Forest Vault II

The chest in front of James and the others was in pristine condition. It showed no signs of rust or dirt stains, and not a single vine covered it. It looked like an out-of-place object in the overgrown and mossy room as if some magic had preserved it intact over time.

James approached the chest with a mixture of anticipation and caution. He reached out and lifted the lid. To everyone's luck there were no traps, nor did they need a new key.

The instant he lifted the lid, a blinding light appeared. As they all had contact lenses to protect them from this type of light, they could see the contents of the chest without any problems. Hundreds or more galleons, a fortune in gold coins that mirrored the faces of James and company.

The group of eight Hogwarts students fell silent at such a sight. Although many were used to having a lot of money like James, Sirius, Regulus, and Gwen the sight of hundreds of galleons in a chest was a sight to behold.

Peter and Toby had their eyes and mouths open as they looked at the large fortune in front of them. Snape gulped, and his eyes were fixed on the galleons. He had never seen so much magical money together, not even in his best dreams.

The first to speak was Lupin in a trembling tone, "The adventure was worth it," he commented, and everyone nodded in unison.

"Look there's a book," James gestured towards a medium-sized book resting on the large gold mountain. All eyes moved to the book. No one had noticed it because of the large picture of a chest full of gold coins.

James picked up the book which had an antique look to it, 'How much does this book weigh?' thought James in surprise, feeling an incredible weight for a book of that size.

He read its title aloud which read: [Ancient Runes in Artifacts I - By Dai Ryusaki].

James' eyes glowed brighter than seeing the mountain of galleons. Ryusaki was a genius in ancient runes. If in this book he explained how to insert ancient runes into weapons allowing them to cut spells, it would be great news.

James and the others had no time to inspect the book. The instant, the object was lifted from the pile of gold coins the entire room shook.

"Shit! Is it a trap?" exclaimed Sirius, grabbing his wand and looking around. Ready to face a new challenge. He would guard all these galleons with his life. He wouldn't need to work for a long time, and he wouldn't have to ask his mother for a single Knut.

James turned and looked at one of the four walls of the room. It was the wall that shook the most.

Suddenly, in that wall, a sliding door opened. A great deal of murmuring, shrieking, and watery voices could be heard. Within seconds, dozens of three-foot-tall creatures with pointed faces and sinister smiles showing sharp teeth began to emerge. Their eyes were yellow and glowed madly. They had long, pointed noses.

"Erklings!" exclaimed Lupin, recognizing the creature. They had studied the creatures that inhabited the forest, and the Erkling was one of them. No one thought they would get so much out of a bedroom in the forest vault.

"Are those the ugly creatures that devour children?" shrieked Peter in fear, positioning himself behind the group.

"Yes, shit! Brace yourselves, there's a lot of them!" exclaimed Sirius, ready to fight.

"The best spell to counter them is the Pullus!" shouted Lupin for all to hear.

The Pullus was a transfiguring hex. It transfigured the target into a chicken. Erklings are quite vulnerable to this hex.

There were only two problems. The spell was an intermediate transfiguration spell, and not everyone knew how to cast this spell successfully. Only James, Lupin, and Gwen, the latter only learned it because she is a year older than the others.

The second and biggest problem is the amount of Erklings that keep coming out the door. There could be a hundred or more. Before they could turn everyone into chickens, they would be suffocated and killed by the ugly little creatures that had sharp teeth and nails.

James and Lupin launched several Pullus but quickly realized that they were falling back and their speed of transforming an Erkling was slower than those coming toward them.

Gwen froze several Erkling in small ice structures but also realized that it would be useless to continue this route. The same was true for the others who found themselves outnumbered, being pushed back and defending themselves from the siege of dozens of Erklings.

The Erklings ran with sinister smiles while chanting in their shrill and annoying voice. When they were near James or another member of the group they would leap towards them.

"Depulse!" shouted Sirius, pushing three Erklings who jumped towards him. The small creatures collapsed against their companions and quickly got up, charging back.

"The exit is closed!" shouted Peter, looking back for a second to where they were retreating.

That small distraction caused an Erkling to latch onto Peter's neck and bite him with its sharp little teeth. Peter shrieked as he felt a great pain near his neck. He fell to the ground, as he shrieked in pain and tried to pull off the creature clinging tightly to his flesh.

James noticed this and quickly used his telekinesis to pull the Erkling out of Peter's neck. The bad news was that in the process the creature ripped a bit of skin off, which made Peter scream more in pain.

At the same time, James launched a Protego, and four Erklings flew out of the reflector shield.

'I must not hesitate,' thought James, extending his palm backward.

In an instant, he unleashed his full power, aiming it at the mass of Erklings that were just inches away from them. From his hand came an invisible wave of energy. The force of the thrust was devastating. Dozens of Erklings went flying, spinning in the air like rag dolls. Some crashed violently against the stone walls, breaking bones on impact. Others fell to the ground, their bodies twisted and bruised.

Gwen, Snape, Sirius, and the others were stunned at the sight of all the Erklings flying backward. Despite the carnage, many survived. They struggled to their feet and were ready to charge back.

James, however, took a step forward. His eyes gave off a cold gleam as he looked at the creatures. With a wave of his hand, the troll corpse lifted off the ground and, in the blink of an eye, flew at full speed until it crashed into the small creatures, crushing them. The sound of bones breaking was heard and blood gushed out.

James' forehead was pearly with sweat, but he didn't stop. There were still more survivors. This time, the troll's great axe rose and began hacking away at the last Erklings mercilessly. Within seconds, not a single Erkling was left alive. The axe, full of blood, fell to the ground with a clatter, and James watched the ferocious landscape in front of his eyes.

The group reacted in different ways to James' carnage.

Gwen, though trying to hide her feelings, couldn't help but feel delighted and admired by James' cool determination, her cheeks flushing slightly, as she muttered some things that only she could hear.

Snape, remained silent, but surprise and respect were evident on his face. He hadn't expected James' telekinetic power to have improved so much. Before, he couldn't lift a troll weighing hundreds of kilograms. It was only for an instant, though. To what was this increase in power due? Snape didn't know.

Regulus showed a clear expression of admiration and respect for James, he enjoyed the brutality and efficiency James showed in eliminating the ugly, demonic creatures.

Sirius, Lupin, and Toby, being James' best friends, were surprised, but not frightened. However, they couldn't help but be concerned by the look of hatred on their friend's face as he slaughtered the creatures.

Peter was still shrieking in pain from the wound on his neck that was still gushing blood. He had never been in such a condition. His heart was beating a mile a minute. Is it time for him to die? He doesn't want to die! He's young and talented!