Chapter 12

13th of July 1937         

Atticus made his way past the entrance of Gringotts. 

He had the trunks that were filled with goblin silver artefacts with him, shrunk and in his pocket.

He made his way to the desk "Hello Teller. I am here to see my family's account manager" he said as he showed his golden Key.

"Very well" the goblin said while eying Atticus sharply. 

"I will have someone take you to his office. Hornhook!" he belted out.

A youngish looking goblin came and Atticus followed him through a marble patterned walkway in a direction different to where he went in last time he came into Gringotts. They passed a barrier once they walked through a doorway and he was greeted with the sight of tasteful and subtle design of a large room that was flanked by large marble pillars that seemed Roman. 

The room was illuminated by a series of iron lamps that had steady green flames giving the room a unique feel to it. 'I wonder if it is Gubraithian fire, the everlasting fire' he mused to himself.

"Here please" the goblin stated as he pointed to the door that they stopped in front of.

Atticus looked at the door and saw that it had 'Sayre Account Manager, Sicklesharp' engraved into it. 

The goblin knocked on the door and an elderly goblin emerged with thick white sideburns. 

"Yes?" he asked in a throaty guttural voice. The young goblin spoke with him in the Goblin Tongue and it was as guttural and harsh as he last remembered.

The elderly goblin turned to Atticus and said sharply "Follow me" he said as he walked back into the office without another word or waiting for Atticus to respond.

Atticus followed the man in and the door behind him. There were two guards standing on each side of the room. They wore armour and had spears in their hands, not unlike the guards that stood at the front of Gringotts. 

He eyed them warily as Atticus took the seat opposite the goblin. He took the few moments that it took for the goblin to get settled in to scrutinise the office. 

The wall behind the desk was adorned with numerous weapons. Swords, spears and a mace that looked aged and worn. Atticus wondered if the goblin in front of him was the reason they were so worn or whether they belonged to an ancestor.

The left side of the room had a bookshelf of books while the other side had numerous artefacts that Atticus hadn't seen before. He surmised many of them were unique to goblin magic.

"Hello Scion Sayre. I'm Sicklesharp, your family's Gringotts Account Manager. How can I help you today Scion Sayre? It is not often a scion from a house such as yours comes alone without their guardian or Lord of the house" the Goblin asked abruptly. 

Atticus leant back in the chair. He knew that the topics they'd be discussing could get difficult. The goblins were exceedingly protective over their capabilities in forging and their monopoly over magical metals. The metals Atticus sought after were metals that were natural occurring magical ore, forging and/or transmutations that produces magical metals without magical ingredients. 

Metals such as Arenak, Brightsteel, Celestial Bronze were all upper tier alchemic and transmutation that required magical ingredients to create metals that were magically conductive. The problem with these metals was quantities could never be high as the amount of non replenishable ingredients per kilogram of metal was impossible to obtain. It would result in the extinction of numerous creatures and in many cases that was exactly what happened.

Atticus had found through his research what happened with a particular type of transmuted metal.

 Innu-Ertas is a transmuted metal that Ancient Sumerian mages created around 4500 years ago as a response to the legendary weapons that the Ancient Egyptians forged and enchanted from meteoric metal that had properties that exceeded any other enchanted weapons of the time. 

The lands of the Sumerians were home to a magical bird, the Anzu that was related to winged birds such as the Hippogriff and Griffin. The difference between the birds however was the bird was capable of breathing fire and water. It was said that only dragonfire (As Fiendfyre hadn't been invented for another 2000 years at the least) had been hotter. 

The mages were tasked by the Sumerian kings to find an equal or greater metal than what the Egyptians had and they had found it after decades of experimentation. Amongst other ingredients was approximately 4.6 kilograms of powdered Anzu bones per kilogram of Innu-Ertas. 

The result yielded a metal that was by modern days inefficient in magical conductivity but it allowed for greater number of enchantments that lasted longer and was generally stronger in comparison to the metals the Egyptians used. 

The metal, due to the Anzu magical capabilities, was exceedingly resistant to heat, not unlike nickel alloys. The samples of the metal that still exist in this day show that the metal was stronger than stainless steel.

 It was one of the first transmuted metals created by any magical and would remain so for nearly a thousand years until another transmuted metal was created in Ancient China.

By the end of the Sumerian empire, the Anzu population had gone extinct as they were hunted viciously for ingredients. The Anzu was their main source of creature ingredients. It was a tale that would repeat often enough until smarter mages understood what they were doing and put protections in place in their habitats and removed many references towards transmutations in the public domain that were deemed too destructive towards the natural world in an effort to preserve magical species. Later on, magical reserves would be created to protect endangered species. 

It had been fun to find out that magicals had early on developed conservational attitudes, two thousand years before the muggles would act on it. Atticus was of course not deluded that it wasn't for self interest but regardless it was interesting.

The metals that Atticus sought after were nothing like this. These were metals that were either a result of metals that were naturally or artificially imbued without magical ingredients with magic. 

Orichalum was an example of a metal that was forged to be highly magical in nature, similar to Goblin Silver and a metal that was forged. 

Adamantite however was a metal that Atticus was intensely interested in. It seemed that it was something that existed in this universe but not naturally occurring on the Earth.

Atticus had come up short in his research with these metals until he remembered when he had found references in his ancestors journals that there were 'Heaven's metal' that were stranger than what was known to them to be from the heavens. Meteoric Iron had been popular in Egypt and often the weapons of Pharaohs and the upper nobilities had items made of said Meteoric Iron. 

Amongst a very few were ores that proved to be impossible to melt according to the journal. But the more important note that was in the journals was that it confirmed that it was magical in nature and extremely magically resistant.

They had to create a special ritual, invoking the power and flame of the sun, in honour of Ra to even melt it. They said that the metal had lost significant amounts of its magic in the ritual but it remained magical in nature. His ancestors had sought to find as many of these metals as they could though Atticus did not know if his family still had artefacts or the ore within their grasp. 

That had been Atticus clue that gave him the impression that Adamantite or similar metals only existed in the form of meteoric ores.

He wasn't allowed in the family vault; he wouldn't be allowed to enter it at his age unless he was the last of the line or with an adult Sayre.

Atticus had found nothing substantive on locations of ore or methods to produce Orichalcum. 

Which was he was here. "I found out that Gringotts, beyond being a bank offers a variety of services. Would you explain if that is the case?" Atticus paused as he eyes the goblin. 

"That is correct. Gringotts offers a multitude of services, ranging from banking to warding, from appraisals to cursebreaking. We are the premier banking organisation, Scion Sayre." The goblin pauses as he scrutinises Atticus.

"From the direction the conversation is going, I believe you wish to employ Gringotts for something other than banking?" he narrows his eyes.

Atticus nods slowly "Yes, I'm in need of information and books and texts that I believe Gringotts would be best placed to provide me. If that is not true I still believe you have extensive links to individuals or organisations that might be able to help me on my...project" he says slowly.

The goblin hums as he leans back in his chair as he digests this. Finally he asks "What are you looking for?" he asks simply and to the point.

"I'm in need of any and all information regarding metals such as Mithril, Adamantite and Orichalcum. I also want to purchase copies of books and texts that the Goblin Nation may hold regarding the methodology of forging magical metals and anything closely interrelated to that subject" Atticus specifies.

Sicklesharp narrows his eyes as he soaks the request in.

"Such information is not given out without a huge price and would require approval from our King. Personally I'm of the belief that the Goblin Nation would be reluctant to hand out information of such importance to your kind. Given that you are coming here, despite the fact that your own family library would hold texts that would help you in this endeavour suggests that you have not been able to find any useful information." He pauses. He glances at Atticus with curiosity.

There hasn't been an inquiry from the wizards such as this for centuries now. Gringotts was aware of only perhaps three dozen wizards out of hundreds of thousands of their kind that held interest in metallurgy. The way he referred to project had his curiosity peaked. Perhaps there was further business to be done down the line. 

"Why are you interested in this? While magical metals have properties that make them far more preferable than ordinary common metals, they are neither necessary nor functional for many of the applications use them for." He asks.

Atticus purses his lips. 

He wanted to have a good relationship with Gringotts. They were also discreet.

 It would not hurt to admit that he wasn't intending to sell what he learns and it was for private projects which were true after all. "The projects that I will be using them for require metals that are highly magical. The metals that I have interest in are all said to exceed the performances of ordinary metals.

In addition to all that, many of the magical metals would allow for applications, enchantments and runes that I would find difficult to place on standard metals. For that reason, I seek to create my own metals for my own purposes."

Atticus sighs "I have found only enough within texts to describe properties and legendary artefacts that have been made of these metals but never texts to describe how to forge or transmute these metals."

Sicklesharp hums "You would hardly find them within the public domain. There have been few master alchemists in the last few hundred years that would have been interested in metal transmutation beyond satisfying curiosity.

For the magical world, beyond the creation of artefacts and weaponry, metals have never been one of the more researched topics for the last perhaps four hundred years and much that has been researched have been exceedingly limited in scope. The greatest works have been done thousands of years ago and have since been forgotten in the annals of time. The most famous living alchemist is of course Nicholas Flamel but much of his work has never been published and even then, his expertise is geared towards organic transmutation and alchemic transmutation to precious metals. I suspect that it is the case for much of living alchemists. It is a niche field that you would not find in many family libraries regardless of age of the House unless they are geared towards alchemy as an affinity." He said meaningfully before continuing

"Your own family despite being a family famous for artificers and enchanters, as far as we know, got interested in alchemy beyond a certain point. The Goblin Nation however has many uses for magical metals. You are correct to presume that we would have information that would be difficult to find amongst your kind." He pauses.

"It is however not a decision or negotiation that I can make on my own." He got and rang a bell. A young goblin clerk came running in and they spoke in their native tongue Gobbledygook. After a little while the clerk ran off and Sicklesharp returned his gaze towards Atticus "I have requested the presence of someone who will be able to negotiate on the Goblin Nation's behalf." He states.

Atticus nods his understanding and it took over ten minutes for the goblin to arrive. He wore far more intricate and expensive clothing than the suits that his family's account manager did. He was tailed by guards that were decked in armour that was different from the two guards that stood by Sicklesharp. 

Sicklesharp got up and bowed deeply, as did the guards that were in the office.

The head goblin speak in Gobbledygook with Sicklesharp for a little while before the head goblin turned his gaze towards Atticus which seemed appraising.

He turns towards Atticus and Atticus got up. He bowed towards the goblin in a sign of respect and from his glance towards the goblin, he could see that he was mildly surprised.

"Well met Scion Sayre. I am Ragnok Gringott, Crown Prince of the Nation."

Atticus inclines his head "Well met Prince Ragnok".

"You may call me Ragnok. It is easier that way." Atticus nods "Of course. You may call me Atticus if you wish." 

Ragnok did not respond to that as he turned and sat next to Sicklesharp.

He turns towards Atticus "I hear you wish to purchase books, texts and information on magical metals?" 

Atticus simply nods. Ragnok pounds his hand in the table in thought "Very well." 

He waves at the clerks that had been carrying over two dozen books and a dozen scrolls and they move to put their loads on the desk "You have specifically asked for Orichalcum, Adamantite and Mithril. We have the necessary information for you to be able to forge Orichalcum." He states. "Adamantite is a more difficult prospect. Do you know what this metal is?" he asks intently?

Atticus nods "Yes, I'm aware that it is extra terrestrial and therefore there will be limited amount of the metal. Do you know where sources of the metal may be?"

"Yes, it is nonexistent on Earth except in a very few craters. We are...aware of certain locations that seem likely to hold Adamantite. The metal has never held any interest to the Goblin Nation despite the properties of the metal. It is a specialist metal that is not worth the cost, despite being the strongest and magical metal other than Mithril."

"Mithril...is a problem. We do not know how Emrys created the metal but we do have information that may prove useful to you. This will not be given to you until you sign an agreement with us that essentially states that you will not sell Mithril.

You have already stated to Sicklesharp that it is for personal projects so this should not pose a problem" he finishes as he bounds his hands together and sets it front of him.

"Finally, we also have other books on some of the lesser known transmuted metals that may prove useful to you, such as Uru. We can include these in your order. This brings to us how you will afford to purchase all this." He says as he gestures towards the books and scrolls "Your trust vault will not be able to cover all this."

Atticus smirks a little. "I will not be using galleons to pay for this, if you agree to it" 

Ragnok narrows his eyes at the proclamation and he waves his hand to continue "I have come across over five dozen artefacts, weapons and armour made out of Goblin Silver that I wish to use as payment for the books, scrolls and information" He says simply.

Ragnok raises his eyebrows at that answer and the guards bang their spear ends on the ground. The goblins were of the impression that things forged by goblins were only loaned out and never permanently sold. They argue that upon the wizard's death, the ownership of the artefact or weapon must be returned to the Nation. 

That is why the return of the Silver is considered a great victory for the Nation and Atticus dangling it in front of them is a tense moment.

"You wish to barter our own goods for this?" Ragnok growls out. 

Atticus shakes his head "No, I wish to barter a finder's fee to goods that were lost to the Nation." He smiles beautifully as he sits back in his chair.

"After all, it is the Goblin Nation's proclamation that Goblin Silver items were and always will be property of the Nation." He pauses "It never says anything that it should be returned free of charge" he gazes at Ragnok "I have spent a lot of time gathering these items on behalf of the Nation so I would like recompense in some form or another" he smiles at Ragnok.

A little while, the tense situation grows until Ragnok barks out a laugh "Not a bad attempt child. Very well, we will agree to pay you with the books and texts that you have requested in return of the Goblin Silver. You will also sign an agreement to never sell Mithril should you find how to create it."

Atticus simply nods at the agreement "Do you have a contract ready to sign that outlines all that we have agreed to?" he inquires.

He gestures towards the clerk and begins writing the contract.

He then passed out a contract to Atticus and Atticus read it carefully "This contract does not bind anyone to ensure that I am not cheated. Will you swear an oath to confirm that you keep to the spirit of the agreement if not the letter?" he eyed the goblin carefully. 

Ragnok looked displeased at the notion of cheating Atticus "I, Ragnok Gringott swear on my honour, my blood and my magic that I will honour the agreement as written on the contract signed 13th of July 1937 between Atticus Sayre and Ragnok Gringott" He swore and magic bound him to his oath.

Atticus nodded in respect and continued to sign the contract. He passed the trunks over to goblin guards who inspect the items along with Sicklesharp.

Ragnok barked orders to guards standing by the door and they hurried away. "They will be bringing copies of books that contain information regarding lesser known metals."

Atticus inclined his head in acknowledgement. Ten minutes later the guards returned with a clerk who had six large books with him and a bag that seemed to hold a few scrolls.

Prince Ragnok spoke with the clerk and the clerk passed the books over to Atticus. Atticus brought out a trunk and places all the books and scrolls within it.

"I believe that is all Mr Sayre" Atticus inclined his head.

Atticus bows towards the goblin "Thank you for your assistance. "

Atticus made his way out of the bank via a guide and proceeded to head home after stopping for an ice cream or three at Fortescue's.

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13th of August 1937

He stumbled out of the fireplace and readjusts himself. 

He waved his wand and clears himself of the ash. He took his luggage that he shrunk from his pocket and lets it expand on the ground.

He looked around and recognises where he was. 

He was in a large plaza that had dozens of fireplaces at each side with flags of nations at the top of the fireplaces showing. He'd been here before of course when he was travelling with Benedict. 

They were spending a few weeks with his American family this summer. Sophia had been here for some time now and would likely remain living with them for the foreseeable future. 

He had met them a few times, last seeing them when he and Benedict had travelled the world, though it had been brief as they were returning the next day.

This time, they would be spending most of it with them. He was looking forward to getting his cousins more. Sara was the more considerate of the two while Odette was bubbly. They were only a year younger than his sister and so they would be entering their last year at Ilvermony. 

He turns his eyes towards the end of the plaza where the exit was. He waits however and soon enough the fireplace that he had come out from fires up and his mother walks out. She dusts herself clean and looks at Atticus "I can never get used to international floo travel." She sighs complaining as she drags the luggage behind her.

Atticus chuckles. He locks steps with his mother as they head towards the end of the plaza. "Maybe that's the reason." Atticus says out loud which garners a look from his mother. Atticus shrugs "Making international travel so uncomfortable that it dissuades people from crossing borders" which his mother smiles at "It seems like so doesn't it?" she comments and before she could make a jape, they got to the front desk.

"Name please" A bored feminine voice calls out and Atticus looks up. A middle aged brunette who looked quite average met their eyes.

His mother answers for them both "Anne Sayre and Atticus Sayre" she says primly as she wears her pureblood nobility mask on full display.

The woman sits up straighter and with her eyes wide, brimming with excitement. Atticus internally groans.

"Ah the Sayre family." She says and she quickly looks down at the parchment next to her. She writes something down and she looks back up "All in order. I must say, It's an honour to meet members of the Founders. Especially yours" she practically says almost jumping out of her seat. It's quite odd to see such childish reactions from a grown woman, especially when he (and his family by proxy) was the recipient of it.

She takes on a sadden expression as she continues speaking "I'm so sorry for your loss." She says full of pity. She looks at Atticus "Your grandparents were such heroes. My, they saved the president! The president!" she gushes out, quite inappropriately. Atticus suddenly thanks his lucky stars that he wasn't born American.

His mother clears her throat. "Yes, thank you for your condolences." His mother says with a tight smile. "We are...running late to meet our family here, may we have our passes please?" she says kindly though Atticus knew it was a facade. 

She knew how to handle people with such ease that made Atticus envious.

The secretary gasps "Oh of course" she says and she twirls her seat around and opens up a cabinet and looks for their passes. His mother turns slightly and Atticus meets her gaze. She rolls her eyes and makes expressions that mock the woman. Atticus smiles at her bemused at her antics. "Ah, there they are" they hear the secretary say with a flourish.

The secretary turns around and his mother resets her face in that haughty pureblood way that she pulls off so well. "Here you go, passes for two weeks" she beams at them as she hands over the passes to his mother.

"Thank you. Have a lovely day" his mother says in a polite way which the secretary practically laps up "Oh I will, you too Mrs Sayre!" she calls out as they walk past the barrier.

His mother audibly sighs and Atticus asks "What was that about? It wasn't that bad when Benedict and I travelled here in America" Atticus asks confusedly.

His mother glances at him as they walk down the stairs. Atticus looks down the stairs and sees dozens of people go about their business on the floor below them. This section of the MACUSA building was predominantly reserved for international business or diplomacy. It made sense to have the international floo network floor to be close in proximity to this floor. They would be taking a lift to the ground floor at this level.

"The uneasy state of war with Grindelwald is heating up more and more Atticus" she says somewhat stiffly "The man has always been favoured in the German ministry by certain families but the laws that have been passed recently have been more and more aggressive." She says

"The opinion of MACUSA and many people is that he is gearing up to take over the German Ministry and use the nation as a platform to launch his conquest. It has made MACUSA uneasy and vocal as it means that it will go from a war with a warlord to a war between nations with a warlord at the helm on one side. 

The escalation has..." she pauses as she deliberates on how to express something "resulting MACUSA to spin victories and tragedies to drum up support amongst the population." She finally says.

Atticus eyes widens and he gapes slightly. "Close your mouth dear" she says and Atticus complies. Before he could respond, the lift that they were headed towards was opening "Atticus please catch the lift" she says suddenly and Atticus quickly paces towards the lift. 

In the lift there is a house elf in a very formal uniform. It looked odd to Atticus to see a house elf in clothes such as this. The Sayre house elves also had uniform but nothing like this 'I wonder what Tweenie would say if he saw this elf' he thought bemusedly. 

He quickly dispatched that thought and looked up at his mother "Are my grandparents being used for propaganda?" Atticus asks incredulously and slightly angry. 

His mother's eyes widened slightly

"Floor please" The elf asks tonelessly as he interrupts whatever she was going to say "Ground floor" she says and she turns back towards him. The elf presses the button and they are moving downwards.

"Not so much as propaganda as it is...honouring their sacrifice." She says and Atticus scoffs. "honouring their sacrifice against the tyranny of Grindelwald?" he asks mockingly and she winces and shrugs lightly "similar enough" She says.

He wasn't happy that his family were being used politically like this. It set a target on the rest of the family as well "Wasn't great uncle Richard meant to ensure our family isn't impacted politically?" Atticus asks lowly "It seems like it's something that can put a target on our family mother" he says as he glances at her.

She purses her lips as she considers this. The lift chimes and the doors open. The plaza on the ground floor is filled with people, shuffling around as they walk towards their destiny.

Atticus and his mother drag their luggage through the crowd and make their way towards the exit "Richard is aware that we aren't pleased with the amount of attention the family is getting. But he has explained to us that it is only short term and that it will blow over soon enough. He also states that it can only help build up our influence in North America." She says as arrive at the revolving doors that lead to the outside.

They bundle together as they revolve around and they walk down the stairs to the curb. "Ah, now we have to walk a couple of blocks to the apparition point." She says as she takes lead.

"Our family for the last couple of decades has been waning in influence. As you know, the majority of our business involves magical creatures and owning reserves outright. However" she pauses as she looks around, trying to remember where exactly they should turn to next. They twist around an elderly couple and make a left "we have interests in craftsmanship and own numerous businesses that produce everyday items such as enchanted Hoovers and such. There has been a plethora of newly started private businesses that have been eating up some of the market share that businesses we are shareholders for and many of them are backed by other Founders." She says before stopping. She looks at both sides of the road and crosses "Come quick!" she says as she quickens her pace and Atticus follows.

Atticus finds this whole thing a little amusing. It's the first time he's seen his mother in the Muggle world and she is handling it expertly. 

He's met many pureblood women in his young years and they all seem like they would be unable to cope with the amount of people that walked in the street, let alone deal with the havoc of New York City with their vehicles.

They make it to the other side of the road easily enough "Only one more right and the apparition point should be right ahead. Honestly, if I didn't know why it was so far from the MACUSA building..." she sighs as she trails of.

"Anyway, with the businesses eating up away market shares, our influence politically has also been waning. It seems like a concerted effort by the other founding families. Thankfully, it seems like most of the aggression is kept to business and not politically but it has had Richard, your father and Benedict a little worried."

"Is MACUSA really that important for us? Beyond historical pride?" Atticus asks genuinely

She glances down at Atticus "MACUSA holds a larger number of magicals than Britain and while they do not put importance on blood purity, the influential families are wealthy and have a lot of resources. For us, MACUSA is more than a market." She pauses her lecture "It is rare for any family to hold political power in more than one magical community. Our family is unique in that regard." Atticus scoffs lightly as he smiles at his mother 

"The family is unique in many regards" he jests at which she tuts. 

"Cheeky." She simply says, chidingly before turning serious again "There are of course families that are located in more than one country. The Rosiers are an example of this. They are also influential in both countries. But there are none other than ours that have hereditary seats in multiple nations."

"That gives our family a responsibility to both nations and why it's been traditional to split voting powers between family members. Part of why it is important to the family is also because of Isolt Sayre. You already know that our family takes debts very seriously. Isolt had protected her brother, your direct ancestor, from likely death at the hands of their aunt. She was crucial in ensuring the survival of the Sayre family name. North America therefore is never neglected, politically and economically. She built a school here practically singlehandedly. It is only fair on us to ensure her efforts are honoured." She finally says.

Atticus remains silent for the rest of the walk. They got the apparition point "Ah here we are." She says as the muggle repelling charm washes over them. She sticks out her arm and Atticus grabs hold of her and they disapparated.

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"What, no really?" Sophia laughs and she bends over holding her stomach as she struggles to remain her stool.

"Yes, Theo ended up running, squealing as he attempted to get away from Fila" Atticus says between his laughter. "She ended up chasing him into the castle. He looked haggard and dishevelled when I caught up with him" He smiled.

"I can't believe he thought he could get away with mocking Fila. She's soooo prideful about her appearance." Odette laughs as she props on her elbows to lift herself from the prone position she was in.

Odette and Sara both met Fila at the Spring Equinox gathering prior to his start at Hogwarts. 

Atticus smiles at her "To be fair, I did goat Theo into offending her by saying that Fila did a really funny face in indignation whenever someone said her feathers weren't well taken care of or if someone said her feathers were hideous." 

Atticus admits "He didn't believe me that she understood very well when someone talked about her...especially when it was negative. He couldn't help himself and he ended up paying the price"

"Serves him well for mocking a lady" Sara murmurs though Atticus knew she was joking.

"How is Fila anyway? She was just getting to be too large to fit on your shoulder last time I saw her Atticus" Odette inquires from her position. 

She had her eyes closed and was laid down on the soft grass facing the sun as she seemed to be basking in the sun's rays. 

Atticus dropped himself back on the ground, taking a similar position to Odette and closed his eyes. "She is well. She's growing bigger quicker now. She's tall enough to reach the bottom part of my stomach." Atticus pauses "I think she's meant to have a large grow spurt in the next year or two and from there it tapers off. I think it's a bit like magical maturity in wizardkind." He said shrugging.

Sara hums "So rather than the five we get, she'll have one?" 

Atticus shook his head as it lay on the ground, uncaring that they might not see what he was doing "No, I think she has three. She had a grow spurt after she was born but it was minor, she'll have this large one and then I think maybe one more"

Atticus considers for a moment but continued "Thunderbirds aren't the most well studied animals. There have never been many sightings of Thunderbirds in the first place, let alone contact with them. It makes it difficult to really know what to expect." Atticus smiles as he realises how he knew so much of Thunderbirds 

"Newt Scamander is the only one in perhaps centuries that knows about Thunderbirds from firsthand experience. Pretty much everything I know is either from him or my very own personal experience" Atticus shrugs.

Odette giggles and Atticus opens one eye halfway to glance at her "What's so funny?" Atticus murmurs as he frowns slightly

She gets into a mini laughing fit until she came down "Sorry, I just had image pop up in my mind." Atticus absentmindedly waves his right arm in the air to signify her to get on with it which prompted Odette to throw her little sticks at him to show her displeasure "Behave" she chides but she gets on with it

"I was thinking of how my own familiar Hubert seemed to be so boring in comparison to Fila. Until I realised that she was going to be so much bigger than you, that it is likely you will be the familiar in the relationship instead soon enough. It makes my boring kneazle more preferable." She says. "But from the way she acts now, she undoubtedly thinks she's the leader in the relationship." 

She giggles as Atticus sits up to glare at her slightly and Sophia pipes up and joins in "Merlin, when she gets to be fully mature, she'll take no nonsense attitude with you. She already has you around her claws, won't be long before you start saying 'yes dear'" She smiles beautifully at Atticus.

It was true. Fila and he did have a close relationship. She also seemed to be getting more self-assured which had taken him some taken used to considering how often she used to want to pop into his lap and have him stroke her feathers. Thunderbirds were storms made flesh in many ways. 

They were deathly violent when roused, provoked. Their tempers and sense of superiority was legendary. It is also why they were never successfully hunted and were revered in Native Indian religions. 

Thunderbirds were revered as the animals that controlled the upper world, the skies were their domain. Their anger were made visible and manifested as the storms, the lightning and the thunder.

In reality, Thunderbirds lived up to their mythology in some form. After all, Thunderbirds were capable of generating lightning and were able to exacerbate existing storms into tempests of nature such was their control over the skies.

Their closest relatives were Phoenixes though Thunderbirds weren't immortal. They were able to be killed though it was an incredibly difficult feat and history only notes two and even then, it is not certain if there is truth to it. Atticus found it fitting in truth. If Phoenixes represented life and death, Thunderbirds represented the power of nature. 

It is awe inspiring, capable of great destruction and upheaval but ultimately was necessary for life. It is also not indestructible and man is capable of destroying nature despite its awe inspiring power.

These characteristics of Thunderbirds meant that Fila would become more asserting as she ages, more prideful and her temper would likely grow. Atticus will likely be the only one that she would mute her natural inclinations for she was his familiar. The future relationship with her will be quite interesting.

"Laugh it up, remember if you say she would be like you said she'd be, how do you think she'd be around you girls?" Atticus says raising his eyebrow "She'd be demanding tribute to her holiness from you. Demanding you feed her as you kneeled before her majesty." Atticus dramatically exclaims and Sophia rolls her eyes and scoffs. Atticus looks at her "Remember to remind to tell you I told you so when she asserts herself" Atticus winks at her. Atticus props himself up and jumped to his feet.

Atticus dusts himself off and made his way towards the bank of the lake. He lifts a rock wandlessly and dashed it, intending for the stone to skip in the lake. They were currently at Lake Winnipesaukee on a Saturday afternoon. The lake is surrounded by three mountain ranges, and the crystal clear water made it a scenic place to be. 

The place was a popular place, magical and muggle though the muggles don't know it. 

He's been in the States, Boston, for a week now. He hadn't done much studying nor any training that entire time, which has been pretty much the longest amount of time he has done neither in years. 

It's been pretty good to relax like this. He was taken out of his musings by Sara

"I can't believe how easy magic comes to you Atticus. Even after all these years, even though I'm older and know of magic, I can't seem to be able have anywhere near your kind of connection to magic" 

She bemoans and Atticus chuckles "I'm just awesome that way dear cousin" he mockingly said as he skips another stone in the lake.

They were fairly secluded where they were and he had cast a wandless muggle repelling ward around their location.

"Oh, ignore him Sara. He's just a nerdy nerd that doesn't anything other than study. I bet that's all he does at Hogwarts anyway." Sophia says as she goats him.

Atticus turns to her smirking and casts a stinging hex at her hip "Ow! Oh, you're so dead" She shouts and she fires her own wandless stinging hex. 

Atticus laughs as he dodges her hexes and makes it towards the end of the wooden shoreline. "Nowhere to go now, baby brother" she coos and Atticus simply smiles predatorily at her which makes her hesitant.

She fires hexes at him which Atticus dodges and he jumps towards her and comes at her at speeds that far exceeded normal human range. Sophia yelps as she dives to the ground and Atticus casts a binding charm on her. "I win" he says smugly.

Sara and Odette run towards them and stood shocked at his display and par for the course Sara explodes on him "How did you do that?!" she demands to know.

Atticus laughs "I figured out how to channel magic through my legs. It's a combination of banishing and levitation charms aimed precisely at the angle of my leap. It was a bi-" he stops as Sara scrunches her nose "It was troublesome to actually implement" he says after clearing his throat.

She hated indecent words and while Atticus found it childish, he decided not to use language like that around her. 

...It completely wasn't because she would complain to it to his mother who would then chastise him badly enough to make him feel bad. No, it wasn't because of that at all.

"Can you unbind me please?" a muffled voice rings out and Atticus shifts his eyes to his bound sister and waves his hand. 

She gets up and glares at Atticus "You're such a...ba-...mean brother" she says and Atticus simply smiles at her at which she rolls her eyes as she dusts herself off.

"Can you teach me?" Odette hops on her feet "Please, please please!" Atticus shakes his head "I'm not sure if I can probably teach you it. You will need to know how cast banishing and levitation charms wandlessly and you need to be intimately familiar with your body and your magic to even approach doing what I did. Even then, it requires a lot of practice to get it right." 

Atticus says and he sees her deflate. "Even now, I can rarely get it right more than...maybe four out of ten times?" he admits. 

"It took me ages to be able to banishing, levitation and stinging hexes. I can't do much more than that but Atticus did help me with finding my magic." Sophia says smiling knowing full well that she just volunteered him to teach the cousins wandless magic. The cousins turned to Atticus expectantly.

Atticus sighs "Very well, I will spend some time with you both in the next week to help you get better with your magic and begin you on wandless magic. I don't think you will be able to do it within the week we have but after I give you the starting points, you should be able to train yourself pretty much on your own." He says and pauses for a moment and gets a glint in his eyes 

"Sophia has been able to do wandless for pretty much years now so if you have any questions, she'd be perfectly able to help you now that she's here in the States permanently for the foreseeable future" he says with a flourish. She gives him a mock betrayed face and the cousins both laugh at the sibling interplay.

"Come on, let's get back home in time for dinner." Sara says and everyone quickly agrees. After a quick apparition, they made it to the edge of the wards that covered the grounds.

They continued to talk between themselves as they hike up the narrow pathway, they come across the gated entrance that leads to the Manor house. After Odette taps her wand on the gate, they only need to walk a few minutes before the view of the Manor comes into being.

The manor is situated within 20 acres of forest that makes the manor stand out impeccably amongst the vivid, lush green surroundings. 

The Manor was built in a Victorian English style and it was an imposing home. His uncle, Payet Clito-Beauclerc who owned the house and the surrounding lands, and a native Norman Frenchman was an interesting individual. He had a commanding presence that you couldn't help but straighten up while in his presence. He loved his wife, Atticus' aunt fiercely and he treated his daughters with kindness and care that Atticus seldom saw other purebloods do. 

He was the second born from his family and had left France soon after his NEWTS in pursuit of his own interests. He eventually made it to Canada after a travelling for a few years but found the magical community there to be too small and Franco-centric and made his way south and eventually settled in New York for a brief period of time. 

It was there that Payet met his aunt Viola. His aunt had chosen to attend Ilvermony over either Hogwarts with her brother or Beauxbatons. Markus, his father, had said that his sister had always loved Isolt Sayre's story and she was her idol growing up and had pestered their parents into allowing her to attend Ilvermony rather than the other two schools. 

During that time, his aunt had thrived in the States. The magical community in the States is significantly different than what the majority of European communities are like.

Viola upon graduating had decided to remain the States and work directly for MACUSA. She had fallen in love with the beauty of the country and the structure of the organisation. For the past 10 years she's been working as the Head of Education whose responsibility included informing muggleborns about magic and the community. The way they conducted this was very different though with cause.

The States was particularly hit badly by so called witchhunters and it had caused the community to adopt policies that were far stricter and unforgiving lest they result in the witchhunts to be begin again. 

Many of the witchhunters had connections by either sharing blood with muggleborns, were familiar with families that gave birth to muggleborns or were descendants of squibborns. This had been why the hunts were significantly more successful than the European counterpart. 

Of course there was also the fact that the American communities weren't as well established as European ones therefore were more vulnerable in comparison but generally the connection the hunters had was considered the most pivotal consideration.

Upon the instalment of the Statute of Secrecy, MACUSA developed policies that had muggleborns having their homes assessed at a very early age, to determine whether the family would accept magic and if they were deemed not to, the family would be memory charmed and their children put into foster homes. It was something had happened far too often, even today, his aunt had said. 

With the way MACUSA is organised, beyond a select few communities, magicals lived alongside muggles, rubbing shoulders with them all the while maintaining the secrecy. 

This fact has resulted in the communities being restricted with their wands outside of their home, to the point that it was illegal to cast magic outdoors in locations that weren't secluded. 

When they met, they had hit it off instantly and within a year ended up married after grandfather and Benedict had approved. They shared a love of the American natural beauty and in the end managed to find a secluded home in the far outskirts of Boston, the home Atticus was looking at directly.

The Clito-Beauclerc family were an Old French family that has had its roots in Normandy for more than a thousand years. Their family roots were fascinating. Their direct ancestor was William the Conqueror and the daughter that started the House was none other than the daughter of the son of William's first born son who should have been the King of England's daughter.

William Clito was a muggle that ruled the County of Flanders until his death. His father, Robert was the Duke of Normandy until the day he died at which point his Uncle Henry the First ceased the Dukedom just like he had ceased the English throne upon the death of King William II. 

After William Clito's marriage to Sibylla of Anjou was annulled, William Clito had married a squib daughter of a wealthy magical family, Arquisais in return for their support and their connections to the magical community and soon had begotten a daughter with the woman. Unfortunately for them, King Henry had heard about his actions and promptly sent his own magical forces to deal with the Arquisais family and by the end, William Clito had lost all support from the French magical community. 

The daughter however lived, and was named Adela Clito of Flanders. She was raised by her maternal grandfather who had survived the attacks and had taken it upon himself to raise the last of his family.

When she was but two years old, she was orphaned and her grandfather had deemed it too dangerous for her to remain among the muggles considering the cut throat politics amongst the nobility. 

She was found to have magic when she was seven and she promptly was educated in the magical arts. By the time she was twenty years of age, she was considered to be a powerful witch in her own right. 

She remained single for the next five years, learning at the foot of her grandfather until she met a fellow magical, a son from minor muggle nobility, one who didn't have recognisable magical ancestry and she promptly married him and he took her name, keeping her father's name alive. 

That had been the start of their rise amongst the French. Her claim to the English throne or to Normandy had never been pressed and her descendants continued this behaviour. Instead, they purchased lands as often they could until they were the largest land owners in Normandy once the French Royalty were deposed. 

The Clito-Beauclerc is the only ones that have French royal ancestry though it is effectively meaningless. None the less, their family is highly respected in France and they have a huge stake in the wine industry. They owned vineyards in both the muggle and magical world though the muggle vineyards were done through intermediary houses. 

Their own magical wines were famous around the world. They were able to imbue magical effects in their beverages and though they were not as famous as Ogden's Firewhiskey, they were considered to be the finest wines to have at events. 

The one wine that Atticus truly liked, was a red one that had a fascinating effect. While Odgen's burns and causes subsequent magical effects, The red wine, Domaine de Clito, had an effect of mulberry and black current flavoured cigar smoke that would emanate from the mouth once you savoured the taste. 

It was the one he currently drinking at dinner with the family. 

After they had passed through the gates, the impressive visage of the grounds came into view. It was more ostentatious in comparison to the Sayre manor but it suited the family well. The main pathways lead towards a centre where a statue of some ancestor stood out amongst the greenery of the grounds. It had a park like feel to it. The other side of the manor had many woodland trails and terraced areas fit for large gatherings.

Atticus looked around the dinning room. Whereas Sayre manor had marble in abundance, the Clito home was pine panelled interiors giving a warm, antiquated feel to it.

Atticus was brought out of his musings "So Atticus, I am told that you have passed your examinations in several of your courses and have jumped straight into fifth year when you're only set to start second year? Even here, where self advancement is encouraged, it is unheard of for students to skip so many years" Uncle Payet asks in a French accent.

Atticus turns his gaze towards him "Yes, I received my grades ten days ago. I received Os in all my subjects" he smiles at his uncle. 

"Oh Atticus don't be so modest!" his mother tuts. She rounds toward Payet "He received O+s in all his first year subjects and O+s in his second, third year DADA, Transfiguration, Charms and Potions while received Os for his fourth year examinations in Charms and DADA and O+s in Transfiguration and Potions." She beamed at Payet and turned towards Atticus with a proud smile.

Atticus flushes in embarrassment by his mother's pride. "Such a mother's boy" Sophia mouths in silence and Atticus sends a mild stinging hex at her feet which she lightly yelps at garnering attention from the rest of the table but Sophia composes herself well enough though she took the opportunity to glare at him.

"It won't be as easy this year mother. I spent a lot of time when I was younger so I had a head start in comparison to the other students. I will have to prove myself a lot more this coming year" Atticus shrugs.

"Well, I'm sure you'll do just fine" She says primly.

Atticus changed the subject before anyone else could make a comment "So Sara, Odette, what do you plan on doing after Ilvermony? You'll be in your final year this coming September." Atticus asks.

Odette answers first "Well, I want to become an enchantress!" she says excitedly "At Ilvermony, the support from the administration is excellent." She pauses as she drinks from her wine and continues 

"When you leave Ilvermony, you become enrolled on the alumni list. This allows the school to be informed of former students that have done anything notable or have become experts in certain fields, as you expect" she waves her hand 

"But where the school differs is that these people who have masteries, experts in their chosen fields, have the option of being listed as an option for apprenticeship." She pauses as she takes a breadstick from the table and munches on it. 

She swallows and takes a sip of her wine "This means that instead of students searching high and wide for masters to apprentice under, they can simply contact the listed masters and be interviewed for compatibility pretty much straight away. This cuts time for the students and allows for masters to have students to teach and in most situations to aid in their research."

"For me, I already was interviewed and I have a apprenticeship lined up with Charms Mistress Dietrich when I graduate, as long as I keep up a minimum EE in my NEWTS" She says happily "I've only spent a little time with her but I'm awestruck by her brilliance. She's a frequent publisher in the Charms and Enchantments Weekly Magazine and pretty well known here in the States." She gushes happily.

"Odette, cease your ill manners" her mother Viola chastises her mildly "Sorry" she mumbles as she droops her shoulders. This garners chuckles around the table.

"That's fantastic to hear. Do you know where you will be working after you finish your mastery?" Anne asks Odette.

Odette shakes her head "No, I'm not sure what I'm going to do once I attain my Charms mastery and become an enchantress. I was thinking of maybe starting a company and cater to specific requests." She admits.

Atticus ponders at this and decides to give her an option "I intend to create a company Odette, a company that will sell mass producible goods and so on. I have a number of ideas that I know will become hits." He pauses as he looks Odette over. She looks interested at least "I will likely continue to have a lot of ideas about things but I might not have the time to research them" he admits. It was true. He was going to be doing a lot of things in the foreseeable future and he fully expected other things to be coming up

"So I will need people to research and investigate feasibilities and so on. You will also be able to research during company time in your own interests. You would be fully utilising your talents and you would have time to pursue things of your own." He states.

Odette thinks it over "Aren't you a little young to think about creating a company Atticus? You're only twelve" She asks incredulously. 

Atticus smirks at her but nods "I am for now. I intend to create it when I'm probably around 20, 21. That's seven, eight years from now. Your Charms mastery will be three years correct?" Atticus asks her which she nodded at "So, four years of schooling left and then you have three or so years of independent work which should help you get experience." 

Viola leans forwards "You said that you have ideas that you know will become hits" At this remark, everyone has their full attention on Atticus.

Atticus nods "Yes, I have a number of ideas and some items that I have already completed." He leans back and looks at his aunt "The problem is that a lot of these goods shouldn't be put into the market until after Grindelwald is defeated."

Her eyes widens and Atticus quickly expands on his words to set everyone at ease "None of them are dangerous, only that it makes life easier. That means that it could be used by anybody and I don't want to introduce elements that could jeopardise anything. A lot of my ideas will be novel but things that make sense to have. It is why I expect it be wildly popular once they are out in the public." He finishes.

Odette smiles at him and nods "Well, once you create the company, I will decide then. If you're thinking this far ahead then that can only mean well."

"I agree" says Payet as he swirls his wineglass. He stares at Atticus in a scrutinising way. "When the time comes, let me know if I can invest in the company." He smiles and Atticus inclines his head. He had no real intention of opening his company for investment, preferring to own it outright but he would humour him for now.

Atticus turns his gaze towards Sara and she catches his eyes and sets down her fork and swallows her mouthful. She sips her wine and begins "Well, I'm not sure" she fidgets slightly as she quickly glanced over to her mother who frowned "I've thought of maybe travelling across the Americas with a few friends, investigating sites and ruins of old magical civilisations" her eyes had lit up when she stated this.

Viola interjected at this point "Sara, we have talked about this. Is it not safe to travel the world at this time. When you're older, you can as you like. When you've more capable in magic. But not at eighteen." She states firmly. 

An awkwardness rings out as Sara stares at her plate, with her hands tightly fisted. 

His mother breaks the silence "What if she was to be accompanied with people we could trust? Who would be able to protect her? There is no guarantee that things will die down. There is also no guarantee that there might not be worse things when she is older. If she is taking experienced people who will protect her in her travels, surely that are preferable?" she says gently to her sister-in-law. 

Viola purses her lips and annoyance flickered in her eyes but she sighed "It...could work." At this Sara looks at her mother wide eyed. Viola looks at Sara "But I remain firm that she will not travel at eighteen." She looks unmoved at Sara "But if you complete the Gringotts cursebreaking course, I will allow you to go with an escort of people that are trustworthy." 

Sara looks like she would object but raises her hand "This is the only way that I can accept you travelling to dangerous places, in search of ancient and forgotten magic and history. Please Sara, accept this. The course is only a year to eighteen months long." She says softly.

Her father interjects as well "I agree with your mother, Sara-Bell. This is not much of your mother to ask of you. I will feel secure in my knowledge that you will be well protected and that you will be able to handle yourself if you come across anything nasty. I would feel even better if you added a combat instructor to the cursebreaking course. All of this is only to help you, Sara." he says gently.

Sara sighs as she relaxes "OK, I accept the terms." She says morosely. 

Sophia, who was seated next to her wraps her arms around her "Cheer up, you still get to be an adventurer before the age of twenty." She grins at Sara and Sara returns it slightly. 

"Well, I didn't expect you to be so interested in something like this." Atticus wondered. It was true, he always pegged Sara as a someone who find herself more at ease among books than outdoors, in dangerous, perilous situations.

At this Sara looks up and her eyes damn near twinkled "No one expects the quiet ones Atticus, you should remember that" she winked at him.

Atticus was stunned. Sara rarely joked like this. Even if it was bad. Sophia snorted and that opened up the floodgates to laughter. "Sara, that was terrible" Odette exclaims in joy as she scrapes the chair from under her and literally skipped towards Sara and launched herself towards Odette and hugs her tightly "I'm so proud, she says as she wipes an imaginary tear from her eyes.

"Years of etiquette training and it was all for naught." Viola murmurs at which Payet simply gently tapped her hand in support.

After a little while, and when Odette returned to her chair, Atticus spoke "You know, the muggles have career options that deals with finding age old ruins of civilisation or even long gone species" 

At this Sara lights up and looks intrigued "Really? What is it?" she asks rapidly and Atticus chuckles "It's called archaeology and it is the study human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. They often go and search for locations that might hold ruins from nothing more than clues, hearsay and so on and they comb through these sites in a very scientific way." Atticus pauses.

"It probably would be, at the same time, more difficult and easier, with regards to finding magical sites. Most often, there isn't more than a whisker of ancient magic that remains lingering at sites, making it no different muggle sites."

Atticus now meets her eyes "It would be useful for you to learn more of how they go about their business and apply to yourself."

His mother scoffs "What can the muggles teach us?" she said as frowned at Atticus "Mother, the muggles aren't mindless beasts. They simply don't have magic. They also far more numerous so the number of brilliant minds they have outnumber our own by a multitude of factors. I have no doubt if these people had magic, we'd be reaching a level of understanding of magic that seems imaginary" he says to her gently. She remained stubborn regarding muggles. 

She had been unhappy when Atticus had returned from London a few years ago with books from the muggle world. She had angrily called him a muggle lover which he had calmly taken and explained to her why it was necessary to know.

Of course it didn't help much in the end.

She remains silent, as did the rest of the table "I didn't take you for a muggle lover. Do you British not have a hatred against muggles?" Payet asks raising an eyebrow.

Atticus shrugs "Personally, I found it nonsensical to hate something you do not understand. They have inherited their hatred against muggles from their fathers who inherited from their fathers and so on." Atticus pauses.

"Many of the grievances are valid but that doesn't mean you can remain ignorant to your surroundings and we are surrounded by muggles. To wilfully ignore what they are capable of, what they are working on, is folly and arrogance of the deadliest degree." Atticus looks away from the scrutinising looks.

"How can they hate them when they don't understand them?" Atticus looks at Payet and pins him with a gaze 

"If they truly understood them and what they could do, they would hate, respect and fear them at the same time. The Statute was the correct call at the time. Unfortunately, it also accelerated our own stagnation. Much of the knowledge they have built on is built on from contributions our people gave. Many of their celebrated intellectuals are our people. Our own progress in the natural sciences have essentially halted and most of the population have the barest understanding when the students that were taught at Hogwarts 900 years ago were taught the natural world far better. They were taught chemistry, biology, physics and so on." He pauses

"All of these sciences have gone, disappeared from the curriculum. I do not know when but it is obvious that it has. The schools in Europe only teach elements of the natural world, in line with branches of magic rather than give them a full understanding that will allow them to become better wizards and witches with a good grasp of the natural world."

"I'm not a muggle lover. I'm a lover of knowledge. It despairs me that our people have regressed when they were the pinnacle of researchers, of philosophers and investigators. We were hundreds years ahead of the muggles and in the last couple of centuries have reached parity with us and are beginning to accelerate away from us, leaving us behind as uneducated people stuck centuries in the past." 

He looks at Payet "It is my desire to ensure our people return to better days, days where we are the golden standard of humanity. I only wish to incite this passion of knowledge and ambition to see our people rise once again, separate from the muggles. With our magic, we will be able to reach answers far better and easier than they would be able to. If it means we take their knowledge and build on it, then so be it."

Payet finally answers as he inclines his head frowning "You have...unusual ideas."

Sophia chuckles "Oh, you should have seen him growing up, he was so adorable. He always had all these strange things and ideas and questions to ask." She looked at Atticus fondly "I always knew that he would change things, even then. It doesn't surprise me that he wishes to change our education the way he wants."

Atticus scratches his head in awkwardness. "Well..." he clears his throat and looks at Sara, "So yes, look for archaeology books next time you are in New York. Perhaps the libraries in Boston may hold some too." He says as he hopes to change the subject.

Sara nods at him gratefully and smiles at him knowingly "I will do so cousin" she says.

After that, dinner returned to a more sedate pace and they all retired to their rooms.