Chapter 319 The Challenge Of Dealing With Slytherin
Whatever the creature, it made no sense to continue using magic to attack it.
Repeated attempts had revealed to Evan that it was merely a phantom immune to his assaults, simply present to divert his attention.
Only by discovering its origin could it be eradicated.
In his hand, the Slytherin Medallion emitted a mist of dark green light, which did not affect Evan but caused the beast's tentacles to writhe noticeably.
Its enormous eyeballs seemed on the verge of popping out of their sockets, a chaotic blood-red...
It glared fiercely at Evan, seemingly wanting to tear him apart, yet its current form could not touch him, and its whispering was muffled by the mist.
Both were at an impasse. Evan knew he had to hurry to locate the creature's body. He was unsure of how long the magic would last in the medallion. If he couldn't defeat this creature before the magic expired, he would have to prepare and swiftly depart, taking Malfoy with him. He didn't want to lose control of himself again.
Nevertheless, Evan was confident.
Since Salazar had bested it, there must be some clues left behind.
Apart from the murals, the empty square stone room held nothing. Evan focused his attention on the surrounding walls, examining each one closely.
The peculiar murals were highly abstract, yet the message they conveyed was crystal clear.
On an altar of crimson blood, a young Salazar Slytherin defeated the beast, inexplicably choosing not to destroy it.
Perhaps akin to Voldemort, whose Horcrux was not entirely destroyed, the creature itself could not be eradicated. Or perhaps it was because Salazar Slytherin believed this rare malevolent creature held great value for his research.
Regardless of the reason, he brought it back to Hogwarts.
At that time, it was not a school of magic but a castle bequeathed to him by his father.
Outside the castle in the forests, Slytherin rebuilt the ruins.
The murals clearly depicted Slytherin, as a teenager, commencing the study of the creature there. Images of various research endeavors were on the brink of covering the entire stone wall. He employed diverse spells, potions, and other peculiar substances on its body.
The specific outcomes of the research were unknown to Evan.
Perhaps they had been compiled before him, with the information residing in the fragments of the altar engraved with that peculiar script, awaiting Harry's return to decipher the message.
Frankly, Evan was somewhat bewildered.
In his view, every spell carved on the rock wall was so fantastical that it exceeded his current understanding entirely.
Regrettably, there were no specific spells or contents; he could only sense the potency of Slytherin's magic.
It differed from the dark magic chronicled in "Secrets of the Darkest Art." This magic engraved on the rock wall should indeed be white magic.
The white magic crafted by Slytherin was an entire lost magic that had not been passed down. The thought of it was exhilarating.
If it could come to light, it would undoubtedly be a tremendous discovery grabbing worldwide attention.
Evan contained his excitement and looked back. It was evident that for a certain period, this creature had been the central subject of all kinds of magical experiments by Slytherin. Furthermore, he delved into studying the creature's anatomy.
In essence, the young Salazar had tormented this creature enough. It was akin to a true malevolent wizard, yet all the magic he created and employed was white magic, aligning with Slytherin's character as known to Evan.
He did not mind seeking the darkness, for there was light in his heart, which was enough to make him as strong as he was.
In the latest murals, Salazar divided the monster into three parts: the brain, the eyes, and the body.
He seemed to have his own plan, leaving only his eyes here.
Facing the unconscious Malfoy, the last mural where Salazar placed the monster's huge eyes in the stone chamber and set the sealing magic.
Of course, the sealing magic he left behind was completely destroyed by the Acromantulas.
In addition to this information, two things caught Evan's attention.
The first was Salazar's age in the murals. In the previous murals, Slytherin could be seen as very young, just like the huge statue outside, and shouldn't be much older than Evan.
But in the last mural, Slytherin was much older.
The beard was clearly visible on his face, indicating that it might be the last time he came here before leaving the school.
It is well known that Slytherin was increasingly in disagreement with the other three Founders about admitting students.
After a fierce dispute, he finally left the school.
Why did he come here before leaving? What was his intention in taking parts of the monster?
The second thing that concerned Evan were the four corners around the stone wall, representing four objects, namely the locket, the ring, the wand, and Slytherin's scepter, surrounded by two large green snakes from bottom to top.
Strange, why did Slytherin have to leave representations of these four objects on the wall!
Seeing the green mist around him, Evan felt he had found key information. If it weren't for this locket, his current end would have been absolutely unimaginable.
He would have been driven mad by this monster that would have devoured his soul while he slept.
Given that Slytherin's locket can have such a powerful effect, obviously the other three objects must also have special uses.
The ring is probably in the ruins of the Gaunt Shack, and Evan didn't exactly know where it was.
Slytherin's wand was passed down from generation to generation among his other powerful descendants, the vampiric clan, and would likely be hard to obtain.
As for where the serpent-encircled scepter was, that too would need to be investigated again.
Evan couldn't explain why, but he had the feeling that the huge problems faced by Elaine's vampiric family might be related to this horrible and unknown monster.
No one knew where Salazar went after leaving Hogwarts. A powerful wizard like him couldn't spend the rest of his life in darkness.
However, none of the books on magical history had details about it.
And the body and brain of the monster he took, where were they finally sealed? Now that its eyes had awakened and were devouring the souls of other creatures to strengthen themselves, it is likely that the other two parts were in the same situation.
After all, too much time had passed. In over a thousand years, anything could have happened.
Evan sighed. Besides all this, he still had Slytherin's treasure key left to search for, and he still had no clue.
Compared to the other three respectable Founders, dealing with Salazar Slytherin brought more troubles.