Chapter 237: Vault number one

Ivan didn't know what the unpleasant scene Sirius was talking about would be, but it seemed a little strange to see the wind blowing through the seams of the surrounding rocks.

This was from tens of thousands of feet underground, and it was reasonable to say that there should be no wind. Moreover, these winds were not the kind of cloudbursts that would blow from deep within the cave, but with a bit of warmth, like a warm midday wind.

In a place where there shouldn't be wind, there was a strong wind with high temperatures. Was there a legendary magic item underneath?! But then would it be too big?

At the edge of the stairs, Griphook clapped his hands, and a small cart came running out of a dark, hidden hollow in the rock wall. He waved everyone up.

They all climbed in order, huddled together; nervously looking ahead, wondering what awaited them.

Griphook snapped his fingers and the cart began to move again. This time, it wasn't as fast as the first.

As he slowly turned the corner and ran out of the cave, Ivan felt a stronger warm wind blowing from below.

Hastily he looked out, and in the endless darkness, he noticed that he was floating in the air.

In front of them, all the rocks disappeared, and suddenly a huge bottomless hole appeared, and gusts of wind whistled from below.

The hole was deep and straight, as if it extended all the way to the center of the earth.

Everyone gripped the edge of the cart tightly and looked carefully.

If they accidentally fell out of there, they would definitely be blown to pieces, and even their corpses would not be found.

Underneath the cart, a narrow track stretched forward at a strange angle.

Old wooden supports leaning upward against the rough rock walls were their only dependence. The rusty routes of the track were intricate, extending from the seams of the rock wall, not at the end, sometimes intertwining, and quickly splitting apart.

Ivan looked back and saw where they had just exited, and in the blink of an eye they were in a small cave, not unlike the caves that were all over the rock.

He tried to memorize the route, but found it impossible to do so.

The track route was too complicated, and the seams in the rock wall were exactly the same....

Even if someone broke in, he would find a treasure from deep underground; if he did not remember the path, it would be impossible for him to get out of it.

Ivan was sure that what awaited an intruder passing through the wrong opening should not be pleasant to find.

The track zigzagged downward, and as everyone approached the deepest part of the vault, the wind blowing from below grew hotter and hotter, quickly turning into a rising heat wave.

The whistling was getting louder and louder, as if there were countless dragons firing from below.

Ivan looked again and saw a round, bright red object just below them, like a gateway to the depths of hell.

He blinked for a few seconds before he realized what it was....

It was magma deep in the earth's crust!!!!!

Below them was a seemingly endless sea of magma, hissing, crackling and glowing red all around them.

The magma was so hot that it even turned the surrounding rocks a blazing red.

A few seconds later, the car slowly came to a stop on a jagged island in the center of the red-black magma.

Everyone got out, everyone was sweating, and their faces were red. They never thought they would feel such a temperature in the cold winter.

In fact, no one imagined that the deepest subway part of Gringotts would be such a scene, in stark contrast to the prosperity above Diagon Alley.

Sirius was right. These goblins were simply mad. They had been digging down to the depths of the earth's crust. If anything happened there, the lava would erupt, and not only Diagon Alley, but even all of London would be engulfed in flames.

On the island there were dozens of stone sculptures, in all sorts of shapes, which seemed to be the entrance to the vaults.

Ivan felt a little strange, because the shape of these statues looked familiar, and he must have seen them somewhere before.

He looked carefully for a moment, and then realized that the statues were all emblems of ancient pure-blooded wizards. Many of these wizarding families were prominent in the history of magic thousands of years ago, but most of them are now extinct, remaining only in history books.

"These are the first vaults built at the time of Gringotts' founding. There are hundreds of them, all belonging to the strongest wizards of their time or to the most powerful families of pure-blooded wizards." Griphook explained, "Over the centuries, many wizarding families have disappeared into the stream of history, and have not been here in many years."

The emblem-carved island looked like a graveyard of pure-blooded wizards.

These important statues not only testify to the past glory of pure-blooded wizard families, but also silently tell of the endless loneliness. However powerful and illustrious they were, they no longer existed, and the treasures preserved at Gringotts will remain here forever.

Regardless of all this, the ancient wizarding family emblems show that this should be the holy land for historians of magic and heraldry enthusiasts.

Ivan carefully observed and compared the mage emblems in his mind.

After looking at it for a while, he discovered that it was exactly the same as Griphook said. There were large numbers on the statues, all within a hundred. Underneath the statues were doors of various shapes, which must have been the vaults of these pure-blooded wizards.

In the magma, not far away, were several irregularly shaped islands.

As here, statues of various sizes and shapes were also placed on some of the islands.

Among them, Ivan saw the Slytherin family crest at a glance because it was too conspicuous.

The huge statue with many inlaid emeralds was of a soft, shiny green, forming a capital letter S. It was a very large statue.

It was situated on a small island in the center of the lava, it was abnormally high.

Ivan saw that the number above the letter S was the number one, which meant it was the first vault of Gringotts.

Below the statue was a black door with exquisite designs. He didn't know what metal it was made of. It looked very complicated.

Since he was too far away, Ivan didn't see it clearly.

The patterns on the door seemed to be the same as the invisible lines on the Slytherin medallion on his arm that he couldn't make out. They seemed to be a whole...

Ivan shook his head and wondered what that meant, Was it a special word left by Slytherin?

He was going to check the relevant books again. If that didn't work, he could also ask the vampire girl named Elaine.

Next to the Slytherin vault, Ivan also saw the Ravenclaw family crest, similar to the Ravenclaw House crest, but something different, not a giant raven flapping its wings in the sky, but a sculpture in the shape of an eagle with an unknown plant in its mouth, wearing a crown symbolizing wisdom on its head.

In the center of the crown, a brilliant diamond flashed, echoing from a thick nebula on top of the statue.

No one knew how many gems had been used in this seemingly ordinary stone statue.

The huge diamond in the center of the crown alone should be extremely valuable, and the family treasures hidden within it could only imagine how precious.

Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw family had no descendants, and whatever was inside, those things should basically belong to the goblins now.

Ivan became curious and looked around again.

For some unknown reason, he didn't see the signs of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff families. It doesn't look like they installed a vault here.