue.
No one knew how many gems had been used in this seemingly ordinary stone statue.
The immense diamond at the center of the crown should have been exceedingly valuable, and the family treasures hidden within it could only be imagined for their preciousness.
Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw family had no descendants, and whatever was inside, those items should now essentially belong to the goblins.
Evan felt curious and glanced around once more.
For some unknown reason, he did not see any signs of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff families. It seemed that they had not established a vault here.