23 Black Castle Ruins

[Beep! Scanning of the clearing is complete. Hidden enchantments found. Magical energy signature 6.38 meters to the north from host. On the left side of the pillar a small energy signature. Beside the pillar on the floor a larger one.]

'So there was something hidden here.' Mused Matthew as he approached the position. While observing the pillar he found something on its left side hidden by dirt and dust. He cleaned it with his hands since he didn't want to risk damaging it with a cleaning charm. Below the dirt was an about palm-sized runic formation inscribed into the pillar. 'AI Chip analyzes the rune formation.' He ordered the Chip.

[Analysis Complete! The runic inscription doesn't fit into any known or theorized runic System of the database. No clues were found in any known Hogwarts books. Runic language and ruins predate the founding of Hogwarts by several Centuries. Runic cluster is connected to the energy signature on the floor.]

'Hmm no known rune language, they also don't look like Norse since the AI Chip could conclude how they should look based on data from the non-magical History books. Could it be… ' he suddenly had an idea what the purpose of the rune cluster is. Even though he could be wrong, it was a risky gamble. He raised his hand, 'Sometimes I have to take a risk. No idea where I could get more information about these runes in the near future, since I have read all books', He thought as he placed his hand on the cluster.

Suddenly the floor before him lit up, 'It seems I was right. This was a door mechanism.', he mused as he watched the ground opening up before him. A black staircase going deeper into the ground appeared. He could only see a few steps down before everything got devoured by blackness. Before he entered he touched the formation again and the floor closed again. To confirm that it keeps working he repeated the process a few times. 'So this doesn't seem to be a trap. But before that, I need to make sure I can leave. AI Chip scan the other site for any rune cluster especially similar to the one on the pillar.' Requested Matthew.

[Beep. Scan complete. Only one cluster was found approximately 3 m below on the right wall. Similar energy Signature like the first Cluster.]

'Good there was a mechanism on the other side.' He thought as he took out his trunk, to get a flask of Night-Owl Potion. After gulping down the potion he cast the low-level shield spell. The spell could be maintained the whole time and wouldn't consume his mystical energy reserves although his regeneration would be severely impacted. But at least he had a higher survival chance.

He stepped into the dark staircase while being on high alert. The feeling this place gave was dark and corrupted. After he walked a few meters down the stairs the entrance closed behind him. He was completely submerged into darkness, only with the help of the potion and his minimap was he able to navigate through the blackness of the room.

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Matthew recognized a corridor with multiple rooms on the sides. Three from every side, at the end of the corridor was a gigantic ominous-looking black door. Before he stepped into the corridor he checked for traps as he learned in DADA, to be sure he let the AI Chip scan the area. After he was as sure as he could be he stepped into the dark corridor and approached the first door next to him. He carefully opened the door.

Behind the door was a room with multiple cages inside. Everything was dead, inside the cages were a few human skeletons, 'Yup, definitely the hideout of some ancient dark Wizard. Maybe even a dark lord.', thought Matthew as he eyed the skeletons. He decided to take some test samples. He collected a few bones and teeth, maybe he was lucky and these were other wizards. At least he had a few human genetic samples for the future. If they were wizards, maybe they even had abilities like Parseltongue or Metamorphmagus. After storing them inside his trunk he continued to the other rooms.

He found another room with cages, but nothing inside. As he was about to leave he saw something on the cages. Runic inscription again, but incomplete and corroded over time. But if he checked every cage he may be able to complete the runic cluster of the cage. 'AI chip scan the cages and store the runic clusters in the database.'

[Task complete!], ringed the voice of the Chip after a while inside his head.

After scanning every Cage he returned to the other cage room and repeated the process. The Runes were also present on the cages there. Having scanned every cage he left the room and entered the next one. Inside he found the remains of a potion lab. Besides a few tables, broken vials, and some rusted cauldrons. Most of it turned to dust. The only interesting thing inside was an incomplete runic cluster below a cauldron on the floor. He also made sure to scan that one, although it was incomplete, the more data he collected on the unknown runic system the more he would be able to understand of it.

The next room was a bedroom. It was the only room with a light runic cluster. He also scanned and saved that cluster inside his database. Besides a few small gold plates, nothing noteworthy was inside the room, time turned most of it into dust.

The last two rooms were storage rooms with potion ingredients. Most of them even with stasis charms applied already turned bad after the stasis stopped working. But the rarest ones were stored inside a stasis rune cluster, there were some rare ingredients he only recognized from books, he never saw them in real life. Like Hydra scales, Shadow demon dust, Lamia hair, and a few unknown more like a bag of dust that gave of a cold, unsettling feeling. He directly stored them inside his trunk and added a few stasis charms himself to protect them. He wasn't sure if he would ever find more of these ingredients. For now, they were too valuable to waste. He would need to carefully study them.

After clearing out the last rooms, and recording every rune cluster he found he approached the black door. Another set of large rune clusters was inscribed into the door, their purpose is unknown. Only the cluster in the center of the double door looked similar to the ones outside. After recording the runes, he lightly touched the central rune cluster. Some kind of barrier fell and the door opened. What he saw and felt on the other side made him directly close the door again and reactivate the runes.

'Here? They shouldn't be here? How are they here, they are supposed to be only in Azkaban. According to the books I read, they were supposed to be created there.', wondered Matthew as many thoughts raced through his mind. At the moment he had no way to explore further. Because he had no spell to handle them. Behind the door where a pack of dementors, which shouldn't even be here. The only Charm known to wizards which can handle them was the Patronus charm, which he didn't practice yet since he didn't expect to meet any of them in the next three years. No Choice he left the ruins and sealed everything up before he wandered in the direction of Hogwarts.

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