Chapter 43: Interview - part 3

Hogwarts Castle, Somewhere in the Scottish Highlands

November 24th, 1992, 9:03 PM

"We of the Daily Prophet, for sure, will be waiting to see Hogwarts' new age. Now for our next question…"

Mr. Cuffe said and made a small pause to look through his notes.

"A question from another reader. Seeing as you are fixing up the education in Hogwarts, how would you compare it to the magical education of the rest of the world?"

"Hmm… Being totally honest with you, Mr. Cuffe, right now Hogwarts would barely enter my top ten list of magical schools world wide."

Erik said seriously, shocking Mr. Cuffe.

"Is it really that low?"

"It is, Mr. Cuffe. But I hope that in three to five year, we could take a spot in the top three."

Erik answered the man.

"Who are the actual top three magical schools in the world in your opinion today?"

"Top three, I would say, is Mahoutokoro, in Japan. Top two, I would say, is Ilvermorny, in the United States of America. Top one is Uagadou, in Uganda. The Uagadou is very famous for their programs in Astronomy, Alchemy, Potions and Transfiguration. Of ten students that enter the school, eight are animagus by the end of their education."

Erik replied to Mr. Cuffe, listing his top three institutions. He hoped that it would be a wake up call to the English wizards and witches.

"Next question is more of a curiosity of mine, Lord Ravenclaw. After entering the owners' chamber invited by you, we were introduced to three women that you presented as your wives."

Mr. Cuffe cautiously said while looking at Erik, who nodded his head in confirmation.

"So, you are married to three women?"

Mr. Cuffe asks Erik, who shakes his head.

"No. I am married to seven women in total."

Erik replies.

"Seven!?"

Mr. Cuffe repeats the number in shock. He could barely manage one wife, and here in front of him there's a man with seven!

"Can you speak a little about each one of them?"

Mr. Cuffe manages to ask after recomposing himself. Erik shrugs and replies to the man.

"Hmm… Sure. Let's see, in chronological order. My first wife's name is Selena, you already met her, of course, and she is a magical researcher. My second wife's name is Serafall, and she is in charge of Foreign Affairs in her country of origin. My third wife's name is Calypso, she is Greek and has a company that cultivates rare plants. My fourth wife's name is Joan, she is French and takes care of the security of our family business. My fifth wife's name is Leona, she is Italian and is a polymath researcher. My sixth wife's name is Musashi, she is Japanese and helps Joan with the security of our family business. And my seventh wife's name is Ching, she is Chinese and has a transport company."

Erik finishes listing his oficial wives, with the origin for most of them and their area of work.

"And how many children do you have?"

Mr. Cuffe asks Erik.

"Right now, none. But one of my wives is pregnant."

Erik answered, remembering the moment a week ago that his sweet Musashi broke the news to the family. The girls went crazy and were asking relently to be impregnated too. Mr Cuffe was looking at them with a strange face. He knew that wizards have a low birth rate, but a thousand years without an heir…

"I know what you are thinking, Mr. Cuffe, but you have to look with our eyes. Most of my wives and I are ageless, and the ones that are not ageless have very long life spans. So having an heir is not really a necessity. But now that one of them got pregnant, the others are demanding it too. So who knows, in a year or two we could very well have a new heir for Ravenclaw, Sytherin and Hufflepuff."

Erik spoke after noticing Mr. Cuffe's face, explaining their vision in having heirs. He really was not worried about it, after reaching the balance breaker with his gear that kind of stuff was easy to achieve and he just said 'two years' to not alert other more dangerous people.

"Congratulations are in order then, Lord Ravenclaw. And I, together with the Daily Prophet team, wish you and your Ladies a lot of luck (?)."

Mr. Cuffe said to the couple.

"Thank you, Mr. Cuffe."

Erik replied first.

"Thank you, Mr. Cuffe~"

Selena replied after sipping from her cup of tea.

"I noticed that you spoke about the heir for Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff, but didn't speak about the Gryffindor heir. Why is that?"

Mr. Cuffe asked with curiosity.

"That would be because the lordship of the Gryffindor family was united to the Peverell line that married Godric's daughter. The sword only indicates possession of a quarter of Hogwarts and can't be inherited. So my son or daughter could not be titled Gryffindor's heir."

Erik replied, indulging the reporter's curiosity.

"The Ravenclaw heir I understand, but Slytherin's and Hufflepuff's heir too?"

Mr. Cuffe asks again.

"Yes. We already told you, Mr. Cuffe. My wife, Selena, inherited the magic title from Salazar and Helga, so she technically is Lady Slytherin and Lady Hufflepuff too."

Just to make a point about what Erik just told Mr. Cuffe, Selena raised her right hand to the air and made the same grabbing gesture that Erik had made earlier during the interview. A silver longsword encrusted with emeralds and an Olde English inscription in the blade's body appeared in her delicate hand, shocking the two guests from the Daily Prophet.

"As you can see, Mr. Cuffe, this is Salazar's sword. It can only be called by the Lord or Lady of Slytherin house and by its legitimate heir. Houses Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff do not have swords tho."

Selena said, showing the man Slytherin's sword.

"That's amazing. We had no idea that Salazar Slytherin had a sword too. We will need a photo from both swords side by side later, for sure."

Mr. Cuffe said. Selena and Erik nodded their heads. Selena let go of the sword for the time being and it disappeared in thin air.

"We can do that after we finish the interview, Mr. Cuffe. And about Salazar's sword, differently from Godric, Salazar preferred to use his wand when he had to fight. The sword was more of a need for the time that he lived in. He must have used it less than ten times during all his life, but it is, basically, a sword of the same power as Godric's one."

Erik said to Mr. Cuffe, who after thinking a little, asked another question.

"Since we are talking about the founder's relics and items, what can you tell us about the fammed Diadem of Ravenclaw, and the Cup of Hufflepuff?"

Mr. Cuffe asked. He and his readers would certainly want to know about them.

"The Cup of Hufflepuff was given by Aunt Helga to a student of hers that was the son of a smith. The boy later founded the Smith family."

Selena said to Mr. Cuffe.

"The Diadem of Ravenclaw…"

Selena said again and made a gesture to Erik, who put his hand inside his blazer and retrieved something from its inside pocket. Erik then handed the item to Selena. It was a beautifully crafted diadem, Ravenclaw's Diadem. Selena took the diadem and showed it to Mr. Cuffe.

"This is one of the three Diadems of Ravenclaw."

Selena said to Mr. Cuffe.

"T-Three diadems?"

Mr. Cuffe repeated, stuttering a little in the beginning.

"Yes, Mr. Cuffe, three. My mother was an enchanter between her other crafts, and wanted to pass her knowledge to her daughters. The enchanting of a diadem was her final test to Helena and I. This diadem here is my sister's. My mother's diadem was buried with her, and my diadem is at our home."

Selena explained to Mr. Cuffe.

"Incredible, three diadems. So the legend of great wisdom for the wearer… ?"

Mr. Cuffe said/asked after hearing Selena's words. The man was looking fixated on the diadem now.

"Not completely true, I'm afraid. The enchantments on all three diadems allow the wearer to remember all of his memories with nothing but a simple thought."

Selena said, making a small pause to sip from her cup of tea after depositing the Diadem in the low center table.

"It is a marvelous enchantment, you can remember all the classes that you had, all the books that you read, all the marvelous things that you saw. But it has its dangers too. When I say all memories, I mean it. In the speed of a thought you can revive everything that happened to you; But not just all the good things, all the bad things too. You can remember the loss of your parents, you can remember the loss of your siblings, you can remember the loss of your child…"

Selena explained, with a more somber tone at the end. Her mind was wandering to corners that she didn't want to go to. She then felt a big hand taking hers and holding it. Selena looked at it and saw it was her husband' hand. The man that is by her side since she can remember, sharing all the good and bad things in life.

Mr. Cuffe was sensitive enough to give the couple a little time together before continuing the interview. He continued to ask some basic questions to the couple, like about the places that they had traveled to, the different magics that they had seen. By the time that the clock hit Ten, Mr Cuffe decided to end the interview.

"Lord and Lady Ravenclaw, I want to thank you both again for this amazing opportunity. Being able to Interview the owners of Hogwarts is certainly one of the top achievements that I could achieve in my career and I will remember it to the end of my days."

Mr. Cuffe said to the couple.

"Your welcome, Mr. Cuffe. It was an enjoyable experience for the both of us too. You can say that this was our first interview with a newspaper, so it was all a novelty to us."

Selena said to Mr. Cuffe with a smile, managing to get a big one from the old man. Mr. Cuffe then pointed his wand to the dicta-quil that had worked without pause for almost two hours and the poor item stopped and went back to its resting place.

"Photos! Please?"

Mr. Cool said after seeing that the dicta-quill was resting. The photographer had managed to stay quiet for the entire two hours, but he was raring to take some photos. Mr. Cuffe started to store his notes and the conversation that dicta-quill had written down. Selena and Erik made, each, the grabbing gesture with their hands and 'called' their swords. Selena handed Slytherin's sword to Erik, who took it and got up. Erik then signaled to the photographer to follow him. Mr. Cool stood up to follow Erik, but froze in place. The diadem that Selena had put down on the center table had started floating, and Mr. Cool was looking at it with a shocked face. The photographer just woke up after he saw where the diadem was floating to. It had floated after Erik, who was waiting for it by the office's desk. Erik took it in his hands and put it down by the side of the two swords, on top of the desk.

Mr. Cool arrived at the desk and prepared to take the photos, changing his camera mode to static colored photos, after all, there was no reason to take moving photos from non-moving objects. He prepared and took his photo of three legendary items. The first ever photo of them, and it was taken by him.

"Want to take individual ones too?"

Erik asked the photographer, who jumped at the opportunity.

"Sure!"

Mr. Cool replied. Erik then arranged all the items with a good space between them on top the table, and Mr. Cool went nuts taking various photos from different angles of each item. After finishing, Erik noticed that the man's breathing was labored, and raised a single eyebrow to that. With a thought from him, the two swords disappeared and Erik picked up the diadem.

"Thank you for the opportunity, Lord Ravenclaw."

Mr. Cool said to Erik, who was storing the diadem back in his pocket inside his blazer.

"No problem, Mr. Cool."

Erik said to the photographer. Erik then felt a pair of arms embracing him. Selena had got up and reunited with Erik. Mr. Cuffe was already ready to depart having stored all the parchments.

After a short talk between them and the trade of compliments, the two guests left Hogwarts through the fireplace in the lounge of the owners' chambers.

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a/n: And BAM! That name drop of two more of his wives.