5 Chapter 5: Diagon Alley
(August 11, 1991)
(General POV)
The following day was as beautiful of a Sunday morning as they had ever seen. The sun was shining brightly overhead, and a nice warm breeze swept across the ground as it washed over them.
As soon as they all had gathered together in the Treehouse, Savrin put a hand on their shoulders before a bubble of magic seemed to wrap around them. A pop later and their surroundings had completely changed, and now they were standing outside a grubby-looking pub.
"I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, but I think you took us to the wrong place." Godric said as he looked around to the muggles passing them by on the street. "It's hidden under a charm you dunce!" Salazar remarked as he pointed up to the sign that changed to the Leaky Cauldron.
"This is the primary entrance for muggleborns wishing to go to Diagon Alley. I brought you here so you can come and go as you please without my help." Savrin told them as he began to move towards the door of the pub.
When they entered, it was like they were transported from the future to a thousand years in the past. The tavern was lit by candles, and it was very dark and shabby. There were wizards and witches just sitting and lounging around as they drank and smoked.
An old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut, was standing behind the counter talking to an old woman who looked to be close to a thousand years old.
"Good morning, Savrin!" The old barman greeted as they passed by to go into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a dustbin and a few weeds.
"Good morning, Tom. Sorry to just dash, but I got some business to take care of with these kids." Savrin said to the man just as he was moving into the courtyard, getting a smile and wave from the barman.
"How do you know him?" Godric asked, curious as to when Savrin had the time to come here and meet the man.
"Believe it or not, I have a life outside of you four. I like to come here some nights to just get a drink and listen to what's going on in the world." The four of them looked thoughtfully at one another, and after coming to a silent agreement, they decided not to dig further on the matter.
If Savrin wanted to get drunk and torture the poor souls of the wizarding world, he had every right so long as he left them out of it.
Ignoring the four children, Savrin walked over to the wall where the dustbin was by, then began pointing at the bricks. "Three up and two across from here is the correct brick in case you forget which one." Savrin said, then tapped the brick three times with his finger.
"Would be easier just to remember which brick it is." Salazar mumbled, though if he heard, Savrin didn't care. The brick he had touched quivered for a second before a hole appeared, then it grew wider and wider until a second later they were facing an archway large enough for them all to pass through onto a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.
As soon as they crossed into Diagon Alley the archway shrank instantly back into a solid wall. Continuing on down the street, they passed by the shops that lined both sides of the street, none of them could understand it.
They had just come from muggle London where the buildings were all in perfect order. The streets were paved, and everything didn't look like it was hastily drawn on a piece of paper by an infant.
"I think the witches and wizards of this era aren't right in the head." Helga whispered, getting nods of agreement from two of her friends. Godric meanwhile could appreciate it.
Though it wasn't as good as it could be, it was loads of times better than it had been back in his time. He could remember walking through dirt streets and seeing houses made of mud. Compared to that, this was quite the upgrade.
They walked down the street for a while until they reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops with a sign that read, "GRINGOTTS".
As they approached it, Godric seemed to come to a halt as he stared towards the burnished bronze doors, his eyes narrowing. For some reason his right hand went to his left side like he was going to grab something, but he grabbed not but air. It was only when he realized he hadn't grabbed something that he seemed to snap out of it and come back to reality.
"You never told us it was a goblin bank!" Godric whisper-shouted at Savrin, who actually looked confused. He thought he was just going to surprise them with this, but he didn't think it would make them angry. Well, make Godric angry, because the other three looked quite calm.
"I didn't think I needed to. What's the problem?" Savrin asked, not seeing anything wrong with goblins running a bank.
After a moment where no one said anything, a look of understanding crossed his face before he leaned over and whispered, "Is it because they're no longer green?" That brought them all up short as they looked at him disbelievingly.
"So your goblins were never green then, huh?" Savrin said as he realized that that was not what had Godric so on edge. Savrin, realizing he had no idea what was going on, decided that if Godric wasn't going to answer, he was just going to ignore it.
Continuing on up the steps, Savrin nodded his head towards the little goblins who were more than a head shorter than Godric and the others. Walking inside, they arrived at a second set of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
"Even if you pay for it these stupid little bastards will try and take it from you." Godric mumbled under his breath, though Savrin still heard him. Figuring that the goblins had tried to steal from him in the past, Savrin could guess why Godric might dislike them.
Inside the bank there were about a hundred or more goblins sitting on high stools behind long counters along the walls to the right and left of the door as you entered the room.
Walking up to the head goblin at the far end of the room, Savrin smiled smartly before saying, "Excuse me, but I would like to open-" Before he could finish what he was saying, a thought struck him, causing him to turn quickly to the four children standing beside him and ask, "You all don't already have vaults, do you?"
Three of them looked confused at the question, and Godric looked annoyed. "Nope. Why would we?" Godric asked abruptly, sounding as though it was the dumbest suggestion in the world to give a goblin your gold.
Ignoring Godric, Savrin turned back to the goblin in question before asking, "Say they had family members who created vaults, would they be able to access them?" Savrin knew full well the four of them hadn't created Vaults at Gringotts because Gringotts hadn't been established until the late 1400s, which had been a few centuries after the founders' time.
Still, the whole point of vaults was for families, and it only occurred to him at this moment to see if any of them had descendants that possibly had their own vaults. It wasn't like he needed the vaults, but it could be fun to find treasure wherever it may be.
The Goblin frowned at him for a long moment before scrutinizing the mini-founders. "If they had family who have vaults in Gringotts, they cannot access them unless they are given trust vaults by said family, or in the event that the family member owning said vault dies, one of blood relation might be able to inherit the vault." The goblin explained.
Deciding to at least try it out, Savrin told the goblin that he would like to have the four children take any test to see if they were related to anyone. Rowena and Helga looked somewhat excited to see if any of their descendants had vaults, whereas Godric and Salazar did not.
They were led into a back room where upon a pedestal rested a small bowl with a steel knife resting beside it. Next to the table in the corner of the room was a small table with a very large book on it. The goblin who had led them here grabbed a piece of paper from off the wall, then placed it upon the pedestal after removing the bowl and knife.
With the knife in hand, he looked to Rowena before telling her to take the knife and make a small cut on her finger, to which she did without much hesitation. After getting 3 drops of blood from the tiny cut, the goblin took the knife back from her, and it was only then she and the others noticed the blade didn't have any blood on it whatsoever.
Smirking, the goblin pulled out a quill from his hip, then said, "Dip it in the blood, then write your name on the piece of paper over there." He was gesturing at the paper on the pedestal.
Doing as instructed, Rowena wrote her name with her own blood, and as soon as she was done, the goblin waved his hand over the pedestal before runes on the side began to glow. It took only a single second for it to stop, at which point the goblin looked at her with an annoyed expression.
"No relatives, no vaults. Next." The goblin said, now completely done with Rowena.
She was upset that none of her descendants created vaults in Gringotts, but she thought maybe they were just too smart to trust the goblins with their wealth. To think that all of her bloodline had not survived was a saddening thought, so she opted to not think along those lines.
Next up was Helga, who did exactly as Rowena had done, though when the pedestal began to glow, it lasted for almost ten seconds before the glow stopped, but when it did the page she had written her name upon had a symbol upon it.
The goblin, without looking at her, moved to the book in the corner of the room, and after flipping the pages for a few seconds found a page with the same symbol as the one on the paper Helga had written her name upon.
"House Smith. Vault established by Hepzibah Smith, died in 1957. Owner of Vault 302, now passed to her son, Gerald Smith. He has a wife, Melinda, a daughter named Salley, and a son named Zacharias. I'm sorry, but you are not eligible to inherit the vault." The Goblin said, though Helga was anything but angry. On the contrary, she was elated to find out she still had descendants of her family that had survived even after a thousand years.
Salazar very reluctantly went next. The pedestal glowed for a few seconds, and like Helga's, the paper had a symbol written upon it. As soon as the goblin read the paper, his eyes widened as he stared at Salazar. Most likely it was due to the confirmation that he was truly related to the infamous Slytherin bloodline, and that he hadn't just been given the name to look cool.
"House of Gaunt. No living relatives. Owner of vault 100." The goblin stated without even having to look through the big book in the corner of the room.
"Is there anything inside of it?" Salazar asked, his frown somewhat lessening at hearing that all of his descendants were dead. For some reason it seemed to make him happy that his family line was all dead, something the goblin noted for later.
The goblin glanced at the paper for a second before replying, "No. In fact the vault itself is in a state of insolvency. Meaning the family has accrued massive debt and is unable to pay it back due to all members dying."
Salazar did not look impressed, as proved by the fact that his scowl had returned. "I'm not going to inherit their problems! Get rid of it!" Salazar barked, surprising the goblin. Never did he suspect a human child of eleven would speak so forcefully to him.
"The vault is yours, and you cannot have two. You must take it." The goblin said. Whether or not he was telling the truth, Salazar didn't care. He would not accept this. Just as he was about to lunge at the goblin and strangle him, Godric of all people moved to stand in front of him.
"How much does the House of Gaunt owe?" Godric asked, his eyes staring pointedly into Salazar's. "It does not matter! I will not be taking it! I will create my own vault if need be!" Salazar shouted angrily.
Ignoring his shouts of protest, the goblin said, "I cannot say, for I do not manage their vault. We will have to speak with one of the account managers after this."
Before Salazar could begin shouting again, Godric spoke to him, "Your blood owes a debt, and you must set it right. Think of your honor, Salazar. Think of Delia." Before anyone could say anything else, a fist struck Godric in his nose, the blow sending him sprawling to the floor.
"If you ever use her name like this again, I will forget you are my friend!" The words were so cold, one would think Salazar was speaking to his most hated enemy and not his best friend.
In the end, Salazar accepted responsibility over Vault 100 and its debts, though he was adamant about changing the name to Slytherin instead of Gaunt. He wanted nothing to do with them, and he made that clear as he showed the goblin a ring with the Slytherin crest upon it.
The band was forged of a blue metal the goblin had never seen before, and the green gemstone fused to the top of it was unlike anything it could comprehend. The magic contained in that ring alone proved it was no ordinary ring, and the goblin was making mental notes to contact his superiors after this.
Finally it was Godric's turn to drop some blood into the bowl, though he was by far the most reluctant of the four. When the pedestal began to glow, it glowed for almost a full minute before it dimmed, at which point everyone could see not just one, but seventeen different symbols upon the parchment.
Godric didn't have time to react before a palm met the side of his face, causing him to recoil a bit. Just as he was recovering, another palm struck the other side of his face, really making him angry. Recovering, he stared at the two girls who had slapped him, and noticed how they were both fuming at him.
"What was that for?!" He demanded, thinking they had both gone insane.
"Are you mad?! How many times did we catch you with those girls!? You swore you didn't do anything!!" Helga growled, reminding Godric of a time when he had slept with almost a dozen girls who were leaving Hogwarts after spending almost a decade under their care.
Godric had claimed it never happened, but some of the girls had told stories about seeing off their master. To Helga and Rowena, it was almost as if Godric had coerced them into his bed. "We'll discuss this later!" Godric said, not wanting to deal with this in front of a goblin of all things.
They looked over the symbols, and after finding out that fifteen of them belonged to families who had been gone for more than three hundred years with no vaults to their names, they looked to the last two houses.
"Most Ancient and Noble House of Selwyn. Last surviving relative is Arthur Selwyn. You are not eligible to inherit this vault." The goblin said after looking at the first of the two houses.
"Most Ancient and Noble House of Bones. Last surviving relatives are Amelia Bones and her niece, Susan. Owner of Vault 666. You are not eligible for this vault either." The goblin said, getting a shrug from Godric. He didn't particularly care about it, so he left it be.
Before they left the room, Helga asked Savrin if he was going to do the heritage test, which earned a bout of laughter that was probably heard all the way to the Leaky Cauldron. "It's adorable that you would think I had family here. Come on, let's go." Savrin said, not bothering to answer the goblin's questioning look.
They were all led back to where the head teller was still writing away, at which point the goblin who had done the heritage tests whispered into his ear before passing him the four parchments they had written their names upon.
The head teller looked shocked to say the least upon reading the reports, at which point he looked at all of them with narrowed eyes. He had stared at Godric longer than the others, and whether he knew what that meant or not, Godric simply let out a sigh of resignation.
"So you wish to start three new vaults, and take possession of one as well." The teller goblin said after he finished speaking to the other goblin. "Yes, and if you don't mind, could we get them close to Vault 100?" Savrin informed the goblin who stared pointedly at him.
"The vaults on level 1 are some of the most secure Vaults in Gringotts, with the best protections we can place upon them. One must have a certain amount of funds in order to warrant such protections." The goblin said.
"I thought House Gaunt was insolvent? If they were so poor, how were they able to afford a Vault on level 1?" Rowena asked quickly, finding fault in the goblin's words.
"You are correct. House Gaunt is currently insolvent, but they didn't always used to be. They were once a powerful wealthy family that was blinded by power and authority. Gringotts reclaimed the keys to the vault when the family no longer had the funds, but the Vault remained in their name until such a time when it could be reclaimed. There is a standard waiting period of a century before the Vault is closed and allowed to be given to someone else." The goblin teller explained, satisfying Rowena's curiosity.
"How much is required to have to be able to acquire a vault on level 1?" Savrin asked, wondering what the goblins were playing at. "A minimum of one hundred thousand galleons." The goblin answered.
It took a few more questions before Savrin fully understood what they were trying at, and he had to say, these goblins were smart. Their best protections went into the vaults with the most currency in them, and this way they were allowed to play around with the gold.
They invested what they needed to turn a profit of their own, but they always made it so that the wizard or witch in question would always be able to have access to their full amount by moving gold around if need be.
It also meant they could keep an eye on the wealthiest wizards of this world to see where their gold was going and how it might affect them in the future.
'Allowing the goblins to have complete control over their currency was probably the dumbest move the wizards of this world had ever made.' Savrin thought. The goblins literally created the galleons, sickles, and knuts, and they could literally void them of their value if they so wished. The wizards were heavily reliant on them now, and unless they wanted their economy to crash, they would play nice with the goblins.
Anyway, it took a little over 2 hours, but eventually they settled everything. Godric was given Vault 99, Helga had Vault 98, Rowena had Vault 97, and Salazar had the Gaunt Vault, which was now the Slytherin Vault 100.
Each of the four founders stamped their rings on pieces of paper, leaving behind the crest that was identical to the four Hogwarts Houses, something which should have garnered questions from the goblins, however they didn't seem to care about that as much as they cared about the rings each of the founders used. The goblin teller they were dealing with tried to enquire about them, but he had been brushed off without learning anything about them.
After sorting out all of the paperwork, Savrin had gone into a back room with the head teller, and in less than ten minutes had come out with all the paperwork signed. All Godric and the others had to do was drop some of their blood on a parchment with their names on it, with their House Crest.
They knew this was most likely for the book and pedestal they saw in the room, and figured this was how it was able to match people to their ancestors or descendants.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say a wizard created this method of finding descendants." Rowena whispered to the others. It made sense. They doubted the Goblins cared if a wizard knew about descendants, though they were smart enough to capitalize on such a thing, after all, Savrin did have to pay 2 galleons for each test, so it's not like the Goblins were losing out anything by doing this.
Anyway, after signing a bunch of papers they were each given a key, at which point they realized they all had a hundred thousand galleons. They weren't certain how the currency of this world worked, but they knew it was a lot.
As for the debt from House Gaunt, it was no small sum. They were indebted to a number of houses, the total amount equaling close to three hundred thousand galleons.
When told how much, Salazar had almost choked on his tongue, but Savrin had waved it off, acting like it was no big deal. The goblin who had informed him of everything said he wouldn't actually need to worry too much about the debts until he turned 17, which is when he would become of age.
Apparently no one expected a child to pay off debts that had been accruing for more than three centuries, which was good news, however Savrin made it seem like the debt wasn't even there in the first place, and Salazar wondered just what he and the goblins had discussed with one another when he was alone with them.
Once everything was taken care of, all of them followed along another goblin who led them to a stone tunnel where they got into a minecart. The ride to their vaults were anything but pleasant for them, save for Savrin who was unphased, and Godric, who kept asking the goblin to go faster, however as the goblin had told them, there was only one speed the cart moved at.
They all looked inside their vaults, each finding ten chests inside that each had ten trays inside of them, with each tray holding a thousand galleons on it. The goblin escorting them gave them each a pouch, something he had been informed to give them beforehand.
Both Salazar and Godric took 100 galleons each, while Rowena and Helga only took 50 galleons each. Apparently they didn't think they would be needing more than that for one year.
Getting back to the surface, everyone but Godric and Salazar thanked the goblins before they left the bank to go purchase what was needed from the lists for school.
"Why didn't you make a vault?" Rowena questioned once they were far enough away from the bank that the goblins couldn't hear them. Looking at her, then the others, Savrin could see they were all interested in his reasoning.
Chuckling a little darkly, he answered, "No being in this world could ever get to my wealth without killing me, and from what I've seen of this world, that is nigh impossible." It was an answer, but not a very good one.
"What about your descendants? Don't you want to leave them anything in case something happens to you?" Rowena asked again, knowing there had to be more to it.
"My kind is unable to reproduce offspring, therefore anything I have will not go to anyone of blood relation to me. But again, I will not be killed by anyone in this world, this I can assure you. Now let's go shopping." He told them, causing their expressions to fall.
To them it sounded as though Savrin was cursed to never have a family of his own, but that wasn't how he saw it. He was eternal, therefore there was no need for offspring. He didn't have to pass down his horde of wealth if he didn't want to, and no one could nag him and say he owed them simply because he conceived them. No, it was better this way for all parties involved.
However, despite his words, Savrin had not been entirely truthful to Rowena. He hadn't told her everything, because he doubted she would condone his desire to rob the bank, something he was already planning in his mind.
They all moved down the street in a somber atmosphere, however the mood changed rather quickly when Helga pointed to one shop in particular. "No way!" Rowena cried as she read the sign over the door to the shabby narrow shop.
'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.
A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. "I KNEW IT!!" Godric shouted triumphantly as he took off at a run towards the shop. The others weren't far behind, and after pondering it for a few seconds, Savrin decided to go in and see what was up.
Entering the dingy little shop, the first thing Savrin noticed was Godric holding an old man's head under his arm as he used his knuckles to grind away what little hair the man had on his head.
"-swear you look just like him!" Godric stated as the old man tried to wrench himself free. "Unhand me this instant!!" The old man bellowed, not enjoying whatever Godric was doing in the slightest.
Sliding over to Salazar who was watching Godric with a smile on his face, Savrin couldn't help but ask, "Alright, why is he doing that?"
Salazar let out a small laugh before answering, "Back in the day, Augustus Ollivander created our first wands, but the first time he met Godric, he rubbed his head so much, Godric's hair started falling out. After we founded the school, every time Godric took a child to get their first wand, Augustus would always find some way to do that to Godric, and Godric would let him because he liked the old man. However, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, Godric vowed to get even with him. I don't know if he ever did back in the day, but I think he sees this as fulfilling that vow."
Savrin supposed that made sense in a way, though watching the old man cower in fear of an eleven year old was quite sad to say the least.
"Alright, Godric, you've proved your point." Rowena said, telling Godric to stop as politely as she could. When Godric finally released the old man, he quickly moved to distance himself from the crazy child who had entered his shop.
"Please forgive my friend, Mr. Ollivander. You sort of reminded him of someone very close to us, and I guess he mistook you for him." Helga said to the old man, whose eyes were as wide as dinner plates as he looked frightfully at Godric.
"I don't care what excuse you use, don't let that little monster near me!" The old man cried as he rubbed his head.
Without turning his back to them, the old man backed up slowly before grabbing a number of wands and bringing them to the counter, his eyes never leaving Godric.
"Relax, old man. The score is settled and we can move on from this in a friendly manner." Godric told him, but the old man wasn't hearing a word of it. He called them over one at a time, starting with Helga. After taking some measurements and asking a few questions, it only took two tries before they found a wand that chose her. Savrin heard them say unicorn hair, but that was about it.
Rowena went next, getting a wand in only five attempts. Hers had a phoenix feather for the core. Salazar went third, and surprisingly he got his wand in one go. Dragon heartstring and whatnot, though according to him it was nowhere close to as compatible as the wand he had built for himself.
Finally it was Godric's turn. Wand after wand was placed in front of him, and each time the old man would snatch it from his fingers after he barely even touched it. This went on for a while, and after fifty-six failed tries, they finally found one that worked.
'English oak with Dragon heartstring. Just like last time.' He thought, overjoyed at the feeling washing through him. He couldn't just tell the old man which wand to bring him because he was supposed to be getting his first wand today. All of them paid for their wands, but before they left, Ollivander signaled for Godric to stop.
"What is your name, young man?" The old man asked. "Godric Gryffindor." He answered, getting wide disbelieving eyes in turn.
With that they left the shop with smiles on their faces. Godric couldn't know it at the time, but he had caused the old man to make a vow the moment he left his shop, but it wouldn't be for a little more than twenty years before he would fulfill that vow.
The day Godric's son went to get his first wand, he would have his head rubbed so hard he would be missing a good chunk of his hair.
After leaving Ollivanders, the group headed towards 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'. Upon entering the shop, they noticed an old squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. "Hogwarts, dears?" She asked before they even had a chance to speak.
Given their ages, it wouldn't be too hard to come to the conclusion that they were preparing for Hogwarts, so no one was really impressed by her guessing correctly. Again, before they could answer her, she ushered Godric and Salazar to stand on two stools in the middle of the room, while a second woman entered the room and gestured for Helga and Rowena to follow her into the back.
"I've wondered this for a while now, but why do witches and wizards wear those gaudy robes? Wouldn't something less bulky be more suited to learning the art of magic?" Savrin asked the old woman who guffawed at him.
"We are witches and wizards, not muggles." She told him as though that answered his question.
"I know, and you all dress like you never intend to run. I mean seriously, these things hinder your movements more than most spells would. It's like you're asking to get hurt in a fight." He said, earning a glare from the witch. Realizing he wouldn't be able to get a better answer out of the sheep of a woman, he decided to bite his tongue for now.
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They spent most of the day wandering around Diagon Alley buying their list of equipment and anything else they might need. Helga was the only one among them who had purchased an owl, which was light grey in color with specs of brown on its back. She had named the thing Strix, telling them it was the perfect name for her owl.
Once they were back in the Treehouse, Godric and the others began to sort through their things while Savrin ignored them and moved towards the wall near the table before studying the very large map he had recently acquired showing everything about the world.
Honestly, it was far more detailed than he expected this world to have, given how the magical world was so backwards, but given how it was from the muggle world, he supposed it made sense. Without them being enslaved, the muggles were quite technologically advanced already, and had managed to achieve some great things that had taken the muggles of his world much longer to accomplish.
The fact that the muggles were already exploring outer space was shocking to say the least, which made Savrin wonder just how far they could go without the interference of the magical world.
Looking over the map, Savrin found Austria, and after searching a bit more he found the Austrian Alps, where he knew Grindelwald to be. Dumbledore's memories showed mostly where it was located, so he wouldn't be searching the entire country, but he still wasn't exactly sure where it was.
"I'll be back by morning, children. Be sure to wash up then head off to bed." Savrin said in a weirdly affectionate way. Turning to stare at all of them, his mouth morphed into a smile that didn't fit his face and he stepped over to pat them all on the head like they really were children.
"I'm so proud." He told them, then disappeared into thin air. Not the apparition they were accustomed to, but something that was like literal teleportation.
"He creeps me out when he does that!" Salazar stated as he visibly shook his whole body in disgust. "I think it was sweet." Helga refuted, not finding anything wrong with Savrin showing them affection.
To her it simply meant that they were getting closer to him, and after finding out that he would never have children of his own, she got to thinking maybe it would be nice if they could get him to see themselves as his sort of adopted children. After all, he did give them bodies, and was taking care of them.
The other three weren't quite sure how to tell her that that was a terrible idea and that they should be trying to distance themselves from him.
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A little over an hour after he disappeared from the Tree House, Savrin found himself stepping into Nurmengard Castle. It was rather tall, made up of dark stone that seemed to soak up the light. Just glancing at the thing, Savrin could tell it was enchanted. "What's this?" He mumbled as he stared at the lettering above the entryway into the castle.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
Finding the saying to be familiar from what he had read from Dumbledore's memories, Savrin couldn't help but shake his head. 'It's a good thing I'll be reuniting them soon.' He thought, already done with this place.
Sending out a pulse of magic, Savrin discovered someone in the highest room in the tower. There were of course other people in the castle, but none of them seemed to be his target. With a small burst of magic, Savrin appeared inside the small room where he found an old man with chains on his wrists.
"Who are you?" The old man asked once he noticed his arrival. "Your executioner." Savrin answered, then began to rip the man apart from the inside out. It may have only lasted a few minutes, but to Grindelwald it felt like an eternity of complete and utter torment.
Savrin thought the man deserved no less for almost repeating the mistakes of Genesis. Had he succeeded, Savrin would not have been given this chance, or at the very least he could have complicated things if the muggles learned just how much death wizards were responsible for.
Ripping through Grindelwald's mind, Savrin didn't learn any new magic, which was his primary purpose for reading people's minds, not the least bit interested in their lives in any way shape or form.
Rather, anything not related to new magic was discarded without a second thought, even if it might have been somewhat useful to his goals. There was nothing the people of this world could show him that he would actually care about.
If it was some threat, he would deal with it. If it was some information that could lead to new magic, he would find it.
Once Grindelwald was dead, Savrin removed the head before he disintegrated the body. Not done, he removed the man's eyes, ears, tongue and his brain. It was a barbaric thing to do, but Savrin firmly believed Grindelwald deserved to wander the afterlife to his next incarnation blind, deaf, and dumb, for that was how the man had been in this life.
With that done, he walked until he was standing outside the castle. With the slightest bit of effort, the people inside the building were all knocked unconscious before they were dragged from the building and placed on the ground.
With the castle now empty, Savrin raised his right hand into the air as magic gathered around his fingertips, then in one quick motion he brought it down towards the ground. In the next breath, Nurmengard Castle was enveloped in a pillar of light that shook the earth. It lasted only 3 seconds, but when the light cleared there was a hole where the castle had once been.
Walking over to the edge of the hole, Savrin pulled a wooden spear from thin air before stabbing it into the ground, then mounted Grindelwald's head atop it. Before leaving the area, Savrin pointed to the ground beside the stick before making a small beam of light shoot from his finger. After a second, a small inscription was burned into the rock.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
