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Chapter 6 -
"Multicorfors," Hydrus incanted, aiming the wand at his own clothes and laughing when his red shirt turned a dark green. "I did it!" He told Bellatrix proudly.
"Of course!" Bellatrix scoffed, as if it was ridiculous for him to not be able to accomplish it. "You're picking up spells at a fairly impressive rate, especially for your age, it must be the Black blood in you." She grinned.
"Master Hydrus is proving to be a respectable member of the Black family," Kreacher complimented as he levitated some breakfast plates onto their table. "Powerful, good for family. Mistress, two letter be arriving today." He added, handing Bellatrix a letter. Bellatrix merely raised an eyebrow before opening the first letter and reading it.
"What does it say?" Hydrus asked curiously.
"Your Aunt Andi and her little pink thing is coming over tomorrow," Bellatrix answered, rolling up the letter before lazily tossing it over her shoulder.
"Do you mean Tonks?" Hydrus asked, laughing a little at his mother's description.
"That's what I just said," Bellatrix confirmed with a nod.
"I like Tonks," Hydrus smiled. "She's funny, and she makes funny faces. Oh, and I like Draco too, he told me that he'd bring me wizard sweets next time he comes."
"Then you'll have some tomorrow, because he's coming as well," Bellatrix added.
"Really?" Hydrus asked excitedly.
"Yep," Bellatrix smirked before she opened the next letter. "Harry, eat your breakfast and then we can go shopping."
"Shopping?" Hydrus asked, eyes widening slightly.
"Yes, we're going to go out and we're going to have a lot of fun," Bellatrix whispered as if she was telling Hydrus a massive secret. "We're going go out and by a lot of stuff and we're going to have lots of delicious food. So, I'd hurry if I was you." She told him and watched with amusement as Hydrus's face lit up and he quickly started eating as food like his life depended on it. Meanwhile Bellatrix's gaze returned to the letter that Dumbledore had sent her, she knew it had no spells on it, the Black wards and Kreacher would make sure of that. She read through it once more, it was essentially Dumbledore asking for permission to see 'Harry'.
'Harry,' She mentally scoffed. 'His name is Hydrus, and he's mine! I'm not letting Dumbledore, or anyone take him away from me.' She took her wand out and tapped the letter, a large 'NO!' appeared in red on the parchment. She handed it to Kreacher and ordered him to send it back to its sender. She had barely done that before she looked back at Hydrus who had finished his breakfast and was staring at her with a hopeful look along with a milk moustache.
"When are we going?" He asked excitedly.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Hydrus asked as he held onto Bellatrix's hand. She was dressed in her favourite black outfit, but this time also made sure to wear a large dark green coat. She had also dressed Hydrus in black shoes, black pants, a white shirt and a black waistcoat with green lining. To Hydrus's surprise, the clothes were actually surprisingly comfortable, so much so that it barely felt like he was wearing anything. He quickly realised that magic was at work and had asked Bellatrix who had confirmed it for him. Another surprise was his hair, Bellatrix had waved her wand and created a comb out of a plate and had got to work fixing up Hydrus's hair, the end result being a nice head of combed hair that caused Bellatrix to squeal and hug him for being cute.
"The floo is perfectly fine," She reassured Hydrus before they stepped into the fireplace. "Now, remember to step out on time or we'll get pushed out." She added before grabbing some floo powder and throwing it onto the ground below them whilst yelling "Leaky Cauldron", green flames rose up and engulfed the two. Hydrus instinctively closed his eyes as he felt like his whole body was being picked up and moved by something. A second later Bellatrix pulled his hand and he had opened his eyes just in time to step out of a fireplace and into a new building.
Hydrus looked around and found himself in what appeared to be a pub, he saw lots of people that he was guessing were witches and wizards. There was a bar nearby and behind the bar was a white-haired man who was cleaning out the inside of a mug, the man looked up with a smile that quickly disappeared when he saw who had just walked in.
"M...Miss Black!" He blurted out, causing the whole pub to go silent as everyone looked in their direction. Hydrus nervously pulled himself closer to Bellatrix who looked unfazed by all the sudden attention.
"Glad to see you remember me, Tom," She drawled. "My son and I will be using your entrance to head into the alley, as is tradition for a young wizards first time entering Diagon."
"Bless my soul," Tom's gaze moved from Bellatrix to Hydrus. "It's Harry Potter!" He gasped.
"Harry Potter?!" One of the bar patrons blurted out.
Hydrus practically glued himself to Bellatrix when he saw many people stand up and move towards him, his eyes widened as the people rushed towards him. Bellatrix quickly pulled her wand out and waved it, creating a magical shield that many people ended up walking head-first into before everyone had stopped and stared at Bellatrix who was now glaring at them all.
"My son is not a tourist attraction, nor is he some toy for you all to play with," She said in a cold voice as she lowered the shield. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd rather his first time at Diagon Alley not get spoiled by you all." She gave Harry's hand a light squeeze before they both started walking to one of the pub doors. "And his name is Hydrus Black." She added over her shoulder before they exited the pub.
"What was that all about?" Hydrus frowned once they were out of the pub and standing in front of a brick wall.
"Remember that I told you were famous?" Bellatrix asked, Hydrus's frown grew bigger as the memory of Bellatrix explaining his fame came up to the front of his mind. The way she had explained it, the wizard that had killed his birth parents had cast a spell that couldn't be blocked at him and somehow Hydrus had survived and ended up getting rid of the wizard, which made Hydrus famous.
"Still...it's weird," He said in a quiet voice.
"I know, but unfortunately, you may have to end up getting used to it," She told him apologetically before tapping the bricks on the wall in a pattern, once she was done the bricks started moving apart and to the sides. Once the bricks were out of the way, Hydrus was met with the sight of a long, cobbled alley. He saw what seemed to be hundreds of people walking around, all dressed in wizard clothes, entering and exiting through the various, oddly shaped buildings around them. "Welcome, Hydrus, to Diagon Alley." Bellatrix couldn't help but smile as she looked at the shocked look on Hydrus's face.
"This is amazing!" Hydrus gasped as he and Bellatrix started walking down the alley.
"Yeah, we're going to do lots of fun shopping, but first I think we need to go head to Gringotts."
"What's that?" Hydrus asked curiously.
"It's the wizarding bank, that one over there," Bellatrix explained, pointing down the alley to a large white building. "We need to get some money and check your account."
"I don't have an account," Hydrus frowned.
"Yes, you do," Bellatrix told him. "Your old parents were rich; they definitely had left you some money."
"Oh," Hydrus blinked. "Are we rich?"
"Of course," Bellatrix said without hesitation. "The Black family is one of the oldest magical families around, we've got tons of money."
"Wow," Hydrus said in a quiet voice as he processed what he learnt. "That's nice," He said eventually, smiling up at Bellatrix.
"It is nice," Bellatrix agreed, smiling back just before they reached the steps of Gringotts bank.
"Mum," Hydrus whispered, gently tugging on her arm. "What's that?" He asked, pointing to the two guards at the front of the bank. They were both small, not quite as small as a house elf, but small. They had long ears, but unlike the house elves, their ears were pointed, as were their long noses. To top it all off, they were also in possession of a set of razor-sharp teeth that wouldn't look out of place in a shark's mouth. These particular ones were each holding a spear of all things.
"Those are goblins," Bellatrix said in an unimpressed voice. "They control and operate the bank,"
"Are they nice?" Hydrus asked her.
"No," Bellatrix said honestly. "A lot of people always say we should be nice to them, but I don't see the point. They don't like us and they're not going to suddenly start being nice if we do. When we go in, just stay quiet and don't talk unless somebody asks you something, okay?"
"Yes, Mum," Hydrus nodded obediently.
"Good boy," Bellatrix said before the two walked into the bank, past the sneering goblins on the outside so they could find themselves inside a massive room on the inside with a lot more goblins. There were goblins in the corners of the room, walking around it and on all of the tills. Every single one of them appeared to be either sneering or ignoring the various humans walking around. Bellatrix led them to the closest available till and spoke to the bored looking goblin. "Goblin," She called. "I wish to see the Potter account manager and withdraw some money from the Black vault." The goblin looked up from his paperwork, looking thoroughly unimpressed with Bellatrix.
"Wait there," He drawled before pressing a button on his desk, ten seconds later a new goblin walked up to them.
"Follow me," It said before walking off without waiting for them, Hydrus blinked before he started following it along with Bellatrix.
Roughly an hour later, the pair had exited the bank. Hydrus, who earlier had feeling bored out of his mind, wore a happy smile on his face. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened since his attention had started drifting once his mother and the goblins started discussing bank details, he had tried to pay attention but the whole thing had been utterly boring and Hydrus's mind had started thinking about any and everything it could think of to keep him from falling asleep. Though he had most definitely gotten woken up when the goblins took them in their cart to take them to their vaults, the cart had moved really fast in almost every direction Hydrus could think of. It was exactly what he had imagined a roller coaster to be like, he had enjoyed it immensely as evidenced by his cheering throughout the ride, Bellatrix had enjoyed it too, given the way that she had been laughing.
"Where do we go now?" Hydrus asked excitedly, eager to see more.
"Well, first we're going to go and get some nice lunch at a restaurant," Bellatrix told him. "Then we're going to go do our shopping, and then we're going to finish it off by getting some ice-cream."
"Really?!" Hydrus asked, looking excited enough to burst.
'Sweet Merlin, he's adorable.' Bellatrix thought to herself.
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, Hydrus was sitting in his room in his chair and reading one of the many books that his mother had gotten him, the book that he was currently reading was part of what she had called 'The mudblood package', apparently it was something that they gave to children that had come into the wizarding world when they were eleven so they could learn all about the wizarding world.
"Master Hydrus," He heard Kreacher call from outside of his room. "Mistress Bellatrix's guests have come."
"Coming," Hydrus called before closing his book and leaving it on his desk. He got up and headed out of his room and down the stairs before he entered the drawing room and found his mother talking with Aunt Andromeda along with Aunt Narcissa, the two of them had brought Tonks and Draco, much to Hydrus's delight. "Hi," Hydrus smiled as he walked up to them.
"Hello dear," Andromeda greeted him first.
"My, he is certainly looking a lot better," Narcissa commented.
"Wotcher Harry," Tonks greeted him next. "Why do you look different?" She frowned, noticing the slight changes on his face and the way that he had finally managed to tame his hair, not to mention the hint of violet in his eyes.
"Mum blood-adopted me," Hydrus explained. "After that I woke up like this," He finished by gesturing to his face. "Oh, and Mum changed my name." He added.
"Yes," Bellatrix spoke next. "His name is now 'Hydrus Black'." She told them with a smirk.
"Can I change my name?" Draco asked his mother.
"No, you can't," She said almost instantly.
"But he changed his name!" Draco protested, pointing to Hydrus. "Why can't I change my name?"
"There is nothing wrong with your name," Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Besides, the only reason Harry became Hydrus is because he was blood adopted."
"But I..." Draco was about to argue when Tonks cut him off.
"Don't bother," Tonks told him. "Mums get stubborn about names," She said, directing a sour look at her own mother.
"I like my name," Hydrus shrugged.
"Draco, don't you have something for Hydrus?" Narcissa suddenly asked. Draco frowned for a second before he realised what his mother was telling him.
"I brought you some wizard chocolates and sweets," Draco said in such a way that it sounded like he was expecting Hydrus to drop to his knees to thank him, the boy took a small brown bag from his mother and held it in his hands like it was a great treasure.
"Cool," Hydrus grinned as he took the bag.
"Why don't you kids go upstairs and try them?" Andromeda suggested. "We're going to have some sister time while you do that."
"Okay, Mum," Tonks said before grabbing a hand from each boy. "Come on," She told them before she began pulling them out the room.
"So," Narcissa said once the kids were gone. "What happened?"
"Well, first thing in the morning I get a letter from the old goat," Bellatrix growled. "He wanted to meet Hydrus, I sent back a 'no', he's lucky I didn't curse my response. After that I took Hydrus to Diagon."
"I bet he enjoyed that," Andromeda replied.
"He loved it," Bellatrix nodded. "But then we got to the bank," She continued. "Apparently the bloody goblins had no idea where the Potter vault keys were."
"They didn't have them?" Andromeda blinked. "Wouldn't they have been in the Potter's house?"
"They weren't there, at least that's what the goblins say, I don't actually think the sour little buggers had checked." Bellatrix shrugged. "The goblins said they were going to make a different key and mail it to me after they change the vault locks,"
"Has someone been stealing from the Potters?" Narcissa asked.
"No, the angry little midgets said that nothing had been taken," Bellatrix responded. "I reckon Dumbledore probably has them, he would have investigated and visited the house, he could have taken them."
"Perhaps," Andromeda frowned.
"It's not a real frog, is it?" Hydrus asked, holding a chocolate frog packet in his hand as they all sat in his room, Hydrus and Draco were sat on the floor while Tonks sat on the bed, just like last time.
"No," Tonks snorted as she opened her own packet and quickly caught the frog-shaped chocolate as it jumped out. "It's just a spell to make them move like one," She explained before she quickly bit off its head and showed Hydrus that it was still moving. "See?" She asked with a mouthful of chocolate. "It's just normal chocolate, real tasty." She added before she started eating the rest. Hydrus looked unsure until Draco started eating one as well, Hydrus opened his packet and followed Tonks's example by quickly catching the frog before it could leap out.
"Sorry, Mr Froggy," Hydrus apologised before started eating it, being pleasantly surprised by the taste.
"Did you like it?" Draco asked.
"It was nice," Harry nodded.
"What card did you get?" Tonks asked curiously as she pulled out a card from her package, Hydrus frowned and looked at his own and pulled out the card from it.
"I got some guy called 'Nicolas Flamel'," Draco spoke first, staring at his card.
"I got 'Dumbledore'," Tonks complained. "I already got two of him," She stopped and looked at Draco. "Want to swap?" She offered, holding out her card.
"No," Draco quickly refused, holding his card to his chest.
"Git," Tonks said under her breath as she put her card down. "What do you got, Harry?" She asked.
"It's Hydrus," Hydrus corrected her before he looked at his card. "Um...I got 'Merlin'."
"Wow," Tonks sounded impressed. "Nice, he's a good one if you want to start collecting. Now, what are we eating next?"
"Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans," Draco answered as he pulled out a single large packet and opened it.
"I'll tell you, they mean every flavour," Tonks told Hydrus. "Last time I got one that tasted like chocolate, before that I got one that was wallpaper flavoured."
"How do you know what wallpaper tastes like?" Hydrus couldn't help but ask.
"It was an accident," Tonks muttered before she took a yellow bean from Draco and dropped it in her mouth. "Urrgh, it tastes like car tyres," She groaned.
"How do you know what that tastes like?" Hydrus once again asked, Tonks was saved from answering by Draco who had eaten a green once.
"Tastes like water," Draco said.
"Water doesn't taste like anything," Tonks argued.
"Yeah, it does, it tastes like water," Draco countered, Hydrus decided to take one before the two started arguing. He took a red one and placed it in his mouth.
"Hmm, tastes like pizza," Hydrus grinned.
"Lucky," Tonks said. "Be glad you didn't get a bogey flavoured one."
"I'm not even going to ask how you know what that tastes like."
A.N: Got to be honest, this one was hard to write because I kept writing Harry instead of Hydrus.
