CHAPTER 4
Apparition sucks. It really sucks. It was like moving through a very tight rubber tube without any lotion or lube. It honestly just sucks. he dropped to the floor the moment his feet touched ground again with a hand covering his mouth.
He almost vomited, again, when he let go of Edwin, but managed to swallow it inside once more as Edwin just chuckled.
"Seems like everyone still hates Apparition. Don't worry, John, Side-Apparition is worse than normal Apparition. It feels like you have more space compared to Side-Apparition."
Groaning, he opened his eyes to see a very rundown two-story building with the logo of "Bar Wiz" on the signboard. Standing up from the ground, he looked around.
It was a street filled with people, and the area of building was looked as if the buildings beside Bar Wiz was squeezing it too tight. Walking up to the doors of the building, Edwin placed his left hand on a random poster before the doors magically opened by its own.
"Same wards and enhancements like the Leaky Cauldron, but only certain... people can enter it." He supplied as John followed him inside the building with the doors shutting on them tight once they entered inside.
The place was bigger than it looked outside, a bar counter deep inside the room, with a lot of people wearing weird clothing sitting together with drinks on their hands.
There was a staircase that lead to upstairs too, but it was too high for him to see what was on the second floor.
Following Edwin to the bar and ignoring the funny looks that he was getting, John cleared his mind before reaching the counter. Unfortunately, the bar stool was too high for him to even sit on without help, so begrudgingly, he let Edwin carry him and placed him onto the stool.
A bartender with a mask comes along and places a drink with a large cube ice on the table before sliding it to Edwin who nonchalantly grabs it.
"Ombré Noire. The mission?"
The bartender asked once he walked to face the two.
"Done, but by not me." He tilted his head towards John as the bartender's eyebrows rose for a split second before his face went blank with a smile.
"I see. The money shall be transferred now, sir. And you are?"
He looked at John who was about to open his mouth to reply, but stopped himself. If Edwin didn't even tell his name, then that means that only code names are used here in this establishment.
"Wick."
He answered the bartender's question as cryptic as he could, with the bartender nodded with acknowledgement as the man patted him on his back.
"Good job, kid. First rule of the Bar, never compromise your identity."
Nodding in silent, Edwin looked at the bartender before digging into his robes and taking out 10 gold coins, which he knew it as Galleons.
"Registration, as my apprentice."
Sliding the coins onto the bar counter to the bartender, he evenly spreads them out to let the bartender count.
"Very well. A registration for an apprentice, coming right away sir."
The bartender walks away to a room near the bar counter as Edwin sips his drink.
"There's a lot to teach you, kid, but there are three rules in the Bar.
1, never compromise your identity.
2. never compromise the Bar unless ordered.
And 3. stick to your morals."
"Morals?"
John asked as Edwin just hummed before sipping another sip of his drink, making John feel a little bit parch.
"Morals. Rules that you place onto yourself to differentiate a butcher from a professional. Mine are simple, no innocents."
He answers him before finishing the drink. The moment he finished gulping, the glass magically filled up again, making John's eyes widen at the magic.
"Right, forgot you're Muggle-Born. Have to teach you magic other than Combat..."
He said, just now realizing that John was about 5. He had shown incredible aim and power from just one spell, that means that he had a developed Core. Also, he had the talent, but he forgot that he was still a kid.
John was silent, even though he wanted to ask about the magic that was just used to refill his glass. He had to create an image right now, a persona to hide away his real feelings and interest.
The Bar was a place where bounty hunters come and go, meaning he was with people with body counts at all times in this business.
"Good, remember rule 1, boy."
After a while, the bartender comes back with a file of papers along with a quill and ink. Giving it to Edwin, he takes a look at it as John peeks slightly to see it too.
It was a contract about him under Edwin's wing for a year until he was ready for a real job. The contract states that if Edwin fails any contract or bounty during the apprentice-ship, he would be fined a total of the original bounty price along with 50% of the price to the Bar for the failure.
And if he does finish the contract, the Bar will take 50% and keep it to pay for any damages that he deals to the surroundings or people, and if there are extra, then they will keep it for now.
If Edwin and John go on a total of 100 contracts with satisfactory results by the one-year-time limit, the Bar will award John with the remaining money that they've kept, with an additional 20% bonus for accepting and clearing the apprentice-ship.
John could understand the reason for this unfair contract, but god-damn was it not fair.
Without any hesitation, Edwin signed the contract and used a wordless low powered severing charm, Diffindo, pricking his thumb before planting it onto the contract. Handing the contract to John, he gives him his wand and instructs him on how to use Diffindo.
"See how I swirl and snap my wrist at the last second? That is important, but the imagination and intent is the most important. The wand motion is just a way to make the imagination clearer.
And use as little Mana as you can to avoid cutting your thumb off. No need to chant the incantation, it's for wizards with lousy control."
Taking the wand away, the wand cries in happiness at him saving its owner, allowing him to use it. Mentally thanking the wand and feeling a miniscule surge of power as an appreciation gesture, he focused on the image of the magic in him flow out and slice the skin of his thumb, the spell was to sever, to cut an object.
Holding onto that image, he let the magic flow. A light green bolt shot out from the tip of the wand and struck his thumb. He flinched slightly at the pain, but immediately plants his thumbprint filled with blood onto the contract.
"Impressive, Mr. Wick."
The bartender complimented truthfully. He had never seen a boy his age cast a perfect wordless Diffindo before. His control was as good as the B-ranks in the Bar. Edwin chuckles as he pats John's shoulder in pride.
"Good one, kid! That was well done, maybe a little less power next time, but well done indeed."
Feeling the sense of pride for casting his first ever real spell, he struggled to keep his mind clear as a faint twitch of his lips caused Edwin to pat his shoulder harder.
x x x x x
Congratulations.
You have learnt Diffindo, the Severing Charm.
Diffindo, the Severing Charm.: A charm that severs an object into two, more commonly used by wizards to cut objects.
x x x x x
"The contract is sealed then. Should you finish the contracts' fulfillment in time, we shall award your apprentice with his appropriate rank. Until then, Ombré Noire, Mr. Wick."
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Fiddling with his fingers, he swallows his saliva as they entered the Leaky Cauldron. They were here because they had to buy supplies for a job that they accepted before leaving the Bar.
Walking to the back of the Leaky Cauldron after Edwin greeted the bartender of the store, Tom, Edwin takes his wand out before signaling John to focus.
"Remember this, I'll only show it slow once."
Focusing his attention where his wand tapped, Edwin tapped a brick from the rubbish bin, three up and two across, and fed Mana to it.
The moment he fed the brick enough Mana, the brick disappeared from the wall, before the surrounding bricks folded inwards systematically to reveal Diagon Alley.
It was more… mundane than he thought honestly. There were stores everywhere with signs that expand when you walk close enough, and multiple open stores that smelled stuff from dragon lovers to magic soaps that scrub for you.
It was more like a normal fish market, now that he thought about it.
The wall behind us closed by reversing the process to open the door, folding itself back to become a wall once more.
"First stop is gear, since I only have a set, we have to get you one as well. That means we need money."
He told John to follow close before walking straight. After a minute of walking (John had to strengthen his body to keep up), they eventually stopped as John gaped at the huge white building.
Guarding the entrance of the bank was a short creature with elf like ears, wearing some sort of uniform with axes on their sides. Nodding at the goblins, to which they responded back with a grunt, they allowed them access to the building.
Entering the bank of Gringotts, Joh muttered a "Wow" at the amount of marble needed to even create this place. This bank was 99% built out of pure white marble, that must have costed a fortune.
Walking up to a free counter, Edwin greete the goblin.
"Bone-Crusher, may your golds flood Gringotts and your enemy's head cleanly cut."
Saying those gruesome but complimentary words, the golbin smirked creepily at the greeting.
"Mr. Noire. May your banks be always full and your enemies dead with a spell. And this is?"
"The goblin glances at John as he greeted it.
"Wick, Mr. Bone-Crusher. May your golds… Uh… Choke you and your enemies fall from the slippery marble floor?"
John introduced himself with a sheepish grin as the goblin laughed (More like cackled, but the idea was there).
"My apprentice. This is Bone-Crusher, my friend since my early days. He takes care of my vault and account —"
"With a fee, of course."
"— And he'll create a vault for you too. Bone-Crusher, if you would please?"
Nodding, Bone-Crusher took the funny looking golden cup that had a tube attached at the end before yelling something unrecognizable to John. That must be the language of goblins, he reckoned.
After a few seconds, another staff member (Another goblin) walked to them before handing Bone-Crusher a metal plate with a sharp end on the surface.
"Follow me."
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Entering a white room (Go figure), Edwin and John sat at one side while the goblin friend sat at the opposite of them. Placing the metal plate on the table in between them, the goblin muttered a long chant, pointing his index and middle finger at the plate while twriling his wrist.
The metal plate then started to glow a hue of grey before Bone-Crusher stopped his incantation.
"Please draw enough blood and drip it to the metal plate."
With a groan at needing to prick himself once again, he took a deep breath before pushing his thumb down onto the sharp end, drawing blood.
Closing his eyes for a split second at the pain, he let the blood drip onto the metal plate for a few seconds. Suddenly, the plate glowed a hue of green and red, with black words starting to appear on the plate.
Using a piece of parchment, Bone-Crusher places the paper onto the metal plate after telling him that it was enough blood, before the paper magically pushed down on its own like a mechanical presser.
Waiting for another few seconds for the parchment to absorb the words, Bone-Crusher takes the parchment out and places it on the table for everyone to see.
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Name: Johnathan "Yeager" Constantine
Age: 5
House: -
Vaults: 1241 (5000 G, 21 S, 12 K)
Debts: -
-
"Huh, seems like you already have a vault."
"Constantine… I've never heard of such a family with such high amount of money in the recent century..."
The goblin hummed in thought as a John mentally breathed a sigh, seems like he'll be able to use the money straight away. With a surprised fake face with the help of his beginner Occlumency, he looked at Edwin.
"Alright then, can you please provide him with a key? I'll pay of course. Oh, and add the fee of using the Blood Inheritation to my tab."
Nodding, he asked the two to wait for a moment as Bone-Crusher disappears to get his key.
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