Revealing Ink
"You sure you're ready?" Harry frowned, clasping his hands together for a moment, while Grabgold had excused himself, on the premise of collecting the necessary tools.
"No." Elanor replied without hesitation. "But if I don't do it now, I never will." She continued.
"You can always neck that glass of wine down. I mean, I know you're technically not of age, but the stuff is pretty strong, being goblin wine, and it'll calm you down." Harry pointed out, while holding out the glass.
Elanor shot him a nervous glance, before looking at the burgundy red wine in the silver goblet. "Why the hell not?" She murmured quietly, grabbing the goblet and drinking it down in one go, causing her to shudder slightly at the soporific effect, and melt into her chair slightly.
"You were right." She mumbled softly. "Aside from the burn in my throat, I feel more at ease."
"Of course." Harry replied. "It is alcohol after all. Shame you couldn't savour it."
"Stuff it." Elanor responded with a slight slur. "I needed that."
A smooth click of the door sounded out as it opened, revealing Grabgold with an armful of tools for the ritual. Smoothly sliding into the room, he set up all the equipment with practiced ease.
"So Miss. Riddle, are you ready?" he inquired.
Elanor could only gulp slightly, before catching the supportive look on Harry's face. Nodding slightly but not daring to speak, as though she was afraid her voice wouldn't come out.
"It's fairly simple of course, for us goblins at least." Grabgold chimed in. "In fact, Harry is probably one of the only wizards we know that is capable of manipulating the magic of the earth in such a way as we goblins do for this ritual."
"Really?" Elanor asked faintly. "He really is better than I thought."
"Most definitely, I would say Miss. Riddle." Grabgold replied with a nod of his head. "Of course, he won't be as good as a goblin, but for humans, he's good enough." He added with a toothy smirk, causing Harry to groan at the dismal attempt at humour.
Not waiting for Elanor to think about what he had just said, he instead directed her to the seat within the middle of the ritual circle he had set up. Looking back at Harry, she saw him give a slight nod of the head, easing her nerves slightly, though her heart still felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.
As she sat down in the directed seat, metal chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles causing her to shout out in surprise. "W-What are you doing!?"
"Now calm down Miss. Riddle, it's just a safety precaution." Grabgold interjected hastily.
"It's just to make sure you won't disturb the ritual while it's in progress, inadvertently or otherwise Elanor." Harry spoke up softly with a placating hand.
"Ok. Ok…" Elanor breathed out slowly, calming down. "It's blood magic right, so when are you slicing me open?" she questioned slightly morbidly, causing Grabgold to drop his jaw in disgust, and Harry to snicker slightly at the goblin's horrified expression.
"Miss. Riddle!" he exclaimed hastily. "That's barbaric!"
"Oh." Elanor blinked at the normally calm goblin's reaction. "But I thought you needed blood for blood magic? Not that I've read about it of course!" she added hastily, causing Harry to snort behind his hands.
"No, of course not!" Grabgold exclaimed. "Most blood magic involves rituals acting on blood within a magical vessel, such as yourself. We certainly don't need to slice you open for this ritual, as it were." He grimaced slightly at the thought.
"A queasy goblin?" Elanor voiced without thinking. "And I thought it only stopped at polite goblins." She added, her view of the world mock-shattering in her mind's eye.
This time, Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing, as Grabgold smacked his head into his hands, muttering about crazy humans.
With a flick of his fingers, both Elanor and Harry were silenced, though Harry could still be seen laughing in the background.
"Well, now that there will be no interruptions, we shall begin." Grabgold queried with a slightly annoyed expression. "Last chance to stop." He added with a crafty smirk.
"Oh? No objections then." He finished, smirking at the horror-struck expression on Elanor's face.
And with a growly cackle, he stroked a finger down the rune carved into the floor, causing it to light up in an eerie red glow, spreading around the chair in a circle, activating each rune at the four points of what would be a standard compass for muggles.
Pulling out a piece of parchment, he placed it onto a hovering rune that had appeared when all four points had activated, causing the entire circle to flow into a tangible dome of partly transparent red, before it faded away, a glowing red ring the only thing that could be seen around the chair.
Having affirmed for himself that the entire circle was set up, and the recording rune had been linked with the empty parchment, Grabgold gave a nod of his head towards Harry. "It's ready. I trust you will avoid interrupting this ritual?" he queried him firmly.
"Of course Grabgold." Harry responded honestly. "I'm only here as… emotional support, I guess."
"I didn't remove that silencing charm Harry." Grabgold narrowed his eyes at him dangerously, causing Harry to smirk slightly.
"Of course not." He replied in good humour. "My voice has a mind of its own see?"
"Well, as long as you make no noise to disrupt this." Grabgold growled out.
"You have my word." Harry responded seriously.
Eyeing Harry warily for a few moments more, he nodded his head and turned towards the circle, holding out both hands, hands touching the perimeter.
Beginning to chant in goblin tongue, the glow of the circle intensified, and a background hum started in the air. Magic began flooding the room, almost tangible, as with each spoken word, the circle thrummed, flaring brighter and brighter as Grabgold's voice, reminiscent of grinding stone, of waterfalls crashing down, and of the tinkling of jewels more and more frenzied with each passing second. The hum in the air reached practically painful levels, but Harry clenched his fists, willing himself to endure the intoxicating flood of magic, locking his eyes onto Elanor's who seemed to have clouded over as the magic did it's work. Finally after what seemed like hours, but what was merely a few minutes, fiery letters began burning into the parchment, and Harry's skin seemed to crawl with ants, causing him to clench his eyes slightly, as the words began to fade away, leaving behind the parchment, and a silent Grabgold. With a gesture, the runic circle faded, leaving a heavily breathing Elanor sat in the chair.
"That was intense." She voiced weakly, trying to catch her breath again. "Wow."
"Yeah." Harry voiced in a quiet voice, but carrying out through the room, cutting through the sudden silence left behind. "Very powerful magic."
"If you would be kind enough to collect Miss. Riddle, we can go over the results can we not?" Grabgold interjected.
"Sure." Harry stood up, ignoring the sudden shiver that ran through him, before touching a hand to the chair and releasing the restraints. "Need a hand?" he asked Elanor, who seemed unwilling to move at the moment.
"You'll have to pick me up." She voiced embarrassedly. "My legs feel like jelly."
Scooping her up against his back, she wrapped her arms around his neck, while he held onto her legs to hold her steady. He carried her over to the soft armchairs they had sat in while discussing business, before sliding her into one, and seating himself in the other. Grabgold in the meantime was scanning the parchment, before looking up at them.
"You are ready for the results?" he queried lightly.
"Sure." Harry replied for her, as her mouth seemed unwilling to work at the moment.
Grabgold blinked for a moment, deciding how best to go about it. Normally, he'd hit his customers straight, but with a friend of Harry's he didn't want to be brusque about it. As if reading his mind, Harry cut in.
"Just give it to her straight, it's pointless sugar-coating it Grabgold." He remarked firmly.
"Of course." Grabgold replied simply.
"Well Miss. Riddle, the results are rather straightforward." He began, causing Elanor to look at him. "Your mother, Alya Carina Black, as we already know, is deceased, and is confirmed by the results on this parchment."
"And my dad?" Elanor murmured quietly.
"Your father, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is also listed as deceased, I'm afraid." Grabgold replied gently, causing Elanor to lower her head sadly.
"So. At least I know." Elanor sighed.
"Yes. You are handling this better than many I have seen before Miss. Riddle." Grabgold informed her respectfully.
"Well it's not as if I ever knew him." She remarked slightly bitterly. "Nothing to care about." She added lowly, causing Harry to wince slightly.
"Grabgold, what else is there?" he instead pointed out, having seen him waiting patiently for Elanor.
"Well, the magic has identified their death dates, if you wish to know." Grabgold grimaced slightly at the results on the parchment.
"Yes, I want to know." Elanor replied firmly. "Tell me."
"Your mother, Alya, was officially deceased on the twenty-third of February, nineteen-eighty." He replied.
"Not long after I was dropped off at that orphanage then." Elanor murmured. "And my dad?"
"Your father, Tom, was recorded as officially deceased on the thirty-first of October, nineteen-eighty-one." He voiced carefully, glancing at Harry with a questioning look, causing him to nod back, before giving a small shake of the head.
"That's ironic." Elanor mumbled. "Same day as the dark lord." she whispered curiously.
"An… unfortunate coincidence, Miss. Riddle." Grabgold voiced carefully shooting another glare at Harry.
At this Elanor buried her head in her hands with a sigh. "I'm not sure knowing is better than not-knowing now either."
"When you think back on it later, you won't have any regrets about not finding out as soon as you could." Harry spoke up gently.
"Besides, I know your full name now." Harry smirked slightly, causing Elanor to look at him with slightly puffy eyes, before scoffing at him slightly. "Elanor Alya Riddle. That's interesting."
"So what's yours?" Elanor gave a wan smile at his attempts to ease the mood.
"Harry James Potter, at your service." He stood up and bowed slightly, sweeping an imaginary hat off his head, causing her to stifle a small giggle.
"While we're here, we should find out if your father or mother left a usable vault behind." Harry pointed out, pulling her to her feet.
"If I have to." She scowled slightly.
"Ah no need to Miss. Riddle." Grabgold began, before she cut in.
"If you can call him Harry, call me Elanor." She scowled again. "Miss. Riddle sounds like you're talking to an old woman."
"Bu-" Grabgold tried to begin, before Elanor cut across once more.
"Call. Me. Elanor." She voiced dangerously, eyes flashing slightly. Harry gave a weak chuckle at this.
"Yes! Of course Elanor!" Grabgold voiced suspiciously squeaky all of a sudden, causing Harry's grin to widen. "As I was saying, we already know that you have a vault available, belonging to your father."
"Oh." Elanor blinked slightly. "And I can use this?"
"Yes of course, we goblins don't like sitting on money we can't do anything with. It would be our pleasure to get the gold flowing again, as it were!" Grabgold smirked. "He did leave behind a decent amount of gold too!"
/
"I'm rich?" Elanor voiced up all of a sudden, while she was walking down Diagon Alley with a quietly contemplative Harry.
"Sorta." He replied. "It won't last forever, but a few years of spending won't hurt too much."
"You'll have plenty to get through Hogwarts with, with a good bit spare."
"Oh. Good." Elanor blinked, before turning to Harry. "It's nothing compared to your vault though. I've never seen so much gold in my life."
This caused Harry to cough uncomfortably. "Yeah well, I don't plan on living my entire life just spending my money on whatever I want."
"You don't act like a rich kid." Elanor instead pointed out. "People like the Malfoys flaunt their wealth all over the place. You seem pretty humble."
"Yes, well I didn't know about any of my money until I was eleven." Harry pointed out. "The people I lived with taught me the value of things. I never even considered throwing around my money, because I know what it's like to go without it."
"That explains a lot." Elanor concurred.
"Who are the Malfoys anyway?" Harry asked.
"You don't know them?" Elanor voiced in surprise.
"Should I?" Harry pointed out. "It's not as if I've been involved in the wizarding world around here." He added, squirming slightly at her searching gaze.
"Sounds plausible." She pointed out shrewdly. "In any case, they're an old family of purebloods. They all have bright blonde hair and everything. Draco Malfoy's father, who is in Slytherin with me, has the ear of the minister, or so he keeps parroting." She added scowling slightly, causing Harry to snort.
"Let me guess. He thinks the world revolves around his family or something?" Harry smirked. "Sounds like the typical snobby pureblood with too much cash to burn."
"You can put it that way." Elanor confirmed. "I've always considered Malfoy to be a pretentious, stuck-up peacock anyway. His father is a hell of a lot slimier though."
"I'll be sure to avoid them. They don't sound like they would agree with me." Harry chuckled. "I might end up hexing this Malfoy if he's as bad as I think he's going to be."
"Don't let me stop you." Elanor smirked.
"It's funny though, money can get you pretty much anywhere in either world." Harry voiced. "Besides, I doubt Malfoy's wealth holds a candle to mine."
"Careful now, you're beginning to sound like a snob." Elanor giggled. "And how would you know that?"
"I was… quietly informed I had the richest accounts in all of Gringotts far and away above others." Harry coughed slightly uncomfortably. "Though not so much in the way of property and stuff."
This caused Elanor to look at him, before sighing and shaking her head. "You just get more mysterious every minute."
"Not my fault!" Harry scowled. "I didn't ask to be rich or anything!"
"I know, I know." Elanor sighed. "Aren't you going to do some shopping or something? I have a little extra money I can spend, and I'm not sure what to do with it."
"You can always buy a magical trunk." Harry suggested seriously. "I'm sure there's always something you can't fit into a normal school trunk."
"That's a good idea." Elanor smiled slightly. "I could use something I can fit all my belongings into. I usually end up having to leave a whole bunch of clothes and stuff behind."
"Clothes." Harry mock-scoffed.
"Hey!"
/
Having haggled fiercely with the magical trunk salesman, Harry had achieved an amazing discount of… a galleon. This caused him to sulk for a great deal of time, before Elanor whacked him upside the head, having witnessed the train wreck of that particular negotiation. The salesman had laughed him out of the door after Elanor had paid for her little three compartment trunk, expanded slightly to fit more inside, than her standard non-magical school trunk.
"Stupid salesman." He muttered vehemently.
"And here I thought you were good with money." Elanor teasingly remarked.
"Ah forget it!" he growled, gripping his hair slightly, before dropping his hands to his side and sighing in exasperation.
They had spent the last few hours wandering around Diagon Alley, looking through all the curio shops, having picked up both their school supplies in short order. Elanor was looking at his pocket slightly jealously, having seen him pull out a miniature trunk, only for it to suddenly expand into a full sized, five compartment trunk which he stuffed everything into. In the meantime, she was dragging around a non-shrinking trunk, which thankfully, Harry had pinged with a Featherweight charm, to make it easier to lug around.
"So what are we doing now?" Elanor sighed at watching Harry walking around without a care in the world. "If it's all the same to you, I need to head back, I'm tired and cranky, and I'm still upset and… gah." Elanor ranted.
"Ah, you can head back if you like. I still have a few things to take care of as well." Harry replied without looking.
"If you say so." Elanor scowled slightly. "Guess I'll see you around sometime."
"Yeah sure." Harry turned and grinned slightly. "Besides, my door's open to you anytime you like."
"Really?" Elanor mumbled.
"Yeah, really." Harry confirmed with a nod. "Hey, you can head back to my place now if you want. The door will let you in."
"I'm allowed to do that?" Elanor blinked. "And how will the door let me in?"
"Yes of course, and I keyed your signature into my wards, so touching the door will open it for you." Harry nodded.
"That's… nice of you." Elanor responded meekly, blinking away the water in her eyes for a moment.
"Well I did say you could come round anytime." Harry smiled.
"Still, no one's ever given me a place I can go to anytime I like. Willingly anyway." Elanor replied.
"Well you got one now." Harry smiled.
"Yeah… Thanks."
/
Having said their goodbyes for a moment, Harry watched Elanor head off towards the Leaky Cauldron, before turning around and looking towards the entrance of Knockturn Alley.
"Ah, it's so much easier doing this kind of stuff without company." He remarked casually, before ducking into a side street, free of wandering eyes. He swiftly transfigured his black jacket into a dark cloak with hood, spelling his face with some sort of charm, causing it to be blacked out, as if by an impenetrable shadow. Only his green eyes were left visible, as he stalked into Knockturn Alley.
He made his way, slowly winding down the path towards a curious little shop called Borgin and Burkes. The proprietor, was bumbling about behind his counter, looking up as Harry pushed the door inwards with a sharp creak. He was a sallow-faced man, stooping ever so slightly, dressed in threadbare robes, only accentuating the atmosphere of the place, of a dark and gloomy shop. He brushed his greasy hair back for a moment, before welcoming him in.
"Welcome, welcome, sir to Borgin and Burkes." He wheezed slightly, rubbing his hands together as though preparing to gain some gold. "May I interest you in anything?"
"I dare say you can." Harry replied, his voice coming out dark and silky, making the room chill, and causing Borgin to shiver a little at the tone.
"In fact… I'm looking for a certain book." Harry continued conspiratorially, drawing Borgin's attention to the chance of earning money. "Would you happen to have books about…" Harry paused for a moment, looking around to check they were alone, also causing Borgin's excitement to increase slightly.
"Occlumency?" He whispered near his ear.
"Oh." Borgin raised an eyebrow. "Yes of course sir… let me just go fetch what you require."
Harry nodded, before Borgin quickly headed into the backroom, Harry being able to hear him rummaging around, obviously pretending to search through his books. It wasn't as if he would be keeping an illegal book just lying around. In fact, Harry could practically feel that warded safe he had hidden under the floorboards back there.
After a quick shake of the head, Borgin came back out of the room, holding a book wrapped in threadbare cloth.
"This is what you're after sir." Borgin stated with ease.
Scanning the cover, and discreetly casting a few charms to identify that the contents matched what he was expecting to receive, he nodded at Borgin. "Yes. Exactly what I'm looking for."
"Good to know sir." Borgin smirked, "That will be two hundred galleons."
At this, Harry snapped his head up and looked at Borgin in the eye, causing him to fidget nervously.
"What is the real price Borgin?" he voiced dangerously, causing him to shiver again.
"F-For you, fifty galleons!" Borgin stuttered.
"Unnaceptable." Harry replied succinctly, eyes seemingly glowing vivid green through his hood, causing Borgin to shiver once more.
"B-But sir, it's illegal. V-very hard to get hold of, very rare." he tried to plead.
"Twenty, and not a knut more." Harry stated simply, glaring deep into his eyes, causing Borgin to shriek slightly, before hastily accepting.
"Yes, yes of course!" he exclaimed fearfully.
Pausing a moment to hand over twenty galleons, he wrapped the book in his cloak. Turning to face Borgin once more, he gripped both his arms.
"I only have to make sure you tell no one." Harry chuckled darkly, hands digging painfully into Borgin's arms.
"N-Never! I-I don't betray customers!" Borgin cried out.
"Unless it's to save your own skin, I'm sure." Harry whispered into his ear.
"You won't tell anyone about me." Harry hissed, magic inflecting his voice with power, and causing Borgin's eyes to glaze slightly.
"I won't tell anyone about you." He responded dully.
"Good." Harry replied darkly. "Until next time, !" he called out with a cackle, his cloak swishing out the door, while Borgin stood there shivering slightly at the image of glowing Avada Kedavra green eyes burnt into his mind.
/
Elanor had finally managed to lug her trunk all the way to Harry's house, the Featherweight charm unfortunately having worn off halfway there, causing her to have to drag her trunk the rest of the way. She'd gotten a few curious stares, but no offers of help, as per usual.
Having set the trunk in the living room, she had helped herself to a drink, before saying hello to Hedwig, Harry's owl, and collapsing in a chair, to rest for a bit. Funnily enough, she had spoken to the owl for a minute, though she could have sworn Hedwig understood everything she was saying, but she had no idea what the owl was thinking. She realised Harry's penchant of talking to the owl had rubbed off on her at some point, and she felt slightly embarrassed at that fact.
Settling herself into the chair and watching Hedwig sleep slowly eased her into her own. Her breathing became deeper and more relaxed, as she felt like a weight had been taken off her shoulders, despite knowing she truly had no family anymore. It really was better to know, she mused silently as she drifted off into the land of Morpheus.
AN 13.08.2014
I had intended to do Harry's reveals and stuff here, but the word count flew away from me. Next chapter it will have to be. As well as Elanor finally meeting Isabella, that beautiful snake, and learning more about magic in general. Still to come is the Quidditch World Cup, or at least their reaction to the aftermath of it, and a general time-skip for a few weeks. I don't intend to write this as a day by day fic, but the first few days of any relationship requires good establishment. That's simply all it is.
Elanor Alya Riddle : Sun-Star, Serpent, Mystery (For those of you interested in the meaning behind the name)
Until next time!