Nick had been working at the Leaky Cauldron for a month, he was excited about the wage he was soon to receive. He knew that he couldn't do much with the five galleons but at the very least it would allow him to buy a few things for himself. Nick's knowledge of the British wizarding world had now expanded to the point he knew about every single important event that had happened in the last century or so. As far as Nick was concerned, there had been no changes in the major events such as the war with Grindelwald and the so-called "defeat of Voldemort."

He had acquired another job working in Flourish and Blotts and he could be frequently seen in the store whenever his working hours in the Leaky Cauldron was over. He stacked the books, allowing him intimate knowledge of where everything went, though there were some books that he wasn't allowed to touch.

Nick had taken a trip to Gringotts but his trip was in vain. To take a blood inheritance test required 3 galleons and he didn't have the money at the time. After he received his pay, however, he was going to go straight to Gringotts.

Nick was in the middle of cleaning a room when Tom barged in with a small sack that jingled every time he bounced it up and down. "I bet you can guess what I'm about to give to you." Nick rolled his eyes at Tom's behaviour.

"My pay for the month." He said, with little to no emotion in his voice.

"Yep. Continue doing your best for the day, otherwise, I just might keep the money for myself." Tom playfully taunted Nick but Nick knew Tom well enough. He loved to tease others but he knew the limits of doing so. He wouldn't actually withhold the money from Nick considering how hard he had been working for the past month.

"I know, I know. Don't need to tell me. I'm the reason why business is booming for you." Nick responded with sassiness, putting both his hands on his hips. "You don't want to lose the new mascot of the Leaky Cauldron now do you?"

Tom shook his head quickly. "Of course not. Anyway... when you are done for the day, collect your pay." Nick nodded. He understood. It wasn't like he would forget about his pay that easily. He already had his eyes on a book that the owner of Flourish and Blotts was holding for him that would be sold at a very cheap price.

"Well, carry on with whatever you're doing. Don't want to keep you away from the kitchen, my stomach is already anticipating the meal that you cook for me today." Tom waved farewell to Nick. "Oh, and by the way, Hagrid says hello. He wants to meet you in three days at Fortescue's."

Though Nick didn't answer Tom verbally, his body language told Tom he heard him. 'Hm, it'd be nice to see Hagrid again.' He tilted his head as he swept the room clean of dust.

-Line Break-

Nick was running about in the kitchen to finish multiple dishes that were cooking at the same time. The Leaky Cauldron was the busiest it had ever been since Nick began working as a chef and cleaner. 'My God! I didn't think the students of Hogwarts would cause so much trouble for me.' Nick was unaware of the Leaky Cauldron's rising fame due to the delicious food he concocted and the excellent service he provided. The Leaky Cauldron was no longer just a simple pub, but could also be considered a place for eating.

Muggleborns who were introduced to the wizarding world would be enticed by the aroma of the food as they walked through the Leaky Cauldron, trying to make their way to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Unluckily for Nick, it meant that he had to do the work of multiple people by himself and the long hours he would have to be working in didn't make things any easier. Nick would've loved having Tom help him in the kitchen, but alas Tom's cooking skills were enough to make Nick vomit. Tom even admitted it was one of the reasons for the Leaky Cauldron's lack of customers besides the occasional drunks and those that passed by for work.

He busied himself in the kitchen until his working hours were finally over. The Leaky Cauldron only served food to customers during certain times of day, and those times were changed according to Nick's working hours. Tom was banned from entering the kitchen unless it was to retrieve the dishes so he could serve them to his customers.

Nick stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles at the same time. "I hope there's never such a busy day again in my life." He was speaking to Tom, as he was about to retrieve his month's earnings.

Tom's figure shook with mirth. "You might not wish for such a busy day but I certainly do." He took out the ledger and showed it to Nick. "Look at how much we've earned in a single day! This is a week's earning! I've never had so many patrons coming in. I'm surprised how many people are ordering drinks along with your food." Tom grinned, jubilant because of how much they had earned. "I'm going to owl our providers. We're going to run out of ingredients and drinks at this rate!" Tom took out a quill and started writing on parchment.

Nick cleared his throat. "Well, since my working hours are over, I would like my monthly earnings." He held out a hand, waiting for the pouch of coins to land in his palm.

Tom placed the quill on the table, staring at Nick's hand. "Right. Your monthly earnings." He reached for the pouch in question.

"You might find a little surprise in there." Tom returned to writing his letter to the providers, no longer giving any attention to Nick. Nick didn't mind Tom's behaviour, he was too ecstatic about the money to care.

Gripping the pouch of coins tightly, Nick glided his way out of the pub but not before thanking Tom. "Thanks, Tom! I'll see you later when I'm finished with the tasks I set for myself today!" He yelled, not caring about rudeness as only a few people were left in the pub.

Tom didn't bother raising his head, simply waving his hand to shoo Nick away. "Yes, yes. Go away now and spend the money. Do try to save some of the money for an emergency. It wouldn't do you any good to waste it all in a single day." He stopped speaking for a moment, holding the quill to his lips. "And do come back before 10 P.m.!"

"All right, don't get your knickers in a twist, I'll be back before you know it!" Nick pressed the bricks so he could enter Diagon Alley. Once the entrance was visible, Nick darted away towards Flourish and Blotts. He was already late though he didn't think the owner would mind too much.

When Nick entered Flourish and Blotts with a pale complexion, the owner sauntered over to him. "Well, what's the hurry? You're only late by," the owner gestured to the clock mounted above the counter, "about an hour or so? What held you up for so long?" The owner had a cheeky smile on his face as he questioned Nick.

Nick rolled his eyes but it went unseen because he was doubled over. "I'm sorry Mr Blotts," Nick panted, trying to inhale as much oxygen as he could to rid himself of the oxygen debt he had incurred from sprinting so quickly. "but we had a lot of people coming into the Leaky Cauldron today, and I've only just finished serving the last few customers."

Mr Blotts nodded. "Ah, the influx of customers..." He trailed off. "This is the best time of the year for any businessman in the Alley. So many students and families flock to the stores to buy their necessary items for a Hogwarts school year. Don't worry. I don't blame you for being late. It's not like I can't stack the books myself." He took out his wand. "After all, I'm a wizard." With grand gestures, he pointed his wand at the books. "Wingardium Leviosa." The books began to float as he completed the charm.

Nick, who was still stunned by magic every time he saw it, watched the flying books silently. He knew the charm was a First-year charm but it never failed to amaze him. Nick gritted his teeth in impatience. 'I can't wait to get my own wand. I'll be learning to break the Laws of Physics the moment I do.' He clapped in applause for Mr Blotts's dramatical display.

Mr Blotts bowed but stood straight afterwards to chastise Nick. "Don't just stand there watching me do the work! I'm paying you to do just that!" Nick stopped clapping immediately and hurried to the storeroom to take the books needed for stacking.

The time spent on stacking the books was much longer than Nick had expected it to take, but when he thought about it logically he could see why it had taken such a long time. The influx of students buying their necessities for the school year would definitely cause the number of books to dwindle. Mr Blotts did not talk to Nick for the entirety of the time he spent stacking the books because he was busy checking the ledger. Nick could bet that many of the store owners in Diagon Alley would be doing the exact same thing for the next week or so.

Nick rapped the counter after finishing his work. He wanted to purchase the book he had his eye on and leave for Gringotts immediately. The sun was already setting, and though Diagon Alley could be considered safe, he wouldn't take his chances walking around during the night.

"Mr Blotts, I've finished stacking the books." The owner glanced at Nick.

"Very good, Mr Banes." Mr Blotts dropped a single galleon onto the counter. "This is your pay for the month, the cost of the book you wanted has been deducted from your pay so this is all you will be receiving." Nick was astonished. He had forgotten about the pay he was receiving from the bookstore owner.

Bowing his head, Nick gave profuse thanks to Mr Blotts. "I had forgotten about the pay, but thank you very much." He retrieved the galleon and Mr Blotts placed a book on the counter.

"Here's the book you asked for. Keep it safe and try not to damage it because there's only so much restoration I can do to such an old book." The book was not as tattered as it had been when Nick first found it in the storeroom. "I'm still surprised you managed to find such a book. I've been cataloguing the books for years but I've never noticed it."

Nick scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "To be honest, I had been looking for books on Metamorphmagi ever since I began working here. This was the only one I found, and it had been in the transfiguration corner." Nick needed the book badly and for good reason too.

Talented as he was with his metamorphmagus abilities, he couldn't pull off everything he had thought of doing. He just didn't have the necessary amount of experience to change his body the way he wanted. He had much fun experimenting with his abilities and he hadn't yet found the limits of how he could change his body though that was obvious since he had only been able to change his the length and colour of his hair, and more recently the colour of his eyes.

"Well, you can go now. If you ever find any other old, obscure books and want to purchase them, then you can always ask me to hold onto them." Nick was happy with the deal because it would allow him to take as long as he needed to earn enough money for a book.

He opened the door, and wave farewell to the owner. "Thank you once again, Mr Blotts! I'll be back tomorrow for work! I'm not too sure if I'll be held up by the work in the Leaky Cauldron but I'll do my best to arrive as soon as possible."

"Very well, I can't fault you for being late since you have your reasons. Now go! Leave my sight before I remove your presence myself!" Nick bolted out of the store. He knew Mr Blotts would do just that.

Nick couldn't wait to peruse the book he held in his arms. He had seen the title of the book and knew he just had to get it. Nick hoped the book would be able to provide him with the answers to the questions he wanted to ask. He was cautious of practising with his metamorphmagus abilities. He only had vague information on the ability and that wasn't enough for him to be comfortable making major changes to his physiology.

Soon Nick could see the guards of Gringotts. Gringotts still impressed Nick every time he laid eyes on the building. The bank's undetectable extension charms made him drool.

'The ability to warp space...' He stared at the guards as he climbed the stairs leading to the bank. 'Difficult but not impossible, and that's what makes magic so amazing. Magic is able to do so much more compared to technology. It'll take at least decades if not centuries before science can even begin matching magic in its law-breaking abilities. That's not to say magic doesn't have its limitations because it does, but the limitations are so few.' Nick questioned the mindset of wizards and witches.

'It's weird how they wish to stay stagnant in their ways when they could do so much more with magic. They do not bother exploring magic with the limits, staying satisfied with what they have.' The snarls (grins) on the goblin guards' faces had him bowing respectfully.

Nick wanted to have a good relationship with the goblins of Gringotts for one reason. Money. Goblins controlled the economy of the British wizarding world seeing as how they were the ones who hold all their money in their cosy little vaults deep underground. Pissing off the goblins would not be a smart idea.

'Goblins deserve the same respect we give to other wizards and witches. They deal with our attitudes without even blinking an eye.' He stopped walking when he saw the goblin guards bowing back. 'Though I do suspect that the goblins care more for the money than they do for us.' He took a deep breath and entered the bank.

The bank was still as busy as ever. Goblins were all working their respective jobs and Nick couldn't help but have more respect for the goblins. They were still hard at work when most people would already be relaxing. Goblins were the ones who kept the wizarding economy running and it showed when he watched the employees in Gringotts.

After he was done being admiring the goblins, he walked towards a bank teller. Nick wasn't quite sure on how he was going to ask for a blood inheritance test. The only thing he actually knew to do was to talk to the teller respectfully.

Nick's short stature didn't help him in his approach as he couldn't even see past the counter. 'Damn, I'm so short that I think even the goblins are taller than me.' It was close to the truth. He was barely a few centimetres taller than the average goblin. 'I'm not even going to attempt changing my height.' Nick wasn't desperate enough to be noticed by all the goblins just yet.

Standing on his tiptoes, Nick cleared his throat to gain the teller's attention. Luckily, the teller's enhanced senses picked up the sound and the goblin climbed over the desk to spot Nick. "Excuse me, sir, I'd like to do a blood inheritance test." He said with as much courage he could muster. He gulped when the teller stared at him with an intense gaze.

"A blood inheritance test? That will be three galleons." The goblin's long slender fingers tapped the desk, waiting for Nick to retrieve the money.

Nick's courage left him as he retrieved the coins. The galleons were placed into the goblin's waiting hand, and the teller closed his hand around the coins. The teller counted the coins before jumping off the chair. "Follow me." Nick didn't need any further encouragement. He followed the goblin nervously.

The goblin led him into a side room. The room had one single feature. A marble pillar table stood in the very middle and on top of the table was what looked like parchment and a dagger. "Three drops of blood for two generations and seven drops of blood for seven generations." The goblin recited what seemed to be instructions. Nick stared at the dagger.

'Right, be brave. It's only three drops of blood since I don't care for anybody beyond my parents.' He gulped, bringing the dagger towards his palm before slicing in a single fluid motion. Nick gasped at the pain but let out no other noise.

"You could have just pricked your finger." The teller's voice sounded out but Nick ignored the goblin in favour of watching his blood drip onto the parchment. Once three drops landed, the goblin grabbed his hand and muttered underneath his breath. The cut healed immediately. "The dagger would have taken care of your injury but it is better to make sure." Nick was intrigued by the prospect of the properties of the dagger.

'How would it have healed my injury? Would it have just sealed it?' Nick was unsure but his attention was dragged back to the parchment when the goblin picked it up. The goblin took out a pair of spectacles before placing it back on the table.

"Interesting results, but I won't ruin the surprise. See for yourself little one." The goblin turned the parchment towards him so he could read the words properly.

Name:

Corvus Tonks

Parents:

Edward Tonks [Father] (Alive)

Andromeda Tonks née Black [Mother] (Alive)

Grandparent(s):

Cygnus Black [Maternal Grandfather] (Deceased)

Druella Black [Maternal Grandmother] (Deceased)

-Other relatives unknown-

Sibling(s):

Nymphadora Tonks [Sister] (Alive)

Godparent(s):

None

Ability(s):

Metamorphmagus