Disclaimer: We own nothing!
Chapter 22
After a moment of silence, and all of them observing the tree carefully for other surprises, it was easy to see that the only shocks in Jade's family tree were the ones previously found.
"How the hell did Schmidt's sister meet Grindelwald?" Jade asked.
"If she is who I believe, then Evelyn Schmidt was Grindelwald's right hand woman." Nargol said. "When Dumbledore imprisoned Grindelwald, he was forced to bind her magic, to stop her from activating a device that would destroy the whole of Britain."
"That sounds very close to her brother's plans." Jade said.
"Dumbledore imprisoned them together, in the cell at the top of Nuremguard." Nargol said. "There were rumours of a child, but they were never proven. Would you like me to destroy the evidence proving those rumours?" He asked, indicating to the parchment. Before he could do anything, it went up in flames.
"No need." Loki said. He pulled a sheet of parchment from his pocket. "Now that we have discovered what we needed to on Jade's family tree, we were also wondering about this." He handed it to Nargol.
Jade knew what it was. She had watched the recording, and promptly descended into a panic attack. It had taken her parents near an hour to calm her down and tell her that there were plans being drawn up to stop it at that very moment. After that, she had examined everything that had come with the camera and recording, and found something that no one else had seen. There was a diary that had been under a protective spell that meant no one else would be able to see it until she picked it up. It had been keyed into her magic, but so far it hadn't opened. It obviously had some sort of key phrase or something. But what was it? And she knew that on the parchment was the depiction of Hufflepuff's cup, and its location- Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. Nargol observed it.
"What would you wish me to do with this?"
"We need that goblet." Loki said.
"I am afraid, that only the woman in question could retrieve it, or the Head of the House of Black, if he disowned Bellatrix LeStrange from his family and reclaimed it as part of the dowry given when she was married to her husband."
"Shame." Loki said, taking the parchment back off the goblin.
Thor pulled a pouch out of his inside jacket pocket and dropped it on the desk. "Thank you for your help." He said.
Nargol opened the pouch, inspected the contents, and nodded. "You may wish to reapply your disguise, before you leave, Miss Stark. While my office is perfectly safe, the outside world is not so safe."
Jade nodded and shifted her features to the blonde haired blue/green eyed look that she'd worn entering the bank. When outside the office, Jade groaned.
"How am I going to tell everyone about this?"
"Could you imagine the family dinners?" Loki asked, grinning.
Jade groaned again and buried her face in her hands. Thor pulled her into his side, and ruffled her hair. "No one will think any less of you. Ignore Loki; he is just trying to rile you up."
"How could I not take advantage of this?" Loki asked. "Of course I am trying to rile you up."
"At least I'm not going to try to destroy the whole of New York in an attempt to subjugate humanity upon discovering my family tree is less than kosher." Jade muttered.
"Did I touch a nerve?" Loki asked, his smirk widening.
"I think you did." Thor said. "Do not let it bother you Jade."
"How am I going to tell Uncle Steve?"
Loki hummed, before grinning. "Your Uncle Cap and your great Uncle Skull. Oh that would definitely cause problems over the dinner table- Ow!" He hadn't expected to have Jade stamp furiously on his foot.
"Shut up Loki." She grumbled.
"You know full well that Steve will not care about Schmidt's relation to you. He loves you like you are his niece. That will not change." Thor said. "And you are nothing like Schmidt to what I heard of the man, so do not worry."
They walked out of the bank and into the alley proper. "Now what?" Jade asked.
"The wand shop is our next and last stop." Loki said. "And then we'll be heading back."
They managed to get to the wand shop without any more taunts from Loki on behalf of her newly found relatives, but that was probably because they couldn't risk it getting out. If people had reacted badly to Dumbledore having a friendship with Grindelwald, what would the reaction be to Jade being related to him and two other war criminals (albeit one muggle one)?
The bell rang as the door opened and they entered but the large shop remained empty. Thor closed the door, and noticed the blacked out windows and door. But the store was rather well lit and open in itself.
"I must say Miss Stark; I did not expect you in here again so soon." A voice said. A woman stepped out from behind the curtain and Jade recognised her immediately. Alana, the wand maker. "I find it curious that you are here under a disguise, too."
"I am starting to wonder the point of it if everyone seems to recognise her anyway." Thor said, eyes narrow.
"I, like the goblins, am able to sense magical signatures. A necessary skill for a wand maker." Alana said. "But do not worry. Believe in the utmost confidentiality between my clients and I. Unlike some wand makers. No doubt, had you gone to say, Ollivanders, you would have found Dumbledore knowing you had been there, how long you had been there, and what wand you had at the end. I, on the other hand, will not even give out the amount of wands a client tries on average."
"Well, we know one more place to avoid." Loki said.
"May I ask why you are back so soon?" Alana enquired.
"My wand was taken from me. I need a replacement."
"It wasn't because you were expelled, I hope." Alana said, her brown, nearly black, eyes narrowing.
Jade shook her head. "Not at all."
She nodded. "Perhaps a normal wand will not be best suited to you, now your first one was misplaced. I sense you may need something… a bit different. If you would follow me." She ducked back behind the curtain, and the three followed. They found themselves surrounded by boxes in what seemed to be a wood work shop.
"It is not often that I get a customer that would be better suited to something custom made." Alana said, from where she was now standing beside a work bench. She was grinning gleefully. "The boxes each contain either a wand core, foci or wood. For a custom wand, or staff, to be perfect, you need to let your magic reach out and guide you to the materials best suited to you. Go ahead, try it."
After a moment's hesitation, Jade closed her eyes and let her magic reach out. The first box she grabbed was square and easily held in one hand, but would need both to open, the second and third boxes were long rectangles and the fourth was a very long box.
Alana's grin had grown. "It seems you would be more suited to a staff." She took the boxes from Jade and placed them on her work table. "I'll have it done in a week exactly. If one of you three comes by then, I will have it ready, but I will not hand it over to anyone else. I will accept payment then."
"Thank you." Jade said.
The elder witch nodded, and opened the long box, a clear dismissal. As they left the shop, Jade's mind turned back to her family tree. How was she going to tell the others this?
A/N: Please Review. Next chapter will be up A.S.A.P