Diagon Alley
Ley Line magic is the wild magic of the world. The life blood of the earth in respects to the magical world. It is said that most of the convergence spots are sacred places to the magical world. Many believe that one such site is the monument of Stonehenge which is said to have been built before the fall of Camelot by the combined efforts of Merlin, Morgana and the Founders of Hogwarts. It is said that the only other monument of such grandeur is Hogwarts itself which is said to be placed at a minor convergence. These worldly places hold a magic that seems to call to each person that visits them, students feel safe and call Hogwarts home, Visitors of Stonehenge gain inspiration to follow a path they once thought closed.
--Excerpt from Ley Lines: Lines of life and Magic by Lennox Rook --
It was a few weeks later that Orion decided to take all three boys to Gringotts to pick out their Heir’s rings. He had been working with the Black Family Account Manager, Kraggott to find all the old Heir’s rings and put the more defensive ones together to be picked through for the younger two boys. He would take what Healer Talpin said to heart about giving the wild magic something to guide it when protecting Hadrian.
It Had taken the Goblins a little time to find all the rings and categorize them for the different heirs he had, His Primary Heir and the secondary Heirs. There were no distinctions between the heir types beyond the fact that one was older than the others. He would never call the boys anything other than his heirs for their protection as well. He would burn the world to ash if any of them were harmed due to their status as Heir Black.
When the children finally came down for breakfast Orion knew what he was going to say to them. “Good morning boys,” he said, “We are going to be taking a trip to Gringotts this morning.” He watched as the boys were each excited. It didn’t seem to take much but Orion was glad that they were excited and would be more than ready to take the trip. “Sirius, you will be able to take the floo after your Aunt Lucretia gets here to help me get you three there safely,” Orion explained and saw Sirius nod.
“Okay Father, you need me to watch for Reggie when I get there?” Sirius asked as he watched his father.
“Thank you for that Sirius and that would be a big help for your Aunt and I,” Orion said, knowing giving his son a bit of responsibility would help him not give Lucretia trouble on the other side. As everyone was finishing up their breakfast the Floo went off alerting the house to the arrival of Lucretia.
“Yay we're going to the Alley!” Sirius said as he rushed out of the room to go greet his Aunt.
Orion sighed as he saw Regulus walking at a more sedate pace to the floo room and Hadrian seemed to be waiting for him. He was not sure what to do but he was going to carry Hadrian through the floo while Regulus would be able to ride the floo network alone. He knew his boys knew how the floo worked but Orion was not sure about Hadrian and what he knew before coming into the Black household.
Orion carefully took Hadrian’s hand as he led the way to the floo room where his two sons were greeting their Aunt now and giving her a hug after protocols were taken care of. “I see my two made it here first,” Orion said as he looked at Lucretia.
“Of course, do you want me to take Regulus with me and wait for Sirius?” she asked. This caused Sirius to pout a bit thinking he wouldn’t get to be a good big brother to make sure Regulus got there safely.
“It might be a better idea, Not sure how busy the floo is today, Next time Sirius you can go with Regulus or wait for him on the other side alright,” Orion amended as he took a moment to grab the floo powder.
“Okay Father,” Sirius said, sulking a bit as he watched his brother get picked up by Lucretia. He did have to admit that it was safer for Regulus to ride with a big adult.
Orion watched as Sirius processed while he handed a bit of the powder to Lucretia. She carefully had Regulus against her hip within her cloak as she stepped to the fireplace. She threw the powder and called out for the Leaky Cauldron. In a flash of green flames the two were gone. Sirius repeated the process after a few moments and then Orion gathered up the young Hadrian against him as he took some powder and went to the Leaky Cauldron as well.
The trip through the floo network was quick, he held Hadrian carefully as he watched places speed past them. He stepped out and carefully moved out of the way. Straightening out he carefully put Hadrian down and took his hand as Sirius took Regulus’ and Lucretia’s as well. Together they all made their way to the Alley. He watched Hadrian’s reaction to the doorway and could tell now that his arrival to somewhere safe in the Alley was pure chance. He could tell that Hadrian had never entered the Alley way before today.
Walking with a purpose, the small contingency of the House of Black made their way to Gringotts not stopped by anyone. If anyone had been willing to approach they would have gotten the feel that they were two adults on a mission and were going to protect the three children that were with them with the efficiency of dragons.
Once inside Gringotts, Orion took care to get them back into an office with their manager Kraggott.
“Lord Black, Daughter Black, Heirs Black,” Kraggott greeted as he motioned for them to sit before them.
“Kraggott, are the rings ready for my Heirs?” Orion asked, as he watched each of the boys looked curious about what was asked.
“Of course Lord Black, shall we start with the eldest?” Kraggott said with a sharp grin.
Orion nodded and motioned for Sirius to come over. “This is my Primary Heir Sirius,” Orion said as he watched the goblin pull out one box and set them onto the desk for Sirius to look at.
“If Primary Heir Black will put his hand over the selection and let his magic feel for the ring that feels best,” said Kraggott.
Sirius put his hand over the box and closed his eyes a moment and took a few breaths to steady himself. He found himself hovering over a ring that was a black band that seemed to have specks of gold and silver embedded into the inner track of the ring. It seemed to be hiding the scrollwork design that mimicked the leaves on the Black family crest. When Sirius picked it up, he carefully put it onto his finger and smiled as it felt right.
“A good Choice,” said Kraggott as he closed the box and swapped it out for a different one. “Now we can move to the secondary Heirs, one at a time please,” the goblin said as he opened the box and let it show the rings that sat there.
This collection was different. The rings had several choices, black was a dominant choice it still seemed but you also could see a speckling of silver or gold bands as well. When Regulus stood, he let his eyes hone in on one ring and walked over and checked with his magic. He picked up a ring that was black with a single gold stripe down the center of the band. He nodded and went to sit beside Sirius as he nodded to Hadrian.
Hadrian stood up and walked over. It was nerve wracking as he saw how quickly the other two had collected their rings. He looked over the family of rings. He had been told how to relax and let his magic find the one that was meant for him. He held his hand over the box and closed his eyes. It was like listening for something that was almost too faint to hear. He let himself relax as his magic reached out tentatively towards the collection of rings. The ring he found himself drawn to was different then most of the rings. It had an almost wooden texture to the top and bottom part of the ring. On the top was a black band that faded to silver and the bottom band was the inverse of silver fading to black, but it was that they held together a braided band in the center of silver, gold, and black. There was on the top of the band, runes carved into the black and silver for protection. It was one of the oldest bands that House Black had and Hadrian carefully selected that band.
When he put it on it felt almost like coming home to a big hug. He was wrapped carefully in the magic of House Black when the ring laid upon his finger. With a nod Orion had Kraggott put the rings away and carefully with Lucretia took the three boys out of Gringotts.
“Now that you have the heirs rings of House Black, you will be better protected if anything were to happen,” said Orion to the boys as they were walking out. “Take care to always honor the family while wearing those rings,” Lucretia said as she looked at her brother.
“Yes, upsetting the family magic is one way to lose the ring you now hold,” Orion said, remembering the stories of some members of House Black losing their rings or them not responding when needed.
“Father, can we go out for lunch?” asked Sirius as he looked hopeful at his father.
Orion looked at Sirius and the two younger boys who were looking up hopeful at Orion. With a small nod, he smiled at his boys as they started to celebrate that they were going to get to eat out.
“You do indulge them a bit,” Lucretia said as she seemed to get a mischievous look in her eye.
“How can you tell these three Mischiefs no though?” Orion said back trying to defend himself.
As they walked Orion noticed a few people taking time to look at the small group of House Black. It worried him as he looked over his sons, taking in where they were, Regulus and Hadrian were holding onto Lucretia’s hands and Sirius was walking between him and Lucretia. He just had a feeling something was going to happen as he turned to look for a restaurant that was child friendly.
Orion finally decided on Juniper’s Dish which had a few whimsical dishes that he thought the boys would enjoy. As Orion began to lead the way there was a shift in the crowd. He could tell something was going on now. He grabbed Sirius’ hand and drew him closer Lucretia had Hadrian and Regulus hold hands and she took Regulus’s hand to keep her wand hand free. So as the two on edge Elder Blacks walked they were not sure what would happen but the crowd seemed to be just as on edge as the two Blacks.
It happened quickly, a hand reached out and grabbed Hadrian who cried out as his hand was ripped from Regulus’s grip. Lucretia and Orion turned and saw a cloaked figure held Hadrian by his collar.
“Well well, it seems that the Blacks are taking in runts now,” the wizard said, looking over Hadrian who was small for his age and struggling to get free.
“Let him go, Elderberry,” Orion said, not raising to the bait about the Black family.
“What if I said no hmm? What would you do then since I clearly have a wonderful shield,” the wizard Elderberry said as he laughed.
As Orion was keeping the wizard from paying attention to Hadrian, his magic was rising up and when it hit the Heir ring, it pulled at the magic and directed it to make a shield that would shock the would-be kidnapper by putting the shield tight against his skin.
Lucretia saw the ring activate and smirked as she held her wand steady. The heir ring would protect the little one and they didn’t have to worry if they used family magic to attack.
Sirius growled as he saw his new brother being held by the dark wizard. He felt like he needed to do something so while he stood there his hand carefully began to go through the motions that he had been taught. He wouldn’t leave his new brother in the hands of a mad man.
Orion looked at Hadrian and knew he had to get the boy back. “Let him go Elderberry before I call the Aurors to take you in,” he threatened.
“Don’t bother Black, I have him in my hands if you so much as twitch I can disappear with him before you can call for help,” Elderberry said as he had not realized what was going on around him. Other shoppers had already ducked out to call for help, Orion didn’t have to summon the Aurors himself since this was an attack on an Ancient and Noble House he was signing his own death warrant.
“He’s just a child, let him go,” Lucretia said as she held her stance. Regulus had been beside her leg, who was now slightly behind it.
“It is my greatest joy to hear the Black family begging for their little runt, tell me Orion did you hide this one because he was such a disgrace to your family line or because you must have had an affair for this green eyed boy?”Elderberry sneered not having changed his grip on the child.
“Grow up Elderberry, He is my nephew from a branch family that I brought into the main family, not that you needed to know that, but you are still threatening a member of House Black so take of that what you will,” Orion said. As he finished that statement a large grimm appeared and lunged at Elderberry’s wrist. It went straight for protecting a child of House Black. Orion did everything he could to hide where the dog came from but when Elderberry screamed he saw the hand release Hadrian who was then caught by the dog and brought back to between the Elder Blacks.
Hadrian looked a little shocked but smiled and petted the dog before it stood before the children to protect them while the threat was still there.
“I will get you back for this Black!” Elderberry said as the sound of apparation happened around them.
“Freeze! You’re under arrest, Mason Elderberry for the assault of the Ancient and Noble House Black.” Said the Aurors as they surrounded the group pushing the crowd back.
“Ancient and Noble my ass, Black you will pay!” Elderberry screamed as he moved to attack with a dagger. There were a few Stupifys that were launched at the one man and he crumpled down stunned. The Aurors went about restraining him and the Senior Auror looked at Orion as he monitored everything.
“Standard charges?” the Auror asked.
“No, Attempted Kidnapping of an Heir and Assault of an Ancient and Noble House member,” Orion said.
This clearly shocked the Senior Auror as he looked at the children knowing their ages except for Hadrian’s age.
“We will have to ask for a print out of the heir’s ring if you don’t mind Lord Black,” the Senior said as he looked over the small group.
Orion nodded and went to Hadrian who was still hiding in the fur of the grimm.
“Hadrian can I see the hand with your ring on it please,” Orion said and he saw a small nod from the boy who lifted his hand to be seen. Carefully Orion waved his hand over the Heir’s ring and got the print out from what it had done to protect its wearer.
“Will this be enough?” Orion asked as he handed the scroll over.
“This should be plenty, I take it the large black dog he’s holding is family magic?” the Senior Auror asked to which Orion nodded.
“Enough said, clearly he was in the wrong if the family magic attacked like that,” the Senior Auror said as he looked back and saw a few of his Juniors finishing off questioning the others around that saw everything.
“If we have any more questions for you or your sons we will owl you if that is alright Lord Black,” the Senior Auror asked as he looked back.
“That is perfectly acceptable,” Orion said, then looked at his sons and said, “I think we will head on home for today, we had enough excitement,” he said and saw that none of the boys whined about going out to eat.
As they walked, Sirius and Regulus stayed close to Hadrian as if to shield him from the world while the family magic had the grimm following the children clearly not at ease yet that the children were safe.
“Well it seems we will have a wonderful time with little Hadrian around,” Lucretia stated softly to Orion as they all went back to Grimmauld place.
Once they were back inside the house of Grimmauld Orion watched as the grimm began to fade. “Alright since we had an unexpected adventure, we will let you all take a small nap to recharge before lessons today alright,” he said, noticing how quiet all three of the boys were being. Orion watched as the three boys all headed up the stairs and seemed to take the offered nap easily.
“Well Orion, what are we going to do about the man who attacked our family?” Lucretia said.
“I have already charged him with attempting to kidnap an heir so he will go to Azkaban for life for that, but I think getting his wrist nearly severed by the family Grimm works well enough. It seems that Sirius found the need to summon the family guardian,” he smiled at that and saw a similar smile lift Lucretia’s lips.
“Yes he did it very well, I am glad he was able to do it subtly while we had Elderberry’s attention. But we should probably teach the younger two sooner than I was anticipating,” she said with a sigh.
“Our family is always targeted by someone, so it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea, I am just glad that he was trying to be a showman instead of a grab and side-along. Who knows where Hadrian would have ended up if that were the case,” Orion said, running a hand through his hair now.
“Lets go have some tea and thank the family magic for saving our little one from Elderberry,” Lucretia said as she led her Lord to the sitting room and asked for tea from Kreature.