Chapter 75 - The Dungeon Key of the Death God.

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]

Third Person POV

Hogwarts.

...

...

The auction was finally about to begin. "Welcome everyone to our auction!" exclaimed the man on the stage excitedly, placing the wand to his neck to amplify his voice. "As you know, we have our secret identities preserved in this place, so you may call me the auctioneer!" He enthusiastically informed the audience.

Snape continued to look calmly at this, while the woman's gaze moved from Snape, still with a smile, to the stage, hoping to see something interesting and place a bid. "I'm eager to see what you're seeking at this auction," she also spoke.

Snape remained silent, waiting for the event to begin.

"We have many important guests here, so let's begin. We have none other than a vial of Veritaserum!" the auctioneer announced as the curtains were drawn back, revealing a small platform moving towards him with the truth potion on it. Quickly, many of those present exclaimed with interest in the potion.

"You don't seem very interested in this," the woman observed Snape, who merely shrugged. "Let's start our first item at 5,000 Galleons of gold!" the auctioneer shouted, and the bids began and quickly escalated as people seemed determined to secure this potion, until the highest bid reached 15,000 Galleons of gold.

Snape was not surprised by this result; after all, this potion is extremely prohibited and very complex to make, it could even send you to Azkaban if an Auror caught you with it.

The item vanished the next moment as the auctioneer continued. "On to the next item!" the man shouted again, as the pillar disappeared and another appeared in its place, bearing a painting. "This item was found in ancient ruins in Spain. It is said to have belonged to Merlin himself. Those skilled enough to decipher it, might even manage to speak with Merlin in person from the time this painting was created!" he announced, as the painting of an ancient chair was visible, but with no one sitting in it, people seemed less enthusiastic about this item compared to the first.

The auction went on and the bids started, only a few enthusiasts for ancient relics and collectors began bidding, until it was sold for 8,000 Galleons of gold.

"For the next item, I'm sure the reception will be different, especially for potion lovers!" The Auctioneer shouted, as the next item was revealed, catching Snape's attention as well. "Now we have a dragon's heart straight from Scotland," the man announced, and many potion masters there in disguise immediately showed interest.

"Let's start the bidding at 5,000 Galleons of gold," he said. The price was high, but fair due to the rarity of this item.

"6,000 Galleons of gold," someone from the podium exclaimed.

"8,000!" another spoke from the other side of the podium.

"8,500!" someone from below where Snape was with the woman.

Seeing this, Snape took the opportunity to make his first bid, raising his hand at that moment. "10,000 Galleons of gold!" He announced, drawing the attention of many, as 10,000 Galleons of gold were not for just anyone. But that stranger, being with the young lady, announced this easily.

"So you have money," the woman looked at him with interest and Snape ignored her.

"11,000 Galleons of gold," another person from the podium spoke, looking at Snape angrily.

"12,000 Galleons of gold!" Snape declared again, as everyone hesitated to continue.

"Going once, going twice, sold!" the auctioneer exclaimed, banging the gavel. "Sold to the gentleman beside the young lady," he declared, clapping and quickly moving on to the next item.

"So, you're a potion master?" the woman asked, as the man continued the auction with the next item.

"Maybe..." Snape responded calmly, not caring much about it and turning his gaze back to the auction, but uninterested in this item.

"You are mysterious, whoever is behind that mask. Very mysterious," Snape heard her say as if she wanted to extract all sorts of information from him, but he just shrugged.

The item ended up being sold by some people and then it disappeared from the stage. At the next moment, the item for which Snape was there appeared.

A cage appeared in the center of attention as a young house-elf, looking scared and trembling, was inside it to be sold like a commodity while everyone flashed greedy smiles at him.

"We have here a house-elf, one of the great attractions of this auction. Young and never had a master before, born just a few years ago, raised to be an excellent servant for a prestigious family. Let's start the bidding at 5,000 Galleons of gold," the auctioneer announced.

"10,000 Galleons of gold!" exclaimed a person from the podium upstairs, with white hair.

"10,000 Galleons for an elf? Abraxas, you want a second house-elf?" another man on the same podium mocked.

"I no longer have my old elf; he died for reasons I'd rather not discuss," Abraxas had to say, after all, without an elf since he had killed his former one in anger over just one piece of news about the attack in Hogsmeade.

"Be that as it may... good luck then..." said the other man.

"12,000 Galleons of gold!" a wizard at another podium exclaimed.

"15,000 Galleons of gold!" Abraxas said again, determined to buy it.

"18,000," another person spoke.

"18,000 Galleons for an elf? That's madness, Abraxas!" his colleague couldn't believe it.

"We have 18,000 Galleons!!! Will anyone beat this number?!" The auctioneer seemed more excited than usual, with the elf being overpriced.

"20,000 Galleons of gold," it seemed someone was determined to get the elf.

"22,000!!" Abraxas stubbornly announced, frustrated at having to spend so much money.

His friends looked at him with faces wondering if Abraxas really was going to spend all that... but Abraxas had no choice, he urgently needed a male elf.

"22,000, anyone else?" the auctioneer asked. As everyone seemed quiet at that moment, he began to prepare to bang the gavel.

"Going once, going twice, and three!" Just as he was about to strike the wooden gavel to finalize the item, Snape raised his hand.

"30,000 Galleons of gold," he announced, making the auctioneer, who was about to close the deal, flash a big smile.

"30,000, will anyone beat this value?!" he asked, quite surprised since this wasn't even the most estimated item in the auction, so he was excited that this house-elf had become overpriced.

Looking around, he saw that no one else was bidding, and Abraxas was extremely frustrated with this.

"Abraxas, it seems there's someone crazier than you," his friends mocked as Abraxas himself couldn't do anything, after all, he didn't want to spend so much of his family's money, even though he still had it.

"No one else? Then let's sell to the mysterious gentleman, going once, going twice, going three, sold!" The auctioneer exclaimed, delighted with Snape acquiring his second item.

"You've spent over 42,000 Galleons of gold. Do you belong to one of the great families of England??" the woman asked, her interest increasing even more, while Snape continued to ignore her.

"Well, it looks like we've come to our last items now. Let's start with one of the weakest, it's a mysterious painting found in a remote place in England, appearing mysteriously..." the auctioneer said.

A small painting appeared on the stage as soon as the house-elf was removed, but it wasn't given much importance just as the public didn't find it very impressive, but that couldn't be said for two people at that moment.

The first was Snape who, as soon as the painting appeared, his system immediately alerted him with a message.

[Attention, System Message: Valuable item detected!! – Dungeon key detected, Item: The Dungeon Key of the Death God, required level 45!" The system exclaimed.

'A dungeon key in a painting?!' Snape thought, he hadn't received any key since he won that one on vacation, even though his level was now over 30. 'I need to get this...!' He thought determinedly.

But it wasn't just him who was surprised. The woman next to him stopped looking at him with interest while her eyes widened, feeling the force within him, like a black abyss, something she had never seen before, excited to see something like this in an apparently ordinary painting.

The painting had a somber look, but it was just the image of an old door, with nothing interesting about it, so the item was sold as one of the cheapest in this auction.

"This painting may not be much, but for collectors who like dark decor, it's perfect!" the auctioneer began. "Therefore, we'll start the bidding at 500 Galleons of gold!" he said, as most seemed not to care much about the painting. Since no one was interested and the auctioneer thought the painting would not sell and would be discarded, someone surprised him.

Snape raised his hand. "5,000 Galleons of gold," he exclaimed, leaving everyone surprised by the importance this stranger was placing on this painting. It was no surprise as only Snape could see the value in this frame.

"5,000 going once, anyone else?" he said. As no one else seemed to want it while they looked at Snape as if he were a fool, the auctioneer continued. "Going once, going twice, and...!" Just as he was about to bang the gavel and finalize the purchase, a female hand rose next to Snape as the young lady made her first bid.

"10,000 Galleons of gold." She announced.

"10,000?! That's a surprise, 10,000 bid for the young lady!!" the auctioneer shouted. After all, no one knew what was in that frame to be worth so much as to attract the young lady's attention.

"20,000 Galleons of gold!" Snape exclaimed again, causing the stunned onlookers to wonder why they were making so many bids for something so pointless.

"30,000 Galleons of gold!" The mysterious woman once again surprised everyone, as she looked at Snape. "Apparently, you have good eyes... let's see if you can keep up..." She said in a playful tone.

"50,000 Galleons of gold!" Snape did not respond to her and placed his bid, as he needed this key.

"50?! 50,000 Galleons of gold...?" The auctioneer couldn't believe what he just heard as he stuttered, he was happy that the item was being overpriced, but had not imagined it would become the most expensive item of the auction when the initial value was the lowest of all.

"Will the young lady beat this number?" the auctioneer asked a bit dazed still.

If everyone was already surprised with 50,000, looking at Snape as if he were mad, now people were nearly fainting. Because just as the man on stage asked, the young lady raised her hand once again.

"You underestimate me..." She commented to the auctioneer while he sweated thinking he might have offended the young lady.

She didn't care about that as she turned her gaze back to Snape. "100,000 Galleons of gold!" she exclaimed as the place immediately fell silent.

"100-100-100 thousand?!" The auctioneer stuttered, stunned.

"It's a very valuable item, I'm sure my father will love it when I give it to him as a gift," she commented with an excited smile.

Snape was silent this time; after all, he didn't have the money to beat that bid when he had already spent more than 42,000 Galleons of gold.

"It seems I've won..." The woman with red eyes commented, looking with some amusement at Snape who just sighed and shrugged.

"Going once, going twice, and... Sold!!" The man banged the gavel, unable to believe he had just made a fortune with a found painting.

"This will be a suitable item for my father, I hope you won't be mad at me, mysterious man, after all, I still want to get to know you..." she commented in a seductive tone, while Snape completely ignored her.

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