Magic obeys rules!
If Gryffindor and Ravenclaw attempted to ignore the rules and forcibly enter the lava lake below with brute strength, all the surviving defensive spells within this magical relic would likely erupt immediately. By then, the entire Azkaban island might very well be directly overturned into the sea.
Ravenclaw remained silent, her ice-blue pupil constantly flashing as she scanned the entire cave.
"Have you found anything, Rowena?"
Deciphering secrets is clearly not a skill that Godric Gryffindor is adept at. After scanning the cave for a few moments, he gave up on searching and placed his hope in Ravenclaw.
Amorta and Sirius both looked at Ravenclaw, knowing that she would definitely be able to find a path to the boiling lava lake, but they were curious as to how she managed it.
Gazing at the side profile of this possibly powerful and beautiful legendary witch, suddenly, Amorta's brow flickered.
Since boarding the ship of the two founders of Hogwarts, a series of secrets have come at Amorta so quickly that he hasn't had the energy to properly observe the crown worn by this legendary witch.
To an outsider, Ravenclaw's crown can only be considered a famous relic, possessing valuable historical value. However, in reality, none of the relics left by the four founders are simple. For instance, at this moment, as Ravenclaw was lost in thought, the wisdom crown on her head was constantly emitting identical light beams. It was clearly providing some assistance to Ravenclaw.
After a long while, a smile played on Ravenclaw's lips.
"I recall some things that Salazar once told me."
"Oh, what?"
The relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin was obviously not as bad as the rumors suggested. When mentioning Salazar Slytherin, Gryffindor did not show any sign of disgust but instead inquired with great interest.
"Salazar once told me that the earliest recorded snake charmer in history was none other than the despicable Helbronen himself."
"You mean-" Gryffindor raised an eyebrow, "I should have brought him out of that dark basement."
At this moment, Amorta's brow also furrowed as he suddenly thought of the method to open the Slytherin Labyrinth.
"It's alright-"
Ravenclaw blinked her eyelashes and smiled, "I once consulted Salazar and recorded some snake languages."
"Harry is also a Squib, isn't he?"
Meanwhile, silent Sirius suddenly asked, and after receiving a confirmation response, he muttered a few words quietly.
Squib language is an eerie, gloomy language, but the tones sung by Ravenclaw had a hint of etherealness. Initially, the sound was faint and inaudible, but after about ten seconds, the hissing noise overpowered the rumbling lava lake below, carrying a sense of sacred majesty.
Hoo hoo hoo hoo--
The scintillating fissure that appeared in the middle of the boiling lava sea formed two magnificent lava waterfalls, and the intense light emitted by the boiling and surging lava made people feel as if they were gazing directly at the sun!
In the dazzling light, a staircase rose slowly and approached the edge of the cliff.
"Ew!"
After just one glance, Sirius's face instantly turned pale, and the intense dizziness made his body almost transparent and mist-like. It seemed that the overly intense stimulation had caused his own soul to show signs of awakening, leading him to detach himself from this memory world.
Amorta patted Sirius's shoulder, but his own face was also quite ugly.
Helbronen, the only black wizard from ancient Greece whose name still exists in the world. He was a talented wizard, besides Horcruxes and blood-curse, most powerful and evil black magic that has no clear source now in the magical world, people still habitually put the cap on Helbronen's head.
From this, one can imagine how many lives this individual must have ravaged during his era.
Gryffindor's face was filled with anger as he unsheathed his sword, and the powerful aura even pushed back the ubiquitous heat. He was about to strike, but Ravenclaw suddenly stopped him.
"Stop, Godric—"
Faced with the furiously angry Gryffindor, Ravenclaw gently shook her head.
The staircase in front of you is not made of stone, nor is it made of any precious materials. It leads directly to the bottom of the lava, with hundreds of steps that are several feet wide and entirely made up of hands that were cut off!
These lifelike hands, even under the scorching of lava, maintain moisture. They are not the hands of wizards, but the palms of domesticated house-elves!
On both sides of each step, there floated a head, the heads of domesticated house-elves!
These chopped off heads still maintain the humble smile of life, with their mouths open, and their heads slightly turned towards the ground, as if they were bowing in greeting to the owner of the ruins!
Helbronen used the hands of his domesticated house-elves as steps, and their heads as handrails!
What a contempt for life this man had!
House-elves are still active in the magical world today. They are mostly employed by pure-blood wizarding families and there are many of them at Hogwarts. These little creatures take pride in serving wizards and their twisted idea of the meaning of life is ingrained in their souls. That's why they are viewed as property by the wizards who use them, rather than as living beings.
But Amorta could be sure that even in the current magical world, those pure-blood wizarding families who have inherited cruelty and prejudice would find it difficult to remain unmoved by this sight.
"Kriek!"
Under Amorta's calming influence, Sirius's face had improved somewhat, but he still covered his mouth.
"If Kriek saw this, what would he say?" Sirius whispered softly as he slightly breathed out, but then he shook his head.
"Kriek would probably see this as the highest honor. He dreams of cutting off his own head and hanging it next to my mother's portrait after he dies."
Amorta's eyes were filled with a fierce expression.
House-elves were not magical creatures that Amorta was unfamiliar with, but previously, he had not paid much attention to these lives. However, the horrific scene before him had awakened him to the reality.
That's absurd, isn't it?
Look at the house-elves, look at the centaurs, werewolves, vampires, little people, succubi, and even gnomes!
Which magical creature race holds such an extreme survival philosophy, considering being a slave to wizards as the ultimate faith of life?
"Helga would probably be driven crazy by this..."
"Cutting the steps, they will not be able to proceed further into the lava. Gryffindor can only restrain his killing intent and angrily return his sword to its scabbard. He thinks of another kind-hearted friend in his heart, sighs and shakes his head,"
"Helga has always been thinking of lifting the evil curse on these little creatures. If she saw the suffering these little beings had endured, she would probably go mad."
A millennium later, the magical world had become relatively more lenient, but even so, the treatment of house-elves was still unbearable. It is easy to imagine what kind of life these little creatures led in a closed wizarding society a thousand years ago, where glory and bloodline were still the mainstream.
Among his four closest friends, Helga was the most gentle and kind. Only she would care about these lowly, pitiful creatures.
"Ever since the primitive form of the wizarding society was established, house-elves have been serving wizards. To this day, almost no one has attempted to find the origin of house-elves. Now it seems that they were most likely created here as slaves."
(Chapter ends)
