Harry Potter : Cael Vale’s journey to Hogwarts

After a long pause, Cael turned back to the boy in the painting.

"So… these runes you all were using," Cael began, gesturing around the room and at the relics on the table. "What are they exactly? Because in our time, they're completely lost."

He stepped closer to the desk. "The door key you made—it had 153 of these runes inscribed on it. At the Ministry of Magic, my mother worked for years trying to decipher them. She and her team only managed to understand twenty-three."

Myrddin's painted eyes watched him curiously.

Cael continued, "I stole it from the Ministry. Finished the rest of the deciphering at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw had books about it. And… my mother's family had one small, old book with a few references. But it's still a mystery. Why don't these runes exist anymore? Why aren't they compatible with modern magic? Even for us, these runes are ancient. From what I gathered, they came from a civilization nearly six thousand years older than your own era."

Myrddin's painted brows lifted slightly. "Then… nearly eight thousand years ago, if we count from your time."

Cael's breath caught. "Eight thousand…"

"Yes," Myrddin said with a nod. "We found fragments of their language carved into ancient stone. The civilization was long forgotten, even in our age. But we realized we could use those runes—they were a key to new kinds of magic, new types of artifact enchantments. Most of what you see in this room, these relics—they're all crafted using that ancient script. We adapted them for our own use."

Cael's mind reeled. A magical civilization predating any known wizarding history by thousands of years—forgotten completely.

"Then why don't we know anything about them now?" Cael asked quietly. "I found all this only after months of searching. It took the Ministry three hundred years just to decode twenty-three runes. And you say your entire magical system advanced thanks to them?"

Myrddin sighed, folding his hands together on the edge of the frame. "Yes, but those runes weren't easy to use. They required an enormous amount of magical power to activate. Even during our time, very few wizards and witches had the magical core strong enough to use them."

"So you simplified them," Cael guessed.

"Exactly. The council worked for centuries, trying to replicate and streamline the system. We copied and simplified what we could. What you call 'modern runes' are simply those copies. Cruder. Less potent. But they didn't require immense magical strength to activate—just moderate power and training."

He studied Cael for a moment. "That you managed to inscribe all 153 runes onto the door key… that's an achievement most full-grown wizards couldn't manage, not even in my time. I designed that key as a threshold—so only those capable enough would ever reach this place. That you did… means you may be ready for what comes next."

Cael blinked, overwhelmed. "But… these are just the simplified runes?"

Myrddin nodded. "Yes. Simpler to use—but not easier to learn. Even in your era, I suspect most wizards avoid them. That's not surprising. Simplicity in power source doesn't mean simplicity in design."

He leaned back slightly, expression serious. "When we first discovered these symbols, our best minds studied them day and night. That ancient civilization had a magical system far more advanced than anything we had seen. Their power—its structure—it was… alien. Complex. We never figured out where they went, or why they vanished. No ruins, no writings explaining their fate. Only scattered relics. Only runes."

Cael's voice dropped. "So… their language? Their actual written language—is that also lost?"

"Yes," Myrddin said. "And many of us tried to decipher it. I remember, up until my final years, our greatest wizard scholars were still working to crack it. We believed that if we could translate it, we might uncover the truth about their world—about their fall, their origin, perhaps even their magic itself."

Cael fell into a deep silence, eyes lowering in thought.

Then he spoke quietly. "System," he said aloud. "Do you have any information about this ancient civilization?"

There was a brief pause, and then the voice answered, sounding distant: "I do not currently possess such knowledge. However, I will search through this castle. I will report if I find anything."

Cael raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You can search now?"

The system didn't answer this time. It simply fell silent, off on its task.

Turning back toward the painting, Cael said, "So… can you tell me more about your Council? The one you mentioned before."

Myrddin's expression grew proud, and his tone shifted to one of remembrance.

"The Council of Wizards was formed by the strongest magical beings of our time. There were over three thousand members from across the known world, but only six served as the leaders. The Six. We were the decision-makers. Scholars. Guardians of balance. Everything we studied or created had to pass through us."

He looked into the distance as if remembering far-off lands. "We came from different kingdoms. Different lands. But the Council's seat—our headquarters—was in the region you now call the Middle East. Back then, it had another name, long forgotten now. That's where we met, where we built our sanctum."

"You were one of the six?" Cael asked.

"Yes," Myrddin said, his painted form nodding solemnly. "I was the sixth. We never declared who was strongest among us—but we all agreed there was one who stood above the rest. A woman. She was… exceptional. Her focus was the ancient civilization I mentioned. She was the closest anyone had ever come to deciphering their language."

He paused, lips tightening. "Then the civil war came. And she disappeared."

Cael's brow furrowed. "So who started the war? Was it one of the Six?"

Myrddin's painted gaze turned grim. "No. I don't believe so. Our role was to guide, to stabilize. Especially when kingdoms requested magical aid, we would select a representative from among the council and send them."

His voice lowered. "I do not know who exactly started the war. But I believe… political forces. Empires. Greedy rulers who wanted magical control. Perhaps they corrupted some among the lower ranks. What still confuses me is why the Six did not stop it. Why… we didn't fight back. Why we fell silent."

A long silence followed.

"That remains a mystery to me even now."