“Headmaster, are you searching for the vaults?”

Dumbledore looked at him and stroked his beard. After a while of silence, he replied calmly, “Yes, indeed Mr. Balor. I intend to seal them for good.”

“Ah, but there were only three vaults that had their locations documented. And yet there are five of them. Headmaster, have you even entered the vaults?”

“I have not.”

“Then with R still on the loose, isn’t the school under threat?” Sol massaged his glabella. He couldn’t see even a glimpse of what the Headmaster’s plan was.

“Mr. Balor, even without R, the school is at risk. You should understand this.”

“Ugh…” Sol knew that Dumbledore was right. First was Voldemort and now, this ‘R’. If what the Headmaster said was true, then it was really not as bad as it seemed. As opposed to Voldemort who sought domination over wizard-kind, the immortality pursuing R was not as pressing.

Sol went to take another sip of his tea but found it empty. Irritated, he put the teacup back on the desk with a bit more force. He huffed and asked, “Headmaster, when are you going to seal them?”

“Where can I find the time, Mr. Balor?” Dumbledore lamented. Immediately after, he glanced at Sol with an implying look, “If only there was someone to seal them for me…”

Seriously? Is he genuinely implying that I seal those accursed vaults by myself? Was he someone to throw their students in harm’s way?

Despite his thoughts, Sol sighed, “Headmaster, even if I wanted to help you out, I don’t know a way to seal them.”

“Ah, not to worry, Mr. Balor,” Dumbledore stood up and left the desk. For a second, Sol thought he could see faint arcs of red electricity around the Headmaster’s head. Sol simply sighed at the obvious implications.

Dumbledore went into his office and came back with a cloth pouch. He placed the bag on his desk as the contents inside made a clacking sound.

“This is…?” Sol gestured at the bag.

“Open the bag and you will see.”

Sol shuffled the bag closer and undid the string on the pouch. The mouth of the pouch loosened, revealing the many gemstones inside. Sol gaped and then gaped again. The first time because of his realization that he’d become a millionaire if he sold one of them. The second time because he realized that he actually coveted mere gemstones.

The multicolored gems shone brightly as the light fell on them, dyeing the inside of the pouch in a myriad of colors. Sapphires, emeralds, topaz, opals, amethysts, and even diamonds were present. However, other than the colors, what intrigued him the most were the symbols etched on each of them. These symbols gave off a golden sparkle creating a beautiful contrast with the gems.

“…are these runes?” he understood the nature of the symbols but not their meaning. Inwardly clicking his tongue, he resolved to increase his studies on Ancient Runes.

“Astute observation, Mr. Balor. These are indeed runes; a rune used for sealing has been etched into all of them.”

“And these gemstones? Aren’t these supposed to be hard to find?”

“No, Mr. Balor. Such gemstones are very easily found and are actually sold for less than you think at Diagon Alley.”

Sol gulped and looked at the gemstones greedily. And that is when Dumbledore decided to add something more, “However, these are prohibited from being sold to muggles. With the importance muggles place on these, selling gemstones in bulk would most certainly crash the market and raise suspicion. Neither of which we want.”

Sol’s eyes dimmed as he coughed to compose himself, “Ahem! What do I do with these gemstones then?”

“It’s a simple matter of opening the vault, placing four of these inside the vault and on the four corners of the entrance. The rune was too big for it to be on one single gemstone. So, I opted to split the rune into four gemstones. Please match them correctly.”

“I…” Sol hesitated. Honestly, he did not want to do something so troublesome. But the Headmaster did help out with Sirius’ matter. No matter what, it was still a favor; one which he ought to return. “Fine, I’ll do as you ask.”

“Then I thank you for your efforts,” Dumbledore calmly smiled. He then picked the teapot and gestured, “More tea?”

Sol raised a hand to deny, “I’ll decline. Rather, I’d like to ask about the other two vaults. What- no, how do you plan to find them?”

“It would be likely that the locations of the vaults would be provided in the vaults themselves.”

“Is that how these three vaults were found?”

“No, those were just happenstance.”

Sol opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He pursed his lips as his mouth twitched. Finally, a sigh was let loose from his thin lips.

He tried to console himself, “Right, this school has been here for centuries, someone was bound to find them even on accident.”

Dumbledore leaned forward and looked at him with a serious gaze. His aura reached Sol, making him disregard any and all thoughts as he focused on the Headmaster’s words. In the quiet office, Dumbledore spoke, “Mr. Balor, it is advised that you take heavy precaution before entering any of the vaults. The vaults are cursed, protecting whatever lies inside. The creator of these vaults has made sure that whatever it is well protected; loss of life is an afterthought compared to what would happen if the curses inside were to spread through the school.

A tragedy has already happened once. I implore you to not let it happen a second time.”

“…I’ll try my best.”

Sol walked into the common room with parchment in hand. With a head full of worries, he silently walked past the other students. Classes had already ended a while ago, so, they were just lounging around.

He found a secluded and empty corner of the common room. He sat on a sofa and reviewed the information written on the parchment.

“Vault of Ice. Located at the end of the Vanished Stairs behind an illusory wall. The door to the vault is made of Cursed Ice, attacking anyone using any type of fire spell. An Ice Knight protects the vault.”

Huh? Can the castle itself be edited? When did these ‘Vanished Stairs’ become a thing? Sol felt a feeling of oppression. This was the first time he encountered a power such as this. This feeling of fighting against something he can’t truly win against is unpleasant.

He mumbled, “I could just try to brute force my way through. With these circumstances, brute-forcing might just be the better, more subtle choice.” With the Vault of Ice being inside the castle, it would be better if he didn’t cause too much ruckus. Since the Headmaster entrusted him with this task, he might as well go all the way through.

He continued reading. “Second Vault. Located behind the first bookshelf at the back of the restricted section in the library. Conditions to open the vaults are unknown.”

“Damn, this lack of info is what’s really going to kill me.” He felt indignant. If you really were to hand someone a dangerous task, at least give them the necessary information. At this point, he might as well be going blind!

“I don’t even know what to defend against. Ugh…whatever.” Scratching his head in irritation, he moved onto the final recorded vault.

“Forest Vault. Located in a grove northwestward in the Forbidden Forest. Conditions to open door unclear.”

“No info yet again. Actually, what did I expect?” he sighed. I should make some more preparations for these two dungeons. The lack of information is really crippling.

Sol took out his wand and burned the parchment. The sudden flash of fire attracted everyone there.

“Bloody hell, what did you do!?” Fred yelled out to him.

“Nothing just burned some useless parchment.”

“Then throw it in the bin like a normal person.”

Sol shrugged, “We have magic. Might as well use it.”

His response left everyone speechless. As the others were mulling over how to retort, Harry and his friends stepped inside the common room. Their expressions didn’t look too good.

Harry and Ron entered the boy’s quarter while Hermione went into the girl’s quarter.

“Huh? Is the Hippogriff really getting executed?” Cormac scratched his chin only to get glared at by everyone in the room.

“You think so, wally!” Alicia Spinnet smacked him on the head.

“Wha-?” he looked at her with an aggrieved look.

George remarked, “I sometimes feel like you ask for a beating, Cormac.”

“That was pretty thoughtless of you,” Fred agreed.

“I just said the obvious!” Cormac defended himself.

“Sometimes the obvious doesn’t need to be said.”

As Sol looked over the joyous and lively atmosphere in the room, he smiled warmly. Amidst the chattering of his friends, a single thought lingered in his mind.

…fuck, I’m going on a suicide mission, aren’t I?