Diagon Alley - part. 2
August 2, 1975. (Saturday)
“Come in, come in,” the goblin said when they arrived in front of a brass door without ornaments. He pushed the door open, and the girls saw a very banal office, like their dad’s. Each took a sit on a comfortable-looking chair while Grindore rummaged through a drawer of the desk.
“Ahah! Here it is!”
He put a wooden miniature chest on the desk and crossed his fingers under his chin.
“Do you know how the test is working, little witches?”
All three shook their heads. And Petunia frowned.
“It is, in reality, a succession of three tests. The first, the most important, tells us if we continue to the other two or not. Because the first one is when we know if the person taking the test is magic or not. When the answer is positive, the second test is here to tells us the power, refilling time, abilities, and affinities of the person taking the test.”
“I’m sorry, but… What is the power and refilling time?” Asked Lily, frowning. “I never heard of it!”
“You thought everyone was equal, little witch? You were wrong. Some are more powerful than others. Each magical individual has what is called a magical core. Not so much a physical core, per se, but we needed to call it something. Each magical individual radiates with magic, and we have a way to measure it with a unit called a myrddin. 0 myrddin and we have a non-magical person. Under 10 myrddin and it is a squib. Well… It is what mages call a squib,” he sneered. “The average is 25 to 30 myrddin. The most powerful can have 100 myrddin, to our knowledge. And the refilling time is how much time the individual need to refill his core to the brim. You can have someone with a huge core, but a very slow refilling time, whereas someone can have a little core, but a very swift refilling time.”
Lily was stunned. She didn’t know that. She felt betrayed. Why hadn’t she learned that in school? It was so much more useful than the goblins wars in history of magic!
“And the third test?” Asked a fascinated Ivy. “You said there were three tests…”
“Ah-ah, it is not really a test. It is a way to trace your lineage. Magicals often used it to know which vaults they are entitled to, which Wizengamot Seats they can claim, and other political things.”
“So cool,” whispered the eleven years old girl, wide-eyed.
Grindore smiled, then slapped his hand on the desk.
“Now! Which of you want to do the test first?”
“Erm… We just came for Ivy, sir. We now Lily is a witch already, and we know I’m not…” Hesitantly said Petunia.
“Nonsense, girlie. You all can take at least the first test. Maybe you are not a witch, but you can be a squib. Having your status recognized by the Ministry can be useful to link your hearth to the Floo system, for example.”
Looking at her sisters, astonished, Petunia caught the optimistic look on Ivy’s face and the thinking face of Lily.
“Oh, alright,” she finally said. “How does the first test works?”
“Very simple, girlie. You take this crystal sphere in your hand for thirteen seconds. If it stays the same, you are not magical. If there is some kind of smoking growing inside, you are magical. Maybe your recognized witchy sister can try it first to show you?”
Lily nodded; her determination written on her face. Grindore clapped his hand together after handing to Lily one of the three little crystal balls he took inside the wooden chest. She kept it in her closed hand for exactly thirteen seconds and put it on the desk next. Within moments, a colourful smoke grew inside.
“What is the meaning of the colours, sir?” Asked Ivy, ever the curious child.
“It will be relevant in the second test, dearie. It is to show which ability or affinity you have. Now, do you want to try?”
She nodded enthusiastically and took the second little ball Grindore handed her. She screws her eyes shut, whispering the count, and put the little ball on the desk, next to Lily’s, without opening her eyes. Her free hand was squeezing Petunia’s hard. A squeal of pleasure came from Lily when the crystal was full of colourful smoke.
“You are a witch, V! This was just a mistake from Hogwarts, I’m sure! We will be writing to the Headmaster when we get back, yeah?”
Ivy eyes shot open, and a delighted grin took over her lips. She side-hugged her sisters, letting her own squeals out. Petunia smiled, kissing the top of her head.
“I knew you were magic, Ivy. There was no doubt in my mind.”
“Thanks, Tuney. Your turn now!”
Paling a little, Petunia took a shuddering breath before taking the last little ball in her hand. Ivy counted for her, and she put it back on the desk after thirteen.
For a moment, nothing happened. But when she lowered her eyes, she saw a growing wisp of colourful smoke inside the crystal and froze.
“No way!” Shot Lily, disbelieving. “You are magical too, Tuney! It’s wild!”
Ivy hugged her eldest sister with a giggle, pleased by the results.
“It seems all three Evans sisters are witches! It’s brilliant!”
Even the goblin chuckled, satisfied with the results.
“And now, the second test, ladies! Miss Lily, will you do the honour? You strike me as a brave witch, yeah?”
Lily nodded, smiling.
“Good. This is quite simple,” said Grindore, finding three rolls of parchment inside the chest. “You just need to infuse this parchment with three drops of blood.”
“But isn’t Blood Magic illegal?” Frowned Lily, paling a little.
“Not the one we practice here, dearie. Ready? Here,” the goblin said, giving a little silver pin to Lily.
She took it and pricked her thumb. She appeared surprised for a moment, before letting three drops falls on the parchment. The blood on her thumb stopped flowing immediately, and she gasped as she saw she was healed. On the parchment, the three drops seemed to reveal a lot of other colours on the bottom while some writing in black appeared in the top. Grindore smiled and went to explain.
“At the top of the parchment, you have the measures of your power and your abilities and affinities. At the bottom of the parchment, you have the explanations.”
All three girls were poring over the parchment in Lily’s hands.
“ Lily Joséphine Evans:
- Power: 55 myrddin; 0.2m/min; 2m/10 min; 12m/hour.
- Ability:
o Major: Blood Magic, Death Magic, Seer Magic.
o Minor: Parseltongue, Ritual Magic, Soul Magic.
- Affinity: Potions, Charms, Runes, Healing Magic.
○ Magical power measure:
- Size of the core: Unit of measure (myrddin)
0 myrddin – Non-Magical.
Under 10 myrddin – Squib.
Between 10 and 80 – Mage.
Over 80 – Archimage.
Average – 25-30 myrddin.
- Refilling time:
Average – 12 myrddin/hour; 0.2 myrddin/minute; 2 myrddin/10 minutes.
○ Magical ability: inherited.
- Blood Magic.
- Death Magic.
- Soul Magic.
- Parseltongue.
- Elemental Magic. (Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Ice, Lightning, Metal)
- Ritual Magic.
- Seer Magic.
- Polyglot Magic (including Parseltongue).
- Metamorphmagus.
- Mind Magic.
- Animagus.
○ Magical affinity:
- Potions.
- Herbology.
- Runes.
- Charms.
- Transfiguration.
- Alchemy.
- Arithmancy.
- Care for Magical Creatures.
- Combat Magic.
- Healing Magic. “
Grinning, Ivy clapped her hands.
“It’s so cool, Lils! But Grindore? What is Parseltongue?”
“It is an inherited language. A Parselmouth, a person who can speak Parseltongue, can communicate with all kinds of snakes. A Parselmouth can also have access to what we called Parselmagic. It is a magic done while speaking Parseltongue. It is said it is a powerful gift.”
Smiling, Ivy hugged Lily and turned to the goblin.
“My turn!” She said excitedly, taking the offered pin.
She did like Lily and pricked her thumb, her mouth forming a little “o” when seeing the blood moving and expanding on the parchment, changing colours when needed. Lily and Petunia read over her shoulders.
“ Ivy Guinevere Evans:
- Power: 77 myrddin; 0.7m/min; 7m/10 min; 42m/hour.
- Ability:
o Major: Blood Magic, Ritual Magic, Soul Magic.
o Minor: Parseltongue, Death Magic, Seer Magic.
- Affinity: Potions, Runes, Healing Magic, Alchemy. “
Lily let out a little shocked noise when reading the power level of her little sister. Petunia squeezed Ivy’s shoulder, proud of her.
“Always knew you were a little battery, V,” she grinned, making the younger Evans giggling.
“Your turn, now, Tuney. After all, you’re a witch too!”
After taking a deep breath, Petunia nodded and took the pin. She didn’t look at the parchment while it filled with writing, instead turning her eyes on the ceiling. Seeing it, Ivy started to read out loud.
“Petunia Noelle Evans. You have a power level of 15 myrddin! You refill your core with 5 myrddin every 10 minutes. Oh, that’s cool. You are as good as new in half an hour!”
Sighing, Petunia finally lowered her eyes, taking in the writing on the parchment.
“ Petunia Noelle Evans:
- Power: 15 myrddin; 0.5m/min; 5m/10min; 30m/hour.
- Ability:
o Major: Blood Magic, Parseltongue, Ritual Magic.
o Minor: Death Magic, Soul Magic, Seer Magic.
- Affinity: Potions, Herbology, Care for Magical Creatures, Healing Magic. “
The goblin seemed incredibly pleased with all of this. He couldn’t stop grinning.
“Well, witchlings. It seems you lot are full of surprise! Ordinarily, a mage has one or two major ability, and one minor. Even if your core isn’t big, miss Petunia, you are incredibly powerful. Especially with such a refilling time! And you are truly a marvel, miss Ivy! I look forward to seeing what you will become!”
Ivy smiled widely, squeezing her sisters hands.
“And now, the third part of the test. Only one of you can do it if you don’t want to shed more blood. The results are the same. But if you want a copy each, you’re welcome to do it anyway.”
The three girls looked at each other, an inquiring look on their face. Ivy nodded first, then Lily, and finally Petunia.
“We will all do it,” said the eldest. “What do we need to do?”
“Wonderful! Here,” he placed another sheet of parchment in front of each of them and handed them a pin. “Thirteen drop of blood in this vial of ink. Then you stoppered the vial and shake it seven times. And you pick that quill and put it on the reopened vial. The rest will start automatically.”
A serious look on their face, the girls followed the instruction precisely, relieved to note that the prick on their thumb healed as soon as the thirteenth drop of blood fell in the ink. They took the vial and shook it seven times, before taking the quill and putting it on the vial after opening it again.
As soon as the sharp point of the quill touched the ink, the instrument floated up and at the parchment. It began writing almost frenetically, starting with the girls whose blood was on the ink and making a quite simple but informative family tree. It was a surprise when, under the names of their parents, the quill inscribed the word “squib”. And even more so when the parents of their grandfather Marius were noted as “mages”. On their father’s side, however, there was almost only squib marrying muggles. The first mage was Lana Iseult Parkinson, née Sayre, in 1852. She has married the squib son of two mages: Sylvana Parkinson, née Malfoy, and Marlow Parkinson. Her daughter, Griselda Alison Parkinson was born in 1870 and was a squib. She married Basil Evans, the grandson of Juniper Evans, née Selwyn, a mage. She herself has married the squib son of two mages. Alyssa Evans, née Peverell, and Donovan Crouch.
(To see the full tree: https://www.aht.li/3842405/My-Family-30-Mar-2024-093554394.html)
Blinking, the girls kept taking in all their ancestors, wonder on their faces.
“I never imagined that I would be related, albeit distantly, to those posh purebloods at school,” said Lily, frowning. “I mean, look! Our own grandfather is a Black! That means we are related to Sirius Black! He is sooo insufferable!”
Ivy giggled, looking at Petunia with amusement dancing in her eyes.
“At least, you’re not related to that Potter boy, right?” She chuckled, laughing loudly when Lily turned beet-red.
“Shut up, V!”
“Or that awful Snape boy!” Added Petunia, smirking when Lily glowered at her.
Meanwhile, Grindore was looking through the tree, humming lightly under his breath.
“While most of those families have already heirs, you have one that is thought extinct. If you want to, you could claim the headship of it and have access to the funds sleeping in a vault somewhere,” he interrupted.
“Really? Which one?” Asked Lily, eyes wide.
“The Sayre family. One of a few who are descending from Salazar Slytherin.”
Lily blinked and turned to her sisters. After a moment, Petunia asked how they were going to do this.
“Quite simple,” chuckled the goblin. “You put a drop of blood on this parchment,” he took a roll from a drawer and flattened it on the desk. “And it will list what you can inherit. I suspect that you have inherited Parseltongue from the Sayre, actually.”
He handed a pin to Petunia, who nodded firmly before pricking her thumb. For the last time, she hoped. Once the drop fell, she handed the pin back and watched as the parchment filled.
“As you are considered of age in the magical world, you could take it right now,” added Grindore before looking at the parchment he took back.
He nodded, and pricked his thumb to, adding his drop of blood on the document. It glowed for a brief moment, and the goblin turned the parchment back.
“And now, it is an official document. You just need to sign in the bottom right of the page to accept the inheritance. So, miss Petunia. What says you?”
Lily giggled, hearing Grindore adopt a typically human idiom, and watched with trepidation as Petunia picked the black quill handed to her.
“Er… I don’t know how to write with this thing…”
“Don’t worry. You have time to learn. Just for this once, do it like you would with a non-magical pen. It might sting a bit on the back of your hand, but it is totally normal. It’s a Black Quill, used only to sign official documents or agreements.”
Taking a deep breath to centre herself, Petunia put the quill on the parchment and signed it without flourish.
“Perfect! I will have the Head of House ring brought here,” he sighed, satisfied. “Now. Would you like to keep your name as is, or hyphenate it? Or change it completely?”
“Er… Can we change it later?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then, for now, I think we will keep the Evans name. We will discuss it later.”
“That’s good. And lastly… Do you want to name an heir or an heiress?”
At that, Petunia turned to her sisters. She smiled at Ivy and arched an eyebrow at Lily.
“Lily. Would you do me the honour of becoming my heiress?” She asked with her most posh voice, supressing her laughter.
“I would be delighted to!” Exclaimed the middle sister, as if she just accepted a marriage proposition, making the youngest of them erupt in a peal of laughter.
Laughing, Petunia turned to Grindore.
“Then, sir, I would like to make Lily my heiress. For now, anyway.”
“Wonderful!”
A knock at the door startled the girls, and they offered a sheepish smile to the younger goblin who came with an ivory little ring box.
“Thank you, Cutthroat. That will be all,” dismissed Grindore, taking the box.
Cutthroat bowed and left after a toothy smile to Ivy who waved enthusiastically to him.
“Miss Petunia, here is your ring,” said the older goblin, handing a ring to the eldest Evans. The ring was made of silver, with an emerald carved in the shape of an “S”, surrounded by diamonds.
She took it, hesitantly, and placed it on her forefinger on her right hand. The ring glowed, then resized himself to fit snuggly around it. Petunia’s eyes glowed too, to the delight of Ivy.
“Miss Lily, here is the heiress ring,” Grindore told her, handing her a second ring.
She took it too. It was also silver, but with just an emerald where an “S” was carved in. Like Petunia, she put it on the right hand, on her forefinger. It glowed and resized himself. And her eyes glowed too.
“And lastly, miss Ivy, this is a ring to signal your membership in the Sayre line.”
Ivy took the simple silver band, noticing the “S” carved on the top, and slide it on the same finger than her sisters. The same reaction occurred, and Ivy giggled.
“That tickled,” she explained, still smiling.
“Well, girls… Or rather… Ladies! This concludes our business here. The fees of the test will be taken from the main Sayre Vaults with your permission, Lady Petunia,” she nodded, and he ticked a case on the parchment. “And this is a copy for each of you. This is your own copy of your family tree. And this is your magic ball. Take it, or it will be thrown away.”
The girls took the papers, and the little crystal sphere still glowing with colourful smoke, and they got up.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you, sir,” said Ivy with an unusually serious face. Then she broke into giggles. “Sorry, I always wanted to say it! It’s funny!”
Grindore chuckled and got up too. He bowed and they blushed.
“Try to stop at the desks in the entry hall. Ask for an account manager to be assigned to you. He will have all the paperwork related to your new fortunes. Just show them the rings. Have a nice day, girlies!”
They laughed, and tried a curtsy, then fled out of the office still laughing. They heard Grindore chuckling as he closed the door.
“So… Now what? Beside the paperwork for the account…” Asked Lily, curious.
“Now, we find somewhere to learn magic for Ivy and me,” was the reply from Petunia. “And we go shopping for Grandfather Marius. And we have some fun before going home.”
All three girls were okay with that plan. But they first needed the account manager. So, when they arrived back in the entry hall, Petunia walked to a desk without a queue and asked sweetly if they could have an account manager assigned, showing her new shiny ring to the goblin. Ivy smiled at him, recognizing Blastblood. And Lily offered a sheepish smile, saying sorry for the way she treated him before.
In a record time, the girls had a ledger filled with paperwork, a money pouch linked to the main vault, and were out in the sun.
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