Hey everybody,
Here is chapter 2. I will update chapter 3 in one week or when I get a total of ten reviews, which means I only need nine more. I have it mostly written, I just have to edit it. If anyone wants to beta this for me then please send me an email, my email is on my profile.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is all Jo's, characters you don't recognize are mine. Some names are from commonly known legends. If there are any others that you recognize then they aren't mine, I make no money off of this story.
Enjoy.
Chapter 2 "The Unicorn Returns"
Day 9-Sunday, 16 June, 1996: One week before Harry's Escape"
In a small town in Quebec, Canada, a young man of fifteen years of age was readying to return to his home country. A place he had not been for five years.
Once he finished packing he shrunk his suitcase, trunk, and carry-on bag. After double-checking that he had everything the young man, commonly called Ice by those who know him, disappeared from his apartment in a swirl of wind and snow. Down a deserted alley in downtown London he reappeared in the same swirl of snow flurries. Checking that everything had remained safe during the journey he started out of the alley to go to the pub his letter told him to go to. As he rounded the third corner, he saw the sign for the Leaky Cauldron and stepped in. Ice walked up to the bartender and said, "My name is Caleb Moon and there should be a reservation for a suite under my name."
"Ah, yes, one second and I shall check the books," the bartender said, "by the way, my name is Tom and I am the owner here, your suite is number 21 on the second floor. Three weeks worth has already been paid for. If you'll follow me it is right this way."
They walked up the stairs to the second floor, which held only two suites, numbers 21 and 22. Tom opened the door to suite 21 and turned to him, saying, "If you need anything at all just call for a house elf or ask me. Snap twice to get a house elf. Please enjoy your stay and here is your key."
Ice spent the week looking around Diagon Alley and Muggle London as well as studying Muggle and magical history and other subjects. He was very excited for Shadow to finally get there and then, one week later, on June 23rd, while he was eating dinner down in the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, Shadow walked in with a few more people. When it did not look like Shadow had seen him, Ice decided to give him a shock and walked up behind him saying, "Hey Shade, do you want to hear the story of how Ash's shadow crossed the unicorn's war path again or would you rather learn about the heirs and the realm of light?"
Jumping, Harry turned around and nearly cursed when he finally saw who it was that had startled him and was now chuckling heartily. He said, "Ice don't you ever do that to me again you brat, 'bout gave me a heart attack."
"Yeah, but you should have seen your face," Ice exclaimed. Then he spotted the people behind Ash and said, "And who might this lovely lady and your other companions be, hmm?"
"Calanthe, Saiph, and Mark," Harry supplied for him. "They are our aunt, her son, and our uncle's son."
"Okay, your suite is probably the one right across from mine, how about you go ahead and get settled then come back down and have dinner with me," Ice suggested.
"That sounds good Ice, we'll do that. See you in a bit," Harry replied.
During dinner, Shadow and Ice caught up with each other and talked about going to the Realm of Light. They also discussed how to help Calanthe to learn to read since Shadow found out that she might be Dyslexic. Ice told them, "That's okay we can get a book on Dyslexia and see if there are any tips for helping someone with it cope and learn to read, but I think we should go to bed now especially since tomorrow is going to be a very long day full of explanations and shocks."
Day 17-Monday, 24 June, 1996, 8:00 am Ash's (Harry is Ash from now on) room
"WAKE UP, ASH," Ice shouted in Ash's ear while pouring a cup of ice-cold water over his head. Ash, or Shadow as Ice usually called him, sprung up in his bed nearly knocking heads with Ice and glared furiously at him.
"Ice if you ever do that again I will personally make sure you are never able to have kids, got it?" Ash threatened, but Ice just smiled wryly saying, "Yeah, but it was worth it to see you jump like that. Besides, you are going to have to start getting up much earlier than this for training soon anyway. The only reason I'm not starting you lot on training today is because you and I need to discuss some things before our fathers' and the other two get here this afternoon."
At that, he pulled Ash up and shoved him into the bathroom to get a shower. Then Ice called a house elf to order breakfast and request for it to be served in a half an hour. He also went to Calanthe's room to wake her up. Shaking her lightly on the shoulder he said, "Aunt Cally it's time to get up and go get a shower." She sat up and replied, "Okay, I'm up but why are you waking me up so early?"
"Shadow and I need to talk for a while this morning but you should get a shower and then get the others up to get their showers as well. If you could also call a house elf and have breakfast with everyone here in your room, while Ash and I talk in his, we would greatly appreciate it. When we're done talking we'll come in here and get you lot so we can get ready for the rest of the day, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. Go talk to Ash and I'll get in the shower. See you later."
"Thanks."
With that, Ice walked back into Shadow's room and sat down to wait for him to get out of the shower. About five minutes later Ash finished and walked back into the room to get dressed. Ice tossed him an extra plain forest green robe he had so that Ash would not have to wear his school robes. Ash changed into the robe and pulled on the black dragon hide boots Rowan had loaned him then sat down in one of the chairs, across from Ice, in the seating area in the room to talk while eating the breakfast the house-elves had brought up. He noticed that Rowan was also wearing black boots and a moss green robe with two black leather belts slung over the back of his chair, waiting to be put on.
"Okay," Ash started, "first I want to know what your true name is, since no doubt my mom gave you something to inform you to come here and what name to go by."
Ice responded while taking his necklace off, "Yes, she did. This necklace that I have had since I was a baby was a 1st birthday present from her but it is not a normal necklace. She charmed it so only those who know about it can see it and it is truly a chest transfigured into a necklace for safekeeping. A month ago the necklace floated off of my neck and turned back into a trunk automatically because of some sort of time-release spell she used. When I opened it there were letters for me, as well as my real birth certificate, and the instructions for turning the chest back into a necklace, and a wand custom made for me." He set it on the floor, tapped it with his wand, and whispered the words: "Reveal what is hidden."
The necklace suddenly turned into a honey-colored wooden chest and Ice opened it. He took out two sheets of paper and handed it to Ash.
"These are my real and fake birth certificates," Ice supplied when Ash gave him a questioning look.
They said:
Name: Rowan
Ailill Faolan Lupin
Date
of Birth: July 31, 1980
Time
of Birth: 12:01:39 am
Place
of Birth: Gryffin Cottage, Godric's Hollow, Scotland
Mother:
Jasmine Esmerelda Evans Lupin
Father:
Remus Jocelyn Lupin
Name: Caleb Alexius Moon
Date of Birth: July 31, 1980
Time of Birth: 12:04 am
Place of Birth: St. Mark's Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland
Mother: Aoife Deirdre Erikson Moon
Father: Conall Seanan Moon
"My wand is the brother wand to yours but it is made from Elder polished with a silvery wax."
"Figured it would be, Mom knew our nicknames after all and it is just like her to have them waxed in a color that fits them," Ash remarked, "Okay, now, we need to make some sort of list of what we need to do in the next few days."
"First things first," Rowan began, "we need to visit our vaults to get some money, our family robes, and see if there is anything else we could use. There will most likely be better trunks stored in the vaults that we can use. Then, you, Saiph, and Aunt Cally (Calanthe) need new Muggle clothes as well as wearing robes. After that, we should take Mark to get the stuff he will need for school and anything we need for school, once we all get our letters and lists, of course. We should get some money from the vault for Mark so we can also get him everyday robes and dress robes as well as the normal school robes. The rest of the time here we can just train and explore Diagon Alley and Muggle London since we are not completely sure when we will be going to the Realm."
Ash replied, "Sounds good to me. You and I should probably go ahead and look at our vaults now then come back to get ready for our guests tonight. We can go tell the others where we'll be and head out now."
With that, Rowan showed Ash how to tie the belt around his waist and put his on as well. Then, Rowan put his birth certificate back in the chest, and said, "That was the last time that the chest could be changed so it will stay a chest forever now, I'll just go put this up and come back in here while you tell the others where we're headed. Then we can leave."
Once they got to Gringott's they walked up to a desk with a goblin that was currently not attending to anyone else and said, "Excuse us, but we're here to access our vaults. This is our key." They handed the goblin a pure golden key with a diamond in the center of the head. The goblin immediately looked up to inspect them more closely and asked for their full names and state of title. To which they replied, "I am Rowan Ailill Faolan Lupin, primary heir to the line of the Whitetree's of the Elven Realm of Hog's Haven," Rowan proclaimed his rightful title as heir and then Ash proceeded to introduce himself, "and I am Ash Galen Nahuel Snape, primary heir to the line of the Firebird's of the Elven Realm of Hog's Haven." In an instant the goblin's eyes widened and he proceeded, "Yes sirs, my name is Grogin if you should ever require my assistance but I'll need to get my superior to take you to your vault as only the manager and junior manager are allowed down to the vaults of that specific level of security. If you will kindly wait here I will be back in only a moment."
"That's fine," Ash answered and the goblin hurried off to find the manager.
Only a few moments later Grogin returned with the manager who said, "Good morning sirs, my name is Grapplefork and I am the manager of this branch of Gringott's. If you will follow me I will take you to your family vaults." He started walking toward a rather plain looking, dark wood door off to the left as the boys followed. He also asked them, "Is there anything else I can be doing for you gentlemen today?"
"Yes, we would like a complete written record of what is in our trust funds as well as the ancestral vaults. Also, we would like to receive a monthly update on all accounts that are accruing interest, is that feasible?" Ash replied.
"Yes, yes of course we can do a monthly update for you. No problem at all sirs. I will get together the written record of each of yours' holdings up to now while you are looking through your vaults. And I will send the monthly updates to you both starting next month, at the beginning of August." Grapplefork offered.
Rowan answered this time, "That would be wonderful and I also just thought of one more thing that we would like. Do you by any chance have something similar to a Muggle credit card for use in the magical world or in the Muggle world that would take money from a vault we set up for this purpose?"
"Yes we do have a credit card for the Muggle world. We can set you both up with one if you like. It is a little different from Muggle cards in that we do not take a percentage but a fixed rate. It is 8 Galleons per month, you can terminate the account at any time but any partial months in service will be charged the full 8 Galleons. We do not have a credit card for the magical world, but we do have a special money bag. It is charmed weightless, expanded, and to recognize the owner's hand and magical prints. You just put your hand on the bottom where there is a rough outline of a hand and state how much money you need. The money will then be transferred from the checking vault to the moneybag and you can get it out. No one else can use these bags and they are complimentary for members who have more than 25,000 Galleons in their checking vault." The Gringott's manager replied.
"That sounds perfect to me, what about you, Rowan?"
"Wonderful, thank you very much for your assistance Grapplefork, we will not forget your kindness to us today." Rowan praised. Then Ash said, "We would each like to get a Muggle credit card and the magical money bag. If you would go ahead and set up one checking vault for us to share with 20 million Galleons, 50,000 Sickles, and 100,000 Knuts transferred from our joint vault from the founders into it, we would greatly appreciate it."
"That can be arranged quickly," Grapplefork replied, "I will just take you to your vaults now and then see to everything you have asked. When I return to show you how to get out of your vaults, I will have the account summary information as well as the moneybags and credit cards and the paperwork to be signed for those. If I can just get your pictures now so that I can make those cards while you are looking around we can head down to the vaults." With that, he took out a camera, snapped their pictures, and then had them get into the cart to take them down to their vaults.
Riding down to the vault, Rowan and Ash noticed that while the ride was still fast the cart was more comfortable than the others were and the track did not have any other tracks intersecting or branching off of it like the normal tracks. Ash spoke up, questioning, "Why does this track have no other tracks branching from it?"
"This track goes to your vaults as the heirs of the four and only your vaults. Only I, the junior manager, Braxtle, and the two of you can enter the room this cart starts from, so you may come in and go straight to your vaults without assistance in the future if you wish." Grapplefork answered, "You can, of course, bring someone with you to your vaults but they must stay with you at all times if they do not wish to become trapped."
They rode past many stalagmites and stalactites. On one landing they went by they even saw a small Norwegian Ridgeback and two Black Cloud dragons. The cart continued downward as the temperature dropped considerably. Finally, the ride stopped at a small platform coming from the wall on the right side. In the wall, was a beautiful cherry wood door that was large enough a giant could walk through it without having to stoop at all. On the door was a carving of the combined crest of the four founders of Hogwarts about ten feet up and to the left side of the door and right next to it was the crest of the Order of the Emerald Dragon. Grapplefork stepped out of the cart followed by the shocked and gaping young men. He took the key and placed it in the hole placed about four feet above the ground in the middle of the door. As soon as the key was fully in the door, a small stone basin hovered in front of the goblin. He turned to the boys and said,
"You each need to prick your finger with this pin and then allow a drop of blood to fall into this basin. After that, place your right hands on the spots on the door where the Unicorn and Phoenix are depicted. State your English and Elven names along with your title in Wizarding society and Elven society. Also, list your parents' names and from what line you are descended. With that done you should be granted access to the entrance room of your vaults."
Both boys then pricked their fingers and allowed a drop of blood to gather in the basin. Then Rowan placed his right hand on the heart of the rearing unicorn carved at about five feet five inches from the ground on the right side of the door while Ash did the same only on the heart of the phoenix carved on the left side of the door next to the unicorn. As the oldest, Ash went first saying, "My English name is Ash Galen Nahuel Snape, son of Severus Schuyler Snape and Lily Angeline Evans Snape, Phoenix Child, Lord Ambrosius, Lord Gryffindor, and Head of the Lineage of Gryffindor and Pendragon, and hailed from the lines of Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. My Elven name is Inoiwohita Miajorabu Lobushiwo of the Ethowoifa'iz of Heweabi Buwoi Woihino and Diraimiakusu Shiahita."
Then Rowan said, "My English name is Rowan Ailill Faolan Lupin, son of Remus Jocelyn Lupin and Jasmine Esmerelda Evans Lupin, Unicorn Child, Lord Le Faye, Lord Slytherin, and Head of the Lineage of Slytherin and Loxley, and hailed from the lines of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. My Elven name is Zaodidrawoi Luta Guidiwo of the Ethowoifa'iz of Heweabi Buwoi Woihino and Emiasowomi Shiahita." Immediately after he uttered the last word the massive door opened away from them to allow them in.
Once they walked into the entrance hall, they were gaping even more than they were when they saw the door. The ceiling was nearly 30 feet high, white alabaster carved into a dome shape. The floor was made of a beautiful black marble with striking white patterns all along it. Gorgeous, honey colored, oak wood served as the walls and the dome ceiling was charmed to look as if it were the night sky with the appropriate constellations showing for that time of year. Straight across from the entrance door were four doors, each a different color stone. The first one on the left was made of a Black Alabaster, which was really a very dark brown that looked black, then a gray marble stone with silvery-gray and black highlights very fittingly called Storm Cloud Marble, next was a very deep orange marble with black stripes aptly called Orange Tiger Marble, and then was an Ice Blue Marble door that was a very deep blue color with a few highlights of slightly lighter shades of blue. The first door on the left held Ash's monetary inheritance and the next one was Rowan's monetary inheritance. Both of the last vaults were shared by Rowan and Ash. The Orange Tiger vault held all the furniture, weapons, books, musical instruments, and other various items the four founders had left for them. The last vault held their combined monetary inheritance from the four founders. As Grapplefork pointed to the last door to explain what it was he also said, "The founders were very specific with the instructions that only the two of you can take money from this vault even if you are not of age and someone else has control of your finances. Also, you must take the money personally. If you wish, I will take the money from this vault to set up your checking vaults."
"Yes, that would work well," Ash replied and added, "could we have any of our money or other holdings from any inheritances moved to these vaults so that we do not have so many vaults to look after?"
"Oh, I meant to tell you that the founders arranged for that to happen a few months before your 16th birthday so that you would not have to ask that. You can only access the trust funds set up for you by James Potter because his will has technically not been read yet and any further inheritance from him is pending as is the money and holdings from a Mr. Sirius Black because the will has not been read yet, but as soon as both of those wills have been read, those holdings will be transferred. I will go ahead and have the trust funds transferred to a vault that will connect to this room so you can access them from here." Grapplefork stated.
"Thank you for informing us of that. Will the statements denote whom the money or items in these vaults are from?" Rowan asked
"Yes, they will. Now I will be getting up to the offices to do as you have asked and allow you to take a look around. The deeds for all landholdings and companies are in the desks here in the foyer." With that, the helpful goblin went back upstairs.
Since they knew the other vaults just held money and that they would get a statement later that day both boys decided to check out the storage vault first. When both young men were inside the vault, the lights automatically flared to life and both of the heirs were shocked for the third time in less than an hour. Finally, after gaining some semblance of control the heirs began to explore their vault.
It was a very large circular room with the wall made of White Alabaster. The diameter of the room was 55 feet. Dark Cherry wood made up the floor and the 20 foot length, four foot high half-walls that divided each area from the next. A slightly darker stain was used for the floor than for the half-walls, and there were seven half-walls to separate the seven areas the room was divided into. Two trunks sat in the circle in the middle of the room and both young men decided to see how much the trunks could hold before exploring the vault.
One trunk was a beautiful, deep black ebony wood with a fine sheen to it from its polish. It also had gorgeous platinum fastenings and hinges. Etched into the middle of the top was a beautiful picture of a blazing inky black Shadow Phoenix with silver tipped wings, which were spread as if gliding in the air, and glimmering, soul-piercing emerald eyes. A small child with tan skin, a white tunic and pants, midnight black hair that was barely discernible from the glossy black feathers of the phoenix behind him, and eyes that seemed to be every color of the rainbow separately yet all at once was standing tucked up under the phoenix's head. In silvery lettering that flowed and swirled across the trunk almost like it was the written embodiment of the phoenix' tongue was the name Ash Galen Nahuel Snape, with his Elven name scribed just above it in the Elven text. There were seven locks on the trunk and one platinum key, with a square-cut onyx and twelve small emeralds surrounding it in the head of the key, sitting on the top of the trunk.
The next trunk was a very earthy Southern Yellow Pine with a clear finish and bronze fastening and locks. A pure white Battle Unicorn with its white horn, wings, and hooves coated with a silvery-golden sheen stood tall and proud in the middle of this trunk. Both wings were spread with their tips touching above its head and a small boy with tanned skin that seemed to glow dressed in a forest green tunic and deep brown leather pants with tawny, golden hair tied with a leather cord at the base of his neck and slung over his right shoulder looked out at the observer with piercing eyes, which seemed to change from the color of the midnight sky with stars twinkling from them to a warm forest green that looked to be overlaid on top of a dark brown soil color that belied the child's ties to the forest. Rowan Ailill Faolan Lupin was written across the trunk in a script that was decidedly masculine but still had a soft, natural look to it. His Elven name was also written above his English one like Ash's was on his trunk. Also, there were seven locks on this trunk as well and a bronze key, with a triangular shaped diamond and twelve small emeralds around it in the head of the key, sitting on the top.
Driven by some strange instinctive, irresistible pull each young heir picked up the key to their respective trunks and placed it in the palm of their wand hand, right for Ash and left for Rowan. Suddenly, the keys seemed to melt into their palms and what appeared to be small exact tattoo replicas of their respective keys showed up on their index fingers while they watched, transfixed at the site. Without knowing how they knew the information, both boys now understood that their trunks could only be opened by themselves no matter how someone else tried.
"Well, what do you say we spend a few minutes checking out our trunks and see what all these compartments are for, eh?" Rowan asked his cousin.
"Sure," Ash replied, "sounds like a plan to me. But we should limit our exploration to no more than 20 minutes. Right now, we just need to know how much stuff we can put in our trunks from this vault and still have room for some of the stuff we already have. We can thoroughly explore later."
"Yeah, whatever. Let's go, I want to see what's in my trunk." Rowan stated, almost petulantly.
As they opened the first compartment the trunk turned on end and they saw that it was for school supplies as one side had shelves to stack old and new school books, as well as drawers for parchment, ink, and quills, and the other side had a small hanging rack for school robes and a few extra outfits with a place to put shoes up underneath and drawers for underwear and socks. Closing the trunk again they placed their fingers to the next lock. Again, the trunk opened in the same manner but one side had places to keep brooms, broom cleaning kits, Quidditch robes and gear, while the other appeared to go back at least 5 feet deep and had room for other Quidditch equipment and/or other sports equipment.
At the third compartment, however, the lid just lifted upwards and a ladder came up out of the bottom of the trunk. Shrugging, the boys decided to climb down. Once they were down in their respective trunks they found potions workrooms the likes of which Professor Snape would drool over with doors to potions storerooms that contained many different ingredients, some being so rare that no one had used a potion involving them in centuries. Climbing out of the trunk, Ash and Rowan just stood gaping at each other in shock of what was inside.
Not even able to imagine what more could be in their trunks they closed the lids and opened them for the fourth time. The ladders rose up again and again both boys disappeared into the depths of their trunks. This time they found a library at least half the size of the one in Hogwarts with rows upon rows of books and one corner of the room held a desk and desk chair, two armchairs, a couch, and a coffee table making a very effective study/reading room area.
Again, in the fifth compartment there were two rooms connected like the potions rooms were. One room was a Muggle martial arts training room equipped with hanging punching bags, dummies to practice hitting vulnerable spots, a mat on the floor, floor to ceiling mirrors on two walls, weapons on one of the remaining walls, and some extra floor space to add more equipment. The next room, which was connected to the first one through a door on one of the walls, was set up for magical dueling purposes. It was semi-circular in shape and had a large circular platform raised a foot off the floor in the middle of the room. About four feet of floor space was in between the rounded wall and the platform with the platform nearly connecting with the flat wall of the semi-circular room. Magical dummies that told you the power and accuracy of spells you cast were hung up on the flat wall.
In the sixth compartments of their trunks was the most shocking thing yet. As the boys lowered themselves into this compartment it was like they were walking outside. The compartment was very forest-like with grass, trees, rocks, and even streams running in it. It was a perfect place for their owls, and any other pets they might get, to stay in when they needed to travel. However, even though the boys thought nothing else could shock them at this point, they were speechless when they descended into the seventh compartment of their trunks.
Each trunk had living quarters as its seventh compartment and in each living quarter there was an average sized sitting room with a meeting room branching off from the left side and a kitchen branching off from the right. An island bar counter separated the kitchen from the sitting room and low, three foot high half-walls separated the meeting rooms. Straight across from the ladder was a curtained opening to the bedroom with 4 ½ foot high half-walls separating it from the rest of the room. Inside the bedroom to the left were tall screens hiding the toilet, sink and large, Jacuzzi style bath tub/shower combinations from view. The beds were in the middle of the room with the headboard about five feet from the wall. Behind the beds were the dressers and even some hanging space, with shoe racks on the floor underneath the racks and room to change. To the right side of the room were two doors, one of which connected the two trunks together. This feature makes it possible for Ash and Rowan to get to each other even if they are not in the same country because the door works sort of like a portkey to take them to the others' trunk. The other door went to a hallway that allowed them to access the other compartments of the trunk.
With the exploration of their trunks finished for the moment they decided to start going to the right of the room and work their way back around to the door. Ash and Rowan had cast levitating charms on their trunks to float behind them, so they walked into the first area and were only slightly amazed to find a mini-library with many bookshelves filled to the brim with books of all kinds, after what they had seen in their trunks. There were books on Transfiguration, Animagi, Metamorphmagi, Light Creatures, Dark Creatures, Cursed Creatures, Potions, Household Charms, General Charms, Dueling, Defensive Magical Theory, General Magical Theory, Muggle Defense, Muggle and Magical History, Philosophy and Religion, Psychology, Mathematics and Science, Languages, Herbology and Muggle Horticulture, Occlumency and Legilimency, Pranks, Strategy, Muggle Healing and First Aid, Magical Healing, and a section of Muggle and magical fiction books for enjoyment. Ash turned to Rowan saying, "As much as I am sure we both would love to just browse in that library for the rest of the day we should just grab some books on Animagi, Defense, Occlumency, and pranks for now until we can come back when we have more time to just look around. We should also bring my friend, Hermione here, she would love this place."
"Yes, from what you have told me about her, I'm sure she would. However, we should get those books like you said and look around the rest of the place since it is already 10:00 AM and we should go back to the rooms for lunch so the others do not get worried." And with that Rowan walked into the library area towards the Animagi books while Ash moved towards the books on Occlumency.
Rowan immediately noticed a small, journal sized, dark purple, almost black, leather bound book. Pulling it out he saw the title Animagi: the Human Connection to the Inner Animal, subtitled A Guide to Finding Your Animal Counterparts and Becoming Them, written in a flowing, elegant script with bronze ink. Opening it to the first page he found that it was written by Merlin and decided to take it out from the vault. Looking briefly at the other books on Animagi he did not see any that caught his fancy so he turned to the Dueling and Defensive Theory sections to pick out a few books. He added Fighting and Fleeing: the Soldier's Guide to Knowing When to Act (by Godric Gryffindor), Stealth and Observation (by Paranos Marksmen), and Defensive Magic: What Constitutes Defensive Magic? (by Maiara Goldstone) to his collection and then decided to see what Ash had picked up.
Hence, the young Unicorn Child ambled over to his cousin, who was currently in the prank section. When he was standing beside Ash, the Phoenix Child said, "I picked out two books on Occlumency called, Meditation Techniques: a Beginner's Guide to Controlling Your Emotions and Magic (by Helga Hufflepuff) and Occlumency: the Art of Defending Your Mind and Deceiving a Legilimens (by James Potter). I also picked up three books on pranks titled, The Art of Prank Warfare (by Art Hilarus), Potions, Charms, and Spells: How to Combine Methods of Pranking (by Remus Lupin and Severus Snape), and finally The Legend of the Marauders: The Original Hogwarts Four and their Legacy (by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflepuff). Do you think we should check and see what sort of Magical Theory books we have?"
"Sure, there might actually be something worthwhile in here instead of the rubbish in modern stores," Rowan responded. So, the boys strolled over to the Magical Theory section to browse the selection. While they were looking Rowan also showed Ash what books he had picked out. Ash came across something interesting first. He took the medium sized, emerald green, dragon hide book from the shelf, just as Rowan found an interesting burgundy cowhide leather book which he pulled down from another shelf. Turning the book he had in his hand over to see the front, Ash saw the title Magickal Sight, subtitled Unlocking the Mysteries of Magickal/Magical Theory, by Lily Snape and Jasmine Lupin. Then Rowan showed Ash the book he had taken down which was titled Faopes, Elufas, and Humans: the Difference in Magical Energy and Approaches, by Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Each boy had made sure to grab an extra copy of the books they had picked out from the sections they assigned themselves and so they split the books between them, each having one copy of every book they chose to take with them that day, and placed them carefully in the libraries of their respective trunks. With that done, the two young men strode over to the next area in the vault.
Upon entering the second storage area they found cauldrons of all shapes, sizes, and makes as well as shelves upon shelves of ingredients. The potions ingredients were separated by volatility, temperature-controlled, and all others firstly. Then they were sorted by whether it was from a plant or an animal and, lastly, in alphabetical order by what plant or animal it came from. Such as, the Dragon parts were all grouped together and the different parts of the Purple Poppy were grouped together and so on and so forth. Ash and Rowan decided to get what potions ingredients were not already in the potions' storerooms of their trunks and leave the rest of the ingredients in the vault. Since they already had the pewter, standard size two cauldron for school they picked out other cauldrons that they knew they would need for certain potions. Finally, they came to a beautiful cauldron large enough for both of them to fit in comfortably. It was made of a magical stone, called Rainbow Lake Crystal, as the stone was a clear color with ribbon-like swirls of emerald green, ruby red, silver, gold, royal blue, violet, and pure black floating inside the clear stone. The boys decided to put this cauldron in Rowan's trunk and give it to Ash's dad to use.
The third area of the vault held musical instruments of all sorts. Trumpets, flutes, lutes, fiddles, harps, and drums of all sizes filled the place. Rowan picked out a gorgeous mahogany lute and carefully placed it in its equally beautifully black iron case with mahogany wood inlays then transferred it into his trunk while Ash found a wooden flute (recorder style) made from Macassar Ebony that he transferred to his trunk after putting it in its oak wood case. They also picked up some of the Elven instruments that were in this area. Ash got some Buenukus (Elven standing drums) and Kichuses (Elven violins) while Rowan got some Kusukeyes (Elven hanging drums) and Fameles (Elven flutes). That finished, they went to the next area of the vault.
Entering the fourth area of the vault they saw that it was mainly old furniture and, since they had no need for furniture because the trunks were already fully furnished, they made their way to the next area, which they found was full of clothes and jewelry.
There were sets of robes for the Phoenix and Unicorn Children, which Ash and Rowan immediately took and draped across their arms. Ash's Phoenix robes were a deep purple. A pure white Vera Phoenix had its head on the left shoulder with one wingtip stretched toward the right shoulder while the other stretched around left ribs and arm and touched the wingtip of a Shadow Phoenix that had its head resting at about the area above the left ribcage and the other wingtip stretched to touch the wingtip of the Vera Phoenix that was at the right shoulder of the robes. White and silver embroidery of runes, ivy, and phoenixes went around the neck, bottom, and slits; white and silver embroidery of runes, ivy, and unicorns was on the arm cuffs. The cloak that went with it was a midnight violet with white fur lining that would remain cool in summer but warm the wearer during the winter.
The Unicorn robes were the same deep purple but the picture was of a rearing Thenyinus (Elven Battle) Unicorn leader. The metallic black, silvery-golden sheen covered horn pointed toward the left shoulder while the head and body wrapped around the right ribs and arm, the wings spread across the front and back of the right shoulder and arm. A Thenyan (High Elven) Unicorn was facing toward it with its pure white, amber sheen covered horn pointing toward the Thenyinus' horn. Its head and body wrapped around the left ribs and arm with its wings wrapped around the front and back of the left shoulder and upper arm. White and silver embroidery of runes, ivy, and unicorns went along the neck and the bottom of the robes while white and gold embroidery of runes, ivy, and phoenixes went around the cuffs of the arms. His cloak was the same as Ash's cloak.
Next, the boys took the traditional clothes worn with their different titles and some other traditional clothes of the time of the founders. With these robes came the cloak clasps belonging to each family. The Gryffindor cloak clasp was a golden phoenix with its wings spread and tiny ruby, orange, and yellow stones throughout the wings with orange stones for the eyes. A white gold coiled snake with tiny stone scales of emerald, jasper, and obsidian was the Slytherin cloak clasp.
Then, they came across the typical clothes an Elf would wear that consisted of tunic-like, long-sleeve shirts, loose fitting pants, moccasin type shoes or sandals, and lightweight over-robes that stay open in the front to show the clothes underneath. The pants and shirts were made of Elven Chameleon Silkworm thread, called Shinoizahin, twined with cotton and came in various earthy colors like dark brown, forest green, moss green, sky blue, dark blue, tans of varying shades, blood red, white, grays, and black. The shoes were made from an Elven leather, called Soratai, that was a very light brown, but can be dyed, and the over-robe made of purely Shinoizahin thread that was a silvery gray most of the time but would allow one to blend in with his or her surroundings if he or she so wished. Some of the Soratai belts that tied around the waist with the ends hanging down were also with these clothes.
Battle robes were the next item to be picked up. Ash's and Rowan's both had under layers made of dragon hide with Ihiayiwo, an Elven silver-like metal, twined within the material to increase the protection from magical spells and protect from someone seeing through the material. Both the pants and shirts would shrink to size and both were a silvery-white color. The under layer shirt had a high turtle neck collar and the sleeves went down to just below the wrist; the pants went down to just below the ankle.
The next layer was the shirt and pants, the pants were loose and allowed a lot of room for long strides or kicking, the shirts were a lot like V-neck Karate tops but they came down to just above the knees and the arms stopped at the elbow. They were made of Hivoluami, an Elven thread made from the leaves of an Elven tree, twined with Ihiayiwo, to keep people from seeing through them to check for weapons or other hidden articles. Dark brown Soratai belts went across the waist of the shirts like a karate belt but with no knot and no ends hanging down.
Rowan's pants were a dark brown with tan colored Soratai patches on the knees; his shirt was a dark forest green with light green colored Soratai patches on the elbows. Ash's pants were the same color as Rowan's with the leather patches on the knees as well, but his shirt was a dark, wine red also with elbow patches, which were a light rose red.
An over-robe completed the ensemble, designed to stay open in the front to show the clothes beneath, the robes looked a lot like trench coats without the buttons down the front. The arms stopped just above the elbows with the sleeves of the shirt extending from underneath. The bottom was right at mid-calf level and the robes were made of Shinoizahin Pewoita, an Elven chameleon silkworm thread. The clasps were made from Ihiayiwo shaped like leaves with green crystal inside the outline. The boots came up to right below the knees, going over the dragon hide under layer, they were made from dark brown dragon hide that blended in with the pants and Ihiayiwo was also twined within the material to make them stronger.
There were also four wand holsters, two made from Chuzagumi, an Elven sheepskin, twined with Ihiayiwo and two made with Johidilu, an Elven metal that is like a mix of gold and pewter, and Demiguise hair. These two holsters will turn invisible as soon as they are put on. There was one of each for each boy. Each article was spelled to fit the wearer as soon as they first put them on.
Finally, they started to look through the jewelry. Not being very interested in the necklaces or bracelets they saw because neither of them had any female interests to give them to yet, they started to look through the earrings wondering if they would find something they like. No sooner had both boys thought this than they were looking at two earrings that seemed to be missing their other half and to go along with their family robes cloak clasps. One earring was a golden phoenix with its wingtips touching above its head instead of spread out, but the rest of its features were the same as Ash's cloak clasp, except on a smaller scale, so he put it in his pocket. The other earring was a white gold coiled snake that was exactly the same as Rowan' clasp except smaller and coiled the opposite direction. After pocketing it he turned to Ash saying, "Well, I have always wanted to get my ear pierced so I guess I just have to find a place to get it done at now."
"Yeah, me too," Ash replied. They put their clothes in their trunks and headed out of the clothing area.
Moving into the sixth area, they found racks upon racks of weapons. They took a few of the different swords as well as a Bo staff, nunchukus, daggers, throwing knives, and throwing stars. Ash immediately noticed a scabbard missing its sword so he walked over to get a better look at it. It was a semi-hard case made from what appeared to be thinly cut balsa wood lined with Elven sheepskin soft leather, called Chuzagumi, and wrapped in a dark blood red and obsidian black colored dragon-hide. The Elven characters on the case, however, are what caught the Phoenix Child's eye as one was the character for the Phoenix Child while the other was the Elven name of Godric Gryffindor. Immediately upon seeing that name, he knew which sword belonged to this case and resolved to ask the headmaster what happened to it when he would see him later in the day. Rowan was inspecting a Zabuihi bladed, an Elven steel, sword with a hilt and cross guard that were wrapped in a very dark green, almost black leather. It also had a brilliant emerald cut in a diamond shape surrounded by tiny diamonds making the combination an oval shape set into the intersection of the cross guard and hilt. The scabbard was made of the same thinly cut balsa wood and lined with Chuzagumi as Ash's, but was wrapped in a deep hunter green and silver dragon-hide. Elven characters for the Unicorn Child and the name Salazar Slytherin were etched into it. The boys also picked out a number of the Elven weapons and some slingshots and stones.
The seventh and final area of the vault held a variety of incense and two magical journals. The two journal volumes they got were metallic red and black with silver writing stamped across that said Ash Galen Nahuel Snape, and metallic green and white hunter green with gold-bronzeish lettering that said Rowan Ailill Faolan Lupin. They could add the date by saying "Scribo vicis (the date(s))." Lastly, the boys perused the variety of candles and incense picking out the ones with prudent uses, such as strengthening, relaxing, mind clearing, sleep inducing, and nausea reducing scents.
With their findings tucked safely away in their trunks the two young heirs made their way back into the entrance chamber of the vaults. When they did not see Grapplefork waiting for them Ash questioned, "Shall we look in the desks at the property deeds and company shares we have while we wait for Grapplefork's return?"
Rowan nodded and they headed over to the desk that was a few feet away from the door to the cart platform and opened up the two drawers on the left-hand side to see what was in them. In the top drawer were extra quills, ink, and their personal stamps of authenticity. Since there were two of each family seal stamp and four of the Unicorn/Phoenix Child stamp, they both took one of their family seals to use and one, each, of the joint Unicorn/Phoenix Child seal to use. Then the second drawer had what they were looking for. Two stacks of parchments stood. One being Ash's stack and the other being Rowan's.
Ash's land properties from Gryffindor were White Cloud Estate in the Alps in Switzerland off of the Rhone River, and Griffin's Lair in the forested mountain lands of England. Company holdings included: Woodsmen Wares, which was started by Godric Gryffindor and provided broom makers, wand makers, instrument makers, and builders with the needed wood, and Excalibur's Swordsmen, a company which crafts all sorts of weapons and trains people to use them, from Arthur Pendragon.
Rowan's land properties from Slytherin were Black Smoke Mountain in northern Scotland near Loch Ness Lake and by the Caledonia Canal about two hours from Inverness, and Serpent's Cave in a magical oasis in northern Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea. His companies from Slytherin and Loxley: a magical equestrian training stables, complete with horses and grounds, called "Sherwood's Knight Training stables, from Robyn Loxley. Salazar Slytherin had started a company called Prime Potions Property, which is the mother company of three others consisting of: Ready Made Potions to sell to apothecaries or directly to buyers, Seamless Cauldrons-making cauldrons of all materials and sizes to sell to cauldron shops across Europe, England, and Ireland, and also Flawless Phials-making crystal, glass, and specialized phials to sell to supply shops in Europe, England, Ireland, and America. The deeds and other holdings they inherited from Sirius and James were not yet transferred because neither wills have been read yet.
Both young men took their land property and company deeds and placed them in bindings, the metallic red and black for Ash and the metallic green and white for Rowan.
At half past twelve, Grapplefork came back in with the account summaries, cards, money bags, and set up the two connecting vaults for the trust funds with a wave of his hand. After the two new doors appeared he handed the summaries to each young man to peruse and organize in their book binders.
Rowan looked at his account summary, which said:
Pending from:
Sirius Black:
Monies: 485,933,891 Galleons (G) 477,060 Sickles (Si), and 483,995 Knut (K)
Other:
Landholdings- Grim Manor-northern coast of Spain, halfway between Santander and A Caruña
Companies- Midnight's Silver Light Store, in London proper not far from Charring Cross Road
Furnishings, etc- all furnishings and material possessions within Grim Manor and the MSL Store
James Potter:
Monies: 745,850,644 G. 984,525 Si. 1,877,685 K.
Other:
Landholdings- Merlin's Overlook-southern coast of France, halfway between Nice and Marseille
Companies- Tactile Textiles, White Alder Way, branching off of Poplar Park near Hogsmeade
Furnishings, etc- all furnishings and material possessions within Merlin's Overlook and Tactile Textiles
Available holdings from:
Trust Fund: 601,020 G. 4,683 Si. 135,930 K. (contributed to by James and Adhara Potter, and Remus and Jasmine Lupin)
Morgaine Le Faye:
Monies: 2,100,457,735 G. 10,209 Si. 18,573 K.
Other:
Landholdings- Fairy Court, castle on the northern coast of Africa, in the middle of a magical
oasis
Companies: Fairy Lights, office in the Fairy Court
Furnishings- All furnishings in the vaults and in the abovementioned landholdings
Slytherin & Loxley:
Monies: 2,060,812,863 G. 9,958 Si. 20,759 K.
Other:
Landholdings-Black Smoke Mountain, Scotland
Serpent's Cave, Egypt
Companies- Prime Potions' Properties (Salazar), office located in Oakwind Court
Sherwood's Knight Training, office located in the main stables
Furnishings, etc- all furnishing & material possessions within the landholdings and the companies
Ash's account summary said:
Pending from:
Sirius Black
Monies: 485,933,891 G. 477,060 Si. 483,995 K.
Other:
Landholdings- Alphard's Island, located on an island between Sardinia and Sicily
Companies- Warrior Warlocks' Weapons Supply Outlet, Oakwind Court, just off of Diagon Alley
Furnishings, etc- all furnishings & material possessions in Alphard's Island & WWW Supply Outlet
James Potter:
Monies: 745,133,898 G. 984,525 Si. 1,877,685 K.
Other:
Landholdings- Sapphire Isle, an island off the northern coast of Scotland
Companies- Fearless Flyers, office located in White Alder Way
Furnishings, etc-all furnishings and material possessions within Sapphire Isle and Fearless Flyers
Available holdings from:
Trust Fund: 600,989 G. 4,590 Si. 135,921 K. (contributed to by James and Adhara Potter, and Severus and Lily Snape)
Merlin Ambrosius:
Monies: 2,085,347 G. 9,050 Si. 20,859 K.
Other:
Landholdings- Merlin's Keep, a castle in the air
Companies-Merlin's Minds, office wherever new Lord chooses
Furnishings- All furnishings in the vaults and in the abovementioned landholdings
Gryffindor & Pendragon:
Monies: 2,100,432,439 G. 8,755 Si. 22,984 K.
Other:
Landholdings-White Cloud Estate, Switzerland
Griffin's Lair, England
Companies-Woodsmen Wares (Godric), office located in Rowan Drive, just off of Poplar Park
Excalibur's Swordsmen, office in Birch Alcove, off of Hogsmeade
Furnishings, etc- all furnishings and material possessions within the landholdings and companies
Shared holdings:
Pending from:
Sirius Black:
Landholdings- Black Manor, 12 Grimmauld Place, also owned partly by Saiph Black
Furnishings, etc-all furnishings and material possessions contained within the Black Family Vault and Black Manor except for those which are specifically marked for other people
James Potter:
Landholdings- Potter Manor in the south of Scotland and Gryffin Cottage in England
Furnishings, etc-all furnishings and material possessions contained within the Potter Family Vault
Available holdings from:
The Founders:
Monetary bequests:
Normal Vault: 21,054,178,935 G. 150,833 Si. 398,720 K.
Checking Vault: 20,000,000 G. 50,000 Si. 100,000 K.
Other:
Landholdings-Phoenix Counsel Bastion, on 355 acres of land within the Emerald Forest in Ireland
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in Scotland
Ahearn Nuada Caedmon Brac's Children's Home (no longer in operation), in Ireland
Companies- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
ANCB's Children's Home
Furnishings, etc- all the furnishings and material possessions within Phoenix Counsel Bastion and ANCB's Children's Home, as well as Hogwarts (except, of course, for what the students and employees bring with them while they live at the castle), and the furnishings and material possessions within the Phoenix/Unicorn Child Vault in Gringott's
The Round Table Four:
Monetary Bequests: 100,204,563 G. 200,680 S. 458,922 K.
Other:
Landholdings- Avalon, on a protected island off of Ireland
Furnishings, etc.- All that was left in the vaults or in the abovementioned landholdings
Charity funds:
Vault 1: 250,000,000 G. 100,000 Si. 450,000 K. pending from Sirius Black,
450,000,000 G. 185,000 Si. 370,500 K. pending from James Potter,
550 million Galleons available for use (from the Founders)
The one vault set up for charity funds does not, currently, fund any of the existing charities in the Muggle or magical worlds. This vault has been set up for the creation of new charities.
Note: Albus Dumbledore has continually tried to gain access and control of the various vaults under each of your names. As the will was executed here at Gringott's we one of three original copies, none of which can be altered. Please make an appointment with the Last Wills and Testament department to have readings of the Potter, Lady Lupin, Lady Snape, and Black wills.
When they finished reading their statements and organizing them in the book binders (Ash used his metallic red and black one while Rowan used his metallic green and white one), along with the ledgers to record transactions, they informed Grapplefork, "We would like to go back up now."
"All right," the goblin replied, "all you have to do is stand on top of the dragon in the Order of the Emerald Dragon crest that is on the floor and say, "Return me whence I came," and you will be returned to the little room that the cart starts out in. If you bring anyone with you then they must be standing on the crest with you and you must be holding on to them, or else they will be stuck in here until you come back.
Once they were back outside in the fresh air, Ash said, "Let's head back to the Leaky Cauldron and have lunch with the others before this afternoon's meeting." With that, they headed back to the rooms to see how the others were doing.
End Chapter 2
