Chapter 42 Secret
The two-story villa was as exquisite as she remembered, but the lush weeds in the front yard revealed that the owner had not returned yet. The mailbox in front of her was covered with a thick layer of dust. Della stood in front of the mailbox with her handbag in hand, her slightly raised eyes wandering between the front yard and the mailbox, thinking about what to do next.
If Aunt Mason and the others don't come this summer, I'll have to go to Spinner's End to find Professor Snape, which probably won't be a pleasant experience.
Maybe she could go to Gringotts first to see how much money she had in her own treasury. Della didn't know how much money the Malfoys had compensated her, but it should be enough for her to live outside.
If it really doesn't work, you can also use your eyes, which should be very convenient in the Muggle world. However, Della doesn't want to experience the cold feeling radiating from the soul again. After all, she has finally become more and more like a human being.
Wait, a tiny flash of inspiration came to her mind, and Della felt as if she had overlooked something. When she wanted to grasp that flash of inspiration, a scolding interrupted her thoughts.
"Whose child are you? What are you doing in front of our house?!"
Della turned around when she heard that and saw Aunt Mason's slightly short and plump figure. She was dragging a large suitcase, with brother Lele and sister Nosey following on her left and right. However, before Della could even put a smile on her face, sharp sarcasm came out of the mouths of the two children.
"It must be a kid who ran away from the orphanage."
"I told you it's all sour here. If it weren't for the heat, I wouldn't want to come here."
Their disgusted and mocking eyes were fixed on Della's face. Della panicked a little. It was impossible for her to not see her face clearly at this distance. She would not have changed so much in a year. Besides, they should not be such people.
Maggie jumped out from the collar at some point, his cold snake eyes staring at the three people who seemed to be about to start fighting. Their movements paused visibly, and their disgusted expressions turned amiable in an instant.
"It's Della. I didn't realize it was you just now. I'm sorry, dear child. I've had a bad experience recently. I'm really sorry for taking my anger out on you."
"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry. Let's play with dolls together later."
"Is there anyone bullying you now? Brother Le Lei will help you get back at him."
They expressed their concern as if they were blind to the little snake around Della's neck, as if the previous harsh words were just a misunderstanding. If it weren't for the previous episode, this would almost be a touching reunion in Della's eyes.
It's a pity that what we have done cannot be easily evaded.
Della glanced down very quickly, and swept her eyes to Maggie who was about to leave. She raised a stiff smile and greeted the family, and smoothly entered the house with them, and entered the small room where she had lived for a short time.
After locking the door, the extremely hypocritical smile on Della's face disappeared.
"Ha-Shahi (I need an explanation, I think)."
After a brief silence, Maggie slid down her arm, and the cold and slippery feeling did not stop until her wrist. Della understood and raised her arm, lifting Maggie, with the snake head against the back of her hand, to the same height as herself.
"Hai-shisha-shia (I just thought you weren't in a good condition at the time, so I found such a family)."
"Hai-hi (You know that's not what I want to ask)."
If the gift of Parseltongue could be explained by Voldemort, then where did her unusual eyes come from?
Maggie fell silent again, his usually inorganic dark yellow eyes flickering constantly. His raised snake head drooped slightly, as if he was sighing, and his usually flat hissing sound became much lower.
"Hai-sha (It's still too early for you)."
"Hayes--haye (I respect a lot of your secrets, Maggie, but on this one, I think I'll have to stick with you)."
"Hae---Xi (Okay, okay, good girl, I'll show you something tonight)."
Maggie's compromise faded the stiffness on Della's face. She raised her hands closer to herself, and rubbed Maggie's gentle body with her delicate cheeks. "Ha-Shahi (I hope you understand that nothing can stir up trouble between us)."
After all, during that time, I did develop some disgust towards meaningless living.
As night fell and the waning moon rose, hundreds of snakes swarmed into the two-story building. They crawled on the floor, hung on the railings, and entangled the humans who had played the role of a good family for the day. The sound of clanging footsteps was heard, and countless snake heads turned with Della's movements. They were afraid of Maggie on her shoulder, but moved towards her due to orders, keeping a distance between them, forming an empty space like a queen's red carpet.
Della followed Maggie's instructions and walked forward, silently looking at the room full of densely packed snakes, watching them scatter in the front yard and then reappear in the wilderness. She walked through the desolate streets, passed through the orphanage where she grew up, and headed towards the barren hills far away from the fields.
It was a chilly summer night. The closer she got to the barren hills, the unnaturally colder it became. Della's body was already covered with small bumps. If it weren't for the rule that underage wizards were not allowed to cast magic in the Muggle world, Della would have definitely cast a warming spell.
Della stopped at an inconspicuous earthen slope. The summer breeze blew up her black hair. The moonlight added a cold light to her eyes, just like the countless snakes behind her. The group of snakes that had been surrounding her suddenly pounced towards the one-meter-high earthen slope, and they continued to cover the land with their splendor.
When the last bit of earth color was filled, a slight buzzing sound came from under Della's feet, and an entrance appeared exactly ten centimeters in front of Della's toes.
The snakes were still twisting, but the irregular pattern had already taken shape. A pattern that Della had read in a book and seen in the mirror appeared on the flowing canvas made up of snake bodies, and even the color had faintly turned into the dark green that the pattern should have.
That is the family crest of Clingreton.
Della glanced at the particularly conspicuous eyes in the pattern, frowned and stepped into the entrance in front of her.
After the familiar suction, a spacious and messy stone chamber appeared in front of Della. The three sides of the stone chamber were carved into bookshelves, filled with all kinds of books.
In the center was a large obsidian table, shining with a delicate light different from the rough stone room. A brass scale was particularly eye-catching. In fact, among the pile of scattered books and instruments on the table, Della could only recognize that it was a scale.
In addition to the materials and equipment piled on the ground, several steel cables were hung from the ceiling of the stone chamber, with some instruments that had never been seen before hanging on them.
After taking a rough look at the layout of the stone chamber, Della turned around and looked at the smooth stone wall behind her. There was a pitch-black cave door embedded in the stone wall. That was probably the way back.
There was no light in the room but it was bright. Maggie on her shoulder did not give any warnings, nor did she have any intention of explaining. Della simply walked around in the stone room.
She touched the metal hanging above her head, stroked the rows of books with her fingers, squatted down and looked carefully at the unknown objects that seemed to be thrown on the ground at random, and finally lingered on the obsidian table.
This seemed to be an ongoing experiment. The balance was tilted, and there was a dish of red powder on the falling end. Other objects that looked like utensils also had uncleaned liquid and powder in them.
Della did not touch those things, but just looked at them quietly. Soon the pages of the book spread out on the table diverted her attention. She leaned over and lowered her head. Her black hair fell a little with her movement. She began to read the opened pages.
'The lakeside elves are born from the red spirit ore at the bottom of the lake. These ethereal and friendly creatures come from the red spirits and give back the moonlight at night to the red spirits. They each have their own personality and will form their own ecosystem after they are born.'
The words were crossed out in red ink, with a few words scribbled next to them that didn't form a sentence: 'soul', 'creation', 'completion'.
The other pages spread out on the table also contain some alchemical products related to the substance called Red Spirit. Most of them give personalities to some objects to meet some guarding conditions, such as guards who are cowardly enough to attack randomly, gallows that maliciously give riddles, and so on.
In between readings, Della kept looking up at the red powder ground on the scale. The last open book was spread on a small pile of books, with books such as "Alchemy of Everything" and "False Life" stacked underneath. A white booklet that was not too thick stood out among the heavy books.
Della pulled out the book. There was still no writing on the cover. She turned the two-centimeter book over again. The back was still blank. Della frowned slightly and opened the book.
'Reclaim this sin for my dear Della.
--Bronte Dorothy
"Hai-hasha-hi (He is your father, Della)."
The dark blue italic font lay quietly on the title page, and Maggie, who had been silent until then, hissed.