Chapter 75: A Letter in Green Ink

Village without a name, north of Scotland

November 1st, 993, 09:00 AM

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*CRACK*

Erik raised his head from the old tome that his mother had given him as a gift for his birthday, yesterday. It was an old tome on magic, that, in accord with her words, was passed down in her family. He had heard a crack sound coming from somewhere far from his house and It was a sound that he had never heard around the village before. Erik put away the old tome and went to the window of the house to look outside. He opened the curtains and looked outside for some time. Having noticed nothing out of the normal there, Erik closed the curtains again and went back to his tome. Some time passed, when he heard the door of his house being opened.

"Erik, I'm home."

Erik heard her mother, Aria, announcing from the door and breathed out in relief.

"And you have a guest."

He heard her voice again and he frowned. He never had guests before. Unless…

Erik closed his tome and walked out of his room. Entering the lounge area, he saw his mother accompanied by a regal-looking man. He wore deep green robes that had some detailing in silver and had an air on him that yelled 'if you mess with me and it could be the last thing you do in your miserable life'.

"Erik, this wizard has something for you."

Erik's mother, Aria, said to him, who raised one eyebrow at that. The regal-looking wizard took that as his cue and started to talk.

"Hello, young man. My name is Salazar Slytherin and I represent the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. It has come to our attention that there is a young wizard in this village, and I came to offer him a place to learn magic. That young wizard would be you."

Salazar Slytherin said to Erik. He then took, from inside his robes, a rough-looking envelope and offered it to Erik.

The boy stood there, frozen while looking at the man's face. He then looked at the envelope and back to the man's face. Erik then took a deep breath to center himself again and extended his hand to take the envelope. After taking it, he took a better look at the rough-looking envelope. It was parchment. On its front, his name was written in green ink together with his approximated location.

'Erik Agnar'son

Unnamed Village

North of Scotland'

Quickly, he turned the envelope over and saw that it was sealed with red wax and on the sealing wax was pressed a big 'H'.

'Holy effer!'

Erik swore in his thoughts. Now he knew which Universe had spilled over the DxD Universe. In front of him was one of the most famous wizards to have ever lived on the sandbox written by J. K. Rowling: Salazar Slytherin. History tells that he was evil, but then, history was not always precise. The man in front of him looked nothing like an evil wizard. But then, again, the history that he had once read in his past life didn't happen yet. Things could change.

After his quick enlightenment, Erik looked from the parchment envelope to his mother as if asking if he could open it. With a smile and a nod from Aria, Erik put his finger under the envelope tab and forced the seal, which opened with a snap. Erik then took the parchment letter from inside the envelope, unfolded it, and started to read it silently. While this was happening, Aria went to the oven area and started to prepare some tea for the guest.

Five minutes later, Erik had read and re-read the letter multiple times. As Aria offered a cup of steaming honeyed tea to Salazar Slytherin, Erik started to make questions to the man.

"Okay, Mr. Slytherin, let's suppose that I accept the invitation to your school, where would I get all these materials listed here? Mainly the wand. Mother and I don't use them to do our magic, and we have no idea where to find a wand crafter."

Erik asked the man. Salazar Slytherin finishes taking his sip on the honeyed tea before replying to Erik.

"It is formidable that someone so young can do magic without a wand, young Erik. But answering your question, there are two places where one can buy the materials listed there. One of them would be the little village that has started to form very near the school. And the other place would be the magical square in Londinium. I would suggest that you visit Londinium. It offers better variety and prices."

Salazar Slytherin said, replying to Erik's question. He would be impressed if the boy could perform magic without a focus. If it was true, the boy would need more attention from him and his friends. Erik nodded his head in understanding. He would need to ask about transportation too.

"Mr. Slytherin, I read nothing about prices here. A school as big as yours should not be free, of course."

Erik asked Salazar Slytherin, who chuckled at the question.

"So young and already concerned about money. Indeed, young Erik, Hogwarts is not free. But, for those who can't afford it, we usually make an agreement with them. Sometimes, if they come from some family that already has magic on it, we trade knowledge for knowledge. If the student is a first-generation wizard or witch, we trade labor for knowledge. The labor, of course, is paid after the student finishes his studies."

Salazar Slytherin said, explaining how they worked with the situation of fees at Hogwarts. After hearing that, Erik looked at his mother. The son/mother duo then started to have a silent conversation. In the end, Erik got from his mother that the final decision was his, and she would comply with whichever it was. Erik looked again at Salazar Slytherin.

"And what kind of magic would I learn at Hogwarts?"

Erik asked the wizard. He already had an idea of what he would learn at Hogwarts, but he had to ask. Things would sure have changed in a thousand years.

"We teach the basics of magic first. Theory, Charms, Potions, Herbology, History, Transfiguration, and Defense. Later, as the students' studies progress, they can choose between various subjects, some of which are Care of Magical Creatures, Runes, Arithmancy, Divination, and Rituals. By the end of their studies, the students have some more advanced subjects that they can choose, like Alchemy, Enchanting, and Warding. But because our school is still young, more subjects can be added to the curriculum as we see fit."

Salazar Slytherin explained to Erik, who had an expression on his face of someone that was thinking hard about something. Salazar Slytherin thought that the boy was trying to decipher what the subjects that he had said meant, but he was shown that he was wrong when Erik suddenly stood and walked to his room. Not even a minute later, Erik was back in the lounge area. In his hands was the old tome that her mother had given to him yesterday. He then sat back in his chair and put the old tome in his lap.

"This is an old tome of magic that I got from my mother yesterday as a birthday gift. My first question is if this tome is of some use to the school, can you make a copy of it and let me keep the original?"

Erik asked the wizard. His mother, Aria, had a small smile on her face while watching the scene. That tome was something that she had received from her mother when she was eleven, and her mother had received it from her mother too. That Erik wanted to keep it in the family, even at the cost of having to work for the school after he finishes his studies, really warmed her heart.

"Yes, we can make a copy of it and you can keep the original. Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the founders of Hogwarts, loves books and she, of course, had invented a spell that allows her to copy a book. But, to do it, we would need to first verify the knowledge given by your tome."

Salazar Slytherin said. Erik nodded with his head and offered the old tome to the wizard. He had no reason to be wary of the man at this point. As Salazar Slytherin extended his hand and grabbed the tome, his face frowned. Still frowning, but with the tome in his hands, he opened it. Or at least he tried to open it. No matter what strength he used, the front cover of the old tome wouldn't budge. Finally, Salazar Slytherin stopped trying and sighed.

*sigh*

He then handed the tome back to Erikm who took it with some confusion. Seeing it, Salazar tried to explain.

"It seems that what you have here is not just an old tome of magic. It is a grimoire."

Salazar Slytherin said. He then saw the looks of confusion on the faces of Erik and Aria and tried to explain what a grimoire was.

"Basically, they are books written by families that contain their magic. Their strong intent while writing the book for future generations is embedded in their magic, and that magic ends leaking and seeping into the pages of the book. With time, the book has so much magic embedded in it that contains the intent of passing knowledge to future generations, that it ends transforming into something else. It turns into a grimoire. From there onward, no person that does not belong to that family would be able to open the book and read from it. That means that the only people who can open the book and read from it are you, your mother, and anyone who shares blood with the two of you. More than that, nobody knows much about grimoires, just that they need time to be made and it is a natural process."

Salazar Slytherin says, explaining what grimoires are to the son and mother pair the best that he can.

"Can I offer my services to the school as a payment?"

Aria suddenly asks Salazar Slytherin.

"Mom!"

Erik exclaims to his mother. He doesn't like the idea of his mother working to the bones so he can study magic. She is already providing for them alone since his father's death. Erik had managed to ease the load on her a little after a while by hunting some game and gathering on the groves nearby.

"Shush, Erik. It's a mother's pretext to provide for his son until he can provide for himself."

Aria said back to Erik, who pouted but went silent. Salazar Slytherin was smiling at the trade between mother and son.

"It depends, madam. What kind of skills do you possess?"

Salazar Slytherin asked Aria.

"Well... I'm good with herbs and infusions. My mother and father were druids, so my magic is more centered around nature herself."

Aria said to Salazar Slytherin, who nodded his head.

"We can use some good hands to take care of the castle's plants. Normally, the students themselves are the ones who take care of them in the Herbology classes, but we see ourselves in need of more talented magic people to take care of some plants. I bet that Helga would like the extra help."

Salazar Slytherin said, murmuring the last part in a low voice. But not low enough that Erik's sharp senses couldn't hear. Aria smiled at that. She could help her son by 'paying' for his studies, and better of all, she would not be separated from him.

"Mr. Slytherin, what about a way of transport to the school? I think that we would not need to walk or take a horse there."

Erik asked Salazar Slytherin.

"We would have to apparate to the gates of the school, of course."

Salazar Slytherin replied.

"Apparate?"

Aria was the one who asked. She didn't recognize the word.

"Apparition is a means of transportation used by wizards and witches. You use your magic to disappear from one place to reappear in another one. I take that you, madam, don't know how to apparate?"

Salazar Slytherin explained and asked the woman, already knowing the answer. Aria shook her head.

"No, I don't know how to apparate. I bet it is a very useful skill to have."

Aria said, replying to Salazar Slytherin.

"Yes, it is. But it can be taught easily. It just needs that the wizard or witch has some more fine control over their magic. That's why we only teach students how to apparate when they are in their last years of studies."

Salazar Slytherin said.

"Can anyone teach mom how to apparate?"

Erik asked. He would need to wait for his time to learn, but his mother was already an adult and had better control of her magic. Well, better if not compared to his, of course, but he would not brag about it.

"I suppose that she can learn how to apparate. Since Hogwarts is the first school that teaches magic in Europe, not a lot of people know how to apparate. This is even more true when we talk about remote villages, like this one."

Salazar Slytherin said, replying to Erik, who had a smile on his face. Salazar Slytherin then took another sip of his tea, to water his throat, and asked Erik the final question.

"So, young Erik Agnar'son, would you like to study magic at Hogwarts?"

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a/n: I started to use 'Grammarly' to help with the writing, so my usual way of writing will change a little.