Chapter 315 — Cave
"Watch out!"
Malfoy lowered his hand, pressing his wand tightly against his trouser leg. His eyes remained fixed on the dark cave as he warned Fleur.
Fleur immediately snapped out of her daze and stared intently at the cave entrance, gripping her wand tightly as though she were facing a formidable enemy.
She had just solemnly promised that she would not hold Malfoy back. Now was her chance to prove herself.
Shortly after Malfoy finished speaking, swarms of black bats began pouring out of the seemingly bottomless cave. Most were still engulfed in flames that had yet to die out. They scattered like headless flies, blazing fireballs darting through the air and radiating scorching heat and dazzling light.
A burnt smell drifted toward them with the hazy smoke and ash. Fleur immediately held her breath, raised her wand, and conjured whirlwinds to sweep away the irritating smoke.
"Disgusting."
Fleur frowned instinctively before quickly waving her wand. Dense, sturdy nets materialized in the air, trapping the remaining bats that had escaped the flames and pinning them to the ground, where they could only flap their wings and struggle helplessly.
Malfoy casually waved his wand again.
Flames shot forward.
Several sparks landed among the black bats. As though they had found fuel, the flames spread with a roar. The bats were instantly engulfed, turning into blazing fireballs before being reduced to ashes.
"Don't forget to watch your step, too."
Malfoy reminded Fleur again.
Fleur was startled when she noticed a large number of intertwined snakes emerging from the ground ahead. Their disgusting, slippery bodies writhed as they crawled toward them from beneath the earth.
If a girl's dislike of bats—creatures that lived in darkness—could be attributed to aesthetics, then her fear of snakes was something entirely different.
It was an instinctive fear, buried deep within her blood and genes.
Even men would often feel uneasy upon seeing these eerie reptiles, their fangs concealed behind their jaws and their venomous barbs ready to strike.
Fleur screamed.
She stumbled backward several steps and pressed herself against a sturdy tree behind her. All her composure vanished. Even her wand nearly slipped from her trembling hand, her long fingers shaking uncontrollably.
There were simply too many of them.
If there had only been one or two, she might have been able to overcome her fear.
But fear could seriously affect a Wizard's performance.
Malfoy, however, had already anticipated this.
What they were facing now were the ruins left behind by Salazar Slytherin. In a place like this, the absence of snakes would actually have been strange.
After all, the symbol of Slytherin was a snake.
The Slytherin crest bore an emerald-green background with a silver snake coiled across it, its fangs bared.
Just as Fleur was becoming so frightened that she nearly lost control of herself, a low murmur escaped Malfoy's lips.
The writhing snakes suddenly stopped.
One particularly large snake raised its head. Its narrow eyes met Malfoy's gray ones as its long tongue repeatedly flicked in and out.
"Hiss…"
It was a language-like series of hisses.
Malfoy was communicating with it.
Parseltongue was a rare ability, but besides possessing the natural talent, it could also be learned through practice. After all, it was ultimately a means of communication. Anyone capable of producing the necessary sounds could make progress with sufficient practice.
To put it somewhat exaggeratedly, even an ordinary Muggle could potentially learn it if someone were willing to teach them.
Malfoy had not originally possessed this talent. He had acquired the ability later in life.
The large snake turned its head and hissed several more times.
After hearing it, the other snakes immediately scattered, fleeing in every direction in search of a new habitat.
Fleur watched in stunned silence as the dense mass of snakes rapidly disappeared into the surrounding vegetation.
She remained leaning against the tree for another minute or two before finally recovering.
"That was amazing. How did you do that?"
Fleur rubbed her slightly weak legs and slowly stood up before approaching Malfoy curiously, apparently having already forgotten how terrified she had been moments earlier.
"It's just a skill for communicating with animals."
Malfoy had no intention of telling her the truth and smoothly changed the subject.
"I think we can go in now. Since there are bats and snakes living inside, even if the air is poisonous, the concentration should still be within a tolerable range. We can enter."
The Fiendfyre he had used earlier had merely been a test.
Whether Wizard or Muggle, blindly entering an unfamiliar cave was hardly wise.
"Lumos!"
A faint light suddenly appeared at the tip of Malfoy's wand.
Seeing this, Fleur quickly illuminated her own wand as well.
The two bent down to avoid the sharp rocks hanging from the ceiling and entered the cave together. Once inside, they quickly straightened up.
The depth of the cave was difficult to determine.
They proceeded cautiously, one in front of the other, feeling their way through the darkness. A faint earthy smell mixed with a fishy odor lingered in the air, along with a trace of residual heat, perhaps left behind by the fire spell Malfoy had cast earlier.
The ground beneath their feet was hard and somewhat rough.
Unexpectedly, they reached their destination after only a short distance.
A luxurious miniature underground palace appeared before them.
The most striking feature was located at its center.
A deep-red coffin rested amid piles of black soil. Beneath it lay a large, exquisitely crafted piece of black jade that reflected a cold, clear glow in the candlelight.
A deep trench had been dug around the coffin, apparently designed to prevent outsiders from approaching.
Four deep-purple candles stood at the four corners of the coffin, casting a dim, eerie light. Several ferocious silver snakes had been carved into their surfaces.
Whether it was merely an illusion or not, the snakes' eyes seemed to flicker several times as they looked toward the two intruders.
The coffin itself was covered in mysterious and intricate magical runes.
Suddenly, beams of light resembling fireworks rose from the coffin lid and the four candles.
"Do not attempt to explore that which you cannot control."
"For example…"
"An unfathomable destiny."
"Life and death are ultimately finite."
"The human heart is unfathomable."
"Salazar Slytherin has been dead for so long, yet the candles here still burn as brightly as ever."
Malfoy stared at the candlelight, lost in thought.
Fleur shivered.
An inexplicable sense of unease and coldness had filled her.
She felt her head beginning to spin. Her consciousness gradually became blurred, while a strange, throbbing headache spread through her mind.
But remembering her earlier promise that she would never hold Malfoy back, Fleur decided to keep it to herself.
This is only a ruin.
It's filled with nothing but inanimate objects.
There can't be any danger here.
At least, that was what she believed.