Chapter 28

He sat underneath the lone tree that overlooked the lake reading an old charms book that compiled spells that were similar in nature to the Patronus charm.

The Patronus charm required highly positive emotions to fuel the charm and was capable of driving off all sorts of dark creatures and of course famously Dementors which he hated with a passion.

Now, he might be short on morals in many ways but being tortured by these creatures whilst you were in prison, constantly been leeched upon, leaving you with your worst memories and slowly but surely being driven into insanity were things that he couldn't abide by.

Years of torture and being driven into insanity were beyond immoral and it was cruelty that he found difficult to put into words. Why it was believed to be a better option than death was beyond him. 

Though a Dementor's Kiss was by far the most heinous act he thought imaginable – possibly only losing your soul to the fucking devil being a worse prospect.

The possibility of losing your fucking soul to these foul creatures was something that horrified him.

Would you pass on or would you forever be the bowels of those horrendous creatures, your soul being used as fuel for these foul abominations?

For a society that deemed the soul sacred, that it was okay for the possibility of people's souls to be tormented even after death in the bowels of Dementors was something that astounded him.

He wasn't afraid of death. He wanted to delay death for thousands of years without destroying himself or circumventing death in any abominable way, but he was terrified of the possibility of his soul being tortured for eternity.

He had a unique perspective regarding the sanctity of the soul and the hatred he held for Dementors was visceral.

Which was why he was determined to figure out a way to permanently destroy them.

The problem was...if there had been a way to do it, it would have been done by now.

He wasn't stupid. Dementors were used in Azkaban because it was the least terrible option. Had the Ministry not been able to form a deal with them, chances were they would have been roaming around feeding off souls as they pleased.

They were no longer contained at Azkaban though he wasn't certain whether it was by choice or by simply the method that kept them there simply not working or eroded.

Feeding them prisoners was the least terrible option all things considered. The fact that it took hundreds of years to come up with magic that affected them at all said enough.

The fact that the Peverell brothers were unable to destroy them, despite their knowledge in necromancy and death magic said enough as well.

He sighed as he put down the book and looked straight up. The sun was obscured by the rustling leaves and it was a chilly afternoon for a summer's day.

He had no idea how to start.

He was able to cast the Patronus charm, though he hadn't cast it for a long while, and that was all he could do in the face of Dementors.

He had been determined to be able to do it wandlessly and he finally managed to do it after months of being able to do it with a wand.

He never wanted to be defenceless to those things. He was only truly concerned by two creatures. Dementors and Werewolves.

Werewolves were tragic and the disease, curse, whatever you wanted to call it was an insidious one.

The earliest records of Werewolves originated in Rome though who exactly created the curse is uncertain. There is speculation that the legends of Romulus and Remus inspired some moronic mage to create the curse.

He shook his head and returned to the subject of Dementors.

He had tried to contact Ezkridis using the stone but it seemed that the notion of personal connection rang true. Or Ezkridis' true name was something lost to history.

If it was a case of personal connection, he'd test this later in the year when he tried to contact Rowena Ravenclaw where he'd find out if it had to be a personal connection both ways or whether the fact he was in her house was enough (and that he was a fan of hers).

He'd need to logically compile what he knew of Dementors and necromancy because he was certain there was a link there.

Ezkridis was a genius in using humans. The fact that animagi were unaffected, similar in the way werewolves did not hunt down animagi yet craved for human flesh made him wonder that there was something there that he could research.

Fiendfyre and Basilisk venom were capable of destroying horcruxes. Cursed fire and the venom of the darkest creature in existence.

He hadn't read any accounts of Fiendfyre being used to destroy Dementors, though he mused that it was unlikely it was ever considered considering how difficult it was viewed to control the cursed fire. 

Basilisk Venom however...Dementors don't have normal bodies and he wasn't certain if Basilisk venom would have any effects.

Basilisk venom killed people in a minute. 

Basilisk venom does not simply damage blood vessels. No, within thirty seconds of the venom within the system, most blood vessels are damaged beyond all recognition as they erode once they're in contact with the venom. 

By the time the venom is circulated to the heart, the individual is already bleeding to death and once the venom reaches the heart, it only takes ten seconds for the heart to be damaged irreparably. Unless you had phoenix tears.

This powerful erosion and capability to destroy is what makes him wonder if it could affect Dementors. They were still physical creatures...

He was taken out of his musings by an approaching Emily in the distance who he saw coming from the gap between his legs as he sat upright leaning against the tree. 

She was dressed in a white shirt and dark blue summer trousers.

He smiled as he watched her arrive. It's been just over three weeks since the start of the break and they spent much of the time together.

His sister returned to America but she would come to meet him in Alexandria when he went for his Charms Mastery.

"Emily" he said warmly and she smiled at him as she neared.

He opened his legs, leaving a space for her to sit between his legs and raised an eyebrow and she cocked her head as she thought about it and in the end decided to accommodate him as she sat down between his legs and leaned back against his chest.

They remained silent for sometime as they simply enjoyed each other's warmth – and magic – as he stroked her arm gently with his fingertips.

They learnt much about how each of their magic affected them. He had seen the effect of his magic on her but more and more, her own magic affected him.

He had seen how her own magic affected Carrow and the others from Carrow's mind but the way she affected him was different.

It was familiar, it put him at ease, content. Her magic was wild, sharp and dangerously enticing. Yet when it was with him, it was calm, at ease.

Eventually she picked up the book he was reading and flicked through it.

" 'Compendium of Emotion based Charms'?" she asked finally as she closed the book and tilted her head slightly and her cheek was underneath his chin.

He leaned forward and began to kiss her gently and softly on her lower jaw.

She leaned into him even more as she readjusted herself. Her breath hitched as he proceeded to move upward with his soft sensual kissing.

He kissed her cheek and moved upward until he finally reached her ear. He moved the hair away from her ear and he let his warm breath coat her ear and she shivered at the warmth. He moved his lips onto her ear and he softly nibbled at it with his lips.

"Yes..." he whispered in her ear as he began to stroke both her arms with his fingertips.

She melted into him as she began to breathe heavily and she closed her eyes as he continued to brush his finger tips against her soft pale skin.

Her skin was smooth, unblemished, the picture of perfection. He began to draw patterns on her arms with the lightest of touch and elicited a breathless gasp from her.

He had learnt many ways of arousing women in his old life. Most of his conquests had been older women some even ten to twenty years older and he learnt many things from those older women.

He continued "I'm looking for charms similar to the Patronus charm, to find a common link beyond simply emotions." 

He continued to whisper as he brought his left hand up and began to caress her other cheek with the back of his hand.

"The Patronus charm is special...it is capable of driving away creatures like Dementors and I want to make sure that it is only the emotional component is what makes it possible and not something else that combines with the emotional component making it possible to ward off Dementors." He said softly, alluringly as he continued to arouse her. 

She gripped his ankles and yanked him down to his immense surprise and she got up and turned around and pushed him down before she sat on his lap and began forcefully kissing him as she grabbed his hair for leverage.

After he got past his surprise of her aggressive actions, he wrapped his arms around her and began to caress her back as she grabbed his face, tightly locking their lips.

He felt himself grow and he knew she knew from the way she wriggled her arse on his lap.

The thin loose fabric of her trousers and his home slacks made it easy to feel each other's body.

He moaned into the kiss as she slowly rocked in his lap, fully arousing him as she sought to wrest control from him.

She bit his bottom lip and he hissed slightly in pain before he grabbed her by the waist and picked her up as he stood up.

She wrapped her legs around him and continued to kiss him as her arms wrapped around his neck.

He walked them to the soft grass and dropped the both of them on the grass with her on the back and him between her legs as he steadied himself with his hands on the grass keeping him above her.

She stopped kissing him and set her head on the grass and stared at him with intense hunger and lust in her eyes.

"You have no idea what you're doing to me" she said breathily as her eyes shone with arousal.

He smiled wryly at her "I think I have some idea" as he looked at her before looked down at his groin and she smirked at him in wild amusement.

He moved his head forward as he met her gaze. Her pupils were dilated, her face flushed, tell tale marks of arousal.

He dropped himself closer to her until their chests touched.

His face was inches away from hers, their eyes locked, focused on nothing other than each other.

He moved to kiss her as did she but he, at the last moment moved away and went for her neck.

When he kissed her neck, just under her chin, he heard her gasp and she dug her nails into his arms.

He began at under her chin and moved steadily, slowly and with immense care as he moved lower and lower until her was at the base of the neck, at her sternum. 

She gyrated underneath him, pressing herself on him as her hands roamed around her body.

His mind finally snapped into focus and he realised it was much too soon.

He broke away from her and looked at her face that was flushed and she opened her eyes and looked at him mildly disappointed that he was stopping

"Have you left marks on my neck?" she asked with half lidded eyes as she stroked his forearms with her hands.

He shook his head "I was careful...but it was difficult to control myself." He said as he looked at her a hunger he found himself more and more feeling when he was with her.

She smirked as she stopped touching him on the arms. "I'm not surprised" she said breezily. "I am resistible" she said with a triumphant glint in her eye as she looked at him with a prideful look. 

He looked away with twitching lips before he pecked her one last time on the lips.

He got off her and laid next to her and he sought her hand and found it and wrapped his hand around it as they both stared at the cloudless sky.

He caressed her hand with his thumb absentmindedly and she tightened her hand.

They remained lying on the grass for what seemed like hours, easily and content.

Until she broke it suddenly "Can you do the Patronus charm?" she asked.

He hummed affirmatively and turned his head towards her and met her gaze. "I can." He said calmly as he saw interest bloom in her eyes.

The Patronus charm was purported to be one of the most difficult pieces of magic and only one in twenty Aurors could even do it.

It is a post NEWTS DADA spell and he performed it at the NEWTS practical of course.

She moved to sit up cross legged "Show me" she demanded and he looked at her amusedly but decided to comply.

He sat up and faced her. He flicked his wand and momentarily closed his eyes bringing up the most recent memories and emotions and whispered "Expecto Patronum" and out of his wand huge wisps of white mist sprang forth until they began to coalesce, different to what it usually did and he frowned.

Emily noticed this but she didn't comment as she kept her eyes on the mist.

The mist coalesced and began to form a massive serpent, a familiar type of serpent and his eyes widened as the serpent came towards him and Emily.

The serpent approached Emily and she tensed up until she felt the emotions the patronus emitted. It was joy, hope, love and home. 

The serpent gazed at her for a moment before it coiled itself around Emily and he saw her expression change into one full of joy and amazement

"Amazing" she whispered as she took in the serpent, and had her hand on the snake.

"What is it?" she asked distractedly as she kept her intense gaze at the serpent.

"A Basilisk" he whispered dazed and confused and she snapped her head towards him and stared at him, studying him.

"You're surprised" she asked suddenly and he turned to face her and looked at her for a while as he saw a calculating look.

"Yes" he finally said.

"Why" she asked as she kept her full focus on him.

He swallowed as he looked away from her and looked intently at the Basilisk.

It must have been for some time as he felt her hand on his thigh, comforting in her own little way and he turned towards her and saw a hint of worry in her eyes.

He sighed and dismissed the patronus and met her eyes. 

"My Patronus was previously a Sphinx." He said finally.

"Your family emblem" she said knowingly and he nodded.

"I didn't expect the change" he said and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a look that screamed 'no shit'.

He sighed and put his wand away and leaned on his arms as they kept him up as he looked at the sky.

"The first time I managed to do a proper patronus, I used a memory from when I was eight" he said as he recollected the memory.

"My parents and my sister and I went to one of the Abraxan breeding reserves for a family outing that my sister insisted upon" he shook his head in amusement before he grew distant as he dived himself into the memory.

"The day was wonderful. My parents were so happy as were Sophia and I." He chuckled "The day ended when I managed to get the Abraxan I was riding on to take me high into the sky and did a full roulette and everyone panicked" he laughed a bark as he turned his gaze towards Emily was looking on bemused.

He continued "I laughed all the way through it and continued to laugh when the Abraxan landed and was being fussed over by mother." He smiled wistfully as he looked in the distance.

It had been his most treasured memory. It was truly the moment it sunk in how much family meant to him.

Seeing everyone so happy...

He turned towards Emily who looked at him with intense interest. He didn't use that memory or emotions to power his patronus.

The implications of his patronus change or the intensity of the emotions did not evade him.

It was frightening.

 "I didn't use that memory this time" he said finally as he met her eyes and saw her eyes widened in comprehension.

"Which memory did you use?" she asked calmly but he almost felt there was a hint of anticipation in it as she stared at him with unblinking eyes.

"Beltane" he said simply. 

Her face morphed for such a brief moment that he would have missed it had he not been searching her face and giving her his full focus.

It was one of delight and triumph.

Her face set in stone and he could see her mind working through what he imagined to be huge amounts of thoughts.

"Patronus don't change if you use different memories" she said in a matter-of-factly manner. 

He nods.

"They don't" he confirmed.

"They only change if there is a fundamental change in the person" she continued in the same tone.

He nods once more though he says nothing else.

She looks away into the distance as she looked thoughtful.

"I was worried" she said quietly to his surprise.

"About?" he asked intently though he suspected what she meant.

"About whether this meant the same to you." She said finally as she looked at him with intense eyes.

He hummed "We haven't really talked much about..." he grimaced lightly "about emotions" he said in a strained voice and she smiled softly in slight amusement.

"I know..." she whispered.

"But now..." she said as she looked at him strangely "I know now that you are mine" she said with a victorious glint and he did not feel as comforted as she seemingly was.

"But are you mine Emily?" he asked with a querying tone and she looked surprised.

"You say I'm yours and chances are" he laughed a little "I won't feel for anyone like what I am feeling for you now" he said intently and he saw her tense up as she looked at him with fierce eyes.

"But does not mean that you are mine" he said with a strong voice as he looked at intently.

She looked furious and glared at him "Have I not shown you how much you mean to me?" she hissed out as she got up and paced in front of him.

"I let no one touch me except you." She said furiously as she looked at him as she paced.

"Touching sickens me Atticus" she said angrily with narrowed eyes as she stopped pacing.

"And yet, yours doesn't" she laughed a little derisively "Yours...it makes me feel in ways that I barely understand, only that I want more of it" she said with gritted teeth.

He got up and stood in front of her.

She continued "You're like a drug to me. I hate it" she ground out as she looked at him fiercely before she softened considerably.

"But I wouldn't change it for anything" she said firmly as she stepped up to him "I hate that it makes me weak, that I can't stop craving your presence, your touch, your magic" she whispered to him "But it is something I am more than willing Atticus" she said with such vulnerability that he couldn't help but like "to bear because everything feels emptier if I didn't have you." She said softly as she touched his cheek with the back of her small soft hand.

"Now that I know what it means, what you mean...I will never go back even if it adds a weakness in me" she whispered.

"You are mine Atticus..." she began as she stood on her toes, bringing her lips less than an inch from his.

"...Just as I am yours" she said finally and kissed him gently on the lips.

He pulled her in by her waist and they softly kissed each other on the lips.

He understood her hatred of weakness. He often sought to eliminate most of his. 

Weakness of magic, of body, of mind.

He hardened his heart as he committed acts that would be against the morals of society, against the morals of decent men all for his dreams and ambitions.

And yet, he allowed the weakness of...love...into his heart and he felt stronger for it.

When she admitted to be his...

They broke apart and she looked at him with such a soft expression...

She smiled wryly as she backed away "Even if you are a weakness Atticus, you are perhaps one of the strongest weaknesses that one can have" she said with a strange glint in her eye.

"You make me feel alive and everything is worth much more with you by my side." She said with a greedy glint in her eye.

"You are my equal. The only one permitted" she said with finality as she looked at him with fierce eyes.

A few moments passed as they looked at each other.

He came forth and brought his hand to her face and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before he met her gaze.

"You are mine Emily Riddle" he confirmed and she looked at him with great satisfaction and he pulled her in. 

"I understand that now" he said softly as she melded into him.

After a few moments, she asked "Will you teach me the patronus charm?" she asked as she moved a little to look at him and smiled down at her.

"I will." He began to chuckle and she looked at him quizzically.

"I was just thinking at the sour face of Dumbledore when he sees you casting a patronus, something he probably thinks you can't do" he said with a grin which she matched though hers was crueller before her eyes grew determined.

"It seems I have more reasons than I thought to succeed in it then" she said determined.

"I'll have it done before the end of the summer" she said with a confident look on her face.

"I don't expect anything less" he said warmly and she smiled at him. 

"It's almost dinner time, shall we head back?" she asked him and he nods.

"Go on in, I'll be right behind you. I'll just go and pick up the charms book by the tree" she nodded and made her way back into the manor.

He looked at her briefly before turning around towards the tree.

Each day he spent with her...

He picked up the book and stood there for a moment.

He closed his eyes briefly as the full weight of it all fell on him.

It wasn't a simple situation of making sure she didn't turn into Voldemort anymore.

His eyes grew determined. 

He will not allow Emily Riddle to fall. 

He was Atticus Sayre. 

He was a dreamer and he brought his dreams into reality.

Emily Riddle would live to be her very best and he would make sure of it.

----------------------------------------------Break----------------------------------------------

A wall of flame sped towards him and he waved his wand lazily generating a large gust of wind violently dispelling the flames only for a series of dark cutting curses sent his way. He shielded and the shield remained intact as the last of the cutting curse hit it before conjuring eight bronze balls and he flicked his wand and sent them fast towards Emily.

She produced a strong Protego Maxima as the bronze balls hit, loud gongs reverberating in the duelling room until the sixth ball began to crack the shield.

Emily transfigured last two bronze balls into spears and sent them back to him. She levitated the bronze balls that were on the ground and added them to the volley of spears. Before they reached halfway, he vanished the spears and balls and began to rain down blasting curses at her.

She ducked, weaved and shielded before she started to get into a rhythm and started sending chains of spells his way.

'Perfigo Puncture hex, Oblido Crushing hex, Vomica Lesion curse, Expulso blasting hex' he thought to himself as he identified the last spell chain.

He grinned broadly as he danced out of the way of the spells, with measured steps and utter control over his body.

He slashed his wand and raised the duelling floor underneath her and she threw herself of to the side as he shaped the floor into golems with spears.

He could see her grin as well as she jabbed her wand and cast a powerful blast curse breaking apart the golems before transfiguring the rubble into knives and she flicked her wand towards him.

He looked on amused and conjured a stone slab and the knives got stuck into it.

He transfigured the stone slab and knives into jaguars and sent them to attack her.

She re-transfigured them with a wave of her wand into hawks and sent them to harass him. 

He slashed his wand and transfigured them into water before sending the balls of water towards her.

She raised an eyebrow and raised her wand to dispel them but before she did so, he coalesced the ball of water into a large one and soaked the floor in front of her and froze it immediately. 

She blasted the ice before her picking up the shards of ice and sending them his way.

He dispelled them mid air and once more raised the ground though this time it was grander in scale.

He raised his wand hand and his free hand with his palms up in the air and ten metres around Emily the ground raised as he sought to envelop her in stone. She saw what was happening and she ran outside of the envelopment.

Not fast enough.

She raised her wand and sent a blasting curse against the stone that was now almost higher than she was as it sought to form a hollow ball with her in the centre.

A section of the wall broke and she rushed through and sent a number of piercing and cutting curses at him.

He ducked and weaved before he retook control of the stone ball. He retransfigured it into a number of animals and sent them after Emily who noticed the animals coming her way.

She took to destroying them but she was soon becoming overwhelmed until she sent a large blasting curse destroying all of them but she didn't notice the ropes he sent her way and she soon began to fall onto the ground.

He quickly cushioned the ground and she fell softly onto the ground. 

He withdrew his wand and walked towards her. She was glowering at him and he looked at her amused.

"Darling" he drawled and her glare intensified.

"You look a little tense" he said with a grin and the glare she sent his way was capable of setting him on fire.

He chuckled and waved his hand and dispelled the robes. She quickly got up and sent a number of stinging hexes at him, powerful ones.

He yelped "The duel is over!" he shouted as he moved out of the way before any more could hit him.

"I know. You're getting hit for that stupid comment" she said lazily. Soon enough she stopped and he made his way back to her. She conjured glasses of water and gave a glass to him which he took readily.

He sat down and she joined him. He glanced at the room and saw the level of destruction.

"You're getting better" he remarked as he finished his glass of water.

"Doesn't seem like it" she muttered before she drank her glass of water.

He placed a comforting hand on her thigh "I have an unfair advantage as I trained under Brosovic for a number of summers."

And because he had 21 rituals, many of them increased the capabilities of his mind and body. And he had the ROR.

If...when she goes under rituals, he had no doubt she would be able to give him a very good challenge.

"How much were you trying?" she asked finally.

He fought a grimace but apparently it was obvious "So not much then" she said as she studied his face.

"Yeah, I was holding back a lot" which was an understatement to be honest.

He was...getting very very good at duelling. Over the years he managed to understand the ROR to such a degree that he was able create duellists that were faster than him and harder to hit. 

Of course, it wasn't enough. Whilst he thought he could probably give Dukevsky, one of Grindelwald's lieutenants a very good fight and he reckoned he would win.

Vermeer, another lieutenant, was probably a step too far, for now. 

Brosovic, even if he was an international champion, would likely not be able to deal with any of the four lieutenants. 

He'd give a good fight for sure but he would not be able to win.

She sighed as she got up and stretched "Well, that simply means I must continue to train." She said calmly.

"Your rate of improvement is incredible Emily." He said as he moved towards her.

"Just because I'm a freak of nature doesn't mean you're not one either" he said coyly. She rolled her eyes.

"You'll catch up soon enough. I am two years older and I had been around magic since birth with free access to all of this" he said waving his hand.

"The fact is, you likely would beat almost everyone at or below the age of seventeen" he shrugged.

He could see she was still not pleased but he couldn't say anything further. He'd introduce her to the ROR and he'd see how things go until the end of the year and he'd bring up rituals. 

The way she was disappointed, he could see she might delve into the dark to get power. That was not acceptable.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the day?" he asked changing the subject.

She looked at him and looked thoughtful for a second "I'm going to go to Malfoy Manor. A number of my associates will meet me there." She said before looking at him intently "You?" she asked as she vanished the glass of water.

"Going to work on a few projects" he shrugged.

"You know, you haven't shown me or even told me what these projects are." She asked interested.

"I know...I haven't really finished many of them. Some will likely take years. I don't want to show anything unfinished." He said finally. Not quite true but true enough.

She hummed as she stared at him until she stretched herself out. "Do you think your parents are up yet?" she asked distracted.

He cast tempus and saw that it was 7.54AM. "Probably not" he mused.

She joined his exercise routine though she didn't join on the run he did every morning and they began to tack on duelling each morning. 

"Shall we go and have breakfast?" he asked her and she nodded. He hung back for a moment and inspected the room. Rubble, deep gashes were all around the place.

'This won't do' he thought to himself and he took his wand and waved it lazily and the room repaired itself as he watched. Satisfied, he left the duelling room.

After breakfast, they split and soon enough she went to Malfoy Manor. His parents were out of the house whilst Ms Florence went to America at Sophia's request.

That meant he was alone in the Manor. He grinned to himself an idea popped into his head. 

It was stupid. It was out of character but he was feeling a little mischievous this morning.

A few minutes later he was dressed in a pink shirt and boxers (that he both transfigured) and white comfy smooth socks. 

He was ready.

He hummed Old Time Rock and Roll to himself. "A na na na nanananana"

He ran up on the smooth marble floor and he slid across it. He had an empty candle holder and began to sing the song by Bob Seger.

He jumped on the railings and slid down singing the song and once he got towards the bottom, he jumped up and once more slid on the floor, playing an air guitar with his eyes closed. 

He got down on his knees as he got to the final bit of the sing and opened his eyes. The words died on his tongue as large eyes looked at him in surprise, shock and wariness.

"Master?" Elsie, the now head elf of the Sayre family asked. 

"Is yous fine?" she asked warily as she assessed him breaking him out of his stupor.

He hastily got up "I'm fine Elsie" he smiled a brittle smile. He hadn't thought the elves would investigate.

"Just..." he began with his hand raised, trying to explain before he simply halted as he took in those large judgemental eyes.

He cleared his throat. "Elsie, I forbid you from mentioning what you just say ever again" he said firmly and she nodded. Slowly.

"Yes Master." She said finally before she began to walk away. 

"Master Atty be playing like a child" she muttered shaking her head.

He sighed in relief. He did not want this...little episode ever to be discovered.

Finally, once he had his bout of childishness out of the way, he began working on the magical computer which he finally managed to start a few months ago.

He had been approaching the problem in the wrong way. He tried to create analogues of the computers of his day when instead he simply needed to create a device that would do what he required. 

He knew not enough of how computers worked, other than basic overview, he'd been capable of programming yes, but he only had cursory knowledge of computer hardware.

As of now, he created a device capable of executing simple programs that is linked to input received from scanning charms and sending back Latitudinal and Longitudinal coordinates to a paired device that would store the coordinates which he would then later view.

It was not much but considering that he was creating something that will be decades away based on cursory knowledge, he was progressing fairly well.

It was simple but it would do. He didn't need something complicated for the satellites that would scan for specific metal deposits, simply something functional.

He was learning, slowly, how to create devices that can carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically.

Right now, he learnt enough to create magical calculators. He would add them to the list to sell once he creates his company in the magical world.

For the next few hours he reworked the runes on the diamond device – as the runic schemes were clunky and inefficient – which he aptly named Satellite Executable Program. 

It wasn't creative but since it was for his own purposes, he didn't need any fancy name to sell it.

Once he was done, he moved onto the runic schemes that he would etch on the ship

He created the ship, rather the frame, but he had yet to etch runes and enchant the ship though the frameworks of the controlling mechanisms were all done.

For the moment, it would only be rated to go into orbit. 

Most of the runes were the same that were on the drone that went into space. The mirrors were already installed as was the control mechanisms which he took inspiration from brooms, though he modified it extensively to work.

He modified the handling to work on a Control Wheel, a Throttle Lever and of course a Deceleration Pedal.

There wasn't a altitude measuring charm so he had to create that which had been relatively easy. 

From there, he simply continued to fine tune the controlling mechanisms. 

Every night in the last two weeks, where he'd go to his cabin in Ireland, he'd test out the controlling mechanisms on a small test ship, fine tuning as time passed.

Of course, he'd need to adjust the controlling mechanisms to account for the larger ship but he hoped that it was simply a case of scaling up. 

The runes that would on it were far more extensive even if they contained most of the runes that were on the drone. The runes would make it nearly impossible for it to be breached along modifications that would allow for the ship to reach greater velocities.

When it came to the inside of the vessel, he left a space for a large block of diamond that had grooves where gold would be inlayed. Similarly, these grooves with inlayed gold would run throughout the ship, ensuring that there is no chance of enchantments or runes running out of magic.

One of the final things he needed to do was to make a runic scheme that create artificial gravity.

There were many runic schemes that manipulated space and there was already literature regarding gravity given that there were plenty of charms that made things float. 

There were a number of charms that negated the effect of gravity rather than magic making things float.

He simply needed to understand the mechanism of it and see if he could either enchant or make up a runic scheme so that the interior of the ship was at the same gravity as Earth.

When it came to ensuring his air supply, he intended use a large trunk that was fitted with plants that was linked into the interior thus giving him the air he needed and provided a recycling method. 

He was wary of expanded the ship with runes. Even if the chances of the runes failing was low, he didn't want to risk the chance of the space expansion failing and cause massive failure.

Lastly, he'd bring the Vanishing Cabinet that was in his school trunk, which was paired to the one in the suitcase where Seraya was, on board.

It would be his final failsafe.

It had been nearing evening when he heard a pop, breaking him away from creating runic schemes.

Elsie appeared beside him "Master Atty, it be dinner time" she said. 

He nodded to her "I'll be down shortly." And she left with a pop.

He yawned and stretched as he got up. He checked the time and saw he worked ten hours straight. He shook his head and made his way down.

----------------------------------------------Break----------------------------------------------

Emily POV

She smoothly walked past the goblin guards that stood by the doors and as she did so, she glanced briefly at the warning...no challenge that greeted every single witch or wizard when they walked into Gringotts.

She didn't like goblins. They were greedy, malicious little creatures that had the economy under their tight grip, no matter how much wizards said on the contrary.

Leaving the entirety of your wealth in their filthy traitorous hands was monumentally stupid.

The wiser families of course made sure they diversified and they had at least some of their wealth with the Dwarves of Switzerland.

She discussed the topic with Atticus and found that he agreed though it was clear he didn't quite hold the same sentiments she did when it came to the Goblin race.

He did not believe they were completely honourless, simply the relationship between wizards and goblins were so terrible that each of them tried to cast the other down in some way or another, or control them if they were unable to cast them down.

She simply was of the opinion that the Goblins were...unnecessary in the grand scheme of things.

They held far too much power. Money was a form of power and even if wizards shackled them to Goblin territory and prevented them from using wands, they still held power in the form of the money that they 'protected'. 

In reality, it is effectively a measure of control and had they not been content with the status quo, they could easily rebel at any time and cause severe damage to the country.

It was an unacceptable threat. One she would see to when she had the chance.

She wouldn't exterminate them, as she discussed with her associates.

She didn't think Atticus would be happy about that. So she would simply make sure they were as threatening as elves.

She walked up to the teller "Greetings. I am here for an inheritance test" she said smoothly.

The goblin sneered "Name. Are you sure you can afford the fee?" the goblin mocked.

"Emily Riddle. I have the 3,000 galleons fee." She said smoothly.

She had found out that the full inheritance test was 3,000 galleons, an astounding fee that most would take at the very least years to scrounge up enough to take it.

It was prohibitively expensive, as required by treat between the Ministry and Gringotts.

It was obvious why.

None of the Lords sitting at the Wizengamot wanted those they deemed unworthy to sit amongst them or claim kinship.

Squibs who were cast out but remained within the magical community often produced children, if they managed to survive into adulthood.

These children even if the squibs were cast out would be able to make claims if the male line of families died out and they would be able to contest inheritances and often enough could win if the family magic liked them.

Family magic was strange. Through centuries of shaping magic, of magical blood, magic manifested itself into family magic, tying certain affinities and traits, like parselmouth, to blood and magic.

Magicals began to notice the certain amount of influence patriarchal or matriarchal heads of families had over the family and thus began the beginnings of clans and family names.

The oldest records were from China that recorded this phenomenon over five thousand years ago. 

Since that time, the ability to use family magic became revered because it represented a strong bond to ancestors.

Squib born children who had stronger links to family magic often were able to claim ahead of children born from females married into other families.

It made sense to her. Family magic favoured along the patriarchal lines unless you were from a special matriarchal family like what the Winterdon family, now extinct, was reported to be.

With her wealth from her...Riddle side, she was more than capable of paying the fee.

"Follow me" the goblin grumbled and she followed as instructed. She was here for important reasons and she wouldn't rise to bait. She had far too much control.

Besides, they were beneath her. 

Does one get angry at a mosquito flying in your eyesight?

They went through a maze of halls until they arrived at a door that had a inheritance plaque on the door.

The goblin wracked his knuckles on the door and the door swang open and the goblins began to speak in their guttural language.

She made no signs she understood even if she did. 

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

She recited in her head. The Art of War was a fascinating treatise by Sun Tzu and remarkably applicable even 2500 years in the future.

She smiled to herself. Atticus does get her to read the most interesting books, even if they are muggle.

Of course, some of it must be seen from an abstract perspective, after all, militarily much does not apply to magicals.

And yet, it was the psychological analysis was incredibly insightful.

When it came to languages, the way the language was constructed and spoken helps one understand them.

Gobbledygook was a guttural, harsh language that used sounds generated from the back of the throat to reflect inflection and so forth.

It had barking qualities, sharp, sudden and shortness methods of speaking that gave insights into their culture.

Much is written about Goblin culture but those were from magical perspective and thus had a biased perspective that could leave false impressions.

Which was why she studied the language after she finished those books on Goblins.

They valued strength, skill, cunning and precious metals above all else. Their harsh language that was far from musical, far from flowing, indicated a culture that prided itself on Spartan like principles and once they were forced to go into banking, the only way they could survive, they approached it the same.

Negotiations, dealing with clients, and so on were battles for these creatures and whilst she didn't see much wrong about that, she did see the conniving aspects hidden under their so called honour.

They will uphold deals, agreements and treaties but only to the letter of the contracts. 

There was no such thing as the spirit of the contract to them and they would seek to make sure to swindle wizards as much as they could if you were not careful.

"Very well" the goblin who opened the door said as he turned to her as he finished speaking to the goblin teller.

The goblins had insulted her in their language as the senior goblin chew the teller out for wasting his time. She made no outward change in her expression. 

While punishing these filthy creatures would immensely pleasure her, it would make her task today infinitely more difficult. She was patient.

"Follow me into the office" the goblin said curtly as he turned on his heels and waddled back to his seat.

Emily elegantly walked into the office and took a seat opposite the goblin who brought out a bowl which had extensive runes on it. 

The runes were different from what was familiar with and she was familiar with three of the four runic languages used worldwide whilst she could recognise another two.

If the goblin saw her look at the bowl with interest, he didn't make any outward reaction to it.

"Do you have the galleons" the goblin asked sharply.

She threw the expanded pouch on the table the goblin picked it up and muttered something under his breath.

"All 3,000 galleons are present" the goblin said a tad surprised.

He straightened out and looked at her intently "So you are here to claim an inheritance?" he asked her.

"Yes." She said simply.

"What makes you think you are eligible for any vaults" he asked her with narrowed eyes.

She simply smiled.

"Are your kind not the ones who say time is money?" she asked tauntingly and the goblin narrowed his eyes and sneered as he pushed a dagger and the bowl over to her.

"Cut yourself and let the blood drop into the bowl." He said sharply.

She didn't deign him another look as she picked up the dagger and she took it to her hand and cut her palm. She held her fist above the bowl and let the blood drop.

The runes of the bowl glowed and a piece of parchment that was in front of the Goblin began to form words though she could not read it from her distance.

"You may stop now" the goblin said distractedly as he looked at the parchment and she took away her hand.

She loathed to ask but drawing your wand in the offices of Gringotts was an offence and she rather would not want to fight her way out when she had unfinished business. 

"May I draw my wand to heal my palm?" she asked calmly and the goblin snapped his head towards her and narrowed his eyes.

"You may." He said as he watched her closely. 

She drew her hand and cast a wordless healing spell at her cut palm and watched the cut heal and then put her wand away.

The goblin ceased watching her closely.

"Ms Riddle" he said in a more polite tone than before.

"This parchment" he said as he tapped on the parchment "has all the families you are eligible for. Imagine my surprise that they are not extinct" he said calmly as he looked at her curiously before he passed the parchment to her.

EMILY RIDDLE

ELIGIBLE FOR:

HOUSE OF GAUNT

HOUSE OF SLYTHERIN

HEIR TO:

HOUSE OF GAUNT

She looked at the parchment in triumph before she flicked her eyes to the goblin who began to speak.

"Heir Gaunt" he began and it was music to her ears.

"You have inherited the family vault of House Gaunt" he said as he stood up and went to a stack of books and pulled out a ledger.

He sat down as he flicked through the pages.

"Which contains a number of books and a few artefacts and the total amount of money is 223 galleons, 61 knuts and 116 sickles. There are no outstanding debts other than the vault fee. The lordship ring and the heir ring are present in the vault" He said calmly.

It did not surprise her. She knew well in advance that her ancestors had squandered their wealth. 

Luckily she had enough galleons from the other side.

What did surprise her was that the lord ring was in the vault given that she had the Gaunt ring in her robes.

"Lordship ring?" she said as she brought the Gaunt ring out. "I thought that this was the ring?"

The goblin looked at the ring momentarily and sneered "That is not the lordship ring. It is merely a ring that was brought into the family centuries ago. No the lordship ring was crafted well before that ring" he said pointing at the ring "arrived into the hands of your ancestors."

She hummed as she rolled the ring in her hands before she pocketed it. She looked once more at the goblin.

"What are the vault fees?" she asked intently. She was well aware goblins charged excessive amounts.

"15 galleons a month" the goblin said calmly and she narrowed her eyes. It was huge for the amount that was in the vault.

Had she waited for a couple of years, she would have incurred debt and being in debt to goblins...

"Is that the standard fee" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"It is the standard fee for the type of vault that is the Gaunt vault" the goblin said carefully.

"and what is that?" she asked intently.

"A high security vault" he said simply.

She tapped her index finger on her leg as she considered it.

A high security vault tended to be on the lower levels of Gringotts and where most of the noble families had their family vault. She thinned her lips.

"I will not change anything. I will come at a later date to increase the amount of galleons in the vault. Is there a Gaunt account manager?" she asked.

The goblin shook his head "No. The Gaunts have not had an account manager for a century now" Goblin said smiling with full set of teeth.

"The low amounts of galleons did not necessitate an account manager. And as you said..." he paused as a taunting smile came upon his face and she narrowed her eyes.

"...Time is money and the Gaunts...were not worth the time" he finished and she gritted her teeth as her eyes flashed.

She thinned her lips.

"The Slytherin vaults." She began simply and the smile widened even further.

"You cannot claim the Slytherin vaults" the goblin said simply.

"Why?" she said calmly belying the anger that was growing.

"Certain families have additional requirements regarding inheritance. This is the case with the Slytherin vault. For the moment, you are not the heir of Slytherin" the goblin said calmly and she looked at him expectantly.

She knew this. Before Gringotts became what it was, families were able to imbue their own magic into the vaults that tested for family magic. A few families took it even further added conditions. 

Slytherin was likely like this considering that no Gaunts for centuries had been able to access the vaults.

She calmed down.

"What do I need to do to gain access and become the heir?" she asked sharply.

"You will need to go down to the vault and interact with the vault to gain access. If you pass whatever criteria is set, only then will you be able to claim House Slytherin and all it entails which of course the Lordship and a seat on the Wizengamot, and the vaults"

Her eyes sharpened "Vaults?" she asked keenly.

The goblin growled as it lost patience but answered anyway "Vaults. There is the family vault and there are a number of vaults that have not yet rolled back into the family vault. I cannot say anything further until you are officially the heir" the goblin said sharply.

She thinned her lips at the tone but disregarded it for the moment.

"Take me to the vault. I want to test it" she said curtly.

The goblin looked at her momentarily but his hand moved to the desk and pressed a button.

The door opened a young goblin appeared.

After the goblins spoke momentarily the senior goblin spoke "Follow Kirhook to the Slytherin vault. You may go. Good luck" he sneered as he turned his back to her and her wand hand twitched but she turned on her heels and followed the goblin.

A turbulent ride afterwards she was finally at the Slytherin vault.

The door was adorned with stone carvings of snakes, in dark green colours.

Kirhook stepped next to her, to her irritation and spoke "You are lucky that the vault doesn't kill like many other vaults do." The goblin sneered before he walked off to the side.

She set her jaw and she moved towards the door. She finally faced with an arm's reach and she placed her hand on the vault and the vault door became active. 

She felt a tiny prick on her hand which she ignored. Likely some form of blood magic to determine if she was indeed the blood of Slytherin.

The magic of the door hummed and the door began to glow lightly as she could feel the magic assessing her.

The stone underneath her hand began to shift and she took her hand away and stepped back.

The stone serpents began to move towards a centre and the stone began to slowly shift into a human face.

The stone face opened its mouth and hissed out 'Scion of Slytherin'

'I am Emily. Heir of House Gaunt, the last of the blood of Slytherin' she hissed out to the door.

The eyes of the stone face glowed.

'Heir Gaunt. Blood of Slytherin. Welcome.' The stone face hissed out in a strange fixed tone.

'What must I do to gain access' she hissed out as she stared intensely at the stone statue.

'Magic strong. Two of three met. Answer. Question' it replied in that fixed tone and her mind whirled.

It seemed as if magical strength was a requirement as she thought it might be. As was parselmouth naturally. House Slytherin valued strength and she had much of it. But a question? She narrowed her eyes.

'What question?' she asked carefully.

The stone morphed further and the serpents around the stone face turned into a three concentric circles.

'What do you value most?' a more human voice asked and her eyes widened.

She made to move to answer the obvious answer but she halted.

She frowned.

She made to answer power but she had a feeling...that it was wrong.

Her mind whirled as she thought on the question.

What did she value? 

Power.

Magic.

Strength.

And...

Her eyes widened. She valued Atticus of course. She cared for none except for herself and him.

He was hers. 

But was he what she valued most? 

She considered it. Intensely. 

She could never live without her magic. She was magic. 

Power was her right and she would obtain it.

But were those what she valued most? 

She would have everything she desired and no one would stop her. It was her birthright and none would stop her from attaining it.

And yet...she considered all of it without him...

Her face twisted in severe distaste and a scowl formed on her face. No. Now she understood what he meant to her, now that she understood the power of their unbreakable bond, everything else she would get would be less special, less victorious. 

She closed her eyes as she imagined him beside her as they stood against thousands of mages who looked at them with hatred as they raised their wands at them.

None could stand against them.

And she could never live easily without him.

She closed her eyes as she recalled what she felt when she was with him...

She felt home. She felt alive. She felt a sense of belonging. She felt...

She opened her eyes.

"Family" she whispered.

It was something she felt when she was with him. They were bound together, permanently and irrevocably and it was something greater than anything official.

They were equals, partners completely and utterly and they would stand alongside each other and he would never abandon her and she would never let him go.

That meant family to her.

She was brought of her musings when the door began to glow even further until a creaking sound could be heard and the door opened ajar.

'Correct' the stone face hissed out and her eyes widened. It heard her whisper.

She shook herself clear and set her stone face and walked into the vault. Her steps reverberated.

The room was dark but she could see a dais standing right in front of her and she walked right up to it.

On top of the dais there was a strange silver stone which lit up as she neared it.

A ghostly figure came up. The figure was tall and had smooth shoulder length black hair and a small beard.

'If you have come this far, then that means you have passed the test of Slytherin' the figure hissed to the room. 

'It seems as if it is an automated message' she said with narrowed eyes as she looked at the ghostly figure with calculating eyes.

'Before you enter the main vault proper, a story will be told. A story of why Slytherins must value family most' it intoned.

She straightened out as she took in the figure. She was proud of her Slytherin heritage. She would listen to this message.

It began. 

'Salazar Slytherin was born in 941 as the third born son of the small but influential Slytherin family in south east of Britain where they have lived for centuries. They were land owners and ruled over muggles without problems and fairly for as long as they remembered.

Magic had been accepted and simply a fact of life. 

That changed in 950 when priests of the Christian faith began to rile up peasants about the unnaturalness of magic and tensions grew between the Slytherin family and the muggles in the villages on their land.

In 953, the tensions finally broke and a mob gathered to kill the Slytherin family who they believed to be at fault of whatever misfortune or ailment befell them.

Salazar was the youngest of three. He had two older brothers, one by two and one by three. They were caught unaware by the mob and were swiftly killed with their parents unaware at home with their youngest.

Salazar would not find out the nature of their deaths until years later when he returned to the village to exact revenge.

His father and mother forced Salazar to run into the woods and to follow the river upstream where they knew another magical family resided.

He refused and it wasn't until his father promised him that he and his mother would come to find him later that he relented and did as they ordered him.

It would be the last time he saw them.

He arrived at the wizarding family that neighboured the Slytherin lands, hungry, tired, weak and hurt. 

One of the muggles followed him and he had to kill him in order to survive but he did not come unfazed and bore grave wounds on his shoulder and arm.

He slept for two days recovering from his wounds and tired state.

No other visitors came to the family that sheltered him and he grew afraid and concerned and the patriarch of the family that sheltered him decided to go to his village to ascertain the fate of his family.

When he returned alone and grim Salazar knew he was the last one left.

It began his hatred of muggles which he carried for the rest of his life.

He grew cold and cruel and learnt as much magic as he could from anywhere he could.

In 965 he returned to his old village and killed every single one of the muggles that lived in the village, sparing not even women or children.

 It did not fill the void that was left behind.

It was not until 973 that he finally found something that gave him a different purpose to life.

He met his dear wife Agness when he'd been visiting Londinium and he'd been struck by her beauty and her youth. He courted her and eventually she agreed to marry.

They settled in a plot of land in a home that Salazar built himself as he did not wish to resettle his ancestral lands that were filled with immense pain.

Eventually, she gave birth in 974 to a girl, 977 to a boy and finally another boy in 984.

Salazar finally found happiness and that void was filled with his family who he loved more than life itself.

And yet once more tragedy struck as he had been away to Londinium to trade in 986.

His wife had been spotted wielding magic and the muggle reported this to his village elders and once more, a mob arrived at the same time Salazar had been away.

When he returned, he broke at the sight of muggles once more there to kill his family. Rage and hatred fell upon him when he saw his wife's body and his eldest son's body strung up.

In the years between his escape from his ancestral lands and settling with Agnes, he learnt as much magic as he could until he finally met a member of House Peverell. 

The Peverell were preeminent warmages of the time and this Peverell had taken pity on Salazar and taught him much about magic and combat magic. 

Salazar used all he knew on the mob and killed them all but one and tortured him about how they were found. The tortured muggle recited to him about how they saw his wife use magic and reported it to their elders in their village and set out to kill her and the children.

He tortured the man to death before he turned the home which had been burnt out. 

He gathered his wife's and his son's body and cleaned them up before he entered the burnt out home searching for his other children.

He came across the corpse of his daughter which had been a burnt husk and lied on the floor at the door of the dungeon.

He dropped on his knees as the severity of the situation hit him and cried for the first time since he understood he was the last Slytherin when he had been but a boy.

Once more, he believed he was the last Slytherin. 

Until he heard a cry behind the door of the dungeon, protected by magic.

He opened the door and found his infant son, the last of his family alive and well. 

His daughter saved her brother and died for him. 

He wept at his little girl's courage and his heart broke once more at her bravery and sacrifice.

His legacy remained even if reduced to one.

His purpose changed once more and he vowed to do all he could to ensure the safety of his only child alive.

It was not until 988 that he met the other Founders who all knew each other for a number of years.

He knew Godric Gryffindor through association only as Godric had been a friend of the Peverell's.

They intended to open a School of Magic and Salazar knew that it was needed.

A trained wizard could defend himself ably against muggles. Children were the most vulnerable and the ones who died the most. 

He agreed to join them to build the school and in 990, the school opened and he taught multiple subjects.

His son grew up at the Castle, along with Helena who was born a few years after the school's opening.

Salazar had learnt much about magic during his travels but it was with the aid of Rowena that he managed to create one of his best creations. 

Muggle Repelling Wards. It protected Hogwarts from muggles as it hid it from sight.

As time passed, Salazar grew older and harsher. He viewed muggleborns with distrust yet he did not hate them as he hated muggles. They had the gift of magic despite their roots.

No, he feared for the safety of what he built. He valued family the most and he knew the pressure that came from family.

Many of the muggleborns came from peasant backgrounds and were extremely uneducated. And they were also very religious.

Not many of the muggleborns that they visited chose to attend Hogwarts and those who did, did not appreciate magic for the gift that it was.

They were tainted by their faith who derided magic as unnatural and evil and Salazar did not trust that they would keep the secret of Hogwarts.

He argued with the other founders of the necessity of separating muggleborns from muggle families for the safety of them all but they rejected his ideas, they rejected him and they accused him of fear mongering and that they could live with the muggles in harmony.

He disagreed fervently and he created a chamber, a chamber that would host his weapon that would serve as a line of defence should muggles breach the wards of Hogwarts.

Once he completed his Chamber, he left Hogwarts in the hands of the other Founders who despite disagreeing with them, he still respected.

His son married and had children of his own by the time Salazar decided to leave and informed him of the Chamber and the sacred duty that his heir had in protecting Hogwarts from muggles.

Salazar in his later years travelled the world, learning all he could from the wise elders of different cultures and societies.

When he returned, aged and nearing death, he came to Gringotts and modified the Slytherin vault to what it is today.

A Slytherin values cunning, ambition and intelligence. But above them all, a Slytherin values family. 

Salazar's story is one of tragedy and pain and yet he preserved. 

It is a story you will not be able to repeat young Heir of Slytherin. 

The magic of this chamber will prevent you from speaking it and you will not be able to speak of what a Slytherin must value most.

It is something they should know. It is something that must be understood. 

It is your duty to ensure the next generation knows this.

Preserve, young Heir of Slytherin and ensure you protect what you value most.'

The ghost disappeared and the doors of the vault opened. 

She walked in distractedly as her mind whirled what she just learnt until her eyes spotted the gold.

Her eyes widened as she took in the large pile of gold. 

'It seems that the last Lord of Slytherin did not squander all of the wealth' she mused as she walked around the vault until she came across racks of books and scrolls and potion ingredients.

She would peruse all of that at a later date. She continued to walk until she came across a cabinet and saw two rings.

The Lordship and the heir ring.

She walked over and opened the cabinet door and looked over the rings.

Both rings were serpents coiled into a ring with fine detailed scales. Small green jewels were placed where the eyes of the serpent was on the Lordship ring whereas the heir ring did not have such jewels and was simply a silver green coiled serpent.

She would not qualify to wear the Lordship ring until she was seventeen so she went for the heir ring.

She placed the ring on her hand and the serpent ring began to glow green as its magic assessed her. The serpent began to move, rotating until it pulsed once and tightened around her finger finally stopping moving.

She smirked victoriously as she looked over the ring.

She walked out of the vault and made her way back to where the dais was and halted for a moment.

She never expected such a story. It ran contrary to almost everything that was believed of Slytherin and she felt anger at the distortion of her ancestor's life. 

Her ancestor's tale was tragic. 

A story of pain and death and hatred. 

A story that should be known but she would never be able to speak of it. She understood the reasoning.

She suspected that he wanted his legacy to understand him if they were anything like him and she felt proud that she was just like Slytherin.

In truth, it was...fortuitous that she met Atticus. 

She did not believe she would have been able to pass the test had she never met him. 

She laughed loudly at her fortunes and she smiled a vicious smile. 'Oh Atticus, you have no idea how special and how much you are worth to me' she thought to herself.

Salazar survived as did his legacy.

She understood his hatred. 

Muggles destroyed, muggles hated what they did not understand. Muggles would always try and kill them.

She would live up to his legacy. 

She walked out of the chamber into the hallway of the lower levels of Gringotts were Kirhook was waiting on her wide eyed.

"You managed to pass" he said shocked as he saw the heir ring on her finger.

"What would have happened if I failed?" she asked curiously.

That took the goblin out of his daze and looked at her "You would have never been able to try again. Many Gaunts have tried over the centuries since the main line of Slytherin died out and only a few of them ever passed." The goblin said full of interest.

'Not surprising' she thought.

Not many of them would value family most.

She had no family except for one. 

A family of her own choosing. She smirked. She chose well.

She looked at the goblin who was staring at her.

"Is there a Slytherin Account manager?" she asked calmly and the goblin straightened up.

"There is. I shall take you there?" the goblin said curiously. 

She nods "Yes, take me there"

As they walked, she couldn't help but smile victoriously. 

She was destined for greatness. 

And Atticus would be there beside her as they stood above them all.