Inside the alchemical workshop of the underground Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, the scent of blood and stardust interwoven in the air. Professor Snape's black robes swept across the silver liquid pooling on the floor—the melted memory residue of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, every drop reflecting the cold light of millennia of wisdom.
"Why this obsession with alchemy?" Snape's gaze followed the ancient runes surfacing on the surface of the liquid silver. Salazar stood at the center of the alchemical matrix, the tip of his wand dragging dark gold Runes through the sulfur-scented air, radiating a heat akin to dragon's breath, their forms rooted in the era of the Norse gods.
"The Law of Equivalent Exchange." Salazar's voice carried the damp chill unique to the depths of the earth, the sparks suddenly bursting from his wand tip making the Runes glare ever more harshly. "That was the first lesson she taught me. Whether it is charms or alchemy, all magical energy obeys the balance of the scale's two sides."
Chapter 236