This is a story inspired by Life as a snake, published on by FairyTails13.
I thank my Beta Marwana who was a great help as usual!
And of course, thank you to those who put this story as an alert and/or favorite, thanks to all the reviewers!
"Parseltoungue"
"thoughts"
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling
An Ancient Tale:
Chapter 3:
The feelings this ritual engendered were absolutely incredible.
Harry could feel the powerful and ancient magic of Gringotts evoked by the goblin's incantation; his own magic's answer to the incantation was also extraordinary. Both magics were probing each other, to make sure no harm was upon him, and to verify the worthiness and motivation of his claim…
At some point, both magics came to a sort of agreement and a part of his own magic let a strand out to blend together with a strand of the probing magic.
Harry could sense all of this; thanks to this ritual, he had just discovered how much more evolved his awareness of his magic could be. For once in his modest magical experience, magic didn't seem to be some sort of mysterious and out of reach entity, but a part of himself, an extension of his person, like an added limb to be trained and controlled. Harry didn't know it yet, but this understanding would make his future training far easier and would give him access to a world of possibilities regarding his magic's achievements. A world very few people got access to.
However, while Harry was pondering on his new experience, the phenomenon was not invisible. In fact Harry was surrounded by a bright swirling mist, and every occupant in the room could see the unusual events.
It was not a perfect fusion of both magics; you could still clearly see little particles of each magic; they were not of different colors. Yet looking at the bright cloud filling the office, you knew what was what. You didn't learn it anywhere, you just knew.
Unfortunately, these high emotions could not last forever. Once its job was done, the probing old goblin magic receded in the walls and foundations of Gringotts, and the loose strand of Harry's magic returned to his body, leaving him irrevocably excited, almost high on the sensations.
When Harry managed to come down from this unexpected high, it was to find a surprised goblin, even if he almost managed to hide it, and several symbols inside the runic circle on the ground, which was still pulsing with raw magic.
Upon seeing his wondering face, Shadowaxe explained,
"The runic circle will not stop its activation as long as a decision has not been made considering each family symbol which appeared thanks to the ritual. The results should show you two different circles. The outer one is for Houses you could be the heir of; the inside one, for the lordships of the Houses you are eligible for."
Nodding his understanding, Harry examined the circle and its contents more closely. There were symbols placed on two different circles. On the outer circle was visible one coat of arms with a faint red lining and a whirlwind of black stars. On the inner circle were two more coats of arms, both outlined in a vivid red. A strange symbol; a vertical line inside a circle inside a triangle, as well as a griffin inside the symbol mentioned before, which was wrapped around the vertical line.
However the strangest phenomenon – he was Harry Potter after all – was the presence of another emblem at the center of the ritual circle, just in front of where he was standing. It was a coiled hooded cobra inside a pyramid outlined in red. The serpent had bright green eyes that seemed somehow alive, observing, analyzing him.
Once this first observation was done, the goblin continued his explanation.
"As you can see you are eligible to the role of heir to one House: the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, by magic, as showed by the faint red line. On the other hand, you are entitled to two lordships, Peverell and Potter, by blood, as you can see thanks to the vivid red line. However, this central symbol is most… unusual. It means this House is of the highest standing concerning both the chronology and the power.
It is an extremely old House.
This is the emblem for the House of Meretseger, a House created in Ancient Egypt for the chosen priests of the goddess Meretseger's cult. I will not be able to tell you much more about this House. All the families from this time were always extremely secretive. If you accept your place in the House, you will be able to enter the vault, where I suppose you will find answers."
After a pause to allow Harry to absorb this information, he continued.
"However, I can give you more details about the other families. You obviously know of the Potter family, which you are the heir of thanks to your father. The Black heirship was offered to you by the will of your late godfather, Sirius Black."
Here Shadowaxe paused a moment before looking Harry directly in the eyes and say softly: "I use this opportunity to offer you my condolences for the loss of your godfather. He spoke highly of you."
Harry could only nod silently. His throat was closed up; he wouldn't have been able to make a sound let alone a coherent sentence. He still hadn't grieved properly and now was certainly not the time. Shadowaxe seemed to understand his predicament as he continued without comment.
"The Peverells were ancestors of the Potters. It is said the three brothers were involved with the legend of the Deathly Hollows. We are not sure why none of the previous Potter males were eligible for the Lordship but it appears that you're now in this position. Now, do you have specific questions before your decision to accept these roles or not?"
After pondering for a while, Harry answered, "No, I think anything more specific regarding the families will be found in the vaults. Concerning the Houses of Potter and Black, I want to accept these titles whatever the outcome may be. They are my family. However, I'd like to know what exactly a Lordship or the title of Heir involves. Also, could this mysterious House of Meretseger be harmful to me if I was to accept the position?"
"To answer your last question first, no, accepting this Ancient House, or any House really, could not be harmful to you. You are a part of this family so worst was scenario is that you won't gain anything. The only possibility to be harmed by a House is for people who try to claim a place they are not eligible for. For instance, someone who tries out the Lord ring while not being eligible will have to suffer the repercussions. These vary between families, from a discomfort to pain comparable to the Cruciatus. As you have performed this ritual beforehand, you do not have the problem.
Now, about the titles of Lord or Heir. The duties and rights bestowed to the heir are specific to each House; therefore we are not aware of what it involves. However, relating to the Lordships, there are specific requirements that we do not know about, concerning duties, family magic, etc… There is also the political aspect since a Lord has access to the Wizenmagot. Apart from that, the role is not much different from what you expect a patriarch of a very wealthy and powerful family to be."
In his head, Harry mused the goblin was obviously underestimating the amount of consequences that accepting a Lordship had. Otherwise, people wouldn't be so attached to these ranks and there would be more of them.
"If you have not changed your mind about the Potter and Black offers, we can proceed further in the ritual."
As he was talking, Shadowaxe was bringing several intricate wooden boxes, each one of them with one of the symbols observed in the runic circle.
The account manager first opened the Potter one and presented it to him. Inside was a wrist band, made of platinum, with the Potter's coat of arms on the front.
Placing it on his left arm, Harry felt a rush of magic with a certain feel to it. Almost like recognition by his family. Definitely enjoyable.
Then, the process was repeated for the Black place, except that inside the box was a ring, made of silver, surmounted by an onyx of the deepest of black. He felt begrudging acceptance, but the sensation left in its wake was more of a surprised ease.
And lastly, a pendant with the Peverell symbol was put around his neck, giving him a sensation of freedom, acceptance, and dare he admit it, warm coldness! Like a chill down his spine, but a welcoming one.
Indeed, after accepting these three powerful emblems, he felt more and more complete, even if something was still out of reach. He could feel himself changing, or to be more accurate, accessing parts of him that were unknown or rejected by him previously, knowingly or not.
Strangely, the notion that an obviously dark family like the Blacks accepted him so readily did not perturb him that much. He should have been properly horrified. Actually, he should have freaked out by now…
He was once again interrupted in his musings by Shadowaxe,
"Now that these three families are once again fully active, I will, with your permission, conduct an audit for your estates. It will allow us to be firmly aware of the state of your affairs.
I will not look for a way to discover your abilities yet, as it is extremely probable that you will find the mean to do so in one or several of your families' vaults.
I propose you to visit your vaults while I will work on this inspection. You have a lot to discover in your ancestors' vaults. Can you agree with this?"
Harry could only nod. The events of the day were beginning to tire him out. Strangely, he was more exhausted by taking care of his own affairs than by fighting during another one of his adventures.
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