Potter Tutelage Ⅱ

Standing before the floor hearth is Fleamont Potter, who reflexively pats down his wispy, unruly hair. His knees are rather knobby and let out a crack at being standing for so long. His hazel eyes wince in pain, but he lets no sound slip from his lips.

The flames in the hearth roar and rise nearly to the top of the hearth. Emerald flames swirl to reveal a tall, slender young woman with raven hair pulled back in a long braid. Her midnight indigo-black eyes from behind thin, golden spectacles scrutinize him, before she steps aside and bows in polite greeting.

"Godfather," Rowan Prince politely greeted Fleamont as the emerald flames rose with a roar again in the hearth. Holding her carpetbag, she steps aside even more as out of the hearth emerges another figure.

The taller, slender young man straightens revealing the growing height difference between himself and his twin sister, Rowan Prince. Severus Prince is taller than Rowan by a few inches as Rowan's growth has slowed. His onyx-colored eyes are solemn while his dark earlobe-length hair is brushed to fame his face.

"Godfather," Severus Prince bowed to Fleamont Potter before taking a step to stand at the side of his twin sister.

The two Prince grandchildren easily tower over Fleamont Potter, who must reluctantly admit they had indeed taken after the Prince's side of things in height. The Potters were by large average in height. Though James had unexpectedly inherited the taller-than-average genes of his grandfather Henry, it was obvious that he would never suppress Rowan Prince's height.

"Nimmy," Fleamont called out as a loud pop was instantly heard.

An older female house elf with salt-peppered hair, large bubble-like blue eyes, small bat-like ears, and a long-pointed nose appeared. "Yes, master!" Nimmy eagerly squeaked.

"If you would be so kind as to take-," Fleamont paused to use the correct word, "my godchildren's luggage to their rooms."

"Nimmy will take the Master's godchildren's luggage to the quest quarters," the diminutive female house elf squeaked. The diminutive house elf took the bags from Rowan and Severus's hands before disappearing with a loud pop.

Pulling out a pocket watch, Fleamont glances at the time. "We shall have lessons in the afternoon, but for now, we are off to Diagon Alley. We have an appointment with the apothecary and potions guild."

"If you would follow me," Fleamont instructed the two Prince grandchildren.

Rowan and Severus exchanged a glance, before responding, "Please lead the way, godfather," they responded in unison.

Grabbing a pinch of sparkling powder from the floo pot on the hearth, Fleamont tosses the sparkling powder into the hearth. "Diagon Alley!" He shouted as the flames rose and turned an emerald green. Stepping into the flames, the world began to spin, and he hurtled through a winding swirl before emerging into Diagon Alley.

Stepping aside, Fleamont takes in the bustle of the street as customers step into shops and peddlers cry out their wares. Parents keep a tight hold on their children lest they wander away or are lost in the bustle of Diagon Alley. It had been known to happen after all.

Moving aside, Fleamont does not wait long as Rowan appears first closely followed by Severus. "This way, you two," he gestures for the Prince grandchildren to follow him and stay close to him.

The sun shines warmly overhead as they pass several shops and continue past Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream and onward including past the entrance to Knockturn Alley. They enter Horizont Alley, a small street connected to Diagon Alley. There are shops on both sides of the street a magical toy store called Pilliwinkle's Playthings; Weeoanwhisker's Barber Shop, Tobacconist, and Flimflam's Lanterns, which had magical lanterns that turned things on and off via a fire-making-spell, and a pub by the name of Fountain of Fortune.

Having strolled through down the street before Rowan is not interested in the shops while Severus curiously glances around as they walk. They turn left and emerge onto a much larger street, Carkitt Market. There was an Apothecary, a pub, a candy store, a post office, a museum, a clothing shop, various magical item shops, and other such stores such as Bowman E. Wright Blacksmith, House-Elf Placement Agency, Wands by Gregrovitch, and Globus Traveling Agency.

Once they were near the end of the street, Rowan opened her mouth to speak up when they turned right into a dead-end alleyway. Well, it should have been a dead end, at least it had been before. The alleyway was brightly lit at the end of the alley rather than the brick wall that it had been before.

With caution, Rowan followed Fleamont only to emerge onto a large street filled with large buildings with various symbols on the frontage of the building. Some of the more recognizable symbols even from a distance are a bubbling cauldron representing the Potions Guild, a bouquet of herbs in representation of the Apothecary Guild, and so forth. The street is bustling with guild members and vendors who supply the guilds with ingredients and other much-needed supplies and expenditures.

Blinking in genuine surprise, Rowan closed her mouth. She had carefully explored Carkitt Market before. She would have never missed the entrance to the alley. Moreover, it was hard to ignore the bustle at the other end of the alley. It simply wasn't possible! Then again…

Reconsidering her position, Rowan furrowed her brow in thought. Perchance, the fault did not lie with her. The street clearly hadn't been visible before, but moreover, she hadn't been accompanied by a guild member of an active guild at the time. It would make sense that only guild members could enter the street or as guests accompanying a guild member of a registered guild.

Fleamont led the Prince grandchildren to a large building in the distance with a large bubbling cauldron carved in the middle of the building. The potion guildhall is beige stonework with intricate stone carvings of boiling cauldrons as decorations in the stone. The pointed archway has great auburn doors.

Hanging over the arch of the door is a carved boiling cauldron with the Latin motto inscribed below the boiling cauldron, "Ignis ardeat et bulliat aheno, in unitate porro, et innovation," meaning "Fire burn and cauldron bubble, onwards in unity, and innovation."

The inner guild hall is large and raised with pointed inner arches. The stone masonry is clearly visible with lighting from the striped cathedral windows including rose windows. Hanging overhead are two rows of thick metal calderas chandeliers of wax candles that are currently unlit due to the daylight pouring into the hall. The floor is covered in a thick handwoven red carpet with decorative potion symbols in silver thread and bubbling cauldrons in green thread.

The bustling potion guild has purposefully been emptied. Approaching them at the end of the hall is a burly wizard with a fluffy white beard like Santa Claus. The closer they approach the easier it is to see his enormous height. His sweeping dusty blue robes reach nearly the ground with a thick belt at his waist holding various bulging pouches. He has a bit of a belly, but his hands are calloused and stained from potions.

 Yet the most interesting fact is the temple shave hairstyle. The side of his head is short, shaved hair yet long in the middle. His long white hair is neatly braided down to his waist. Considering his appearance, it wouldn't be at all difficult to see him on the battlefield, a powerful berserker swinging a battle axe in each hand; he certainly had the strength and girth to do so.

"Fleamont," the booming wizard approached and hauled the much smaller wizard into a great big bear hug. "It has been ages since the retired inventor of the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment has graced these halls! Why the last time I saw you was shortly after the birth of your son, James, and declared your early retirement after the sale of your company."

 Rowan and Severus exchanged amused expressions at seeing Fleamont Potter so easily lifted off the floor like a doll. Fleamont truly did look small in comparison to the other wizard. If Flemaont was a halfling, the other wizard was a bear.