Dai Ryusaki Legacy

James, with sweat on his forehead and a headache, looked to his sides. His friends were lying on the floor unconscious all with expressions of pain and anguish.

'Was that a curse?' thought James, cursing Day Ryusaki. His gaze fell on the cursed core that hovered with an ominous air. Thanks to his fury and out-of-control magic, he was able to break the illusion. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Seeing his friends suffering, he quickly forgot about the traumatic memory he relived. He had to rescue them as soon as possible, and for that, it was urgent to destroy the core.

From his wallet, he took out two potions that he took without hesitation. In a few seconds, his headache and mental fatigue began to disappear. In such a state, it would be impossible to use his telekinesis to destroy the core. Once recovered, he pulled out a huge axe inscribed with ancient runes.

The axe began to float, and from one moment to the next it shot into the core. A metallic clang was heard throughout the room. James had to hit the core more than twenty times to destroy it.

"Damn core," James thought as he watched his special axe shatter into tiny little pieces.

He paid no more attention to the core. He turned and ran to Peter, as he was the closest to his position. He carefully grabbed the head of Peter, who was sobbing in low tones.

"Drink this, mate. It'll make you better," James said in a warm tone, pouring the blue liquid from the potion. Peter obeyed James' voice and slowly swallowed the liquid.

James carefully laid Peter's head on the floor and moved on to the next one. After about five minutes, all the members of the group recovered.

Sirius, Lupin, Regulus, Peter, and the others were sitting on the cold stone floor with pale expressions. It looked like they had woken up from their worst nightmare. 

Thanks to the potion, they had recovered from the mental fatigue and headache, but they had lived their worst memories in a loop for who knows how long.

Gwen hugged James tightly as she sobbed. She didn't have many traumatic memories, but she did have one. It was when she got to watch her mother physically and verbally assault her sister.

Seeing this, she without hesitation wanted to stop her mother, who looked like someone else. However, she did not expect that her mother, in a fit of rage, would attack her. Seeing that she hit her blood, Lysandra stopped and left the room. She was leaving the two girls there.

Then Gwen healed as best she could the wounds of her little sister, who had a lifeless expression. That was what affected her the most. 

'I wonder what she must have seen in the illusion,' thought James, patting Gwen.

"So, they were all immersed in an illusion of their memories?" asked Snape, breaking the silence. They all nodded slightly.

"The worst," added Sirius with an expression rarely seen on his always happy and relaxed face. If it had been a terrifying illusion, it wouldn't have had such a strong impact on everyone.

"How did you manage to get out and destroy the core?" asked Snape, looking at James. He was both grateful and curious as to how James managed to get out of the powerful illusion.

"Occlumency," James replied dryly.

'Occlumency,' repeated Snape and Regulus in their minds. They should learn the art with more urgency. James had already helped them get started with their training in Occlumency, but for the two teenagers it was not a pleasant training, and the improvements were poor. 

Snape began studying the art of mental protection ever since Eustace entered his mind in the vault of fear. Knowing about Legilimency, he did not want to let strangers enter his mind at will. So he asked James, who was more advanced, for guidance.

Regulus began studying Occlumency at James' request. Since he would be a future spy, he couldn't allow them to be reading his thoughts, no matter how few wizards capable of using Legilimency there were.

"Let's get this over with," James said, and the others stood up. They no longer wore the happy expressions from the adventure earlier. They wanted to take the treasures and go to sleep after living through such an experience.

At least they wouldn't leave empty-handed.

James walked forward with the others; behind where the core floated was a sturdy wooden table against the wall.

On the table rested several objects. The first that caught the eye of James and company was a small wooden box with inscriptions in ancient letters that read, "Ring of Mneme." Carefully, James opened the box, revealing a simple black ring inside. The ring looked plain and ordinary, but James and the others did not believe this to be so.

"We'll see what it's for later," James commented, closing the box again. 

He moved on to the next object. A rolled-up black parchment. Unrolling it, James could tell that it was the formula for brewing a potion called Mental Potentizing Potion.

"Such a potion exists?" muttered Snape as he read the name. Like him, James was surprised, and his eyes widened.

He had never heard of a potion that would better enable your mind. Not even the most difficult potions would have such an effect. Your Legilimency and Occlumency could be improved without the need to study and practice like mad. Even your telekinesis could be improved. With this in mind, James was no longer so unhappy with Ryusaki, who made him relive his trauma.

On the black parchment, the necessary ingredients were written down, and the steps to follow were detailed with precision. At a glance, you could tell that this was an advanced brewing potion. James and Snape had never come across a potion with so many steps and so much detail.

Next to this parchment, rested a book entitled: Ancient Runes in Artifacts II - Final Part - By Dai Ryusaki. This book seemed to be the key to better understanding the artifacts and charms Ryusaki had left behind. James took it carefully and put it in his wallet. He still hadn't finished reading part one. He had a long way to go to understand the first book perfectly. It was more complex than what he studied on transfiguration.

Finally, there lay another plain parchment. James unrolled it and discovered that it was a message from Dai Ryusaki, the creator of the cursed vaults.

James began to read the scroll for all to hear. Ryusaki was congratulating him/her or those who managed to pass the tests. 

He would then talk about the objects and their functions.

The Ring of Mneme is a powerful artifact capable of protecting the wearer's mind against the most powerful Legilimens. Not only that, the ring also allowed its wearer to project thoughts and memories into the minds of others, an ability that could be invaluable in capable hands.

As for the potion, it explained a bit about how it could enhance the drinker's mental abilities, allowing him to reach new levels of power in the mental arts.

In the final part, Ryusaki explained the reason why he hid all his treasures in the vaults and placed powerful curses and defenses. He recounted how the International Confederation of Magicians had targeted him as a dark magician with malicious intent and how he had been persecuted for his creations. 

Knowing that his time was limited, he had decided to hide his treasures in the vaults of Hogwarts, where he had been a professor. He concluded by saying that, if the treasures remained, it was likely that he had been captured and killed or was rotting in a cell, unjustly treated for a crime he never committed.

"Whoa... That story sounds like a movie," Sirius commented as James finished reading the parchment. He had seen a lot of muggle movies.

"Poor Dai," said Toby, feeling bad for the Japanese wizard's fatal fate. 

Even though they almost died several times at the hands of the defenses Dai put up in the vaults, they all felt pity and respect for the Japanese wizard.

"His artifacts and potion were very dangerous in the eyes of the Ministry," said James, who also felt respect and pity for Dai.

No wizard with power would like it if there was a way to protect yourself from the most powerful Legilimency, and on top of that, you could project thoughts and memories to other people. As long as the ring has that function.

Also, Dai created seemingly normal objects like swords and axes that could cut mage spells. 

"It's best to study these artifacts in a quiet place," James commented, putting the valuable objects away in his wallet. These three objects (potion, ring, and book) would be of great help with the impending fight against the death eaters.

Just as he finished speaking, there was a low, ominous sound: the creak of the huge double doors slowly opening. 

James and the others quickly looked towards the entrance to the room. They already had their wands at the ready. Ready for any threat that might present itself. They were aware of Dai's machinations in his vaults. In the previous one, they defeated the troll and got a glimpse of the treasure, only to have a pack of ugly creatures pounce on them shortly after.

The doors opened wide, and everyone could see the new threat in front of them. Except for James, the others put on ugly and tense expressions as they saw five people enter the room. James' expression hardened. They were not enemies left by Ryusaki; they were the dark wizards behind them.

Four of the five figures were hooded, with long, dark cloaks that hid their faces and bodies almost completely. They walked with a firm and determined step as if they had been waiting for this moment for a long time. But it was the fifth figure that made James' heart pound in his chest.

The last person, clearly the leader of the group, also wore a black cloak, but his hood was deeper, and his face was covered by an eerie mask. The mask was pale white, with narrow snake-like slits for eyes, which gave it a sinister appearance.

The eyes that glowed behind those slits were cold and calculating, full of malevolence.

'The unknown death eater,' thought James, clenching his wand tightly. It would be his first time facing a death eater. The situation was not good.

True, there were eight versus five, but those five people were adult dark wizards. One of them is a death eater. Voldemort's inner circle that only the best wizards in both strength and family background could enter.