Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 406 A Scepter And Two Giant Serpents

"More than 600 years ago, I returned from Egypt to Beauxbatons with this book and placed it here," explained Flamel, "The seeds of this tree were also brought at that time. I didn't realize they were actually trapped between the pages of the book. By the time it was discovered, it had already started to sprout and grow. Through a few hundred years of alchemical experiments, it absorbed the powerful magic emanating from the Philosopher's Stone and slowly grew, gradually turning into what it is today."

Evan looked up at the ancient crystal tree towering before him.

His gaze then quickly shifted to "The Book of Abraham" at the tree's center.

As Flamel had mentioned earlier, it was a very large and thick magic book.

It had a very ancient appearance, and its pages were made of a delicate, smooth bark displaying a strange lilac hue under the fluorescence. The page edges had begun to crystallize.

Yes, they were made of crystal!

Much like this ancient tree in front of him, they appeared to be of the same material.

Evan had the feeling that the pages of "The Book of Abraham" were made from this strange ancient crystal tree before his eyes, and that they were all one.

He took a step closer to see more clearly.

A simple, heavy breath reached him, though it did not touch, much less turn the pages; Evan could distinctly feel the traces of time that had passed over the book.

It stayed there silently, as if it had never been moved.

Millennia had swiftly gone by. It was conceivable that throughout history, countless talented and powerful wizards had owned this magic book.

Each of them was a powerful wizard who could leave a mark on the history of magic. Around the possession of such a magic book, there must have been countless fights and conspiracies.

Yet, from current outcomes, no matter how many people had obtained "The Book of Abraham," none knew its true secrets.

Flamel should be the closest to the truth. He had gained an endless and unimaginable wealth.

But he said that his starting point itself was wrong.

Evan took a deep breath and wondered if he could unravel the mystery of the book, or if, like previous owners, he would end up dying with great regret.

He shook his head and focused intently.

Before Evan, the cover of "The Book of Abraham" was tightly wrapped in a large brass structure.

It was adorned with intricate small lines, occasionally glistening with a dark gold.

On the cover, there was no name inscribed, nor any eerie design like in other ancient magic books as a warning to future generations.

On the contrary, it was densely covered with strange words.

As he gazed at those ancient words, Evan felt vaguely familiar with them, as if he had read them somewhere.

Then he realized that they were all ancient magic words.

Not long ago, he had seen something similar in Hermione's textbook.

Every Thursday night, Hermione spent over five hours practicing ancient magic words she had learned on parchment or seeking information to learn new magic words.

From observing her so frequently, Evan also learned a lot.

But these magic words before him were older and more complex than any he knew. The strange patterns were twisted, and all seemed like hieroglyphs.

Even if Evan tried his best, he could not grasp the meaning of those words.

"This book is now yours. Sooner or later, you will understand the meaning of these words. As I said, it is a powerful spell," Flamel said, "It doesn't require magic, it can be successfully implemented solely with the power of language. I sincerely hope you never have to use it one day."

The power of this spell must indeed have been unimaginable for Flamel, for him to repeat his advice.

As he looked at the ancient words, there was much speculation in Evan's mind, but in the end, all were refuted one by one.

It was true that the power of Abraham as the spokesperson of God in the world was not to be understood at all by common people.

Evan could not imagine what kind of spell it would be.

Following Flamel's suggestion, he took a step forward and gently opened the pages.

The pages were heavy and very rough!

Evan skimmed through the book and noticed that it was divided into three parts, each consisting of seven pages.

In the first part, on the first page, there was no text, but a stone.

Evan only glanced at it once and recognized it as the Philosopher's Stone.

The next seven pages were all ancient texts of magic like the cover. They documented the knowledge related to alchemy, from which Flamel developed the method to create Philosopher's Stones.

On the first page of the second part, there was no text, but a pattern.

It was a large scepter with its head and tail swallowed by two gigantic serpents. To Evan's surprise, they were the ones he had seen before.

His underground experience in the Lair of Aragog remained vivid in his mind.

In the stone chamber where the horrible giant spider monster resided, Evan saw four magical objects left by Salazar Slytherin in the final mural.

They were the locket, the ring, the wand, and a scepter surrounded by two green snakes from bottom to top; it was the scepter depicted in the book.

Without a doubt, Evan could be certain.

Apart from the scepter being surrounded by two snakes from bottom to top, and the scepter in the image being swallowed by two snakes, the details remained exactly the same.

There was no difference in the body lines.

Evan was breathless. He did not think his intuition would actually come true. "The Book of Abraham" was related to Slytherin in person.

Salazar perhaps had gone further than Flamel, who only had the Philosopher's Stone at his disposal. Flamel only studied and understood the first part of the book.

But Salazar Slytherin obtained the snake scepter, and possibly decrypted the second part.

Due to having so little information, Evan could not be sure if Salazar had ever acquired the book. If he was the owner of the book, why did he not stay at Hogwarts, but got lost in ancient Egypt, only to be finally found by Flamel?

If Salazar had not read "The Book of Abraham," where did he get the snake scepter from?

He did not know what it meant. Everything was a mystery.

Evan tried to calm himself, not think about those things, and continued flipping the pages back.

Behind the scepter swallowed by the gigantic snakes, there were six pages of ancient magical inscriptions.

These magical words were more esoteric and incomprehensible than the previous ones. Evan felt they were scribbles of a child, purely nonsensical patterns.

He gazed at them for a while, without the slightest clue.

No wonder Flamel had studied for hundreds of years and found nothing.

It seemed the only way to understand the meaning of the previous words was to find the snake scepter left by Salazar Slytherin.

Thinking of this, Evan could not help but sigh.

It seemed that there were only endless problems associated with Slytherin.

Besides the evil god created by Herpo the Foul, there were his vampire descendants facing great difficulties.