Chapter 3

(A/N) Sorry that I was absent for a while. I was moving into a new apartement, then ended up falling ill for a few days. Didnt have a lot of motivation to write after that. Im back now however. Enjoy this chapter as it will be longer than usual to make up for the last couple of weeks.

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They walked through a few of the halls that led through the different departements of Gringotts. The walls were marble-white with some golden accents here and there. Amanda was led to a large door that was only marked with the word `Healer´, which could only mean it was the room as to where she could get her check-up and immunization.

They walked inside and was met with a female looking goblin.

"Greetings heiress Black. I have already been informed of what is to be done. I am Sharpnose, and I will be your healer during this." The goblina, now known as Sharpnose, informed her.

"Nice to meet you healer Sharpnose. I will be in your care then."

Ironclaw looked at Amanda before speaking.

"Healing is a sacred art, therefore I will await the end of your healing in my office." Amanda said her acceptance and turned back to Sharpnose.

"Now, please remove your shirt and lay down on the cot."

Amanda hadnt noticed before, but the room wasnt that big, only consisting of four cots, a small office at the end of the room, and trays with numerous potion vials on them.

She followed the instructions of the healer and removed her shirt to show she only wore a crop top underneath. She laid down and waited for the magic to be performed. She didnt have to wait long before the hand of the healer, fingers spread apart, hovered over her stomach while she spoke a few incantations.

"Quaerere morbos, vulnera, vitia, alia mala."

She kept chanting for minutes on end, causing her hand to lightly glow in a faint green color. Amanda could feel the effect. It was like a cooling feeling washing over her body. It gave a tingling sensation, but it lasted for a few mere minutes before the goblina removed her hand and gestured for her to rise into a sitting position.

"So, whats the verdict?" She asked.

"Miss Black, what I just did was a diagnostic spell. Its merely to see if you had any imunizations already, or if you needed a full work-up. Luckily for you, you just need to drink this potion, and all should be good by this evening." Sharpnose informed as she reached for a vial with a blue liquid inside.

"So just drink this?" Amanda asked, to which she received a nod. She shrugged and leaned her head back as she let the blue potion enter her mouth. She grimaced at the taste, but let it run its course. At the sign of her finishing her potion, Sharpnose returned with another vial that made Amanda scowl a bit.

"Do not worry. This potion is one of the better tasting ones. It is for awakening any latent magical traits that you might have inherited from your ancestors."

Amanda still looked aprehensive, but soon relented with a sigh as she downed her second potion for the day. With no hesitation, Sharpnose once again waved her hand near Amanda with a silver glow this time.

"Facultates de veterum sanguine revela et eorum nova potentia"

And in no time, she moved her hand towards a piece of parchment, where the silver glow entered it, revealing newly formed text.

"Well, you are quite lucky Miss Black. It seems that you have inherited a couple of abilities." She said as she handed the parchment to Amanda.

- Partial metamorphagus - House of Black - Allows change of hair and eye color at will.

- Natural parselmouth - House of Gaunt - Ability to naturally speak with snakes and other closely related reptiles.

- Magical core - House of Peverell, Black & Gaunt - Larger than normal magical core at birth.

Amanda was shocked. While she had expected some kind of ability, she hadnt thought it would be three. Three good ones at that. Just the metamorphagus was good in itself since it would allow her to hide more easily until she was ready to be exposed as the heiress of house Black.

Parselmouth, an ability that she had wanted to at the very least learn, but having the natural ability made everything so much easier.

Now, the magical core was more interesting so to speak. A bigger core, as she understood it, allowed her access to more magic from a young age, but also made the magic more dense with time. Denser the raw magical power, the easier it is to manipulate, just look at the old goat, I mean Dumbledore, but it also made spells more powerful for half the magic normally used. This was almost a cheat skill.

What was interesting as well, was the fact that the core was expanded by all three houses she was heiress to. It was widely known that those from pureblood houses had more magic, but if you come from multiple. The thought itself was enough to make Amanda feel a shiver down her back.

Having nothing more to discuss with the healer, she soon thanked her and headed back for the office that she came from earlier. Once inside, she saw Ironclaw sitting calmly on one of the couches while looking through stacks of papers. She sat down opposite him and waited for him to finish. Once finished, she spoke.

"Trouble? You just had a look as if something was troubling you."

"Sadly, it is so. While you were being looked after by healer Sharpnose, I was looking through the papers for your vaults. It seems someone has helped themselves to some of the Black fortune after the incarceration of Sirius Black." He said with a sigh.

"I have a feeling that I know who, but I dont want to accuse anyone without proof." Amanda commented, receiving a raised eyebrow from the manager of her vaults.

"Well then, nevertheless, I believe we should head for your vaults before I begin to investigate these descrepancies." Amanda just nodded.

They both rose from the couches and left for another exit. They entered the minecart that was situated behind a door and started the long travel down the shaft. It only took a few minutes before they reached a vault with the number 711 over the big doors.

"Welcome to the Black vault. I will warn you beforehand, the house of Black was often practitioners of dark magic. So be careful once inside." Amanda just nodded at him before he opened the vault and waved her inside. She stopped however before she got to far.

"Ironclaw." She turned back to him when she caught his attention.

"I know there are some kind of magic bag with what I heard were expansion charms on the. Is it possible to aquire one?" At those words, she could have sworn that he had a nearly feral grin on his face.

"Of course Miss Black. You can aquire one for a mere 5 galleon." She blanched. 5 galleon was a steep price, but knowing she had quite a lot of money led her to sigh in frustration and acceptance.

"Ill go and get them for you." She sighed. To her surprise though, he handed her a bag before she headed inside. From the look on her face, Ironclaw chuckled.

"We might be goblins who wouldnt stop at anything to get the money first, but I know that you need to go inside before paying me. Besides, I could just remove the 5 galleons at a later time."

This had stunned Amanda for a short minute, but she quickly came to and gave him a grateful nod before heading inside.

The inside of the vault was, for the lack of a better word, simple. It consisted of four white walls, two occupied by shelves filled with who knows what kind of knowledge and artifacts. The other two walls had several wooden chests, most likely filled with money.

She started with going towards the shelves as to see if there was any interesting books and artifact she could use. Many titles were interesting to her.

- Achievements in Charming.

- An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms.

- A Guide to Medieval Sorcery.

- The Invisible Book of Invisibility.

- Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks.

- Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes.

- A Study Into the Possibility of Reversing the Actual and Metaphysical Effects of Natural Death, with Particular Regard to the Reintegration of Essence and Matter – by Bertrand de Pensées-Profundes.

- Magick Moste Evile.

- Secrets of the Darkest Art.

- Magical Drafts and Potions – by Arsenic Jigger.

- Advanced Potion Making – by Libatius Borage.

- Asiatic Anti-Venoms.

- Moste Potente Potions.

- A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration – by Emeric Switch.

- Intermediate Transfiguration.

- A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration.

- Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration.

And that was only to name a few. But there was a single book that had her attention when she came to the section holding the books on transfiguration.

- The beast within - The guide to become Animagus.

Animagus. It was a skill that few achieved, but a skill that she wanted to achieve as fast as possible. It had been one of her greatest wishes to become an animagus, not just because they were awesome,but also because she was curious what her animagus form would be. Would it be a grim like Sirius, a rat like Pettigrew, she shivered at the thought, maybe even a cat like McGonagall. She didnt know, but she was determined to achieve it before Hogwarts.

There was also quite a few artifacts laying around.

- A time turner.

- A Probity Probe.

- A couple of two-way mirrors.

- Blood quills.

Just to name a few.

Grabbing the books and artifacts she wanted she wanted, which included some books on dark magic, just so she at least knew them, the two way mirrors and a time turner, she went over to the chests where she grabbed quite a lot of money as to be sure she wouldnt run low in the near future.

Having finished, she left the vault and rejoined Ironclaw who just gestured towards the minecart once more. They entered and left for the second vault, the vault of Gaunt.

It wasnt nearly as impressive as the Black vault. Just a few chests with galleons and books. Amanda just grabbed a few of the books that was strew across the vault, one of which was presumed to be the journal of Salazar Slytherin according to the small index she found near the entrance.

Finding nothing else of interest, she soon left once more with Ironclaw. The finally reached the last of her family vaults. Before she could enter however, Ironclaw stopped her.

"Miss Black. I must warn you to act with caution once entering this vault. The vault of house Peverell is one of the oldest we have, dating all the way back to Gringotts founding days." He warned with what could be presumed as caution in his voice.

"Dont worry, I have been cautios with the last two. I wasnt planning on stopping now. As I heard about a now retired auror, he had a way of speech, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE". I believe his name was Moody or something." She said, playing along with her persona of not knowing a lot of the magical world.

Receiving a nod from her account manager, she walked forward and stopped in front of the door. She looked up to see the vault number. Vault 5 with the name Peverell underneath. She took a deep breath and entered after unlocking the door.

The inside was probably of the simplest design out of the three she had visited that day. Blank white walls, no chests or shelves surrounding the room. The only piece of furnishment was two pedestals at the furthest end of the room. They were in different heights, the largest standing behind the lower one.

She walked forwards slowly, still keeping an eye out for any unexpected surprises that might have been inside the old vault. It didnt last long however, since she soon reached the two pedestals, and now that she was closer to them, she could see what inhabited them, namely a book on the lower, while there was some kind of sheet draped over the taller one.

She grabbed the book after seeing the title, Tale of the three brothers, the story about the three Peverell brothers themselves. Amanda knew the story of course, but seeing as there was no mention of a vault in their name previously, she got curious if there was any changes to this world as to the one she knew. And there was only one she found.

`Three brothers, travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight reached a deep treacherous river where anyone who attempted to swim or wade would drown. Learned in the magical arts, the brothers conjured a bridge with their wands and proceed to cross.´

`Halfway through the bridge, a hooded figure stood before them. The figure was the enraged spirit of Death, cheated of his due. Death cunningly pretended to congratulate them and proceeds to award them with gifts of their own choosing.´

`The eldest brother, a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. Death granted his wish by fashioning the Elder Wand from a branch of a nearby elder tree standing on the banks of the river. The second brother, an arrogant man, chose to further humiliate death, and asked for the power to recall the deceased from the grave. Death granted his wish by crafting the Resurrection Stone from a stone picked from the riverbank. The third and youngest brother, who was the most humble and wise, did not trust Death and asked for something to enable him to go forth without Death being able to follow. A reluctant Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own invisibility cloak.´

`The three brothers took their prizes and soon went on their separate ways.´

`The eldest brother travelled to a village where a wizard whom he had quarrelled lived. He sought out a duel and fought the wizard using the wand, instantly killing the latter. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the eldest brother walked to an inn not far from the duelling site and spent the night there. Taken by his conscience and lust of the Elder Wand's power, the eldest brother boasted of this wand gifted by Death and his own invincibility. That very night, a murderous wizard killed the eldest brother. The unknown murderous wizard crept to the inn as the eldest brother slept, drunk from wine. The wizard slit the oldest brother's throat for good measure and stole the wand. That was when Death took the first brother for his own.´

`The second brother returned to his home where he lived alone. Turning the stone thrice in his hand the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him, much to his delight. Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, committed suicide by hanging from his house' balcony so as truly to join her. That was when Death took the second brother for his own.´

Now this was where the story changed as to what Amanda knew it as.

`Death searched for the youngest brother as years passed but never succeeded. It was only when the third brother reached a great age, he took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. Greeting Death as an old friend, they departed this life as equals.´

`However, before departing with the youngest brother, Death decided to be gracious, and gifted the son of the youngest a gift of his own. Created as an equal, soon lost to time, leaving only three as known. Thus creating the legend of the deathly hallows.´

A shiver went up her spine as she read the last part. A fourth hallow? That was new. She froze however at the next second before robotically turning her head to the sheet covering what was on top of the second pedestal. Just as robotically, she reached out her hand and removed the sheet with great trepidation. She quickly closed her eyes in antisipation of something happening, but when nothing happened for a few minutes, she opened her eyes again, only to gape at what she saw.

On the pedestal laid a wand. It was white, appears to be bone-like,, and has small holes near the handle.

Amanda searched her memories. The wand looked like one she had seen before, then it hit her. It was a wand shaped like the wand of Tom Riddle, Voldemort. She knew that she loved the look it had, but to think that whoever put her here had made a wand that looked like it made her almost giddy to try it out. But she first had multiple things to do before then.

First, she needed to get the wands allegiance. Next she would have to make the final preparations with the goblins. Then comes a trip to Ollivanders to see if he could figure out the wand. Finally comes a couple of meetings and buying school supplies for her first year at Hogwarts.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. When she felt ready, she grabbed the wands handle. She didnt have to worry though, since it seemed the wand had been made especially for her. When she grabbed it, it felt as if she had never been whole in her life, and was only then reunited with the missing part of herself. She released a breath she didnt even know she held in and smiled while looking at the bone like wand in her hand.

Wand in hand, she left the Peverell vault, and left for the surface with Ironclaw once again.