Nick gripped the handle and pulled but nothing happened so he instead tried to twist it left or right and that did something. "PIIIISSSSSHHHH!" The sound of pressurized air getting released came out and Nick retreated cautiously. "CLICK!" a loud click echoed through the room before a small hatch popped up out of the ground with the handle on it's top. Nick carefully pulled the hatch open and was surprised to see that it was a stairway leading deeper underground. Cautiously he started down the stairs while leaving the hatch open behind him.-

He squinted when a torch suddenly lit up at the bottom of the stairs revealing a small collection of books , artifacts and materials. Clearly this was a sort of vault that Slytherin had used to hoard away his valuables. "So I get a new visitor out of the blue , judging from the commotion above you are no descendant of mine." a rough old voice said and Nick froze. Turning to look at the source of the voice Nick was surprised to see a portrait with a very lifelike visage of Slytherin in it that was calmly examining him.-

"I wasn't expecting to find a living portrait of you here of all things." Nick admitted honestly. Salazar's portrait raised an eyebrow in surprise "Oh ho? Parseltongued it would seem , no wonder you could get into the chamber." the portrait said with a look of understanding. Nick hurriedly removed the parseltongue ring on his finger that he had forgotten about. He would have noticed sooner had it not been for the fact that as something magically bound to his bloodline Dotty had access to some of it's abilities which included his all speak. As a result the house elf thought he was speaking english when in fact it was parseltongue.-

"Sorry about that , I don't have very good control over that ability at the moment." Nick said awkwardly. "It's fine since it took me nearly a decade to fully master it myself. I envy you to have a tool to make the process easier." the portrait said with a sigh. "It should probably go without saying considering where you are but I am Salazar Slytherin , archmage and healer." the portrait then said proudly. "Nicholas Ravenclaw , student and crafter." Nick returned the introduction. "HA! Rowena would be rolling in her grave if she knew that a descendant of hers was a parseltongue!" the portrait laughed and spoke mockingly.-

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Nick didn't feel like correcting the man and explaining that he actually spoke all languages. "Still it's a bit troublesome for one of her descendants to reach this room when my own failed to find it fifty years ago. I couldn't by chance convince you to leave this place empty handed could I?" the portrait asked hopefully. "Hang on Voldemort failed to find this room fifty years ago?" Nick asked surprised to learn it. "Yeah , the brat took one look at the room above and decided that it was merely Herma's nest alone." the portrait said with a disappointed expression.-

Nick found it rather funny that Voldemort missed out on all this treasure just because the room above was a huge mess. "I suppose you plan to take everything in here huh?" the portrait asked calmly. "If it makes you feel better I can leave a copy of the books." Nick offered. "How's about a trade instead? One question for you to leave one thing of my choosing behind." the portrait counter offered. Nick shook his head "Why would I do that when your bloodline is all but extinct in the isle?" he asked seriously.-

The portrait frowned "What do you mean?" it asked not believing Nick at all. "There was originally three members with your bloodline alive seventy years ago but after the only daughter of the family Merope died in childbirth to a muggles child there was only three again. That child grew up and killed off the other descendants of yours becoming the only one. And soon enough he too will die without an heir thus ending your direct line." Nick explained calmly. The portrait looked distraught "Is there no way to save the last member of my bloodline until they can sire an heir?" it asked sternly.-

Nick shook his head "He does not even have a body at the moment and is merely a specter bound to the earth via horcruxes. Those are being systematically destroyed so he will soon be forcefully sent to the afterlife." he explained generously. Nick had no reason at all to lie to a mere portrait without any power to act on it's own. That said it didn't mean he was going to tell it that he was the one cutting away the last remnant of it's likenesses bloodline.