Chapter 2
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Rebekah and Snape went to the Wizarding bank, Gringotts. A snow-white building towering over the little shops, with matching white stairs and a burnished brown door. The building had a small inscription that, as Rebekah got close, she could finally read:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
A very small and portly creature came inside the bank, having a swarthy, clever face and a pointed beard. He bowed as they walked inside and Rebekah copied Snape's response of a nod to the creature.
"Is that?" Rebekah said. "I am not even going to guess. Can you tell me the name, Professor Snape?"
"A Goblin, all the employees here are Goblins," He said, his slow pace never wavering as they came upon a large and high desk at the very end. He swiftly took something out of his robe pocket and laid it on the desk. A key. "Possessive creatures. Yes, we are here to acquire money from Miss Rebekah Potter's vault. Allor, Vault 912."
"Yes, of course," Allor said, pausing with a finger in the air. "Would Miss Rebekah Potter like to take part in an identification session, first?"
"Mister Allor, before I agree to anything, can you first clarify what this identification session means?" Rebekah asked politely. Of course, she was being respectful, she had no idea who this Goblin was, or could be representing. "I am unfamiliar with the terms, and would like it if you would explain what, if I chose to do it, would entail as the results?"
"Of course," Allor smiled, the skin-tight against his skull. "An identification session would include you piercing your finger for blood and dripping it onto a piece of enchanted parchment. It would result in a reaction between the Magic on the parchment and your blood, allowing us to see if you are in line for any other vaults, or perhaps Houses. Also, we would be able to see if any money has been taken without your knowledge."
"If there is any money taken, it isn't because I have taken it," Rebekah muttered, then spoke louder. "Okay, yes, I am willing to do the identification session. Do I need prior permission from anyone?"
"Good, and no, Miss Potter, you do not as you have no guardians besides the Muggles," Allor said. "Simply cut your finger with the knife and drip the blood onto this parchment."
She took the knife, though it was more like a little blade with its four-inch length, dug the point into her left index finger and twisted it harshly. Rebekah didn't grimace, complain or whine, she simply ground her teeth slightly. The crimson drop splattered against the light tan of the parchment, glowing a golden tone then turned to a bright silver flash.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Rebekah asked, curious. The goblin looked worried for a moment then took a glance, seemed happy with the results.
"No, but it is not something to worry about," He reread the parchment. "Take a look upon the parchment, Madam, nothing to worry about."
Rebekah, with a cautious hand, took the parchment and read the swirly, black script.
Name: Rebekah L Potter
Blood status: Halfblood
Heir of claimed House(s): Potter
Core Magic: Undecided
Soul: Undecided
Magic: Undecided
Potential: Unknown
It didn't really reveal anything important.
It was burnt by her request. Three undecided and one unknown, the Goblin had told her, great things could become of her because she had a greater choice and she could decide where she could lead herself.
"Now to the matter at hand," Allor took her key and stepped down, becoming much shorter than Rebekah. "You will need access to your vaults, though vault for the moment until you turn seventeen."
"Seventeen, why seventeen?"
"A young witch or Wizard becomes an adult, or, they become independent to their parents and or guardians," Snape said from behind. "It depends on what laws one abides by."
Rebekah hummed. "Well, Mister Allor, I would like access to my available vault."
"Yes, of course,"
Rebekah didn't like the way down to the vaults. Her satchel kept slamming against her side even if she held it down. Her hair whipped in her face, her sweater rattling against her frame. Her knuckles turned white with her grip on the rails. Her mouth was dry by the end. Though what was inside her vault was worth it.
Piles upon piles of gold, silver and bronze neatly set on antique pieces of furniture. Small glass cases of jewellery, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches and even seven different crowns, circlets and tiaras sat there, untouched for decades. She counted a dozen bookcases containing several hundred, perhaps a thousand books. Rebekah hoped they were full of spells, enchantments and Magic, or at least traditions she could learn.
The Goblin held a grey pouch, hoarding several thousand gold, silver and bronze coins into it. "Here. You are almost done now, Madam. Please place anything you would wish to take from the vault into this, it will never be full or turn heavy as there is an enchantment placed upon it."
"Anything?" She smiled, her lips tugging upwards slowly. The Goblin nodded, his face matched hers in greed. "Well, I'll be taking most of the books, and perhaps a few bits of jewellery."
"Of course," Waving his hand, Allor made most of the books, perhaps five or six hundred, float their way to the pouch. The pouch extended its rim to allow the books in. "Now, we will have to make your ring."
"All right," Rebekah followed the Goblin outside. Snape was requested or rather demanded by Allor, to not enter the large vault without permission. He vanished but was back by the time she was finished.
Eleven drops of blood coloured the molten silver metal, flashing a bright white in the small cauldron. It transformed and cooled the silver into a crest ring, like the ones the royal or upper-class elite would wear.
The ring sat in the caldron, dark silver in colour. The band was thin until the coat of arms, her family's coat of arms, bulged the ring slightly. The coat held three wands pointing toward their tips combined, a glowing orb sat there, a tone or so lighter than the dark background. Underneath everything, the name Potter was held within a banner.
"Not bad, it's comfortable enough," Rebekah said, wiggling her right hand where the ring sat on her index finger. "Will I need to get it recast every few years, or will Magic do it for me?"
"No recasting needed until you are seventeen, the other vaults will make themselves known to you and you will get the other crests mixed with your own."
"Thank you, Mister Allor," Rebekah said, bowing slightly. "And have a pleasant day."
Half an hour later, Rebekah came into Twilfitt and Tattings, the pouch of Wizarding currency in her satchel. The shop was known to cater to the more expensive tastes, Snape told her, and so she agreed that she would go there. They had a pleasant conversation as Snape took charge of her list. Rebekah had black robes fitted along with several nice skirts, trousers and shirts.
"It would benefit if you were to get a creature, an animal as a companion," Snape said, guiding them to an animal store. "Hogwarts allows cats, owls, and toads."
He held the door open for Rebekah, wincing at the sound of the deafening creatures. The shop had several rows of cages, perches and blankets, each holding several animals inside. An older Witch, perhaps late forties, early fifties, stood behind the counter and wrestled with a huge feline.
The feline was not an ordinary cat, that was for sure. It was huge, the size of the witch's torso, with large paws and furry body. Mostly coloured a grey and black tone, as the feline wrestled, its limbs turned to dark smoke. It withered, twisted, clawed and hissed, all in an attempt to get away from the terrible Witch.
The creature clawed at her, a large gash forming. It jumped away from her, landing a few meters away on an empty cage. It pawed the air with claws, hissing through its teeth.
"Can I touch it?" Rebekah asked, almost in a trance with the creature.
It was so much like her at times, feral and beautiful. She didn't wait for a response, picking the large feline by the scruff and cuddling it in her arms. It almost made her fall over due to its weight, its squirming ceased and allowed itself to go limp in her arms. The feline sounded a deafening purr as it began to rub its head into her neck.
"How the fu-" The shopkeeper was silenced with a glare from Snape. "How did you get that damned creature to calm down? It has been a terror and menace since it got left here!"
"I understand why," Rebekah whispered to the feline, giving its ears a nice scratch. "You absolute poor thing. I understand why you would behave so, these conditions are horrendous."
"Will you take this one as your creature?" Snape observed the two as the feline purred affectionately. "It would seem like a good match."
"Yes, definitely," The feline allowed itself to be moved in her arms. Rebekah held it like one does a tired toddler, its paws and head next to hers and she held up its body with both arms. "I ain't leaving this thing here. This place is disgusting."
Snape nodded once, sharply turning to the shopkeeper. "She will have the feline."
The feline, Emperor, fell asleep on her as they left the shop. A thick silver collar around his neck, he didn't protest to it and even went to choose it himself.
"Good riddance." The Shopkeeper muttered under her breath. "We'll see how long it takes for him to kill her too."
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Snape suggested that she was to get her wand next, otherwise, this trip would have been useless. Ollivanders was the famous wandmaker, Snape informed as they made their way there.
"What is Magic, in its entirety?" Rebekah asked the burning question that forbade itself to be known till now. "Besides, of course, a force to be reckoned with."
"Magic is not a thing to be owned, Miss Potter," He glanced downwards to her and reverted his gaze back to the surroundings. "It is a force, in a Muggle form, but it comes from the connections that we have with the Earth and its inhabitants. No connection, no Magic, meaning Muggles. Some may have a better understanding of Magic and so can advance in it faster than others. It will always depend on the person's core, mind and will if they were to advance in a certain aspect of Magic or any of its darker forms. Is that a good enough answer for you, Miss Potter?"
"Yes, thank you, Professor," Emperor walked beside her, her satchel twisted comfortably around his neck. "I wondered what actually caused Magic. Is that why most people need a wand to perform Magic because the wand is made from Earth and its inhabitants?"
"Yes, most people have weak cores and wills, and so they need to use a wand to act as an amplifier," He said. "As one becomes more powerful, one may learn the art of wandless and, or wordless Magic. Though this takes many years of practice."
Snape, once again, opened the door and let her in first. Tinkling bells rang in the depths of the shop as soon as they stepped inside. The shop was narrow and thin, though held many thin but long boxes. Most likely, they held wands.
"Good afternoon," Rebekah greeted the ageing man as he appeared.
"Ah yes," The man said. "Yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Rebekah Potter. You have your mother's eye colour, though yours are mixed with your father's. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."
"Honestly," She turned to Snape for permission to speak perhaps a rude comment. "I don't care about my parents' wands and whatnot. I want my one, thank you."
"Well of course," He hurried his words. "All right, Miss Potter. Let's see if this wand will suit you. Holly and Dragon heartstring eleven inches, nice and supple."
She gripped the wand with her right hand, changed it to her left and back. A book exploded in the corner and she placed it down. "No, horrible wand."
He held another wand in moments. "Ash, unicorn hair, ten point three, bendy."
He snatched it out of her left hand. "No, no. Perhaps, maybe not actually. Bad idea."
"Now we won't ever know if that is a bad idea if we don't try it," Rebekah said and held her right hand out.
The wand, Yew wood with a Phoenix feather, eleven point four and with no flexibility, glowed in her hand even if it was dark grey. It was cool and comforting in a strange, unique way.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold. Every single wand and its owner. It so happens that the Phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand gave another feather. Very rare that you would be given the sibling feather to the one that gave you the scar." He nodded to himself. "Longer than your own, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Same wood, Yew. Strange. Almost like twins. The wand chooses the Wizard, Miss Potter, or Witch in your case. I believe that we should expect great things from you, Miss Potter… He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible but great things."
There was a moment of silence as Rebekah allowed the information to process. Who was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? It was very vaguely familiar but she didn't know where she had heard that name before.
"All right." She paid the amount discussed and left the shop, her wand twirling between her fingers.
"Thank you, Professor Snape, for taking me to Diagon Alley," She said outside the Dursley house. "I know I will do my best in your lessons."
"As well as you may try, I am a harsh teacher," He said, looking down his hooked nose. "I will congratulate you if you are sorted into Slytherin."
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On her birthday, Rebekah awoke to find that someone left a mouse on her pillow. Not a dead one, it continued to squirm even after Emperor swatted it with his paw. Rebekah gasped silently and flicked the creature off of her fresh sheets. It scurried along until Emperor caught it within his jaws.
"No, eat it outside. Not in here, outside. Now." Rebekah pointed to the door with a swift hand. "I'm not cleaning that up if you make a mess."
She huffed as Emperor swatted the loft door open, trodding his way down the small steps and biting the mouse harder. It squicked lightly.
What a way to begin her birthday.
Rebekah checked the time, 7:13 AM. She huffed again and shrunk out of her covers. She needed to start her day, else she would not be able to go to Diagon Alley today. She took a fast shower, then dressed in a magenta shirt with skinny blue jeans and flats.
"Morning," Rebekah said in the Kitchen, grabbing a piece of toast. "When can we leave for London?"
"After Breakfast," Uncle Vernon said, then chewed a piece of fatty bacon.
"Are you sure you don't want us to join you?" Aunt Petunia asked. "I don't want you to be alone there without anyone. At the very least, I'll come with you."
"If it makes you feel better, Aunt, sure. I'm actually quite scared of going by myself," Rebekah confessed. "I plan on taking Emperor anyway. We all know he isn't a normal cat."
Over the last little while, Emperor always acted very much differently than other cats. And soon enough, Rebekah realised why. Emperor wasn't a normal cat, he liked to change shapes as in his height and build. One time, Rebekah went to sleep with normal sized Emperor and woke up with a lion in her bed.
She instantly knew Emperor was hers in every way.
Rebekah wouldn't be spending the day with her family, only with Aunt Petunia and Emperor. Luckily, Uncle Vernon had made reservations at one of Rebekah's favourite restaurants in London for that evening. After spending the day in Diagon Alley, Rebekah and Aunt Petunia had something to look forward to.
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The Leaky Caldron was just as grim as it was before. Only a handful of people were there, mostly chatting and having either a drink, breakfast or both. A long, thin cigar sat at the curve of a man's lips, the wisps of smoke began to make shapes. They swirled into the shape of silver whiskered fox and then into a large cat.
"I don't like this, this hovel of a place!" Aunt Petunia whispered. Rebekah nodded, then looked up at her as they continued to walk to the strange stone wall.
"Nor do I, but this is the only way that I've been shown," Rebekah took her wand out and swiftly pressed it to the right stone. Aunt Petunia took a sharp breath as she saw the wand.
Of course, Diagon Alley wasn't as busy as it was last time since it was a Tuesday and being very early on a Tuesday meant people were at work. So businesses were not too packed but had an adequate amount of people coming in and out to satisfy their needs. Most were mother of all sorts with young children, or young adults, or teens gathering equipment for school, or the elder generation but Rebekah didn't know how old some of these people could be. Some looked old enough to be born in the Victorian Era, or perhaps even before then.
"Where are we going first?" Aunt Petunia asked.
"I have everything for the school year," Rebekah replied. "But I don't know if I should get the books for next year too."
"Why not get the next two years? It would further your learning quickly."
Rebekah shrugged then nodded and smiled. "Sure."
Obscurus Books had a large variety of books of all sorts. Mostly non-fiction, there were exceptions. Textbooks were to one side as were other information based books. The bookshelves themselves were a light wood that were a few inches think because of how many thick and heavy books were there.
They left with more than a hundred Galleons worth of hardback books. Aunt Petunia had a strange look in her eye as she watched Rebekah place all thirteen books in her little purse.
"We don't get many Muggles coming in here," A man said when Aunt Petunia and Rebekah entered Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. "I am Florean Fortescue, the owner of this establishment."
"Muggles?" Aunt Petunia said.
"Non-Magic people, anyone who doesn't have Magic or Magical ancestors. I like to know the names of my patrons," He said.
"Mrs Petunia Durlsey," She said, shaking his hand. "This is my niece, Rebekah Potter."
"The Rebekah Potter? A pleasure, Miss Potter, Mrs Dursley, I'm sure. Right," He said, placing both palms on the counter. "What will you be having? Chocolate chip cookie dough? Rocky road? Cookies and cream? Mint choc chip? Strawberry? Raspberry? Vanilla? We got variation of Magical and Muggle versions of each."
"One Muggle…" the word sounded wrong on Aunt Petunia's tongue. "Mint chocolate chip and one?"
"One Magical Raspberry ripple, please."
"All right, that'll be one Galleon, one Sickle and seventeen Knuts," Rebekah handed over one Galleon and one Sickle, getting twelve bronze Knuts in return. "Find a table and I'll bring them over when they're ready."
Aunt Petunia found a small booth table with enough room for four people. Rebekah sat on the cushioned booth while Aunt Petunia gracefully sat on the equally cushioned chair. They began to talk about the dinner they would have later. Rebekah's eleventh birthday was to be celebrated, and since Dudley went to the Zoo for his by his request. Rebekah asked if they could go to her favourite restaurant instead.
"Move elsewhere," A short man stood to the side of Aunt Petunia, his stooped back made him seem shorter than he was. As did his long, dark purple robes did too. When Aunt Petunia ignored him, he took his short walking stick and hit it against her chair.
"Excuse me?" Aunt Petunia said, her voice going higher in displeasure and surprise. "What do you want?"
"Move somewhere else, we need this table," He pointed to his three children, all around Rebekah's age. "Go."
"No." Aunt Petunia narrowed her eyes. "We were here before you, thus you can move elsewhere."
"A Muggle of course!" He exclaimed. "Pathetic, filthy lot of you. I don't understand why he lets Mudbloods in, disgraceful!"
"Mr Nott, I suggest you move along. I won't have that type of language in my shop," Mr Fortescue came with a tray carrying the two bowls of ice cream. "Here you go, Mrs Dursley, Miss Potter. Off you trot, Mr Nott."
Mr Nott's whole demeanor changed when Rebekah's last name was said. He became more pleasant.
"Tobias Nott," He stepped closer. "This is my son, Theodore Nott. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Potter."
"I'm sure," She glanced at his outheld hand repulsively. "I rather not shake your hand, you wouldn't want to touch filth, now would you?"
"I suggest you leave now," Mr Fortescue stepped in front of Mr Nott. being much shorter, Mr Nott became intimidated and back away, taking his son and friends. "All done. I am sorry about that intrusion on your morning Ice cream. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
The rest of the outing went terribly quickly and without any unpleasant hitches.
The restaurant was pleasant. Rebekah had one of her favourite meals, Slow-Cooked Vegetable Stew. The whole birthday affair went quietly and everyone had a good time.
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