The Greedy Frog
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HP: The Salazar's Heir Chapter 28
🕑 Added 2024-01-22 19:29:43 +0000 UTCChapter 28: An Offer and a Plan
After spending a long time explaining his reasoning to leave for the treasury, Dumbledore seemingly agreed.
Usually, the students were not allowed to leave campus during the semester. Only on days when they had a holiday were they given permission to leave.
But Sebastian was a special case.
Additionally, it wasn't that his treasures were inside Gringotts, where he could ask the goblins to deliver him Galleons when he required them.
His money was kept in an entirely separate place, which, in his opinion, was the best option but also a little annoying.
“And so I have heard that you are going out today?”
It was necessary that the professors were informed when a student left campus, especially on school days.
And Snape was one of the professors with a lot of authority which meant that he was informed about things prior to most others.
“There is something that I need to get from my treasury.” Sebastian said, “It can be troublesome at times that I do not have my money in Gringotts.”
“But that is for the best, isn’t it?” Snape asked with a look that Sebastian found hard to read.
“Possibly, and considering I don't have any plans to transfer my money… I would say so.” Sebastian didn’t hide his distrust for most of the present governing bodies.
Whether it was the ministry or the Gringotts, it didn't matter.
“Do remember that going against the authorities often proves to be a mistake, Sebastian.” Snape warned, “So, whatever you do… Do after thinking it through.”
This was something that even Sebastian agreed with. “I will keep that in mind, sir.”
“However, that is not the reason you are here today, is it?” Snape asked, and Sebastian shook his head.
"I might have to meet a certain pure-blood family head on Saturday," he said. "This might cause me to miss our appointment, so I wanted to know if the reason you called me on Saturday was something that could be done now."
Sebastian was genuinely curious about why Snape decided to call him, and he simply didn't want to break a promise.
"It is not something you can do now," the professor explained. "It is only on Saturdays that I go through those processes." This confused the boy and piqued his curiosity.
"What process, sir?" Sebastian inquired.
Snape looked at him directly. "Potion making and research."
Sebastian paused, amused at the implications. "Do you mean..."
Snape nodded. "I want you to help me with my potion tests," he explained, surprising the boy. "Of course, this will involve potions outside of your curriculum and research on potions that can be feasible in the future."
Sebastian was amazed at how the professor was asking him—a first-year student—to help with his research.
"And do not worry," Snape assured, "I am not trying to get your potion recipes. I am certain that you have countless potions that you know of, and to you, the present potions might seem futile."
Sebastian didn't say anything.
The professor wasn’t wrong after all.
"But these potions have still managed to save countless witches and wizards, so you also have to respect the people that made these recipes, even when the ancient recipes were lost," the professor said. "Maybe not on par with some of the wizards of your time, but you cannot discredit what these wizards have created, especially when they had no manuals to work with."
Again, Sebastian could not refute.
“You might make a discovery yourself,” Snape said. “Combining the past and present techniques, you might create a miracle yourself.”
That wasn’t easy but not impossible.
“So… you want me to work with you, sir?” Sebastian asked, finally thinking about the proposal.
“I do,” Snape said. “It is a waste to have your skills but not going into production.”
He then proceeded to look at the heir with curious eyes. “But the question is, will you agree to this request?”
Sebastian would have rejected.
Would have.
“I would love to help you as well as help myself to learn something new, sir.”
But he didn’t.
Why?
Because he wanted to see what the professor had to offer as well.
…
…
[Near the Smoo Caves, Scotland]
"Yer gonna be alright without me, won't ya?"
"Don't worry, Hagrid," Sebastian walked towards the cave. "I have managed so far, so I will be fine."
It took quite a bit of assurance, but Sebastian managed to get permission from both Dumbledore and Hagrid.
Dumbledore allowed him to go out of campus, and Hagrid allowed him to go without sticking around.
He did come once when he had to assure the Ministry that his Basilisk was not going to cause any issues.
"Grandus Aparecium Supremus!"
Using the ancient charm that gave birth to the modern Aparecium charm, Sebastian revealed half of the things he kept hidden inside the treasury.
"Of course, they weren't allowed inside the main area or the graves, but even then there were a few things that I couldn't have afforded to show them."
As the charm revealed the hidden array of magical herbs, books, and equipment, Sebastian started to pack a few things.
"These might be useful."
He knew the herbs pretty well. Herbology was not his favorite, but he had to learn it.
"Are these even found in this era?" He looked at the magically preserved herbs. "Alkanet, a herb used for anti-poison potions, Lunort for increment and boosting of memory, and Ironsplit to make night vision potions."
But there were also herbs that did exist everywhere.
"Shrivelfig, Gillyweed, Mandrake..." He wondered if he should take those. "These should be available in the school storage."
So, he decided to leave those.
"Let's also pick up some ancient history books and stories." He found himself smirking a little. "Is it a bribe if I give these to the professors?"
The answer was yes, as he did want something in return for it.
"Not like I will ever use these for anything."
Of course, he could sell them for a major profit, but he was not at a shortage of money.
"You can never have too much money, but selling it purely for some Galleons isn't worth it."
And it wasn't.
At least, he could get the books back in case he gives them to the professors to study.
"I will have to sort everything in here one day." He looked around and saw quite a lot of stuff that wasn't really useful.
But there were also a lot of things that were quite interesting.
"That's King Arthur’s breastplate." He stared at the golden piece of armor. "If I took this out, people would become crazy."
He knew that it was most certainly enchanted by Merlin. He was aware of how many battles Arthur should have died in, but it was the enchantments made by Merlin that kept the warrior king alive.
Sebastian promised himself that he was going to look into the magic of Merlin. It was even rarer than Salazar’s, but he should be able to find something in the future.
At least, with active exploration.
"But for now, let’s check on the other important thing."
He packed the things he needed in the only spatial magic that he knew.
"I am so lucky he taught me this."
It was, in a way, an inventory that allowed for the storage of non-living things.
Herbs and small plants were an exception, as external magic could be used to preserve them. However, animals and other creatures were impossible to be put inside it.
Neither could anyone feel or see the magic. It was only the user who could pull out the things that were stored.
"Hiss~"
The low-pitched sound made Sebastian look around.
"There you are, Atlas."
The basilisk slithered towards the heir, greeting the boy.
"How are you?"
The snake beast lowered itself, as if asking to be petted.
And Sebastian, with a laugh, did just that.
"There there, thank you for going through all the trouble of keeping this place safe."
Sebastian knew that it had to survive on the rats and moles that appeared once in a while. So, to show respect and care for the snake that spent all this time protecting his treasury, he made sure to feed it expensive meat.
"And don’t worry, you will be out of here soon."
This was the major reason for which he was here.
"I have to take out quite a lot of money from here today, but this money will help you just as much as it would help me."
The snake looked at him curiously.
"Do you remember that mansion that you were born in?" He asked in Parseltongue, but the snake shook his head. "Of course, you don’t. It has been a thousand years."
"Unfortunately, I cannot take you there," Sebastian sounded disheartened. "That mansion collapsed centuries ago, and everyone looted whatever they could find in those remains."
It made him furious, but there was nothing that he could do about it.
"I cannot do anything about what is lost, but I can do something so that we have something similar."
Seeing the curious look of the snake, Sebastian gave a comforting look.
"We are going to rebuild the Slytherin Mansion, Atlas," he promised. "We are going to rebuild it soon."
And for that, he needed money, which was why he was here.
"And it is time that I get back our Slytherin land."
Land that was currently occupied by the Sacred Twenty Eight.
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[[A/N: The herbs that were earlier mentioned are from the DnD books.
As for the ones that are probably thinking the plot is moving a little slow, don’t worry a major event is coming up.]]
