Chapter #6

Eleanor P.O.V,

I looked around at the solemn faces of the adorable kids around me and I wanted to cackle madly but controlled myself. I immediately controlled my facial expression to go into that blank face I used at the orphanage.

Inside I was laughing like a witch due to their faces. So serious and it looked absolutely ridiculous on their faces. I looked back at Al but when he looked at me, his emotions instantly turned into (Horror-Dread-Sorrow), they couldn't really influence me so suddenly as I understood they weren't mine but why was he reacting so drastically to such a change in expression?

I thought on it for a few moments before realizing that he had probably seen this expression whenever I was interacting with everyone at the orphanage from the matron's memories. It must have given him the wrong idea. I look back at him in realization and give him a smile and his emotions turn confused for a moment before shifting to relief.

I continue smiling for a few moments until his emotions stop spiking. He gives me a short nod before sighing heavily. What a mood…

I smile even more widely at my success and turn back to examine the Diagon 'Alley'. My eyes twitch as I realize I am in a market for Magical items. I examine the shops and I can see many clothing shops and garments being shown. There are weapons being displayed as well in front of a few shops. They show all types of weapons from daggers to scythes to scepters…

I thought this was a magic-cultivation (-esque) world, not a medieval fantasy!

I scowl at my thought before slowly dismissing it as you do train with a weapon in cultivation worlds. I bemoan my future as I am about to become a ridiculously strong woman like Aunt Ariana. Bad jokes aside, no wonder she is so strong… I wonder what level she is… the level of an OP character's family should naturally be beyond the normal persons…

The children are still looking around in wonder but no one is gawking anymore. Al takes a breath before fake-coughing into his hand. He asks the children to walk with him. There are only 4 of them in total so I doubt they can get lost…

He removes the magical barrier he created and asks us to follow him in a silent voice. They begin marching with him. I am on his right and I take a second before asking him what Gringotts looks like.

He tells me that I will instantly recognize it as soon as I see it.

Okay… keep your secrets. I mock huff lightly before smiling again.

Nothing can seem to bring to bring down my mood, so much magic is surrounding me and it is all so creative!

We take a few turns until I realize a magical barrier is covering us all. It is even now trying to influence me to ignore it but I have recognized it now, so I can easily filter its effect on me. There are many people standing outside their shops looking for someone as well. They aren't even trying to be discrete in looking for them…

Al is looking in consternation at all the people who are looking for someone before (Realization-Dread) take over. He speeds up a little, I am about to ask him whether everything is alright but I see a large building appear in front of me.

The first thing that comes to mind is that it has been very beautifully built. The craftsmanship is beyond human. The building is painted mainly white contrasted with designs depicting small people and weapons. I look at the shops next to it and they are mainly food shops.

Gringotts takes up most of the attention so it took me a few seconds to realize there are other shops next to it as well.

I decide to stop my questioning for now and head directly towards Gringotts. I wonder why it is named Gringotts if it is run by dwarves.

We arrive inside and I feel a ward run over us all. Al calmly guides us all towards the back of this place. I am not calling it a bank until I confirm that's all it is.

I walk right next to Al until we arrive at a door that has the symbol of the Earth carved on it. The Element Earth, not the planet. Al, instead of displaying any manners, directly opens the door and says, "Hello Varn! I am here!"

There is a Dwarf who is sitting at the desk and he immediately snaps to attention. He looks at the children… and me before sighing. He then takes a look at Al, and his face immediately brightens up as if seeing his best friend after a long time.

He booms loudly, "Al! You should have told me you were coming! I would have prepared a feast in your honor!"

Albus rubs his head in embarrassment before saying, "Perhaps another day my friend. But for now, let us deal with business."

Mr. Varn nods his head before looking directly at the children and me, however instead of saying anything or even greeting anyone, he directly ignores them all and even me.

I immediately glare at him and make my magic react threateningly. At that he looks back at me specifically, I made sure to control my magic to only affect him and I take a discrete look at Al just to see him eating something in the corner. He stares for a few seconds before giving me a nod.

"Hahaha Al! Your kids got some guts this time!" He says to Albus, who looks at all of us in surprise before making a considering expression. He doesn't think much on it and Varn walks over to give him a hug.

Al returns it before finally introducing us all. "Varn meet the children who will be starting Hogwarts this year. Students meet Varn; he is a close friend of mine and someone who has known me for a long time."

Varn smiles at that before saying, "All of them are new students?"

I feel as if I am missing something in this conversation. Al grins at that before gesturing towards me and saying, "No, meet young Eleanor. She is my 2nd Disciple."

Varn grins at me before saying, "No wonder… lass you can and will call me Varn."

I give him a distracted nod to show them I am listening but I focus on Al's words. He said 2nd Disciple… not 1st. There is another one who studied directly under him?! I feel weirdly incensed at that.

Albus smiles at me before saying, "Eleanor, Varn is a very talented blacksmith and he is also skilled at a number of different subjects.

He has multiple contacts with people who are skilled in different areas. In case you ever need anything, you can ask him and he will deal with it discretely."

I can ruminate on the information I have been given later. I need to see Gringotts for now.

Varn speaks to Albus, "So this is the usual? Only the ritual and vaults for today right?"

Albus answers in affirmative and Varn bids us to follow him. I follow him and Albus out of the large room that was probably his office, and we head further back. We arrive at a small room that Al directly opens up before throwing his magic as if it is running out of style.

I don't think much on it until I sense how this specific magic is neutral? What? That is weird. I haven't sensed anything like that from him before. His magic always has this feeling of light to it; it shines brightly whenever he makes it slightly visible.

I am a bit off put by it because I don't sense his magic anymore; it is this neutral magic surrounding us all. He directly steps in before saying, "Agrah!"

Immediately, a large burst of magical flames appears in front of us. It wraps around all of us and it relaxes my entire body, making me incredibly calm and soothed…

I hear a beautiful song, a melody that seems to calm my soul and I close my eyes for a few seconds to enjoy it. I open my eyes in 5 seconds to see a red bird with white highlights. It is a Phoenix… he is magnificent. He radiates dignity and he has a brown crown, which reminds me of Earth, on his head adding a regal presence to him. He sings for a few more seconds and the children take an additional 3 minutes to open their eyes.

The Phoenix who is sitting on Al's shoulders looks directly at me before bursting into flames and appearing on my arm. It, no, Agrah seems to weight nothing and when he looks at me staring at him in wonder, he preens. He rubs his feathered head with my own.

Al chooses this beautiful moment to interrupt, "Everyone meet my familiar, Agrah. He is a Phoenix and he will aid us in performing the ritual." Al looks at Agrah but when he sees him not moving from my arms, he smiles in amusement and sighs before saying, "Agrah… you can play with her later! For now, let's begin the ritual."

Agrah caws before flying into the middle of the room. A feather of his falls in the middle of a circle and Al pours a bottle of liquid into the middle. Al asks us all to come in one by one into the room and reassures the children that it will only take a few minutes to be done.

He signals at me to come in first, displaying his favoritism so openly! I sigh in my head before heading in. He gestures for me to stand in the middle of a circle inscribed within the room to the left. I am a very agreeable person and I decide to not be sarcastic for once.

He smiles as he looks at my annoyed undisguised body language. He says, "Don't worry Eleanor it will only hurt for a few seconds. Are you sure you want to know who you are descended from? It is entirely optional and you can simply do it later in any year."

I roll my eyes before smiling at him and saying, "Yes. I am sure Al. I do want to know who my ancestors are and it is entirely my decision whether I inform anyone or not."

He gives me a nod before handing me a wooden thing that is like the handle of a knife. He pours his magic into the circle and places a paper in the middle, next to the liquid that was poured in a bowl and where Agrah's feather lies. I cannot make the letters that make up the ritual; he must have performed the same thing he did to his rune inventions.

They seem like gibberish at the moment.

I hold back a flinch as the handle, which has an inbuilt blade, presses into my hand and draws blood. It is surprisingly not that painful as I thought it would be. It is still painful though but I can take it. This is my first step on a path to Absolute Freedom.

Pain is nothing!

My blood drips down my hands onto the floor. In a few seconds, the circle starts glowing pale silver. It changes to dark silver within seconds.

I observe it in fascination with my magic as it is a beautiful reaction. The runes on the circle start glowing as well which leads to the silver glow spreading to the main circle in the middle.

The paper placed in the center starts floating up while the handle in my hand switches places with the feather that Agrah gave to be placed into the center. It absorbs some of my blood before writing a code on the piece of paper. The paper begins showing a red colored family tree that seems to span many generations.

From what Al explained to me, I can take the name of anyone whose name is shining a pale red. I look at my hand and I can no longer feel the sting or even any pain. I open my hands; I clenched them tightly to ensure I didn't get distracted by pain, only to see a completely healed hand. It surprises me until I see that the liquid poured into the bowl seems to be slightly glowing as well.

They must be Phoenix tears. The paper floats over to me and Al directly waves his hand and I see that I can see the family tree in English now. I know he must have definitely seen my paper from top to end. He definitely has a very strong memory…

I begin examining it to see what names are available to me to take instead of my current one. My blood parents are the same as I expected them to be. It shows some gaunt alive… must be the uncle who has some ring.

I trace the bloodline all the way back to see that they do have a relationship with Slytherin… It is glowing so that means I can take the Slytherin name. But should I? I don't really need the acknowledgement of any 'purebloods' or involvement in their annoying schemes… I am not even interested in going to the Slytherin house.

The name, Slytherin, seems to glow brighter at my internal thoughts which makes Al's eye twitch slightly. I don't really want to play this game he is playing with the children so I decide to be forthright with him. "Al, should I take the Slytherin name?" There.

His expression is hollow but I can see his magic agitated but there really isn't any specific emotion to it. He blanks in terms of the emotions attached to his magic as well and I can just feel an immense magic being released from him but no emotion whatsoever.

That worries me immediately. I walk to him quickly and shake my hands in front of his face. He doesn't react at all; in fact some of his magic seems to decrease even. I decide to shake him but even that doesn't seem to wake him from whatever this is. I am starting to get really nervous now because this seems to be incredibly dangerous as he has a very level of awareness.

I am to shout at him until his magic immediately snaps to attention and it screams (Confusion) as he looks at me. His eyes are a bit shadowed as he looks at me and I can see him get tired in moments in front of my eyes…

He shakes his head for a second before he looks back at me and says, "Ah sorry Eleanor, I got distracted for a few seconds. Did you ask me anything?"

That wasn't you being distracted! Is he lying to me?! I want to scream back at him but he only seems to get more tired, the more I look at him. I decide to postpone this conversation to later. "Yes Al, I know you have definitely read what was on my family tree."

His eyes twitch at how blatant and blasé I am being about this.

"No Eleanor, I have no idea what you are talking about." He directly denies my accusation and he looks so serious that I might have actually believed him for a second. I, however, remember the conversation I had with him with regards to memory. The higher a person's level, the better their memory. The paper was right in front of him the whole time… There is no way he hasn't read it.

I scoff at him, slightly amused before saying, "Sure whatever you say Al, so should I take Slytherin's name? Is there any direct benefit to me taking it?"

His eyes finally begin twitching in that way when he is not amused. He sighs at my blasé behavior and says, "I haven't read your family tree but now that you have told me, I can tell you based on that." His magic gives off (Lie-Truth) which makes me give him a warm smile. The first part of the sentence must be the lie whereas the second part must be the truth.

{Author Notes: So what do you guys think??? Which part of his statement is a lie and which part is the truth?}

His emotions change to reluctant (Amusement) as he sees how I am behaving. He smiles at me, (Fond) before thinking for a few moments before saying, "There isn't any point in claiming the name Slytherin right now. The only thing it will do is bring more attention on you and cause needless pressure. You can easily change your name before you finish Hogwarts anytime."

I nod calmly. "So there is no point in being Slytherin right now?"

He thinks for a few more moments before saying, "Not right now… maybe there is some inheritance that you can gain after some test. There might be his Chambers but nothing else comes to mind."

"Okay. I don't want to change it for now. I will change it in case I have need of a name like this. I might as well focus on Magic for now."

He smiles at me before saying, "That is a smart decision Eleanor. Slytherin had many foes and many allies but they were mostly of conveniences. If you showed up weak in front of them, they would either try to kill you or attempt to indoctrinate you to their way of thinking."

He pauses for a moment before shrugging and says, "I can claim Gryffindor's name as I won a right to it by fulfilling a few conditions. But I haven't yet due to the sheer number of foes that he had in his life. While most of them are dead, the only friends he had were his fellow founders. The rest were mainly his retainers…"

He can take the Gryffindor name?! How?! They do have Auburn hair originally… but anyway, Slytherin… someone liked to live a dangerous life indeed… he gestures me to walk with him outside.

"I should perform the ritual on the remaining children. I haven't slept properly for a while."

He lies to me so easily! I doubt I could even recognize the lie for what it is if I hadn't seen his magic deplete for a moment and him getting visibly exhausted!

But this is no place to confront him. I can ask him later in our lessons. I am definitely angry but there will be time later. For now, I obediently follow him so that we can be finished with the children already.

I find Varn outside monitoring the children and I immediately walk towards him. I despise being bored and I can tolerate it now due to my years at the orphanage but ever since I learned about magic and came home, I can't stand it again without any real need to…

"Mr. Varn! Can you tell me about Gringotts?"

"Call me Varn lass. Any friend of Al is a friend of ours!" He declared boldly without any filters.

"…Varn, then. So what exactly does Gringotts do?"

He begins speaking proudly about how the bank is owned and operated by one clan who Albus apparently helped at some point earlier. They were at risk of dying or even getting subjugated before he decided to wipe out the large quantity of Goblins…

"Wait! So Prof. Al killed a race called Goblins?!"

He nods enthusiastically at that, "Yes lass, those greedy little blighters are a plague on any civilized realm! They are not allowed to leave the 'Earth' but they decided to attack the Dwarves and break their oaths. We lost many of our clans in that battle but we destroyed more than 80% of their own. Only our clan remained and while we were many in numbers, they were simply more… They had even hired some corrupted wizards to aid them in the battle, breaking their oaths to never involve outsiders!"

He materialized a bottle of wine (how?!) before he gulped it down, the suspense was building up and the children were looking at him with undisguised curiosity and adoration. Ugh children.

"For every single one of us they managed to kill, we killed a 100 of theirs but the battle was tough and the tide was not turning in our favor. They were simply too many! We may have been a million in number but far fewer were able warriors. Many of our elders were simply too frail to join us. We couldn't let the children fight! The women took up arms and defended our homes and towns. We were all prepared to win or die fighting!"

He takes another gulp. A few of the children are already back from their rituals. They look all too invested in this. He finally decides to continue. "Then suddenly as we were taking a break, light shined on us all! The very earth vibrated as if freed from it burden! It cracked and we all heard sounds of tearing! Then, it was silent… but only for a moment! We waited to see what was happening. And then we heard… Screams! The goblins were getting sucked in and the earth itself was aiding us! We rallied our troops and attacked the Goblins!

He pauses again to take a particularly long gulp. Sweet, sweet wine… (Sarcasm)

"We arrived at their camp to see a white haired man using the earth to surround them as if it was clay to be molded to his will. We shouted, 'Are you one who is aiding us?' We are prepared to fight him. He looks at us, smiles and the mad man raises a hand as if commanding the goblins to halt. His hand glows white and he releases a beam that annihilates an entire section of the goblins. We look in shock at the battlefield and their camp. The corrupted wizards are already dead. He looks back at us before he smirks, 'Think you can keep us with me?' He asks! We don't say anything but we rush into battle!"

He cheers loudly and the children start cheering as well. I simply choose to clap and smile. Very strong indeed…

"The battle lasts for a few hours and we lose many of our men. We perform the burials for our dead and pay our respects to them. We then feast their lives and their families and vow that they will live comfortably for the rest of their lives! The white haired wizard helps our clan heal our wounded and places protection wards around the village at our request. He introduced himself as Albus and we adopted him into our clan as a friend. You all are lucky that he is our friend. Why else would we dwarves be hale today in this realm..."

He ends his tale on that intriguing note and something he says under his breath but the children begin to loudly discuss what he just narrated. I decide to ask him about what services Gringotts provides…

It takes a while before I get it. They do everything from crafting, enchanting, mining, storing and even contracts. Anything you want, as long as it is available on earth, they can get it for you.

"You are lucky lass. I am Varn, the war leader of my tribe. I deal with many different people and places, you have been directly recommended to me by Albus and I will honor you for that alone. Anything you want, I will deal with it."

He lowers his voice before saying, "For your ears only; you are not like Albus. You have a dark alignment. Many of your decisions will be drastically different from his so if you want anything done in secret, imbue your vocal cords with magic and speak to me directly. This will ensure your privacy. Gringotts prides itself on its ability to deal with discretion."

I give him a nod of gratitude before he smiles and walk away. He is really short though… so the rough height of 12 years old…

He looks strong though, not like Albus though. Al has a very desirable physique… I would totally try to date him if I was back in my old body… it really isn't that big of a deal, I simply have to wait for a few years before I grow up again… convincing him to date me will be something I will deal with then…

I can simply kidnap all the Dumbledores to bring with me when I leave this cultivation-esque world… I nod to myself firming my resolve.

I turn my attention back to see many children unable to read their own papers. I ask them why they are looking at their papers like that. They are actually unable to read their own papers. This is ridiculous…

Al… this is abuse of power and absolute favoritism and I absolutely adore it… I should probably hug him to show my appreciation…

Maybe give him some of my cake as well? No.

'Not yet', I correct myself. I smile to myself and walk towards the 3 children outside.

I wait around for a bit and make light conversation with the children, it is surprising that whenever I speak to even some of them, they all quiet down and listen to me without interruptions. Do they see me as their leader?

They begin asking me some basic questions about Magic and I calmly answer those and explain some more about the world. I tell them about Levels, how the British Ministry, which is more like a government, works. Some even ask about basic stuff like what subjects can we expect by our 3rd Year.

Before I know it, time passes and Al finally comes out of the room. He doesn't look any more tired than he did when he had his 'episode'. He asks the children whether they have their papers or not. Everyone has theirs. They can all see that as he took only 4 of them.

Finally, he told them all about the choices they have. They could do 3 things.

1. They could read their family tree and claim one of the names that they were eligible to do so. The family would be informed and would begin to send him/her letters and they would talk. If they choose to claim that child, adopt her by Magic and Blood, they can take her to their home provided she talks with Aunt Ariana every week for a certain period of time.

2. They could keep the paper for as long they want and read it another year.

Can only be done before the start of a new year.

3. Special Case: If the family you are claiming the name of is dead, you have to wait till your 5th Year to do so. The only way this can be ignored is if it is the Founders or a few special families whose name we will be informed of in our first year. In second case, (founders or special family), you can talk to Al or Aberforth and they can advise you on what you want to do.

Most of the children shook their heads before saying that they were enjoying their lives in the orphanage. They wouldn't do it. But a girl, Ella Allen, stepped forward. She seemed really bashful but Al just kneeled in front of the kid before patting her head. She hugged him suddenly but Al only patted her on the back for a few moments.

He said, "I understand kiddo. Let us see whether you have a family or not."

He flicked his finger and the paper was readable to all of us. She began reading it and eventually just gave it to Al. He looked dumbfounded.

She said, "I don't know anything about most of them…" His eyes seemed to twitch at her statement before his face went back to a smile but I could sense the sheer (Embarrassment) he was feeling right now through his emotions.

His face was positively beginning to blush and it was so cute! He coughed lightly into his hands and Varn, who had come back from wherever he went, started laughing.

"Ah, by Nidavellir, did Aberforth forget to explain this to the children again?!" He forces out from his mouth in fits of insane laughter. I couldn't hear what he swore to as he coughed it out, must be one of their gods or something…

Albus simply looks chagrined now before he begins speaking to Ella, "You can only claim the name of 3 families but… 2 of them are already dead families and have no one who can claim you in any way. There is only 1 that has descendants remaining in your tree. Would you like me to reach out to them on your behalf?"

She looks a little tired but still nods firmly. I don't think she really expects them to claim her. It is a little heartbreaking to observe such a young child so resigned. I was and still am an orphan. In both my lives, I made my place in the world, small it may be, but I cannot deny I have a soft spot for those similar to myself…

I move forward and give her a hug which she returns by trying to strangle me! And she is making my new cloak all wet! I try to comfort a kid and this is how she repays me?! By ruining my new jacket…! I sigh heavily but hug her back with similar zeal.

Al chuckles at the sight we make and just rubs both of our heads before calling out to Agrah and using his magic to ask her to go explain to someone? I didn't get all of that magical talk.

He was transmitting all his actions through a link that he made visible using his magic… I could sense that and peek in to see what he was saying…

I didn't even understand half of what he transmitted. I only understood explain, a guy and urgency. I assume he is calling out her distant family head to talk to her.

Al says, "I have sent Agrah to Henry, he will arrive in a bit most likely. For now, let us order your magical supplies for all beginners. We also have to get your foci and some lunch. It has been a rather long day." He yawns lightly by the end before continuing, "Varn, can you get us your regular meal for 4? Please deduct the payment from my vaults."

Varn simply gives Al a nod before asking us all to follow him to the restaurant. They have a restaurant? This seems more like a mall then a bank…

I am holding Ella's hand right now and she is still sniffling using a cloth that Al conjured for her. How economical… I look at Ella and think of all the children in my orphanage, how cruel they were and what they tried to do by bullying me but I look at this little girl and she reminds me more of the children who I would watch over when I would volunteer in an orphanage back in my 1st life… I forget about those grievances with them, I can't be tied down by nameless people and I sigh heavily trying to calm my emotions.

I begin leading her with me towards Varn who is leading us to the restaurant. Al is walking right next to me and simply smiles at me.

Chapter End.

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