An hour later, the boar stopped before a small cave entrance. The kitten sat on its head, while Severus rode on its back with Nagini coiled around his neck. The little beast pointed with his paw.
"Indeed, there's something strange here." Severus nodded in agreement, jumping off the monster's back and approaching the cave. He felt the density of magic in the air grow with each step. When he stopped before the entrance, it was already three times higher.
"What do you think?"
"I think there's nothing dangerous in there." Nagini concentrated on her feelings and answered thoughtfully. She didn't sense that strange alarm she had felt near the old serpent's lair or inside the Sunlight Bee Queen's hive.
"All right, then." But before he could finish, he noticed the little beast had slipped past him and entered the cave. The kitten glanced back at him mockingly. This "cowardly human" seemed to amuse it. "All right. Let's follow our guide," he added with a smirk, then turned his gaze to the boar. "And you." Seeing the animal, which looked as though it might cry, Severus shook his head and approached it. "Fine. I'll take you with me, but for now you'll sit here." He pulled out a small box. The boar eyed it doubtfully. Then, after a tap on its head, the shocked creature was simply sucked inside. Severus tucked the box back into his pouch. Strangely, the kitten didn't seem very surprised. It merely cast an interested glance at the artifact and continued on its way.
The cave turned out to be quite ordinary, at least for the first twenty meters, though the magical density had already increased fivefold. But after that, the passage widened sharply. Claw marks and drawing-like markings began appearing on the walls, though they were very faint. It was impossible to make out what was depicted there. Another change was the appearance of the familiar turquoise crystals. The deeper they descended, the larger they grew and the more frequently they appeared. The cave paintings became much clearer, and finally he could make out what was shown.
Mostly, they depicted beasts and people holding sticks, ranging from large ones as tall as themselves to small wands. Some had no sticks but wore headdresses. What was most interesting was that sets of specific movements and gestures also appeared. They seemed vaguely familiar to Severus, but he couldn't remember where he had seen them. He didn't jump to conclusions or rack his brain over it. He decided to study and remember everything first, then think about it in a calmer environment.
The cave, to his surprise, turned out to be very long and quite deep. Strangely, they weren't the only ones walking through it. Along the way, he spotted magical creatures, not exactly the peaceful sort, coming toward them. But to his surprise, they simply glanced at him, then at the kitten, and moved on. That struck him as deeply unsettling. He discussed this with Nagini, but she sensed nothing at all, just as he had. He assumed that something in this place affected the creatures' aggression, possibly some smell or magic that worked only on magical beings.
Finally, after almost fifteen minutes, he saw light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as Severus crossed the last few meters, a magnificent view opened before him.
This was a massive cave, nearly as large as the underground garden he had discovered while exploring the Magic Jungles, where the offspring of the old serpent once lived. The ceiling glittered with crystals in every color imaginable, casting light that filled the entire space. In the very center lay a large lake with crystal-clear water, so transparent that the bottom was clearly visible and studded with crystals. The shore was almost completely carpeted with bright spring grass, wildflowers, herbs, and trees. Massive moss-covered boulders were piled together, their crevices home to magical creatures that peered out. This was a true paradise for monsters. Magic seeped from every crack in the ground, nearly ten times denser than outside. The beasts lived in perfect harmony. A lone doe, who had miraculously found her way here, rested near the lake. Not far from her, several wolves dozed peacefully, paying her no mind. Even the appearance of a human made no difference to the inhabitants. Only a couple glanced at him with curiosity before closing their eyes again.
Severus's gaze swept over the vast array of monsters and ordinary beasts before landing on a rainbow crystal suspended in the center of the cave. A disappointed sigh escaped his lips.
"If I had known about this, perhaps I wouldn't have had to go through that terrible ritual." He touched his chest, and a smile spread across his face again. "Still, if I had used this crystal to advance to Magister, I definitely couldn't have obtained a material core. And I don't particularly want to destroy this mini-paradise. I'm truly surprised this place exists and isn't just some author's tall tale."
He had found mention of this place in the autobiography of a man who, in his foolishness, had once decided to explore the Forbidden Forest, ignoring all warnings about danger. Relying on his invisibility cloak, he had ventured in. Only at night did he realize the full horror and why "forbidden" came first in the name of this place. When two trolls chased him in the pitch darkness, he stumbled and fell into a cave. When the young man finally stopped, he realized no one was pursuing him anymore. He saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel. That was how he had discovered this place. But after the book's release, no one believed him, just as Severus himself had not. Still, he hadn't dismissed the possibility of such a paradise existing, because magic and mages could create almost anything.
Though it was pleasant to observe all this, something else interested him.
He passed by several thestrals, which snorted in displeasure at his presence, and approached a wall covered in centuries-old moss. He waved his right hand upward. A moment later, the moss began to disappear, revealing drawings hidden beneath it. He began memorizing them. The kitten approached him, watching his actions with curiosity but not interfering. He wasn't harming this place or the creatures living there. Other magical creatures also saw what he was doing but reached roughly the same conclusion as the little one. They quickly returned to their business, which was resting.
This continued for the next hour, until he finally made a full circuit of the wall, completely clearing it of moss, and returned to the exit. Besides various movements with wands, sticks, and bare hands, the cave paintings also depicted simpler subjects: how to butcher an animal, using a boar as an example; methods of making weapons; people throwing spears and shooting bows; as well as a huge variety of creatures, both mundane and magical. There was even a dragon depicted very realistically. Severus could say with certainty this was a real dragon, not one of those half-breeds. It seemed logical that this place belonged to some ancient people. That was clear from the drawings alone. But still, his attention was drawn to those wearing headresses who held flames burning in their hands, columns of water surrounding them, and stones floating above their heads. Others fought monsters ten times their size. Most likely, these were some of humanity's first wizards, and this place was their home. The fact that they could fight those creatures as equals already spoke to the vast gulf between wizards of the past and those of this era. Still, something troubled him.
"Why do some movements seem so familiar to me?" He stroked his chin and muttered grimly. But no matter how much he tried to remember, he came up with nothing. He couldn't say for certain whether this feeling came from his own memories or the original Severus's, because they had already completely merged. Eh. I should have marked them somehow. He sighed wearily and looked up at Nagini. While he studied the drawings, she had crawled around the area and examined everything, accompanied by the kitten, who had grown bored of following him. All right. Let her walk around a bit more. I'll work on my memory and separate the parts belonging to him. Though I'm still ninety-seven percent sure this feeling relates to me. Where could a boy like him have seen something similar? But that three percent remains. He attended school and could well have seen such things in books without paying special attention to them. After all, Muggles have studied world history much more deeply. I wouldn't be surprised if they found proof of wizards' existence precisely through this. And then there's technological development, clearer camera images. Though I wrote to Tom about this in the book. Still, there will be individuals who ignore this and start casting spells right in front of someone. Or they might simply not notice the people around them. That's it. End of secrecy. He shook his head, trying to push extraneous thoughts from his mind and concentrate.
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