The Last Horcrux/Lestrange Manor/Cellar
Searching through Emily’s memories, you find that the cellar in Lestrange Manor has always been locked, and furthermore that Nanny had never wanted you to venture down there. Feeling in a rebellious mood, and with no desire to follow anyone else’s rules ever again, you decide to explore there next.
A simple but solid oak and wrought-iron door underneath the main staircase leads to the cellar. You are almost disappointed when a basic Alohamora charm opens the lock with an audible click. You would have thought that whatever secrets the Lestrange cellar guards would have been better protected than that.
The stairs descending down to the cellar are in total darkness, so you use your wand to illuminate your path.
“Lumos,’ you incant, lighting the way before you with a steady white glow.
You descend the stairs and see that the cellar is clean, with no traces of dust, cobwebs or the like. It seems to have crates and cases of wines, spirits and other non-perishable goods. You examine one and see that its vintage is considerably older than you are.
A wine cellar, you think to yourself, feeling let down. Surely this can’t be the secret of Lestrange Manor?
“Mistressssss…” Hastur, your snake familiar hisses. Most people would not be able to understand him, but for you, a Parseltongue, his speech is instantly recogniseable.
“Snakes Mistress…. I can smell snakes…”
‘Snakes?” you ask your familiar, “Where? I can’t see any snakes?”
“Not here mistressss… in the chamber beyond.”
Another of Emily’s memories surfaces in your mind. You remember that Hastur, although he is a normal and relatively non-magical snake, is several years older than you. He might have been down here before! A memory of a younger Emily, asking Hastur to tell her about her mother enters your consciousness. Hastur could do little more than describe her. Like most animals, he tends to only appreciate the present moment.
“Hastur, where is the chamber beyond?” you ask the snake, gently lowering him to the floor and letting him roam free. Hastur slithers toward an archway. There is nothing special about the archway at all, it is simply a plain stone wall, but if there was to be a door to another room in the cellar, this is plainly where it would be.
“Alohamora,” you incant, but nothing happens.
“Open,” you say, in Parseltongue, and then in English, and then in French. You can’t remember the word in Italian, but you don’t suppose that would do anything either.
About to give up, you touch the wall with your palm, and immediately the stones flow apart, as if they were a liquid.
“Lessstrange…” a magical voice says in Parseltongue, as if welcoming you to your inheritance.
“Lumos maxima,” you incant, strengthening your light as much as you can, to illuminate the hidden chamber. You sense that no one has entered here for many years now.
The chamber beyond surprises you. Far from being a cold stone basement, it is lavishly furnished. A soft luxurious carpet, oak panelled walls, paintings and sculptures; it is simply opulent. Various chaise lounges and padded sofas line the walls, whilst at the far end, the furnishings return to stone archways and a mosaic on the floor.
The paintings are incredible. Oil paintings depicting your mother, beautiful, and manipulating magical energies of colours you have never even imagined. Sofia was a tall, raven haired woman, with dazzling eyes and a beauty that was said to enchant men and woman alike. In most of the paintings she is dressed in elegant black clothing befitting a powerful sorceress, and in at least one painting she is wearing the shadow cloak that you now count as your own. In some of the paintings though, she is barely dressed, or entirely naked, her body daubed with red magical runes in what surely must be blood, clearly leading a magical ritual of unknown arcane power. Her exquisite beauty is matched only by her confidence in her ability. You feel pride, but also a terrible sadness that you never had the chance to know this incredible woman.
Entranced by the paintings, you almost lose track of time gazing at them. There are also statues, of a female daemon of some kind, also naked, with wings and horns on her head, sculpted of marble by a master of his trade. In other paintings there are women engaged in an orgy of sexual relations with one another, and in another painting, you see your father and you uncle Randolphus, both naked and having sex with three women, all of whom are beautiful, but none of whom are your mother. One of the women is your aunt Bella, perhaps ten years younger than she is now, gasping as your father buries his cock deep into her pussy from behind, her faces inches away from another woman’s sex. You gasp as the painting moves, capturing the moment that Bellatrix experiences a powerful orgasm in an eternal loop, her eyes wild with desire and her skin slick with sweat and pleasure.
The mosaic appears ancient, possibly Roman. It shows wizards and witches using magic and having sex with one another, as well as all manner of magical creatures, including several that you have never seen before. There are also daemons, trapped in summoning circles and pentagrams, drained of magical energy to feed the orgy of magic the humans are engaged in.
At the far end of this half of the room is what looks like a font of some kind. Perhaps it has magical water inside it? You walk closer to investigate, and realise that it is a Pensieve, a means to store memories magically, and within the swirling water, like liquid smoke, are the silvery wisps of hundreds and hundreds of memories.
What do you do next?
- Investigate the Pensieve
- Search the Ceremony Room
- Retire to bed its been a long day and you are exhausted from so little sleep the night before
Inside Extended Luggage Suite
Books: Life Magick of the Celts and ancient Britons, Wiccan Blood Rituals, A Primer of Magickes of Imperial China, The Fragmented Soul, Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts, Love Potions, Sexus, Serpentes et Magicae Voluptatis
Magic Items Sofia Lestrange’s Pensieve, Enchanted Tarot, Self-Writing Quill
Other Items