HP: The Salazar's Heir Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Art is an...

"Quite the unpleasant noise, isn't it?" Sebastian asked, annoyed by the high-pitched flapping noises.


"Sounds like wings, doesn't it?" Harry asked. "Like birds, only sharper."


The trio, alongside the heir of Salazar, successfully escaped the pit of Devil’s Snare and were on their way to the Philosopher’s Stone. Of course, Sebastian found it difficult to believe that such a thing truly existed, but he did believe that something, perhaps with lesser effects, might exist.


"Sounds like… bugs," Hermione shuddered, not liking the noise. "Like insects."


If all four of them were to be honest, none of them could handle bugs. One was scared by insects, one hated them, one found them ugly, and the other found them disgusting. But overall, not a single one of them liked insects.


"I would have thought of them to be roaches," Harry said, "But I know the sound of roaches better than most."


Sebastian wondered for a moment, 'Why would anyone know what roaches sound like?' Mostly because they sounded like every bug that could flap their wings fast. But unknown to him, Harry’s little ‘room’ was filled with them, and it was a miracle that he did not fall fatally sick because of the cockroaches.


“It does sound familiar, though,” Sebastian mumbled aloud, recalling hearing similar sounds quite a long time ago. “I am unable to explain, but this noise is reminding me of the walks I took near my old familial pond.”


The trio looked at him, confused. But even Sebastian had no answer for what he meant. It was simply a nostalgic feeling that he could not explain. But he didn't have to think hard as the answer presented itself in front of everyone, especially when Hermione muttered, “Those are…”


Walking through the semi-lit place and finally coming near a passage, they saw the root cause of the noise.


“Flying keys?” Harry said, astonished.


‘Oh,’ a sense of nostalgia hit Sebastian. Not because of the magical keys that flew over his head, but because he knew what those keys were being based off of.


‘Dragonflies.’ He understood why he was reminded of the pond during the summers. Because that was the time when dragonflies laid eggs, and it was the time when they were the loudest.


“We are locked in here,” Ron commented, staring at the massive door that wouldn’t budge. 


Sebastian was more than certain that it is one of these keys that was supposed to unlock the door. But it wasn’t going to be that easy to find the key among the sea of keys that flew above him.


“Let me check something,” the ginger yelled before he rushed towards the door, with Hermione following behind him.


However, Sebastian was more interested in this whole maze sort of situation that was going on. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that all the hurdles they faced were a series of traps designed to keep people away from something. And while he found it difficult to believe that a magical item existed that made someone immortal, he also knew that even if it was not that, it was something of very high value.


‘There is no other explanation for why there would be so many traps in here,’ he mused. ‘This is a maze, deliberately trying to keep us away or to delay us.’


“Look, Sebastian,” Harry drew his attention. “That is a broom…”


And it was. A floating broom that was certainly there as a part of the challenge for the room they were in.


“Alohomora!”


The two heirs heard Ron casting a spell and still failing to open the door.


“Nope, won’t work,” the boy said, which made the girl next to him groan.


“It wants us to catch the key,” Harry deduced the obvious. “It is… just like Quidditch.”


‘Flying keys, a person chasing after the one specific key… yeah, sounds about right,’ Sebastian agreed while not being vocal about it. “You think you can catch the key?”


There was no way he was willing to get on a darn broom to chase after a key. The spectacled boy could have the honor of finding the key, but Sebastian wasn’t willing to lower himself to sit on a broomstick.


‘It still astonishes me that out of every item they could have used, they decided that a broom was the best means of transport,’ Sebastian shook his head. “But even if you do manage to catch the keys, how will you know which is the key we are looking for?”


That was when he heard Ron say, “the door is old and rusty. We will have to look for a key that is rusty as well.”


As Harry had horrible eyesight, it was not him who found the key in that cluster, but Hermione.


“There!” She shouted, pointing at a dirty-looking key with wings that barely worked. “The one with the tattered wings!”


Harry looked at Hermione and then at Sebastian. “I think that is the one.”


And well, it made sense.


Which key would it be but the one that was rusted, right?


‘This doesn’t make sense now, does it?’ Sebastian mused as he saw Harry walking to the broom. ‘This maze, these challenges… They are designed to keep people away from the things that are kept hidden somewhere in here. But if it is a treasure and a person kept it there, there is no reason for that person to go through these traps every time they want to reach the treasure, is there?’


“Be careful, Harry,” Hermione said. “Don't hurt yourself.”


‘If someone kept a treasure, they must have a way for just them or a method they use to not have to face these challenges, right?’ Sebastian wondered. ‘They must have a way that directly leads them to the treasure.’


It wasn’t that he was against solving all these puzzles. To him, it looked fun.


‘No smart man would waste their time in this way.’


He saw Harry fly upwards, trying to chase after the key.


“Oh no…”


But that was when they all realized why this was so difficult.


“The keys hurt!” Harry groaned as the keys started to buzz and move in random directions with quite the speed. As they moved, they hit Harry, making it difficult for him to steer the broom towards the specific key.


And as this all played out, Sebastian moved towards the locked door –letting the trio handle the key situation.


‘This door isn’t unbreakable now, is it?’ He wondered. ‘What if I simply ‘break’ it?’


The door wasn’t unbreakable. It was just another big door that probably weighed a few tons.


‘What if it is enchanted? It isn’t like enchanted things never break.’


He assessed the door and well, the enchantment that it had wasn’t like anything he had seen before.


‘It is a modern enchantment, but it can be broken.’


He was confident.


‘I can blow the entire door off the wall.’


There was nothing a little explosion couldn’t solve. And even with the possibility of some booby traps being triggered by his brute force methods, he wanted to try.


“Now!”


He turned around and saw Harry finally regaining his balance and chasing after the right key.


‘Let’s test this.’ He finally decided to play the game too.


Just not in the way that it was intended.


‘Is there anything major behind this?’


As a Slytherin, his senses were sharper than most. He could sense magic better and discern the true strength of people even when they kept it hidden.


This was exactly why he was able to judge Dumbledore’s magic when the old man kept it masked. Even Harry, who was sensitive to magic, was unable to sense Dumbledore, but for Sebastian, it was an easy task.


‘There isn’t anything concerning.’ He found nothing that could potentially kill him if he broke the door or even the wall. ‘And if it is something like arrows or swords that would fly at me, a simple Protego Maxima would be enough.’


And that was all he needed to know.


“Got it!”


As while Harry did finally obtain the key, Sebastian still wanted to go ahead with his idea.


Seeing Harry throwing the key to Hermione, who rushed towards the door, Sebastian smiled, placing his right hand over the door.


“I don’t think we need the key.”


And that was all they heard before a certain massive explosion deafened and blinded them.


“Confringo Purus!”


Leaving an open hole of a pathway in front of them.

__________________________________________________________________________


[[A/N: Is it the philosopher’s stone that Sebastian will find, or is it something else –something better? 


Find out by the next three chapters of HP: the Salazar’s Heir! 


P.S. Sorry for the delay, was a bit too tired yesterday.]]