Trust

Reaching Leaky Cauldron, McGonagall, Atreus, Joanna and Hermione got off the car as Robert went to park the car.

Hermione has been asking questions directed at McGonagall and Atreus also chimed in here and there. While Joanna observed both kids with a smile.

A minute later, Robert came back after parking the car and they entered the pub. All of them were surprised to see the pub appear out of nowhere and a series of questions were fired off from both kids.

After answering all their questions and queries from the kids McGonagall thought to herself 'They'll do good in Ravenclaw. It is a pity though...'

Hermione was thinking through the answers she got from McGonagall 'I need to know it all so that I won't be unable to answer any questions that my new friends would have.'

Atreus skimmed through the answers in his mind thought 'So we can make people forget things with a spell, which is basically mind manipulation. So there is a chance for someone to read my mind. I don't have many secrets, but it would be in my best interest to find something that can stop intrusion into my mind from now on so that I will have a good defence when I'm older and have more secrets to hide.'

As they entered the pub with different thoughts, a man behind the bar asked McGonagall "New students, Professor?"

"New students, Tom. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm in a bit of a hurry." Saying so, McGonagall went to the backside of the pub along with the Granger family and Atreus.

Reaching the brick wall, McGonagall said "Watch carefully, this is how you can get to Diagon Alley."

Then she tapped on the bricks in a pattern and both Hermione and Atreus made sure to memorise the pattern completely so that they could come to Diagon Alley without the help of another wizard or witch.

As the brick started to separate and open a passage, Hermione muttered "Wicked!"

"Cool!" Atreus also muttered in fascination and wonder.

The Granger parents were also looking awestruck at the process in which the passage was opened up.

Seeing their reactions, McGonagall smiled in satisfaction. Hiding her smile, she said "As I'm in a hurry to get back to Hogwarts, let's start shall we?"

"Oh! Sure." Robert said, still in an awestruck mood.

Nodding, McGonagall started to move along the way she told about Diagon Alley and its most important shops. A couple of minutes later they reached a white building with a poem/warning written at its entrance.

As she entered the building, McGonagall told her companions "This is Gringotts, the bank run by Goblins. They're ferocious and cruel to their enemies, loyal to their friends and greedy in general."

They nodded in understanding, Robert and Joanna had the same thoughts after hearing McGonagall describe the Goblins 'So they're like a mix of a Banker and a gangster.'

McGonagall led them towards a Goblin who was sitting on a high raised seat and waited for him to complete his job.

Couple of seconds later, the goblin looked down at them and asked "What can I do for you?"

"I would like to convert mug--. No-Maj currency into Wizarding currency." McGonagall told the goblin

Raising an eyebrow at McGonagall, the goblin said "The conversion rate for adults is 1 Galleon to 500 Pounds. For students, it will be 1 Galleon to 5 Pounds."

Turning to look at Robert, McGonagall said "Mr. Granger, take 100 Galleons."

"Sure." Robert said as he took 500 Pounds and gave it to the goblin who gave him 100 Galleons in return.

As one task is done, McGonagall told the Granger family "I have some business with Mr. Creed here, so it would be helpful if you could wait for a bit."

"Not a problem." Robert replied and didn't ask what the business was, and he held back Hermione who wanted to know the secret.

As the Granger family moved towards the waiting area, McGonagall told the goblin "I would like to take an ancestry test for Mr. Creed."

"Understood. Let's move to the Ancestry Room." The goblin said as he put up a sign saying closed and led both McGonagall and Atreus.

As they were walking, Atreus asked McGonagall "What is this ancestry test?"

"It is to check whether you have a connection with a magical family upto seven generations." McGonagall said.

'So to make sure that they have spent money on me or not. Understandable.' Atreus thought to himself.

When they reached the room, they were motioned to sit down and the goblin looked at Atreus and asked "I would require your blood to do the Ancestry Test."

Squinting his eyes at the goblin, Atreus asked McGonagall "Professor, is there magic that could use blood as a medium?"

"Yes, there are many rituals that would require blood as medium. But don't worry, those kinds of rituals are banned in Magical Britain." McGonagall assured him.

But, Atreus didn't buy it so he asked another question "Can I do anything with my magic so that the blood I'm going to can only be used for Ancestry Test and has to be destroyed right in front me after the test?"

The goblin and McGonagall looked at Atreus in shock and the goblin asked Atreus while gritting his teeth "Do you have no trust in a bank that is not run by wizards?"

Shaking his head, Atreus said "Trust is earned through time and I have only met Professor an hour before and I only met you a couple of minutes earlier and I still don't know your name."

Calming down, the goblin said "You can call me Silverclaw."

"Then Mr. Silverclaw, as I said before, I don't trust the Professor, I don't trust you nor anyone for that matter. So, is there any way to make sure that my blood is not misused." Atreus asked.

"Har har har har har har har har har" Silverclaw started to laugh out loud and asked Atreus "If you don't trust us then why are you asking us for a method?"

"What other choice do I have?" Atreus asked.

With a toothy grin, Silverclaw said "The other choice will be earning my respect. And you gained my respect when you started questioning the methods. So, in my honour as a goblin warrior and a banker, I promise you that your blood will not be misused and will be destroyed right in front of you after the Ancestry Test."

Looking into his eyes, Atreus observed Silverclaw for a couple of seconds, and the grin on the goblin's face started to become wide as possible.

McGonagall observed the interaction and understood 'He has trust issues. Someone he trusted might have done something to him that made him like this. Poor boy.'

Slowly nodding his head, Atreus asked "One drop will be enough right?"

"Yes. One drop of blood is enough to check seven generations, no more, no less." Silverclaw said as he gave a knife to prick his finger to get a drop of blood.

Wincing at the pain as he pricked his thumb, Atreus dropped a drop of blood onto the parchment that Silverclaw gave him.

As soon as the blood touched the parchment, it shined for a bit and names started to appear on it. The name that appeared was Atreus Creed, then from his name two branches were created one of them read "Victoria Smith'' and the other one read "Eridanus Creed". Then the branches started to form two names and it expanded up to seven generations, but McGonagall and Silverclaw didn't find any name that could be connected to one of the Wizarding families that they know.