26 26. Letter!
"Come on cuz, I thought you wanted to be an auror." Ryan teased as he dodged a flurry of spells.
"Stand still you twat" A very annoyed Nymphadora kept throwing all spells she knew but every trap she laid got taken out almost as if Ryan predicted her every move even before she thought of what to do.
"...Should we tell her?" Ted whispered to his wife, as they both looked at the two dueled in the arena of Girmmauld palace.
"Hmm?... No, losses help teach things faster," Andromeda said as she read the ingredients book Ryan had bought from Russia with enchanted glasses which translated the text. Ted sweatdropped seeing her wife not even pay attention and turned to see Ryan now had Dora levitating, and he continued moving her in the air, making her unable to aim at him.
"I-I give up." Dora cried, which made him cancel the spell as she fell on her bum. She took a few seconds to get her bearing back and yelled "Morgana's saggy tits, what do you eat? And how did you hold me high with a levitation charm? They aren't supposed to work on living things." She asked as she stood up.
"NYMPHADORA" Andromeda yelled, glaring at Dora who flinched, then returned back to the book.
Ryan chuckled seeing this and said, "Well, you may be living, but your clothes aren't." He said, making her blink in realization. "But then again, with how still you were standing, you might as well be a statue." He continued with a sly smirk.
"You prat," Dora grumbled as she glared at the boy, who laughed at her reaction. "But seriously, how did you avoid my every trap?" She asked, still unable to understand that.
"Oh, simple. Your thoughts were too easy to read." Harian spoke and casted a Scourgify on his hands before picking up a plate with a pastry.
"...What?" Dora said, confused.
"Your thoughts were too loud. I managed to read all your plans with just a single glance at your eyes." He continued.
"Wha-That's cheating!" Dora yelled.
"The people you would arrest won't be challenging you to a duel." He closed his eyes and said, while Andromeda looked up from her book and took a glance at him. For some reason, she felt Ryan spoke from experience, just like her Aunt Dorea used to say while training her sisters.
Dora shut up, knowing he was right, but kept pouting, while the other three just smiled at her behavior, finding it cute.
Kreacher suddenly popped in between them and spoke, "Lord Black, your letter from Hogwarts has arrived with another for Lady Pinky."
Everyone looked at Kreacher, or more exactly, the letter in his hand. Ryan took the letter and noticed the seal had the symbol of Hogwarts on it. He smiled, remembering how he had used his shadows to create a distraction when McGonagall was writing the letters and faded into her room while in stealth, then had Aria take over the quill and quickly jot down everything like the previous letters and place a new one there while applying slight shroud on his name for McGonagall to ignore. Dumbles was too busy trying to appease the board of directors so he didn't have to worry about the old fool till Hogwarts.
Ryan broke the seal and opened the letter, and read its contents.
{
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Black,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment.
The term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 15 August.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
{{Second page}}
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for daywear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set of brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat, OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK
}
Ryan passed the letter to Andromeda while Dora peeked from behind. She read the letter and said, "I'll have a document signed about you not having to meet any adult unless in the presence of your guardian." She spoke. Dora looked at her weirdly, unable to understand why.
"There is no need for that," Ryan spoke as he shook his head.
"Ryan!" Andromeda exclaimed hearing him.
"Don't worry Aunty, I have already handled everything." He spoke calmly. Andromeda glared at him to explain but Ryan just gave her a mysterious smile. Andromeda sighed seeing she wasn't going to get an explanation.
"Don't get your neck too deep in hubris." She said, and Ryan nodded. "So, what are you missing from the list." She asked.
"I have the books and wand, don't need a pet, got my robes, so just some potion and other materials," Ryan spoke to them while writing a confirmation letter to send back. Ted also prepared one for Grignotts to transfer the annual fees. He wasn't an orphan, so he was paying the full cost.
"Well, Dora's list has also arrived, and we are having a talk about you obtaining only an EE in potions young lady," Andromeda said while glaring. The daughter of a potion mistress not obtaining an O was an insult to her.
"But, but... Snape..." Dora tried to explain but knew all her words were falling on deaf ears.
Ryan looked at Ted, who shrugged, and he looked back at the letter in hand, knowing there is no going back. Loki had fooled the likes of gods through his illusions, and there was no way he was going to get caught by a Santa Claus wannabe.
*That Night*
Ryan synchronized with the pedestal in the Heart of Hogwarts, analyzing if Dumbles has done anything to affect it again. He also noticed the Hogwarts spirit had grown into a young woman, but her face was still featureless.
"Any problems so far?." Ryan asked, turning to her.
"...No, he's too weak and I'm prepared." The spirit spoke. "... Can't you fire him? He's harming the children's growth." She asked.
"I could kill him and be done with it, but then I would also need to constantly manipulate all people of the country to establish the changes, making me no different from him," Ryan spoke, explaining to her. He had considered that option multiple times when he was getting annoyed at doing things to remain in the background... but it was just too easy.
"... Be careful." She said and disappeared. Ryan respected Lady Hogwarts a lot. While interested in her unique nature and birth, her existence stemmed from the founder's desire to protect and educate the wizardkind to new heights, making it her first priority. A protective spirit through and through.
Ryan turned his attention to one phoenix, bound by a slave contract by the old fool. He could feel rage and sadness emanate from the bird, and something inside him was yelling to free the bird, but Ryan didn't have the means to do so yet. Looking towards where the phoenix should be, Ryan promised to free him soon and vanished before Dumbles returned from his meeting with the board about the 'revision of subjects' which resulted in the delay of letters.
Ryan moved into the Slytherin dorms, hoping to find Salazzar's bedroom. He was extremely disappointed in not finding any other areas inside the chamber except one which lay above the basilisk, but Ryan didn't challenge the 1000-year-old beast. He had obtained his lesson from the Lethifold and wasn't going to challenge it without being prepared, so he left it alone for now.
He felt the locket react towards the dormitories and walked in. He felt that the entire dorm reacted to the locket, but kept walking in, and soon found the reason why. As soon as he reached the end of the corridor for the first-year boys, a door appeared in front of him.
Ryan moved back and peeked in one of the other dorms to get to know what a normal Slytherin dorm looks like before moving towards the door and pushing it open. Inside, he was greeted with a much better room than the normal one, and much bigger as well, with it having a dining room, a kitchen, and a fireplace installed in it. Ryan picked up a pamphlet lying near the coat rack and started reading it.
The parchment was written in parseltongue and Ryan realized it was explaining about the room. The room was designed by Slytherin to be used by his descendants as he wanted them to live in a better room than others, being his descendants and all. He also told about how the room was similar to Rowena's ROR and appeared at the end of the corridors of all years only if they carried the locket. It also explained how to leave a certain mark on the belongings through the locket to have them shifted in the room.
Ryan read and wondered why Salazzar hadn't included the information in the locket itself and left the pamphlet lying around like a restaurant menu, but summed it up as the antics of a tsundere grandfather. Picking a few books about parseltongue from the rack and copying them, Ryan left Hogwarts, as he had more things to study.
