Chapter 20 - Unrest in England
Chapter – 01/02.
--------------------------
As Asterion approached the counter of the bank, where a rather ugly-looking goblin was working, his heart beat faster. He glanced briefly at his great-grandfather and almost smiled, thinking of Arcturus Black's shocked and incredulous face.
He also looked at the famous warning from Gringotts written on the wall of the place, but he didn't pay much attention to it; it was just a poor chained dragon. He had a much better dragon himself.
As for the waiting line, well, let's say that maybe because of the small show outside of Gringotts, people let him and his family pass without much fuss.
Arriving at the service counter, Asterion particularly disliked having to look up. The goblins intentionally raised the height of the counters, probably to feel superior to wizards and to irritate them more easily.
And to tell the truth, they really managed to annoy him, even without saying absolutely anything up to that moment.
Even with their arrival, the goblin continued to write with a quill on a parchment that looked new, as if he hadn't noticed them.
The goblin itself was small, not measuring more than fifty centimeters, with sparse gray hair, a huge pointed nose, and large, sharp ears at the top. Definitely an appearance worthy of a horror movie.
"Disgusting creatures," Asterion heard Narcissa mutter beside him. He completely agreed with her assessment. Goblins were ugly, arrogant, and quite unpleasant to have a conversation with, regardless of who you were.
Looking coldly at the goblin who continued to write, indifferent to what was happening around him, Asterion unleashed Baskerville's unscrupulous malice completely.
A monstrous and chilling laughter echoed in the entrance hall of Gringotts; everyone felt as if they were inside a frozen cave. The cold, murderous intent sent shivers down the spines of every person and goblin in the hall.
"It seems you've noticed our arrival, Mr. Goblin," said Asterion, looking at the Goblin who stared back at him with a touch of fear. His eyes reflected nothing but a gaze completely devoid of emotions, as if he were looking at someone dead.
"I was distracted," said the goblin, showing a wide and somewhat terrifying smile. His gaze fell upon Asterion's shadow with a touch of caution. "But I must inform you that pets are not allowed in Gringotts."
Upon hearing this, Asterion gave an innocent look while gesturing for the Goblin to proceed. "You can try to remove Baskerville from the premises; I won't stop you."
The goblin glanced at the gigantic dog with hundreds of pairs of red eyes and chose to remain silent. As for the rules of Gringotts, if a superior were to inquire, he would claim he was old and had forgotten some.
It was foolish to fight against a curse of semi-special level, at least he wouldn't survive for even a second...
Seeing that the goblin ignored Baskerville, Asterion nodded and looked at his great-grandfather, signaling for him to take over the conversation.
"A private room with the goblin in charge of Vault 666 of the House of Black," Arcturus spoke, looking directly into the goblin's eyes, causing him to swallow hard and promptly summon the goblin in question.
"Seriously, Vault 666?" Upon hearing the vault number, Asterion pursed his lips and looked skeptically at the old patriarch.
In the face of his great-grandson's gaze, Arcturus only responded somewhat helplessly. "The Third Lord was a true occultist... he even started a cult... It was he who transferred the wealth of the House of Black to Gringotts, although only a part of it."
Asterion rolled his eyes at the dark past of his ancestor. At the same time, he remembered the cursed spirits of the third bearer of the Black Family's cursed technique; they were all mentioned in the book. Most of them had names of dukes, princes, and infernal kings, even names of angels. Perhaps that's why his family was targeted by the church in the early 13th century.
"A man's dreams are sacred," Narcissa laughed at their conversation.
"Please, I have no dreams concerning any deity, whether sacred or demonic," Asterion replied, rolling his eyes again. If God and Lucifer existed and knew of our family's plan, we would definitely be dead…
Setting aside those thoughts, Asterion focused on the magical energy coursing through his body. There was a considerable amount; only a little more was needed for him to be considered promoted. This tiny amount of energy separated him from a nearly semi-special class wizard.
"Perhaps when I turn ten or eleven," Asterion thought. He was eager for the day when he would advance to a semi-special class wizard. A semi-special wizard at the age of ten or eleven, that alone would be enough for him to be recorded in the annals of wizarding history as one of the greatest prodigies of his time.
This was not a world of cultivation where you could infinitely grow stronger by absorbing energy. In this cruel and unfair world, your talent determined how high you would rise and the speed at which you would reach your peak. Some would reach adulthood with power at grade 3 or even grade 4, never able to progress to the next level. Others, like Asterion, were already reaching the pinnacle of the world before even reaching adulthood.
This world was truly unfair to those without talent.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please follow me to the private room," Asterion snapped out of his reverie, hearing another goblin, dressed in simpler clothes, who guided him to a room where another goblin awaited.
This goblin was different from the previous ones; he wore more flamboyant and elegant attire, though in dark shades. He sported a large silver necklace around his neck, with a jewel containing a strange coat of arms depicting trees and flowers.
Asterion presumed him to be a noble of the goblin race, which was not surprising given that they were governed by an absolutist monarchy.
The goblin walked awkwardly with his short legs up to Asterion, holding an ancient-looking white marble bowl and an intricately carved knife with extremely complicated ancient runes.
"Seven drops of your blood, no more, no less," the goblin spoke with his hoarse and repulsive voice, as if he had swallowed glass.
Before undergoing the test, Asterion glanced at Arcturus to see if anything was amiss. Seeing the man nodding at him, confirming that it was safe, the boy didn't hesitate to cut his palm with the knife, carefully squeezing out seven drops of his blood.
The goblin took the bowl with the seven drops of blood and performed a spell using the bowl itself, which glowed in a golden hue, revealing thousands of runes that seemed to move on their own.
Upon finishing the spell, the goblin poured all seven drops onto the ancient-looking parchment. The parchment, which had been blank, began to write itself, revealing Asterion's true lineage.
[Asterion Regulus Black-Slytherin]
Blood Purity - 100% (Seven generations of pure-blooded wizards in both Paternal and Maternal lines.)
Parents - Regulus Black (Father), Minerva Slytherin (Mother)
Possible Inheritance: The Oldest and Noblest House of Black
Possible Inheritance: The Oldest and Most Noble House of Slytherin.]
The goblin looked at what was written on the paper and rubbed his eyes in confusion, thinking he had read it wrong. He read it again only to see the same hallucination.
"Surely, a surprise, Lord Black," said the goblin after letting out a shrill and eerie laugh. He then handed the paper to the confused Patriarch of the House of Black.
Though puzzled by the goblin's strange behavior, Arcturus lowered his head and began to read the content. The more he read the parchment's content, the wider his eyes bulged in total disbelief and incredulity.
--------------------------------------
Author's thoughts: The inheritance is revealed!!!
Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
The Patreon will be updated daily, except on Saturdays and Sundays, when I do not write.
P-atreon.com/HPSCB
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
Next Chapter: (Chapter 21 - Unrest in England (2), (Chapter 22 - Unrest in England (3), (Chapter 23 - Escaping from Azkaban (1), (Chapter 24 - Escaping from Azkaban (2), (Chapter 25 - Wizengamot (1), (Chapter 26 - Wizengamot (2), (Chapter 27 – Wizengamot (3), (Chapter 28 - Unexpected Arrival (1), (Chapter 29 - Unexpected Arrival (2), (Chapter 30 - Black Family Reunion (1), (Chapter 31 -Black Family Reunion (2).
Patron's: Chris, Justrice Harrison, AlucardoBlood, Renne Bruffett, Straydog, IDaGoat Mypark, Hamza Ahmed, Dishitian, James, Zhenya, Enriv125, Michael, NinjaTiger, Mursel Kenan, Andrea Barbarino, Benjamin Kingunza, NaYati, Austin Pierce, Leopardu Junglei, Anthony Casas Cano, Xerxes33311, Ray Tery, Joseph, Max Brown, Hrisav Dewanjee, Szwagier, Maxime Anne Louise, Ree Iphone, OdiimBR, Alistair Lawrence, JustAGuy, Kheinz, T S, Zephyre, Tobias Sinkewicius, Phokingchin, Kieran p o'connor, Artem Marviv, Hunayn Abbas, Wolf, HeavenlyCrimsonKarma, Best Manga, Chase Matlon, Ibrahim Amani, Sighduck, Syed, Cody Dennis, Daniel Johnson, Nicholas, Zach Obenhoff, Joao Goncalves, Heretic Smurf, Antwaun way, Paul Panda, Surge1301, Reid Baisden, Marco Bertin, Bloodstained, Unknown, Clayton Channell, Kylan Trinh, BirdRant, BlueFern XO, Erik Vorlicky.