Bab 103: Cursed vault of forest
Sometime later, at the chamber of secrets (Slytherin's chamber);
Neal and the other three were standing there in the underground chamber, knowing fully well what they were waiting for. However, except for Daphne, the others didn't seem to have a problem.
After staying still for more than five minutes, Daphne broke the silence and urged Neal they should leave.
In response, Neal just told her to be patient and that the new members should be on their way.
"Do you seriously want to do this, Neal?" asked Tracey with a bit of concern. Unlike many other Slytherins, she was perfectly okay mingling with even muggles who couldn't do magic. However, the ones who will come soon are a great headache to work together.
Neal looked at everyone and said, "I gave my word to Potter and have to honor it. I won't ask you to get along with them but try to not intentionally fight with them. Can all of you do that much for me?"
Malfoy nodded immediately, "alright."
"Of course, anything for you, Neal," replied Tracey with a smile.
Daphne didn't back down and even gave a bold reply, "I can even give you my life if you ask me, much less put aside my enmity with them."
"Uhh…" Neal felt like it was too exaggerated and quite cheesy but chose to thank everyone.
And roughly about seven to eight minutes later, a group of four entered the chamber.
"Granger…" Potter…" Daphne and Malfoy tried their best to hide their hatred for their respective enemies but negative emotions appeared on their faces.
"Sorry for being late. It turned out to be a challenge for four people to squeeze in my invisibility cloak." Harry apologized as soon as he saw Neal and others, putting aside his negative feelings for Neal's friends.
Neal waved his hand with a smile, "No matter. It's not been that much longer. Anyways, gather around. Let's have a chat…"
As the new members walked toward Neal, Daphne sharply glared at Hermione, whose muggle-born identity and being good at everything just irritates her. The same with Malfoy too. She then remembered her promise to Neal and took a deep breath to calm down herself.
Meanwhile, Hermione whispered to Harry, "I think this is a very bad idea." The latter whispered back in reply, "I told you earlier. You don't need to come with me."
"How could I not when you are entering a snake's nest? Even if Neal could be trusted, the others are known to always try to scheme against us. We don't want them to bully you." Hermione expressed her thoughts by whispering.
Soon, the group of four reached Neal while the other three behind him also stood beside him, standing opposite the new members.
Neal then spoke, addressing the new members, "Weeks ago, when we started training here, the four of us decided to call ourselves, the Keepers of the Void. Now that there are eight of us here, I suggest forming a secret club named void. Every member here will be a keeper, hence, the keeper of the void. What do you think?"
He looked at the others for their opinion, although in reality, he was just expecting them to quietly accept his suggestion.
Thankfully, no one had the intention to argue either. Everyone agreed immediately. Draco took this opportunity to comment that Neal is the leader and hence, he can decide the rules too.
With rules already planned in his mind, Neal then said as he raised his fingers one after another.
"The rules are simple.
One, no one will reveal the existence of our club to anyone, even to close friends or family.
Two, the advanced spells you learn here cannot be used at any school duels. You can only showcase the spells that are available in books and known to others.
And three, everyone here is your ally. I won't ask any of you to be friends with others including me. It cannot be forced. However, at the very least, even in the outside world, I hope you won't target your fellow club member who you have trained together with.
That's it.
We will meet here every Saturday, after lunch. And if you want to recommend anyone else, you can at any time. I'll take a note and take the decision.
Any questions?"
Everyone was pleased by Neal's conditions and no one bothered to state their opinions on the rules. Neal is happy, Harry is happy, and so, everyone is also satisfied.
Leaving Harry to teach certain words of parseltongue to the new three, Neal ended the meeting and everyone returned to their own dorms.
The next day morning;
Around 8 o'clock, as soon as the sun rose in the east, Neal secretly ventured into the forbidden forest using his animagus' ability.
With the help of the map, it only took him a little more than 30 minutes to reach "Forest Grove" in the forbidden forest where an acromantula and its colony were residing.
By this time, Neal's invisibility also wore off but he wasn't that worried about getting attacked. After transforming back to human, Neal directly opened the suitcase and summoned the Basilisk as soon as he entered the acromantula's colony.
*Hissss*
The basilisk let out a powerful hiss as soon as she was summoned to a different place from her home. "Zora… carry me…" He ordered.
The basilisk lowered her head, letting Neal stand on top of its head as it slowly crawled forward.
Soon, echoes of screams of red caps and rushing of spiders spread around the region because of their fear of the Basilisk.
Without using any words, Neal managed to reach his destination quite easily. With the vault's guardian abandoning its duties at the first sight of the Basilisk, it didn't take much time for Neal to find its entrance, which is in the open sight.
A door was seen on the trunk of a tree. The door was protected by a series of webs.
"Zora, get me down."
Neal landed on the ground and took out his Basilisk wand. Usually, he would use the Black walnut wand for most things for he knew that the output of a magic spell unleashed by Slytherin's wand is too high.
But, since he was standing in front of the cursed vault, he doesn't dare to be careless and decided to use it.
"Difindo."
Waving his wand like he was drawing a small case 'n' letter in the air, he cast out a severing charm.
An arc of energy erupted from the tip of his wand, cutting down all the thick webs in his way in just one move.
He walked forward to the door and unlocked it using the Alohomora spell while keeping the Basilisk as the guard outside for she cannot enter the place because of her huge body.
As he entered the dim-lit place, Neal's eyes fell on a glowing column and he immediately raised his wand.
According to Merlin's Portrait, those who touch the column will be struck with a sleepwalking curse, making them wander the forbidden forest forever until someone saves them. However, if one could destroy it, then, one can find his greatest creation.
Trying his luck, Neal unleashed his most powerful skill, the one he knew from when he was only 11 years old.
"Expulso."
The force generated by the Basilisk wand cracked the column in the center.
"Expulso."
Neal used the spell once again.
The cracks became bigger. However, it wasn't destroyed yet.
"Expulso"
The column was almost on the brink of destruction.
"Dammit… one more time…"
Using everything he has got, he used the spell for the third time, getting hit by dizziness in the next second due to overexertion.
"Expulso…"
As Neal suddenly started feeling weak and dizzy, he took a rest for a while before searching the floor with Lumos spell
He found a black colored wand about 14 inches in length and has a crooked shape. "Eh? I worked so hard for this?"
It looked like it was poorly made at first glance but the reaction from Salazar Slytherin made Neal rethink his first impression. "Acacia wood with Nundu's whiskers as a core? Since when did that disciple of mine visit that dark continent and even made such a rare wand?"
"Hmm?"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone