The halls of Hogwarts were dark this night. Darkness coiled in every corner of the sprawling castle, previously moving paintings now laying dormant as their charm-matrices slowly gathered magic back within themselves.
My boots softly echoed off the stones as I hopped onto a set of moving stairs, my eyes looking around diligently as the red carpet, if it could be called that, softly interacted with my shoes. Cleaning charms were charmingly, pun was intended, spread throughout the entirety of the school and helped to lessen the load on the students and staff. This was naturally ignored within a moment as the staircase finally stopped on the fourth floor.
Stepping off I strode past closed classrooms, unused for some time. There was nothing but stillness here at this late of an hour. Waving my hand in front of me I cast an old spell used by Godric Gryffindor during the witch burnings of the middle ages. It was a simple runic spell that latched onto a beings true name and guided the caster to the target.
"~Nomen Revelare~ !Peter Pettigrew! "
A rune deeply related to old futhark and an old form of Sanskrit burned itself in the air in front of me before compressing into a small bead of angry red light that quickly stretched itself into a line. This line would take me directly to the little shit I was looking for and conveniently take the easiest path to my target. I lurched forwards into an intense gait as my mind grasped into the trough of memory left for me to digest.
The spell had originally been used by Godric to find Rowena Ravenclaw, his then wife, before she was hauled away and burnt at the stake. History was a unique thing to the current times, the actual reality of things were much more gruesome... That day he slaughtered over one hundred men. Shaking my head from my musings I tapped my finger on a panting that the red light was flexing into, the art shifting to the side as a hallway appeared on the other side.
I stepped in and felt my position in the castle change, all the while the spell guided me to the left... Directly towards the Gryffindor chambers. That would be an awkward trip, if it weren't for the fact that the apparition wards of this castle were developed by Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw and I just so happened to have their passwords. Grinning I flexed my will softly up against the wards and entered the backdoor code, my body twisting upon itself as a gentle popping noise followed my emergence in the Gryffindor common room.
Some chatter signalled from the stairway the side and I winced, my hand waving in front of me as Disillusionment slid over me like water within a bath. Holding my breath, I watched two students strut down the stairs, their eyes flickering around before relief flashed over both of them.
"Told you George, no problems."
"I told you that Fred..."
"Whatever, let's just get a move on before that new DADA teacher discovers us."
"Yeah, she seems very scary when she wants to be."
"For sure, she scared our little brother half to death when he was being a prick!"
"Hah, he deserved it. The little shit has been pissin' mum off of late."
"Woe onto him... Hehehe..."
The twin Weasleys exited the common room out into the castle, their pace slow and deliberate. It was very likely they would get off scot-free, which was fine with me. I sighed. The spell, luckily only visible to me highlighted a path upwards through the stairs the twins had just vacated. I could feel it, the traitor was close. From the movies I knew his form was that of a rat and that Ron was the one harbouring the Animagus.
Ward lines marked each staircase, gender identification wards. Small magical runes were snuck onto muc larger ornate carved stone pieces through said stairs and beyond even that there was a detection jinx set to activate if the gender of the person entering was anything but what it was meant to be.
Limits were abound however. The gender ward only specified 'walking' as a specified intent whilst the runes around the tight staircase were all tied to that single function. Essentially I could fly or simply jump over the line without any issues... A rather pathetic security system in all honesty. Yet again, most people didn't have the so-called 'mage sight' like I did. Sneaking up to the gender ward I simply jumped over the threshold.
On the other side of said line I waited for any tell-tale sign of disturbance magically, there was nothing. Grinning under my disillusionment I stalked up the stairs invisibly, my spell spiralling upwards. Following it I finally came out in dormitory floor, couldn't tell which one really, and I watched as my spell stopped above a certain bed.
It was silent here. No movement broke the ineffable silence. Waving my hand I placed a silencing spell over me. My breath no longer prompted sound nor did my footsteps. Calmly my pace slowed, the distance between me and my target narrowing slowly. A soft snore broke the eerie quiet, Ronald Weasley twisting in his sleep whilst a rat softly curled into a ball at his feet. "Mum, no, don't..." His sleep addled voice cried out in his sleep before he grunted and another snore broke from his lips.
My focus was on the rat solely, the disgusting little rodent scratching itself upon the young boy's blanket as its pale complexion all but made it seem plagued.
'System, can my inventory store live people?'
{Yes. Any living thing is placed in a small dimension that maintains all of the needs for living.}
'Good.'
With a strong flick of my right index finger i cast an Immobulus at the Animagus. A beam of powerful green sparked out and struck the rat in an instant. The body curled in on itself and seized up as if it had been walking too long in arctic conditions.
Smiling nastily I rotated my hand and curled my index backwards. The rat body hefted itself into the air and slowly journeyed to my disillusionment, which it soon vanished under. My system greedily scooped the rat away into my inventory as a light suddenly flickered on the adjacent bed. Harry's bed if my memory served, which it did. Frowning somewhat I used the code once more and popped away under a lingering silencing charm. No sound escaped and I was now safely ensconced in my room in Hogsmeade where my two lovely ladies were curled upon the bed.
'System, you are awesome. I thought I'd have to buy a suitcase like Newt Scamander.'
{Appreciation is always welcome.}
I scoffed a little as I felt Apex within me roil somewhat. Their little competition was going as strong as ever. With the weight of sneaking off me I quickly entered into the bed and wrapped my ladies with my arms, both of them mewling in comfort as they scooted closer to me in the middle of their sleep.
...
The Next Day...
'~Goddess, the boy is approaching your classroom... The shaggy hair girl is also with him.~'
'Thank you, Huginn. Follow them still, when they get here drop your invisibility. You'll be getting some food today for your good job.'
An excited trill echoed through our connection whilst Muninn got further afield. No report came through from the other half of the sacred gear, he would simply find what was needed and then tell me then. He was a very trustworthy ally of mine; if you could call and aspect of your power an ally.
I closed the book at the edge of the room, the 7th years walking away in excitement as I had just taught them all how to effectively use prefixes and suffixes in their spell casting to boost the power. It was a rather interesting topic really, though the magical world tended to be a bit uptight with what prefixes and suffixes your used. The most popular with the students was Maxima. Quite funny really given the fact that Duo would be more difficult to stand against in a fight.
My classes were over for the day however and I had already spoken to McGonagall about Harry and Hermione going to Gringotts for the day. At first she had been against it until I informed her that Harry only wished to get some money and had asked if I could come along. The woman was suspicious at first until I told her that she can call Harry over if she wished... After that she simply gave me permission given the fact that it took no longer than a period of two hours. Hermione was attached to this also, a small smile creeping over her face at the possibility of winning the bet she had made about them being together. Honestly the security of the school was horrible in the hands of the old coot.
Smirking, I put the book back in my inventory before waving my hand and shrinking the room to a normal size. My hands straightened out my clothing before I sat back in the completely onyx Victorian chair, a cushioning spell lining the entire thing and making it just as comfortable as a modern couch.
As i relaxed the double doors opened and my two travelling companions for the day rushed inside. Slowly blinking I watched as the invisibility of my raven winked out and a rainbow pattern slowly danced in the air before forming the stark white feathers. He flew around for a bit before landing on my shoulder. Both students looked stunned at the appearance of a magical raven.
"Good afternoon, Harry, Hermione. I take it you are both ready for the trip today?"
Hermione blew a strand of hair away from her face whilst trying not to stare at Huginn too much. She was failing badly at that last part. At least Harry didn't even attempt, he just openly gawked at my companion.
"Y-yes professor!" Hermione was the first to speak, though her voice cracked halfway through the first part. She poked Harry in the ribs, snapping the boy from his observations.
"Ah, yeah, sorry professor..." he scratched his head somewhat, his wand attached to his side and his Gryffindor robes pooling around his form. He was a rather skinny kid and looked as if his treatment at the Dursley's had almost cursed his body with malnutrition and hormone stunting. Another thing I'd have to fix.
"It is fine you two." I stood up and walked around the desk. "First of all, this is Huginn and he is a sweetie... He really loves bacon and steak if you'd believe it." Huginn squawked intelligently at the two of them, bowing somewhat before returning to his avian stare.
"Like the Raven who is owned by Odin?" Hermione immediately knew where the name originated from, she was way too nerdy about this shit... Haha, not that I could really say I wasn't a nerd either. With our level of intellect it was hard not to be scholarly and a 'know-it-all'.
"Indeed... But Huginn here is my companion. Odin has his two, I have my two." Her eyes went almost apoplectic as she read between the lines. Even Harry got what i was saying here.
"Odin is real!?" I nodded whilst laughing.
"Yep! And you know the funny part...?" I let my words hang a little as their anticipation grew.
"I am technically part of Odin's family, through marriage contract." Hermione's mouth opened into a large 'O' as Harry simply blinked his eyes rapidly.
"But enough of me, today we are going to help you two! So, on that note, grab onto my arms and brace yourself for an interesting ride."
They both took a little time but they eventually grabbed my arms, their faces showing nervousness but also excitement at being able to leave the stuffy old school for a time. Rainbow light sprayed out from the very atmosphere around us as a rainbow bridge instantly connected Diagon Alley and this very spot.
Less than a second passed yet we had landed in an alleyway near to Gringotts. Both my passengers were surprised beyond belief, Hermione barely repressing the questions on the tip of her tongue. Walking out of the alley I looked around and noted many witches and wizards traversing the shopping district, a stark white marble edifice of banking sitting at a crossroad not too far away.
'System, could you tell me if I have any bloodlines of magical origin?'
{Cost: 10,000 Points}
'Do it.'
{You have none}
'Gee... thanks...'
{Would you like to purchase Bloodlines?}
'Eh, sure, why not?'
[Points: 295,231,655,999]
'I want Merlin's bloodline. The Slytherin Bloodline. Ravenclaw bloodline. Gryffindor Bloodline, Morgan LeFay's bloodline. The Black Bloodline... And can you give me a list of other powerful bloodlines?'
{Cost: 100,000,000 Points}
'Holy shit!?'
{Each bloodline will grant their unique powers to you.}
'Okay, that is fair...'
{List you requested-
Corvinus bloodline
Sekhmet bloodline
Lung-Xue bloodline
Thalassari bloodline
Pele'kai bloodline
Luxmancer bloodline
Ifritari bloodline
Hoshiryuu bloodline }
'How much for all of them?'
{10,000,000,000 Points}
'Do it.'
Apex roared inside my body as a multitude of powers, bloodlines, abilities and intrinsic magical aptitude bound themselves to me. Second after second innate traits and powers were bound together and enhanced, focussed even, into my already existing features.
My eyes flared in pain before settling down as Dunamantic magic began to softly coil within them. My heart was stabbed before thumping in my ears for many seconds... Then it stopped and I could feel my magic grow and expand. The blood within my veins turned to flame, a crimson-orange trail leaking from my nose before being pulled back in. My hair turned stark black only to be morphed into cobalt-gold. Mist emerged from my skin, barely even noticeable as mist and looking much more like stark white skin. Something in my tongue changed and I felt a small expansion of my perception, as if some esoteric part of my brain slid open. The incisors within my mouth grew larger before shrinking, the taste of iron filling my mouth before it too vanished. Finally, every single nail on my body turned black, as if they were scorpion scales instead of gathered bits of calcium.
'At least now I don't have to go to a nail polish salon...'
{Pff...}
Apex worked powerfully to stabilize the new powers and bloodlines as the two students joined me in looking out, smiles spreading over their faces. Licking my lips from dryness I smiled and walked forwards, my appearance drawing attention despite the rather non-descript clothes I had cloaked myself with.
Harry was happy to be out of the spotlight whilst Hermione was shocked to be within it... The girl was severely cute and needed to get used to attention more. She probably still had the inferiority complex.
"T-this is so weird..." Hermione drew closer to Harry as the young boy smiled and laughed a little.
"You get used to it." I laughed then, the words were too true and it would only get worse over time for the boy.
We reached the front of the bank and stepped inside, the stairs clacking below out boots as the front doors opened for us. Inside there were hundreds of different podiums. Behind all of them stood Goblins. They were wicked little creatures of pure greed... But where greed resided, there was also honour. If you made a deal with them they would go out of their way to fulfil that contract.
Hermione was scanning the room as if the Goblins would leap at her, all the while Harry lead her forwards whilst looking at them all, interest plainly leaking off of his expression.
We reached the end counter where a grey-haired goblin of pitch black eyes regarded us. His suit was rather modern all things considered, though the quill within his hands still marked even this part of society outdated in some ways.
"Yeees...?" The creature's words drawled out as he huffily placed his quill in an ink pot, the sound of coins clinking in the background. Hermione and Harry stood to my side in trepidation as they obviously disliked the Goblin's presence.
"I am here to have a lineage test done, for my two students. One Harry James Potter and one Hermione Granger."
The Goblin narrowed its beleaguered eyes before huffing and grabbing some paper documentation. It looked it all over and exhaled.
"Fine. Follow me."
The teller walked off the podium and took us over to a side exit where a goblin outfitted in medieval armour turned to address the teller.
"Take these three to Griphook. They wish to have their bloodlines assessed." A grunt sounded out and we began following the armour goblin, the teller returning back to his post.
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